It is Chinese New Year Everybody!!

In the last one year, there may be areas that I'd unknowingly offended you, please believe me that:





I'm still gentle, please don't get mad at me.





'Cause there're times when time is pressing, when "there's fire burning the butt", it's inevitable that temples flared.

Therefore, please, everyone, cool down and extinguish the fire in you,

Be a hero, don't be so calculative.





It's going to be Chinese New Year soon,

Whether you're in a rush to get married,





"Balik Kampung",





"Ronda-ronda",





or taking a vacation, I hope you've a happy time.






Don't forget to water my mailbox occasionally.






HOPE ALL OF YOU WILL PROGRESS FURTHER AHEAD IN THE FORTHCOMING YEAR AND HAVE A VERY PROSPEROUS YEAR.



祝大家 :

　新年快樂, 身体健康, 万事如意, 恭喜发财!! 大家一定要幸福喔 !!

GONG XI FAI CAI

Burning Chinese Incense Paper Is Not Wrong, But...

Well, if one is just following his/her religion, burning incense is definitely not wrong. However, when doing such act, I believe it is an obligation of each individual to think of the safety and convenience of others.

When returning back home one night, 19th January 2009 12.10am to be exact, I saw a middle age man burning lots of incense papers on a pact of grasses. Now, that selfish act alone simply irritate me to my core.

There was in fact a special container placed there for that exact purpose, to allow the residents to burn their incense papers and do their offerings safely and conveniently.

Now, I do not know what valid reason/s the man had to burn his incense papers on the grasses just beside the container. Simply ridiculous.

Was it that he did not know the container was placed there for that purpose? I guess for a person of that age, unless he belongs to the lowest end of the IQ spectrum, I doubt he would have the excuse of not knowing what the container is used for. Especially if he was a Singaporean to start off with.

After much thought, I can only conclude that he belongs to the lazy, inconsiderate and selfish group of Singaporeans, which as a fellow Singaporean, I am truly ashamed of.

Certainly, burning the incense papers on a pact of grassess was indeed simpler and faster than having to throw them one at a time into the container. However, didn't he also know that his selfish act actually costed the residents living there great deal of inconvenience and not to mentioned, threatened their safety?

Imagine the innocent grassess that got burnt off for no apparent reasons. All due to his laziness!

To make things worse, he was actually burning his incense papers beside the common car park and in front of it was 2 parked motorcycles and a carpark full of cars. And guess what was inside the motorcycles?

Petrol! And what was the main characteristic of petrol?

Flammable!

Well, I think the above 2 questions are simple enough that my Primary 6 student can score 100 marks for them.

But obviously, that guy does not possess such "profound" knowledge which a P6 Singapore student would have knew.

And here comes the next "profound" questions. When papers are burnt, what are left behind?

Ashes? Clever! Correct answer!

And what happen to the ashes when wind blows? They scatter right? And guess where they will get scattered to?

The cars in the car park of course!

And not to mentioned, the ashes may also entered the houses of those who lived in the lower storey of the flat.

As the CNY is just around the corner, families are already busy cleaning up their houses to welcome the festival. However, just nice, there exists such idiotic and retarded guy to add on the already difficult work.

Ya, I know he doesn't have to worry about the ashes flying into his house and dirtying his floors for that bugger live at the 12th storey of my block. High enough to be safe. That probably also explains why he was so happy and conveniently burning his incense papers away. What a idiotic guy!

And that probably also explains why my car was always that dirty no matter how often I wash it. Because such bugger was actually living with me. What a disgrace!

Why I Like Reading Stomp!

Alright, this post is unlike the usual inspiring, motivating and useful posts.

Today's post is more of talking about the interesting things about Stomp.sg.

If you have not yet give Stomp a visit, it is time to do so. It is something like a paparazzi website but not intended for the celebrities. Instead it is more for normal people like you and I.

Actually the stories that were posted on the website is one thing that makes the reading part interesting. However, the most enjoyable and juicy part was actually not the articles themselves but the comments made by the vistors.

Some how, when I read the comments, I find them more interesting and funny than the articles themselves. They provide a diverse and different point of view and give me a very good idea of how young people are thinking nowadays and most importantly, how others think, feel and see things.

As a matter of fact, everything in life are as they are. They does not happen to make one happy nor to make one's life difficult. They actually do not possess any meaning, but it is us humans who gave meanings to the events or situations around us.

For the same event that happened, 2 people can have totally different point of view. In fact, if you were to think and ponder about them, both points of view are valid. They just belong to different schools of thoughts.

And that is probably why all of majority of our quarrels and unhappiness exist. It is not the difference opinions we have which differs from one another. It is actually our unwillingness to accept others' point of views as well as not being aware that other school of thoughts can, will and does exist.

What we think is the reality does not make it so. We all do things and behave in accordance to our beliefs, principles and values. No one principle, belief or value is wrong. It is just up to us to perceive, understand and if possible, to accept.

And that is what I really learn from the website. For some, a certain event can seem to be like a big deal. However, for others, the same event can be a matter of life and death.

So, how is right and who is wrong? Both are and none are. Depending on one's point of view, isn't it?

Do You Dare Fly This Close

Some people just like extreme sports. Are you one of them? Frankly speaking, I too am very interested in participating fully in those sports, however, just the look of others executing them really make my hair stands.

Sure enough, you does need a lot of guts and courage to do something that dangerous....

What extreme sports am I talking about? Well, flying of course! Nah, nah. Not flying using planes. Those are safe...

What I am talking about here is flying between cliffs using a flying suit. How exciting is that?

Not sure what I am talking about? Well, have a look for yourself. I believe you will be equally astonished by their bravery and guts to even dare to think of attempting something that dangerous.

Click on the link below. Prepare to be blown away by them, the wind is a bit strong there... =D

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1778399&server=vimeo.com&sho

What Animals Can Teach You About Relationships?

We humans have always pride ourselves over our intelligent and ever growing intellectual mightiness.

However, as much of a blessing, it too can end up as a shortcoming for us. It can be both a blessing and a curse.

The fact is there are still pretty much things we can learn from our relatives from the animal kingdom. It is time for us to put down our pride and ego to learn about the wonderful and inspiring lessons they have in preparation for us.

What Kind of Services Are You Rendering?

As the world's economy takes a downturn in the year 2009, many people are getting more and more stress over their financial.

People are losing their jobs and unemployment rate in developed and developing countries escalate. As we continue to focus more on our financial health, we are slowly beginning to lose focus on something which holds a more position in our lives, our relationships.

Some people think that having financial independence is the most important goal in their lives for they believe that after they have successfully achieve financial freedom, they will have the time and security to do what they want to in the first place.

How contradicting! If one could do sufficient research or read enough biographies of the extremely successful people out there, they do not place financial freedom as their top priority goal.

Think about this question, doing what you love and achieving financial freedom, which one comes first? No, no. This is not the usual chicken-and-egg question.

You may or may not agree with me. However, I personally believe that attaining financial freedom is the result of you doing what you love and what you like. Not the other way round.

My argument for my stand is very simple. What are the qualities you think an extremely successful people have to possess in order to achieve what s/he has in life?

Perseverance? Determination? Perspiration? Passion? Purpose? Integrity?

Are these qualities cultivatable? Well, certainly, isn't it? However, under what circumstances are you able to cultivate such desirable qualities?

To be successful, at least in your financial area, doing what you are doing right now is not going to work. If it will work, it would have worked out long time ago, isn't it?

If you keep doing what you have done, you will keep getting what you have gotten.

You have to do today what others won't to get tomorrow what others don't. And that involves you in going the extra mile, investing more effort and time in your work or whatever you are doing, business, investment etc.

And how can that be ever possible if you are not already passionate, motivated or inspired for excellence in what you are currently doing?

Your ability in you achieving your financial independence does not lies in your ability to preserve through hard time or invest the extra effort and time to deliver excellence in your work.

To me, all those will come automatically, only if you first realize one thing, the kind of value you can and will deliver to others.

In this world, regardless of what you do, you are being paid for the value you render to other people. Now, we are not talking about the true value of the service you are providing.

On a personal level, I think everyone is rendering invaluable, priceless service to one another. However, the truth is, the world tried to put a price tag in everything we do.

As a matter of fact, it is never the true value which others are interested in. Rather, it is the perceived value of your service which others pay you for.

If the service you render is easily available, then naturally, the perceived value of your service is not going to fetch a high price. On the other hand, if you are going to provide a truly valuable service which not many people can deliver, you can be sure you will be highly paid for it.

So how can this information helps you in attaining the financial freedom you always desire?

Well, the answer is pretty simple, over deliver. The ordinary just do what they are paid for. However, now, you know better. You know that in order to get paid better, regardless of whether it is in your work or business, you have to over deliver.

Good is the enemy of GREAT! You know you will not settle for anything less, naturally, you will not deliver anything less too.

Nevertheless, the desire to over deliver lies not in your capability but in your desire. Are you truly passionate and motivated in doing what you do? Do you always believe the true service of you are rendering?

All these have to first start with a genuine interest. A genuine interest in others. Until you manage to come out of your self ego and start recognizing the needs and wants of others, it will almost be impossible for you to render valuable service to others.

Jim Rohn once mentioned that if you help enough people to get what they want, you will get what you want.

The start to your successes in life lies in not your own interest, but your interest in others.

People often claimed that it is money which makes the world goes round. That is certainly far away from the truth.

It is never money which makes the world goes round. It is the relationships between us, mankind that keeps the Earth revolving.

Prosperity will not come to you until you bring prosperity to others. Success, money and fame will not knock on your doors until you deliver to the doors of others.

That is how important relationships are.

Let others get themselves all stressed up and frustrated over their financial but not you. You now know better that instead of wasting your time in unnecessary worries, why not invest it in some other more beneficial activities, e.g building healthy relationships with others and providing highly perceived valued services to others.

Remember, the rich network while the poor just work.

It is up to you to decide what work you want to get involved in.

Tim Brown’s talk at 2008 Serious Play Conference

Learning how to unleash your creativity is what many people are currently seeking for now.

In the video below, Tim had discussed the difference between the freedom we once had when we were young and the restriction and edition we now do when we grow up.

Not only has we lost the freedom we once owned, we also lost the playfulness within us, turning us into serious, zombie-like walking adults of social and many other restrictions which we placed on us.

In fact, there is a great relationship between one's creativity and one playfulness. Actually it all makes sense, doesn't it?

When you are playful and having fun, you let down your guard and allow yourself to think freely and openly. No longer are you concern about what others think or feel about you. You talk openly, think creativity and feel freely.

When you play, you eliminate the fear of being judged by others and need to conform yourself to the opinions of those whom you deem as authority figures, e.g your bosses, your clients etc.

In fact, there is a correlation between emotion and creativity. When you feel restricted and closed, your mind is automatically shut down to new ideas. On the other hand, when you are feeling mischievous, your mind will switch itself to whatever emotions you are currently experiencing.

And the good news is, you have 100% control over your own emotions. You, not the people or circumstances around you determine what you should feel. Change the way you feel you will change the way you think, creativity of course!