Makeover Time

Makeover Time

The time when you need a makeover is when you look at yourself in the mirror and saw the likeness of your mother/father.

Moral Dilemma

Moral Dilemma
This morning my taxi driver shared with me his moral dilemma.
He was at the Airport to 'drop' (alight) a passenger when suddenly a tourist barged in to take his cab. According to the rule, they can only take the cab at the proper taxi stand at the arrival hall.

He was tempted to take the passenger otherwise he is going to lose money running on an empty cab from the Airport to town. But the Police were nearby and he could risk being fined.

He said that he needs the money and he would not hesitate to break the rule, if he can get away with it. It's a dilemma. How can one reason about right or wrong when his basic needs are not met.

Can you talk about queing for food when everyone rush for free handout?

Can you talk about standing behind the yellow line at the MRT when you follow the rule, and other don't, the result is that you don't get to even find a place inside the train.

Another pain is waiting for minutes for a taxi at the side of the road. Sometime, people just come out, stand a few step in front of us and wave a taxi. There's no such thing as 'first come first serve'.

In the end I either call for a cab and pay an extra $2, or say a prayer to God. Strangely, God does answer prayer.

In trying times, the best of men are capable of the worst of evil. When it's a matter of survival, the rules change. Friends become enemies and traitors. Enemies become allies.

I'm Late Again

I'm Late Again

I'm a night bird or an nocturnal animal.
I slept at 12.30 am. I was supposed to wake up at 6.00 am.
My body refused to wake up despite the alarm bell from the clock.
It slept for another hour.
I had to take a cab to work. There goes my $15.

The moral of the story. My body needs 7 hours of sleep whether I feel like sleeping or not. Break the rule and either the body breaks down or I pay $15 penalty.

Looks like I have not learn my lesson yet.

You are Fired!

You are Fired!
In the new season of The Apprentice, Donald Trump said to the 1st reject:

"To do a job, you don't have to be asked. You are fired!"

How true. Leaders create their own opportunities. They don't wait for it to drop on their plate, or someone to tell them what to do.

Someone wrote a book on "10 Secrets I learnt from the Apprentice"

It's easy how any writer can write a book based on a popular event. It's riding on the waves of publicity. Great Strategy.

The Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China

Did I hear that the Great Wall of China took 200 years to build? And some people have attempted to walk the whole length of the Wall. The first person took 3 long years to complete the walk.

It was steep and the walk was tiring. But this is one place where you see people from all countries coming together. A visit to Beijing is never complete without seeing the Great Wall of China.

Is it a repressive regime? It has to be the most open capitalist country in the world. Old buildings are torned down daily, giving way to new modern high rise buildings. It's a wild wild world and changes are spinning so fast, that it is almost out of control.

The dragon has awakened from its sleep.

Zen Moment

Zen Moment

A monk was in the lift. It was cold silence as the occupants were staring at the ceiling and the floor, and avoiding eye contact each other.
"Press N," the monk said.
"It will bring you to Nirvana."
The occupants broke into laughter.

The monk said that life is like a flower.
It blossoms for a few days and then the petals will fall to the ground.
But be not dispair because it will fertilise the ground for the next flower.

Watching the American idol, you realise that human are blind to their own fault.
Most believe they are the next American Idol. They feel like a million buck whenever they sing, yet when they sang to the the judges, they could send them to the next level of hell.

The other day I was watching a TV travel segment where this well-travelled foodie went to Asia. He has tried and has eaten all sorts of weird gruesome insects from cooked blood to live organs, only to realise that the most difficult to swallow was not an insect, but a fruit. And that fruit was the King of fruit - the durian.
Just one bite and he spit it out instantly. Tasted like rotten xxx.

Strange isn't it? What is so yakkie to one's taste is so yummie to another. I happen to love durian. It's heavenly to me, but it could be hell to another. It's reward for me, but punishment to another. Durian is so symbolic of the saying that one man's meat is another man's poison.

Marie

Strategy for Success

Strategy for Success
Know exactly what you want to achieve.
Take massive action. Do it super fast.
Do it as if your very life depends on it.
Don't do those things that are unimportant.
Break your goals into daily goals.
Be bold.
Be hungry.
Don't talk too much.
Don't tell people what you are going to do.
Just do it quietly.

Sarah, 4-years old. The love of my life.

MLM

MLM
Mention the word 'Multi Network Marketing'.
Losers hate it, esp those who put in the money and don't see the returns after a few months. They 'lose' the money. But a few love it cos they make money out of it.

Naturally I put up my defence radar.
It feeds on the desperation of the people to make quick money.
It feeds on the greed of people to become rich.
Scientifically, how can a pyramid system works?

The MLM is so abused cos the product is more expensive than the retail store although they claimed that they cut advertisement cost. But the earning goes to your upstream.

It still have the substance of a pyramid system cos they talk about recruiting more people. And individually, they buy more than they can consume cos of the discount.

When I enter an MLM environment, it's like a religious experience. It hits you 7 times.

First, he showed me the CEO office with a view of the sea. That's the view of success. The hidden message - "Visualise your dream"

2nd, he showed me a rows of picture after picture of ordinary people who makes BIG money. The Hidden message - "Your dream can come true"

3rd, as we pass by his friends, he stop each of them to ask them to share in a few words their testimonies. The hidden message - "These people here are living their dreams"

4th, we sat down with his sponsor. His sponsor earns a 5-figure pay. Hidden message - "5-figure income is a possibility"

5th, she showed me an album of people who were miraculously transformed by their product. Hidden message - "This is a wonder miracle product"

6th, he said that if I join him now, we are at the top of the branch and we can make more. At the bottom of the pyramid, a little harder. And to make it more attractive, he will help me recruit a member under me. - "There is big money to be made"

7th. They sensed my reluctance. I said, let me try the product and if it works a miracle for my uncle, I will sell my soul and become their evangelist. They kept quiet about the challenge. I said seeing it for myeslf is believing. They kept quiet.
Out came the last persuasion. "I would be a fool to walk of this opportunity."

I'm a skeptic cos they are more losers than winners. A lot of people got burnt and words of mouth get around that it is just another scam for a pyramid scheme disguised in the religion of success.

But Robert Kiyosaki offers another view in his book "Rich Dad's Busines School for people who like helping people"

He said there are two reasons for joing an MLM
1 - To acquire the mindset of an entrepreneur. It is not to make money cos one cannot make instant money in 6 months to a year. It takes 5 years to transform every aspect of your life to behave like a business person.

He said the objective is not to make money. Making money is short term. The aim is to build an asset. The asset is building a network of friends.

It reminds me of the parable of one who carries the bucket of water from the well to the village and sell it with whatever he can carry. The other build a pipe. He sees on income everyday unlike the bucket carrier. In fact, he put in more money to dig the ground and lay the pipe. It tooks months and years and no result in sight.

But when all is ready, finally the day came. He turn on the tap, and the wealth flow. The businessman think long term.

Joining MLM is an education in developing the mindset of a businessperson, to think long term, to invest in building assets, to let the system runs automatically.

2nd Reason - To help others. Robert believes what Zig believes - that if you help others to succeed, you will also succeed. Maybe this is the universal law of nature. Like the law of gravity, whether you believe in it or not, it works. What you sow, you reap. Whatever you send out, it returns to you like a boomerang.

Is MLM for you? Believe in the product and the system. And go for the long haul.

Sell Your Knowledge

Sell Your Knowledge

Nothing attracts the people like the sight and smell of money.

Have a seminar like "How to Make More Money" and you get a stampede of people desperate to give you their money so that they can make more money. The smart ones make money teaching people how to make money.

Yesterday I read from a covert manual on the Art of Sexual Seducation about the many ways get a phone number from a stranger.

Everyone of us know something that some others don't know.
What we know could be of value to some other people.
The question is:
"How can we monetize our knowledge?"
"How can we sell our knowledge?"

Another friend of mine is in the HR dept. She sits on the interview panel on job recruitment. She knows the inside - what recruiters are looking for in a candidate, how they sift out the right ones, the questions they ask, the mistakes candidates make, etc.

I thought, wouldn't these knowledge be useful to those looking for a job, before they enter the interview chamber of judgement?

Even the bad experience makes us wiser. I could have written books like "10 Ways to Screw up Your Relationship?" Someone wrote a book on "How to lose a Guy in 10 Days".


What if she could sell her knowledge?

The problem is many of us don't know how to sell our knowledge cos it involves creating the publicity, copywriting, knowing how to make presentation, overcoming your fear of public speaking, renting a room, etc, etc, etc.

Dec's Writers Meeting

Dec's Writers Meeting

Dec's meeting for the Singapore Self Publishing Group was on 25th Christmas Day.
Out of 54 members, only 2 came. That's very encouraging!
Clement and Liyanna (with her gang of 3) came.

I told Liyanna that I had no more tickets for her friends. All sold out. They came anyway, by faith. Their faith were rewarded. There were excess chickens, sotongs, satays. All their stomachs were filled and no need to pay for it.

Liyanna said she know someone who knows a printer in JB who could give a good rate on the printing. Why not? Just hop over the Causeway.

It was a culture shock of sorts for a kampong boy like me. Her friend, a Malay teen wore a big cross. A Muslim wearing a Christian symbol and smoking a cigar, writing a blog, and talks about theatre work and rattle off a list of books? An intellectual mind in a hip-hop costume.

Liyanna talks about her passion for theatre work and one of her upcoming 'acts'. I said we all will go to fill the seats and cheer her on when the time has come.

And the ending? Let the audience decide.

Do they want the hero to die a sad ending or do they want the hero to live happily ever after?

I thought the audience participation was something radically different from traditional art form.

I'm glad people like Clement came. He came for the 1st and came for the 2nd meeting. He colored his hair. Didn't ask him why.

I hit my mid-life crisis and thought of putting a tattoo big enough to scare my potential employers,customers and any bullies away. Should I do it and regret what a career suicide it would be, or should I say "To hell with the world. Long Live freedom of expression!!!"?.

Maybe Clement, with his yellow streak of hairs, could enlighten me.

That night. I got diarrhea. I hope the rest of the guys are OK.

1st of Jan

1st Jan 2005
Where to go? 2 options for me.

I could either go to Batam Kelong with my Resident Committee (RC) for 2 Days 1 night for $40. Good food, a paradise view of the sea, and beautiful girls. It's every man's Fantasy Island on the cheap. But it is also the Temptation Island for a Batam virgin.

Option 2: To go to Sentosa beach with my toastmasters friends. Great opportunity to know each members better cos the club should be more than just a place to meet, it's a place to build bonding and relationship.

I took option 2.
The morning came. So was the rain. And the organisers decided to cancel it.
"Can't we meet where there's no rain?"
"No fun in the shelter," came the answer.
Maybe it's a girl's thing. The idea of fun includes the ambiance.
You can take me out of the army camp, but you cannot take the soldier out of me.
When I say, I'll come, I'll come rain or shine cos it is a commitment. It's a mission. I'll come for the fellowship of people.

Long ago, I've been to Sentosa with a friend, and it rain day and night, and we took shelter in a dark eery WWII bunk and wait for the break of dawn. Was it fun? No. Was it memorable? Yes. Did I know my friend and myself better? Yes. Was it worth doing again? Yes.

Iron are forged in the fire of hardship.You know a person better in just a day of hardship than a 100 times meeting in an aircon restaurant.

So the 1st of Jan has come and I'm stuck within my four walls without the beach. I need to go to the beach to make peace with my God. The afternoon, I visited my parent to pay my tribute.

When you are all alone, the people who will stick with you are your family. The family matters most.

Now, my wife and my kids comes first.