meeting of like minds....

This is indeed a rare shot...hahaha. In the company of intellectuals. Beside me is Datuk Professor Zawawi Ismail former (founding) Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) now Chairman of INTI University College and a board member of CIMBBank among others. Next to him is Professor Rajah Rasiah of the Economics Faculty Universiti Malaya (former colleague of Datuk at UNIMAS). He is a global professor, having served at Universitet Maastricht & other EC uiversities and is a consultant to UNIDO, UNESCO, the World Bank and other outfit under the United Nations bag. He just got back from Europe, South America, Africa and most recent text message to me was from Cambodia...hahaha. He was the one who texted me to say that...hey..Datuk Prof Zawawi wants to catch up with us at Starbucks One BangsarVillge at 5pm today...heheh. Next to him is Prof Adin, A Cambridge Scholar (who has been away from this country for 25 years!) who is now Silterra's Chairman, and beside him is Kwang, CEO of a Singapore-based company, his (Adin's) associate. Time: 6 pm, Venue: Starbucks OneBangsarVillage Date: 29 December 2007. The discussions? hahahaha ranging from the ideas, concepts, philosophies and politics too heheh but ahem...we do exercise strict self-censorship hahaha. Not preclude, were notes on Ivy League universities in the likes of Harvard, Wharton, Yale, MIT, universiti malaya(?) heheh.... etcetera etcetera, emerging new hyped labels like innopreneurs (signaling the demise of technopreneurs?), collegiality, local physics mafioso, student gradings, venture capital bla, bla, bla...and the list goes on and on hahaha... and you wouldn't believe it that at some point too, it even degenerated into some 80s nostalgia at USM when a pig-filled cane-container fell onto the front bonnet of a pink volkswagen (thank gawd VW's engines were placed at the rear...hahaha) of Professor Wan Manan hahaha... and when professor Rajah Rasiah's exhaust pipe fell off his car in a busy Penang Street! hahahaha. By the way, it was Prof Rajah's 50th birthday today! Happy Birthday and Many Happy Returns of the Day my friend! I became very close to Prof Rajah Rasiah after we both gave a keynote address at the International Borneo Business Conference (IBBC), the biannual economic conference jointly organised by UNIMAS & UMS, in december 2006. Thanks to the co-chairmen of IBBC the then Economics Dept Head at UNIMAS Mdm Dayang Affizah Awang Marikan (who is currently pursuing her PhD at Southampton University, UK) for inviting me to give that keynote address. Oh ya, I just remembered...Dr Roselina Ahmad Saufi of UMS had just been elevated to full Professorship! Congratulations Prof Dr Ros! Hmmm a saturday afternoon in the company of intellectuals?...not a bad pastime eh? and who says professors are a boring lot? you will be absolutely pleasantly surprised...I can tell you that!!! hahaha