We returned from our 6-day trip a few days back, and so I decided to document how this whole trip unfolds…

It all started with a visit by University of Macau Public Speaking Team to our club in April 2011. From my knowledge, it’s the first ever foreign club that visited NTU Toastmasters Club in my 3 years with them. Then, we had a friendly speech contest which I gave a speech on ‘Japan Tsunami‘. At the end of the contest, I was remembered as the ‘lying policeman’.

Long story short, I sent the whole UM team off at our Changi airport, and wished everyone a safe trip back home. During my many discussions with their members, they suggested our club to make a visit to Macau too.

It was really a good idea to have an overseas trip to Macau as a club, but I had no idea how to do it. But I gave a promise we would visit them one day.

When I went back to discuss with my club members, they suggested I will be in charge of planning and organizing the whole trip, as I had the contacts of the UM members, and I have been to Macau before.

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Initial Challenges Faced

I have been on several school overseas trip in the past. Then, it was easy. Pass the money and your passport information to the teacher-in-charge, and everything is settled. When you arrive, you will have food, hotel room keys, bus waiting at airport, tour guides…everything there ready for you.

But for this exchange trip, it’s the other way round. Members who are going will be passing money and passport information to me, and I will be the one getting the air tickets, hotel rooms, itinerary and programmed, transport arrangement, food for everybody when we arrive.

Fortunately, I don’t have to do this alone, as there are many helpful toastmasters who lend a hand in planning this trip.

So now I’m like a ‘tour leader‘… I have to take care of these:

1. School funding and cost of entire trip
Find out how much the school is willing to sponsor us, and draw up an estimated expenditure required for this trip.

2. Writing of a trip proposal for school to grant us funds
The school wants to know where we will be going exactly, why we will be doing there, what members will learn from this trip…etc

3. Attending of courses
Trip leaders (me and a few) will have to attend courses during school holidays to learn how to organize an overseas trip. I have to attend a first-aid course, as NTU require a first-aider in each trip.

4. Planning of itinerary
Contacting University of Macau students the dates to meet up, finding a suitable date where NTU members are available to travel, planning enough places of interests in Macau & Hong Kong…etc

5. Immigration restrictions
We have Singaporeans, Malaysian and Chinese traveling to Macau. No worries for Singapore and Malaysia passports, but not the Chinese. Chinese passports are restricted to travel to Macau and Hong Kong, and are required to apply visas or other passes to go through. I have to study which are the ones they need to apply…

6. Member Participation
Got to decide how many member to bring on this trip.

7. Emergency needs
Finding the nearest hospital, clinics, emergency numbers, embassies in Macau & Hong Kong.
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First Proposal Rejected in July 2011

When UMac students visited us in April, we thought a good time to visit them would be during our summer holidays between June to August, since we have lots of time. However, NTU told us that it was too rush, and funding will not be provided. They require us to submit the plan 3 months before the trip, and lots of admin stuffs to do.

Then, I thought of dropping the whole idea of this exchange trip as there’s seems to be so much things to do just to get funding to go on a group trip. I even thought of asking my club to go on our own expenses, as we don’t expect much funding also. Own money, less work.

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Project On Hold

Whole project stalled until August when my club president announced that we are definitely going to Macau. Oh! I thought they have forgotten, but No!

Then, I can see the excitement in our club members hoping they can part of this Macau trip, and speak publicly in a foreign environment, and an exciting holiday in Macau.

Then I had nothing much to answer to my club president (as I didn’t do much since), but I told him I will get it done. Time to get to work! When things get so overwhelming, I roped in a few toastmasters to help out.

Thanks to them, we managed to get everything done in the next 2 months, in October.

• We set the duration of the trip, exact meetings dates with University of Macau clubs & the whole trip itinerary.
• Exchanged numerous emails to organize friendly speech contest and Toastmasters chapter meeting in Macau
• Booked the cheapest available plane tickets to and fro Macau
• Booked the best suited hotels to accommodate 16 people in both Hong Kong & Macau, for a price of $40 SGD each for 5 nights.
• We attended all courses required by the school, and I also signed up for first-aid course to attend in December 2011.
• We checked with Chinese Embassies on the visa or travel passes required to enter Macau and Hong Kong, for Chinese passports.
• We submitted our trip proposal to NTU Students’ Affairs Office for receipt of funding.
• Most importantly, we received our funding 3 weeks before the trip!

By December, almost everything is settled. However, one of the biggest concern for this trip is the application of visa or travel passes for Chinese Passports. I informed all my Chinese friends to make their respective passes, and just hoped that they get approved in time for travel.

On the issue of travel passes, something which I’m totally confused about, fortunately, a fellow toastmaster, Mo Ting helped me out. All application of the correct passes are completed on the day of the trip!

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The Day Has Come!

Everybody is excited about the trip! I’m even more excited, or rather, anxious how the whole trip program will turn out. There’s lots of challenges during the trip, which I think we tackled everyone quite well.

For this accomplishment, I have to thank the cooperation of all the members, and a few leaders who helped me out.

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Challenge 1: Getting everybody together
On the day of the trip, there’s only 13 members flying from Singapore to Macau. 3 others have arranged to meet up in Hong Kong from China on the 2nd day instead. I have made lots of arrangement to make everyone come together on the 2nd day in Hong Kong.

Tackled?: Yes! We did! All 16 of us met up in Hong Kong hotel on 3rd Jan afternoon for lunch. That happens, it’s like a reunion for me. Challenge One completed!

When all 16 come together in HK!

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Challenge 2: Communication woes
As a leader of this trip, I got to have a working phone, so everyone else can contact me. I bought a MOP$50 prepaid card which allowed me to use it for the whole trip. However, not every member are buying cards too. Only some leaders have.

Another problem faced is the communication with Macau & Hong Kong people. Many of us communicated in Mandarin, Chinese, but the locals communicated in Cantonese. A big problem cropped up when we arrive in Macau airport. We wanted to ask the immigration officers about the second entry for Chinese passports. However, communication breakdown on both sides and that held us back for about 30 minutes.

Tackled?: Yes! We did! For the challenge of working phones, I advised members w/o phone to stick close to the other leaders who had phones. This arrangement to allowed me to get everybody together anytime, anywhere throughout the trip.

For the communication breakdown with the Macau immigration officers, a club member from Malaysia, Cheng Heng, came out and helped us communicate in Cantonese with the officials (Thank God he’s part of this trip!). A few Cantonese sentences from him solved the whole issue.

Then on, he’s our official Cantonese spokesperson in Hong Kong & Macau in asking for directions or information. Communication problem solved!

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Challenge 3: Accommodation Woes
This is by far the most challenging issue I know I will face in Macau. As cost of hotel accommodation in Hong Kong and Macau is costly, we arranged to fill 4 rooms with 16 people. Of course, we booked the ‘Deluxe’ big rooms so its still comfortable to fill more than the required 2 pax/room. But that’s not the issue. It’s about escaping the eyes of the hotel staffs and security that we are over-staying.

Tackled?: Yes! We did! Our beautifully crafted plan allowed everyone to move into respective rooms and escape the eyes and suspicions of any overstaying. There’s once we were almost caught as the security guard on duty that night was too alert. Luckily, Vernon, an intelligent toastmaster, crafted another excellent plan and managed to get everybody up to their hotel rooms. A good night sleep for everybody, including me!

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Challenge 4: Transport Woes
Quite a manageable challenge. There’s lots of choices for us in Macau. We can take public buses, or free casino shuttle buses, or taxis. The problem comes when we couldn’t find the right transport to take to certain places.

Tackled?: We took the free casino shuttle buses to ferry terminals. All else, we shared cab, which is quite cheap (not like Singapore). Their mid-night cab fare is just less than MOP$10, for a cab fare of MOP$50. As we have 16 people, 4 cabs and everything is settled!

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Challenge 5: Decision Woes
Some wanted to go shopping, some wanted to eat, some wanted to stay in hotel. What will you do? Vote for the best choice? or force them to accept my final decision? Hmmm…

Tackled?: Easy lah. After all, this is a holiday trip, and there’s no point in forcing everybody to follow me like those paid tour guides. Rather, freedom of choice matters more. I just allow everyone to go anywhere they like during the recreation time. Of course for exchange meetings with University of Macau, they must there! Other than that, it’s freedom!

Furthermore, most of them are adults already, and it doesn’t make sense to order them around like little kids. All can speak Mandarin, so they won’t get lost in Macau or Hong Kong easily.

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What could I have done better?

1. Knowing more about Macau myself

On the day we landed in Macau, it was evening and everybody was hungry. We checked in hotel, and everyone was looking for food. Then, I didn’t have the contact numbers of our Macau friends, and I just bring the members around looking for food.

I thought it would just be like Hong Kong, where food is available on every street. But NO! What we find is pawn shops, Pawn shops, and more Pawn Shops! Not a big surprise as why there’s so many pawn shops in Macau, if you know that there are 40 casinos there.

Walking aimlessly in search of food for about 30 minutes, we finally settled in a cafe and had our meal. It cost more than I thought, but luckily we still get our stomach filled. If I only had know the place better and the location of food places, we won’t have to starve for so long on the first day.

Anyway, everything is solved when we met up with our Macau counterparts. Delicious food is aplenty by then.

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2. Increase awareness of time

From day one, we were already playing the ‘Amazing Race‘ game. We were always rushing for time. We nearly missed our flight from Singapore to Macau, as we board the plane just minutes before the gate closed. We lost track of time as we are happily eating at Burger King at Terminal 1 Arrival Hall.

When we were about to return to Macau from Hong Kong by ferry, we rushed to board the last ferry at the terminal. Little did we know the last ferry departed at 10.30pm, as I was told by the Macau hotel staff that ferry services are 24 hours.

We reached the ferry terminal at 10.15pm, and rushed to buy the tickets for 16 people. Cash and credit cards flew around to get the tickets for everybody. Luckily, everyone made it and reached Macau safely!

If I had planned sufficient time for every commute, and be more aware of the time, we wouldn’t have to rush that much. Anyway, I think every one of us had a good time rushing here and there, playing the ‘Amazing Race’.
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I’m Really Thankful For…

Although I’m the organizer for this whole exchange program, it would not have been a success without the help of many people. I’m really thankful of many things.

1. My NTU Toastmasters Club members.

I’m thankful for their huge cooperation, which sometimes impresses me.

There’s once I send out an SMS which asked for their NTU Matriculation card number. Within 2 minutes, I received all 15 matriculation numbers in my phone.

I sent an email to ask who want to give speeches in Macau, I get overwhelming response. Instead of persuading them to speak, I have to convince some others to do other appointment instead.

I sent an email to ask them to make their necessary visa or travel passes to enter Macau/Hong Kong, everybody made it before the trip, regardless they are in China or Singapore.

I set a time for everybody to meet up at certain places in Macau or Hong Kong, and everybody did. (though in Macau, some are stuck in casinos.)

They made my job so easy.

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2. Belief from everyone I can do a great job

I had no experience in organizing a trip before. I only know how to be a tourist. Still, I made it thanks to the encouragement I get from many people when somethings cropped up. Many lend their support and help me get things done faster.

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3. University of Macau Public Speaking Team & Toastmasters Club

Friendly Speech Contest Winners

With UM PST on bus to Portuguese Dinner!

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They are the two clubs which we visited in Macau. I’m really thankful that they are willing to host us, even as they have just began their new semester. You know, when a new semester starts, you have so much things to settle, like adding new modules…etc, and I’m really grateful that they take time out to host us.

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4. Macau students who brought us around Macau

A very big thank you to Catherine, Lisa, Cyndi, Esther, Eileen and many others who brought us around Macau for the last 3 days of our trip. Some of them even skipped class to become our tour guides.

Catherine & Lisa who brought us around for 3 days

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They showed us all the 25 world heritage in Macau, and the local food and shopping centers. I had initially planned to be the one guiding the group with a map, but luckily we have the friendly and hospitable Macau students. It’s always cool to have friends in other countries!

All of us stepping on a heritage - the floor!

that's Vernon and Cyndi, and 4 big bowls of Macau desserts!

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There’s a night they even bring all 16 of us to late night dessert supper. Ordered more than MOP$600 of desserts. Don’t know its cheap of expensive, but all the desserts are very delicious. Especially one which is like ‘Durian Soup‘.

A big bowl full of durian! You’ll love it if you like durian. We ate till 1am that day…

That 'Durian Soup'?

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5. Food, Accommodation & Weather

Food wise, I think most of us are satisfied. We didn’t have lots of proper meals, but we just eat whatever we find, and whenever we are hungry. To put in badly, we NEVER Stop eating!

Big Taiwanese Chicken Cutlet in HongKong!

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Accommodation wise, I’m thankful that I chose the right hotel which have big enough rooms and beds to accommodate 4-5 people per room. I booked the hotels online, and as you know, pictures can be deceiving. I booked purely on faith that the bed would be big enough to be shared by 4 people. When we reached Macau, I’m very relieved, and everyone was happy!

Weather wise, kind of good and bad. When we reached Macau, some members said the weather is quite warm, and not the 7 degree celsius that we thought. Then, I brought them up to the PEAK in Hong Kong. With the same outfit, they almost got ‘frozen’ by the strong cold winds. (haha…)

At University of Macau. Can't believe we are that high throughout the trip

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From then, the next 4 days in Macau and Hong Kong are freaking cold. Fortunately, everyone come prepared with extra clothes and windbreaker. Though it’s cold, many of us still love the weather and wind. We also walked under the rain in Macau one night as we don’t have umbrellas. In the end, we danced in the rain. Thankfully, no one fall sick!
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6. Last Ferry from Hong Kong to Macau

I’m really thankful for the last ferry which bring us back to Macau from Hong Kong. If we missed that ferry, I would have to book additional 4 hotel rooms to accommodate the members in Hong Kong for the night. Fortunately, we made it back!!

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7. Wifi in Hong Kong

There’s no Wifi services in our Macau hotel. As much as I hoped to disconnect from the internet world, I find that I couldn’t do it this time. One big mistake I made is not taking down the Macau partners phone numbers which I stored in my Facebook Messages. Without the internet, I can’t get the numbers out.

Thankfully, I can accessed it in Hong Kong to retrieve all the numbers.

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8. Free Casino Shuttle Bus services

We board them when we needed to go to the Macau ferry terminal to board ferry to Hong Kong. We took them again when we returned from Hong Kong. With them, I never have to book a coach to have 16 people travel around Macau together.

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9. JetStar landed safely.

We thought we could never made it back to Singapore, when we experienced a crazy turbulence just 30 minutes before landing at Changi Airport. The strong wind blew the plane off its course, and the plane tilted almost 45 degrees. Passengers screamed.

like what Vernon says... Jetstar, the one star airline

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Probably the plane is too small, thats why. I never encountered this on a SQ plane. Thankfully, the plane landed safely…

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10. Everyone returned home!

NTU Toastmasters - An International Club

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15 of us returned to Singapore. Some went home, some went back to NTU hostel. 1 went back to her hometown in China. In all, we had lots of fun for the 6 days in Macau. Despite all the rushing and running, no one lost any item. Despite eating all kinds of food, sleeping late, dancing in the rain, no one fall ill.

Also thankful for the blessings upon NTU TMC from a centuries-old church in Macau

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One thing we all know is that a strong relationship is built between the clubs in NTU and UMac. Probably this is just the beginning, and will have many more exchanges to come!

Farewell... but it's just the beginning!!

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When the day come, I don’t mind leading another team for exchange again. However, I would prefer to guide a fellow toastmasters on to how to organize a successful one like the NTU Toastmasters – University of Macau Exchange 2012!

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1. I didn’t set any new year resolutions

At the start of every year, people will make new year resolutions. But at the beginning of 2011, I didn’t set any. This is the first time of me doing so, with the aim of trying out something new and see how my year will turn out without any new year resolutions.

Instead, I set my own little targets, or small achievable goals for 2011 only. Then, when I achieve them, I write a few more down. And I can say I achieve most of them, and feel quite good about  it.

The reason I tried this because many people say setting new year resolutions is useless, because they doesn’t help. And sure enough, it doesn’t help. Haha. It’s mostly because we set in new year, hide it throughout the year, then reveal it again at the end of the year. Nothing changed in between.

I will continue to set my own little targets for year 2012

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2. Sharpen the saw first

I learned this from a conversation with my friend. He told me a story about this guy called David. He saw a friend who saws wood everyday. David sees that his friend only manage to saw a few wood a day, so he approaches his friend and see how he saw the wood.

When David met his friend, he sees that his friend’s saw is blunt. Then he advises his friend to stop sawing, and go and sharpen his saw first. But his friend tells him “I have no time to sharpen the saw, I need to saw wood!”

So did you catch the moral of the story? David’s friend didn’t put time to sharpen his saw, because he has to saw wood with his blunt saw. It’s kind of like an irony.

So for me in 2011, I stopped a few things I am doing to sharpen my own skills (sharpen the saw), instead of continuing to do works which are of mediocre quality.

One is my studies. I took 6 core modules in the first half of 2011, and aim to finish my entire course in 3.5 years, instead of 4 years. But i screwed up my results. Second half of the year, I decided to slow down my pace, build my subject foundations again, and took 3 core modules only. I did much better then.

This goes the same for my Toastmasters Project. Instead of rushing to give speeches every week, I tried to improve myself a little here and there, so to make my speech much more better than the previous one.

This is one good lesson for me in 2011. Like what Abraham Lincoln says, “If you give him 6 hours to saw a wood, he will use 4 hours to sharpen the saw”.

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3. Can you really do what you like? Is there something really called passion?

This is one question that gets debated a lot. I’m someone who do things I like, and also tells other people to do things they like, but people always question if this is possible. The word ‘passion’ also get thrown about. Some even says ‘passion’ doesn’t exist in this costly Singapore.

I realized how important this thing called ‘passion’ is when Steve Jobs passes on. I forgot the whole quote, but there are many things he said about doing what you want, and what you like, instead of living a someone else’s life.

He also said that if you do not know what you like, then keep on finding. You’ll find it one day.

One question you can ask is “Is there something I will do even if i’m not paid?”

Doing things not for monetary sake will give you a higher purpose than money. Sometimes, it can just be for fun, or for something more meaningful and purposeful.

You know I like to play with videos. I like to create, edit, and effects…etc. In 2011, I created quite a few videos to keep them as memories. One is for my favorite course in NTU – Cultural Intelligence, a class with awesome people from different countries.  You can watch the video here.

If you haven’t watch the cultural film, which I acted as an Indian Dad, then, you can watch it here too. I couldn’t act like a real one, but its really fun. Haha!

Another is me trying out playing violin music covers – like playing tunes of those pop songs. I listened to some incredibly beautiful music played by some, I transcribed out their notes, then played it myself. Sounds still okay, but what I love is that my music actually touches someone else (online who I doesn’t know).

You can watch the music violin cover – You Raise Me Up  here.

The latest video I did is the Christmas Message for 2011. This Christmas is meaningful to me, to be able to spend time with loved ones, and so I created this message to share with all. Spend like 2 full days to take, but it feel so good when you see people get your message and spending time with their loved ones.

You can also watch the video here.

In 2012, I will do meaningful and purposeful stuffs that will give add more energy to my life, and hopefully others too.

Talking about passion in your work? To me, that’s still possible. Just keep on finding, just like what Steve Jobs says.

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4. Achieve something by putting in time

I learn this after a talk from my NTU professor. I have blogged the whole conversation here. One of the important things I learn from him is about putting time in whatever you want to achieve.

Basically, he wants me to put more time in Math, so I can do better in my math grades. And so after his conversation, I put more time into my math. I downloaded YouTube video on Math and watch it on my way to school everyday. I study more per week for my math than I used to.

So when the results are out, I’m quite delighted that I get my math grades back to ‘pre-crisis’ period. I did better than the previous disastrous semester.

However, if you look at it , this is not a really big discovery. People become very good at games because they spend lots of time playing it. Football players become skillful because they play regularly. Hence, if you score good grades, it’s just because you study a lot.

But it’s one thing I have long forgotten with all the distractions around me. Fortunately, I remembered it now.

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5. Time is really important

I don’t know about you, but I started doing this after my grandmother passed away in 2008: I counted how many funerals I attended every year. Funerals of people who are close to me, my friends, my relatives.

I know it’s quite crazy, but I did count how many i attended. In 2009, I attended 3, 2010, there’s 4, & 2011, there’s 3. I don’t know how many I will attend in 2012, but hopefully its zero.

Furthermore, in these funerals I attended, I was puzzled by one thing. These funerals will bring together lots of people from everywhere, even friends or relatives  whom they have not met for decades. If you attended a funeral before, you will see this.

You will see old friends of the deceased, long-lost relatives whom they never seen in years. But its kind of awkward because what brought all the long-lost friends or relatives together is the passing of someone they know.

It can be heartening to see your old friends back after many years, but I just don’t feel right about it seeing them in a funeral. I rather see them during Chinese New Year celebrations or meet them any other days out for coffee.

In 2011, I have tuned my focus on spending more time with family and building stronger relationships with people around me. I try to give as much as I can and to have as much beautiful memories together as possible.

This is because I don’t really want to have regrets like “I should have done this, should have done that’ when the person is not around anymore. Instead, I would prefer to say that “I’m glad I’ve done ….”

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6. Be in control of your life as much as you can

One of the biggest highlights of 2011 is the Singapore General Election. What makes it more exciting is the power of Facebook and other online media, which caused the whole Singapore, even those secondary school kids on your Facebook friends list to be suddenly so interested in politics.

You can call that ‘election excitement’, but at least they know something more about their country than I was during their age.

Also during this election is the time when critiques are born everywhere, blaming this and that party, for this and that problems or results. I am quite a critique also, but if I want to blame, I prefer to blame things that are beyond our control.

Many blame the old government for overcrowded-ness in public transport, foreign competition, HDB prices…etc. Fair enough, these decisions of overcrowded-ness in public transport, bringing in foreign workers/talents or skyrocketing HDB prices, all lies in the policies of the government.

As I wrote in a Facebook article that time, we couldn’t really get rid of foreigners on our own (can you kick them out of your country?) and we also cannot want our HDB prices just to drop like that. For these issues, hence we hear cries from the people to ask the government to implement policies to curb those problems.

But for some other reasons, I don’t want to point the blame on the government on any other people, because I think it’s pointless.

I can tell you my grades are really average in school, but I will never say its because NTU allows a lot of foreign students into it. This is because I know i didn’t study as much and as hard as they did! Hence, the problem lies with me, so its under my control.

Then there’s another part that if employers are not employing you, then you blame the government. If the employer is discriminating against you because of sensitive issues like race, nationality, religion or sex, then you have the right to complain. But if the employer don’t employ you because he just doesn’t need your services, then what’s the point of complaining.

I see some people just want to complain and blame government or other people because of the poor decisions they made in life.

“If you blame, you become lame”

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7. Getting a wholesome and complete life in school & out of school

The beginning of 2011 is quite difficult for me, mostly because I tried to juggle many things together. I’m just so busy. I’m just rushing here and there and try to complete as much things as possible. My mind is in a mess.

In the second half of 2011, I dropped many things I did to slow my my pace. I learn to be a minimalist, and clear all the clutter in my mind. And then I get back my life!

Since my university education started, I never liked it and always aimed to finish it as soon as possible. My course is catered for 4 years, but I aimed to complete in 3.5 years. That’s explains why I rushed my first half of 2011, by taking 6 core modules.

But when I got my worst results ever in mid-2011, I redesign my study plan in NTU. I plan to take 4 years to study again. As such, in the later part of 2011, I took only 3 core modules and an elective, which is probably my favorite subject in NTU.

In the end, my results fared a lot better than the one in mid-2011.

Also, before my exams in November 2011, I embarked on an exchange trip to China with council members from National Youth Council, and some young journalists. The trip took 7 days, and its just 1 week from my exams… and I STILL GO!

Some people think I’m crazy and taking a risk to go overseas so near my exams, but I thought that I took a right gamble. I sacrificed my study time for this
‘once-in-a-lifetime’ experience. Furthermore, the people in this trip made it so exciting that I felt that I have made the right decision to leave for China.

This trip also gave me a well-deserved break from the daily grind of books and notes.

In 2012, I’m not sure if there’s any trip for me to go in the middle of my studies, but if there is, I will definitely hop onto this opportunity again. It will make me a wholesome student, who is not just about books and grades.

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8. The most important purpose in life is not collecting achievements but building relationships

I got enlightened about this from LifeUnited Church. We all want achievements, who doesn’t? But coming to hear this quote changed my thinking about my purpose in life.

Our meritocratic system has developed a kind of culture that makes us go for more and more achievements – higher grades, higher honors, higher positions of authority. There’s nothing wrong with this. But something is wrong if we attain all these by neglecting the relationships we have with people around us. Or worse, we attain by making use of the people around us.

I have experienced this myself where people are just your friends because they need project group grades. They are not your friends anymore when there’s nothing about grades. Same like some people become your friends when you’re rich, and left when you’re not.

I don’t know how these people have friends, but I think their friends are very much superficial like them too.

There are many theories that say “your income is the average of your 5 closest friends”. When some people heard of this, they immediately abandoned their current (not-so-rich) friends, and go find new (and richer) friends, so they can richer themselves.

Kick that out.

Why not you and your 5 closest friends be rich TOGETHER? If that’s what you want, isn’t that a better way?

In 2012, other than just building relationships with more people, I also plan to create more long-lasting memories with many people. They are just so fun to talk about after a few years, and they are really more meaningful than just achieving and collecting grades and certificates.

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9. Winners are Quitters!

As you have read above, I have dropped many things I did in the second half of 2011. Yes, I QUIT on many things. And thanks that I quit to do so many things, i think I’m a winner now.

“Winners never Quit, and Quitters never Win”.

This is one quote we heard since young, but it has been busted by Seth Godin in his book, The Dip. Winners do Quit, and sometimes you fail by not quitting.

If there’s one thing I quit doing on this blog, is about giving it more time, and less time.

I blogged less frequent, but with more stuffs in each post (just like this one). I don’t have that much things to talk about like other bloggers everyday, so I chose to spend time doing other things, then come back and share my reflections and lessons. This way I also make my post more meaningful and worthwhile to read, than just daily rants.

But another thing I didn’t quit is to use my blog to collect memories. I didn’t know if you do that as well. It’s just like writing a diary and paste them with photos. After a period of time, like 4 years, when you look back at your own photos and writing, you can see how much you have changed.

It can also bring you back to those days 4 years ago.

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10. There’s more life outside Facebook and Twitter

Actually more about this lesson can be read in this post during my trip to China.

In 2010, I get hanged onto Facebook/Twitter. Till 2011, i’m still addicted to it. In 2012, I will continue to hang on to it, but I aim not to do it as much, at least not to rely it to spend my time.

I believe the world outside of Facebook and Twitter can be very beautiful, its just waiting for us to explore. Sometimes Facebook and Twitter is filled with so much negativity and criticism that just pollute your mind and restrict your imagination.

It’s time to live outside the world!

I’m gonna spend more time looking at the sky, observing insects or seeing leaves falling of trees. In 2012, I will plan to go AWOL from Facebook and Twitter again, just like what I did in China. Maybe not to travel to China again, but just to shut off all channels of communication – not even Whatsapp or email.

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That’s my 10 lessons in 2011. Of course, there’s a lot more lessons I learn, but somehow these 10 taught me the most. Thanks to all the people who impart such valuable lessons to me in 2011. You may not have taught me directly. Sometimes I just pick up these lessons and thoughts by myself, via you

Plans for 2012?

I will continue the plans I have drawn up in the second half of 2011. Nothing Big. Just a continuation of living a meaningful and purposeful life which I am living now.

Today, I’m more of going to share my own experiences during my 7 days in China. Actually the title already told you my experience. No Facebook for 7 days. This is not news, and I’m sure you’ve already known they are famous for their Great FireWall of China.

In my trips to China so far, I have successfully climbed to the top of the Great Wall of China, twice. Kind of tiring, but it’s manageable. But this is my first time encountering their Great FireWall. No Facebook, No Twitter, No YouTube… and I can’t even have updated news on my iPad Flipboard.

I don’t know about you, but it’s quite a challenge, or rather, a torture for me not able to access those sites even if I have the Internet. Back in Singapore, I access Facebook when I’m bored, till I’m bored. Some says Facebook is like an addiction, and I confess, I’m addicted to it! Haha…

So no Facebook for me in China. Some friends suggested trying VPN. But I have no idea how to use it, and it turns out to be super lagged when my friend finally accessed Facebook through VPN. Probably the VPN Is not strong enough to withstand the heat from the Firewall, that’s why.

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No Facebook, What to do?

What to do?

Enjoy the trip (lah)!

After all, this trip is not about Facebook, nor I have a duty to update all my whereabouts on Facebook. A breakaway from Facebook allows me to ‘BE THERE’ for the whole trip. “BE THERE”, is easily said, not easily done. I sure can’t do it when I’m in Singapore.

BE THERE, or a better explanation. means to have your body, mind and soul altogether in one place. When it’s not, it means like you are in a lecture, but your mind is thinking about the Korean buffet you’ll be eating later, or thinking how many friends will respond to your funky picture you just uploaded on Facebook.

How many of these actually happen to us daily? For me, I can say it’s everyday. Or every hour, especially when I can access Facebook simply with my iPhone in hand. My mind is always separated from my physical being. But now, thanks to the Great Firewall, I can BE THERE the whole trip, without any distraction from Facebook.

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A Little Girl Who Taught Me Happiness

There’s one part of the trip that is quite memorable. In Nanning, there is a little girl, whose Dad is the coach driver who fetch us around when we travel in the city.

We came to know this girl when we are about to depart Nanning to Beijing, via domestic flight. We took the coach to Nanning airport, and that’s where, during the trip, we learn so much from her. She was just 6 years old.

When we board the bus, she was sleeping at the back of the coach. Her blanket and pillow were there, and that gave us the idea that she probably spend the night in the coach.

She also had a cute little school bag, though  a little torn, has allowed her to carry her notebook and stationery to school. When we saw her notebook, she opened it and read us a Chinese poem. Oh, by the way, she’s called Shan Shan.

Shan Shan is a cheerful little girl who always smiles and giggles when answering our questions. During our ride, she saw my friend, Estella’s Cannon camera, and she became so excited that she took it and kept on snapping us.

I heard from Estella that she took a few hundred photos in less than an hour of ride. Of course, some are just random or blurred shots, but some are really good ones.

Throughout the ride, we talked to her, played with her and joked with her. After about an hour or so, we are kind of tired and wanted to rest but she’s still full of energy. It’s just like how parents can’t match the energy level of their kids.

Moments later, we reached the airport and was going to alight the coach. Upon hearing this, Shan Shan looked surprised that we were in fact going to leave, and that’s why we were in his Dad’s coach.

When we were packing up to alight, we could see sadness in her eyes. But still we had to leave for Beijing. All of us had our share of joy with Shan Shan. My delegate leader Eric enjoyed the ride tremendously too.

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What I See…

From the short few hours we had with Shan Shan, I see that happiness doesn’t derive much from the things we have, but from the relationships we have with others.

Of course we are happy that we have this gadget and that toy, but I believe we will be really more happy when we have good relationships, and share good times and memories with the people around us.

Also, those few hours also brought me back to the pre-Facebook or pre-Internet days. Then, we do not have lots of gadgets like iPhone, iPod, iPad, Playstation, Xbox, Kinect…etc. But we are able to create joy and entertainment through simple toys or card games. Or we can just simply hang out with our friends at some neighborhood and play games like ‘Catching’ or ‘Ice-Man’.

Then, when we play, we play our hearts out, and don’t care so much. Today, whatever we play, we will post at Facebook first, and while we are playing, we will keep checking Facebook who respond to our update. We are there physically, but not mentally. I admit I did this sometimes. Haha…

My friend, a mother, also had a revelation. She felt that her daughter, who has the same age as Shan Shan, is so much more fortunate than Shan Shan. She has proper books, bags and shoes, but Shan Shan has to make do with her torn bag and dirty shoes for school. She said that she will tell her daughter about Shan Shan, and teach her how to appreciate things more. And she is also going to send some nice shoes and bags over from Singapore to Nanning for Shan Shan!

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Whoooo…. I didn’t know there’s so much things to say just because I didn’t manage to use Facebook for 7 days. Probably I conserved all my postings from those 7 days for today’s post.

Coming back to Singapore, I’m back to my usual Facebook regime, accessing it every now and then. I even logged in during every break I took from my revision for examinations. I’m allowing it to come back to my life again. I’m trying to minimize the usage of it… but I already said that 9 months ago. Oh yea.

Thinking of it, the Great FireWall Of China is actually not as bad as I first thought. It makes China a first class rehabilitation center for Facebook addicts (like me). How about you? Will you consider going to China, as a tourist, and also to break free from the Facebook-dominant world?

I will definitely go again, for it brings back my life!

Our Singapore delegation team comprises of 7 people, whom you will find out more below. We have delegates from Straits Times, Lianhe ZaoBao (Singapore Chinese Newspaper), Youth.SG, and a founder of a 100,000 strong Facebook Fan page.

The delegation is led by 2 top civil servants from National Youth Council. I would say that I’m really privileged to be part of this amazing group of people, which made our whole trip fun and meaningful.

This 7 day trip began in Nanning. A 4-hour flight brought us from Singapore to Guangzhou before an hour-long domestic flight landed us in Nanning. On the third day, we travelled to Beijing on a 3-hour domestic flight and upon arrival, we hopped onto a coach for a 2 hour ride to Tianjin. We returned to Beijing on the fifth day via  a 40-min ride on the Beijing-Tianjin bullet train.

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 Main Highlights

Our trip itinerary was filled with cultural exchanges, conferences, discussions, shopping and visits to tertiary institutions and prominent private and government establishments. While we had fun touring and learning China, the main highlights of the youth camp is the gathering of the China and ASEAN young journalists.

On the second day of our trip, representatives from each nation sat down in a round table to discuss on the topic of “How Media Can Help Boost Free Trade Agreements”

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Suggestions raised includes playing the responsible role of a journalist, the using of both online and mainstream media, and partnership between journalists from different countries. The host of the discussion is a TV host from GuangXi Television (I forgot his name!), but he also shared his experiences when he travelled to every ASEAN country.

On the last day of the trip, all the journalists sat down again to discuss about the roles and responsibilities of young journalists.

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Many topics were discussed, including the comparison between online (alternative) media and mainstream media, how young journalists can help to boost bi-lateral ties, and the suggestion of creating a strong network of journalists from all 10 ASEAN countries. Elyn (in white), along with delegates from Vietnam (right) and Thailand (left) shared our discussion with the rest of the audience.

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Learning Points

While listening to what other young journalists share, I also participate as much as I can to contribute to the discussion. Here are some of the notes I have taken down, and some strong points mentioned by delegates from the Chinese and ASEAN journalists.

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1. Journalists should be Professional, Ethical, Independent and Objective.

Though I did not study any course in journalism in university, I kind of know that there’s a certain code of conduct journalists should follow. Journalists play a very important role in reporting news and facts. The things they write can affect how others make their decisions. Journalists should always remember their main role of being journalist.

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2. Stronger emphasis of Accuracy in reporting.

Young journalists should place more emphasis in reporting accurate news and facts. This is important, especially in this ‘internet age’ where information are all over the internet. Carelessness may result in the journalist reporting a rumor/lie as a fact. Cross-referencing and verifying news sources are really important here.

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3. Building a Network of journalists

This is a really good suggestion that journalists from different countries can come together, form a network to report news on different countries. This allows every journalist to clarify and follow up news in other countries easily.

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4. New (Alternative) Media vs Mainstream Media

When this topic was mentioned, my antenna was up immediately. And little did I know this topic was one of the hottest topic discussed on the table. Most of the journalists there mainly works in the mainstream media, while only a handful of them, are like me, who operates in the ‘alternative’ media.

An intense exchange of ideas was observed on whether ‘Mainstream media should compete, or compliment each other’. For me, I strongly believe they should compliment each other, and there’s really no point in ‘killing’ each other (both will still be alive in the long run).

However, other counterparts believe that mainstream media should only be public source of news, as the alternative media allows the spread of   lies / rumors / gossip, in which the mainstream media has to be called later in to report the true facts to stop the ‘fire’ from spreading further. (maybe I can write more on this in future post)

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Cultural Differences

Before I embark on this trip, I blogged about taking this opportunity to apply what I have learned about cultural intelligence in NTU, into this cultural exchange trip. And yes I did! I tried to observe and note down as much as I can. While I’m not able to name all, here are some of the more significant ones.

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1. Nanning people are very hospitable

Nanning is located is GuangXi, the southern part of China, and it’s our first place of visit. The reason I say they are very hospitable, as they would want to ensure that you feel happy and enjoy your stay there. They like to ask for your feedback on Nanning. And whatever you say, they will reply with “if you need anything, just tell me, I will settle for you“.

I experienced this during an interview with a GuangXi reporter. Other delegates are also asked about their experience in Nanning. They are really friendly, and will help you when you need help.

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2. A typical Chinese banquet serves 15 dishes.

This happens on a lunch banquet in Nanning where we wondered why we were constantly being served with dishes, even though we know we couldn’t finish all of them. Singapore banquets usually serve till the 7th or 8th dish. There, we heaved a sigh of relief, when the serving finally ended, with desserts.

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3. Foreigners are impressed with Singapore’s bilingualism

I’m not saying this to boost our own ego, but from what I observed, the Chinese are impressed that we could speak both good English and Mandarin. We are also somehow the ‘bridge’ for our Chinese and ASEAN counterparts. Communication with the Chinese or ASEAN delegates, especially during the conferences, were also much easier.

(To Singapore parents who think that Chinese is a useless subject, or learning to speak good Mandarin is a waste of time, please think twice!)

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4. Taking Pride in Cultural Performances

While we were traveling from cities to cities on the road, one of the best ways to get the passengers to cheer up, is to SING! On the bus trip from Beijing to Tianjin, my bus consists of delegates from 3 countries – Singapore, Laos and Vietnam, there’s once the Vietnamese started singing their cultural song, soon everyone of us followed! I can see that every one of their delegates sang with passion and everyone started clapping to their song.

On a visit to Tianjin Foreign Studies University, students from TFSU showcased some Chinese cultural performances, like playing the ‘Pi Pa’ and a XinJiang (West of China) cultural dance. Our delegates from Laos, also put up a cultural show for the TFSU students, and invited everyone to dance together.

The Chinese Instrument, "Pi Pa"

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Cultural Dance by TFSU student from XinJiang

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5. Collectivism in victory and privacy – Chinese.

In my NTU cultural course, I studied about the high collectivism trait observed by the Chinese. Into China, I observed it myself. I was told by our Chinese student tour guide, an undergrad from TFSU, that a school hostel room is shared by 8 -10 students. 10 persons sharing a room, and this brings me back to my national service days. Back in NTU, our rooms are just shared by a maximum of 2 students.

My delegate leader then curiously asked “what about personal privacy?”. The student tour guide answered that they believe in shared privacy. However, over to their international lodge for international students, theirs are single rooms, much like those in NTU.

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Interesting Stories?

On top of all the things I mentioned, I also have many interesting encounters in China, which taught me many life lessons. Such as the lesson of appreciation, the pain/joy of 7 ‘Facebook-less’ days and valuing something before its gone. These stories are quite though-provoking , and I thought it would be better to share them in separate posts.

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The Wonderful Singapore Delegate!

Last but definitely not the least, I would like to thank the awesome Singapore delegation team for making this trip so fruitful, joyful and meaningful.

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Eric Chua – Singapore Delegate Leader

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Eric is by far the best (and funniest) leader I have known so far. He’s a top civil servant from Ministry of Home Affairs. He’s a Council Member in National Youth Council. He held positions in committees and clubs. Looking at his huge profile of records, I never thought he can be such a lame and funny guy to hang around with. I also like his leadership style, and take good care of every delegate during the whole trip. He has good fashion sense too!

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Angelene Dorai – ‘Mother’ of the Delegation

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Angelene is like our ‘mother’ for our whole trip. Ask her for anything, she will have it. She’s also a top civil servant from the National Youth Council. I would have to thank her for enduring all my lame jokes throughout the trip, and that almost made her want to kick me out of the bus. Haha. Oh yea, thanks to her, we are able to shop at the Beijing Outlet Mall before we depart!

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Elyn – Zao Bao Journalist

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A really nice person to talk to, and also someone I have to thank for enduring all my lame jokes. She’s been to China a few times, and thanks to her knowledge about China, we can get around (and shop) easily. I also thank her for helping me to bargain from an auntie in Silk Street Market!

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Estella – Welcome The World!

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She manages a Facebook page of over 100,000 fans! Go like her page if you haven’t : Welcome The World. She’s the youngest in this trip, and probably the whole China-ASEAN Youth Camp. Despite her age, she has already accomplished many things her peers didn’t. She might be in Indonesia now covering news for SEA Games 2011! She took amazing pictures with her Cannon, in which one picture made me look like a brand model. LOL.

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Vina Sim – My Youth.SG Boss

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Many thanks to Vina, if not, I wouldn’t be able to make it to this exchange trip. Not really my boss, but we worked together in Youth.SG’s Ultimate Campus Spy Network.  She’s kind of a ‘cool’ lady, and she can really drink. Thanks to her, that I get to try different wines and beers in China. She can really bargain too.

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Joe En – Straits Times & My Trip Buddy

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Joe writes for Straits Times, YouThink session way back when he’s in ACJC. Back then, YouThink was the only section I read in ST when it was published on every monday. He’s a nice guy to be with, and we shared a lot with each other throughout the whole journey.

We even shared a unique experience in Beijing’s Wang Fu Jing shopping street together, one which we will never forget. A really good buddy who might be the next big lawyer in Singapore. He came in second for the China-ASEAN essay competition which earn him the chance to be part of the China-ASEAN Youth Camp 2012 next year!

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Of course, I would also like to thank Felicia from National Youth Council for organizing and doing all the administrative work for this trip, and the organizers and student leaders who brought us around Nanning, Tianjin and Beijing for these 7 days. I would say this trip is definitely a success. Everyone, including delegates from ASEAN and China will continue to work with each other, and bring our corporation to a higher level.

This is a course I am currently taking in NTU. Kind of fun, and I enjoyed it a lot. It educates on something called your Cultural Intelligence Quotient, otherwise known as CQ. It’s like another quotient we need to build on, other than just IQ and EQ. From Wikipedia, Cultural Intelligence is defined as

“a theory within management and organisational psychology, positing that understanding the impact of an individual’s cultural background on their behaviour is essential for effective business, and measuring an individual’s ability to engage successfully in any environment or social setting.”

Too long?

In simple terms, it means someone with high CQ knows how to interact with people from different culture and cultural values, able to read cultural cues given in verbal or non-verbal form. A person with high CQ will also know how to avoid unnecessary conflict due to cultural differences.

So for my course, I learn about the different cultural values one has, like Uncertainty Avoidance, Masculinity, Long Term Orientation and Power Distance, and also about difference in Motivation, Team Building, Negotiation styles across cultures. Taking this course also allows me to learn more about my own cultural values, and reveal the truth why I always clash with certain kind of people, and why I always click so well with certain people too!

This course is also my favorite course in NTU so far. So much more exciting than any other Math modules (sorry to be ranting about it again). My cultural class is also composed of students from 6 different nationalities – Singapore, Scotland, Finnish, Japanese, Myanmar and Taiwan, this then allows us to work with people from diverse culture!

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Putting my CQ to Test!

Part of the course assignment is to shoot a film to depict the difference in culture and negotiation styles between India and Canada. We have a Finnish in our group. An awesome exchange student from Finland. He is my first ever Finnish friend, and its fun working with him. Check out our film below.

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Putting my CQ to Real Test!

I thought that we did quite well for the film above, and hopefully we can score quite well. That would test how much we have increased in our CQ before and after the course. However, that’s not all about putting my CQ to test. Now, I’m going to put my CQ to REAL TEST!

Just a month ago, I received a call from National Youth Council and was elated to learn that I was selected as a representative for 2011 China-ASEAN Youth Camp, in China from 3 Nov to 10 Nov. The background of the camp is as follows:

In order to celebrate the China-ASEAN Friendly Exchange Year at the 20th anniversary of the China-ASEAN dialogue relations, and to further implement Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s proposal at the 11th China-ASEAN Leaders Meeting concerning China will continue to invite ASEAN youth to visit China to participate in exchange and dialogue programs including China-ASEAN Youth Camp, Summer Camp, Young Entrepreneurs Forum, etc., the All-China Youth Federation would like to invite 100 ASEAN youth to visit China and participate in exchange programs in November, 2011.

So I will be traveling to China this Thursday, 3 Nov, and will be visiting Beijing, Nanjing and Tianjing in this 7-day trip, along with meeting China and other ASEAN youth representatives too. While this event allows me to make friends with people from different ASEAN countries, it also allows me to put my cultural knowledge to real test!

Real, as in applying what I have learned in my “How To Be A World Explorer” NTU course!

I will learn if any stereotype of Chinese or other cultures I know about are true.

I will be tested on how to communicate verbally and non-verbally with people from other cultures.

I have to check my gestures, if they are offensive to any culture.

Most importantly, I have to know how to resolve any conflict/difference if any happens.

I’m sure this would be a true experience for me to test if my CQ did increase, other than just the academic test which I will take once I return from the trip. I will definitely blog about interesting stories or any cultural ‘bloopers’ that I encounter and share it with everybody here. Probably I can share them with my cultural class too!

I’m so looking forward to this test this coming Thursday.

I’ll be back again here with all my stories! Ciao!

*btw, no Facebook in China, so you might not see me online for 1 week.

Better than Professor Oak?

Look at that title. To me, it’s an oxymoron.

A professor can’t do a motivational talk.

If he can motivate, then he’s not a professor.

That is what my perception of a professor is, after more than 2 years studying in university, under professors from different countries. While some are exceptional, most fall under the stereotype of “boring”, “long-winded”, “eh, WTH are you teaching!!?!!”.

However, not so after I met up with this professor.

A few weeks back, I received an email from this professor of mine. He is not teaching me any subject, but he is my personal-assigned professor in NTU, one who will take care of you for whatever stuffs you need in school. It’s like your ‘form teacher’ or civics tutor in secondary school or junior college.

So I got an email that he wanna meet up with me and have a chat, just as a way to know each other, and if there’s anything I need help about school stuffs, I can approach him directly. We set a date and I met him in his office that week Thursday.

To make it simple, let’s call him Prof Wu.

When I first met him in his office, I can see that he quite a friendly and cheerful guy. We chatted a while, and he is always smiling, whenever he speaks or when I ask him something. He seems like a nice guy to talk to.

After about 10 minutes of ‘small talk’, he diverted the conversation to my academic grades. Usually, I might be quite surprised. But not this time, as I already expected it to be part of the meet up. As my “personal” professor, he should already have access to my grades, subjects, GPA …etc. So we chatted a while about it.

He told me that he would have expected higher grades, given that I’m from a junior college and also with quite good A level results. If you already know since last time, I didn’t like math as much as I used to in JC, and without much doubt, I also don’t like those professors teaching the math. Anyway, that’s story for another day.

As we continued along about how he would expect higher grades from me, I didn’t really pay attention to what he is saying, ’cause the thing is… I still don’t like Uni Maths. I just let him ramble along. I show him my poker face.

However, as his rambling continued, I realized that I began to pay more attention to his words, and started to give more serious thought of what he tells me. His words also somehow opened my “once-tightly-closed” mind to professors. The conversation lasted for almost another 40 min, and I head out getting motivated to get better grades this time.

And when I left his room, I never realize he could be such motivational. Or rather, his words are motivational – cos his tone and pitch are the same throughout. He is never like the usual motivational speakers you see elsewhere – loud voices, large actions.

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So what exactly did he tell me?

That’s is probably what you want to know right now!!

While I couldn’t recount the whole conversation, but I will write all the important points down for easy reading and understanding. (I’ll put my thoughts in brackets). Through it, I hope maybe you might be motivated too. Here it goes.

Me: Prof Wu, let me be honest with you. In NTU, I almost couldn’t understand at all what all the lecturers are talking about. I don’t know what they are teaching, and worse, some I couldn’t even understand what they are saying.

Prof Wu: I know that some of the professors are not that good, as they just came over to teach in Singapore. However, in University, one thing you have to know is that, university is training you two important life skills.

I know many people say that whatever you study in university, like mathematics, engineering, they  cannot be used in life. But do you know why you still have to study it?

The two important life skills that you will learn out of university, from all those courses you are studying, are self-learning and critical thinking skills.

Yes, some of the lecturers are not able to explain quite well. But in university, you are expected to do self-learning. It means that even if there are no professors to teach you, you are able to learn all by yourself, do all the questions, then go to exams. And this is what the university is all about.

I know this can be quite different from your high school. But if you want to do well in university, you have to study beforehand, and go into the lecture just to listen it the second time, and to clarify stuffs only. Learning in the lecture itself is too slow.
(At this point, my eyes and mind opened. This is a whole new paradigm shift for me.)

Prof Wu: Do you know how I define smart?

If you go and look at the successful people in the world, you will notice similarities among them. And I can tell you that they are smart people – they have these 2 skills better than others.

They learn faster and think faster than others.

There was once a Japanese Mathematics professor who won some major award in mathematics. This award is more prestigious than the Nobel Prize. While the Nobel Prize is given to a few people every year, this award is given to 2 people every 4 years. (sorry I forget the name of the award). So this Japanese professor got this award.

During his speech, he says that even though he got this award for his achievement in Mathematics, he says that even if he switch from researching Mathematics to building a big business, he will also succeed, because he has developed the 2 skills – self-learning and critical thinking skills. I can learn and think faster than many people. (another eye-opener for me.)

So when you think that studying those mathematics in university is useless, they are actually training you how to learn faster and think faster than others. This is one thing many people don’t know. (so now you know, ‘cos I’ve shared it with you!)

And the next question many students ask is “if it can’t be used in real-life, then why do we have to study hard for it, and get good grades?”

I’m not sure if you want to be a mathematician, or start your own business next time. There’s a good thing about getting good grades from any subjects that you take. It shows that you are someone who is willing to put in the effort to get it done well. So by getting good grades, you are showing the character that you are a hardworking person.

If someone is successful in one area, he will be successful in another area. If he is hardworking in mathematics or any subject, he will be hardworking in doing other things too. (I agree with him on this – How you do anything, is how you do Everything.)

[at this point, I'm somehow sold by his idea that mathematics is good for me, and that I have to get good grades even though it cannot be used in real life. It will even be helpful for me if I were to have my own business next time.  What's next is more surprising...]

Prof Wu: You told me just now that you are also quite interested in politics (yea, I told him that just now). And I can tell you this is the same for politicians, who want to be successful. They have to learn faster and think faster than others to win!

Say for example, Tan Cheng Bock. He’s a very smart man. If you look at how he run his presidential election, you can see that he learn fast, and think faster than his opponents. He has to plan his strategy well against his opponents.

(Here I have a Prof Wu from China who came to NTU only last year, and he knows about Singapore politics and Tan Cheng Bock’s election campaign. And what’s more surprising, he uses Tan Cheng Bock’s example as part of motivating me! I supported TCB during his election as his counting agent, and his example of Tan Cheng Bock resonates with me. But if he uses others, especially T_T, then i wouldn’t have been convinced by him that easily.)

Prof Wu: People who achieved success spend time and effort on what they are doing. As a professor, I would advise student to put in at least 8 hours per week for every subject. 8 hours include self-study and attending all lectures and tutorials. I can guarantee that you will get better grades if you put in the effort.

This is the same as anyone who is successful in their field. Take football for example. The professional football players, the top players spend a lot of time training and playing football. That’s why they are that good. But if they did not spend time training and playing, then they won’t be the top players. This is same even for doing your own business. Successful businessmen also put in a lot of effort to build their company to be a successful one.

(Seems like he knows a lot about me. I definitely did not tell him about Tan Cheng Bock, I did not tell him I like football, I did not tell him I want to build a business! YET he uses examples that encompasses my interests – they get me sold easily!)

So I believe if you put in time and effort in learning and practicing your math, I can guarantee you will do well.

~ end of the motivational notes in our conversation.

Towards the end of the conversation, I felt a strong sense of gratitude towards Prof Wu. Now, I think Prof Wu is more of inspiring than motivational to me. He is able to inspire me to do something which i never like to do for the past 2 years – to put in more effort to study mathematics.

I hope I won’t disappoint him this time round

There are lots of reports online talking about the 2 elections, the analysis and so on. But i don’t think I will go into that. Rather, I like to sham my learning journey in politics and how I did become so interested in politics, since April/May, when the General Elections begins.

No Interest
Before this May election, I have no interest in politics before. When my parents told me that this year we’ll be having a General Election, and I’m eligible to vote, it got me excited. Because it is my first time voting! But I’m just interested to vote for the incumbent party then.

One thing that come to my mind, is that I heard many people say they are voting for opposition, and all their lives, they only vote opposition. Then, I ponder, “Not say I don’t want to vote for opposition, I want to know if they are as capable as the incumbent. If not, why vote for them?”

That was my thinking then, and it carried on as I began my interest about politics. I was never anti-government polices. Cos I was never interested. Back then, when i see my friends always post those Facebook status that complains about the government, my first response is “eh, don’t kpkb la. Normal Singaporean – just want to complain” To me, they don’t know how good their life is, and just want to complain all those small little things, but not look at the bigger things that they already have.

Before all these, I’m quite a personal development type of guy, in which I have learnt several principles to get things done.

Things like: Talk is cheap. A person can complain whole day non-stop, but if he still stays there and complain, then he’s not going to change anything. For things to change, we have to change. We get what we pay. If we pay peanuts, we get monkey – in other words, if we anyhow do things, then the results we get are also ‘anyhow’. Hence, when I see people complain how their life so terrible, how they didn’t get this, how they don’t have that, I would rather they look into themselves, than blame the government for causing it.

So before all the GE stuffs, I don’t really care much about government policies or news. To me then, they are just like those news we see everyday. Care or don’t care, not really important.

Then, when the General Elections started to get near, about mid April, I found myself reading more and more stuffs about politics and policies. I also began to search for more policies that have been implemented in the past and how it changed our lives now. To gain this interest, I think social media did helped a lot. Then, I didn’t know what Temasek Review or The Online Citizen is. I heard about it, but told you, I was never interested.

Started To Read Politics Stuffs
But when the GE nears, I’m their fan on their Facebook fan page, and I began to dig out articles after articles from their website. I also want to know how past elections are like. The more I read, the more I know how our country is run, and also some dirty politics played by politicians. But I can tell you. Reading about these politics news can really make you boil, if you feel that some policies implemented doesn’t resonate with your principles. Of most common one today in Singapore, are those of influx in foreign talent (or workers), rising age-withdrawal limit of CPF.

And of course, you will also find out that whatever policies that are implemented, there are bound to be reasons to justify them. Some will obediently follow the rules, while some will disagree and will contest them. That’s normal. I also realized I’m not someone who can follow rules obediently and just do what you tell me. Anything I don’t feel right, I will just contest them. Not throwing punches, but throwing ideas. Much like debate. And that is why I also get into so much debate with my Facebook friends during the GE period. I can say all these policies debate can be tiring, and it is really tiring – but it allows me to see the different points of views too.

I Finally Know What Propaganda Is
So when GE campaigning starts, I follow every single news information that is released. And from the daily news that is broadcasted, I also finally understand what people always mean by ‘biased news’, or ‘gutter journalism’. I think you see best during election period. Then in the past, when there’s only controlled news resources – TV, Radios, Newspapers – people says that they have turned into propaganda weapons for our incumbent government.

But now, with internet and all, the traditional media felt the heat of just reporting news from one side. So in the GE, it helps me not to read news ‘blindly’ anymore. It makes me look deeper into the agenda of this news writer, and what message is he trying to send into my subconscious mind – “this party has no substance, this part is pure!”

Losing Of Friends
In this GE, I would also said that I do make many friends, but also spoiled many friendships. I do make friends who share common cause and feelings for our country, but also broke friendships with people due to differences. Now looking back, I realized that it is not that the relationships with my friends broke down due to differences in opinions, but is more of inability to agree to disagree. I can say I’m more of a pro-opposition guy during this GE campaign, but I also have friends who are pro-PAP too. Some of my friends even worked in their own GRC grassroots. We debated a lot on many issues, of course, we agree on some, we disagree on some. We are still friends.

What I can’t stand is that when I debate on issues with some of my friends, when they run out of thoughts or ideas to throw at you, they start calling you names. Then they go on to criticize you on whatever opinions you have. I think that’s childish. That’s not a debate anymore. I mean, debate is like this – you just need to come up with more stuffs to justify your stand. If you can’t, then go research more, then come back with ideas. Calling people names is like little kids stomping  on the ground and crying “Mummy I don’t care, I don’t care…I’m the winner” LOL.

And this also reminds me of the point that there are some issues in life that will never have the right or wrong answers, and will always cause controversies – Politics, Sex, Religion. Yea. Politics is one of them.

Voting Is Secret
Now the next thing is about voting is secret. And this really got me more interested in politics! I know voting is secret, but why can’t I tell people who I vote for. I experience this when I’m not a supporter of PAP during GE nomination day. I didn’t wear white, but orange. So a reporter come and ask me “If you don’t vote for PAP, aren’t you afraid that you can’t find a job when you graduate?”

That makes me laugh-out-loud. I looked stunned at the reporter face. I reply “I don’t think this has any effect on my future next time. I decide my own future, not PAP rite?” The report also looked stunned at me. I wonder “If I have to vote PAP to get a job, then I rather don’t vote for them.” What if I vote PAP, and PAP is not the government anymore, then I will have to worry about my future also! I never feel good about letting others deciding my career or life. I believe in taking control of my own life – whatever it may be.

After all, I don’t see myself working in the government in the near future, after knowing how it’s like inside. But I know that there are many people in the civil service who feel obliged to vote for the incumbent party. Hence, that’s why you can hear many opposition rallies calling that voting is secret, and vote with courage for the opposition.

This is also partly because of the fear that passed on that civil servants will lose their job if they change government. But I think people are more educated now, and they know that civil service will not collapse if there’s any chance of a change of government. But still, I heard of reasons from people like “I’m in civil service, so I have no choice but to vote for PAP”. So I hope next time when the government is not PAP, you vote for that party also. But anyway, it’s their choice anyway.

Too Engrossed in GE
But one down side of this GE, is that it is very near to my exams. So near that the polling day is my first day of exam. I went to poll, then take my exam paper. As the GE fever is burning, I find myself reading more politics news and GE reports, than my math formulas. And expectedly, I didn’t do well in my final exams. And this is also probably the worst result I get in NTU. I failed one subject, but luckily, it’s not a core subject that affect my marks. But I just have to re-take it next time. However, I don’t wanna blame the GE for my results. I just found that my interests lies more in those politics, economics, government policies reports, than my math formulas. This also brought me to writing my hearts out in a Facebook Note about the GE, and also a blogpost review of social media and politics in Singapore during the GE. (Ya. And not writing out math formulas )

Cooling Down After GE
After the GE, the fever in people also subsides already. Mine too. I’m not that active on those political stuffs, but my interests in politics continues. And as I do my intern in EconomyWatch.com, which I think is the best internship I can get, I read more and more economics and political news – local and foreign news. And also get to debate more on those stuffs with my internship mentor, who is also very interested in all those stuffs.

While I’m not doing so much after the GE, I still meet up with friends I make during the GE, knowing each other, and sharing opinions too. I also met some of the GE candidates, and getting to know them better.

I also attended public forums which was chaired by some ministers, for discussion of policies in Singapore. I attended the National Day Rally Forum, representing Youth.SG. Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean is the minister for that day.

with Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean and fellow Youth.SG mates

and now with , and my friend and fellow NTU Toastmaster Vernon!

And Then The Presidential Elections
After the GE, we have the PE. But this time I’m not that an activist like I am during the GE, after knowing what our President of Singapore can and cannot do. But still, I try my best to help to support the best candidate for the role.

I did my best in helping my preferred candidate out as a counting agent to ensure all votes are counted properly. On that day of counting, there’s a situation of recount, as the difference is less than 2% of votes. I counted from 8pm till 1am, and continue overseeing the re-counting process till 3.30am. Then, I left home for the final results. Though my preferred candidate didn’t win, I glad I did my part, and that’s a good experience for me.

The Least I Could Do For Doc.

My Thoughts On All Things Politics
- Citizens should play a part in our nations’ politics. We should know what policies are affecting our country, instead of just being at the receiving end.

- We can’t escape politics. Somehow or rather, you’ll be interested in it. Especially if you’re the one suffering from it.

- Voting for opposition doesn’t mean those problems caused will go away (FT, High Cost of living..etc), but it will at least send signals to the incumbent. Voting for incumbent means you agree with most of their policies.

- I’m don’t see myself as a pro-PAP or pro-OPP person. I’m more of anti-Unfair-Policies person. I don’t like to oppose for sake of opposing, and hence, I hope people don’t propose for the sake of proposing. Saying that, there are some websites which are against whatever the PAP says. I think that’s lame. There’s a difference between being critical, and stirring shit.

- I like things to be fair. After knowing the politics of Singapore, we see how one party mistreat the people in other constituencies who don’t vote for them. I don’t think it’s nice, and I don’t know how supporters of the party can justify this.

- The government, at the end of the day, cannot do everything for us. Though they can help us in some ways (open new markets, create jobs, ensure national safety…etc) I believe in taking control of our own lives, and not relying on our government to live.

- I’m not afraid of telling others who I support, and I don’t think anyone should. We should be Fearless Voters. There’s nothing wrong in telling others what you believe in.

- Lastly, after this round of elections and introduction to politics, I never read news from its surface and content anymore. Do read deeper into the mind of the writer, his agenda. Do read into the real message he is sending into your subconscious mind.

That’s my learning journey in politics for the first time, but I don’t think it will stop here. Of course, I will contribute to whatever way I can to make the country I love a better place.

And when we thought of someone as an entrepreneur, we often thought of a person setting up a business, a physical shop or a virtual one, a person who own franchises all over the island, or someone who always board meetings with his/her shareholders.

Anyway, that’s what I always thought of, and it seems true to a certain from a third person point of view. However, my definition of an entrepreneur has somehow changed over the years.

An entrepreneur doesn’t really mean he/she own a business. In fact, you can become an entrepreneur in your job, in your daily life, in whatever you do!

Hence, other than defining entrepreneurs as people who own businesses, we should definite people with the ‘entrepreneurial mind’ as entrepreneurs!

So what’s an entrepreneurial mind like?

When people see problems, you see opportunities.

Problem: The food here sucks. I’m not eating here again.
Opportunity: What can I do to get better food for the people here?

You can think logically when others are emotional.

If you’re in stock market, when the market crash and people throwing stocks, you will want to check back on your own portfolio and do the necessary research, before following what others do and say.

You take the first step.

This is not really about becoming the first person to do something for fame or glory. But instead, you take the first initiative, while others wait for something to happen. If you see that your office air-conditioner is dripping with water, others will continue to use it until the whole air-conditioner break down. You saw it and get it fixed asap.

You’re resourceful.

This is sometimes what people says about “creating something out of nothing”. In fact, all of us human beings have the instinct of ‘resourcefulness’. Don’t believe? Throw yourself in a jungle for a month, and you’ll go around finding food everyday. This is our survival instinct. However, as we live in the world where almost everything is being provided for, we somehow forget how to utilize our resourcefulness to the maximum potential .

When an entrepreneur sees that his business needs more cash-flow, he will think of lots of ways to get funds for his business. Likewise, we see lots of resourceful people around us everyday…

Example:
When you’re holding a party, and you ran out of food and drinks for your guests. The minimum time to get food is 1 hour. So what can you do to keep your guests occupied?

You’re painting your house, and you realized that you ran out of paint (+ no more paint left in the world), and you have 3 more walls left. What will you do?

You’re running an online TV channel, and you upload most of your videos online. But all video hosts like YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion, Viddler…etc is going to close down your channel. What will you do?

(look at your own answers. You’re resourceful!!)

I believe you get the idea of what I mean of having an entrepreneurial mind. And you do see that it doesn’t mean only you have to own a business, then you can have an entrepreneurial mind. We develop an entrepreneurial mind based on how we see and do things in life everyday.

And this does means that you could also be an entrepreneur in your job too! I don’t mean you buy over your company and be the boss, but simply by doing your job, as if you are running the whole company.

While I was doing my internship with EconomyWatch.com, although it’s just like an internship to me, I try to do it like I’m owning the gigantic website. My role there was to add content on economics and politics, to promote the site via social media channels and SEO (my favorite!) , and to make it the best economics/finance/politics website online.

So while i can simply write whatever I want, and post whatever stuffs I can on the EconomyWatch.com website, I make sure that it is something I want to see, just like I’m the boss of the website. Hence, this also means that whatever content I put up, it got to be fresh, original, interesting and relevant content. And I can bring up any new ideas too! Though an intern, my boss (the real owner) do welcome all ideas and feedbacks from everybody.

You too can put your entrepreneurial mind to work in your workplace too! But I do have to say that your boss or work environment do affects on how you use your entrepreneurial mind. If you boss is like my boss, who encourages feedback and ideas from the ground, go ahead and activate your entrepreneurial mind. If not, you will see that your mind will be ‘deactivated’, as your surroundings are flooded with words like “just do your job, don’t be act clever” , ” just follow, don’t ask so much”…

But hey, who says you have to just listen to all these ‘noises’? If you have a strong entrepreneurial mind, I can guarantee you wouldn’t want to stay in that environment for long. You’d either find a new environment, or start something yourself.

And that’s my simple definition of an entrepreneur.

By 2050, I would be 62 years old. And most probably, I would be feeling heavier in my limbs, less flexible as of now, and less agile. So, with these physical limitations, what would my daily life be like in 2050? I wore this ’2050′ suit and try out a daily task at home.

Oh My. I really have difficulty doing that simple task when I put on that attire. My body feel so restricted. Maybe that’s the function of the attire – to make me feel physically restricted like a 62 year old man. So after experiencing myself in that suit, I wrote down my feelings in a ‘journal’ format – A Day In My Future (in 2050).

This A Day In My Future entry is just a note of my feelings at the age of 62, but little did I know I have written almost 1000 words about it. I’ve submitted to C3A a copy of my 2050 journal.

If you like to read about, simply click here. I’ve prepared it in a PDF file for easy-reading!

I would really appreciate if you could leave a comment below to share your reflections with me after reading it.

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And so me and other mentors try to come up with some materials and information to let the spies learn about the idea of creating buzz online, how to go about doing it, and some practical tips to start the buzz growing.

Meanwhile, I also read through all of the articles written by the spies and picked out the best articles written by them. I believed that there are many up and coming bloggers and writers among the campus spies. Though some may not be professional writers in their school, but their writing is really interesting, and their articles deserved to be shared with many!

Hence I like to highlight 3 articles which I think you might learn a lot from. (I learned a lot from reading them!)

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1. Sim Lin – “Just Don’t Talk About It” (13 June 2011)

Sim Lin is currently studying in Dunman High School’s IP program. By looking at the title, i don’t think you will know what the article is going to talk about. But if you read through, you will find that she mention a term called – “Insta-friends“.

In my defintion, they are friends that are ‘in-between’ your best friends and not-so-close friends…aka the ‘grey-area’ friends. Okay. If my definition is not clear enough, then you would want to read her article here, where she is very articulate in defining this type of insta-friendships among us

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2. Boon May – Studies! (18 June 2011) 

Boon is currently studying at Nanyang Junior College, and looking at her title, it must be something about her studies. When an exclamation part, maybe it seems like she wrote this when she is too stressed about her Studies!!

But it’s not. It’s more of sharing a unique way of managing her studies! Go check out her article here. I learned this studying skill in the past, but didn’t really put it to good use, unlike her. She’s another writer who can articulate her thoughts very well, and shows a bit of her personality in it too.

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3. Kok Hui – New Student Accommodation Admission Scheme (5th June 2011)

Kok Hui is currently studying at NUS. Like me, one of the things that concerns most undergrads is accommodation in school, aka hostel. What I like about Kok Hui’s article is that he put in effort to create a very useful resource, especially for prospective undergrads enrolling into NUS soon. He made effort to highlight the new NUS hostel scoring system. So if you are from NUS and you want to make you get a room, read his article!

Another benefit about his article is that it is not time-sensitive. It can last for the next few years, until NUS change its scoring system again. In other words, his article will be read and referred to by as many people as time goes by, unlike a typical news article which will expire in 2-3 days.

Other than the 3 campus spies I mentioned above, all other spies also did well in specific areas, such as creativity, simplicity, readability, curiosity…etc. Most of them showcase their strengths in different ways. Uniquely Campus Spies!

Now here are all the articles written by all the campus spies here!

I definitely look forward to the next meetup with the spies! (Wonder what they would want to know then?)

And here’s the slides for the meetup!