Friday, October 2, 2009

Aceh, be good to me!

Before the Raya break, Mr D, our HR Director had a brief chat with me about sending me to Aceh for a leadership program under United Nations and Global Institute for Tomorrow (GIFT). I thought he was not serious. I mean.. Aceh? I had images of Tsunami and the gory pictures that were shown to me by Dr Jemilah of Mercy Malaysia back in my Daimler days when I was helping out the victims in Kedah.

But yeah.. he was serious! Apparently the bank has identified/selected 2 candidates to go for this International program. The cost per participant is a freaking 12,000 USD okay! I'll probably have to be bonded with BSN sampai ke cucu cicit!!!Of course ayat2 Mr D macam power lah.. i.e Emilia, the bank selects those who are still young... has the potential for good carreer progression...etc. But in my head I was going like... yeah yeah... ni mesti org lain sume takmo pegi... hehe...

He asked me to read the brochure and gave me 1 day to think about it.

The program is called "The Global Young Leaders Programme" (YLP) coordinated by GIFT. Taking place in Hong Kong and Aceh from 30th November to 12 December 09, participants will be part of a project to develop new commercial strategies for promoting the sustained recovery of Aceh province following the 2004 Tsunami. For this project, UNDP together with Aceh Partnerships in Economic Development (APED) forges partnerships with various sectors and economic clusters.

One such economic cluster is cocoa. So, I'll be staying at a cocoa farm.. yes...this is not like a conference where I'll enjoy good food at a 5 star hotel and think about whether I have time for spa during breaks..I was of course pretty reluctant to go. What more thinking about being away from the kiddies for 12 days! Asked a few people's for their opinion:

My husband - Indon kan tgh teruk skarang ni.. buat pe nak pegi..

My sister - Jiji, u should go. You will never get the opportunity again and you will definitely not pay for something like this. Plus... sure awak kurus balik nanti Jiji...takyah de nak pegi Bzbodi ke apa...

K.Arida - Ji...jgn tinggalkan I sorang2 Ji.. I nak amik cuti la few days kalau u pegi.. u buat la sembahyang istikharah..

Kama - huahauahua..matila u K.Arida..

After some hard thinking and soul searching for the Angelina Jolie in me, I have decided to go.
The one and only experiental learning program that I've been to was when I had gone to Stuttgart, Germany for DaimlerChrysler's PR induction program. Uber cool! That was like what..5 years ago??

This is at a restaurant in Stuttgart where I tasted my first Mediterranean black rice yang dibuat drpd 'ink hitam' sotong tu... no that's not my wine.. :p

At DaimlerChrysler's HQ

So, what my sister said is true. Opportunities like this is hard to come by. And I'll be doing a good deed for the people's of Aceh --- this is the Angelina Jolie in me talking.... Lagipun kat TV kata Indon tengah gempa bumi and all so I'm praying that the program will be done elsewhere like in Paris ke.. London ke.. har har har I wish!

So Aceh, be good to me and I'll be good to you!
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7 comments:

  1. iamja77October 2, 2009 at 2:55 PM

    Aku agree ngan your sister... Good luck Jiji.... Kak Arida.. dun worry. Jiji kata, setiap kali pi outstation, ada buah tangan untuk you. hehehehhe..

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  2. nik ainulOctober 2, 2009 at 9:57 PM

    Jiji dear,

    Definitely you should go. I agree with your sister's opinion. Dont miss this chance.. It's an honour what to be selected? :P
    Good luck!

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  3. BalderdashOctober 3, 2009 at 2:00 AM

    Alhamdulillah tolong orang islam kat acheh,bangunkan ekonomi mereka - peluang yang patut diambil dan jangan dilepaskan..tapi nak tahu jugak GIFT founder, vision and mission,kenapa non-profit org. dan apa yang tersirat di sebalik tabir dan agenda ..apapun saya ucapkan selamat menuntut ilmu kat acheh..nanti apa yang belajar kat sana kongsilah sedikit..pasal acheh ni kan nak cite sikit apa yang saya tau..merupakan rival bagi empayar melayu johor, dikatakan tidak pernah dijajah belanda, mempunyai banyak pejuang, adalah provinsi istimewa yang mempunyai kuasa autonomi yang tersendiri, ada gerakan pemisah GAM yang mau Acheh dipisahkan dari indonesia tetapi selepas tsunami, gerakan pemisah sudah surrender dengan kerajaan republik indonesia, dan ada penduduk bermata biru di kampung Lamno..kebanyakan mereka mati akibat tsunami, cuma sekarang ada beberapa orang je yang bermata biru yang boleh dicari di situ..

    farid sofian

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  4. AredOctober 4, 2009 at 2:10 AM

    Ja... betul every time Jiji pegi outstation, ada buah tangan tapi tiap kali jiji takde la something would happen that make me kelam kabut, tak senang duduk .... Masa tu la management2 tahap 1, 2, 3 dan skarang dah ada tahap 4 yang akan 'melatah' atau 'panic' or whatever la yg buat I sentiasa in hot soup... Kalau ada Jiji... well we can always share the 'panicking' and at least 'depend' on each other. Ni bila jiji takde, I macam 'tadah telinga' and 'tadah kepala' la...
    Ji... I do hope they will postpone this Acheh thingie sampai the issues on earth quake ni mellow down... Kalau tak...I'm a dead body!!!
    But I always support you to go... You're still young and this opportunity is sumthin that cant afford to be missed...
    (deep in my heart... please don't go!... hahahaha).
    KAma, nanti kau!

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  5. AnonymousOctober 5, 2009 at 4:56 PM

    if i were you, my decision will be same either.so good luck babe!so sales crocs kau cemana? sape inchage lepas nih?kekekeke -noja

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  6. mindbloggerOctober 5, 2009 at 5:46 PM

    k.arida- nanti I try lobby u pegi skali ngan I..baru padan muka kama.. har har
    Noja-laa.. aku nak meluaskan empayar *rocs aku ke Aceh lah ni... :p

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  7. yeenOctober 6, 2009 at 12:47 PM

    sounds like a good program! have fun, jiji!

    ReplyDelete

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