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NATION

THE STAR, TUESDAY 17 NOVEMBER 2009

Become the leader yourself

Take matters into own hands if you truly believe in change, Geldof urges youths
By NIKI CHEONG
and SHARMILA NAIR
newsdesk@thestar.com.my
PUTRAJAYA: If leaders do
not respond to your ideas of
change, then you must become
the leader yourself.
These were the wise words
of LiveAid and Live8 founder
Bob Geldof, who blew the
crowd away at the inaugural
Youth Engagement Summit
(YES 2009) in Putrajaya
International
Convention
Centre here yesterday.
In his talk, Geldof encouraged youths to commit themselves and move towards the
change they strongly believed in,
even if it meant taking matters into
their own hands.
Change can be good or bad, but it
is only good when it meets the need
and is balanced by the requirements
of society, he said in a friendly
advice to the 1,000 youth leaders
present.
The event brought together youth
representatives from all over South
East Asia with some of the most
motivational global change icons
including Twitter co-founder Biz
Stone and chess legend Garry
Kasparov.
You are representatives of very
intelligent people of your countries.
You may be going to universities or
colleges and that is your capability,

Niki is
tweeterific
this Wednesday

Tags: youth,
@biz, facebook

blog.rage.com.my

your talent. But who you are is very

different indeed, said Geldof.
When you marry what you are
capable of doing with who you are,
change begins, he opined.
Geldof urged the youngsters to
return to their homes and do what
they could to benefit their societies.
You must remember to discuss
your ideas of change with your leaders. If they dont respond, you must
become the leader yourself, he
stressed.
Biz Stone said Twitter was not just
for people who had a lot of time on
their hands.
It can be a powerful tool for
social responsibility, he added.
One of his companys main priorities in developing the brand was to

Meeting of young minds: Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, or @biz, in his element as he addresses some
1,000 young leaders at the Youth Engagement Summit (YES2009) in Putrajaya yesterday. More than 10
global change icons, including Live Aid founder Bob Geldof (bottom left) and former World Bank managing
director Dr Mamphela Ramphela spoke on the opening day of the two-day summit. See Page 10 Bernama
associate it with social innovation,
he told the young leaders.
We didnt want to only do it
when we become successful, but we
wanted the culture to grow with us,
he said.
Stone also spoke about Twitter
habits, rating Prime Minister Datuk
Seri Najib Tun Razak a 10.

If hes already on Twitter, Id

rank him a 10, he said, adding that
different people may choose to use
the social media tool differently,
and advised them not to just wait
to Tweet only the interesting
things.
The other speakers are former
World Bank managing director Dr

Mamphela Ramphele, the first Indian

F1 driver Narain Karthikeyan, and
AirAsia Group CEO Datuk Seri Tony
Fernandes.
R.AGE is the media partner for
YES2009. Follow @thestar_rage
(www.twitter.com/thestar_rage) on
Twitter for live updates of the sessions and of the summit today.