(Zhu Town, China) In summer, I hope to be back in China, contributing to its development.

In another 6 hours, I will be in New York celebrating the passing of the year with my friends. This has put me in a mood for recollection, and there is much to recollect this year. This is probably my happiest and longest year. It is vastly different from the years before, when I was still stuck in a system I could no longer believe in.

I lived and died so many times this year, as the pace of change quickens. During the military years, life was at a standstill. I did a lot in the military, but somehow, these things I did do not add up to any coherent direction. There was simply no larger goal that I could work towards as a conscript, as I had already decided that my life and future laid in the larger world out there, and not in the physical space of Singapore where I had to reside as a conscript. Even as Chief Knowledge Manager in my 25 000 strong unit, I wrote papers on Knowledge Management strategies, which would never be implemented because of a senseless bureaucracy…and this frustrated me.

Then college applications came out, and I got into all the top schools I wanted to go to. I was not ecstatic (even though I should be, since I got into the Huntsman Program), as I knew that regardless of where I went to, my life and future is divorced from the name of my school. I was simply glad to know that a future overseas awaited, a future that will help me become the global citizen I seek to be.

Life started again after conscription. There was the sense of optimism and relief at the end of conscription, as I knew that my body was free and mine to direct again as I pleased. There was also bitterness, as I knew that I had lost two years to a cause that lacked any meaning for me. My thoughts, dreams, and desires had become so distinct from my peer group, that it was hard to relate all these to them.

I was working as a research assistant at Centennial Group when I met Philip, who advised me to take the summer off. I realized it was something I had to do, as I wanted dearly to retrace my route in East Asia, and meet up with all my friends in Japan, Taiwan, China and Korea who I lost along the way as the army separated me from them. My journey retraced the future as much as it retraced the past. In Taiwan, I stayed with Hsin Yu in a small town, learning the charms of a different life. In Tokyo, I presented at the World Bank’s Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics, catching a glimpse into a future that awaited me. In Seoul, my friends taught me Korean, and I learnt about the politics, culture and economics of an amazing society. Like when I was in Europe the year before, this period was therapeutic, as it allowed me to think about the tantalizing future, and plan for it. It also helped me forget my conscripted past, and now conscription seems like a distant past, a nightmare that had finally ceased. I lived and died so many times during this period, as I entered different countries, made new friends, explored my environment, and then left not knowing when I would see this small period of stability again.

And now, in college, I am living the future I dreamt off. I made many great friends with my peers, with graduate students, and with professors. I have taken every opportunity to explore and learn, from attending speaking classes, to listening in on guest lectures on North Korea’s economy, to writing research papers on Korean markets, or even just by walking around the college halls listening to my friends’ stories. I am also working on an amazing project, conceiving a new healthcare model and implementing it in West Philadelphia. I am chasing my interests in economic and political development, and I am laying my foundations for fighting global poverty in the future.

The past, with all its accomplishments, sorrows, and baggage, has faded away. I do not drift, as I have the things I wish to accomplish to guide me. I believe I will make an impact on society, and this belief lies in the future, a future which I am always planning for (taking note that occasionally, serendipity will radically alter my course). The problem with me is that my dreams always lie in the future. But it is now a bright future, and one I have the freedom to actively work towards. 2006 was my year of tumultuous change, of freedom, of transformation. 2007 will be even better. I intend to make it so.

(Miao Li, Taiwan) There is one Huntsman Program alumni using social enterprise to support indigenious livelihood. Will I join her someday?

I got accepted to the StartingBloc Fellowship program, an institute for social entrepreneurs at MIT Sloan and Tufts’ Fletcher School. This is a great opportunity for me to network with other like-minded individuals who share my interest in development and poverty alleviation. It is also an honor as the program has not accepted freshmen before. So at least I get to be the first in something.

I am writing to inform you that you have been accepted as a candidate for the Spring 2007 Boston-area StartingBloc Fellowship program! This year’s class of Fellows is an outstanding group of entrepreneurial and diverse young leaders from around the world.

I should be excited and happy. However, considering the pace at which I expect EduHealth to proceed next semester, and the intensity of that project, I am unsure if it is wise to take off for this program. I might also head to Germany to present EduHealth, and that will take up almost an entire week. It looks like my schedule for next semester might be even more intensive than this one.

On the upside, it will be a good opportunity to share EduHealth with the community, and let them know what my team has been accomplishing. There will also be opportunities to share EduHealth’s model, and learn from much more experienced individuals.

(North Philly, PA) Random objects, when placed together in a story, makes a lot more sense.

This is another post on presentation skills, which was a core improvement area that I set for myself this semester (see this and this). This will probably be my last post on presenting for this year, but it will definitely not be my last for college. I was reading Beinhocker’s “Origin of Wealth,” which is an excellent book providing a different view of economics (will post more about it later), when I read that people are best at telling stories, and relating to stories . More specifically, Beinhocker identified how research revealed that people are most receptive to metaphors, are able to complete patterns by filling in missing information, and perform better at inductive rather than deductive thinking.

This gave me new ideas on presenting. I should weave my entire presentation into a story, or at least start off with a relevant story, to capture the imagination of my audience. Even if it is a “dry” topic on the development of Korean economy, or the financial markets in Argentina, I should be able to incorporate into this story framework to make my points more vivid.

This presentation style was driven in when I went to watch Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker with the family of the Deputy Provost of Wharton, Janice Bellace, who is also the founding President of the Singapore Management University, by the Pennsylvania Ballet. Janice is incredibly knowledgeable, and knows everything from Tsarist history to Philadelphian history to human rights and international law. Janice pointed out that the Nutcracker, a whimsical montage of dances linked together illogically, should be viewed the way it was written:

Imagine you were the czar of Russia (hard to imagine but try!) at a time before TV and radio. The extended family has had a wonderful, sumptuous meal. And what you are in the mood for is some light entertainment that everyone will enjoy (family, court retainers, servants, children). Of course, you happen to have at your beck and call the Imperial Ballet School, the Imperial (boys’ only of course) choir, and the adult performers from the Maryinsky ballet theatre across the street. So Tschaikovsky could whip up this beautiful confection of a ballet.

- Janice R. Bellace

I saw it instead as a girl’s (stereotyped) ultimate fantasy: being in a candy land, with a gallant boyfriend rescuing her from Rats, and being served like a Queen. Either way, having a “story” framework made the performance much more enjoyable, as it provided a logical connection between somewhat random scenes.

(Kensington, PA) There is Chinese food everywhere, even in the remotest parts of Town.

In Penn, and the US in general, there are many American citizens who were born in China but moved to the US when they were 9 or 10. These people often speak pretty good Chinese, have (strong?) ties with China, and feel relatively at ease with Chinese culture. At the same time, many of them speak Chinese, with varying degrees of success. Many of them will eventually work for multinationals expanding in China. I know a whole bunch of Huntsman Program friends, and other Wharton students, who are working for McKinsey, Goldman Sachs, Bain, Monitor, UBS, Morgan Stanley…etc., who are either heading to China to start work, or plan to do so after a few years in New York. I also know of Huntsman Program alumni who started social enterprises in China. Through the Chinese Diaspora, the US is able to create a bridge into the Chinese market.

This trend has been well-documented, and the bridge works both ways, and this was driven home when I attended my Argentinean friend’s roommate birthday. Her roommate is from China, and is studying at Penn. At the party, her mom started showing some samples of winter clothes made by their factory in China, and they wanted to sell it in the US under their own brand. They wanted to know if anyone at the party would like to distribute it within the US. It is interesting to see how economic networks are forged by social networks that cross the oceans.

I find the Chinese Diaspora interesting as many of them occupy an uncomfortable niche in society. They span an entire spectrum, from the more Americanized to the more Sinocized. Some of them feature a unique mix of cultures such that they cannot be easily classified on the spectrum. Some of them insist they are very Chinese even when they are not. Some of them, even after living so many years here, are still intensely patriotic towards the Chinese mainland, as I found out when discussing the Taiwan issue. The Diaspora is not fully integrated into American society, nor do their China counterparts consider them very Chinese.

In general, I find the Chinese Diaspora much more integrated into American society than the Korean Diaspora.

I visited Kensington recently, one of poorest regions of Philadelphia, and told my advisor about it. She told me that I should just see it from the Septa, as it is dangerous to visit. Naturally, it made me want to visit Kensington even more. It is one of those places where shootings are almost a daily occurrence. So this morning, I picked up my camera, packed my bags, and went off to capture economic decline in action. Other than being accosted multiple times for spare change, getting rushed at by a mad lady and passing by multiple drug dealers, I managed to make it back relatively unscathed.

Even potted plants have to be bolted down here. Security is economically unproductive expenditure.

I actually felt fearful walking this area with my camera. I wondered if I was just being self-conscious after hearing all those horror stories about Kensington, or if the locales were really watching me intensely as I took pictures, wondering what mad tourist had come their way. Either way, I did not take chances, and was always on the lookout for people being within a 10 meter radius around me. I also made sure no one followed me down any quiet streets.

An old once proud industry. In its place is an empty quite shell.

The first few streets I treaded on were quiet, and almost deserted except for the odd soul. I saw the abandoned factories which I came to look for, and the boarded up and dilapidated shops that littered the streets. However, near the York Dauphin station, I passed by a lively street filled with economic activity, the sounds of Latin reggae, and some semblance of a crowd. It was like stumbling unto an oasis of economic life amidst a desert.

There is some friendliness in this place. They asked me to take a photo of them!

What was most interesting about this little street was that every other line I heard was in Spanish, and cars blasting Latin reggae out of their windows were commonplace. There were shops with signs in Vietnamese, and I heard the occasional Cantonese. It seemed that immigrants from all over have flooded this desolate dying community, and revitalized it. This, rather than New York, should be the symbol of the incredible diversity and benefits that immigrants bring to the USA. Lowly skilled immigrants have managed to bring life to one of the most dangerous and unpleasant neighborhoods in the US, and maybe someday, will transform it into a safe an economically vibrant place again.

An image on Septa EL at Kensington meant to promote world peace ends up looking mildly racist.

(West Philly, PA) Welcome to our world…

I met with Dana, who works at Sayre and chairs EduHealth’s advisory board, and it looks like EduHealth will proceed at a faster pace than it already is (think EduHealth on steroids now, instead of EduHealth on caffeine pills). We will be working with the Penn medical school to set up an anatomy class for spring 2007, instead of fall 2007. Penn medical school students will provide technical expertise in drawing up the curriculum, and provide resources such as cadavers (yeah!) to work on.

In recruiting people to help out at EduHealth, I always described the problems of Sayre High in West Philadelphia. However, I find it difficult to convey the true depressed state of the school. In visiting the school today, I realized what could be a better description of the school’s security situation.

Perhaps I should tell people about the steel grilles that barricade every window…or the steel reinforced doors that sits at every corner of the school. Maybe I should mention the fences topped by barb wire that runs around the parameter of the school…or the doors that shut themselves automatically at every classroom. This is West Philadelphia, and working here is as about working on problems in the real world , with very real consequences for these people. On leaving, I noticed a security camera outside the school. Someone had smashed the protective covering around the camera. It was hanging there, broken.

(Shanghai, China) Is it change for the better? Maybe China can tell us that?

A couple of weeks ago, I judged a social entrepreneurship competition for the Empowerment Group (EG), a non-profit cultivating the social entrepreneurial spirit in youths. Today, I visited their office to learn more about their work, to discuss how I can help them, and how they can in turn help EduHealth. Their office is based in Kensington, an economically distressed part of Philadelphia, and visiting the area is a truly interested experience.

Kensington is a really run down part of the city, with abandoned warehouses and buildings everywhere, damaged roads, litter and barbed wire fences everywhere. Daniel, from EG, told me that it used to be an industrial area, which fell into economic hardship, leading to its current dilapidated state. This made me reflect on Galbraith and classical economists. Galbraith argued that security was what society sought, while classical economists believed that creative destruction creates prosperity for society. In looking over the ruins of Kensington, it is hard not to consider the hardships of the locals as jobs fled the area, and empathize with Galbraith. Change brings destruction, and with destruction, there is hardship for the “losers” that change creates.

At the same time, EG is about promoting entrepreneurship, the vehicle of creative destruction. Through entrepreneurial resource allocation, the people who lose their jobs will (hopefully) eventually find new ones, creating even more wealth for society in the process. Why should we interfere with the destruction process, if we believe it to be in the long-term interests of society? This is how classical economists reconcile their views in light of the blight of Kensington… and they may even be right.

As I left Berk station at Kensington, I saw a homeless man talking to the septa token lady. He was missing an arm and several fingers, probably from frost bite. He was telling her it feels like “a stabbing sensation…a burning sensation…sometimes you think its there, and you look down, and its not…” Perhaps the classical economists are right about change, but are there ways to make the transition easier?

(Atlantic City, USA) No profanities, but lots of feedback please!

My first attempt to get external funding for EduHealth failed. This is a disappointment, and has been a source for my current moodiness. However, I accept this disappointment as an integral part of my entrepreneurial venture. In taking on a large project without an established path to follow, I have to reconcile myself with the greater risks this activity entails. After all, the essence of risk is the possibility of failure.

That is not to say that there is nothing to learn about this failure, or that there is anything inevitable about it. As I conduct a post-mortem with my team, a few ideas come to mind:

1. Should I have focused a little more on the emotional soft sell? (My pitch involved a lot of quantitative information on problems in the area, which I considered more appropriate for the sponsor’s background)
2. Could I have been a little clearer about the uniqueness of EduHealth in my pitch? (the innovative nature of the concept makes it hard to describe to a non-expert in the field)
3. Could I have contacted other people who received funding from the organization previously, and asked them what they emphasized in their proposals?

One thing I should have done is to finish the proposal earlier, get it reviewed by more people, and revise it a few more times. The outsider perspectives provided by these people helped a lot. However, a lot of good advice came in a little too late, and I wished that I could do two or three revisions before sending it in, instead of the single revision Jeremy and I did.

(Miao Li, Taiwan) Taking pictures require teamwork too, especially if you are in Taiwan where everyone have perfect team poses when photos are taken.

Through my previous work experience, I learnt that when people are not involved in the decision making process, they lack commitment to the end result, and do not put in their full effort. Once, we decided that a teammate, who was not at our meeting, was responsible for putting together some materials to present to our client. In deciding what he should do and how he should do it without consulting him, the teammate became reluctant in implementing our suggestions, and disagreed with the end result. The materials eventually turned out poorly. Creating buy-in is important in getting results.

I just finished negotiating the setting up of an independent study class around EduHealth with Dr. Harkavy, and he has approved it! As I work with friends to design this course over winter break, I believe I can implement the lesson on creating buy-in. Instead of setting out what the course will entail, I will instead set the basic parameters (e.g. the project we are working on, and some draft ideas of what can be done through the course) for the course. I will find out what is it they wish to learn, and what reading materials they would like to see, and try to incorporate these into the course, as far as possible. In getting their input, and trying as far as possible to accommodate them, I think the course benefits not only in terms of having more dynamic content, but also from the greater motivation of participants

An image I designed for my team, The Undertakers, final team presentation for MGMT 100.

I prepared these slides for our MGMT 100 team presentation. As we were putting up a skit on the Godfather, I decided to make a black and white series of slides in the noir style. The result was one of my most fun set of slides, and a marked contrast from my usual style (see this).

Sitting through countless presentations in my HIST 107 and MGMT 100 class, and through Lawrence Lessig’s lecture at Penn, I had the opportunity to observe many presenters both good and bad. This exposure has made me rethink how I can better integrate my slides into my presentation. I usually leave my slides as a background capturing the main points of my speech. However, I feel that where graphs and data are presented, I should remind myself to refer to the slides, so as to guide the audience through these figures , which can be more mentally challenging to absorb.

My slides can be too analytical, and I should interject some dramatic picture slides (e.g. 1 big picture on the page) to retain attention, while using these slides to emphasize really powerful points. Too many of these slides detract from the content I am trying to bring across, but too feel of these results in the strongest points in a pitch being lost among a morass of words.

Key takeaway? I should experiment a little more with different styles in my presentations next year. In addition to the WH 191 course on presentations which I am taking, I am also applying for a CWiC (Communication within the Curriculum) scholarship, which trains students to present academic papers to a general audience. These will be good platforms for practice.