Diversity Reconciliation

2010-04-10T01:02:00.001+08:00

That's quite a cool picture huh.

Goal April 9

2010-04-06T00:19:00.006+08:00

Goal April 9 - Verbal Agreement to Sale.

____________________________

NoteBook.

...(deleted)...

And now, I shall make a judgemental pov of how to access the office culture in a potential hirer. It just came to my mind whilst reflecting on my cold calling today, so credibility is quite questionable, but here goes anyway. Make a cold call and pretend to want to sell something to the department you are applying to. If the person listens patiently and politely with sincere explanations of what they feel about your proposition, then that department has a warm environment with good team communication. Reason is that the constant liaising has imbued good social awareness and tolerance to unfamiliar ideas. However, if you receive a short, snide and curt retort, you'd better be the kind who likes peace and quietness with minimal communication.

As you can probably infer from my biased observations, I'm the kind who prefers cross-communication. There is a role for all types of personalities and I just sway to one side more at work. Of course, I actually do like solitude time as well. Who doesn't? It's energy sapping to be around people always. But watching the UK version of The Apprentice just now really brought back the memories of how much I wanted to do sales/marketing which involves the product development right up to the handshake to seal the deal. The fluidity, creativity, and autonomy.

2010-04-05T00:58:00.002+08:00

www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/9/view/8346/subway-architecture.html

Beautiful. Magnificent!

2010-04-04T13:14:00.000+08:00

refresheverything.com/

now that's what I call really smart marketing.

2010-03-25T00:55:00.002+08:00

I come home to watch a show, recorded over the weekend, and it just had to be a damn depressing one.

Jogged like a tortoise just now. I don't know. It's just a very depressing period I'm undergoing. Nothing seems to be really bright at the moment.

Work, love life, yada yada..

Occasional meetups with friends(and her) lend some respite. Most days, the drives to and fro work are the only good moments from the otherwise monotonous days. Damn it. I actually feel quite stressed up that I'm taking money from the company but not bringing in revenue. You know, it's like a relac one corner stress. Like you go to an old man half naked sprawled on a bench and ask him "wadsup ah pek?" and he replies "I'm damn stressed".

But anyway, the depressing show I watched is "seven pounds" and it's a really good show, albeit the already mentioned depressing aspect. Well, now that I'm typing this out, it just dawned on me that - Hey, it's okay to just be happy at the moment with someone even if there's no guarantees whatsoever. Ya know, you can plan a very happy future in your head but you never know what's going to happen tmr. So just appreciate whatever comes along everyday. Oh wow, I feel better already. I feel like a gal writing a diary now. What a wuss. I'll blast some trance in my car tmr.

Gary Vaynerchuk: Do what you love (no excuses!) | Video on TED.com

2010-03-20T13:53:00.002+08:00

Gary Vaynerchuk: Do what you love (no excuses!) | Video on TED.com

He's right. And if anybody gives u a cynical reply, look at him/her and ask "Is he/she rich?"

Without a doubt, you want to take advice from a person with a good track record.

2010-03-16T02:00:00.004+08:00

I'll need to run it off. Runs are becoming shitty again. Need new music.

2010-02-11T21:04:00.002+08:00

I love her thoughts. Amazing woman. Maybe I'll start reading novels again with her books.

Jump in

2010-02-07T16:58:00.004+08:00

It's a lazy Sunday afternoon and I'm clearing the clogged up mailbox. Clicked open the Vault Weekly Career Update and scrolled down, browsing quickly, and these words by a certain Charles R. Swindoll caught my eye -

"The habit of always putting off an experience until you can afford it, or until the time is right, or until you know how to do it is one of the greatest burglars of joy. Be deliberate, but once you've made up your mind--jump in."

For a moment, I thought I was reading a Citibank email instead of a Vault one. I mean it makes sense right? The credit cards want us to have the experience now even though we cannot afford it. But no, it was in a Vault email. Somehow, that lent quite abit of credibility to the above quote.

You know, what this guy says holds substantial truth in it. You can wait and wait for the circumstances to be 100%, i.e. perfect, but the matter of fact is, we never have a 100% setting most of the time. Btw, I stole that "never a 100%" idea from the film, "Invictus".

In my opinion, luck really plays a part in alot of things. Whether you become rich, or become poor, luck is very important. It's indeed unnerving to leave things to luck when life is so precious. You can slog till the skin peels from your hands and you might still become a bankrupt. Does that make your hardworking attitude a negative tick off the statistics chart? No it doesn't. It's still a virtue, but you just had bad luck.

I believe it is important to acknowledge the luck factor, but still have a plan of where you want your road to head to. Walk the road you want, but if you fail, shrug it off and blame it on your bad luck. It'll help to soften the fall and pick yourself up faster.

Well if you ask me, luck is just a statistical game anyway. We just don't have the luxury of a million years lifetime to test each variation in course of action and will never know all the consequences of every action, so we just call it luck. If you lived forever, you wouldn't be relying on luck. You'd have all the time in the world to gain infinite experience to make a perfect choice, every single time.

Personally, I feel the phrase "No Guarantees in Life" has helped me put things into perspective regularly.

Math Whiz Breaks the Blackjack Bank

2010-01-15T01:55:00.000+08:00

Math Whiz Breaks the Blackjack Bank

Damn.. I ain't no math whizz..

F Line Street Car in San Francisco

2010-01-12T01:09:00.001+08:00

F Line Street Car in San Francisco
Originally uploaded by big_pixel_pusher

This is really vivid & I just love it. It'll be really cool if I could go to SanFrans now and wander the streets. Stand in this place and just soak it all in for a few seconds. Shiok.

2010-01-09T17:02:00.002+08:00

Johann Pachelbel wrote 'Canon in D' in the 17th century(1600 plus).

2010-01-09T03:38:00.002+08:00

Why is it that many Singaporeans still want to buy a car when our public transport is so well connected?

Such a simple question; why is it the answer hasn't been found yet? Or rather, why hasn't the solution been had yet?

In my opinion, it's not just the convenience of getting from point A to point B. It is the comfort level. If I could stroll into a train, engage in my own thoughts peacefully, or perhaps have a quiet conversation with my friends, would I still want a car? You know what? Yes, I still want a car. But I would not drive it out as often. Traffic wouldn't be a problem then if more people owned cars but took the trains half the time.

The answer is simple, make the trains less stressful. Make the trains wider. Too expensive to change the width? Make the stations longer so that more carriages can be attached per train. Increase the train's speed so that people don't feel impatient with the perception of taking forever to reach their destination. Increase the frequency of trains.

Without a doubt, the running costs for SMRT and SBS will go up. This is why the problem has not been nipped in the butt despite endless campaigns to switch to public transport. It's not about efficiency only; it's about a more comfortable and less stressful ride.

Marketing. Do you want to have a profit maximising strategy or do you want a market penetration approach? I think we should be adopting a market penetration approach in that we are trying to lessen the roads' load by getting more passenger ridership on the trains. Market penetrating strategies often mean less profits. So what does this mean? Spend more on operation costs to lessen ridership stress. Earn less. Get more passengers on board. Roads are less congested. Business transportation efficiency increases. Singapore's economy improves. Citizens are happier because more can own cars and have an optimal level of income dedicated to maintaining it (costs now offset by interchangeability between cars and trains according to their daily preference).

And please, provide more midnight and early morning public transport options. It's insane to spend 1 to 2 hours on the midnight buses to get from town to the neighbourhoods. Sure I'll take them because I'm don't have alot of spare cash to take the taxis. Satisfied I'm most definitely not.

2010-01-03T20:00:00.002+08:00

Very interesting.

Which brings me to a thought I had recently. You know how people often complain about government red tape and long processing times for administrative procedures? I believe that having some sort of a lengthy chain (which definitely leads to longer waiting times
) is actually necessary to combat corruption.

Can you imagine if government organisations worked like private companies? Well, you get what I mean. Think enron and adm.

2009-12-31T06:30:00.002+08:00

Paid the deposit for the car.

Honestly, the amount I have to pay per month is a little stressful.

It's a 1.6 litre car. All in all, I've set aside $1700 per month to bao ka liao.

It's not that I will incur this cost every month, but I've factored in maintenance (tyre changing, fluids changing, wheel alignment, etc), road tax, insurance, and the unfortunate private settlement in the event of an accident.

I think I'll start to drop alot of hair real soon. On a positive note, I can feel the motivation to pia and earn enough commission to cover a significant portion of the car expense. I feel that eking out a living when one is tight as compared to when one is comfortable, affects the work attitude level between good and excellent rather vastly. For example, if I start to feel sian about a client who is not showing much interest despite much efforts, the car expenses will serve to slap me 2 times in the face and wake up my idea.

2009-12-22T15:21:00.000+08:00

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/01/singapore/jacobson-text

2009-12-17T05:06:00.003+08:00

I will do what is right. No way am I screwing it up again.

I've thus far rejected 2 offers after I left my previous job. Reasons are that I feel apprehensive when I just consider the packages as a whole and I'm not going to enter any job where there lies such doubts again (as much as I can help, unless I'm starving).

It's of utmost importance to start off the career on the right track. "Never know till you try" -yes, but there's a limit to it; can't just blindly anyhow whack.

So I've been talking to my dad sometimes regarding the job offers. At first, his explanations make sense. However, I realise he changes the tune of his rationale with each new job interview or offer I inform him of. Basically, I feel he's just rationalising based on his experience and old-fashioned mentality, rather than sound logic. I just brush off the topic as quickly as I can now whenever he enquires about my career search.

Sometimes I wonder, will I be the same kind of dad to my kids. What if my son told me he wants to be a painter. I sure hope I don't follow in my dad's footsteps, but I sure hope my son will at least like some well-paying jobs instead so that I have no worries in that aspect. Well, if my daughter says she wants to be a painter, I'll say "SURE! go ahead". Not being sexist or what here. The fact is, she just needs to hook a good guy who can support her, so that she can paint in happiness and still live a comfortable life.

It's not a matter of a sugar daddy or whatever you call it. Even men buy 4d and toto in the hopes of striking it rich so they can retire or live a better life. It just happens that 4d and toto are not categorised into sexes, if not these men would be classified as sugar mummy hunters too.

2009-11-24T05:51:00.000+08:00

look at that..

Fire-Fighting

2009-11-17T04:28:00.003+08:00

It's simply amazing!

A fire can actually be put extinguished with sound waves - more specifically lower frequency sounds.

The basis for this is the compression and disturbances of the air molecules by the sound waves. Fire needs oxygen to undergo combustion. Therefore, the air disturbance disrupts the process.

Similarly, a huge-ass explosion next to a fire will remove the oxygen, thus stopping the combustion too.

Another amazing fact is our memory of past events increases significantly under hypnotism! Imagine how useful this would be in solving crimes which involve witnesses.

2009-11-17T03:15:00.001+08:00

2009-11-06T02:38:00.002+08:00

Why do I always screw up when I want something too badly. I presented myself wrongly a couple of times during the interview and couldn't help it even though I was aware of my wayward approach.

DAMN!!!

And whenever I go to interviews with a more carefree mood, it always goes better.

SUCKS MAN. Brooding over it the whole evening. I think the last time I had this feeling was when I walked out of the exam hall knowing I screwed up big time and that it counted greatly to my GPA.

Posting this in a whim and probably deleting it soon. Been doing this for the last few posts. Got nothing interesting to blog about nowadays man.

Oh, The fibonacci sequence has an interesting aspect to it.

Before I get into it, there is a golden ratio 1.618, which is naturally occuring in many aspects life. In a nutshell, we tend to find things made in this ratio are pleasing to the eyes.

Now the fibonacci sequence is very simple; take the numbers beside each other and add them up, then place them in the proceeding number position. So it goes like this - 0,1,1,2,3,5,6,13,21,34,55,89,144,..

So what is the interesting thing about this sequence? If you take any of the numbers and divide it by the preceding number, you'll find that the ratio tends towards 1.618 as the sequence advances.

This magic number is known as PHI.

I'm just about going to bed now, but you should google about this amazing ratio. Even the early Egyptians used this to construct their architecture. I would deduce that we can apply this ratio to our daily lives too. Say you want to segment a unit of anything (line, etc), take the length of it as a unit '1'. Afterwhich, segment the unit into 2 parts, where one segment is '0.681' of '1' and the other segment is '1-0.681'.

2009-10-11T19:37:00.003+08:00

This morning, whilst in the cab on the way to soccer, the driver yakked away.

He was telling me about his 4d exploits (or rather aspiring exploits) and how he bought a number '7889' and the 2nd price came in as '7888', or something along that line. He said he felt like jumping when he saw the results. I told him that maybe it was a sign that he should stop playing. On his side, he intepretes it as having a close shave with victory and therefore, he should buy more. On my side, I was trying to tell him that maybe God was telling him, "look, you ain't gonna stike the prize, so I'm telling you that even if you come extremely close to winning, you'll still not"

I hope he remembers today whenever he feels the itchy-backside-near-miss-and-want-to-bet-again impulse.

Carrying on, he was telling me how driving a taxi is good and he can earn $2.4k to $2.6k a month. He even urged me to consider driving one next time once I hit 30 (or was it 35?).

I suppose from the way I talked to him, he really felt like I was sussing out the taxi driving market for a potential career. I told him eventually that I had just graduated and was working in a white-collar job. My intention wasn't to gloat(if it even was anything to gloat about in the first place anyway), but rather to see what kinda reaction I would draw from him.

From that instant of reaction from him, I could suss out what his impressions of me were before my telling him.

Interesting. I discovered the stereotypical views of another taxi-driver in his 50's (possibly).

Tip to bargain hunters: chat with the taxi driver more and he'll probably round down your fare to the nearest dollar if it's a few cents above.

2009-10-06T01:22:00.004+08:00

I need to start doing entreprenurial stuff and not just task specific jobs.

I've learnt a couple of things about myself during these 2 months. I'm good at sieving out the appropriate answers to cut to the chase such as to alleviate the concerns of the clients. I'm NOT good at presenting an amiable & charming persona. Gotta work on it.

2009-10-03T15:27:00.003+08:00

2009-10-02T02:23:00.001+08:00

shucks.. hahaha.. OH WELL~ what to do.. shucks..

2009-09-03T02:01:00.003+08:00

My company has a good environment. The people are nice, there's a good work/personal stuff balance, and there's even a bible studies session for an hour every week(if time permits that is).

Now here comes the cognitive dissonance I'm facing now.

See, I would call myself a Deist. A Deist is not an Atheist. He believes in a God, albeit an impersonal one. What does that mean? - It means (according to my own beliefs) that God created everything as it is now. The laws of science applies to our humanly lives. What we know now is as real as it is, in this world of ours. I do not believe that if I pray to God, he will help me on a personal level. What I do believe is that He has given us the gift of life as humans and the ability to make the best of it, to carry out his intentions for us (which I hope is for the longer survival of humankind).

I do believe that when a christian prays, it does bring positive help to his/her life. My rationale is that God has given him/her the ability to have faith in him through that religion and thereby helping himself. Rationale. We all rationalise what we want our lives to be. Rationale is not Logic. It can be, but it is not absolutely always. Most importantly, it always seems logical to us on a personal level.

In bible studies, I go in with an open mind. But there lies a problem in that because the pastor preaches to the majority of whom are christians inside, he is teaching, well, christianity. I do not believe in the religion, yet.

I give you an example. In last week's session, the pastor mentioned that Jesus was the only way to heaven. To put things in perspective, if I truly went into bible studies with an open mind, I would not like it if I am told to have absolute faith in a belief because the pastor tells me so. I really want to find out more about christianity, but because I want to believe, I have to be fair to other religions and ask myself, "why not other religions?". An objective mind will always look at both sides of the coin. A subjective mind will have an inner inclination subconsiously and it will be easier to convince(depending on it's biaseness).

As such, I practise selective hearing when I'm in bible studies. When I hear something that deals with absolute faith, I just tell myself, "ok, this is for the christians." But if it is an open discussion, I'll perk up. For example, someone asked today how do christians hear God. Nobody could give a convincing answer. Thank god for that. I felt that their spiritual credibility had gone up because, yes, they are just humans and to fully understand God might be out of our grasp in our lives.

On to the issue of going to Heaven. Which is more important if there were 2 choices. Making more people's lives better with an objective mind, or, evangalising so that those who believe go to Heaven.

Therein lies the dilemna. Should one be shrewd but law abiding so that he can earn more money to help the less fortunate in the future, or should he be all nice and satisfied with an average income but volunteering at a charity to help a few.

2009-08-19T03:19:00.002+08:00

Cold Call Lesson number 1 : When sensing a rejection, don't stop talking and try to squeeze in some more good stuff. Just keep talking. It's a matter of probability that you hit a sweet spot.

2009-08-10T08:43:00.000+08:00

TOO BUSY TO BLOG. THANK YOU FOR COMING IN. WILL BE BACK SOON.

Stimulating enough?

2009-07-19T11:00:00.005+08:00

Poor Obama and his team. 5 months after the first stimulus bill and his people are complaining that things are getting worse; asking for a second stimulus.

5 months. When the stimulus was supposed to produce a result at the end of next year.

See, this is the issue with American culture. The common consensus in their attitudes is this - "We can do it."

Which leads to - "We will do it."

Which means that because America is usually successful in its workings, this attitude will spill over into most of the arenas within the people. The problem is when results don't come fast enough, and this might seem like the plan has failed (it might not have because it could just be a long term goal).

It's not like Obama could say things differently whilst garnering support for a green light on the stimulus. Had he sounded less impactful about it, the bill might not have been passed.

And then again, this 'can do, will do' spirit could be what makes America what it is today. So the question is, should things be said and done differently? I don't think so. It's tried and tested.

The same goes for Singapore. As tempting as the thought of having a more competitive political scene locally might be, we are indeed GOOD now. Should things be done differently? Maybe yes, maybe no. But baby steps. Baby steps so that we know what works and what doesn't, without too damaging consequences.

I think deep down inside us, we know what is good for us. See, a person might think that it would be better to have more opposition members in parliament. When he's entertaining that thought, he's kinda detaching his own personal life from the bigger picture to evaluate what might be good for the general population, theoretically as in competition benefits textbooks.

But I think that when voting times comes, many of us realise that the current political scene has indeed made life good for ourselves, and well, vote for the status quo.

Brand Loyalty

2009-07-16T06:58:00.002+08:00

Amazing.

A study has shown that consumers’ brand loyalties are tied to their insecurities. The products at hand in the study were mp3 players.

To cut to the chase, the more afraid a person is of dying, the more attached he/she is to their mp3 players. It’s like seeking comfort in the brand’s social status.

There is a correlation but it is not outright obvious in an average person’s rationalisation. Of course, when consumers play with their ipods, death is probably not on their minds. It’s like asking someone why he loves his partner. He can state the more obvious reasons but he would probably take much longer to dig into the roots to find out the humanly basic reasons.

Anyway, the important part is how to make use of this study result - Emphasize your brands feel good qualities.

2009-07-15T04:26:00.002+08:00

Signed the contract.

It is my goal to reach a senior managerial role in sales/marketing eventually.

Even bigger goal is to eventually be my own boss. But mistakes are bound to be made in the course of business and I don’t think I can afford to kaput my finances when I’m in my 30’s. There are many awesome opportunities by SPRING to finance a business startup now but the only problem is – I don’t have a brilliant business idea.

Alternative? Franchise. To be honest, running a franchise doesn’t really cut it for being my own boss. Legal wise, being a franchisee has more disadvantages when shit happens. The one big advantage of a franchise is the sturdy platform to hone business management skills. Along the way, a business plan might come along.

Branding, branding, branding. That’s what competitiveness in today’s business world is all about. No brand, no $$$. Creative has good mp3 players in many more colours than ipods. I’m pretty sure they are equally as competitive in features. Ipod wins.

It is a good thing if I can study an MBA specializing in marketing to the branding side. DN is a dream, albeit an extremely hard to reach one. Sometimes, dreams should remain as dreams to keep our feet planted on the ground.

Looking forward to my job. I know, I know. Once I start working, I’ll realize how tiring it is. Monday blues will hit. I’m lucky though. I get to work in a field I like (which is not civil engineering). Of course, some people have asked me, “how do you know you really like marketing if you did not major in business?” That’s right, I don’t know until I’ve tried it. So far so good though. I find my business electives very interesting. And I know electives are just – electives. I’ll find out.

To be objective though, my official title is ‘management trainee’. Fortunately, the training program heads into the sales part quite rigorously. I might just like sales more than marketing. After all, marketing in Asia Pacific is seldom a pure marketing role. It usually encompasses sales as well.

One day, I hope to look back at this post and tick each of the items as ‘done’.

2009-07-11T04:32:00.003+08:00

I'm currently hooked onto this pinball game on my ipod touch. Best of all, it's free.

In it, I get 4 balls to get as high a score as possible. The world top players' scores are insane.

When playing, I have a tendency to restart the game if my first ball goes into the gutter very early in its play time. My rationale was that if I didn't have a good headstart, it didn't matter how well the other balls performed later - the overall score would still be dragged down. But after some thought, I figured that of the 4 balls, only 1 or 2 figured significantly in contributing to the scores; as long as I had 1 or 2 of such performance balls, it didn't matter whether they came in first or last in sequence - my score could still be a record breaker.

In my opinion, this is highly relevant to decision making in more important decisions too. Being a perfectionist and insisting that a particular outcome must be as desired will not allow us to move on and strike gold in one of the decisions in the sequence.

2009-06-23T04:06:00.006+08:00

I haven't been using my brains much recently. Taking in recent news from here and there but not really feeling very strongly about anything in particular. I think the reason for this disinterest is probably cuz of the same ol' thing happening over and over again.

My admiration for Obama has risen recently. On a sidenote, I would think he'll make a very good soccer manager. And I support him fully for the fly swatting. For the love of animals, we need more intelligent people to support the championing of commonly neglected rights. The person from PETA who issued the Obama chiding is not one of them. He has potentially turned away many potential supporters who were sitting on the fence. And for what? A lousy fly. A fly which spreads disease. He should marry a fly since he cares more for it than fellow humans. He better not campaign for mosquitoes next. I will buy a ticket to wherever he is, don a mosquito suit, and slap him real hard.

2009-06-02T01:34:00.002+08:00

Starbucks Campaign Starbucks Campaign karyn.lewis9382

Publish at Scribd or explore others: marketing campaign

A very good report by a group (of students?). It has certainly enlightened me and the fact that it kept me reading proved it really stood out from the boring stuff students tend to write.

2009-05-27T06:20:00.002+08:00

Happy Birthday Nic. 25 years old. Aspiring to get a car within 3 months.

Thanks to my hiadihood and their gfs for the fun filled chalet and 2 visits to wild wild wet. HAHA! 2 times. Shiok.

Well anyway, I had a major presentation yesterday and after 4 hours of lessons, didn't have any plans. Abit sucky but nvm, had a good presentation anyway. Since it was a major one, there was an appraisal and had the same comments as for the prof comm presentation in the youtube video below - "relaxed and confident."

I'm damn good at sprouting reasonably good stuff impromptu for such presentations now. In actual fact, halfway through my part, I realised I was running out of time and plan A had to be ditched. Sprouted some stuff on the go and when it ended, I really had no idea what was the main point I intended to bring to the audience. Overall my group presented well. But erm, the prof ranked us and I came up tops. okay thank you. HEE HEE. (",)

2009-05-23T07:24:00.001+08:00

Wow! the godfather is a damn good show! It's amazing!

2009-05-17T03:27:00.003+08:00

Finally, first interviews!

If I get my choice job, I swear it'll be the turning point of my lesser than average achievements.

Enough of the engineering, physics, chemistry and yada yada. BORING. General knowledge in science is interesting. In-depth knowledge is not.

Time and time again, I've followed pressure from wherever it came from. Pure Science in secondary, science subjects in jc, and of course if I don't do well from there, dumped to the course where I was lucky enough to get in with my crappy A level grades.

And the lesson I've learnt from all these is that, never ever make an important decision based on other factors other than what truly excites you.

At least that's for me.

Some people say, "it's the same with any job, it's boring. that's why it's called a job."

That's utter nonsense and I infer they are stuck in the rut of this mentality and thereafter, 'birds of the same feather flock together'.

See, the test of whether a job is suitable for you is the morning rising up. If you readily get up, well done; if not you are in the wrong job. Seriously, I always tell people this - If you get banged down by a car tomorrow, do you really want to die with this lacklustre attitude.

The other matter in contention is when seniors tell us, "you know, you should do this job, the money is better. You'll need it for the family."

Well, the most probable reason for them being in this situation of working-just-for-money is that they were stuck in a vicious cycle simply because they chose the wrong career paths initially and it went on and on.

The other common mentality is this - I don't want to waste what I've learnt, so I should first try out this field. Makes sense right? NO. Analogy - You've spent everyday fighting with your partner. Would you marry him/her because it would be a waste of the time spent together?

Money wise. I would like to stress this point to my friends. It doesn't matter which industry has the most potential opportunity to earn big bucks. If you like what you're doing, you're going to get good at it. And when you're good at it, people will pay you to do it.

Well of course, things aren't that clear sometimes. You might like doing something but just ain't good at it. Or you might not like something or you're just damn good at it. Well then, maybe other factors might help in weighing the pros and cons.

Oh, and a parting comment. This is based on my experiences thus far. You know how we all have cliques of friends and how these influence our decisions to a great extent. I'm not saying we should choose our friends based on this, but seriously, it is better to surround yourself with high energy and positive people during crucial stages of your life.

I give myself as an example. On days when I'm feeling lazy and tired from the non-responses to my resume sending, talking to like-minded friends just keeps me in the lull longer.

But the very next day, when I chat with more motivated people, I feel the stress to get a good job before they are all taken up.

DISCLAIMER. I still 'love', for lack of a not so gay word, my close friends no matter what they are. But energy levels are indeed infectious and it is important to have selective hearing sometimes. LUCKILY, my closest hiadihood consists of high-calibre and capable pple.

Felix - The all-rounder
Rongxin - The hardworking and intelligent dude
Yongjie - The somewhat slack at times but actually is very smart guy
Myself - The worst of the lot. Chui in studies. Terminated from university(got back in fortunately). But all those hiccups have taught me invaluable lessons. And now, I know what I want.

2009-05-16T01:46:00.003+08:00

Oh very nice. Watching "Marley and Me" makes me wanna start a family. Nothing better than going home to a wife, baby and a dog.

The last part is damn sad though.

2009-05-13T06:37:00.002+08:00

Few nights back, I took my GT bike for a ride down one of the lesser known roads somewhere in sembawang (along the coast). It's been like 4 or 5 years since I cycled there? Forgot that there were 2 prisons there. And where there were construction mud roads before, there lay proper roads now, albeit completely empty at night.

Okay, now I shall reveal my latest fantasy. To find a girl who cycles. More specifically cycling a mountain bike but using it for exploring more than bashing. Not those thin-wheeled road touring bikes kind. Personally, if I want to travel really fast on a road with 2 wheels, I'll get a motorbike. Then again, a car would be nicer.

Sadly, I have never come across any girl who fits the bill.

Speaking of which, I was jogging early morning not too long back and this girl zoomed past me. The male ego in me wanted to chase after her. But I think I'd puke if I had done so. Well anyway, I had some childish thoughts after that. She was waiting to cross a traffic light further up and I jogged past her while thinking inside "tsk.. run so fast for what.. now have to wait also.." HAHAHA!

Bobian lah. Now I'm damn unfit. Yet I still see myself as back in those canoeing days. Cognitive dissonance causes me to rationalise irrationally my current fitness inadequacy. Huff Puff Pant.

2009-05-09T12:52:00.003+08:00

I was munching on my watermelon and looking at the seeds; swallowed some and spat out some. The image of a monkey eating a watermelon and shitting out the seeds ensued in my head.

What a wonderful system trees have huh? They provide us with essential living materials and most of them don't prey on anything! In fact, they gladly take in the decomposed matter in the form of nutrients when we use up our time on this Earth.

And then I thought, our world is indeed a very awesome place! Albeit the irrationality of humans, we otherwise possess an amazing system of equilibrium.

I now think that our way of living things as we know, is actually an evolution of another system of living. Not in the sense that humans evolved from some alien species, but rather the basic building blocks like how carbon and water are one of the most important factors which allow us to survive. Maybe, the universe before us consisted of entirely different matter. Maybe not even elements as we know it but some other form of foundations. Perhaps the equilibrium aspect wasn't like the one we know it now. Evolution then produced the universe we live in now. Well of course it won't make any scientific sense because we are essentially bounded by what we are made of. It's up to God that the wheels of evolution were set the way they are, and we, the products of it.

I'm merely babbling, so don't get offended by what I say if you're a religious person. I might get punished by God for saying such stuff when the time to meet him comes. But at least, I provided a purpose in reinforcing your faith if you are smirking at me now and all-knowingly rationalising with conviction why what I said was utterly nonsense and crap.

Professional Communication (Module) Presentation on Workplace Discrimination

2009-04-18T03:46:00.001+08:00

Feel free to tell me what I can improve on (presentation skills wise)! (",)

Flogging in Afterlife

2009-04-05T06:38:00.005+08:00

Look at this - http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20090404-133335.html

Terrorising women so as to enforce sharia law. In my opinion, it's just a excuse for some to exercise repressed feelings of sadomasochism over women. Don't get me wrong. I think it is every right of those under the religious legal system to live the way their law deems fit. But what I find extremely irking is how some men there tend to take the law into their own hands. Who are you as a single man to bypass the legal courts and inflict punishment on your own terms.

It's like an adult caning a kid over a 'mistake'. Caning to teach a lesson is different from caning to vent anger. I'm pretty sure in both cases, the adult will just use the cheap excuse of "I'm just teaching him/her a lesson." Anywhere, to side-track, I strongly condemn physical violence on children. I think there is a strong likelihood for the caner to overlap his anger/frustration/irritation with the 'teaching' of the canee. I'll be those parents who'll go to school and cane the teacher back if he/she ever lifts a finger on my kid. I seriously don't understand the Asian values which make it so normal for a parent to inflict pain on his child. Please don't make the kid pay for your inadequacy as a parent to teach without violence. It's like a gangster beating the villagers up just because he can and feels like it. Had the gangster been smarter, he would have struck up a collaboration with the villagers to implement a win-win situation such that they all make a decent living.

This 'I-can-therefore-I-will-and-you-can't-do-shit-about-it' mentality is probably part of the reason why our courtesy ranks so lowly. Every time you see someone nonchalently commiting a public behaviour faux pas, he is thinking, "so what if you don't like it. go report to the police then." Well, you can't. And what happens to you after many years of being pissed off? Why, you join the crowd of course. The next younger generation, fresh from the oven, will be posting your social boo-boos on 'Stomp' while you shrug and mumble : "kid, grow up, this is Singapore."

I term this "Micro-social Monarchy in the family". We are a family-based society. Therefore, no matter how embarrassed we are in the public's eye, we are not judged by our family. Compare this with the Western individual-based society. If you screw up your social manners in public, you're on your own dude.

It's like dissolving substances in water. An Asian family is like a non-polar molecule. Everything is in harmony within the molecule with no polarity such that it refuses to be dissolved in water(larger society). A Western family is like a polar molecule. The molecule(family) still exists but the electron distribution(social values) cause the polarity to arise and integrate easily within the polar solvent, water.

Back to the caning in Pakistan. Do you see why I am so against conservative mentalities now? The men are using their conservative values as a cheap reason to inflict self-satisfying pain on the women. And where does this sadist streak appear from? Why, from their repressed upbringing of course. If I was a Taliban member, I might be thinking to myself, "Fuck this shit, since I have to live with all these stifling rules, now that I'm a grown man and have some status in my community, I might as well work the rules to my advantage and release my pent up frustration. After all, everybody will think that I'm just being a loyal servant to the code of conduct."

These men, I hope they get flogged endlessly in their after-life. "so you think you very cool last time huh?" - *kapah!* "so you think you very man huh?" - *kapah!* "you want to be sent back as a woman in your village now?" - *kapah!*

Okay, I'm just really pissed.

not a very interesting post

2009-04-03T03:57:00.012+08:00

Some sort of a private journal post.

In this week's sociology class, there was a rating of activities which were deemed inappropriate, by the students. I was't surprised when I saw "porn" listed as '5' out of a scale of '5'. Obviously, this rating was given by a girl. When asked to justify her views, she gave a typical goody-2-shoes answer which ran along this line : "Watching porn puts ideas in people's heads to want to rape women. Therefore, porn promotes rape."

From the tutor's pov, porn provides an outlet for sexual release by men, thereby lowering their pent up instincts and preventing rape.

It's somewhat of a grey area(in the Singapore context) of how many percent of men actually watch porn or masturbate on a regular basis. Survey statistics don't tie in with daily interactions amongst friends. The bottom line is - People are not truthful in the ways they portray their less-socially-accepted traits amongst friends.

Take a look at this excerpts :

"Roughly 36 percent, or 278,000, of the 783,000 active Internet users in Singapore visited adult Web sites in December." (assuming 50% of Internet users are men)
"Roughly two-thirds of the adult site visitors were men who, incidentally, tended to stay longer online. On average, they spent 71.5 minutes surfing the sites compared with 29.1 minutes for the women."
"And who were the main culprits? Students, who made up a third of all visitors, followed pretty evenly by general management staff, non-manual employees and professionals."
source : ZDNetAsia, (Michelle Tan), 2001

There is somewhat of a cycle which promotes even more play-acting. Let me put it purely in the context of pornography. A typical cycle goes like this - A guy truthfully or untruthfully proclaims he does not watch porn. This guy receives approving nods from many girls. Other guys see that this is something girls really like. Guys follow this portrayal trend in order to foster good images of pornography nondescript to his female social circle, so that he can increase his chances of finding a female partner who obviously must come from his social circle. Girls, on seeing that it is indeed heartening and "normal" for most guys to be this impression of "good" boys, demand even more of it, further escalating the cycle.

To clarify, the above point was a referral to watching porn specifically and not to other sexual connotations. Porn can range from softcore to hardcore. I would classify watching porn as a guy intentionally seeking visual material of women(clothed, semi-naked or naked) and masturbating to it. So a guy might say he doesn't watch porn because he feels it's wrong, but he might not be saying the whole story of him jerking off to a FHM magazine.

OF COURSE, there are men out there who really have a lower sexual drive and just don't watch porn. Well, congrats buddy, you're the man. I feel for you.

Society understands that humans have basic instincts which will drive them to selfish pursuits that are socially unacceptable because great harm will come to the collective group. We create socially acceptable standards to keep our desires under check. So ideally, we should hover somewhere between desire ignorance and desire addiction.

But here's where the irony can be seen. Porn (which is a multi-billion dollar industry, thus testifying to its demand) provides this very means of letting men release their sexual tension without causing harm to others. Yet, in part due to the cycle mentioned above, this girl in my sociology class had an upbringing which taught her that even porn is highly socially unacceptable.

Now, let's take a sample size of 1 million girls of similar upbringing, put in a island with 1 million guys, in the current world context.

Similarly, we take another sample of exactly the same ingredients on another island, except that the girls now find porn socially acceptable.

Which island do you think will render the higher rape statistics?

Now girls, it is imperative to understand this - If I were to give an analogy of what sex is to men as it is to girls typically, I would use the example of shoe shopping; Men still need to buy shoes for their activities, but women love to buy shoes at every given opportunity. We have to be objective in viewing such facts of life as it is. There is no point in trying to put yourself in the other person's shoes and thinking "no? I don't understand why this is so important to him/her. I don't see why it's such a big deal?" If we understood entirely the other side of the story, we would be half man, half woman.

Having said that, I do see where some girls are coming from when they cannot accept their boyfriends watching porn. You might feel that since he has you, why should he seek such forms of releasing his tensions? Or maybe you just don't like the idea of him jerking off to other women cuz you feel like he's cheating on you. All I can offer to comfort is that porn and girlfriends are 2 very different things. Women shouldn't degrade themselves by being confused with the comparison with porn. One is a tool, the other is his soul-mate. A feeble and weak excuse, yes, but I am a guy and I admit I appreciate but don't understand women's psyche.

But wait, I can hear some women shouting, "Did you just say one is a tool?!! See! Porn is objectifying women!" I beg to differ. We don't associate Heath Ledger with the Joker in real life. His acting is a tool to portray the bad character. However, we are not objectifying him but only his acting. Women who act in porn movies do so for the monetary benefits. Well maybe some do it for the glamour, that I wouldn't know. They wouldn't survive in the industry if they felt it was them in real life having sex with all the porn actors. I believe there a strong degree of detachment of their "selfs" from the porn role. Feeling pity and wrong-ness for them will serve to find the pity-er guilty of stereotypical judgement. To further argue the case, have you ever sneaked into an r21 movie or a dance club? While flashing the fake id or whatever props you choose to enhance your acting, you are merely detaching your real self from your body in order to reap the benefits of entering. I wouldn't call that objectifying you as you are. Well, so maybe we can consider it an objectifying of the body in pornography. Looking at a nude painting? Same thing. No cheating and adultery involved. (There's is a passage in christianity text somewhere about lusting after a woman is already commiting adultery, if I'm not wrong. Okay, I'm not going into religion. When the day for my judgement comes, if I were to meet God in the christian way, I suppose I would have some explaining to do then. As of now, my reasoning and justification pertains to worldly society only. But secretly inside, I really do wish that when we die, we all go to meet some universal God and he tells us that we have all been worshipping him in the wrong way because of prideful men who want things their way, and gathers us on a grassy patch to have some tea. Muslim, Catholic, Taoist, etc. All together happily as one finally.)

Another important lesson for girls to take away is : Don't call men bastards for having sexual inclinations so much more often than you would. It's like us calling you sluts for always visiting the shoe shop. It all boils down to biological makeup in the 2 sexes.

In any case, I have digressed from my original point of this post. I think I have been relatively open-minded among most of my friends. For example, if I am the central link in bringing 2 groups of people together to form a project group and there is a miscommunication, I will tell each side about their unhappiness with the other and explain that it's just a misunderstanding. I don't like to sweep things under the carpet and cook up a fantasy scenario suchthat both sides can continue working with smiles, but hate each other inside. This is just an example to illustrate my point. So back to the point. Recently, I got second-guessed by a friend and it got me quite irritated because I'm not the sort who deceives to get my hidden motives. If I had another motive which tied in with you reaching your objective, I will state it clearly. Most people who know me well know that trait of mine; that's why I get called "bastardy" in a friendly way very often cuz of my blatent upfrontness.

Of course, this personality trait of mine does not apply sometimes when I'm in a relationship with a girl. Sometimes, I stress the word "SOMETIMES", it is important to tei gong with your partner when it comes to smaller inconsequential things. To save it from escalating into something much bigger and ends with both saying "why did we even quarrel in the first place." Sadly, I've not learnt this skill masterfully yet and my bluntness often gets me into trouble.

2009-03-28T05:21:00.003+08:00

I was watching a documentary on the Earth's formation from 4.5 billion years ago, to the potential future of it; and I did something most people would find cranky.

When the Grand Canyon, Swiss Alps and New York City showed on the tv, I realised how silly I am at times fretting over stuff which ain't much of a big deal anyway.

So this is the thing I did - I made a conscious effort to smile when I saw those images, as I pictured me standing right in those amazing places.. And you know what? It actually made me happy. =)

2009-03-25T02:54:00.002+08:00

I feel like I'm back in blitzkraft. when 2 people disagree over a boat and paddle. when an emotional guy barges into a meeting. Most importantly, no hard feelings. It's just work that needs to be done.

Who Am I?

2009-03-24T04:58:00.003+08:00

No, this is not a post about me and my struggles to search for my identity.

Rather, it is a tool which you could use to grasp a clearer picture of your goals. It does not mean that you do not understand what you want, but rather a reminder of what you already understand.

Write a list of 20 items which defines you. Do it fairly quickly. The moment you think if it is really what you are and acceptable, you are betraying the rules of this exercise. So don't over-think, just do.

Done?

Now spare a little more thought to your answers and list down 20 items of what you want to define you.

Easy as this tool seems, I can safely assume that all of us do not have a perfect match up in the 2 lists. Many of us simply brush the missed goals under the carpet in light of the many distractions around us. What have we done differently today that gives us a shot (maybe even a long one) at attaining our goals?

It actually isn't hard to do something different today. Consider this, we are actors on a stage in our lifetimes. You might not buy this concept but I'll give a few examples. When you walk into a posh orchestra concert hall, do you carry yourself with more grace than when at the cinema? When you like an action-packed girl, do you carry yourself differently from when you liked a demure girl before?

It is perfectly okay being actors. It is not okay if we are not actors. Had we been abandoned by our parents when young and caged up in some forgotten forest, we will have no idea how to behave the way we are now. It's like asking a wild monkey to do a front flip in front of a camera for everyone to laugh and reward it with a banana.

Now, most of us fall into 2 broad and generalised categories of people. One is the traditional, the other is capitalist modern.

Traditional people behave the way they do because in their community, they apply the "if it ain't broken, don't fix it" mentality.

Capitalist moderners embrace change. Superficiality plays a big part in our acting and we try on new roles like changing clothes with the seasons. The ease of jumping into new roles is embraced by this community. The implication of this is that, many of the youths are constantly asking themselves in the chaos, "who am I?" Adults tend to understand the picture better but impressionable teenagers are still in the transition and often find this that much harder to accept.

I have 2 friends who I have assumed to be fundamentally moderners. 1 of them is madly in love with a traditional girl while another is en route to getting hitched with ms. traditional too. It is important now to recognise that in assuming these 2 guys are planning a family future with their girls, they are in the very least expecting some blissful marriage of mentalities. Personally, I feel that this is a very dangerous expectation because who we are is hugely moulded in our foundations of morals and values, while growing up. But just like real actors, Ben Stiller is mostly suited to playing different type of comedic roles while Keanu Reeves is often seen in 'God-I'm-so-serious' roles. Switch them to the other genre and what do you get? A very big chance of a movie flop.

I hope I have made an impact on my readers in chasing their dreams. Play your role right and you'll get a larger shot at a happy life, minus the other health worries. Good luck!

Disclaimer : to my friend who I have mentioned is "en route", I might be mistaken about your fundamentals. I admit yours isn't a very clear situation.

2009-03-22T13:16:00.004+08:00

Last night, or rather this morning, I had a strange dream. Yet I woke up feeling good.

I brought my young son to toys r us to shop for his birthday present. I know I know, no surprise, what a lousy father. So anyway my mum came along and started nagging at me and him over something. I started quarelling with her and telling her off for doing this shit all the time in front of my son. I said this(which some of you might find jerk-y), "I told you to not be like that in front of him! I'm not going to let him be brought up by you if you continue to be this way! I want him to be brought up my way, not your way!" Anyway, I was referring to her being negative and naggy around my kid all the time.

My son is at the age where kids just learn how to mumble their first few words. I carried him to queue up at the cashier. Then he started crying real badly. He kept wanting to go to his grandma and I was carrying him with one hand only so I let him down and he ran off to grandma. This is what he said while crying hysterically, "Sorry mummy! sorry mummy! huuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.." WTF! he called my mum "mummy".. I have to teach my kids their granny's proper name, properly next time..

And so I ran up to him feeling sad and said, "sorry sorry, I'm really sorry. Don't cry.."

Then he started hugging me and saying, "sorry daddy! huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrr.. "

Oh, he has a nice baby tummy. How cute man. Oh I learnt one thing - It's very hard to decide whether to tell your kid upfront if you have a budget for his birthday present, or wait till he starts choosing the really expensive one and then having to tell him it's too expensive. Either way you still feel really shitty for not being a richer daddy.

Orchid Room @ Turf Club

2009-03-15T01:09:00.007+08:00

So Alfred and I got some invites to the 'Orchid Room' at Turf Club.

Of course, we were a little apprehensive about the invitation at first. Old men and gambling addicts were on our minds, but it's still cool to try something new.

It was fun! The Orchid Room is actually a corporate guest area so people like us won't normally get to use it. But according to some of the ushers there, the ground floor is where the real excitement lies at. People will be shouting like crazy and the thumping of the horses' hoofs towards the finishing line.

I spent about $21 in bets; spread out over the 9 races. The bets range from $2 to $10. Actually, the betting is just to add some excitement to the racing. It's very hard to predict which horse will win. And because there's a 20 minutes waiting time between races, buying a bet is a good way to kill time. NEVER EVER BET WITH THE INTENTION TO MAKE A FORTUNE. You'll probably spoil your night. Spending money and feeling shitty is a silly thing to do.

The racing horses are really fighting fit beasts. I feel like getting one as a pet. Sadly, it's too big to fit in a HDB flat, and 'inferentially' illegal as well. Not forgetting that they're MAGNIFICENTLY BEAUTIFUL.

A word of advice. If you're either a problem gambler or those who're vehemently against gambling such that the thought of placing a bet is nauseating, forget about going to the turf club. Otherwise, go check it out!

Follow this link to videos of the races we watched on that night -> ***

2009-03-14T14:42:00.002+08:00

The new circle line trains are awesomely beautiful. I'm quite the sucker for vehicles. Ain't it just amazing? A work of perfection plying the steely tracks to bring people around. When the train pulls to a stop and lets out the compressed brake air with a "pst!"

Green Washing Index

2009-03-08T15:58:00.002+08:00

You green buffs out there.. Raring to make a difference to the environment?

Now here's a tool to aid you in filtering the ACCURATE stuff from the BULLSHIT.

Have fun discovering the causes that are worth your precious time.

Visit - http://www.greenwashingindex.com/ads.php

2009-03-07T07:47:00.002+08:00

I chanced upon this interesting blog or "blog" of the Iranian President.

http://www.ahmadinejad.ir/

But before you visit it, please bear in mind that since it is a blog created by the owner/owners, it would be biased just like any other political tool. I know we all like to support the "underdogs" in conflicts sometimes. But as much as powerful countries in dominant positions are able to manipulate media, so can other countries use it to their advantage through portraying a different image.

I must admit that after reading snippets in the blog, I felt my mind changing it's standpoint. But a quick mental slap to myself and I focussed on being neutral again.

2009-03-05T05:36:00.002+08:00

Recently, one country has been making very intense statements about some situations in the world.

All's well in that its citizens will feel morale boosted and stuff like that.

But it's walking a tightrope if it continues down this fantasy road.

Look at history. Countries which have used emotional words to provoke aggression have mostly fallen in the dust.

I reckon extremism will go the way of communism. We shall see in future history text books.

This is why people always fuck "capitalism" in talk, but can't do anything to help the adverse side-effects. They bang their heads on brick walls and see the alternate route of walking around it as un-principled. "NO! THIS BRICKWALL SUCKS! FUCK IT! I MUST BRING IT DOWN!"

oh well.. people are strange and varied by nature.. but like water flows down, we'll see things settle eventually, maybe not in our lifetimes..

Whatever

2009-03-05T04:12:00.002+08:00

2009-03-04T07:08:00.003+08:00

Let me introduce to you the crazy scale.

If you trust me enough to accept this advice, let me explain.

It's simple. Whatever drives you insane, as per the red bar, ditch it. If your passion doesn't drive you over the edge, keep it. Why I say so is simply because going crazy over something will interfere with your rationalism, and being irrational is like giving a gun to a monkey.

Speaking of which, I just had a dream. I had this stuff toy which could come alive. It's name is Monki. So the Joker(YES! THE JOKER IN BATMAT) had 2 sidekicks(who are also stuff toys which come alive), and he sees monki. The Joker likes monki and decides to ask his 2 sidekicks to fug off and enlists monki to join in his escapades. So monki obligingly agreed, no, more like enthusiastically accepted it. I couldn't do much cuz the Joker is, as we all know, crazy.

So still caring about Monki, I tagged along behind with this girl who was carrying a video camera for recording his adventures. I figured that this dream is too whacky for me to decipher the full meaning. So I'm going to school now and continue on my offshore assignment. Fugging pain in the arse. Like a red ant just crawled in and dancing around, high on alcohol.

Anyway, I'm just curious. When I type in crappy english, do you people think that I suck at it? I have always thought that people could tell that I was just being informal and casually singaporean. I inferred that people who really suck at english would all the more try to speak properly but accentuate the mistakes in a ironic subtle manner. Oh well, that's just my take. My friend geowed me for my language skills recently so I just wanna know what others think. Comments please! =)

2009-03-03T03:27:00.003+08:00

Soccer is a very beautiful form of capitalism.

The club has to win trophies as one of its methods to keep and attract fans.

And when the player becomes very good like Ronaldo, sell him off and get a new player to replace him.

This is where the beautiful part comes in. You know how a company acquires and sells assets? This is the art which Man Utd has perfected. They don't hold on to superstars when their value is boosted to the maximum potential. The player is sold and the Alex Ferguson is entrusted with the responsibility of getting a trophy winning replacement within a reasonable period of time.

So maybe Man Utd might not win a trophy for 1 or 2 seasons after they sell Ronaldo. But the profits outweigh the losses(I would think so).

This means that the most valuable assets to the club are in fact the coaches, managers, and talent scouts. If they are not top-notch, the club will probably end up like WestHam or Tottenham where they recognise their aim is to remain mid-table and have to manage their assets accordingly; which means a team with no superstars.

On the other hand, Real Madrid is an example of a luxury hobby. They simply buy players at their peak value and sell them off at a much lower price. It's like a rich man buying all the latest gadgets and gizmos and what not, and selling them second hand after he has had his fun.

The conclusion is this. Companies out there should recruit medium-high range people talents for their management trainee programmes and get superstars for specific roles which are non-managerial. Managers should preferably stay with the company for a longer duration while specialists should be squeezed off their contributions before they jump ship to better paying offers.

2009-03-02T08:18:00.002+08:00

SHIT! what's wrong with me.

whenever I run too hard my vision starts getting a little hazy at the sides and sometimes I see flickering on the pheriperal too.

anybody has such symptoms?

2009-03-02T07:03:00.002+08:00

Sometimes, you look at the sky and it's such a good day to go swimming. Then when you smack the trunk's elastic band around the waist with the satisfactory "piak" sound, the clouds turn grey and you stare dejectedly down at ya trunks.

Sometimes, you think it's going to rain and you tell yourself there's no point going to swim today. Then the sun comes out but you're already nuaing on ya bed.

So what is the best thing to do to keep fit?

How i met your mother (Barney making fun of Robin at the gym

2009-03-01T22:13:00.001+08:00

2009-02-25T02:25:00.004+08:00

The WTO is an arena for developed countries with powerful delegates "negotiating" with minimal delegates from developing countries.

Trading will always be unfair to developing countries. You got to understand this from both sides.

If you are a European who is used to the lifestyle of richness and good health, you will never want to give that up. If you allow other countries to earn more profits, there's only 1 consequence - your own standard of living drops. The world is only as big as it is, you can't really have fair and equal for everyone. We weren't created to be that way.

Now if you totally disagree with me, I must say, put your money where your talk goes. Go to every beggar in Singapore and give him 1 dollar everyday so that he can buy a packet of rice. Don't bargain with that stall owner over a $20 top; let him earn a few more dollars so he can send his kids to a better school.

I now understand. We Singaporeans cannot afford to just simply leave our homeland and migrate to other countries. When the day comes that we lose our bargaining power to big players out there, the Singaporeans after us will be the ones who suffer.

Coffee farmers in Ethopia are fighting to get higher prices for their produce. When they cannot do that, they plant khat, a narcotic, instead. You see what people will do to earn money for a better life now? No there's nothing wrong if you put yourself in the shoes of an Ethopian farmer. Afterall, it's legal in their country to consume that plant. What about us? Our society as we know it now is safe and financially sound. But if we somehow fall back into a struggle like these developing countries, are we prepared to allow the "proper" way of life as we know it now, go away?

The question is rhetorical. When the cards are down, there are things you will not be able to control. The only way is to not allow that to happen.

I give an example from my own experience. In light of the current bad job market, I have even considered joining a tobacco company if it meant me getting a well paying job. But when I thought real hard about it, I really don't want to. I hate "smoking". The important thing is, I realise how frail my values are when my way of life is threatened. I am glad I have not reached the point of stepping onto the other route.

It's time I reconsider my career priorities.

2009-02-24T03:06:00.002+08:00

Morale booster. Awesome.

The economy will pick up by end 2009

2009-02-23T04:16:00.003+08:00

You know why I say that? Because it is inaccurate to compare our current doldrum-litic economic state with those of past recessions.

And the Number 1 Reason? wait for it...

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY.
Sweet treats are still being consumed as often. Gym memberships are on the rise. The common reasons are "I'm retrenched, I'm stressed, I need these little joys to make myself happier."

YES! It's true! But you see, the reason why we know we can make ourselves happy with little joys is because - We know of such pleasures and are constantly reminded of them! How? Why, through the connectivity that consumerism confers onto us in the current era.

And ah, now comes the Capitalists. Good Ol' Capitalists. They are able to catch onto the growing consumption in niche markets and lo and behold, before long, one thing leads to another, consumption rises at a staggering rate. RECESSION GONE! CONGRATULATIONS.

My take is this. Information Technology affords us a new sharing of knowledge unseen before in previous times. It is unlike in the past where, probably, information asymmetry, held back the middleman between supply and demand. Nobody dared to throw their money on the table.

Now? HA! People are knocking on the tables with their forks and spoons demanding whatever fits within their leaner budget.

2009-02-23T03:04:00.002+08:00

Some squabble going on in the tong garden business or something like that.

I don't understand. Why are they quarrelling like that? 1 whole family leh. If they quarrel over who never flush the toilet, ok, I understand. Just split the shares equally lah. You can call me simple or something like along that line, but I really think they'll be much happier just having equal portions of the pie. All buy 1 nice car, drive to a resort, happy family gathering. Go back to work, think of ways to fug your competitors to make your share value go up and everyone is happy again.

I mean I might not be close to my family but I cannot fathom how siblings can do one up over each other in terms of such stuff.

si-blings : means you fight over bling bling sure si one.. understand?

anyway, just now I woke up from my afternoon sleep and boy was I famished. I went to packet chong pang nasi lemak back and was rushing home to put the food into my stomach. I was even shivering from the hunger. I think the "protein" temptation caused my mind to go into overdrive. I tore the chicken apart man. All this while watching the channel 5 movie "sweet tapioca porridge". It's an outstanding movie. I shall go find the ah lian at the beehoon stall near NTU to be my gf. Or maybe I just weep at a bar and some hawker girl will come talk to me. Okay jokes aside, it's really heartwarming. I think I've become a better person now. Thank you mediacorp.

2009-02-18T01:32:00.003+08:00

When I was lovers with Amelia, I created a facebook account "brother bear", in the name of fun.

It was personalised after this stuff toy which melia loaned to me. So anway, I forgot about the account until recently when I received notifications that people have added him as a friend.

The interesting parts are when other people with similar accounts start adding brother bear as a friend.

Like the most recent friend of brother bear is this panda from argentina called Bulgasio Carus. I mean seriously, it's a damn cool name for a stuff toy.

So initially I thought of deleting the account because some of the common friends of brother bear and I might think I'm a jerk for having this split persona. But the truth is that I've come to view it as a fun creation which could serve to bring some joy into some kid's life somewhere halfway around the globe. Bulgasio's owner might even be a young adult who indulges in such leisurely releases. But in anycase, I think I'm going to keep the account and spread some joy to someone else.

And I was thinking, if I get really good at such creations, I would be able to entertain my own kids next time. I could even create a commercial theme around it. Don't let the kid's entertainment scene fool you. It does rake in big money if you capture the hearts of the little ones.

True or False?

2009-02-17T05:57:00.002+08:00

Fate is the seemingly uncontrolled control of luck, by time pertaining relevantly-irrelevant minor consequences of actions.

Luck is the humanising knowledge control, of unforseen reactions; which is actually resultant from ,direct actions in a bigger time frame.

Living is how we try to efficiently control luck(successfully/unsuccessfully), through a myriad of POVs.

Appreciating is how we recognise our insufficiencies and accepting life as it is - which leads to satisfaction and happiness; which we humans are very capable of.

2009-02-16T05:38:00.000+08:00

mum's 57th birthday. Looks younger that that eh?!! HAHA!

Thirsty Koala - A Firefighter Gives Koala A Drink (2009 Australian Bushfires)

2009-02-15T22:00:00.001+08:00

Bruno meets Paris Hilton

2009-02-15T21:56:00.001+08:00

Last part. if you have only 20 seconds, skip to the last part.

A woman missed her flight at the boarding gate HKIA

2009-02-15T18:04:00.001+08:00

frustration management case study

2009-02-14T06:45:00.002+08:00

There's some wicked people in the world. My computer just got some trojan virus and I wasted some time googling on how to get rid of it. BASTARDS.

Why the hell do you want to spend your time making something to make other people's live's difficult?

too bad I'm not some pro computer programmer who can type non-stop, all the while with a cool computer graphic rotating on the screen. mysterious right? don't know what those pros in the movies do. seamlessly typing secret codes which signify "rotate left by 1 degree at a constant rate" without ever having the graphic stop moving.

2009-02-13T00:19:00.005+08:00

Met a really really old friend. My young love at that time. Good memories.

And she still keeps the stuff I gave her. Like this v-day box and the hippo inside. The art kinda sucks but hey! it's good considering I drew it (my art sucks). Was this in sec 3 or sec 4 ah? Eh, but it really feels good that you still keep them man. Can say that I chose the right girl to give my adolescent heart to. (",)

2009-02-11T03:38:00.004+08:00

I am swamped with work.

I need a new phone. Mine's getting a bit cranky. If I buy a new one now, I have to spend $100 extra because my contract ends in june. if I wait till june, my phone might go bust and have no resale value.

It's rather interesting. I received the letter from SDU today about joining them and some party. Some of my friends have received it too. So I tot it'll be fun to put "SDU.. woohoo!" as my private message in msn. And a few friends messaged me after that with regards to it. It made me wonder : were they really asking me if I joined out of bewilderment, or were they testing the water and trying to suss out the general picture(in the event that I had joined) because they were interested in it.

btw, felix, I'm referring to other people. heh.. come lets do it.. aloha.. HAHAHA!

btw.. HIMYM fans check out Barney's blog on the RHS in the links!

2009-02-10T12:43:00.000+08:00

a victim of the australian bush fire - picture from CNA

2009-02-08T06:39:00.002+08:00

Interesting fact of the day : Carlsberg Skytower has been renamed Tiger Skytower

http://www.skytower.com.sg/st/index.htm

2009-02-07T04:40:00.004+08:00

oh boy! HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER IS HILARIOUS! I SHIT YOU NOT!

and Alyson Hannigan is my favourite actress now.. damn cute.. quote from show "I will come back as a ghost and haunt your penis."

2009-02-05T00:53:00.002+08:00

you know the feeling when you are on the brink of getting a flu..

it's like you go to bed now knowing if you will have a fever tomorrow or you'll wake up feeling all shiok and ready to go out..

like scratch and win.. yah I don't have luck with those lucky draws for material prizes.. maybe my luck is in my body's own scratch and win..

wtf am I talking about.. HAHA!

I'm rather satisfied with my attitude in today's career fair. Went straight to 9 recruiters of my choice, talk, submit resume to those willing to take, AND DID NOT GO TO THE LUCKY DRAW BOOTHS TO COLLET STAMPS, AND DID NOT TAKE FREEBIES OTHER THAN A STICKY PAD AND RESUABLE BAG.. just to be safe you know.. maybe God is watching from above and he spots those gian peng pple who take everything including the recruiter's underwear, then he thinks "HAHA! MINUS YOUR JOB POINTS! YOU TAKE FREEBIE NO JOB FOR YOU!"

no lah I'm just kidding.. I just don't want to get distracted from my main goal of finding a job.. but because I already went to my priority booths today, maybe tmr I can go and collect the lucky draw stamps hor? and maybe a couple of pens.. HEH..

The Dark Knight Trailer 2. IN LEGO!!! (Trailer 3)

2009-02-03T14:55:00.001+08:00

The Dark Knight Trailer. IN LEGO!!!

2009-02-03T14:52:00.001+08:00

THIS IS DAMN CUTE! HAHAHA!

The Dark Knight Batman Spoof - Parody 2 ( David Spates )

2009-02-03T14:50:00.001+08:00

The Dark Knight Batman Spoof - Parody ( David Spates )

2009-02-03T14:48:00.001+08:00

The Dark Knight Trailer Spoof

2009-02-03T14:42:00.001+08:00

heh.. the last part is pretty funny.. must give credit to them for the effort..

2009-02-03T05:59:00.001+08:00

This is kinda funny.. the way he describe it.. quote "NB, the crazy dogs are ambushing me".. hahaha!

http://www.togoparts.com/forum/showthread.php?fid=5&tid=56340&loc=active&cb=showforum.php%3Ffid%3D5%26page_id%3D5&highlight=

2009-02-01T17:18:00.000+08:00

Man Utd are top of the table with 5 points lead..

2009-02-01T03:52:00.002+08:00

One of my mod's tutors talks about wars and capitalism in a manner which I can't help but frown upon. It sure gives an alternate view of things. But on a serious note, if the majority of policy makers were to have such mindset, we would be doomed. Yah sure, we'll be happy and jovial with hiphop(damn you alfred.. this hiphop thing is all your fault) happiness for a short while. But our society as we know it now will crumble.

Let's discuss in summary what has been said about Capitalism. So we were shown this documentary of how workers in China are exploited. This tutor asked us, "what must we do to solve the problems of capitalism?"

Well let me just say my point of view. Capitalism is not perfect. But it's one of the most efficient ways which motivates us imperfect humans to work. No matter how little factory workers in China may be getting, they still need capitalism to survive. So you think that boycotting a branded label will help them? Without a demand for cheap labour, do you think China will have enough jobs to allow their farmers to seek a new lease of life? If we were to say "okay, let's make sure everyone in China gets at least USD 1000 a month", so where is this money going to come from?

And so I suggested to her what Bill Gates is actively promoting and pushing for - Creative Capitalism. He is basically calling for people to involve philantrophy in their ways of doing business, i.e. Red products from various brands like Apple Ipods.

This tutor then replies that creative capitalism does not solve the problem of capitalism but merely helps those who suffer from it.

And so I reply, "well, seriously speaking, the factory workers in China are nowhere as pitiful as some really poor people in other parts of the world. The main problem these poor people face is disease and creative capitalism helps these people to attain a better standard of living."

Tutor then replies, "but don't you think that if you are earning so little and deprived of a proper standard of living, that there is no point in living? Don't you think it would better off to not be alive?"

Okay, let's put things in perspective here. First of all, our standard of living is not the highest there can be. We might feel it is up there(although it is indeed very good), but it is all relative. Do you think that a man starving in Africa will not be happy to be able to work long hours in a factory and earn enough to feed himself?

Let's be realistic here, the World needs a balance of rich and poor people to allow society to function as it is. If everyone was on equal footing, how will we be able to let people work in different positions? I give an analogy. Have you watched the movie Madagascar? Do you think it's possible for a lion to be dancing and playing with a zebra, hipo and giraffe? Hell, why not we bring the grass and plants to character too and everyone will be best buddies.

Having said that, I believe every human being deserves 2 rights. Freedom and Health. Give a man these 2, and anything is possible. I think I am very biased but I sure get irked up at least once when I go for this tutorial. But OKAY, to give credit, I am opening myself to alternate views. I hope what I contribute does affect her as much as how what she says affects me.

UK Offshore Windfarm

2009-01-29T02:46:00.001+08:00

2009-01-27T15:49:00.004+08:00

It's amazing what a good camera can do..

But of course, the models in these photos are naturally handsome (and pretty) too..

2009-01-22T01:21:00.002+08:00

Back 2 years when I was in the States, the cool dry winter was really nice and relaxing.

One morning, I can't remember whether it was my mum or sister, but she said something along this line, "eh your skin peeling very badly! you look like monster".

The sides of my nose peel quite readily when it gets really dry for consecutive days.

And I couldn't walk around San Francisco with flaky skin on my nose right? I was the image of Singapore and I had to show them what handsome dudes we have.

So we went to the mall (yup, that's what Americans call it) and the 2 women picked this moisturiser for me. IT'S FUGGING POWER! I tell you, I put it on and my nose feels like a baby's butt. Has this nice fragrance too. Well okay, it wasn't exactly the stuff I wanted to smell 24/7 but it grew onto me.

It's called "The power of plants : BOTANICS, Day Moisture Lotion, with rice extract and honey to hydrate the skin for up to 12 hours."

Well, it's bluffing of course. The thing doesn't last 12 hours. But it's still amazing what it can do.

Still have 1/3 of it left and using it whenever skin starts to peels again.

I highly recommend it. If it works for a guy, it'll work for anyone. it's like you apply it to a wild boar and "shing!", it becomes a dolphin.

BUT ANYWAY I DON'T THINK THEY SELL IT IN SINGAPORE. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

2009-01-21T02:31:00.002+08:00

If you're feeling down and in the blues, go beg/steal/borrow this documentary called "China Blue".

I guarantee, you'll feel like you are the luckiest person in the world and rejuvenated again. Even more power than Redbull. Maybe not as powerful as sex. But still quite potent.

You might think, "Bah, I know all these already. I know the show is going to be about low-wage earners. I know it already but it doesn't affect me".

But you won't be disappointed. If you want a slap in the face and some cold water splashed on your body, go watch this documentary. I literally left the lecture theatre with a gloomy look on my face. Such was the impact on me. But it did jolt me to my senses.

But just to tempt you abit more, if you think your life is very shitty and you are working as hard as your body can take you, I say "fuck you and wake up your idea, go watch this show".

No lah, the profanity was uncalled for. But I just want to catch your attention. You can thank me later for recommending this documentary.

Britney Spears - Womanizer (Director's Cut)

2009-01-20T00:49:00.001+08:00

this woman is kinda amazing if you think about it. She keeps ballooning up and down. from sizzling hot to flabs to sizzling hot to flabs to sizzling hot. I mean she can really do it if she sets her mind to it. Speaks something about her will power.

2009-01-16T12:46:00.002+08:00

If safety looked this good, I'm sold. But the bottoms going to get scratched from humps. But oh well, SAFE. No point preserving a scratch-free car only to kaput later.

Transporter 3 Trailer

2009-01-16T01:36:00.001+08:00

audi. vorsprung durch technik. Quintessential of Perfectness.

2009-01-16T00:43:00.002+08:00

Hopefully, my brain will be working at its maximum capacity this semester so that I can apply for jobs with a wholesome edge.

engine, business, sociology mods. So far, this is the most deadly combo. Previous semesters' mixtures of arts mods have been kinder in terms of content. This sem's is like coffee, tea and chocolate mixed in 1 pot.

The most xiong one is the sociology mod. And so the lecturer says "you can write anything you want. As long as you can defend your view with evidence, that's fine with me.

You know what I say? Based on experience, I must figure out what kind of person the lecturer is and write a seemingly unorthordox view but which is essentially still what she wants to read(a.k.a her opinions). She may seem very hip hop and open what-not, but I can sense she's pretty biased in some sense. But oh well, in my opinion, sociology is a pretty biased subject from individual to individual. A right brain person is going to have a completely different take from a left brain person. A testosterone charged person is going to have a flipside view from a estrogen pumped person. A young person is going to cry foul about an old person's opinions.

So the conclusion is, sociology is not about who's right and who's not. The important take home lesson is how to gather data from the environment and make the best judgement on getting the best result. It's no point saying my point is right and everyone else is a dimwit in the focus group because I ain't gonna get anything done by myself. As the name implies, it's sociology, not correctology.

2009-01-15T01:10:00.001+08:00

wow.. this company's bonus can actually pay more than 3/4 of the school fees loan.. wow wow wee.. amazing.. exciting.. very good!..

2009-01-14T07:16:00.002+08:00

I think people need to put things in perspective when judging in the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Israel has a high tech organised army.

Hamas has much less advanced fighting force.

Israel does not rule out the possibility of a Palestine state.

Hamas wants to wipe out Israel.

Now, however true and currently relevant the greedy land-grab accusations of Israel is, I'm not exactly knowledgeable about that.

But the point is, had Hamas been the one able to inflict the current casualty toll of 1000 and suffer only 10 odd themselves, would they stop short of attempting to annihilate Israel?

I do hope the war can stop soon too. But as far as I can imagine the peace will return is that Hamas keeps to its side of the deal to stop firing rockets into Israel. The only reason we don't feel sympathetic to the Israelis on normal days is because Hamas does not have a precise system of firing their rockets and thus, it does not have a high kill rate. Furthermore, there are bunkers throughout Israel that serve to protect its citizens when the rockets do come.

Let me give an analogy of the situation. A soldier carries a rifle stands up against an untrained citizen wanting to shoot him. The citizen takes aim and sprays a hap-hazard volley of bullets around the soldier. Should the soldier return fire? If he does, will you think he is a jerk?

Lamborghini police car

2009-01-13T02:22:00.001+08:00

well hello there beautiful, you look nervous. are you growling?

2009-01-11T02:52:00.002+08:00

I realised my beliefs ties in with Deism.

Well not entirely. But for the most part.

Jesus, Muhammad, Gautama Buddha. I believe in all of them.

One very important aspect of my beliefs are that God does not interfere directly with our world. He created everything and meant for it to be in harmony within the laws of the universe.

This means that God and evolution can co-exist in our minds. Because as history has made it out, we are here from apes but it was a process which he knew would happen. The bottom line is, we are here doing his work of creation proud.

Now, some of us might argue that our religion has seen God touch our lives personally. It might be the case. Personally, I believe he gave us the power to use our minds to allow our faith to help ourselves. I agree that religion is important. And I agree faith is important. It is what we are capable of embracing to empower his gift onto us. Now I am not stereotyping any religion, but to give an example, there are some Christians who will take a religious bat and knock every dis-believer's remarks down. And to be fair to them, it is also the dis-believers' fault for phrasing their accusations in overtly harsh tones.

I think we need to understand one thing clearly. God is above us all. To say you understand him is clearly impossible. Faith is all we have. And the reason for faith is that we, as humans, are not smart enough to comprehend higher levels of thoughts. But there is no need to fight that, we were meant to be that way.

I am pretty sure, everyone of us does think about this question : why is it so unfair for my loved one to be taken away? For sure, we will pray for them to recover. Post-death of the loved one, a religious person might think that God has a plan for us all no matter what. For the Atheist, he'll probably find even more reasons to deny the existence of God in his mind. Sidestepping, I think that very often, we try means and ways to influence those around us to embrace our hardened beliefs. But have you ever wondered that maybe, it isn't so important for them to share your thinking?

This is why I like to tell people that I'm a half-Catholic. I'm not baptised. But I have gone to Catholic schools all my life. My family members are Catholics, less my dad who is Christian. For the past few years, I'm guilty of passing sarcastic remarks about "over-zealous" Christians. I'm trying my best to stop though. The part about me emphasizing being half-Catholic is that I really do not want to shut out what people tell me. One thing I hate is for a person of a religion to say this to me : "no, you do not know your stuff about my religion. where did you get your information from? you go and read the bible properly again. I know it very well, I've been studying it for many years. aiyah nvm, you don't know lah. don't talk to me about my religion cuz I know it better"

Well, I suppose he is really holy and God must be smiling on him every single day. Best disciple.

There see, I've just said something sarcastic again. I really can't help it sometimes.

So now, I try to just listen to what people say about their beliefs. I don't evaluate everything they say but just listen. After all, being half-Catholic means that they're not offending me by saying stuff which goes against my religion.

2009-01-11T01:50:00.002+08:00

many civil engineering recruitments coming up.

just 1 job offer. 1 which I want. 1 project management. I need the fire to leap over this hurdle.

2009-01-10T04:26:00.003+08:00

very nice! I think girls who wear ladies soccer jersy look incredibly hot. really accentuates the figure.

and nobody ever seems to understand how amelia and I are not a couple anymore but still maintain a very close friendship. why is it so hard to understand? hahaha! tsk tsk.. I think everyone out there have bad breakups thats why. which means most people don't make rationale decisions when in r/s and it simmers till a sudden explosion rocks the whole damn boat. if the boat is rocking cuz both of you are standing on 1 side of it, then don't stand up anymore lah! find other ways to continue using the boat; like sit on opposite ends instead. boat rocking like crazy still don't want to do anything about it. in the end it will capsize and both drown.

eh anyway, I don't know why I'm writing this. okay lah, what bloody himbo post. goodnight.

2009-01-06T02:31:00.002+08:00

I really have a huge ass load of debt to clear.

school fees are around 20 - 30 k.

laptop loan another few k.

assuming I pay back 500 per month, that's going to take me 60 months to repay not including interest. if I top it up t0 1k per month, that's going to take 30 months. that's a range of 3-6 years to pay everything back. I'll be 28-31 by the time I repay the loans. HOW THE HELL AM I GOING TO GET THE MONEY TO START A FAMILY!

This is indeed very saddening. It seems like I might have to find higher paying jobs with shitty work-life balance over lesser paying ones which might by my passion.

2009-01-04T19:46:00.002+08:00

the world is calling for restraint on Israel to stop the invasion.

and now, Islamists in Indonesia are calling for troops to be sent to help the Palestinians.

There is no end to this. Everyone would exercise self restraint when making such emotional demands. A line must be drawn.

Hamas launch rockets, Israel reacts. Okay leave it as that. Try to find an amiable solution. Don't call for such retaliations from everywhere else. Don't forget, there are many Jews in the world too. They might be voicing out less, in terms of their support for Israel, but can you imagine if all of them too joined this rally for taking sides in the war.

Please lets all exercise self restraint.

SpinKick Part 11

2009-01-04T06:39:00.001+08:00