Daily Reflections – 7 January 2016

My fellow USP batch mates and I started Thursday with a visit to the Political Science faculty of Chiang Mai University (CMU) for a lecture on Globalisation in Chiang Mai. The lecture reinforced for me that globalisation arises from the greater interconnectivity of capital, people, as well as goods and services. In particular, I was reminded of how the effects brought about by globalisation are often double edge swords. For example, our CMU lecturer mentioned that greater tourist numbers meant more business for shops. However, it could also lead to culture clashes between locals and tourists. The negative effect of Chinese tourism on Chiang Mai is precisely what my group is investigating! I feel that the negative side of the effects of globalisation should not hinder us from harnessing their benefits,however. What we need as a solution to this problem is proper management of the negative effects. After researching for this module, I hope to have better understood what Chiang Mai’s government has done to manage culture clashes between locals and Chinese tourists.

Visiting CMU aside, my group mates and I participated in an amazing race in the afternoon. As part of this activity, I had to work with my group members, whose personalities may differ from mine, to find 3 locations within a limited timeframe. I was not very comfortable with this activity because of the time limit and because we had to find the locations without technology. Nevertheless, I am glad I chose to participate in this activity with an open mind because it has enhanced my understanding of what leadership means.

I had 2 key takeaways from this activity where leadership is concerned. My first main takeaway is that leadership does not necessarily have to be confined to be the main person guiding everyone in how to move forth. I used to have that archaic thinking but now realise we can all display leadership in various domains. For example, we could be displaying leadership as the one who galvanised everyone to move forward, or as the one who led in directions. In retrospect, I guess we are all valuable as members of a group and we should not be afraid to step up to lead in our various areas of strengths.

My second key takeaway is that leaders should also know how to be followers. I was glad that in my group, those of us leading in various areas were willing to accommodate those following their lead where it seemed appropriate. I think it helped us function more effectively. For example, although Elyse was the main person keeping track of performance tasks, I was happy that she let me carry out the performance task of asking a local on the street if he had heard of Lee Kuan Yew when the opportunity arose. This thus enabled us to complete the task. In reflection on this, I do not simply want to be the kind of leader concerned with my own power over others. I want to be a leader who will listen to others and let them step up to give direction when the timing seems fit. This does not simply allow us to make progress as a team, but also enables those under me to grow in their leadership skills.

Lastly, having to find the locations in the amazing race without technology made me more aware of how reliant we are on technology in our lives. If I had Google Maps with me in the race, I would probably use it to google the destinations we had to reach and get an answer almost immediately. However, not having such technology meant we had to scrutinise our map of Chiang Mai carefully to find the relevant places. That took us a lot longer! Additionally, not having my mobile phone with me allowed me to better focus on seeing the landmarks on the street as they are. I would probably not have been able to spot the location – “Queen of Hearts” College -as easily if I had my mobile with me. This was so as I may have been too busy checking for Whatsapp updates from it then! I feel that while technology can make our lives more efficient, we should also spend some time in the absence of technology every day, appreciating the world as it is.