Nostalgia and musings

It's kind of strange when you go onto a social networking site like Facebook and you join 'meet' people who share similar experiences with you during the particular time in our lives. Let me give you an example.

I stumbled upon my primary school alumni page (no kidding). Well, it is a relatively popular school in Singapore, but what really got me chuckling was the sight of some class photos that we used to take way back in those days. Yes, way back in those days, we took photos of all classes in front of the same statue with the same poses (by the same photographer, that I am certain of). My goodness! And to read the threads posted by different people, I sure remember some of those names they quoted! Actually, I can say that I am a notch up from most of them --- I actually went back to school about a year back! Some teachers were still there. But of course, most of them have left, retired or moved on to somewhere beyond the blue.

Not many of you know this but there was a time in my life when I actually went back to secondary school but this time, not as a student but a relief teacher. There I was, sitting in the teachers' common room where not too long ago, I had to knock and ask for permission to enter. This time, I actually GAVE permission to students to enter! Sitting there at my desk, I remember looking around me. My former teachers were now my colleagues. And as I was sitting there, along came a teacher who had previously taught me. With a twinkle in her eye, she started sharing some gossip with me about some students and teachers. As she walked away with a chuckle, I remember being a little stunned that the person I previously had to revere and 'respect' was now a peer who was showing her human side unabashedly to a former student. But I guess that just meant that she was treating me as a peer and not anything else. When did this shift in her mindset take place?

My dad has this mantra he reminds himself "Be careful who you offend on the way up, you might have to meet them on your way down".

Right, so I have gone a little off tangent here. But back to my point about sharing similar experiences with strangers during that time of our lives. Can't help being nostalgic here, can I?

I am a big fan of history. Not just the topic and the study of it, but of how we can all learn from our past to bring ourselves into the future. I was just telling The Wife about how I value charting my life regularly and asking myself tough questions about where I am now and where would I like to see myself in the future. I've learnt more about myself in these past 2 years than I ever did in my life. This only means that I am well positioned for things to come in the future. What things might these be? Only the good Lord knows. But this thing I do know:


"I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happens to them all." Eccl 9:11


Right time, right place...

Back from my Europe trip

Coming back on the flight from Frankfurt, I could not help but recall that this would have been the 2nd long haul trip I have made this year. Sure, I know of many who are flying all over the world for work. But for me, I must say it is pretty big, especially since it is largely on my expense.

I had just spent 2 weeks --- 1 in Berlin, Germany; and the other in Helsinki, Finland.

The Germany trip was more for a business survey and the time in Helsinki was for my MBA program's International Week.

Going into the trip, I was not exactly looking forward to it.

Why?

Well, I have heard so much about these 2 countries and the work culture (read as rigid and seldom out of the box). For a person like myself who thrives on creative ideas and insights, I thought that I would just try my best to 'live through' this experience.

I was wrong.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. Let me tell you why:


1) We are all human

Though our cultures may be really different, but we all work on basic human emotions regardless of our race and cultures. My classmates hailed from Finland, Russia, Korea, China, Australia, Taiwan, New Zealand and Singapore. Our lecturers were from the USA, South Africa, France and Finland. And though our food preferences were one of the most obvious distinctions, inside us, we all work the same way --- we are nice to those who are nice to us; we ignore those who are arrogant and brash; we laugh when we are happy; we cry when our emotions overflow it's threshold.

Yes, we are all the same.


2) As humans we can be really cruel

I had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit a former WWII German concentration camp and I was not about to miss it. I rented a bicycle, brought it onto the S-Bahn regional train service and took a ride to the town of Oranienburg. From that town, I rode my bicycle to the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp.

It was surreal to say the least. The sky was overcast and threatened to rain as I made my way to the camp. As if upon cue, the sky shed her tears as I entered the gates of the camp, where once upon a time, many prisoners trod this same path towards days and months of living hell, often ending in their untimely death.

I took tonnes of pictures of the camp. The images of the cruelty was enough to turn my stomach. However, what struck me was the cold weather. Here I was towards the tail end of summer and it was chilly. I cannot fathom how it was like during the winter months.

In 1971, Stanford University conducted the Stanford Prison experiment that saw volunteers from all walks of life, taking up the challenge to be prison wardens or prisoners in a simulated prison in the basement of the university. The results showed that even ordinary citizens, when given unlimited power, can abuse it to a level of cruelty no one expects them to achieve.

Likewise, the Nazis specially chose soldiers who were regular citizens in their early 20s to carry out their campaign of 'Final Solution'.


3) Self Discovery

This trip confirmed what I knew about myself; and what I did not know about myself. I really think that it is one of the most important things in life to discover yourself, and often, you need the help of others to tell you the whole truth.

During the course of the program in Finland, we carried out exercises and simulations that unveiled our strengths and weaknesses. I was pleasantly surprised at some of the outcomes, which set me thinking about positioning my competitive edge in this world (to my christian friends out there, no, I have not turned into a humanist. It actually is rather Biblical...wanna know how? Talk to me) and how I have the potential and ability to play on the world stage.

What was even more interesting was to see other friends discover themselves during the course of this week. It manifested in many ways. Mostly, it was unpleasant but it was the whole truth, and I believe that if they continue to take it the right way, they will go far.


Enough of my rambling. But if there is one more thing I want to add --- the food on Lufthansa is HORRIBLE!