Wednesday, December 30, 2009

3 things we need to know to progress, where we are, where we want to be, how to get there. We need to know all 3, think about that.

Thank you 2009, Welcome 2010

My believe is that every year we have to look back and see what progress we have made, do a minor tweak or adjustment and see where we are headed to next. In all reality, 2009 has not been an easy year, as do most years anyway. It will be a waste not to look back and take away learning points. The reality is that the world seems to have gone on a twisted economic cycle. Just to recap some of it the financial meltdown in US, the laying off of workforce all over the world, cutting back of spending from consumer to corporate, the almost always worsening weather and its getting really hot here, political disappointment (the usual picking and biting of each other but as a nation, no real progress), H1N1 another name for another strain of something as common as flu (but it has name because it kills us easily) and inflation on daily items.

So it does look crappy 2009, isn't it? well there was a feel scare but we all survived. And well, for all the stuff mentioned above, it is really beyond my control anyway. What I could do was what I can influence both from my personal action and personal thinking. In spite of all above, it was quite a fruitful year to complement a sad list above :) It is a year that I achieve my PMP, got an award in Software Testing for the organization I service, made a few friends, felt closer to God (yes, we pray more during the tough times), attended Wealth Mastery and preparation for fatherhood. Not that bad at all, I think.

So, come 2010, first of all is making real progress in planning and execution, as well as getting excited and fill my enthusiasm for life itself. I have to be more detailed now, and more precise in execution as this is one of the area I feel lacking the concentration. You know, we can be so distracted sometimes over things we have to do. I am really thinking of a year plan and then breaking them into quarterly plans so that the tracking is much better. From past experience, yearly plans are seldom looked at. Though with quarterly targets, I must live everyday by itself that is, everyday I must make progress and live it to the fullest, in passion, enthusiasm, love and joyfulness. We know we have today, but we do not know whether we really have tomorrow. And all of the daily activity jumbled up really packs it up and well hopefully still giving myself 7 or at least 6 hours of good sleep, plenty of water and pack in a couple of hours of good exercise and sun light every week.

A lot of cutbacks as well for 2010, I must reduce wastage time. Plenty of it, I suppose I should start with less TV, less games (yes, I still do games), less unhealthy food, less negativism, less pessimism and definitely less anger. I find that we live in a world full of pressure and pain. As yet technology has provided us with ample amount of convenience, I do find that with so much convenience, sometimes we do not appreciate life enough as it is. One thing I remembered that Keith Cunningham taught me, is that we have to set aside time to THINK. Have you really sit down and think today? Have we sit down and appreciate each and every present that God has give me and thank God and thank the people around me? Nope, have not done much of that. Come 2010, I definitely will.

One theme I want to make 2010 for me personally, is that 'To make this world a better place, with compelling future and exciting tomorrows for people around me, more so my family, so that the energy and enthusiasm around me will bring me to greater heights with God and understanding him better. To utilize my time so fully that I translate all my plans into outcomes that I wanted through perfect execution, as well as being generous with time for family and friends.

Yes Yes Yes, I can't wait for 2010!!

~~~ Life is an adventure where we search for the meaning of the outcome.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

It is time to reflect and give thanks, to love ones, friends and re-connect with others we have lost touch with. Merry Christmas

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Do or do not, there is no try - Yoda

Saturday, October 03, 2009

Importance of HR in 2009

Following the world economy crisis earlier this year, it is utmost important that every organization re-look and re-evaluate every single operation and strategy to ensure survival and profitability. The truth to the matter is, almost all the organization that I know have been affected. And the organization that is able to adapt to the slowdown, re-invent itself and make itself and its product valuable will be able to capture a bigger piece of market share as the world economy begins to recover.

Organization that is not able to change and re-invent itself will lose out to its direct competitor whom is able to do so. Instead of competing for market share, the beginning of 2009 appears to be a year of re-invention and a race to be the most effective and efficient company that is able to satisfy customer needs. Customer needs remain pretty much the same throughout this period of time, where the main concern is price. So, customer does not mind that the supplier does not provide them best services, but they would like the price to be as good as possible. The war on price forces almost all organization to make a product in the lowest price possible. The squeeze therefore has forced organization to cost down, retrench, reduce, outsource or even sell their none profitable unit.

Earlier this year seems to be the best time for company to make use of tools, such as Six Sigma, Total Quality Management, Knowledge Management, Balanced Scorecard and 'Lean' methodology to drive down operational cost. Retrenchment would basically cause two problem, that is loss of moral among staff and loss of valuable staff as well as knowledge. This is followed by outsourcing of an entire none major or focused tasks to a third party organization. In all this
movement, the most overlooked aspect is always, the knowledge that the staff take away with them and the loss of knowledge as a result of outsourcing. Knowledge is among one of the many 'asset' of organization and if lost or shared out to the public may cause their 'secret' of success leaked out, in both cases, giving away their competitive advantage that they may hold against their direct competitor.

HR strategy if properly implemented can help reduce this impact and facilitate organization to re-invent itself so that the organization can sustain and emerge from this economy downturn with an advantage from its competitor. Here are a few areas that HR should look at:

1. HR Strategy must follow the organization vision, mission and strategy. Whatever lay out in the organization strategy, the HR strategy must follow suit to ensure that it is inclined and supports the objective. For example, if Company A decides to outsource its operation to Vietnam, Company A HR must be prepared with employment rules and regulation of Vietnam, access the capability of expertise there, cost of hiring and expenses there and attrition rate. All
this will prepare the organization with knowledge and ability to access whether the feasibility of this happening and also for them to ensure work done at the end of the day.

2. Succession planning must be implemented. Even with limited time and resources, this will ensure continuity and mitigate possible risks moving forward. Retrenchment is also a time where competitor company will try to woe your best staff away with only the minimal promise of monetary reward. They can be attracted to other things such as stability of competitor organization and other none monetary reward. So this time, any employees may move, even the most unlikely. Therefore Succession Planning is a necessity, not a luxury.

3. Knowledge Management is a must. Method of how KM is practiced and implemented across will have to be looked at. We know that it is not possible to extract all knowledge from each employee, BUT, the main knowledge has to be sustained and controlled. Person designated to this must be diligent to follow through in an organization to ensure outflow or retrenchment will not affect work and loss of knowledge. In addition, non-disclosure agreement must be something that has been done throughout. If there is a need for revision and getting everyone to sign on it, so it has to be.

4.Intellectual Property (IP), copyright is also another area that HR has to get involved in order to ensure that all this organization property is protected. This are valuable organization asset that if not properly protected will result in net loss of organization value.

5. Sourcing for talent and talent management is also a major challenge for HR teams. The HR must have the foresight in area of retaining, nurturing and attractive renumeration method to retain talent. All too often, HR poses to be the 'paperwork' or administrative role, but it is time to step up and propose to management the best way to retain talent. All too often, the idea of monetary value is the only criteria that everyone thinks the employee looks at. How about, in the area of flexibility and work from home? For example, Naraya (Thailand), the company that produce ladies accessories have production lines in the remote home of poor village housing area. However, the outreach of the market capability goes as far as Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.

If there is ever a time for HR to step up and catch up, it is now. It is always said, in the midst of problems and difficulties, comes great opportunity. In the early years of Sony and Toyota, both company, took the step to divert and set up plants across America and then Europe. Before they even have a stronghold in their own country, that is, Japan, they took the calculated risk to expand before others. Today both are superpower, by the sheer diversification and expansion of plant in many countries. They are able to retain their expanding talent in Japan and send them all over the world and further expand and grow talent from there. It is a good organization growth strategy coupled with HR masterstroke. I leave you with one last example, that is Samsung. Today the company grow daily by just filing nearly 100 patents daily. Almost all of their employees are trained in the area of innovation. In one year, it could easily have 20000 patents. In a few years time, all this patents will play a big role in providing monetary return for Samsung. Samsung HR provides the right mix of motivation and compensation to make this happen.

~~~ Life is an adventure where we search for the meaning of the outcome.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Decision making is take a pick and stick by it. Successful people do it everyday, others sit on the fence and let others make it for them.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Impossible is a limitation we set our brain to believe that something cannot be done - Winson

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Tomorrow may hold a better future, but today you need to decide whether you want it or not.

Thursday, September 03, 2009

Holistic view is important... opportunity missed by organization because of silo view, must be careful of that.

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

I wonder if twitting and micro-blogging makes life better? Must we market so much of ourselves or tell so much about ourselves?

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Prosperity depends on how well the company focuses on adding real value. -QP
In hard times, if you are better than the competition, they will get out and leave you with a larger portion of the market - QP

Friday, August 21, 2009

It used to be information limited, but now, it is information overloading. We have to learn to filter what information to process already.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Innovation used to be an art to me, but now, science. It can be done following a certain method or process. www.systematic-innovation.com

Friday, August 07, 2009

How significant your day is depends on how you see it, how important you are to the society depends on how you participate in it -winson

Monday, July 27, 2009

My Guess Watches

Interestingly, I was at a Guess watch yesterday trying to get my watches working again. I had a little chat with the guy who replaces the batteries. And below are some facts:
1. If your watch cover (on the reverse side), need to be peeled open, your watch is old, and if someone tries to sell you one of these, please make sure it is free or very cheap (because it should be old stock)
2. If your watch is original, ensure that the battery inside is made from Maxell. It should not be Sony or anything else. But more expensive watches would want battery made by Swiss manufactured batteries. So do watch it.
3. Life span of a decent Japanese battery is RM15 (including installation services). Life span of a lousy battery is several months (don't know how much it costs) AND a Swiss battery could go up to 2 years (for about RM20)!!

So that is that, a little wisdom from the watch maker :)


~~~ Life is an adventure where we search for the meaning of the outcome.

Monday, July 20, 2009

The results of positive affect on motivation are internal change and improved performance

Friday, July 17, 2009

Another Scam in my Mailbox

Scam comes in a lot of ways and shapes. Now I have another piece. I don't know if someone who stands to gain 7.2 million USD would want to come and give any share of it to me. Sorry scammers, my philosophy of life is always 'you have to earn everything, except for grace of God'. Have a nice day and don't fall for this, a serious warning for folks out there...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Good day,

This is a personal email directed to you for your consideration alone, I

request that it remain and be treated as such only. Please bear with me for

now and do not ask my name. I am a banker with HSBC here in Malaysia

I have an interesting business proposal for you that will be of immense

benefit to both of us. Although this may be hard for you to believe, we

stand to gain 7.2 million USD between us in a matter of days. Please grant

me the benefit of doubt and hear me out. I need you to signify your interest

by replying to this email..

Most importantly, I will need you to promise to keep whatever you learn from

me between us even if you decide not to go along with me. I will make more

details available to you on receipt of a positive response from you.

ooi Tek
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

~~~ Life is an adventure where we search for the meaning of the outcome.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

I am alive this moment, and not planning to waste any of it :)

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

What is not of today that worries you will be a distraction for you to complete what you need to complete today.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Absolute Power - Corrupts

Interesting point to debate, some people say:

Sometimes I understand why Mr Lee Kuan Yew did what he did to raise Singapore from a 3rd world country to its current developed nation status. He had to remove dissent for the greater good of the country.

What I think:

One will never foresee what is a greater good of a country. Well I think LKY has done good in the short run, but it is yet to be proven in the long run. Well I suppose LKY is very sensible and has not succumb to the power, because absolute power corrupts. LKY may (or may not, because I can't be sure) be righteous and one hearted in creating a better future for Singapore, but, truly, a lot of others have failed such as Hitler, Suharto & Thaksin among the more famous ones. They may not have actually failed, but according to text books and article, they are branded ranging from notorious, corrupt to many other names. If we just use wikipedia and search for the work corrupt leader, tonnes will appear as search result for you.

I believe in free speech as well as openness and transparency. I believe in equality and justice. I believe that no one opinion should be greater than the other and all shall be heard. What say you?


~~~ Life is an adventure where we search for the meaning of the outcome.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Life is what you choose it to be, followed by the necessary action to make it so -Winson

Monday, June 22, 2009

Positive side: Opposition can be used as a tool to motivate further improvement -Winson

Thursday, June 18, 2009

From my e-mail box - Beautiful Lesson







The girl in the picture is Katie Kirkpatrick, she is 21 . Next to her, her fiancé, Nick, 23. The picture was taken shortly before their wedding ceremony, held on January 11, 2005 in the US .. Katie has terminal cancer and spend hours a day receiving medication. In the picture, Nick is waiting for her on one of the many sessions of quimo to end.


In spite of all the pain, organ failures, and morphine shots, Katie is going along with her wedding and took care of every detail. The dress had to be adjusted a few times due to her constant weight loss


An unusual accessory at the party was the oxygen tube that Katie used throughout the ceremony and reception as well. The other couple in the picture are Nick's parents. Excited to see her son marrying his high school sweetheart.

Katie, in her wheelchair with the oxygen tube , listening to a song from her husband and friends

At the reception, katie had to take a few rests.The pain does not allow her to stand up for long periods

Katie died five days after her wedding day. Watching a woman so ill and weak getting married and with a smile on her face makes us think..... Happiness is reachable, no matter how long it last. We should stop making our lives complicated.


Life is short

Break the rules

forgive quickly

kiss passionately, love truly

laugh constantly

And never stop smiling
no matter how strange life is

Life is not always the party we expected to be

but as long as we are here, we should smile and be grateful.

As I reproduce this piece found in my mailbox, I didn't take the trouble to find out whether this person is in fact real or not. If the write did have such good imagination to even create a story of such, I think he or she knows something about life. And indeed if I reflect back at myself, too many times I have been looking into the small things and get frustrated with the minute things. The big picture, how about being alive and even close to our loved ones. Life is indeed fragile and unpredictable, but Love is something uniquely God build into us from his own image. How can we not learn to love and give more than anything else. If there is something I can learn from this is I need to Love and be less selfish. Have a great day, folks.


~~~ Life is an adventure where we search for the meaning of the outcome.
Don't be perfectionist, nothing is perfect. But if you have to, perfect the art of handling imperfection. -winson

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

The journey of life sometimes takes you through rough roads, and that is when you have something to share about how you overcame it.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Scam: Watch Out!!

I received the below email just a moment ago, just in case any of you did not realize. This is a total scam and don't bother replying to them. You are not going to get any cold hard cash sent to you for sure. All is going to happen to you is continue funding their operation by them saying that ohhh.. you got to send us courier charges, processing fees and stuff like that. It will repeat and repeat but I can guarantee that you would not get a single cent out of it. So watch out for it...

_____________________________________________________________

Sent By:

Subject: God Bless You Winson

Hello
I need your assistant of transferring $22 million Usd to a foreign account as our foreign investor or our foreign partner.

Inour Company,we sold Gold dust, HMS-1&2, USED RAILS, RS-50/60 HARDMETAL, COPPER SCRAPS and crude oil, and we did over invoiced during oursales.
Due toour new Elected government that has taken over now, we want to move outthis money through you. Your share is 30%, and me and my boss willhave 70%.

This money is in Standard Chartered BANK Ghana, buthas been moved to financial house for some reasons and for easy moveout to oversea.

I wait to hear from you.

Regards
Larry Peters
____________________________________________________________________

~~~ Life is an adventure where we search for the meaning of the outcome.

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Our purpose of life drives us and keep us motivated to wake up every morning and take a little step daily towards it.

Monday, June 01, 2009

Leadership is about.... handling the good time, as well as the rough time....

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Reason we stop reading local newspaper...

This may be the reason some of us stop reading local newspaper and go online for something more 'authentic'. Compare and contrast the below and let me know what you think

NST: Manufacturing sector continues to draw FDIs

MALAYSIA continues to attract significant foreign direct investments (FDIs) into the manufacturing sector, with projects worth RM3.3 billion approved in the first three months of this year. International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed said total foreign investments approved in Malaysia's manufacturing sector in 2008 increased to RM46.4 billion in 480 projects.

Bloomberg: Malaysia’s First-Quarter Foreign Investment Drops 79%

May 15 (Bloomberg) -- Malaysia’s approved foreign direct investment in the manufacturing industry plunged 79 percent in the first quarter amid slumping global demand for the country’s products, a minister said. The Southeast Asian nation approved 3.3 billion ringgit ($931 million) in foreign direct manufacturing investment from January to March, International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed told reporters in Kuala Lumpur today. That compares with about 16 billion ringgit a year earlier.



~~~ Life is an adventure where we search for the meaning of the outcome

Sunday, May 24, 2009

History is written by those in power, and the loser, almost always seems to be the bad egg.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Management by Objective (MBO): Have detailed expectation of what we want even before we start

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Of PMP, Farewell and Birthday Gifts

As I mature, I notice that there is a trend that birthday gifts seems to arrive much later (long after my birthday). At the same time I give presents to my friends much later as well. It could well be a few months after before the birthday gift or the Christmas gift finally arrive to my friends. This year is rather special, I received 3 set of pen. One from my insurance consultant (yes, the guy who sells me insurance), from my Cell Group (Light Bearers) and also from my colleague (Woodstock). Well it is all special and I like them all, honestly. Also my Cell Group actually bought me some mini cards on the New Testament. I think it is some cool stuff, that I can bring along and help me reflect during my holidays. Here it is... Thanks for all the gifts, I remember and cherish them very well :)

IMG_2832

OK that was about my birthday gifts, next is about farewell. And some friends come and some friends have to move on with their lives. I think it is sad sometimes, but just the chance of knowing someone and remembering them and how good they have been makes me feel that once a friend is made, it is forever. It takes a lot of courage to put down your life here and move on to something totally new. My friend, I totally understand the situation and I would feel vulnerable and sad as well. But, I do hope that you will have the strength and endurance to start your new life there, and remember us here in Malaysia that we will always remember you and have you in our prayers :) And I guess it is cool and we can always drop by and visit them when I decide to go a bit further for my holidays.

IMG_2813

Lastly, a bit of story on how and why I disappeared for months without a blog. I guess, I was away doing my PMP examination. It is all done now. I feel so happy and great that it is finally over after putting so much time on it. And it felt such a relief and happiness inside. I felt at that particular moment the result was out, I can sing "You Raise Me Up" (not sure whether that's the right song title), by Josh Groban. And also probably leap into the air to do a slam dunk like Michael Jordan. I have put down so many other things in my life (like blogging) that I can again sit in front of my PC and continue to type away until the cow comes home :) The exam hopefully like everyone else was meant for self improvement and career enhancement :)

Well that is how much I have sacrificed to pass an exam, the excitement thereafter and how my exam meant to me.

What will the other people in my life thinks about it? (warning, this is just my speculation and imagination. Those related and is reading, no offence)

MIL: Lucky only. Probably it is because of my ginseng...

Colleagues: What exam is that?

Boss: I suppose you could do more now... Can you take up the next 5 projects.... (awwww)

Friend: Congratulations, what exam is that, never heard of it ?.?.? 0_o

Just in case you wonder what PMP is, check out www.pmi.org

OK folks, take care and stay cool. The Canton-i food is really expensive by the way, tasted ok and the ambience is rather.... cool. I'll write about that as well, but on another day I suppose.

IMG_2822


~~~ Life is an adventure where we search for the meaning of the outcome।

Friday, May 15, 2009

It is necessary to mature, but it is not necessary to grow up. Have some fun :)

Thursday, May 14, 2009

This is how life is like, after one hurdle, you should pick up speed for the next one...

Monday, May 11, 2009

When you put yourself on the line, that is when you will perform best.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves; otherwise, we harden.

Monday, April 27, 2009

One way to get the most out of life is
to look upon it as an adventure.

Friday, April 24, 2009

There is only one way to happiness, and that is to cease worrying things which are beyond the power of our will.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

Friday, April 17, 2009

A good deed is never lost: he who sows courtesy reaps friendship; and he who plants kindness gathers love.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Thinking will not overcome fear, but action will

Thursday, April 09, 2009

Men do less than they ought,
unless they do all they can.

Thursday, April 02, 2009

In darkness, light shines the brightest, in adversity, we display our best ability.

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

The chances that you get to enjoy your leisure time gets better if only you plan it

Monday, March 23, 2009

Have patience with all things, but first of all with yourself.

Friday, March 20, 2009

A long break and now back

After about a couple of decade not writing blog, or at least that was how it felt like, I decide to write something today. But have no specified topic to write about, so lets just say I'll comment on something and everything that I can remember or know that is happening around me.

1. Economic Crisis OR Financial Crisis: Friends and family around me has been talking about the crisis and our stock market hitting rock bottom. That is then when we buy our house and invest a few 100k into blue chip stocks. Apparently over a period of 5 years, it will double your income. Well if that is true, lets us dig into our pocket and see how much we have :) 2nd problem, when do we exactly hit rock bottom :) And lastly, will you have that much to invest, just in case you have emergency. Well have to do a risk analysis already

2. Politics: Nothing like what I have read in the Sejarah textbooks. It is amazing how politic play a role today. It even seems to overshadow everything else like the police, the judiciary, the MACC and it is like all this pillars of the country is under political party. Well how sad that we can only make a decision every 4 to 5 years (that is, every general election). So, it is like we pay a movie ticket and watch it for 5 years. In between, you could do nothing about it. But one thing I do wish, can everyone involved in it just think of the country first, and everything else second. Look at the shape of the economy in our country. Companies are doing all the cost cutting for survival and we still can see a lot of 'advertisement' of political leaders, of that our country is in a good shape, of everything is good and fair. Nope I don't buy that. We have come into the working world and we only know one thing, only RESULT is justifiable. I don't see any activity that can justify result from 8/3/08 until now. So, zero result thus far, and not to mention the poor return of my EPF :( I thought the country did pretty well last year. Enough talk I suppose, I could go on forever.

3. Global Climate Change: I have said this many times, look at the kind of weather we have. It is really bad. It gets really hot and we have rain almost every evening. The climate is definitely changing, but how would it affect things globally. No one knows, hopefully our kids still gets to see what we see today.

4. PMP: I am doing this course and it is just so hard to answer some of the questions. I am really trying to work hard, after a long day of work, going back and do revision. It is not easy especially after a long day at work place. I suppose I need a lot of motivation and a lot of coffee. And hopefully with a lot of trial exam question and a lot of reading and memorizing, I can make it through.

5. Scandals: Is it me or what but there seems to be a lot of scandals lately. How come Dr Chua's issue re-surface? Scandal is subset of politics I suppose.

6. Meetings: I propose we held some meeting under the tree rather than air-con rooms. It is better for the environment and heck, important meeting of the state can also be held there, why not a small company's meeting, right.

7. Health: I seem to have problem with cough, it haunts me so often and it takes so long to get well :( Also it takes so long for me to recover after a game of basketball. My muscle ache is really a nuisance. Otherwise, pretty cool. Not to mention my mental stress increased when Man Utd went down to Liverpool at Old Trafford. But let me tell you what champion is made of, they will come back stronger AND so am I.

Well 7 points, represents 7 days in a week, 7 deadly sins, 7 heavenly virtue and of course the 7 dwarves :) I better get on with what I am doing and more updates down the road...

IMG_2068

In the photo today: Indiana Choo and the Landmine Museum of Cambodia. Wow, boy do I look like .......

Indiana-Jones-wallpaper-1449

Blessed weekend ahead :)



~~~ Life is an adventure where we search for the meaning of the outcome.
A farewell is necessary before we can meet again, and meeting again, after moments or a lifetime is certain for those who are friends.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

The longest journey is the journey of self discovery.

Monday, March 16, 2009

There is only one person who could ever make you happy, and that person is you.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Kind words are the music of the world.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Quality is not an act. It is a habit. -Aristotle

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

“You see things and say ‘Why?’ but I dream things and say ‘Why not?’”. Man Utd for quintuple? Why not!

Friday, March 06, 2009

A good deed is never lost: he who sows courtesy reaps friendship; and he who plants kindness gathers love.

Thursday, March 05, 2009

The secret of happiness is freedom, and the secret of freedom, courage.

Friday, February 27, 2009

There are no classes in life for beginners: right away you are always asked to deal with what is most difficult.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

For a creative writer possession of the ''truth'' is less important than emotional sincerity.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Global Catastrophy

I have been living in Malaysia all my life. Though I have traveled here and there, most of the time, I have spent it here. I can't help but to notice a few things from where I live here.

- It is getting hotter and hotter all the time. I can either get dehydrated immediately when I am in the open air. It feels that the sun is burning directly into my skin as well. Can't sleep with my air-con ON. I don't think it is about me getting older, but I believe, it is really getting hotter and hotter, day by day.

- There are times when Malaysia entirely is in 'haze' due to forest burning in our neighboring country, Indonesia. The haze affects us by difficulty of breathing, blurred vision and asthma patience have it the worst. The cause of forest burning is of course open burning, which further complicate our environment.

- Sudden rain, and certainly qualify for the word thunderstorm. It was all hot and dry for the first half of the morning and suddenly the 2nd half of the day, it suddenly rained so heavily that trees start to fall the other day. But this are just not isolated incidents, I have seen this happened many times, at times off guard (forgot to carry my umbrella).

And in other countries, you can see the following news

- Tsunami (happen because of earthquake), but I suspect it is part of the effect of Global Warming. I am just guessing, and I am no scientist.

- Heavy snow fall in UK (not the usual but extreme type, happened recently). Climatic changes, attributed to global warming as well.

- Australia, bush fire due to extreme heat, another global warming effect. People actually die of dehydration in Australia and the county recorded the highest temperature somewhere in this year.

- Melting of ice caps. No one really bothered but I have read this many times over in newspaper and watched in TV documentary

Some what can we sum up to all this news and many others which I couldn't recall right now. Is our industrialization and free market capitalism promoting global warming? And how does company re-acts to it? There was call for Green IT during the WCIT forum that I went last year. It may work and it may not, as some claims that at this stage, it is already too late to reverse anything that we have done over the many years to our delicately balanced nature.

Well some people may not know what is the effect of global warming. What I understand, the melting of ice caps due to increasing temperature will cause a rise in water level, which significantly reduce land area. Not only that, the rise in temperature will kill a lot of species.

- Killing of plankton as food for fishes will cause a chain re-action in reducing the number and diversity of fish. This will reduce protein source for us, which is important component for human growth.

- Plantations will not produce enough food, due to the extreme weather and temperature. Not enough food will be a major problem for countries all over the world. Already now, people are dying of starvation in desert rich countries such as Africa. The rice of temperature will eventually turn almost all major land into desert.

- Not enough fresh water for consumption. Yes, with the growing population in the world, the water is decreasing with global warming. You can imagine when our kids grow up, their problem is that they do not have enough water to drink.

Well, what do you think? I don't know about you, but I myself should use less plastic, drive less and car pool more, support Green IT, support environmental groups, do less myself in contributing pollution, use less water, share this with others etc. But will what I do really help to reduce Global Warming. I don't know, but at least, I don't want to contribute further to global warming as much as I could. God knows, but I think I better pray about it, hopefully God can give us a hand to fix this Global Warming problem that we, human started.


~~~ Life is an adventure where we search for the meaning of the outcome.
Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Of Blogging and Journalism

I have been doing more journal entry lately then blogging. I journal by having quiet time, taking down the learning time with the Word of God and having it written in my journal. It has been a long time since I actually sit down and write, as most of the time, I would have typed everything that is in front of me. As I write, I felt a weird sense of hand actually feeling cramp after about 2 to 3 paragraphs. Anyway it has been a great experience and it is refreshing to the soul. I actually felt I learned more during this quiet time.

Let me then summarize the steps of what I do in order to journal. I get up early in the morning and while it is quiet and still BUT awake, I take up the Word of God and start to read using a daily reading planner. Daily reading planner is to ensure that I do systematic reading everyday and not random or choose only what I would like to read. After reading, I would think and meditate upon the word or sentence that strikes me most. I write out the scripture and then followed by whatever observation that is interesting that I could pick up from the passage. Then I write about application of it in my own live and finally a word of prayer for this learning. It is that simple, and it takes me roughly about 30 minutes depending on my level of consciousness early in the morning.

And after I did that consistently for a while, it doesn't feel that bad anymore. It used to be a hard task that I must get myself to do, but now, I do it everyday without much effort. I do feel aligned first thing in the morning after I do the journal :)

As for blogging, I do remember and it always cross my mind that, yes, I have to blog about this and that etc. However coming in terms of doing it wasn't as simple. As for now, I guess there is just too many topics in my mind right now, probably I would just do a quick summary of it.

1. I just joined Project Management Institute (PMI) and is currently an aspiring student for Project Management Professional (PMP)

Tough nuts, a lot to read and a lot to understand. This will take much of my time off me.

2. Chip (my pet) just ran off a couple of days ago. He left me and Dale at home. So sad :(

DSCF0087

I have actually been searching for him high and low, but couldn't find him, this is bad. I still continue to try to find him everyday. I look here and there, I take a walk with the hope of finding him, but I still couldn't. I really hope Dale is OK as he has lost a brother and a playing partner. Now he looks so boring and I do not have time or the time to bond with him :(

3. I have conquered Siem Reap along with Angkor Wat.

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This is an entry I want to blog about a lot more, but not now due to time limitation.

4. This is the worst news, I got cough again :(

Hopefully it takes much shorter time to recover. Till then...


~~~ Life is an adventure where we search for the meaning of the outcome.
One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his greatest surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn't - Henry Ford

Thursday, February 19, 2009

The 1st step in acquisition of wisdom is silence, the second listening, the third memory, the fourth practice, the fifth teaching others.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

We must care for what is in our hand, then to worry that which is off our hand

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Like a truck on a slope, after achieving one milestone, you should look for the next milestone, otherwise you go downhill - winson

Monday, February 16, 2009

Who should write the requirement document, the end user or the vendor?

Sunday, February 15, 2009

95% of people want success in everything, which they can't. That leaves 5% successful people who knows how to prioritize what they want.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

You can either gain wisdom by slowly experiencing everything yourself, OR you can gain wisdom quickly from those who has done it.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Loving is not just looking at each other, it's looking in the same direction. Happy Valentine's Day Folks.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

“All the world is birthday cake, so take a piece, but not too much.”

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

“Learning is what most adults will do for a living in the 21st century.”

Thursday, February 05, 2009

When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money.

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

You cannot make it as wandering generality, you must become a meaningful specific - Zig Ziglar

Sunday, February 01, 2009

The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. Man Utd extends lead.

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.

Friday, January 30, 2009

Is Quality Relevant in 2009?

We first start to explore what happened to the Big Three automaker in USA. Ford, GM and Chrysler are the 3 top brands and are movers and shakers of the automobile industry in USA. We heard about them going to the Congress meeting and proposing a bail out plan to the Congress. You must be wondering what really happened to them, certainly their products do not lack in quality as compared to that of the Japanese giant like Toyota's.

In the past, according to ASQ Quality Progress Jan 2009 edition pg. 14, Toyota has a defect ratio of 1.5 defect per car compared to 3 defect per car for US automakers in the 1980s. Currently it is about level, i.e. Toyota has 0.9 defect per car compared to that of 0.95 of US automakers. So the quality is about the same which implies that quality did not cause the pitfall of US automaker. HOWEVER, the perception of quality did. Toyota cars are perceived to be high quality for the long commitment and continuous commitment to the capital Q. When we speak of Toyota, first thing that came to mind is quality, compact, fuel efficient and affordable. This bold well with consumer who has for a long time wanted to save on fuel consumption and have a good lasting car for usage.

Second area that we see defeat in US automaker is the COST. The CEO wages for US automaker is scandalous to start with and Japanese company like Toyota has a more hierarchical and controlled wage structure for them, even to the CEO, I believe. And in line with quality, Japanese company like Toyota also has a systematic quality, cost, improvement and effective mind set where continuous improvement is an everyday thing. What is inefficient is immediately taken care of. They do quality thinking everyday from top to bottom of the organization. At the end, since the quality right now is about the same, I believe the cost in producing a car of the same quality by both Toyota vs US automakers must be a huge gap causing the cost of non-quality being passed on to the user. Meaning if you buy from GM, Ford or Chrysler, chances are your car is more expensive than a Toyota not because it is better, but because you pay for 'a not so effective way of doing things'.

A summary from above, concentrate on Quality and Quality mind set across the organization, is the key to business survival in the long run.

And next question you may be asking, what about us Quality Professionals? Are we relevant or should we be the first on the chopping board because we are not exactly in the production line to produce goods for our customer? Or some management may brand it, it is time for survival fight, it is not time to think and spend more on Quality. Well, the time to invest and really push forward for us Quality Professionals is now.

In this economic environment, it is important that quality professionals demonstrate the ability and the promises of Quality as we have seen in articles, text books and concepts, adapt it into our environment and yield the benefits of it. Here are four ideas of how to start with:

1. Communicate the need of Quality across organization. Form action teams to get quality project executed with the buy in from management. Put yourself on the line, and get the buy-in from management to support such cause as to see the result that can be yield. As the environment is turbulent, go for short and effective projects that can yield a lot of savings for the organization or greatly enhance sales.

2. Communicate the need of Quality upwards. Speak to management using Cost of Quality (COQ) concept. Attempt to decipher and study the cost of failure and show how can quality projects and quality initiatives reduce that. Again put yourself in the line, and be pro-active to push through the understanding to management team.

3. Be pro-active and continuously look for ways to improve in terms of quality, processes, reduce wastage, improve output, reduce time and improve output even from each and every employees.

4. Record the results and outcomes of this projects as bolster for your future quality projects. This will be prove to you, your management and also to your organization that quality thinking and quality initiatives is important during good time, more so during the bad times. Sell Quality to your organization so that they embrace it.

So to answer the question, quality is relevant in 2009, and I can see that organization that is able to embrace quality by each and every employee shall emerge from this economic slump stronger, better and more competitive than ever before.


~~~ Life is an adventure where we search for the meaning of the outcome.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Gong Xi Fa Cai! Happy Chinese New Year and blessings to you and your family.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined. Happy Holiday

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Fall seven times and stand up eight.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

A Long Holiday (not enough though)

We had a pretty long holiday. A 2 day holiday for Hari Raya and then comes a working Friday and then off again for the weekend. It was a good break to relax and spend some time at home with family. After that it was the Christmas and New Year in the month of December and come January it is Chinese New Year. Well the flow of holiday seems good while the financial crisis and recession continue to hinder any mood of joyous and festivity. Coupled with the problem with Satyam, the overall outlook of the new year seems to be able to do much better. And of course not to forget our fellow human beings in Gaza, some of whom have died while Hamas and Israel continues to engage each other in a war that is punctuated by cease fire calls on and off, but they actually have been fighting all this while.

I like to spend a long holiday to really sit down and reflect on all this things. I may not be able to change anything at all, but, it is time for me, at least, to sit back and look at everything I understand from a perspective which I myself can accept. Whatever it is, things will get worst, according to the bible in the book of revelation. Probably that is a place to start to find peace in my heart amidst chaos in the world.

Haha.... that is all my ranting today :)

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This is where I want to be.... ahhh....


~~~ Life is an adventure where we search for the meaning of the outcome.
Real difficulties can be overcome; it is only the imaginary ones that are unconquerable. Liverpool draw!

Sunday, January 18, 2009

The man of wisdom is never of two minds; the man of benevolence never worries; the man of courage is never afraid - Confucius. MU tops.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

What does your report card says about George Bush as president?

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Experience is the hardest kind of teacher. It gives you the test first, and the lesson afterward.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

It doesn't feel right that people are dying in needless war. It seems to some that there are no alternatives other than war.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Teamwork divides the task and multiplies the success. Man Utd 3 - 0 Chelsea: A satisfying result :)

Sunday, January 11, 2009

It is time to take action and go for the league with 3 games in hand :)

Saturday, January 10, 2009

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

Friday, January 09, 2009

Beta Release of Windows 7 soon http://ping.fm/jBHwX
When you play, play hard; when you work, don't play at all. - TR

Thursday, January 08, 2009

A likely impossibility is always preferable to an unconvincing possibility (Aristotle)

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Resolution 2009

Entry for January 07, 2009 - Resolution 2009 magnify

From young, I have been setting targets and goals and it has been a few fruitful years. Though some of the years, the target was over-set, which causes me to few a bit down for not achieving it. There were also times, that it was fruitful and able to push me forward very well. I remember there were time that I didn't even know where I kept my resolution. Whatever it is, resolution is a tradition to me and I would go around asking people what their resolution is. Funny but interestingly, most people do not have one or a very vague one.

Here is how you can do it most effectively as far as I am concern. I am no expert but I must say that I have enough experience of it over the past 10 years to know what to do to setup your yearly resolution

1. FOLLOW what your heart tells you. Take time to meditate, think, think and think. Talk to yourself on what really makes you happy and what really propels you forward and make you feel good. Your heart must buy what your head says. Think with the very end in mind. I know this is tough, but when you set this year resolution, think as far as possible what would the end result be from your goals and actions this year. Begin with the end in mind, says Covey

2. THINK big, start small, walk persistently...

3. WRITE it down... anything you do, the one thing you MUST do is write it down. Somehow it helps your brain to stick the info in better.

4. Get an accountability partner to help ensure you follow up

5. Work on it, don't drift. Stick to the wall and look at it everyday. Ensure you move inch by inch towards it. At least millimeters.

There is a lot of good expert out there that have written great books about it, but if you are really serious about it, get excited and go for your goals that you have set out to do :)


In the pic: Still thinking of this vacation place. Forgot the name though.

~~~ Life is an adventure where we search for the meaning of the outcome.
Anybody who wants the presidency so much that he'll spend two years organizing and campaigning for it is not to be trusted with the office.

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. - Charles Darwin

Monday, January 05, 2009

Are we charting our destination or just drifting along?

Sunday, January 04, 2009

If we do not plan what to do with our time, we will help do what others has planned for themselves.

Friday, January 02, 2009

Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get (Dale Carnegie)

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