Interviewing The Esteemed Chair Of The United Nations Committee Of Peaceful Uses Of Outer Space
The United Nations Committee of Peaceful Uses of Outer Space is a committee that aims for the betterment of outer space in future and is one of the most innovative and bounded to be a very influential committee in the near future. But to head and coordinate a committee of this importance required a group of high skilled people. Falling into the same category as Ocean’s Eleven, The Three Musketeers and The Expendables, is the three-man stack of Huspi Anwar (Head chair), Jason Ong (Assistant chair) and David (Assistant chair). Huspi Anwar is a final year student in the course of International Relations in the University of Indonesia, while Jason Ong is a twenty-year-old student that just got out of high school and David is a student that lives in Vietnam and is going to join Seoul National University later this year. All of three of the executive board members have a multitude of MUN’s under their belts and are head over heels prepared to guide and coordinate this conference.
Q. After two sessions of packed and organised committee discussion, how satisfied are you with the committee and rate them out of 1-10.
Jason: I would give this committee a decent seven, because while I enjoy listening to debate, I hate network issues.
David: If I had to rate this committee, I would give it an eight, because the delegates are well prepared and since this is my first time as a chair on a council with more than forty delegates, I am impressed by how the delegates are able to communicate their stances on the topic.
Huspi: Eight actually, because the delegates are well prepared and they are aware of the fundamentals of a committee and due to that we don’t have to give them too much prior training. I am also grateful that I have Jason and David as they can help coordinate the meeting even when I am facing the issues and because of all this I am satisfied.
Q. The militarisation and weaponisation of space has been a point of focus ever since the space race. Could you give me your perspectives and stances on the topic?
David: First of all I’m happy that the committee has discussed and got over the topic and difference of what weaponisation and militarisation is. If I were a delegate, I would focus on the laws that govern space weapons such as the kinetic energy weapon and also to create laws on weapons that can cause mass destruction to all other spacecrafts. I would also like to implement the restriction of collateral damage in space weapons just like shown in for example how tanks which can cause collateral damage in an area are restricted not to.
Jason: Before I talk about my stance on this topic, I would like to express my definitions of weaponisation and militarisation. Weaponisation is basically the conversion of assets into weapons while militarisation is the allowing the military to use the satellites for military purposes such as recon. I believe that militarisation is important and necessary while weaponisation is unnecessary. Militarisation is a means of development that will be inevitable in the future and will help us fight and solve wars.
Q. In your opinion, what makes a great delegate?
David: A great delegate is one that is able to bring up strong points, has the ability to lead the argument, able to form blocks with other delegates and who is able to lobby delegates. The delegate must also be able to help other new delegates and help them learn how the committee works as being able to teach someone is an amazing thing to do.
Q. The rise of the Corona Virus has affected the whole of humanity and has forced NTUMUN 2021 to be conducted online. What were the complications and difficulties faced during the MUN and how did you overcome it?
Jason: Other than the preexisting network issues we face, the functioning and working of ‘Gatherly’ is confusing and sometimes hard because of how it’s very new to us. It does take all of us sometime to understand how it works and also sometimes when we broadcast, the network just crashes. Yeah, but that’s about it, there are no other problems other than that.
Q. As we talked before, the Covid 19 pandemic has affected us all in numerous ways with the introduction of lockdown. How has this impacted you?
Jason: What do you mean by impacted?
Alex: Impacted as in your health, for example I gained a lot of weight.
Huspi: It’s safe to say we have all gained weight, my mother feeds me so much food now. But in terms of MUNs it has been a benefit actually as beginners have the opportunity to experience a fraction of how MUNs are and helps them anticipate and prepare for an offline version of it. So in that regard it is very helpful
