Next stop in the whirlwind tour of AP... Hong Kong

Another 5 days, ending 22 days of country visits when leaving Hong Kong, and some people ask me if it is getting repetitive.

Hell no! It is like relearning AIESEC, myself and life every 5 days during these visits. One might say that my visit in Hong Kong has been one of my most efficient. Upon arriving at the airport our first topic was covered within 5 minutes :P. Hong Kong was astounding, I had heard so much about the skyline of Hong Kong but seeing it exceeded my expectations. Every thing is up, a jungle of buildings, signs that hang out across the streets, and so many people. It is hard to imagine that anyone could rest in this city that always seems to be alive. I did something that would be impossible in the Netherlands, I went shopping for a cellphone at 11pm at night! (Still early in Hong Kong though I suppose).

An interesting observation I found was in discussions with Antony, a former HK trainee who came to my LC in NZ when I was LCP. He talked to me about his life right now, and how people work so long and so hard to get their apartment and their car, and enjoy the things I would take for granted in NZ. It is easy to see why the AIESEC members I interacted with are so ambitious, as in Hong Kong life (as it is with their skyline) it seems to be either up or out. My appreciation for the HK work ethic has grown even more after my visit in the territory.

I have to thank Mindy (Hong Kong MCP) so much for everything she did to make the visit as effective as possible. She busily arranged extra meetings to followup on urgent topics, while preparing opportunities for me to talk to potential partners, current partners, their whole Supervisory Group, and of course all the EBs and new members from various LCs. For some LCs I got the chance to meet with them for 3 times, which helped so much in understanding the real Hong Kong. The LCs focus on reforming structures to provide more opportunities to more members is impressive, and from my visit I am sure that the newest LC oF PolyU will be a role model for this not only in HK, but for the AIESEC world.

As much as the AIESECers were interested in work, they were also interested in my stories, and I think I shared my experiences of running for AI and why I am so passionate about AIESEC more than I ever have before. Mindy has documented these well in her blog (http://hellomindy.myaiesec.net/ and unfortunately see has also well documented my terrible singing :P). As much as I may have inspired members in HK, I believe that they have inspired me more. There is no doubt that these members will drive even greater successes in HK in years to come, and you can see the quality of new generations coming through. With the internal reform happening within the country, and the external market they operate in, you will no doubt see AIESEC HK explode in performance in the years to come!

Thank you HK for the interaction, the proactivity, the stories, and the kareoke; and thank you Mindy (HK is very lucky to have this amazing individual as their MCP).

No food challenges this time around, but I did demolish a lot of sate on my first night in Singapore. For now signing out from National University of Singapore, stayed tuned for my travels in Singapore.