This is when Bitter is Better!

These are no ordinary melon seeds, they are Swietenia Mahogany King Seeds, harvested from Solomon Islands. They are also commonly known as "Sky Fruit" seeds, or "Bitter seeds" in Hokkien dialect.

You can try to chew them as you would melon seeds, but the incredibly bitter after-taste could linger on your tongue for many hours to come. But, if you are conditioned to believe that bitter is better, then you would benefit a great deal from these seeds. By the way, it is good for those with diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterols, just to mention a few... It comes in a bottle of 120 seeds, and that is going for SGD $30.50. Read the label below for more information.


http://www.lifeplus.com.sg/SwieteniaMahoganySeeds.htm

Exercise GENEROSITY with WISDOM

Once I was having lunch with a friend, a man in his fifties, sloppily-dressed but fit-looking, suddenly appeared beside our table and asked crudely in Hokkien dialect, "Can give me some money to buy food?"

My friend stared at him and asked him politely in Hokkien dialect, "Uncle, what do you want to eat? I buy for you now." He kept silent and my friend suggested to get him the "fish porridge". He hesitated for a moment and decided to find himself a seat a few tables away from ours.

This man probably had never met with such a response to his request, he looked stunned and not too happy with my friend's suggestion, but he couldn't reject the offer because he wanted food. Do you know what he was up to?

In fact, he is just one of those guys going around begging for money to buy cigarettes. Once they have begged and collected enough money, they would rush to the stall to buy cigarettes and start puffing away in a remote corner, feeling so accomplished. These are truly the "professional" beggars meeting their daily smoking quota with a standard begging script.

Towards the charity-smart beggars especially this group who beg to buy cigarettes, it is better to be wise when exercising our generosity and kindness.

Write your own LIFE STORIES...

All of us, regardless of our educational, cultural or religious backgrounds, go through life in our very special and perhaps unique ways. As such, we all have our own personal and unique life stories.

It would be good if we could get into a habit of writing our stories down day by day. Even if we were to write just one paragraph a day, we would have more than 1,000 paragraphs three years down the road. Isn't it great? By then, you probably would not stop writing because writing has become a part of your life.

Well, if you want, you can get your writing published, if not, you can keep it and pass it on as an inheritance to your next generation. It is a wonderful gift from parents to children.

Check out the fine prints before committing yourself...

When I was in the Philippines, I got acquainted with an Arabic teacher from the Middle-east, who was obviously teaching Arabic Language in the Philippines. We often met and chatted at the hotel lobby. He was not good in English but was able to utter a few words here and there with lots of hand gestures trying to convey his message across to me. Of course, I responded to him the same way that he could understand.

The time eventually came when his job was done and he had to depart from the Philippines. The night before his departure, he asked for an interim bill from the hotel reception and was reading it at the lobby. He looked very puzzled over many items listed in the bill and he asked me to help him make sense of the bill. So, I went through and explained to him item by item. Hang on, this is where the real fun started....

First, the room rate was doubled what he read from the advertising banner hung on the front facade of the hotel. He was unhappy and claimed that the hotel cheated him. In actual fact, the advertisement read, "Php XXXX per person, twin-sharing room". The rate was in extra big fonts while the other wordings were finer in print. He occupied a twin-sharing room alone, so he was charged for two persons. He was very mad but was not able to express in English, I could see the deep frustrations in him. Now, that is not all.....

As I went down the list of items in the bill, I told him he had taken tit-bits and chocolates from the hotel room everyday and those were the charges. He was rudely shocked, he said, "What? Not FREE?". He said with his broken English, "Everyday, I eat, very nice. I finish, they put back, I eat somemore, I eat many, I become fat, I go beach walk everyday. This one NOT FREE?" I said, "NO, must pay money!". I could not control myself, I was laughing aloud.

I really empathised with him for not being able to read English well. Frankly, it is important to get the information right before committing to do anything that involves money, or else, we might end up like this Arabic friend of mine.

The Merlion Statue, Singapore

The Merlion Statue, 8.6 m high and weighing 40 tons, is one of Singapore's national icons. The Merlion is an imaginary creature with the head of a lion and the body of a fish. This half-lion, half-fish sculpture rests on undulating waves. It is brightly lit at night, and a favourite with photographers and tourists.

Kids are creative, aren't they?

Kids are creative. The only problem is that sometimes, they use their creativity at the wrong place and at the wrong time.

If you can't beat them, join them.

As the saying goes, "If you can't beat them, join them." This is especially a sound business advice when it comes to the competitive business environment, and it has hence, given rise to what we commonly hear of today as Strategic Alliances.

When your business competitor is too strong for you to beat, it would be foolish to fight him head on. In fact, the most productive and advantageous approach to adopt is to be on his side, and the way to do it to form an alliance with him strategically. With this alliance, you can fight the competition together instead of with each other.

On a personal level, it is always good to make more friends than to create more enemies. It would make your life more peaceful in the day and you can sleep more soundly in the night. The way to do it is to be always at peace with yourself and with each other.

Learn from our mistakes...

The SMS on the left with words of appreciation was from someone whom I have personally helped when she committed a criminal offence. I just hope that she would be given a chance to turn over a new leaf. The message on the right was my reply to her. The name was erased to protect her privacy. The message typed in Chinese Language literally means "Thank you for your help, for without your help, I would be at a loss as to what to do...."

To err is human, we tend to make mistakes, but the important thing is to learn from our mistakes and do not repeat them. No matter how lowly we may be, I think it is important to work hard, earn an honest living and live an honest life.

Still, there are Good Samaritans...

While the media are flooded with news of cruelty, brutality and inhumanity categorically caused by terrorism, there are still kind souls and good neighbours around.

I recently learnt that there was a local businessman who with a kind heart, set up a business to help his friend make a living because the latter was severely injured in an automobile accident, suffered temporary and partial disability for six months and had not been able to go back to his previous job as he could only work on light duties now. I was impressed with this businessman who rendered practical and kind help to a friend who is in need.

From the look of it, it appears that this businessman is helping his friend make a living, but personally, I think it is more than that, he is actually making a life. This friend feels greatly indebted to and deeply appreciative of the extraordinary help rendered to him and has decided to make the best of his life now.

As he went through and survived the accident, and met a Good Samaritan, he now appreciates the value of his life and understands the meaning of life. He is taking his life with a balanced perspective knowing that life is so fragile and unpredictable but with much gratefulness for the special help he received from his friend.

Money is hard-earned, spend it wisely...

Those who have been through life the hard way tend to appreciate life much better than those who don't or haven't. The younger generations are growing up in a relatively more comfortable and stable environment, be it in the area of financial or security. As a result, many tend to take what they have for granted.

They don't seem to appreciate the value of money and they don't realise how hard it is to make money. Hence, many of them spend money anyhow, anytime and anywhere without even feeling any pinch or pain in their pockets. All they know is when there is no money, just stretch out their hands and their parents would give it to them. And because money comes so easily, they never bother and attempt to understand or appreciate how hard their parents have to work to earn those monies. Some even use the money on the wrong things.

Nowadays, it is hard to find students who are without a mobile phone with some exceptions. Do they really need the mobile phones? When it comes to the bills, who actually pay for them? Isn't it the parents? There are also a good number of students who smoke illegally in school toilets and outside schools, where do they get the money to buy the cigarettes which are not cheap?

I think as a whole, the society is getting more affluent, social and moral values are shifting and changing, parents are meeting their children's demands too easily with an attempt to make up for their lack of time with the children and children are exploiting their parents' weaknesses.

In the long run, the children would be so spoilt to the core that one day, when they no longer get what they want or when the parents can no longer meet their ever increasing demands, they might even turn against their parents. I just hope that such children would spare a thought for their parents and begin to learn to appreciate how hard it is to make or earn money. Spend the money wisely and only when it is absolutely necessary to.

Hidden values of Network Marketing

I had a good chat with a man in his late thirties, who is still working for someone but is running his own business through a partnership arrangement. He is a keen learner and is very motivated in what he is presently doing. Being involved as one of the pioneers in a network marketing company years back, he claimed that he learnt a lot from those training programmes he was put through those days.

As Robert Kiyosaki puts it, network marketing offers many hidden values besides making money if done in the right and proper way; it also provides life-changing education for individuals who are teachable. In fact, this man attributed much of his present success in his own business to the training and education he has received from his network marketing involvement in the early years.

Is this a camera-phone or a phone-camera?

I was shown this gadget from LG, and looking at the design features, it is hard to tell if it was a mobile phone or a camera. The two pictures show the front and back of the gadget.

Judging from the way mobile phones have evolved over the years, in terms of functions and features, and also the way computers are being miniaturised, I won't be surprised one day, we will have a "Handtop" - a marriage of handphone and laptop, running at the same speed as a normal laptop, and yet carrying the full functions of computer, mobile phone, camera, video recorder, media centre with full audio and video capability, WIFI and bluetooth connectivity, 500GB or 1TB storage and so on. Just wait, the day will come!

Keep smiling and laughing...

I recently spoke to a young man in his early thirties, who is married with a newborn, and has worked in a company for the last eight years or so. What impresses me most was his radiant and ready smiles and laughters.

I think this is what many of us in this modern, competitive and kiasu (fear to lose) society need most badly and urgently, where everything is number one, including personal stress level. Everyday, you can find many people walking on the streets with a long, sour and black face as if someone has owed him or her lots of money. Don't be infected by such people!

Instead, you should interact with people like this young man I mentioned earlier, I can assure you that you would surely get infected with their smiles and laughters. This is going to increase your level of enthusiasm and make you happy and healthy as well.

There exists such a club called the "Laughing Club". That is the place for people to learn how to laugh and laugh their hearts out. Laughing has a therapeutic effect on our body. Try to laugh and smile more. It makes your day brighter and people around you happier as well.

Being multi-lingual helps both personally and professionally...

As the world economy moves towards regionalisation and globalisation, it is economically advantageous for those who are actively engaged in business or employment to speak multiple lanaguages.

While some might think that it is better to focus on one or two languages, I beg to differ. Language is the medium by which we communicate with others. When we speak to someone in his own language, it helps to break the ice much faster and build the rapport much more rapidly. Some feel that learning too many languages leads to confusion. It is not true. I have seen people who learn five or six languages and yet they are proficient and fluent in each of them.

Therefore, I personally would encourage children to learn and speak multiple languages and dialects. If TVs can be multi-channel, don't you think we are better than TVs? Take heart. Go ahead and learn more languages. For this region, I think learning English, Chinese, Malay and even Tamil would be a good and great start. It is relatively easier to learn and speak these few languages especially in Singapore and Malaysia because both are multilingual, multiracial, multireligious and multicultural countries.

Increase your Marketability and Employability

In the wake of the collapse or near collapse of the big corporations in the world, people should come to a quick awakening and realisation that there is no such a thing as permanent and guaranteed anymore in today's new world order.

I have always heard many people boast about the corporations they work with, saying how big, how stable, how long standing they are. I have always told them, "Don't sell the company too much, sell yourself!"

Many don't realise that people don't work for companies, they work for people. One clear evidence is that when a leader or manager or superior leaves a company for a greener pasture, it is rather common to see his subordinates follow him subsequently. It goes to show that people work for their superiors or managers, they don't work for the company. Staff develop relationships with their superiors, not the company. It is the people who make the company.

Individually, as one works in the company, he should increase his marketability and future employability by consciously improving or enhancing his or her KASH values. KASH stands for Knowledge, Attitudes, Skills and Habits.

Would you buy the new ink cartridge or a new printer?

Think about this scenario that could happen to you, too.

If the printer costs $108, and the toner cartridge costs $93, would you buy the new toner cartridge when the existing one runs out, or would you rather sell the printer to your karang-guni man and buy a new set of printer that comes with a new toner cartridge?

Of course, the manufacturers are getting smarter nowadays, they only fill the cartridge up to 70% full. So, there is still a justification for you to buy the new refill. The refills or consumables are usually the main or bread-and-butter revenues of the company.

As with many products, it is the consumables that consumes lots of money! Just think about cars (fuel), handphones (air time), water heater (water), refillable air freshner (aromatic liquid refill), torch lights (batteries) etc.

When did you last update your resume?

When did you last update your resume? It might sound immaterial to you because you have been on your present job for a few decades perhaps in the same company. There is no sign that you need to look around and the company seems to be growing from strength to strength. Well, congratulations to you.

But, it is certainly not a bad idea for you to start updating your resume from time to time, because it is unlikely that you would recall so clearly the details of that project you have handled so successfully 20 years ago or the details of that programme that you have written that helped the company save $2 mil.

But, if you had made a note of that and get it updated into your career resume, it would prove to be very useful one day, especially against the backdrop of the unpredictable changing face of the global economy. Today, nothing is iron-clad and guaranteed. There is no more lifelong employment and iron rice bowl.

In fact, as I have always said, even if you are very happy with your present job, never stop looking for a job. For that, you need to make sure you get your resume updated regularly.

The World's Biggest Observation Wheel - The Singapore Flyer

The Singapore Flyer is a 540-feet high observation wheel that offers a breathtaking 360-degree view of Singapore's Marina Bay. The Flyer is mounted with 28 air-conditioned capsules, each one the size of a bus and able to take up to 28 riders. Every passenger is expected to experience a vibration-free 30-minute ride and could even catch glimpses of neighbouring Indonesia and Malaysia.

Does your dog listen to you?

More and more HDB flat dwellers are keeping one or more dogs in their flats, some with license and some without. Keeping dogs is not just about feeding and playing with them but also involves training them to behave appropriately. Many dog lovers even take their dogs as their own children. If so, then there is even more compelling reason to train and educate the dogs correctly and appropriately. When children misbehave, people would start pointing their index finger at the parents. What about when dogs misbehave?

I have observed many dog owners who are not able to control their dogs, for example, when a stranger appears at the gate, it is natural for the dog to bark at the stranger, but upon the owner's instruction to stop barking, the dog should listen and obey. But, I have personally witnessed so many situations, even when the owner shouts and screams at the dog to tell the dog to stop barking, the dog just simply ignores the instruction of its owner. Such dogs are obviously not being properly trained or might not have been trained at all.

Frankly, such uncontrolled behaviour of the dogs reflects on the poor training and upbringing by the owner. Dogs are very sensible, emotional and faithful friends of human beings. They can be trained to behave well. The onus lies with the owner!

The world's largest floating stage - Marina Bay Floating Platform

The picture below shows the Marina Bay Floating Platform which is the world's largest floating stage. It is a venue for mega events on the waters of Marina Bay for five years from 2007. The National Day Parade will also be held annually there until the Singapore Sports Hub at Kallang is completed in 2011. During the inaugural 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, the floating stadium will be the venue for the Games' opening and closing ceremonies.

The power of love... Think about it.

In life, love is never planned nor does it happen for a reason. Think about it. But, when the love is real, true and genuine, it becomes your plan for life and your reason for living. That is the positive power of true love.

On the other hand, when the love is untrue, hypocritical and fake, it could ruin your plan for life and stop you from living a meaningful life. That is the negative power of untrue love.

Smart Kids - "I Not Stupid!"

It is amazing how children's minds work! They could surprise you with answers that are very unconventional and creative when it comes to answering questions. Read the following responses of the students to understand what I mean. Click on the image for an enlarged view.

A good LIFE BAROMETER!

Watching fish in the pond or aquarium is a good way to unwind and de-stress especially after a day of hard work. Rearing fish at home could serve as a life barometer. When the conditions in the aquarium turn bad as a result of lack of care, cleaning and maintenance, it is an indication that one is being too caught up with other things in his daily life. It might be good to reflect and readjust the life schedules.

Who are to teach the children school work, Teachers or Parents?

All of us wear many different hats, some wear more than others. As we progress in life, we tend to put on more and more hats, each hat represents a role or a function we play. When we wear too many hats or when we take on too many roles, we may not be able to perform equally well in all the different roles, unless we are someone who has the special ability and capability to manage them well.

At times, we are playing overlapping or duplicated roles. This obviously is not a productive use of resources. Situations like this happen not just at work but at home. At work, sometimes, we find that two departments are doing the same function, that is obviously a duplication of work. At home, many parents are taking on the addtional role of teaching their children school work. Let's go back to basics. A teacher's role is to teach and a parent's role is to parent the children. But, apparently, the dividing line has been blurred somehow.

The teachers or rather the schools expect the parents to teach their children at home. But, the parents have their own roles to play, and in many families, both parents have to work. When the parents come home from work, they are expected to teach their children school work, help them with their homework, school projects etc.

Let's deliberate on the following questions. Does it mean that the teachers are not capable enough to teach well enough to make students understand the subjects? May be? Why must the parents be involved in children's academic work? What if the parents are not highly-educated enough to teach? What would happen to the children, may be they would be streamed into the "lousy" classes! What if the parents have to work long hours and on odd-hour rotating shifts? In that case, parents are expected to engage tutors for their children. Is it fair to expect parents to do that? If they don't do it, what choice have they?

Many families are already struggling financially, do you expect them to fork out another few hundred dollars for the tuition which may not be necessary in the first place because the teachers are responsible for teaching the students and making sure they understand the subjects. If tutors could help the students do well, doesn't it mean that the teachers are not doing as good a job as the tutors?

I think the teachers have to reflect on this issue. Rightfully speaking, it is the teachers' responsibilities to teach and make sure the students understand the subjects and do not expect the parents or the tutors to share their responsibilities. Each one of us is entrusted with certain responsibilities and we have to do them well. Furthermore, teachers are paid to teach. Parents pay school fees to send their children to school.

I feel that many stakeholders in education while trying to change, have changed for the worse. Anything that is fundamental and has been working for decades, there is no need to change for the sake of changing. Just add on good stuff that could enhance the existing education and learning systems.

The Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort (IR), Singapore

The picture shows the Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort (IR) that is still under construction. It is planned to open in 2009. It features three 50-storey hotel towers containing 1,000 rooms each, crowned by a two acre Sky Garden bridging across the towers, offering 360-degree views of the city and the sea.

Appreciate your parents, Children!

Speaking from my personal experience, nothing soothes the hearts of the parents and make them feel appreciated than having their own children performing simple but thoughtful acts of gratefulness.

Children, think about these scenarios! You might derive more ideas as to what you could do to appreciate your parents. A son comes home from school and on the way home, drops by the nearest coffee shop and buys home two packets of coffee for his parents. A daughter comes home with one durian puff each for her dad and mum. A son standing at the gate with a bottle of water waiting to quench his dad's thirst upon his return from work. Aren't these acts an expression of gratefulness? Surely, they are. Parents would appreciate them dearly and deeply.

Have you thought of what you want to do for your parents to show your appreciation for them?

Have you heard of a PROFESSIONAL mother?

I spoke with a young mother who had apparently quit her good job recently just to be a full-time homemaker so that she could take better care of her two lovely children aged 8 and 6. It is a great sacrifice on one hand for foregoing the good job she held, but it is a great long-term investment in her children's education and upbringing, that would yield good returns in later years. She and her husband had obviously thought through the pros and cons and done their sums before making that final decision for her to quit her job and the family has to live on a single income now.

Having spoken to this mother at length, I realised that she is what I would call a professional mother. She literally takes parenting as a profession. She reads and learns, listens and explores, and makes adjustments to what doesn't work in the process of parenting. I was impressed with her enthusiasm and willingness to learn, unlearn and relearn.

Her natural and candid remark of "I love your book!" really made my day. I couldn't be more impressed with those encouraging words. I would like to wish her Happy Parenting!

Would you recruit subordinates who are MORE QUALIFIED and SMARTER than you?

Rightfully, a person is made a leader by virtue of his ability to lead a team of subordinates. But, how can a leader be strong and effective? Besides his leadership skills, he must be prepared to surround himself with a team of subordinates who are capable in their respective fields, might be even more qualified or smarter than him.

From the look of it, many leaders would feel uncomfortable, intimidated and insecured if their subordinates are more qualified than them or more experienced in their respective fields. Hence, many such leaders would tend to employ people who are lesser qualified and who are less capable than them. As a result, he has a weak team with weak performance, and eventually, it reflects on the weakness of the leader in the selection of subordinates.

Therefore, to be a strong leader, one needs to assemble a strong team of subordinates. This is true in any organisation, including the political parties and the government. It is evident that many successful leaders succeed because they have a strong team of capable and qualified subordinates working together with them.

Hence, if you are in a senior leadership position, do not be afraid to employ people who are more qualified or more capable than you are. If you feel insecured, that negative sense of insecurity should be converted into a positive driving force to spur you on to improve or enhance your leadership skills.

Teenaged VIOLENCE on the rise?

A 16-year-old student threw a chair at his vice-principal, in front of his classmates. Three days later, a 14-year-old schoolboy punched his female form teacher and the school's full-time adult male counsellor. The student has since been suspended.

In my own voluntary community work, there have been cases of family violence involving teenaged children beating their parents. Why do children and students resort to all these violent acts? Even the counsellor got punched? Are such students necessarily mentally-challenged?

Anyone attempting to single out any single contributing factor to this problem that is increasing in frequency and intensity is too simplistic in his thinking and approach. The problem is a multi-faceted one involving several parties such as home, school, community and the global trend.

Are students being too stressed up by the competitive nature of education in Singapore? Are parents being over-protective of their children to the extent that children get overboard in their conduct and behaviours? Are children being neglected by their parents? Are schools too compromising in administering punishment? Are schools pushing to hard for academic excellence at the expense of moral values and character building? Are the teenaged students getting too addicted to computer gamings which are typically violent in nature?

Frankly, such problems are not proprietary to Singapore only. Look at similar incidents that happen regularly in other parts of the world. I think all the stakeholders should do their individual reflections and make the necessary modifications and adjustments to improve such situations

Forgive and Forget; Live and Let Live.

I have come across some people who always like to fight for their rights, they just can't take it when someone said something about them or did something to them. They would pursue the matter right to the bottom or the core of it. Sometimes, all these pursuits could even eat into so much of their time, effort and even funds.

I would like to encourage such people to do some reflections during their quiet moments in life. So what if we have fought hard and we are right all the time, can we become a better person at the end of the whole series of events? Do we make more friends along the way or do we create more enemies as a result of that? Can we bring all these rights with us when we leave this world?

Why not learn to forgive and forget, live and let live? Life will be less stressful and more purposeful and meaningful once we adopt a totally different approach to problems in life.

Is it better to be a care-less poor or a care-ful rich?

Because many of my peers are staying in landed properties or condominiums, does it mean that I have to follow suit? Just because my neighbour is driving a big car, so must I! Life is basically very simple. But, because many people want to compete and get ahead of others, that is why they make life so hard, so stressful and so complicated for themselves.

We come into this world empty-handed and we leave this world empty-handed regardless of what we are and who we are while on earth. Alexander The Great who was the greatest conqueror of all times, before he died, he told his followers to make two holes on the two sides of his coffin and lay his hands out because he wanted to tell the world that he left this world empty-handed despite his great achievements in his lifetime.

Isn't it true that when we earned less, we spent less, and when we earn more, we spend more? At the end of the day, we still have no savings! So, what is the difference? Is it better to be a care-less poor or a care-ful rich, if riches are measured by the amount of money one earns.