Reflections

Christmas Cantata 2008

2008-12-13T18:57:00.004+08:00

The Sanctuary choir of Trinity Methodist Church PJ will be presenting a cantata titled "Christmas is Jesus" next weekend.

The music and lyrics are contemporary and would appeal to all ages, so do come and celebrate with us as we remember and celebrate the true meaning of this season:- Jesus. In the spirit of the season and as part of our outreach program, we will also be collecting a love gift that will be chanelled towards our streetfeeding ministry in Brickfields and our Myanmar refugees assistance program.

Come and join us as we celebrate the reason for the season, and do support us as we continue our work in helping those in our community who are less fortunate than us.

Dates : 20th & 21st December, 2008

Time : 8:30pm

Place : Trinity Methodist Church PJ

No. 6, Jalan 5/37 (beside EPF Building)

Admission is Free

Secrets of good relationship

2008-07-06T23:28:00.003+08:00

I received a mail on the above some time ago and I thought it was interesting. TRUST is a very important factor for all relationships. When trust is broken, it is the end of the relationship. Lack of trust leads to suspicion, suspicion generates anger, anger causes enmity and enmity may result in separation.
It provided a few examples.

PUB
A telephone operator told me that one day she received a phone call. She answered, "Public Utilities Board." There was silence. She repeated, "PUB." There was still no answer. When she was going to cut off the line, she Heard a lady's voice, "Oh, so this is PUB. Sorry, I got the number from my Husband's pocket but I do not know whose number it is."
Without mutual trust, just imagine what will happen to the couple if the telephone operator answered with just "hello" instead of "PUB".

No pointing fingers
A man asked his father-in-law, "Many people praised you for a successful marriage. Could you please share with me your secret?" The father-in-law answered in a smile, "Never criticize your wife for her shortcomings or when she does something wrong. Always bear in mind that because of her shortcomings and weaknesses, she could not find a better husband than you." We all look forward to being loved and respected. Many people are afraid of losing face. Generally, when a person makes a mistake, he would look around to find a scapegoat to point the finger at. This is the start of a war. We should always remember that when we point one finger at a person, the other four fingers are pointing at ourselves.

Creating Perfect Relationships?
A person visited the government matchmaker for marriage, SDU, and requested "I am looking for a spouse. Please help me to find a suitable one." The SDU officer said, "Your requirements, please." "Oh, good looking, polite, humorous , sporty, knowledgeable, good in singing and dancing. Willing to accompany me the whole day at home during my leisure hour, if I don't go out. Telling me interesting stories when I need companion for conversation and be silent when I want to rest." The officer listened carefully and replied, "I understand you need television."
There is a saying that a perfect match can only be found between a blind wife and a deaf husband, because the blind wife cannot see the faults of the husband and the deaf husband cannot hear the nagging of the wife. Many couples are blind and deaf at the courting stage and dream of perpetual perfect relationship. Unfortunately, when the excitement of love wears off, they wake up and discover that marriage is not a bed of roses. The nightmare begins.

No Overpowering
Many relationships fail because one party tries to overpower another, or demands too much. People in love tend to think that love will conquer all and their spouses will change the bad habits after marriage. Actually, this is not the case. There is a Chinese saying which carries the meaning that "It is easier to reshape a mountain or a river than a person's character."
It is not easy to change. Thus, having high expectation on changing the spouse character will cause disappointment and unpleasantness.
It would be less painful to change ourselves and lower our expectations.

Right Speech
There is a Chinese saying which carries the meaning that "A speech will either prosper or ruin a nation." Many relationships break off because of wrong speech. When a couple is too close with each other, we always forget mutual respect and courtesy. We may say anything without considering if it would hurt the other party.
A friend and her millionaire husband visited their construction site. A worker who wore a helmet saw her and shouted, "Hi, Emily! Remember me? We used to date in the secondary school." On the way home, her millionaire husband teased her, "Luckily you married me. Otherwise you will be the wife of a construction worker." She answered,"You should appreciate that you married me. Other wise, he will be the millionaire and not you."
Frequently exchanging these remarks plants the seed for a bad relationship. It's like a broken egg - cannot be reversed.

Be Patient
This is a true story which happened in the States. A man came out of his home to admire his new truck. To his puzzlement, his three-year-old son was happily hammering dents into the shiny paint of the truck. The man ran to his son, knocked him away, hammered the little boy's hands into pulp as punishment. When the father calmed down, he rushed his son to the hospital.
Although the doctor tried desperately to save the crushed bones, he finally had to amputate the fingers from both the boy's hands. When the boy woke up from the surgery & saw his bandaged stubs, he innocently said, "Daddy, I'm sorry about your truck." Then he asked, "but when are my fingers going to grow back?" The father went home & committed suicide.
Think about this story the next time someone steps on your feet or u wish to take revenge. Think first before u lose your patience with someone u love. Trucks can be repaired.. Broken bones & hurt feelings often can't. Too often we fail to recognize the difference between the person and the performance. We forget that forgiveness is greater than revenge.
People make mistakes. We are allowed to make mistakes. But the actions we take while in a rage will haunt us forever.

Good Life starts only when you stop wanting a better one.

Mussorie - Part 3

2008-05-21T22:48:00.011+08:00

This day 3 is delayed in coming. For the 3rd day, we took a stroll through the town proper. As with most cities in India, there is a relatively large crowd around. The streets are quie narrow and there are not many cars around. Most people will walk and there is also some horses for hire to ride.

Along one of the streets. Trishaws are waiting for customers.

Someone riding on a horse

A street where peddlars set up store to sell almost anything.

The town library.

I think this is the youth hostel.

We left Mussoorie at about 2pm to be in time to catch the 5pm train back to Delhi. The ride back is similar, with dinner and tea being served. Reached Delhi at about 11pm. The ride back was relatively quieter, which is quite common for such trips. I guess all out batteries have run down.

India has much to offer and I hope I can make one more vacation trip before my current stint there is over.

Mussoorie - part 2

2008-05-20T21:47:00.000+08:00

Day 2 of our stay (10th May), we took a trip through the town and a 2 hour journey to Yamuna camp, a sort of a training camp with white water rafting, river crossing, essentially a place to chill out.

This is a view of the buildings which are on the hillside amidst the lush greenery

On the way to Yamuna camp, we pass Kempti falls, one of the main attractions of Mussoorie. The buildings and the attractions are at the bottom of the falls. To get from the road to the bottom of the fall, you need to get into a cable car.

Kempti falls from the road

After a 2 hours bus ride, we arrived at Yamuna camp. This is quite similar to some of the camps that are operated in Malaysia for management training which I had attended in Jeram Besu.

The entrance to Yamuna camp

The main attraction to the people in my group is the rafting for 10km downstream. It will go through some white water which is a first for many of them. A SUV will pick them up at the end of the journey and bring them back to camp.

The first batch of people on the raft. Can only take 6 at one go

This the path the raft will take, for next 10 km

The Y class tents for those who are staying

The J class tents. Notice the cement floor. They also have attached bathroom

India is cricket crazy. They can play cricket anywhere

Picture rather small. Just to show how a vehicle navigates along the hill roads

The other popular pastime is dancing. All Bollywood stars in the making

We finally left Yamuna camp (after dinner and the dancing) at 9:30pm. However, on reaching Kempti falls, we realised that the road was closed to traffic. In fact, it closes at 7:30pm everyday. There was a fair bit of negotiation with the guard there before they will let us through. They finally let us through after about 15 mins and we reached back just before midnight. I think everyone had a good time. Tomorrow will be an outing around the town and the trip back.

Mussoorie

2008-05-19T09:45:00.016+08:00

On 9th May, 2008, I had the opportunity to go with my colleagues in India to an off-site meeting in Mussoorie, a hill station started by the British with its history dating back to 1825. We were there over the weekend and the journey itselsf was quite interesting.

We had decided to via surface transport which means rail and road. The train leaves Delhi at 6:50am so that means waking up very early so that we can be at the station by 6:15am. Crowd and traffic can be unpredictable so we wanted to be there with sufficient time to spare.

This is the entrance to the train station where we congregated

The train journey took exactly 6 hours for a journey of some 250km. Part of the reason is that it has to stop in all the stations in between to drop off and pick up passengers.

This is the train that took us to and from Dehradun, the nearest town

The coach we were in was air-conditioned. In fact, some seats are very cold, those in the middle of the coach which could probably be near where the air is coming out.

The coach we were in

The tickets we bought are for full service. So along the way, we got served tea and breakfast. However, need to set expectations right. They have a person who comes around and give you the necessary teapots and trays for the meals. Not the same as airlines but passable.

This is the morning tea. The thermos has enough water for just 1 cup

This is the breakfast. I asked for non-veg which was omelette

On arrival at Dehradun, the nearest town which is also the last stop for the train, there was a bus and a car waiting to take us to Mussoorie. The train arrived at 12:50pm (exactly 6 hours since leaving Delhi). The journey to Mussoorie is about 30km but will take about 1 hour.

This is one of the views from the road that we were taking to Mussoorie

This is a hindu temple on the way up and is next to a buddhist temple

We stayed at the Jaypee hotel in Mussoorie. The hotel is very nice, probably one of the better hotels in Mussoorie. I was assigned a room that walks out to the garden.

This is the garden that is outside my room

The area where we had our dinner in the same garden

A view of the hotel from the terrace

The journey in itself was an experience. The road is along the hillside and in some spots, it gets quite narrow that the vehicles have to slow down to inch pass each other. Total time for the journey from Delhi railway station to the hotel, about 7 hours. I shall post more later on the area and the town.

The Wondrous Cross

2008-03-17T11:21:00.006+08:00

Easter is early this year and my church had a very short time to practise and put together a cantata presentation. Nevertheless, with the dedication of the people involved, and a never say die spirit, a group of some 40 of us have been putting in the hours to get the cantata ready. It will be over 2 sundays starting from this sunday. So come on over and listen to the message in songs.

Hallelujah for the Cross

Hallelujah for the Lamb

The Lamb of God for sinners slain

Would bear my suffering and my shame

Date : 23rd & 30th March, 2008

Time : 8:30pm

Venue : Trinity Methodist Church, Petaling Jaya (behind EPF building on Jalan Gasing)

The news coverage for the cantata also came out in the Metro section of the Star newspaper today. Rather than reproducing the news report here, below is the link which will take you there.

http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2008/3/17/central/20666449&sec=central

Touch n Go card has a life span

2008-03-04T10:40:00.003+08:00

I received a mail from a friend asking to confirm if a mail circulating in the internet that there is a 10 year life span on the TNG card is true. I decided to write to PLUS through their website to get confirmation. Below is the reply I got from them.

Dear Sir,

We would like to apologize for delay in responding to your enquiry. We wish to confirm that TNG has a life span of 10 years from the date of issuance. Replacement of card can be made at any of our counter with no cost. Should you wish to know your expiry date, please furnish us with your TNG Mfg No. We will revert to you as soon as possible.

Thank you for traveling with PLUS.

So, if you want to check on the expiry of your TNG card, you can write to CRMD@plus.com.my and give them the No. Siri on your card.

A Light still shines

2007-12-11T21:59:00.000+08:00

Another year is coming to an end and my church is putting up a Christmas cantata again this year. Practices have been going on since September. The 40 odd people who are singing have been coming diligently for practices for the past 3+ months and we had combined practices with the musician about 3 weeks ago. The presentation is this weekend so come on over and listen to the message in songs.

In the hearts and minds of the wise who know,
That a King has come and His life defines,
What His love has won,
A Light still shines...

Date : 15th & 16th December, 2007
Time : 8:30pm
Venue : Trinity Methodist Church Petaling Jaya (behind EPF building on Jalan Gasing)

Of Cars and Traffic Lights

2007-11-29T13:37:00.001+08:00

Last night was a long night and I just have to write about this.

I was driving with my wife along LDP towards TTDI and had stopped at the traffic light at exit 1104, which was under the viaduct, turning right into SPRINT highway. As usual, traffic from the left coming from Kepong and going to SS2 under the viaduct is low as only those who miss the viaduct would use this route. As there are construction works going on to improve the interchange, there were boards put up which restricts the view, meaning one cannot see the other lanes.

When the light turned green, I did not notice and my wife had to remind me that the light has turned green. As I moved forward, a car came from the left, and smashed his right front corner into the front of my car, right in the centre. The other driver had obviously beaten the red light and after having hit my car, was able to stop only some 10 metres away to my right. Seeing that my car had stalled, to my horror, the car drove off. As the car stopped only for a short while and the lights were quite dim, all I could make out were the numerals of the car number plate, 5371. I didn't even catch the make of the car, except that it is a saloon and japanese make.

The time was about 7:55pm. Thus started my long night. I called my insurance agent, who managed to get a workshop from the approved panel to come help me get all the paperwork done.

8::07pm - called my agent

8:15pm - the workshop agent called me

8:45pm - the workshop agent arrived.

8:55pm - the tow truck arrived

9:10pm - arrived at PJ police station

9:35pm - wrote out my police report

10:00pm - received my police report, signed and asked to meet with the IO.

11:30pm - interview with the investigating officer (IO)

12 mn - left police station

The most inconvenienced part of the whole episode is the long wait. Experiencing this for the first time, this is innately long to make an accident police report. The 1.5 hours wait for the IO is just too long.

However, I am thankful that both of us are not hurt, that we were not in a hurry and so did not move out as soon as the light turned green, as if I had moved out earlier or faster, the other car would have slammed into the passenger side where my wife was seated.

Below is what the front of my car looked like after the accident. This was taken by my phone camera is a dark area but you can make out the extent of the damage.

My agent had called me and informed me that other than what was visible, the radiator and the compressor are also damaged. The repair is going to be quite extensive. The good thing is that as the car is less than 5 years old, they will be replaced with original parts and the workshop owner is a good friend of his.

Overall, we are thankful that save for the inconvenience, we are all ok. On a personal basis, I just cannot comprehend why people who drives beat red lights. No matter how much of a hurry you are, a 2 minutes wait at the traffic light is not going to make that much or a difference. It is one thing to endanger your own life but please do not endanger the lives of others. And the interchange at exit 1104 is a busy one.

To the driver of car number 5371, please do not endanger the lives of others on the road. I pray you will change your driving habit as you may not be so lucky the next time.

Agra and Taj Mahal

2007-11-28T09:00:00.000+08:00

As I wrote in my previous post, here is a highlight of my visit to Agra. I had to stay back on one of the weekends when I was there on business and I decided that I will take the opportunity to visit Agra. I booked a package with an agent in the hotel that I stayed and took this 1 day trip.

Below are some of the photos that I took when I was there. The information that I provide was what I was told by the tour guide who was assigned to us.

Direct view of Taj Mahal, as seen in many advertising posters. In the centre is usually a pool and one can usually see it filled with water. However, there is a drought in Agra for 5 years now and there is a shortage of water. The pool has also dried up. It was a clear day and the blue sky makes an excellent background for the monument.

A view from one of the arch near the entrance to the compound of the monument.

Angle view taken from the compound. The inside is quite different from outside the monument ground. Inside, it is full of greenery and it is quite well maintained.

A closer view at a similar angle.

This is from the side of the monument, behind me is a mosque. You can perceive how huge the monument is by comparing it with the people on the monument platform and those in the foreground.

The arch of one of the doors entering the monument.

A close-up of the marble beside the door in the above picture. An attraction of Agra is the unique kind of marble they have which allows light to shine through which they imbed with semi-precious stones to give it a very nice pattern when lighted.

This is the entrance to Agra fort, where the Mughal rulers used to stay.

This is in the compound of Agra fort, plenty of greenery. The army barracks are also within the walls of Agra fort.

This is within Agra fort. Notice the symmetrical architecture on the ceiling. Very impressive architecture.

This is the area where Shah Jahan was imprisoned. At the left bottom corner is actually a small pool.

This is the view Shah Jahan has of the Monument that he built for Mumtaz Mahal from Agra fort, where he was imprisoned by his son for 8 years after the battle of Samogarh. At the left of the monument is the Yamuna river. It is reduced to almost a stream due to the drought. I was told that the vegetation in the foreground were covered with water and is part of the river before the drought.

The is the entrance to Sikandara, the tomb of Akbar the Great.

Following 2 pictures were taken with my 2 megapixels mobile phone camera. With sufficient light, the phone camera does take reasonably good pictures.

This picture was taken from the garden entering the Taj. I like this as there is this single bird flying in the air just above the monument. The speck is not a blemish in the photo.

Another photo of the entrance to Sikandara.

We were at Agra in September, which is still quite hot. It is about a 3.5 to 4 hours drive from Delhi. Although it is highway all the way from Delhi to Agra, the car cannot go too fast as there are people crossing the highway at certain points. I am glad I booked the car and the visit through a travel agent at the hotel where I stayed. The payment included a car, a driver and a guide when in Agra to explain the various attractions and to take photos for us. And yes, lunch is included as well.

The monument is said to be very symmetrical. It certainly is very majestic. I am glad we made the trip. It certainly deserves to be voted as one of the seven wonders.

Back after a long hiatus

2007-11-26T15:06:00.000+08:00

I did not realise it but it is almost 1 year since I have updated this blog. Many events have taken up my time, including spending many weeks in India, reading and commenting on other blogs about the events in Malaysia. It has been so long that I almost lost this blog. Had to do a few things to get this blog back.

Well, one of the good things that happened on my trip to India was a visit to Agra and Taj Mahal. Other that the 3 major cities of Delhi, Bombay and Bangalore, I also stayed in Pune in my last trip, a growing metropolis with many industries being set up there.

For my next post, I shall talk about my trip to Agra and post some photos of the majestic Taj Mahal, recently voted 1 of the 7 wonders of the world. Till then, take care.

Teach the Children & Merry Christmas

2006-12-22T19:58:00.000+08:00

A recent news report stated that over 50% of the children in Britain do not know why they celebrate Christmas. I received the article below 2 days ago and liked the message so I am using it as my Christmas greetings to all.

So a very happy and blessed Christmas to all

and hope you have a great 2007 as well.

This is how it happened...
I just finished the household chores for the night
and was preparing to go to bed,
when I heard a noise in the front of the house.
I opened the door to the front room and to my surprise,
Santa himself stepped out from behind the Christmas tree.

He placed his finger over his mouth so I would not cry out.
"What are you doing?" I started to ask.
The words choked up in my throat,
and I saw he had tears in his eyes.
His usual jolly manner was gone.
Gone was the eager, boisterous soul we all know.

He then answered me with a simple statement.

"TEACH THE CHILDREN!"

I was puzzled; what did he mean?

He anticipated my question,
and with one quick movement brought forth
a miniature toy bag from behind the tree.
As I stood bewildered, Santa said,

"Teach the children!
Teach them the old meaning of Christmas.
The meaning that now-a-days Christmas has forgotten.

" Santa then reached in his bag and pulled out a FIR TREE

and placed it before the mantle.

"Teach the children that the pure green color
of the stately fir tree remains green all year round,
depicting the everlasting hope of mankind,
all the needles point heavenward,
making it a symbol of man's thoughts
turning toward heaven."

He again reached into his bag and
pulled out a brilliant STAR .

"Teach the children that the star was
the heavenly sign of promises long ago.
God promised a Savior for the world,
and the star was the sign of fulfillment of His promise."

He then reached into his bag and pulled out a CANDLE.

"Teach the children that the candle symbolizes
that Christ is the light of the world,
and when we see this great light
we are reminded of He who displaces the darkness."

Once again he reached into his bag and removed a WREATH
and placed it on the tree.

"Teach the children that the wreath symbolizes
the real nature of love.
Real love never ceases.
Love is one continuous round of affection."

He then pulled from his bag an ornament of himself.

"Teach the children that I, St. Nick, ( Santa Claus )
symbolize the generosity and good will
we feel during the month of December."

He then brought out a HOLLY LEAF.

"Teach the children that the holly plant
represents immortality.
It represents the crown of thorns worn by our Savior.
The red holly represents the blood shed by Him."

Next he pulled from his bag a GIFT and said,

"Teach the children that God so loved the world
that HE gave HIS only begotten SON..."
"Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift.

"Teach the children that the wise men bowed
before the Holy BABE and presented HIM with
gold, frankincense and myrrh.
We should always give gifts in the same spirit of the wise men."

Santa then reached in his bag and pulled out a CANDY CANE
and hung it on the tree.

" Teach the children that the candy cane
represents the shepherds' crook.
The crook on the staff helps to bring back
strayed sheep to the flock.
The candy cane is the symbol that
we are our brother's keeper."

He reached in again and pulled out an ANGEL.

"Teach the children that it was the angels
that heralded in the glorious news of the Savior's birth.
The angels sang 'Glory to God in the highest,
on earth peace and good will toward men."

Suddenly I heard a soft twinkling sound,
and from his bag he pulled out a BELL .

"Teach the children that as the lost sheep are found
by the sound of the bell,
it should ring mankind to the fold.
The bell symbolizes guidance and return."

Santa looked back and was pleased.
He looked back at me and
I saw that the twinkle was back in his eyes.
He said, "Remember, teach the children
the true meaning of Christmas and
do not put me in the center,
for I am but a humble servant of the One that is,
and I bow down to worship HIM, our LORD, our GOD."

All is calm, All is bright

2006-12-09T23:21:00.000+08:00

My Church will be presenting a Christmas cantata titled:

All is calm, all is bright.

Dates : 16 & 17 December, 2006
Time : 8:30 pm
Venue : Trinity Methodist Church, PJ
No. 6, Jalan 5/37,
46000 Petaling Jaya. (Behind EPF building on Jalan Gasing)
Admission : Free

This presentation was published in the Star. Here is the link.

All is calm, all is bright,
No more darkness, no more night,
Christ has come, Love's pure light,
All is calm, all is bright...

Listen to your employees

2006-10-25T22:00:00.000+08:00

Some time ago, a friend of mine related to me how his company hired a consultant to explore ways to turn the company around by cutting costs and get back to profitability. After a couple of months, a list of recommendations were given to the management who then took it down to the floor staff to have them implemented. There were grumblings from the staff and they said the recommendations were the sames one that they have been telling management for months, maybe years, which management have brushed aside. Now, they are paying big bucks for consultants to come and tell them the very same thing.

I opined then to my friend that unless the consultants have deep knowledge of the industry and owns the IP for some of the best practices elsewhere, in all likelihood, they would have interviewed the company's staff to come out with the set of recommendations, which, would be the same ideas that the employees have been telling all this while. If we stop listening, after some time, the employees will stop telling. Thus, we should never underestimate the knowledge our employees have of the business.

This story of the empty soap box will illustrate this point very well.

One of the most memorable case studies on Japanese management was the case of the empty soap box, which happened in one of Japan's biggest cosmetics companies.

The company received a complaint that a consumer had bought a soap box that was empty. Immediately the authorities isolated the problem to the assembly line, which transported all the packaged boxes of soap to the delivery department. For some reason unknown to them, one soap box managed to go through the assembly line empty.

Management asked its engineers to solve the problem. The engineers worked feverishly to devise an X-ray machine with high-resolution monitors manned by two people to watch all the soap boxes that passed through the line to make sure they were not empty.

No doubt it was a moderately viable solution but they spent a phenomenal amount of money and resources to develop and implement this idea.

Amidst all this fuss, when a rank-and-file employee came to hear about this problem, he offered management a jaw-droppingly simple solution: point a strong industrial electric fan at the assembly line. As the soap boxes pass the fan, any empty ones simply get blown off the line.

Solutions are not always complex even if the problem appears complex.

A bit of Trivia

2006-10-22T15:14:00.000+08:00

Trying my hand at putting some colours and animation in my blog. I hope the animation works.

This is something I received some time ago. Have not verified all the information here but I know for sure some of them are correct.

For Those Who Thought
They Knew Everything
Here's a refresher course....

The liquid inside young coconuts
can be used as substitute for

blood plasma.

No piece of paper can be folded in half

more than seven (7) times.

Donkeys kill more peole annually

than plane crashes.

You burn more calories sleeping

than you do watching television.

Oak trees do not produce acorns

until they are fifty (50) years of age or older.

The first product to have a barcode

was Wrigley's gum.

The King of Hearts is the only king

WITHOUT A MOUSTACHE

American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987
by eliminating one (1) olive

from each salad served in first-class.

Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise.

(Since Venus is normally associated with women.........)

Apples, not caffeine,

are more efficient at waking you up in the morning.

Most dust particles in your house are made from

DEAD SKIN!

The first owner of the Marlboro Company
died of lung cancer.

so did the first "Marlboro Man."

Walt Disney was afraid

OF MICE!

PEARLS MELT

IN VINEGAR!

The three most valuable brand names on earth:
Marlboro, Coca Cola and Budweiser, in that order.

It is possible to lead a cow upstairs...

but, not downstairs.

A duck's quack doesn't echo,

and no one knows why.

Dentists have recommended that a toothbrush
be kept at least six (6) feet away from
a toilet to avoid airborne particles
resulting from the flush

(better relocate our toothbrushes)

And the best for last.....

Turtles can breath through their butts.
(Know anyone like that?)

Now You Know Everything!

Signs of social decay?

2006-09-17T23:59:00.000+08:00

Updating blog is certainly not easy. It's been over 2 months since my last update. I hope I can update this a bit more regularly.

The title is from a note that I received some time ago. It refers to how life was before 1980 and now. I have blogged before on "How did we survive our childhood". This is for people born before 1986.

According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 60's, 70's and early 80's probably shouldn't have survived, because our baby cots were covered with brightly coloured lead-based
paint which was promptly chewed and licked.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, or latches on doors or cabinets and it was fine to play with pans.

When we rode our bikes, we wore no helmets, just flip-flops and fluorescent 'spokey dokey's' on our wheels.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or airbags and riding in the passenger seat was a treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle and it
tasted the same.

We ate chips, bread and butter pudding and drank fizzy juice with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing.

We shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle or can and no-one actually died from this.

We would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then went top speed down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into stinging nettles a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We would leave home in the morning and could play all day, as long as we were back before it got dark. No one was able to reach us and no one minded.

We did not have Play stations or X-Boxes, no video games at all. No 99 channels on TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no DVDs, no Internet chat rooms.

We had friends - we went outside and found them. We played elastics and rounders, and sometimes that ball really hurt!

We fell out of trees, got cut, and broke bones but there were no law suits. We
had full on fist fights but no prosecution followed from other parents.

We played knock-the-door-run-away and were actually afraid of the owners catching us. We walked to friends' homes.

We also, believe it or not, WALKED to school; we didn't rely on mummy or daddy to drive us to school, which was just round the corner.

We made up games with sticks and tennis balls. We rode bikes in packs of 7 and wore our coats by only the hood. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of...they actually sided with the law.

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers and inventors, ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all. And you're one of them. Congratulations!

This is the generation who have had the luck to grow as real kids, before lawyers and government regulated our lives, for our own good. For those of you who aren't old enough, thought you might like to read about us.

This my friends, is surprisingly frightening......and it might put a smile on your face:
The majority of students in universities today were born in 1986........they are called youth.

They have never heard of "We are the World, We are the children",

and the Uptown Girl they know is by Westlife not Billy Joel.

They have never heard of Rick Astley, Bananarama, Nena Cherry or Belinda Carlisle.
For them, there has always been only one Germany and one Vietnam .

AIDS has existed since they were born.

CD's have existed since they were born.

Michael Jackson has always been white.

To them John Travolta has always been round in shape and they can't imagine how this fat guy could be a god of dance.

They believe that Charlie's Angels and Mission Impossible are films from last year.

They can never imagine life before computers.

They'll never have pretended to be the A-Team, the Dukes of Hazard or the Famous Five

They can't believe a black and white television ever existed. And they will never understand how we could leave the house without a mobile phone. Now let's check if we're getting old...

1. You understand what was written above and you smile.
2. You need to sleep more, usually until the afternoon, after a night out.
3. Your friends are getting married/already married.
4. You are always surprised to see small children playing comfortably with computers.
5. When you see children with mobile phones, you shake your head.

And if you are thinking of forwarding this to some other friends because you think they will like it too..... Yes, you are getting old!

US Women's Open Golf - Malaysian makes cut

2006-07-02T10:00:00.000+08:00

While the whole nation is watching the Brazil vs France match on Astro sports, I was following the US Women's Open golf champioship on ESPN and on the official website. The TV coverage has been mostly on Annika Sorenstam who is leading after 2 rounds and Michelle Wie, who ended the day 2 strokes behind the leaders. I did not expect any coverage on a lone Malaysian playing in arguably the toughest women's golf tour in the world, in a field of 155 players. For 2006, the length of the course is the second longest in history. Coupled with the weather condition, it is no surprise that only 2 players were under par after 2 rounds.
The lone Malaysian, Lim Siew Ai, made the cut at +6, tied 36. The cut was set at +8 for the top 60s and ties. Amongst the notables who missed the cut are Helen Alfredsson, Christina Kim, Liselotte Neumann, Meg Mallon, Laura Diaz, and Laura Davies, all previous winners on the LPGA tour.
The final 2 rounds will be played today and live coverage will be on ESPN from 11pm.

Kerala (God's Own Country)

2006-06-12T23:00:00.000+08:00

In my many trips to India, I have been told by locals there to visit Kerala which the locals have affectionately called "God's Own Country". Unfortunately, there was nothing available visually that will entice me to go. All I have heard is, it is a beautiful place.

Recently, I received a set of images said to be taken at Kerala. I despatched them over to my colleagues in India (one of whom is from Kerala) and this is what he has to say.

Yes these photos are of my home state Kerala. If you recollect I told you that it is worth spending a holiday here...

The tea estates are close to my wife's place and about 100kms from Cochin (my home town). The place is called Munnar.

The boathouses operate in the backwaters of Kerala. We (my family) stayed in the same type of boat houses last year. The boat has two full fledged rooms with attached bath. Going through the backwaters early morning with birds chirping and the sun slowly coming up is an experience that cannot be described.

Let me know if you are tempted to take a break in Kerala.

Another colleague wrote:

Kerala is a very nice place to visit. I have been to some of these places (Like Munnar (hill station), Thekadi (a lake in which people go for a boat ride early in the morning to get a view of various animals drinking water in the lake, Vaithri resort etc).

Kumarakom is another beautiful place in Kerala. I haven't been to that place. Planning to go one day.

I recommend that you plan one of your vacations in Kerala. It is worth it.

Now, perhaps I may just make that trip. Here are the photos.

Happy Mother's Day

2006-05-14T00:00:00.000+08:00

Today is Mother's Day. I received the following just today and thought it was quite interesting. Somehow, boys are a bigger bother than girls when they are small.

Life lessons from a mother with boys...
a) for those with no children this is hysterical.
b) for those with grown children past this age, this is hiliarious.
c) for those who have children this age, it is not funny.
d) for those who have children nearing this age it is a warning.
e) for those who have not yet had children, this is birth control.

1.) A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. ft. house 4 inches deep.
2.) If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with rollerblades, they can ignite.
3.) A 3-year old Boy's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.
4.) If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 pound Boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20x20 ft. room.
5.) You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.
6.) The glass in windows (even double-pane) doesn't stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.
7.) When you hear the toilet flush and the words "uh oh," it's already too late.
8.) Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.
9.) A six-year old Boy can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36-year old Man says they can only do it in the movies.
10.) Certain Legos will pass through the digestive tract of a 4-year old boy. (dogs also!)
11.) Play dough and microwave should not be used in the same sentence.
12.) Super glue is forever.
13.) No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool you still can't walk on water.
14.) Pool filters do not like Jell-O.
15.) VCRs do not eject "PB & J" sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do.
16.) Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.
17.) Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.
18.) You probably DO NOT want to know what that odor is.
19.) Always look in the oven before you turn it on; plastic toys do not like ovens.
20.) The fire department in Tampa, FL has a 5-minute response time.
21.) The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy
22.) It will, however, make cats dizzy.
23.) Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.
24.) 80% of Men who read this will try mixing the Clorox and brake fluid.
25.) Women will pass this on to almost all of their friends, with or without children!

Mothers -- we just don't appreciate them enough. And that's partly because our memories are so short. We don't remember what Mom did for us when we were tiny and helpless, when we drank nothing but milk, when we possessed only one talent: changing the color of our diapers.

So, to all the mothers, a Happy Mother's Day.

No matter how old a mother is she watches her middle-aged children for signs of improvement.--Florida Scott-Maxwell, American writer and psychologist(1884-1979)

Who is a gifted child?

2006-05-04T22:25:00.000+08:00

Recently, there was a discussion in a forum which I participated in on gifted children. Below is what I wrote in that forum.

Let me share with you on this forum my own experiences and opinions.

I took part in the 1st MAS-STAR mind contest and was one of 6 people who got perfect scores in the final test. For all the great minds in in the contest organisers, the tie-breaker was a lucky draw. I guess even great minds are sometimes stumped with the problems they faced. :)

NAGC (National Association of Gifted Children) was a relatively young organisation then. I comtemplated registering my daughter who was still pre-school then. However, in conversations during the MAS-STAR mind contest, I learned that the tests then were quite skewed towards engineering and mathematics. It tests our logical thinking rather than our creativity. Or as the management gurus put it, left brain rather than right brain.

My very young daughter then has started to learn to spell and recognise words. She saw the word "KLIM" on the tin one day and spelt out loud "MILK" milk. (I have to admit it did not occured to me then that KLIM is MILK spelt backwards.) Children obviously are not limited by our paradigm or the paradigm they will be pounded with when they grow older.

Well, my daughter now is an accomplished musician (not the concert type) and works for a PR firm. She went through the science stream when in school, because of all the encouragement to take up "science & technology". Fortunately, she decided to switch when entering college. I am glad she did not follow her father's footstep in taking up science.

Is our education system flawed? It does not appear to be so except that it is very much a paper chase (which was true then in many universities) and the extra encouragement given to science and technology. In my days, the cream of the form are automatically put into the science stream. the remnants put to arts stream. That put a stigma on to the arts student. If there is a flaw in our system, this is it. However, I am glad that this is somewhat improving now with more emphasis given to the arts.

When we talk about gifted children, we should not be limiting ourselves to the few who can do form 6 math while in standard 1. Children have no fear of being wrong, unless we keep reprimanding them for every mistake they make. We all have read about the many failures Edison had before he invented the incandescent lamp. I wonder how many scoresheets ended up on the floow before Beethoven completed one of his symphonies. Dr. Yew KK got it right when he wrote "you are creative, let your creativity grow". Is being creative synonymous with gifted? I'll let you decide on that.

I read in this forum before about our youths applying into Ivy League colleges. I hope that is not the main objective. Someone wrote, look for a job that you like, the rest will fall in line. You need to be happy with what you are doing, to live out your dreams, not someone else's. I have a colleague who took up law to comply with her father's wishes but ended up working in communications. She has moved to different roles but she is happy with what she is doing.

So, it's not just our education system that is pounding our children with their paradigm. We, parents, do the same. Perhaps that's why home tutoring is gaining popularity. Unfortunately, we cannot avoid tests as that is the most common means to assess skills.

My children are both grown up now. For the youths and those with young children, I wish you all the best.

Cheers.

Cherry Blossom

2006-04-18T13:53:00.000+08:00

I went on a business trip to Hawaii (for a convention) on April 3rd and had to layover in Tokyo for 15 hours. Although the airline provided us with a room each to rest before catching the connecting flight to Honolulu, all of us decided to take a train ride into Tokyo instead and spent some 9 hours there before returning to the airport.
It proved to be a good decision as the cherry blossoms were in full bloom and we were able to catch locals having Hanami parties in Ueno park.

The cherry blossom as seen from my room at Nikko Hotel, Narita airport.

Cherry blossoms in full bloom.

3pm at Ueno park on Monday (Don't the people work?)

I am told these are Hanami parties. Still at Ueno Park.

A close-up of the flower.

Couldn't resist taking this. Durian in Japan. See the price.

The flowers would have dropped by now. We were fortunate to be there when the flowers were in full bloom.

HE IS RISEN

2006-04-16T12:51:00.000+08:00

HE had no servants but they called HIM Master,
No Degree, but they called HIM Teacher.
No Medicine, but they called HIM Healer.
No army, but Kings feared HIM.
HE won no military battles, but HE conquered the world.
HE committed no crime, but they crucified HIM.
HE IS RISEN, that's why you Live!

HAPPY EASTER, everyone.

My church will be presenting an Easter Cantata on 3 nights:
April 16, 22, 23 at 8pm.
Venue : Trinity Methodist Church, PJ (behind the EPF building at Jln Gasing)
All are welcome!

" This Easter, let us take you on a humble journey through the life of a humble man, who became the greatest name in history, and whose name till this day touches the hearts of millions around the world."
His sacrifice for us - incomprehensible.
His love for us - unimaginable.

Faster broadband speed?

2006-03-28T10:26:00.000+08:00

Datuk Lim Keng Yaik's "criticism" of Telekom Malaysia on their provision of broadband is timely. Unfortunately, it is on the headline page of the Sun Newspaper as part of the news for getting prepaid users to be registered. Read here.
I subscribe for a 1MB line at home. I have installed a router and the access is shared by 3 computers at home, 2 of them on wireless mode. When I had to access my office server when the other 2 computers are also accessing the net, the waiting time is terrible. When I check with my Singapore colleagues, they have no such problem. They have a choice between Starhub and Singtel and they use cables, especially if they also subscribe to SCV.

I shall be watching this space. It's about time we get better broadband speed. It will also show if the minister have any "bite".

In Memory

2006-03-13T13:22:00.000+08:00

At 9:15pm on March 6th, 2006, my father breathe his last and returned home to be with the Lord. He had lived to a ripe old age of 86 although he had to battle with diabetes for the past 35 years or so. Although still very alert in mind, his limbs and organs were weak and could not walk far without taking a rest. In spite of this, he would still take the occassional plane ride to Penang to stay with my brother there.

The funeral service and a celebration of his life was held on March 9th, 2006 and he was laid to rest on the same day. The grandchildren presented a song during the service. My brother from Penang delivered the eulogy which I am re-producing here, in memory of him.

Dear relatives, friends, old school and classmates, colleagues, brothers and sisters in Christ.

Those who attended the wake service on Tuesday night would have learnt that my father, Wang Weng Gong, was basically a very private person.
However, what was not told was that he was also the person who greatly impacted our lives.

Born the 3rd son of a Chinese Sinseh who ran a medical hall in Kampung Koh, Sitiawan, he was a hard working boy who finished Senior Middle School at the age of 17. He wanted to be a teacher, actually out of necessity rather than choice, but couldn’t because he was underage. So he added a year to his age (In other words, he cheated).
However, that led to a penalty he later paid when he was asked to retire at the age of 54 instead of the mandatory 55.

During last Chinese New Year, out of curiosity of how we were destined to be his children, I asked him how he ended up with mom. With a twinkle in his eyes and a voice the excitement of a teenager in love, he told me that he met mom in Mentakab where he was posted a schoolteacher just before the Japanese occupation.

After one job change and a failed chance to work in Singapore, a Kuala Pilah girl, fresh from a Teachers’ College in Canton China, saw herself in Mentakab. Because of the war, this petite girl moved back to Kuala Pilah with my dad in hot pursuit.
Their union at the end of 1944 started the Wang Weng Gong family.

My first memory of dad stretched back to the Fifties and the Sixties, of the days when we, as a family unit, stayed at 8 Teachers’ Quarters, Ma Hua Chinese primary school in Rasah New Village. It was the school where both my parents taught. He was also the senior assistant.

He sent us to study at that Chinese school when we reached the tender age of 5, alternating us between an English education in the morning and a Chinese education in the afternoon when we reached the formal schooling age of 7. To ensure that there was always one parent at home all the time, they took to shift work, with my dad largely taking the morning session in school and my mom the afternoon until he left Ma Hua.

He would bring home many books on general knowledge from his friend who ran a bookshop in town thus cultivating an interest, at least in me, to things around us even unto this day.

Seeing my interest in Physics and Mathematics, he would recycle the left over pages of student workbooks and compile them in booklets for me to practice my mathematics.

Even on incomes of primary school teachers, dad made preparations for my eldest brother and I to study in Australia together. Fortunately for the family, only William went as I continued my studies locally. Otherwise we would have bankrupted our parents.
That he was willing to commit the both of us to study in Australia then on such meager incomes touched me deeply till this day.

Every night without fail, he would checked on us before he retired to bed, making sure the mosquito nets that we were sleeping under were nicely tucked in.

He loved swimming and would bring the whole family to Port Dickson during weekends whenever he could. His favourite was swimming the breaststroke on his back, a style never seen done by anyone else before him, at least by us then.

My dad was a most innovative person. It is a pity that grandpa did not have the ability nor the vision to give him an English education so that he could find ways to be trained an engineer. He was also great with tools. It was said he even made his own bridal cupboard. That simple but yet elegant cupboard still standing at my parents’ house in Rasah is a testimony to his carpentry skills. When William and I were kids, he made wire lined lanterns that came with oil lamps in home made cartridges. Those were probably the first recyclable mid autumn lanterns in town.
Unfortunately, among siblings, only my brother William inherited the interest in hand skills from him.

He was also an extremely thrifty person. Never one who would pamper himself nor any member of his family with luxuries. I remember the first “expensive gift” I received from him was an automatic Seiko watch that was his reward for doing well in my Overseas School Certificate examinations.
In later years it became an agony to bring him out for dinner. In one incident, I was criticized incessantly for splashing 30 ringgit on a plate of Italian noodle for his dinner.

Though quiet and private, he was also a very affable person. He loved striking up a conversation with anyone, including strangers, and would also make effort to remember their names.

By the way, there is a huge error in the obituary that we published in the papers.
My father had 5 children (not 4 as published).
Back in 1945, my eldest sister (not Esther, mind you) passed away when she was a few months old in Sitiawan.
I remember dad told me when my daughter Christine was born that she resembled his long departed daughter.
We did not bring up the memory of this “nameless to us” sister because our parents hardly talked about her. It must have pained them tremendously for the memory.

We know today he is united with her just as we his children are all symbolically joined together through the “hearts” in our names.

Every uncle and aunty we met said I best resembled my dad’s image.
In recent years, even my children complained so.

That I am slow, just like him.
I am always late, just like him.
I make them wait for me, just like him.
I am stingy, just like him.

However, they never mention about the values grandpa passed on to me and my siblings.
That we wash and bandage their wounds, just like him.
We see that they are nicely tucked in every night before we sleep, just like him.
We provide the best educational opportunities for them, just like him.
And we love them and will never want to see them hurt, just like him.

My dad told me he formally accepted Christ when he was hospitalized during his first heart attack some 30 years ago. He mentioned he was “baptized” by a certain pastor then.
We are indeed blessed that God kept him another 30 years for us and he did not become a burden to any family member and that his departure on Monday night was swift and peaceful.

The Bible told us in John 11:38 where Jesus said “If we believed, we would see the glory of God.”

I believe my father is seeing that full glory right now in heaven with Jesus.

AND THAT’S WHERE WE WOULD LIKE TO BE NEXT, JUST LIKE HIM.

Thank you.

Begin with the end in mind

2006-03-05T13:55:00.000+08:00

This is Habit #2 in Steven Covey's "The 7 habits of highly effective people". To put it simply, know what is the objective when you start out on doing something.

Thus when companies begin to get their people to specialise and group common jobs together into a shared services department, do these people know why they do certain things a certain way and how what they do is going to affect the overall objective of the company? In recent encounters, I have had colleagues telling me that they cannot do things differently because the guidance says otherwise. While I can appreciate the need to follow guidance and instructions to ensure that there is no compromise on business control, that should not prevent people from thinking and do what is reasonable and right . I have blogged about this here.

An example of doing without knowing the objective was related by my pastor today. A mayor was on his round and he saw 2 city workers along a road. The first was digging holes along the road, while the second person was filling it up after him. The mayor was puzzled and so stopped to ask the 2 workers why they are doing that. The 2 explained that there are actually 3 of them in the work group. One to dig, the other to plant the tree while the third will fill up the hole after the tree is planted. However, the person who is supposed to plant the tree called in sick. But it's ok, we are here working as usual.

As we get people to specialise or to focus on one particular aspect of a job, we must have people who will be able to continue to see the bigger picture, "generalists" who understands how each portion of a process are affected by what each of the folks do. This reminds me of an anecdote about specialists.

When I first started working, I am a generalist. I know a little of everything. Then I began to specialise, which is to know more about smaller areas. As I specialise more, I began to know more and more about less and less. Ultimately, I know everything about nothing.

Begin with the end in mind.

Fast Management?

2006-02-18T23:00:00.000+08:00

In organisations, how does one balance between putting people in the line vs putting them in HQ? As business grows, so do the employees. However, while we do need to have sufficient people to manage and run the business, balancing them is the tricky part. And in today's environment where sending email is so convenient, this can result in fast email transmission.

What happens is that instead of reading a mail, digesting them, then transmit only those relevant onwards or at least put a forward as to why the mail is important before transmitting, many will forward with just an FYI or FYA or something equivalent, whether or not it makes sense. Thus mails issued by the executive reach the field staff in extra quick time, their relevance sometimes nebulous. Thus, we should avoid indiscriminate use of distribution list and forwarding of mails.

And here are some gems of management quotes in a contest ran by a magazine. I guess this can happen when one tries to pass on information without first understanding why. Or as someone said, engaging the mouth before putting the brain in gear. I have remove the company names where these quotes came from.

1. As of tomorrow, employees will only be able to access the building using individual security cards. Pictures will be taken next Wednesday and employees will receive their cards in two weeks. (This was the winning quote.)

2. What I need is a list of specific unknown problems we will encounter.

3. E-mail is not to be used to pass on information or data. It should be used only for company business

4. This project is so important, we can't let things that are more important interfere with it.

5. Doing it right is no excuse for not meeting the schedule. No one will believe you solved this problem in one day! We've been working on it for months. Now, go act busy for a few weeks and I'll let you know when it's time to tell them.

6. We recently received a memo from senior management saying: "This is to inform you that a memo will be issued today regarding the subject mentioned above."

7. One day my Boss asked for a status report concerning a project I was working on. I asked him if tomorrow would be soon enough. He said "If I wanted it tomorrow, I would have waited until tomorrow to ask for it!"

The Original Computer

2006-02-05T13:17:00.000+08:00

I came across the following recently and realised how much IT has influenced the usage of the English Language. It also shows how close the computer resembles the human brain. Nevertheless, no matter how much the computer may advance, it is still no match for the human brain where creativity is needed.
Enjoy the snippet below.

Memory was something you lost with age
An application was for employment
A program was a TV show
A cursor used profanity

A keyboard was a piano
A web was a spider's home
A virus was the flu
A CD was a bank account

A hard drive was a long trip on the road
A mouse pad was where a mouse lived

And if you had a 3 inch floppy .

. . you just hoped nobody ever found out!

Gong Xi Fa Cai

2006-01-28T02:35:00.000+08:00

Chinese New Year is coming. Here's wishing everyone a very Happy New Year and may the "dog year" brings you success and prosperity. To those who are travelling, please drive carefully.

Organisation

2006-01-15T13:55:00.000+08:00

The usual beginning of year announcements are taking place. As organisations gets larger and more complex, I guess the fear of not knowing what is happening on the ground must be high for the executives. However, we need to remember that the people who counts most in the business everyday are those who sees the client day in and day out. Sometimes, decisions are baffling, particularly when we are only concerned with our own unit/dept and do not have an overall view. Please read my previous blog here as well as the NKF report which I blogged here on Jan o1 for context.

Thus, this story that I received last week is a good reminder for us not to lose sight of the main objective of what we want to do.

A company had a vast scrap yard in the middle of a desert. Management said, "Someone might steal from it at night." So they created a night watchman position and hired a person for the job.

Then management said, "How does the watchman do his job without instruction?" So they created a planning department and hired two people; one person to write the instructions and one person to do time studies.

Then management said, "How will we know the night watchman is doing his tasks correctly?" So they created a Quality Control department and hired two people. One to do the studies and one to write the reports.

Then management said, "How are these people going to get paid?" So they created the following positions, a timekeeper and a payroll officer; then hired two more people.

Then management said, "Who will be accountable for all of these people?" So they created an administrative section and hired three people; an Administrative Officer, Assistant Administrative Officer, and a Legal Secretary.

Then management said, "We've had this command in operation for one year now and we're $18,000 over budget. We have to cutback on overall costs."
So they laid off the night watchman.

Happy New Year 2006

2006-01-01T13:18:00.000+08:00

Today is the start of a new year. I received the following sms from a few people which I thought was quite nice.

Today 4 persons ask me about u. I gave them yr details and contact. They'll be finding u soon. Their names are Happiness, Health, Wealth & Love. HAPPY NEW YEAR.

May I wish everyone the same in 2006. May you continue to experience Happiness, Health, Wealth and Love.

I do not believe in making resolutions as one should not wait for the new year to correct something. However there are things I wish to see and would pray for. I will just name 3 of them.

1. We need to make courtesy our way of life. All the road rages that we see can be avoided if we just display some courtesy. We should avoid doing things that may inconvenience others just because we feel we have the right. For a start, all those cars illegally parked on Jalan University outside UMMC should be parked in the new multi-storey car park.

2. More accountability from the people in authority. This statement that KPMG wrote in their report on NKF in Singapore is becoming a favourite of mine. It was reported as follows :
In its report, KPMG criticised the current regulatory system as a "confusing cacophony" of various bodies, each concerned with monitoring particular aspects of a charity, but none overseeing its entire operation.
The above way of regulating just gives rise to the statement that "I am responsible but I am not accountable" because one can say that one is only looking after one aspect of a process and don't know what the rest are doing. And the road where the 2 ton mould fell on Dr. Liew's car would have been closed if someone have reviewed the safety aspect of the construction and be accountable.

3. Better public safety. I read more reports of crimes than conviction of criminals. And long time it takes for a case to be heard means justice is delayed in many cases. It also means the suspect is probably out on bail. Not a lot of comfort, is it?

Happy New Year, everyone. Have a great 2006.

2005-12-24T12:12:00.000+08:00

It is Christmas tomorrow. Here is wishing everyone a very Blessed Christmas. May we remember the reason for the season and give thanks for all the blessings we have received. And have a great 2006.

Chaos

2005-12-23T16:15:00.000+08:00

Ever wondered why sometimes chaos is left to thrive? Or that new processes or requirements are implemented without first walking through to see if it will be smooth for the affected people?

Sometime last year, I was in a neighbouring country. In between my arrival and departure, the airport authorities decided to implement new security procedures and passengers were advised to be at the airport 3 hours before departure. On the day of my departure, I was at the airport just under 3 hours from my ETD and I was stunned at the crowd that was there. The queue that has formed outside the terminal building was like 5 abreast, crowded and chaotic.
After joining the queue for 30 mins, it has probably moved like 5 metres and the door is still some 20 metres away. At this rate, by my calculation, I won't make it to the departure on time. I then informed an airport security person who was standing around (not really directing the crowd) that I have a plane to catch is about 2 hours and I might miss the flight as the queue is moving too slowly, and are they going to allow people who have departure in the next hour or so to move into the terminal building first. He answered in the negative. Then he added that he can bring me into the terminal building via a faster route but I'll have to pay him a fee. When I asked him how much, it was the equivalent of RM700. I ignored him and slowly inched my way forward, finally checking in with 45 mins to spare before hitting another long queue at immigration. By then, the airline officials were calling and escorting us to the front of the queue to be cleared by immigration.

Looking back at how some of our public departments operated previously, they were a hotbed for "guides" to thrive. Owing to the way the complex processes were set up, the only way one could get through the process is to pay someone to guide you through them. Thus, those departments who have simplified their processes and made it easy for the public to navigate, these "guides" have disappeared.

Thus, in my opinion, if any administration were to eliminate corruption, the first order of the day is to simplify the processes and eliminate the chaos.

Excellence vs Perfection

2005-12-12T13:41:00.000+08:00

Some years ago, I came across calendar of quotations and vividly remember a qoute attributed to Michael J. Fox that I thought was quite meaningful. Unfortunately, I could not remember the words until a few days ago, when someone sent me a collection of meaningful words in powerpoint and and it contained this quotation.

"I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection.
Excellence, I can reach for;
Perfection is God's business"

Very often, we use the word perfection in our execution but what we really mean is excellence or a repeatable execution. As example, a hole in one in golf can be viewed as a perfect shot. It is also a lucky shot as one is unable to reproduce that shot all the time. What one can do is to practise consistently such that one can repeat the swing and improves one's odd of scoring that hole in one. As one professional golfer has said, "the more I practise, the luckier I get."

The poem below by Jill Wolf hangs in my office.

Excellence is dedication to a job that's hard to do,
Going the extra mile and always trying to follow through.

Excellence is communication, sharing everything you know,
And learning how to listen your expertise will grow.

Excellence is appreciation of the talent that you see,
Acknowledging a job well done inspires success and loyalty.

Excellence is aspiration with a higher goal in mind,
To trust in God and reach for things of a more rewarding kind.

Nicol - World Squash Champion

2005-12-05T00:21:00.000+08:00

Nicol David is the new World Open Champion. BBC Sports reported that she beat Rachael Grinham 8-10 9-2 9-6 9-6. She will also be the new world No. 1 come January. No prize for guessing who will be the Sportwoman of the year 2005. Congratulations to Nicol.

Should we stand being inconvenienced for someone else's mistake?

2005-11-21T23:30:00.000+08:00

A colleague of mine from Singapore had worked in Malaysia for 1 year and had to pay a hefty deposit to a mobile service provider (SP) to get a postpaid number. His assignment ended in January this year and, allowing time for the calls to appear in the bill, submitted his request for refund of unused amount in March. Since he does not have a postal address here, have used my home address for the service provider to send the refund cheque.

The refund cheque finally came in October, more than 6 months later. BUT, the surname was spelt wrongly. I finally found time to go to the SP's branch to get them to correct the error today. When my number was finally called, the customer service personnel confirmed that the surname was indeed spelt wrongly after checking the data in the account online. She had to go seek her supervisor's advice to decide what to do next.

When she came back, she asked if my colleague can fax over his I/C or passport for her to confirm the spelling. That's when I got puzzled and asked her "why?". Apparently, she need it to verify the spelling. So I said, "your company had to check his passport when the account was opened, the data in the computer shows the spelling as per his passport, and now you want him to fax over a copy of his passport for an error that is made by your accounts department? Let me speak to your supervisor."

This episode reminded me of what our JPN initially did, requiring the public to pay RM20 to have their religion in the I/C changed. Well, my wife was in JPN Putrajaya today with her brother and decided to check on the religion on her Mykad. The religion was indeed wrong and I told her to get in changed since she was already there. There is no charge for the change if it is for religion so at least JPN has corrected that flaw. I'm quite sure the religion on my Mykad is wrong too so I'll have to get mine done later.

As for the refund cheque, the lady finally advised that they will send a replacement cheque, which will take 1 month.

How does tax cut works?

2005-11-20T23:00:00.000+08:00

I came across an old mail that I received some time ago. I thought I'd post it here to share with everyone.

You've heard the cry in the past "It's just a tax cut for the rich!" and it is accepted as fact. But what does that really mean?

The following explanation may help.

Suppose that every day, 10 men go out for dinner. The bill for all 10 comes to $100. They decided to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes, and it went like this:
The first four men (the poorest) paid nothing.
The fifth paid $1.
The sixth $3.
The seventh $7.
The eighth $12.
The ninth $18.
The tenth man (the richest) paid $59.

All 10 were quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner
said: "Since you are all such good customers, I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily meal by $20."

So now dinner for the 10 only cost $80. The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes.

The first four men were unaffected. They would still eat for free. But how should the other six, the paying customers, divvy up the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his "fair share"?

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth and sixth men would each end up being paid to eat.

The restaurateur suggested reducing each man's bill by roughly the same percentage, thus:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% saving).
The sixth paid $2 instead of $3 (33% saving).
The seventh paid $5 instead of $7 (28% saving).
The eighth paid $9 instead of $12 (25% saving).
The ninth paid $14 instead of $18 (22% saving).
The tenth paid $49 instead of $59 (16% saving).

Each of the six was better off, and the first four continued to eat for free, but outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

"I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man "but he got $10!". "That's right," exclaimed the fifth man.

"I only saved a dollar too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than me!" "That's true!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only $2? The wealthy get all the breaks! "Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!". The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for dinner. The nine sat down and ate without him, but when they came to pay the bill, they discovered that they didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of it.

That, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up at the table anymore.

Does this sound reasonable?

Who or what is a hot blogger?

2005-11-14T00:06:00.000+08:00

I just returned from Singapore and picked up the Newpaper to read while waiting for my plane to depart. I came across an article about a primary school teacher who blogged about her private life which is on the risque side. The blogger's profession was uncovered as she inadvertantly linked some photos of her school's excursion to her blog site. There were quite a few opinions solicited on whether teachers should blog about things on the risque side. Here is the online version of the article, Oh Teacher Behave.

Meanwhile, I read Jeff Ooi's Screenshots where he wrote about Dawn Yang set to be the hottest celebrity blogger. There is even a website that ranks female bloggers according to their looks. I guess the voting must be done by guys.

Another blogger, Wendy or xiaxue. was quoted as saying that Dawn is just pretty girl with a blog site. Having gone through some of the blog sites of those listed in hottestblogger.com, I guess she may have a point.

I guess writing blogs is a bit like advertising. Why would one write if there is no one reading?

National Integrity Day?

2005-11-08T01:31:00.000+08:00

When I read the tagline for this story, I began pondering. Have we deteriorated so much that we need a National Integrity Day to remind us how to have integrity? We even have a Malaysian Institute of Integrity set up just for this. I wonder what we have been teaching our children during moral and religious classes in schools. Webster defines integrity as "adherence to to a code of moral, artistic, or other values". Oxford defines it as "the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles". Have we deteriorated to such an extent that honesty and moral principles have taken a back seat that we need to have a national integrity day to instil back honesty and moral principles back into the populace. Does this mean that the moral and religious classes in schools have failed?

Perhaps our country have been very successful in leadership by example. I remember the phrase "kepimpinan melalui teladan" or "leadership by example". So if we say something and do something else, people will follow what we do, not what we say. Someone once said, "what you do speak so loud that I cannot hear a word you say".

This 1895 poem is a very meaningful piece of work by Rudyard Kipling:

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

Perhaps there was more honour among men at the turn of the 20th century.

"When you can do neither, do what is fair and equitable"

2005-10-30T12:34:00.000+08:00

In our everyday living, we are faced with many situations where a decision is necessary. With the different interests amongst the people who will be affected by our decision, do we do the right thing or just do things right? What is the difference? The former is a leader, the latter is a manager. I have blogged earlier about the behaviour of a group of monkeys in a cage in "Do we THINK anymore". Many people follow processes without knowing why. There are others will be find means to avoid doing what is required because they do not understand the impact.

One of my former managers told me that you want to find a person who will do a job right, get the one who will be most impacted by that task. And when there is a task to be done and no one seems to want to do it, the person who is most impacted will invariable end up doing it. Unfortunately, that seems to be the culture we see in corporations today. Everyone is trying to get the other party to do what they should do, trying to avoid doing something they should do, essentially, wanting a free lunch.

How then do we get people to own up to owning the tasks they are supposed to and to make fair and equitable decisions in those processes or tasks that they own? That's why I like golf, and the etiquette they teach in golf. While not everyone who plays golf observes the rules and etiquette that is required of them in the game (which is sad), it does not make the game any less noble.

Golf is about the only game in which the player is his/her own referee. The rules officials are there to help the player make the right interpretation of the rules. The penalty for not making the right decision is disqualification (I am sure many of you have read the disqualification of Michelle Wie in her pro debut). And golf is about the only game where a player will call a penalty on himself/herself for infringing a rule. (Ian Woonam assessed a 2 stroke penalty on himself in one British Open when his caddy told him he had 15 clubs in his back, 1 more than the allowed 14, on the second hole.)
You may have heard of players arguing about what the rules are for a situation that they are in. Unfortunately, while the R&A and USGA tried to be as complete as possible in the rules, there will be situations which are not described in the rules. When that happens, the officials will rely on past decisions.
Thus, one golf magazine had this to offer to amateur players. "Play the course as you find it and play the ball as it lies. When you can do neither, do what is fair and equitable."

Will it be a tall order to ask that we do the same in our everday living?

Is courtesy our way of life?

2005-10-23T18:14:00.000+08:00

I just had to post this. My family and some friends went to have breakfast this morning after church service. There were 10 of us. The restaurant we went to is usually quite crowded on a Sunday morning but they have tables set out for 4 to 12 people so finding a table to accomodate 10 people should not be that big of a problem. While waiting for a table to be made available, my wife said that there was a table in the back room that is able to accomodate all of us. We went there and sure enough, there was a set of table for 12 and another for 6. However, there was a family of 4 already seated at the table for 12. I saw the waiter talking to the lady sitting and she shook her head. The waiter came back and said that the lady did not want to move so we either split or wait. Fortunately, another set of tables for 12 became available in another room.

I asked my wife what happened. She said that the man in the group of 4 (who is probably the husband since there is also a young child in the group) had earlier agreed to move to the table for 6 since there were only 4 of them. However, when we arrived and the waiter went to request them to move, the man was outside and the lady (who is probably the wife) did not want to move. As I looked at the tables in that room, I was wondering why would the lady want to occupy the tables set for 12 when there are only 4 of them. Such behaviour baffles me and perhaps, that is also the reason why we have people who will not give way in a narrow road and will claim right of way in every encounter. While we teach our children to stand up for their rights, we should also teach them to be magnanimous and courteous as well.

Ah well, life goes on.

If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything

2005-10-23T07:05:00.000+08:00

A couple of weeks ago, an ex-colleague sent me a list entitled "Maharishi's Guide to Zen". Why much of the content are written in humour, some of them makes a lot of sense, like the title for this blog. As I read this particular entry, I cannot help but remember the recent events in the news, namely the AP issue.
Leaving that aside, I have had many experiences where I have been told that our competitors does thing one way so that I will give approval based on that information, then a few weeks later, that same competitor now does the same thing differently, for the same kind of deal. Unfortunately for these folks, I keep a record of what I have approved (memory not so good at this age) and all of sudden, they are back pedalling.

And this reminds me of a story that I have heard quite some time ago.
Four friends who were in college together have one final paper to go before graduation. The night before their final paper, there was a carnival in a neighbouring city which they wanted to attend. They went, had a great time, one thing led to another and they ended up over-sleeping and missed their paper. On returning to campus, they agreed to cook up an excuse and told the professor that they had a puncture that morning and had to get the car towed to the workshop to get the tyre repaired. Since it was unforseen and it's not their fault, could the professor let them sit for the final paper. The professor thought about it and decided to give them the benefit of the doubt. So he asked them to come back the next morning to sit for the paper.
On the following morning, the students went into the classroom to wait for the professor and congratulated themselves for having pulled of the excuse. At the appointed time, the professor came in and handed out the paper. The test will be for a hundred marks. On the first page, there were 10 questions and each question was worth 1 mark. On the second page, there was only 1 question. It reads, "for 90 marks, which tyre?"

20+ years ago (now you have an idea how long I have been working), I attended an interview with an electronics company in Penang. They were conducting the interview in a hotel in KL. The interviewer asked the candidates to rate themselves in terms of intelligence. I replied '7'. He said that's unusual as most people will say 9 or 10. Then he asked me how I would rate myself in terms of honesty. I replied '9'. I was called to attend a second interview in Penang after that. However, I decided not to pursue that position as I was offered another position then in Shah Alam.

Since we cannot anticipate how others will act, we can only ensure that we can live with our actions, like the guy in the glass.

Do we THINK anymore?

2005-10-15T14:36:00.000+08:00

In today's world of high dependency on IT, where things move fast and everyone expects a quick response, I wonder if the younger generation (and perhaps even the older one) takes time out to think before they react to a situation. We come out with processes which everyone is supposed to follow and some follow without understanding why. So much so that I sometimes get asked how we should be reacting to a situation. Instead of providing an outright answer, I would explain the basis behind some of the processes and why some of them are done a certain way. After all the explanations, instead of going away to decide what would be the appropriate response, I get asked again, "so what is the way to handle this?"

Why are we becoming like this? Perhaps it's because of what we do now in our past time... video games. Video games are very absorbing. It holds your attention for the longest time. Part of the reason, I think, is because they give you instant responses. For every action that you take, the game will give you an instant reponse which will require another action from you. You don't have to wait. You don't have to think. You just need to remember what or how to respond, fast.

This mindset is translated into business. We have processes and guidelines where many will follow without understanding the implications and the linkages with other part of the business. The ability to think is either being taken away or not present. Sometimes, it can also be "no time to think". We have to know why certain processes are there so that we can use our minds to decide how to act accordingly. Which reminds me of this story, though humorous, is apt description of what can happen if we don't think.

You put 6 monkeys in a cage and in the middle of the cage, you put a ladder which will lead to a tray of food. Everytime one monkey climbs up the ladder to get to the food, you spray water on the other 5 monkeys. Soon, none of the monkeys will climb up the ladder to get at the food anymore.
Now, you take one of the monkeys out and replace with a new monkey. This monkey, being new, will climb up the ladder to get at the food. The other 5 monkeys will pull the monkey down and beat it as they do not want to get wet. The new monkey soon learn not to climb the ladder.
You then take another of the old monkeys out and replace with a new monkey. This new monkey will soon climb up the ladder to get at the food. The other 4 old monkeys will pull this 2nd new monkey down and beat it. The 1st new monkey, seeing what the others are doing, will join in and hit the latest monkey.
You then replace all the remaining monkeys one by one until the cage now have 6 new monkeys who have never been sprayed by water before. None of them will climb up the ladder to get at the food and they don't know the reason why.

I certainly hope none of us will end up that way.

A.A.A.D.D

2005-10-10T09:30:00.000+08:00

I was at a wedding dinner last night and someone at my table mentioned that sometimes he feels he has been busy but does not seem to have got much done. Coincidently, an ex-classmate, now residing in the UK, sent me a note just last week on AAADD or Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder. Obviously, it was written as a humorous note but when I read it, it sure sounded familiar. I reproduce the note below.

Recently, I was diagnosed with A. A. A. D. D. - Age Activated Attention
Deficit Disorder. This is how it manifests:

I decide to wash my car.

As I start toward the garage,
I notice that there is mail on the hall table.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.

I lay my car keys down on the table, put the junk mail in the trash can
under the table, and notice that the trash can is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the trash first.
But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out
the trash anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my checkbook off the table, and see that there is only one check left
My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go to my desk where I
find a can of Pepsi that I had been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Pepsi
aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over.
I see that the Pepsi is getting warm, and I decide I should put it in
the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the Pepsi a vase of flowers on the
counter catches my eye--they need to be watered.
I set the Pepsi down on the counter, and I discover my reading glasses
that I've been searching for all morning.
I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water
the flowers.

I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly I spot the TV remote.
Someone left it on the kitchen table.
I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I will be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.

I splash some water on the flowers, but most of it spills on the floor.
So, I set the remote back down on the table, get some towels and wipe up
the spill.
Then I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day: the car isn't washed, the bills aren't paid,
there is a warm can of Pepsi sitting on the counter, the flowers aren't
watered, there is still only one check in my checkbook, I can't find the
remote, I can't find my glasses, and I don't remember what I did with
the car keys.

Then when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really
baffled because I know I was busy all day long, and I'm really tired.
I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for
it, but first I'll check my e-mail.

Perhaps that's why I can only do one thing at a time. Once, I tried to fill the water tub and feed the dogs while the tub was being filled and it resulted in the water running and overflowing for 2 hours. No wonder time management courses are so popular.

How did we survive our childhood?

2005-10-09T06:15:00.000+08:00

Being a frequent traveller to Singapore, I have read many news report about how the children are getting obese. I remember reading something similar in our local news as well.
A couple of months ago, a friend sent me a short note from Canada. Although it was written based on the North American environment, I could associate with many of them, having done the same here when I was younger.

Here is the article:

If you were a kid in the 50's, 60's, 70's or even early 80's ..how did you
survive your childhood?

When we were growing up we never wore seatbelts in the car, cars didn't
have airbags...
Riding on the back of a pick up truck was an adventure that we still
remember!
Our cribs were painted with bright colors (paint which was full of lead)
We didn't have childproof medicine bottles, nor did our parents ever childproof our house
When we rode our bikes we never wore a helmet.
We would drink water from the faucet or from a hose in the backyard (not bottled water).
We didn't have cell phones , so our parents were never able to reach us (awesome) .
We would get scrapes, bruises, break bones , lose teeth, but we would never sue for these accidents.
We would eat cake, , bread and butter, , drink sugary drinks, and we weren't overweight because we were always outside playing
Four of us would share a drink, we would all drink from the same bottle and that wasn't gross nor would anyone get sick.
We didn't have Playstations, Nintendo 64, X boxes, video games, cable TV with over 100 channels, VCR's, surround sound , cellular phones , computers , online chatrooms , instead we would have tons of FRIENDS
Some of us weren't as bright as others but when one would get left back that was no big deal. They would not get taken to a psychologist, nor did they ever suffer from dyslexia, hyperactivity, ADHD, ADD, etc, they would
simply repeat the grade until they passed.
We had freedom , mishaps, , successes, , responsibilities, and we would learn to deal with them. The question is...How did we survive? And above all, to become the GREAT people that we are today? Are you from one of these generations

A few more things that I have done when I was young was to eat ice cream ball with your bare hand; playing with your friends is just 2 sticks (one long, one short) and a hole in the ground and running around barefeet. Ah well, wonder how many types of worms I picked up when young.

Why Guy in the Glass

2005-10-05T02:23:00.000+08:00

If anyone is wondering why "Guy in the Glass", it is taken from a very meaningful poem by Dale Wimbrow. The title has been mistakenly taken by many as "man in the mirror" (which is actually a song by Michael Jackson) or "man in the glass".

When you get what you want in your struggle for pelf,
And the world make you King for a day,
Then go to the mirror and look at yourself,
And see what that guy has to say.

For it isn't your Father, or Mother, or Wife,
Who judgement upon you must pass,
The feller whose verdict counts most in your life,
Is the guy staring back from the glass.

He's the feller to please, never mind all the rest,
For he's with you clear up to the end,
And you've passed your most dangerous, difficult test,
If the guy in the glass is your friend.

You may be like Jack Horner and "chisel" a plum,
And think you're a wonderful guy,
But the man in the glass says you're only a bum,
If you can't look him straight in the eye.

You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years,
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But your final reward will be heartaches and tears,
If you've cheated the guy in the glass.

Inauguration

2005-10-05T02:02:00.000+08:00

I have decided to join the bandwagon and create my own blog site. I have used the term "Reflections" to depict the thoughts that I will be adding to this site. This is not as simple as I thought and I am still figuring how to manoeuvre through this. So this will just be a short post till I figure this out.