Ricky’s Online Business Blog

I had good experience attending the first BarCamp in Malaysia and blogged about it in BarCamp – The Ideal Learning Platform.  Now they are going to have a similar one called Startup Camp in Malaysia on 22nd and 23rd November 2008 in Plug and Play Center, The Garden, Kuala Lumpur.

I’m not sure the difference between BarCamp and StartupCamp (can the organizer explain?) but I’m very sure it will be both fun and useful.  The article below is copied from their “blog kit” upon the organizer’s request.  Can you spot me in the BarCamp photo below? If you have missed the BarCamp, come join me this time!

Startup Camp KL 08 is going to be the largest unconference for entrepreneurs and startups in Malaysia. Over 300 entrepreneurs from all walks of life and sectors are expected to congregate in two full days of ideas exchange and making connections. Startup Camp is held in conjunction with the Global Entrepreneurship Week and it will be on the only National Level GEW event. It will be on 22nd and 23rd November.

Being an unconference, this event is organized by participants for participants. There will be no keynotes address, no special guest and no long boring lectures. It will be jam packed with new ideas and opportunities. If this is your first time attending an unconference, be prepared, for this is an ultra casual event.

For Malaysia’s very first Startup Camp. We have divided it into 3 tracks. These tracks comprises of the General Entrepreneurship, Social Entrepreneurs and Technopreneurship. We have allocated slots of 45 minutes for the participants to conduct their sessions.

The session type range from discussion to presentation to round tables to games to anything you can think of. For those participants who wish to contribute a session can book their session at our Wiki. As for the rest of the participant, we all have two crucial task.

Number 1. Participants should be actively participating in the sessions and share with others. You can share with your friends details about startup camp before the event or you can share what you learn from startup camp after attending it.

Number 2. Vote with your feet. Do remember you can vote for each sessions with your feet. If you find you cannot contribute to the sessions or you cannot add value to yourself or the rest in the session, it is polite to walk out and drop in to another session. If you do not find session that you are interested, you can always add on the board to start and impromptu session.

Details of Startup Camp KL 08
Date: 22nd and 23rd November 2008
Time: 9 am to 8pm on Saturday and Sunday.
Venue: Plug and Play Center @Level 7, The Garden, South Tower.

Register at http://www.entrepreneurs.my/start-up-camp

It’s about the life of a man, from first seeing his lover at the age of 16 in the 1940s, to being forced out of love years later, then remained single for his whole life, until his death at an old age in 2008, just moments after he met his lover again.

It all started out in a small village in war-torn Malaya.  A young man lost contact with his father and survived with his mother selling cakes.  He had a crush on a girl, only to lose her until 10 years later.  Unfortunately, when they met again and really fell in love this time, the girl was forced out of the village, after being found out she had been used by her father to cheat guys for money.

The man had since stayed single for the whole life. He kept on writing letter to the girl, but has been keeping the letters since he didn’t know where to post.  At a very old age, he managed to see his lover, now an old woman, for the first time after decades, but also for the last time.  He finally dropped dead in front of her, but not without the satisfaction that his wish finally came true.

This is a two-hour stage show called 落地生根 (“came to this country and be rooted here” in my own translation) in the Pesta Tanglung 2008 (Mid-Autumn Festival) in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).  From a love story in the foreground, we can see in the background a history of our forefathers who came from China and took root here in Malaya.

It is not the “thereafter they lived together happily forever” kind of love story.  The story line is very original and quite unexpected.  The love story was so touching that we could hear the audience crying as they watched

It is also a drama filled with singing and dancing, including many “old songs” decades ago.  But it didn’t bore us at all.  Very good use of the right music and the right dance at the right time to express the kind of emotion and circumstances as the storyline develops.

I was an actor and drama director on stage before.  But I’ve never seen such a masterpiece so perfectly done.  There are so many excellent actors and actresses there that we could hardly pinpoint who was the best, not to mention their costumes, the stage props and so on.

The official web site says it just right:

此舞台表演绝非一般舞台剧，其剧情感人非常，是晚演出定必让你赞不绝口。请万勿错过。

(This stage show is absolutely not a normal show.  The plot is so moving, that the performance in that night will be worth many praises.  Don’t ever miss it!)

This is a night well spent, for just RM8!  I wish they could perform more than once, and perhaps in other places too.  I will definitely recommend my friends to watch it.  The UKM team, whether on stage or off stage, are really worthy of all our thumbs up for them.  Amazing!  Well done!

国大各位台前幕后的朋友们，你们的舞台演出令人激赏，你们的幕后工夫令人感动。我从未见过如你们那么棒的表演。我不是国大生，我以前是来自马大的。但我为你们感到骄傲，明年还要再来支持！

不好意思，很久没写中文，见笑了

The first Malaysian Entrepreneur Challenge 2008 is coming!

It is organized by KL Monorail and Brandbuilding.com.my, and sponsored by NTV7, JobStreet and many others. It will be held from 22nd to 24th August 2008 at KL Monorail’s 11 stations along the Golden Triangle area in Kuala Lumpur.

In the competition, the participating teams plan, strategize and sell a range of products to the daily KL Monorail commuters of over 60,000 people.

Winning teams are determined based on net profits earned. Prizes worth more than RM100,000 await the winning teams and include:

• Various free workshops and intensive courses on marketing and entrepreneurship
• Job opportunities in the most established companies provided by JobStreet
• Challenge trophy
• Sumptuous 5-star hotel dinner
• PhotoBook package by Kodak
• Monorail season travel ticket package
• Exposure on TV, radio, Internet and other media
• And many others!

Free workshops are also provided for participating teams to groom you into a successful marketeer and entrepreneur!

All profits earned are given to charity. What you do goes a long way towards helping the disabled people in the Beautiful Gate Foundation. This is yet another reason to join!

Visit http://www.thechallenge.com.my for more information.