KL escapade theme: RED

Pavilion Plaza is such a pleaser. Well-decorated and designed, it provides some eye-candy for the typical shopper who is looking for more than just a bargain. Here, the Christmas spirit still permeates amidst a healthy tinge of modern sleekness

The tea-pot set, wearing a coat of auspiciousness, that was used for the traditional tea ceremony where Andrew and Colleen served tea to Andrew's elders before their lunch wedding

Against the afternoon hustle and bustle, Malaysia's national flower - the Hibiscus - hangs calmly and proudly in a garden next to Merdeka Square. It is as beautiful as our national flower - the Vanda Miss Joaquim

One of the oldest churches in the capital city. Still swimming amidst a sea of controvery and conflict, the place of Christianity and Catholicism is still not clearly defined in this predominately Islamic country today

The irresistible deep-water crabs served with salivating egg yolk sauce, along with a host of Teochew-style seafood delicacies. The perfect prelude that goes along well with some good-old post-dinner durian and mangosteen extravaganza

And yet more food to incite those taste-buds to action. Here are some Korean beef served with garlic on a hot-stove, sizzling with the meat juices still fresh and succulent. The price? Almost half the cost in Singapore

Our quest to find a toilet at the National Museum which was unfortunately closed on a Sunday did yield some interesting finds. Here is a throw-back to colonial heydays with a manual-primed, English-designed fire-engine model

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!

12 memorable things about Tokyo

It was only a short 4-day trip to Tokyo but what made the trip memorable was...

1. Admiring the beauty and fashion of its people. The girls seem to have big eyes and flawless complexions and the guys have slim bodies, sharp features, and finely sculpted hairdos (read: Takeshi Kaneshiro). Yes, even I'm awed by the guys and their good looks. Throw in the most creative, random and diverse fashion sense one can have and there you go: the va-va-vroom, in-your-face, fashionista culture of Japan!

2. Experiencing 1 minor earthquake tremor over dinner at a restaurant when the table started shaking and the light bulbs on the chandalier started grinding against each other. We woke up at 2 am the next night to the violent shaking of the hotel building when the bed vibrated on its frame and the walls seemed to want to cave in. It was over after 10 seconds but it was damn scary!

3. Walking down the narrow avenues of Harajuku (i.e. fashion street for youths) and gawking at all the teens dressed in Cosplay outfits and kimonos that make all those Japanese anime and cartoon series that I used to watch as a kid come to life before my eyes!

4. Buying 3 pieces of siew mai at the food basement of Isetan and dropping my jaw when the counter staff packed the food into a plastic packet, packed the packet in a plastic bag, and packed the plastic bag into a bigger plastic bag before sealing it. What a waste of material!

5. Having the best Yakudori (BBQ meats) meal at a restaurant in Shibuya (i.e. fashion street for the well-heeled) where the aromatic meat flavours go in sync with warm sake and home-cooked miso soup with soft Japanese rice coated with egg sauce. Yummy!

6. Tucking into the most authentic sushi meal at a 40-year-old sushi bar at the famour Tsujiki Market (the biggest fish market in the world). For a standard sushi set costing 4500 Yen (about S$65), you get an assortment of 10 different sushi types including the freshest prawn sushi I have ever tasted, and the most generous serving of unagi (sea-urchin) sushi where the unagi literally melts in your mouth. Of course, top the meal off with a bowl of home-brewed clam miso soup!

7. Laughing silently to myself when the service staff bowed to me to thank me for buying something from the store, and I bowed back to her. She responded by bowing to me again, and I bowed back. So she bowed back to me again. Haha!

8. Walking through the streets of Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya, Ginza (City centre) and Akihabara (IT City) until my feet ached, and admiring the bold contours of the buildings, the creative designs of the fashion boutiques (big and small ones), the flashing neon lights of the city, and the amazing range of fashion apparel of all types and designs for sale!

9. Navigating the infamous subway system where the trains operate on as many as 12 lines which are interconnected through many interchanges. I remembered having to walk 300 m from one line to get to another line at one interchange, only to realise it is the wrong line. Then it's another 200 m to the right line. Phew!

10. Seeing the most expensive fruits on display in the supermarket. One watermelon was on sale at 4000 Yen (about S$55) and a bunch of Japanese grapes selling at 3000 Yen (about S$40). Now, that's either some pretty good-quality stuff or it's just day-light-robbing inflation going through the roof!

11. Shopping like I've never shopped before in a very long while, courtesy of generous liquidity from my Dad and sister. I like their motto: Since you pay so much to come to such places, you very well spend more because it will be a long while when you next come back again. Along the way, I became an avowed fan of Japanese apparel chain, Uniqlo, where I probably blew half of my budget shopping in!

12. Going for a holiday with my Dad, Sis and my soon-to-be Brother-in-law. Even though not all of the family could make it, it was a warm experience knowing that this is my first family trip in almost 6years, and the start of many more trips to come. Korea next year, and Australia the year after!

Reflections from Chiang Mai (Part 2)

When I came back from Chiang Mai slightly less than 2 months ago, I was still overwhelmed with what I've seen, done and learnt in the 2 weeks of the expedition with Project Elephant Nature Park (ENP).

As I reflected, the project represented the journey of a life-time for me, to be able to lead this project and work with an awesome team to be engaged in contributing towards elephant and nature conservation.

The following pictures are snap-shots of some of the work that the team has done since the conceptualisation of the project began last October...

We were fortunate to be working closely Mr Grant Pereira, the Singapore Director of the Chiang Mai-based Elephant Nature Park. In January, we organised a talk on elephant conservation by Grant, as part of a series of public outreach and education initiatives.

Grant was also instrumental in being the main liaison between our team and the Elephant Nature Foundation. He was recently featured in the Channel News Asia series Saving Gaia - Asia's Leading Green Heroes.

What is organising an OCIP without fund-raising? The team applied to be sponsored by the NYC's Youth Expeditionary Fund (YEP) which sponsored 50% of the cost of the project while SMU co-paid 10% of the cost. The balance had to be paid for by the team and fund-raised.

The 4-months-long fund-raising experience itself was extraordinary. We sold everything from popcorn, Chinese New Year goodies, postcards, ENP mementos to friendship bags filled with goodies, and our team-designed T-shirts. It was like running a 42-km marathon that required much patience and stamina.

The campaign was a success as we were able to exceed our target of $5000 and publicise this project to hundreds of our peers.

The building block of the project is definitely the team itself. We had a team-bonding camp during the term break to build trust and friendships, and peppered our semester with facilitation sessions to learn about conservation issues, team-work, and preparations for the trip.

On the first day of the trip at Chiang Mai, we were treated to a wonderful dinner at a cafe run by a guest inn that we stayed at for the first and last nights of the trip. Of course, on our agenda too was the shopping at the famous bazaars that sold anything from clothes to traditional handicrafts and food.

We had to take a van on an hour-long journey to the ENP. At the first day at the Park, we were briefed on the history of the Park and safety procedures for handling elephants. We were also introduced to many of the elephants at the Park, and even had the opportunity to feed and wash them in the adjacent river.

If you thought washing your cars was just plain painful, wait till you wash these towering, humongous beasts that had to be bathed twice a day!

Oh, how can we forget about the morning chores at the Park? Apart from cutting corn from the corn-fields in the outskirts of Chiang Mai that was meant to supplement the elephants' diet, we also collected elephant poo from the shacks that housed the elephants. The poo was meant to be transported to poo factories that made commercial items like notepads and books.

We also supported the Park in other activities such as collecting bamboo and concrete meant for the expansion of the Park's facilities.

Planting teak-tree seedlings was fun! We spent a couple of days transporting seedlings from the nursery and planting them at selected locations along the Park. These trees will one day provide shelter and food for the elephants.

This is part of a reforestation campaign to restore the natural habitats of these elephants since the rapid deforestation and urbanisation was a contributing factor to the decline of the elephant population in Thailand.

We spent 4 days at a Karen village that was supported by the Park. Recognising that promoting the welfare of the hill-tribes was part and parcel of preserving the eco-system involving nature and the elephant population, the Park launches many initiatives to preserve the cultural identity and welfare of these hill-tribes.

Our team sponsored the building of a well, and worked with the villages to dig the well at a site that was once a swamp consisting of a sludge pool of mud and rotting vegetation. Getting knee-deep into the mud, hacking at the ground with shovels and pick-axes, and involving the entire team to transport buckets of sludge from the well-site was simply draining but memorable.

Of course, the villagers were also exceptional hosts, always cooking and providing the best accomodation for us. They truly lived up to their reputation as a generous and welcoming people.

That's the well that was shaping up by the second day of our digging. We had to transport sand, stones and cement from outside the village, mix them into cement, and transfer the materials into the well. By the end of the third day, the villagers had taken over the project and adding their finishing touches to the well.

We also visited a nearby village school that served students from the nearby villages. We were thankful to have collected boxes of stationery, toys, paper and biscuits for the kids from our collection drives in Singapore, contributions from two secondary schools, and sponsors like Pilot and Blessings in a Bag.

That's the satisfied team with the adorable kids. What better way to mark the end offour stay at the village by putting a smile on the kids' faces with our gifts and the many games we played with them? Simply priceless and worth all the effort.

So what's in store for the team and the project? We have our work cut out for us for the months ahead where we plan to:

• Work with our school's corporate communications office to create footages of the project meant for Channel News Asia to showcase the Park's work, details of our project, and our experience as a team.

• Organise a photo-essay exhibition and have it in either SMU or the National Library (or even both!). This will cap our post-expedition project of increasing publicity for what the Park does, and educating the people on the pertinent issues of elephant and nature conservation

• Have a final debriefing and official gathering for the team where we remember our work and the great times we have experienced together as a team

• Start planning with the leaders of the next ENP project! We will review our strategic branding, processes, target audiences and such. More importantly, we will see how we can ensure the continuity and sustainability elements of the project, such as the idea of the social business that the school intends to start to market products made by the constituents of organisations like ENP

Reflections from Chiang Mai (Part 1)

I realised I have not had the chance to blog about one of the main projects I've been working on: Project Elephant Nature Park. Leading this team of 20 people on a project that was conceptualised since last October, and not expected to end until this November, is not easy.

It was a journey fraught with many professional and personal challenges for many of us, but it opened our eyes to what can be achieved so long we set our heart and soul to what we want to achieve as a team.

But one picture clearly summarises my feelings for this project and the team:

You guys rock man! I promise that we will finish the last leg together as a team. And we will finish well.

And to our wonderful, wonderful supporters who have contributed in cash, in-kind, or just your prayers and encouragement, here's something for you:

Thank you so much for your support! Watch out for our planned photo-essay exhibition at the end of this year. And stay tuned for more details...

May 22: Observations

In many ways, being in India has allowed me to become a better listener and observer. In a foreign land, one’s senses are heightened to accommodate the repertoire of different sights and sounds around.

In the morning, it is already bright by 6.15 am and the air is relatively still with a hint of breeze in the absence of the intense morning heat when the clouds part after 8 am. When you walk out of the dormitory to catch the shuttle bus to work, you will hear the automatic sprinklers hum as they water the lush greenery of trees, shrubs, and plants that has become a distinct feature of the STC landscape. In some areas, you will even be greeted with a sea of red, yellow and pink flowers seating on beds of well-groomed bushes. A fresh aroma of nature permeates in the air. It is really wonderful in the morning.

The weather here can be rather extreme and unpredictable. Near the highway, the traffic kicks up a constant cloud of coarse sand and the penetrating heat makes it difficult to be outside in the open. However, the brief rains for the past 2 days brought some respite from the heat and temperatures have dropped from as high as 42 Degrees Celsius to slightly over 30.

In the night, the air remains still and dry from 7 to around 11 pm. On some days when the temperature drops further to the mid-20s, it becomes a pleasure to walk around the STC with the cool breeze and the uniform canopy of trees providing much shade to students making their way to the dormitory from the main learning centres. There’s also the usual chirping of the cicadas and just the other day, I saw fireflies coming out to play near a mangrove tree at a corner of the STC.

The best time to take a stroll however would be after midnight because the campus will be virtually empty and just by being around amidst all this nature provides space for the mind to think and reflect. Once in a while, you can hear the usual rowdiness of the South African employees (nice and friendly bunch of people) at the canteen having their suppers consisting of Maggie noddles and fried eggs on toast with milk. On other days, you see couples speaking in hush tones and strolling slowly from the canteen back to the main reception block or to more secluded spots around the dormitory.

I’ve also started to catch up on my much-awaited readings. Apart from the few articles that I can access on The Straits Times website, there’re feeds from The Economist and TIME in my email, as well as local news from newspapers like the Hindu Times. And there’s also Thomas Friedman’s The World is Flat and Joseph Stigliz’s Making Globalisation Work (both focus on the theme of development and outsourcing and make good work-related readings), as well as Benazir Bhutto’s autobiography Daughter of the East, a heart-wrenching anecdote of her life that mirrors the turbulent life of Pakistan and its people.

I would love to provide some excerpts and key pointers from these books. More to come when there’s more time.

May 20: A symphony of pain and pleasure

Coming to work can both be a pain and pleasure.

Firstly, for the past 2 weeks, valuable time was spent on getting internet access at the workplace. When our systems were finally configured to access the local LAN and wireless, the internet system miraculously chose to shut down. It was not restored until 4 days later. So we spent most of our time reading and watching movies on our laptop.

Upon restoration, we found to our dismal that many sites were blocked by the in-house filter (a Satyam Computers policy I suppose, to keep employees off time-wasting websites like facebook and blogger). Even gmail and forums could not be accessed.

However, thanks to the brilliance of our Indian colleagues, we found a way to bypass the filter and access all the restricted sites (without adversely affecting our productivity, of course).

Secondly, our initial project presentation to Mr Verghese, the Foundation’s CEO, was thrice postponed due to changes in his schedule. Each of us were supposed to come up with a suggested project plan, scope, deliverables, methodology and time-line. Any delays in the approval of the project plan will thus mean that we will only start at a later date. Not a good idea.

Luckily, we found time to present to Mr Verghese on Monday. I came up with 2 BPO project ideas – modeling and marketing – but settled for the first one which is more in line with what I intended to work on when I came here. More on this when the project details are finalized.

Thirdly, I’m getting a tad sick with the vegetarian lunch we have at the Foundation. It usually consists of rice, 2 curries, one vegetable (usually lady’s finger or some weird-tasting brinjal) and snacks. Meat can only be obtained periodically at the STC canteen or city outings on the weekends.

Fourthly, the onset of homesickness has started to kick in. Without constant contact with my family and friends back home, coupled with the absence of Singaporean style food around here, it can be real dent on morale. That’s why I’m using facebook on a daily basis now, making attempts to call home, and of course writing postcards and blogging.

What about the pleasure?

In many ways, I’m really excited about the prospects here. Firstly, I get to choose and determine a large extent of my project scope with lots of independent work and flexibility to choose what I want to learn. I don’t think many companies give their interns the luxury of such independent thinking.

Secondly, the broad and depth of learning in the Foundation is enormous. Just last Friday, I attended the first national conference on BPOs held at the Foundation. Several government officials, business and thought leaders, as well as the rural BPO operators came as guest speakers, providing insights into this sunrise industry (India is currently the world’s top destination for BPO opportunities, taking 40% of the entire BPO market) and demonstrating that BPOs can indeed be a business-friendly and sustainable method to reducing rural poverty in India. All that I’ve learnt and seen so far has justified me being here in India.

Social entrepreneurship and CSR versus out-of-the-box business models? I will dare say that the latter will always emerge as the choice for markets given the way profits and cost-cutting measures are always embraced by the business community, not some mumbo-jumbo CSR bullshit. Pragmatism dictates at the end of the day.

Thirdly, we are impressed by the hospitality of our colleagues. They are mostly interns taking their Masters at different universities across India, and interning at the Foundation as part of their compulsory summer internship programme which is graded (unlike ours). They have since invited us to one of the intern’s home where they whipped up a sumptuous (vegetarian) meal and showed us around many parts of the city including the renowned Sri Venkateish temple and the huge Buddha statue at Tank Bund.

In return, we were only happy to treat them to lunches around town and interact with them on our culture and beliefs. Basically, being relatively Westernised and Asian at the same time, they aren’t that different from us.

It was sad to see them conclude their internship today but we can only hope that we will meet many more friendly and hospitable colleagues like them.

May 3: Orientation

CK and Ramesh finally joined us this morning. Now, there will be more fun and laughter among the group.

Today marks our first day at Byrraju Foundation. Even though it is a Saturday, we had to turn up for orientation. We finally had the opportunity to meet Ms Padmavati - the HR manager – and Dr Verghese – the operations director – among a host of other personalities who dedicate their lives to rural development. We were also provided with a more in-depth briefing of the operations of the Foundation and spent most of the day exploring the place since we only get to meet our Guides on May 5^th.

The Foundation is the social arm of Satyam Computers, a huge conglomerate specializing in the manufacturing and retailing of computers and IT systems in India.

Committed to achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), especially sustainable rural development, the Foundation advocates a holistic approach comprising of 12 different “modules”. To name a few, these include education, sanitation, healthcare, environmental sustainability, agriculture services, and my personal favourite: BPO (business process outsourcing) which involves outsourcing the execution of certain processes in the entire supply chain to the rural communities that the Foundation works with.

These processes can include communication (i.e. call centres \ telemarketing) and back office work (i.e. administration and low-level IT consultancy). All these provide opportunities for employment for the rural population by linking them to mainstream markets.

There are over 40 different programmes running in about 200 villages in the province of Andhra Pradesh (with Hyderabad as its capital). In fact, we sat in on one of the project presentations by a team of 4 Masters students from the SPJ Institute of Management & Research (they have a branch in S’pore) who introduced a 3-village cooperative model of coconut harvesting, processing into related products, and marketing for international markets.

It was a brilliant presentation and idea as the team analysed right down to the profit-cost sustainability of this business model with a 5-year projection period, the type of technology and manpower required, and even the recommended start-up scale of the project.

However, due to the existence of imperfect knowledge within markets such as the variations in prices of coconut products across different regions due to different transportation costs and a byzantium network of middlemen and dealers who distort prices, it is very difficult to determine the procurement price necessary to ensure the success of this model. As such, these models are often created based on a given set of assumptions (that often do not hold in reality).

Many of these projects also require a huge grant from either businesses or government schemes due to their high initial capital costs. Many also fail to break even after the projected period and have to be stopped. While failure is aplenty, there are still many success stories out there too.

In that short 30 minutes presentation, I learnt more about rural development schemes than I ever did in the 2 years of my university education so far.

It has bolstered my hunger to want to learn more. In fact, this has vindicated my very presence here in India.

The plot thickens...

Friday afternoon was spent exploring the Cineplanet – a local cinema which is comparatively run-down compared to standards in S’pore but nevertheless shows the latest films such as Ironman – and the “neighbourhoods” nearby.

Walking down a stretch of country road with our shoes caked in sand, our bodies sweltering beneath the 41 Degrees Celsius heat, and getting honked at by inquisitive drivers, we examined the assortment of grocery stores found in these small “neighbourhoods” that dotted the countryside.

I’m amazed by the self-sufficiency of these small communities where you can virtually find everything that you need to survive in the shops.

In one of these communities, a local medical shop sells a small variety of modern medicine such as creams and pills. A few more shops specialize in retailing groceries and household essentials while an internet café (with a couple of run-down computers) doubles as the phone card shop. A tailor specializing in women’s wear operates nearby while kids can be found playing along the dirt-road or at a small tuition centre operated by the more educated members within the community.

Though virtually cut off from the main markets, these “businesses” survive by supplying to the communities living around the area, or catering to resting tuk tuk and truck drivers. They are in turn supplied by a network of middlemen, or simply head down to the city in their rusty own scooters (cars are rare in these areas) to procure supplies. It was a subtle lesson on how rural economics operate and determine population distribution.

Getting back to the STC was the problem, especially when its approaching dusk (the sky gets dark real fast) and it is dangerous to be outside without a proper mode of transportation home. The few tuk tuks that drove along the country road were packed with families returning home from the city. It wasn’t until we reached a busy crossroads which served as the resting point for tuk tuk drivers that we found one that was willing to take us to the STC.

The ride on a tuk tuk was simply fantastic. The 4 of us squeezed in (I sat with the driver in front) and we had to hold on tightly to our belongings to avoid them falling out when on the road. Despite the heat and relatively slow speed of the tuk tuks, you can feel the wind rushing by as we move, giving us an exhilarating feel of what it means to be traveling on the rugged terrain, with a first-hand account of the (infamous) “traffic negotiation skills” of these tuk tuk drivers.

Now I know how the joke originates about how Indian drivers should make world-class F1 racers.

May 2: Treasure hunt in the city

Satyam Technology Centre (STC) is an enclave boasting of well-stocked food supplies, recreational facilities, wide spacious roads lined with trees and rock formations, gleaming glass-paneled buildings that glow like jewels in the sun, and an assortment of dormitory that caters to trainees and visiting dignitaries from various countries. It even has its own collection of birds, rabbits, and plants (we found one supposedly planted by then DPM Lee Hsien Loong during his visit to India in 2004 and another by Bill Gates) in a special section behind the clubhouse and helipad.

Yesterday, the bunch of us decided to head to the city to look for local SIM cards and other stuff that we can’t get at the STC. We took the shutter bus with a huge group of South Africans we befriended at the STC and stopped at Satyam Corporation at Mayfair located in the heart of the city.

There, we hooked up with Sharon, one of the interns heading for Tata who separated with her friend while backpacking in Ponticherry and Bangalore, and then headed for Hyderabad to seek “refuge” with us. Her stories can make any tourist scrimp: tales of how a conman cheated her of her cellphone, stray dogs that threatened to bite the heads off her and her friend, her eventful solo bus ride from Bangalore to Hyderabad, and how she landed in police custody when she lost her way in the city.

Outside, in the main city, it is a scene which can only be described as worlds apart from that in the STC. Most of the buildings were dilapidated with beggars and idle men and women loitering outside (most of them were either sitting or squatting by the road side, gawking at us foreigners). The ones that were in relatively good shape had security guards stationed outside with their own metal detectors (to ward off potential terrorists?) that beeped regardless of whether we carried any metallic items with us.

Pavements were uneven and dirty with puddles and sand. We even saw men openly peeing on the side of the pavements. I prayed that those puddles I stepped on weren’t formed by their reckless response to their calls of nature.

In the city, almost no one can be trusted. We were swamped with tuk-tuk drivers offering to send us to any destination at a high price, security guards who asked for “tea money” in return for information, idle men who beckoned us over, beggars who stretched out their palms in our faces asking for money (their kids were either clutching our pants for attention or running around trying to sell whatever merchandise that they think tourists might buy) and people who generally gawk at us because we are foreigners.

We held on to our belongings for dear life, checking every now and then that we were not victims of pickpockets or snatch thieves.

On top of that, the traffic is unruly (try crossing any road that is not manned by the traffic police) and we had to mimic the locals when crossing the road (breathlessly risk-taking individuals they are, I swear).

In short, it was a city that we felt was distinctly unfriendly and alien to us. Being on the ground there was so much different from traveling through it on the way to the STC on the night that we landed. To make matters worse, we could not get the SIM cards we wanted (many of the shops were closed because it was a public holiday) and team morale was low (one of the girls felt very tired and wanted to go back to the STC).

On the bright side, we bought delicious biryani that we brought back to the STC for dinner and I bought a pair of good formal shoes for work (at only S$8). Going back however was the problem because we had to find a cab to take us all back. We ended up scouring the rent-a-car shops for available drivers (all turned us down because it was supposedly peak hour period – kind of like getting a cab in Orchard Road at 6.30 pm) before we chanced upon a cab driver who took us back at a higher price than we wanted.

Sharon was our guest at our lodgings. Mr Shyam spoke to STC security about granting her temporary access to stay-over with us before she heads to Mumbai to intern with Tata. So now, there are 5 of us, with 2 more arriving on Friday night and another heading down on May 12.

What an adventure. More to come in the days ahead.

May 1: Touch down!

Really glad to have met family and some friends before I flew off to India. Thanks for all the well-wishes. I will try my best to bring back all the goodies and gifts that you all expect, haha.

As I am typing this, I am sitting in my room at the Satyam Technology Centre (STC) at the outskirts of Hyderabad - Secunderabad. It is a very beautiful place with good facilities (kinda reminds me of Downtown East resort, seriously) that was constructed by the Satyam Corporation.

The plane landed at around 11 pm (local time) and we were received by Mr Shyam and his carrier (local slang for driver), Mr Versa. Nice chaps, both of them.

We were then driven to our current lodgings at the STC. The journey from the airport was an eye-opener, especially the way drivers “interact” with each other while navigating the roads.

Cars were honking at each other, overtaking other cars ahead of them, flashing their high-beam lights at drivers, and winding their narrow bodies into the chaotic mass of traffic. Imported and locally-made cars, scooters, bicycles, tuk-tuks (like the ones you see in Thailand and Indonesia) and rickshaws all share the same narrow stretch of road that winds through the city, fighting for every inch of space. Periodic bumps on the road. Cars suddenly braking every now and then. This is traffic life in India. It is truly comical.

And as I think about why I’m here in India, it pretty much seems as if I’m leaving behind many things in Singapore. AIESEC and Blurt. The on-going IDP project with the SMU Ambassadors. A potential local internship. Quality time that can be spent with family and friends. The list goes on.

And of course, time that can be spent with her, getting to know her better, and helping out with her journey to Christ. But I’m really surprised and glad that I bumped into her in school on Tuesday, even if it’s for the briefest of moments. Perhaps this is God’s way of answering my prayers of wanting to see her one more time before I leave.

And yup, I will definitely upload pictures of my first forays in India. Too bad it has to be taken by my lousy N70 with its 2 mega-pixel camera. I simply do not have the cash to buy a new camera, given how much I’m financing for this trip.

Shopping list from Korea

This is a list of items and "people" I will be getting from Korea.

Alphonsus wants 2 Korean babes
David wants Song Hae Gyo
Lawrence wants a jar of orange drink paste (??)
Phoebe, Pamelia, Susanti, and a couple of others want Kimchi
Ben wants one of these delicious squid dishes (I wonder if they will stink in the flight back)
John wants a "random souvenir"
Jeslin wants Korean snacks
And a whole lot of others who want snacks

I hope I remembered everyone's "orders".

If you want anything else, just holler or stay silent forever.