John Kao
Dear TAIMUN XXIII participants,
It is my honor to welcome you to the 23rd annual Taiwan Model United Nations conference. Each and every one of our team members have been working tirelessly in the past months in order to bring this event to fruition. Not only that, our wise advisor Ms. Moye has been incessantly guiding us to where we are now. You are what really empowers me to give this conference my all.
I would like to specially thank Curtis, my deputy, for your help throughout this year. We started the very first week after the previous TAIMUN concluded, and you have been with me every step of the way. I can say with absolute confidence that to have you by my side is the best choice I have made this year, by far. Your sense of responsibility, thoughtfulness and charisma is something I have come to love and depend on. I hope we can make TAIMUN an unforgettable memory to share for the both of us.
I would also like to show my genuine appreciation for Joshua. Following the initial interview, you continue to impress me time after time with your brilliant ideas, deep insights, and your positive attitude. Although I silently dread your harsh critiques, you recognize subtle nuances in places where I don’t even know to look. Our conference wouldn’t be the same without you.
Unlike other enthusiasts, I didn't really enjoy Model United Nations when I first tested out the waters in middle school. To me, it didn’t seem real enough. Amendments passed without harsh consequence, violent countries became benevolent donors and impossibilities in the real world were commonplace. It didn’t feel right.
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Secretary General
As I continued my journey to understand more about this foreign, unfamiliar world I live in, my fears were proven to be right. World leaders continue to kill off lives without a second thought, while much of the public stays blissfully ignorant. While thousands are abandoned in homelessness and poverty, some of the privileged continue to perpetuate cycles of inequality and abuse. Millions of people live lives of constant hardship, ones that I cannot even attempt to comprehend.
Looking at this world filled with wars, adversity and overwhelming hatred, I can’t help but feel a little hopeless. It’s fractured, along country borders and demographics, along our divisions and conflicts. Cacophonies of resentment echo across shores, further amplified by the ever-accumulating xenophobia and apathy.
Back then, it seemed like Model United Nations served only as a rose-tinted lens to the real world, but now I finally understand that it provides something way more valuable: hope. Although these conferences repeatedly romanticize the state of our splintered world, it embodies our hopes and wishes of a brighter future. Seeing the shine in the eyes of delegates while they propose, debate, understand and unify is truly something I have come to cherish.
In these three days, embrace the idealism this conference has to offer. No matter how dystopian this world may be, I implore you to face it with dreams of a better future.
This is the true purpose of TAIMUN:
To find beauty while surrounded by our flaws, to find compromise between our disputes,To find harmony in our fractured world.
With love,
John Kao
Secretary General
Taiwan Model United Nations, 23rd Session
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Honorable Secretariats, Directors, Chairs, Delegates, and Guests,
Welcome to the twenty-third annual session of the Taiwan Model United Nations. I am Curtis Shih, a current sophomore studying at American School in Taichung, and I will be serving as the Deputy Secretary General for TAIMUN XXIII. TAIMUN has always had a special place in my heart; I remember being a young third grader, gazing and pondering at the committee flags being hung up on buildings, the colorful country flags on our school entryway, and the professional-looking high schoolers that roam around the campus. I am glad I am now able to answer to my younger self what MUN truly is, and I hope you can too.
First and foremost, I would like to extend my most profound gratitude to my amazing advisor, Ms. Laura Moye, for her unwavering guidance and support throughout my MUN journey. Thank you for your constant encouragement and thoughtful insights, they have been invaluable. I am truly grateful for the profound impact you have had on my growth and development, not only in MUN but in high school as well, helping shape me into the person I am today. Not only that, thank you for devoting tens of hundreds of hours to this conference, it has truly been an honor to have you by my side.
Our theme for TAIMUN this year, “Bringing Harmony to a Fractured World,” addresses the discordant issues confronting our globe today, as well as the required pathways that must be followed to reach harmonious solutions. Over the past few decades, the world has seen
Curtis Shih
unparalleled levels of division and inequality, triggering major conflicts resulting in numerous consequences. As leaders of this world, we must collaborate, evoke heated debates, and indulge in all things necessary to achieve the ultimate goal: unanimity and concord. These two components can ensure peaceful pathways to future growth and allow our world to head towards prosperity and tranquility.
Piecing back our fractured world is not a simple task, it requires a hard but impactful action, stepping out of one’s comfort zone. Amid this world full of terror, conflict, strife, and arrogance, conventional solutions are of no use. What the world needs are innovative and bold solutions, driven by individuals fueled with courage and creativity. So, do not be afraid to propose solutions that have never been presented before, and do not be frightened of being the one with strange ideas. Instead, be the change, be the change our fractured world desperately needs.
Lastly, I hope that this TAIMUN conference, whether it is your first or last, will be memorable and full of rich experiences. I hope that the knowledge and friendships you gain within this large community will help enrich your high school experience and lifelong career. Having a good mindset is key, and I can assure you that it will also help make your MUN experiences more meaningful and enjoyable. See you all in March.
Best regards,
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Curtis Shih
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Deputy Secretary-General
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Taiwan Model United Nations, 23rd Session
Dear honorable chairs, directors, delegates, and most esteemed guests,
Our warmest welcome to the twenty-third session of Taiwan Model United Nations!
I am Joshua Roh, a junior at Taipei European School. Working alongside John and Curtis, it is beyond my honor to participate in this conference as a Deputy Secretary-General with such a capable team. Being my third Secretariat experience, I am grateful to have come this far on my MUN journey; I will work my utmost to instill the same passion in delegates that brought me where I am today.
MUN extends far beyond developing transferable skills and networking with other students. Sure, those are rewarding aspects of MUN: the rush that comes along with a raised placard, the collective satisfaction at a passed resolution, and the warm, lasting inter-school friendships. There are countless more reasons MUN has brought color and meaning to my high school life like no other extracurricular. Yet perhaps, the most important reason is that it taught me the importance of compromise.
Our world is fractured with the cracks of inequity, unilateralism, and entrenched divisions. We are seeing more and more vetoes in the Security Council. More and more abstentions on General Assembly resolutions. The looming threat of climate change ensnares the world in a global prisoner’s dilemma. With the growing Global North-South rift, disillusionment with unrepresentative and anachronistic international systems seems inevitable. On a more individual level, social media echo chambers continue to pull us further away into the opposing ends of the spectrum.
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Deputy Secretary General
Joshua Roh
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Amidst these divides, what is the best way forward? This is the question we want to pose to the delegates of TAIMUN XXIII. It seems like a pattern in all conferences where the delegates of the Permanent Five argue about fundamental beliefs, form rival blocs, and work hard to fail each other’s resolutions. Perhaps this is reality. Nonetheless, I want to emphasize to all delegates that the United Nations exists on the basis of collaboration and compromise. Without this central principle, it is impossible to foster the spirit of mutual respect and harmony as envisioned after the Second World War.
At the end of the day, I often question whether MUN is just a group of privileged students engaging in performative roleplay. I wonder if it really does have any impact on the bleak outlook of the world, on the horrors and injustices we observe from afar. Most opportunities for change seem far beyond our reach, accessible only through simulation.
It may be naive, but I believe MUN can subtly change the world. We have to believe. For it is those who step out of our bubble, who open our eyes to the world, that can truly drive change. It must be those who are fortunate enough to watch from the sidelines that overcome this collective apathy and piece the world back together.
The conference will end with a list of solutions that will never be used. But there is something more enduring, more invaluable, that will remain in each of you. I believe the dreams for a harmonious world will live on as you become our future chairs, conference organizers, leaders, and policymakers.
Let us be united with our passion and belief in MUN, not divided.
With hope,
Joshua Roh
Deputy Secretary-General
Taiwan Model United Nations, 23rd Session