Calendar 2010...

Happy New Year, my Friend!

A letter from OpenNet about Fibre Installation within homes,,,

Click on the image for an enlarged view...


Currently, we are on cable network, soon, we will be on all-fibre network. This Next Generation National Broadband Network (Next Gen NBN) will upgrade the current market broadband speed of 100Mbps to 1Gbps and beyond. Wow!!!

A message of appreciation from a mother...

This is an SMS from a mother who cares so much for her son in secondary school, that she brought him to see me on a Saturday afternoon. She is also involved in the Parent Support Group in her son's school.

I am very thankful to her for she was so kind and generous that she bought five copies of my book and wanted to give them away as gifts. She was full of appreciation and even bought me a big piece of durian cake (the best I have ever tasted!) and a box of chocolates. I am grateful to her for being so gracious and grateful.

I spoke with her son in her presence, for close to two hours. The son was rather receptive of what I shared with him and found what I said made sense to him. I hope he would go ahead and do as advised and agreed. When he starts implementing those ideas, I am very sure the outcome would be totally changed and different from what it is right now. My best wishes to him... Cheers.

A personal message for all students ...

In less than a week's time, primary and secondary students will be going back to their school to start a new year of learning. Parents with children going to Primary One would be more anxious as to how their child will cope with the new school environment, new study loads and new friends. Those in other levels will be going back to continue their next level of study. It might take a couple of days or weeks for them to get settled down and engaged in their full-speed momentum again.

At the beginning of a new year and new term, one thing that is critically important for the students to do is to forget the past and look forward to new learning experience and achieving new goals and results. With this, I mean they have to forget the past success or setbacks, learn from their past and start setting new and higher goals for the new year. For example, whatever marks they obtained last year for the various subjects, add another 10 to 15 marks and make it the next goal and work towards achieving it. Success is a personal choice. It is all in the mind. So, the most important thing to change is the mindset.

Many students, by default nature, want to just pass their subjects, they do not have higher expectations for themselves. I always encourage them to first of all, acquire the mindset that they can be the top students. It is important to be the best we can be in anything we set our mind to do. Go for it and just do it. Nothing is impossible. It is all about attitude and mindset. I have challenged many students to do it and many of them have given the affirmation, though initially, many would feel that they are not good enough. Recently, some parents engaged me to talk to their children and the outcome of the sessions was promising and reassuring.

The first thing the students could do is to get a copy of my book which is meant for quick-reading and self-reflection and read it. As a result of reading and doing self-reflection, many students have made real changes to their lives such as, stop playing computer games, realise that beating parent at home is wrong, start to appreciate their parents more, decide to go for distinctions in examinations etc.

It is my wish and prayer that all students would adopt a new mindset for the new year, set new goals and consciously and conscientiously work towards achieving them. Best wishes to all students. Cheers!

Face to face with two professionals!

It was a good dialogue I had with a very experienced and successful sales professional who carried himself very modestly and with impressive human touch. He held critically sharp views on certain life issues and phenomena including today's human behaviours that are getting pretty much out of synchronisation with our basic human nature. It was an interesting interactive exchange we had. Based on his tremendous passion in sharing his insightful thoughts, I suggested to him to start writing a book, and incidentally that was what he thought of doing lately, and my suggestion therefore, appeared as a god-sent message to reaffirm his recent thought. I hope he would quickly get down to his maiden writing journey and get his thoughts published soon.

Another enjoyable conversation was with a planning professional who has been working for more than a decade in a company, dealing with production planning and control functions. We entered rather naturally into a long conversation and touched on many common subjects based on my previous experience in factory management. We exchanged our views not just on issues related to production-related work but also on parenting as he is now parenting three teenaged children. I left with him some career advice and in the process, he realised that he had not been updating his resume for at least the last 10 years and felt that it was time to do so. It is my wish that he climbs on to greater heights in his career.

With all the fees and taxes, we are paying about S$2 per cubic metre of water used...

This is a screen shot of part of the water bill that shows the rate of the various billed items, in Singapore homes. The water usage is charged at the current rate of S$1.17 per cubic metre.

By the way, 1 cubic metre of water is equivalent to 1000 litres. A typical 5-kg washing machine when filled to "High"-level, the volume of water used is about 50 litres. A full flush of the toilet bowl uses 9 litres of water.

But, S$1.17 is not all we have to pay! Additionally, we have to pay the Waterborne Fee which is S$0.28 per cubic metre of water used. Furthermore, we have to pay 30% Water Conservation Tax on the water charges and 7% Goods & Services Tax on the total amount charged. At the end of it all, for every cubic metre of water used, we are paying about 65% over and above the water rate of S$1.17 per cubic metre, i.e. about S$1.90 per cubic metre. So, for every cubic metre of water saved, we save about S$2.

There are many ways water consumption can be reduced. Some measures would require changes in lifestyle and daily habits.

Quotes from some of the great people...

1. "To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it." ... Mother Teresa
2. "Education is the most poweful weapon which you can use to change the world." ... Nelson Mandela
3. "The value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving." ... Albert Einstein
4. "Those who give have all things. They who withhold have nothing." ... Hindu Proverb
5. "A man of humanity is one who, in seeking to establish himself, finds a foothold for others and who, desiring attainment for himself, helps others to attain." ... Confucius
6. "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" ... Jesus Christ

A witty and humorous two-year-old boy!

A two-year-old boy whose parents are professionals from India, impressed me with his wits and humours. At this young and tender age, he is already speaking complete English sentences. The parents and other members at home also speak to him in other languages. It is amazingly rare!

The father related to me an incident of the boy. The boy likes to pull his mother's hair and wants his mother to carry him instead of walking on his own. So, the mother told him, ''A good boy does not pull Mummy's hair and does not ask Mummy to carry.'' Spontaneously and mischieviously, the boy responded, ''Mummy, I'm a bad boy!''

When I was at their home, I was talking with the father for quite a long while. The little boy started to miss his father and got impatient with me. Eventually, he could not hold it any longer, he came to me and said, ''Uncle, bye bye!'' Of course, the father scolded him and told him not to be rude!

This is a boy very extraordinary. He is doing and saying things many children his age do not. I believe he would grow up very intelligent and smart and able to connect with people well.

Do we perform our RESPONSIBILITIES well?

When we fail to carry out our responsibilities as dictated by the roles we play, problems would start to surface. This is true not just in business organisations but in families and societies as well.

In a typical business organisation, every employee is given a certain position or more positions sometimes, and each position would have its duties and responsibilites spelt out clearly in the employee handbook or part of the employment contract. Every employee is expected to carry out their duties and responsibilities accordingly, failing which action might be taken against them. Operational flow and efficiency would be interrupted if a certain employee fails to perform his or her duties and responsibilities.

Likewise, in a family, every member of the family carries his or her duties and responsibilities. Should any one of the family members, be it father, mother or children, fail to discharge his or her responsibilites, then problems would start arising in the family. For example, if parents fail to perform their parental responsibilites, then the children will suffer. Similarly, if children do not carry out their responsibilities as children and students, then they will bring problems to their parents, too.

Therefore, it is of utmost importance that we recognise our individual roles and the accompanying responsibilities, and carry them out to the best of our abilities. Then, we can proudly say that we are a responsible person because we perform our responsibilities.

What does it mean to get EDUCATED?

Today, many people have mistakenly taken education to mean getting a piece of academic qualification. As a result, instead of going to school to get educated, many go to school to get certified and qualified.

In Collins Cobuild English Dictionary, education is defined as:
"Education involves teaching people various subjects, usually at a school or college, or being taught."

Webster's New World College Dictionary defines education as "the process of training and developing the knowledge, skill, mind, character, etc., esp by formal schooling; teaching; training."

Personally, I prefer the Webster's definition. It is more encompassing and it suggests that going to school to get educated means getting oneself trained and developed in different areas of life including skills and character, it is not just about getting certified for competency in the subjects studied or getting qualified eventually with a certificate or a paper qualification.

There has been much report in the media that many graduates are exam-smart but not work-smart. There are those who go to school supposedly to get educated but ended up disrespecting and even assaulting their parents.

I think it is high time schools revisit their basic purpose and start focussing on educating the students on moral and social values instead of just teaching them to excel academically.

Safety guard poles at the bus shelter from construction to completion

My recent quotes ... for READFlection!

1. "Asking question is an art. You have to ask the right question to get the right answers."
2. "We are always caught up with thinking of doing something for a long time but seldom get down to do it. The big word for this is Procrastination."
3. "When it comes to charity, don't think too hard or your heart would be hardened."
4. "It is rather common that common sense has become rather uncommon."

Note: These quotes are original and copyrighted by Jonathan Ooi. However, do feel free to use them as long as credit is given to the author at the end of every quote.

Pruning the trees...

The park workers are pruning the trees. This is done regularly to remove those unwanted branches and maintain the external appearance of the trees so that, as a whole, they look neat and systematic. I would say the authority has done a pretty good job in this respect, throughout the island.

Taking a reflection from this pruning operation, we should regularly analyse our attitudes and habits, and those that do not go well with our professional and personal goals should be pruned and discarded so that new attitudes and habits can be formed.

This notice at coffeeshop is much better written...

As compared to the other notice which I posted on 23 November 2009, this one is much better written, both in English and Chinese.

Some simple home-cooked dishes without MSG...

It is ILLEGAL to cycle on "footways" in Singapore except in Tampine GRC!

Wow! After the news on the "Neighbourhood Schools", now there is another funny news on cycling in the HDB neighbourhoods in Singapore!

From end of February next year, residents in Tampines GRC can cycle LEGALLY on "footways" as mentioned in the news media. Anywhere else in Singapore, if you cycle, you cycle ILLEGALLY! And worse, there is no plan to expand the legalisation of cycling to the rest of the island.

On the one hand, it is recognised that cycling is a very healthy, environmentally friendly and money-saving way of travelling around in the housing estates; on the other hand, you are told that it is illegal to cycle around on the pathways ( or people here call them the "footways"). Does that sound weird, contradicting and ridiculous?

This means to say that outside of Tampines GRC, no residents should cycle because it is illegal to do so. Now, if cyclist are not allowed to cycle on the footways, where do you expect them to cycle on?

If safety is the main concern, wouldn't be more unsafe if cyclists are forced to cycle on the main road where they have to share the road with the motorists who are the kings of the roads? Have you heard of pedestrians being killed by cyclists on the pathways? Or have you actually heard of many cases of cyclists and even pedestrians killed by motor vehicles on the main road?

Why are those concrete pavements called "footways"? Why do we have to limit the usage by this term when so much money is spent in building those concrete pavements? Why aren't they called pathways or just pavements, a name or term that is more generic and does not limit its usage.

There has already been general acceptance of having cyclists share pathways with pedestrians. The pathways are generally wide enough to allow both cyclists and pedestrians. All that is required is courtesy and kindness when using the pathways just like the motorists on the road are told to be kind and courteous when using the roads.

Why make the big fuss out of an issue that was not an issue in the first place? If there is anything useful to enforce, it would be to stop motorcyles and motorised bicycles from operating on the pathways because any motorised means of transport would cause serious injury to pedestrians when accident happens. Bicycles that are manually- and foot-pedalled would never kill!!!

As far as I am concerned, the solution is obvious and simple. Just change the name "footpaths" to "pathways" or "pavements", then amend the law and tell everybody in Singapore that from now on, the pathways are to be shared by cyclists and pedestrians. Period.

Why is there a need to conduct a trial run for 20 months and at the end to legalise cycling in the Tampines GRC. Goodness me! In Hokkien, we say, "chia pah kah eng!" which means "Nothing better to do!"

Do not stop asking questions!

Most of us, whether students in classroom or participants in seminars, often do not ask questions even when we do not quite understand what was taught in the classroom or delivered in the seminar. Why?

Firstly, I think many of us feel shy to be the odd one out, just in case others might laugh at us or ridicule us for asking a question that is so simple and "stupid"! So, in order not to appear stupid and being poked fun at in front of others, we choose not to ask. It is said that "He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes, he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever." So, we better ask if we are not sure of anything.

Secondly, there are situations when we really do not understand the bulk of the contents, we are so "blur" about what was taught and shared that we do not even know what to ask. We could not follow the lessons or the lectures, in other words. It is a good practice for students, in particular, to read in advance, what the teachers are going to teach.

Thirdly, we might be so lazy that we wait for others to ask. If nobody else asks, so be it. This is the behaviour of people who are not so interested or have not much initiative in learning. This kind of people have to change their attitude in learning. Someone told me before, "we can be stupid, but we cannot be lazy!". It is true!

Lastly, there are those who feel proud and highly-egoistic, and do not want others to know that they do not know. They pretend that they know, so they do not want to ask questions to reveal their lack of knowledge. In fact, very often, pride hinders and stops one from learning new things. We must always be humble to learn for learning is a lifelong process.

I hope we would continue to learn by asking questions. It is by asking that we get the answers, It is through asking the right question that we get the right answers.

My latest quotes... for reflection!

1. "We are all given 24 hours a day to manage. Do we manage them honestly and wisely everyday?"
2. "Do not forget what others had done for you no matter how insignificant it might be!"
3. "Read if you want to lead well because all good leaders are readers."
4. "Don't take things to heart! It could make your life really hard."
5. "Change what you can't accept; but accept what you can't change."

Note: These quotes are original and copyrighted by Jonathan Ooi. However, do feel free to use them as long as credit is given to the author at the end of every quote.

Our tongue is like a double-edged sword...

Our tongue is like a double-edged sword. It can edify and motivate; but it can also destroy and kill someone.

I know of a very passionate, dedicated and professional teacher who was so well-loved by his pupils. But, in his younger days, he was someone with low self-esteem and no self-confidence until one day something happened in the camp when he was serving his National Service. In that incident, his officer told him, ''I believe you!''. These three words magically changed his life. Since then, he became so confident that he even furthered his studies overseas.

On the contrary, there are strong words that some teachers or parents say to the children, that literally shatter their confidence and kill their self-esteem.

Let's learn to be kinder with our words, say more edifying and encouraging words to people around us. It is very encouraging to encourage those who need more courage.

Some unethical practices in sales profession...

My daughter recently asked me if there were any unethical practices in sales profession. Obviously, there are.

Temptation and greed might lure a salesperson into recommending a product from among other alternatives, that might not be the best for the customer, but pays a higher commission to the salesperson. The salesperson's ethical standard might be compromised when there is a conflict of interest such as this.

Another situation involves overselling or forced selling. At times, a salesperson might be under pressure to meet his sales or performance quota or to qualify for certain awards or incentives to travel, all sound too familiar, I believe. Such desperation might drive the salesperson to even sell something the customer does not really need. There are even situations where the salesperson opts to pay for the customer first in order to close the sale in time to meet his personal objectives.

There are also scenarios where the salesperson does not disclose the fine prints or shortcomings of the product intentionally. That would mislead the customer into making a decision which he would not have made if the information had been disclosed to him.

It could be hard to detect such unethical practices because usually they appear to be legally right, but something many people might not realise is that, not all things done legally are ethical.

Down with Elite Schools!

Why is there such a label called "Neighbourhood" school?

My blogpost on "Stop putting labels on things and people" published on 30 November 2009 at my blogger site was selected to be published at the "Star Bloggers" section of BlogTV, a live talkshow on Channel NewsAsia every Thursday at 9.30pm. Check out the starbloggers' weblink...

Every person needs sunlight exposure to create vitamin D...

The following is part three of an eight-part interview with Dr. Michael Holick, author of "The UV advantage" and one of the world's most respected authorities on vitamin D and the health benefits of natural sunlight. His work can be found at www.UVadvantage.com. Be sure to print out the vitamin D myths, facts and statistics page summarizing the key points of this interview.

To read the contents of the interview, click HERE.

History Made! Melaleuca Oligofructose Complex Discovery - Beware Melaleuca scam imitation companies

Let me know if you are keen to know more about these products.

Some of my recent quotes...

1. "The way to be SWEET is to Smile Widely Each and Every Time."
2. The good thing about a L.A.N.G.U.A.G.E is that it "Lets All Nations Gain Understanding And Grow Economy."
3. ''Where there are people, there are problems; where there is love and respect, there is peace and joy.''

Note: These quotes are original and copyrighted by Jonathan Ooi. However, do feel free to use them as long as credit is given to the author at the end of every quote.

"I'll call you back tomorrow!" but never...

"I'll call you back tomorrow!”said a Customer Service Manager. But, after a few days and by now a few weeks, there was still no news from her. This is where the credibility is lost, this is where customers feel it was a lip service and an empty promise.

In business, your word is your bond, your word is a reflection of your character. In the above incident, the customer might call again, or he might just leave it totally and stop going back to this company as a result. The company would suffer in the long term because it is more costly to recruit new customers than to retain the existing ones.

Even in our personal life, words and promises are equally important. Don't make a promise you can't keep or don't intend to keep.

Don't play politics in the office...

There was a company that was so badly managed that the secretary to the Managing Director (MD) was empowered to manage all the managers. She had been a secretary for many years and was widely-known to be superb at playing office politics. She would report to the MD every minor and trivial matter she came to know in the office.

The MD was rather senior in age, resting comfortably on his laurels and managing from his armchair through the secretary. One day, the secretary sat in one of the Managers' Meetings. In that meeting, a manager was making a point, drawing on the Peter's Principle in management, the secretary who likes to know names, immediately asked, ''Which Peter?'' because there were several Peters in the company.

Most of the managers were rudely shocked at her ignorance. But, nobody dared to even laugh out loud because if you make her feel small, you would be in for a hard time later on.

The moral is: Don't wear a shoe bigger than your foot. Don't play politics in the office. Work with your brain and heart, don't work just with your mouth.

A touching story... Children must watch....

Watch this if you have not done so before...

For the benefit of my readers who do not understand the Chinese Language. Here is a quick translation of the message...

When the phone rang, the son called the mother to take the call. When the mother picked up the mobile phone, she could not remember which button to press to answer the call. So, she asked the son again and the son apparently got agitated and asked her why after so many times of teaching her, she still did not know which button to press. The mother walked away helplessly.

While seated on the sofa, the mother could not control her bladder and wetted the sofa. The son was annoyed and asked her why she didn’t put on the diaper again. The son said that he had already told her so many times to put on her diaper. The son asked why she could not simply cooperate and was giving him so much trouble. The son lamented that after a hard day’s work, he still has to clean up for her. While removing the cushion cover, the son reminded the mother that that set of sofa was very expensive. The son told her not to sit at the sofa in future. The son went on to tell her if she still behaved that way, he would put her in the Old Folks’ Home.

The mother then patiently told the son not to get so agitated because she just could not control herself. She reminded the son that when he was young, he used to pee and shit with the pants on and she had always cleaned up for him without any grumble. And when the grandchild heard this, he told his father that should he do that in future, he would send him to the Old Folks’ Home, too.

Throughout the video, the son was reminded of how selflessly and unconditionally the mother took care of him in every aspect when he was young.

Home-cooked Bak-Kut-Teh (Chinese-style Prime Rib Soup)

With this Bak-Kut-Teh spices (S$1.60), I cooked a pot of Bak-Kut-Teh with prime ribs and some other non-halal stuff for 2.5 hour. When dinner was served, we finished everything in 25 minutes with the pot bottom up.

Everyone in the family enjoyed so much the soup that was hot (served immediately after boiling) and spicy (there are lots of pepper in the bag of spices). The soup was so tasty after 2.5 hours of boiling under medium flame.

The significance of DECEMBER!

Time flies. We have come to the last month of the year. This is the month when many of us would sit down and evaluate if we have achieved what we set out to do last year.

December is when we start making new resolutions for next year. What is the significance of DECEMBER? I hope D.E.C.E.M.B.E.R would constantly remind us to "Do Everything Consistently Every Month and Bring Excellent Results." ... Jonathan Ooi

Some of my most recent quotes...

1. "Shampoo your negative thoughts, condition your mind positively and you will be showered with success in your personal and professional life."
2. "Do not assess a person by the things he wears, but the way he thinks and the things he says."
3. "People are so used to telling lies. So, when you tell the truth, nobody believes you either."

Note: These quotes are original and copyrighted by Jonathan Ooi. However, do feel free to use them as long as credit is given to the author at the end of every quote.