New Year

It is new year's eve, lots of celebrations going on. I remember when my office is Singapore there will be New Year's parties. It is nice to work in an office environment. The festive atmosphere, joyful mood and holiday spirit are motivating and fun. Dinners out with group of colleagues in a hotel, talk about new year's resolutions, boyfriends/girlfriends problems, lack of boyfriends problems, etc. Somehow, many of my females colleagues seem to have trouble getting boyfriends. This issue seems to afflict only females as I have yet to encounter any of my male colleagues who does not have a girlfriend.

We have a quiet family dinner and the Wife watched a Cantonese dvd. Our boys joined her watching the comedy. I have to switch the subtitles to English so that my two older boys understand the show better. I have to put B3 to bed and I read to him. The laughters from the living room were loud. I am glad they are tickled and enjoying themselves thoroughly. After B3 drifted to dreamland, I am up at my computer updating this blog.

Yes, New Year will be upon us in a few hours. It is nice to have an extra long weekend as 2nd is a holiday as well.

I wish all my readers Happy New Year. May 2007 bring health, wealth and good fortune to you.

Have a Blessed and Bountiful 2007!

Wow!

I was browsing through "Singapore Dreaming" producer, Colin Goh's wesite Colinandyenyen and read his biodata and his columns. He is a scholar and have high achievements in Law. He writes well (read his Sunday Times articles on the website). All I can says is Wow!
It is really impressive. A lawyer and give up to pursue his passion. His wife Yen Yen acquire a PhD in Education and is the creative juice behind their filmmaking project. Man! This is what Daniel Pink is talking about. Both done well in Left-Brain and has the Right Brain creativity.

I congratulate them. They are now seriously considering to relocate from New York to China. They can live anywhere they want. My ego is taking a serious knock. What have I accomplished? What can I be? I am just one of the millions of mindless office worker (knowledge worker as defined by Drucker). It is time for some deep reflection. With my abilities, what can I be? Maybe a teacher or trainer, how about a side street cafe owner or even a management consultant. Who will know me when I moved on the greater life? Will I have a legacy? What can I pass on? Who will remember me and how will I be remembered?

Is it important to have fame and wealth? Why do one need to compare and feel unworthy? Everyone is an individual, unique individual. Every individual make the up the whole. There is a complex whole that exist which will be different if the individual composition changes. Without me, the society and the world will be different. We are all from the One source, God. So how come some are more successful than others? What is the meaning of Life?

Yes, some Singaporeans are Global citzens. Many has begun to blaze new trails and set new records (Mount Everest does not count as both climbers who reach the top were Malaysian). Sigh...will I ever be somebody?

Story Telling

Story telling is an important communication tool. It fits into the way human mind works. So the message is easily transmitted. Stories are very popular in today internet world. My blog is filled with book reviews and daily events of my life. Average number of visitors per day rarely go above 20 hits. My friend and fellow blogger who writes stories about cabin crews get more than a 1,000 hits per day. Story telling is a right brain activity. The book I am holding these few days is A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink.

Well, we have moved from Agriculture Age where owning land means you are rich to Industrial Age where owning factories bring you wealth to Information Age where knowledge and education increase your income capacity to Conceptual Age where the main characters are the creator and the empathizer whose distinctive ability is mastery of R-Directed Thinking.

This does not mean the demise of Left Brainer Thinkers! Left brain thinking is still indepensable but no longer enough. In the Conceptual Age, Left brain ability is assumed and right brain capacity determine where you will be in society and your earning power.

What is right brain thinking? Story telling is one, drawing is the other. There 6 identified "senses" on right brain. If you are interested to know more, drop me a note in the comments section. I will give more details after I finished reading this book.

NUS Co-op Bookstore

I made the calls to both Clementi Bookstore and NUS Co-op Bookstore. Clementi bookstore can respond immediately and has only Marketing Management by Philip Kotler. The price is 40 plus. "Plus two or plus 9?" I enquired. The reply was snappy "we do not give out exact price by telephone". NUS Co-op was different. Marcus took my call and explained he is busy with a customer now and he will call me back shortly or Kevin his colleague will call. I was understanding as a customer I dislike it when the person attending to me give priority to the telephone inquiries. I called at about 10am in the morning. The return call was at 1pm. Co-op has both titles one at S$43.30 and the other is S$ 42 plus (I forgot the exact price). It is soft cover International Edition.

Popular call me too. I left my contact yesterday. The price of Hardcover edition from PrenticeHall is more than $200. I inform the nice Customer Service girl on the phone I have the price from NUS Co-op at $40+ so will not consider the expensive model.

Why am I looking at Marketing Texts again after twenty years? It is time to revisit and revise why I know. Also with the new editions, the concepts has been updated and expanded. Continuous learning is the way of working life today.

Principles of Marketing

I went to Bras Brasah Complex to look for Marketing textbooks by Philip Kotler. No joy. The bookstores in BBC has changed. There are no more bookstores selling university textbooks anymore. I wanted Principles of Marketing and Marketing Management. I attended a Marketing Seminar last year at Chicago Business School. There were quotations that was new by Kotler. I asked the Professor and he says it is the latest edition. It is time to update my knowledge of marketing again.

Does anyone know the best place to get these two books at a great discount? I am sure the university bookstore will have them at list price.

Tired.com

Ever heard of Tired.com. It is own by one person who decided to register this website. He could not figure out what to do. So he asked to visitors to Tired.com to write in. Since then thousands of emails poured in. Top word count? Work! School is next.

It seems like lots of us are tired of work and school. While work give us self-esteem and self-worth, it also cause angst and frustration. What is life without work? Studies has confirmed many CEOs died within two years of their retirement. Unless the CEO has other interest such as teaching, consulting or hobbies, he is likely to pass on to greater life.

In work, it is usually the little things that gets us. Overzealous HR or Accountant will make life miserable. Yet it is their functional duty. They are just doing their job. It is their attitude and their process that hurts. This is why they have to do this kind of jobs for if they have to deal with customers, they are guaranteed one outcome...failure, utter abject failure. Thank God for such people, otherwise sales folks will not be able to command the salary they are currently enjoying.

A toast to the people who make work a misery.

B2 reminisces Christmas Eve

During dinner, B2 our middle son blurt out this year we did not have a special dinner for Christmas Eve. Mum said "we had a family dinner!". "There is no turkey in the middle of the table" he countered. I think hard and try to remember what kind of dinner we had two evenings ago. Obviously it is nothing special which is why I have to rack my brains hard. Yes, my boys are missing Christmas in Canada where we feast differently than here. My company will supply a Christmas Turkey or Ham (choose one) before Christmas Eve. The wife will have to figure out how to cook the turkey. Everyone in Canada has huge built-in oven. No worries. Supermarket has prepack stuffings and colleagues can help with recipes. Turkeys are huge birds. So we will turkey leftovers for the next two weeks - turkey sandwiches, turkey fried rice, turkey soup, etc.

Wonderful memories....

30 Elm's Drive, Mississauga

Mississauga is a town west of Toronto. I rented a two bedroom apartment at 30 Elm's Drive because my work place is further west in Argentia Road. Apartment 802 was spartan. The furniture was basic. It is right in the city center called Square One. There is a huge mall surrounded by car parks. Huge open car park lots unlike Singapore where it is either underground or multistorey. Plenty of land here.

Right beside the apartment block is a creek with walking path. Green coloured Canadian ducks swim on the slow and shallow waters. On a Saturday or Sunday morning, there is hardly any traffic on the road. My wife and I love to take walks along the creek. The weather is cool and dry (or cold and drier in winter). Hardwood trees grow along the road. In autumn, the leaves will turn yellow, then in gold before shedding. Huge piles of leaves. From vantage view from our apartment, my wife saw a mother and her son playing with piles of leaves. The son was running and throwing the leaves and then mum sat on a pile of leaves with her son throwing leaves up and the joy of mother and son is infectious. It was a sight to remember. Simple joy and experiencing nature.

The seasons...something we miss in tropical Singapore.

Wonderful Christmas

My sisters were here for a family lunch. My second sister did not come as she is having flu. We had pot luck - curry chicken, sticky rice from my sisters and we contributed ham. We have a good time together. Then my friend and his family visited us. His daughter is a very active girl. She is full of energy. We had a wonderful Christmas.

Best of all, the news are full of positive things happening around the world. Retail and hotels are doing well, this is a strong signal of strong economy. It is good Christmas cheer. I am very happy that our country is in good economic health which mean more Singaporeans are gainfully employed and have good incomes. It is a good way to end 2006 and usher in 2007.

Look like we will have lots of celebration with countdown, lights, fireworks and parties. Yes, we are celebrating life, life in Singapore.

Merry Christmas to all my friends and readers

I wish one and all Merry Christmas! Have a healthy and blessed 2007. May your wishes come true!

A Christmas Wish

I have a wish for Christmas. It is a selfish wish. I wish I can start my own business and be independent of a job. So far, I have been only reading how to be an entreprenuer. I have read the Rich Dad Poor Dad, Before You Quit, We want you to be Rich, others. Many books indeed. When will I start to act and do my own business?

A job has steady and stable income. However, stability is an illusion. All employees are at the mercy of the employers. In the news recently, many high fliers General Manager(in maybe SIA), VPs have taken a break or retrenched and have found it nearly impossible to get back to the job market. The good news is the General Manager now found a job after 12 years of searching with a pay between $4,800 and $6,400 per month. This is good ending. My best wishes to the GM and may be grow in his new job and earn back his self-esteem.

I wonder why is it so difficult for me to start a business. Do I have a psychological fear of failure? Maybe it is the fear of success? Maybe I should be more altruistic and wish for peace or poor kids get their toys or orphans are fed or something more attainable like visiting my mum who live in Canada.

Yes, in my profile I put myself as an entreprenuer wanna-be. My wish and dream will come true just like the movie "Singapore Dreaming"... Pa strikes a $2 million lottery.

My profile will change from entreprenuer wanna-be to entreprenuer-to-be to entreprenuer to successful entreprenuer to "business man of the year". That will be a wish come true.

No Joy at Ikea

It was almost nine pm. Time for late night shopping. It would be a breeze as most will be at home watching TV or so I thought. So, I packed our 3 boys in the back of the car and off we go. 20 minutes later, we are entering into the car park. It dawn to me I am not alone in my bright idea of late night shopping. After circling around futilely for 10 mins, I give up. Singapore the land of late night shoppers.

The night is young. Everyone is out celebrating and doing their shopping. Both Courts and Ikea car parks were full. The pleasant surprise is car park is free. This is quite incredible in Singapore where land is expensive and owning a car even more expensive. Does the management of Ikea and Courts need to get their heads examined? Or is this a solid strategy to cultivate loyalty from Customers who drive? Is this why there are so many visitors? Or maybe Singaporeans are just bored like me and need the excitement of new malls.

What do you think?

The Joy of Technology

I am totally addicted to my internet. Last week was harrowing. My internet connection was unstable. It was frustrating trying to get work done with intermittent and unpredictable breakdown. I tried to figure out what was wrong. My sons were the first to bear the brunt of my frustrations. I accused them of slowing down the system and using up the bandwidth.

Last night, my system broke down permanently. It is a headache. My head felt like a stone. This morning was cold turkey. I was having huge discomfort without my internet. After a trip to Sim Lim and back to setup a new system, internet is back up. What a huge relief! Headache sufferers will know what I mean. If you are nursing a severe headache, take a couple of extra-strength Tyernol and half an hour later the feeling is grateful feeling the pain is gone and you really really appreciate your head and your health. Like they say, you do not appreciate why you have until you lose it. This is how I feel now that my internet is back.

What a feeeelingggg!

Acts of Kindness

News are rarely good. Recent examples are the havoc rain has cause us and our neighbour, Johore. The good news is there is an exception. Toronto Star, the premier newspaper in Toronto has a column on Acts of Kindess. I am a regular visitor and it warms my heart. I know the place, the environment, the culture and the way of life. So I really appreciates the heartwarming anecdotes. I went through a difficult initiation into life in Canada myself. In the long cold and dark winters, it is like drinking hot chocolate(milo in Singapore context). The warm cup will warm the hands that cuddles it and the drink will warms you inside as it travel down. Then the warm will slowly spreads throughout your body.

Here is the link to Toronto Star:Toronto Star

Christmas in Singapore

The rains decided to stop after pouring out 314mm in three days non-stop. We take advantage of the good weather and go to Orchard Road. The lights, the people, music, buskings, the air is filled with Christmas mood. I feel like a tourist. The cool weather was excellent for walking. Tourist Promotion Board of Singapore has setup mock scenes of Jesus birthplace manned by people dressed in costumes from place and time. It is very historical. You can even take pictures with them for $5.

The Crossroad! This is the junction of Orchard at Takashimaya and Paragon. Every half hour, the junction will have a minute where all traffic are stopped. Everyone can go to the junction and do whatever they like - take picture, dance, make faces, free-for-all. It is quite exciting. We were there twice. It was fun albeit a little too short-lived. There are also Jokers on stilts. Very colourful.

To catch the Christmas Spirits, go to Orchard Road.

Memories of Life in Canada

After dinner, I needed to take a walk. I step out of the house and the rain make me change my mind. I decided to drive to a mall to do my walking to help digest a heavy dinner. I drove to Junction 8 and obviously everyone have the same idea. It was impossible to get to the carpark. An immediate change in plan is warranted. U-turn and off to Toa Payoh Central. My hungry boys need more snacks. They do not seems to stop eating and yet still stay slim...well except B2 who has a thick fatty layer around his waist.

It was 10pm when we drove home via PIE and CTE. The road was wet and rain keep falling. It is chilly in the car. The cars were moving slowly and carefully. This brought back memories of Christmas in Canada. The drive in winter is always slow due to rain or snow. Worst of all is freezing rain. Christmas is the best time in Toronto. Carols will be everywhere, in the office, malls, radio and TV will have repeats of all the Christmas shows. Christmas is about family, giving and forgiving. I loved looking out of the windows and watch the flurries or snowfall. It is very comforting to be in a warm and bright place looking out at the cold, dark outside. Best of all is to wake up and see everything turns into white blanketed by snow. Sweet memories of Christmas. I loved Christmas especially in Toronto.

Thinking

I was browsing through the books as usual in the bookstore. In a book that I cannot remember the title is one of the to-dos to be a good manager, one must spend at least one hour THINKING. It is something I have not been doing much lately. I have been more doing than thinking. I have to start making time to thinking. Having lots of work and tasks is no excuse for not thinking. It is a critical part of my job.

I resolved to T H I N K.

Carpe Diem

Seize the day! It is a phrase in Latin. Used frequently by trainers and motivational speakers.

I went to Carrefour to look for Santa Clause. A movie that was highly recommended by my colleague, Fred Cuvelier in Canada. He was a Sales Director. Carrefour Orchard ran out. I was disappointed and check out TS and Blue Max, not available! I lucked out in Carrefour Plaza Singapura. Price tag $19.90. I turn over and it says two for $30. Not wanting to miss a good deal. I decided to pick another Dvd from the shelf. I pick "Dead Poets Society" by Robbin Williams. It is about "Professor Keating who arrives at a strict boys academy and his unconventional methods breathe new life into the curriculum steeped in tradition."

I enjoyed old movies on school's lives. Good bye, Mr. Chips and To Sir with Love were my favourites. I love to see lives transformed by a teacher.

Professor Keating did transformed lives. It is a touching story...how a teacher can teach more than poetry. Carpe diem! Seize the day. Take the opportunity. Make it happen. We all have dreams. We must carpe diem to live.

Accomplishments

While reading a couple of essays from Harvard Business School Applications Essays, I am inspired to write on my accomplishments as well.

I started to travel for my work 20 years ago. My first trip out of the country was Kuala Lumpur by car. Before going to KL, I have never left Singapore. Not for school trip or family vacation. My family owns and run a provision shop. Although we are not poor, we are not well off. The shop is open 361 days a year. So we have only 4 days rest during Chinese New Year. There is no opportunity to travel as CNY is reserved for visiting relatives.

I was proud of my extensive travel experience in the first few years. My bunk mates during reservist training love to listen to my stories about different countries. My colleagues were envious of the fact I travel for "free". I was a desirable bachelor. After a few years of work and travel, I decided to experience life in a different country rather than be a visitor. Canada has open door policy for skilled workers. I applied and got a landed immigrant status. Landed immigrant status allows you to work in the country.

So I pack my bags to seek a different lifestyle. I was in for a shock... a culture shock. Brought up in the Singapore system to be an employee, I look for jobs. It is difficult to get interviews. The few interviews I managed to secure, I am told bluntly I have "no Canadian experience". So with no Canadian experience I cannot get a job. With no job, I cannot have Canadian experience. I am in a "deadly embrace" in Operating System terminology or my system has "hangs". I start my new life in Canada in Feb. In a deep freeze, I starts to wonder what am I doing in a foreign land that I cannot get a job. I went through a dark period of my life, literally and figuratively. (Sunrises at 9am in the morning and sets at 4:30pm).

Through the grace of God, I have a lucky break. A contract co-ordinator has a heart attack due to work stress, I have to fill in for him temporarily. Well, I did well in the work and was converted to permanent. Once I am in, I applied to marketing positions that are open in the company. After 4 attempts, I managed to become an Associate Product Manager. The product line I was responsible has a problem. The factory manufacturing my products were in financial difficulties. I have to move the product sourcing from one factory in Brantford, Ontario to many different factories in US. This was a huge undertaking. The whole company spend lot of energy to shift products from Brantford to other sources in US. Beside, my products call trays, there were tubes and cotton products. After one year working at a crazy pace, I managed to save 85% of portfolio. The other two product managers were not as lucky as they were below 50% of prior year.

During the Annual Sales Meeting, there was a recognition awards for everyone involved in the "Brantford Project". When my name was called, everyone clapped hard and stood up. I was embarrassed and exhilarated at the same time. I keep asking everyone to stop. It probably lasted two or three minutes, it seems like forever when I was up on the stage. To have a standing ovation from top management, sales leadership and sales reps was an accomplishment that will stay with me forever....

Blogging in a Canal

It is interesting that the print media write about notes left by a girl on the wall of a canal. The opinion of a psychologist is in the headline "a cry for help". The question was raised why blog in a public place and yet not well frequent place like a bus stop. Why not on the web? Maybe she is hoping her trouble will be washed away by the water...

There are many possibilities and the real reason may be only know to the blogger herself.

I wonder what a psychologist says about my blog? Is K's Diary a cry for help? Or the opinion may be he is not an exhibitionist, just a frustrated office worker letting out steam under coat of anonymity. Will I be classified as a pessmist, optimist or pragmatist? Will what I called dreams be branded as fantasy? Is he just thinking aloud in cyberspace hoping to get some attention? Could he be blogging just because it is the "in" thing in today's world? He is just trying to make new friends or he has a deep, dark side that needs to be released in order to stay sane in the monotonous world of hierarachy.

Maybe a real psychologist will use a lot more technical terms to describe or question. The wonderful world of specialisation.

Catching up on last week news

We had a great time in Taipei. Finally, I was able to read the papers that I missed in my absence. We had lot of bad news...kidnapping(that ends well with victims released safe and sound after paying S$1 Million), expatriate German died after being suck by the jaccuzzi in Goldenhill condo, Singaporeans robbed in Johore and hands almost severed. It is depressing. I wished I did not read the old papers. Ignorance will be blissful for me yet it is important to know. The key reinforcement is not to go Johore. It is wild, wild Jo!

Visitors from France

My neighbours are French and Laurence's mum and sister is here to visit. It is obvious the younger girl is Laurence's sister. They have the same profile, bone structure and look. Genetic is interesting. Microscopic information in chemical forms and have the ability to have billions of data encoded never fails. It is amazing the DNA stores the physical characteristics and program every thing over the life span including heredity diseases.

Dreams

I have many dreams. One of my dream is to live in a small university town where there is easy access to academic facilities such as libraries and laboratories. This idea is the future cities will be built around an University. It should be small enough not to require cars for transportation within the city to reduce pollution. Amenities and entertain should be within walking or cycling. Different cities should be connected by trains. There must be adequate medical facilities and capabilities to treat most ailments and larger or megacity will have more specialised medical centers. Today, megacities are growing and growing. When it come to cities, size does matter. Big cities are thriving. So my dreams of living in small cities may mean that I have to seriously consider living outside Singapore which will become a city of 4 million.

Up! Up! and .... Work!

I wish I can say Away! like Superman. Superman exists only in our imagination. I a mere mortal has to work and work. This is my first break since I wake up. The joy of working from home is there is no commute time to office. Once I get up, turn on the computer, I can work right away. No need to spend time wondering what to wear, no worries whether my clothing are pressed, no need to shave, no need to drive or take bus or MRT, ... in modern technology it is called "instant ON". More companies should encourage working from home. They save on office space, airconditioning, infrastructure like phone lines, computer cabling, office furniture...

This is the best concept since sliced bread.

Overwhelmed by Work!

Today, all I do is work beside eating and going to the washroom! I have so much work to do and catch up. This is punishment for going on a R&R trip with the team. Most of my teammates are sick as they hardly slept during the trip. With so many night markets and exciting food stalls, who can blame them. Penning my thoughts and feelings on this blog feels good too. I get a rush of adenaline every time someone leaves comments.

Work is fun when I can get traction and results. Work becomes a drag when it is spinning the wheel. So much work to help everyone else instead of getting more business. Thank God for work as work gives a sense of self worth. When work is fun and fun is work, then the day becomes short. There are not enough hours in a day. When rewards are high, then work becomes fufilment. One can get high on work (don't need drugs). So it is time to get back to work!

Joy of Work

Working gives meaning to life. It is so frustrating and yet satisfying. It is a love-hate relationship. I want to work yet I love to quit. Ever been in such a dilemma? The term work give the impression it is dull, uninteresting and something one do to survive. Whether you are a student or an adult. Do your homework admonish your parent. Get your work done! boss chides.

One futurologist(one who forecast future) predicts in the far future work will only be for the privileged few as machines will take over all the mundane tasks such as growing and manufacturing food, keeping the environment clean and making sure there is law and order. The rest of the population will have to figure out ways to keep themselves entertained all the time.

I hope this futurologist is wrong!

Phew! Back Home again

Man! It is home sweet home! While Taipei and Taiwan is nice, it is good to be back home. This reminds me...do you know the author Lobsang Rampa? His book is not commonly available nowadays. Lobsang Rampa is a Tibet monk who transmigrate his soul to Cecil Raskins in England. In his book, he describes the whole process of transmigration.

Why did I think of Lobsang Rampa? Well, when I was living in Canada, I have the same warm feeling to come back home as well. Wherever I lived, after a few days out on a trip it is always nice to come back to familiar and secure home base. Therefore it is not just in Singapore, I have these feelings.

According to Losang Rampa, "Gods" made man who does not require sleep at all. He call the Gods, Gardeners of the Earth. Gardeners of the Earth find that man did not progress spiritually as they do not need to sleep and can wander from place to place. So they wipe out the whole race and made man that requires sleep every night. Once man requires sleep, he/she will require a home base, a place to come back every day. It will be difficult to wander from place to place as you will need a secure environment to sleep. This brought stability to the human race.

You can find more about Lobsang Rampa on the net. His first book The Third Eye is still available. Others may be out-of-print. I was introduced to this author in Secondary Two by my form teacher, Alfred Tan.

Armchair Travelog

Travelling can be interesting although for me, it is work. Actually, work is fun for me. I exists for work. So now in Taipei is R&R for the team and their loved ones. I hope they enjoyed themselves. I know one thing for sure. They hardly slept during this trip. They were up and out till wee hours. The girls were shopping with vengence. They purchase as if there were no tomorrow. Their boyfriends were eating their hearts out. I am glad to see them so happy with this trip. My teammates are young. They have the energy to go sleepless for a few nights and continue to explore Taipei and the surrounding sights.

The only regret I have is only my Japanese teammate and his son sat with my family during dinner. Our group is a total of 17 and we have to split into two tables. I have 7 on my table and the other table have 10. I made the request for two to join us but nobody responded. They have sent a very clear signal to me.

What I like most about travelling is staying in the room with the TV on and doing my work or read. I guess my introvert nature makes it easy for me to travel. It can be lonesome to travel for work. I like the way New York Times describe business travellers - Road Warriors. I, however, finds loneliness recharges my energy.

Readers Digest used to publish articles call Armchair Travelog. It is an article on places. It has vivid descriptions and tells interesting stories about the people and the places of interest. I did not see this kind of articles in the recent copies of Readers Digest.

Best things in Life

Some of the best things in life is free or almost free. My favorite is clean water and clean air. Of course, with pollution this is becoming more and more rare.

The streets in Taipei are clean despite the fact that there are very few dustbins for waste. The mountains are nice and people are warm. Hospitality is free! Maybe because I speak a good mixture of Hokkien and Mandarin. I find Taiwan like Singapore during the time I was growing up.

The land of Night markets

I did not know Taipei has so many night markets until this trip. I have come to Taiwan 5 or 6 times before and I have not known about the nightlife. Usually, I stay in the hotel and read or do emails. This is a real eye opener. The night market is vibrant. Vibrant would be an understatement. It is a sea of humanity. Scary to think of it. There are lot of gas tank as the hawker stalls are dishing out freshly cooked food. I shudders to think what will happen if an accident or emergency happens. It is amazing so many people, so many stalls and food...a most congested bazaar I have ever been to.

We go up one of the mountain resort. It was interesting to see the waterfalls from such great height. The side of the mountain is rocky. Now I understand the reputation Taiwan has for food. It is a food heaven just like home.

German Cockroach in the Hotel

B3, the five year old was taking his nap. I bend over to kiss him when I notice an adult German Cockroach right on his neck. I caught the cockroach and drop it to the toilet bowl. It was struggling to get out. So I flush it down with the satisfaction that I have drown it. Then it occurs to me that I just send this cockroach to its heavenly home. Roaches thrives in the sewers!! My wife freaks out and call the housekeeping. Housekeeping came to spray insecticide. I doubt it work as German roaches are resistant to the regular insecticide. How I become an expert in German roaches. I learn this in one of the condo I live in. I complains to the condo management that small roaches appears everytime there is fogging. I sprayed Shelltox and Baygone. The roaches seems to wander around with no problem.

She says yes, there are German Cockroaches. You need special insecticide and she send the pest control up my apartment. He sprays on insecticide that will burst when the cockroach walk on it. Yes, no more roaches for a few months. He even fog my car and all the roached died there too.

Do you know roaches have been around for millions of years and will be around after human race extinct?

Around Sunworld Hotel

We took a walk after breakfast. The street around the hotel is busy with traffic - cars, motorcycles and people. The back alleys are interesting. The food stalls remind me of hawkers in Singapore in the eighties. There are little cafes and resturants everywhere. Interesting mix of old and new. Capuccino and modern pastry cafes right beside the traditional beef noodle shops. The roads are wide and have many lanes. So the city can accomodate a lot more cars than Singapore. The trees by the road are mature and majestic.

Yes, Tapei is an old city modernising with along with times...

SQ is tops! - way up to Taipei

The flight is full. Only 16 seats left unoccupied in economy class and all 30 seats in business class is full. No wonder Singapore Airlines is the most profitable airline in the world. The crews were nice to me and my family. Chief Steward, I cannot recall his name(I know he is Malay) makes sure we are comfortable. The stewardesses address me as Mister. It was a warm trip. The only complain is the seat is narrow and tight.

This is why I am extremely loyal to Singapore Airlines. Service is excellent and I always remember how happy I felt when I board the aircraft after a harrowing trip. It is home sweet home in a few hours. I recall the intense joy I have after being stranded for more than 48hours in India. My heart sang when I managed to somehow get a flight out of Bombay in Singapore Airlines after running around New Delhi airport for a day trying to find a way to get home. This was close to twenty years ago where the telephone system in India was still in the stone age.

7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Stephen Covey's first book that is on the bestseller list sixteen years ago. I like the habit, Sharpen your Saw. Covey relate the story of two woodcutters. One who work non-stop. The other takes a rest after cutting every tree. Who do you think will cut more trees at the end of the day? Why?

Sharpen the Saw surrounds the other habits on the Seven Habits paradigm because it is the habit that makes all the others possible. It is the principle of Balanced Self-renewal. We have to keep ourselves healthy with the right amount of rest, recreation and training.

Winning - Jack and Suzy Welch

Jack is the CEO of GE and has a pop star status. Suzy was ex-editor of Harvard Business Review. Jack and Suzy have a juicy history that is up in Boh Tong's alley.

I was reading this section on People Management and I like to quote Practice 3: Create effective mechanisms - read: money, recognition, and training - to motivate and retain (page 106).

"A winning company does not let good people walk out the door for lack of recognition, financial or otherwise.

Another key way to motivate and retain is through training.

If you've hired the right people, they will want to grow. They will be bursting with the desire to learn and do more. A good machinist will want to know how to operate more machines and eventually how to run the shop. A good manufacturing engineer will want to travel to Japan to visit companies using advanced techniques that he has only read about. A good PR person will want to learn how to communicate more effectively on the Web.

Good people never think they have reached the top of their game. But they're dying to get there!

A company that manages people well helps make that happen. If it can afford it, it has in-house training led by its own executives, who serve not only as teachers but as role models. A company with fewer resources can facilitate training outside at any number of good programs. In either case, it makes sure that training is seen as a reward for performance, not a sop for time served."

This is my personal belief and management practice as well.

Herbal Tea

Chinese has tea for "cooling" the system. I have been having nagging headache for the last few days. Maybe it is due to stress, maybe it is the weather. While making my usual pot of tea, I notice the green box of "Hor Yan Hor" Herbal Tea at the top of the shelves. I decided to make a cup and drink it. This is a plastic pouch type which is new and has a different flavor from the previous paper pouch. Maybe it is an imitation I am not sure. I do know there are imitations in the market for Hor Yan Hor. HYH is a Malaysian manufacturer of Herbal Tea. The tea taste bitter. After drinking the tea today, I forgot about my headache. My headaches cleared. Traditional remedy is just as effective as my two Extra Strength Tyernol! By the way, I still prefer Tyernol over Panadol and always get extra supplies whenever I go to US.

North Point

We live in Yishun from 1995 to 2000. At that time my office was in a factory in Yishun. Northpoint was the mall my family frequent. At that time, B1 was in kindergarden and B2 is just a toddler. I also notice the crowd has increased. It may be due to the pasar malam. Northpoint is full of people. Alot of the stores that used to be there were still there but now taking smaller space. Toy r us had moved out and Popular and Timezone in the former space.

The 4D outlet in 7 Eleven in Chong Pang is very popular as it is a lucky store. The queue is usually long. Right opposite 7-Eleven is the coffeeshop where original Hup Lee Economical Beehoon stall. Hup Lee Economical Beehoon is available in most hawkers center as the owner franshise out their brand. Yes, the queue is long there too. In the hawker centre beside the wet market, I like the minced meat noodle store. It is available only in the morning.

By the way, the hot spring is just nearby too. Now it is fenced up as it is part of Sembawang Airbase. According to the news release, it is opened daily to the public. You have to walk a distance as there are no carpark nearby. It is interesting to see hot water coming out naturally in Singapore as we are not in a geologically active country.

Sunday - the sacred rest day

Sunday I understand is the first day of the week during the times of Romans. The bible says God takes 6 days to create heaven, earth and man. On the 7th day, He took a rest. Hence Christians think Sunday is for rest and for God. I remembered for the longest time, the department store, Tangs do not open on Sundays. The boss is a staunch Christian and feel that his staff need to rest on Sundays even though Tang is losing sales on the busiest day of the week. I believe it was the only store closed on Sunday in the whole stretch of Orchard Road.

Today, we do spring cleaning and clear out a lot of junk off our house. We have to clean out once a while to make sure we can make room for things we keep acquiring as the only entertainment Singaporeans have is going to the malls. So much for city life.

Yes, Sunday is a rest day. A day for the family, a day with friends, a day to catch up with cleaning, a day to laze around, a day for rest and recreation, a day to thank for. Thank God for Sunday.

Good to Great

Good to Great has been on the bestseller list for more than a year with more than 2.5 million hardcover copies sold. Jim Collins co-authored another book with Jerry Porras called Built to Last. Built to Last examines companies that have survived a long time and continue to prospers.

Good to Great look at companies that were average and then become great. What is the definition of Great. Great is exceptional financial performance in the stock market. Jim Collin and his research team examined the records of publicly available financial information. Hence the companies are all on the NYSE or New York Stock Exchange. The exceptional stock price increase must be sustained for more than 15 years. Good is the enemy of Great. Because most companies are good enough, there is no motivation to become Great. The book relate 5 key points that good to great companies have.
1. Level 5 leadership where the leader/CEO has a strong ego for the organization and is humble.
2. First Who...Then What is having the right people in the organization then figure out what to do.
3. Confront the brutal Facts i.e. confronting business realities.
4. The Hedgehog Concept is keeping things simple. The hedgehog knows only one big thing in times of trouble, the fox knows many thing.
5. Technology Accelerators where technology is used to enable the business rather than the be all end all of the business.

Jim Collins has a website www.jimcollins.com

Flow

Ever heard of Flow? Flow is to move in a stream, to proceed smoothly and readily, to have smooth continuity according to Merriam-Webster's College Dictionary. Flow is the title of a book by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. What a mouthful! Try pronouncing the author's last name.

This book caught my interest as it is right opposite the New Age section in Kino. Mihaly is a Professor of Psychology in University of Chicago. MC did research in why some are happy and are high achiever. There is a point where everything "flow" for the individual. The surgeon concentrating intently of the surgical procedure, student studying for exams, the pianist in concert, anyone in a state where he or she is one with the work or performance. In order to achieve greatness, we must be in the state of flow. There are several suggestions on how to achieve the flow state.