John Gray

With Dr. John Gray at his seminar.

With Jay Abrahim, after crewing at his 3 days seminar and surviving a car crash.

Google Factory Tour

Google Factory Tour event on 5/19/05 at Google's Mountain View headquarters.

General Hospitals

A lot of people wondered why I chose to stay in General Hospital.

1. Nice view from the window










2. Nice food, served at healthy timings. (Here's my normally food choosy wife helping herself on my dinner)









3. Nice nurses. (Sorry, no pic for privacy reasons).
Truth is - I don't really have a choice because I have a pre-condition which only the doctors in GH can treat.
But otherwise, the condition in the 1st and 2nd class wards of GH is really quite good.
The bad thing about ending up in the general ward is that - you get bunch after bunch of students (to be doctors) asking you the same questions over and over again and touching you all over. Of course, you can always choose to have some fun with the process if you are not in too much pain.

The car in workshop

That's the shape of my car after the accident.
You can imagine the shape of the door according to the shape of the frame of the car.
The dashboard etc has been taken off (dashboard cracked under pressure).
Lessons learned:
1. Better late than dead.
2. Never drive above or beyond the capability of your car. Of course, you have to know your car first.
3. A wet road is a dangerous road.

Apologies and Regrets

'I reacted badly and I would like to apologise for it,' Zidane said. 'I would like to apologise because a lot of children were watching the match. I do apologise but I don't regret my behaviour because regretting it would mean he was right to say what he said.'

What happened to the old saying "sitcks and stones may break your bone but words can never hurt you"... I guess it must be struggling to hold true today. Today we regard our emotional stature as holy and sacred - anyone that challenges our emotional state is guilty without question. I guess we all do that because that is the only "property" or "space" we have soverignity over, since we have no money, no power, no thing, we're just born victim in this world ruled by people superior but stupider than us.

However, we still deserve the rights to curse someone to a miserable death and we are not guilty as long as we are the victim who is provoked first, right?

Way to go! But wait a minute.. isn't it a better way out?
What if Zidane had walked away after hearing the insults

• He's not on hair less, he's still the man that he his, not a bit less
• He could turn the rage into motivation... with the skills that he has, who on earth can stop him if he wants to charge through 11 players and score a goal?
• France could have lifted the cup for a 2nd time, that's a big revelation to the country and the sports, France no more flash in the pan.
• The minorities could look up and say "if ZZ can I can, this country does give me the opportunity".
• His wife and 4 kids could look up to him and said "you are the our hero who looked beyond your ego and do your country proud."

I believe we are not here to protect our dignity, life is too meaningless if its only about that. The word "dignity" has to be related to a higher purpose to be meaningful. After all, we all want a happier world to live in.. which will always be a dream if every person or country only think within itself.

Nevertheless, it's always our rights to choose.

Away from 12-May - 28-May

Going to cover 3 cities this time.
12-May, arrive LAX for 2 days hang out.

14-20 May, Leadership Academy

22-25 May, aloha ...

弟子规 (click to download english version)

If you could understand this and teach this to your children, you would have fullfilled your purpose as a parent.

总　叙

弟子规　圣人训　首孝弟　次谨信
泛爱众　而亲仁　有余力　则学文

入 则 孝

父母呼　应勿缓　父母命　行勿懒
父母教　须敬听　父母责　须顺承
冬则温　夏则凊　晨则省　昏则定
出必告　反必面　居有常　业无变
事虽小　勿擅为　苟擅为　子道亏
物虽小　勿私藏　苟私藏　亲心伤
亲所好　力为具　亲所恶　谨为去
身有伤　贻亲忧　德有伤　贻亲羞
亲爱我　孝何难　亲憎我　孝方贤
亲有过　谏使更　怡吾色　柔吾声
谏不入　悦复谏　号泣随　挞无怨
亲有疾　药先尝　昼夜侍　不离床
丧三年　常悲咽　居处变　酒肉绝
丧尽礼　祭尽诚　事死者　如事生

出 则 弟

兄道友　弟道恭　兄弟睦　孝在中
财物轻　怨何生　言语忍　忿自泯
或饮食　或坐走　长者先　幼者后
长呼人　即代叫　人不在　己即到
称尊长　勿呼名　对尊长　勿见能
路遇长　疾趋揖　长无言　退恭立
骑下马　乘下车　过犹待　百步余
长者立　幼勿坐　长者坐　命乃坐
尊长前　声要低　低不闻　却非宜
进必趋　退必迟　问起对　视勿移
事诸父　如事父　事诸兄　如事兄

谨

朝起早　夜眠迟　老易至　惜此时
晨必盥　兼漱口　便溺回　辄净手
冠必正　纽必结　袜与履　俱紧切
置冠服　有定位　勿乱顿　致污秽
衣贵洁　不贵华　上循分　下称家
对饮食　勿拣择　食适可　勿过则
年方少　勿饮酒　饮酒醉　最为丑
步从容　立端正　揖深圆　拜恭敬
勿践阈　勿跛倚　勿箕踞　勿摇髀
缓揭帘　勿有声　宽转弯　勿触棱
执虚器　如执盈　入虚室　如有人
事勿忙　忙多错　勿畏难　勿轻略
斗闹场　绝勿近　邪僻事　绝勿问
将入门　问孰存　将上堂　声必扬
人问谁　对以名　吾与我　不分明
用人物　须明求　倘不问　即为偷
借人物　及时还　后有急　借不难

信

凡出言　信为先　诈与妄　奚可焉
话说多　不如少　惟其是　勿佞巧
奸巧语　秽污词　市井气　切戒之
见未真　勿轻言　知未的　勿轻传
事非宜　勿轻诺　苟轻诺　进退错
凡道字　重且舒　勿急疾　勿模糊
彼说长　此说短　不关己　莫闲管
见人善　即思齐　纵去远　以渐跻
见人恶　即内省　有则改　无加警
唯德学　唯才艺　不如人　当自砺
若衣服　若饮食　不如人　勿生戚
闻过怒　闻誉乐　损友来　益友却
闻誉恐　闻过欣　直谅士　渐相亲
无心非　名为错　有心非　名为恶
过能改　归于无　倘掩饰　增一辜

泛 爱 众

凡是人　皆须爱　天同覆　地同载
行高者　名自高　人所重　非貌高
才大者　望自大　人所服　非言大
己有能　勿自私　人所能　勿轻訾
勿谄富　勿骄贫　勿厌故　勿喜新
人不闲　勿事搅　人不安　勿话扰
人有短　切莫揭　人有私　切莫说
道人善　即是善　人知之　愈思勉
扬人恶　即是恶　疾之甚　祸且作
善相劝　德皆建　过不规　道两亏
凡取与　贵分晓　与宜多　取宜少
将加人　先问己　己不欲　即速已
恩欲报　怨欲忘　报怨短　报恩长
待婢仆　身贵端　虽贵端　慈而宽
势服人　心不然　理服人　方无言

亲 仁

同是人　类不齐　流俗众　仁者希
果仁者　人多畏　言不讳　色不媚
能亲仁　无限好　德日进　过日少
不亲仁　无限害　小人进　百事坏

余 力 学 文
不力行　但学文　长浮华　成何人
但力行　不学文　任己见　昧理真
读书法　有三到　心眼口　信皆要
方读此　勿慕彼　此未终　彼勿起
宽为限　紧用功　工夫到　滞塞通
心有疑　随札记　就人问　求确义
房室清　墙壁净　几案洁　笔砚正
墨磨偏　心不端　字不敬　心先病
列典籍　有定处　读看毕　还原处
虽有急　卷束齐　有缺坏　就补之
非圣书　屏勿视　蔽聪明　坏心志
勿自暴　勿自弃　圣与贤　可驯致

Press freedom

Yeah, just about the right time to write about freedom of speech.
Talking about Chinese newspaper, do you know what the major difference between chinese newspapers in Malaysia versus the English ones?
Quite obvious, what usually make the front page of chinese newspapers are news related to murder, accident, robbery, rape etc, especially when someone gets killed. But what usually makes the difference is the color photo that comes with the story - usually showing cars meshed up, bodies covered in blood and so on.
Why - is it because Chinese are more visual in their sensory acuity? I don't know. From the editors' perspective I guess it helps to sell more papers.
So what I want to rant about today is this article:
http://www.nanyang.com/index.php?ch=7&pg=10&ac=576969
Translated, it means:
Every year before and after Chinese New Year, there are bound to be some turbulence in the recruitment market.
Some reports to new employer after taking bonus from the previous; some think about changing jobs after a period of "inactivity"; of course there is also a large group of graudates preparing to enter employment in 2 to 3 months time.
Regardless of which group you belong to, it pays to know about the market intellifence. In order to get more details on the recruitment, N Daily made an enquiry to JobStreet.com for some references.
Coincidentally, JobStreet.com Sdn Bhd's Public Relations Manager Miss X also resigned from the company after giving us the interview before chinese new year, joining the group of people who changed job during chinese new year.
The resignation of Ms X proves that Chinese New Year is indeed the crucial time for employees to make a career move.

This used to be our family paper, which IMHO holds a higher standard over the other XX Jit Poh's.
The author of this article, however, changed my impression. He/she is obviously a creative person, able to link two unrelated events together to create a "seemingly" (yes - pun intended, if you know what i mean) interesting news (that was published in the new section). Typical traits of a good 狗仔队 member.
It is a "personal opinion" or "assumption" that is published as a piece of news. I just think that a good journalist must be able to differentiate and state the differences between "personal opinion", "public opinion" and "news". News are facts about actual events, opinions are not.
Freedom of speech has to be practiced with sense of responsibility and the sense of responsibility should be instilled from seemingly small matter like this, otherwise it will lead to more events like the cartoon furore recently.
That's my personal opinion.

恭喜发财

It has been a good year, my gratitute and respect goes to the people above. Also not forgetting those whom my camera could not reach. Here's wishing everyone a great year ahead.

紫微斗数

What's that? Well if you know Chinese you'll know what it means. If you don't..it's one of those ancient Chinese astrological fate prediction algorithm.
Myth or superstition or total bullshit? i took a course last weekend to find out. Yes, 2 days course.
Why did I go - someone I trusted referred me.
I wasn't disappointed. the teacher put it in a way that is very easy to comprehend, with the right objective - to help us in discovering our life's purpose.
I can tell you there is more sense and logic in this compared to politics.. or let me rephrase - politics make sense after you understand this stuff.
One of the best course I've attended. If you trust me and want to find out more, talk to me.

For my friend who is thinking of starting h** own business

"Don't start a business if you can't explain what pain it solves, for whom, and why your product will eliminate this pain, and how the customer will pay to solve this pain. The other day I went to a presentation of six high tech startups and not one of them had a clear idea for what pain they were proposing to solve."
- From Joel Spolsky's foreword to Bob Walsh's new book: "Micro-ISV: From Vision to Reality"
The foreword is online at:
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/Micro-ISV.html

More about my tank

I managed to solve the algae problem with this fella - a gold spotted pleco. He impressed me from day one, took away the green carpet on the tank wall within 2 days. The driftwood looks pretty polished now too.














By the way, here is my tank's Specification:
Volume: 10L
Current pH: 7.4 (was around 6.4 when started)
Temperature: 29C (I don't really trust the strip termo though)
Constructor: Eric (you can call him for your tank job, quote my name for discount)
Plant: Java Moss, Wendelov Fern
Fish Population:
1 yellow female Guppy waiting for mate
7 neon tetras
(theme: snow white and the 7 drawfs)
1 featherfin squeker
1 gold spotted pleco (don't know the actual name)

What's so good about it:
>1 month old tank, small but stable, no casualties since day 3 of inception. Love the driftwood - plenty of hiding space for everyone.

Looking for Siamese Algae Eater

I am looking for a Siamese Algae Eater like the one on the left. Let me know if you know where I can get one. Don't mistake it for the Flying Fox.. but I don't know how to tell them apart.
Why I need it:
1. Algae problem - 2 types
2. He's supposed to be efficient
3. Small size for my small tank (10L only)
Below is what I have (let me rephrase - looks like what I have) now..the shop labelled it as a Cory but I don't think it is..This is a picture of a Featherfin Squeaker. Mine (whatever) is about 7cm long now.. clings upsidedown under the driftwood most of the time. He cleans the bottom pretty well for the leftovers but hardly leaves home.

Koh Samui, 05/11/27 - 12/1

Yup, yet another annual vacation.
What is planned besides what's top on the list:
PADI Diver Certification
Spa
Sun-tanning
... not expecting much from what I see from the website/brochure since I am not very keen on monkey and elephants.
I miss the dates for the full moon party.. but what the heck.. I'll have a half moon one.

Love the intention.

QUOTE OF THE MATCH: 'You have to understand why they did that penalty yesterday. They have so many penalties' - Jose Mourinho on Arsenal after the bizarre penalty fiasco during the Premier League victory over Manchester City at Highbury on Saturday

Mourning Owen

I can't believe it... Owen goes to Newcastle? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
What a heart break. He deserves to be in a much better team. Newcastle? Souness? Madness!
Why are you so desperate Mike..
That's it Real Madrid, I've lost the respect for this team.. though i'll still look out for Robhino's sake.

Just another season?

Unless the Pool wins.. of course.
Lazy to write - took this off soccernet, which is largely congruent with what I think..
"Am I the worst football fan on the planet? Sometimes it feels like it. (I always feel like it) I never think we are going to do anything and then, boom, biggest prize in club football.
A shocking season, characterised by abject performances and humiliating defeats in the Premiership. The only time I felt truly happy (And I felt 'ah.. someone pls end the suffering') was when the 180th minute of each knock-out round of the Champions League was over and Liverpool had recorded another, often close, victory. Despite the final win, they have to do better in the league this time round.
Even I, however, think they'll be an improvement this season. We might not recreate that night of Turkish delight, but I don't care as long as they're strong week to week. Benitez has proved that when push comes to shove he's got the tactics to rival anyone and with everything that's gone on this summer, I whole heartedly believe Gerrard will play the season of his life. (I was hoping Zenden will do the same..)
Carragher has his rightful place in the England team to earn and Xabi Alonso is on course to cementing his place as an Anfield legend. (I don't know.. let's see) The rest of the boys, new and old, have to prove they're worthy of the title European champions. And I think they will... Jose, Arsene and Alex will all be seeing red by May. (YES!) "
By Liverpool fan Tony Birchley.

Henry said "My only demand is to lead the team to silverware. I didn't come to the game for the money. Yes, there is money in the game, but sometimes the game is more important." Wohh... If you noticed in that commercial he's the one who stayed on the beach while his 'colleagues' pull off their stunts... wonder if that's also Henry in real life. You're a lucky man Wenger.
For that I think Arsenal is still a force to be reckoned with. Henry always have a place in my Corinthians.
Oh btw, if you are a soccer fan, go to fantasy.premierleague.com and enter 68914-21501 to join our league.

Fellowship of the rind

The trend continues.. one a month
Looking at our local fellowship, from the past till now, everyone has left for different reasons, albeit there were some common factors.
It shows that there is not a single force on the dark side attributing to all this but rather a natural progression. The fellowship have to head towards a common destiny, even though the journey might be different. So why do people leave?
1. They took the wrong journey and didn't like it.
2. Their destination have changed witha new revalation.
3. They have discocvered a new distination.
4. The journey was too long, they decide to change the journey (don't matter the destination).
5. The monsters along their journey changed their destination.
6. ...
As one of the leaders in the fellowship, I commit to do the best for everyone in it and help everyone to do the same, with the hope that one of the reason you reached your destiny one day, within our without this fellowship, is because you've been here.

On the other hand, recruitment of new members had been hard.. most of them:
1. Don't care where they are going
2. Don't have the passion for the journey
3. You can tell - won't fit in, they talk Gibberish
4. You can tell - partied too much during their training years
5. Scared of monsters
Or have I erred on the selection process and we've been looking at the wrong camp.

I need help my fellow padawans, what say you..

Revealed

Just discovered that someone is actually reading this blog.. eh hem..
I better start to post "seriously". Well, salute to you who linked me despite risking your identiy from being exposed. So, I've updated the link.
I declare this blog opened! clap clap..