Yesterday was Yuan Xiao Jie. Supposedly the Chinese Valentine's Day. K said that the term "Chinese Valentine's Day" was nonsense because there is no such thing, and that Valentine's Day was derived from Western beliefs where Feb 14th was a day to honour Saint Valentine and Christian martyrs who were named "Valentine". So to K, having a Chinese Valentine's Day was like saying we have a Chinese Christmas Day i.e. nonsense.
Anyway, my "Yuan Xiao" evening with K was not too romantic. We attended a talk at the NUS Shaw Foundation Alumni House, called CEO Unplugged. It's basically a series of talks where the NUS Business School invites CEOs and high level managers to participate in a discussion (interview style) on their success stories.
This is part of my quest to learning as much as i can this year. And what other way to learn about success than hear it from the horse's mouth right?
This wasn't the first time i have attended such sessions. I love attending talks and just listening to people share their stories of how they struggled and finally made it to the top. The last time i attended the CEO Unplugged, it was Olivier Lum, CEO of Hyflux. Enjoyed it tremendously.
It was a nice feeling to be back to NUS again. I felt so nostalgic, especially when i was walking towards the Shaw Foundation building under the full moon light. = )
The Shaw Foundation Alumni House was quite impressive. I wonder how much of the Alumni's donations they spent on building this!
Anyway, my "Yuan Xiao" evening with K was not too romantic. We attended a talk at the NUS Shaw Foundation Alumni House, called CEO Unplugged. It's basically a series of talks where the NUS Business School invites CEOs and high level managers to participate in a discussion (interview style) on their success stories.
This is part of my quest to learning as much as i can this year. And what other way to learn about success than hear it from the horse's mouth right?
This wasn't the first time i have attended such sessions. I love attending talks and just listening to people share their stories of how they struggled and finally made it to the top. The last time i attended the CEO Unplugged, it was Olivier Lum, CEO of Hyflux. Enjoyed it tremendously.
It was a nice feeling to be back to NUS again. I felt so nostalgic, especially when i was walking towards the Shaw Foundation building under the full moon light. = )
The Shaw Foundation Alumni House was quite impressive. I wonder how much of the Alumni's donations they spent on building this!
Apparently, K happens to be one of the principal benefactors of the Foundation .. = )
The 2 invited CEOs were Stanley Tan, Chairman of the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Center, and Howie Lau, General Manager & Executive Director of Lenovo Asia. There was an interesting contrast in the discussion, given that one is a business man in the IT industry, whereas the other has never used the internet before.. = ) Plus, the moderator used to be my professor in year one.. although i can't remember what module she taught me!
The turnout was pretty poor. I think it's due to the fact that the talk started at 630pm, and not many people can knock off work and rushed to Clementi by 630pm. We sat right in the middle of the auditorium. There was this guy sitting in front of me who totally pissed me off. He was reading his newspaper even though the people on stage had started speaking. I was on the verge of throwing my handbag at his head. So rude! Then i looked around and observed that a few others had their laptops open and typing away while the speakers were talking. I wonder why they even bother to come at all if they are not interested to listen. It's interesting how reading newspapers and using laptops while somebody on stage is talking are considered equally rude, but one just seems to "look" more rude than the other.
I thought Stanley was quite gay.. the way he sat and crossed his legs, the way he spoke. At one point, he even mentioned that Howie looked cute.. OMG.. = ) But i must say he is very good at what he does. He mentioned something that i totally agree with. He said that many people , mostly idealists, are always advocating that businesses should have more social responsibility, that businesses who make a lot of money should donate some to charity to help the poor. What these people fail to realize, is that the greatest act of philantrophy /charity is to help create a booming economy. Because that is sustainable, and long term. And it is precisely because of these big businesses making money that we are able to have a sustainable economy. It is precisely when these businesses are making money that they are able to employ people and lift the country out of poverty! Simply giving $1 million to charity will not solve poverty because it is not sustainable. How true!!
There was free buffet after the talk, but K and I didn't consume any. Instead, we headed to Bugis Junction to pay our M1 bill using credit card (to clock points!). Apparently, the whole Valentine's Day vibe had invaded the shopping mall, cause there were soft toys, flowers and all that lovey dovey stuff being displayed at the stalls.. It's quite sad to see love being commercialized like that.. Although i do love receiving gifts!! = )
We drove top down on the way home.. I couldn't help staring at the full moon, and take some pictures of it. My pictures of course, does no justice to just how beautiful and bright the moon was..
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