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This song will bring back memories.
P.S. Tomorrow, Nhu will be performing We’re SEALNet at her Cathay Pacific Scholarship Conference, so come cheer her on if you can.
- Peter Nguyen
Comments
The song is so awesome! Thank you Kenneth for the song. Thank you Peter for putting the song up so that everyone can enjoy and know what we had done in PV06.
I really wish I could be there to see Nhu does her presentation. But since I can’t, just want to wish her the best of luck. — Quynh Pham
Yeah, i guess the subject of this comment says it all.
YOU ROCK, KENNETH 
. I personally love everything about the song: from the humorous and “powerful” lyric, the smooth melody to your sweet voice. Thanks a bunch Ken :”D . LoTs of love to You .
Also thanks to Peter for uploading the song for us. Your the best !
To Nhu : Still remember what I wrote to you last time ? : Be yourself, Stay Cool and YOU CAN DO IT 
. Good Luck tomorrow. Love you.
To the rest : I miss you guys a whole LOT.. — Hanh Nguyen
Hey guys,
Nhu won the scholarhip!!! Congratulations Nhu! Good job! — Quynh Pham
Dear all, I’m done with the news translation (finally… phewww). The translated version is below. For the sake of other SEALNet members in PC and PT who don’t know which pic is us, the article with the title “Ngôn Ngữ Của Tình Bạn” is for us. Enjoy reading the article about SEALNet yah. Warmly, Quynh Pham
Language of friendship
“I simply want to bring together talented and active youth who have a passionate interest in dedicating themselves to the development of SouthEast Asia. Maybe there no one will become a leader in the future but at least we have created the network between people who are animated by the same sense of purpose and created the foundations of an organization that will grow bigger in the near future.” This statement of purpose laid down by the founder and president of SEALNet (SouthEast Asian Leadership Network) organization Huynh Minh Viet was revisited by 20 SEALNet members at the meeting reviewing their first week of the project at Danang College of Foreign Language (DCFL) in the afternoon of June 27. After going through activities in the past 7 days, team leader Nguyen Quoc Thien Phuoc (Nancy Nguyen) said: “We hope that our work will receive more help and interest in the future. I want to say thank you to the Danang College of Foreign Language and to the college students who we have met. They are friendly, cheerful and very fond of studying.”
Language of Friendship
In the past week, after giving 7 computers and installing the teaching-and-learning-English software in DCFL library, the SEALNet group had some teaching sessions to show the teachers from DCFL and the nearby areas how to use the software. The cultural exchanges and little “conferences” between the college students and the group members left everyone with unforgettable moments. Leng Lim (Singaporean), one of the 2 advisors and also one of the founders of SEALNet, explained the motivation of the group: “The project, in one side, is to bring the computers to the community but in fact, it’s about teaching English with computers using the prime language – friendship. The language of friendship will help to build trust between us”. According to Leng Lim, a very important purpose of SEALNet is to share and build trust between people. The project is not only for those who come from South-East Asia but also for everyone in the world. Another advisor Nguyen Cao Hung (Hung Nguyen), who has left Vietnam for 25 years and come back 3 times to visit, recognized the resemblances (rather than the differences) between Vietnamese students who are studying in Vietnam and those who are studying abroad. According to Hung, Vietnamese students, both local and overseas, have a strong desire for a better life and a deep aspiration to assert themselves with their talent and creativity. They are willing to learn from foreigners and improve themselves. Going to Vietnam, both American-Vietnamese students and foreign students want to approach and know about Vietnamese culture. This is why the Project Vietnam 2006 is called “long-lasting cross-cultural friendship”. Each member has a chance to know more about Vietnamese culture through meeting Vietnamese, creating friendly relations with friends from different countries such as the United States, England and nations in South-East Asia. Last year, with the support from Ho Chi Minh Youth Union, Singapore International Foundation, Stanford University, and some other companies in the United States and Europe, SEALNet had a successful Project Vietnam 2005 in Ho Chi Minh City. This year, the “language of friendship” is extended to 3 nations: Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
Youth Desire
In that afternoon, everyone gathered together to watch a short movie on what had happened in the past 7 days and enjoy themselves. Danang Supermarket, Statues of Mother Nhu, the innocent laughter of children in Cam Ne, Tam Tien villages… Everything that had passed had deep impressions on everyone. Brook Rosenkrantz, an American student with a friendly smile said, “Even though it’s just been a week, the things I learned from here will definitely change my life, especially the images of the poor remote areas with students who love learning. What left the deepest impression on me were the heartfelt attitude, the hospitality and the warmth of Vietnamese.” The South East Asian Leadership Network (SEALNet) is a network of students from various American, British and South East Asian universities first founded at Stanford University in 2004. The 2 main purposes of SEALNet are to create a cross-cultural network among students interested in Southeast Asian developmental issues and to empower students to create positive change. (This is the one in the blue box) A week with the heat and the wind in Central Vietnam placed stamps on the faces of people from different nations. But this is nothing strange to Pham Dinh Hai Quynh and Nguyen Phuong Ca Dao. Hai Quynh is the daughter of a senior lecturer of English in DCFL who went to the United States for an exchange scholars program. Ca Dao is the alumna of Le Quy Don Specialized Senior High School and currently a junior studying Accounting and Finance in the London School of Economics in England. “I have been away from home for 2 years and I miss this place a lot. Going back to Danang and seeing so many changes here, I want to do something to contribute to my hometown. I volunteered to become a SEALNet member because I love the purpose of this program: training the leadership skills for the youth, preparing them with the tools to give back to their community”, said Ca Dao. What makes Vietnamese students like Hai Quynh, Ca Dao devote themselves to SEALNet is the wonderful example of Huynh Minh Viet. From a poor student who originally came from Quang Nam Province and had to stay with the host families that were closest to his schools from 4th to 10th grade, Viet became one of the 50 most outstanding students in the world to receive an award for being a prospective leader by Goldman Sachs Fund. He is also the founder and president of SEALNet. Viet is currently studying for a degree in Economics at Stanford University (US). Before that, he studied for 4 years in Singapore on the ASEAN Scholarship program. In the International Student Conference that was held in Tokyo (Japan) last year, Huynh Minh Viet was one of the 2 youngest speakers with a talk entitled “How to pay back to your community when you are still in college?” Viet raised questions that any students who are really motivated and dedicated to the development of Vietnam can feel the strong young desire within themselves: What do you want to do to make your community better? Looking around the city, what can you do to improve the living standard? As a student – a very busy student, what will you do?…
See you again!
To Dr. Luu Quy Khuong, the dean of graduate studies and international relations office – DCFL, welcoming and working with SEALNet group is “the first product” of his office as it had just been set up in April, 2006. Through the exchange, DCFL wants to cooperate more with SEALNet in the future to strengthen the understanding between students from South-East Asian countries in particular and students from all over the world in general and to prepare their students with leadership skills. When she learned that there is an annual student volunteer program named “Green Summer”, the team leader Nguyen Quoc Thien Phuoc hoped to come back next year to immerse in the youthful and ebullient atmosphere of Danang students. Although she is the team leader, Thien Phuoc is just 20 years old. The junior-to-be is studying Human Biology in the US. When representing the team to make a speech, she stammered at times, sometimes saying “con” sometimes saying “tôi” to the teachers in the school managing board of DCFL. This created a close connection among Vietnamese. DCFL is famous for having very good relationships with many organizations even though the material and technical foundations of DCFL is still poor. The principal Phan Van Hoa said: “I am very grateful that SEALNet came and brought computers to DCFL. You did very significant things in the very first step in our long-lasting relationship. I hope that this relationship will create more good things in the future.” In the farewell meeting, everyone was reluctant to part with their friends. There was crying as people strove to say “See you again!”….
Dear all SEALNet members, I have lots of things that I want to say to each and every of you but I don’t have time to do this (things are all against me now). So, I will make this real quick. Continue your own paths and we’ll see each other again soon. BON VOYAGE!! Love you all, Quynh Pham
I know you’ve been waiting for it. Here it is, the world’s one and only SEALNet 2006 – Project Vietnam Recap Video. It took a while to get it online, but it’ll be worth the wait. 
- Peter Nguyen
Comments:
I know you’ve worked very hard to make this video . And I really encourage you for your contribution , as well as admired you for your computing talents ! Thanks so much ! — Duy Nguyen
Thanks for the encouragement. Stuff like this makes making movies worthwhile. — Peter Nguyen
Yay! My mentee are I are the first to encourage you for your hard work! I’m sure you know how much we love your video-editing and filming skills and more importantly how much we love you!!
BIG HUG SOLARSAUR!
Love,
weixiong.wong and solarprince — Kenneth Wong
I agree! Great video man! — Jiun Haur Wang
THANK YOU PI TO*? FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORD. I’m sorry that I put lots of stress on you when asking you to give this video to me as soon as possible as we originally planned that I would make the copies of CD for everyone. =(. BUT you really surprised me by making this done 1 day after I called you. Wow… This is awesome. WELL DONE bro!! — Quynh Pham
Thanks Quynh. I didn’t feel rushed. I wanted to get it online ASAP anyhow. =) — Peter Nguyen
Awesome work harry Peter! This video is so awesome. My family really enjoys it! I miss you as well as everyone else! Take care! — Thai Huynh
Thanks for the comment, Thai. I’m glad that your family is enjoying it. Stay cool at A.S.U. — Peter Nguyen
PV06-ERS!! I miss you guys so much. I’ve been taking a few days off digesting everything that happened during our two weeks together. Still I cannot fathom all the transformation that I was able to witness while leading this project. I feel overwhelmed and very fortunate sitting here writing my first blog. I hope you all had a wonderful time. =) My peak moment would be saying “bye” to Thuy, a village girl from Tam Tien that we took as a mentee. Many of you were not there when we had a formal farewell in front of all the school officials. Stephanie gave Thuy a new stuffed bunny, and I handed her 20 USD for school supplies. Thai walked away because he could not bare seeing Thuy cry. Aside from the tears of our members present, I saw the men, who had been laughing, drinking beer, and cracking jokes a second ago, cry. I trusted a relationship began at this moment. This experience gave me hope for the second week. I had intense energy, peace, joy, and trust in all of you to own this project after Ca Dao stood up for our Stake. I wasn’t disappointed, but surprised day by day. Thank you. Indeed, many relationships bloomed and poured into emails, phone calls, and activities after our project. I hope these will be ones that will LAST FOREVER. I cannot encapsulate this moment or this trip into many words, but I feel awfully THANKFUL to have met each one of you and our cute mentees. My goal for this trip is to serve the poor and be a true friend to my teammates by being an honest leader. I was very touched by your care for me while I sick the first week. First, I thank God for keeping us all safe and healthy for the most part. Special thanks to my co-leader, Kenneth. I’m so blessed that you were on the team. I wouldn’t have been able to pull through without you. Core, I felt a lot of peace when you all made it to see our hard planning finally come into life. Your arrival made a difference. Quynh, you’ll always be my superkid. I thank Leng and Hung for being part of our family. Thanks for sparking the fire to serve each other and the poor in everyone! =) You are both inspiration to us all. All of my teammates and mentees – you have inspired at least someone on our team to change and grow. You have inspired me. Thanks for giving me a chance to meet my goal. YOU GUYS ROCK!!!
P.S. Don’t forget to OOSH!! =)
– Nancy Nguyen, SEALNet PV06 Leader
Cam Ne 4/7/2006
I am currently in Cam Ne Village and want to send my greetings to you and your friends.
How are you? Wherever you are right now, I am praying for you and your friends. The children in Cam Ne really want to learn how to use the computers. However, the electricity is not stable yet for starting classes. I am sending applications and the news out for the children to fill out and turn in for studying. They will give their age and grade so I can put them in the right classes according to what they will learn on the computers. If you receive this email, please write my full name (first and last) so I know that you are the one who received it.
Cam Ne 4/7/2006
Co Sang o CN day co goi loi chao tham con va cac ban
.Con co khoe khong hien con dang o dau dang lam gi co cung luon cau nguyen cho con va cac ban .
Cac em o CN rat muon hoc nhung dien chua on dinh duoc de tien hanh viec hoc hien co dang thong bao cho cac em de cac em nop don xin hoc va cho biet tuoi va lop de xep lop cho cac em .Cung nhu de ra noi qui su dung may Computer .Neu con nhan duoc thu thi viet dung ho ten co trong thu de co biet chinh la con da nhan thu
Dear fellow Sealnet adventurers, I have been reflecting on what are some of my peaks and memorable experiences that I have during Project Vietnam, and what I have learned about life, love and leadership of human spirit from those experiences. I am taking my time to reflect and write, and will post them as they becoming clear. I would love to hear yours as well. So here’s the question for all of us: what are your top 3 (and more if you have more) peak and memorable experiences during this Sealnet adventure, and what you have learn about life, love and the human spirit? Here’s the first of 10 from me: 1. The moment when Cadao stepped into the middle of the circle and powerfully claim the Stake of “Commitment to Service, Friendship and Growth” for the whole community. For me this is leadership at its finess because it was about allowing space for trust, patience, acceptance. After a long hour of people naming the creative tension between “current reality and vision”, and brainstorming the stakes, I felt that we were getting stuck. We choose to change perspective by moving from sitting to taking a stand in a circle and face each other as a community. There was a moment right before CaDao stepped in, the silence felt almost unbearable. I had to let go of trying to “figure it out” and trust in the wisdom of the community. I notice that the harder we tried to figure things our with our brains to come up with the stake more confused and competitive we got. Many of us were trying to find the right words. My intuition was that if we keep trying to figure things out with our heads, we will not be able find the stake. So instead we held hands, feel grounded in our bodies, breath and trust in the energy of the group. I can feel the nervousness and anticipation in myself and in the group. When Cadao stepped forth with her whole body, and say the stake out loud, I feel the support of the whole community. We let go of how the words “should be”, people were just being together. For me, this is a powerful leadership moment because it is about taking risk, trusting, and allowing for something to unfold without getting attachment to the outcomes. It’s also about the embodiment of the stake. In the end, even though we arrived to the same stake that we had at the beginning of the project, now everyone can fully align themselves behind it which contribute to the success of the Vietnam project. I feel sure that all of us who worked on this project has experienced the “commitment to service, friendship and growth”…am I right or am I right?
– Hung Nguyen
Hello everybody, I’m so lazy to blog but now I just want to say goodbye to you all. Last night when we were all standing and holding each other, I felt that I can say goodbye to you all but those words are not enough to describe my feeling. I was confused, nervous and didn’t know what to say. I guessed I’m not strong enough to express my feeling, not strong enough to let go. My pride and independence sank down and there I realized that it’s ok to show you’re weak and dependence is not a bad thing. From now on, I know that even when I walk on my path alone and independently, I will never feel lonely again because I have you all. I have to say part of my life is depended on you. Fate has blessed me so much for letting me found you all. Thank you
- Tuyet-Mai Hoang
Today was Mia’s 21st birthday. Understandably, she was gently awoken in the middle of the night to be congratulated. A group of us stepped quietly into her room, sang Happy Birthday at the top of our lungs, and then dragged her from where she had been sleeping peacefully to the tub for a cold shower. Fortunately, she had excellent humor about all of it, aside from not having any other pajamas to replace freezing, soaked ones she wore. Eight hours later, I was in Cam Ne for the second day of the project headed by the high school students. I don’t think I could have been more proud. Their excitement and invovlement with the children is unrivalled in my memory. By the end, the children were wanting them to come back. At their debriefing, it was easy to see how they had all been touched by the experience. In the evening, we went to sing karaoke in a dual celebration of the project’s end and Mia’s birthday. Everyone was easy, friendly, and ready to sing. It was a good evening. So what, you may be asking me, is the point of this concise overview of the day? It was the achievement of a goal shared by so many on this project. At the beginning of the project, a large number of team members expressed emotions ranging from apprehension to excitement about the coming days of the project. What nearly everyone admittedly hoped to gain from this experience was a closer relationship with everyone involved on the project. So when I saw how everyone cared for Mia on her birthday away from home, or worked with the mentees in the village, or said good-bye to Hung and Ca Dao, the love that has grown from this trip was inescapably apparent. Personally, I have never felt more comfortable around anyone, other than those who are the closest to me, than I have here. There is an unpretending friendliness and openness here that has fostered deep and hopefully long lasting relationships here. For this, all I can say, and I know it is not enough, is “Congratulations, guys. We did it!”
- Danelle Mallen
It’s a shame that I can’t join you guys at the banquet; I can’t be with you on the last day of our Project either. For the past 2 weeks, I have grown up in my way…. I suddenly realize that, at the end of today, I might not be able to see you guys again. I feel disappointed that I haven’t got to know each one of you the way I wanted to do, that I have to leave early and that I can’t join the Talent show which is planned by our mentees. Leng and Hung, thank you so much for being present to us. You are always there to guide us, to be friends that we can always count on. I want to acknowledge you for guiding us to go to the right direction, for helping me figure out myself. I want to thank you for the day that you helped me realize how much I wanted to open up myself. ‘Live the life of honest’, that sentence has waken me up, I has lived a life without opening up my whole self and now I feel that I am ready to share, to be me. This project has come and given me a lot, I’ve learnt about relationship, about friendship, the commitment we have to make to our community services, and above all that, I had a lesson about myself. After what we have done, I am so grateful for being given the chance to be part of this project. All the works we have done, all the people we have met, all give me a deep picture that I will never forget. Here are just some thoughts about friends that have been running through my mind. Nancy, I’m so glad that I jointed the team because I get to know many great people, among that; you are the person that I look up the most. I missed out your ‘Spotlight On’ because of my personal matter but that was one of the thing that I regret. I heard your story from Viet and I admired you so much. Our situations are somehow similar in a way but the way you treated people around you was not the way I did. You treat people with your love; you grew up in that harsh environment and still being a loving girl. I hated people; I was the world with grey colour. I was selfish, you were tolerant. I didn’t know how to share, I kept everything for myself, and I seldom talked to my parents or my brother. I admire you so much for your heart to your work, for your love to your brother. Nancy, I found in you the passion to help people with all your heart. I’ve learnt from you to love unconditionally, without questions, without expectations. I know whatever happens, you will always be a strong person and live your dream. I am so happy that I have chance to be your friend. Kenneth, Huỳnh Vĩ Hùng, wow you have such a great Vietnamese name. First thing I noticed about you was you were so funny, you still are ha-ha. I ‘acknowledge’ for being such a great co-leader with Nancy. Even though I don’t think you look mature, I still find you a good friend to talk to. You are the friend that I come to reassure myself that thing is going to be fine since you always make others feel at ease. Ahh, you are a patient teacher too, oh my god, you repeated the line ‘If you’re happy…’ for a million times, didn’t you get bored??? Ken, thank you and Nancy for scarifying your sleep hour to do the plan everyday, thank you for taking the works from Quynh so that she’s not stressed out, thank you for making things easy for me about the time, thank you for being such a funny person so that we all have a good laugh when we are tired. Bí thở, Peter, you are cute little boy. You are like a sweet young brother that I always feel I need to protect you whenever I am with you. However, I also learnt from you too. I find you really mature in your thoughts and actions. Thank you for all the recording that you made, it would make this trip unforgettable. Please send it to me please; I’m going to miss you guys so much!!! You are 16, I thought you would be just carefree but actually, you care for people around you, observe people in your way and very you are very hardworking too. So, keep it up Peter, and email me when you get into Stanford! Tuyet Mai Gas Station, hey, you are a sweet girl you know, somehow, I feel I want to know more about you, it’s not going to be possible now coz I will miss your spotlight. We did talk a lot, or I did hear you talk with other people too. When I think of you, I think about a cute little girl who are really active and also mature in saying stuff. You said you wanted to find people that you can talk about investment bank. So keep in touch, we will discuss about it. Mia Sugar Cane, your Spotlight On night changed my whole perception about you. You know that every time I see you, I feel peaceful with your smile. You are always ready to smile; I thought you must have come from the family with all the laughter, I thought that you were such a carefree and happy person. And that night, I knew that you did overcome a lot of sorrow. I was happy for you Mia when you said you were over it now, and that you felt happy. The important thing that I want to learn from you is you smile with your true self… Chi Pham, I acknowledge you for being honest at your Spotlight On night, for being so co-operative, for put your 100% energy in whatever you do. Thank you for the offer to allow me to stay in your home (I might stay with my auntie’s friend for now in Saigon) even though you didn’t know me that well back then. You are sometimes a quiet observer. You remember the Spider Web workshop; I was so impressed with your enthusiasm to help the team, to encourage the team that everything was going to get done. ‘It’s possible, I’ll jump I’ll jump!!!!’ it was so brave. Phuong Huynh, you are an understanding sister, you are always willing to help figuring things out. Thank you for a wise advice to Quynh when she had problems, thank you for leading the workshops. I hope you’re going to do well in your study in America and we’ll meet again. Thank you for sharing with me the thoughts about parents, I believe that you are growing up along with this project too. Brooke, my idol, I do admire Brooke and Danny for coming to this project with all your heart. Brooke, you are full with energy and I can see how enthusiastic you are with the project. You are always ready to step up to air your thoughts, you are ready to sing and sing well. I acknowledge you for being a good mentor to Nhu, always be responsible and caring. Remember to buy some coffee before you go, make coffee with the thingy and with condensed milk of course. Phuong Tran, strong woman with black is her favourite colour! You have such confidence and strong personality with you. I have a feeling that you are going to do so well in whatever you choose. I’m really looking forward to seeing you in LSE. Phuong, you have 2 sides about you, one really strong, one really sensitive. You can be confident but also easily being touched. I hope you live the person you want to be. After last night, I felt that I am connected to you more. At first, I did feel disconnected from you; you looked cold and a bit far from me. But the more we talk, the more I feel I know you. Shi Hua, first time I met you, I thought you were in university doing 2nd year or something like that, I couldn’t believe that you were doing your master. You looked so young. You are a caring and sweet person. You care for friends in your way. You can talk, or you can wait and see. You always bring your baby with you ha-ha, I think you are funny too. By the way, I will send you the picture of the singer that I told you. Good luck with your job. I hope that when I go to Singapore, you can give me a tour around the city. Chi Chi Chành Chành, like a litchi, always together in branch, soft and sweet, that is how you describe yourself. You are only a small girl but you never hesitate to do all the hard work. You always try to overcome your weakness and develop yourself. Two consecutive workshops, we can see how hard you try to overcome the fear of speaking in front of the big group. You love people without asking for return, you help people without their noticing. But we do realize that you know, and thank you for that. Danelle Mallen, I didn’t know that you learn Vietnamese until yesterday. I remember there was one session that we talked about our problems. You were so sincere to talk about yours. You are calm which is opposite to me, ha-ha, I am loud. Thank you for telling me about your dream, I wish with all my heart that you will reach your dream to be a good writer. Quynh Pham, you always eager to do thing, you are willing to help us in everything, you are still young and you are in the process of growing up. I’m impressed with your enthusiasm and energy. One thing I want to tell you is you have to take care of yourself too, don’t overload yourself with works, and ask for help when needed. One thing, you are a great singer! Thai Huynh, a big brother with a big smile. I can see in you the affection for children, for be Thuy, cu Thinh. I hope you carry this with you always. You are there to help, to talk. You join with people whenever they need you. You care for your friends, for people around, never hesitate to do anything. Tuan, there is something about you telling me that you have a strange personality (positive way). You always have the mature thoughts and you are good at what you are doing. We don’t talk much then I don’t really get to know you that well. I just hope that things will always be a challenge for you. Wei Siang, even though we work with each other in Finance, we don’t talk much. Your face is scary sometimes to me as we first met. But the day you show your care to your friends, especially me on the day I went to get the projector, I feel I get closer to you as a friend. Actually, I was hoping somebody was there since it was late and I hate it going up by myself at that time. Thank you! Tracy, I’m glad that I had the interview with you. At least, I had the chance to get to talk to you more since you are busy with recording. Before you and Stephanie came, all the members told me about how great you are. At the interview, at first, I was not really comfortable but then, think about it as the conversation between us, I felt more convenient talking to you. I shared with you my thoughts and I luckily had the chance to listen to what you thought about me too. Tracy, the work that you do is really important since you make my first experience here unforgettable. Thank you for that. Stephanie, I feel so bad that I’m in charge of lunch and dinner and I keep forgetting you are a vegetarian. And then you get sick, I think it’s because I didn’t let you eat properly. I’m so sorry, Steph. Thank you for doing the documentary. Thank you for having such a good heart that you’re going to take care of be Thuy. This summer has been my most memorable summer. I’ve met all good people, learnt many great lessons. This project Vietnam has made me realize about myself, about people, about the world. This experience I am going to carry with me. This is one pace that later on I can look back and say: ‘That day, I changed, that day, I started growing up’.
- Ca Dao Nguyen
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