Because at Swinburne Sarawak, they are already making it happen.
At Swinburne Sarawak, inspiration unfolds every single day. Instead of waiting for someone else to solve the world’s challenges, our students step up and take action. They show that young people are more than just ‘leaders of tomorrow’. Our students are showing that they’re already changemakers shaping our communities today.
This year’s International Youth Day theme, “Local Youth Actions for the SDGs and Beyond,” couldn’t be more relevant to what we see happening on our campus every single day. While global leaders talk about the Sustainable Development Goals in boardrooms and conference halls, our students are rolling up their sleeves and making real change happen in their own communities.
Events like GradX gives students the opportunity to present their work to the public and network with potential employers
Innovation That Actually Matters
Take our Young Investor Challenge, for example. Organised in collaboration with Bursa Young Investors Club (BYIC), this is not just another competition. The Young Investor Challenge is a real test of how students can think about sustainable finance and smart investment strategies that actually matter for our future.
What’s really exciting is seeing how our students develop skills that no textbook can teach. Skills like strategic thinking needed to solve complex financial puzzles, the resilience to bounce back when their first pitch doesn’t land perfectly, and the kind of critical thinking that asks “How can we invest in ways that benefit everyone?” instead of just “How can we make the most money?”
Events such as GradX2025 further showcase the abilities of the Swinburne Sarawak student community. Given the right platforms, students are taking these innovative ideas to the public and applying what they learned to real-world challenges.
Beyond Swinburne’s Campus Walls
But here’s where it gets really interesting. Our students don’t just stay within university walls. Through various community engagement programs such as this, they’re out there working with local communities, sitting down with village leaders, collaborating with government representatives, and actually listening to what people need.
Such initiatives are not about these young people thinking they know better than everyone else. It’s about bringing fresh perspectives to old challenges while respecting the wisdom and experience of community elders and leaders.
When our students work on projects in rural Sarawak or urban Kuching, they’re not just gaining experience but also building bridges between generations and creating solutions that actually work for the people who need them most.
Leadership in Action
Walk around our campus and you’ll see leadership development happening everywhere – in our clubs and societies, student organizations, and collaborative projects. These are not just resume builders for our students. The Student Life Volunteering Program (SLVP), among others, is a training ground for the kind of leadership our student communities need.
In Swinburne Sarawak, student-led voluntarism projects are an annual event, such as the bubur lambuk preparation during the month of Ramadhan
When our students organize events, manage budgets, work through disagreements, and motivate their teammates, they’re developing skills that no amount of theoretical learning can provide. They’re learning that real leadership isn’t about being the loudest voice in the room. But that leadership is about bringing people together to solve problems that matter.
The Swinburne Sarawak Advantage
What makes Swinburne students special is their deep connection to Sarawak and its unique challenges and opportunities. Our students understand that global goals need local solutions. They know that what works in Kuala Lumpur might need to be completely reimagined for a longhouse community in rural Sarawak.
Through Swinburne’s industry-linked projects, students get hands-on experience tackling real issues – from designing renewable energy solutions for off-grid villages to developing sustainable tourism strategies that protect Sarawak’s biodiversity while creating income for local communities. Exposure to international exchange programs, internships with regional companies, and collaborations with government agencies equips them with both a global outlook and a grounded understanding of whatthe local communities truly need.
By working with government agencies such as Sarawak Biodiversity Centre, students learn to identify community needs and develop practical solutions to address them
This local knowledge, combined with their global education and fresh perspectives, creates something powerful. It shows that young people who can think globally but act locally in ways that genuinely make sense for their communities.
Celebrating Young Leaders
On International Youth Day 2025, we’re not just celebrating potential, we are celebrating action that’s already happening. Our students are the proof that you don’t need to wait until you’re “older and wiser” to start making a difference. They’re showing that the best solutions often come from people who are close enough to the problem to really understand it, but young enough to think differently in order to solve it.
Swinburne is confident the future of Sarawak, and beyond, is in good hands. Not because these young people we call our students will become leaders someday, but because they already are leaders today, driving change in ways that matter to the communities they care about most.