Hutang Aku Dengan dotwrite (aka My Debt With dotwrite)

(Warning : Contents of an alumni's mushy ramblings up ahead:P)

Late last year I was invited to be a guest writer on dotwrite by Ren Chang, and he asks that I write about the Sunnybears, this crazy bunch of AIESECer friends that I have (better known as the Youthopia 2005 OCs) , and to write about the "special bond" that exists between us bears, which I believe he finds quite inspiring :P

Well for past few months I have been seeing emails recruting newies to join the dotwrite team to replace the "old geezers", one of them being Ren Chang himself :P.

So yeah, I figured it's about time I fulfilled my promise ya? (Nope, Ren Chang I havent forgotten..:P)

I've actually put off writing about the Sunnybears, because simply speaking, I don't think there is any amount of writing that can do justice to the bond that we have. Our friendship, though definitely strengthened and sealed as lifelong friendship by the time we spent on Youthopia, definitely did not start with Youthopia itself. All of us already knew each other in AIESEC for at least 3 years prior to being in the OC, grew up and build up AIESEC in UTM together, saw AIESEC in UTM almost being disbanded and saw it being declared full status together, and when finally we were given the honour of hosting NLDS in UTM for the first time ever, everything fell into place, and I don't think that any of us in the team ever doubted that we WILL be one of the people who made Youthopia the event to remember.

And what a team it was. With personalities so diverse and different, we could have easily turned into just another group with little divided cliques in them. But in our own dysfunctional way, we melded and made it work :)

I guess the moment that it really hit, what an absolutely great team I was in, was on the Opening Dinner of Youthopia itself. Unlike pretty much every other AIESEC event that I have been to, the Opening Dinner went so smoothly that we had around half an hour extra time before we could announce the time to break the fast and have dinner. With all the introductions, speeches and lucky draw said and done, Megat and I (the emcess) were getting all panicky and stuck at how to pass the extra 30 minutes. As we were showing the sponsors' video (thought of at the spur of the moment), we went backstage to discuss what to do next with two other OCs, Wei Ling and Jinn Kae. After some hurried conversations, we decided on showing a short documentary Megat has made, and as the four of us stood there looking at each other hoping so much that we won't screw up the Opening Dinner...

...we hugged.

A really spontaneous, warm, we're-in-this-together-hug.

I think any lesser team would have started pointing fingers at each other and curse and say things like "You didn't plan this well enough!" or "How come you don't have Plan B!"...but we resolved it with a hug:)

But that was more than year ago.

Now, most of us have gone our separate ways, found jobs, gone on traineeship..pretty much established a routine "adult" life. Though we don't see each other as much as we used to (during Youthopia days we were constant makan amd mamak companions :P), being geographically apart and all that, we still are, and will remain...the Sunnybears :).

It's the kind of friendship that you can easily pick up where you left off... When we meet again, the inside jokes are still familiar, the reactions and facial expressions are still as you remembered...the only difference is that our stories are richer, our views wider, and hopefully, our love and appreciation for each other's friendship, stronger.

When we were still members in AIESEC, we alwasy ask our alumni, "How has AIESEC helped shaped your career?," "How has AIESEC helped you achieve the success you have today?" And they will always give some standard AIESEC textbook answers like "It helped me develop my communication skills etc etc etc....":P

For me, as a young alumni still struggling to find my place in the less than ideal working world ( a far cry from AIESEC where there ARE people genuinely trying to make the world a better place), I cannot say for sure AIESEC has given me that much of an edge skills/capabilities-wise...

...but what I CAN say for sure is that, whenever I get discouraged and start feeling frustrated at what a screwed-up world it is, all I have to do is lift my head up and stare at the picture tacked on my cubicle wall, of a bunch of smiling youths in white shirts and blue jeans...

...and I know that there is still a lot, a lot, A LOT, of good in this world :)

"What more can you ask for from 4 years of love and labour in an organization, than the knowledge that you have in return, something that might possibly...last? A warmth that will stay with you your whole lifetime..."

Different Cultures

Or why tricking interns is so much fun.

On the last night of Intergration Week, we had dinner with all the trainees at Chop and Steak, near Serdang. We were divided into two tables, since the interns actually arrived first, and when the OCs arrived, they had practically finished eating and were just chatting over the empty dishes.

Of course, there were several interns who followed us. Among them were Sundus, the intern from Pakistan. She was seated beside me, chatting with Yuen Hwa. I wasn't really paying much attention to the both of them till I felt a slight pinch on my arm. Turning towards her, she quickly looked at Yuen Hwa. But you could tell she did it.

Here's what happened next.

William : You know, in Malaysia, if you pinch a guy in the arm it means you must marry him.

(A blatant lie. But that's the fun part about mixing with interns)

Sundus: O_O;;;

Yuen Hwa : Uh-huh. It's the truth.

W: I don't really want to marry you, but custom is custom.

S: You must be lying.

YH: (Getting into the act) It's the truth. If you don't believe us, ask Leong Tat.

Leong Tat is the OCP for MIRACLE, and most interns to believe what he says.

W: Yo, Leong Tat. If a girl pinches a guy in the arm, she must marry him, right?

LT : Yes. Local custom. That's why we don't pinch each other.

S : But I pinched several guys already in Malaysia!

Edwin decided to get into the act.

E: But you pinched him in front of so many people here! Got evidence already.

I think she really bought it, cause she was a little panicky.

LT : Sorry I didn't tell you about this sooner.

W: Well, custom. So it looks like we have to get married soon.

E: We finally have a permanent match in MIRACLE!

S: But I can't marry him! You're only a small boy.

You have no idea how much my ego was bruised by this.

I have no idea how the conversation ended, but this was what I remembered. So remember. Tricking interns may be fun, but being called a small kid isn't.

A MIRACLE indeed

You'll be motivated for sure!

I remember grinning sarcastically when Moses smsed me this line. I was in a camp in Kuala Kangsar, and missed the first day of Intergration Week for MIRACLE 2006. 15 interns from around the world would be in UPM, and the first week would be teaching them the finer points about culture and custom in Malaysia.

Of course, I was dead tired. The camp I was in was boring, and must have killed off 50% of my brain cells. I seriously doubt that anything would motivate me except 3 days of R&R, not interacting with international interns.

Moses, it would seem, would prove me wrong.

Intergration Week was, for a lack of better term, a miracle. We had fun with interns, interns had fun with us, they learned about our culture, and we also learned about theirs.

It wasn't a job. It was a holiday of sorts with friends in UPM. True, we had to work to prepare the food, the ceremonies, and made sure that the interns were as happy as a happy intern could be. But it was worth it. From taking a bunch of wide-eyed foreigners out to the local pasar malam and look at delight when they tried bargaining and eating the various types of food, so see them cook food from their native countries, it was both an entertaining and educational experience.

But perhaps the best part of it all was when all 15 interns walked into an OC meeting one day, all serious and all.

And then, the chanted.

"We love you, OCs, we do.
We love you, OCs, we do.
We love you, OCs, we do.
Ocs, we love you."

You kinda feel like a proud mom or dad when they said that, and it really touched the hearts of all the OCs in the room.

Of course, just typing it here can't really help do any justice to the magic that happened during those 10 days. To know more about it, come on over to the MIRACLE Youth Conference on the 5th to 9th June 2006 at UPM.

We'll be waiting with open arms.

William, signing out.

Discussion with UNESCO

this is a follow up from what was planned during NPC. we had a discussion with UNESCO's hiv/aids department, together with other NGOs like PATH and another organization which also deals with hiv/aids.

it was a long way to Sukhumvit Road area. other than us trainees and the hosting MC, Pui and Christina, the members from LC Central Bangkok - Joy, Warn, Miw; LC Northern's Watt and LC Eastern Bangkok's Win were also there.

anyway, the discussion before lunch was totally alien to me. the OC team were further getting opinions from the NGO people and also better ideas to support our pbox. everything was in Thai, so that left us malaysians a little bored.

above: the complete alien session.....

below: the discussion group

after lunch, it was us AIESECers turn to further brainstorm. we were allowed to use the meeting room unsupervised as the UNESCO people had to return to their work and the people from other NGOs had left. we made lots of noise at one time....laughing away at some crazy ideas. whereas at some point... we were all dead silent, racking our heads away.

we had this idea, using the concept of a traffic light. Red - with the exclamation symbol. Orange/Yellow - condom. Green - the male-female symbol. the tagline - Wait, Wear, Wow. lol...up to you to interpret that rad idea.

outside the UNESCO building. and CH being so proud next to the sign.

will be meeting up again this weekend for another update session and facilitating training. Tomorrow is Eit's birthday, the VP General for LC EB. we will be celebrating with a few more @ers and other people. till then!

oh... and dont expect the other two trainees to blog. "we share the same experience" - CH.
I'd say they're just lazy to get it done. i mean, come on.... i have to keep things for them everything we go out just because i carried my bagpack!

whaddya think....??

National Planning Congree 2006

Aiesec in thailand has reached a step to greater heights with the recently ended National Planning Congress or NPC 2006.

NPC is very similar to Natcon, where the LCs are up to planning for major projects in the LC and among all the LCs. the 2 main pbox are on hiv/aids and entrepreneurship.

not all the members from each LC were present for the NPC. thus it resulted to a number attended to a regular AG! yup.... that much. @ in Thailand also have issues of members retention which also played part of the total number present. nevertheless, that did not stop the member from putting their effort for the conference.

at the same time, there was also a Rainbow Club with their activity at the lower floor of the training house building. it was indeed a cultural shock to see a fairly large group of gays and ladyboys! yup.... its a club for male homosexuals and transgender. kinda freaky for me as we dont see such situation in malaysia!

apart from all the planning of the pbox, other highlights were the election of the new MCP which went to Pui, who is also the sole candidate. the MCICX who is coming to her 5th year has been very active in @ Thailand. Congrats to Pui!

we not only worked hard but also played hard. there was food sculling and act-out-passing-message during Party Time on the last night. you might wanna check out the pics at the link. there was also a punishment for late comers on the last day, where they have to lie down. a coin is placed on the navel and the person next to you have to hug-roll to pass the coin over. not my kind of idea of punishment but gotta be sporting.... although i was early but went out to take water and was caught being 'late'. sorry... no pics for that on my cam.

With the major planning done, more work will be on the way with the members here. and that include us trainees to oversee and give more ideas. there will be an outing sometime soon for the members and us... but have yet to finalize the details.

that's all for the moment. dont really see the need to blog every nitty gritty detail here anyway. check out my blog for a finer snoops =p

now...if only i can upload the MVI somewhere online!

new arrival

the third trainee, Hon Choong from LCUM has just arrived. well, back in Pui's place actually. Chung Heng and I went to the airport to pick him up as Pui and Christina were meeting with an external today.

NPC starts tomorrow. christina will be briefing us on our roles for the 3-day conference tonight.

and even all taxis are either toyota altis or corolla... we came back from the airport with a car that is not a toyota.

signing off!

Discussion on roll

Had three meeting with the OCP of the HIV/AIDS project, Miw, at Pui's place. things are going on smoothly albeit slow. better than nothing anyway. guess it's due that most of the members in Thailand are not really exposed to the work in AIESEC.

Initially i thought that the project will be exactly the same at what had been done in Malaysia. well.... not exactly for the case here. in malaysia, the concept was to focus on educating the youth on HIV/AIDS as the youths there are not exactly sure of the basic info. let alone talking about taboo issues like safe sex.

it's a different case here in thailand. the youths are actually educated on the issue in schools like during elemetary and high school. although it isnt exactly what you can say that they are expert in the fields, but at least they learned it constantly in school unlike malaysia. however, the uprising problem is that they are not really concern about it. or rather the tidak apa attitude that the youths have when in come to sexual relationships.

perhaps its the mindset that they think they will not get it. they have multiple partners to certain cases and practising safe sex doesnt seem to be like an importance. so for this project, the focus is on getting the youths to be more concern of the possibility of contracting HIV with unsafe sex. try to overcome the tidak apa mindset.

now.. that's gonna be hard. i mean, hey.... we malaysians have the tidak apa character when it come to being a civic-minded person in the society. but it boils down to the individual. we can tell them and with the hope to influence them. it's up to them to decide.

this weekend is the NPC. there will be a presentation to the members of the project and further changes and stuff before finalizing.project will kick off in the 2nd week of june. that's not much time. and i really hope the rest of the OCs will get the work done in time. there's also an issue among the members in thailand...due to the lack of exposure and yet to understand about AIESEC and retaining them. it is a challenge. but with the help of the MCs, hopefully things will work out.

communication is still a barrier of getting full cooperation from the 5 OC members. only Miw is able to work easier with.

i still cant imagine our own LC Malaysia members having meetings in places like Starbucks. that's what it's like here! man...all we can afford with the most noise is at mamaks!!!!

Sawadeeka from thailand!

hey there!

chungheng and i have reached bangkok at 9.30pm malaysian time. kinda forgot that thailand is an hour behind malaysia. so that makes 8.30pm here.

currently at one of the @er's house. have yet to take dinner. Tum, the MCP, have ordered pizza. I'll just eat anything right now.... food adventure will start later when im settled down.

well.. nothing much to say at the moment. will update more on the ongoings of the HIV AIDS project later!!

btw... LCCT.... seriously low cost. until there were no seats around also. have to sit on the floor!!!