Happiness and the Good Life

Does Happiness gives the Good Life or does the Good Life gives Happiness? This is the chicken and egg question. Happiness is one who needs less than what he has. The Good Life is a Happy Family and Aspirations fulfilled.

As I reflect on this question I feel I do have a good life and have happiness. My sons and wife gave me stress from time to time. However, the ups are far more than the downs. The good life I can relate is material aspect i.e. food and shelter. The basic needs and bottom of the hierachy in Maslow's Hierachy of Needs. We are not hungry and have reasonable shelter.

How about happiness? There are many times I feel down and out at work or about life in general. I do not feel elated nowadays unlike in my youthful days. I just feel satisfied. Satisfied that my family is safe and well, satisfied I have a good job with good team, satisfied I can read, write and learn, satisfied with life in general. This satisfaction is translated into well-being and happy state.

Am I happy? Maybe the question is "Am I unhappy?". I am not unhappy. Not unhappy does not translate into happiness. I am reading Positive Psychology books and I start to think I am happy. Maybe I am just living life...

What's Right!

Lee Wei Ling writes from Washington where she is with her father, Minister Mentor in US. Minister Mentor stayed in the home of Henry and Nancy Kissinger in Connecticut. During lunch last weekend, Dr. Kissinger and MM Lee were lamenting the state of the world when MM Lee said: "Henry, we must do what's right."

MM Lee, in speeches by senior American politicans has the reputation of doing what he says he will do.

This is what I personally practise "Walking the Talk and Doing the Right Things". Of course I am nowhere compared to MM or Wei Ling. It is my beliefs and my practice. Friends, family and colleagues can only judge if I am doing it, for an eye can see but see not itself.

Exams results are In

B1 and B2 did well. B2 improved his class standing from 28th to 13th position and is 57th position out of 227 cohorts. B1 is in the top 90th percentile for Maths, Chemistry and Physics. His weakest subject is Economic which is at 47th percentile. I forgot about GP but it is not bad.

I am quite happy with their results. It is rewarding to know my boys put in efforts and do well compared to their peers in school. School life is Singapore is mainly determined by exams results whereas in Canada it is all about sports (at least for boys).

B3, our baby is in Primary 2 and exams are still ongoing.

Mum is Here

My mother arrives this afternoon from Toronto. She is here to visit and will living with my youngest sister for a couple of months. She is not so mobile now. She has to walk with a walking stick. I am wondering if I could send her to get a total knee transplant. It is a tough call. She has other medical conditions that may complicate any surgery. So I will let her tell me what she like to do.

Zen

Tonight, I decided to go into my zen-state. Whatever will be will. The future is not for us to see. I am trying too hard to save the business for the company who has no will or desire to save the business. So be it.

Letting go. As Buddha teaches us, practice the middle way. Do everything in moderation. Too much of anything become bad. Strength is good. Too strong and it becomes a weakness.

Sitting, sitting the grass grows green. Nature will take its course. Water still will run deep. Be good do good and acquire good karma.

Kate, My Good American Friend

I had a long phone call with Kate. She is now responsible for Capability and Effectiveness. Her daughter is 2 years old now. Time flies. It is 3 years she left Asia. I do miss good friend whom I can chat about everything. Her husband, John is doing well selling woundcare products.

Kate is a survivor and will do well in the company. She felt I am lucky that no one can do my job. I am not so sure about this. Anyway, I am happy with my lot for now and have no intention to change. It is really good to connect once in a long while. She has a quite a few different jobs since she relocate back. I am still the same.

She is such a career woman and so successful. I really envy her. She is a good model to follow.

Chiropractor

Today, I had my adjustment done by a different Chiropractor. I feel so good after the adjustment. Maybe it is just psychological. My neck was twisted and then jerk such that the cervical vertebrae shift and click in place. My lower back was also shifted. After adjustments, it is lunch at Hard Rock Cafe. It is the recession deal of $10 per set lunch with free flow of drink, chicken/fish/pasta and HagenDazs ice cream.

Happiness vs Pleasure

Pleasure is exhausted by usage. It is linked to an activity. Authentic happiness is not linked to an activity. It is the state of being.

The exercise is remember an occasion of inner joy and happiness. Recall how you felt when you made someone really happy or when you peacefully enjoyed the company of a loved one or the sight of a beautiful scenery.

Eating is pleasurable to me. Drinking tea and coffee as well. Indulging in my pleasures increases my waistline.

What made me happy? I recall I was in Pre-U 1(JC1 in today's lingo), I was extremely happy when I heard my classmate, Tan Kun Hoo passed his driving test in his first try. Even Kun Hoo was surprised I am so happy for him. I always remember his reactions to my happiness. He says "Why are you so happy when I am the one who pass?" A few months later, I pass my driving test on my first attempt with only 19 hours driving practice. The achievement make me proud and happy. The first in my family and our immediate circle to pass the test with one attempt. Achievements make me happy.

I am also very happy to see my team members develop and grow in capability and performance. I feel great when they leave for higher responsibility and increased earning. Making others happy is a good way to make me happy. Happiness is infectious.

The Causes of My Happiness

I am doing the exercise on Pg 32 of Happiness by Mattieu Ricard.

I am happy when my kids do well in school. I am happy when they are obedient and listen. I am happy when I have meals with them every time. Wait a minute! Maybe not. This afternoon at Crystal Jade, B3 was giving me trouble and I was not so happy. Dinner time, we have a conversation on B2's choice for his Secondary 3. It was a productive conversation. So I am happy. I am happy to just do grocery shopping with my wife. I am happy just to share simple meal like nasi lemak with my wife. I am happy to just lie at the poolside to read and learn. I am happy when my team members perform well at work. I am happy when my instructions are followed. I am very happy to browse at any large bookstores especially Kino, Borders or MPH. I am happy to read newspaper in the morning with my teh halia. I am happy to read and read. I am happy to surf the internet and write my blog. I am happy to ride bicycle for exercise. I am happy to work hard and keep my Customers happy. I am very happy to grow our business. I am happy to teach and coach. I am happy to eat good hamburger. I am happy to barbeque food and entertain my sisters and my nieces and nephews. I am happy to feed my fishes and lobsters. I am happy to catch lobsters from the reservoir. I am happy to earn enough for my family. I am happy to be alive and well. I am happy to have good friends and colleagues. I am happy to travel and experience all the bookstores of the Asia:) There are many things for me to be happy about.

Is my happiness derived mainly from outer circumstances? How much is due to my state of my mind and the way I experience the world?

Ricard is French. I am not sure what does "outer circumstances" mean. My pleasures are simple. In broad categories, books and reading, family, business and work, and exercise. I would submit that most of my pleasures are external. Reading and exercise would be internal.

Krispy Kreme is Tops

The donuts were simply amazing. I just tried it warm with the toaster and it tastes even better than microwave for 8 seconds as recommended. The flavours burst inside my mouth, the texture was soft and crumply. It is heavenly taste. I hope Krispy Kreme comes to Singapore. Maybe, I should get the franchise...

Hardship and Health

Lee Wei Ling is quite predispose to hardship and health issues. She has a spartan lifestyle. She gave up her bed and sleep on the floor on a yoga mat when she ran out of room. Exercise machines has a higher priority than bed. Wei Ling in a recent article describe how quickly she get used to the luxury of a bed after only six months of sleeping on a bed that the yoga mat became very uncomfortable.

I find Wei Ling's article a little melancholic and can identify with her feelings well for I am by nature melancholic. I love blues and sad music or songs. I just do not like sad movies. Only action, drama or comedy for me.

It is funny to enjoy (if I can say enjoy) reading about hardships. I am happy and satisfied with my life now. I do not yearn or drive for more responsibilities, money or power. It is hey sierra sierra what will be will be.

I am also glad to be blessed with good health and work hard to maintain my physical well-being. I am a little obsessed with my weight and yet my weak resistance to food is preventing from achieving my goal of reducing weight.

No Internet for 4 Days

Boulevard Hotel in Mid Valley mall internet access has changed from free to RM30 for 24 hours. I refused to pay and have to go the a cafe for free access. My work ends late and I did not want to stay cafe for too long. Hence I only focus on work emails and did not update my blog for this trip.

Now I am back home and back with good access, I can now continue to post entries and so that my readers can continue to enjoy the most updated information.

Bruno, the premium Japanese bread with custard has gone out of business. I was heartbroken. Luckily, Krispy Creme is the latest addition in the mall. The donuts are marvellous and melts in your mouth.

I had 3 days for wonderful meals. I weighs myself immediately the moment I reached home and is pleasantly surprised that I did not gain much weight.

Gardening Day

The plants, soil and other supporting material we bought from the nursery in Sembawang came this morning. We have coffee plant, mango tree and a pair of mountain fire in tall pots. I doubt we can make use of the coffee seeds but it is interesting plant to keep at home. Mango is very young. So maybe in a few years, it may grow up strong and produce mangoes for the family.

We also have chiku and pamelo fruit tree each. We are turning our front yard into an orchard. The challenge is we are not experienced in caring for fruit trees. So I am all excited to have my own fruits in the time to come.

Billy Bomber

Billy Bomber has One for One deal. It is actually quite a good deal as the food is quite good. I love the milk shakes. We had two that come with a $7.90 upgrade each i.e. $15.80 plus the more expensive meal of the two. My two younger boys ordered their favorite cookies and cream. I have banana milkshake. It is very yummy.

The problem is weight. Tonight my scale hit pass 90kg. I hope they are mostly water that I can pass out tonight. Next week I am travelling again and will be sitting on my butt all day long and have nice buffett. Best way to gain weight!

Rare Compliment

It is not very often I gave compliments to service in Singapore Airline. I flew very often and have come to expect a basic standard of service especially for the price SQ charges. As my ex-boss, Dave puts it well, I am a hard guy to impress upon and when I am impressed, it is a HUGE compliment for the person.

The Taiwanese Stewardess who I have a picture on Oct 9 entry impressed me. I also understand why many Singaporeans feel threaten by "foreign talent". This girl worked very hard and is very competent. She is the lowest rank in the cabin crew and so the pay must be the lowest. With the combination of strong competency and energy, her performance is exemplary. So if I am a Singaporean Singapore Girl, man! it is hard to compete.

This is not to say that Singaporean Stewardess are not as hardworking or competent. However the standard is much higher with colleagues who at much higher job performance. This does bring up the standards of service. It keeps our local girls out of the competition and the job less satisfaction as it is so much harder to achieve a basic "meets" job performance rating now...

To Boh Tong and Anonymous:

Yes, I did write to SQ and gave my feedback on the day of my flight. Below is their reply and my original letter.

ref : 0XX00XXX/GL

Dear Mr Booklover(my moniker)

Thank you for your complimentary feedback of 10 October.

We have forwarded your email to our Cabin Crew Management who will identify the crew concerned and assist to convey your appreciation and kind words. We are sure that she will be encouraged to keep up with her good work.

We appreciate the time you have taken to write to us, Mr Teoh and we look forward to the pleasure of welcoming you onboard our flights again.

Yours sincerely
Geralyn Lee




10/10/2009 08:26
To: SAA_Feedback@singaporeair.com.sg
Subject: Great Staff

Hello Madam,

I like to highlight to you that you do have an extremely hardworking Taiwanese stewardess. She is just amazingly fast, efficient and tireless. I like staff with good attitude and she is definitely one.

There is also an older gentleman whom I think is the Chief Steward. He makes me feel like I am in a five-star resturant. Kudos to both of them.

I am very impressed by the Taiwanese. You are very lucky to have such employees. I have a picture of her http://kthinking.blogspot.com/2009/10/most-hardworking-stewardess.html

aka Booklover

From :
Supervisor,
CUSTOMER AFFAIRS ((x16139)/65416139)

Lately Weather Pattern is Weird

Its been raining heavily lately. It is still early for monsoon season. I am wondering if monsoon has arrived. If so, is this just a blip or the start of a trend?

Climate is changing. Is it global warming or is just part of the long term climate that is actually regular? We are in an unusual calm and stable period for the climate. This calm period is only 10,000 years which is only like a split second in the history of the earth.

On yahoo news, there is this Mayan Calendar theory where the world will end in Dec 21, 2012. Will it? We will know three years from now....

What I like about KL

I will be in KL next week. There are many things I like about KL... The cost of living in KL is a lot lower than Singapore. There are many fabulous resturants - international chains like Chilli's and Friday's, Thai or Vietnamese food, Malay food and best of all the hawker centres. I love the hawker centers in KL because the hawkers specialties are quite different from home. Wanton mee is black sauce, Penang kway teow is white and Prawn noodle or hey mee soup is very tasty. Even bak kut teh or pork ribs soup have different varieties and use herbs rather than pepper.

There is a huge Borders and MPH in Mid-Valley Mall. The white coffee is far superior than the Kopi in Ah Kun. Kaya toast come with brown kaya instead of pandan green. Nasi lemak rice is in serve in the shape of a cup. What is missing is teh halia.

The girls in KL are warm and friendly whereas Singapore girls will look at you with suspicions. The guys skinny and underweight and made Singapore men look obese.

Yes, I am looking forward to my white coffee fix next week.

Economic Recovery

The economy is in the mend, a banker friend told me today. The stock market run up was due to the market expecting the economy to be out of the recession. Many of people are still waiting on the sidelines and have not invested during this run up from Feb to Aug.

For the past month, stock markets has been moving sideways. Fresh leads are needed for the market to move again. Right now, we are a little nervous with the October Effect. October is the month where stock markets crashed and drop like a rock. So hopefully, investors can start looking at investing again during the new year.

Prius Experience

I have driven the Prius for a few weeks now. It is a joy to drive. In the beginning, it take getting used to. The response was extremely slow when I step on the accelerator. Now I know it is because I was in "eco" mode. Lifting my foot off the accelerator, Prius will not slow immediately. The rolling resistance has been lowered to increase fuel efficiency. Even the profile chassis and the wheels are shaped to minimise wind resistance.

I am now averaging 5 litres per 100 km. It is really fantastic to know that I am reducing my carbon footprint significantly.

Ming Kee Live Seafood

Reading the food blog's recommendation, we decided to go to Ming Kee Live Seafood to try out the food. The crispy fish skin is like potato chips with fishy taste. The Pork Ribs looks very tempting but is quite chewy and fibrous. We also had omelette and home made tofu. Overall the yummy factor is 4 on a scale of 5. The price is quite high too. For our family of 5, our dinner is $73. Maybe price of zhi char has increase due to inflation.

Mulit-million Dollars Business

I visit my latest Customer in Taiwan and is totally amazed by its operations. It is a family run Papa business making millions of dollars profits in NT. This is still no small change. Yes, it is still millions in Singapore Dollars.

What amazes me is tje business has only three employees to unload and pack the products. Two sons and their wives work in the business as well. It is very well run, cost effective and extremely profitable. It is a business for me to learn and emulate...

Great Scott!

It's a bird, it's a plane...it's...it's Superman!

American originality and creativity. Superman is a man with superhuman abilities and help the weak from the strong, the oppressed from their predicament. The author and creator of Superman suffered the fate of weak and oppressed. He was not paid his fair dues from DC Comics. He remained a very poor man while DC comics rakes in huge profit from Superman comics. Yes, it is ironic! No Superman in real life.

Most Hardworking Stewardess

This Stewardess working on Flight SQ877 is working non-stop throughout the flight. I am using my iPhone camera and it is the best picture I got as the girl was moving too quickly for my camera. I was very impressed by her dedication to her job. She is full of energy and very courteous. She is a Taiwanese girl and I am very impressed.

Din Tai Fung

The bill came up to NT1,314 or S$59 for two. Kind of expensive for a 3 cold dishes, a drunken chicken, stir-fried chick pea greens, 10 pork dumpling with crab roe and 5 red bean dumplings.

This time, I feel the food is not as good. Maybe it is because I ate too much or maybe I was talking too much. The free flow tea did not taste good either. Water quality must be bad or the tea is cheap quality. The cold dishes are still my favorite. I think I may skip this place next trip and maybe go for the Man La Hotpot or Spicy Hot Shabu Shabu.

Here I am...

D24

Durian, durian! Giant had lelong of D24. 7 pieces for S$20. A couple of the durians have only 3 seeds! It is a dollar per seed. It is still quite expensive but D24 is Sultan or the King and therefore does command a premium. I am so full now. Durians are nice snacks, pungent, delicious and flavorful. Of course they are full of calories. My weight is not going to come down with such deals...

Din Tai Fung, Here I come!

I am looking forward to eat at the original store in Taipei. It been more than two years since I was in Taipei. Taiwan is a country I rarely visit for work as the business is still small. However, we are starting some activities and will be building foundation for a small but solidly growing business.

The food is good, the bookstore is fantastic for Chinese books lovers. English selection is more limited but the store is open 24 hours. I wish we have our own 24 hours bookstore in Singapore.

There are plenty of meetings lined up as usual. This is why keeping weight down is so challenging. It is good food followed by sitting for hours, then more good food. No exercise just eat and sit.

5.1

A lovely number. This is the amount of petrol in litres needed for 100km travel for my new Prius. My previous car, a Volvo S60 will drink 11.5 litres to cover the same distance. In terms of responsive, it is not as good at regular mode. However there is a Power option which makes the Prius just as zippy as S60.

The amount of petrol dollars I save will not be enough to cover the price premium we paid for being eco-friendly.

It is a great feeling to reduce my family's carbon footprint. Cheers to Toyota! Keep up the wonderful development and innovation of new technologies reducing the impact on our Mother Earth.

Friday Night

It is the beginning of a weekend. Exams are upon the boys and only the eldest is studying seriously. Maybe not, he is just doing Instant Messaging with his friends. We are so obsessed with exam. So much anxiety and angst. Maybe I should relax and let my boys do what they like. It is the weekend after all. The two younger ones are trying to fix up a crushgear kit. It is a toy motor car with moving parts in front to "crush" the opposing car. There is a missing motor and B2, the middle boy is getting frustrated looking for a replacement motor. B3, the youngest is the trouble maker. He is the one who want to fix but is fooling around instead of putting the toy together.

A Room Full of Wise Men

Why seek wise men? How can you seek wisdom? Who do you know is wise? What would wise men counsel you on?

Wise men help deal with issues and solve problems. Wise men(by the way men include women as well) give sound advice and have experience and expertise, knowledge and methods. I do have a room full of wise men. It is my library. I can consult my books for anything business issues be it people, competition, selling or marketing. Many CEOs in US have extensive library. I do not have their purchasing power nor their money. I am happy to wallow deep into my books. Learning is fun.