What happened to Books?

I am reading more these days. However, I have not wrote about them recently. This blog has become my diary. I want to write more about the books. Boh Tong, my fellow blogger describes this blog as a Book Lover's Blog. I have been neglecting my passion. No! I have been negligent in reporting on the books I have been reading.

I just finished reading "A Class with Peter Drucker" by William Cohen. The book is on the lost lessons of Peter Drucker. Drucker wrote a lot of articles on many subjects. Cohen is a doctoral student taught personally by Drucker. There are quite a few things that Peter did not write in which he transmits directly. It is the like Kungfu movie where the master has to pass the secret to a special student who will take over his place in the martial arts school.

I realise I do not make a lot of sense to some people especially in a group meeting. I talk in riddles. This is because I do not give people the background and jump straight to the point confusing people in the process. Peter Drucker is the same. He asks the right questions for his consulting work. He only tell you what to do through his questions. However, he does not tell you how. The most famous example was told by Jack Welch. Jack was just made CEO of GE. He consulted Peter Drucker and Peter asked him two questions. First "If you are not in this business will you get into this business?" 2nd "If you are, what are you are you going to do about it?".

With the two questions, Jack Welch came up with the Number 1 or Number 2 strategy. He increased GE market cap by many times.

Lunch in Chinatown Hawker Centre

Salty! We all agree. It is the saltiest food we have experienced so far. The roast duck and roast pork was salty. The three dishes, sweet sour pork, prawn paste chicken and minced pork in the economic rice section was salty. The food were full of MSG as well. We were so thirsty after the meal.

My Mum, Her Mum

Yesterday, we went out with my mum. This morning on our way to brunch we met Her mum and dad rather my mother-in-law and father-in-law. I was hungry for ribs and so decided that we either go to New York New York in AMK Hub or Cafe Cartel. She did not like Cafe Cartel. So we go to NY NY. My in-laws were just outside NTUC and our paths crossed. In fact my wife squeal out like a teenager and I was wondering what happened...then I saw them. Daughters are funny and very filial. Somehow they have plenty to talk to their parents and over trivials and many not important things. It is real quantity time. I really wish I have a daughter everytime. Anyway, I got tired for waiting and decided to head to NY NY to get a table.

We invited our boys' grandparents but they declined saying they have something else to do. My wife was insistent. She check with the waiter to make sure they can serve vegetarian food. Once he confirmed, she convinced her parents to have the meal with us. We ordered a vegetarian pasta and pizza for them. I had my favorite which is ribs as usual with a latte. I ordered a cappucino for my father-in-law and my mother-in-law had orange juice. They enjoyed the pasta very much and my boys help themselves to the vegetarian pizza especially B3.

After lunch, we part ways and my wife is estatic and tell me her parents is very happy. We had a wonderful time as a family. I feel the warm glow inside me to have some quality time with my mum, her mum and dad in two days.

Inflation

Finally, Sunday Times does a comprehensive report on inflation, something I blogged about in the past. The poor are severely and negatively impacted. Members of Parliament(MPs) are getting more requests for financial aids and food care package. Even expatriates are affected as well. Their rental has gone up. Living expenses has increased dramatically.

Ministers are advising people to find ways to reduce costs. Basically their suggestions are reduce your standard of living. This is a commonsense approach and I am doing the same. We are eating out at hawker centres more and cooking at home instead of going to resturants. Getting advice from people who earn millions of dollars a little hollow and demeaning. I have no choice but to adjust downward to my lifestyle. The poor cannot afford not to do. It is something they have to do for survival.

In Japan, when welfare is cut, the poor and jobless starved to death. A Japanese man died in his home recently. In the diary, he wrote his pangs of hunger and how he keep dreaming of just eating a ball of rice. His neighbours saw him all skin and bones and he has no energy to walk just crawl around his house. It will be terrible if our society become polarise into the rich and poor with a shrinking middle class. We all know the rich rule the poor and get richer. Rich are few in number. The majority become poor and poorer. What a terrible thought! I hope this will never happen in Singapore society.

Mum comes to Town...

My mother is here to visit. My wife reminded me to bring her out. I have to persuade her to come out with me as she is not very mobile. We had dim sum breakfast just opposite the Subordinate Courts. The resturant is ran by ex-convicts. So all the waiters have plenty of tattoos. They give great service and pays attention to our needs. Mum was asking me about chilli sauce and the waiter brought two small dishes even though I did not ask him. We had a good meal. All the staffs are very courteous and attentive. They seems to be keen to redeem themselves. Even my wife is who sensitive and nervous about shady characters is very comfortable to eat there. She is the one who suggest we should go to this place. We are very happy to patronize this resturant. The food is good and price is reasonable. My only complaint is their teh-C is terrible. It is lukewarm and taste awful.

After breakfast, we adjourn to Vivo City. We bought an Infrared Heater for mum for her knee problems. We had a fantastic massage by the Panasonic Massage Chair. There were no sales person. It is very nice to get a full course of fifteen minutes massage without listening to sales talk. I am drop by more often and hopefully there are no sales person on duty! I also tried the core muscle trainer. This is like horse back riding. According to the brochure, a professor from Japan visit Europe to study the horse riding therapy. Since horse riding is not popular and very expensive, he work with Matsushita to come up with a machine. This is the third generation machine. The price is $2,288. We walk over to Osim section and I-gallop is available for $598. I did not like I-gallop as the seat is small and it look like a rocking bicycle seat whereas the Panasonic is like riding a simulated horse. Ok, I have never riden on horseback and do not know how authentic it feels. However, if I have the money and going to buy, I will definitely go for the Panasonic model.

Time off for Holiday

I am seriously thinking of taking a few days off for holidays. It is more than a year since my last holiday trip to Copenhagen. Now, I am thinking of somewhere near like Bintan. I like Bintan since recommended by a fellow passenger. Also it is easy to get to. People have to fly 14 hours to Singapore and then to Bintan. Meanwhile, it take on 1 hours for me to get there and I am not taking advantage of it.

It will be good to just go and relax with no computer, no internet. Just read, swim and eat. Sound like a fantastic idea. Maybe it is time to make my fantasy come true!

A Cool Evening Walk in Chinatown

We decide to drop by Chinatown for dinner and take a stroll. Tiong Bahru congee was excellent with deep fried intestines. Sound yakky to my white friends but they are clueless when it come to food! We also have Ah Balling or rice flour balls with peanuts filling in sweet peanut soup. An excellent dessert available only in Chinatown or Maxwell market.

It is very nice to walk around without the crowd. The stalls sells all kinds of cheap paraphernalia and gifts. I feel like a tourist. It is holiday mood to mix with the tourists and walk the tourist's jaunt. Our boys do not seems excited. Only B3 was dragging me around to look for something he seen when he had a school excursion to Chinatown. It is a doll head and when you water it, the "hair" will grow. The "hair" is grass.

It is a good way to end the evening....

360 Feedback

We have 360 feedback for performance reviews. It is a lot of work to write for everyone else. I wonder what would Peter Drucker's views be on 360 feedback.

Improved!

I felt quite good and accomplished for this last trip to KL. Reflecting and thinking of the two days in office, I realised the office is happier and more engaged. Team spirit is stronger and overall atmosphere has improved. I am very pleased with the progress of the action plan we put in place. I know why I feel good. It is the ability to effect positive change on a group of people. I am happy:)

A Good Day

I had a good work day. It is nice to feel accomplished at the end of the day where work not only get done, it is done well. We finished with work day with a meal at Tony Romas. The menu in KL is halal. So only non-pork items are offerred. I had bbq boneless ribs this time and it is much better than ribs with bones. The samplers are excellent. I love the chicken wings.

I did not eat a lot. So it was good. I still feel very full and bloated. Kind of hard to reduce weight. Will have to continue to be watchful. Life is about balance. So I will not hurt myself by eating too much or too little. The Middle Way!

Christmas Festivities

The malls are jingling. The Christmas jingles are on everywhere. I loved Christmas. I was a great cynic in my younger days. I always thought Christmas is too commercial, a way for the retailer to increase their sales. Buying presents, giving gifts and doing the gifts exchange were marketing programs dream up by retailers.

After spending 7 Christmas in Canada, my opinion has changed. The gifts are still required but now I feel the Christmas spirit. I love the snow and the warm fire burning in the fireplace. My mood is green and red of the pointsettia. Our kids setup our Christmas and decorated to its finest. They also hang up the sock and put in their requests to Santa Claus.

Christmas is about giving and forgiving. Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol tells a tale of giving and sharing and the joys that we can share. I will be counting down to Christmas day. Then it is Merry Christmas! my dear readers.

Family in KL

We go to KL for a long weekend. It was shopping and more shopping. Good thing is we do loads and loads of window shopping. We also spent a lot and contribution to the retail sector of Malaysian economy. Things are only a little cheaper than back home. However it is the holiday and vacation spirit. We bought swimming gears, books, toys and had plenty of games. B3 also had an animal ride for RM3. We also played pool as a family.

It is good to take a break and let the family take a break as well. This morning the Eldest boy asked if we are going for a trip. He felt that we have not gone for a trip. KL trip is too short to be considered a holiday.

PSLE RESULTS Day

PSLE results are out today. The release is preceded by a long talk. It is high anxiety time. I was lucky to get there in time to see all the emotions. You can see there are many who are very happy and there are those who are in a state of shock. The top girl of the school cried because she is not happy with her results. She achieved 253 points. I am sure many other pupils who would love to be in her place. It is all about expectations. No matter how good you are, if you fall below your expectations, you will be unhappy.

On the other hand, if you lower your expectations, then you will be happy with the results. B2 was very happy with his results. I am too. He scored only 213 points. I am very happy because my expectations was lower. I thought he will get below 200 points.

I think living in Canada has change my perspective about education and exams. In Canada, there is a huge phobia against exams and results. The focus is on education and not results. Kids are encouraged to do sports. Sports develop team work, ability to work with others and EQ. So when B1 got his PSLE results 3 years ago, I was happy too. I was happy he was top in his class. However, he did not make to the school of our choice. So we do have regrets but not in a big way.

After reading Dr. Seuss' Oh! The Places We Go (required reading for a Leadership Retreat when I was in Canada), I know my kids will have 98.5% chance of succeeding. So why worry. Be Happy!

Cool

It is nice to have cool weather despite the rain. The Thai Cafe at Thomson Plaza has good food at reasonable price. We had a set meal for 4. There is a soup(tom yum of course), cashew nuts chicken, sweet and sour fish, fried mixed vegetables and deep fried prawn cakes. We switch the soup to green curry since my boys do not take spicy food. The green curry was delicious. mixed vegetable crunchy and tasty and prawn excellent. Fish is a little fishy for me and cashew nut chicken is so-so. Together with drinks the meal come up to a total of $52. Not bad.

Back home, I open up a pack of healthy nuts and finished it . How to lose weight?!

Nuts

I am nuts about nuts. I am addicted to nuts. Without nuts, I go nutty. So off I went to buy nuts. NTUC is my choice of supermarket for nuts. I was hungry for nuts last night and there were none in the larder. So today, I make a trip just for nuts. Sugar peanuts, sweet peanuts, healthy choice nuts and memlembu nuts came home with me:) I had sugar peanuts right away. It tastes so good....mmmm. NUTS! The flavours of my life.

Good Stress

Stress well known to be bad. Stress cause heart disease, high blood pressure, insomnia, depression, neurosis, etc, etc, and etc. All bad stuff. Good stress? What is good stress? Where can you get good stress?

Actually exercise is stress to the body and it is good stress. It elevate the heart rate and blood pressure. Exercise also kick in our natural painkiller, endorphin. Exercise also get rid of all the stress hormones by working them out. When we are stress, our body has a fight or flight response. Adenaline is release and if we did not fight or run away from stressful situation, the adenaline stay in the body and our heart continues to pound and blood pressure stays high. Exercise works off the adenaline. Our body can calm down better once the stress hormones are worked off our body system.

Violent Thunderstorm

The rain started in the afternoon 3pm. It drizzles at first then stop. Then the rain starts again steadily pelting away. At about 4pm, the lightning flashes in increasing frequency and intensity. And the winds strengthen to gale force. The rain has become stormy. I took a drive out and tree branches had fallen on the road. Some trees had bigger branches broken and obstructing the roads. I must say our services have improved because there were workers clearing the blockage. This reminds me of living in Toronto where snowstorms are frequent and the city has an army of emergency vehicles to clear snow and remove distressed vehicles.

I also think it may be the global change in weather that we are getting more and more violent storms in Singapore. Unfortunately, scientists agree this phenomenon will become more common in future. We have to learn to live in nature rebelling against man's blatant disrespect for the environment.

Flu Shot

I had a flu shot for preventive measure and my arm feels sore. It is only 0.5 cc. The shot was relatively painless and was over in seconds. The aftereffects take longer time to wear off. The benefits? I guess I can only know when the flu season is on.

The whole family took the shots and I hope we get good return for our money...

Housework

The boys and I sweep and mop the whole house today. It is physically taxing and when we finished, I have a sense of accomplishment. I am sweating like a pig as I write. The boys in this process learn a little of housekeeping and responsibility. This will also prepare them when they flew the coop. The other point I like is they can live independently without a woman. I know I am getting a little carried away. One morning of housework cannot be extrapolate to complete independence. Like Buddha says, "The journey of a 1,000 miles begin with the first step." Today is the first step... :-)

Copywriters are Poets

Reading the papers in the morning, the advertisement by Robinson caught my eyes. Usually, I filters out all advertisements. Robinson put out several full page colour ads. Right at the front page. Therefore, it is impossible to miss. Usually, I would not have bothered. This time, I like the poetic lines about friends and family, warm memories of the Christmas past, and other lines I have forgot. Sigh! my short term memory is weak.

I realise copywriters are good with words and write poetry to attract attention and interest.

Dante's Peak

I just bought this old movie by Pierce Brosnan and Linda Hamilton. It is a very touching movie on dormant volcano erupting. The story line is simple and the human spirit is strong. Adding on the spice of love and family, courage in the suspense of danger and the kids high voice in panic... all great recipe for an exciting time.

I was put on the edge most of the time and together with touching and tender moments, I get the roller coaster ride in emotional ups and downs. It is an enjoyable way to relax in the evening.

Conversation with Inflight Supervisor

On the way to Shanghai, I take a stretch break at the emergency exit. The crews were extremely busy. The Inflight Supervisor was helping the crews and when he saw me, he stopped to chat with me. He is quite young in his early forties by my estimate.

He has similar stories that Boh Tong shares. He serves his former colleagues in first class. According to him, stewardess with a few years know how to make themselves look really good and carry themselves well. They marry to rich husbands. He says he has serves a few of his ex-colleagues. One ex-stewardess because there is no first class from Brisbane to Singapore, she actually fly from Brisbane to Melbourne so that she can fly first class to Singapore with her baby.

Home again

Blogs are banned in China. So, I was unable to update in the last two days. Shanghai is a great city. Food is very good but food of msg. I feel very thirsty and have headaches when I sleep at night. We did plenty of good work in the last two days. Weather is nice and cool. It is people everywhere. Extremely crowded. It must be stressful just living in this city.

Yet Con - Home-Style Hainanese Chicken

We decided to go to Chin Chin, the Hainanese Resturant for dinner after window shopping in Raffles City. Strolling leisurely, our family of 5 have good chat and drink in the slow scene on Sunday. Purvis Street has lots of nice resturant. MediaCorp is filming in one of the bar. The actresses were dressed in their finery. However, we could not recognise any of them.

Before reaching Chin Chin, we notices directly opposite is a chicken rice resturant, very traditional looking and very crowded. We changed our mind and eat there instead. The chicken is taste homestyle and roasted pork crispy, tender and with very little fat. We had steam boat that cost $16 for two plates of raw ingredients. Total bill? $48. This is good food, good value. Traditional food with "classic" furniture. This is a resturant I would recommend.

Walk Down Memory Lane

Beach Road NCO Club used to house the Army Dental Clinic. I had my first "bridge" done by a neophyte dentist. He is a very conscientious man and pay attention to details. The whole operation take a couple of months. He has to grind two molars down to a stump. I think I took 4 to 5 trips lasting up to an hour each. My mouth would be numb for an hour everything time. The trouble is only half the mouth is anaesthesized. So I have crooked smile for the hour the anaesthesia is wearing off.

I walk along the road that I have to take bus back. Odeon Tower today was a movie theatre. There was a beef noodle stall along the Purvis Street which I never fail to stop for a meal. The only regret is I was unable to savour the flavors of this famous beef noodle as my taste buds has not returned to normal after the dental treatment. Bras Basah Complex is still the same then and today, housing all the 2nd hand bookstores.

Soon the NCO Club will be demolish to make way for spanking new buildings as the site has been sold. Another piece of landmark which my memories can hang on will be gone and I will have a hard time to recall the architecture of the building.

Never mind, I have formed new memories... Suntec City, Ngee Ann City instead of the singing Christmas Tree, Centrepoint instead of Cold Storage, Swissotel instead of Raffles Institution. We have to look forward to change and more changes.

School is Expensive!

Even going to Primary cost lots of money. The textbooks, uniforms, school badges, stationery are getting more and more expensive each year. It gets tougher and tougher to live in this inflationary world.

Our "quality of life" has improved over time. Life is better by standard economic measures like TV, refrigerator, oven, etc, etc. The books are new with pre-printed workbook. Do we really need all the material things? I know I cannot live without the computer or internet. But how did I live without them before?

There are ways to disengage on the rat race or material wealth accumulation. Live simply. There 3 books that studied this phenomenon. All 3 have the same title "Affluenza". Money makes the world going round and let me enjoy the finer things in life e.g. good food, cappuccino, movies. Can I reduce my requirements to live a simple life? Should we all live simply and keep the earth intact for our future generations?

How would you move Mt Fuji?

This book is on how the world's smartest companies select the most creative thinkers. It gave a brief history of the new style of interviewing. Most interviewees are well prepared for all the standard questions e.g. What is your strengths and weaknesses? What are you proud of? What do see yourself doing in five years?, etc.



Microsoft give puzzles and time the interviewees as they solve the puzzles. Often times, impossible puzzles are given like the title. The interviewees are graded for their creative answers. I find this an interesting read as the workplace and market have changed dramatically. Google, Goretex, Toyota are companies that have innovated in new management system according to Gary Hamel in his latest title -The Future of Management.



The future success are all created by new and innovative ideas. As usual, only selected few becomes enomously rich while the rest of us toil for pittances.

Thank God It's Friday

I wish all my readers an awesome weekend. Spend the weekend to do what you like or not do anything at all. Weekend is a good break and time to smell the roses. I am glad to have some time for myself and my family... wife, boys, our plants, our pet fishes...mmm. Wonderful.

Work is fufilling but can drain one's energy. It is a good time to recharge.

Ego Booster

My office manager is quite placid and indifferent any happening in the office. It was late in the evening when I spoke to her over the phone to followup on things to do after my meeting with Customer. In a "smiling" voice, she told me I must have an impact as the Customer I met yesterday has dropped 2 container loads order. I told her she sounds like her predecessor.

I spoke to another manager(her predecessor) who told me the office team is excited with the orders that came in. A team member say we should send me to Korea more often!

I did not think much as I have many followup to do. I took a walk in the mall to stretch my legs and get my blood flowing. I decided to reward myself with Coffee Bean coffee as I have abstained in the previous two nights in the interest of reducing my weight. As I was sipping the warm coffee, a wave of euphoria hits me. The smell and flavours of the coffee lifted my spirits. I feel like I am walking on air and the news of getting in two big orders sinked in. This is a wonderful walk. The girls I passed looked prettier. Previous two evenings, I can hardly find any pretty girls walking in the mall.

Mood is a funny thing I realised. Pretty girls are everywhere when I am in a good mood. I now know I am wearing a rose coloured glasses once I feel good.

Fall Colours

It is beautiful and glorious sight with the leaves in green, yellow, red, brown and gold. I spent most of today on the road. South Korea is very hilly and only the lowland are occupied by man. So the hillsides are full of trees. This brought back memories of fall in Canada. Fall is the best season with nice cool weather and still reasonable daylight hours. The maple trees which is very common in Ontario turn into brillant colours after first frost(i.e. below zero celcius). The leaves will fall into big piles and it is fun to play with and in them. I still have pictures of B1 enjoying himself in a big pile of leaves grinning happily.

The Rich Passenger

The passenger sitting beside me is a rich Korean lady. She wear a huge diamond ring and a diamond bracelet with a string of huge diamonds probably 1.5 carats each. Her watch is expensive too. She speaks excellent English and is back to visit her father who is old and ailing. I notices she has the current best seller in the bag as well, The Secret. I have not read The Secret yet. I know it is about getting rich and getting what you want and using mind to cure your health. I do not know why she is reading this book. I thought to myself wealth is never enough.

My old neighbours in the HDB flats in Yishun were regular kind of folks. They were school bus drivers and their wives are production workers. Their combined income would not be more than $3K per household per month. With that amount of money, it must be difficult to feed a family of four. Growing kids requires high expenditure for school fees, books, bus fares, meal allowance, clothes, entertainment, etc, etc. Just daily living. With the current inflation, it must be even more challenging.

I am sure they would love the recipes in The Secret to teach them how to earn or acquire more wealth. From poor to the super rich, everyone wants to know THE SECRET!

Dynamic Korea

On my way from Incheon Airport to Coex Intercontinental Hotel in the limosine bus, the memories of the ride with Kate two years ago. It was the first time we ride on the bus together. We talk a lot about everything. It is also the first time for me to interact with colleagues from other divisions. Since then the nature of my work changed.

Inflationary Pressures

Today, The Sunday Times published an article on the inflationary pressure cause by the rising price of wheat. Many folks in Malaysia are cutting down or shopping in lower price retail outlet even though it is more incovenient with longer queue. A family can save RM300 per month shopping in Price Chopper instead of Premium Mart. One family stopped eating out on the weekend and save RM200 per month. Life is getting tougher and tougher with standard of living deteriorating with inflation. Income is not keeping pace with inflation. This is bad news for ordinary folks like us.

NAFA Concert

Kids does wonderful thing. The NAFA annual concert performed by the students age between 4 and 6 years old was electric. The kids does song and dance, sketches and musical. NAFA focus is on creative pursuits. The curriculum consist of drawing, painting, sculpture, music and dance. Some basic Chinese and a little English. Creative focus and B3 loved going to school. It is fun for him. We pay high fees plus his school bus. The payoff is a happy child and we need not bring him for enrichment class.

It is fun to enjoy the performance by young kids who are very innocent and absolutely adorable. The teachers must have spent lots of time and effort to organise and prepare for the performance.

NAFA must have lots of problems with leadership and management. The turnover of teachers and staff is high. The principal change every year I attended the concert. However the program is excellent for kids and B3 is a happy boy in contrast to kids who attend PAP kindergarden.

Global Warming

I believe in global warming. I believe all the human activities is causing our weather pattern to change. There are people who do not believe in global warming and who feel that the changes are part of the natural weather patterns of the earth. I was reading an article who claim that global warming is blame of rivers and lakes drying up when the increase in temperature is 0.5 celcius. This writer feel that 0.5 degree is neglible and within the range of historical changes pre-dating human civilisation.

I think the writer is deluding himself. With the amount of energy consumes by the population in the world today and the destruction of habitats on land and in the sea, I have serious doubt human has nothing to do with our current unstable and more violent weather. Earthquakes are more frequent too.

We should all do our part to reduce, reuse and recycle and become environmentally friendly citzens of the world.

Up, Up and Away...

The oil price and freaky weather is having an positive on prices. Price of grocery and food is going up and up. It may also be the increase in GST. Salary is stagnating. Nett effect? Our quality of life is dropping. The lower income group get the maximum impact as they spend a higher percentage of their income on food and transportation.

It's been a long time since price has increase so dramatically. I bet those born in the 70's and later has never inflation like this year.

The two percent increase in GST this year is another impact on our prices. Death and taxes are the only permanent things in life.

Busy busy time

It is non-stop work and work. Have plenty of issues to deal with and need loads of analysis to figure things out. Man! It is a wild ride right now....

BrandTalk

The response was overwhelming. There were more than 180 attendees. Mont Kiara was the place to be. Smartly dressed up in office wear. Senior Managers, Junior Executives, Brand Managers, Advertising Managers, all eager to listen and learn.

The audience was attentive. I spoke for about 45 mins. The length of time of just right as the audience were getting edgy for sitting for so long. The feedback from one was sum in one word "Brillant!".

I want to thank my audience for coming and listening.

Sorry....

I am sorry I have not been updating my blog in the last few days. It was crazy time with work and preparation all clashing together. I feel I am pulled in many directions. This is an adenaline rush. I will be travelling every week for the next 3 weeks. So I am looking forward for a vacation in December.

LongKang Fishing

LongKang is hokkien for drain. We decided to be a tourist for a few hours.

After brunch, we drove to Neo Tiew Road where time has slow to the 60's. Low rise, messy factories, junk yards,...bring back memories of Singapore when I was growing up. Today, we have tall and shiny buildings with bright indoors lights and cool temperature be it malls or offices. Hawkers stalls are now regular shaped in concrete or stainless steel and not wicker baskets and makeshift wooden shelters with canvas tops.

We stopped at a fish farm. There were gigantic fishes on display, stingrays, live shrimps and crab. Fishing ponds was well patronize by anglers. For the kids, there was longkang fishing. Bring back the memories of yester-year when drains were full of guppies and other small fishes. The charge to "rent" a small bucket and a net half the size of a dollar for 30 mins is $2. The fishes were fast and it is next to impossible to catch them. We have tried many strategies to corner them by the fishes always escape. Finally, the farm owner added some fishes and the odds turns in my sons favour. B3 caught 9 and B2 caught 7. I guess it is the survival of the fittest. The fishes that were caught were freshly put into the longkang. The fishes who were free are survivals and are impossible to catch. They are ultra fast in escaping and knows to hide under the bridges on top of the longkang.

As Darwin says it is the survival of the fittest. After a while only the fishes who manages to escape many chases stay free.

Rank #1

My blog is ranked #1 out of 10. At least it is better than zero. Only Google get 10. Yahoo is 9 and MSN is 8. The good thing is I am not at the bottom. I must improve my readership to so that I can improve my ranking. There is nowhere to go but up. Hurray, up and up we go.

It is easy to check. Click on this: http://www.checkpagerank.com

AGM on the Estate

We have our 2nd Annual General Meeting tonight. And all the resolution were passed. It was a positive meeting for all the pending decisions.

I have tummy upset due to bad food I have eaten against the advice of my Wife. It is very important to listen to The Wife's advice. Otherwise it can be pure suffering. Good thing is she is a fantastic nurse and gave me the right medicine to settle my stomach. I took Po Chai Pills and it was not effacious. She gave me two Lactofort pills and one hour later, I felt so much better.

She is my lifesaver!!

Brand

What is brand? and why brand? How to brand and build brands. These will the questions in my head for the next few days. I must mull over brand and branding the next few days.

Palm Beach at One Fullerton

Sea...food. Crispy sotong, black pepper crab, deep fried chicken in peking duck style, kangkong in belachan and braised pork with bun. Mmmm! great food and great company. Final touch was pumelo in mango juice.

The sea breeze is cool and right across the bay, numerous cranes in the construction site of the Integrated Resort or Casino. The Merlion spray sea water continuously. It was a wonderful evening with my colleagues from Australia.

Modesto, the Italian Resturant

This resturant is in Orchard Parade Hotel. The pizza are good. Spagetti is alright. The tiramisu is ok. Overall I would say it is above average. It is definitely premium price and popular. For the appetizers, the garlic bread is the best. Bruchetta is so-so and deep fried calamari rings is ok. If you are a pizza lover, this is one place to try.

Hua Ting in Orchard Hotel

I had dinner with my colleagues in Hua Ting. The food is of high standard and tasted good. All diners agree the food is good. The resturant overflow to outside. It is full while we were having our meal. We had Peking duck, ma-po tofu, beansprout with salted fish, pork rib with tea leaves, ee-fu noodles and yang chow fried rice.

Together with drinks, it is abotu $60 per head. Price is a little steep. However, I will recommend this place to celebrate occasions in the family like birthdays, anniversaries, mother's day, etc.

Change and Change Management

I wonder about organisational change and change management. Change is the only constant feature in organisations today. Ability to cope with change is one skill all of us must have, even entreprenuers as the world is changing fast. I attended a coach session where the coach equates ability to cope with change with bouyancy in canoeing in fast moving river. The key is to stay afloat in the changing conditions of the water. It is not responding or resisting to the changes. Nor is it about changing with the changes. Bouyancy is keeping afloat and staying up and bouncing along turbulent water. Values must be steady as change occur.

So in many ways, some things change and some stay the same. The sameness anchor us and keep us sane. While we respond to change by changing our habits, attitudes or behaviours.

Yummy Chicken Rice

I brought my colleagues to the chicken rice stall in Margaret Drive. The tasty and quality is still good. My colleagues are very diplomatic with regards to the taste. So I have no idea which is their preference. I love this stall in Margaret Drive most as I grew up in the neighbourhood. They have tasted Boon Tong Kee and ChatterBox. I feel the standard in ChatterBox has dropped and the price up. I will not bring any of my guest to ChatterBox anymore. The chicken rice there is slightly above average hawker stall in term of taste. Just for the ambience, the price is too high.

Boon Tong Kee is good but price is quite steep compared to Margaret Drive. The other place to try next time will be Pow Kee if it is on weekdays. I will not want to go Serangoon Garden on the weekend. Maybe Toa Payoh roast chicken is another possibility. Any other recommendations from my friends?

New Book by Gary Hamel

Gary Hamel has a new book on Management. The problem with PageOne is all the books are wrapped with plastic and so I was unable to browse. It is hardcover and price at $52. So I will wait for the 20% discount before buying. This book discuss the Future of Management. How the current ways of management will not serve for the future. I think it will be a good book as he is quite futuristic in thinking.

The Complaint - FEEDBACK requested

My Wife read this blog last night while I was blissfully in dreamland. Her impression is I write like a single man. I only wrote about my boys or buying milk powder for B3.

I like to get feedback from my readers. Do you get the impression after reading my blog that I am single? Please put give me your feedback in the comments.

Goddess of Mercy

Since last Sunday, I wanted to go to temple in Queen Street for regular "fix". It is uncomfortable for me if I do not visit and put in my regular donation. I am glad the whole family went. B1 was in school for his homecoming and joined us after lunch in Bugis Junction. So before going home, I brought B1 to pray as well. I realised our kids just follow our actions. I think back of the time when I was a kid and watching my mother pray. My father was an atheist. I grew up not comfortable praying especially since I find little comfort in burning of paper money. When my mother make me pray, I just go through the motion without understanding why or how.

I grew up worshipping science. My ambition as a student was to be a scientist and work in Bell Laboratory. Thomas Alva Edison was my hero. I wanted to be an inventor like him. Somehow as I grew older and start working, all my childhood dreams and ambition fad. Early in my career, climbing ladder was important. Then the priority change to earning more money especially after marriage and kids come along. Along the way, hard knocks in life make me realise life is not just having a job or earning a living.

I find prayers and regular donations are helpful to lift spirits and heal the soul. Maybe I am getting wiser with age. Maybe I realise there are more to life than material wealth. Or maybe I have no worries on basic needs that I am free to pursue higher needs. Whatever it is, I always feel much better after praying. So it is a good day today just praying to Goddess of Mercy.

Retail Therapy

Women go shopping to relax and relieve stress. I do too. I go to supermarket. Buying fruits, snacks(I am a munchies monster), milk for my boys, milk powder for the baby of the family and some sundries like floor cleaner, disinfectant and soap powder for the household.

After spending three quarter of an hour and feeling the pain of paying out my hard earned money, I actually felt better. Is spending money the way to feel better? Or is it the acquisition of hard tangible objects?

Maybe it is the fact my sons and I will get to enjoy a few mins of bliss eating snacks, I do not know....

Activities can be Rewarding

Well, it is a busy day. I have done lots of work. At the end of the day, it felt good with a satisfying sense of accomplishment. I realise just doing lot of activities can be rewarding too. Many things cannot be measured, however we know it when we see it.

For example love. How does one measure love? The number of hugs or preparing the favourite food. Maybe kissing and necking or taking care of the physical needs of sick or stricken. These are physical manifestations can be seen and measured. However, it does not really measure love. For love cannot be measured with an instrument or observation.

Activities like collections can be measured and the more the better. So the means can become the ends. Instead of results which is the end, we practise more activities.

Baby is coming...

My good friend, Kate will be having her baby soon. It must be unnerving and exciting at the same time as this is her first pregnancy. From a male perspective, I always think it is a wonderful to have the baby. From a female perspective, carrying the baby for nine months, the labour pains, sleepless nights to feed and care for the baby, it is lots of stress and work.

This is why mother's love is the greatest. Mum does everything to ensure baby is protected, in a safe environment, fed, clean, grow well and be responsible kid and then adult. The role of mother is critical to the future to mankind.

My tribute to all Mothers.

Work Life Balance

Have work, have life
No work, no life
Life is work and work is life
Life is meaningless without work
Life is meaningful with work
Work is paid and some time not
Homemaker work 24/7 and never paid in money
Only paid in the far future
Work, work, work, let's all work.

Gourmet Butchery in Parkway Parade

There is a gourmet butchery in Parkway Parade. The meats looked interesting. There are different cuts and price is at premium. Beef, mutton, pork and chicken seasoned or fresh. Some are threaded in a stick or kebab.

We bought baby back ribs and cajun chicken breast. The customer before me bought hundred and twenty dollars worth of meat in two handcarry bags. My ribs is $17+ and breast was $1.80. We barbeque at night for dinner and the ribs was excellent, very juicy and seasoning at the right touch and not overpowering. The breast was dry and taste average.

The boys were out with me to do the bbq and I feel like a role model teaching and showing my sons the ways a father should be. We had fun.

Is it a Public Holiday today?

I am not sure if today is a public holiday in Singapore. This is the disadvantage of working from home. There is no public holidays. For sure, it is a National Holiday in Malaysia as our office is closed today. Both B1 and B2 have no school today but B3 school bus came to pick him up. This mean NAFA kindergarden has school as usual. For newcomer to my blog, B1, B2 and B3 are my boys from eldest to youngest. B1 is in Sec 3, B2 in P6 and B3 in K2.

The easiest thing to do is to call up the office in Singapore to find out. What the heck! Work gives meaning to life. Don't worry whether if it is a public holiday. Just work. Or as Nike puts it "Just Do It".

A Good Day

Morning, woke up with no alarm... a real good start. Off to Chomp Chomp for breakfast with youngest boy and Wife. After breakfast, I bought muffins at the coffee shop and takeaway noodles for B1 and B2. Then it was off to Takashimaya to my favorite book store Kinokuniya. There are always new books there. The range is also enticing. It is much better than any library. Now Kino has some benches to allowing browsers to read in a more comfortable manner than sitting on the floor. Among the superstores, Kino is the least friendly to shoppers. Borders has comfortable sofas as well as benches.

After Kino, I went to Funan Center for lunch. It looks like the profile of Funan is changing. It used to be purely computer related business. Now, I see V Hive, Times Bookshop and other non-computer related business coming into the mall. The F&B has improved with more franchises like Ah Kun and Delifrance. I am happy to see Polar is still operating in the same store at ground floor. Times has 2o% discount for Hari Raya. The store is quite big with good selection.

Book business is quite competitive now. Times and MPH has frequent discount at 20% level. This is a lot more attractive than 10% for Kinokuniya or Borders. It is good for both the consumers like me and the book retailers. Consumers get better selection and competitive price. Kino, Times and Borders gains with the market size expansion as consumers purchase more. This is a win-win situation.

Brand Building

Brand is a long term investment. It takes decades to build the brands we know. I like the article in HBR on Long Term Management of Brands by Leonard Lodish and Carl Mela.

Companies routinely overinvest in promotions and underinvest in advertising, product development, and new forms of distribution. As a result, powerhouse brands have been weakened, often beyond recovery.

Two contrasting examples were used to illustrate the key managing brand. A pickle manufacturer sell through Wal-Mart and experience huge increase in sales through low price. The next effect is the overall margin drop as sales in Wal-Mart cannibalized other channels. When the pickle manufacturer asked Wal-Mart for price relief, Wal-Mart refused and the pickle manufacturer has to file for bankruptcy. Whereas when Footloose a shoe retailer cut Nike orders by $200 million to protest the terms Nike had places on prices and selection, Nike cut its allocation of shoes to Foot Locker by $400 million. Sales at a competitor of Foot Locker increase and in the end Foot Locker acceded to Nike's term.

Nike maintain strong relationships with a variety of retailers and invested in brand equity whereas the pickle manufacturer allow the channel to own the brand and end-customers.

Lucky Prata

Curry fishhead, bryani rice, curry mutton, chicken tikka and roti prata. The mutton was a tad salty and the fishhead was too spicy for us. Bryani rice was good. We want to try the naan but it was not available as it is Hari Raya and the chef is off.

Lucky Prata is at Lucky Plaza and was featured in Straits Times before. I still prefer the mutton bryani in Northpoint, Yishun.

Late night out!

Exams are over for both boys. Finishing work late, we go to the mall late. Friday night is busy. Traffic in CTE going to town is slow going. Everyone is on their way out just like us at 8pm. We decided to go to Plaza Singapura since it is quite some time we were there. Plus, Times Bookshop has 20% discount during Hari Raya. Long queues line the entrance of all the resturants. Good thing is food court is not so busy and there were seats. So we had our typical Singaporean fare.

Night is lively on Hari Raya Puasa's eve. Traffic is very heavy when we head home. The mood is festive. It will be a good holiday weekend.

Vegetarian Dinner

After a long day of book reviews and training on Influencing Skills, we finished with a vegetarian dinner as we have a colleague who need to be a vegetarian for the day. We went to a resturant that serves vegetarian food and had some wonderful dishes.

Finally, our meeting is over and while the meeting is long and exhausting, it also strengthen our team's resolve to increase our effectiveness and improve our financial results.

Buffet Lunch One World Hotel

We had buffet lunch and what a spread! Japanese, Chinese, Indian, local Malaysian and Italian cuisines in their separate stations. The selection was amazing and for someone like me who like to taste everything, it is hard to resist the temptations. The food was fabulous and dessert range is sweet and mouthwatering. Small servings of chocolate banana cake, blueberry crumble, cheese cake, carrot cake, mango moose, chocolate moose and more! Cookies (5 different varietiess), ice cream, ice kachang and the healthy fruits.

Oh! I forgot the salad. I must say "can't complain". A few of the items were just average. I had satay and it was good, the ice kachang is excellent as I get to choose the ingredients and also add syrup to my personal taste.

I will give this lunch 4 and half spoon.

Catching Up with Colleagues

I managed to have some time to catch up with some colleagues. It is good to talk and get to know my colleagues better. We are also working at ways to improve and taking baby steps to towards excellence.

Royal Bintang is a nice hotel. Only complaint I have this time I am put on the smoking floor. I also received gifts from two of my colleagues from China. One brought tea and the other gave me roasted chestnuts.

Good Day

It is a good day. Plenty of work done and getting ready to go to KL. It is good to see everyone again. I know every one is excited and getting ready for a big "pow-wow"(meeting in Canadian language). It will be a roller coaster ride and we all have to work hard for the next few months. We will be doing a book review and training on Influencing Skills.

It will be fun!

People and more People

Yesterday, I was just commenting on the crowds in all the food centers and resturant. Downtown Shenton Way is just full of people. Walking about is stressful. It is avoiding knocking into someone or if my attention is distracted by something e.g. food, someone will knock into me. If it is a man, usually he ignores the bump. A woman will glare at me even if it is her fault. I am exhausted after a short trip of paying attention so that I stay in one piece. No wonder it is stressful to live in the city.

IKEA Resturant

It seems like everyone thinks it is a good idea to have dinner in IKEA. It is madness in a mad house. The queue is long and service slow. Food is ok, probably above average. Carry own food and serve yourself yet popular. The nasi bryani mini set meal is below average in taste. My wife loves the meatballs spagetti which is why we ate there.

Singapore is crowded everywhere on the weekend. Car park is a problem, long queues for meals in all resturants, food centres are just a mess. This is sign of a buzzing and booming economy. People are queuing up to spend. Our population increase has our F&B infrastructure bursting at their seams!!

Doer, Teacher and Consultant - Random Thoughts

There is a saying "Those who can do, those who cannot teach and those who can't even teach, consult." "Teaching is a noble profession" some say as the future leaders are in their hands. "Consultant borrow your watch to tell you the time."

All these sayings are true depending on the context. I want to be a teacher and a consultant. I love to see people improve and increase their effectiveness.

Dreams, when will they come true? Or am I living my dream and not realising?

Hot Weather

We are not alone in having hot weather. In Canada, they are experiencing the warmest Thanksgiving in 150 years or since records were kept. It is very hot and humid for us like living in a gigantic sauna. In Canada, the hot weather is welcome. Everyone is very happy to have 30 celcius temperature at this time of the year. Most of the time the temperature at this time of the year should be in the low teens during the day. I remember seeing snow falls at this time of the year and giving a startled look out of the office. Bruce McGillvray, VP of Sales saw my look and asks "What the matter, K? Have you not seen snow before?" He asks, surprised by my stunned look at that time. I politely responded (after all he is the big boss) "Of course but not so early in October" Right now we can do outdoor meal. I missed life in Canada.

To read more about how much the Canadian welcome the warm weather, click here: http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/264103

Niece P

I also notices my favorite niece P has not dropped by for some time. Maybe she is not logging in from SMU anymore. I enjoys seeing traffic to my blog. I must say that I am proud of a niece in studying in a prestigous university. I am the "study type" (bookworm sound derogatory) and so she is doing the right thing to keep her uncle in his good book and brimming with pride.

Exhausted!

I was tired and slept early last night from overwork. I remember the link my fellow blogger, Goh Sze Li has on a Customer Service Manager who died of stress and overwork in HP. Sze Li is now very busy with her work as a school teacher and do not blog as regularly. She is still visiting my blog and leaving me encouraging comments.

Back to my state of mind and body. While work is fun, too much can make a person feel drained. I am at a heighten state of stress for some time now and too much adenaline and caffeine makes me feel good and charged up. However, I hit the wall last night and instead of writing a piece for the day, I just go to my very inviting bed, curled up and move to dreamland almost immediately. After a long night of rest, it is still insufficient. Balance is something I need to achieve. The hot weather does not help. It is very warm and hard to concentrate in the afternoon.

I resolve to recover well for next week when we have a team meeting and I am conducting training.

The Lost World

Since it is so low cost at $5.85, I decided to buy a copy of The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. MPH has Wordsworth Classics at an amazing price. Far better than Kino or Borders! I read the story before a long time ago when I borrowed from the library.

I read the first few pages again and find the words and description outstanding. Now I understand why re-reading a book can bring in different perspective and give additional pleasure. I think after so many years of living life, experience broaden my outlook and improve understanding. Maturity plays a part. The opening is on a beautiful woman and how he want to propose to her. Reading the story when I was in Secondary School, I probably skipped this part or did not understand the description of the feelings by the author. I was enjoying the later chapters unfolding the excitement and thrills of adventure in an exotic jungle.

Work and work

It is back to the grind. Work is crazy. It is non-stop from morning till late in the evening. My ears are burning since my head is on the phone the whole time. Calls keep coming in. Work does give fulfillment. It is exhausting when load is heavy yet at the end of the day, there is a sense of satisfaction.

I love my work!

The grass on the other side of the fence is greener

In my estate, there are few towkays. I always tell them it is great to be like them. They have a great lifestyle with lots of freedom and have staff that they can call on in an emergency. They also send staff to their home to fix up their house.

Working for a company no matter how high level you reach and how much authority you have, you will not have this ability. In Ceylon, the saying is "It is better to be the head of a chicken than to be the backside of a bull."

BusinessWeek on Microsoft HR

Sep 10, 2007 issue of BusinessWeek has an article on Lisa Brummel, the HR Chief of Microsoft. In some of my articles earlier (May 2006 or thereabout), I was critical and disappointed with the HR policies and HR attitudes. I will quote sections on Lisa that make her successful.

Internal surveys - which at most companies help inform HR policy - presented a picture of a happy, contented workforce. Brummel didn't buy the rosy findings. "People weren't connected to the company or our mission anymore," she says. Brummel didn't want to follow the usual HR script: benchmarking best practices and imposing them on the company. "Before you go running off campus," she told herself, "you should know what's going on on campus."...Lisa went on a listening tour to all the Microsoft offices around the world.

Time and again, Brummel heard the same refrain: HR was a black box; it had to open up and get employee input. People loathed the forced curve in performance reviews. They wanted clarity on compensation, more direction on how to get promoted, and better managers.

They were fed up with the nickel-and-diming on creature comforts. How could a company headquartered near Seattle, home of all things barista, serve industrial-grade sludge in do-it-yourself makers that belonged in a mess hall? "The coffee was just really, really bad," says corporate Vice-President Chris Capossela.

I bet most companies in Singapore are like what I described in mid last year where HR practices archaic, HR managers has atrocious attitude and very self-righteous. They are "helping" you, the employee. Life would have been better without their "help".

Money

Money dominates the conversation during dinner. It probably occupy 80% of the time. I wonder if this is just a Singapore phenomenon. In Canada, the conversations always surround on what you do when you are not working like sports, fishing, long drive, home maintenance and kids school and kids activities. I notices here we are obsessed with money, properties, en-bloc, gold, jewellery, stock market, toto and 4Ds. Everything related to $$!

Money makes the world go round. Money changes everything. Money is the root of all evil. No money no talk. Money no enough. Money, money, money! it's a rich man's world.

Team Spirit

We spent lots of time working on team spirit. We keep plowing through the core values, behavours, and attitude. We discussed and work till 9pm at night and adjourned to for a Hakka dinner in Ying Ker Hakka Cuisine in The Curve. The soup was fabulous and the food delicious. The bill is RM238 for 7 heads.

The Curve is bohemia. It is like a mall in California. I love the feel of San Diego-like atmosphere..

Full Moon

Big and round,
Shiny and bright
Moon may and moon might
Make my wish come true tonight

I wish I may and I wish I might
The wish I wish be true at night

What do I wish
What do I like
Everyone is happy
Everyone is bright
Work is busy
And work is light
Reward is fair
Recognition is right.

Goodnite...may moon fairy make your wishes come true.

Toothache!

Had a toothache that is bothering me for a few weeks. I went to a dentist two weeks ago. He drained pus in my swollen gums and cleanse the wound and gave me antibiotics and painkillers. The problem was solved for a week. Now it flared up again. It was terrible to be travelling with a toothache. I am losing weight fast!

I went to see my regular dentist and he think the root is inflected and I will need a root canal. The problem it is another four weeks of pain and wait. Tough!

Lantern Fest Party

We have a Lantern Fest Party at the poolside. Lanterns were lit with candles and hang around the trees and under the giant umbrellas. The atmosphere was warm, romantic and festive. The moon although not full cast bright lights in the cloudless sky. All the kids have a lantern that is in the shape of the Chinese Zodiac animal in the year they are born. They played with sparkles and have fun doing the "kindergarden walk". This is a new term for the adults. Invented by NAFA or Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Kindergarden, kindergarden walk is all the kids lined up with their lantern lit and followed an adult to walk around a dark path. It was great fun as they adjorned to a game of tag and they were screaming their heads off.

The adults sat around and had conversations on business and gossips about whos who in the government. It was a great evening to celebrate the moon cake festival.

Giving Training

Training was in the menu for the morning. There were 6 participants plus their Boss. The previous session was on selling at premium price. We went through selling from high level, explain their roles and how they fit in the big picture. We also go through their company fit with the Customers' profiles that they should be pursuing to increase growth in sales and profit. The last subject is on our product vs competition as well the characteristics of the competitor company vs my company.

Now the participants have a good understanding their roles and how to service the different customer groups. They have happy to learn about my method of prioriting the customer groups for more effective results. Overall, I am glad they have enjoyed the session.

Chiang Mai

Going from Bangkok to ChiangMai and then back to Bangkok. A day trip just to meet an important Customer. It was a good meeting but the day is long and journey arduous. I am tired and exhausted but the trip was not in vain. We have the Customer's assurance we are still the prime supplier. Phew!

English as it is Broken

This book is the top seller for several weeks. It is produced by Speak Good English Movement in conjunction with Straits Times. The book is at a good price of $8 and PageOne has 20% discount. There are plenty of signs that bring a smile, even obscene as a sign in a MRT station says "Go inside Her". This is easy for me to remember. A letter "e" makes a huge difference.

Communication can be only effective with a strong command language skills.

Near Misses and Accidents

Incidents are high according to the news reports on the "budget airlines". Boh Tong blog has documented some of the incidents including nearly clipping the air control tower in Tokyo by the ill-fated airline in Thailand. This is really scary. Boh Tong link is on the right under "interesting blogs".

With air travel coming to a new age of quote AirAsia's "Anyone can fly" slogan, safety seems to be compromised in the interest of cost reduction. Will the fatality rates of air travel rise to the level of road travel? It will be terrible when this happen.

Influencing Skills Training

I was in Philippines with my Japanese colleague who is responsible for the business there. We had a meeting with our partners and customers. One of the partner has a new sales rep and I told them I love to train especially young reps since they have not acquire any bad habits yet. My Japanese colleague remark that my training is academic. I do not know how to take this feedback.

Did he think I am too theoretical? Was it not practical? Maybe he did not feel the value of my training? Was it mean to be an insult? Well, I am not sure. Knowing him, I am sure he will not be disrespectful.

I was preparing training on Influencing Skills and using Robert Cialdini's book Influence, Science and Practice for reference when the comment hits me. Robert is a Professor of Psychology. I realise I will be reinforcing his feedback that I am "academic". Using Cialdini, I will be training using logic and my anecdotes will be based on rigorous scientific study.

So I thought about it and know this is not going to go well with my audience as I do have a wide representation from other areas in my company. I rack my brains hard. Influencing skills are rarely taught. Since joining the workforce I had numerous trainings from skills enhancement like how to repair medical equipment, how to train service engineers to management and leadership skills and even English pronunciation to get rid of my Singapore accent. However, no Influencing Skill training which is in hot demand.

I had a brainwave! There is a classic book which I recommended to everyone in my team in every new assignment I have. The author is not a Professor. He trains working adults. He died in 1955 but his name is alive and well. There is an organisation carrying on the torch. The book he wrote is How to Win Friends and Influence People. Dale Carnegie courses are available in Singapore and most other countries. The tips are practical and works. The advice are pretty much commonsense although commonsense really is not so common.

This book helps me achieve success and I will pass the wisdom on to others.

Plane Crash in Phuket

Terrible tragedy with more than 110 dead! The model Boeing MD80 has several plane crashed in different locations. This plane belong to Thai budget airline. Budget airline seems to have higher incidents of plane crashes. Recently, Indonesia budget airline has several planes crashes that resulted in the airline being grounded. For a frequent air traveller like me, I am concern with the airplane disasters. With pressure to cut costs, companies are requiring their employees to travel on low cost carriers. The risks are increasing.

Working has become hazardous and risky especially in a large organisation.

Inspired to ....

Straighten up my book shelves. I have no idea why. I look at the my bookshelves and decided it is too messy. Books and files are mixed together. Cds and dvds are arranged neatly on the shelf but some are stack horizontally in the available space. The different shapes and sizes of the various format of cds, cassette tapes and dvd covers make shelf very uneven giving it a very untidy look.

Now I am admiring my own handiwork. All the cds of the same format are now arranged vertically and a straight row. Books of the same height are in the same shelf. Files are put together and loose papers and ring binded sets of papers are stacked in a separate. It is a pleasure to look at. I wonder how can I stand looking at the eyesore for so long?

Bedok Court

My wife's friend lives in Bedok Court, a fairly old condomium. The landscape is full of mature trees and the ferns on the ground floor units were gigantic. The swimming pool is a rectangle shape and is fairly small for a rather sizeable estate. The playground is archaic with sand rather than rubber tiles for flooring and the play sets are made of wood and rope instead of plastic and metal in today's construction.

The apartment is at 5th floor and the built-in area is between 6,000 to 7,000 sq ft. Incredible amount of live-in space for $800K last year. With the en-bloc fever, the unit is worth between $4m to $5m. This mean her friend is $3m to $4m richer in 12 months. Even after a lifetime of saving, I would not able to achieve this kind of net worth. Some are lucky and some are not. I guess I belong to the latter for now.

To count my blessings, I have a great family, plenty of love and fun, good job, good health, plenty of friends, respect in my community, ... a couple of millions will make it perfect!

Mouthing Watering Expectations...

Since this morning, activities and tasks are non-stop. Work and home require lots of attention after coming back from a trip. I am looking forward to trying out the Rack's bbq sauce. It is actually quite expensive...almost S$5 per bottle. Premium bbq sauce in Cold Storage is only $4 to $5. I am happy to bring back the taste of memories. Memories of my time in Megamall in Manila, indulgent in succulent ribs, my favourite dish. The sauce is sweet and tangy. I also manage to find a recipe for fall-of-the-bones ribs. Please click here http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Leisure&p=49&type=2&sec=42&aid=20070912100

Yes, the weekend is here. I will try out the sauce tomorrow. I will not be able to try out the recipe yet. However my wife marinate excellent tasting meat. Of course I think it is my skills in cooking that produces the best results and makes all the difference.

Falls off the Bones Ribs

Finally, I managed to go and eat Flame grilled falls off the bones ribs at Racks. Racks was my favourite resturant in Philippines when I was responsible for Philippines as a Country Manager. I travelled there every two months and lived in one of the two hotels beside SM Megamall. I know I always gained weight everytime because I will have dinner at Racks by myself.

Racks used to be a chain and had franchisee resturant as well. It has falled on hard times and currently there is only on resturant in St. Francis Square, Pasig City. I loved the food so much that I wanted to bring the resturant to Singapore. I called the owner and make an appointment to meet with him. He is a Chinese Philippino and is quite rich. He had a General Manager who was in the meeting as well. They want S$1 million for franchise fee and I have to set up the resturant by myself and do research for them on the price of port and cost of setting up a commissary. I was young and do not have the money. More importantly, I feel they are greedy and want me to do all the work and give money to them. At no time did they talk about how to help me set up the resturant. My wife reactions went I come home to tell her about my meeting was for a million dollars we can setup a few resturants ourselves and test out all the recipes ourselves. So I dropped the idea.

I have been back to Philippines a few times in the last few years and had no chance to find out about Racks. Finally, I met someone who know this resturant yesterday. The sad news is there is only one resturant now. I am not surprised as the owner was too greedy and the chain did not succeed. The food was good and I love it. Tony Romas, my other ribs resturant is still doing well.

Manila

It been a long time since I was last here. I love Manila. The food is good and girls are gorgeous and friendly. The traffic however leave much to be desired. I had gum infection was having headaches for more than a week. My usual dentist is not available. He is a professor in NUS and getting an appointment with him is worse than pulling teeth out! I have to wait for mroe than 3 months. I was talking to my mum and she told me the dentist my sister used is very good. So I called my sister and get her to book an appointment for me. I was lucky to get treatment on Monday before my trip to here. My gum was infected and the dentist cut my gum to release the pus and clean it up with antibiotics. The effect was immediate. Although painful from the treatment, the pain is much more bearable. The recovery was quick! I could eat normally again by yesterday night.

Dinner last night was at Dad's which has buffet with Japanese and Philippino food. Another team member was there for holiday and she and her boyfriend was there enjoying the sumptious meal.

We have a series of the meetings today culminating in a Japanese dinner with our key Customer. The food is high quality and the choice was wide. We had sushi, yakitori, sashimi, grilled beef, salad and finishing with excellent desserts. My weight is up again!

Crispy Prata at Thomson Road

The crispy prata at Thomson is good. Very good, very crispy. Of course teh halia was non-negotiable. The teh halia is average. Prata is very tasty and is deep-fried. It is probably artery-clogging with all the transfat. Sinfully delightful. The health-conscious devil in me prick my conscience and the devilish tastebuds sends me to heaven. I am glad this place is out of my way. Otherwise, I will be enriching a cardiac surgeon in no time.

Installation of Clothes Dryer

My wife bought a clothes dryer from Best. A simple purchase and addition of a machine is actually a major installation. We have to move the washer to another location so that the dryer can be stack on top of the washer. In order to facilitate the machine to work in the new location, we have to install new water pipe and water tap outlet as well as drainage for the washer. By the way, I forgot the electric socket need to be at the new location as well. The new machine called for a fairly extensive renovation. It is messy and an all day affair with all the drilling and fixing up the electrical outlets and water piping.

After that it is cleaning up the mess. Putting back all the cleaning paraphernalia and reorganising the space is a huge time consumer. It is almost 9pm before we go for dinner. By the way, we did not have lunch....a good way to diet! All the shifting, cleaning and organising are back breaking. The Wife is exhausted but have the satisfaction of accomplishment and a job well done. Our backyard is spick and span now:)

First Job

B1, the eldest completed two days of work. He is very happy to earn his own pocket money. I am very pleased he is learning to earn. I can sense his euphoria when he is very nice to his younger brother and enjoys playing tricks without really scaring them and grinning his head off as he try to surprise them.

It is nice to see him over the moon.

Another Beautiful Day

It is great to wake up without the boys calling daddy. Sending the boys to school is one of the little things I do to bond with my older boys. I wake up early to send them to school and then go for breakfast before starting work. As I usually work at night till about eleven, I do not get my full quota of sleep when schools are in operation.

School break is my sleep break too.

Intense Pace

The pace of work has intensify dramatically this week. No time for my favorite activity - cradling my books and learning. I missed reading my books:(

The bright spot is it should be over soon and I can be worming around the learned pages. B2 is studying for his PSLE. It seems like mothers are godsend when it come to "encouraging" kids to study. Boys need their mummies to sit beside them before they can work. My son and my nephew both requires their mum sitting beside them before they can study or do the test papers. I rather give up on their study or cane them into submission. For this, my hat off to all mothers. Hence Mother's Love is the Greatest.

School Holidays

This week is school holidays. The two older boys are playing computers and attending extra classes in school. School does not stop during holiday. It is very different in Canada. In Canada, holiday is "real". No homework or assignments. Plans for trips usually do not get disrupted. Holiday is time for family, part-time employment, sports, working around the house(maintenance) and vegetating(do nothing:)).

We are in a non-stop rat race. Any one falling by the wayside will have to dropout. We celebrate success, wealth, power and all visible signs of material accumulation. Rare do we publicize acts of compassion, charity and kindness. Straits Times Interactive should have a Act of Kindness site like Toronto Star.

Heat is On

Busy time of the year with budget, contract renewals and making sure the business is in good shape and team in tip top condition. I am giving our team the heat and making everyone on their toes. We are doing everything we can to keep our business growing and growing under challenging conditions.

So it is work and work and work... and I am loving it (tra la la la LA!)

Friendly Neighbours

We had a bbq dinner with a couple of our neighbours and they enjoyed our food and we all enjoyed the company. Man! This is bad for weight. Just tonight alone I gain a kg. Hope this will pass through my GIT or gastrointestinal tract in medical terminology without converting the calories into fat.

We had a wonderful evening. Man is a social animal and eating and talking is the best way to socialise.

Uneventful Day

Another ordinary day. Breakfast and papers. Sending boys to their tuition and piano classes. Routine life in Singapore. No adventure, no excitement. An ordinary existence. B1 playing computer games, B2 with his gameboy and B3 with neighbours' kids. Mummy is busy with her housework and shopping. A weekend day's life of a typical Singaporean family - boring, usual, no excitement or adventure. Food and shopping malls dominates our life. No nature - too hot, no sports - golf is too expensive, no exploring upcountry - too small, no cottages - Malaysia is another country. Variety is the spice of life. We do have variety - resturants, foodcourts and hawker centres or Takashimaya, Vivo City, Plaza Singapura or Centrepoint.

Life in a Sin city - best place in the world to raise a family.