The Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations (HPAIR) Academic Conference for 2006 was held in Singapore; it was an absolutely amazing experience, learning and speaking together with top students from around the world! Please also visit my page of Thanks to the people who I truly am indebted to for my wonderful experience!

Meeting and Learning from HPAIR 2006

During the conference, we learned from CEOs, executives, directors of various international firms (such as DaimlerChrysler and the World Intellectual Property Organization) and well-read professors from academia around the world. My personal highlight: I had a group picture with (and shook the hand of) the President of Singapore, His Excellency, S.R. Nathan!!! (Thanks Edward for taking the pictures and the HPAIR staff for making it possible!)

Through the packed 4 day conference, we learned from discussions and debates on the sustainability and challenges of China and India's economic rise in the coming 40 years as well as the gaps and trends of FDI, outsourcing and manufacturing in Asia as it relates to infrastructure spending and the effectiveness of different political systems. The expert analysis and the peer feedback was extremely valuable, and there were many insights that I took away from the experience.

Appreciating Different Cultures and the Evolution of Asia

The picture above links to the video played by the Korean delegation on International Night; it was an extremely memorable video, and it was played to (accurately) display the evolution and synergy of old Asian tradition and culture together with the new. A break-dancing video that includes beatboxing, music mixing - and the traditional qin played as background music, I highly recommend downloading and viewing it.

Pictures!

Below are select pictures from the ones I've taken (the entire photo selection of ~650 pictures can be found at Flickr). Enjoy!