ANZCA Bulletin June 2011 - Australian and New Zealand College of ...

New Fellows
Conference 2011
Life, by its nature, is a series of
changes. Willingly or unwillingly, our
surroundings, the people around us and
even ourselves keep changing. Change
doesn’t necessarily equate to crisis,
provided we know how to deal with
it. Surrounded by the magical charm
of the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel,
31 delegates from around the world
(Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia,
Singapore and Hong Kong) participated
in this year’s New Fellows Conference to
explore the meeting theme: “Manage the
Change”.
Our journey began with an art
jamming session during which
delegates were required to draw a
painting with the theme “to change”.
Upon entering the function room filled
with acrylic paints, brushes, canvas
and easels, many of us couldn’t help
but exchange looks of hesitancy
and anxiety. Fortunately, under the
cheerful and relaxed atmosphere, our
spirit of imagination, hidden artistic
talents and creativity were gradually
unveiled. Who would believe that we
managed to turn the room into an art
gallery by filling it with paintings of
various styles: Impressionism, Realism,
Fauvism, Abstractionism, Cubism and
Romanticism
At the end of the session, each of
us made a five-minute presentation
based on our painting. We shared our
experiences of change in different
aspects of our lives and the ways we
feel and handle change in an open and
genuine manner and gained a better
understanding of ourselves and one
another through the exercise.
The next session was a workshop
entitled “Managing the change”, chaired
by one of our guest speakers, Professor
Sherry Chan, a psychiatrist from the
University of Hong Kong. Through
various games and group discussions,
Professor Chan introduced us to the
concept of the “Myers Briggs personality
type”, which is a psychometric test to
measure how people perceive the world
and make decisions. By understanding
different temperaments and the
corresponding reactions to change, we
began to gain a better idea of what we
value, what we need, when we need
help and how we cooperate with people
of different personality categories. This
is an essential tool for new Fellows as
we face numerous challenges that bring
about change in our living and working
environments.
Another highlight of the conference
was the tai chi workshop, “A Taste of the
Tradition”. As we get older and mature
in life, it is difficult for us to ignore the
cruel reality – the physical change of
our body.
Tai chi is a kind of internal Chinese
martial arts with well-known benefits
on stress management and wellbeing.
It demonstrates the perception of
life in traditional Chinese culture
with emphasis on harmony with
nature. Through three hours of lively
illustration and repeated practice,
Ms Grace Ip and her colleagues, Mr
Quentin Lau and Ms SaSa Mok, and
senior coaches from the Hong Kong
University Chinese Martial Arts Alumni
Association, inspired our interest in this
traditional Chinese wisdom.
Seeing how focused delegates were
during the practice of “Parting the wild
horses’ mane”, we couldn’t help but
be amazed by their enthusiasm and
readiness to embrace different cultures.
The session was concluded with a
“Monkey Jump” in Dreamers’ Garden.
In the College speaker session, we
were delighted to have Dr Michelle
Mulligan and Dr Justin Burke as our
speakers. In keeping with our theme,
they gave us a talk on the changes faced
by the College and our profession. We
also had an open discussion on how
we could contribute to the College and
increase our involvement in College
affairs.
After spending three days at
the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel,
our conference came to an end and
we thank the delegates for their
enthusiastic participation. With
memories of delicious food, a relaxing
and gracious environment, inspiring
and entertaining workshops, open
and genuine discussion, thunders of
laughter and sweat from “exercise”, we
hold fond memories of the New Fellows
Conference 2011.
Dr Patricia Kan, Co-Convenor
Dr Timmy Chan, Co-Convenor
Dr Natalie Smith, Deputy Convenor
Above clockwise from left: Delegates from
Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore
and Hong Kong learn how to manage the
change at the 2011 New Fellows Conference
in Hong Kong; New Fellows relax their minds
and bodies during a three-hour tai chi session,
a Taste of the Tradition; Dr Nolan McDonnell
presents at the New Fellows Conference.
ANZCA Bulletin June 2011 17