On Saturday, 22 February 2014, some 32 of us descended to Turf Club Road’s Pasarbella and shuffled into Oceans of Seafood, where we clinked our glasses, downed some terrific wine and sank our molars into unbelievably good roast crackling pork!
The Welcome Home Graduate Event proved a good night, and a great excuse for a nice mix and mash of graduates (new and less new!), current students and speakers to get-together.
To add meaning to the occasion, we were entreated to a water-tight program, packed aplenty with sharings from various industry practitioners! William Seah from Merchants Wine Cellar & Store, which supplied 7 different wines that night, kick-started the insights with a tasteful educational session on wine appreciation.
Some of us, including my treasurer, have been privy to wine appreciations in the past, but none quite like this! William got us glued to our seats, regaling us with interesting facts about wine, like the formula for wine making;the anatomy of grapes; types of wine;the differences between red wine, white wine, sparkling wine and rose wine;and factors affecting the taste of the wine.
And in the process, he smoothly segued from wine to wine, introducing us to various delights including some award-winning alcohol. We tasted Blue Pyrenees (sparkling wine);Yilgarnia Sauvignon Blanc 2012 (white); Glenayr Chardonnay 2011 (my favourite white wine of the lot!); Bunnamagoo Rose 2010 (rose), Fermoy Estate Cabernet Savignon 2010 (red); 3 rings Shiraz 2008 (red); and Sorby Adams Riesling 2010 (white).
And that’s not all! Two of our participants won bottles of wine as prizes to boot! William left us on a high note which the very affable, personable Keith Lee (our next speaker) carried into his entrepreneurial sharing as founder of Keith & Kin that supplied us some rocking good roast crackling pork!
The father of two, cut a happy figure as he spilt the beans on the values that underpinned the success of an entrepreneur. Here’s the 3 awesome values he talked about.
1. Perseverance
Don’t take “no” for an answer! There will be plenty of people who will stand in your way and say “no” to you! Be persistent in such roadblocks and patiently press on.
2. Passion
Some entrepreneurs have it cushy, while others endure the rigorous daily grind for 7 days a week! While there’s no hard and fast about this and that your entitled to enjoy the fruits of your labour… You know what? You cannot expect to leave your business and take long breaks with the expectation that things will continue to run its usual course. As the founder, you are the ONE most passionate person in your business. And it’s up to YOU to keep the business up and running!
3. Peace
Believe it or not, your family life plays a critical part in the success of your business. Make restitution when there’s family grievances, and seek recompense if you have to. Resolve your sibling rivalry, grudges against family members and pull the plug on gripes with parents, for this will lighten your emotional load considerably. The freedom from such a burden (which will inevitably cripple you should you hold fast to it), will pave the way for you to soar in your business and in your personal relationships as well as in virtually EVERY domain of your life!
It was hard to disagree with Keith as we munched on his company’s immaculately prepared crackling roast pork! He wrapped up the talk saying that it’s important most of all for people to be themselves and to accept themselves for the way they are!
Talk about getting real! It’s this kinda meaningful stuff that people pay ridiculous money at conferences to hear, which we got to soak up for free that night!
At the event, there was also Adrian Cheong from Contact Singapore who shared about how his organization could help provide information on working and living in Singapore! And so, he circulated forms with fields for working professional students as well as students and self-employees to fill in.
One of the ladies on my table wasted no time penning her personal info and handing me her form, which I handed to the Adrian Cheong! Interestingly, it was then that one of my committee members shared that he’d got his job through Contact Singapore! What a cool thing to happen!
By a quarter past nine, we capped the early evening-out with a photo finish, snapping happy shots with one another, and with our sporting speakers – William and Keith!
‘Twas a great event all in all – thanks to the following champs…
The University of Melbourne Alumni Relations Office and Teri (for the funding, publicity and the pull-up banner); Keith & Kin founder, Keith Lee (crackling roast pork supplier and speaker); UMAAS President, Melvin (organizing the event and collating the RSVPs); Jing Han and Sabrina (rallying participants through their contacts at the Singapore Students Society); Merchants Wine Cellar & Store, William Seah (wine supplier and speaker); UMAAS Treasurer, Shu Li (managing the financial paperwork & table-arrangements); UMAAS Committee members, Andrew Swee & Kah Shen (assisting with logistics and registration); Oceans of Seafood staff (for the great holding area).
Till next time, Cheers!
Yours truly,Thomas Danny J
P.S. Keep your eyes peeled on this space for our next event – The Escape Artist!
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