The AIM Blogger

Book for AIM MBAs: Did You Read The Case?

noreply@blogger.com (Regnard Raquedan) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 00:31:00 +0000

It's been a while since my last update, but I'd like to plug my book: Did You Read The Case? 16 Stories on How to Get Into the Asian Institute of Management and Survive the Case Method MBA.

The book is exclusively available at the Amazon Kindle store and priced at $0.99 if you're in the US, and $2.99 if you're in the Philippines. Why the price difference? Well, we'll have to thank Philippine tax laws for that.

In any case, the book is a project that stemmed from my MBA days at the Asian Institute of Management up to early this year. With the e-book boom, distributing the book electronically would be the practical way to go.

As for the book contents, It's intended for aspiring MBA students who want to get into AIM and current MBA students who are struggling to deal with the rigors of the program.The main topics of the book include getting admitted, starting the classes, dealing with pressure, grappling with grades, and rising above the challenges.

Essentially, Did You Read The Case? is part memoir, part survival guide.

I invite everyone who's considering an AIM MBA to buy the book. For a very small investment, it can save you a great deal of stress in the future. :)

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I'd like to thank the folks who helped make the book happen: my wife, Dr. Ricky Lim (who wrote the foreword), my classmates Bingo Tongco, Frank Shrope, and Cheska Herrera. You all rock!

Evolution

noreply@blogger.com (Regnard Raquedan) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:51:00 +0000

This blog, like most things, is evolving.

The AIM Blogger will be changing from a blog into a community site. From a blog with the perspective of one person to a website looking through the eyes of every student at the Asian Institute of Management.

I guess it's pretty apparent that my life outside of AIM after graduation has expanded tremendously. And while I still consider the institute my home (I still teach a couple of courses there as needed), the story of the struggling b-school student no longer there. Francis did a wonderful job contributing and this legacy of the student's side must be preserved for the long term.

So expect some hiccups while accessing the site. For instance, the domain "theaimblogger.com" may be inaccessible at times. The site's old URL "theaimblogger.blogspot.com" can still be used to access this site.

Finally, feel free to ask questions about the changes in the site. :)

When Life Gives You Lemons

noreply@blogger.com (Regnard Raquedan) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 02:50:00 +0000

People say, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." But what if that person is a manager?

Marketing Manager - "When life gives you lemons, get the juice, color it blue, and call it 'shlemonade' because the 18-30 year old demographic likes the 'sh' sound and all things blue."
Operations Manager - "When life gives you lemons, outsource the peeling to Brazil, the juice extraction to India, and the manufacturing to China. That will give you 100% Lemonade."
Sales Manager - "When life gives you lemons, screw the juice. I've got a new batch of lemons to sell."
IT Manager - "When life gives you lemons, I'll place it near a Windows Vista machine. When the computer crashes, the user will smash the lemons in frustration. And then you have juice."
HR Manager - "When life gives you lemons, I'll recruit an eager MBA grad who's willing to work for half the normal salary add 'Juice Extraction' in his job description."
Finance Manager - "When life gives you lemons, I'll show the lemons the financial books. That alone will make the lemons bleed their juice."

Hope this post gives you a little smile. :)

'10 Tactics' Premiere at AIM

noreply@blogger.com (Regnard Raquedan) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 06:15:00 +0000

The Philippine premiere of the film "10 Tactics" will be held at the Asian Institute of Management tomorrow at 7pm.

10 Tactics is a documentary that shows how information can be translated into concrete action. While the film has open source leanings, I believe the contents of the film can give business folks an idea how to create active participation via technology. Here's the trailer of the film:

If you're interested, please register here.

Weekend Over...Back to Reality

noreply@blogger.com (Chino) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:16:00 +0000

I cannot deny the fact that the long weekend is over. While some of us went out of town and had their own adventures, I chose to stay at home and go out a bit during my long weekend. It was nice, but sadly, too short. Checking my emails' inbox confirms it. The weekend is over, time to get back into my current reality of school and the MBA program.

For this week, our load will be light and we have only a few classes with very long breaks. Tomorrow after Marketing Management class (or is it Microeconomics class?), I will go to the bank to fix my former staff account and turn it into a regular account. I'll visit some of my friends and have a little lunch get together. Maybe I'll walk around the malls and do stuff.

But unlike the weekend where I enjoyed taking 8 hours of sleep and only thought of school once in a while, I knew that when I go out after lunch tomorrow that the week has begun and there is much work to be done. Still, we all have more time in our hands this week. I'm hoping we don't fill it up with work just because we can. Sometimes we all need to be a little more relaxed and a little more free to have balance in our lives. Lucky for section B, our class ends at 12:30 tomorrow.

Still in semi-vacation mode...

image taken from The financial help center

CHINO

Article on AIM Leader Out!

noreply@blogger.com (Regnard Raquedan) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:27:00 +0000

The article I mentioned a few months back is finally out!

I contributed an article to the AIM Alumni Leadership Magazine (or AIM Leader) entitled "Confessions of an MBA Blogger" and it's about The AIM Blogger. I wrote about this blog's roots and directions in the future. I shared how this blog was able to help me cope during my MBA studying days and now in my MBA teaching days.

If you get a chance to grab the magazine, please do so because apart from my contributed article, there are also contributions from Fidel V. Ramos (former Philippine president), Maj. Gen Roland Detabali (MDM 2004), and Jerry Quibilan (MM 1976). Feedback is always welcome. :)

BTW, another contribution of mine will appear in the next issue of AIM Leader. For the next article, I'm focusing on Social Media. :D

Another Long Weekend!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Chino) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 14:39:00 +0000

The first day of another 3 day long weekend for MBA cohort 5 students has started! I for one am looking forward to it. DVDs at home, some more quality time with family, going out and not worrying too much about the time! Even hanging out at home without any readings to worry about! (Well, I have readings and will still read up hahaha!) Something is strange about next week's schedule though, the school seemed to have heard our silent plea for lighter loads and now we just have 4 subjects for the coming week... I even have 2 half days this week....Hmm

Ideally, we should be taking advantage of this short break. As to what kind of advantage it is for, it depends on each person I guess. As for me, I'd try to read some more and practice some cases maybe.(just maybe) But I will also have time to walk more in the mall tomorrow. I'm visiting my grandma on Monday too! Maybe on the half-day schedules I'll also visit my former officemates and have a quick lunch somewhere or something.

Wonder what the rest are planning/are already doing in this longer weekend and possibly easier week?

Chino

Basketball Nights

noreply@blogger.com (Regnard Raquedan) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 07:40:00 +0000

One of the things I've been doing to get involved with AIM MBA cohorts is playing basketball with them regularly. Since the "easy" fourth and final term started, we played almost weekly.

We usually play at the AFP Army Gymnasium and the Power Plant Basketball Court. Majority of players come from MBA Cohort 3, although there are folks from Cohorts 2, 4, and 5 who have played. Basketball games have ranged from friendly to overly competitive. I remember one game where my body ached like hell after a hyper-competitive game.

The game we last played could be the last for the group since the graduation for Cohort 3 is coming up. Here's a photo tribute to the men and women who run, jump, and shoot every Tuesday/Thursday for the last few months. (Thanks to Laurice Alaan for the photos!):

Good things

noreply@blogger.com (Chino) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:31:00 +0000

1030 was the time that we ended our learning team meeting last night. Slowly but surely, we are getting into that pace wherein we now spend less time working with our assignments as a group. I'm not really sure if it is an improvement in time-efficiency, or some other productivity thing, but from what I can initially observe is that people are working faster when they know that they have a lot of work left to do for the following day of which the odds of successfully finishing them all are low. In short, once people know that it is almost an impossibility to finish everything in one night, people start going against those odds.

Which comes to this entry I'm writing here. It's about good things. About how some people and organizations, despite the odds, still strive to go about creating and contributing positive changes to our societies. Among these things that we can probably brag about as authentic human beings is the recognition of one of the Philippine's own, EFREN PEÑAFLORIDA as CNN's Hero of the Year 2009. You can search around in the net, what his great achievement is but to really sum it up, he was a man, who decided to create and spread education to the marginalized sectors of our country. He might be described as a small man, one among many millions, and yet who knew that there were some things that needed to be done to help improve the society.

Truth is, the world has no shortage of heroes in society. What we lack, is support and people who are willing to dare to make an impact and a difference that changes the lives of others and themselves for the better. We need more of this. Personally, I also think that the way for people really to get out of poverty is through education. MBA students should also remember that despite getting higher income as one of the main reasons for taking up the program, we should also keep in mind how to transform the lives of not just ourselves but also of others. After all, we are going to end up in places where we can actually make a very big impact on the lives of many more people in our future organizations and business environment. The world needs not just any MBA, the world will need more responsible MBAs.

Congratulations Efren! Mabuhay ka!

Chino

The AIM Blogger Chosen as One of 100 Best Blogs for International Business Students

noreply@blogger.com (Regnard Raquedan) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:24:00 +0000

Great news!

The AIM Blogger is chosen one of the 100 Best Blogs for International Business Students by Online Colleges.net. The list is a selection of blogs that provide an excellent opportunity for students to find out first-hand about doing business in countries around the world, hear from other b-school students living and studying abroad, find out what professors have to say, and even explore the developing field of micro-financing.

I'm sure recognitions like these will motivate us, The AIM Blogger team, to write better stuff for the global business school/MBA community. (BTW, Chino has been coming up with mighty great contributions. Check them out!)

BTW, this is the second recognition the blog has received-- the blog was selected as one of the 100 Best Blogs for MBA Students early this year.

Macroeco Exam Over

noreply@blogger.com (Chino) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 08:13:00 +0000

Finished taking the Macroeconomics Midterms a few hours ago. After taking the test, I found a new found respect for economists and the training that they go through. While I'm quite sure none of us will be expecting a perfect score, I am sure that at least I got maybe 4 points right. It is true I guess, what the upperclassmen said about how hard it was. But it turned out to be more difficult than I expected. Whatever score we get, I know how much effort the professor put into that exam, and how much important it really was for us to have as complete an understanding as possible of economic theories and principles. It really helps if we know more about how economics work.

Anyway I still hope I get a good mark. They gave us a time extension earlier, but I don't think it helped out that much, hahaha. One midterm done, more to go! =)

On a side note, today is the start of this year's World Pyrolympics event. Check out Anton Diaz' blog here.

Chino

The Macroeconomic Dilemma

noreply@blogger.com (Chino) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:52:00 +0000

DO I SLEEP OR DO I NOT SLEEP? Just got home after meeting up with friends. After the hopefully going-to-be regular habit of jogging with some of my classmates (no group name yet), I proceeded to Glorietta on foot to meet up with them. We had dinner at HG Rockstar, the former Heaven and Eggs "breakfast restaurant".

Strange to eat breakfast food of toast, sausage and egg during dinner. But it wouldn't seem that odd if I considered the fact that we were going to have our Macroeconomics Midterms tomorrow at the 9 in the morning. Something, which some of the upperclassmen even advised us, to just relax and go watch a movie instead of spending the whole night and morning reviewing. It seems that our professor, had very high expectation which no one actually had a chance to even reach a break-even point. Anyhow, I'm sure everyone is spending the night reviewing alone, or in a group and I hope we all get good grades.

As for me, I did some reviewing last night thanks to the help of some friends in school. Right now though, I'm thinking of whether I should read some more or just go and rest my brain and sleep.

Cohort 3 (the graduating batch) is having their party tonight somewhere. Apparently a good number from their batch had received offers from Cognizant and they'll be treating the rest of their batch to drinks and stuff. Congratulations to them! We'll get there soon enough =)

But for now, I hope Cohort 5 makes best use of the remaining hours before the big midterm exam. Good luck everyone! Whether we study our butts off tonight or not, let's not forget to also have some time left for rest. As one classmate once said, "Let go."

May we all do our best in tomorrow's exam! Good luck everyone!

Chino

The picture was taken from this site right here.

Nightmares

noreply@blogger.com (Chino) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:49:00 +0000

There are many things to be afraid of,and for an MBA student, one of these fears is to be the lowest of the low in the batch, to be the outlier among outliers, to be the cream of the crap, and to fail when others have high probabilities to succeed.

We all probably have this fear. Despite our best efforts, we might not be getting the ideal results that we wanted to. Despite the best learning team composition, the smartest geniuses, the best team effort, the best school, the best mentors, sometimes some people just have greater propensities for failure.

A few weeks ago, I was worrying about my Language of Business (Accounting) and my Quantitative Analysis classes. Nowadays, LOB has been reduced to a sunk cost in some ways, and QA, while hope is still there, is seen as something salvageable. From these two subjects, new anxieties arise in the form of FM1 (Financial management 1) and in some ways MCP or our Management of Costs and Profits Class. Sounds similar to accounting? In some ways they are.

Comparing my performance to my batchmates is like comparing bananas to banana splits. Similar, but distant in some ways. Still, like anything, the most important point is, to not give up. I was always thinking about this idea in school that if not academically, we are all sort of in the bottom point and are failing by default. The only way left then for us is up. Like real managers, we exist to manage problems besides making many successes.

I was telling a friend to not worry about having nightmares and I end up dreaming of zombies overunning the place where I lived. (I lived in a building, with emergency stairs containing nothing but the garbage chute) At the Asian Institute of Management, we are all like zombies sometimes, trudging along, lacking sleep, looking scary whenever we do, and moving as a throng, when we crowd, it gets scary. Imagine if we eventually figured out to run and chase after our goals!

picture taken from the new Zombieland movie here.

Chino

Five Years of Firefox in Manila

noreply@blogger.com (Regnard Raquedan) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:15:00 +0000

The Mozilla Philippines Community, Globe Telecom, and the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) will be hosting the Five Years of Firefox in Manila! event this coming November 21, 2009 (3pm-5pm) at the Fuller Hall of AIM in Makati City.

This event is a get-together of Mozilla Firefox and web enthusiasts in the Philippines.

This is the third web-related event held at AIM this year. First was the Form Function & Class Web Design Conference, next was the WordCamp Philippines event, and now it's the Mozilla Firefox event. AIM is making an effort to diversify its presence into the web-savvy crowd by supporting community events like these. By reaching out to web professionals, bloggers, and netizens, these events are really a part of a "Geek Series" the institute is trying to string together.

With the support of W. SyCip GSB Associate Dean Prof. Ricky Lim and the institute's marketing team, people should expect more events like these in the future.

AIM Launches New Website

noreply@blogger.com (Regnard Raquedan) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 12:53:00 +0000

The Asian Institute of Management recently launched a new look for its website!

The design is quite special to me because I was responsible for creating the design where the final template design was based. I was inspired by the "maximal" photos incorporated in nice sites today, like the website of MIT. The good thing about this design is that the photo can be changed easily to suit the season. So we may see a new photo at the site's home page by the end of the year.

What do you think of the website? Feel free to give feedback without fear. :P

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Trivia: The new design features a photo of students from the outgoing cohort of the MBA program. :)

Did You Read The Case?

noreply@blogger.com (Regnard Raquedan) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:29:00 +0000

If you've noticed that I haven't been blogging here as much I used to, you're spot on. But there's a pretty good reason for that.

I'm working on a free book project about my experiences in studying and teaching at the Asian Institute of Management's MBA program. The free book is called "Did You Read The Case? - 25 Tips on How to Survive the Case Method MBA and the Asian Institute of Management" The book is meant to be a pocket guide to folks who are interested in taking the MBA at AIM and a source of inspiration to MBA students who are cursing the high heavens during their Financial Management exams.

Here's a draft of the cover:

The book is still in its early stages and I've gotten Prof. Ricky Lim to write the foreword. Included in the book are tips on how to get admitted into the MBA program, how to make the perfect class participation (CP), and how to work with Filipinos and Indians without going crazy. But I promise it will be a light read that will evoke sheepish grins.

As for the release, the target date is second quarter of 2010 (or even sooner!). :)

The Allen Iverson Syndrome

noreply@blogger.com (Regnard Raquedan) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:11:00 +0000

I was reading news about the NBA when I read about an issue about Allen Iverson of the Memphis Grizzlies.

For a good portion of the decade, Iverson was the leading scorer the team he played in. He was a gutsy player who played with much heart and even won the league's Most Valuable Player award once. He was admired of his style of play that defined the play of his team.

However, when age started to rob Iverson of his athleticism, he was expected to take on a reserve role and play less time to give his body more rest. At the same time, the less playing time meant that his younger teammates would get more exposure and experience playing at a high level.

Iverson resented his new role to the team. When he was not leading the team's efforts, he was a distraction to the team and disrupted the flow of the game. But when he was given the chance to start when another player was injured, he excelled and led the team like he used to. This behavior from Iverson led him to be traded twice and made it difficult for him to find a new team early this year.

Now, Allen Iverson just took a leave of absence from his current team, the Memphis Grizzlies, because he was designated as a reserve player.

This is story of Allen Iverson reminds me of something that happens to us more often than we would admit it.

When we are the leader of a group, we bring our "A" game and put in the effort to do our best and try to inspire everyone to perform at a high level. But when we're not the leader, our effort and commitment dips (but probably not to the level that it becomes a distraction.) This is something I'd call the "Allen Iverson Syndrome"-- when we're the star, we shine bright, but when we're put to the background, we tone down significantly (and even resent it).

I feel this is a challenge to folks who are used to being leaders and/or having their way. (I think the MBA program has lots of these :P) I think we can reduce our Allen Iverson-like tendencies of we believe that we can still contribute and get recognized without being in the forefront. This also means that the team must have a culture of giving props to everyone, not just the leader.

Blood For Thought: Give blood and Help Save Lives! On Friday 6th November 2009!!

noreply@blogger.com (Chino) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:40:00 +0000

Sunk Costs

noreply@blogger.com (Chino) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:18:00 +0000

Brought a Statistics book today, only realizing that the authors of the book entitled "Even YOU Can Learn Statistics: A Guide for Everyone Who Has Ever Been Afraid of Statistics", are the same as the authors of the textbook that we use in class (2 of them are)...

So, what do I do with this book? Well, I have to look at it in a more positive way I guess. For one, the book is way thinner than the textbook that we use, which admittedly, I did not really read much. Maybe in a few days I can finally understand statistics and actually apply it to cases with more confidence and less confusion.

So far I have 3 subjects which I feel that I am lacking in terms of marks. One is QA (statistics), another is OM (because I don't really know what my standing is there, and there is little chance for CP in class), and of course LOB. Some of my classmates have given up, or are almost about to give up on LOB. Me, I've always known it was going to be really hard. I guess I should've put more effort into it. While it is already too late to regret, I am trying to join and observe review groups. It is the actual practicing of the problems that sometimes intimidates me (normally I take 2-3 hours on a case that the average person finishes in 30mins). I still don't want to think of it as a sunk cost however, so I will still try to get a decent grade in the finals...

As for OM and QA, QA maybe I can still manage. But I don't like how the software aspect of the course is biased towards PC users. Javascript doesn't work on Macs and I don't like to have to buy software just to install Windows on my laptop. If someone can get me free or cheap copies though... OM on the other hand, maybe I can also make up with. ALthough I am not sure of where I stand in the course as of the moment, I get the concepts well enough. My only gripe is connected to QA which we've discussed recently.

Anyway, term 1 is almost ending and a new term 2 will come soon enough. Our FM looks to be a promising subject. I like the examples and the way the book is presented. Hopefully it will be enough to keep me motivated. MCP also is relevant enough as I can really see myself making use of a lot of what I am going to learn in Managerial Accounting in my future work. For sure a lot of us have some subjects which we need more effort with.

What subjects are you most weak at? What are you going to do about it?
Comments appreciated... :)

Chino

1st 3-day Holiday

noreply@blogger.com (Chino) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 08:39:00 +0000

I'm writing this in the car, as we're going on our way to the province. In the Philippines, November 1 and November 2 are usually celebrated as holidays/holy days. For a lot of Filipinos, these 2 days are the days when people go back to their roots and respective hometowns to honor their dead or our beloved ancestors.

This is also one of the times when relatives have their own small reunions with each other, being one of the few days in the year that people really go and spend their time together. To an extent the clan or family is made whole in these 2 days as even those who have departed already are sort of "attending" the reunion as well.

This is the first 3-day vacation that I am going to take as an MBA student of a full-time MBA program. While I am looking forward to taking a few days off from the fast-paced school life, I know that our cases, readings, exams, research, and even org activities are not going away any time soon. So I am bringing with me some of my books, keeping abreast of what's new in the news and sort of reuniting as well with society in general. I know there's lots of work to be done in the coming week(1 Statistics Exam, 1 LOB Exam, 2 Eco Case presentations, 1 Blood Drive Event, and so many more things littered in between.

I slept at around 6AM today after having submitted our WAC number 3 in the morning. I'll most likely sleep of tonight to recuperate. While I'm rearing to go back to school(dunno why exactly), I also need this short period of rest.

Supposedly there's a storm here but we haven't experienced the full force of it yet. Hope we don't have to.

For all who are going to their hometowns, have a safe and productive trip.
For those who are staying, start reading our assignments and cases in advance. But take a little time off once in a while.

Take care everyone!

CHINO

Volunteers Needed for PACT's Blood Donation Event

noreply@blogger.com (Chino) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:43:00 +0000

The Philanthropic Activities Society (PACTs of AIM) is in need of donors and volunteers from the school community for the Blood for Thought event that will be held on Friday, November 6, 2009. We need people to help set up the educational materials and help design the booth for the event.

For interested parties please do not hesitate to contact Laurice Cortes Alaan at lalaan.mba2009_b3@student.aim.edu or
contact me if you have any ideas to help enhance the event. Also, do invite your friends, and colleagues to visit the campus during the event and donate.

Contact Persons:
Laurice Alaan lalaan.mba2009_b3@student.aim.edu
Francis San Luis fsanluis.mba2010_cohort5@student.aim.edu

Blood For Thought

noreply@blogger.com (Regnard Raquedan) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:00:00 +0000

The PACTS of AIM (the Philanthropic Activities Society of the Asian Institute of Management) and PLDT are hosting an event that's socially relevant and entertaining at the same time.

On Friday, November 6th, the two organizations will launch “BLOOD FOR THOUGHT”—a blood donation awareness campaign that will benefit the Philippine National Red Cross. The campaign will comprise a daylong blood donation center and health education and vendor fair, leading up to an evening outdoor benefit concert, featuring up-and-coming bands from the Manila music scene. All events will take at the Asian Institute of Management’s Graduate School of Business Campus.

Folks who will donate blood on that day will receive free passes to the evening concert, as well as surprise treats. Regular tickets to the concert will cost PhP 100.00.

For more information, contact Laurice Cortes Alaan of the PACTS OF AIM at lalaan.mba2009_b3 (at) student.aim.edu

Scenes from AIM's Diwali 2009 Party

noreply@blogger.com (Regnard Raquedan) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:58:00 +0000

I dropped by the Asian Institute of Management for this year's Diwali celebrations. The show really belonged to the three cohorts (Cohorts 3,4, and 5) plus the International Student Exchange Program (ISEP) folks, as the lively numbers and dance party was super fine.

I took some pictures from my mobile phone camera:

A bit grainy, but I think it captures the fun scenes.

Happy Diwali! :D

AIM Celebrates Diwali

noreply@blogger.com (Chino) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 11:07:00 +0000

Next Friday, the Asian Institute of Management celebrates its own version of the Indian DIWALI festival. From my understanding, it is a happy event similar to what happens during Christmas but with meaning more related to Easter.

Our friends at school could probably and will most likely be able to give a better description of the festival. Here are some things that I got from a site called Diwalifestival.org:

1. DIWALI is a 5 day celebration of joy and happiness celebrated by people all over the world. Also called the Festival of Lights, the 5 day celebration signifying 5 different ideas or philosophies which will bring enrichment and understanding to the people's lives.

2. Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity's name is derived from the Sanskrit word "laksya" which also means, goal or aim. Fitting that we celebrate this festival for the success, and achievement of goals of everyone.

3. The term lakh, or a hundred thousand as used in the Indian counting system, also comes from her name to represent her abundant blessings.

4.Similar to other religious festivals, Diwali is an event that celebrates the triumph of good versus evil. In the festival, people gather to light up candles to represent the triumph of knowledge, understanding(light) over ignorance and other negative forces(darkness). The Chinese also do this during Chinese New Year, when evil spirits are driven off by lights and loud sounds.

Next week,our student body will celebrate the festival as a school activity. Teams have been set up to organize the event and ensure that people have a great time. Looking forward to the sharing of cultures and many happy memories.

-CHINO
Picture taken from Funmunch

Project Eternal Sunshine 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Regnard Raquedan) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 06:44:00 +0000

Interested partying for a cause?

The Philanthropic Activities Society of AIM (PACTS of AIM) and Happiness Squared, Inc. are organizing a fundraising party for the victims of Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng. The event is titled "Project Eternal Sunshine 2009" and it will be on October 24, 2009 at the Asian Insitute of Management campus. Mobster Manila and Collie Herb shall provide the music and beats.

Apart from the music and dancing, there will be a bazaar and all you can drink beer. Share of the proceeds shall be donated to the PACTS of AIM and their Food Relief Fund. PACTS of AIM has been very active in helping out the typhoon victims.

For more information on tickets, contact Nash (09056669645) or Harsh (09159960608). You may also email squared.happiness@gmail.com.