Spending time in nature makes us kinder, happier, healthier and more alive. This calls for some nature therapy, and Sweden's untouched wilderness provides the perfect antidote.

In Singapore, we may have more financial capital, but here in Cambodia it seems they possess more of the other capitals. It seems pretty funny to me how we, considered by some definitions a more developed country, “progressed” when really we are merely exchanging one type of capital for another.

The village used to be a place that was left behind, as young adults headed for work in the city, leaving their parents and young children at home. There's a parallel here to the situation in my home country, China, as Baan Rai Kong Khing's past mirrors that of many rural villages in China.The lack of industrial development and education cause a deficiency in job opportunities and income resources, forcing people to leave their hometowns to become cheap labourers elsewhere.

Stepping out of Hong Kong’s sophisticated MTR system and into the streets of Sham Shui Po, I was instantly struck by one thing - contrast. The next few days were going to reveal more of Hong Kong’s contrasting landscapes as we carried out the legwork and groundwork to prepare for an exciting new course on social innovation in 2016.

As I think back, I am not too clear on why as to I decided to go on an OCIP trip like this – was it to confirm my cynical criticisms on volunteerism or a subconscious desire to prove myself wrong? Whichever the case, I don’t think I’m regretting it.

When we were asked about the dangers we needed to pay attention to in the forest, Sierra asked us what the most dangerous creature in the forest is. Someone answered 'snakes', while others answered 'monkeys'. My answer was the mosquito. To our surprise, all of us were wrong; Sierra told us that the most dangerous creature who can cause damage to the forest is ourselves - humans.

Knowing where our food came from seemed to make the food taste better - it was a sense of knowing what we have is from the earth, and that we were only taking what we needed.

Though Sweden also has the problem of security, the basic trust and kindness amongst people provide a relatively harmonious environment to allow for the implementation of high taxes and extensive welfare. In summary, the macro social trust is built on every single smile exchanged between people.

Phnom Penh is a city littered with microfinance institutions. I often fear that social entrepreneurship has become too top-down in its approach, weighed down by fancy jargon. But at OBCR, the average turnaround for a loan is just one week, from application to issuance.

It struck me that the answer to that question actually answered my lingering doubts on what it means to "do good" better. How do we "do good" even better for ourselves, and for the community that we serve? How do we make doing good a self-sustaining cycle?

I feel like a spark ignited in me on this trip, I will definitely return to Cambodia again, and find a way to give back to these wonderful people.

Challenging educators and everyone else present in the audience with the notion that failure is a necessary step along the route to success, educators were encouraged by Huijia’s speech to perceive their students’ failures as not so much as just an outcome but proof that they are actually trying; and trying to be more than who they were before.