Calling all students – local and international!

If you haven’t already heard, here’s something to take note of:

“The Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition”

What’s it about?
This competition is set to aid support and achieve entrepreneurial dreams of students
globally!

What do you stand to win?
Students can win up to USD60,000 in cash and funding for their business ideas!

What do you have to do?
All you need to do is prepare a 1,000-word business plan summary then visit http://
www.smu.edu.sg/lky to register and submit your business plan!

The business plan summary should address the following:

Innovation – Novelty & Intellectual Property (25%)
Scalability – Market Size & Sustainability (25%)
Competitive Positioning – Team & Advisors (25%)
Financials – Realistic Measurable Outcome (25%)

Note: The business plan summary must not exceed 1000 words (financial budget and
statements are not included in the word count).

How do you qualify?
This competition is open to ALL full-time (University/College/Poly) students regardless of
age.

Here’s the procedure:

Step 1: You’ll need to submit a 1,000-word business plan summary by January 31, 2011.
Step 2: Wait for short-listing (~March 10, 2011) – a total of 15 teams will move on to the
next round!
Step 3: Once you’re in, you’ll need to prepare a 3,000-word business plan and a 3-minute
video footage by April 29, 2011.
Step 4: Wait for short-listing again (~June 15, 2011) – a total of 6 teams will walk away with
cash prizes!

Prizes include:

1st Prize: USD36,000 per team
2nd Prize: USD12,000 per team
3rd Prize: USD3,000 per team
4th to 6th Prize: USD500 per team

Most Promising Young Entrepreneur Award: SGD5,000

Note: Each team can consist of up to 5 members (minimum is 1, duh)!

Need more information?
Visit http://www.smu.edu.sg/lky for more information. Competition rounds can be found
at http://www.smu.edu.sg/lky/2010/rounds.asp.

I miss u.

Ask yourself this.

Have you ever laughed at someone in their face because they were too… fat, thin, ugly, stupid, gay, [anything negative] ?

Have you ever picked on someone just because they are different from you?

Have you ever excluded someone because you just didn’t like them?

What I’m trying to get at… All, if not most, of us have been guilty of doing the above. It is our accidental BULLYING and their lack of self-esteem that children as young as 8 year olds are becoming anorexic.

People are naturally competitive by nature, and many of us like to shove what we think we’re better at into others faces.

I’ve never been obese in my life, but I’ve always been the “plump girl” around. I’ve been a victim of bullying since I was in primary school. The teasing doesn’t ever stop, not even now.

I have tried to be bulimic and puke out my food – this is the stupidest thing ever. I gave up the puking after a couple of days.

After a while, I figured out that the problem was not ME – it was THEM “the bullies”. I was never unhealthily fat or obese, I’ve always been active at dance and sports. Hell, I was probably more fit than many of those skinny girls in school. I realized then, the problem wasn’t me. They were bullies and it didn’t matter if I lost some weight, they would just find something else to poke fun and laugh at your expense. You’re too dumb, you’re too skinny, you’re too ugly, you’re too poor, you’re too not cool, you’re too whatever.

I’m sure I’m not totally innocent in the matter, I probably have said some unkind words to others before as well. However, I think the cure to Anorexia, bullying, and all that bad stuff is just to have confidence in yourself!

Having confidence instilled at a young age means you’re resilient towards negative comments and feedbacks being thrown your way. The lack of self confidence may be one reason why there is a rise in young children committing suicide due to the pressure they receive from family, school, friends and the society. Being a confident person is different from being arrogant. I’m not over my head to think that I look like a super model or can be smarter than Einstein. But with the confidence I have built up over the years, I think I’m pretty happy with myself. I’m happy that I’m slightly plump, I’ve got a birthmark on my face that looks like a bruise, I’m not always the smartest but I’m definitely smarter than many people. I’m comfortable with all my positive and negative points. I’m me! I don’t have to be Jessica Alba or Einstein to be happy. The route to happiness is not becoming somebody else, but being happy with yourself. Know where you can make improvements and work on it. Set manageable goals that you can achieve rather than unrealistic ones that makes you look stupid. That is what anorexic is about. Anorexia is not fat people trying to go on diet – anorexia is anyone with a warped image of their bodies and go on life threatening diets. It doesn’t even matter if they are underweight, they will starve themselves to look like skeletons just because they feel fat. They are insecure of their own bodies.

I was conducting a group counselling session with my youths the other day and we did an exercise. I think everyone should try it.

1. List 1 thing about yourself that you don’t like.

2. Try to come up with something positive to say about the thing that you don’t like.

Example

1. I am very talkative

2. I am verbally expressive

SEE HOW EASY IT IS!!!

Now do that for every negative thing you have to say about yourself. Then continue doing this for the people that you care around you.

Another Example

1. My mother is very naggy

2. My mother is very concerned and caring towards me

SIMPLE? (Btw Mom if you are reading this, this is only an example!!!)

Ok, now take this tool and go make yourselves happy. Learn to love yourself and be comfortable under your own skin! Good luck! If we have more positive thinkers among us, maybe we won’t see 8 year olds becoming anorexic.