IATSS Forum

A big hello to all fellow participants and IATSS staff! はじめまして (hajimemashite)! My name is Rabia and I am very honoured to be selected for the 57th IATSS Forum. I am excited just thinking about how the forum brought all of us together - as individuals from diverse cultures and backgrounds across the ASEAN region for this 55-day program. I believe the program will encourage us to be potential leaders and learn about one another's' cultures and empower us to be changemakers. We all now live in a hyper-connected world, where cultural borders have become indistinct with technological advances. Having a multinational team in the workplace is becoming a norm and it is therefore essential that leaders possess effective cultural intelligence. Through inter-culture interactions, one becomes more aware by experiencing the various cultures worldwide. I believe that this will be my valuable takeaway from the forum. I yearn for the immersion of Japanese culture as well as learning about the colourful cultures of ASEAN. I look forward to getting to know new friends through this forum and exchanging perspectives and passions we all bring from our home country. Through this IATSS Forum, I also hope to gain leadership experience and be more socially conscious, building my self-confidence, vision and wisdom. どうぞ よろしくおねがいします (douzo yoroshiku onegai shimasu) . がんばりましょう(ganbarimashou)!!! Can’t wait to see you all soon!

Just one word to describe IATSS Forum – “transformational”. Here’s why… IATSS Forum program delves deeper into the insights from personal and professional leadership. It provides a rare opportunity for participants to not only build up their leadership skills but also have a profound understanding and intimate knowledge of our world, our people and the impending issues that need to be addressed. I personally enjoyed IATSS Forum’s “Thinking and Learning Together” motto. It emphasizes that cooperation with others is vital to develop a new perspective; to leverage on each other’s strengths and support weaknesses to achieve a common goal. During the 55-day program, the intelligent exchange of dialogues with all the participants allowed me to become more involved in social activism and mature as an individual in order to be a successful person before a successful leader. I also believe that my learning takes place and the lifelong relationships that are formed with the staff members, the faculty, fellow participants, and volunteers enhanced this journey – here is where I learned the value of solidarity. This valuable lesson brought about my personal liberation; knowing that I have learned how to reason, be self-aware, formulate ideas and retain valuable knowledge, and to discover myself. Now that I have returned home, I will continue on my quest to put what I’ve learned in Japan into practise. Shall not do the ‘talk the talk’ but ‘walk the walk’… Oh my gosh! I could write loads of pages full of memories that connect me to IATSS Forum and Japan. I have been blessed to be chosen as the 57th batch participant – it opened up a bridge to a different world and allowed me to see that whatever your dreams may be, they are not that difficult to achieve. So batch 58th, embrace this learning journey and have fun! You will never regret it!