A very special interview with the Youth Leader (YL) from SSEAYP 2004.  Check out things we never know before about  her +  special messages to all LPYs 2004

Vandasay Dejvongsa ( NOY)

(LPY 2004)

NOY, YL 2004

   Sabaidee NOY and thank you for taking the time to let us interview you. Many things we want to know more about you and your batch. Shall we start the interview ...

1)      First of all, Could you please tell us something about yourself?

  I'm Vandasay Dejvongsa. Nickname is Noy (you might be saying ... another Noy!! ... I know... huh) I graduated from RMIT, Melbourne, Australia, majoring in Software System Engineering. I graduated at the end of the year 2002. Right now I'm working at Cyberia - the best IT solution provider in Laos :) I'm working as a programmer and an IT consultant. I really love what I do and the place that I work. Every day, every project, there's always something new to learn. Apart from work, I love watching movies, listening to music, reading novels (love story and fantasy) I think they give me food for thought, entertainment and relaxation at the same time. My favourite sport would be swimming, 'cause it doesn't make me sweat :p I’m usually very quiet but friendly and caring when you get to know me :)

   Well, when I first knew, I was sooo excited. I’ve heard so much about the program from friends who joined in the year 1998, and I was really determined to make it this year before I get too caught up, with many other things in my life, to go. Also, there are many of my habits I’d like to get them cured, like quietness and shyness, and I like to bring back my self confidence that seemed to have drifted off somewhere.

   I’ve actually got a lot of expectations for SSEAYP this year, having heard so much about it, though the pictures are still very blurry. I hope I make some good friends during the program and I’d like to see all the beautiful scenery and places in the countries that we’re visiting. I think traveling helps people opening up their minds to accept differences from what they’ve seen, known and believed to be true. I guess it’s good in a way that the picture of SSEAYP 2004 is still very vague, so there are still some excitements for us to look forward to.

  Sometimes it feels like we’re on course with the schedule and want to take it easy, things will fold out fine, but sometimes it feels like time flies too fast, it’s scary and we’re in a panic mode. Well, ok, what we’ve done so far are practicing all the performances and cheers, preparing our paper for discussion, preparing gifts, outfits, and things for exhibitions, our profiles. I think that’s it, in general. My roles in Lao PYs are YL and Discussion leader.

   Hm, good question :) I think this is important. Time practicing in the Lao Youth Union is not enough for all of us to get to know each other that well. So whenever we can, we usually arrange something that we can do together like dinner, (and sometimes dance afterwards :), a birthday party, a concert, public events like Miss LUX contest, excursions to different places (e.g DonKoi Child Development Centre, Nikone Handicraft and Kaysone Museum). And a very special coming up activity is camping in Vangvieng in the weekend (kindly sponsored by Thavonsouk Resort and Wildside) I think this is gonna be great, so that all of us can experience the real nature of Laos first hand, and actually spend more time together before leaving.

    Definitely, any comments, stories, descriptions about the ship and things that happen on board helped us a lot to understand SSEAYP better. Even though, I can say that we were still not very clear about the whole program at first, things became clearer when we were more into it and more ex-PYs came and talked about different things. I think what all ex-PYs have done so far is great already, and on behalf of my batch, I’d like to thank every ex-PY for finding time in their busy schedule to come and help us. Any comments or suggestions have been and are most valued.

　

  This year discussion topic is made specific to Education in many aspects. My topic is ‘Chile stress and juvenile delinquency in school’ which covers some of the causes of stress in children and teenagers, the effects of the stress and the solutions to ease the stress. I think this is a very important issue in every country. Because children are the future of a country, they’re the most significant group of people who need to be properly educated. If I were to raise a serious problem causing from stress in children, it would be committing suicide, which I believe is not the right way out. Children should be taught to open up their mind, see the world in many different ways, so they might be able to see a solution to their problem.

  This is gonna be long.  If you ask me to describe, I’d have to describe each of them, because they’re all different and special. I guess the most interesting characteristics about our batch would be most of us are young, but packed with talents. Headed by our NL, Ai Yangpao, we’ve got the most popular stars right now like Kai and Dona from OverDance and ModernDance, who never stop to amaze me with all their talents on stage. Bee, our AYL, or I’d like to call him Mr. ‘Can Do’. He just can do any thing. Sometimes I’d like to split him into many Bees, so we can get many things done quickly and perfectly. The more calm and subtle group of people are Ai Ek, Ai Phet, Non, and Kouang who are like still water runs deep. They usually come up with useful suggestions, especially in formal occasions. Next is Alma, whose sincerity and kindheartedness makes him even better looking, to us and, I’m sure, anyone surrounded him. Now I think most of you will agree with my vote for Pok to be our Miss LPY 2004 for her gorgeous looking and beautiful smile and Vanh to receive our award for she is the smartest girl of her age I’ve ever met. Our lovely Tina is a very creative young person added with a little bit of shyness just to make her even cuter. To go with Mr. Can Do, we also have Miss Can Do! Koung is an attractive girl, who doesn’t have just a pretty face, but full of abilities traditional Lao girls should possess. Bee and Ta are two other beautiful girls who are filled with self confidence and always help me with my dancing (I can’t really dance). Vivi is another interesting person with good look and beautiful smile, but she doesn’t often smile, especially when on camera. Next are Ai Inpome and Keava. If we’re talking about dedication and sincerity, no body has more than these two. Khampanh and Kham are another two of our very active members who have helped a lot of our preparations done. We’ve also got our duo musicians To and Sinh who I’m sure will keep us entertained during our trips. The last guy in our group is Kot, who’s sometimes very funny. I guess this is one of the mood of an artist, because Kot is very good at drawings. The next group of our princesses are Sanh, Lulu, Mou and Ting who needless to say are special and loved by all of us. And now last by not least, we’ve got the adorable young Teeb, whom to me is the youngest sister in the batch.
　

    Well, as I already write too much, as a Youth Leader and on behalf of my LPYs, I’d like to say hi to all SSEAYP PYs this year. We’re looking forward to meeting you all and have a great time together. There will be things that you know better, and I hope that will be a chance that we all can learn from each other. This year is going to be great!!! For those who just stumble across, if you haven’t join SSEAYP yet, this would be the time. It will surely give you a once in a life time experience you’ll never forget.

　

 Thank you very much Noy for being our PY of August. We wish you and your batch the great success for this coming SSEAYP 2004.

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