Mo' Sibyl

인도계 중국인의| The One with Han Seth Lu – On Cultural Richness, Leadership, and Mental Health: Episode 18 (2020)

The More Sibyl Podcast Presents:

인도계 중국인의| The One with Han Seth Lu – On Leadership, Biracial Identity, and Mental Health: Episode 18 (2020)

There is no doubt that a person’s mental development is linked to the environment in which he was raised; however, it is essential to highlight that irrespective of the surrounding environmental condition, it is possible to rise above the hindrances and pursue a better life. My guest today is one who was determined to rise above the limitations of his environment but instead allowed it to propel him into the life he now lives. Everyone meet Han Seth Lu, the young man who is positively influencing his community.

Growing up in Myanmar, Han faced the challenge of poor quality education resulting from the military rule and was discriminated against for being biracial. Despite these, his desire for personal growth and dedication to his community drove him to pursue better education in the US and co-founding the Noor Education and Community Center in Bago, Myanmar, where other young people can be empowered to achieve their goals through leadership training.

Talk about resilience! Today, Han is a senior at the University of Central Oklahoma, studying Early Childhood Education with a minor in Leadership. He once served as the president of the University of Central Oklahoma International Student Council, UCO Global Leadership Ambassador, and was Mister UCO International 2019. He is a youth activist and has hosted four editions of the Myanmar YouthSpeak Forum between 2015 and 2019.

In this episode, we talk about the impact of his biracial identity on his childhood, cultural identity, his passion for leadership education, mental health advocacy, and sexuality.

Han shared a gem on how he manages his mental health struggles, listen to this episode to find out how! And yes, to MENtal health!

Go do great things,

Mo!

버마 소년| The One with Nathan - A Tale of Two Countries - Burma (aka Myanmar) & Nigeria: Episode 29 (2018)

The More Sibyl Podcast Presents: The One with Nathan - My Burmese Friend

Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is the second largest country in Southeast Asia with a population of more than 50 million people. Chances are Myanmar is one of those countries that has never crossed your radar. It used to be this way for me too until I met my dear friend, Nathan, in 2014. Nathan is from Myanmar and is ethnically Chinese. He left Myanmar in his teens to live in Singapore. He holds a Masters in computer science and software development but switched his career by bagging an MBA with a focus on public health, so people won’t think he is the IT guy (*insert Asian joke here*).

In this episode, we explored the shadows of our countries, post-British colonization. If I learned anything from this episode, it is that poor countries (as measured by absolute poverty) have similar presentations, no matter what part of the world they are located in. This is because poor countries are poor because they have extractive economic and political institutions, where a culture of monopoly, corruption, and lack of political rights are the norm. (Recommended text: Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty (2013) by D. Acemoglu and J.A. Robinson). As a result, Nigeria and Myanmar as so much alike in more ways than I thought, and not just due to our common colonizer – the British.

I gauged his opinion on Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, who is making headline news over her alleged inaction to the persecution of the Rohingya people in Rakhine State and refusal to accept that Burma's military has committed massacres.

We also talked about his hobbies – reading and traveling, as well as our mothers and WhatsApp broadcast messages.

PS: Nathan and I met in 2014 while interning at the same biotech company in Boston. During that time, we hung out a lot and explored a lot of the Boston scenes.. This episode was shot at his house in Somerville while I revisited Boston in July.