Getting some time to rest

I haven't been having much time to rest. Everyday passes so fast and my output level is increasing more and more to keep up with it. So, yesterday, I did my first quiz this semester. The course being tested was Microecon. I was anticipating something very tough like those in previous years but this time it turned out reasonable. I was relieved as I think I can kind of handle the questions. Since I was busy running my election campaign, I hardly had time to study. I pretty much spent like 6 hours reading through Consumer Theory. My classmates and the year 2s thought I was crazy to be running an election during this time and during my first year in the program. Anyway, the campaign is almost over and the quiz is over.

So, yesterday, I finally had some time to unwind and I just couldn't bring myself to start working on the 3 problem sets that are lining up for next week! I had a great time talking to the Mid Career folks during Beer and Volleyball in afternoon. At night I went to 2 parties. The first was my class party. It was pretty fun with some of my friends performing American Pie and 月亮代表我的心 yeah. The next party I went to was this Mid-Autumn celebration with the China Caucus in my school. Met many students from East Asia within my school, HLS and HBS. And at around 11 pm, I went over to my friend's birthday celebration at Daedalus Lounge. Had a couple of drinks and I headed back home to call it a night.

Speech and debate video

Yesterday, I gave my speech to my schoolmates. I am glad that the election committee recorded this video because I really don't know how I did in my public speaking. And now I can play it back and evaluate my strengths and weaknesses ... a good way to improve ;p

Anyway, here it is. It is 1.13 hour long. My speech starts at around 9 min 55 sec.
http://ksgvideo.harvard.edu:8080/ramgen/kssg20070926election.rm

Edit: After reviewing my own video, I can't help but notice a few things:
- I think I need to smile more when I speak in a serious tone, else I look intimidating and unfriendly ... hahah ... which is obviously not the case, if you know me personally. And smiling matters a lot in winning over people's hearts
- I am glad that my speech didn't consist any "uhm"s, "err"s and "ahh"s. However, I need to further analyze this by a longer public speech next time as this was too short. Only 2 minutes of talk time.
- Also, because of the time constraint, I didn't prepare a draft. I think it has good and bad points. Good point is that it makes the speech and presentation more natural and smooth. Bad point is that I don't have something to refer to for information and content. Most people there brought their draft along and can be seen reading from it at times.

D.NG for EVP

I officially declared my candidacy to run for EVP of the Kennedy School Student Government. I have to say I am excited. To campaign and run for the election just like the American Presidential election, although in a much smaller scale, is an experience I think I will enjoy.

Tomorrow, I will make my campaign speech at the Forum to the student body. Victory or defeat, we will see. But I bet, it will be fun. Here is my letter to school seeking support:

Dear friends,

What attracts you to KSG?

For me, it is the people. The great people I meet, interact and connect with make a big difference to my experience. And that means you.

My name is David Ng and I am running for the Executive VP in KSSG. Having significant leadership experience, I had successfully led teams to accomplishing goals and delivering measurable results. Outside of work, I was actively involved as co-chair of a social forum, project leader for a volunteering organization and I also enjoyed socializing.

I strongly envision and strive for a tight community across all programs – whether you are in MPP, MPA, MC, PHD or MPAID – we are one student body, we are KSG. I also aim to improve access to crucial resources, resources that you and I care about, resources that you know will make a difference to your experience at KSG, like better library hours, café selection and financial aids. More importantly, as EVP, I will support the President and VPs to enable them to perform their duties as a team. I believe in commitment and I promise to deliver.

So, my dear friends … let us not just dream our dreams. Join me in making KSG the best place for us to learn, grow and have fun. Work with me towards our goals.

Vote for D.NG!

Best regards,
David Ng

Hound dog

You ain't nothin' but a hound dog
cryin' all the time.
You ain't nothin' but a hound dog
cryin' all the time.
Well, you ain't never caught a rabbit
and you ain't no friend of mine.

Ya, they said you was high classed,
well, that was just a lie.
Ya, they said you was high classed,
well, that was just a lie.
You ain't never caught a rabbit
and you ain't no friend of mine.

Mid-Autumn

Went to an early celebration yesterday night for mid-autumn at MIT. It was hosted by Harvard, BU and MIT TSA. The place was pretty packed, I would put the estimate at about 150 people. Met a couple of guys from the Taiwanese government. They are quite interesting to talk to, given their experience in US and back in Taiwan. I probably speak more mandarin yesterday than the past month in Cambridge. And I am glad that I was able to hold my conversation ;p

I was hoping to bump into my friend, Sybor, who is an ardent Taiwanese fan from MIT. But, unfortunately, he wasn't there. He probably had better things to do. However, I did spot Malcoln, another friend who is currently training to be a corporate leader at Sloan. It was definitely a very relaxing dinner/night given the amount of things I had been doing last week.

Today, there will be another dinner get together with people from MSA and SSA of Harvard and MIT. I am not sure if I will go but I do hope to make some time for it. Let's see if I can solve my Mundell-Fleming in time for the event.

Been a busy week

Things are just picking up at the exponential here.

My typical day starts at 8. Review for homework due for the day. Do my readings for all classes. Get to school by 10. No excuses for being late as we stick closely to being on time. (Honor code) Class starts, participate, participate, participate. Class ends. Go to lunch seminar. Learn about current issues of the day. Why the best practice in US won't work in Africa? Question to ponder upon. Next class begins. Decision analysis. Bayes, mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive, risk aversion, psychology traps ... all things we care about when we make decisions. Right or wrong? Then, case study begins. Today we discuss Networked Enterprise. Producer aggregation, private equity, distribution channels in India. EVP of a bank provides an insight into what they are investing on. Class ends at 6pm. Is my study group meeting up tonight? Time to head to the Forum.

Afterall, that plays a big role in life at KSG. Like for today, secret service, campus police, the Forum is all dressed up. Hmm ... wonder who speaks today? Vuk Jeremic, Foreign Minister of Serbia ... our class alum from '03. Every week, for a few days a week, the Forum comes alive at 6pm. Next week, we have the President of Senegal.

Brazil vs Mexico

I went out for a match yesterday night with some friends to watch Brazil play against Mexico in the Gillette stadium in south Boston. It was crazy as the stadium was packed. Yes! Full house. The entire place was colored in yellow and green ... well more yellow than green actually. The traffic was so bad that it took us nearly 3 hours to get there. When I arrived, there was only 30 min left in the game and the score was 1-1. However, yes, however, Brazil scored 2 more goals in the last 30 minutes. It was well worth the trip. Then, post game, people were just fucking crazy. They were dancing and parading around the stadium. We, of course, joined in the fun. Kind of like samba. The Boston police officers were having a tough time controlling the crowd. I did take some photos with my phone camera and I will upload it once I fix my bluetooth connection on my laptop. And on my way back, I was stuck in the traffic again for another 3 hours. But I wasn't complaining ... well, not when you were not driving and you had the companion of 2 lovely Bulgarian girls in the back seat ;p

Doing things at a different level

Today I finally had my first lecture in Macroecon. The topics and materials presented just blow me away ...

I was an Econ major in college and did Intermediate Macroecon. So I had this idea that I can somewhat relate my knowledge from the past and smooth out my venture in this course. But I am wrong, I think. This semester alone, we are going to dissect Marshall-Lerner, Mundell-Fleming, Seignorage, Salter-Swan, forex theory and mechanism, capital mobility, PPP, Dutch Disease, intertemporal trade, IRP, pricing models, speculative attack models, boom-bust, sudden stop, forecasting, portfolio theory, debt dynamics and etc etc etc.

We are going to read Romer, Frankel and Obstfeld. Besides the textbooks, we are going to read about or more than 25 econ papers ...

I hope I suvive ;p ... after the lecture, one of my classmates came to me and asked rather worriedly, "Do you get what he was talking about just now?" My reply, "I was equally overwhelmed."

... and oh yeah, right before it ended, the prof. added that next semester, in our Adv. Macroecon II (yes there is a part 2), we will be going back to the basics to derive from the first principles ... so here comes all our partial differential equations and calculus.

Fall session begins

Classes officially start today. I will be taking Advanced Microeconomics, Advanced Macroeconomics, Advanced Quantitative Methods, Management in a Development Context and Case Workshop. I am looking forward to them because it has been quite a while since I was last engaged in an intellectual setting. So I hope they can stimulate my mind a bit and also impart new ideas to me. In the same time, I am not sure how well I will fare in these courses. Of them all, Advanced Micro and Advanced Macro are taught at PHD level (which explains why I need to get my ass over to Cambridge 3 weeks earlier and attend math camp). Thus they might form the biggest challenge since I barely remember my undergraduate econs ;p

We will see.

An afternoon with Vinay Rai

2 days ago, an Indian philantropist came to the Kennedy school to give a speech. His name is Vinay Rai and he was a corporate figure prior to his current activities. While I found his speech informative, the part that really caught my attention is the question and answer sesson. Not so much because it was interactive but rather, his answers were more insightful as he began to draw from specific, personal experiences.

Key takeaways I got from that session:
1. If you plan to startup in a consumer market, go to one like India, where you actually have many first time buyers. As their income grow, they yearn for more goods and choices.
2. If you want to raise fund for your business, have a sound plan ready and pitch to investors here. But be ready to enter the emerging markets and grow fast.

Harvard Square and Boston

I have recently relocated to Boston or more precisely to Harvard Square in Cambridge. After being in the workforce for 6 years, it is a little tough to go back to school. Again, after 6 years of Californian sunshine, I kind of dread the Boston winters. However, I see this experience as an opportunity to look at things from a totally different perspective. Having been in the private sector, I was trained to maximize profits. As we all know, the primary purpose of a corporation is to return the best possible values to its shareholders. However, I am taking on an opposite stance now. In the next 2 years, my mind will focus on how to create and optimize public goods to deliver the maximum benefit to society. And I shall seek the meaning in life ;p

After a 2 year hiatus, this blog will start to grow again ... and remember to support my efforts. Donate to my education fund if you have a penny or 2 to spare =)