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Co-organized by Shaw College at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and The National University of Malaysia, the inaugural 'World Youth Leaders Forum' (WYLF) was successfully held recently. With the theme 'Re-shaping the Post-crisis World Order', WYLF invited almost 70 young leaders from over 10 countries and places to exchange views and enhance cross-cultural understanding and friendship. It also marked the grand finale of Shaw College's silver jubilee celebration. 

The opening ceremony of WYLF was officiated by Prof. Joseph J.Y. Sung, Vice-Chancellor of CUHK; Prof. Yeung Yue-man, Convenor of Organizing Committee of WYLF; Dr. Lam Kin-chung, Advisor of the Organizing Committee and Patron of WYLF; Prof. Dato' Dr. Laily bin Din, Director, Alumni Relations Office, The National University of Malaysia; and Prof. Andrew C. F. Chan, Head of Shaw College. Prof. K.C. Chan, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, was invited as the keynote speaker to share his insights into 'Reshaping the Post-crisis World Order' from an economic perspective. He offered some key observations on Chinese and Western economic development and his analysis on Hong Kong's role and direction under the world's new economic order. The keynote speaker on the second day of forum, Mr. Ronnie Chan, Chairman of Hang Lung Group, addressed the theme from a political perspective. With his in-depth understanding of global current affairs, Mr. Chan analysed the new global political order, arousing heated discussions among the participating young leaders. Prof. Lui Tai-lok from the Department of Sociology, The University of Hong Kong, was the keynote speaker on the last day. He led the participants to think about the rationality of certain social phenomena from historical and social perspectives. 

Twenty-seven young leaders from 34 tertiary institutions around the world, including Harvard University and Miami University in the US, University of Ottawa in Canada, The University of Manchester in the UK, Nagoya University in Japan and Peking University in China, presented their papers on various economic, political and social sub-themes during the 3-day forum. Topics included 'The Relationship Between Financial Crisis and Credit Rating Agencies', 'Fair Trade', and 'The Reform of International Monetary Fund and World Bank'. Another 40 young leaders also expressed their views on the theme with innovative poster designs and enjoyed fruitful discussions.

To conclude the forum, a farewell dinner was held in Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, Sha Tin. Highlights of the evening included the presentation of The Best Paper Awards and The Best Poster Awards to 10 brilliant young leaders, as well as a series of cultural performances such as Mongolian dance and musical performance. The cheerful singing performance given by the delegation of The National University of Malaysia was highly acclaimed by all guests and won the Best Cultural Performance Award. 

Shaw College will hold the second 'World Youth Leader Forum' next year to offer a platform for young leaders worldwide to exchange views on various global and regional topics, realizing its vision to help students develop global perspective.