Youth Engagement Summit 2009 - Part 2

This is the 2nd part of the Youth Engagement Summit 2009 sharing.

Biz Stone - co-Founder of Twitter
a) Twitter is a 10 years in the making, and not something that happened over night.
b) It is meant to be an agent of change and solve problems. Would look at Twitter as a social innovation/social responsibility.
c) Happy mistakes are the best kind. Twitter is a happy mistake.
d) Opportunities can be manufactured. Don't wait for opportunities. Initiate it. Create the opportunities.
e) Creativity is a renewable source. Biz is a artist first, and then only techie. He started with graphic design, before moved to web design (when he started Xanga).
f) Entrepreneurship means becoming mortal. In order to have dramatic success, need to have dramatic failure. Learn it the hard way.
g) Social alchemy is taking place. From blogging to social networking and now twittering. Started blogging on catcha and write about blogging itself, and was invited to write a book.
h) From a simple tweet "I am having a cup of coffee at Logan airport." People meet up and start a conversation and meet up with new people.
i) The open exchange of information has a positive global impact. For Twitter, all the info are public info and anyone can search, and it makes people more informed and more engaged. Hence, positive global impact.
j) Really love and use the tool that you build. Build it for ownself, and you will find it useful. Build a prototype over weekend and try it out.
k) Some says that Twitter is fun but it is not useful. In essence, build something that fun and thrilling and then would only think about business aspect.
l) Is Twitter just a rudimentary social networking or something more? In Texas, food operators tweet about the location they would be at, and can move large group of people around.
m) Tiny bits of information can have a profound impact. People help one another for instance during earthquake, when quick update on Twitter helps.
n) Twitter is about the triumph of humanity and not the triumph of technology. Twitter is what people do with the service, and not what it is meant to do.
o) A rich and diverse ecosystem has emerged. Twitter provides open source for its API. Allow people to create applications. Many companies are created to build applications or Twitter-related products.
p) The potential for impact increases with a focus on mobile. Hence, Twitter is created with 140 characters (as the total limit for mobile is 160 characters). There are 1.5 billion web users, but 4 billion mobile users. Twitter offer SMS access to users in many places, with no additional cost.
q) Giving back is in Twitter DNA. TweetOut was organized in 200 cities in the world, to raise quarter million on a Thursday evening.
r) There is special pinot noir for Twitter, and the profits are used to help to build library.
s) Indirectly, Twitter helps in literacy. If you can't read, you can't tweet.
t) Twitter allow companies to spend as much money as they want, as long as they get more back.
u) To start-ups, bootstrap first and show early sign of growth.

More to come soon. Stay tuned.

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Youth Engagement Summit 2009 - Part 1

Congratulations to Khailee and team for successfully organized Youth Engagement Summit 2009 (YES 2009) at Putrajaya International Convention Center on 16th and 17th November 2009.

A few things that really stand out in the Youth Engagement Summit:-
a) The quality of the speakers
b) The spirit of the youth across South East Asia
c) The volunteers (especially those youth)

I was lucky to be able to be there to listen to those speakers and also to meet up with 20 of our JobStreet.com job seekers, who came from Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand through the partnership with SEAChange. JobStreet.com is the Official Job Board of SEAChange and official partner of YES2009.

This post is going to be long and I will share a few points that I learn from each of the speaker.

--> Lorraine Hahn (Host)
a) Youth are now effecting and embracing the changes around. They are daring to spark a change, and many youths are already a leader today.

--> Datuk Johan Jaafar (Advisor of YES2009)
a) If youth do not speak up, the voices would never be heard and get lost in the noises.
b) There are 200 Million youths in the South East Asia region, and it is time to empower the youth. Share views or ideas around.

--> Harmandar Singh (Organizing Chairman)
a) This event is organized due to inspired by change. Hope to create new generation of leaders. If we try, we may succeed, and hence embark on this summit.
b) It is great to see 600,000 youth from South East Asia step forward and get heard.
c) This was planned 4 months ago, with the dream of getting Barack Obama to be here to address the audience. Met up with US State Department for 3 times.
d) Lets not give up on hope. Provide hope to shine and hopefully it would sparkle and the youth would be fearless leaders.
e) Get together to create miracles beyond the mission.
f) Have fun, share your experience/knowledge and learn. Hopefully the youth would go home a little wiser.
g) The duty of the organizer is not to fail the hope of the youth.

--> Khailee (Youth Asia and SEAChange)
a) Total world population - 6.7 Billion. Of which, 200 Million live in South East Asia, age between 15 and 35 and ready to bring the change in their career, education, family etc. Hence, there is this movement South East Asia Youth For Change (SEAChange).
b) The Vietnamese saw war destroyed their nation, yet the youths meet up to speak in English and this network of meet-ups spread across the nation and it is small step to make Vietnamese more accessible to the world. (Note: Speaking English Meet-ups (Malaysia) Facebook Page was just created to encourage Malaysians to practice English Language.)
c) The Indonesian youths bring together to protect the rights of the children and have their voice heard by the government. They advice and help the government to understand more about the younger generation of Indonesians.
d) The Malaysian youths get together and make a difference.
e) In total, 105,552 stories were told from various groups in South East Asia.
f) For the youth, when we don't know something, we google; when we want to spread the news around, we tweet; when we want to connect with others, we facebook. The power is now in the hands of the youth.
g) The world has passed judgment on the youth, saying that the youth are apathetic. Employers have no faith on the youth. Many businesses pay millions to buy artificial relationship with the youth.
h) SEAChange has brought together 120 organizations to make the change for South East Asia youths. Millions of words and thousands of videos were shared. It is a network of believers.
i) SEAChange Facebook group has more than 41,000 youths.
j) We have come too far to not go all the way. We should groom the talents and champion the needs of the youth. Youth should start to believe in ourselves and there is no excuse for us to go all the way. We have come too far to not go all the way.

This is the part 1 of my blogging on Youth Engagement Summit. More to come on the sharings by all the speakers.

Hopefully that this would be able to enable those of you who were not able to be there to learn a bit about what happened there.

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"Basics of Math Olympiad" - Problem Solving Guide for High School Students

Suhaimi Ramly, my fellow batchmates at ATU at INTEC, UiTM has published his series of 4 books, entitled "Basics of Math Olympiad" - Problem Solving Guide for High School Students.

Volume 1:- Number Theory
Volume 2:- Algebra
Volume 3:- Combinatorics
Volume 4:- Geometry

Do read more here .

It would be good if you decide to get a copy and donate to your high school's library!

Hopefully, this book would help Malaysians to one day get the elusive Gold Medal for International Mathematics Olympiads.

Suhaimi was a former Bronze Medalist (I hope I remember correctly, Bal) of International Mathematics Olympiads and he helped to train the National Team, which won the first silver medal in 2008. Suhaimi is an alumnus of MIT.

Suhaimi (or Bal), Congrats!!!

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Khazanah's Merdeka Scholarship Programme

Thanks to Pn. Suhayati for sharing on this Khazanah's Merdeka Scholarship Programme. For more info, go to here .
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Khazanah – Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies Merdeka Scholarship Programme

Overview

The Khazanah-Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies Merdeka Scholarships, established to mark the 50th anniversary of Malaysia’s independence, are intended to enable outstanding Malaysian students to undertake postgraduate study at the University of Oxford.

Subject areas may be drawn from a range of fields. Candidates are required to demonstrate a high level of academic achievement, and how their study will make a contribution to the future needs of Malaysia.

Awards will include university and college fees, accommodation and subsistence allowances, and return air fares. Awards are renewable annually through the duration of the programme of study.

Eligibility

Candidates, who must be citizens of Malaysia, should have an excellent record of academic achievement and a proven capacity for independent research. Attention will also be given to the personal qualities of the candidates in terms of their leadership potential and ability to communicate. Candidates will be expected to show how their careers and the wider interests of Malaysia will benefit from a period of study at Oxford.

The fields of study covered by the Scholarship Programme include the following:

a) Business: Economics, Finance, Investment, Law, Actuarial Science;
b) Bio-medical Sciences: Bio-chemistry, Food Technology, Bio-technology, Bio-engineering, Molecular Biology, Genomics and Bio-informatics;
c) Engineering: Electronics, Micro-Electronics, Nano-technology, Materials Science.
Other fields may be considered.

How to Apply

To apply, applicants are required to submit the following:

The completed application form.

A signed personal statement of no more than 1,000 words that includes a description of the intended area of study and describes how this will benefit Malaysia. The statement should also outline the applicant’s reasons for wanting to study at Oxford, and summarise the personal qualities that would make them a worthy recipient of a scholarship.

A list of academic qualifications and other awards and honours received

A statement of the status of their application to the University of Oxford.

Two confidential letters of recommendation from referees who can assess in detail the applicant’s academic performance and potential. The recommendation letters must reach the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies by the application deadline.

All application materials must reach the Oxford Center for Islamic Studies by
20th November, 2009.

All correspondence should be addressed to:

The Academic Assistant,
Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies,
George Street
Oxford OX1 2 AR, UK
Tel: 44 1865 278730
Fax: 44 1865 248942

e-mail: academic.assistant@oxcis.ac.uk


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Times Higher Education (THE) – QS World University Rankings 2009

Thanks to my loyal blog reader for sharing this with me.

Times Higher Education (THE) – QS World University Rankings 2009 has just been announced, and the new list of top 200 universities are listed. Quite a few UK universities went up the ranking. For full details, go to here .

My alma mater (Cornell) stayed at 15th Ranking.

Universiti Malaya managed to improve its ranking by 50 positions, from 230th to 180th, making it the 8th most improved university among all the universities that made it into top 200. The 7 universities that improve more positions than Universiti Malaya are University of Bergen (83 positions - 227th to 144th), University of Oslo (76 positions - 177th to 101st), University of Gothenburg (73 positions - 258th to 185th), Keio University (72 positions - 214th to 142nd), Saint-Petersburg State University (56 positions - 224th to 168th), Pohang University of Science & Technology (54 positions - 188th to 134th) and Yonsei University (52 positions - 203rd to 151st).

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia went up from 356th position to 320th position.
Universiti Sains Malaysia dropped a spot from 313th to 314th.
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia dropped from 250th to 291st.
Universiti Putra Malaysia dropped from 320th to 345th.
Can refer more of it at here .

Looking at the universities which had made huge improvement in ranking.

Cambridge - 3rd to 2nd
University College of London - 7th to 4th
Imperial College London - 6th to 5th
University of Edinburgh - 23rd to 20th
ETH Zurich - 24th to 20th
University of Hong Kong - 26th to 24th
University of Manchester - 29th to 26th
University of Toronto - 41st to 29th
HKUST - 39th to 35th
Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanna - 50th to 42nd
Trinity College Dublin - 49th to 43rd
Monash University - 47th to 45th
Seoul National University - 50th to 47th
University of Amsterdam - 53rd to 49th
Tsinghua Univesity - 56th to 49th
Technical University of Munich - 78th to 55th
Tokyo Institute of Technology - 61st to 55th
University of Warwick - 69th to 58th
University of Alberta - 74th to 59th
Aarhus University - 81st to 63rd
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign - 71st to 63rd
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven - 72nd to 65th
University of Birmingham - 75th to 66th
Lund University - 88th to 67th
Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology - 95th to 69th
University of York - 81st to 70th
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill - 102nd to 78th
University of Adelaide - 106th to 81st
Purdue University - 99th to 87th
University College Dublin - 108th to 89th
Nagoya University - 120th to 92nd
University of Zurich - 106th to 92nd
Free University of Berlin - 137th to 94th
National Taiwan University - 124th to 95th
Tohoku University - 112nd to 97th
University of Oslo - 177th to 101st
Durham University - 122nd to 103rd
Fudan University - 113rd to 103rd
University of Basel - 131st to 108th
Erasmus University Rotterdam - 126th to 108th
University of Waterloo - 129th to 113th
Universite Pierre-et-Marie Curie Paris VI - 149th to 117th
Eindhoven University of Technology - 128th to 120th
Feriburg University - 147th to 122nd
City University of Hong Kong - 147th to 124th
Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon - 140th to 126th
University of Aberdeen - 153rd to 129th
Pohang University of Science & Technology - 188th to 134th
Chulalongkorn University - 166th to 138th
Keio University - 214th to 142nd
University of Bergen - 227th to 144th
University of Cape Town - 179th to 146th
Waseda University - 180th to 148th
University of Calgary - 170th to 149th
Yonsei University - 203rd to 151st
Lomonosov Moscow State University - 183rd to 155th
Lancaster University - 170th to 162nd
Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay - 174th to 163rd
Saint-Petersburg State University - 224th to 168th
University of Barcelona - 186th to 171st
University of Bologna - 192nd to 174th
University of Tsukuba - 216th to 174th
University of Antwerp - 195th to 177th
University of Athens - 200th to 177th
Universiti Malaya - 230th to 180th
Rheinisch-Westfalische Technische Hochschule Aachen - 216th to 182nd
University of Karlsruhe - 207th to 184th
University of Gothenburg - 258th to 185th
Hong Kong Polytechnic University - 224th to 195th

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Asian Youth Ambassador (AYA) Dream Malaysia Awards 2009

Asian Youth Ambassador (AYA) Dream Malaysia Awards 2009. This is the 5th Annual AYA Awards.

I would first like to recognize my sincere thanks to an anonymous Malaysian who nominated me for this award. Really appreciate what you have done, although until now, I do not know who is the person who does this.

Would like to dedicate this awards to all of you who have supported many of the initiatives that I have involved over these years, and to many of you who have offered me guidance, support, listening ears, advice etc, through the ups and downs of my life.

I would like to congratulation AYA for doing this award, and I would like to congratulate all the other finalists as well. They are all very deserving winners, and the world is a much better place, thanks to many sacrifice and efforts that they have put in. To all the nominees, Congratulations for making a difference in the lives of others too!

There are 2 categories of AYA Awards.
a) Most Outstanding Youth
b) Youth Friendly Companies

For Most Outstanding Youth 2009, there are 4 finalists.

1. Edana Lim Parina, 35

"Her dream Malaysia is to see a united Malaysia that respects every race as they are and one that fully acknowledges different strengths in each culture. Edana seeks to play her role in that by hiring all races into her company and do the most with what she has and be the best she can be as a woman. Edana believes in second chances even as she received hers and thus, exercises that motto with her current staff."

2. Ellynita Hazlina Lamin, 33

"Her dream Malaysia is for people to not just be tolerant towards one another but to understand and accept each other beyond race and gender. She aspires to see the lives that she touches in some way — no matter big or small — begin to impact the lives of others. Ultimately, she seeks to create an awareness of the need in Acheh and be able to share that with anyone who is interested to listen or contribute in some way."

3. Jecyrina Nagarajah, 27

"Her dream Malaysia is to see homeless people or beggars have a purposeful meaning to life. She believes that they CAN come out from the circle of poverty and be an active contributor of society. She hopes to see that our society won’t just give them a ‘fish’ but will teach them ‘how to fish’. She is motivated by seeing lives changed for the better and knowing that she made the right choice in doing what she’s doing now."

4. Yeoh Chen Chow, 28

"His dream Malaysia is to see more youth empowerment. He believes that the youth of today has the ability and passion to make a different and improved Malaysia. Chen Chow is currently involved in a few non-profit projects to inspire more young people to dream bigger. He believes in the culture of sharing information and believes in giving back to others to pursue their education."

There are 2 ways of voting.
a) Online - Click Here
b) SMS - "AYA Y 1" (For Edana)/ "AYA Y 2" (For Ellynita)/ "AYA Y 3" (For Jecyrina)/ "AYA Y 4" (For Chen Chow), and send to 36828. There is a charge of RM0.80 per SMS. This SMS is powered and sponsored by Trio Mobile Sdn. Bhd.

In addition to Most Outstanding Youth 2009 Awards, there is also Youth Friendly Company 2009 Awards, and there are 3 deserving finalists.

1. AFS
"AFS is an international, voluntary, non-governmental, non-profit organisation that provides intercultural learning opportunities to help people develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to create a more just and peaceful world. Working with secondary school students, AFS activities are based on our core values of dignity, respect for differences, harmony, sensitivity and tolerance. It is not designed as a tourist program, rather it allows students to immerse themselves in a culture and country unlike their own."

2. Leaderonomics
"A social enterprise niched in the field of leadership, Leaderonomics offers a full range of solutions and services for organisations, and individuals of all ages. Its vision is to seek to grow people into leaders, build affectionate communities, and transform human societies. In training corporations and youths, Leaderonomics seeks to play an active role in helping the world’s leaders — of all ages, classes and ethnicities — to adapt and meet dramatic changes in our natural and synthetic environments and to help them grow and develop as leaders. The income generated from these activities is channeled into projects and services that enhances leadership development in underprivileged communities."

3. Theatre for Young People
"Under the auspices of The Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (klpac), the T4YP young people’s theatre programme provides a platform for young people between the ages of 16 to 25 the opportunity to express themselves by creating meaningful theatre. Essential to T4YP is the idea of building a close-knit community of young theatre practitioners who feel safe to explore and experiment within the boundaries of an established ensemble."

There are 2 ways of voting too.
a) Online - Click Here
b) SMS - "AYA CO 1" (For AFS)/ "AYA CO 2" (For Leaderonomics)/ "AYA CO 3" (For Theatre for Young People) and send to 36828. There is a charge of RM0.80 per SMS. This SMS is powered and sponsored by Trio Mobile Sdn. Bhd.

Hope that all of you would exercise your votes to vote for the deserving finalists.

The voting would end at 1pm on 2nd November 2009.
The awards ceremony would be on 8th November 2009 at KLPAC.
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Encourage any of my blog readers to share with me any event that you come across. As long as the event/activity/initiative is education/charity/youth oriented and is not-for-profit, I will be more than happy to post it to share

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"One Young World" Summit

Calling those who are born between 1984 and 1986 and have a passion to make a change in the world.

Hopefully that more young leaders, especially Malaysians would stand forward to nominate themselves and lets look for the most suitable Malaysians to represent our country!
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What is One Young World?

- A global initiative to bring together 1500 young leaders from 192 countries
- A gathering of the brightest and best of the next generation
- Gives young people a place to engage and have their voices heard about their future
- Supported by Kofi Annan, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Bob Geldof among others as counsellors
- 1500 leaders of tomorrow born since 1984 inclusive will be elected by their peers using BraveNewTalent.com's platform
- World first event with 2 delegates from every country in the world and the remaining delegates in line with the spread of the world's population.
- First time in world history that countries such as China and India have their population fully represented at any global event.

The One Young World delegates will address six key issues at the Summit in 2010:
- Developing Political Leadership for a positive future
- Global Business and its role in shaping society through the economy
- Inter-faith dialogue
- The Environment and its protection
- The Media, its changing identity and its power
- Global Health, its polarities and impact

When is it happening?
- The Inaugural Summit will be held from 8-10 February 2010 in London - the Opening Ceremony will be held at Old Billingsgate and the Plenary Sessions will be held at the Excel Centre, which recently hosted the G20 Summit. The Opening Ceremony will be hosted by Mayor Boris Johnson with an address by Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

How do I become a delegate?
Very simple: click on the stand as a candidate button, follow the instructions, and once your profile is complete, publicise the site to as many people as possible in your network and get them to vote for you. After voting your supports are also invited to pledge their financial support for you should the wish. The more votes you gather the more likely you are to be able to attend.

Delegate Criteria
To be a delegate you should be happy to demonstrate the following:
- be born since January 1 1984
- show leadership potential
- an understanding of today's environment and the challenges it brings
- a passion and commitment to make a difference to a future generation
- willingness to represent your country and the views of your generation in your country
- an interest in the global issues to be debated at the Summit
- a proven record of volunteering or extra-curricular activities
- You should be actively engaged in one or more of the following sectors: business, voluntary/charity, education, media, political, healthcare, environmental, religious, agricultural, technology.

To sign up, go to One Young World.

Endorsement Videos from:-
1. Kofi Annan


2. Archbishop Desmond Tutu


3. Sir Bob Geldof

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Harvard Dean responds to online questions ...

Thanks to my loyal blog reader for this link on the reply by Harvard Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid.

http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/10/harvarddean-part1/?hp

William R. Fitzsimmons would be answering questions every day for a number of days. For all the links of resources of preparing towards studying in US, do go to here . There are more than 100 resources there already.

Do read the comments put forth by the readers of William R. Fitzsimmons's answers too.

Guidance Office: Answers From Harvard's Dean, Part 1

By William R. Fitzsimmons

Guidance Office Questions for Harvard Dean

William R. Fitzsimmons, the dean of admissions and financial aid at Harvard College for more than two decades, answers reader questions.

Over the last two days, The Choice has fielded nearly 900 questions for William R. Fitzsimmons, the longtime dean of admissions and financial aid at Harvard College. Some of you submitted personal pleas for admission — whether on your own behalf, or, somewhat alarmingly, on behalf of children barely out of diapers. Others sent along queries about affirmative action, legacy admissions, the escalating costs of an elite college education and just how Harvard decides whom to let in, and whom to turn away.

Beginning today, and continuing tomorrow and into early next week, Mr. Fitzsimmons will address at least some of these themes, and others. Meanwhile, you may continue to submit questions — or, perhaps more constructively, your own responses to Mr. Fitzsimmons's answers — by using the comment box below. Some questions below have been edited for content and space. — Jacques Steinberg

Q.

Let me assume that 80 to 90 percent of the students who apply to Harvard are qualified and could reasonably be expected to do well there. They have good GPA scores and SATs. How does Harvard decide whom to admit? Are there objective criteria? If so can you describe them? Do you have requirements internally about the number of students you admit who want to major in a given subject area?

As the parent of three children my observation is that the process, as viewed by a student, is more a crapshoot than a rational, predictable process.

—Norman Gelfand

A.

Our goal in admissions is to attract the best students to the college. Many people believe "best" ought to be defined by standardized tests, grades, and class rank, and it is easy to understand why. Such a system, another Harvard dean of admissions, Bill Bender, wrote in 1960, "has great appeal because it has the merits of apparent simplicity, objectivity, relative administrative cheapness in time and money and worry, a clear logical basis and therefore easy applicability and defensibility."

While we value objective criteria, we apply a more expansive view of excellence. Test scores and grades offer some indication of students' academic promise and achievement. But we also scrutinize applications for extracurricular distinction and personal qualities.

Students' intellectual imagination, strength of character, and their ability to exercise good judgment — these are critical factors in the admissions process, and they are revealed not by test scores but by students' activities outside the classroom, the testimony of teachers and guidance counselors, and by alumni/ae and staff interview reports.

With these aspects — academic excellence, extracurricular distinction, and personal qualities — in mind, we read with care all the components of each application.

Efforts to define and identify precise elements of character, and to determine how much weight they should be given in the admissions process, require discretion and judiciousness. But the committee believes that the "best" freshman class is more likely to result if we bring evaluation of character and personality into decisions than if we do not.

We believe that a diversity of backgrounds, academic interests, extracurricular talents, and career goals among students who live and learn together affects the quality of education in the same manner as a great faculty or material resources.

These considerations are guidelines that are neither comprehensive nor absolute.

We proceed with care, discretion, and humility because we know we are working with imperfect information and that no one can predict with certainty what an individual will accomplish during college or beyond. While we are heartened by the fact that Harvard's graduation rate of 96 to 98 percent is always at or near the top of America's colleges, it is clear that making admissions decisions is more of an art than science.

Harvard admissions officers, who serve as area representatives, read every application from their assigned areas. They record all data, contact the applicant and school for missing materials, and comment on the application's strengths and weaknesses. Some applications receive as many as four readings and each reader checks factual data recorded and, more importantly, offers additional interpretations of the folder.

The standing committee on admissions and financial aid of the faculty, which includes about 30 members of the faculty of arts and sciences, formulates and implements policies on admissions and financial aid. Members of the standing committee also review applications that are representative of the entire pool — and those which present unusually strong scholarly credentials, demonstrate exceptional creativity in the arts, or raise questions of admissions policy.

Working under the guidelines established by the standing committee, the admissions committee makes decisions on individual applicants. The admission committee is comprised of the standing committee of the faculty augmented by about 35 staff members from the office of admissions and financial aid.

The admissions committee is divided into 20 subcommittees grouped by geographic region and representing approximately an equal number of applications. Each subcommittee normally includes four to five members, a senior admissions officer, and faculty readers.

Once all applications have been read and the subcommittee process begins, the area representative acts as an advocate, and summarizes to the subcommittee the strengths of each candidate. Subcommittee members discuss the application, and then vote to recommend an action to the full Committee. Majorities rule, but the degree of support expressed for applicants is always noted to allow for comparisons with other subcommittees.

Subcommittees then present and defend their recommendations to the full committee. While reading or hearing the summary of any case, any committee member may raise questions about the proposed decision and request a full review of the case.

Many candidates are re-presented in full committee. Discussions in subcommittee or in full committee on a single applicant can last up to an hour. The full Committee compares all candidates across all subcommittees, and therefore across geographic lines.

This rigorous comparative process strives to be deliberate, meticulous, and fair. It is labor intensive, but it permits extraordinary flexibility and the possibility of changing decisions virtually until the day the admissions committee mails them.

Personal qualities and character provide the foundation upon which each admission rests. Harvard alumni/ae often report that the education they received from fellow classmates was a critically important component of their college experience. The education that takes place between roommates, in dining halls, classrooms, research groups, extracurricular activities, and in Harvard's residential houses depends on selecting students who will reach out to others.

The admissions committee, therefore, takes great care to attempt to identify students who will be outstanding "educators," students who will inspire fellow classmates and professors.

While there are students at Harvard who might present unusual excellence in a single academic or extracurricular area, most admitted students are unusually strong across the board and are by any definition well-rounded. The energy, commitment, and dedication it takes to achieve various kinds and degrees of excellence serve students well during their college years and throughout their lives.

Q.

It has been my daughter's goal to go to an Ivy League school about as long as she knew she would be going to college. She is a Merit Scholar, school president — I could go on and on. But we are middle class in California. We do not qualify for any financial aid, yet we can not afford to spend over $50,000 per year to send her to a private college. Have administrators noticed that the middle class are the ones who are being squeezed out higer education?

—Vicky

A.

Promising students should never allow a lack of financial resources to stand in the way of reaching for their first choice college. Harvard has made sweeping changes in financial aid in recent years to make a Harvard education accessible and affordable for families across the economic spectrum. This year the undergraduate financial aid program is the most generous in our history with a budget of $145 million, nearly a 7 percent increase from last year and a 167 percent increase over the past decade.

For those aspiring to a Harvard education in these difficult economic times, our renewed program arrived at a crucial time. The unwavering commitment of Drew Faust, President of Harvard University; Michael Smith, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences; and Evelynn Hammonds, Dean of Harvard College to keep Harvard open to talented students from all economic backgrounds sends a clear and compelling message to students and families everywhere.

Applying for financial aid in no way affects an applicant's chances for admission. All our financial aid is need-based; 60 percent of students receive grant assistance and about 70 percent receive some form of financial aid.

The new policy has three major components:

The "Zero to 10% Standard": Harvard's new financial aid policy dramatically reduces the amount families with incomes below $180,000 will be expected to pay. Families with incomes above $120,000 and below $180,000 and with assets typical for these income levels are asked to pay 10 percent of their incomes. For those with incomes below $120,000 the family contribution percentage declines steadily from 10 percent, reaching zero for those with incomes at $60,000 and below. For example, a typical family making $150,000 is asked to pay approximately $15,000 for a child to attend Harvard College. Even families with incomes greater than $180,000 are eligible for grants if they face unusual financial challenges.

No Loans: In calculating the financial aid packages offered to undergraduates, Harvard does not expect students to take out loans. Loans have been replaced by increased grants from the University, but remain available for students and families upon request.

Eliminate Home Equity from Consideration: Harvard no longer considers home equity in determining a family's ability to pay for college. This change has reduced the price by an average of $4,000 per year for affected families as compared with previous practice.

Many other colleges, public and private, have also made significant changes to their financial aid programs. Students and families can explore colleges' websites to learn about the new financial aid opportunities that have emerged in the past few years.

What Should Colleges Teach

Thanks to my loyal blog reader, who has been consistently sharing resources with my blog readers.

Today, would like to point you to an article on What Should Colleges Teach .

From there, it got linked to an article called What Will They Learn . For this article, it looks into the core curriculum of the Top 20 National Universities in US, Top 20 Liberal Arts Colleges in US and Top 60 State Universities.

From there, it got linked to a website WhatWillTheyLearn.com .

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Mentality of Young Malaysians

It is great to read 2 articles by Hafiz Noor Shams and John Lee sharing on Malaysian Insider about "a generation of activist idealists" and "get involved and do something for society".

Both of them have done a lot for community, and have always been driver in making the change in the society. To me, what matters is doing what you are passionate of, and really go out and do good for society. To me, the political divide that each of us might have, is just one of the many ways that people can dice things around, but what matters deep down is that we look at issues, and we decide objectively, why we take a stand on a certain issue. We decide so, not because it is by Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat or for that matter, any of the parties around, but because we believe so.

Besides Hafiz, John Lee, there are definitely many other youths today, who care a lot about the country, willing to think about the country, and want to do more for the country. It is the long term passion that is going to bring our country to the next stage of the world's platform. To all those who are just criticizing things in the country from the coffee shop, I urge you to do your part and make the change. We don't need to be powerful to make the change. Every little change that you can do, to improve/enhance a fellow Malaysian in a particular sector/field/area, that is a positive stand.

SuAnn also wrote regarding Malaysian's mentality, in the context of the students, especially those who are applying to study in US. How Malaysians only bother to care about themselves, and not about the country or the world. How people ask/say things like "I am going to break the bond. The scholarship is good in CV", "I can afford it, but why not, if I get a free ride on my education. I deserved it anyway", "how many hours of community service do I need to do to get into Ivy League" etc etc. What has happened to the younger generation of Malaysia. We should be thinking objectively. And I hope all Malaysians who can afford to make the change in others, to do so. Lets build a better Malaysia.

For those youth who are free on Sunday, do drop by 3K Inn in Subang Jaya for the Better Malaysia forum .


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SendBobToBerkeley.com !

Thanks to Jehan from NST, Bobby's website is highlighted in NST today! Hope to see more Malaysians supporting him!

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BEING rejected for a scholarship by Khazanah Nasional did not deter a Malaysian student from trying to achieve his dreams through other means.

Thus the website sendbobtoberkeley.com — a site providing space for companies and businesses to “own” a piece of property and a link to their websites — was born.

The idea of using the Internet to raise funds for furthering studies is not new, admits the 20-year-old creator who wants to be known as Bobby.

In 2005, then student Alex Tew, from the United Kingdom set up the Million Dollar Website to fund his university studies. The overwhelming success of the site spawned copycat sites using the same concept to earn money.

With the economic recession, many students are now also seeking micro loans and sponsorships from corporations and from alumni of their institutions online.
Kuala Lumpur-based Bobby says his site is still a relatively novel idea in Malaysia.

It provides online advertising in the form of virtual real estate.

Advertisers can “own” an office block, customise it to their liking and have the images of these structures linked back to their own websites.

“People I’ve spoken to and who have sent me emails say trying to raise the money I need in the short time I have is a crazy but interesting idea,” he says.

His parents are willing to support his first year at University of California, Berkeley, United States where he has been accepted to do Economics but the remaining cost of pursuing his four-year degree — which is nearly US$150,000 (RM525,000) — would have to come from him.

The university, being a public institution, will not provide financial aid to a foreign student like Bobby.

He hopes to raise the money by July 23, a month after setting up the site, which would give him some time to settle things before leaving for the US.

In the first 24 hours of it being online, the site had attracted about 1,000 visitors from Malaysia, Singapore, the US and other countries.

Though there may be those thinking that his website is a way of seeking charity to pursue his studies overseas, Bobby says this is not so.

“My objective is for the site to be a business transaction for all, where advertisers can buy ‘property’ to link to their own websites,” he says.

If his endeavour to earn the necessary amount fails or if he ends up not going to Berkeley, he intends to use the money as a micro-fund for start-ups, social entrepreneurship and charity.

Right after rejection by Khazanah Nasional and the setting of his site, Bobby received a call from another corporation offering him a scholarship to study at University College London, where he has also been accepted to pursue his studies.

“I am still keen on going to Berkeley though because I am really interested in technology and the university is relatively close to Silicon Valley,” he says.

He is keen on starting a technology company upon graduation.

Whatever the outcome, he holds a quote by Air Asia chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes dearly to his heart: “Never take ‘no’ for an answer”.

“My dream is to be able to pursue my studies in the US.

“And I believe that you should never give up on your dreams. You should be creative and take action to make them happen.”

Check out Bobby’s website at http://sendbobtoberkeley.com

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The 3rd Malaysian Student Leaders Summit

The 3rd Malaysian Student Leaders Summit will be held on 8th and 9th August 2009.

The details of the events and list of speakers (according to the Official MSLS Facebook Group) are:-

Third Malaysian Student Leaders Summit (MSLS 2009)
Embrace the Power of Reason
This summit will be a platform for intellectual and scholastic discourse between the prominent figures and also the Malaysian student leaders from around the world. One of the key missions of this summit is to expose the participants to Malaysians who are world class leaders, speakers and thinkers in diverse fields, encouraging an understanding of Malaysia's unique challenges.

PROPOSED Sessions and Speakers:

DAY ONE
*Officiating Address

*ECONOMIC ADDRESS:

“Sustainable Growth or Distributive Justice- Role of Monetary Policy in Building the New Economic Model for Malaysia”

Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Governor of BNM

*NATION BUILDING SESSION:

ARTS AND LITERATURE: The best way forward in building national identity?

Patrick Teoh, theatre activist; Yasmin Ahmad, film director; Kam Raslan, writer, Dato Seri Annuar Zaini, Chairman BERNAMA

*CORPORATE MALAYSIA SESSION:

The Recession Is Here: Staying on top During the Downturn

Dato’ Seri Che Khalib, CEO TNB; Dato’ Justin Leong, Head of Investment, Genting Group; Tan Sri Azman Hashim, Chairman of AmBank Group

*EDUCATION/LANGUAGE:

The Survival of Bahasa Melayu as our National Language in the Context of Education Policy Development

Dato Johan Jaafar, columnist and author, Dato’ Wee Ka Siong, Deputy Education Minister, Emeritus Professor Nik Safiah Karim, linguist

*YOUTH DEVELOPMENT FORUM:

Youth- A greater role in the electorate, a bigger responsibility towards Malaysia
Dato’ Sheikh Muszaphar, ANGKASAWAN and youth icon, Hannah Yeoh, ADUN Subang, Dato’ Razali Ibrahim, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, Tai Zee Kin Deputy Chairman of UKEC

*SPECIAL ADDRESS

Malaysia Beyond 2020: Direction, Issues and Challenges

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad, former Prime Minister of Malaysia


*POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT SESSION

Transforming Malaysian Politics: Enlarging the Middle Ground in the Age of Partisanship
YB Dr Lo’Lo’ Ghazali (PR), MP, YB Datuk Nur Jazlan Rahmat, MP (BN), YB Tian Chua (PR), MP,YB SK Devamany (BN), MP

*SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

From Technology User to Leader: Strategies to Avoid Playing Catch-Up Game with the Asian Giants

Dato’ Badlisham Ghazali, CEO of MDeC; Prof Dato Ir. Dr Zaini Ujang, Vice Chancellor, UTM; Dr Daud Mohammad, Director-General of Malaysian Nuclear Agency

*LEGAL/ UNITY

Malaysian Federal Constitution: Interpreting and Understanding Article 153 in the formation of Bangsa Malaysia

Prof Aziz Bari, Constitutional Law Expert, SenatorTan Sri Dato Dr. Koh Tsu Koon, Minister in the PM Department (Unity and Performance Management), Dato’ Ambiga Sreevanesan, former BAR Council President, Ibrahim Ali, MP

*SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Civil Society’s Progress in Malaysia- Giving Voice to the Voiceless or Voice for the Middle-Class conscience?

Ong Kian Ming, education activist, Malik Imtiaaz Sawar, human rights activist, Tan Sri Dato’ Dr Jemilah Mahmood, President of MERCY Malaysia

*GOVERNANCE/CLOSING ADDRESS

‘1Malaysia: People First, Performance Now’- Towards a Strong and Responsible Government for Today and Tomorrow’

Y.A.B Dato Sri Najib Tun Razak, Prime Minister of Malaysia

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN! To register, please visit http://msls09.com/ and complete the form. You will receive a notification upon receipt of your registration form. PLEASE DO NOT REGISTER MORE THAN ONCE as this would cause delay in confirming your place closer to the event.

For more information, please visit http://msls09.com/ or contact one of the organizing committee members below:
Project Director, Chairman of UKEC: Amir Fareed Rahim amirfareedrahim AT ukeconline DOT com
Deputy Chairman: Tai Zee Kin, zeekin AT ukeconline DOT com
General Secretary: Lim Boon Seong, boonseong AT ukeconline DOT com

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Towards US Universities Admission - Fall 2010

Below is a sharing that I wrote in ReCom.org - The Worldwide Malaysian Students Network .
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It's Mid June now, and it is another 203 days to application deadline of 2nd January 2010.

If you have set your dream to further studies to top US Universities in fall 2010 (Aug/Sep 2010), then you should definitely start your action already! Start preparing seriously, since time is not really on your side. 203 days will fly by very fast. By coming Tuesday, it would be countdown 200 days already!

For those of you who have just recently gotten prestigious scholarships to further studies to US, Congratulations! However, would say that getting the scholarship is just the first step. What you should do now, would be to really work very hard to get into the best university possible. And what's best university, would be the university that suits you the most. So, it might not be the most famous university.

Before I go further, will put the link of a few other ReCom threads earlier on US Applications. Do read through here , here and here .

The reason I set this new thread is so that all of you can concentrate on using a common thread to prepare, and for future batches, they can see in full, how's the questions, preparation for a batch.

The timeline that you should know:-
Now - Dec 2009 - TOEFL Test
10th Oct 2009 - SAT Reasoning/Subject Test
1st Nov 2009 - Early Decision/Action Deadline for Most Universities
7th Nov 2009 - SAT Reasoning/Subject Test (Last Date for SAT test for Early Decision/Action applicants)
5th Dec 2009 - SAT Reasoning/Subject Test (Ideal Last Date for SAT Test)
Mid Dec 2009 - Admission Decision for Early Decision/Action
2nd Jan 2010 - Regular Decision Deadline for Most Universities (Do check deadline for particular universities, as some deadlines do defer)
23rd Jan 2010 - SAT Reasoning/Subject Test (Last Date for SAT Test)
Feb - Apr 2010 - Admission Decision for Regular Decision
1st Apr 2010 (5am Malaysia Time) - Admission Decision for Regular Decision of Ivy League Universities
1st May 2010 - Decided on your university by now.
June/July 2010 - Obtained your I-20 and applied for US Visa.
Aug/Sep 2010 - Start your studies in US Universities

I am sure above would create more questions than answers to you. You might be wondering on a number of those terms. My suggestion for you would be to google/wikipedia those. Try to take initiatives, rather than waiting for spoonfeeding.

Some clarification of the terms:-
1. Regular Decision - This is the normal application pool
2. Early Decision - You can use this option for your top dream university. You are allowed to apply for 1 university only under Early Decision. If you get into this university, you are legally binded to attend that university. Your chance of admission is significantly higher.
3. Early Action - You can use this option for your top dream university. You have higher chance of admission, but you are not binded for the decision.
4. SAT - check it here .
5. TOEFL - check it here .
6. On application forms for most universities, refer to Common Applications .

Then, the next question some of you would ask would be what is required to apply for US Universities. I would say that the following would each play a part in it, and is not limited to the following:-
1. Application Essays
2. Standardized Tests (SAT Reasoning Test, SAT Subject Tests, TOEFL)
3. Pre-U and High School Results
4. Resume/CV
5. Co-curricular activities (including external activities, charity, community service, business, conferences, research, competitions, performances etc)
6. Recommendation Letters
7. Interviews
8. Special talents

And to all of you who are still thinking of your long strings of A1s in SPM, do remember that this is a global competition to get admission. Your 15A1s or more A1s may not help much. It might be a tough reality to accept, but your long string of A1s is not too important. So, you need to prove yourself to the universities that you are really good.

So, you might be saying, so what I can prepare now?

My thought would be that you can start preparing on some of these stuff:-
1. SAT Reasoning Test - Grab a book(s) and start prepare. If your English is not very solid, you do need to put in a lot of efforts in this. Strengthen your vocabulary through programs like Free Rice . Try the comprehension. Are you ready to answer Maths questions in English? Is your grammar solid?

2. SAT Subject Tests - Do start choosing the 3 subjects or more that you would like to take for SAT Subject Tests.

--> Do note that you have to sit for SAT Reasoning Test and SAT Subject Tests in different months. And there are tests only in Oct, Nov, Dec, and maybe you can take the Jan 2010 one too. And most students do need to resit again, so be prepared for one of your SAT test in October and another one in November.

3. Resumes/CVs - Start to prepare this early and get it ready.

4. Recommendation Letters - Start to get your teachers and others who can recommend you to start drafting it. It shouldn't be a repetition of what you have written in your CV/Resume. So, just pass your CV/Resume to your teacher to write would not make it. It would be useless. It should be about personal observation of the recommendor on you.

5. Application Essays - This is very important. Do start carrying a notepad and jotting down any part of your life that you think is unique. Essentially, this will really be helpful, when you start writing your essays.

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This write up is quite long already. Hope that all of you can start preparing now, and really make full use of the resources. We have put up about 30+ resources at here , so those would be good place for you to start prepare.

And don't forget to sign up for the workshop on 1st, 2nd, 15th August 2009. About 25 incoming students/current students/alumni of various top US universities will be facilitating. You can get the info here too.

Lets all of you work very hard, and hopefully, some of you will be able to get into your dream university! The hard work these 7 months would be worth it. You will learn a lot in the process, and this will be the busiest moment of your life (much more stress than your SPM time), but you will learn from it. Good Luck!

Do post your questions at ReCom.org and do share the resources with others who are applying too! You are fighting the global challenge to see how many Malaysians can make it to these universities!
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ReCom.org Wiki - Malaysian Education Encyclopedia

Do you care about Malaysians?
Do you care about education for Malaysians?
Have you been complaining about the education system?

If you answer yes to those questions above, I would like to invite you to come together and lets build a very comprehensive encyclopedia for Malaysian Education. This will be in the form of a wiki, which would be similar to the concept of wikipedia.

Whatever you share is public information and it is for the benefit of everyone.

Do check out ReCom Wiki - Malaysian Education Encyclopedia here .

To get started:-
1. Step 1: If you are not yet a ReCom members, do sign up for a quick account.
2. Step 2: Go to Wiki and start updating!

This is the Facebook group here . Please kindly help to spread the words around.

This is a fully community project. So, lets make a difference for the future of Malaysians!

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Encourage any of my blog readers to share with me any event that you come across. As long as the event/activity/initiative is education/charity/youth oriented and is not-for-profit, I will be more than happy to post it to share

Feel free to quote any post within my blog, as long as you link it back here. Sharing is always a good virtue. :)

Leaderonomics Talks

Thanks to invite by Aidan Chew, I attended Leaderonomics Entrepreneurship Academy 2009 launch this afternoon, and would say that I do learn a lot from the 3 speakers.

The first speaker was Roshan Thiran, CEO of Leaderonomics. The title is Building a Future via Entrepreneurship. Roshan was former global director of GE and Johnson & Johnson.

Roshan talked on formation of entrepreneurship, where he highlighted the challenges that he has gone through and shared with us the context too.

During his university time, he saw model by Dell in making computer, and he got togehter with a friend from Korea, where they would put together computer to sell to students in his campus. And from there, he could make a couple hundred dollars per weekend by assembling the computer and can still undercut other corporates by a lot.

As the business grew, the city even asked them to bid to supply 2,000 computers for high schools around the community.

As they expanded, they started to buy more inventory. And with some advice, they started to pile inventory in 1,000, as the price that they could get is much lower. Initially, it was greater profit margin, and people can have a good selection of parts. However, as newer version of Intel was released, the price of those microprocessor/micro chip just crashed. They lost $100,000 of inventory, and basically wiped out all the profit that they have made over the past 2-3 years. It was really demotivating for them.

Roshan went through a bunch of failures, and those were his learning point. Every journey starts with failures.

As Roshan started to write for the newspaper, he had to do more research and he found out that Thomas Edison failed 10,000 times, before he invented light bulb. And if he had failed fewer times, he would not have been able to succeed. He learned from the failure and improve on it. Failure is a key part of the journey.

Roshan spent about 12-13 years with General Electric and 2 years with Johnson and Johnson.

His advice on running a business is not about the business itself or the process, but rather about the people and the culture. He wanted to be a teacher, and he ran GE training place at Cottonville for some time.

When he looked at Malaysia, we don't have strong role model to follow, especially those who have done things with action. We need to enhance on our productivity and get people to evolve into real leadership.

So, Roshan decided to start a social enterprise, where they would teach staff in corporations and earn the money and then plough back the profits to bring "ideations" for projects.

He talked on how people learned, where in experience mode, especially teaching, people remembered 100% of what they teach. By doing something, people can remember 85% within 3 weeks and 70% within 3 months. If people just see, then it would be 72% retention within 3 weeks and 20% within 3 months, and if people just listen, then it is 70% within 3 weeks and 10% within 3 months.

Listening would be stuff like listening to presentation/speech/manuel/flyer/video etc, whereas seeing is seeing someone doing something. By doing it, one role plays and also have practical applications of it, and when one teaches, one lead others to do, and a way of it, is to coach own's team and teach other leaders.

Roshan found through research that by doing something for 10,000 hours with passion and endurance, one would be world class. He gave the example of Beatles. They used to be deemed as playing very badly in Liverpool. However, then they went away to play 8 hours a day everyday for 5 years, and that accumulated 12,000 hours of playing. With that, they went back to Liverpool and became a star.

Wayne Rooney learned about anticipation technique in soccer at a age of 4 years old. Practice is very important.

Roshan shared that leaders are based on context. In start-up, leaders would need to really get their hands dirty, work on details and also micro-manage. In big enterprise, then leaders would need to delegate and empower.

Roshan gave an example of how Mother Teresa was in a bakery in Calcutta, and they tried to swindle her money. She asked for free brand and was being scolded/abused etc. However, after each abuse, she asked for the bread, and in the end, they gave her the bread. Even people like Mother Teresa can be assertive, and it is due to context.

So, it depends often on what context to decide to use which right techniques. When do you know how you decide what to do.

To learn content, one can learn in Google, but context would need real practical experience. Leaders need to go through multiple scenario to learn it.

To run a business, one would need expertise. For instance, Google, its CEO is not Larry Page or Sergey Brin - the founders. And the only way to become experts would be through practice. Context is what you experience.

Roshan shared on one of his learning through context. He used to leave things around, so once he accidentally left the payroll of his staff in a photocopy machine, and his supervisor fired him. After 2 weeks, his supervisor called him back, and hope that he has learn his lesson.

Another occasion was when he was an integration leader in Dallas, where he has to do a 3-in-1 merger. That was his 3rd job, and he was still in his early/mid 20s then. After he has implemented the system, no one used it, and they complain about him, and he got sent back. What Roshan later realized was that he didn't focus as much on culture.

When he was in his 7th job, as CEO of GE Aircraft Malaysia, he tried to transform the culture, where they exceed world class performance.

Roshan quoted George Kohlrieser, IMD Professor of Leadership, where he says "5% of leadership is genetic, and 95% of it is learnt by practice. Roshan concluded that 95% of all skills, ability, talent is learned.

He shared on how Jack Welch at the age of 64, learned as much on IT within 3 weeks, and that was 1 year before his retirement. The trigger point was that his wife was buying things online and he realized his mistake. Back then, Roshan was the Head of Y2K for GE.

Roshan advised that even when we are working for someone, we are still "Sdn Bhd". We should find board of advisors. One of the advisors for Roshan was George Kohlrieser.

For a job, when we find that learning ends, then performance would get plateau and learning gets smaller. When we struggle, we really learn a lot. Performance should equal potential. The more you struggle, the more you learn and practice is ultimate.

Roshan shared on how he quit from a comfortable role in Johnson & Johnson to start up Leaderonomics and grow from 2 people to 20 people now, and he advised everyone to seek mentorship and take advantage and learn and make use of the advantage. Never too late to start (case in point, Jack Welsh started on IT in the age of 64), and we should strive through multiple scenario.

Above is the first part of the talks. Would share on the other 2 speakers' talk later. Do check out here again.







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UnReason.my

Thanks to the invite by Michael Teoh from Youth Entrepreneur Malaysia and also Daniel Cerventus from Malaysia Entrepreneurs to Unreason.my at Urban Attics at CapSquare.

Would have to say that I enjoyed the meet-up and it is definitely a great group of people there, who are very passionate about making the change for Malaysia. They are not just people who are talking about it, but going down to make the real change.

A few of my observations there:-
1. They are all motivated to work together to spur change for the country - Malaysia.
2. They are united, despite each of them might be having their own pet initiative. It is interesting to see they support each other's events/initiatives/projects.
3. It is all about idea and big idea, where for instance, they have those little books being placed around and for people to jot down their ideas as they speak. It is an interesting concept.
4. They are very motivated to empower others, and share. Daniel Cerventus called me up (thanks!) to share on What's After SPM .
5. One of the points said was "Youth is not the future, but now". "The future is the kid today."

The networking is great and I would like to urge everyone to support the following few initiatives, and if you have more, do let me know, and I'll highlight it here too! It is the change that we hope we can do for the country.

1. Unreason.my - UnReason is about Malaysians coming together to solve our own problems through entrepreneurship.

Three steps for it:-
a) Create idea and watch support grow for it
b) Crowd source funding for it. Anyone can chip in any amount to support an initiative.
c) Track the impact of the idea.

As of now, Unreason.my has not been officially started, but do join the Facebook group to get the latest update - here .

2. MalaysiaCrime.com - A site where Malaysians can report any crime happens in the country and share with fellow Malaysians.

This is by Kegan Gan. He started this site after he saw the robbery happened to Yang Jerng.

3. Malaysia Entrepreneurs - Daniel Cerventus has definitely done a fabulous job to motivate more Malaysians to get into entrepreneurship!

4. Youth Entrepreneur Malaysia - This community aims to be the voice of youth entrepreneurs from all around Malaysia and around the world.

Do check those up!

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L4T Leadership Series - Dato' Seri Nazir Tun Abdul Razak

5th of May 2009 was the inaugural lecture series for L4T (Leaders for Tomorrow) .

The first speaker is Dato' Seri Nazir Tun Abdul Razak, CEO of CIMB Group. He talked on "Opportunities in Adversity".

Dato' Seri Nazir is a strong believer in opportunity in adversities. He prefers to look at glass half full, and believe that great success can be found at the extreme end of the failure. He believes in people who have failed and then learned the lesson, picked ownself up and then rebounced.

He recalled the force of crisis shook the established order, and CIMB managed to grow as Malaysia's largest merchant bank after the crisis. Despite that, they still incur one major loss, which was a great lesson learned.

During downturn, do not cut back, and invest in the branding. CIMB went into Ringgit-denominated bond market and when came out from crisis, it had a niche there. CIMB was the only merchant bank not distracted by the crisis then.

Another scenario was in 2002, when CIMB decided to get listed, and made an IPO offer of 1.75 . CIMB has facilitated many IPOs, and hence is deemed as an expert in it. However, in the 1st 4 months, its share price does not move. It was terribly embarrassing, and it was as if CIMB can't even list its own company. The market could not readily accept the listing. So, it has to go back to the drawing board.

Understood that the market may not understand the business model, so CIMB decided to pay up around 20% of dividend within 3 months of IPO. That gave some visibility to CIMB and it tried to resell its new business proposition. Then, finally, CIMB went up 174% within 1st year and 363% within 1st 3 years. That was one of the great successes of IPO.

In 2005, CIMB market value was 3 times its book value, whereas for CAHB was just 0.9 time. CAHB got Mckinsey to look into what to do, and around that time CIMB has bought over GKGoh. Dato' Seri Nazir realized that CIMB was too small and hence, it would be tough to compete at regional level. So, the proposal was for CIMB to merge with BCB, and with Nazir being the CEO.

Back then, CIMB's market capitalization was just RM6 Billion with 1,000 employees, but today, as an universal bank, its market capitalization was around RM30 Billion with 36,000 employees.

Dato' Seri Nazir talked on personal career development. When he first came back from UK and tried to apply for CIMB, General Manager of CIMB back then, Robert rejected him. He was very dejected. Nazir appealed to Senior General Manager of Corporate Finance and eventually got accepted as employee No. 67. One of the reasons he got turned down was that he was not an accountant.

Steve Wong was his supervisor, and he is a nightmare boss. Worked late, and really expected a lot from Nazir. Nazir got scoled by him many times, but Nazir credited him for making him tough, and learn through the challenging time and it helped in the long term.

Nazir advised us to leverage and work as a team. Even as a rookie, Nazir has a council of advisers, whom he trusted and gave him impartial advice. He was fortunate to have Azlina as his wife together with him since his Bristol's days.

We need people whom we can go to and strategize, whether during chips going up or down. We shouldn't get carried away by status or position, as all those are just temporary. We should always keep our feet at the ground.

During the Q&A, Nazir mentioned that it is just impossible to do due diligence within 48 hours to decide to acquire another bank. It usually takes at least 6 months to do so. At one point, CIMb was about the same market capitalization as Barclays. However, Nazir mentioend that it is not impossible for Asian banks to take great transformation.

As of now, total write offs by banks are around $1.5 trillion and he expected maybe another $1 trillion could be written off.

Nazir complained that US lending practice is irresponsible. The leverage was just too high, and if in Malaysia, Bank Negara Malaysia would not have approved that kind of leverage. There are a lot of processes to check, even just for credits. US banks believed that house prices would continue to go up, so their lending policy was very lax. There is a massive need for US and Europe to deleverage.

In this region, the Central banks of different countries (Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia) communicated with each other every 2-3 weeks.

Nazir believed that this current crisis may mean that the colonial mentality would go away.

Nazir believed that we do not have much excesses and the disclosure of executive compensation is fine. The transformation to IB model and allow to tap on money market is good. This will underlie the logic of universal bank, where even Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley went n this path.

This could be an Asian century, if there is tectonic shift, and if Asian really make it open. China has an important role to play, and China has built up 2 trillion worth of reserves and have not been investing in investment banks. Today, consumers in Indonesia can buy Chinese goods traded in Rupiahs.

Nazir believed that Malaysian companies are not as competitive as it should be. Khazanah has done a good job, but it started at a low base. We had to get people to think regional, and very few Malaysian companies are ready for regional. He cited that Air Asia and Petronas are the exception.

On Vision 2020, he felt that we need a new direction and the new administration need to set up a new agenda and direction. We will not reach the number based on Vision 2020. The changing in paradigm requires us to adapt and change.

We need to always change ourselves to stay relevant and never take what we are today for granted. Others will catch up. Our role and responsibility will change over time and we have to reinvent ourselves. Every season is different.

On the issues of bringing bank Malaysians, Nazir feels that ti is very important agenda. Realistically speaking, we need to really go for them, and offer the recruits an enabling environment, and have a decent chance to get where they deserve. Some people might be feeling that the overall feel is that the country is not enabling. People don't think that they can truly achieve what they dream, and the perception is there, and it is derived due to some reality. There is a lot for the new leadership to do on this.

Nazir has gone on record a few times to ask for review of NEP. The policy needs to provide affirmative action, but need to make people believe what they build is theirs.

We used to be able to say "political stability" as a selling point for Malaysia, but now, we can't. Nazir stressed that if Barisan got it right, then they will be able to remain in government. 8th of March provided the check and balance, and the vote was mainly of people against Barisan, perhaps due to the arrogance built up.

CIMB contribution to our human capital would be to invest a lot to hire quite a number of them and train them.

In terms of property price, it hasn't gone down much for Malaysia. Worse is around KLCC area, where price has dropped by about 15%. We don't have a bubble built up.

If we are not at the right position, then we have to think to bring us to right position. We need to look at cross border opportunities.

As CEO, Nazir set the agenda and have long term vision for CIMB. It is to be a leading regional universal bank. To acquire a bank is easy, but to integrate it and enable customers to do cross border transaction conveniently would require huge system integration investment. CIMB needs to pump in RM600 Million on that. Currently, CIMB has the largest branch network in ASEAN.

System is by far the most critical component, and need to invest a lot on it, to get the system right. Need to be able to recognize the customers, irrespective of country.

On the merger with BCB, it is a huge transformational challenge. A lot of tactic involved, and need to get 80% of BCB senior management to leave. Nazir stressed on high performance and build in a 6-month Mutual Separation Scheme, where bonus period was within it, and those top performers were rewarded handsomely. In the end, 12.5% of ex-BCB staff took it up.

For Southern Bank, it was on infusion of culture. On Day 1, Nazir spent 15 minutes 1-on-1 with the senior management team of Southern Bank. People are happy with the opportunities, and they don't like politics or impediments. Nazir contacted Public Bank and Hong Leong CEO not to pinch Southern Bank staff initially. However, Nazir didn't inform his staff, and end up his staff pinched some Hong Leong's staff.

For any merger or acquisition to make sense, it needs to create value. Economy of scale is a thing, but need to look at the cost. For the merger, CIMB issue a report to show the synergy value and cost of integration and 1 year after that, has a report card to show its progress. This shows what it achieves based on what it promises.

On education, Nazir agreed that we have a big screw up in it. Our education system is found wanting, and Malaysians have been unfairly under-educated. And we need a long-term solution to improve the schools. Nazir proposed that we take 1% of the stimulus package to hire teachers from Mumbai, Beijing etc to accelerate the process to teach our students. Even this, we will only see the fruits in several years.

In the mean time, we have to live iwth retraining. The immigration department need to revamp as well, as the policy to bring a foreign labour and knowledge worker is the same.

Nazir stressed that the new Prime Minister gets the point that he needs to deliver, or else he will have no job to do in 3-4 years' time. Some of the stuff that the Prime Minister tries to do, he gets pushed back.

Thanks.

Next session for Leaders for Tomorrow would be Tun Daim Zainuddin on 26th May 2009 at Menara SBB, Plaza Damansara.




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Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2009

KL International Marathon will be held on 28th June 2009, and Standard Chartered will be the main sponsor this year, and hence, we will join Singapore in having huge marathon. (Hopefully!)

I have just signed up for the 10km and also have pledged my support to one of the 5 causes that KL International Marathon is championing for.

The 5 causes are:-
1. Standard Chartered Trust Fund
2. Shelter Home for Children
3. Development of Human Resources in Rural Area
4. National Autism Society of Malaysia
5. Malaysia Nature Society.

Hope that you can join the marathon (for health and fun sake) and also sign up for one of the charity causes! If not, do go there and donate/support! To donate, go here . Very simple and it is tax exempted too.

To join the marathon, go here .


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Chen Chow's Other Posts
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Encourage any of my blog readers to share with me any event that you come across. As long as the event/activity/initiative is education/charity/youth oriented and is not-for-profit, I will be more than happy to post it to share

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Article by John Lee on Unity for Malaysia

A very solid article by John Lee. This sums up what most Malaysians abroad think, and hopefully, we Malaysians, can be united!

This is quoted from here .
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APRIL 17 — It’s rather clichéd, but you don’t know how much you value something you own until you lose it. As a Malaysian living overseas, you cherish Malaysia much more than you did when you were back home. And when you finally meet up again with other Malaysians, all you can talk about is how much you miss Malaysia — and how much you wish things might change, as much as you love it.

It is rather lonely being a Malaysian studying in America; there just aren’t very many Malaysians around. If the number of Malaysians on your campus is in the double digits, you can count yourself extremely lucky. This is a big reason why a bunch of Malaysians dispersed across the northeastern United States came together and formed the Northeast Malaysia Forum in 2007 — our second annual conference, held at Yale University, concluded just under a week ago.

NMF, as we have come to call it, gives us a taste of home. Words cannot describe how comforting it is to once more be among people who look like you and your friends, talk like you and your friends, and eat like you and your friends. For a little while, it’s almost as if you really are home again.

Looking at Malaysia from the inside, it’s often hard to believe that we are actually one country, or 1 Malaysia, as the Prime Minister would have it — much like the shopping mall, I suppose. But when you go overseas, these differences really melt away. Nobody gives a crap where you’re from, what race you are, or what languages you speak — they’re just excited to see another Malaysian.

I believe that what defines a nation the best is the shared experiences which its people must go through. Regardless of what we actually think about Negaraku, the Jalur Gemilang, Rukunegara — whether we think of them as patriotic reminders of our country, or pointless propaganda — we all know what they mean, and we all care about this meaning, even if that is sometimes reflected in gripes about our government. Perhaps more importantly, we all have a favourite Malaysian food, a favourite Malaysian song, a favourite Malaysian person; we are in love with something Malaysian. And nothing reminds you more of how much we have in common than spending months separated from all you hold dear.

If you want to create national unity and nurture patriotism, cost be damned, just disperse all those kids we send to National Service across the globe — and reunite them 12 months later in a foreign land. It’s expensive, but it works. Every year, at NMF social events, it is guaranteed that you will find people randomly breaking out into patriotic song — just turn the corner and you might find someone belting out “Sejahtera Malaysia”.

Perhaps more importantly than this, because we are reminded of how much we love our country, we don’t shrink from speaking some hard truths about it. When people give us feedback on NMF discussions, there’s always astonishment at the things that came out, and a sense of regret that we could not have discussions like these back home. Last weekend, a Malay in the group I attended bluntly told us: “You know, the Malays are really very racist.” A Chinese responded: “If you think the Malays are racist, you haven’t met the Chinese yet!”

Strikingly, these conversations were not just being held in conference rooms at Yale, but in cities across the world: for what might have been the first time in history, Malaysians in places ranging from Sydney to Yale to London gathered together to watch a live webcast of speakers hosted at a studio in 1 Utama, Petaling Jaya. And then, in real time, as the speakers held forth, these Malaysians engaged in a spirited debate online, in a chatroom, leaving no controversial issue untouched — from race to religion. Almost every imaginable point of view was represented — and questions from this very chatroom were posed to the speakers in KL, also in real time, allowing for an unprecedented, jovial and amazingly civil back-and-forth between Malaysians across the globe.

Meaningful dialogue, even on sensitive issues, is very possible — and while back home, repressive laws may be a barrier, the biggest block is primarily societal: most Malaysians are not comfortable enough with each other to have these frank discussions. We are not vulnerable enough to let our guards down; we define ourselves by a conflict with some other ominous group. I have heard many Chinese over the years admit to other Chinese that most of us are incredibly insensitive and far too racist — but till now, I have never seen a single one dare admit this to someone from another ethnic group. But when your worldview changes — when you’re overseas — you’re just a Malaysian among Malaysians: you can talk about Malaysian issues as a Malaysian, instead of as a Muslim, or a Chinese, or a Perakian.

NMF actually grew out of an earlier initiative by a group of Malaysians in California, who founded the Stanford Malaysia Forum — and what both groups have in common is a desire to drive this dialogue, to build bridges between Malaysians of different backgrounds. We recognise that right now we are not quite 1 Malaysia — or a Bangsa Malaysia, or a Malaysian Malaysia, or whatever you want to call it, because these labels really all mean the same thing. But we believe this ideal, united Malaysia can be created, if only enough Malaysians can come together to make it a reality.

This year, the theme for the NMF conference was Revision 2020: rethinking our idea of what a truly developed and progressive Malaysia should look like. As much as we may disagree on what this ideal Malaysia should be, we are at least talking openly about it, and through conversations with other Malaysians, slowly making a united Malaysia — a Malaysia with a shared vision — a reality. We posed hard questions with no simple solutions, and we shared our differing ideas freely and civilly.

Can we really say the same for our members of Parliament, our Cabinet ministers, or even our simple gatherings in warungs and kopitiams across the country? When we complacently slide back into the old idea of pitting one group of Malaysians against another, it is much easier to pretend these problems aren’t really there — it is simpler to ignore the elephant in the room, or to dismiss it as a trivial problem. But until we can frankly talk about that elephant, we’re never going to make it go away: until we can talk openly and honestly to another Malaysian, regardless of who or what they are, can we really call ourselves 1 Malaysia?

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Encourage any of my blog readers to share with me any event that you come across. As long as the event/activity/initiative is education/charity/youth oriented and is not-for-profit, I will be more than happy to post it to share

Feel free to quote any post within my blog, as long as you link it back here. Sharing is always a good virtue. :)