BGIC simulation
Before BGIC we had a simulation for the local people. The Chairs from both forum acts as delegates while the SGs would act as Chairs in a committee and the other SGs would comment on the right things and the wrong things going on in the simulation. This is where we act out a whole session of debates from opening speeches to For and Against speeches for resolutions and to Formal role call votes. During the simulation we intentionally put in some mistakes in, like using personal pronounce and conversing between delegates. during the simulation we also got to meet with our delegates and familiarise with them making sure that they feel comfortable during debate. It is also good to build a good relationship between chairs and delegates as it allows the committee to be less tense and more fun. The simulation was also a chance for the Chairs to check whether all delegates knew how to do a resolution and a opening speech for the 1st day.
BGIC introduction
BGIC this year has the theme 'Women in the 21st Century' which will give us an opportunity to celebrate various development of empowering women all over the world whilst contemplating the serious issues which affect millions of women in modern life. I participated in BGIC as a Chair (Ireland). Our job is to handle the different committee's and make sure that procedures are going as they are suppose to go. each committee had about 20 delegates all with different countries. During committee sessions we debate on resolutions that have been ranked by the Chairs written my the delegates during lobbying day. During every year of BGIC there would be a key note speaker from the overseas to speak about the issues being debated upon. For this year, it is Moni Pizani, representative and regional programme director, UN women, East and Southeast Asia Regional Office. She was a very inspirational speaker and made all of us watching think to ourselves about the rights of women. There was also the first senior officer of Royal Brunei Airlines, Sharifah Czarena Suryani Hj Hashim. She came into my committee during the 2nd day of BGIC and told us about how it was like being the first Women Senior off
icer. She told us about the barriers she had in her journey to being a pilot and how she dreamt of being a pilot her whole life and it final came through.
Lobbying Day
during lobbying day we get into our allocated room in ISB (our school) according to the different committees. in the rooms, we as chairs introduce ourselves and also tell each of the delegates to introduce themselves to the rest of the committee. This lets the delegates feel more comfortable around each other so that during debate, delegate
s would speak up more, which would make the committee's
more productive and fun. Me and kelvin were Chairs for Political Forum 2 and during lobbying day delegates are suppose to finish of res
olutions and opening speeches. When delegates h
ave any questions about how to write or what they are expected to do during debate, the chairs would also be assisting them in these questions. I checked all the opening speeches while Kelvin checked all the Resolutions. lobbying day is very intense as we try get as many resolutions to the vetting committee as we can. In our committee we had 7 resolutions which passed. I was very
pleased with this because many of the other committees only got 5 or 4 resolutions passed. after the resolutions have been passed we had dinner. right after dinner, all the Chairs and SGs had to go to the library to rank resolutions from best to worst so that debate can commence immediately on the First day. Lobbying day is usually the most tiring day for the Chairs because we have to run around and check a lot of work. however it did help me become more open minded to certain things and also made me seem caring as i was able to help many delegates overcome their fears.
Day 1 (Opening ceremony)
On day
one, we usually start of with a warming welcome to the ministries, schools, teachers, students, delegate, parents, the guest speakers, and last but not least the Princes of Brunei Darussalam. During the opening ceremony we have some performances and many different speakers speaking upon the issues that are going to be debated during the BGIC ' Women in the 2st century'. the speakers also include the
key note speaker from the UN. Some of these speeches given by the special key not speakers, were very inspirational and made me realize how women are in empowerment and make me, individually want to make a change. i think that these speeches are good also because it would make the committees more interesting as we can use some of the quotes and phrases used my the speakers. at the end of the opening ceremony the Princes then hits a gong to declare the opening of BGIC IX 2011. After the opening ceremony we went onto a tea break and right after that we went onto the committees to begin the opening speeches. Each opening speech takes about 1 minute maximum. this means that it takes about 30 minutes to get through all the delegates opening speeches. During an opening speech the delegate needs to talk about how their country related to the topic questions which are ' The question on the treatment of political prisoners' and the ' Socialism Vs Capitalism'. After the opening speeches we go onto the first resolution. During a debate on resolutions, the Main co-submitter would firstly need to read out the operative clauses and then a for speech. Delegates are give 5 minutes caucus to talk about the resolution and make a for or against speech for the resolution. Once this is done, the delegates would then debate. After the formal debate delegates would then move on to the open debate where any
delegates could speak for and against the resolution. After this, amendments are made to the resolution and the majority of votes would determine whether the resolution passes or not. Right after the amendments, delegates would go through a formal role call vote where the delegates would answer with 'For ' , 'Against', or 'abstain'. there has to be a 2/3 ratio of For's in order for the resolution to pass. Once the results have been counted, we entertain right of statements where delegates are allowed to talk about their country. This is usually the best part of debate and it also lightens the atmosphere around and makes it less tense. 
On the second day we got too meet the key note speakers individually in our committees. The political Forum 2 committee got the First female to achieve a Senior officer status. When she came in to talk to us, it really helped us understand how different life would be when you are a female compared to a male. Females, were not allowed to fly planes because they had to take care of their family and feed their children. But now, females are more free to do whatever they want in most countries. Sharifah Czarena Suryani Hj Hashim, the first senior officer of Royal
Brunei Airlines, told us about her life and how she overcame boundaries avoiding her to become a pilot. She said that she had always wanted to become a pilot ever since she was young and she says flying is best feeling ever. She also said that if you just believe in your dreams and work hard for it you will get there eventually. Us being able to talk to her was very inspirational and made us want to work harder as students and get good grades so that we are able to have a good career that we like and not because we are asked to do so or because there were not other choices. After talking to Sharifah Czarena Suryani Hj Hashim we went back onto debate and resolutions just like we did on the first day. During debates however, there was a surprise crisis, where a situation is brought in hand and delegates would have bring about a few operative clauses to solve the problem that is going on live. This engages the delegates mind and makes them think more for the resolution. A person from year 13 then came in dressed like the ambassador of Iran and took any questions that were required to solve the situation. I think that the Crisis was very good because puts delegates on the spot and really tests their ability to solve certain situations. it After debates, we went to the front entrance of the ICC and took a group photo with all the delegates, teachers, and helpers where the photo's would b
e sold the next day.
Day 3 (General Assembly)
On the Final day of BGIC, the passed resolutions from the different committee get passed on to the GA. All the delegates from Forum 1 go to one room and all the delegates for Forum 2 go to another room. There would be about 100 people in each forum. In the GA there are more stronger delegates debating so therefore there would
be more debate going on. Most resolutions fail during GA because since there are many people, there are a lot of different opinions and thoughts about the resolution. During the GA the same procedures are taken on like a normal debate. It is more intense in the GA because there are better delegates speaking for and against the resolution so therefore it is harder to decide whether to speak against or for the resolution. Over all i think that BGIC has built up my confidence in speaking and also
made me a risk taker. Before BGIC i was scared to talk and shy but after BGIC i would be able to easily make new friends and also talk with more of a confidence to people and to the public. But this is not it. At night we got to go to the Empire Base where we had a party and celebrated all the hard work and effort put into BGIC. This was very fun because the Base is amazing and we could also dance and eat inside the base. BGIC was a great experience for me and i wish i could do it again another year.Service: 15 hours
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