Post trip musings – ROOTS

 

As I summarize the trip and end off my reflections, I aim to keep this in mind:

“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
― Albert Einstein

To reflect deeply and empathetically as a person. as an individual. as a leader in the making. As a human being.

To find Truth that is true for me.

To remember your roots.

Prior to entering NTU, I received pre-tertiary education from SOTA (School of the Arts), and my school’s mission was to develop “H.I.P leaders with passion” – future leaders with humility, integrity, people-centeredness and passion. After 6 years of holistic education surrounded by an inspiring and dynamic community, these values truly hold close to my heart.

Now, what kind of leader do I aspire to be? 

All these influences shape the person I am today, and who I want to be. This Chiang Mai experience will also indefinitely influence me as a thinking, growing being.

Overall, this TOPS experience has been an enlightening and pleasant one.

Great food, beautiful sights, cheap massage services, friendly locals, amazing service, how do you not fall in love with this charming city? Fun and leisure aside, this trip has surely enhanced my university education. As I re-read my pre trip musings, I question whether my expectations have been met, and whether it changed.

Pre-trip Agenda:

1. Foster stronger bonds with the USP community? – checked

This is only true to a small extent, as I felt like I only had the opportunity to bond with my teammates, instead of the entire USP cohort. This is understandable, given that I spent most of my time in Chiang Mai working alongside my group mates. I got to know each of my team members on a more personal level, and even their individual working styles and personalities. My group may comprise of people who are more quiet and reserved, but their insights are still often very valuable and interesting, given that we are all from various disciplines.

2. Develop interpersonal skills and self-awareness? – checked

I probably reflected most on this in my Day 5 leadership reflection entry. This trip required a lot of interaction as we mostly had to work as a group. It forced me to develop my people-skills and learn to work in a group, which is a big change from my usual style. I have always enjoyed working alone, as I could decide things for myself, only be responsible for myself, and get to work at my own pace. However, after this trip I saw and experienced the beauty of team work – it allowed me to gain more perspectives and form better ideas. I humbly learnt from my team mates, as they each had so much to offer. Despite my initial apprehension, stepping out of my comfort zone did indeed develop my interpersonal skills and self-awareness.

3. Global awareness? – checked

Although I did not experience a total culture-shock, after the trip I can still safely say that Singapore’s urban culture is vastly different from Chiang Mai/ Chiang Rai. My impressions of Chiang Mai culture, particularly youth culture and the education aspect has definitely changed. This trip helped me reflect on what I should be grateful about, and also motivates me to find causes that I am passionate about to fight for.

4. Gain new insights and form new perspectives? – checked

While cliff jumping was an invigorating experience for me, this trip also provided me with many first experiences. My first ever tuk tuk ride, my first taste of Chiang Mai’s glorious street food, and many more. Conducting street interviews, having focus group discussions, monk chats, places we visited (especially the temples) also provided me with new insights and perspectives, which I will now elaborate on.

The highlights of the trip were the chances I got to interact with the local youth. Looking back, the most impressionable events were the monk chat and the focus group discussion in Chiang Mai University. Interacting with youths of my age, of different backgrounds really opened my eyes, and my mind.

My group’s research question is on Youths and the usage of social media as a platform for expressing personal opinion. During fieldwork and research, I find myself questioning further than that. In philosophy and other fields such as my major, psychology, a major question that has been constantly pondered over is whether human beings truly have freewill. What triggered this flow of thought was from my interactions with Chiang Mai youth, and my growing, yet still feeble understanding of Chiang Mai culture.

The “choice” to be a monk. The fear of expressing political and social views online. The want for change but the lack of platforms. These are reasons that these youths gave us – “we are used to years of suppression, from obeying the monarchy”, “we are not allowed to voice our opinions”, “all Thai males have to go through the monastery”, “this is Chiang Mai culture” …

Structure vs agency – do we truly have freewill? What motivates our actions? Do we act mostly out of fear of consequence, or motivation?

Well, my attempt here is not to answer this question, for I believe that this question will remain a philosophical quagmire. But here, we can see how insights gained from this trip also intertwines with my other interests and even the topics I learn about in my major.

All in all, I believe I have made the best out of the trip. Being open minded allowed myself to absorb and steep in new information. Overwhelming, but I learned and gained many new things.

I am once again, thankful for this opportunity given to us privileged USP students.

I shall now end off my reflection with the question that started it:

What kind of leader do I aspire to be?

 A humanitarian leader.

 

Janice Leong