There was an old man today, by the riverside. He stopped his bike to stroke a yellow furry cat. I looked down, scribbled on my notes, and when I looked up, he was still stroking the cat, using both his hands, scratching behind the cat's ears. The yellow cat obliged. He was smiling. Without realizing … Continue reading Notes from Singapore →

How would you know if you have arrived? I was browsing old files today and found my video interview about the rise of civil society in Indonesia. I hadn't known about the interview until about an hour prior, but I had been looking forward to deliver a message in the angle I wanted, which is this: to … Continue reading Upon Arrival →

One of the things I set out to do during my Fellowship is to find the link between learning and dialogue. Is dialogue a necessity in learning? Last February I met an Economics Professor at Chulalongkorn University, a very senior lady who used to be a Director at World Bank. She absolutely think dialogue is … Continue reading Understand, Think and Learn →

I was in China last year for a field visit. It was my first time in China, and I found the experience haunting, though not necessarily in a bad way. The visit was expertly designed to generate anxiety, and I delivered substantially. It was an interesting time where years of building a professional persona was … Continue reading Nothing to Waste →

Once again I am in awe and fear of the powers of Internet. You can think of it as an iceberg or any other metaphors, but really, we have *no* clear way of grasping how powerful and ultimately dangerous this tool is, the one we have right at our fingertips. Like with any beasts, the … Continue reading Meddling →