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02/26/2013

Tak Boleh Tahan!

saying goodbye

“Tak Boleh Tahan!” is Malay that can be somewhat translated as “I can’t take it anymore!” (if i’m not wrong!) so why this title you ask? Because I can’t take it anymore, I feel so blessed with such awesome friends and I actually feel really sad leaving (again) this time!

So minus the fact of the escalating cost of living in Singapore, I realized this trip home made me miss being in Singapore more than the past few times when I was traveling around. Perhaps because I have been back for more than a month, I got really comfortable with the environment and weather (even if I wished for more sun). Or perhaps I have been away for too long? haha though 2 years away from home is nothing as compared to some of my international friends out there.

some of the fond memories from this vacation <3

Since it was Chinese New Year period and the fact that I was so busy with my thesis preparation/PhD application, I didn’t get to meet up with many people but still I had fun with the few cliques that I managed to meet up. I am so so so sorry for those whom I didn’t have time to meet up with! But thank you for the others who managed to take time off for me, especially knowing how everyone is busy with work or tired after work but still came down for me really appreciate it! The unplanned numerous hi-bye small chats were pleasant surprises too! It was awesome to know new friends too, especially the team behind re:solve, all the best for the rest of the production and looking forward to the upcoming movie!

Fear not! (haha I don’t think anyone is..lol) I will be back in June and be done with Beijing very soon! Please pray for me and wish me luck for my thesis and I promise to keep everyone posted! I will also try to do the vlogs that I have always wanted to do while in China to show how life is over the great firewall! But that’ll come probably in April, after I submit my MA thesis.

In the meantime, take care everyone and God bless! Thank you Singapore, it’s been a great time being home. (As much as I still do not want to settle down here yet..lol)

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Tagged beijing, blog, china, friends, malay, movie, re:solve, singapore, thesis, vlog, weather

08/01/2012

Milestones: The First Year

Back on sunny island aka Singapore, hopefully to revamp the blog and attempt to keep it updated once again. It’s been awhile and I bet most people have forgotten its existence. (boohoo) This August marks the end of my first year in Beijing Normal University, it has been an exciting ride so far with many changes within just a short period of time. So for the fresh start to this blog once again, let me recall what went on for the past year in Beijing. (long entry ahead)

as most of you should know by now, i am currently doing my international M.A program in Comparative Education. The course is 2 years and conducted in English, with 15 other international friends from all over the world. It has been great and I’ve learnt a lot of things from my peers too. It is indeed different from my SMU days but life’s good so far. Almost done with most of my classes except for 1 core and 1 elective class. Now time to fight and struggle with my final thesis which is on social media+educational leadership.

so as usual, I am still pretty active in school – joining student clubs and helping out in events. Joined this chinese debate on Beijing Traffic (see pic) and we won second prize! That’s quite an achievement for someone who barely speaks Chinese back home. I was also dragged into a music instrument competition and forced to practice Guzheng once again after 7 years of not touching it..thank god my foundation is still strong enough for a Bronze award. The most ridiculous prize I’ve won is probably the cooking competition where I had to wrap dumplings. But it has been fun and adds on alil spice in my student life. It gets really boring some times. Of course, having friends do help – sadly, most of them are back home for good as they are on 1 year program or exchange. Hopefully the next semester will bring in more friends that I might get along with.

I have also been traveling around China as much as I can. So far in the past year, I think I have been to Harbin, Xi’An (again), LanZhou, BeiDaihe, Tianjin, QinHuangDao, XiJiaZhuang, countryside of Beijing and of course the climb to HuaShan (see pic) was most memorable. Traveling around China is relatively cheap though I’d say every city looks pretty much the same to me somehow. Starting to love the great nature much more and looking forward to visit more places once I am more or less done with my thesis next year!

Came back to Singapore since 8th July and had the honor to help out with the University Events team in SMU at this year’s commencement. Was great seeing all my friends again and juniors who are graduating this year. Reminded me of my own commencement in 2011, which sadly, I didn’t take that many pictures of or any studio shots. Guess there’s always the next graduation to look forward to! Speaking of future, I am currently hoping to find a job in Singapore that will relocate me to Beijing. (p.s if you come across any companies hiring, do drop me a message! deeply appreciated!) Probably back to Marketing/PR/Events/Management field since I think Education requires much more patience than I have.

In the meantime, do remember this blog and come back for more updates. I promise to do this regularly once again since my classes are almost over! Give me suggestions on what to blog about too! =)

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Tagged beijing, blog, BNU, china, commencement, singapore, smu, travel

12/11/2010

4 Comments

IMO, Love, TeeVee

The Mermaid Theory ?

In the 11th episode of ‘How I Met Your Mother’ Season 6, Barney Stinson mentioned about <The Mermaid Theory> whereby girls are seen as manatees until one day when you’ve spent long enough time with her, she’ll transform into a mermaid… and he further eleborated on his blog :

“No matter how hot or unhot a woman is, eventually you will want to sleep with her. The time it takes for this process to occur is the chick’s “Mermaid Clock.” It starts the first time you lay eyes on a chick and stops ticking the instant you want to get your jam on.”

So that’s the theory from the modern guys.

On the other hand, most girls usually follow <Ladder Theory> whereby guys are placed on this “bi-ladderal” system – either the Good Ladder or the Friends Ladder – if guys from the friends ladder try to jump over to the good ladder, and fails – usually they fall into the abyss between these 2 ladders. (which I guarantee most of those cases do fail.) The transition tends to be impossible once the label is permanent.

I had a chat with a male friend of mine who asked if there’s ever a chance for guys who fall under ‘friends zone’ to be seen as a potential mate, and how to avoid being classified into the ‘friends’ zone before any potential feelings develop. As a girl, I admit that I do have these categories in my mind as well…or rather, everyone usually falls into friends zone for me – which makes things really awkward when someone suggests any interest in me romantically.

Then again, I believe that it takes awhile for the ‘Friends’ label to be fixed and never be turned into ‘mermaid’ aka developing interest/wanting a relationship with that person- but that’s just me.

Time for discussion :

1) How do you avoid being classified to the Friends Ladder ?

2) Do you believe in The Mermaid Theory ? If no, why not ?

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Tagged barney stinson, blog, friends, good, HIMYM, How I Met Your Mother, relationship, the ladder theory, the mermaid theory

11/05/2010

1 Comment

IMO, MYY, SMUBE

It’s NOT The End.

[Long Entry Ahead]

As you guys probably know by now, I didn’t make it to the Top 10 #WCI ! Am I disappointed ? Perhaps a little but I’m sure there are reasons why the final 10 is the final 10 and there’s nothing much to ‘cry over’ since I’ve tried my best and it has been a fun experience. So not to worry about me, like I said – your same old @iammyy here !

Getting into Final 23s was already a bonus to me – to think that I’ve never quite considered joining this in the first place to coming up with the last minute post just because my friends around me were like ‘Come on ! Just give it a go ! It’s so you please!” to finding out that I was in the Final 23 among the thousand over applicants to r ushing out a video in the middle of the night after school with my closest bunch of friends till 4am. What more can I ask for ? I would have never experience all these without trying in the first place ! So thank you @StanChartBreeze for the opportunity !

To answer some questions I’ve received so far :

1) How did you get into Top 23 ? I have no idea ! Perhaps I was the wildcard ? (haha) But all I did was blog – shared on 3 platforms and waited. Nothing special in particular (I did not use the $100 GoogleAd credit as well)

2) Did you have a strategy ? Obviously not ! I was rather last minute (my bad) since school is still my first priority afterall !

3) I was reading your old entries, do you have a boyfriend ? What a personal question, but not anymore and not looking ! Enjoy my life, focusing on school/career. Happy to have my family+friends around ! Romantic relationships can wait I guess ? haha

4) What’s next ? Continue my undergrad life and hopefully end it by next April ! Grabbing any opportunities along the way when it comes =) AND this will be my last WCI-related post for sure !

5) I really like your AOTW posts ! Thank You ! I think that’s the only thing I can be proud of as a ‘blogger’. Haha !

Here I am, after a much needed rest (lack of >3hrs sleep for the past few days is no joke). Just wanna briefly thank each and everyone who supported me for this #WCI competition ! Something I doodled within 15 minutes…There’s a reason why my Design School lecturer gave me C- for drawing ok! =P

Thank You to the Mak family for understanding, especially when I contributed the most to the electricity bill (haha!) Esp to my elder sister, Hilda for her support on the other side of the Great Firewall (yes, she’s currently in Beijing).

Next would be you readers, friends on twitter, facebook and plurk for the never-ending flow of support and encouragement ! Every single retweet/plurk/message counts and because of all these platforms, I’ve met many wonderful new friends. Thank You for all the opportunities and kind words! It has been an amazing journey since I first designed my website on Geocities and now, I have my own blog with growing number of readers. Really a motivation to continue blogging and knowing that there are people who actually like to read my entries! Thank You once again !

These are the people whom I’ve been with for the past 3+ years and despite the fact that I dislike school (who doesn’t !?) I am glad I’ve made wonderful friends in there. Special thanks to those who spared that few minutes to write a message and be publicly featured on my #WCI video ! Week 13…HANG IN THERE PEOPLE ! It’ll be my final term next year, will miss everyone alot ! Not forgetting the wonderful seniors who are busy working but not forgetting to drop me words of encouragement too !

Last but not least, this is the bunch of people whom I can never thank enough. My other family ! People who shared my tears and joy along the way, who helped me no matter how busy they are, who shared stupid jokes and giggled at everything, who stayed with me in school till 4am to finish up the video and a spontaneous marketing team till 7am, who flooded the rest of their network with my links/video in the middle of the night, who made sure I am fed all the time and had enough rest – not forgetting not to skip school (lol), who gave me words of support and much needed hugs when I feel like breaking down/giving up. You guys know who you are =) They have been the biggest support in my entire 4 years of SMU life and the friendships I’ve made in the club is something I’ll always treasure. Thank You everyone in SMUBE =) *sniff*

There’s just so many things to say and people to thank but I’ll stop here before everyone dies from my ugly handwriting and drawing..Once again, Thank You for being part of my life ! Cone Testicles all !

p.s : sorry to disappoint you guys =( no treats from me…..hahahahaha *runs away*

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Tagged blog, blogger, boyfriend, cone testicles, facebook, family, iammyy, plurk, smu, smu broadcast & entertainment, SMUBE, smuggers, stanchartbreeze, twitter, WCI, world's coolest intern

10/31/2010

1 Comment

IMO, Music, MYY, TeeVee, Uncategorized

World’s Coolest Intern…Perhaps ?

I know, the original deadline was 15th October. It took me this long to figure what I wanted to blog about, I’ve seen professional-looking videos, amazingly written resume-like posts, visually pleasing entries…let’s just say, the competition is tough, not just within the social media circle ! Suddenly, the mainstream media was talking all about this internship – even the aunties in the market heard of this ‘S$30,000′ internship. I was really cracking my head to come up with something that would made me stand out among the applicants and yet not too ‘superficial’ or ‘extravagant’…so till the last day (which is today) – I decided to just blog like how I’d normally do – being myself is always the best choice!

No one person is perfect – it is important for employers to find out the strengths that’s required for a position and find someone who is ‘world class’ in these areas despite certain weakness in the less important domains. I may not be the best (knowing there are many out there who might be better than me academically or with pages long resume..hur) but I do think I’m up for this challenge and it will not be just a job but self-discovering learning experience for me (like how my other internships have been).

Just earlier this year, I was thinking of my future career path and looking for new learning experience and this opportunity came along! Not only is the job scope attractive (Events+Social Media = What more can I ask for!) and a brand new industry (Working in a bank is like the ultimate dream for most SMU students but reality check : No non-finance/business student will apply for a banking job with a <50% success rate) AND perfect timing since I’m graduating next April !

Instead of pleading or hard-selling myself like many others (since you can pretty much figure out from my blog/facebook/tweets/social media platforms/getting to know me better when we do meet..lol), I will just share my views on #WorldCoolestIntern. Needless to say this is an amplifying marketing tactic and it has certainly maximize conversations in social ecospheres. Not only there’s a product tie-in (the iPhone app ‘Breeze‘ ), the excitement of this competition was buzz worthy (be it negative or positive) and increased traffic, not only in terms of this campaign alone I’m sure. In HR perspective, I think by searching for someone in the blogosophere allowed the team to see one’s personality and passion as well – it’s not always about popularity (though of course it still plays a part, aka traffic). Honestly six months is not enough to accomplish anything concrete but that being said, the intern will definitely learn from the guidance he/she would receive.

On a side note that is unrelated to my application, I think Social Media is a wonderful platform and the next big thing for HR executives to pay attention to. Look at DIGG‘s case and you’ll understand why. Such a warm ‘buzzy’ feeling I get reading those tweets to help those in need ! =)

–

Cutting the long story short, 5 reasons why I think I deserve a chance to be with the Breeze Team :

I.AM.MYY and IAM….

1. Serious Fun : Always a balance between having fun and being serious at work

2. Leader-Follower : I love being in a team but I am self-driven to achieve my goals

3. Conventionally Quirky : I believe in rules but there’ll always be twists in life to make things more exciting

4. Illogically logical : There’s no such thing as impossible – we humans make illogical decisions and claim we’re logical anyways!

5. ‘Barney Stinson’ : Ordinarily AWESOME…and challenge accepted ! *Ok, I admit I’m a TV junkie too*

Can’t end the post without featuring a song…and secretly wishing the team will start singing Fefe Dobson’s ‘I Want you’

“Now let me say it again,I want you…I’m gonna gonna make you mine!“

so “just see what we could be“… and fingers crossed ?

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Tagged bank, barney stinson, blog, blogosphere, breeze, buzz worthy, Events, facebook, fefe dobson, HIMYM, HR, i want you, iammyy, intern, internship, iphone, lengendary, mainstream media, marketing, resume, singapore, social media, stanchart, stanchartbreeze, standard chartered, traffic, twitter, video, WCI, worldcoolestintern

03/31/2010

2 Comments

IMO

If I were a Swede…

Food for Thought : If you were a Swede living in China and looking at the countries around you, how would you communicate across national, cultural, linguistic and technological boundaries?

Looking at this question from a personal perspective, as a ‘partial-foreigner’ myself in Singapore (I came over in primary 2), I understand the pain that one has to deal with when it comes to a new environment. To put it simply, let’s break them down into 3 main challenges.

Speak thy language

Interestingly, the very first obstacle that comes to everyone’s minds is probably the language factor – which I won’t deny that it’s going to be a huge issue if you can’t even utilize the language that the country you’re residing is using. However, I believe that language can be easily picked up and with the help of technology and tools such as NJStar CJK Viewer and Firefox plugins that makes things easier.

Power of Weak Ties

We’re lucky that Singapore is a country that supports multiculturalism. China is known for its strong nationalism which unified the people and its culture. It is important to understand one’s culture, be it via blogs that fellow foreigners living in China share or researching via travelling sites from a tourist’s point of view or even finding fellow Swedes in China via social networking sites. Do your homework ! At the same time, it is important to keep an open mind to other’s opinions as it may differ from your own experience. Embrace and respect one’s culture and you’ll learn that it is not too difficult to be welcomed into the community.

The Great Firewall

As much as censorship is concerned in China, I won’t say that China is not open up to technological advancement but perhaps in their own ways. Looking at the list of ’60 Best Blogs on China in English, it may seem like Google-China case is not going to affect the social media scene as much as the outsiders would assume. Who are we (or Google) to claim that China is wrong ? Instead, I think we should start exploring their internal networks and reach out to the various target audience from there. It’s all about connecting with the right people.

From a business pespective, in several decades to come, China or just in general – Asia will emerge as the primary growth market for the world. Looking at this economic reality, how do one or a company position himself/itself better in Asia? I believe that there’s no tailored solution or template to follow as how Professor Dan Ryun Chang puts it and having a Pan-Asian Strategy might hurt your business in the long run.

To sum it up, it is about an open mind, basic respect and mutual understanding.

Find out more about communicating across Asia, click here !

–

Note : If you’re wondering why the sudden post after annoucing a ‘Time Out’, this is an assignment for my Digital Media Across Asia Module. Thank You !

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Tagged blog, boundaries, censorship, challenges, comm215, community, connection, cultural, firefox plugins, foreigner, google, great firewall, iammyy, language, linguistic, national, njstarcky viewer, pan-asian strategy, swede living in china, synotrip, target audience, technological, travellerspoint, weak ties, wetpaint, wiki

01/24/2010

2 Comments

IMO

I tweet.I blog.I tell my story.

Social network being a very potent force in communication, I think the only way to continue being anoymous is not to get involved in the first place. With all the various platforms, it was certainly overwhelming when I first started. However, being on these social media platforms really allowed me to engage in (almost) real-time learning opportunities and a chance for networking. Not a single bit of regret !

There are times when my parents would ask who on earth will read my blog or follow my tweets. I asked myself the same questions and came to a conclusion. In this sea of information, people (including myself when it comes to choosing who to follow) are looking for 3 main things within the content :

Entertainment

People likes to be entertained – be it youtube videos, music, comics, funny sites that can help to keep their days easier to get by. I certainly hope and prefers to fall under this category, to be a provider of entertainment value. That probably explains why I really enjoy looking for my AOTW features and sharing them with the rest of the world. Getting positive feedback and exchanging words with the various (wonderful) artists really kept me going.

Information and Opinions

I love to follow people who can provide me with great articles that feed me with facts and trivia. I think I’m quite an information junkie, I like having data and interesting insight to keep my mind active. Twitter/Plurk, in specific, is like a social community which allows users to interact and seek for assistance when you need to do some problem-solving. It is much quicker to sift through responses and source for what you exactly need. For example, I tweet and ask my followers to recommend a dining place instead of searching all over google for various reviews. Not forgetting, that’s how I usually get my latest soccer match updates via twitter too ! (Go #MUFC!)

Personal Touch

I have read in a couple of articles that recommended online presence should be professional aka ‘no-nonsense’. I beg to differ, I think my online presence should also give people a sense that they actually know me. It is all the ‘insignificant things’ that defines me to how others view me as. Maybe it is not important to anyone whether ‘I really love Glee’ and thinks ‘Johnny Depp is the most gorgeous man on earth’ or ‘prefers my steak to be medium rare’ – But I think being myself is what draws people to listen or draws them to my ‘social circle’ because they either can identify with you or like you for being you !

At the end of the day, with each virtual update, I am sharing my life story with someone else – almost like an 140 character autobiography each time. Therfore, I take it like a step in developing a relationship or a connection with my readers/followers. Hopefully to widen my social circle with like-minded people who shares my interest or opens up the door to other exciting opportunities in the future.

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Tagged anoymous, aotw, artists, autobiography, blog, comics, communication, community, content, data, entertainment, feedbacks, Glee, information, information junkie, ingsight, johnny depp, MUFC, Music, online presence, opinions, personal touch, plurk, problem-solving, professional, relationship, soccer, social circle, social circles, social media, social network, twitter, videos, youtube

05/28/2009

2 Comments

MYY

Blogging Blues

In case people are wondering if this site is dead…

Fear not ! For I have plenty of things to blog about :

Internship
Starhub Data Plan + BlackBerry Storm
Movie Reviews
Museum Events
Book Reviews
and probably many more…

I guess I’m really behind “schedule” this time, been too tired after work everyday and being such a lazybummer, I can’t help but to procrastinate. Will be back really soon ! =)

Meanwhile, here’s an up and coming male R&B group “Ahmir” that you should really check out ! I totally fell in love with their voices !
Here’s their cover of James Morrison and Nelly Furtado’s “Broken Strings” :

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