The world has indeed gotten smaller

Just over a century ago, long before any automobiles were invented, the mode of transport for men during that time was horse, or perhaps camels or animals that were deemed suitable for humans to sit on and carried them around. The distance travelled were limited. Some could even take days or months to reach.

When the first ever commercial vehicles were made available to men, the time it took to travel had been shorten to as much as 3 -5 times. More places were explored. More developments began to take place. And of course, more roads were built .

Then there were airplanes. From a continent to another continent were made possible by the shortest of time. Connectivity were traced easily. And there were trains, submarines etc. connectivity can even be taken place under water. within a century, we sudddenly realized that it took just as less time that it took for men hundreds of years to travel and connect from one place to another.

By the 20th century, we were already pretty much connected by a thing called digital. Namely computers. We were able to know a person thousands of miles away from us by just a single click. And we made friends. Friends of different cultures and religions.

And today, almost everyone of us has a smartphone where we are able to connect with someone anytime with us carrying the phones with it. We can even see them live if we want to.

Isn’t the world really getting smaller now?

Happy anniversary

Happy anniversary.

I believe Life has its own version of its story. Our ways in coping our daily lives, our routines. Our relationship and our family.

You & I have our own version of our stories. There will be ups and down. Yes there will be. Be it the bad or the better. But as the road for us to becoming better, whether in our work, family and our relationship, I should admit that ego should be put aside and allow ourselves to step outside the boundary to look within in order to observe what went wrong. How can it be improved? Should we forgive and move on, how can we practice to be better. How to learn acceptance and love you more. Can our souls be cleansed and pull our strings closer to close up the gap differences.

I believe, there is. It still exist. But I hope I am ready soonest possible. But at this moment, time will tell.

Luck with hard work

Just finished my work and realized the time is late. It’s time to go home. However, my brain seem to be over activated with overwhelming thoughts for the past days, in particular today I should say. As I was reviewing through what I have done and achieved, I find that I wasn’t getting anywhere nearer to what I wanted.

As of today, I received a compensation income statement with record far less than what I aimed at achieving. For just that second I thought my life have failed me. What was I thinking? I could have just conclude myself that I wasn’t doing enough neither i have improve myself. Or “it” just doesn’t suit me. Business sales doesn’t seem to earn me enough.

Well, i then happened to finger myself on my Facebook and I chanced upon this on my newsfeed.

I learnt one thing today . Hard work will find its way and pay off. We just gotta work harder and find ways to improve to mobilize undertaking and become
Smarter. Stay patient. Luck will come when We keep finding it.

Thanks to the author who posted this.

GE13 : To vote or not to vote

The 13th general election in malaysia is said to be the toughest and the most interesting thing to happen in Malaysia”s history of modern politics. Since the past year, speculation has been rifed on when a election is to be called, and people got impatient. Interestingly on 3rd april 2013, the parliament was finally dissolved and paved way for election.

When I was young, I didn’t care much about politics nor I was interested to know. After all , I was just a boy. But as I finished school, I began to take conscious on happenings in my country and take pride in the updating issues of my hometown. I remember during my first flight to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, I was taken by surprise of the vast development of these new places i have stepped onto. I felt like I knew nothing. ( ticket flights were expensive during those time and being able to sit on an airplane was a luxury.) Compared to the photos that my parents have taken in singapore during the 1970s, I knew it was no longer the same.

Then in 2000, i took my first distant flight to Australia and my exposure led me to believe that things can always change for the better. Malaysia is a place where I really call home, and no doubt, Malaysia has improved a lot since independence, but it is my duty to take conscious awareness on the future development of my country to ensure that malaysia will continue to develop, particularly in my homegrown town -the state of Sarawak, Kuching city.

I realized that i play a part in understanding my country better.I am equally responsible for my country.

The thing is, to really take responsibility on my part as a normal citizen, one of the rightfully thing to do at best is to exercise my voting right. And a vote counts. I am no bias to any political parties. As I don’t vote based on certain parties. I could have voted for any parties but before I decide, I realized that many people I have known seem to be reluctant to vote, or rather I would say, they are indecisive on who to vote for. We, malaysians have the privilege to practice democracy rights and decide who runs our country, and it is something I believe we shouldn’t take granted for.

Agree or not, some people have the perception that it didnt matter whether to vote or not . After all, life has always been as it is. I often hear” I don’t need anyone nor the government to support me. I have a job and a family.I m taking care of myself well regardless who is in charge of the country. As long as they don’t bother my life, i am neutral”.

Some still think that whoever is the government, it won’t change a thing. A friend of mine asserted that while he does read newspapers and online portals to update the current issues, he
Is still skeptical on the political scene in Malaysia. can they deliver what they promise?

Followings are the common reasons why people may not want to vote:

Weary
Dont care attitude
Could not decide the party to vote for
Don’t really know the candidate
Skeptical on the political promises
Politics are dirty

TO VOTE OR NOT TO VOTE THEN

A good friend of mine echoing that every time election draws near, many goodies are promised and some seem too good to be true, but exactly he feels that a politician should have a mindset to really commit to fight for the people, it’s rhetoric. Unless he thinks like mother Theresa or Nelson Mandela, only then a politician deserves to be elected to serve the people.

A vote count does make a difference. A person who changes his mindset would influence the next person on his responsibility to exercise his voting power. And followed by the next person. This time around, a total of of 2.35 Million have reportedly registered themselves as first time voters. and it does make a big difference now.

I realized it would be unfair also to keep reminding people to exercise their votes without knowing what to consider before heading to the polls.

In my personal opinion, I think few things should be carefully considered before deciding who to vote for. If am given a choice, I would definitely choose to vote based on individuality rather than political parties. But since in Malaysia, votes are by large based on party politics with individual candidates representing a party and to an extent independent candidate. The party who gets the most seats run the country. Many people do not get to know enough the candidates and his or her personality, hence many people rely on the parties agenda to decide. The decision is decided upon by political parties agendas who share the best development plan for the country and interests of the people as well as the best of benefits they could enjoy if they form the next government. So the parties manifesto become the in thing to look out for in an election.

Down to the individual candidates, an elected member of parliament should be the one who has intergrity, and definite plans on what to do once he is elected. What is his immediate steps and plan? Elected MP should be the one who is really able to understand what and know how to address what the people want. His vision is crucial here. What is his plan for the next 5 year to develop his area? His possession of excellent communication skills marks the point, as i may not want someone who goes into the battle room and not knowing how to present at his best to convince the board his right. Being assertive is what determines an effective politician and has no fear to voice out for what he or she thinks is best for the people. Can he be the people’s ears or simply just a yes-man.

The candidate should also be free of corruption record, and being in politics is to bring greater improvements and not the “advantages ” of getting benefits and the allowance he is about to rake once elected. It isn’t easy. Who says it’s going to be easy anyway.

The truth is, it is difficult to know either whether or not all those qualities comply. So i did one thing. And i’m sharing it. One of the things we can do is to think back on a time when during the last election , say if the candidate is currently the elected MP in your area, what has he or she accomplished during the time. Has the promises being kept? Has he or she ever take the big steps to solve problems in your area? Information can also be traced through the Internet.

Also campaign is usually held before the election day, take a time out to attend the candidate’s campaign and listen to his talk. By observing the way he talks, it may give us an idea on the credibility of that person. Hear what is in his mind and what plan he has for your area. Grap his point. While it may not completely confirm his true self, it does indeed give a clearer picture on his personality.

Its up to us now. In 15 days, we decide or not whether to cast the ballot and make a difference or to simply just sit back watching and do the coffee-talks.

Never give up those dreams

I recently followed articles written by one of malaysia’s business moghuls, Datuk Seri Clement Hii’s and i am greatly inspired by his enthusiasm and drive to achieve his dream into becoming what he is today. Clement is the CEO of one of the biggest higher institution in malaysia today – and he did not achieve it overnight. It was a lifelong experienced filled with incredible obstacles.

By the way, Dato Seri Clement started off humbly as a newspaper vendor before becoming a chief editor for a newspaper daily at just aged 20 before losing it all. At 32, Despite his failure he never gave up but continue to learn and to improve day by day.With his passions and fighting spirit, he paved his way up to the top again . In 1997, He bought a small college called IBMS in Kuching with just over 7 students before transforming it into a top haven college and today it has more than twenty thousand students Under the same roof, and a university status. it is one of the most profitable private institutional in Malaysia with capitalization that exceeds RM 1billion and multiple awards under it’s tag. He also owns several others interests which include properties and manufacturing .

It clearly signify one thing. Nothing is really impossible unless we decide to. As long as we try and stay passionate in what we do, life has it’s way on us. Nothing guarantees success. But one thing is definitely guaranteed. We learnt priceless education and experiences. Even if we have failed and never lived to fulfill our expectation. I love to use the two philosophies that I have been adopting lately – belief and faith. While it is easier said than done, these 2 principals are my guiding forces whenever I face obstacles and criticism from people who justifies my “silliness” or don’t share the same opinion as I do.

And It’s really interesting to hear success stories from people who care to share a tip or two about their lives and struggles in achieving their ambitions. It gives us an idea of hope that out there somewhere opportunities are still available for us. We just need to find them .

Of the many success stories that i have read and studied ,they share these 2 common traits. these 2 philosophies confirmed what it takes to face the truth and reality challenges . Their achievements are literally gained by their true beliefs and faith. They didn’t give up hope in pursuing for what they believed in. They prefer to try, failed and looked silly to everyone rather than doing what everybody does for a living or take the safe secure path to avoid failure. To them, it doesn’t really matter if they are going to lose it all, but rather they choose to follow their instinct and take the risky path and as long they stay focussed and determined, success is likely to achieve eventually. They believe that they are bound to endure severe stress and painful period along the way but it’s their faith that kept them moving.

These also play the key role in almost everything that we do. It’s so much easier to give up and lead an ordinary life. Bt the thing that keep successful people going are perhaps their belief that it’s possible and by their faith that uphold their determination, whether it’s by the faith of religion or by the faith within their inner minds. While most people choose to stay realistic, they chose to make an unrealistic decision that obstacles are the pay off price for their reward, regardless how impossible it may seem. That probably explains how Nehemiah achieve wealth through the clean way in industries that may seem hard to survive in an economy like this.

An ex teacher of mine never imagined anything bigger except for her few thousand ringgit salary per month as an English teacher with only retirement to look forward to. Not until she was introduced to insurance business that gave her an opportunity to do a breakthrough. But yet, she didn’t believe that she could sell without any prior experience and courage to approach people. 5 years later, she becomes one of the top sales agent in her company and was promoted to sales GM.

I would have given up few years ago if not for the fact that I chose to believe that it was ok to fail sillily and start over again despite the truth that my failure in my past undertakings are nothing to be proud of. Today I earn a decent income and am on my way to achieve my vision and goal. and I take pride and gratitude in the short income that I receive every month.

Like Nike says it “just do it”.

2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The new Boeing 787 Dreamliner can carry about 250 passengers. This blog was viewed by thousands strong clicks times in 2012. If it were a Dreamliner, it would take about dozens trips to carry that many people.

** it’s a complimentary excerpt from the wordpress publisher itself*

I would like to say a big thank you to those who have cared to press a click to view even a glance at my blog. It means a lot to me and I am determined to work even harder for the upcoming year to improve and to share about life and events.

Thank you and God bless!

Nothing really lasts forever, it’s the mind that keeps in forever.

Time passes by quickly. as I am writing this, christmas is just 2 weeks away.

This year reminds me of one thing discreetly – that nothing in life really lasts forever. I have learnt to virtually keep this in mind all the time. Things just come and go. When time has come, it is alright for us to let go. The feelings that we had, the experiences that we have dwelled, friends and colleagues that left us for something better, and the things that we once own.

Think about these for a moment,

When we were in school, we used to enjoy great moment with our best friends, hanging out together, breaking those rules as if there wasn’t any tomorrow, but till a time when we realized that the moment weren’t meant to be forever. Somehow time separated us for a new stage in life.

We bought one of the most expensive cars in town and enjoyed being envied by friends and relatives, but before we knew it, new models were launched soon after and we lost that luxury moment.

The guy next door is one of the most charming guy who would melt any girls that couldn’t resist to get hold of. But someday, he will age and the attention will be shifted to someone younger.

She may own the sexiest body at workplace today but there is no guarantee for that the body will last forever anywhere. Someday, new staffs will pull in and take over the rife.

In life reality, we meet new people. Some become our good friend, some don’t. We lose connection with our friends, either they left school, resigned from their company, or separate from our significant others – and we grief. We felt something was missing when we supposedly wanted it to be forever.

But the good thing is, we are able to learn from them. I like to call it as emotional maturity. We learn to grief and feel the loss, and our unconsciousness allow us to handle that emotion better. Spiritually I believe we grow. we began to seek something new and better. We get new friends. We keep old moments as guidance to carry with us in our mind.

I have experienced a great deal of moment where for one moment I knew I was right, being in the right place and meeting the prefect person. These are the people that allow me to grow passionately and becoming more matured. I learn from them. I got closer to realize what i really wanted. For instance, I have met friends and colleagues along the course of life. and through their lives sharing and passions, I decode myself. I have also lost friends whom I thought were forever, but in actual fact, thing changes. Circumstances move us towards something new. Everyone has their own lives. Someday, our friends and siblings will have their own family and their own career plan. But when i thought I have lost them, I haven’t really, nor that i can keep the moment forever neither. But one thing for sure is the moment is an important aspect in our well being. Perhaps the right thing to do is to just treasure it. I KEEP THEM AS GOLD. Emotions taught me better.

I have own and lose certain moments with people who are deemed important in my life, but it is this that tells me to take appreciation with people who were brought into my life, and keep these feelings and excitement as assets to justify any decisions in life undertaking.

Moment of Reflection

Is there a moment where you suddenly noticed yourself having an absurd feeling running inside your mind?  A moment when you feel something is missing or empty and yet not exactly sure why? Perhaps you feel that something has not been done or said , or you lack a sense of feeling that you supposedly wanted to have or normally feel but not today.  Maybe you feel a lack of connection, or something in mind you wanted to tell the other person but hadn’t. Somewhere in between you feel lost and down.

When we asked ourselves, often times we want an answer, because if we don’t, we feel confused and moody. Worst still, FEAR comes into play.

I have been trying to practice the power of meditation, though i haven’t exactly find a niche on my part yet to capture the best element where i can precisely feel the calmness in search for peace of mind while doing so. I am still learning. But i find one thing that may defintely help me for now.

A MOMENT OF SILENCE AND REFLECTION

It’s easy and i think everyone could have practice this as a habit.

I learn to make it a habit to give myself a moment of  silence ocasionally  where i would just sit quietly alone to reflect what i have been through the whole day. Sometimes i lack of answers but i do feel calmer. By reflecting, i bring my bad experience, and the good ones into thoughts, and filter what are neccessary for me to think differently. For example, i learn to turn my shamefulness into good energy experience for me and change the way i behave and talk. I know that tommorrow is another new day. Reflecting and changing thoughts will make my day more fruitful and less fearful. Besides, i only spend about 15 minutes doing so.

I believe it works.

Little actions that made a difference

1. I used to ask myself two questions randomly during my routine. My questions normally sound like these:

” What have i learnt today?”

” Can i improve or change these? how could i do then?”

2. My questions are rather simple but i found them powerful at many times. When i put my emotions into play while asking these two questions, i felt better and resourceful. Hope seem to exists from these questions. My mind will direct me to start thinking of the whole day i have been through and filter out what are neccessary to ponder upon.

3. Interestingly, there ll always be something to ponder upon. For example, problems of the day, cherishing moment to remember of, “silly” things that i did, intimate moment, sadness, lost a deal and so forth.

4. When emotions ran high and i start asking myself how to deal with it then or what should i do now, these open questions make me think better.

5. Unfortunately, for past months i haven’t really followed through what i have learnt and experienced.

 6. Two days ago, i received a letter from one of my major clients ( not to name here) and sadly, they have decided the pilot project for one of our products are to be cancelled, which ultimately means they will no longer be interested to continue implementing our product. I was devastated. Not only was i devastated, i had made the company devastated. I was thinking how should i respond to my company.

7. To my despair, i sat down quietly that night and carried myself  a deep thought of what went wrong and what i have learnt from here.  Somehow a book came into my mind, i went to my room and grabbed a book from Jack Canfield on his success principals and found out two things that caused my “failure”:

a.) Take Action  from page 154

b.) Commit to constant and never ending improvement of page  239.

8. While i ask myself two questions as aforesaid, i failed to take massive actions immediately and improve from my actions to justify what needs to be done next. I used to take little things lightly thinking that i should be looking at the bigger picture and let the little things take care of itself or later.

9. But as often times, its the little things that transform the little actions into bigger result. I may have planned in details but my actions do not reflect my aggressiveness. Like it says, plan but take more actions.  

10. So, i have learnt something new today.

Growing Old Alone

The thought of growing old alone sounds terrifying for many people. Imagine growing old with no one to talk to , share your happiness with or someone to lend a shoulder when you cry, or care for you when you are sick. It doesn’t matter if we are wealthy or poor, having to live and grow old alone is not a choice to many people. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrongbeing alone or staying single. But if given a choice, many would have opt not to be.

I was inspired by a true experience that i myself am seeing it now before my very eyes. My dad has a so called friend who is temporary staying at his house, the house where we used to live for over 20 years before moving out to a new home. According to my dad, he used to have a wife and kids during his younger years, and somehow due to complicated reason, his wife left him and took the kids away, leaving him to fend for himself. He had no job, no money and suffered with some “depression mode”. i wasn’t sure if he ever had his own house, but somehow he ended up staying at my dad place. His children never came to see him. Out of pity and for some “internal” reason, we allowed him stay with no rental charged. And ever sinced, he had stayed there for over 2 years. Everytime i see him, i would imagine how he feels having to live without any loved ones. he’s closed to 50. i  somehow believe there could be some point of life where he would have felt emptiness inside of him, perhaps some form of regrets and fear could have crossed his mind. He was a nice man. He would continue working odd jobs to feed himself though money was little and he’s phycially getting weaker due to age reason. I would sometimes hand out some money, buy food for him and had s short chat with him hoping that he could at least feel some warmth and radiant. That was the very least i could do.

I sometimes imagine myself  if i were to put myself in his shoes. How would i feel? Is there any reason for me to live like that? does it mean anything to me? i pretty much understood how a person feels when he or she is lonely. I feel lonely sometimes too. Evertyime i look across the street and see couples walking together , family with their kids laughing and enjoying their moment together, we see warmth and love by the look of their expressions. Like wise compared to the dark side of the coin when we see old folks sitting across the garden at an old folks home, or singles and divorcees who live alone. We see weak bodies, being fed by carers who aren’t able to feed themselves anymore. They exist, but died emotionally.

I remember when i was a boy, i had a neighbour who stayed next door to us. Living with them was an old granny who would sit alone outside the verandah everyday on her stretcher. Her children will leave home early everyday to work and so most of the time, she stayed alone the whole day. Granny would always talked to us  through the veranda. As i was too young, i couldnt really understood what granny was talking, probably because of a different wavelength. But now, come to think of it, i understand now. I didnt really have to try to understand what she tried to say, all she wanted was probably just someone to talk to. That’s all.

We all need love in our lives. It can be love to our parents, family, spouses and love to ourselves. Love is also about reaching out to those who need love, and to love as well as to be loved. In today’s world, marriage may not guanrantee an everlasting future together the way the old days did. Life is unpredictable. But love is an in thing that is vital for good health, physically and mentally. Thoughts like these reminded me not to take life for granted, and to make my life at the utmost meaningness to me. Nothing guarantees forever just like the uncle and the old granny, but what makes it more important is to appreciate  and treasure what we have now, and do our best to reach out the best to the one we love and to ourselves. It is saddening to see elderly grow old without loved ones or spouse to stay companion with, and to stay around with them when they are sick.  

Growing old is part of life and is inevitable. As i move on with my life, i remind myself that i choose not to grow old alone. I may not be prefect, but no one is anywhere. I would ensure my life is filled with love and to fill my significant other with love. No one knows what the future holds, i may surprisingly get married fast enough and may not last, but whatever it is, growing old alone or not is a choice we can all make. We may not want to wait till we aged and someday we think about it and regret.