Sharing a Poem on a THANKSGIVING LUNCH with our closest friends for a double celebrations:
My doctoral study graduation & my husband, Mr. Kenneth K.Y. Poon's Birthday on November 19, 2016.

"Scholars are those unique individuals with curious minds who seek for knowledge and truth, loving hearts for the humanity, and whose inks and words are often sharper than the sharpest swords to dissect right from wrong". 

Blossoming as a Scholar 

The attribute of a scholarship 
In the academic pursuit 
Truly a long and a difficult one 

The process of reading, writing, thinking, and analyzing 
It is somehow much more challenging than I ever could imagine 
What is the meaning of a scholarship that it worth such sacrifice? 

In the process of struggling of finding research questions
In the process of reading endless of literature
In the process of collecting data
In the process of writing academic papers
Finally, in the process of wrapping up the thesis
I struggled, cried, felt frustrated, and 
worked really hard to motivate myself every single day 

Pile after pile of documents at my office table
Countless of journal articles have been printed and read
Countless of papers have been revised 
Furthermore, 
Countless of people asking me: When will you graduate? 

In this painful and seemingly endless process of being trained 
Learning the baby step of how to write with precision 
Not bringing in any speculation 
Writing with evidence and not simply voicing a mere opinion 

The confidence, smile, and timely feedback, and support from my professor,
Nirmala Rao worth more than silvers. 
The unconditional love and encouragement from my parents, 
Mr. Susanto and Mrs. Suzy W. Iwan, is worth more than gold; and
The patience, understanding, and love from my caring husband, 
Mr. Kenneth K.Y. Poon is worth more than expensive diamond. 

What is the value of a Ph.D. degree? I often asked myself...
Is it only another label for a mere societal praise? 
Never shall be the case? 

Now that I have experience that a Ph.D. is a training to be a scholar 
Whose words shall be count trust-worthy 
Whose actions shall follow with integrity, and
Whose works shall benefit the society..

A four year well-spent journey 
I have been transformed in becoming a scholar 
from egg, larva, pupa, into a butterfly 
In this scholarship journey. 

Praise be to the Holy Trinity for such an 
Amazing Journey: It is PRECIOUS 

                                                                                                     Ailin Iwan Poon, Ph.D 
                                                                                        A Scholar by training and a Poet at Heart 
                                                                                        This poem was written on March 5, 2016

This is a poem that I dedicated for my parents (Oey Suzy Wirawaty and Susanto Iwan) for their love, support, and commitment to raise my siblings and I whether we are successful or failed. Despite our geographical distances, they are always in my mind and close to my heart. 

POEM: 

A Meaningful and Beautiful Life 

Travel the world and it will open up our perspectives
Live a life that is rich with experiences
Filled with passion and sincere love
Work diligently with discipline
To become a person of word and action

Be responsible of our decisions 
Learn from small mistakes to avoid big mistakes
Write truthfully like a scholar
Think deeply, creatively, and critically
Yet, always maintain a pure heart as soft as a dove and 
as solid as a rock 

Be sincere with our motivation
Dare to take risk
Use our talents wisely
Care for the others
Love passionately
Live with dignity 
Act with integrity, and 

Finally be able to convince ourselves
that we have no regret in life
for God created us with a purpose
to live a meaningful and beautiful life
that will be pleasing in Heavenly eyes.

                                                                           Thank you Lord for the opportunity
                                                                           to live in Your wonderful world,
                                                                                          Ailin Iwan
                                                                           Original version was written in 
                                                                           Summer 2010, after a school exchange trip
                                                                           to Hong Kong when I still lived in San Francisco

Visiting Bali recently recalls sweet memories of growing up in Indonesia. Bali is truly a paradise on earth whereas not only it has gorgeous view but the people there are so nice and polite. Bali is the only island in Indonesia that observes Hindhu religion quite faithfully. There are still Temples that they call as Puras in various places of Bali where people go to worship or do rituals. My personal experiences with some of the local people there, I got the sense that Balinese are kind and pure in their hearts. Even though some areas have been commercialized with new development of five stars hotels, many of the villagers, they are still so simple in their hearts and minds and very friendly to foreigners. My visit to Bali this time was not for vacation, so I did not get the chance to play around as much but still it was a very meaningful visit because after all, I grew up in Indonesia. Being able to be with those who speak the same language (my mother tongue of Indonesian language) means a lot to me. 

One of the guide explained to us how the rice paddy farmers plowed the field and harvested the rice. It is a hard work and they have to be in the sun a lot and wait for the rice paddy to mature. Often times, being in the city I took things for granted and have been dis-engaged with the nature that is including throwing away left-over food. Often times life is not fair as the rice paddy farmers, they work really hard but they do not get paid as much. Even worst, some rice paddy farmers in Bali had to sell their land to develop new hotels or guest-houses. I just hope that they will preserve some areas & will not over-exposed the beauty of Bali that at the end will end up in pollution problems just as what happened in Jakarta. Perhaps this is just a personal concern having been growing up in Jakarta and watching the city becomes so polluted over the time due to urbanization.  

In my limited knowledge of Hindhuism, it seems that the religion becomes part of Bali and tradition there. Although I do not know what this religion all about, I highly respect the Balinese devotion to their Gods. Each house the Balinese prepare flowers for the Gods. The Balinese also has a very keen in art, craft, painting, dance, and many others. It seems that because they live in such beautiful place, the culture flourishing even and it is so easy to forget the hustle and bustle of city life there. I love Bali and hopefully will get a chance to visit that place again….

Within 5 weeks of staying in Hong Kong while also visited Macau, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou, gradually I gain a personal insight of how fast the development in China. Things could be different if I merely stay here as a tourist, but I am here as one of the many PhD students and researchers where we share our experiences together. Many of my friends come from mainland China and for the first time, I learn about provinces in China that I am not familiar with. Places such as Xin Jang, Fujian, Harbin, and Tibet. 

Hong Kong University is considered to be the best one in Asia and rank number 30 something in the world according to some of media resources. I tend not to pay attention to the rank and try to be more mindful whether I can connect well with my supervisors or choose the right research topic. Yet, HKU reputation becomes the driving force of many best Chinese students and also local students from Hong Kong to choose to study at HKU or get recruited by HKU. Through conversations with my mainland Chinese friends, I get to understand that many of them want to go back to their provinces and help the situation there. It is a very noble reason and I admire such attitude. I also get to learn further about the real situation in China that the educational resources and development is still rather un-equal. While, the typical way of climbing the ladder in society is for those in rural areas to go the cities in trying their luck I do not think this is the best or most strategic method of upward mobility. Many of the people from the rural areas want to enjoy the glimpse of development, but urbanization may not be the answer. Perhaps, it is best to develop their own villages by bringing experts to their rural areas. 

I am not a professional in rural area research but from my limited understanding of city planning (I've taken a few classes in the past as minor at UC Berkeley), the problems in cities will get worst with more people come and fight for the resources. I wonder why not share some knowledges and invest to build the infrastructure in the rural areas/villages. Isn't today society starts to appreciate sustainable design and so eager to build green building. What can be more green than living humbly in the village, grow their own food, eat organic food from the backyard, and co-exist with the nature. Perhaps, the gimmick will be to do something a bit modern in the village whether it is structural or educational. At the same site, I believe it shouldn't be to modernize the village to have more skyscrapers like Hong Kong, Shanghai, Japan, or Singapore. 

It is so crucial to get the right mindset in thinking about development or else we will create more un-equal development and increase the disparity of the have and the have-nots. United States experience this in a very severe way. Perhaps, not too many people in other part of the world know because they get to learn about the U.S from the popular media and watch some kind of abc show that depict only the middle to upper income life-style or even worst the celebrities life. The real american life is hard and we can even find many homeless living in the same street in San Francisco. 

One day, I realized that along the same street you can find the tenderloin area (the place where there are many poor and homeless people) and in this same street you can find the nicest apt in the city as well. This is an irony….in the developing countries, you can have shacks or squatters somewhere in the corner of the cities and in the developed countries, you can have shelter but if you don't even have the ability to apply for one, you'll end up being homeless. Development can be good, but it can also be cruel. I hope that through research and collaboration, we can make the world into a better place to live. Not just some kind of empty promises or nice words to say, but truly to take such thinking to heart because we will have to pass on this world to the future generation and they deserve to have a better place to live. 

NOTE: As for those who want to learn further about the other part of China (the rural area), I happened to find an interesting research project called Rural Education Action Project. This project is mainly sponsored by Stanford University collaborating with several Universities from mainland China. Here's REAP link: http://reap.stanford.edu/
(you can click some of REAP videos and witness the other side of China, the rural ones: those who are left behind from the rapid development that mostly are happening in the cities)