Prologue - The Road to SLC 2006

So we were told to prepare for the Student Leadership Conference 2006. I got my blazer, tie, packed my bags, bought an air ticket, and went through the motion of settling down at the City University of Hong Kong without another thought.

"It's just another one of those seminars overseas where speaker after speaker would preach to us about what the book defines leadership as", I brooded while waiting for my room mate, who had thrown his things all over the place and had since gone shopping without a qualm. It was Hong Kong, after all.

I was so wrong, as the following 8 days have brought me- just as I'm sure it brought the other participants- pain, joy, sorrow, frustration, extreme hunger =p, excitement, disappointment, love, and above all, the sense of pride of having a group to belong to, and the group is Group 2!!

Arranged in chronological order, the illustrated journal serves to remind my friends and myself of the good times that we had, this July 2006.

When we could have been working and making money; going out with our other halves; working on our own projects; staying home to play PC games/watch TV, we chose to leave the comfort zone and embark on this journey. I was, above all, impressed with the attendance by students from faraway places, and being able to rub shoulders with them all. Unlike student exchanges where the grades still matter, this was a no holds barred interaction we were given with no worries about suffering grades if we played too hard. There is no such thing as playing too hard these few days. Not that we did not get anything productive out of it either.



Read on, and may the happy moments always stay with you...

Day 1 & 2 - Arrival, Campus Tour & Games!

Day 1

After a long hike up from the academic building, lugging the suitcase, I made it to the student residences and checked into room 506B.






Here's the view from the window. You can see Festival Walk and the sheltered walkway linking the residence to the basketball court.








Here's a video of my room, shared with Chin Yoong. Interesting fact: I didn't know 4 people shared the washroom, so when I saw a pile of crap in the toilet bowl the first night, I thought it must have been my room mate. Must admit that it left a bad impression. Until the truth surfaced... ^^! Forgive me, 阿荣! (roomie) We chatted till the wee hours of the morning the first night spent in City University of Hong Kong.

Day 2

The campus tour took us around City University. Their library contains first hand copies of Pearl River & Yangtze River data, and is the largest single storey library in Asia!

Bachelor candidates can borrow 20 books at one go, compared to 8 in Singapore.





It was nice to be able to interact while taking a walk around to know the other group members.







Left to right: Sandy, Vicky, Ha Youn. Taken outside the Chinese Civilization Centre.






After lunch, we shifted chairs with everyone standing on it, competing to see who could shift the fastest.

Then we fought to build the tallest structure out of newspaper and scotch tape. Our group finished third. Here's a look at the foundation, strong as our group: built to stand the test of time.



Me and Claire, the bundle of energy, with trimphant looks on our faces. That thing sticking out from my head is, in fact, our tower.







Here's the group doing the cheer! Our very first, and it will not be the last you heard of us!


Our group's name is "Two Cool"! The number that started it all. Group 2 lives in my fond memories, where Ken still shouts "Richard!"





Here's the bunch of us looking mighty proud of our achievements, having known one another no more than a lunchtime and accomplishing this feat!



The bond between us will topple? My foot! (Our feet, for that matter)







After the games, Mr Ivo Hahn, CEO of Xecutive Group showed us the ropes on how to be a confident speaker. He paints very nice imagery with his words, and teaches us to be concise and yet create powerful images in our presentation where brevity is the order of the day, especially when briefing busy directors. He is deserving of respect as for his small stature (about 5 ft 4 in?), he is still capable of controlling the large crowd that is us.

After dinner, some went to Mongkok for shopping while the others went to Tsim Sha Tsui to see the harbour at night and witness the skyline from the ground up. That would prepare us for the magnificent view as seen from Victoria Peak during the City Tour! I chilled out with some friends at Hard Rock Cafe into the late night over some beer.

Click here for all photos taken on this day!

Day 3 - SLC Opening & Police College Visit!

Part i

Professor Ho addressing the attendants inside Wei Hing Theatre, in the official opening ceremony for Student Leadership Conference 2006.






Pieces of puzzles were assembled by the officiating guests forming the billboard that reads "Student Leadership Conference 2006".







Shenzhen OC's on the left, and Hong Kong OC's on the right, Guests of Honour in the centre.







Now it's our turn to take pictures before returning for the forum on Managing Global Environment.

Left to right: Iori, Isabel, Carter, Jimson, Me, Sandy
Behind: Ken



International cast: Bazli - friendly medicine student who's into drama (Malaysia), me (S'pore), Jim - charismatic OC who's trying to get his English on track (Shenzhen), Joann - epitome of a good mixture between beauty and brains (HK)




Mr Lam Chiu-ying, director of Hong Kong Observatory giving a critical presentation on how the title of the forum should be "living in harmony with nature" rather than "managing global environment".
He is followed by Prof Lo of Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Mr Lau from Friends of the Earth (Hong Kong) in their efforts to create awareness of the problems many countries face.




Joann, Chairperson from the City University of Hong Kong, leading us in the Oath of Leadership.

Part ii
The second part of the day saw us visiting either the Urban Renewal Authority, Waste & Environmental Technologies, Hong Kong Wetland Park or Hong Kong Police College.

I took a shot with Mr Tang, Superintendent of Police!




In order not to get sued by Shell for trademark infringement, look what their training ground has changed the petrol station's name to.

The entire facility is indoors with overhead speakers that emulate street noise, and installations like banks are identical to the real thing so that when the situation arises, the officers are ready to apprehend the threat.





Another example of "realistic" street environment, only our familiar 7-11 has become 7-20 (?!)

The next picture will give away the whole thing.








What's a fan doing out in the streets? And how come there's free electricity for the people to use? ^^

Makes you want to unplug the fan and charge your mobile phone doesn't it?




Here's a shot from the second storey, showing the simulated environment where police cadets undergo training.







A briefing inside one of the rooms that's on the second storey.

Q: Any idea why it's got no ceiling?



A: So that anyone caught sleeping on one of the beds in these rooms through the overhead surveillance cameras can be brought to justice. ^^

Q: What's wrong with this picture? Isn't it just any scene taken from inside an MTR carriage?

A: Look at the camera on the top! This is the training facility that simulates the inside of the train carriage.







There, see, no gap between the train body and the "platform"!








Part iii
Picture taken after the Leader Sharing Dinner. That's Shine, charming lad who insists that he is the older brother.

We were given an insightful presentation by Prof Ho before dinner, on the mechanics of actually putting thoughts into action, for the leaders of tomorrow. Apparently the reason why many fail is not because of the lack of passion in starting something, but because of the inability to think through the process to be able to follow through.

Our table had the honour of dining with Mr Chris Liu, General Manager of Ketchum Newscan Hong Kong, the special guest hailing from a reputable Public Relations company.
I learnt that relevant corporate social responsibility (CSR) measures that Ketchum partakes include being a sponsor in Guangming Daily's CSR award.
It was an evening of pleasant conversation and sharing of wisdom.


A visit to Hong Kong is never complete for youngsters without a trip down to Lan Kwai Fong, (蘭桂坊) where according to James, I had a head-bangin' time.



That was where we hung out till 3am, having our very own "city tour" even before the real thing.

Hang loose, dudes!



Click here for all photos taken on this day!

Day 4 - Hong Kong City Tour!

Before that, Mr Stephen Lau of Ernst & Young came down and shared with us his take on leadership. Valuable stories were recounted by him as he linked what he did to the concept of leadership, that explained why he was standing there and speaking to us.



After the session, we were all trooped off in tour buses to the Avenue of Stars, (星光大道) where stars like Stephen Chow & Jacky Chan left their marks.




From left to right to behind: Me, Ha Youn, Vicky (these 2 are the "sisters" of the group, with Vicky taking care of Ha Youn most the time) Sandy, Isabel, Ken, Forian (soft-spoken nice guy of the group. Tends to "disappear" and reappear just as suddenly =p)

Despite the mist that had settled over the harbour, the pictures turned out fine!

"Part of the original Kowloon-Canton Railway terminus, the Clock Tower was completed and came into operation in 1921. This is a landmark from the Age of Steam, a time when people spent days travelling across Europe and Asia to the terminus."

Source: www.discoverhongkong.com


Taken outside the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre with my room mate while staying at City University, Chin Yoong. Best buddies!






See? The "sisters" do everything together, including buying the famous Mister Softee ice cream.

Ha Youn & Vicky


Next stop, Stanley (赤拄) for some souvenirs and sight seeing.

Along the way, our tour guide, Michelle, brought our attention to Repulse Bay, home of the rich and famous in Hong Kong.



Outside the Maritime Museum. It is said that the concrete blocks were moved manually from its previous location to preserve the building that is of great historical value.








Here we see Ann, the queen of KTV hailing from Taiwan! She must have done something illicit (见不得光), hence the hiding behind the pillar. Maybe she kidnapped Cyndi Wang in an attempt to take over her place?!

Seriously, take a look at the ancient Maritime Museum in the background too!

Ann sings really well by the way!



This is not an anti-riot attempt by the police. It is the Peak during a bout of mist. And rain. Undaunted, many of us still trudged through to take pictures of the city's world class skyline.






How can one go to Hong Kong without taking a piece of this back?
Despite the mist, the light from the buildings shone through.

Unfortunately our Shenzhen OC's didn't get to enjoy this with us. Never mind, hope these photos make you happier.



Using another colour filter.








A third shot. I queued quite long for a spot, as it was raining, many people were fighting for the shelter to snap pictures!

As the night wore on, many went shopping at Causeway Bay but I stayed in the hostel this last night in Hong Kong and chatted first with Del, then with Ken, Forian, Sandy and Eric, and finally with Chin Yoong, Agnes and Ethan.

Click here for all photos taken on this day!

Day 5 - Extended Shenzhen Campus Tour (Pant)

After putting down our baggage at the 桂花苑商务公寓, we were ushered into the Lecture Hall for a briefing and forum on Contemporary Social Changes. The guest speaker was Ms Chiang Lai Yuen, CEO of Chen Hsong Holdings Limited. She sets out to even the playing field between males and females, with a pinch of feminism to add to her feisty presentation. Too much quotation from books on leadership though, her own experience would have been equally if not more suitable for the sleepy attendants.



Panoramic view of Shenzhen from the top of Science and Technology Centre.







View from another angle. Apparently a link to Hong Kong is being constructed beyond the empty space at the top left corner.


Group picture with the Science and Technology Centre as the background. See later pictures for the unique design, not visible in this shot. Smile!






Now you see the tip of it. But let's introduce the handsome/pretty people in the shot first (adds suspense!).

From left to right: Me, Sandy (talened voice that imitates commercials), Isabel (tough cookie who juggles various appointments during the Conference), 大薯 (Potato who is full of funny poses), Ken (emotional sensitive responsible... need i say more?)



Finally, the Science and Techonology Centre in its entirety! Very nice design, but kind of empty in the core.


Well, they have space in China!





Group shot! As this was one of the last places, everyone mustered a smile. Actually they must have been half-dead already. We walked from afternoon till evening!

The campus is REALLY huge. Bicycles are a must.



Here we have the living mascot, Richard of Group 2, whose name will be called out first during attendance taking.

Don't ask me why.

But we love him!



Please correct me if I'm wrong, Shenzhen OC's, but I think this is Wenshan Lake (文山湖), where a bridge connects an island to the bank.
Named after 文天祥, it offers a picturesque and serene environment for students to read or chat. Sweet!




Still not convinced? Here's another look at the area around the lake.

It is conducive for anything your mind can conceive!



Here's a worthy dinner after such a long tour: taken at 1900h sharp!

Kind of reminds me of the way food is served in army camps in Taiwan. Exercise Starlight it was called.

Click here for all photos taken on this day!