Another Malaysian intern selected as facilitator

Congratulations to Pak Yang, currently intern in Finland who has been selected to be a facilitator at NEXT 2007 in Czech Republic

A Walled Village Journey

Walled Village, was built to defend enemies from neighborhood, robbers and wild animals. It is popular in Southern Canton, and villagers living inside share the same family name. Limited number of walled village still exists in Hong Kong, and they are mainly located in the New Territories, like Yuen Long, Sheung Shui, or Fanling. Ancestral hall is the most important building inside a walled village. Some of us had the opportunity to visit the Walled Village of the "Tang" family. Wai Khey and I were fortunate to have known an AIESEC member who is a descendant of this family. We learned so much about the Walled Village as well as the history to how it existed. Even the other interns & AIESEC members who joined us felt that the experience was enriching.




Cha Kwo, a kind of Hakka (minority of Chinese) snack, which is usually made of glutinous rice flour with sesame, peanuts, or minced mushroom, dried shrimps inside. We had a simple cooking class to learn the art of making Cha Kwo and it was definetely another key learning for the day :) It was pretty much similar to making "Tong Yuen" but it was more fun when you do it together with a group of friends.



“Poon-Choi”, also known as “Pan Cai” or Big Bowl Feast, is a traditional type of Chinese food which can be traced back to the 13th century. It was a way to serve the Song dynasty Emperor as well as his army; the locals collected all their best food available, cooked it, and put it in wooden washing basins. “Poon-Choi” includes ingredients such as pork, beef, lamb, chicken, duck, abalone, ginseng, shark fin, fish maw, prawn, crab, dried mushroom, fish balls, squid, dried eel, dried shrimp, pigskin, bean curd and Chinese radish. The next time when going for "Poon-Choi", you have to get more people together as there was so much food. However, it was not surprising at all as the food portions in Hong Kong are relatively much bigger compared to Malaysia.


It was a great reception activity by LC HKUST & I cant wait for the next one...

December 1st - WORLD AIDS DAY

by Bonnie Arthur de Souza

Freddie Mercury - legendary lead singer of glam rock (and one of the best bands in the world) outfit, Queen Earvin "Magic" Johnson - 12 time NBA All Star, 3 time MVP, 5 time NBA Champion, Olympic gold medalist and basketball hall of famer Arthur Ashe - remains the only African American tennis player ever to win the men's singles at Wimbledon, the US Open or the Australian Open.

These are just the few but many people who are living with *Human Immunodeficiency Virus* (HIV) or have died of *Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome* (AIDS) complications.

Tommorow, *December 1st is* *World AIDS Day, *a day dedicated to raising the awareness of the global AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of the HIV infection. To date, around 40 million people are living with the HIV virus throughout the world, increasing by the thousands every day in every region, and AIDS has killed more than 25 million people, making it one of the most
destructive epidemics in recorded history. Somebody is infected with the deadly HIV virus every 8 seconds, equivalent to 11,000 infections worldwide every day, while another 8,000 infected people die.

Yet with this staggering facts, ignorance and prejudice are fueling the spread of this preventable disease. 2006 alone recorded the highest number of HIV infected people.

Lets take this opportunity, through World AIDS Day and join millions worldwide to unite and fight against HIV and AIDS. Its up to you, me and us to stop the spread of HIV and end the prejudice. This years theme (which will be the same till 2010) for World AIDS Day is *"Stop AIDS, Keep the Promise".


Here is how you can start...

*Wear a Red Ribbon*
It is the international symbol of HIV. Wearing one is the easiest way to make a difference on December 1st. Not by wearing one yourself, but encouraging others, colleagues, friends and family to wear one as well.

*Talk to People*
Talking openly about HIV/AIDS to your friends, colleagues or family is one of the most powerful ways of ending prejudice and preventing the spread of HIV.



Here are some basic facts of the disease, know them...share them!

What is HIV?

HIV stands for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. HIV attacks the body's immune system - the body's defence against diseases. HIV, if detected early, can be treated very successfully. With treatment, people living with HIV will probably have a normal lifespan, although serious health problems may still occur.


What is AIDS?

AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. A person is considered to have AIDS when the immune system has become so weak that it can no longer fight off a whole range of diseases with which it would normally cope. If HIV is diagnosed late, treatment may be less effective in preventing AIDS.


How is HIV passed on?

HIV is not transmitted via casual contact or kissing. It can only be passed on through exposure to HIV-infected blood, sexual or rectal fluids, or breast milk.


*The most common ways are via:*

- Sexual intercourse with an infected partner where blood or sexual fluids like semen and vaginal or rectal secretions enter the body through the penis, vagina or anus.
- Sharing infected needles or syringes when injecting drugs.
- From an HIV positive mother to her child during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding. However, there are proven steps mothers can take to reduce the possibility of their unborn child contracting HIV.


*Less common ways are via:*

- Oral sex - although the risks are much lower than with sexual intercourse, blood or sexual fluids may occasionally enter the body via the mouth, particularly if the uninfected partner has gum problems or mouth ulcers.
- Unscreened and untreated transfusions of blood or blood products. However, in the UK all blood products are screened for HIV and other blood-borne diseases.
- An accident in a medical setting, where a healthcare worker is exposed to the blood of an infected person, usually during surgery or via a needlestick injury.



You cannot get HIV from day-to-day contact such as:

Kissing
Touching
Holding hands
Sharing eating utensils
Toilet seats
Swimming pools

You, me and us...together we CAN stop the spread of HIV and end prejudice.


How many of you wore a red ribbon on Dec 1? Drop us a shoutout if you did!

AIESEC n geophysics - what's in common?

by Jillyn Tan


What has geophysics and AIESEC got in common? You're right...nothing.

The people, culture, and diversity were the things that attracted Justin to AIESEC in June of 2001. Even though he wasn't very sure what AIESEC was all about, he attended the introduction night and felt that it was just what he needed - a platform to prepare him for the technicalities of the working world which would give him the edge over his geophysics coursemates.

Every moment in his AIESEC career was memorable. Justin jumped into the activating leadership role almost immediately; he was on the organizing committee of National Convention held in USM in 2002, and held many other leadership positions in the local committee's projects and events. There was something to be learnt from each project and conference he participated in. By being involved in the organizing committees, he learned time and people management skills, and the knowledge gained from talking to members of the corporate and government sector when carrying out those projects certainly is making it easier for him now as in his field of work, he deals with people from all walks of life.

In his opinion, AIESEC helped to prepare him to join the workforce upon graduation because it promotes professionalism and other essential qualities which a fresh graduate needs to get started in the 'real' world. Of course, being a microcosm, it cannot emulate every situation a hundred percent, but it definitely prepared Justin well to begin his career in the corporate sector.

Justin says, "AIESEC is a platform where you decide what you want to be." For him, this meant that it was all about making choices as to what he wanted to do in AIESEC and what he wanted to achieve through AIESEC. Describing AIESEC as educational, electrifying and entertaining, Justin says that he thought he knew quite a lot about everything, but AIESEC proved him wrong. "I learned much more than I thought I would," he shares, "And I've travelled a fair bit too!" he adds enthusiastically.

As a geophysicist working with one of the foremost geophysics companies in the world, in an office located on the 56th floor of the Petronas Twin Towers, Justin believes that his experience with AIESEC and cultural tolerance helped him accept other foreign cultures more easily, more so during his stint aboard ship in the Middle East where he had to interact with local engineers and technicians from countries such as Russia, Turkey, Germany, Korea and Japan.

"Keep moving as life goes on, and everything is a learning experience, including AIESEC," he says.

USM’s HIV/AIDS Learning Network and its 2005 campaign in USM

by Stefan Dawson


AIESEC in USM held a HIV/AIDS workshop and campaign in collaboration with Standard Chartered(M) Sdn Bhd, Malaysian AIDS Council and Olympia College Penang to spread awareness about HIV and AIDS to student of USM, Olympia College Penang and even to sex workers in the red-light areas of Georgetown in Penang. This campaign which is pioneered by LC USM and lasted for a duration of 3 months. This project was run by members of the LC and also 3 Interns – Kristina Kloss from Germany, Lora Mae Aquinde from the Philippines and Anna Dubelaar from Canada.

Together with the OC from USM, the interns found information from the internet and adding this to the materials provided by Standard Chartered and Malaysian AIDS Council and used this to spread awareness about AIDS and HIV to some students at USM and Olympia College. The second part of the campaign includes many other interns who were at other LC’s in Malaysia. All the interns involved gathered in Kuala Lumpur to organize a HIV/AIDS conference there. Here is a brief quote from Kristina Kloss from Aachen, Germany about her internship :

“In Penang Lora and I prepared a lot of material for the two-days booth at a local college. We made posters, quizzes, flyers, etc. to raise the people’s attention for our campaign. At the booth we talked to the students about what they know about HIV/AIDS in general and especially about the situation in Malaysia. On the second day of the booth we also conducted interactive sessions to explain more detailed what HIV/AIDS is, what people can do to protect themselves and to raise the awareness on this subject.



After the two first weeks in Penang the next part of the traineeship was planning and organising an HIV/AIDS youth conference in KL. Finally our international team of 10 trainees came together. Our task was to organise and promote the first AIESEC HIV/AIDS youth conference on the 11th and 12th of December in KL. The conference was targeted especially to young Malaysians who often do not know very much about HIV/AIDS. Since there is no sexual education at Malaysian schools it is not spoken openly about sexuality and also HIV/AIDS is a taboo. The number of newly infected people is growing with an alarming rate in Malaysia and especially young people are affected. Against this background the major goal of our conference was to clarify what exactly HIV/AIDS is, how the virus is transmitted and how people can protect themselves and others.

We worked in the AIESEC Malaysia office in Petaling Jaya together with the AIESEC MCs of Malaysia and lived in “Millennium Court” which is a big private student hostel near the University Malaya and not too far from the AIESEC Malaysia office. There were a lot of local as well as international students living there and it had very good facilities e.g. cafeteria, gym, cyber café, laundry, convenience store. We had rooms for two or three persons and boys and girls lived in separate blocks. The rooms were not very big and simple, but we had enough space and our own bathroom. There was no kitchen but since most students do not cook but eat in the cafeteria there was no need for it.

We worked in the AIESEC office, in the cyber café at Millennium Court (when there were not enough free computers in the office) or at booths in different universities promoting the conference. Our work involved all the organisational tasks like finding and booking a venue and a caterer, contacting speakers and sponsors and creating the conference’s programme. But one of the most important and time-consuming tasks was to attract participants by going to universities and colleges setting up interactive booths. That way we increased the awareness of HIV/AIDS and created interest for people to want to come to the conference. We worked closely with the Malaysian AIDS Council and Standard Chartered Bank (our main sponsor) who helped us with their experience and also with materials. My specific job was to be in charge of the agenda and to communicate with the Malaysian AIDS Council and Standard Chartered Bank. I also contacted the speakers and worked on most of the PowerPoint presentations used in the conference.”




As I mentioned earlier the target group is college/university students who are between the ages of 18 and 24. The purpose of targeting this group is because this group of individuals comprise of people who are very curious about the opposite sex and are going through many physical and emotional changes. These changes sometimes can cause people to make wrong decisions when it comes to sexual intercourse. This campaign was aimed at educating the targeted group of individuals about the dangers of HIV transmission through sex and also to challenge their worldview towards people who are already infected with AIDS.

How was all this information passed on? Most of our sessions were activity based. The participants played role games which put them into the position of a victim or a carrier and were made to make decisions which could get them infected or get somebody infected. There were also sketches where the participants acted out certain roles which inadvertently put them into the position of a person involved in making a decision whether to have sex or not. A booth was set up at USM for a week and at Olympia College for 2 days. At the USM booth, people who visited the booth, once having listened to the talk by the persons in charge or Lora the intern, would be allowed to put their painted hand print on a banner which showed their support towards the campaign. At Olympia, the booth set up there was at the main entrance and it was a very good and informative booth with lots of decorations and also condoms which were blown up and hung all around the booth. At the sessions that were held there, condoms were given out to all the participants so that they could learn how to put one on. This was probably the “funnest” part of the programme as girls and guys had to endure the laughs and stares as they slipped the “rubber” on to a very sizeable banana (as in the fruit).



As the OC who was in charge of coordinating the programme I found this a very good learning experience. I also managed to be in close contact with the interns and hence learned a good deal about them irrespective countries and their cultures. I was especially touched by Lora, who was the intern from the Philippines. Before meeting her, my views on homosexuals and AIDS was one which one might call “traditional”. She truly opened my eyes to them and also to the way to treat them. In the Philippines, there are many homosexuals, both male and female, but society in general and the youth there, more importantly, do not mistreat homosexuals like most Malaysian youths do. And as for their relationship to AIDS, I began to understand that they didn't deserve their fate- they were merely under-informed. I now realize the importance of educating everyone but more importantly the youth about the importance of practicing safe sex. This and of course loyalty and abstinence are the 3 main ways AIDS and the spread of HIV can be curbed.