Pictures from conferences

I apologise for not putting this up earlier, since I promised many of you out there that I will post the pictures on my blog. Here they are:

Click here for National Leadership Development Seminar [NLDS 2006] in Singapore. [About 300 photos]

And click here for Heroes Conference 2006 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. [About 1000 photos]

Now, I realise these may be quite a lot of photographs, all in random order, so I will make another selection [phew!] of the best pictures and upload them alongwith my reports - so sorry I still haven't completed them.

Also, I got to know at 10 pm last night that today is our Eid day, so wish all of you Eid Mubarak - whether you celebrate Eid or not! =D

Tonight is new year's eve as well, so Happy New Year everyone! Siloso will be pumping tonight! See you there...

Cheers!

Just a stupid video we made at NLDS 2006 Singapore... [Wan Xin dared me to do this.]



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrDW6W9JzrY

Christmas Spirit

Of Bus/Train Travels

Whenever you travel by bus or train, and you have normal seats, the worst thing that can happen is the person sitting right in front of you wants to recline his/her seat and is too nice about it, and the person sitting behind you is a bitch/bastard who just won't let you recline. So you could be stuck in the worst position ever, with a 90 degrees back support and no space for your legs - I'm seriously considering to get them chopped off.

But then, the best thing that can happen is you find lots of empty seats, like I did. You can choose two seats or even three to lie down and have a nice nap. Unless of course your legs get in the passage-way and people keep waking you up just to pass by. Damnit.

Needless to say, I had a pretty decent train ride all the way from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore. Especially if you consider I only paid 21 RM for my ticket, which is around 10 Singaporean Dollars - taxi fare for coming back to NUS from a club after 12. Actually it usually costs more than that since the midnight rates are high and the meter runs really fast.

But then again, we left at 10 pm and arrived around 9 am - so it took a good 11 hours, which is much more than the time it took for us to get to Kuala Lumpur by bus - a maximum of four and a half hours.

From Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Energy levels are running low, but the learning process is going on. Currently we're talking about inspiring greatness and turning our passions into purpose. Just now I had to do some self-reflection and rounded up the top 3 passions of my life. These are:

1. Career
2. Money-making
3. Music

These passions all point to the ultimate goal of my life, which, for me, is family. My ultimate goal is family. I know music has nothing to do with everything else, but it's something I feel about passionately. And I can follow all three passions through @.

Like for NLDS, I hope to be writing more about the Heroes Conference and what I'm learning from it once I'm done with it. Today's the formal dinner and tomorrow's the last day. I'll be going back to Singapore on the day after tomorrow [18th Dec], but no sure-shot plans yet. Will be staying a night around the KL Central area.

NLDS 2006 is over...

I talked and listened. I made notes and mindmaps. I loved and was loved. I learnt about different cultures. And I learnt a hell lot more. But it's all over now... I will miss everyone I met and cherish the memories forever. Hopefully I will meet these wonderful people again. All in all, a kickass conference! Thank you everyone who made it possible. I hope to write in detail about what we did in NLDS soon.

I am preparing to leave for the Heroes Conference in Kuala Lumpur tonight. It starts tomorrow and I'll be back by the 18th. I'll have a truckload of pictures to upload by then. Will figure out a way to do that once I'm back. Those aching for pictures - hold your horses!

First come Singaporeans

Singapore PM Lee made another pronouncement with the general message being, "Citizens will always come first. Foreigners staying here will be screwed over in the longer run." No, that's not exactly what he said, but that's what he means, doesn't he? [ST Dec 4, 2006, Singaporeans 'always come first', By Zakir Hussain]

Singaporeans are skeptical of such a claim - they don't see much difference in the current treatment of Singaporeans and foreigners. Their response could be: "Isn't that how priority should be given - locals, PRs and then foreigners? There's no need to even make such an announcement - it's understood." Well that's true for most of the Western world, and I think Singaporeans should be happy if appropriate changes are made soon.

But us foreigners can't be too happy about such a grand announcement, now can we? They already have foreign students by the hook - 10% higher tuition fees, easy loans and a work bond. Pakistanis who came here this year expecting to receive the NUS Undergraduate Scholarship found out they finished giving it away this year when NUS became semi-privatised. Does this mean the situation will get worse?

Looks like they want us to be stuck here paying high interest rates on high tuition fee loans [it's all about the 'brain gain']. There's a voice inside my head that says, "Get out, get out! Get out as soon as you can! Finish your degree; finish your bond. AND.GET.OUT."

Mentation

These days I have been considering to do a lot of things...

Most current is the Heroes Conference [14th-17th Dec] in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It's a costly undertaking unless I get sponsorships, and so far I haven't had much luck. They've already sent an invitation letter from Malaysia addressed to a Mr. Nabeel 'Kahlib' - my last name is actually Khalid. I will also need to get a visa for Malaysia and I don't know how long that would take. And I'm pressed for time since I am already a delegate for NLDS 2006 in Singapore [9th-14th Dec].

Another consideration is completing a Minor in Information Systems/Technology. It goes well with my major - Communications and New Media Technologies, and I have already completed a module that does not contribute to my major; rather contributes to this minor. Five more modules in this same stream, and I will have completed an easy minor in the next five semesters. The main issue with this is that I don't like programming, and one of the essential modules teaches me programming in Java - I know Java is not easy. But then, it's an additional skill that could benefit my career by enhancing my CV and giving me an edge. I have to decide by 12th Dec.

Yet another substantial consideration is working in a mediocre job which doesn't pay much. I haven't gotten any of the comparatively high-end jobs I applied for [mostly because I'm not Singaporean and don't speak Mandarin], and something is definitely better than nothing. I've already decided to stay in Singapore during the December vacation, and some extra money to contribute towards my expenses would cause no harm. By mediocre jobs I mean the kinds that pay 4 dollars an hour, at places like Burger King. Not my dream job - but then again I don't have much choice. I hope they have some market research to do at Frost and Sullivan - now that's a decent job and pays well enough too.

Heck, I haven't been this indecisive since - ever!

Unions & Intersections

I like to think my relationships with all the people I know are like those annoying Venn diagrams found in Set Theory. (Not saying here that my relationships are annoying; well, at least most of them aren't.) There are numerous overlappings that occur between most people, and it's the area common that defines the closeness of a relationship. That is why when you engage in a conversation with an absolute stranger, topics such as 'music' or 'movies' are the way to go, since you are bound to run into an overlapping - an Intersection, and raise your relationship's closeness levels a degree or two. Still it's possible to have relationships where the borders merely touch the outlines of each other's Venn diagrams (those people who always say "Hi" to you each time you pass by them, but never stop to have a conversation).


But it's not just the common part that strengthens relationships. My oldest friend, MA, has a personality which could be said to be the complete opposite of mine. From music interests, likes, dislikes to the types of activities we engage in, it's hard to find something that is common between MA and me. In cases such as these I guess it's not about the overlappings, rather going beyond those overlappings and delving into the non-overlapping part and appreciating and recognising it. Such relationships take time, just as my friendship with MA goes beyond 18 years now, which is ample time to explore whatever is not shared in the Intersection to form a Union.

So it can be said that relationships are either - to use the correct Mathematical terms in Set Theory - Intersections or Unions. But this classification becomes obscure if you consider those relationships where the other person is married or married-ish. You might have become accustomed to the nature of the Intersection or the Union with such a person, but once he or she enters this new realm, all the commonnesses and/or uncommonnesses have to take into consideration this new entrant's Venn diagram. All the rules don't apply here, and at least for me, this is unexplored, and even dangeorous territory.

The sine wave, Lahori Winter & NLDS

Is it better to live your life half-asleep, floating peaceful, on the calm water surface? Or to stir things up - stir them hard, and look whatever's lying on the ocean floor; float up, find the fisherman?

To be honest, I would prefer smooth sailing all the way, but that's not always possible now, is it? (Lately I have noticed half my statements, my remarks - at least the online ones - end up with a question mark at the end. Am I boy wonder or mister inquisitive? It's probably a little bit of both.)

Coming back to the topic of life, I often say life is like a sine wave. There are elations and there are depressions. Ups and downs. So if one moment you feel like you're on top of the world, you can expect to fall down pretty soon. And if you feel down, there is a definite bit of that silver lining.

I know a number of people who claim their lives are smooth sailing - I just translate that as them having smaller differences between their sine waves' maximum and minimum points. It is certainly a good state to be in, and most people hope to reach such a stage, but the sad part is, they never know it once they reach it. There's a boy whose mother just died and he is at his minimum-most point, and there's another boy who thinks he's at his minimum point because he just had a fight with his girlfriend.

So what state am I in right now? Frankly speaking, I don't know. I'd like to think I'm at my maximum point where I am done with my exams - and they went alright - I'm glad I'm through with them and can party all the heck I want; but I'd also like to think I'm at my minimum point, where all my friends go home to enjoy their vacations while I am stuck here looking for a job or an internship with no luck so far whatsoever.

They say Lahore hasn't been this cold in five years, and although I'm not a winter-loving kind of a person, I still like the concept that God made four seasons for us, and that winter falls at the end of each year. Plus the fact that wearing a sweater under all my shirts in winter makes people give me compliments like "hey, you've gained weight!" or "now that's a handsome boy". During summer it's always "don't you eat anything?" or "have you lost more weight?" or "oh, you look so skinny". Yeah, it sucks being an ectomorph for a guy. Too bad Singapore has summer throughout the year.

Another cool thing about winter is just sitting there, wrapped up in a Razai [a warmer blanket], watching movies and eating dry fruits. And running up to the heater to barbeque our hands and asses everytime we enter the house. Not to mention the beautiful Lahori fog... Driving at 20 kilometres an hour, hazard lights on, all cars moving in a line - the only time that happens in Lahore. And then a brave driver would dare to overtake all the cars and everyone would start following that car just to pick up speed not caring the leading car might crash into something. It doesn't snow in Lahore (thank God) but the fog is beautiful and oh-so-romantic. It's such a pity I'll miss it.

So much for floating peaceful, half-asleep in a Razai, I guess I'm in for floating up and finding the fisherman! The AIESEC Singapore National Leadership Development conference [NLDS] 2006 is right around the corner, and I admit I'm a little excited about it.

There are professionals coming from Singapore Management University, CSR Asia, Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions, DHL, etcetera to talk to us and give advice, and there's a whole line of activities lined up for all the delegates. The slogan for NLDS is "Extend your wings, expand your horizons" and the logo is a big wing, or the extension of our wings, representing the step we should take to get out of our comfort zone in order to learn and experience growth as future leaders. I know the word 'National' in NLDS only refers to a single city being Singapore, but there are people coming in from India, Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia and also Nigeria, so it's quite an international conference in terms of the turnout. NLDS is happening this Saturday onwards, and goes on for four days, so I guess I'll be making more posts on the conference later (and with pictures!).

Last day of the exam marathon