From Parami’s learning, thinking to framing stories in ASEAN

Myat Moe Kywe, with other participants from ASEAN for the People’s Week Program

For Myat Moe Kywe from Class of 2026, writing has always been more than just a skill; it has been a way of making sense of the world around her. Her interests lie in asking critical questions about both domestic and global politics, as well as broader social issues, often trying to understand them from different disciplines as a liberal arts student. From this classroom’s interest, she recently brought these questions to the regional space and shared the experiences she learned along the journey. 

Myat recently participated in ASEAN for the People’s Week, organized by the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia and held alongside the ASEAN Summit in Cebu, Philippines.

The program, running from 4–8 May 2026, brought together policymakers, civil society actors, business representatives, and youths from across Southeast Asia to reflect on the idea of a more people-centered ASEAN. 

ASEAN for the People’s Week helped Myat see how important it is to bring those big conversations closer to people’s real lives. “It made me think more about how writing can turn policy discussions into stories people can actually relate to, showing not just what ASEAN decides, but how those decisions affect communities, young people, and ordinary lives across the region,” said Myat.

Beyond the workshops, the conversations with participants from across ASEAN stood out to her for their insight into how interconnected the region is despite its diverse political, social, and economic contexts. Speaking face-to-face with fellows across other ASEAN member states and hearing their lived realities, she noted, carried far more weight than simply reading headlines or an academic paper.

She found herself reflecting on how often regional conversations can feel distant from everyday life, and how important it is to bridge that gap by centering people’s experiences. She stressed that “Being in a space where those realities were openly shared made ASEAN feel less like an abstract institution and more like a network of communities facing overlapping challenges.”

Reflecting on the experience, Myat shared: “It was mind-blowing to see how different we are as ASEAN, but how we share the same problems when it comes to the limited conversations to center people in the decision-making.”

What stayed with her most was the realization that understanding a region like ASEAN requires not only policy knowledge but also the ability to listen to different perspectives and sit with complexity. The conversations reminded her that asking critical questions, whether about politics or society, often begins with listening to how people experience those systems in their own lives.

As a student at Parami University, Myat continues to see writing as a way of engaging with those questions more thoughtfully. Experiences like ASEAN for the People’s Week have strengthened her interest in exploring how regional and global issues are understood from the ground up, and how those perspectives can shape more people-centered conversations moving forward.

This reflection also connects back to her early experience at Parami University, where a language and thinking workshop first shaped her approach to questioning and reflection. 

She continues to apply those early skills from the classroom to regional spaces like ASEAN for the People’s Week, using critical thinking, listening, and writing to better understand the complex issues shaping the region and the people within it.