Chan Weng Kit's Blogspot: DAY 386/387/388

Sept 21, 22 & 23

1) On Thursday, we had the privilege of having dinner with the Chief Secretary to the Government of Malaysia (otherwise known as Ketua Setiausaha Negara in BM) - Tan Sri Dato' Dr. Ali bin Hamsa. After our daily 9-5 ritual of classes, Zi Yan and I rushed to catch the bus to the Malaysian Embassy (Rumah Malaysia) in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. We met student representatives from various colleges, including UCD, Trinity, and DBS.

2) At around 6.00pm, the guest of honour arrived. After a short introduction on his background, he was invited to deliver a talk on Malaysia's plan for the future, from a socioeconomic and political standpoint. Former Prime Minister Tun Dato' Seri Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad came up with the Malaysian ideal of Vision 2020 (Wawasan 2020), calling for the nation to achieve self-sufficient industrialised status by the year 2020. While we are working towards this goal, our current Prime Minister has introduced the TN50 (short for National Transformation 2050 or Transformasi Negara), which aims to steer the country towards achieving its projected targets by the year 2050.

3) It is through education and the empowerment of the next generation of leaders that our country will thrive, and for this reason we were all invited to give our comments/opinions. After giving us an all-encompassing outlook of Malaysia's stance on a global scale, Tan Sri then opened the floor for any questions. As a layperson (with little to no experience in economics or business management), I learnt a lot about the governing policy of various countries, especially our neighbouring countries and members of ASEAN. Some of the questions asked were as diverse as our nation's stance on the "Rohingya genocide", the proposal for a cap on the frequently fluctuating (pardon the alliteration) consumer products, and also his opinions on our Prime Minister, Dato' Sri Haji Mohammad Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak, after his announcing that he would push Malaysian pension funds to invest more in the U.S.

4) After a long and engaging dialogue, it was time to feast. And feast we did! It has been a long time since I have had proper, authentic Malaysian cuisine (I really can't bear to part with my money at the Dublin Kopitiam, as authentic as it may be). And what better way to end than with some lovely desserts and traditional cakes (kuih-muih). All the while, I was catching up with my friends from the other universities. I saw many familiar faces, and met many new ones. It was a good day for all of us. Soon, we had to leave, so Zi Yan and I took the 7a bus back to Trinity, where we walked the remaining distance back to RCSI. It was back home from there, and straight to bed. Anyway, that has been my experience, and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. Thanks very much for visiting, and have a lovely weekend. Cheers!