An open letter to AIESEC in Malaysia

Dearest home entity,

My name is Xiaotian. In the flow of 55 years that you exist, I will be a mere lingering soul that was lighted by you in a span of three years - but it is this light that I will carry on for the rest of my life. In the flow of 55 years that you have existed, I was fortunate enough to spend my university years building the dream I dreamt for you, showered by bliss and blessings as I carried the torch I attained after working so hard for it.

People, including myself, questioned why AIESEC needs to exist in our home chapter. What is the relevance of this entity towards our youth? Why do we put so much effort into making things successful? It’s always good to question because questions like this show how much we care and how we wish to continuously stay relevant towards society. That is my dream for you, AIESEC in Malaysia.

I’ve once thought long and hard about the dreams and drive I’ll do and achieve if I was ever elected to preside over the organisation. What will I ever do if ever fortunate to pass the election and sit on the role to lead the youth of the entity? I want to build a generation of youth critical and independent enough to internalise thought processes and figure out their WHYs before conducting any WHAT or HOW. That is my dream for you, AIESEC in Malaysia.

With the slowdown and declining numbers we experience annually, I questioned our projects' impact. I questioned our relevance, I questioned our drive, I questioned our strategies. And so I formulated my thoughts to reinvigorate relevance, to refresh the place with new eagerness and keenness, to bring about performance, and trajectory growth that inclines alongside our impact and relevance. That is my dream for you, AIESEC in Malaysia.

There are reasons why contracts here last for a year and nothing more. Why elections are held annually. To uphold and reinvigorate your relevance and reassess your skills and mindset. Do you have what it takes to continue or step up? Are you able to sustain the youth power year after year? I hope we can push for youth to see the strength I’ve seen, I hope we can remind people of the importance of progression and relearn our reflections as we progress. That is my dream for you, AIESEC in Malaysia.

I wish to stay. I wish to be a part of you to shape the next generation. I wish to see you thrive, I wish to be a part of the performance, and I wish to be part of the reasons. There has never been a time I’ve been so selfish and selfless with my relevances, and I’ve exerted all of my dreams to you with my current capacity to contest the presidential role, of which I failed.

I thought I could accept failure as it comes - yes I did, accepted, and learned; but it still stings. It still pains me to remember my strategies are no longer needed, that my dreams are not going to be part of the 55th year and that I won’t be here and can only watch from afar.

Dearest AIESEC in Malaysia, I have so much ownership to you I intended to forgo my selfish reasons for experience in a different country. I have so much ownership to the extent if I ever apply for your Vice President, I believe I will choose to apply for the President role, again. And because I know what I will do, I am unable to consciously make a decision that will put me in a spot in the future. I have steps planned out, and while going at it again seems like a feasible direction, I wish to challenge the unknown and step into the newer paths I've envisioned myself countless nights after the 28th of January.

Dearest AIESEC in Malaysia, I will miss you so much. I will miss being a part of the delegation, miss being here and being with the warmth I grew up with in university, and miss all the times I proudly shout my LC name and all the commissions I am a part of. I’m writing this for you, for all the well wishes I have, and for all the unrealisable dreams I will regret lifelong. But in all, know that I will always wish you well, will always support you from afar, aspiring to be like all the seniors and friends I know who will come back on a whim wherever you need us.

Yours AIESECly,

Xiaotian Gan

20.21 OCYXP GFGI IGV

20.21 Sales Member iGTa

21.22 LCVP iGTa

21.22 OCP AUM Virtual Run

2021 OC SE and Logistics MyLDS

21.22 EST B2B Marketing

22.23 LCP AUM

2023 OCVP SE WNC