SMU Assistant Professor of Political Science Clara Portela was one of the speakers at the opening ceremony of the Model Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Singapore 2015, held at NUS on April 10 to 12. Model ASEM, a youth conference and simulation of the actual biennial ASEM Summit, aimed to promote better understanding of the ASEM among the youth, and gave Singaporean and international students the opportunity to enhance their knowledge about Asia-Europe relations, fine-tune their public speaking, negotiation and consensus-building skills while taking on the roles of the political leaders of the ASEM Members. SMU student Eoin EE said: “Model ASEM gave us the chance to better understand the diverse and dynamic nature of Asia-Europe relations. It was a stimulating experience made more enjoyable by the chance to have met and made friends with so many other participants who represent that very diversity.”