ABOUT 180 female students from eight countries gathered at Raffles' Girls School yesterday for a five-day convention designed to mould future women leaders.

The biennial Raffles Girls' School (RGS) International Convention for Youth Leaders will see the students from countries such as Australia, China, India, Malaysia and Vietnam attend talks by female diplomats, visit companies such as SingTel and go through psychoanalytical tests to uncover their leadership styles.

Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam was the guest-of-honour for the opening ceremony which was held yesterday at RGS.

He said that it is important for young people to understand other cultures in an increasingly-globalised world.

Anis Wahida Mohd Zainal Abidin, 15, is attending the convention with two schoolmates from Tunku Kurshiah College in Negri Sembilan, Malaysia.

She said: 'Many girls want to lead but don't have the confidence to do so. They feel intimidated because leadership positions are still mostly held by men. Through such conventions, we can meet other girls who want to lead and contribute to society and encourage one another.'

The convention was organised by a group of students from RGS and is being held for the second time.

AMELIA TAN

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Nov 18, 2008.