My quote
April 21st, 2011“Always assume the best of people, but always be ready for the worst part of them.” — CT
Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford Commencement Address
April 18th, 2011It is worth watching not because he is Steve Jobs, but because of three well-told real good real stories.s. It is to remind myself.
He speaks on
a. dropping out of college and not having a college degree, but moving forward
b. being fired from Apple, starting again doing what he loves
c. facing death, his cancer
”Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Because believing the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart even if it leads you off well worn path, and that will make all the difference.” — Steve Jobs
“Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.” — Steve Jobs
Sequence of Now Past and Future
April 4th, 2011Last two weeks were interesting. I was experiencing a new understanding from the combination of reading Tolle and the experience of asking a friend some buried memories. For the later, I regretted that I had ever asked the moment I sent out the email. I should not have asked.
Tolle was right, memories are just concepts or ideas. They are never real.
Something I wrote right before 40 changed. The sequence, of past, future and now, matters.
It was once “Look forward, cherish past and live now”.
But now, I know it should always be “Live now” then a distance second of “look forward and cherish past.”
I must always remember this.
Youtube Orchestra Live in Sydney Opera House
March 20th, 2011Now I am watching, on youtube, a live performance of an orchestra concert in Sydney Opera House. It is performed by Youtube Orchestra. It is live, now, in Sydney Australia. If you are reading this, follow this link to watch Youtube Symphony Orchestra 2011.
Amazing, Unbelievable. The music is great, but the video connection is yet to improve.
The world is so small now.
Singapore, oh Singapore
January 30th, 2011|
Somehow in my list of 10 things to do to make life worth living I included “To work in Singapore or China”.
I wanted to go Singapore since very young. But more than twice I was denied to study in Singapore. I took Asian Scholarship test a few times, if I remember correctly. But my English was too weak to be offered a scholarship. (The danger of digging into memory is like what Joan Baez sang in Diamonds and Rust, they (memories) bring diamond and rust. This is the rust part.) With reasonable good result in Form 5 SPM exam (O Level), both Polytechnics (Ngee An and Singapore) surprised me by rejecting my applications. I lost confidence in Form 6 and almost flunk my STPM (A Level). The only college that accepted my application and offered my 1st choice of course is TAR College. The next 3 years in college was one of the best time of my life. I was happy in Kuala Lumpur and decided never to go Singapore. Then, in my early working life I wanted to go Singapore again. Money is always better over there. But again, I knew then I would have to break a relationship to do so. I chose the relationship and got married later. I had never made it to work or to study in Singapore. |
When I looked back, my first thought was that, fate is not to be defeated. It played so powerful onto me that despite all my desires, it kept me away from Singapore and barred me from going there.
However, when I saw an old friend’s name in Facebook I realised the only reason I could not make it to Singapore is because I was going along with flow. First, I had never study hard enough to be good enough to be offered to study in Singapore. Second, I made logical or reasonable choice that fate gave to me or decided for me. I did not insist my ideal to go Singapore to pursue my dreams against all adversities. When Singapore colleges and university did not offer me a space, I did not forge forward to land myself there to find a job and start from the ground to move upward. I simply chose an easier road presented to me, a college that offered me a place. I simply chose the easy road, the logical one. For I am afraid to take risk, then (and probably now). It takes courage to defy what fate forces onto you. My friend had the courage to make that tough choice. She went to Singapore, anyhow. I did not have that courage and wanted to play safe. I took what fate presented to me. So I am still in Malaysia wanting to work in Singapore (China too) one day. |
Waves of Karambunai, Sabah
December 24th, 2010In early December we went to Sabah once more. This round, Karambunai, the beach. The stunning view of Mount Kinabalu is still fresh in mind. Beautiful waves at Karambunai added more memorable moments for time spent in Sabah. Malaysia is truly lucky to have this state as part of the country.
Climbing Gunung Kinabalu (Mount Kinabalu)
October 16th, 2010|
There were 25 of us in the company wanted to climb Mt Kinabalu. So the Group Sports Club organizer had to split us in to 3 groups. The first group climbed the mountain in August. I joined the second group in September reaching the summit on 19 September 2010. This morning, 16 October, the third group reached the summit. They are probably reaching Kinabalu Park Head Quarter now and are arranging to come back to West Malaysia tonight. 5 out of 8 persons in the first group reached Low’s Peak, the summit. 7 out of 8 persons in our group made it to the peak too. For third group, I heard, 8 out of 9 of them made it to the top. The results are getting better as more information were provided by the earlier groups to the later group. Of course, the number of personal mountain guides, beside the 2 mountain guides assigned by the Park, had increase from 0 in first group, 1 in second group to 5 in third group. Mt Kinabalu, or Gunung Kinabalu as called by Malay Language, is (arguably) the highest peak of South East Asia, at 4,095.2M or 13,435 ft above sea level. |
For comparison, the highest mountain in United States, Mt Whitney in California is 4,418M or 14,494 feet, the highest mountain in Australia, Kosciusko is only 2,228M, and the highest mountain in Western Europe, Mont Blanc, is 4,807M. (Mt Everest is 8,850M) Click here for more info on highest mountains. For people like my mom, who went to some mountains in China and think those mountains are high, the highest peak of the famous Huangshan (Chinese: 黄山, Yellow Mountain) in China is only 1,864M, highest peak of Hua Shan (Mt Hua) is only 2,160M. Without Tibet, Chinese mountains can hardly be considered as high. So you get the idea, Mt Kinabalu is high, one of the very high in the world. I added a new blog on my trip of climbing Mt Kinabalu to this web site. The photo of Timpohon trail to base camp, Laban Rata, the photo of Summit trail from base camp to Low’s Peak, and the highlight of the climb to Low’s Peak, the highest point of summit. |
Susan Boyle and Elaine Paige Duet
August 28th, 2010In her first appearance on Britain’s Got Talent, Susan Boyle said she want to be as successful as Elaine Paige. Now she is singing along side with her. Both have amazing voices. Amazing music. The song is “I know him so well” from the musical “Chess” composed by the two ABBA members, Benny and Bjorn.
Elaine Paige leads the first part, letting Susan to sing the part which is more suitable for lady voice. That makes Susan voice standout.
What makes Susan Boyle’s story so appealing is the feeling of so happy for her reaching her dream yet so sorry for her of the years she took and the could-be-her-life she missed as young famous star.
We all believe talent should not be wasted, not even a day. We all believe a talented person like her deserves to be on stage and to be famous at age of 18, and not to waste a minute older.
Just flex a little bit, will you? (will I?)
August 7th, 2010It is through a very different perspective when one says “Let’s see where life leads us to”. It is at the opposite of my deeply rooted perception of “life must be within one’s control”.
I have to tell myself “oh….NO no no no. Bu shi de. c’nest pas comme ca.” . We should just see where life leads us to. This is what my cousin wrote. For the last 9 months, in a positive way, life had shown me that it is not within my control. I started to realise it is good for me to leave accountancy & finance behind. This profession makes me wrongly believe in the illusion that life is structured and can be controlled within the structure.
When I have to deal with sales and to meet strangers, I learned the truth of life that my success or failure is in the mercy of fate, of others, of everyone and everybody else. I am not in control. I should just believe in life, putting my fair share of decisions and take the journey it gives.
Let me get this into my thick head.
“Life is a piece of Toastmaster speech, regardless how well you draft the speech, you can never expect how it is going to turn out to be during the delivery.” — CT
Shanghai at Huang Pu Jiang night ferry
June 11th, 2010
Beautiful Shanghai at night. It reminds me of the song “Shanghai night” (ye shang hai).