The 3^rd Hitachi Young Leaders Initiative (HYLI) was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, between May 31^st and June 4^th, 1999, bringing together twenty-four talented student delegates from Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. The Initiative is a regional forum developed by Hitachi three years earlier, with the goal of making a commitment to identifying and nurturing the potential young leaders of Asia.

HYLI 1999 Student Delegates’ Learning Journey

The theme for this year’s program, "Leading Dynamic Asia into the New Global Age," was designed to deepen the student delegates' insights into issues facing Asia in the areas of education, economic development, and social welfare. About 400 guests attended the event, including key public figures and renowned speakers from the region. The student delegates worked in three workshop groups to address the following sub-themes:

• 1) Strategies for social welfare
• 2) Strategies for education
• 3) Strategies for economic development

The event culminated in the following collective Visions and Recommendations for Asia.

Strategies for Social Welfare
The young leaders of Asia shared a vision of a society where everyone:

• Has the opportunity to grow and reach their full potential as individuals while retaining a sense of responsibility for society; is socially conscious, creative, a critical thinker, and a transformative figure.
• Is self-reliant and unoppressed.
• Has the initiative and desire to improve themselves.
• Is adaptable and flexible in facing a changing and dynamic world.

Strategies for Education
Education is the foundation of global competitiveness. The educational system can be enhanced through:

• Making education a national priority and ensuring commitment to reform from the highest levels of government.
• Expanding vocational and non-formal educational alternatives to meet the diverse career needs of the population.
• Enhancing the appeal of the teaching profession to attract top talent, such as by restructuring salary schemes.
• Introducing English as a core subject from an early stage.
• Providing intra-Asia exchange and scholarship programs.
• Implementing a ranking system for schools and universities to foster excellence.
• Fostering national pride, identity, and loyalty to create a local environment that attracts and retains talent.

Strategies for Economic Development
The student delegates envisioned Asia entering a new era of growth and sustainable development through Asian Unity, achieved by fostering cooperation between governments and the private sector. This includes enhancing the region's influence on globalization. Delegates urged Asian economies to support less-developed nations, balancing profitability with economic responsibility by improving human capital management, strengthening environmental awareness, and restructuring financial and non-financial sectors to empower SMEs.

Community work

Leadership in service to the community has always been an integral part of the HYLI. The community work collaboration with MINDS (Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore) was an opportunity to put the young leaders to the true test of leadership. Over the course of two days, the Community Work Project helped the student delegates better understand that caring for society's less fortunate is part of the responsibilities of a good leader.

Moreover, the HYLI team, in partnership with the Petaling Jaya local council (MPPJ) and WWF, hosted an overnight camp at Bukit Gasing, offering young leaders talks on environmental forest regeneration in Kuala Lumpur's greenbelt.