The AIESEC Singapore Blog

The Power of AIESEC Experience

2010-06-25T00:27:00.000-07:00

After being the alumni coordinator for the past one year, I have been greatly inspired by the passion that our AIESEC alumni have for this organization. Here I want to share with you the amazing story of Lars, ex-President of AIESEC Germany in 2001/2002.

AIESEC Experience:

Various projects / Organizing Committee President 1995-1997

Vice President Marketing in AIESEC in Hannover University 1997/1998

President , AIESEC in Hannover 1998/1999

Regional Chair “Star Region” 1999/2000

President of AIESEC in Germany 2001/2002

Member of the global “Steering Committee”, Global Leadership Award 2001/2002

Chair/Facilitator at conferences in China, Czech Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Germany, India, Poland,

When I first joined AIESEC in Hannover, I repeatedly was confronted with the slogan AIESEC is people. – and those experienced members told me that the network they were building was one of the great advantages of being a member. Though I couldn’t really grasp the meaning of this, I found it a compelling idea: having friends and contacts all around the world. But how?

Basically, I joined AIESEC within the first weeks when I started university – and luckily I directly got involved in organizing projects like the national leadership development seminar or an international training seminar – involving not only enthusiastic AIESEC members and trainees, but also inspiring alumni and supportive external partners from some of the most renowned companies.

Frankly speaking, I was quite impressed not only by the caliber of companies supporting AIESEC’s idea, but even more how convinced those partners were of the support they were providing.

In 1997 I finally went on an AIESEC traineeship myself – for two months to Croatia, working at the Ekonomski Institut Zagreb, getting involved in labor market study and analysis. What was really impressive, was the fact that only 1,000 kilometers away from my hometown, I met people in my age, who had only recently witnessed war through their country’s fight for independency just a few years earlier. And while driving past destroyed villages in the middle of Europe, only ten hours drive away from home, I deeply understood that cultural understanding and AIESEC’s vision of peace and fulfillment of humankind’s potential wasn’t just a noble slogan, but had its justification even today.

Inspired by my experiences in Croatia and the great people and friends I met during my stay there, I decided to and become president of AIESEC’s chapter (local committee) and my university – and my horizon just widened tenfold: national and international meetings, benefiting from a trainer education, involvement in strategic workshops together with some of the best firms.

Further leadership positions, mind-blowing events and fascinating personalities accompanied my further path parallel to finishing my studies.

One of the most challenging roles was the one as president of AIESEC in Germany, a full-time position, leading not only the national board and being in charge of other full-time employees, but also taking charge for the strategic planning and coordinating the national board of advisors. It also meant representing AIESEC German chapter with around 1,500 members on the international level. This included arranging bilateral agreements, making decisions in AIESEC’s international assembly and as member of the International Steering Committee I had the chance to actively work on a global organizational change management program.

Throughout my active time in AIESEC, I had the unique opportunity to attend events nearly all around the world: from Armenia to Bosnia, Czech Republic to China, Egypt to El Salvador, Finland to Guatemala, India to Ivory Coast, Malta or Switzerland. Going those place meant to become a delegate, facilitator, trainer, speaker – and most importantly a trusted friend of many great people around the world.

While I was sad to finally leave the organization as an active member, I realized that the vast experience I had gained, were actually just setting the scene for my further professional journey.

When DHL started an internal management trainee program in Asia Pacific coincidentally about the time I had finished active AIESEC time, it took not long and I found myself in Hong Kong, working for DHL’s regional Corporate Affairs office on a nine months contract. I thought this would be a kind of last journey before the ‘normal’ life would start. Luckily I was proven wrong, as in over 6 years with the company in Asia, I moved to Singapore, was involved in exciting projects like brand campaigns, crisis management, sponsorship arrangements, meeting politicians, sports idols, giving trainings in countries like Japan or Thailand or leading a 450 people delegation to DHL/Deutsche Post’s internal world cup in Germany in 2006. Having moved on to a PR consultancy and now Dow Jones, I still feel the power of the AIESEC community. E.g. as I just spent a few days for business in Tokyo, I connected with my Japanese President from 2002… The journey never ends.

But most importantly, I saw my personal network of good friends, colleagues and business acquaintances expanding even further - many of them connected through AIESEC. So a normal weekend for me could include having lunch with my wife's Singapore family, playing football with a bunch of local and international guys, coming from Australia, Morocco or the US - and finally dinner with close friends from Argentina, Hungary or Kenya.

2010-06-03T19:30:00.000-07:00

Hello all!

Check where we are on the Global Chart and on Asia Pacific's ranking! Just want to say, this is only the beginning of the amazing work that we've put in for the past couple of months!

The more amazing part? Most of these people are coming back for a Leadership Role :) so that means so much more for us in terms of the work that we have done.

The year may have seemed long, and tough - I guess most of us have "matured" over this period, but I say hard work pays off. Even our members :) There's tons of meaning to what we have done; as I read comments and stories of AIESECers who have gone for the exchange , especially those who went for Exchange after their leadership term, I am very proud of what we are doing every single day. Maybe it gets tiring, maybe it gets frustrating at times, but we are a group of pillars there to support you in the steps that you take in your life. Definitely looking forward to the next couple of weeks, and for our successors to continue this momentum :D

The friendship does not end in 3 weeks, neither will our work stop here. Our lives may go on after AIESEC, but I hope nobody forgets the life sessions you gain from here. It's the mindset that matters the most and stays with you.

I was at JCI event yesterday and we spoke of CSR. The panel beside me spoke of what they did, like creating cornware and cups, and sponsoring scholarships to children of firemen who died in their line of duty. As I listened to the panel, I thought, the most important thing is to start with the self.

So when I was asked to speak, I said I know not of CSR, I have not stepped into the working sector yet. But the most valuable thing is that when you are in AIESEC, you start to see beyond the "I", but the "We". We work in teams, and people around us show our best side and when we are at our worst - they are our mirror. This is where we face who we are, and increase our own self-awareness and how we handle our teams. Along the way, we make that little step to make that change in ourselves. As we embark on internships, we see it as complementing our character development, to see beyond "my university", "my view" and "my country", we take it to the point where we appreciate the world, and see ourselves as a citizen of the world. Not as a Singaporean, or a student, etc - but as a human being. Just like everyone else, we are human beings. Once we come down to that, we become citizens of the world because all of us belong to this planet.

Once we truly care and have this mindset, when we join a company I am sure this habit and behaviour naturally follows us. Then CSR itself becomes not an activity to do, but somewhere in our innate nature. We don't have to transform companies to adopt CSR or to wait for the organization to change itself - but when we join a company we are concerned about the world around us.

So like they said, the going gets tough, but the tough gets going. I'm proud to be with the tough ones who stick it through this journey, and this job isn't paid - so the perks may be less, but I am sure the rewards you reap will be immeasurable.. just like I did. I am very very very appreciative of my experience in AIESEC, and this experience has been a ride (yes - many ups and many downs, but I learnt so many good things from every one).

Keep the awesome work coming, I know you are acquiring some new thought from doing! :D

Thankful to be working alongside each one of you,

Cheryl

-------------------------------

From Asia Pacific Director David:

As you can see Asia Pacific grew by 74% in the month of May due to the sizeable absolute and relative contributions of a variety of countries! Especially congratulations to our Top 5 absolute contributors who were also in the top 10 globally in the same category! The key is to maintain and increase this momentum as the key realization peak for most countries approach.

To evaluate our pipeline I have also included data on Matches for the first time!

As you can see a strong pipeline is being built with over 91% growth in matches! But there is still room to improve this matching with the huge amount of available forms that are available within the region.

Te region has over 6000 forms on available, each of which represents a stakeholder with expectations of AIESEC. It is very important that we push a strong matching message to ensure delivery for a huge majority of these raised forms.

Look within the region and also to regions like CEE (over 5000 available forms) and WENA (nearly 3000 available forms) to ensure delivery!

Don't forget to empower LCs, motivate them and provide them with the tools to ensure they can match these stakeholders during this crucial month!

Good luck with the rest of the months and a huge congratulations to all the countries who appeared on these top rankings including:
Australia, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mainland China, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, The Philippines, Vietnam

David

---

Your Best

2010-04-14T02:12:00.001-07:00

Eric Moussambani swam for Equatorial Guinea at the 2000 Olympics. He didn't win.

Eric had never seen a big swimming pool before. At home he trains in a 20 metre hotel pool.

The two other entrants in his heat - from Niger and Tajikistan - were both disqualified for false starts, so Eric had to swim by himself.

Also, Eric had never swum a 100 metre race before - something the crowd soon suspected. He swam with his head out of the water and he barely kicked his legs.

In the first lap he was really struggling.
In the second lap he was nearly drowning.

But Eric gave it everything he had. Thirty metres from the finish, 17,000 spectators began to cheer him home, and with each stroke the roar got louder. Ten metres out, he was bobbing like a cork but the crowd was going bananas.

When Moussambani finally hit the wall, the cheering and stamping all but lifted the roof off the stadium.

His time of 1 minute 52 seconds was about a minute slower than all the other competitors. Who cared? Eric Moussambani had given his all.

In a Nutshell

When people know you have given your very best, they usually support you.

heartfelt thank-you!

2010-04-14T01:18:00.000-07:00

i must say a very heartfelt thank you to all of you who ran alongside me in the whole application process. i daresay i grew to know myself much better through these last couple of weeks and i learnt more about myself during that period than the whole year combined.

thank you for saying i was an inspiration to you. the most important thing, and best gift for me (if you have been inspired) is to translate that inspiration into actuality for yourself.

i hope you can identify why you were inspired. then take the courage, step up and demonstrate that you are committed to put yourself forth in what you aspire to achieve.

say "yes" to yourself, give yourself the opportunity to learn, and every single step you take in life is an experience.

from previous experiences, i realized that failures hurt the ego. and that makes everything hurt so much. so when i chose to put myself forth this time, i recognized that ego is a stumbling block.

choose to recognize and acknowledge that Ego blocks every learning possible. once you choose to let Ego go, even when others say "no" to you, the world has not crumbled; it still holds a plethora of never-ending opportunities for you.

i once came across this short story by andrew matthews. Here is an excerpt:

"Once we change our thoughts about "a bad situation",
we can take advantage of it.
You already know this!

Life's great opportunities mostly arrive
disguised as misfortune and disaster.

EXAMPLE:
Imagine two women, Mary and Jane.
Both get divorced.
Mary says, "I've failed. My life is over."
Jane says, "My life has just begun!"
Who will blossom?

IN A NUTSHELL

Every "disaster" in your life is not so much a disaster,
as a situation waiting for you to change your mind about it."

what's next for me?

the destination's not fixed...

but i am going for exchange. i am keeping an eye out for the openings every single day, and the uncertainty of where i'm headed to makes me excited about the future. if you do know of an opportunity for me, do keep me in mind ;)

one thing's for certain, i've definitely mustered strong determination to keep scaling greater heights! i choose my own attitude, and this will accompany me in my journey for life. :)

part 2 from previous chapter..

2010-04-09T04:57:00.001-07:00

so continuing on from my story of being in an ASEAN Summit..

On thursday, we spent approximately the whole afternoon and evening discussing the options and brainstorming.

about 3-4 presidents were allocated to one project to focus on, based on the vision that we had on connecting youths (volunteers and non-volunteers alike) and getting them to activate their leadership to make a needed change in society.

so we broke that into 3 projects - facilitation of exchange within SEA, a conference project, and expansion into new universities.

since there are no clear-cut answers to these projects, we were a little stumped by these ideas at first. my group of four worked on the conference idea.

initially all of us had a different idea of what the conference should be, or we didn't have a single clue. we wondered, how grand should this conference be, what is its purpose, who should be involved.. there were so many unanswered questions.

Phuong, the president of the chapter in Vietnam suggested that the conference should center around leadership. Then we delve deeper into the social issues faced in the region, such as the high incidence of HIV/Aids in certain SEA countries, malnutrition and poverty.

Then I commenced to build on this idea - the conference, in my opinion, should have an entirely external focus. we want to know what is happening around the world, what does society think of this? to make this happen, we need to engage stakeholders - both university students within and without the organization, companies, non-profits. we have to pay attention and listen to the world around us, collect that feedback and absorb the ideas. by connecting all these groups, the companies, non-profits can present what projects they are conducting on the ground - i.e. how is food being distributed, how is poverty being tackled through microfinance etc and which regions are most affected by HIV/Aids?

Then youths can give their feedback on the world they would like to see, a world they would like to live in. By facilitating such a dialogue, perhaps there can be more young people who get connected with organizations to act on the issue.

As an organization, AIESEC may well benefit from this. Companies, students, etc give their feedback, we can generate the knowledge and suggestions and tweak our Projects accordingly (innovation and input from the wider society). Developmental traineeships' job descriptions can be better enhanced, based on the kind of expectations non-profits and youths have.

So with these ideas getting kickstarted by 5pm or so, we had time slipping out of our hands since we needed to complete a framework by the time dusk set in. Next, we proceeded to think of a brief timeline, how much investment would be required from each SEA entity to make the conference happen.

That means, we need a coordinator for all 7 countries to handle this project. A full timer will be required. Where should this person be located/living? (The higher the costs of living in a country, the more investment flows out from each country). We ruled out the possibility of Singapore. So taking the salary from Indonesia, we calculated a cost of 200USD per month for the full timer. Collecting that data took some time as well...

And on friday, we spoke to every single group and worked out a more specific timeline for the projects, worked out budget and what kind of milestone should be achieved under each.

By the end of the summit, we made a commitment to follow up with the project in 2 weeks' time. Now i'm on to find 10 companies that are situated / working across at least 3 SEA countries, and would have potential to sponsor the conference which is slated to happen in mar 2011.

a week in the life of an MCP

2010-04-05T00:26:00.000-07:00

some people wondered what I am doing as MCP, and what i was up to in the past week for the ASEAN summit..

Just a brief overview of the summit: We have 7 countries in Southeast Asia, and we are considering the idea of grouping countries in order to grow, based on external and internal trends.

Mon - I spent the entire day preparing for the conference, entirely to note about the external trends. Research on ASEAN in the context of Singapore, such as government, education and corporate. Analyze the way Singapore wants to capitalize on ASEAN, free trade agreements..

Tue - finalize my presentation slides. fly in to KL.

Wed - official start of the summit. each country representative presents on the external trends, reality of countries. all the presidents start to piece each country's view to form a bigger picture of SEA.

Thu - how each of the countries are faring internally, such as number of members, exchanges, and identifying the months when we are delivering tip-top performance. once we understood the trends in our external reality, we matched it against how we are performing as an organization.

Fri - finalizing plans and confirming the monetary and hr investment we would make towards SEA.

Overall, we gained a strong overview of the social issues happening in 7 countries. Most of the events happening right now by other organizations are based on getting youths heard, or to write academic papers - people are encouraged to voice out their opinions, but where is the action?

That's where we see we can step into the picture with our Projects. :) Dig deeper on our social issues, and move into the rural areas of countries like the Philippines. Drive a stronger impact through our developmental internships!

We also furthered our ambition for SEA to grow at an exponential rate; and that rides on the waves of ASEAN to engage more youths! We want to give all youths, regardless of their membership with us, the opportunity to connect and exchange their ideas to make a difference to happen.

Stay tuned to part 2 for an elaboration on our plans!

my decision to apply for AIESEC International

2010-03-27T06:41:00.000-07:00

I realized I haven't shared much in ages, so here goes.. :)

As you all know, I didn't apply for AIESEC International in the first round. I felt I was very much ready to go out there, expose myself to the real world. Definitely AIESEC has been an integral part of my university life, and I will eternally be grateful for the experiences I've had so far

travelled to 12 countries; been to Latin America, North Africa, Europe, many places
I've learnt so much about myself - I keep pushing myself to the limits

Whenever I meet relatives at family gatherings, or old friends during chance encounters or actual catch-ups, they can't help but note the huge change in me. That I'm more confident than I used to, and that I've been exposed to many experiences.

I was happy and content to leave AIESEC in a couple of months time, and see what I can achieve out there.

What changed my mind?

I saw so much possibilities for AIESEC when we did a simulation of 2015 - what could AIESEC be like? Don't limit the possibilities.

Can we abolish visas for AIESEC's exchange? Since AIESEC wants to expose young people to different cultures, and erase the barriers between nations. The newspapers' headlines repeatedly show how much misunderstandings happen in this world, even though the world claims to be globalized. Are we truly global citizens?

Can AIESEC win the Nobel Peace Prize?

Think Big, and we will find a way to get there. It's better to dream, and dream big, because you will find yourself there somehow. By hook or by crook.

But if you never think big, you will never get there and stagnation occurs.

So I began to think big - what is it that in this coming year, will be big and can be done? I say, many things (i wrote everything in my little notebook). On the bus while travelling to the Sahara Desert in the wee hours of the morning, my brain was working away and thinking about possibilities.

And one sight really amazed me. On the left of the bus, I saw the full moon; really round and bright - and on my right, the sun was spreading pink streaks across the horizon, hinting to the viewer that it was about to rise. The breathtaking view made me feel so relaxed and to think so much more positively :)

The entire year taught me a huge lesson - I should not be so highly strung, take some time for myself, to re-energize and my creative juices will flow :)

A HUGE THANK YOU to you, you and you for supporting me in this entire process :)

awesome MC team + LCPs for the constant faith; all of you make me feel so loved and you speak as though i'm there already- thanks for believing so much in me =)
friends from AIESEC (NST, members) - you are not forgotten!! you are also part of the huge drive that makes me want to go forward in my AIESEC journey :)
the lovely people who posted on my facebook wall and emailed me to wish me all the best

Believe me when I say that when I made this decision to run, I am prepared for both outcomes - I will not be sad, and neither should you :) Either way, the world is filled with numerous opportunities, and there will be a path that suits me. I am eager to know what comes, especially after graduation!

The biggest reward from this is that: I learnt so much about myself; from the 360 competency assessment! I know how you all view me, and I will definitely work to improve myself. It put up a mirror for me to see, something I was afraid to look at for some time, but now i'm much more assured and less afraid to see what I might see in front of me.

Thank you for being with me in this process, it gives me much warmth. :) Will let you know what possibilities come my way again!

2010-01-18T21:49:00.001-08:00

Campus Support from NTU's office

2010-01-18T20:20:00.000-08:00

School support like this gets us credibility! :)

Congrats AIESEC in NTU!

From: Chong-Goh Mei Eng

Sent: Fri 1/15/2010 9:19 AM
To: Undergrad (Full Time) Students
Subject: AIESEC Week 2010 - XXL - eXperience, eXchange, Leadership

Dear Students

Check out AIESEC's activities for opportunities to gain overseas experiences for your personal growth and development. Such experiences will enhance your resume and give you more talking points during interviews for internships and jobs. See below and attached files for more information on the upcoming AIESEC Week 2010.

Regards
Mrs Chong

CHONG-Goh Mei Eng (Mrs) | Deputy Director (Internship & Career Services) | Career & Attachment Office | Nanyang Technological University
Student Services Centre, Level 4, 42 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639815

=====================================

Hey NTU!

We hope everyone had an awesome holiday break. As we start the year 2010, AIESEC invites you to explore what we have in store for proactive individuals like YOU!

If you have not heard of AIESEC before:

AIESEC is the international platform that enables young people to explore and develop their leadership potential. AIESEC has over 61 years of experience in developing high-potential students into globally minded responsible leaders. AIESEC is presently the world's largest student-run organization, with over 38,000 members in over 1,700 universities across more than 107 countries and territories. Envisioning peace and fulfillment of humankind's potential, AIESEC offers many opportunities to build extensive international personal networks, to get decisive experiences and skills, and to have a positive impact on society and the world.

Do you think AIESEC is for you? Then this is your chance to get to know more about AIESEC! Rest assured, you will not regret it.

AIESEC Week 2010 - XXL - eXperience, eXchange, Leadership

AIESEC Week 2010 extends AIESEC's ultimate leadership experience and global learning environment to all NTU students, enabling YOU to discover the various opportunities for the nurturing and empowerment of future leaders.

AIESEC Week presents to you Global Village 2010: a unique opportunity to have a taste of authentic cultures and traditions of South and Southeast Asia, Africa and Central Eastern Europe in one venue. You can live the unforgettable experience of 'Wandering the world in an hour' while exploring the vast opportunities and projects of AIESEC, presented in the Exhibitions! Be inspired to go to eye-opening global conferences or raise the awareness of an issue you are passionate about overseas!

If you are into living the dream of not just stepping your foot into different countries, but working there, "AIESEC and me" series are there to present you AIESEC's Xchange opportunities, and ways to plan your exciting, growth-nurturing careers in AIESEC.

There will also be a Youth Forum for you to Xperience a professional, engaging dialogue on developing oneself to appeal to employers in today's globalised world with AIESEC Alumni and corporate executives, who are also Human Resource Professionals from Multi-National Companies.

Last but not the least, there will be Lucky Draws where you will have a chance to win gift vouchers, Sony MP3 Player or iPod Shuffle everyday!

i like this promotion!

2010-01-17T20:39:00.000-08:00

great tidings

2010-01-08T00:35:00.000-08:00

3 UBS management traineeships!

Cheryl's Little Corner

2010-01-06T19:27:00.000-08:00

I am starting my little section-cum-column in this blog - let's call it Cheryl's Little Corner for now. Over these couple of years, after travelling around the world as a fresh volunteer with AIESEC in 2007, I was inspired after meeting and speaking to outstanding youth leaders. Their level of maturity, professionalism, and love for society amazed me; 2007 marked the year where my curiosity pushed me to embark on my own journey to discover myself across different situations.

Why this section? I have been observing the growth of the AIESECers around me. Because I know these individuals, I can see the transformation in them, and wanted to share with you their thoughts and what little steps they took to become who they are today. I hope this will provide some insight into what little steps you can take next on your life journey...

Meet Cathy,

a recent graduate from NUS currently based in Sao Paulo. In 2007, she travelled to India to work with an NGO. She returned to Singapore, and found herself volunteering with AIESEC. She later assumed a leadership position with the national team, overseeing the operations of the organization in the country. After completing her term with AIESEC, she opted for a management traineeship in Brazil with a Social Business Venture called Gastromotiva.

"Me llamo Cathy.

Meu nome e Cathy.

I graduated with a degree in Economics, groomed from a Pure Science background and worked in various industries, various sectors - banking, technology, Project management, risk, non-profit movement and management of an international student organization, nationally.

What’s next?

I didn’t know.

I simply lay my hands on myaiesec.net and applied for an internship, any internship abroad. And Artemisia crosses my sight and hence there I applied and now I am in Brazil doing financial planning for a gastronomy-related social business. Truly. What is all of these crazily random encounters about?

I just came back from an amazing sharing session with Artemisia trainees and coordinators. We shared a lot, all the way from why we are where we are today to our vision and plans for the future. I admit that my times at my workplace is not fantastic and may not have turned out to be as warm as I expected but these all so-called challenges just left a space for me – a space for me to really think and reflect on the same question.

What’s next?

I still do not know.

What I know is this. Wherever you are, whatever you do, you’ve got to enjoy and make the full out of every single moment and opportunities you have at the moment. That includes partying hard, meeting enough people, building enough networks, leaving enough impact and good impressions, paving a secure enough path for whatever that is ahead of you (whatever that is). It’s ok if it is not clear but so long that you fight a good fight, things will slowly emerge onto the surface and then you will know that you fought a worthy fight.

Right now I have tons of opportunity to network and to know so much about (social) entrepreneurship, of meeting amazing people with amazing vision about their lives, their works and the world – just like how Muhammad Yunus managed to shake the entire world with his selflessly noblest vision of making poverty history.

"The only place where poverty should be is in museums."

The personal dilemma for me is this. Two contradictory expectations (or maybe they aren't that much of a contradiction after all). One is the realistic expectation of securing a well-paying job which usually is the norm and another is to really utilize all these experience and opportunities that I, again, randomly grasped and to really go all out against the norm and start my own social business venture.

Unsure, but I have no choice but to continue my journey and fight a good fight to continue to bump around, searching and enjoying every single bit of the little time I have.

p/s: Why is it simply too much to be someone I am not? So I don't look back and regret for not having reacted in the way I would have had reacted or said things which I would have had said and above all, to have not forgone doing something which I know by my very nature would have done. You can only be young once. You can only be yourself once. They're compromisingly parallel.

And here, cheers to a greatly amazing journey ahead."

Sharing is caring

2009-09-30T00:17:00.000-07:00

Love the Opportunity by Jim Rohn

Somebody said you have to love what you do, but that's not necessarily true. What is true is that you have to love the opportunity. The opportunity to build life, future, health, success and fortune. Knocking on someone's door or making that extra call may not be something you love to do, but you love the opportunity of what might be behind that door or call.

For example, a guy says, "I'm digging ditches. Should I love digging ditches?" The answer is, "No, you don't have to love digging ditches, but if it is your first entry onto the ladder of success, you say, 'I'm glad somebody gave me the opportunity to dig ditches and I'm going to do it so well, I won't be here long.'"

You can be inspired by having found something; even though you are making mistakes in the beginning and even though it is a little distasteful taking on a new discipline that you haven't learned before. You don't have to love it, you just have to learn to appreciate where you live, appreciate opportunity and appreciate the
person who brought you the good news; that found you.

Appreciate the person who believed in you before you believed in yourself, appreciate the person who said, "Hey, if I can do it, you can do it."

If you will embrace the disciplines associated with the new opportunity you will soon find that your self-confidence starts to grow, that you go from being a skeptic to being a believer. And soon when you go out person to person, talking to people, you will find it to be the most thrilling opportunity in the world. Every person you
meet - what could it be? Unlimited! Maybe a friend for life. The next person could be an open door to retiring. The next person could be a colleague for years to come. It's big time stuff. And sometimes in the beginning when we are just getting started we don't always see how big it is.

So, before you are tempted to give up or get discouraged, remember all success is based on long term commitment, faith, discipline, attitude and a few stepping stones along the way. You might not like the stone you are on right now, but it's sure to be one of the stones that lead to great opportunities in the future.

Credit to: Uncle Nic, AIESEC alumnus, AIESEC in NTU 0607

AIESEC Singapore!

2009-09-15T05:01:00.000-07:00

showcasing AIESEC Singapore

2009-08-16T17:56:00.000-07:00

yay! received an email from David today, we're one of seven countries in AP to have tremendous absolute growth in exchange plus leadership. from 12 in term 0708, we have 65 in term 0809.

International Congress 2009 is where we will highlight and showcase AIESEC Singapore! whee, AB InBev awards!

almost all the interns i know of will be heading to malaysia for global village. we'll have tons of representatives to profile singapore!

offically on board 0910!

2009-08-15T00:45:00.000-07:00

aloha MC 0910! it's official!

gildas will be here in about a week's time, gen has been adjusting to singapore for some time now :) wan xin's back from her cameroonian adventure...

our full team is raring to go!

2009-08-03T21:01:00.000-07:00

Internship completed!

On 2nd August 710pm, I finally touched down on KL International Airport.

After I left Cameroon, I flew to Kenya, where I stayed there for 5 days, then to Thailand, then to Malaysia, and this Saturday, I will go back to Singapore.

I was wearing my çaba (a very big loose Cameroonian dress), samaras (bamboo Cameroonian sandals), and having my hair Africanly plaited to give my family a shock. I was taking a video as I walked out the arrival hall to capture their emotions. And guess what I saw!

And there were my family with a huge poster to welcome me home!

At that moment, the notion got instantly embedded in my brain - I AM HOME!

And now I am here, I am glad to announce that I have formally completed my internship and my adventure to Africa. It has been a super great journey. I can judge how life-changing it is yet, I guess I can only tell that when I resume the normal life routine, and then realise how different I view or I handle them. But one thing is for sure, it has been the best way for me to spend my summer holidays, learning so much, loving so much, and discovering so much. Thank you my dear MC, NST and not forgetting MCP, for supporting me throughout in terms of emotions or work. Now I am back, inspired to action!

My memorable moments of the trip:

Fighting hard with homesickness halfway through my internship, with the warm support from friends from both Cameroon and Singapore. I emerged from this episode discovering a lot more about myself and my patterns of behavior.
From being scared about my perceived overfriendliness of people to understanding it as a gesture of hospitality, and mingling into the culture of being friendly with everyone, to missing it when I am now back.
Going to Kenya without knowing anything about the country and only two email correspondence with the MC, bagged only with one belief that someone will be there to pick me up and to house me. The reality didn't fail my belief.
An AIESEC member declaring that his vision is to solve Africa food shortage problem, and he has been consistently emailing me to update me about his progress to his vision.
During Cameroon national planning meeting time, it rained so heavily that the electricity got cut. The EBs and MCs continued with a lamp all the way till 11pm.
An AIESEC member came to my accommodation to just see how I am doing after I reached my internship city, to speak with me and help me to plait my hair.
Having instantly 40 friends in Kenya through attending one gathering.
In Kenya, I met an Austrian intern and got to know he knew my TN when my TN was doing his internship in Austria, and met another Canadian intern who is a friend of my mentor Celine!

2009-07-08T05:12:00.000-07:00

Great Sales Resources

Sorry if I made you think it was Great Singapore Sales with the words 'Great' and 'Sales'.

I am doing a marketing and sales internship in Cameroon now, and during my sales breaks I read quick guides to improve my skills. I have found some good ones written by sales coach and authors, here are the links for the tough ones doing sales out there. They are short and crisp, so suitable for all the people who have too much for too little time.

The first 7 seconds of Cold Call
Why should you not ask how are you? How do you phrase your offer to attract? How can you prevent a monologue?

Company meeting - Customize your knowledge
Company meetings are for not for you to prove how much you know, but to what you don't know about the prospect or what the prospect don't know about you. What questions can you ask to uncover these?

Make Winning Follow Up
How can you turn a follow up email into a value-adding email for your prospects? How can you remind the prospects the reasons behind listening to you? Includes really good follow up templates.

Basic (But Effective) Sales Styles and Tips
Really basic guides. So it's a good check to see if you have gotten the basic rules right. Main idea: Be a resource for your prospects, not a salesman.

Amazingly inspiring Phonecalls in the AIESEC Office

2009-07-06T22:22:00.000-07:00

I have been working in the AIESEC office at SMU ever since my exams ended in late May 09. I would like to take this opportunity to share with all of you the amazing discovery that I made during this short stint.

- I have received a couple of random overseas phonecalls on the fax machine from AIESECers abroad asking if we have any TNs currently available.

My take on this:

"Singapore is a place with lots of opportunity and its definitely a destination which AIESECers from abroad would want to work in. What I mean here is the excellent environment which we have that is so enriching.

So for each call I receive, I have to sorrowfully reject them as we did not have any available forms (at least during that point in time; made me feel so upset). The point is if we are able to manage and increase our incoming sales capacity, we will be so so so so HOT. In fact, I dare say the hottest in the AP. So yeahhh...our OGX is good but do not forget that we have massively untapped opportunity and potential on the ICX side as well.

So for all our people...I would like to tell that we need and we must make sales a priority which we should grow for the long term viability of the organisation. Imagine with more TNs raised...how many lives are you contributing to (in terms of the @XP). Not forgetting that when the trainees do come in, they too can greatly contribute to our community...See the multiplied effect ...We send many people out...but we also need to take people in...

No point giving all the time...we are generous, but we should also be "gracious" to receive.

Takeaway for the day: Give and receive at the same time...."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"pUsH iT ahhh pUsH iT ahhh pUsH iT rEaL gOoD..."

MCVPER and Corporate Relations Manager Selected!

2009-07-03T10:06:00.000-07:00

Dear all!

I was recently busy with the MCVPER selections, and I am extremely overjoyed to announce that we've completed our MC0809 team!

2 very outstanding individuals will be joining us on MC0809: the Groundbreakers . *Drumrolls* They are...
Gildas Yombi, Cameroon (MCVPER)
Genevieve Marett, Australia (Corporate Relations Manager)

I had a skype call with Gen earlier at about 2.30AM in Australia. She was trying hard to contain her excitement because her family was asleep and she didn't want to wake them up.

According to me, I am amused that our international MC nicks were uncannily similar. Gilda's was "Hello AIESEC Singapore, here I come!!!" and Gen's "AIESEC Singapore here I come!". I am proud of our international MC and I am absolutely delighted that they are thrilled too! :D

I will be updating this space to introduce them soon. In the meantime, you might want to try out connecting with them via facebook. :D

Woo hoo! 1st coherent AIESEC Product sheet!

2009-07-02T11:03:00.000-07:00

OOoooh babbeh babbeh~~ ahh after spending a whole afternoon and some parts of the night on it, it's finally done...The birth of the first coherent and !!pretty!! AIESEC Product sheet! I took so much pain in the layout design and drafting the content that i'm damn proud of myself now and i just have broadcast it to the world...hahaha. =D

looking on the dark side, this is just the first of many more to come...=_=

Exited about AIESEC.net mail migration!

2009-07-02T09:25:00.000-07:00

AIESEC.net mail is going to migrate to gmail!

The whole team is pretty excited about this (esp me who is the ultimate geek). Having a dedicated gmail server for aiesec.net emails definitely ups our internal branding (members might get a sense of pride that aiesec.net mail is more zng than other company mails), enhances email communication (no more "huh you sent me an email?" moments), and helps strengthen AIESEC's image as a global organization (now we can send @aiesec.net emails in peace instead of using our personal accounts).

Gmail as AIESEC.net mail really doesn't come cheap; http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/details.html shows that it's $50/user/year. I'm pretty sure there's some sort of agreement and AIESEC gets it much cheaper, but in any case any cost incurred IMO is rather worth it. Regular users of aiesec.net will know that it's not the most stable email system, and there are many opportunity costs to not having a stable mailing system. Kudos AI for the move!

tinge of sadness amidst the newfound hope and happiness

2009-07-01T05:43:00.000-07:00

hmm, i was still feeling the high of saying hello to 0910 yesterday, and had this awesome feeling of being absolutely proud of the results achieved in 0809.

today i received many farewell messages, i am beginning to feel a sense of melancholy.

today i had my last gcc meeting :( it was a great meeting, but at the same time, we won't ever be sitting in the same meeting ever again. i was reminded of the time last year when i received news that i was selected to the gcc, the absolute thrill of getting in.. what wonderful memories. :) now a year has flown by, and we've done many projects in this past year.

today, many of the 0809 presidents and teams step down, and everyone's saying goodbye.

yet it is also marks the new start for many 0910 presidents (my fellow comrades!) to begin their term.

i wonder how i will feel next year! haha~ let's keep an eye on this spot till next year k!

The New Year Ahead.... :)

2009-06-30T07:17:00.001-07:00

Hello team Groundbreakers!! ;)

Here's a little report on the achievements of AIESEC Singapore 2008/2009. We have achieved our exchange targets and I'm very proud of the efforts of the previous MC team and all the LCs! We managed to complete 109X as of this evening, a 65% growth from last year! :) This places us in a good position globally (although not within AP, we slipped the ranks). But no worries, we will grab our position back and make an even stellar comeback!

Yes! Most countries globally are starting to wake up to AIESEC 2010 and our vision - every single day everyone is better understanding what the organization should be doing : the full AIESEC XP! Competition will be tougher than ever within the global network but I absolutely have faith in every single one of you to deliver on our goals! :D

1200X here we come! Are you ready for a year ahead of working smart, being fully aware of our resources and making full use of them? ;D

Our term begins tomorrow 8am :D

Cheers,
Cheryl

Destroy the Competition with Positioning Strategy

2009-06-28T16:40:00.000-07:00

The Corner Office

Destroy the Competition With Positioning Strategy

By Steve Tobak

June 4th, 2009 @ 12:22 pm

An exasperated CEO stood up in the board meeting and exclaimed, “Is that all you marketing &#*$s know how to do, compete on price?!”

Before you get too excited, that CEO was cursing at me. And no, that wasn’t all I knew how to do. But he did have a point, and it’s even more relevant now than it was back then. In today’s marketplace where everybody’s competing for the same shrinking budget and differentiation is hard to come by, marketers often think of price as their only lever.

That’s just incompetent marketing, plain and simple.

There are lots of ways to differentiate a product. You can even create the perception of differentiation, if you’re creative enough. It’s called product positioning and it’s something of an art.

Here are Five fundamental product positioning principles that will help you destroy the competition:

1. Find a product attribute that captures the customer’s imagination.

It’s so easy to get trapped in the same old box of features and benefits. If you can’t differentiate that way, look at the problem with fresh eyes and fresh data. Find a new attribute that can get customers excited and focus your positioning around it.

2. Market share gains are expensive. There’s simply no way around this.

Market share comes at a heavy cost and your product planning and positioning must reflect that or your P&L will suffer and you’ll end up back at the drawing board. The cost is a function of how entrenched the leaders are and the perceived “switching cost” for customers.

3. Reinvent the “customer experience.”

Nothing matters more, and it’s not just for Internet and B2B. Just as with product attributes, you can shake up the competitive landscape by rethinking the customer experience in new terms. What’s important to customers changes as a function of time and market conditions. Take advantage of it.

4. Only target up, not down the totem pole.

Publicly and to customers, always position your product relative to the market leader. It elevates your product in terms of customer perception. That said, train your sales force (and other internal groups) on features - benefits versus all competitors. That’s a whole different story.

5. Infrastructure (or ecosystem) as a competitive barrier.

This is an important and often ignored aspect of product planning and positioning. Many products and services, especially in technology, require related companies and industries to support them in some way. If you get enough support for your product, it can be an extraordinarily effective competitive barrier that you can

use in positioning.

Here’s a great example that utilized four of the five principals. When Toyota entered the luxury automotive sector with the Lexus brand, it 1) made “ergonomics” and “quality” the new “performance” and “luxury,” 2) initially undercut the competition to gain entry and early market share, 3) created a lowstress and more respectful showroom experience, and 4) targeted Mercedes and BMW - up the totem pole.

Apple also uses positioning strategy extraordinarily well. Can you think of other examples?

Source: http://blogs.bnet.com/ceo/?p=2316&tag=nl.e713

AIESE Summer Packages for SIM, SMU and NTU

2009-06-09T08:40:00.000-07:00

2009-06-01T04:59:00.000-07:00

Input for ICX and OGX from the perspective of an EP

Being a person who actually goes through the exchange process has given me lots of new insights about how we can manage exchange better. I wish to share my insights here, in hope that it will help us to deliver high quality exchange!

For ICX:

Integration, not servicing

I had an integration officer, not reception officer. The notion of integration means I am guided to embed myself in the society and AIESEC activities, being introduced to LC members and build a network with them. It is a long-term thing, rather than a short-term reception. It’ll be great to have an integration syllabus so that every integration officer knows all the must-dos.

Bring the intern to register at respective embassy

I realized it is a must to register ourselves at our respective embassies when we will be staying at a foreign country for long, so that the embassy can contact us for activities or emergency. How important is this? For Malaysians, failure to do so can cost you your citizenship!

Ask for flight itinerary

Forget about asking for various flight information such as time and date, ask directly for the flight ticket or flight itinerary and every information is there accurately. It is a simple thing which unfortunately a lot of us don’t do!

Invite interns to update the preparation booklet

A local sees the country differently from a foreigner, and both groups give and need different information. Thus, inviting existing interns to share their experience on adaptation and put this information on preparation booklet can provide future incoming interns invaluable information that smoothen their preparation. For example, in Cameroon culture, every time you ask someone to go out and eat together, it means that you have to pay for the person. This is something every Cameroonian knows and thinks it’s normal for everywhere else, but it is definitely very different in other parts of the world, and this can cost interns a whole lot of money when we unknowingly asked people to eat out together! This sort of embedded information can only be sensed and pointed out by interns.

Interns want to be involved in AIESEC activities

Here we are treated like a member under the care of TM, and we are informed about LC meetings and various activities. Interns attend conferences here too. This has helped me to make friends with a lot more AIESEC members, and from there learn more about the society. INTRODUCE INTERNS FORMALLY TO THE LC AT LC MEETINGS. Let the intern do a self introduction, country presentation, have Q&A, etc.

Do talent management for your interns

Interns are a valuable asset to the LC. VPICX should know each intern’s strengths and introduce them to people who can tap into their strength. For example, Germans are well-known for being efficient, so the LCP learns from Jana the German intern on to run the LC more efficiently.

If possible, match TNs with real AIESEC EPs

Rather than pocket recruited EPs.
Real AIESECers are a source of inspiration to members and can provide valuable input and experience to our AIESEC functions. And this is a way to show our support for full AIESEC experience.

Match rightly

Make sure TN manager understands the job description well and have read the EP’s qualification well, to ensure a good fit between the job and the EP. After the match, initiate and facilitate the communication between EP and TN so that the EP and TN can better understand each other and clarify job scope.

Actively communicate with EPs and TN about the job

Here the TN mangers actively talk to EPs and TNs to check if everything is alright, and to assist their communication with each other, and to intervene when necessary. For example, my boss somehow didn’t know that I am only working 3 days for him and other 2 days for AIESEC PBOX. After I told my TN manager this, he helped me to communicate with the TN to smooth out everything. TN manager is sometimes the only source of help for EPs on work-related problem. So don’t run away from it!

For OGX:

Importance of proactiveness

It is a MUST for a person to be proactive to have a quality internship experience. To proactively adapt, proactively propose to the boss for more work when the the internship is too slack, proactively communicate with the TN manager if job reality and what was on the TN form does not match, proactively communicate with the boss for any dispute in work, proactively explore, proactively building own social network. Choose proactive people, or groom the EPs to be more proactive at Preparation Seminar.

Register at own embassy upon arrival

Remind EPs on country presentation

At quality LCs, EPs will be doing country presentation to the LC, so remind EPs on preparing powerpoint presentation, food, and costumes.

Ensure quality communication throughout

After match, EP managers should ask EPs to proactively talk to TN manager and TN to find out more about job demand and country information. This sets them the expectation that you are there for serious internship, and will motivate them to give you a fulfilling internship. Stay communicated with your EPs after realization, to assist in any disputes that can arise. You may be far, but you may be the only source of help for the EP who can be helplessly alone in the new country!

Introduce previous EPs to the EPs

Yuan Tian introduced me an EP who did an internship in Nigeria, and Rina introduced me a lot of people who come from Cameroon. This helped me heaps in my preparation!

Using AIESEC as a platform to even out disparity among nations

2009-05-27T02:51:00.000-07:00

How is Cameroon like?
Cameroon is a relatively stable and safe country among all African nations. They do not have people dying of hunger, they do not have civil unrest or political uprise. The country is trying to develop itself, and the youths are trying to strive to fulfill their life goals.

The little huge problem called computer inavailability
Through observation and discussion with the locals, I feel that the main hindrance to their advancement is lack of infrastructure. The roads are not well paved, power and water supply are inconsistent, internet has been around since 1996 but till now they are running at a speed of 215kb/s still. Most importantly, computer is still a rare thing here. And this is depriving the people the very important tool in this information era, be it to manage and create information using the computer or to get connected to the world wide web.

How is it like in AIESEC Cameroon?
In AIESEC Cameroon, only the MC office has computers. Two computers excluding two MCs’ personal laptops. The LC members work on cyber cafés, which isn’t just expensive, but filled with viruses. The rate is around 1.5SGD per hour. If this seems little to you, consider the living cost here of 2SGD for a decent meal, and the unstable 215kb/s internet connection speed which inevitably lengthens the usage. Think about the high dependence on myaiesec.net nowadays among AIESECers, and think the impact of having no easy computer access. Furthermore, having no computer means that it is impossible for them to create any handouts, write and store any meeting minutes, or design marketing materials.

Being moved to action
Apart from feeling fortunate when I witness this situation, I have been thinking about how we can utilize the AIESEC platform to even out this inequality. In Singapore, people change their laptop every 3-5 years, or once it goes slower. Here, the computers are still having floppy disk slots.

How about if we organize a PBOX on Information Technology, focusing on the collection of computers and to contribute to the Cameroonian society, and send members here to educate people on computer and internet skills? We may perhaps have members from AIESEC Cameroon here also to experience how helpful internet usage can be, and at the same time contribute their insights to ensure that the PBOX is effective? There are some international organizations working on this issue already, such as Microsoft, and we can partner with them. National Youth Council has grants that financially supports overseas project. In AIESEC Cameroon, they are running a PBOX called swITch too, which is focusing on Information Technology. I have discussed this with the MC and we feel that there is a huge opportunity for partnership between a developed nation and a developing nation.

Our role in the world
AIESEC is one international organization which we can bring about changes across nations. Given the precious opportunity for me to be here to see the reality in a land so far away and so unknown to many, I feel that we can do this something to have the positive impact in society. What do you think?

If anyone, after reading this, is motivated and moved to take some action, I am available by email for discussion, or to introduce you to the relevant AIESEC members here. Apart from this issue, I am keen to share any insights I can gather in my exchange here too. My email is wanxin86@hotmail.com.

We have the capacity to change for the better. We should not wait anymore for anyone. The power lies in us.

2009-05-26T02:29:00.001-07:00

To chair is to adapt

Oolala thank you so much Cheryl for sharing my news with everyone! It is really helpful for me when internet is so scarce here! I stole time from my working today, and pasted this entry I wrote on my own laptop before posting it here. Enjoy!

I am truly grateful for the rare opportunity to chair the national conference before the start of my internship. It was perhaps the best positive pressure for me to adapt.

I arrived in Douala on 9^th May 1120pm. Conference pre-meeting started on 10^th May 9am, which was supposed to be hosted by the chair. Diana helped me to do the first session. That moment onwards, I knew I have to get out of my protective shell, and get out faster than normal people because I have a role to play. So from lunch onwards, I started proactively making conversations with people, learning more about people, the society and AIESEC Cameroon. The facilitators were really helpful for preparing me. The moment when I feel truly integrated was perhaps during the AIESEC dance time at night. Dancing in unison always makes one feel a part of the community. From that moment onwards, I am really feeling like I am the chair of the conference!

Being a chair was an interesting experience. I have to manage different groups of people without really knowing what the situation is like, and even better, without really knowing if what you are saying is right. People expect a lot from the chair to take the lead. Thus, after finding out from everyone that we more or less share the same expectation, I started assuming more that it is somewhat like a conference in Singapore. I am glad these assumptions held true.

There is always this very big task for the chair apart from all the formal responsibilities – to manage the time. It was an ever bigger challenge for me here, because Cameroonians do not have too much concept about time. When people said ‘I am coming’, it means 20 more minutes. When they said 15 minutes more, it means an hour more. I had to fight against all these to ensure that the conference run according to the agenda. So the OC and faci heard a lot from me asking ‘How much exact time will you take to come?’, ‘What do you mean by “I’m coming”?’.After the first day, everyone would giggle if someone else dare to say ‘I am coming’. Haha.

Everyone had a conception that Asians are very reserved people. Belinda described Asians as ‘talk and die’. So when they saw me hosting the opening plenary speaking a lot and fluently, they were very surprised. The fact that I am speaking already made my performance surpassed their expectation. Having people viewing you positively makes a lot of things easier. And somehow my way of speaking, my intonation, my pronounciation, my ‘cool?’ gesture, the way I run around, the way I dance intrigued them a lot too, perhaps it was all because it was different from their preconception.

The delegates were really nice, friendly and mature. They would pay full attention to me when I was speaking, responding to me in unison every time I asked ‘Cool?’, coming to me just to say ‘bon apetite’ when I am having my meals, and even cooperating with me to keep quiet after I told them my throat is sore. They love photo-taking. Everyday, every break, as long as I walked about in the plenary, I would be caught to take pictures with them. And one request would usually lead to 10 other requests. The delegates would grab me, hold my hands, hold my shoulders, or attempt to hug or kiss me. But they had respect for the chair. So after one delegate stunned me by kissing on my cheeks to bid good night, and another delegate found out that I am not alright with these French culture, the next day onwards, no one dares to do so again.

Because the people I was interacting with were AIESECers, it means that they are a lot more open to sharing, and I could ask interesting questions that I would not dare to ask otherwise, for example, "Are all Cameroonians sexually active?", "Why do you guys not use fans?", "How is the HIV/AIDS situation here?", "What do you think is the root of problems here in Africa?" etc. Of course, all due respect is given. I enquired for this information for intellectual curiosity. =P

The delegates have also surprised me with their vision. And they surprised me more with the determination in them to achieve their vision. Many of them want to improve various aspect of Africa. Berlin wanted to solve the food shortage problem, Arnaud wanted to be the richest young man so that he could inspire the others, another wanted to set up many enterprises, another wanted to manage Africa properly. It is truly noble of them to have realised these problems, and remained determined to stay and improve the situation, instead of going away in search of a better land. And the speech from CEO of Standard Chartered Bank has helped nailed in their vision. He said, ‘Many people, when they face problems, abandon the problems and go to a better place. The great people like Nelson Mandela and Lee Kuan Yew (he mentioned him because I was there) stayed with the problems and perfect them.’ I really wish that these youths can stay with their vision, and work on them for a better Africa. And I really wish that we from the better world can work with them to make things come true. Watch out for my next posts on possible collaboration!

Apart from the people that are so refreshing, the conference organisation was an eye opener too. Air-conditioning is not at all common here, so we had our plenary in a little hall in a hotel with fans. And the hotel is nothing to compare with any hotel in Singapore. During the opening plenary on the first night, the electricity went off when the delegates were setting their goals. No one complained. We stayed with the dark until the managers started their generators. Such power cut situation was plentiful for the rest of the days. The delegates made do without fans, the facilitators made do without powerpoint presentations. Budget problem was a huge problem for the OC this year. On the second day of the conference, the facilitators had to move out from our apartment to another hotel because it saved them some money. The OC didn’t have money to print handouts, and the MCP eventually took out his own money for the printing. We cut down on flipcharts, and even replaced lunch with coffee break. No one complained, even though that was not normal even here. The maturity level is amazing. Think about bringing this spirit back to Singapore.

For myself, I feel really fortunate to have such loving people to be the delegates for the first conference that I chaired. Their positive response kept me motivated throughout, even when I had 1 hour sleep or when I eventually fell sick. I didn’t need to resort to recall previous conferences to boost my energy. I have also opened my eyes to more things that can happen in a conference, some of which may not be pleasant, but definitely eye-opening. After the facilitators were downgraded to another hotel, that hotel has no shower head. Instead, there is a bucket of water, and I had to scoop water out using my palms to pour that little water on my body to clean it. The first time I saw that bucket, I was totally clueless. I thought this was bad enough. The third evening before the official dinner, there was power cut when I was taking that bucket bath! I was caught in absolute darkness, still having soap on my body, and I couldn’t see a thing. The other facilitators were completely at ease, but I was totally driven mad. I struggled to find my towel, put on my dress and 4-inch heels, walked on them on a pitch dark uneven mud road filled with rocks and stones, cursing and swearing in my heart. I couldn’t put on any make-up, and I considered that as totally unacceptable! It maddened me more when I saw all other facilitators still staying calm and happy. Seeing others like that made me know that I had to ease myself. I started comforting myself that it is alright to not make up, it is alright to not look too good, it is just a cultural experience. I got better when I reached the official dinner place, because I borrowed a delegate’s room to do some final touch up. Haha.

That’s all for some of the plentiful conference experience I have had from my very first chairing experience of AIESEC Cameroon NLDS. Seen a lot, learnt a lot, and, adapted more into the community through making a lot of friends.

email from Wan Xin in Cameroon!

2009-05-19T23:42:00.000-07:00

this is an excerpt from wan xin's email. she just finished chairing the NLDS for AIESEC in Cameroon, and is about to embark on her Management Traineeship soon.

"I just arrived in my city after chairing the conference. The NLDS was great, and I have had a very rewarding chairing experience here, being able to inspire many to pursue their dreams in life, and being inspired by the delegates' HUGE vision! The delegates are mature and aspiring. We had power cut during the opening plenary, food cut due to OC budget constraint (there was one day we had no lunch!), and lots of delay as Cameroonians are not really time conscious. Nonetheless, the delegates continue to wait, to dream big, to keep thinking what they can do, and what is their future.

I am amazed by the high quality life they are having now, despite the almost incomparable material life here. The roads are not tarred, power cut happens all the time, water is yellow, no fan in the room, no shower head for bathing, 4 person on the same bed, no internet and no computer. Yet the members are so driven. There was one night during their national planning where it was raining so heavily and loudly and the power was cut for hours. The members simply continued in the dark with the help of one lamp, all the way till 11pm.

If it fits into the national plan, I would really wish to have a Singapore-Cameroon bridge programme, to equalize the material inequality. For example, if we can collect second hand laptops or computers in Singapore and send them here. The LCs have no computer at all, and it's really affecting their effectiveness. And the members are striving very hard and difficultly to attend conferences because they have no money. If there are members interested in this and if it fits our year plan, I guess having such projects will really let everyone visualise the positive impact we have in society.

Love from Cameroon,
Wan Xin"

a brand new high - from cheryl

2009-05-17T22:55:00.000-07:00

the 1st posting by rach was a lovely one! :)

honestly, this national planning is the best one i've ever attended. why?

i have...

a wonderful team.
i feel i'm surrounded by people who are on the same page as me, and we are running towards the same dream in AIESEC Singapore. thank you for giving me the chance to work with you :) i'm excited for the term to come!

a sense of unity.
ambition is not mine alone. every single person needs to believe in the value of the organization.. and during nat planning, i feel people do believe and that they want to work together to achieve. :) that makes me extremely proud to belong to AIESEC Singapore. i feel like shouting it out to the world.

personally learnt from each and every one of you...
i'm still new to this role, and i hope you are patient with me. i'm learning every single second, minute, hour.

i spent some time reflecting on my past 4 months since i've been elected. i really didn't have time to stop and think. i realized that while i was walking down this road, there were so many decisions to be made, they seemed like they were coming one after another. to me, i made the best decisions i could make at every single point in time.

if you knew me a couple of years back and compared me to where i am right now, you would know i've changed a lot as a person. i always found it hard to say 'no' to others, you would hardly ever hear me speak in a huge group. i figured it was always easier to keep my opinions to myself, so i would not offend anyone, or get into anyone's bad books. i wanted people to have a positive opinion of me, so i always agreed to people's requests when they needed help (or when they wanted to shirk responsibility). or the time when i was ostracized in sec sch, i kept quiet and let the misunderstandings around me go on - that was a miserable period of 4 years in sch i endured. back then, things were just so simple, my life was a small bubble, limited to me, myself and I. decisions i made were felt by my immediate family, maybe my close friends as well and not really anyone else.

coming into AIESEC, it gave me the depth to learn more about myself. it taught me that i could fail miserably, and it is crazy for me to take on every single responsibility as my own. i alone cannot fix any thing. in the end i only wear myself out.

in my following years as as MC VP and NST, i had many opportunities to learn about myself as a team player, and to grow professionally, to challenge myself further (trying for virtual teams).. i had many firsts - first NST together with William in 07/08. first @singapore rep on an AI virtual team. first MC VP Comms. first MCP from smu.

it's the last experience that i've found myself thinking so much more - and if you ever have the opportunity to go to IC, you will hear the MCPs/LCPs chant "it's great to be an LCP/MCP". it's an intense journey where you think so much more than usual, in terms of people and management.

over these past few months, i've made tough decisions which people might not concur with. these choices were extremely disconcerting, but they made me learn. from a cheryl who wanted to please as many people as possible, i had to face the idea that i could not please everyone with any decision i make. i knew some would be happy, others would be unhappy.

at the end of the day, i can't satisfy every single person... i only have to place the strongest faith in my decision, that they were made with the best intentions for the whole group of over 200 people. it is not only cheryl making the final decisions for herself, but that she is responsible for the entire organization in singapore.

i've always had this notion that to change the people around you, you have to first start from yourself. and this is where AIESEC for me, begins. :)

AIESEC Singapore National Planning - Pre meet

2009-05-09T08:08:00.000-07:00

Today was the prelude to AIESEC Singapore's National Planning, held at the Singapore Management University (SMU) School of Business. This event that brings together the incoming national and local teams of AIESC Singapore to set priorities and draw up our year plans for the new term, which for this year will be held over three days and two nights.

The day started off on a light note, with Esviyola, (our resident Indon tai-tai a.k.a outgoing Vice President Finance) getting everyone together for a morning briefing with expectations setting, as well as ice-breaker games. After clear expectations of the incoming Local Chapter Executive Boards (LC EBs) were set, getting to know each other and ice-breaker games followed suit.

Ice-Breaker games

First off was a game coined by Esvi, called "Catch the Marker". Essentially, it was as simple as to...catch the marker!

# Rules:

Everyone is to gather round in a circle after which a round of introductions are done
After introducing markers into the circle, the holder of the marker is to throw it to someone across the circle, after calling his/her name
Thrower MUST call out the correct name before throwing the marker, or a forfeit is rendered.
Receiver MUST catch the marker and not let it fall to the ground, or a forfeit is rendered.

This was a pretty simple game, or so it seems, as Esvi always has something up her sleeves to turn things interesting. Look out for the videos to know what this means!

After catching the marker for sometime, another game was introduced, called "Superheroes"! This is one of AIESECer's favourite games of all time, with our incoming Member Committee (MC) Vice President of Exchange, Han Ling even suggesting to take it to the International Congress in August later this year. Check out the video to understand how its played. Basically it consists of four different actions, none of which should be called out at the same time when played.

Call from Nairobi

Following the games and a short briefing by outgoing MC President Mayas, we were fortunate enough to get on a skype call with our lovely outgoing LC President cum incoming MC VP Talent Management, Wan Xin, who flew off to Cameroon for her internship the evening before. She had landed in Nairobi, Kenya, and was awaiting her next flight to Douala, Cameroon, whcih was around 12 hours later.

Through the wonderous means of Skype, we were able to hear her speak for awhile, as well as talk to her about her journey so far. Traveling across the world to an entirely new region certainly was something to be excited and anxious about, and more so doing that alone, and having planned to spend three whole months speaking a third language (Française), adapting to the living habits and lifestyle and working in a foreign environment certainly is challenging. Well, who knows what similarities we might find amidst the vast perceived differences in culture and environment, and we will have to await the lady herself to update us about it =D

No. 1 in Asia Pacific!

Next up, after lunch (and much chatting with Wan Xin), the MC and EB teams parted our ways to different training tracks which would last the rest of the afternoon. The MC team was fortunate to have with us our Asia Pacific Director from AIESEC International, Li Zhen, to conduct a session for us. It was a truly eye-opening session that put our minds into perspective, laid out our realities and changed the way we examined our organizational challenges and the magnitude of growth we believed we could achieve for the term.

The session was a simple want, with Li Zhen asking us only four series of questions:

Should AIESEC Singapore aim to be the Number one country in Asia Pacific?
Is it possible for AIESEC Singapore to be the Number one country in Asia Pacific?
Do we have the right attitude in place to be the Number one country in Asia Pacific? and
How can we be the Number one country in Asia Pacific?

After much analysis of what our current state is, what AIESEC as an organization stands for and wants to achieve, whether we are delivering on our promises and a round of competitive analysis and strategy formulation, our conclusion was,

YES, AIESEC Singapore SHOULD aim to be the Number one country in Asia Pacific, because we HAVE the potential for growth, and as long as we HAVE the right attitude and mindset, adopt a STRATEGIC and FOCUSED long term plan to exponential growth and sustainability, it is not an IMPOSSIBLE target.

After a gruelling six hours of thinking and enlightenment, the MCs left the session feeling much more confident and perhaps psyched-up about the coming year, as well as the next crucial three days of intensive planning and strategizing. Well kudos to have our dear incoming MC President Cheryl make the first few bold changes to the whole structure of AIESEC Singapore and setting the stage right for real change to happen. If anything, i'm more than looking forward to see our output from this National Planning, and starting this promising 09/10 term!

Cheers all to hard work and results!