Change is Constant

This is the first lesson I learnt in the recent trip to Chiang Mai.

Frankly speaking, though Thailand is one of our neighbours (geographically), it's only second visit to the country. The first visit was about 20 years ago, I think, with Chai Noi, Teck Siew and hubby. It was a short one in Bangkok. Shopping and eating were the key items in the itinerary then. We visited a couple of temples. What stayed in the memory was "traffic jam" and "steep steps" beyond imagination (when I was almost stranded in one of the temples)! Haha... There was no opportunity to really interact with the locals as much as this time, so was the culture!

If I recall correctly, "Change is Constant" was something that ex-MM LKY forewarned the nation about the need to be adaptive and sensitive to changes around us so that we can keep up to the changes and stay ahead of others - that's for survival! While many a time, back in Singapore, we jokingly talk about having to manage the change, it's more towards our reaction to changes rather than it's a culture. On the other hand, this trip, having immersed in "the way" how things work out in an international conference, I was surprised that this applied to plans even for big events like this! Interesting! Maybe, such comments only come from people who live by highly structured routines? Hm...

The programme changed... and it was certainly quite different from what was emailed over sometime ago. In particular, my slot... haha... anyway, it was a blessing in disguise :) But I guess the one who worked hardest were my Thai counterparts. The first time I met them, immediately after hopping into the car from the airport to the hotel, I was informed of the change in the itinerary. After lunch break, there were updates to what I was told. Haha... that's when I appreciate technology, where I could just ask for the latest copy of the programme to be emailed to me whenever there was any update. Along the way, there were changes to plans; ok, plans that were not critical... but I learnt to adapt, which reminded me of times in Paro :)

Of course,  another lesson learnt is to "be prepared"... especially in times of uncertainty; it's also coupled with assumptions made and being unfamiliar with the context. The assumption, based on almost all conferences that I attended to-date, that a keynote would be 'solo'; so here, with 3 names on placed under the same item, my assumption was, it's a panel discussion. Fortunately, I dd not take the risk and the last minute decision to come up with a presentation was the right move! Of course, this built on the work done over the past couple of years :) So, no effort is too little effort; anytime, the effort paid off :)

All in all, it's an opportunity to 'sharpen' my adaptability :)
I survived :)