I have realized how short my venture in Dubai was in the past seven weeks. Professionally, it was a privilege to get to know such a unique group of people and share their experiences. Listening to their aspirations and challenges was inspirational. More importantly, they made me understand how Dubai can make dreams into reality: the wonder bus, henna shop, bookstore, entrepreneur diploma program, strategic investment fund, business and investment banking, and many more.
In the blue warehouse where the future super market modeling is to be done, my colleagues and I played video games, badminton, foosball, and darts as if they were all yesterday. I could feel the energy surrounding me and was motivated when I walked into the SME office every morning. We share the same entrepreneurial spirit and care about the local community. I appreciate all the invitation, encouragement, bestowment, and everything else. It has been such a rewarding experience to me, professional, culturally, and socially.
Hugging moon at the tip of an abra in the Dubai Creek, punching palms in Scarlett’s cheering for the goals, splashing vinegars on fried haddock at Chippy’s, I was drunk before I finished my first beer in Chin-chin. My Dubai life gradually opened like an extravagant peacock tail because of the group of friends that I hung out with. English, French, Palestinian, Portuguese, Spanish, American and Chinese, we had so much fun with soccer cup watching, cocktail mixing, paella cooking, and pool side gossiping.
We were the dream team rallying over the sun set by Dusit Dubai Hotel, breaking waves at the Sharjah beach, and sharing Indian curries at the Hatta bus station. You are the genie out of Aladdin’s lamp making elegant power point slides within your finger moves. I am already missing you, and our laughter along with Mr. Mitsubishi’s speeding lullaby. It was all wicked.
Thank you for all the magic, Dubai!
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Accepting a Splendid Torch
I stopped crying for Sue’s pass away as her laughter is still at my earshot. Sue burned her torch as bright as possible before she handed it over to each of us.
Last winter solstice, Sue quoted Marianne Williamson, “as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.” This was my first impression on her in December 2004. As the MPA program director, she spoke critically that her program was not for everyone while actively listened to many participants’ career aspirations. Her wisdom was beyond an academic program but life enlightening advice.
In the fall, I embraced her caring just like my mom’s—though distanced but with deep trust. From paper writing tips, speed reading techniques, to leadership skills, she had them all before I even asked. She was always there for me, and not only me. Her smiles had the magic to empower me with the confidence to deal with whatever difficulties that I had to face.
Then it was her time to encounter the test for life. Having walked the thin line myself eight years ago, I believed that Sue would have to but thrive just like Lance Armstrong. As Dean Ellwood put it, “Sue represented the heart and soul of the Kennedy School.” We could not afford the fall of a shining star. I organized the Blue Book project collecting our classmates’ notes and pictures to support Sue’s fighting for cancer. When I handed over the blue book last day before I left Cambridge, I envisioned Sue rejoining our MPA seminar for good drinks and conversations…
It all happened so soon. Reading notes and pictures again from those who could not physically contribute to the Blue Book, I share their love for Sue from Romania, Venezuela, Laos and etc. Now, how I wish that I could be in Cambridge, closer to Sue. No more tears in desert for sailboat_97. I shine with Sue’s light and I accept the splendid torch Sue has passed on.
Last winter solstice, Sue quoted Marianne Williamson, “as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.” This was my first impression on her in December 2004. As the MPA program director, she spoke critically that her program was not for everyone while actively listened to many participants’ career aspirations. Her wisdom was beyond an academic program but life enlightening advice.
In the fall, I embraced her caring just like my mom’s—though distanced but with deep trust. From paper writing tips, speed reading techniques, to leadership skills, she had them all before I even asked. She was always there for me, and not only me. Her smiles had the magic to empower me with the confidence to deal with whatever difficulties that I had to face.
Then it was her time to encounter the test for life. Having walked the thin line myself eight years ago, I believed that Sue would have to but thrive just like Lance Armstrong. As Dean Ellwood put it, “Sue represented the heart and soul of the Kennedy School.” We could not afford the fall of a shining star. I organized the Blue Book project collecting our classmates’ notes and pictures to support Sue’s fighting for cancer. When I handed over the blue book last day before I left Cambridge, I envisioned Sue rejoining our MPA seminar for good drinks and conversations…
It all happened so soon. Reading notes and pictures again from those who could not physically contribute to the Blue Book, I share their love for Sue from Romania, Venezuela, Laos and etc. Now, how I wish that I could be in Cambridge, closer to Sue. No more tears in desert for sailboat_97. I shine with Sue’s light and I accept the splendid torch Sue has passed on.
Monday, May 29, 2006
A French Date
Time: 8pm, Thursday, May 25, 2006
Location: Blue Bar, Novotel Hotel, Dubai, UAE
Date: Vianney, KSG Classmate Luc’s close college friend in France
After some aerobics in the French swimming pool, I forced myself on heavy make-up and a futuristic patterned dress. Fashionably late, I was confident with my smell of Light Blue down the elevator. Vianney was waiting in his French casual, matching well with the white sofa just outside the bar. We picked the Kriek, first on the drink list. Vianney proposed Blue Bar because he used to stay in this French hotel and I stay here. Blue bar is not French but fusion, famous for its live Jazz music and unique selection of Belgium beers, such as Kriek.
I have never been to France nor Vianney to China but both of us have worked in South East Asia and Middle East. Vianney roamed on Arabian Peninsula for the past 18 months while I beached in Israel last summer. We both thumbed up on the best Singapore Sling at Raffle’s Hotel. Gradually, culture became a focus of our conversation. Vianney joked that wives were important assets here because they had priorities in performing civil duties. Otherwise, men had to queue in long lines with 65% Indians and Pakistanis in this country. Islamic marriage allows males to have up to four wives as long as they are treated equally. “Men are privileged.” Vianney had a sway of his head. “Or, women are disadvantaged.” This time he nodded.
After 9:30pm, the Jazz music was on and it got so loud that even though we bumped our noses we couldn’t hear each other. We started walking out while the cherry fermented beer hit my head strongly. Barely balancing myself, I still recognized his French humor on his Dubai experience. We kept on talking in Café Cream as time passed by until my eye lids were getting heavy. His farewell cheek kisses certainly woke me up—“I apologize for being French.”
Location: Blue Bar, Novotel Hotel, Dubai, UAE
Date: Vianney, KSG Classmate Luc’s close college friend in France
After some aerobics in the French swimming pool, I forced myself on heavy make-up and a futuristic patterned dress. Fashionably late, I was confident with my smell of Light Blue down the elevator. Vianney was waiting in his French casual, matching well with the white sofa just outside the bar. We picked the Kriek, first on the drink list. Vianney proposed Blue Bar because he used to stay in this French hotel and I stay here. Blue bar is not French but fusion, famous for its live Jazz music and unique selection of Belgium beers, such as Kriek.
I have never been to France nor Vianney to China but both of us have worked in South East Asia and Middle East. Vianney roamed on Arabian Peninsula for the past 18 months while I beached in Israel last summer. We both thumbed up on the best Singapore Sling at Raffle’s Hotel. Gradually, culture became a focus of our conversation. Vianney joked that wives were important assets here because they had priorities in performing civil duties. Otherwise, men had to queue in long lines with 65% Indians and Pakistanis in this country. Islamic marriage allows males to have up to four wives as long as they are treated equally. “Men are privileged.” Vianney had a sway of his head. “Or, women are disadvantaged.” This time he nodded.
After 9:30pm, the Jazz music was on and it got so loud that even though we bumped our noses we couldn’t hear each other. We started walking out while the cherry fermented beer hit my head strongly. Barely balancing myself, I still recognized his French humor on his Dubai experience. We kept on talking in Café Cream as time passed by until my eye lids were getting heavy. His farewell cheek kisses certainly woke me up—“I apologize for being French.”
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Meeting Ali, a Banker Entrepreneur
Meeting Ali was an exciting opportunity not only because he is a UAE national with his bachelor’s education in Boston, but also because he is a part-time entrepreneur and a full-time banker. Walking from the parking lot towards the back door of his office, I was immediately reminded of the Duck Tour on Charles River by the full cover of an amphibious bus on Dubai Creek. Al’s business is called Wonder Bus Tour.
His voice was very soft and his hands were always on his laps—nowhere close to a banker, nor an entrepreneur. His marketing manager, a big white man in black suit sitting three feet away, was a sharp contrast to Ali in his traditional white dishdasha—no sign of Americanization. “There are a lot of hours after my banking job 7:30am-2:30pm that I can work on Wonder Bus, and plus weekends… My bank job allows me to support myself without putting any salary burden on the start-up.” Leveraging his finance skill, Ali arranged the 2nd round financing all by himself. Banker Entrepreneur Ali got his perfect match.
I left my banking career in New York because my director and I both believe that MIT Sloan is the place to nurture my entrepreneurial spirit. Nonetheless, I failed on my first attempt. Laughably, I was worried about no financing, and couldn’t resist other temptations. Ali failed several entrepreneurial endeavors as well but this time he succeeded in Wonder Bus. I admire his conviction, which was almost buried in his banker’s job and soft voice. Ali is also an achieved branch manager for the local bank.
Meeting Ali is not a mere case interview behind hundreds of pages that I studied, but a lesson from a real-life entrepreneur: One’s conviction can drive him to integrate different parts of his experience for the Wonder.
His voice was very soft and his hands were always on his laps—nowhere close to a banker, nor an entrepreneur. His marketing manager, a big white man in black suit sitting three feet away, was a sharp contrast to Ali in his traditional white dishdasha—no sign of Americanization. “There are a lot of hours after my banking job 7:30am-2:30pm that I can work on Wonder Bus, and plus weekends… My bank job allows me to support myself without putting any salary burden on the start-up.” Leveraging his finance skill, Ali arranged the 2nd round financing all by himself. Banker Entrepreneur Ali got his perfect match.
I left my banking career in New York because my director and I both believe that MIT Sloan is the place to nurture my entrepreneurial spirit. Nonetheless, I failed on my first attempt. Laughably, I was worried about no financing, and couldn’t resist other temptations. Ali failed several entrepreneurial endeavors as well but this time he succeeded in Wonder Bus. I admire his conviction, which was almost buried in his banker’s job and soft voice. Ali is also an achieved branch manager for the local bank.
Meeting Ali is not a mere case interview behind hundreds of pages that I studied, but a lesson from a real-life entrepreneur: One’s conviction can drive him to integrate different parts of his experience for the Wonder.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
City of Angels
Even angels long for the passion in human life.
Riding the escalator up in City Center, the largest shopping mall in town, I worshipped a white dishdasha (floor-length shirt-dress), 6’2” tall and three stairs above of me. I thought I saw an angel but when looking around I realized that there were so many of them in this huge complex. There were equally as many black angels in abeyya (female shapeless black gown). While I still immersed myself in the colorful saris from my April India trip, I was stunned by this purity and simplicity. But the black and white itself did not compose a city of angels—Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Today was my third day interning at SME (Small and Medium Enterprises) division of Dubai Development & Investment Authority (DDIA). We were not located in the luxury Emirates Towers but the 1st fl of a simple construction in the Humanitarian City, next to the United Nation. However, I was quite happy when I saw the ground floor set up quite creatively for entrepreneurs’ office usage, because it reminded me much about the Cambridge Innovation Center by the MIT campus. SME is 25 folks strong with two thirds in either black or white, meaning they are UAE nationals, operated more in a venture capital mode than a bureaucratic government entity.
Before getting to know them, I would not associate my colleagues with angels. For example, my assigned buddy, Ram, is an Indian, who only dressed in suits. Nonetheless, he drove a very cool black four by four picking up every morning from the hotel. As the fund manager, he surprisingly did not talk much about the business but rather introduced me great resources allowing me the space to explore my entrepreneurial endeavor— to identify creative financing strategies for UAE nationals’ SMEs. So many conversations have taken place between Ram’s colleagues and me that I feel that they are the angels who are passionate about bringing building blocks to local entrepreneurs.
Riding the escalator up in City Center, the largest shopping mall in town, I worshipped a white dishdasha (floor-length shirt-dress), 6’2” tall and three stairs above of me. I thought I saw an angel but when looking around I realized that there were so many of them in this huge complex. There were equally as many black angels in abeyya (female shapeless black gown). While I still immersed myself in the colorful saris from my April India trip, I was stunned by this purity and simplicity. But the black and white itself did not compose a city of angels—Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Today was my third day interning at SME (Small and Medium Enterprises) division of Dubai Development & Investment Authority (DDIA). We were not located in the luxury Emirates Towers but the 1st fl of a simple construction in the Humanitarian City, next to the United Nation. However, I was quite happy when I saw the ground floor set up quite creatively for entrepreneurs’ office usage, because it reminded me much about the Cambridge Innovation Center by the MIT campus. SME is 25 folks strong with two thirds in either black or white, meaning they are UAE nationals, operated more in a venture capital mode than a bureaucratic government entity.
Before getting to know them, I would not associate my colleagues with angels. For example, my assigned buddy, Ram, is an Indian, who only dressed in suits. Nonetheless, he drove a very cool black four by four picking up every morning from the hotel. As the fund manager, he surprisingly did not talk much about the business but rather introduced me great resources allowing me the space to explore my entrepreneurial endeavor— to identify creative financing strategies for UAE nationals’ SMEs. So many conversations have taken place between Ram’s colleagues and me that I feel that they are the angels who are passionate about bringing building blocks to local entrepreneurs.
the origin
I almost forgot that i have this account for almost 10 mons when my friend Aaron encouraged me. I forgot what my writing Aaron read led to this introduction of the whole blog concept. Now i'm really blogging.
Sometimes it's hard to imagine things come back to you after a while--almost a serendipity.
Sometimes it's hard to imagine things come back to you after a while--almost a serendipity.
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