A Degree is Not Everything

A Degree is Not Everything

Don't imagine that a college education is necessary to success as a
writer. Far from it. Some of our college men are dead-heads, drones,
parasites on the body social, not alone useless to the world but to
themselves. A person may be so ornamental that he is valueless from any
other standpoint. As a general rule ornamental things serve but little
purpose. A man may know so much of everything that he knows little of
anything. This may sound paradoxical, but, nevertheless, experience
proves its truth.

Know what you write about, write about what you know; this is a golden
rule to which you must adhere. To know you must study. The world is an
open book in which all who run may read. Nature is one great volume the
pages of which are open to the peasant as well as to the peer. Study
Nature's moods and tenses, for they are vastly more important than those
of the grammar. Book learning is most desirable, but, after all, it is
only theory and not practice. The grandest allegory in the English, in
fact, in any language, was written by an ignorant, so-called ignorant,
tinker named John Bunyan. Shakespeare was not a scholar in the sense we
regard the term to-day, yet no man ever lived or probably ever will live
that equalled or will equal him in the expression of thought. He simply
read the book of nature and interpreted it from the standpoint of his own
magnificent genius.

Poverty is Not Excuse

Poverty is not an Excuse

If you are poor that is not a detriment but an advantage. Poverty is an
incentive to endeavor, not a drawback. Better to be born with a good,
working brain in your head than with a gold spoon in your mouth. If the
world had been depending on the so-called pets of fortune it would have
deteriorated long ago.

From the pits of poverty, from the arenas of suffering, from the hovels
of neglect, from the backwood cabins of obscurity, from the lanes and
by-ways of oppression, from the dingy garrets and basements of unending
toil and drudgery have come men and women who have made history, made the
world brighter, better, higher, holier for their existence in it, made of
it a place good to live in and worthy to die in,--men and women who have
hallowed it by their footsteps and sanctified it with their presence and
in many cases consecrated it with their blood. Poverty is a blessing, not
an evil, a benison from the Father's hand if accepted in the right spirit.
Instead of retarding, it has elevated literature in all ages. Homer was a
blind beggarman singing his snatches of song for the dole of charity;
grand old Socrates, oracle of wisdom, many a day went without his dinner
because he had not the wherewithal to get it, while teaching the youth of
Athens. The divine Dante was nothing better than a beggar, houseless,
homeless, friendless, wandering through Italy while he composed his
immortal cantos. Milton, who in his blindness "looked where angels fear
to tread," was steeped in poverty while writing his sublime conception,
"Paradise Lost." Shakespeare was glad to hold and water the horses of
patrons outside the White Horse Theatre for a few pennies in order to buy
bread. Burns burst forth in never-dying song while guiding the ploughshare.
Poor Heinrich Heine, neglected and in poverty, from his "mattress grave"
of suffering in Paris added literary laurels to the wreath of his German
Fatherland. In America Elihu Burritt, while attending the anvil, made
himself a master of a score of languages and became the literary lion of
his age and country.

In other fields of endeavor poverty has been the spur to action. Napoleon
was born in obscurity, the son of a hand-to-mouth scrivener in the backward
island of Corsica. Abraham Lincoln, the boast and pride of America, the
man who made this land too hot for the feet of slaves, came from a log
cabin in the Ohio backwoods. So did James A. Garfield. Ulysses Grant came
from a tanyard to become the world's greatest general. Thomas A. Edison
commenced as a newsboy on a railway tram.

The examples of these men are incentives to action. Poverty thrust them
forward instead of keeping them back. Therefore, if you are poor make
your circumstances a means to an end. Have ambition, keep a goal in sight
and bend every energy to reach that goal. A story is told of Thomas
Carlyle the day he attained the highest honor the literary world could
confer upon him when he was elected Lord Rector of Edinburgh University.
After his installation speech, in going through the halls, he met a
student seemingly deep in study. In his own peculiar, abrupt, crusty way
the Sage of Chelsea interrogated the young man: "For what profession are
you studying?" "I don't know," returned the youth. "You don't know,"
thundered Carlyle, "young man, you are a fool." Then he went on to
qualify his vehement remark, "My boy when I was your age, I was stooped
in grinding, gripping poverty in the little village of Ecclefechan, in
the wilds of [Transcriber's note: Part of word illegible]-frieshire,
where in all the place only the minister and myself could read the Bible,
yet poor and obscure as I was, in my mind's eye I saw a chair awaiting
for me in the Temple of Fame and day and night and night and day I
studied until I sat in that chair to-day as Lord Rector of Edinburgh
University."

Another Scotchman, Robert Buchanan, the famous novelist, set out for
London from Glasgow with but half-a-crown in his pocket. "Here goes,"
said he, "for a grave in Westminster Abbey." He was not much of a
scholar, but his ambition carried him on and he became one of the great
literary lions of the world's metropolis.

Henry M. Stanley was a poorhouse waif whose real name was John Rowlands.
He was brought up in a Welsh workhouse, but he had ambition, so he rose
to be a great explorer, a great writer, became a member of Parliament and
was knighted by the British Sovereign.

New Words

New Words

VOCATION AND AVOCATION

Don't mistake these two words so nearly alike. Vocation is the employment,
business or profession one follows for a living; avocation is some
pursuit or occupation which diverts the person from such employment,
business or profession. Thus

"His vocation was the law, his avocation, farming."

roman a clef (ro-mahn ah KLAY) noun, plural romans a clef

A novel that depicts (usually famous) real people and events
under the guise of fiction.

These days the term can apply to any work of fiction, for example, a movie,
not just a novel. A blend term "faction" has also been used, after "fact"
presented as "fiction".

"How Would You Act And Feel "IF" You Already Had What You Wanted"

"How Would You Act And Feel "IF" You Already Had What You Wanted"

Allen Says expounded on the above concept.
It's mind blowing.
He is coming up with a book soon.
It's the secret to breaking the barriers to get whatever you want.
It's the way to get your conscious and subconscious mind aligned.

Read about it at the Instant Guru Blog by Allen Says

How to be an Expert

How to be an Expert

DAN POYNTER said that you don't have to be an expert to write a book.
When you write book, you become the expert.
The word Authority has the word Author in it.

The Paper Chase

The Paper Chase

Once upon a time, I was smart in programming cos I live and eat and sleep programming everyday for years. But I didn't have a paper to show my potential employer. They want to see my paper before they want to interview me. I didn't even had a chance to enter the interview room.

Ok, so you want a paper. I pay more than $10,000 to sit in the class and listen to those idiot unqualified teachers teaching things they don't know. When I asked them questions, they have no answer, cos they wre merely repeating what the textbook says. They read only one book. I read 10 books on the same subject. I would have teach the lecturers instead. Finally, I got the paper and the door was open.

Did I really learn from the classroom that I couldn't learn elsewhere? I learnt nothing. I learnt that the students cheat their way. I learnt that the students get their friends to mark their attendance in class. It was a charade.

In the end, not a single student changed their career as a result of taking the course. Because they knew that the course did not provide them the real competence to perform. It's was just theories and head knowledge. They can learn by hard the seven layers of networking, how the RAM and ROM work. But can they assemble a LAN in an office?

Reasons for Casino

Reasons for Casino

The Ministers Argued for Casinos. I find the reasons so flawed. Try substituting the word 'Casino' for 'Prostitution' and see if it make senses.

One said that it is about creating 10,000 jobs. Then they said 30,000 jobs.

Using the same argument, why don't we build a world class brothel in one of our islands. That will bring all the buayas into the brothel, instead of going to Batam or Thailand. That will boost tourisms overnight. That will create jobs for the taxi drivers who ferry these itchy balls, create jobs for our unemployed female citizens. That will create demands for the budget one-night stay hotels. That will boost the food business, the condom business, the entertainment business. Of course, like they say, it's just part of the total package. You will have food, the entertainment, the MTV, KTV, and a 101 fun centres.

It's all about jobs creation my friends. It's not about moral values. Leave that to the religious organisations to fix the broken souls. Leave that to MCYS to glue the shattered lives. Oh, it's just a few thousands broken families out of a few million. Oh, they can live with it.

I'm glad Mr Tony Tan declared that one broken family is one too many. I'm glad that he sees the soul in one family. It is easy to see people as numbers.

Another minister suggested that if you can't beat them, join them. See, our neighbours are doing it and they are raking in the big money. Would you want to earn that kind of sin money?

In the Universities, it is an unspoken common practices for students to pay people to write their thesis and assignment. Using the same argument, if you can't beat them, join them. Maybe they have adapted the words of Robert Kiyosaki when he said that smart people should employ smarter people than themselves. That's what these 'smart' students are doing.

Quote of the Week

Quote of the Week

Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering
others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. – Lao Tzu, Chinese
Taoist Philosopher

The best way to predict the future is to invent it. – Alan Kay, American
Computer Scientist

Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do
with what there is. – Ernest Hemingway, 1898-1961, American Writer

Good People Die Young

Good People Die Young
It's my morning ritual to do this. Read the newspaper and sip my coffee at the coffeeshop on a weekend morning.
One of the pages I must visit is the Obituaries page.
Sometimes I encounter familiar faces, friends from my past.
Sometimes there are young faces. These are lives that have barely experience the full spectrum of the early experience.
And sometimes they tell a story.

There was a sad story of a lady who died cos she was denied a live organ transplant by a donor. Before she died, she asked for justice to be served. Shortly, a few months, the mother died and then another sister. Probably they died from a broken heart.

Today I saw the familiar face of Simon Yap Chee Seng who departed 9 years ago.
I knew him some 35 years ago when we were in Bartley Secondary School. He was the headmaster, the leader of the band (brass band). He was the big brother to the Christians in YFC (Youth for Christ). He was handsome and bright. His star was shining bright. He was destined for greatness. He rose in rank in the SAF. He was groomed to be the elite. He was a man's man. He was everything a person could be.
Like fireworks, his light went off suddenly and plunge the world into darkness.
For those whose lives are interwined with him, the void in their heart is always there. Lives is just not the same without him.

Here's what his loved ones penned in the paper:

"Neither time nor circumstances,
neither things of now nor of future
will dim our memory of you"

Simon, I know you are watching over us. Thanks for memories.

Today, I want to recall the wonderful people who have cross over to the other side of the world.

I want to remember Brother Foo, a member of TRL Toastmasters Club. He was a vegetarian. He exercised regularly. In the club, he was an encourager. During the
table topic sessions (impromptu speaking), he would always be the first to volunteer.
One day when he was diagnosed with cancer, he didn't want to trouble us. He suffered quietly. When we realised what happened to him, we didn't have a chance to say our last words. As we laid our eyes on his body on the casket, I asked why is cancer so blind to take away a good man.

My friend remembers Patricia. She was murdered. She was a good person, creative, and cheerful. She was the sunshine girl. She brightened every depression, she brought light to the darkness of their soul. She brought the dead spirits to life. She was the optimist, the bubbly one. She was the girl that everyone love. But the evil one plunged the bloody dagger... and left many to mourn the loss.

My friend wanted to write a book in her remembrance. Yes, I encouraged her to write a book even if no one is going to read it. I'm sure Patricia would be proud. Patricia lives in the memory of her loved ones.

And of course, there are many more people I want to pay tribute...my eldest sister Annie, my grandma.

I wonder, if someday my photo appears on the Obituaries page, what would it say about me? It's a matter of time, every single one of us will have a chance to appear on the Obituaries page.

What would it say about you, my friend?

Burka with Bikini

Burka with Bikini

Have you ever seen a woman dressed in burka but carrying a handbag containing pictures of women in bikini?

I had. I saw her at the MRT train yesterday. It tells a story. She was covered from head to toes. And about the only thing you can see is her eyes. The irony is that it draws focus to her eyes only. The cloth that covered her mouth was clipped with a blue jewels. She wore a ring. But the most telling contrast was that she carried a handbag. The handbag has pictures of Western women in bikini.

What is the story in this dress?
That she is dressing in burka according to the demands of her society.
As a member of her society, she had to conform to the dress code of her society.
But as an individual, she expressed her individuality and her personal preference through her handbag, her ring and the jewelry. And these were subtle expression of rebellion against the constraint the society imposed upon her.

All Men are Equal

All Men are Equal
All men are equal, but some are more equal than others, especially the President.
He walks on red carpet. He never need to drive his own car. He is always escorted wherever he goes. He don't have to stop for the red traffic light.

It was the day of farewell for the ex-president. Along the short road from his office to the gate, his staff awaits. As his car slowly drives out of his office, his loyal staff on both side of the road wave the little flags. The gate close behind him as his car exit to the main road.

Suddenly the traffic turned red. The car stopped...for the first time in many years. Now he had to obey the law of the road, just like the rest of the citizens. In that moment of revelation, he realised he was really no longer the President. He had become an ordinary citizen, a subject to the laws he created.