Iris Chang Died

Iris Chang Died
Iris Chang, the author of "The Rape of Nanking" died.
It was said that she was suffering from depression.
The sadness must be too heavy to bear.

For her unique contribution, alas, what a loss.

The ink has stop flowing.
The pen has stop moving.
A minute silence
for a beloved soul.

Reasons Why I Write

Reasons Why I Write

[This article is written by Nick Usborne. The archives of all previous ExcessVoice articles can be found here:

http://www.excessvoice.com/archive.htm]

In no particular order, here are the five reasons why I like to earn my

living as a freelance writer...



1. If I lose one job, I have others.



I hate the idea of putting my future in the hands of any one company or

employer. Having a ‘job’ may be fine. But that job can disappear at any

time, through changes in ‘market conditions’, or through the incompetence

or bad luck of a single manager or business owner. No thanks. I’d rather

be at the mercy of my own incompetence.



I like to have a few jobs on the go, and have one or two on the horizon as

well. If one ‘job’ disappears, it’s no big deal. I have others. In other

words, I never have all my eggs in one basket. (Although from time to time

I may find myself with rather too many eggs in just one or two baskets.

But no system is perfect.)



2. I can work from home or from anywhere else.



I’m sitting at the kitchen table right now. I could be on the couch. I

could be on a plane, in a hotel, on the beach, up a tree, in a meeting.

The main point being, I’m not stuck in some cubicle somewhere. Most of the

time I can be wherever I want.



3. I get to choose when I work and when I don’t.



This is kind of true. But don’t get too excited about the freedom to

choose one’s working hours when you work for yourself. More often than

not, what you get is the freedom to work twelve hours a day, six days a

week. But let’s not look on the gloomy side of things. At least I don’t

step out the front door at the same time each morning, rain or shine. I

don’t waste hours each week in traffic. And yes, if there is a bit of a

lull in my work, I’ll take some time off.



4. I’m always learning something new



For a couple of years I worked for a company on their e-commerce site. It

was a full-time job. And yes, I found it interesting to get to know and

understand that business in depth. But in the end, I became bored.



As a freelance writer I get to work with a huge variety of different

people, companies and organizations. Every week I am learning something

new. This may not work for everyone, but it certainly suits the way my

brain is wired.



5. I get paid well



Could I earn what I do now as an employee somewhere? I doubt it. And for

sure, I’m always complaining about having too much work or too little.

There’s no pleasing me. But at the end of the day, being a freelance

writer has done well for me.



Finally, I’ll just come back to that first reason again. Being my own boss

as a copywriter means I’ll never lose my job. (Anyone else out there smell

tough economic times on the way?)



** If you found value in the article, please forward this newsletter to

colleagues and friends who might be interested.

Kids Talk - Understand?

Kids Talk - Understand?

Conversation between parent and 4-year old Sarah.
All stories are true.

Sarah was up to her mischief. After a brief lecture...
Dad: Do you understand?
Sarah: I'm understanding. But I don't understand what you say.

Sarah trying to teach her mum what to do...
Mum: You think I'm stupid?
Sarah: Sorry. You are not yet.

Twilight of a Warrior

Twilight of a Warrior

There comes a rare moment when you read the words of a writer, that's so poetic, so eloquent, so moving that you could read it a thousand, and each time, it still thrills you.

Here's one such article by M.J. AKBAR, a Pakistani journalist who wrote in article on Mr Arafat.

"There comes a moment when every man's obituary appears on his face.

Suddenly the hero of a hundred battles is suffused with a childlike helplessness, and his hand clutches for support from a friend, unsure whether this will be his last gesture.

It is a moment of truth beyond denial.

It is the face of a man who has seen the approach of the angel of death
and knows that there can be no negotiation, nothing but submission to ....God.

It was such a face that Yasser Arafat presented to the television cameras that glimpsed him on Oct 28.

Etched on that face was the realiseation that, while God might yet grant Arafat longer life,
his days as commander-in-chief of the Palestinian resistance were over."

Climbing Mount Everest

Climbing Mount Everest

Today as I heard David Lim spoke about his Mount Everest Adventure, I was wowed by the slides show how dangerous a mountain climb can be.
A narrow ladder across a deep crevice.
Just one slip and you won't even hear the echo from the fall. It's like falling into the sky upside down.

In business you lose your shirt.
But in mountain climbing you could lose your limbs or lives.

David talks about passion. If we have passion for our work, even the long hours becomes a delight, a pleasure instead of pressure.

If we don't get excited waking up in the morning and look forward to the events of the day, it's time to make a change. To look into your passion. To turn your passion into a profit.

After years of preparation, he finally achieved his dream. The achievement mean the end of that dream. Then he turned to his next Everest which was to run his own training business. Despite losing his bodily function, he was able to summon all his inner resources to reach his next 'Everest'. Today, he is living his dream and inspiring others to live their dreams too.

David ended his 45 minutes talk by asking the audience:
"What kind of morning are you waking up to ?"

He ended by saying: "The most successful people aren't those who have 100% of everything but uses 100% of everything they've."

Well said.
It's not what you have. It's what you use.
The reason for failure is not the lack of knowledge, it's the lack of action.

People pay lots of money to attend a seminar like these.
They listen. They get inspired. They leave the room.
One month later, life goes on....life before.
What has changed?
Nothing...for 99% of the audience.

Video Blogging

Video Blogging

Catch the new revolution in blogging at http://www.seriousmagic.com
Another website is at instantvideogenerator.com.

Video clips is not new. But video clips on the Internet?
That's now possible, thanks to cable modem in Singapore.

New technology means new products.
If text is to 'DOS', then Video is to WINDOWS.

Nothing excites the human mind like a video clip.
Just watching the 5 minutes video clip at a wedding dinner is like seeing
a life-in-a-day event flash before your eyes.

Mr Brown once commented about condensing the story of 4 years of her kid's life in just one hour video clip.

Now, that gives meaning to the word 'seeing your life flash before your eyes'.
Pornography has use this technology to the max.
Who could be the next money earner by capitalising on this video streaming technology?

It is said that people read less and less.
It is said that few people read a book from cover to cover.

It's the MTV generation. Short attention span. Get bored fast.
The challenge of the writer is to fire up all their senses and move them to action.

Certificate - Must Have Lah!

In Singapore, if anyone attends a course or training, a certificate is expected.
We are a paper-crazy nation. Because authorities and employers expect that.
No paper no talk.

There are four jobs where you probably don't need a certificate to prove your worth: writer, entrepreneur, artist and hooker.

If we want to work for organisation, they probably want to see your certification as proof that you have a foundation in your trade. Even > the govt continue to enforce that 'perception' when they want TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) practitioners to be certified. Could you imagine these people are apprentices who learn from their masters on the job training for years? They do not know how to measure a person's competency other than a paper qualification. Sad.

But times are gradually changing. Private schools and universities are
churning out paper-qualified students who cannot do the job. Papers
are not enough. Now some want to tell your competency as well.

The two places I know that test you purely on competency is the a certain International Coaching Certificate and Professional Speaker. They don't care what degree or what experience you have. Only if you can pass the test of proficiency by demonstrating your skill and assessed by qualified evaluators, then you get the certificate.

I, myself was a proficient programmer even before I got any paper qualification. But still I have to fork out 5 years of my life and thousands of dollars in order to get my diploma and degree paper, just so that I can get a job with organisation.

There was nothing the school could teach me, that I could not learn myself.

I had also run my own software company before. I don't need to show my customers my qualification. My proof is in the job done. If I get it done, I get paid. If I don't deliver, I return them the money.

I learn more about any subject by reading the best 100 books on that subject written by the best minds in the world for just $2,000 than spending $14,000 listening to some lecturers vomiting the content of less than 10 textbooks.

Now if we are any wiser, we should stop judging people by their certificate and look at what's inside them. Or read Han's book on 'So What if You Don't have any Degree..."

Here's a response from a fellow writer:

"You can say what you want. But what can a bunch of
people do if they thought certificates is not equal to
experience. Will the government listen? Will the world
listen? If they did, we can do away with schools and
go for this sort of paperless education. But i think
it won't happen in a thousand years."

Remaking Singapore: Get rid of Kiasuism

Remaking Singapore: Get rid of Kiasuism

There is a book on Fighting Against Terrorism.
What we need is a book on Fighting Against Kiasuism.
Just like the book on Somebodies and Nobodies, about rankism.

We talking about remaking Singapore, about raising entreprenuers who are risk takers and independent thinkers. Yet we insist on so much safeguards to ensure we don't get hurt.
What the man at the top says doesn't quite translate on the ground yet.

If we don't let our children run and fall, when will they ever learnt?
If we have to tell our citizens what to do and what not to do, to make every decision for them, when will they ever learn think for themselves?

When the Chick flu break out, the people were least alarmed.
"The government will know what to do," they said.

Remember the reason give for the previous ban on bar top dancing?
They were afraid people will get hurt.

Why has it been so difficult dealing with civil servants?
They don't want to be responsible for their own action.
This kind of thinking permeates to everyone.

Recently a mother was heart broken because a govt-board took her child away
for months for alleged child abuse. She wanted to go abroad for a while to recuperate before she lose her mind.

Her lawyer advised her against it.
Why? Scared the agency thinks she was running away.
So the lawyer wrote a letter stating that he had advised her against travelling and he would not be responsible for the consequence.

"It's not my fault."
"Don't blame me."

If we truly want a remaking, a transformation, we probably need a new campaign - "Don't Be a Kiasu"

Innovation - Get rid of him

Innovation - Get rid of him

If you want to hear the truth from the ground, get rid of the official person who tags with you.

How often when a VIP visits a place, it is spruced up with pots of flowers, the ground laid with red carpets, the floors and walls are sparkling clean, the car tyres are kiwied, not a hair is out of place.

What they saw was not the real thing. Just a demonstration.
One day Bill Gates went to St Peter's Gate and was given a choice of heaven and hell.
He visited heaven and saw a choir in white, singing songs. He's not a singer and singing not his cup of tea.
Next he visited Hell and saw a rowdy group having fun drinking and dancing. That looks good.
He chose Hell. Two weeks into hell, St Peter came a visiting.
Bill Gates couldn't wait to complain.
"Where the girls, the booze and the fun?" he asked
"That's just a demonstration" Peter answered.

The Education Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam is a very very wise man.
He did what nobody ever done.

He visited one or two schools weekly, alone, without a single Education Ministery official in tow, to encourage frank dialogue with teachers and students. He lunches regularly with teachers and meet employers and community leaders to tap their views on education.

If you want to know the truth, come alone. Unannounce.

Education: Prepare Children for Test of Life, Not Life of Test

Education: Prepare Children for Test of Life, Not Life of Test
The Education Minister Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam is a wise man.
Not just a wise man. But a VERY wise man.

Previously he was the Acting Education Minister. A student innocently asked him why is he the ACTING Minister. Teachers used to tell students to stop acting like one and be the real one.

In an interview, he said, "We have to broaden our definitions of merit, because that's what the real world looks for. We have to prepared our kids for the test of life, not a life of test."

Bravo. Well said. Because all our student lives, our usefulness as a person is defined by how well we scored in our exams. It don't mean a thing if you can dance like a swan, or kick a ball like Fandi. It does not matter if you can sing like an angel or run like a horse. Because it has no merit.

I have returned all the knowledge to the school. I need a calculator to add the sums. The calculus - there are long buried in the school grounds.

What I want my children to learn from school are values. What's right and what's wrong. What's the consequence of every action. How to solve their problems creatively. How to see the bigger picture. How to make choices in life. How to make a life. How to making a living. And finding the meaning in life.

It's about not memorising the fact. It's about knowing where to find the information when you need it.

Kids Talk - I'm Not Running

Kids Talk - I'm Not Running

While waiting for the tea ceremony at the room, Sarah was found running round and round the room, chasing after a boy her age. She sweated. Her cold sweat could make her ill.
But she won't listen.
"I want, I want, I want"

Just how adults can themselves into troubles when they pander to their wants and ignore the consequence.

Short term pleasure, long term pain.

The next time, I told Sarah how disappointed I was.
She sure has a way to defend herself.
"I'm not running. I'm exercising!" she reasoned with me.

Act of Apathy

Act of Apathy
Taxis.
When you don't need them, they are everywhere.
But when you need them, they are nowhere to be found.
Especially at 11.30pm at Suntec City on a Sunday.

There were some 10 people in the queue but taxis were hard to come back.
One taxi driver confessed that prior to midnight, they would have a cup of coffee at the coffeeshop and wait for midnight to strike.

My wife suggested that I call for a cab. A $2 surcharge. In less than a minute, the miracle taxi appeared from nowhere.
See, what money can do.
Money can move the mountain.
Money can make a miracle too!.
Taxi number 7313 arrived and we gladly deposited ourselves inside the taxi.
Suddenly a caucasian walked towards the driver. He lowered the glass window.
I could see his frustration. He pleaded with the taxi driver to call his colleagues to bring the taxis in.

"It's your money!" he reasoned.

Not a word. Not a nod. He drived off. Not even a call to Comfort HQ to request for taxis.
If taxi drivers ever complain that they have no business running on empty roads, blame it on their colleagues who do not want to update the HQ where the queues are.

The same problem happened the night before, at 6.00 pm on a Saturday.
It takes an angmo to voice out, to do something about it.
The rest kept quiet about it and beared the inconvenience.

Act of Kindness

Act of Kindness
Sarah, aged 4, did the most unusual thing at her cousin Roy& Fern's wedding. While friends were streaming out of the room, mingling and shaking hands at the lobby, she went to every single of them. Holding a bunch of roses, she bowed low before them and say 'Thank you'. She did that to every single one of them, about some 30 people. As they leave the door, she say, "Bye".

Then another surprise. She disappeared into the dinner room. There were some 20 staff unpacking the tables. She went to every single one of them, bowed her head 90% with a bunch of roses and say "Thank you".

The staff were surprised and recipocrated. One of the staff gave her a red rose. It put a smile on their face. I was embarrassed. I called Sarah to come back. She simply ignored me and do her own thing. As always.

I'm so proud of her. I did not teach her to do that. She just do it her way.

She has done an act of kindness by thanking the waitresses and waiters. My child is my teacher.