Election Rally

Upcoming election is about the only excitement we get in Singapore, at least for me. Usually our routine is food and shopping. Hence I have this wonderful idea of attending the rally as a family event, like going to Takashimaya or for dinner. The nearest rally near where I live was Worker's Party in Hougang Ave 4. Since the rally starts at 7pm and ends at 10pm, we left immediately after our dinner. The traffic was heavy, very heavy. Carparks were all full. After circling around for almost an hour I gave up as B3 has fallen asleep. There are lots of people going to the rally. The mood is festive. It reminds me of the baseball game I attended in Toronto. Wish my boys had the chance of experiencing the excitement....

Sunday Morning

"Sunday morning, up with the lark. And I think I'll take a walk in the Park. Hey, hey, hey, it's a beautiful day. Ha! Ha! Ha! Beautiful Sunday. This is my my my beautiful day. When you say say say say that you love me. Wowowo mine mine mine, it's beautiful day." At least I believe this is the lyrics of a popular song in my younger days.

Why this come to mind? I was up early and opening the windows and the doors, I hear birds chirping. Sky was just turning light. It's dawn. I am very lucky to live in my current house. Instead of having a garden in my house, my house is in a garden. Stepping out would be the park. It is quiet and peaceful. The swimming pool is like a mirror. The rain has washed everything clean and fresh. There is a lot nature has to offer. I feel connected.

Buddha, thank you for the beautiful morning.

Trainer and Coach

I love the idea of being a trainer and coach. It will be very rewarding for me. I feel like a teacher at heart. I always enjoyed reading and learning. With lots of knowledge, I love to share and teach. I always encourage everyone I know to learn and develop continously. With the globalisation and competition getting more and more brutal and the world become knowledge driven. The way to stay on top is to learn continuously as recommended by Peter Drucker.

The time may be ripe for me to go out and do it instead of doing it while being an employee. Follow my heart, heed my calling...

More Word Play

Sze Li, my fellow blogger has requested for more chiasmus. I am glad there are interests out in cyberspace. So SL, here you go...

"Those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind" - Bernard Baruch

"Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action." - Benjamin Disraeli

"It is best to learn as we go, not go as we have learned." - Leslie Jeanne Sabler

"You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great." - Zig Ziglar

"A wise lover values not so much the gift of the lover as the love of the giver." - Thomas Kempis

"Lust is what makes you keep wanting to do it, even when you have no desire to be with each other. Love is what makes you keep wanting to be with each other, even when you have no desire to do it." - Judith Viorst

"After a quarrel between a man and a woman the man suffers chiefly from the thought that he has wounded the woman; the woman suffers from the thought that she has not wounded the man enough." - Friedrich W. Nietzsche

Supernanny

We are watching this Supernanny show as a family. This show is about kids with bad behaviours and out-of-control behaviours. This episode is about Megan who shouts back, slaps and bites her mummy. Megan is absolutely rude and disrespectful to both her parents. It is actually shocking to see Megan's behaviours. As the show progresses, Megan make takes a long time but finally come around. Then Supernanny leaves after 4 days and a week later, Denise(Megan's mummy) degenerate and start to formulate her own rules. The old pattern behaviours for mother and daughter shouting and fighting with each other start again.

This is where I have to send B3 to bed and missed the last part of the show. Both B1 and B3 watched the show and can compare notes with their own behaviours. My wife and I find that this is a huge learning for us.

Bangkok

I come to Bangkok once or twice a year unless there is an issue with Customer. This time it is a routine planned trip. Then a Customer issue hits. So the timing is perfect! So did the trip cause the issue? Or did the issue happen because of the trip? Coincident? Synchroncity... some time I wonder.

Thinking about my own business

I have been running business successfully. Read all the business books I can buy and understand the theories and practice. Why is it I still do not go into business of my own? It always has been a dream to be running my own business. Imagine the freedom from bosses, hr practices, politics, performance reviews and office hours! The ability to put best practises of management and leadership. I reflect and think. Is it because I am brought up thinking of only working for others, have a good job, climb the corporate ladder? Or is it the golden handcuffs, the steady paychecks and benefits. I am a risk taker. I emigrated to Canada with no job and a couple of person to call and survived. Yet going into my own business is still a dream. How can I translate this dream to reality? I know my capabilities. I know I have the abilities to turn around businesses that have lost money and make them profitable. I have track record of turning around two business now.

So I must take the plunge or regret at my deathbed I did not try.

Never let a fool kiss you

or a kiss fool you. This is the title of a book by Dr. Mardy Gothe. It is a book about Chiasmus. Chiasmus? Do you know what Chiasmus means? Even the most literate people do not know. Of course including yours truly. A few of my favourites...

"Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things." Peter Drucker

"He once said that all readers can't be leaders, but all leaders must be readers." David McCullough, of Harry Truman

"Success is getting what you want; happiness is wanting what you get." Anonymous

"Love makes sex better, sex makes love better." Anonymous

Being a booklover my most favourite is an ad for the Boston Public Library "When you read a book, it changes the way you look at the world and the way the world looks at you."

Diary

I resolve to write daily. However with frequent travel schedule, it may not be possible. Still this is a good way to keep a diary.

Today, I woke up due to a dream. I dream that my office was moved without notice. I was walking around in confusion looking for my office. The one female colleague told me I am sitting right beside her. I asked her where are my personal stuff. She replied "you know Charlie Steiner...he does not move anyone's personal stuff when he move offices." Then I asked "where is my name plate?" Right beneath your desk. I looked and it was there! I took a walk around the office and saw a poster that says " secretaries for ?? to VPII" I recall VP II distinctly however I cannot remember the position from what to VP 2. Hence ??. By the way, Charlie Steiner is the maintenance guy when I was working in Canada.

Writing

Dan Brown write every day. He wrote and published several novels before the phenomenally successful Da Vinci Code. Discipline and habit. It is exactly the same as working in the office. Same grind every day....

Tioman

The plane ride was not too bad. It was a Dash 7 with 4 propellers engines. Capacity is 48. The aircraft is noisy and the air pressure and air exchange in the cabin is not too good. I was tired after the ride both going in Tioman and coming home. There are 4 seats abreast. So there is an aisle seat as well as window. Coming into Tioman airport is quite exciting. The airport more like a landing strip and is situated right beside the hill. So the airplane banked steeply bank a couple of time and drop suddenly. It is a little scary looking out of the windows. The trees are so close and right beside you.

We have two days of meeting. My teammates arrived 8 hours ahead of me. So they had fun going for snorkeling. For work, it was motivating. We had a good Q1. We shared our objectives for the year and compared our EQ scores. Team spirits were strengthen. During dinners, we shared our personal stories. Having a young team mean another colleague and I were considered "outdated" in our thinking. The values of BGR (boy-girl relationship) has changed. Good thing is we have a young man in our team who still share our values. It is interesting. As I type out this blog, I just realise it is the men that are conservative. Women are more liberal or liberated nowadays!

Seletar Airport

Will be taking a flight out of Seletar Airport to Tioman this Sat. This will be my first time flying out of Seletar. I always like an aisle seat. This time I will have an aisle as well as window at the same time, I believe. I have taken small planes before in US. It can be very uncomfortable and I am not talking about the seat. The ride is very bumpy and it is very easy to get airsick in this kind of plane. The plane ride is approximately 30minutes. So I do not expect it to be too bad unless the weather decides not to cooperate.

Taj Palace

The hotel I am staying in New Delhi. It is getting old. It is still a good hotel. Delhi bring back the memories...the same is the same, the dry dusty air, cars are still Maruti and Ambassador, hot during the day, the list goes on and on. By the way, Maruti is Suzuki 850cc car and Ambassador is a old British made car.

The exhibition I am attending has quite good turnout and there were a lot of interest in our products. It looked like there is good potential for our business. Half the visitors were from govt companies. So the next step is to see if we can convert interest in sales. Looks like I will be coming to India more often....

India, here I come

I will be leaving for India tomorrow. It's been a long time since I last visited India. Probably more than 10 years ago. So now I am a little apprehensive. India has progress significantly since. I recalled India was the land of contrast between the rich and poor. There were no middle class that I could see previously. The people I knew and come in contact with were businessmen. They are rich, very rich. However out in the streets all I can see is poverty. Beggars everywhere.

I remembered India because it was the first time I flew in an airplane at the age of 25. Two years later, I have probably gone around the world. I remember a two or three weeks trip where I flew to US and then Europe before returning home.

Will record my impression of India again upon my return on Friday.

Rising Sea Level

My biggest worry reading all the news about glacier melting from Greenland to Arctic circle and Antaractica is sea level will rise. My house is near the sea. Maybe one kilometers from Sengkang river mouth. During high tide I can see the water level in the canal rising high up when I drive past. If the water is two feet higher, the road leading to my house will be under water. Scary thoughts. All my hard work and savings will be gone when the sea level rises.

Should I live in a highrise? If the sea level rises, instead of having a car, we will have a boat and travel from one high rise to another. Today, rain was very heavy. The front porch could not drain fast enough. So water level reach my living room. My youngest son was very excited and had a great time playing in the rain while I worry about water damage. I wish I am a child again.

Slow Weekend

This is a slow weekend. Saturday is always busy with running around sending our boys for tuition. Eldest his music lesson, B2 has Chinese in EduPlus in the morning and then English writing in the afternoon. Today, I just stayed at home to read the newspapers, surf the net, listen to music and watch a couple of DVDs. Usually, I skip around the chapters instead of watching the movie from start to finish.

It pours earlier and my front porch garden is flooded. A lot of moisture must have come down in a very short time. I am writing and yawn away... it is a sleepy day...zzZZZ