My biggest birthday present this year...

Has to be my dear sister Colleen getting married to a wonderful husband!

My Dad proudly walking down the aisle of the hall of the Church of St Ignatius with his daughter's hand in tow. It must be a very proud (and poignant) moment for him to be presenting his daughter to the bridegroom, Andrew.

On a separate note, I really enjoyed the ceremony, the choral music and the solemnness of the event. It's a throwback to my upbringing in Catholic schools from young.

That's Andrew and Colleen after the change of attire for the dinner at the Four Seasons Hotel ballroom. It was also a great time to catch up with relatives and old family friends, albeit with many new faces from the bridegroom's friends

The traditional pouring of champagne by the couple before the toasting of the couple by the immediate family and the bridal brothers and sisters. That must surely be one of the highlights of the evening

This marriage, being our first marriage within our direct family, is a milestone in my family history. My sincerest prayer to the newly-weds that God will bless this marriage to be blissful and ever-lasting, that you will both provide a pillar of strength and support to each other in times of joy and need, and always serve God and His community with passion and grace.

I also saw how this marriage is starting to bring our family closer together, tearing down walls brick by brick. It is indeed mentioned in 1 Corinthians 13 that "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs... It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." May we persevere on as a family that trusts, protects, hopes and loves one another.

And our next stop: the second wedding celebration at the bridegroom's side at Kuala Lumpur over this weekend!

Remember this song from The Wedding Singer?

I wanna make you smile whenever you're sad
Carry you around when your arthritis is bad
Oh all I wanna do is grow old with you

I'll get your medicine when your tummy aches
Build you a fire if the furnace breaks
Oh it could be so nice, growing old with you

I'll miss you
Kiss you
Give you my coat when you are cold

Need you
Feed you
Even let ya hold the remote control

So let me do the dishes in our kitchen sink
Put you to bed when you've had too much to drink
I could be the man who grows old with you
I wanna grow old with you

Reflections about the Gulf

We have a slew of articles providing coverage on the BSM programme and our findings from our trip that will be published in the press in the next couple of weeks. It's about time I close the chapter on this. I will collate and provide the links to them soon. Happy reading!

Meanwhile, to summarise my experience during the trip, it was an eye-opening experience and indeed one of the top highlights of my SMU experience.

The Gulf have and always will remain an enigma to me. It is a region which is blessed with so much resources but for many decades, their societies and economies remained stagnant and closed to the world, their people housed in a cocoon of comfort with lavish state welfare, until new leadership realised that resource wealth will not last forever and it was critical to evolve to avoid redundancy as the world powers ahead.

Using the billions from their oil wealth, they embarked on a massive modernisation campaign, drawing up massive master plans, importing the best talent that they can find, and the best materials and equipment that the world has to offer. Dotted by futuristic-looking buildings, cranes and construction sites, cities like Doha, Dubai and Abu Dhabi even resemble high-growth cities like Shanghai and Mumbai. A local that I spoke to in Doha lamented that there are so many new changes that makes the city look so different as it perpetually remakes itself every year.

The region is awash with so much cash that companies from all around the world have flocked to fight for a piece of the pie. Just yesterday, the UAE awarded a US$25 billion contract to a South Korean consortium to build nuclear reactors.

However, one can never continue to buy modernity forever: one has to create them from within, capitalising on the energies and talent of its people and enterprises, and living up to their historical roots as traders. Human capital management is an area where the Gulf still lags sorely behind the world. And while some selected state-owned enterprises like Etihad and Aramco have became a brand of success, there is still much progress to be made by their small and medium homegrown enterprises.

But what really fascinates me is that beneath the glitz and glamour of modernity in the Gulf, it is still a region where politics and religion play an often combustible role in economics and society, where overt displays of Arab solidarity masks deep divisions and intense rivalry, where form often is more important than substance, and the Arab business culture emphasis on relational subtleties and well-heeled connections to clinch business deals.

The Gulf will always be a paradigm of contradictions and intrigue, but also an exciting emerging market for businesses to expand into and cut their teeth.

It is this excitement that makes me really want to go back again and stay for a longer period of time to study the region and culture. Perhaps I might apply for one of the internships netted by this BSM, and do a short stint at the independent Gulf Research Centre after I graduate before working full-time in Singapore. There is simply so much to do and learn about the Gulf.

Here are some shots from the trip:

The Saudis are legendary for their hospitality. Here, the class settles down to a meal hosted by Mr Faisal Al-Dhfeeri, Director for Public Relations of the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu. Notice our girls wearing the abayas and sitting at a separate table from the guys

Next stop after Saudi Arabia: Bahrain! The world famous Bahrain Financial Harbour - still in the middle development phase - houses many international and regional banks. The Kingdom continues with its plans to diversify with the Bahrain 2030 Economic blueprint. One aspect naturally involves building on its status as a regional logistics and finance hub

Over at Doha, Qatar, Lusail City stands out as a bold mega-project to build residential, commercial, entertainment and cultural developments. With enough natural gas to last for the next 100 years, Qatar has enough finances to back its weight in gold

A further extension of the Lusail City project. The sea bridges link the City to the rest of Doha. Do however note the potential impact of such developments to the environment, especially the sea

The class prepares for a briefing at the Qatar Financial Centre. During our trip, we had the opportunity to talk to representatives of the business community, academics, policy-makers and diplomats to have a well-rounded feel of developments in the Gulf

The Atlantis at Palm Jumeria, an upscale district of hotels and residential apartments in Dubai. Check out the price tag of spending a night at its famous Poseidon Suite which boasts three well-furnished floors, a lift if you ever feel lazy to take the stairs, and an unfettered view of an aquarium that houses 65 000 fish: US$10 000

The Ski Dubai is an in-house ski park at Emirates Mall. If winter doesn't come to the Gulf, the Arabs were sure to at least import some winter, and construct it right at their very door step!

The amazing Burj Dubai - the tallest building in the world which houses offices and residences. The Burj Dubai is at least 20 floors higher than its nearest competitor: the Taipei 101 Tower and KL CC Tower

Over in Abu Dhabi, Zayed Sports City stands out as a development to cater to the niche field of sports entertainment. The Abu Dhabi International Tennis Complex has hosted many world championships and will host the upcoming Capitala World Tennis Championship in 2010. The matches will be mostly be held at night to avoid the searing heat in the day

Lining the coast of the capital city, Saadiyat Island features a mixture of residential, commercial and cultural projects like the world-famous Guggenheim and the Louvre Museums, along with big-names like St Regis and Resorts in hospitality

Despite the rapid economic development, religion continues to play a pivotal role in the daily lives of the locals. The prayer clock, taken at the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, one of the biggest mosques in the Gulf which is built almost entirely of marble, lists the six different prayer times of the day

Rounding up our trip at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi, an opulent hotel which features an entirely gold-platted interior design theme. We had so much fun taking photos and living it up as "pseudo-guests" of the hotel

The Al-Khaleej beckons!

41 students. 20 company and on-site visits. 10 days of travel (6 - 16 Dec). 4 countries (Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE). A once-in-a-lifetime experience!

And it has finally come to the day when I'm packing and feeling the excitement, a few hours after meeting the class for a get-together potluck and briefing for the trip. As I work down my to-do list for the preparations, and look ahead at the intense work and learning we will be doing during the trip, I can't help but reflect on all that we've been through as a class.

Yes, it's a graded module which is notoriously known for the intense amount of academic rigor and non-academic contribution such as planning the trip and organising site visits. Among all of the presentations that I've done in my 3.5 years in SMU, those in the BSM module are easily among the most memorable. The stress level was astronomical and the amount of time we put into the course should be measured in days, not hours.

Academics aside, it's the hands-on learning that matters. I've never interviewed three personalities from the business sector before, not even when I was in ST. I've never handled a S$110 000 budget before. Neither have I worked my guts out for media engagement (incl. the local and Middle East press) in any single project undertaking. This module has crossed the line and in ways I have never imagined.

And in a day's time, I will be stepping into a world that I've read about so far in the Internet, papers, and magazines - a region so politically. economically and culturally diverse; a region that has a recent history of impressive developmental growth and an even longer history of war and Islamic terrorism; and a region that is moving beyond the entrapment of oil wealth into a future still brimming with opportunities that is fueled by investment in various industries, human capital development, and domestic consumption - and see it for what it is.

And courtesy of the previous BSM photography teams, here are some shots to wet the appetite.

The Arabs are renowned for building entire cities from scratch. Their master plans speak of behemoth highways with high-rise office complexes, elaborate industrial parks, and ostentatious residential and tourist spots that cater to the well-heeled. Today's Abu Dhabi and Dubai were spawned from the first generation of master plan development, and the next generation of cities will be found in places like Saudi Arabia where the government is building five economic cities over the next 10 to 20 years.

See the sophistication of their plans. While many developments were fueled by oil wealth, some (like Dubai) were financed heavily by debt which unraveled with the financial crisis. Still, the Arabs have more than enough natural resources to rely on, enlightened political leadership that is determined to reform and diversify their economies, and thousands of foreign companies that are competing for plushy contracts - to keep the region relevant like China and India for the foreseeable future.

Atlantis and the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai, Lusail City in Doha, Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, and the Jubail Industrial City in Saudi Arabia are among the many developments that the Middle East offers. All of this was previously unimaginable in a region that was associated only with static dictatorships, plutocracy, Islamic fundamentalism, terrorism and an irreconcilable culture. Today's Gulf is a break from the past.

See this huge conference hall with state-of-the-art communications technology. I'm always impressed by how the Arabs go for scale and size. The ability to dream and envision boldly - something many of us fail to do so - is also as critical as translating that vision into reality.

Ahlan wa-sahlan. Welcome to the Gulf! And Ma'a salama. The Gulf beckons!

Bon Jovi - Living on a Prayer

I really love the acoustic version of this awesome piece from Bon Jovi. His band really rocks. He pens his songs from the heart. His lyrics speak of mountains of personal faith. I think he will make one hell of a hillsongs singer, if only he believes in a higher being.

"We've got to hold on, ready or not. You live for the fight, when it's all that you've got."

And I have you in my prayer.

Eating humble pie

Funny how bad news seems to always come at the wrong time, just before my first paper today.

I really appreciated the call and the subsequent clarification. But we definitely blew the chance of being the top team. If only we did things differently before but oh well, it was just the wrong fit.

Plays out just like the stock market eh? If there is too much of a good thing, it will all come crashing down sooner or later. And I take personal responsibility for this failure.

It is a day of eating humble pie. It does not taste good and it is very demoralising. But like all market corrections, it's always for the better.

Who says Singaporeans aren't patriotic?

I was going through some old videos of Singapore political party rallies and chanced upon this from the last elections. In the video, Ms Sylvia Lim, the Chairperson of the opposition Workers' Party, was leading the crowd to recite the national pledge.



The crowd may be a small (and biased) sample size and reciting the pledge at a hyped-out rally may not be an accurate and comprehensive indication of patriotism but I scoffed at the age-old accusation that Singaporeans are not patriotic. Who says?

Let us take a step back from the romantised version of US patriotism and how Americans will say how they will fight and die for democracy (which has become synonymous with their national identity) and let's wonder: Should patriotism be narrowly defined in such a way?

This brought up a debate during class two Thursdays ago. I argued that short of staying in Singapore to fight a war against potential aggressors (we will never know until it happens), Singaporeans are patriotic as we do generally have an unabashed appreciation of our way of life and systems.

Yes, we may rant on and on about bread and butter issues, and one will find no lack of criticisms on online forums of our systems, ranging from education to job security to political representation. But ask Singaporeans if they would prefer other countries' (incl. liberal western democracies) way of life to ours and if they would willingly trade places with one of their citizens, they would generally say no. Why?

It's our innate attachment to the place we were borne in despite being raised in a oven-baking education system, and then subjected to an even more competitive corporate culture. Beyond that, it's our way of life: our heartland culture of HDBs, our numerous shopping centres or the hawkers centres that churn out almost anything and everything on local fare that every Singaporean eats at at least once a week, or the fact that almost street in Singapore has a row of trees that keeps our environment cool, or that we have family and friends here, and so on.

And it's also about our systems that actually work: our ERP that has reduced traffic jams, our trains that arrive every 5 minutes without fail, our efficient police and low crime-rate that allows you to walk outside at night by yourself without being mugged, our CPF and healthcare policies that serves as a social safety net for many, and our education system that subsidizes up to 80% of your varsity fees and makes our students top the world in science and maths tests, and more!

This is tied to one important aspect of our national identity: The Singapore Success Story. In 40 years, we have come from third world to first world, a feat that few countries had managed. And there are many countries that have taken an interest in us such as China, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, UAE, Nigeria, etc. - and have introduced similar policies to replicate our success story.

Go to most countries, especially in Asia, say you are from Singapore, and they will nod at you as a sign of respect or awe. I have even met hilltribes peoples in Thailand who have heard of Singapore. Singapore is more than just a country - we are also a brand that has instilled confidence and trust in us - more than we sometimes care to admit.

As Singaporeans, we live the fruit of our ancestors, and we are the ones who have to make the Singapore Success Story a continued reality through our continued emphasis on our shared national values of multiculturalism, contribution and meritocracy.

No wonder our Minister Mentor quipped at this year's Ministerial Forum that the most important ethic young Singaporeans need to have is to be "as hardworking as our forefathers", not to "take for granted what is ours", and continue "to aspire and improve ourselves". As a nation, this is more than just a bed-time story or a drap piece from our national education curriculum. This is the fruit of our success.

But there are powerful trends that could alter this. Unprecedented immigration and a skewed demographic ratio of locals to foreigners may change our national culture and values in the long-term, if not handled properly.

And there may be more changes too. When I asked Mr Pal Khattar who founded Khattar Wong & Partners - one of our oldest and biggest law firms - whether demographic changes in our population could lead to a change in the orientation of our laws (i.e. more emphasis on individual rights as compared to communitarian rights) in the long-term, he concurred. After all, laws are man-made and they do reflect the wishes of the citizens. As we evolve as a nation and people, our culture, laws, systems and society may change too.

However, it is my wish that Singapore can still retain its unique identity - one that will continue to make past, present and future generations of Singaporeans proud.

3 types of people you need in your organisation

I finished reading Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. He's the sort of perceptive writer who knows how to scratch beyond the surface of everyday life and dig the scoop out of the most reluctant of news-makers.

I was particularly interested in the Law of the Few which hypothesizes that the success of any social epidemic depends on the involvement of people with a very specific and rare set of social skills.

The Connector has the extraordinary gift of knowing people and acquaintances. They are expert networkers and are often involved in many social and professional circles by virtue of their love to know people. As such, they have the ability to connect different circles of people together.

My BSM Prof, Dr Yeoh, is an example of a Connector. She has this unparalleled ability to network with people from all types of sectors - academia, entrepreneurial startups, government, real estate, banking, consulting, healthcare, fashion etc. - and make an unforgettable impression with them. The fact that we are already into the 7th round of the BSM Middle East (SMU's longest running BSM programme) since 2006, and benefitting from the contacts, discounts and offers of assistance (even during a recession) shows the relational power she has with the Arabs (who are very relational people) and our BSM partners. Indeed, her name has become synonymous with the BSM programme and it is impossible to imagine if the BSM Middle East programme will be possible without her.

The Maven are information brokers who are experts in a particular field or market, not by virtue of their work, but by their passion. They desire to pass on what they know to others out of a genuine want to help others.

My friend, Nathaniel, is a politics Maven. He's the go-to-guy if you need the latest updates on politics in Singapore, and he will gladly spend the afternoon with you just to persuade you to get involved with politics. He's the guy who asks the longest questions at forums - with a prepared sheet of questions (along with facts and data from his pre-forum research), and spams his friends with news updates on politics or to get them to sign-up for related events.

The Salesmen are charismatic people with powerful negotiation and sales skills. If there's anyone who can sell ice to eskimos, it's them - people with the gift of the gap and the ability to make people agree with them.

They remind me of two guys from the SMU Broadcast & Entertainment - Ben and Terence. They are the typical guys you need on your team if you want to make a sales presentation or craft a sales pitch. They have the uncanny ability to communicate their point across and make you want to agree with them without making you feel wrong (or dumb). These are the guys who have already anticipated your question and doubts during the Q&A, and have already prepared three possible answers to any question.

Based on social network theory, these three types of people are what we call social nodes. As shown below, they form the basis of linkages between different groups of people and organisations, facilitating the spread of information and ideas that has allowed tremendous progress to be made in various fields and our way of life.

So where does this bring us?

Moving beyond the context of starting a social epidemic, how about recruiting or identifying such people in any organisation, and allocating them to a role that best brings out their gifts that will benefit the organisation?

Most of the time, we fail to appreciate such people for their gifts, or underestimate the immeasurable importance of their roles within the organisation.

Two years ago, I made the case that every EB team in AIESEC should at least include someone with the inside knowledge of how the school functions, who knows the right people from the various school offices or student groups, and takes an added interest in how things function beyond their AIESEC community. It will be a bonus to have an expert networker who knows people from different social and professional circles.

They have the potential ability to link their AIESEC community up with so many possible partnerships, people and resources in their own backyard. By virtue of their exposure to different circles and ways of doing things, they also bring a fresh perspective and approach to the organisation.

But yet, we discourage our members from joining other CCAs or take up other commitments beyond AIESEC, nor do we actively nurture such people to take up leadership positions within AIESEC. Worse still, we let these people leave the organisation by flawed member retention strategies.

I do hope that we can one day conduct some social audit of the organisation to identify such people, and bring them into the fold from the peripheral. It's truly a waste of their talent and unique social roles if they are not properly utilised.

Prof, congratulations on being a Dad!

One my professors is now a newly-anointed father of a beautiful baby girl! In an email to the students, he thanked us for our gift for his daughter, and shared with us his thoughts and feelings of being a father:

"It is a strange experience to become a father. Of course, the overwhelming feelings are ones of relief and happiness. But, I keep thinking of our daughter as my new best friend, whereas I imagined that feelings related to nurturing and responsibility would have been the strongest.

There are so many other nice things about a little baby: it forces one to be more optimistic, for if the world is so bad, why have children? One sees the importance of children in society in the wonderful way people have responded to her presence; and it disarms and brings out the best in other people."

Every parent out there would definitely agree with one thing: that being a parent and having children changes their context of life to become more positive (that is before the baby grows up and starts giving the parents so much headache!).

It makes me wonder how I was like as a baby and as a child. As a third child, did I give my parents more blessings or headaches?

But it also reminded me of how much my parents sacrificed and cared for me. And their fundamental wish as parents is to watch me grow up and live a life that works for me, and to live it happily. Parents, I believe, are among the most unselfish people in the world.

Mum and Dad, cheers. You rock!

Looking back at my time with the Corps...

42 members. 6 years of existence. 6 core values.

And 6 more months left with the Corps before I say goodbye and graduate, thus completing 2 years of service. Boy, time really flies.

Mais aucun jour ne passera près avec aucun regret -).

Too many coincidences in two weeks?

I never considered myself integral with the world of Public Relations (PR), nor be a magnet for the media. But too many media-related incidents have happened to me these two weeks to make me wonder if these coincidences are a way for God to tell me to go into PR or journalism - something that I've resisted because I've always thought that I have a different calling in life.

The first incident was NYC's publishing an article that they wrote of me and Project ENP in their monthly magazine. Although they did not clear the article with us, I'm glad that they gave some publicity for the project since they are our sponsor (although I shudder at how they have portrayed me).

The second incident happened two Fridays ago, when we hosted a dinner for 20 Saudi Scholars as part of my Business Study Mission (BSM) Middle East programme. I was in charge of media relations and was responsible for crafting the media strategy and documents, and leading the media team to pitch to over 20 media outlets. For 4 days, we worked the ground and crossed our fingers for the media to bite. Fortunately, at the last moment, we managed to secure coverage of up to 4 articles by Berita Harian and Blue & Gold. Berita Harian wrote a nice article on the Saudi students.

The next amazing thing that happened on that Friday was that Suria TV turned up without informing us beforehand with a cameraman but NO reporter. Sweating furiously, I decided to do an impromptu interview with the people there and send the footage to Suria for airing. With no script, I decided to throw questions off the top of my mind at the interviewees.

That was my first taste of broadcast journalism. It was very scary but extremely exhilarating. I heard that Suria aired the clip two Saturdays ago, and I'm still trying to get the clip for media tracking purposes. Not bad for a newbie like me!

The fourth incident happened last Friday when Blue & Gold magazine published a two-page-long reply by the SMU Student Associations Council (SAC) to my commentary on the need for more accountability and improved strategic communication by the SAC. By any standards, it was a long reply but it's satisfying to see that they are now making the effort to communicate more with the student population.

The fifth incident happened on Saturday when there was a record sign-up and turn-out for the Branding, Marketing & PR workshop for AIESECers that I organised with Rachel and Grace. By most standards, it was a success, and I used the opportunity to hone my craft with the guidance of our two trainers from Ogilvy & Mather. I took out more from the workshop than I ever expected.

And then, this week, my article on student journalism was selected to be published in the Straits Times: Youthink. It's been a long while, really, considering my last piece was published in the beginning of this year. It has restored my confidence in writing more often for the column.

Finally, the SMU Corporate Communications Office called me recently and informed me that The Straits Times wants to interview me and two other students on our experience with blogging for the SMU Blog which is targeted at prospective students. The journalist wishes to find out if we were subjected to any form of censorship (or self-censorship) that might have made us portray a too-good-to-be-true image of the school. For the record, we are basically free to write whatever we want on the blog but as always, we have to be responsible writers.

Thomas Griffith once said that "journalism is in fact history on the run" while Napolean lamented that "fame is fleeting but obscurity is forever". I had (will have) my few moments of fame and I will move on just as quicky as it happened.

Unless God has other plans for me.

Best of FAIL Blog...Enjoy!