The sequel to that

I love my team :)

AIESEC Singapore MC 2007/2008

AIESEC Singapore 2007/2008
"Powering Forward"

(from left to right: Alvin Hong - LCP NTU, Tiang Ker Ying - MC Honorary General Secretary, Shubhangi Faujdar - LCP NUS, Mohamad Imran - MC Vice President External Relations, Sharon Tan - President, Visayon Viravong - MC Vice President Finance, Cheryl Chen - Branding and Communications Coordinator, Pamela Su - LCP SMU, Mayas Singh - MC Director of Programmes Outgoing Exchange, William Yang - Global Exchange Partnerships Coordinator)

my latest love...

The Sony VAIO SZ433N
Click HERE for a 3D view...

Dilbert and Information Systems

I love Dilbert :)

Good post

I read this on Nicholas' blog... very meaningful!

The Key to Escaping Toxic Motivation

Motivation can be split up between two different categories. The first is passionate motivation, this comes from craving to do something. The second is wealth motivation. Wealth motivation is craving to have something. The differences between the two may be subtle, but the impact is tremendous. One builds enthusiasm, while the other can be completely toxic.

The difference between these two drives is almost completely hidden. You can’t usually make a distinction from a written goal or mission statement. But the results are far apart. Passionately motivated people can easily overcome stress, pain and obstacles. Wealth motivated people are often frustrated, impatient and depressed at the slightest failure.

Wealth Motivation is Toxic

What is wealth motivation? It isn’t specifically being motivated by money. It simply means being motivated by outcomes over process. Wanting to be rich instead of being interested in earning money. Wanting a relationship instead of being interested in other people. Wanting a healthy body rather than being interested in healthy eating and exercise.

Wealth motivation isn’t, in itself, a bad thing. The problem is when it is used to disguise a lack of passionate motivation. When you aren’t intensely interested in the process, getting to the goal is going to be painful.

The best way to tell which type of motivation fuels you is to look at your goals and the pursuits required to reach them. Which draws you in more? Are you more interested in school or the degree? Are you more interested in running a business or being a successful businessperson?

Toxic Motivation Doesn’t Last

Wealth motivation might get you started, but it can’t finish the marathon. Every successful person I know got to where they are because they had at least some level of passionate motivation. Of the extremely successful people I know, passionate motivation is almost so high that it can often be hard to discern exactly what their external goals even are.

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

• Would you keep doing it even if eventual success was impossible?
• Would you keep doing it even if you couldn’t enjoy the rewards?
• Would you keep doing it even if failure was almost guaranteed?

How to Replace Toxic Drive With Enthusiasm

Just let go. The toxicity of your drive happens because you clutch onto it. The result has become so important to you that your willing to put up with the frustration, poison and pain that you have to go through to reach it. The first step (although certainly not the last) is simply to let go of this old drive.

When I used to run in track, our coach would explain that if you run up a hill lactic acids can build in your legs. It’s important to jog out the muscles a short time so that they won’t build up and cause problems later. I think sometimes the only way to get rid of a toxic drive is simply to jog it out. Get detached for awhile so you can begin fresh.

Win-Win or No Deal

Once you’ve detached from your goal, the only way you can create a healthy drive is to force an ultimatum. Either commit to finding a way to be wildly interested in the process AND the goal, or walk away from that area until you do.

Here are some applications you might want to use:

• Health - Don’t force yourself to get thin unless you can find an exercise, diet or health philosophy that you can become enthusiastic about.
• Money - Don’t try to earn more money unless you can find a process for making money that fascinates you.
• Work - Don’t do work that doesn’t make you passionate. If you can’t find passionate work do the bare minimum to survive and move up until you can find passionate work. Money can’t buy your soul.
• Relationships - Don’t force yourself to date, meet people or attract without becoming interested in other people.

Enthusiasm Hurts!

Passionate motivation doesn’t mean that everything you do should be easy or painless. Many of the things I love involve a lot of pain, challenge or scare the hell out of me. The point isn’t to have a pain free, relaxing stroll but to be involved in a process you are fascinated by and care about.

I’m not interested in being rich. I live a comfortable lifestyle and I could live on a minimum wage salary. Being a millionaire doesn’t motivate me. But the process of owning a business, investing, selling products and earning money does. I’m interested in becoming a millionaire, not being one.

Being interested isn’t the same as expecting ease. In fact, I probably wouldn’t be interested if I thought it were easy. It is because I expect it to be challenging that creates the drive.

A Drive for the Game

When you play a game, you are driven out of the fun of the play. The spirit of the game is what makes it worth playing, even if your goal is to win. In life you can also have strict goals, deadlines and objective results. But if you aren’t playing for a love of the game, you might as well quit because you aren’t playing at all.

Germs on my keyboard!! :)

1,617,840How Many Germs Live On Your Keyboard?

Happiness...

is fighting for Ice Cream with the team you love...

thanks for a great meeting, great dinner and great dessert session that day!!

What a Diwali that lights up my world!

Burn

turned on the radio to hear this song playing... for some reason it just seemed to speak to me...

in thoughtful mood these days...

--------------------------------------
Burn
by Tina Arena

Do you wanna be a poet and write
Do you wanna be an actor up in lights
Do you wanna be a soldier and fight for love
Do you wanna travel the world
Do you wanna be a diver for pearls
Or climb a mountain and touch the clouds above
Be anyone you want to be
Bring to life your fantasies
But I want something in return
I want you to burn, burn for me baby
Like a candle in my night
Oh burn
Burn for me
Burn for me
Are you gonna be a gambler and deal
Are you gonna be a doctor and heal
Or go to heaven and touch God's face
Are you gonna be a dreamer who sleeps
Are you gonna be a sinner who weeps
Or an angel
Under grace
Ill lay down on your bed of coals
Offer up my heart and soul
But in return
I want you to burn
Burn for me baby
Like a candle in my night
Oh burn burn for me burn for me
Yeah
Ooh
I want you to burn baby ooh
Laugh for me
Cry for me
Pray for me
Lie for me
Live for me
Die for me
I want you to burn
Burn for me baby
Like a candle in my night
Oh burn burn for me burn for me
Yeah
Ah yeah
I want you to burn
I want you to burn for me baby
Ohh yeah

I'm alive!

wow it's almost been 3 weeks since my last posting... so here's what's been happening since Oct 8, 2007

Charity Change Challenge 2007
The effort from the BEADS team paid off in their Charity Change Challenge on 11th October 2007, as they set the record in Singapore for the longest chain of coins. The event was aimed at raising awareness and funds around HIV/AIDS, a pertinent but under-exposed issue in Singapore that AIESEC has chosen to address. Good job to the team for this record!

AP HEROES Conference 2007
The 2nd HEROES Conference in history of Asia Pacific Growth Network, and now a formal and official GN conference! Also my first time facilitating at an actual AP conference :)
Heroes was from 18th to 21st October, and GN board was in KL, Malaysia since 15th Oct for meetings and preparation... Heroes prep took up quite a big chunk of time as well since my last blog update.. but it was a great experience... totally loved it!

hmm seems that aside from those 2 big events, I've just pretty much been busy with meetings and other usual AIESEC work stuff...

Some things that have been keeping me happy include:
- Conclusion of the ICX Killer Cup weeks, with lots of sales activity going on in the LCs, and which has translated into lots more raises!
- all in all, lots more results flowing in, and lots more on their way to come!
- Taekwondo training has been good... after finishing with grading, now the focus is around physical training and practising fundamentals of the different kicks... so far we have done a lot more legwork and even sparring... lots to learn still but totally enjoying it...

and yeah that's it for now.. I am starting to think my AIESEC journey posting will only be out in Dec, after NLDS cos that's the next break for now!

Lovely photo

Found this on Beatrice's blog

What a lovely photo of lovely people! :)

Taekwondo update

Went for my grading yesterday (Sunday) and am happy to say I am no longer a white belt! Have passed and gotten white belt with yellow tip... Next grading is about 3 months from now...

• 10th kup (white)
• 9th kup (white with yellow stripe)
• 8th kup (yellow)
• 7th kup (yellow with green stripe)
• 6th kup (green)
• 5th kup (green with blue stripe)
• 4th kup (blue)
• 3rd kup (blue with red stripe)
• 2nd kup (red)
• 1st kup (red with a black stripe)

The nine degrees (dans) of Black are organized into skill levels:

• 1st-3rd dan (Novice) with the title of Assistant Instructor (Boo-sabum)
• 4th-6th dan (Expert) with the title of Instructor (Sabum)
• 7th-8th dan (Master) with the title of Master (Sahyun)
• 9th dan (Grand Master) with the title of Grand Master (Saseong)

Latest "project" - My AIESEC Journey!

I was blog surfing around some of my fellow AIESECers' blogs.. both local and overseas ones.. and then it just came to me... this is my 5th year in AIESEC... and lots have happened... what would it look like to map that out and to tell that story?

so stay tuned! in the meantime, I need to start digging out some of my photos from younger days :)

Update update

Ok so I have been somewhat inactive on the blogging scene...

so what's happened since my last book reading marathon? Can't remember much really...

though some things that definitely stand out in memory include:

Meeting up with school friends
these people have been trying to book me since June/July but as most AIESECers know, that's like the busiest months with transition and planning, followed by the crazy period just before IC, the traveling to IC, then there was the craze with our National Induction Conference... yes I think you get the picture...

well things have moderated out since then (well kind of) so I've so far met with a group of high school classmates, and with a bunch of my Junior College training mates... been great to get back in touch with these people... pretty much talked about what's going on in life now that we've all graduated and are working... most people seem envious of my job even if it is quite different... think the opportunities for traveling, network and doing what I like at a kind of flexible working rate helped in that...

Getting fit again
Since studies are officially out of the way, and driven by the need not to get fat, flabby and decadent, I've signed up for Taekwondo classes... actually I joined the club in SMU which would make going to training easier once we officially move into our office which is located in the SMU underground... I just got back from my 2nd training actually... nice feeling to be a newie again... great feeling to be moving and stretching and getting back into shape... and definitely looking forward to more legwork and techniques to learn... not forgetting it's cool to meet new people outside of AIESEC :)

Doing AIESEC stuff
hey it's my job... of course it stands out in memory... been working quite a bit these days... even Saturdays are not spared (but I expected that when I signed up so it's cool)... but I'm enjoying the fact that now I'm more used to this full time thing, and am able to take time off on some weekday evenings to just chill and get away from work... been totally enjoying my Sundays as well since it's kind of reserved for my day off... definitely getting the hang of doing this full-time and still maintaining some sort of balance...

and that's what's been up these days... next travel stop will be KL, Malaysia in mid-October... looking forward to the makan sessions then...

Book Review!!

After getting hold of some discount vouchers at the book store, I treated myself to a book shopping spree...

Unfortunately, the 4 books were only enough to last me 3 days... but here's a quick review anyway...

A Child Called 'It' by Dave Pelzer

This is one amazing account of a boy's will to survive. Set in the 70s, it depicts the horrors of the author's childhood between the ages of 5 to 12 as he suffered, survived through and escaped from terrible abuse under his mentally deranged and alcoholic mother.

The Lost Boy by Dave Pelzer

This is the sequel to A Child Called 'It' and talks about his life as a teenager between 12 and 18 years growing up under the care of different foster homes and parents. The book depicts his struggles of fitting in with society, something he has never learnt as an abused child. Despite his terrible childhood, he is still constantly drawn to his mother and father in his quest for answers to the kind of life he had to deal with. The author also never fails to talk about his learning points and his determination to survive and do good in life.

A Man Named Dave by Dave Pelzer

The last book in the trilogy describes Dave in his adulthood as he starts his career in the air force. Determined to become a pilot, he works through countless challenges, starting as a cook and working his ass off before he got to where he wanted to be. As an adult, he has to deal with issues such as career, future, managing a relationship, marriage, fatherhood, divorce, while constantly still on a quest to get closer to his family and to find the answers to his childhood. In this book, he learns to forgive the atrocities committed by his mother onto him, he learns to love and open up and he finds his place in the world through a career as a speaker and helper around child abuse related issues.

All in all, the three books are written in an extremely real way... it's very real because the author reveals his emotions and thoughts in the way someone at that age would really do so... so it's not written from the perspective of "this happened back then and I reacted so" but more of "This is happening now and this is what I am thinking right now"... the issues brought up are also extremely real and pertinent, yet the author doesn't go overboard in self-pity or expounding the evil that he has witnessed in his life... Definitely a very inspiring set of stories that shows the power of love and the human spirit...

p.s. There's another book that I have bought and finished reading but the nature of that book is so different from this series by Dave Pelzer that I will save that book review for next time :)

Turkey photos with people in it!

The Turkey experience wouldn't have been as entertaining and enjoyable without the company of some wacky and spontaneously crappy people... :)

Us inside the Blue Mosque

Us having tasty Turkey lunch

Us at Cappadocia

Us taking a rest in one of the cave homes... we were visting this Greek cave city in Cappadocia that was destroyed by an Earthquake... the city was pretty much carved into the moutain side...

so we climbed all the way to the top of the mountain (more than 200m high for sure!) That's me, Cheryl and William sitting on the edge of the cliff... amazing view...

Us on top of the world at Capadocia

Us outside our hotel in Capadocia... the orange bag has a striking resemblence to Visayon smuggled into a body bag...

IC and You Can delegates at Global Village

National Leadership Team of AIESEC Singapore 2007/2008

and the poser version...

Sights from Cappadocia, Turkey

We spent 2 days in Cappadocia, which is about 11 hours south of Istanbul (Asian side) by bus... it took a while traveling and definitely wasn't that comfortable to be sleeping on the bus... but definitely a worthwhile trip to experience some amazing scenary and geology, all of which are unique to this part of Turkey due to the major volcanic activity in this area many many years back....
we visited underground cities, climbed hills, visited cave dwellings, hiked for 5km, went horse riding in fields and beside the river, learnt about geology, got sun-burnt and all in all had a really good time before the conference started...

Cappadocia for me was very special, partly because the sights in Istanbul weren't that new to me considering that I have been to Egypt.. of course the structures were still beautiful and the history of both countries is quite different... yet it no longer held that much of an awe factor... Cappadocia was all about returning to nature and exploring a part of history filled with persecution, fear and of course survival... it was more sporty, more natural and all in all a place to really feel... ALIVE...

Conical fairy chimneys, the highlight of Cappadocia. Volcanic eruptions led to layers of rocks of different nature, wind and rain eroded the softer parts away to form such unique structures.

you can clearly see the different rock layers from this photo. The pale rock at the bottom is soft as opposed to the harder and darker rock at the top of the mountain.

Mushroom fairy chimneys. This one with people in there just so you get a sense of size :)

Cities carved from stone by the Christians who lived in faith and fear of persecution

Beautifully painted interior of these cave churches

Town and nature.. hard to tell them apart here...

I have a photo like this from almost every country I have visited for an AIESEC conference... hahaha

Back from Turkey!

Hi everyone! I'm officially back in Singapore after spending an amazing 18 days in Turkey!

Still in the process of gathering back more photos.. my camera was out of action for 1 day of pre tour and most of IC itself but there're are photos for sure, considering that I was traveling with a bunch of at least 7 delegates from Singapore who are very photo trigger-happy people :)

It was a great experience, even if it is my 3rd IC haha... saw lots of familiar faces, met lots of new amazing people, enjoyed the scenary and history of Turkey, missed asian food like mad... hehe...

more on the trip soon but here are some photos anyway... for those who know me, you won't be surprised to see that my photos don't include people or myself.. those are coming from my delegates :)
Sights from Istanbul, Turkey

Basilisca Cistern

Blue Mosque

Hagia Sofia Museum

Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia at sunset, taken from Tokapi Palace

Bosphorus Bridge over the Istanbul Strait, that connects to the Black Sea and that separates the continents of Europe and Asia. The buildings in the distance are on the Asian side of Istanbul. This was taken from Tokapi Palace, the boundary walls of which can be seen in the lower part of the photo

Off to International Congress 2007, Turkey

Flying tonight, 13th August 2007.

And will only be back 1st September 2007.

In the meantime, will be getting the most out of Turkey and of course the conference itself...

see you around!

Guess who's in Singapore?

Amy from NZ is here!!!


All we need now is to find a way to bring more of the AP sisters to Singapore :)

Randomness of Randomness

Last Saturday, I got a phone call from the school office. The lady told me that NTU is holding a convocation dinner to end off the year and invited me to join. The main reason was that the Tan Chin Tuan Foundation, who gave me a scholarship for my final year of university, would be gracing the event and the school felt it would be a good chance for them to meet us (myself and the other scholars) and for us to show our appreciation to the foundation...

so anyway, I figured it would be quite a cool networking opportunity and besides I didn't have anything lined up that evening... so I agreed... the lady told me before hanging up that it wasn't too formal and that dress code is similar to the Convocation ceremony itself (meaning collared, long sleeve blouse with slacks or skirt)

Fast forward to Monday evening 6.30pm... I arrive in the auditorium foyer where the dinner was to be held, only to see real extravagent decor in the foyer, a stage set up, plus about 20 tables for formal and served dining.. and guess what.. the stage front said "Guest of Honour: President SR Nathan and Mrs. Nathan"

and in case you are wondering, that happens to the President of Singapore and his wife!!!

as the evening went on and more guests started arriving, it was quite amazing to realise that this is an annual NTU stakeholders dinner, bringing together the deans and vice dean of faculties, management of the various NTU offices, management of various foundations and organisations that have supported, sponsored for funded NTU in any way, the NTU board of trustees and so on... very high level indeed...

and aside from myself and another guy who were Tan Chin Tuan scholars, the only other students were the Lee Kuan Yew scholars, the top students in each faculty of study... they got the privilege of speaking with the President himself..

It's kind of hard to describe how I felt.. but I was glad to gave exchanged a few namecards with some key people that day, to enjoy a 4 course dinner served by hotel catering, to enjoy some really cool performances (aerial display, electric violin and rhythmic gymnastics performance, choir performance, to share a lot about AIESEC, to learn how a Foundation works, to learn how university corporate development works..

amazing how a random opportunity can turn up so much... :)

Next stop: Turkey!

Leaving for Istanbul in 2 weeks!

Another book review

Yesterday was Saturday... after settling some AIESEC stuff in meeting, I got really restless in the room in SMU... so cold and so bright... just made me wanna get out of there into some light or temperature that was more natural...

anyway, so I headed to the nearest book store, hunted around for something good to read and bought this book

"the curious incident of the dog in the night-time" by Mark Haddon

the book has been around for quite a long time now so I won't be surprised if most of you have already read it...

But for those who haven't, definitely a book I would recommend, simply because of how uniquely and differently the story is told... it's written in 1st person perspective, by a 15 year old boy who is autistic.. he struggles with emotions and deeper meanings, and he thrives with rules, processes, logic, math and literal meaning...

I think the story's very real and Mark Haddon did a great job of getting the reader to sink into the world of an autistic child... it's a point of view that that most of us never consider so reading this book definitely challenges one's views...

by the way, Mark Haddon has another book titled "A Spot of Bother"... I'm thinking to get hold of that one as well...

And like I was telling Pui, I do think I need to read slower... cos now I am out of books to read again...

Graduated!

I know I still owe an update from Taiwan... and I promise I will post more photos... but in the meantime...

with the AIESECers from NTU

Diana, me and Nicholas

Someone commented that the graduation robes make us look like wizards and witches from Harry Potter... I still have my robe... so perhaps will take one with a chopstick/make-do wand :)

Feels kind of cheated to spend 4 years of life working so hard to get this piece of paper... at least the transcript says "Completed the degree of Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering) (First Class) with a Minor in Business" oh well...

Congratulations to class of 2007... at last we are out of university!

Fun in Taidong (East of Taiwan)

the very tasty 黑松羊肉炉 we had for lunch...

米台目- type of noodles... served with superb chilli sauce!

Road Trip with our own rented car

Admiring the wonders of nature at 小野柳

Breathtaking scenary at 三仙台

the view from about 100m above sea level.. while we attempted to climb the mountainside (via man-made steps) to see 八仙洞

Updates long overdue

Been a while since my last posting... major stuff that happened since then? definitely my trip to Taiwan. was chairing their SNCF followed by a short holiday in Taidong and Taipei...

I owe photos and a description of the entire experience.. but somehow I am finding it hard to organise everything into a blog posting...

you know... it's the kind of feeling where you know you've been through some really amazing experiences across 12 days... lots of memories and flashbacks of great moments, great conversations, great people.... learnt so much about myself and another country... admired so much scenary... enjoyed such great company of friends...

to type it all out... at this point... that somehow seems to be spoiling the moment... I think I wanna enjoy the moments, in their original random and chaotic order in my head for a while more before organising them into a post..

but till then, I am doing very well... back in Singapore and hyped up about what's more to come... :)

Nice picture...

I found this cute little picture on Heidi's blog... Don't you think it's so physics? hehehe....


Seems kind of apt though... thinking back about the many many weekends spent on AIESEC transition and planning... each weekend flying by so so fast...

now that the hustle and bustle is kind of slowing down slightly, it feels weird to be sitting back home, communicating not by voice but by words through MSN and gtalk and stuff like that...

guess it's times like this that one really appreciates the company of those around...

missing all of you guys... you know who you are :)

New Books!

Went to Borders bookstore today and finally used my book voucher...

and bought two books!


For One More Day by Mitch Albom

Mitch Albom was the author who brought us Tuesdays with Morries and The Five People You Meet in Heaven...

Both are very much about life's little lessons and appreciating life, so this one is not that different... but it's told from a very different perspective as compared to previous two...

But all in all, still a very heartwarming story with a message about relationships between a mother and a son...

(if you are wondering, yes I have finished the book. Couldn't help myself!)

Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

I haven't started on this book yet but I think it might be in similar style as The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell... The authors take different real life scenarios and explores the implications and cause and effects within these scenarios...

Read a few pages once some months back... and definitely looks interesting...

will update once I have finished the book!

The Tipping Point

Amidst all the busy-ness with AIESEC and all, I managed to take some time out to finish reading The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.. this is the same guy who brought is Blink! and in similar fashion, he presents very thought-provoking way of looking at our environment and at changes...


The excerpt below is taken from http://www.gladwell.com/tippingpoint/

1. What is The Tipping Point about?

It's a book about change. In particular, it's a book that presents a new way of understanding why change so often happens as quickly and as unexpectedly as it does. For example, why did crime drop so dramatically in New York City in the mid-1990's? How does a novel written by an unknown author end up as national bestseller? Why do teens smoke in greater and greater numbers, when every single person in the country knows that cigarettes kill? Why is word-of-mouth so powerful? What makes TV shows like Sesame Street so good at teaching kids how to read? I think the answer to all those questions is the same. It's that ideas and behavior and messages and products sometimes behave just like outbreaks of infectious disease. They are social epidemics. The Tipping Point is an examination of the social epidemics that surround us.

I would definitely recommend this book! So much implication on how to do marketing, or to communicate with people, or to generate hype... not that it's meant to be taken as a guide book... but well.. if you're looking for something to challenge conventional thinking, THIS is the book to read...

Tagged by Shub

Shub tagged me some time back... haven't had the time to finish the whole list at one shot but after multiple attempts, it is now complete!

Three things that scare me:

• Cockroaches: the most disgusting and terrifying living things on Earth.. even worse when they fly
• Complacency: letting achievements get to my head can lead to complacency if one is not careful or aware… and complacency can easily lead to pride or too much ego which affects performance at the end
• Being very expressive: sounds kind of weird.. but being expressive is something that is not very part of me.. perhaps it is because my own true feelings scare me.. or I am scared of being rejected on my feelings
  

Three people who make me laugh:

• My brother: we talk all sorts of crap, and have the same quirky sense of humour…
• My AP Sisters: Can I group them all as “1 entity” in this case? They really do cheer me up.. love talking to them about everything and anything
• My dad: he’s funny, he’s quirky, he tries to be “lame” at times…

Three things I love:

• Music: soft rock, some instrumentals, I think I enjoy most music as long as they’re not too rap or too vulgar or too pop
• Company of good friends: nothing like the company of good friends… doesn’t matter where we go or wat we do.. the company is enough really..
• Traveling: AIESEC has gotten me hooked onto this! Can’t get enough of seeing all the amazing things and meeting all the amazing people in the amazing countries and sights of the world!

Three things I hate:

• Being ineffective: I think I kind of built my life and schedule around being as effective as possible.. yeah I get my lazy days and stuff but somehow it irks me off.. especially if I’m spending my time cooped up in a waiting line.. or in a class with a lousy tutor
• The rigidity of the Singapore education system: I suppose it happens with most education systems… but just can’t stand the one in Singapore… where things are all based on grades, on fulfilling processes and procedures and requirements… whatever happened to real learning?
• Cockroaches: I’m terrified of them.. so I hate them to bits…

Three things I don't understand:

• Myself: why am I who I am? Why do I find difficulty in being expressive? Why do I value these things more than others?
• Love: What is love? How do you know when it is love? Where does love stem from?
• Life: I don’t think I ever will.. and that’s where the wonder of life comes in… some things in life, you don’t need to understand.. just need to appreciate

Three things on my desk:

• My laptop: how else do you think I am typing this?
• My passport: was registering for AIESEC International Congress 2007 earlier today
  
• Lots of papers and notes from sAIESEC: have to confess.. haven’t started packing my things

Three things I am doing now:

• Listening to Class 95 on radio
• Replying AIESEC emails
• Chatting on MSN

Three things I want to do before I die:

• Fall in love
• Visit at least 1 country in each of the continents (Except Antarctica probably)
• Go hang gliding

Three things I can do:

• Chinese martial arts and Taichi
• Burp at will
• Think random thoughts

Three things you should listen to:

• Song: Nickleback’s “Far Away”
• Silence: in a far away village in northern Thailand, or in the forest of Arnhem, The Netherlands on a wintry Sunday morning
• You heart: don’t stop talking to your heart, don’t stop listening either… I think I listen… I just need to act more on what it says…

Three things you should never listen to:

• Too much praise: that gets you big-headed and inflates your ego.. and as I firmly believe, Pride comes just before a fall
• Words that are meant to put you down: you don’t want to get too ego.. but at the same time, there is worth in every single human being… who are you to put others down? Or put yourselves down? Who are they to put you down? Do they know you enough to determine and judge your self worth?
• Peer or societal pressure: they act as good feedback and good guidelines.. but sometimes, we can be strong enough to go beyond them and to break into our own realm, our own niche and pursue what we really believe in

Three things I'd like to learn:

• more Taichi
• Thai
• More about myself

Three Favourite Foods:

• Fried sambal ladies fingers cooked by my Grandma
• Seafood
• Tom Yam flavoured instant noodles from Thailand!

Three beverages I drink regularly:

• Coffee: my MC teams will know this very well
• Plain water: not as much as my mom would like me to drink but well.. common beverage nonetheless
• Milo: lower caffeine intake than coffee… sometimes gets me high too!

Three TV shows I watched as a kid:

• Cartoons like Captain Planet, Ninja Turtles.. err.. transformers, He Man and all those stuff from that era…
• Earthvision Documentaries! I love them
• “funky” local chinese drama serials.. like The Invincibles (the gambling one) and one other series about Vampires whose english name I can’t remember

Three books I read as a kid:

• The Three Investigators
• Tin Tin and Asterisk comic series
• Osbourne Book series: stuff like Amazing Animals of the World, or Inventions of the World and geeky stuff like that.. hahah

Three people I would love to tag:

• Pui: because you have more time now to put something interesting on your blog
• Amy: I miss you AP sister!! Update update 
• Eeling: gosh we haven’t met up for lunch these days yet!!

Bye Bye University

Most people know anyway, that with the final year project and all that, I am in my final year of study of university...

so anyhow, the results for the last exams of my last semester of my last year in university finally came out last Friday...

All I can say is that I am very happy with the results and relieved as well that it's over for real... now... just waiting for the graduation ceremony in late July...

byebye university... hello to great big world out there, which has shrunk considerably actually thanks to AIESEC :)

My Current Laptop backdrop

Took this shot from our faci room while in Penang, Malaysia for the AP MC Transition Camp... Love the scenary... makes for a great backdrop too...

Another quick update

Lots to do these days... so here's another quick update

Got back from the 1st ever AP MC Transition Camp in Penang from 24th to 27th May. such an amazing experience, and so inspiring to see the future leaders of AIESEC in the AP being so committed to driving performance in their countries and leveraging on the APGN initiatives!
it was also great to see so many familiar faces.. Sandy, Beatrice, Cyrus, Geralynn, Ren Chang, Rina, Nadya and not to forget, my beloved AP sisters Anisha, Mindy and Pui! Got to meet so many new people as well.. 0708 is definitely a term to look forward to!

that aside, went for an interview yesterday afternoon for this Professional Engineers Board Gold Medal Award... enjoyed myself in the interview... they were asking questions about my involvement in AIESEC (as usual) and what impact did attending so many international conferences leave me with... one of the panelists even asked how AIESEC international conferences are rotated among countries and whether Singapore has hosted any before! when I told them that was in late 1970s, she then asked if we are intending to bring one to Singapore any time in the near future! haha.. definitely interesting... even if I didn't get it, at least it was an enjoyable experience... besides, my interview took about 15 mins while the guy before me was in and out in only about 5 mins! heheh

but yeah.. that's what been happening... that aside, it's the usual of transitioning, preparing for new term, and holding the fort for some current stuff like Incoming Exchange...

Just want to make a public note that I am very very proud of AIESEC in NTU, NUS and SMU for such drive and effort in raising exchanges with companies! Current numbers stand at an average of 5 realisations per LCs, with more in the pipeline... total LC driven ICX realisations stand at 14 at the moment, compared to 6 in the whole of 2005/2006! that's almost 150% growth, with another 1 month to go before July comes along!

Well done to the LCs!! You have proven that AIESEC in Singapore can and will leverage more on the external environment here in Singapore!!!!!!!!

Quick update

Been really busy these days... so not much time to update the blog...

but very quickly...

• having MC Transition this whole weekend
• preparing for sessions to be delivered at the AP MC Transition Camp next week
• Finish up the FINAL FINAL thesis report
• leaving for Penang on 23rd May for AP MC Transition Camp, reaching back in Singapore on 28th May
  
• getting ready for MC Consolidation and Planning, and of course National Planning
• getting transition from Suchith for AP Chair
• getting ready for my trip to Taiwan to chair their Nat Con and of course for some relaxation... reach Taipei on 3rd July, pre meeting in Kaoshiong from 5th to 6th July, Conference from 7th to 10th July, own travels from 11th till 15th July...

and beyond that... well we will see :)

Random Reflections...

Now that the school stuff is over... can take some time out to think about stuff...

so I thought hey why not reflect abit about the 0607 term so far... so what have I done/experienced since being elected in Jan 2006?

• Travelled to my first European country, the Netherlands, on my own for IPM


• Saw snow and hail for the first time there


• Felt lost, confused, in awe, excited and happy in the same time


• Learnt what it meant to be myself, to walk out of shadows


• Connected with amazing people across 2 weeks, people who have left an impression for the rest of my life


• "Bridged" ties with a neighbouring country


• Did AIESEC every weekend for 1.5 months in transition and planning with currents and elects team


• Bonded with a great team, one that I love and perhaps should have told them so more


• Ran sessions on AIESEC 2010, Balanced Scorecard and our new planning process


• Started my final year in university


• Did a speech at the NTU Welcome Tea, and had applicants quote me in their application forms


• Went through a crazy period in preparing the team for IC 2006


• Visited Amsterdam on stopover and met up with an old friend


• Visited Poland and had a great time experiencing the differences


• Travelled in Warsaw and Krakow with AIESECers from Malaysia, further bridging the ties


• Met up with more old friends at IC itself, noticed things about some people that I never noticed before


• Lost 2 kg after the whole IC experience


• Became part of a sisterhood (two actually if you count the AP one)


• Planned and conducted National Induction Conference in post-IC mode and timezone


• Juggled school work and AIESEC


• Missed my AIESEC friends like mad, made the most effort to keep in touch


• Felt my heart break for what a friend was going through


• Worked with an interesting facis team for NLDS 2006


• Had the past come back to haunt me at NLDS... felt attacked but having to be objective and move on


• Experienced the best NLDS I ever had... most number of local and international delegates, most number of international facis... most amazing sessions and feedback... most amazing closing plenary


• Started my final semester in university


• Made a decision that would change my life, simply because it wasn't a common decision


• Ran for MCP second term, full time


• Had "painful" sit down sessions with some of the MC members... resulting in tough decisions by the team to say "sorry" and "goodbye"


• Went through a whole lot of stress


• Felt happiness and excitement for a friend, only to feel sad and lost at the end


• Looked forward to Egypt, old friends and new friends


• Visited the Pyramids of Giza and strolled along the River Nile


• Loved my AP Family to bits, affirmed my love for Thai instand noodles, among the many other things and people I came to realise how much I love and miss


• Felt lost at IPM 07 closing plenary... goodbye to some and see you again for others


• Worked on pushing for exchange results, worked on ER Corporate Breakfast which was a great success


• Felt attacked, misunderstood, totally wrecked by what someone would say.. yet having to stay devoid, emotionless and objective...


• Poured my heart out to friends who would listen...


• Forged a much closer friendship with someone from Thailand


• Worried over completing the MC team


• Had a great time catching up with Ryan, listening to his plans for the future, eating cheap and delicious Nasi Lemak after company meetings


• Got through final exams of university... felt shitty after some and good after others...


• Finished my thesis report, and in the process killed so many trees


• Finished my thesis presentation, and wondered how I would fare


• Went down to the LCs during their transition sessions, and realised how much I miss being in the LCs and how amazing and fun these new EBs are


• Felt happy for my friends who were moving on to a next stage of their @ XP... yet felt sad knowing that they won't be that close by physically for some time


• Felt scared and uncertain at some points about what was to come and how I was to cope


• Felt RESPECT for a friend who had the guts to speak her mind, something that I haven't been able to bring myself to do... and that I am still pondering

and here I am today.. thinking back about all these things...

what an experience it has been...

Almost entirely over!

Just finished my thesis presentation today... summarised in less than 30 mins what I spend almost the past one year doing...

and exams were over since last Friday... so it's just making final changes to the thesis report before submission by end of this month...

and then.. officially over with school! wow... feels kind of weird..

but otherwise, busy with AIESEC stuff as usual... but looking forward to end of May to be spent in Penang and perhaps Taiwan in July??

and then there's Turkey in August.. and who knows what else might come up? :)

Some English is more English than others...

Presented by Ruby Pan at Talking Cock in Parliament

Talking Cock in Parliament

Part of the IndigNation "campaign"...

This series of talks by various names in Singapore addressing pertinent issues in Singapore in a tongue-in-cheek and often hilarious way.. featuring people like Ruby Pan (joking about accents!), Hossan Leong (great entertainer on all fronts! stand up comedy, acting, cross dressing in plays.. lol), Dr. Kirpal Singh (who lectures at SMU by the way), Mr Brown and Mr. Miyagi (famous bloggers in Singapore), and Alex Au (otherwise know as Yawning Bread, another famous blogger and local gay activist)

and the best thing is that they secured the Parliament House for this!

So I present.. Talking Cock in Parliament!!

Check them out here!!

and if you wanna find out more, check out http://www.talkingcock.com/ for more local insights and local perspectives! Be forewarned that the site contains a fair amount of Singlish.. but worry not.. they have a Coxford dictionary for you to use!!

p.s. it is set up by Colin Goh, who wrote a very meaningful article once.. will be posting that in future

The world today...

I remember posting up the article itself some weeks back... nicely made into a video with good pictures.. notice that Singapore is actually one of them...

p.s. If I had the time, I would edit out the front and back to make this look less like an advertisement for AIESEC. But I don't have the time.. besides... you can find out more about AIESEC anyway now =)

Another time

I FEEL SO HAPPY AGAIN!!!

HAHAHAHAHAH =)

Reflecting...

I seem to remember hearing this read to all of us then elects... in a cosy room in an old chapel building in the Netherlands....

and I remember the voices of those who read it... deep and robust...

Found it on Jorien's blog...

Brings back a lot of memories...

and instigates lots of thought as well...


It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing. It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain! I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithlessand therefore trustworthy.I want to know if you can see beauty even when it's not pretty, every day,and if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, “Yes!”

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

I AM SO HAPPY TODAY!

Just needed to post something like that...

hahahahahhaha....

If Everyone Cared

"Never doubt that a small group of committed people can
change the world.
Indeed it is the only thing that ever has"
Margaret Mead

What are YOU doing today
to change the world and make it a better place?

If Everyone Cared
Lyrics - All The Right Reasons :.

From underneath the trees, we watch the sky
Confusing stars for satellites
I never dreamed that you'd be mine
But here we are, we're here tonight

Singing Amen, I'm alive
Singing Amen, I'm alive

If everyone cared and nobody cried
If everyone loved and nobody lied
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride
We'd see the day when nobody died
And I'm singing

Amen I, I'm alive
Amen I, I'm alive

And in the air the fireflies
Our only light in paradise
We'll show the world they were wrong
And teach them all to sing along

Singing Amen I'm alive
Singing Amen I'm alive

If everyone cared and nobody cried
If everyone loved and nobody lied
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride
We'd see the day when nobody died
If everyone cared and nobody cried
If everyone loved and nobody lied
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride
We'd see the day when nobody died

And as we lie beneath the stars
We realize how small we are
If they could love like you and me
Imagine what the world could be

If everyone cared and nobody cried
If everyone loved and nobody lied
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride
We'd see the day when nobody died

We'd see the day, we'd see the day
When nobody died
We'd see the day, we'd see the day
When nobody died
We'd see the day when nobody died

Save the Trees! Save the Environment!

perhaps what the world needs are children who see the graveness of the matter and the simplicity of the solutions...

perhaps the diplomats and government officials should really be made to visit the villages in Africa, or the ice caps in the Artic, or the dying coral reefs and rainforests around the world...

I am thinking about it... what I can possibly do...

updates on this soon...

I know I'm morbid because...

I find this amusing...


Attention: The picture you are about to view may be disturbing. Not suitable for young children, pregnant ladies and people with weak hearts (or weak stomachs for bloody stuff)

perhaps that is you playing your WoW?
or trying to break your record for typing speed?
or trying to ensure that your Final Year Project report is properly aligned across all 100 plus pages?
or trying to reconfigure/set up/format (and everything else related to the messing around with the internal runnings of) your computer?

Thank you for the note...

I won't give up... I am sure you guys know that... but sometimes... one just needs that space to doubt, to question and to refind some answers...