Connections

The night before the departure back to my hometown always gives me a surreal feeling . For me , it is usually the time when I have ample time to do my reflection. This is particularly true when you are at the room alone , devoid of any interference and obstructions , the night before the long awaited day of departure . Maybe it’s just me , but whenever I am about to depart for a long journey ( 5 hours bus ride is quite long for me ) , I would always try to find time to do some self-reflection on what’s happening in my life recently . I like reflections .It helps in reminding me of the experiences , the ups and downs and the little things that I ought to be grateful of that I had the privilege to experience in the recent days.

Tomorrow is finally the start of mid semester break , which means , it’s time to go back to hometown again : ) , which also means..tonight , is reflection time !

***

My team made it into the Samsung Appstar contest top 12 finalists ! This fact made us eligible to participate in the boot camp for the finalists , which is to prepare us for the finals . I am absolutely grateful for this opportunity , as it have allowed me to meet few of the most awesome people ( CEOs in fact ) up to date . I have high respects for friendly, down to earth CEOs that are humble yet successful , and the CEO for MYC company , Mr Jason Ko , happens to be one . The boot camp was very entertaining and informative at the same time and I am honored to be able to be a part of this awesome event . Now that the bootcamp is over , it’s time to put in our all to hopefully win this competitive contest . Wish me luck ! I will be needing it !

Camwhoring with the cool MYC CEO , Mr Jason Ko. Bromance yo!

Oh , apart from the Samsung App , I have the honor to participate in the National Programming Competition AMCP – blablabla al khawarizmi too last Sunday . It was the first time I have participated in any programming contest . Frankly , I don’t have much confidence in my logical and rational thinking skills . Being someone who is quite self-conscious about his own abilities and skills , I know my capabilities and limitations well . I can probably think logically and rationally for some short span of time , but beyond some simple logics and calculations , my brain will just stop thinking and get stuck . Yet , I chose to give it a try , simply because , I believe when opportunities presented itself , one should just take it , no matter the consequences . The end result doesn’t matter , what matters is the experience . Bearing that in mind , I said yes when I was asked to join it , eventhough I was perfectly sure that my standards aren’t on par with the rest of the team yet.

Now , there are good news and bad news from the competition . The good news is , it’s a team event , and I have some really smart teammates ( a senior from my faculty and another senior taking Actuarial Science ) . And with their powerful machine-like brains , we managed to solve 2 out of 10 questions to bag the 4^th placing . ( Top 5 among 100 + teams , not bad for a first-timer huh ? ) .That was the good news  . Now, the bad news is that , the prize for the 3^rd placing is RM 1000 , BUT the prize for us , who got the 4^th placing is .. well  a pen drive O_O . Sad to say , it was partly my fault that we managed only the 4^th placing . I tried to solve a question for 2 hours , and I was quite close to solving it ( in fact , I solved it the day after the competition is over , apparently just missing a single command in my program ) , but oh well , reality sucks . I did not manage to solve it within the time limit of the competition . If only I did solve it , we would probably be bagging the 3^rd placing. Cruel , harsh reality . Haiz. But well, I did gained a valuable experience , coupled with a pen drive and a T shirt ! Aha , not so bad afterall. Gratitude Gratitude…

This is the pendrive that each of us won .

***

That’s all for the recent happenings in my life. Now , moving on to a more serious issue . As I was reflecting , a question started to pop up in my mind . The number of  “ friends “ I have in facebook seems to be increasing in a rather astonishing rate lately . Maybe it’s because it’s a new semester , which means a new batch of juniors will come in , and when we get to know them , a friend request is usually expected next . So yeah, lately I have been getting quite a few friend requests from people , ( just because we are all connected in the same college community , not because I am popular or anything , just clarifying , lest I sound arrogant or prideful ) . You see , in my hostel , there’s something called Chinese community club ( as well as Malay community club and Indian Community club , nothing racist , just a culture based club to help foster relationship and celebrate our unique racial and cultural diversities )

Since our college is rather small ,almost all of us , residents there who stayed there know each other . However , knowing each other does not mean we are close to each other . Even some people that I don’t usually talk to in real life adds me in Facebook and lately it gets me thinking . Is there even a point in having that many friends in Facebook , If we are only hi-bye friends , or worse yet , if we don’t even talk in real life .So , really , in recent days , I have been more conscious and careful when accepting or adding friends in Facebook. Yet a dilemma arises whenever I wanted to decline friend requests , because even though we are not close , we might still meet in real life , and it would be quite rude and , at the risk of sounding arrogant , for us to just ignore their friend requests . I mean , it would be unpleasant and outright awkward if they ask us questions like “ Hey , I added you in Facebook a few days ago, why don’t you accept my request ? “ right ?

Hence , threading carefully between the line of proper social etiquette and own comfort zone , I have to think twice before choosing to add , accept or delete friend requests in Facebook . In actual fact , if we just stop and think for a moment , the so called “ friends “ that we made now in secondary school or even university life now , are just temporary connections . Take for example , my college juniors . Perhaps we do meet now and then , and have some interactions because we live in the same college hostel and participate in same activities , but what happens next when we graduated and walk our own path ? Will our paths cross and we meet as regularly as we do now ? That would be unlikely to happen , and after a few years , we may just be strangers again . Yet , all my recent activities and events are conveniently accessible and put on a full display to every “friends” in Facebook , and I am definitely not comfortable that he/she can have access to those information . And then there are some friends that I used to talk to in the past , yet in the recent years , he/she had such bizarre change that I could barely recognize them anymore . The point is , I dislike having fake “friends” that I don’t usually talk to in Facebook , which is why I totally abhorred the idea of some people having a thousand friends ( even to the extend of creating another account because their current account has reached the limit of friends , seriously ? 5000 friends , is that even possible ? Even celebrities don’t have that much friends ) and bragging them as if their so called “ friends “ in Facebook are symbol of their popularity and fame .

Nevertheless , in the unlikely event that if in the near future , you meet the same people who you don’t talk to last time , and this time you are required to work with them closely , it would be bad to finally accept their request or re-adding them again after deleting them right ? Ah.. I can’t even begin to imagine the embarrassment .

Anyhow , as I mentioned before , most of these “friends” in Facebook are just temporary connections , however ,it is up to all of us to decide which one of these connections can evolve into permanent connections . I have this personal rule that if I can chat with these “friends” in Facebook in real life at any given time comfortably , even after a long separation time , these are the people that I really wanted to befriend forever , and these are the people I truly grateful for and would be willing to do anything I can to help them should they require my assistance . Of course , the converse of this is true as well. If I don’t feel comfortable talking to them , and I don’t think I can mix well with them , I probably won’t add them / accept their requests .But oh well , these decision varies depending on the situation and the circumstances .

As I always like to point out , life is very unpredictable and we need to always be flexible in handling life’s difficult challenges . That being said , I am still thankful that amidst all these hi-bye ,awkward “friends “ that I have , some of them actually turned out to be quite nice , and it is these true , permanent friends that I cherish and treasure , and I am forever grateful for their presence and existence . To those who are my facebook friends and seeing this , Thank You for visiting ! and no worries , if you are still in my Facebook Friend list , I assure you , you are important to me , one way or another.. ahaha , THANK YOU , I love you guys X) .

Fate's Funny Plan

“ You can’t connect the dots looking forward , you can only connect them looking backwards “ I finally realized the true significance of this powerful quote today . If you never try , you will never know what you are capable of .

 If you never ask , the answer is always no. Today was an unexpectedly interesting day Everything that happened today was sudden and totally unplanned , yet it’s this kind of experience that I am very grateful of .

The day started with a good vibe , with the hope and expectation that today will be a good day as it is the day where I will be going back to home for the first time after more than a month , probably the longest record of me being away from home yet . Nothing big , but for me , that’s something that I can be proud of .

However , the good vibe and expectations quickly went down the drain when a bad news get to me . You see , me and my friends ( 2 friends to be exact ) had participated in a contest called “Samsung AppStar “ ,which requires us to just submit ideas for an application . We were fortunate enough to make it into top 40 finalists and were called for an audition to present our ideas . Today is the day for our presentation .

Initially , we were supposed to present at 12 afternoon and my plan was to present at 12 , finishing it by 1 , and then go back to Penang by sitting the 4 pm bus . Everything was meticulously planned and prepared already , but more often than not , things doesn’t usually goes the way I planned smoothly . In fact , reality has a funny way of screwing everything up instantly and have another plan of its own. Today is the perfect example of just that .

So , we were supposed to be there by 10 , dressed in formal attire , started discussing about our game plan and etc. However , at 10 , one of my teammate , the only one with car who is supposed to fetch us go were still asleep . Fine then , as the presentation time was 12 pm , we still had 2 hours to go , so we waited and waited .

Sadly , things do not go our way and due to some unforeseen circumstances , I ended up just going for the presentation with just my one teammate by taxi . Upon our arrival there , we were hit with another tragic news that would utterly destroy my plan , that is we will be the 7^th group to present and the presentation will only start at 2 pm . Every presentation should last roughly around 10 – 15 minutes , which means that by the time we finish presenting , it will be around 3 + and definitely I will miss my 4 pm bus as I need to go back hostel to pack my stuff first.

With that in mind , me and my friend were about to give up , and so we went to have our lunch before going back . Nevertheless , I felt like it will be a complete waste of time and effort , after coming so far and went back empty handed , without even a chance to present . Therefore , we went and talked to the receptionist and asked if we can present earlier .

Thankfully , the receptionist was very sweet and understanding , and after talking to her boss , we were allowed to present first , even before the actual presentation time . At that time , there’s only one thing in my mind , that is the quote “ if you never ask , the answer will always be no “ .

We ended up presenting to 3 fabulous judges , Miss Lee Yvonne , Miss World Malaysia 2012 .and two other awesome CEOs , Mr Collin Hew and Mr Jason ( Mr Jason's the coolest judge ever ! ). The presentation went smoothly and by the time we finished presenting , it’s already 2.30 pm . However , the problem was far from over . It started raining , and the rain grew heavier all of a sudden . My heart sunk to the bottom instantly . The amount of uncertainties in my minds started increasing , and all the pessimistic “what if “ questions started to fill my minds too.

However , if there’s one lesson that I learnt through experience , it is this : When in doubt , keep going forward . Trust your instincts and take the risk to keep going forward , confident that somehow , things will end up being fine , even if you do not know what is going to happen .

With that in mind , I took the decision to go back today , not knowing whether or not I will make it in time for the 4 pm bus ( as the next bus after that is 8 pm , and I do not have transport to go back my home if I reach Penang at 12 ) . I could have took the safer alternative , to go back tomorrow . However,  that would defeat the purpose of going back as then I would have fewer days to spend at home .

Finally , everything ended up fine . I was never a stout believer of destiny and fate before , but now , I am starting to believe in it a bit , It might sound a bit clichéd , but as the old saying goes , “ when there’s a will , there’s a way “. If you really wanted something very badly, the environment , people or even the universe around you will conspire to help you to achieve it  somehow .

At last , I made it to the 4 pm bus and am currently heading back to my beloved hometown . The whole experience is very surreal , yet it feels like fate already knew what was in store for me . Sometimes I feel very blessed and gratified that I am able to be who I am today . I am thankful for every experiences that I went through , no matter how good or bad they are . I guess it’s just destiny’s way of guiding me to the predetermined path I am supposed to walk , by presenting me all the obstacles and challenges that came my way . I am truly grateful

Now , I guess there’s only one way for me to go , that is continue moving forward . Come what may , I know one day I will make it to the top , finally be able to achieve the sweet taste of success and happiness . For now , guess I will just have to enjoy the process ; ) .

Choice

It’s been a while  : ) . It has been more than a week since I last moved back to university hostel . New room , new semester , new syllabus , yet same old roommate . I am grateful . This has gotta be one of the greatest blessing , having a better, bigger room , coupled with its better ventilation and extra space , yet still having the familiarity of an old roommate . Finally , I can say , I am more or less have already settled in .

Ahh, but today’s post isn’t about my new room , new semester , or even the new chapter of my uni life , it is about a more general topic . Yes , as the title indicates , choice . * Dang I am feeling philosophical *

After a few conversations with my friends ( forced conversation albeit ) , it made me wanted to blog about this important topic . Alright here’s how it started . I have quite a plenty of time starting Friday every week since I don’t have class on Friday , and weekends are of course , free . And as of now , my roommate is always busy from day till morning so he’s seldom in the room .

That would mean that I am very free , with plenty of time and space to do whatever I want , whenever I want it in those specific time duration ( Friday to Sunday to be exact ) . So ,today , the once in a blue moon feeling of studying actually came to me . So,at 8am I started to study . ( YES , study , you did not misread that . )  

Unfortunately the mood faded away in less than an hour and I resorted to facebook to cure my boredom and hopefully reengage my mood to study . ( ok, that’s just an excuse to facebook ) . So , as I was mundanely browsing the faceBook ,  A friend of mine started a conversation with me online , saying that he was at the edge of breaking down because life’s too hard , his schedule is hectic , bla bla yada yada .

The thing is , everyone’s life is hard and hectic at one point of life . and yet people don’t realize that their life is like that because they chose it . Here’s an awesome quote from Bill Gates “ It’s not your fault if you’re born poor , but it’s definitely is your mistake if you die poor “ .See the power of choice ? Every decision you made , will affect your life in one way or another .

Once a choice is made , stick with it , because , there’s simply no point crying over spilled milk . Regret will only burdens you down with guilty , sadness and ultimately depression . In retrospect , I myself have been on the verge of breaking down several times , heck I broke down quite a number of times too . I ran away from some troubles , I persevered through some other ones . And if there’s any lesson at all to be learnt from all those past experiences , it will be to remember that you yourself made all those choice . Nobody forced you .

When you’re down with depression and wanted to give up on something , remember why you held on so long in the first place . Similarly , remember why you made that choice in the first place ,and you are bound to find the strength to continue down that road that you chose .

Oh well, I guess that’s all. This is a terrible post , yet I can’t help to publish it , simply because I wanted an update in this blog . But hey , it’s my choice , and there’s no point regretting it right ? Haha ! Remember , YOUR CHOICE , YOUR RESPONSIBILITY! 

P.S * Look forward for some exciting post in the near future .......

 hopefully ! *

Farewell , and a New Beginning :)

In a blink of an eye , the seemingly endless 2 months passed by . I still remembered the start of my 2 months semester break just like it was yesterday. The post-exam relief , the excitement to go back home , the anticipation of all those wonderful things that I am going to do , and the thought of fun and happiness of meeting up with old friends . I am happy to say that in these 2 months , I accomplished a few of those goals I set beforehand . Not to say that I didn't waste any of my precious time , but at least I did something , an improvement from my previous break I guess . Somewhere in between , time seems to stand still , there are times where I have no mood to do anything at all , and at that moment , time really does seems to pass by so slowly that it seems stationary . Yet , there are times where when we were really enjoying life , time  passed by so fast that we could barely feel it.

And now, it's the time for departure , to say farewell to this beloved home again , leaving behind these all those comfort and convenience and trading them with suffering and self-dependence all over again :) . It's amazing how when we are in comfortable environment , we don't seem to appreciate them at all . Only when those comfort and stuff we took for granted are taken away , do we started realized how much we are depending on them . And when it's time to say bye bye , no matter how much we wanted the time to stay still , it still relentlessly marched on , leaving you with a cruel reality of a few precious days left to spend it or waste it.

It is these few precious days that always got me into self-reflection mode. I tend to get a little bit nostalgic when it comes to time for leaving . I like reflecting on the past . Some may say it's a sign of weakness , an indication that I have yet to let go of my past , still being chained by the burdens and errors of the past , but I disagree . I feel the only way we can get hints about our future , and to better ready ourselves for it , is only by learning from the past.

In retrospect , I think I used to appreciate less , and took too much things for granted , kept on blaming fate and asking questions which have no real answer like why me ? . In summary , too much cravings and too little gratitude . I am still guilty for that offence , though in recent years , I have learnt the importance of giving thanks for all those little things that we are blessed with , things that other people may be craving for , even something trivial and common like being able to choose your food for breakfast . I only realized how important it is when I was deprived of an ability to choose , simply because there's no other choices at all .

Now , I am becoming more aware of the power of gratitude and therefore , I give thanks , for having a roof over me when I sleep , for able to drive out and choose from a variety of food , for being in the company of my precious families and friends , and the most important of all , for still being alive ;) . For most young adults , I believe the thought of death is the furthest thought away from their to-think-list in their brain , primarily because at this age , most of us still thinks we are invincible , backed by the power of youth , thinking that we will stay young forever having the immunity over diseases and etc . However , the truth is far from that . The fact is , death is inevitable and it may happen anytime , anywhere . Already there are myriads of problems and troubles surrounding teenagers , and the news of younger people dying now seems to be increasingly common , which is rather scary . 

Therefore , I give thanks , simply for being alive . Also , another aspect of my life that I am very grateful of is the fact that I have a bunch of good friends . A band of mutual friends that consists of a big , fat, self-proclaimed vegetarian that always had an excuse to skip our gathering , a chikopek ( pervert in local slang ) play girl that will go nuts at a mere sighting of  a woman , a guy with lion-ish hair and personality having an anger management issue , a troubled kid with perplexing mindset  and a few other game addicts each with their own sets of imperfections . I myself , am not spared from these imperfection , I am that short guy with little to no sense of direction at all, coupled with myriads of troubles.  Yet , despite these imperfections , or rather should I said , due to these imperfections , we managed to stay together as a band of friends that have consistent gatherings and meet ups for more than 8 years already I guess . And I am proud of that fact . None of us are perfect , yet because of that , we became perfect as a whole . Each and everyone of us is an oddball , but yet again , aren't we all the same ?

Tonight , we had our so called " last farewell gathering " as everyone sets to go their separate ways , each into their own routes again . I must say , it was unexpectedly fabulous . Nevertheless , I am confident we shall meet up again soon and enlighten each other with their own life stories , and that time , I am sure each and everyone of them are gonna turn out to be spectacular .  I used to think gathering , meet ups and talking for too long are nothing but troublesome and unproductive stuff to do . I still think it is , but well nothing beats the great feeling of catching up with old friends and exchanging stories on our life journeys , even if I am considered wasting my time doing it . As the great John Lenon once said , " Time you enjoyed wasting , was not wasted " . Cheers for an awesome group of friends .

In a few more days , I will be leaving to KL , turning a new chapter for my life again , returning as a 2nd year student , and hence abandoning the junior title . It is the time for us , the ones being guided by our seniors last time to replace our seniors role and give guidance this time , to new batch of juniors . It's gonna be a new beginning . New semester , new lecturers , and new plans for the future !

Plans for the future always seems to give us hope , no matter how dark and depressing our life is now . Hope , somehow has its own way of cheering us up even in our darkest hours , giving us excitement and anticipation of something wonderful that could happen . Call it false hope , or even a lie to ourselves , but I am always excited whenever there's an activity in a not too distant future being planned out and organized in such an ideal fashion where we assume nothing could ever goes wrong .

With that being said , here's to all my friends that are leaving to start their 2nd year undergraduates life , all the best and take care . May life be good to each and everyone of us and may we be blessed with peace , happiness and love . As cliches as this may sound , although Here's to an awesome new beginning ! YEE HAAA !!!! Life's awesome ! :)

A little thought

It's the semester break now . Every morning I woke up with a smile on the face , realizing that I have the freedom to do almost anything , unhindered by any restrictions of studying responsibilities or other commitments . Every day is like a Saturday / Sunday , in the way that most working people get to enjoy their lazy weekends relaxing , I get to enjoy the same feeling of relaxation , stress-free life everyday , well almost everyday.. for some times family duty calls and I have to be a driver for my bratty , irresponsible younger sister. Ah , and who could forget the indispensable , occasional hang out with friends , sometimes a little too many to reconnect and mend those broken bonds , to catch up and have fun . Nevertheless , save for those times , I could say that I am totally in control of my life and for that I am eternally grateful .


So , as always , on a lazy Friday morning , I have the privilege to wake up late , unobstructed by any calls for driving duty or any other commitments . Then , after finished accomplishing the mundane daily routine of bathing and eating breakfast ( brunch in my case ) , I switched on my computer for my daily dosage of entertainment ( comprising of Facebook , some web surfing and a lot of youtubing ) . Now, I have to clear up one point . Contrary to popular belief , Internet is quite a productive tool for teenagers like us . No, it is not a dangerous, evil-inducing , porn-infested , mind-twisting tool as feared by many of the parents and adults.


Despite all the bad rumours circulating around and being notoriously famous for a dangerous tool for teenagers and kids , the fears of using Internet are unfounded . In fact, one can learn a lot from the web . Being a powerhouse of information and knowledge , one can virtually learn anything , acquiring any information or knowledge on any specific or general topic instantly and best of all , at no cost whatsoever !

Anyhow , I digressed . As the blog title suggests , my inspiration to blog today came from a few youtube videos , 2 of them to be specific . One of them is this video , depicting the lyric ( pin yin , chinese characters and the translation ) of a song called 超人不会飞 ( Superman Can't Fly ) by acclaimed  pop star, Jay Chou . I am sure most of you would know this famous name that needs no explanation , but what I want to highlight here is the lyric of the song , that depicts his 10 years career as singer-songwriter , constantly being chased by paparazzi , judged by countless other people, strangers included on every single action that he takes. The lyric of the song basically reflects what he thinks on all his achievements so far . So, if you care and have some time to spare, do study the lyrics and ponder about it :) .


So many people waste their time on the wrong thing such as gossiping , judging people , making presumptions , allegations and accusations , even before they really know someone . Why ? What has this world become ? A world where people focuses more on people's bad points and weakness instead of their strength and good points , where a single wrongdoing and bad action would be ingrained in people's brain forever , while their countless other good deeds and action would be forgotten instantly , where too much time,energy and effort are being spent popularizing , discussing and glorifying every action of the rich and famous , while the good deeds and actions of the commoners who did so much more are left untold , being swept away by the relentless march of time , remaining as unsung heroes.

Another video is about this CNN interview with another International superstar, Wang Lee Hom . Again, I believe people like him needs little or no introduction at all . Wang Lee Hom is one of my idol . I seriously admire people like him , the perfectionist that truly has the passion for music ,and given his good looks and musical talent , he still works equally hard, if not harder than the rest to compose and sing his song with heart and soul , something that's undeniably impressive and worth noticing . One of my personal truth is that people who makes good music are good people , and I strongly believe in this . This is because , anyone that has passion in doing whatever they are doing are definitely good people , much more so if the person in question is spreading goodwill and inspiring countless others to do the same.


Also, it struck me a little while ago , that life is naturally unfair . Some people are better and more talented at something else , while some people aren't . Some people are more well off , came from a better family background and etc, while some people are just struggling to even survive. However, if there's one thing that's fair in this world, it is that every single one of us in this world are given the same amount of time a day , 24 hours. And it is up to us , how we want to spend it . We can either waste it away doing some nonsensical , unproductive stuff , or spending it in a manner that will get you one step closer to your dream !  

Take some time to ponder about it :) And while you're at it , you can spare some time to watch this talented Sungha Jung . Cheers ! 

Jogging

At first it was a gentle, warm breeze that slowly caresses my cheek . Then , the nature ,as if conspiring against me , the warm breeze turned into a gust of wind , stopping me from going any further . Nevertheless , I persevered , with my heart palpitating at a above average pace and legs moving more and more swiftly . As I approaches the destination ,my mind slowly turning blank , leaving behind only one thought : Faster . The synapses traveled from my brain to each and every body part of mine . An adrenaline rush radiated within my body , and I ran, with a speed much faster than I thought I could possibly capable of , and it finally happened . Sweats dripping down from my cheek , and leaking out from virtually every sweat pore in my body , then a feeling of liberation and relief filled me . TOUCHDOWN! 10 laps , finally being completed at last !

***

Jogging , according to Wikipedia , is a form of trotting or running at a slow or leisurely pace. The main intention is to increase physical fitness with less stress on the body than from faster running. 


But for me however , the definition of jogging extends far beyond that . Jogging , is an  exhausting , tiring , stamina-sapping yet fun and liberating physical activity that provides an unique experience to every individual person .

On the way to the park behind my house.

Only recently , did I try taking up this sport after hearing about its health benefits ,which includes burning fats , strengthening bones and muscles , improves sleep and countless others. In fact, it's so popular that almost every single fitness enthusiast would recommend incorporating jogging into your fitness regimen.

The beautiful park , complete with its jogging track

So, being someone who is always eager to try new things and get out from my comfort zone, I tried it out. Not surprisingly , I got hooked to it immediately . Every single time I went jogging , it provides the same liberating experience and every jog is different and unique. It helps that there's a nice park , complete with jogging tracks and background scenery to compliment the experience.


I have the say , when you jog at a consistently slow pace , your mind will start filtering out all your worries and stresses , leaving behind a crystal clear mind , and an ability to think better and focuses on more higher priorities in life. It also helps you to focus and concentrates better .When you raised up a gear and decided to go for a faster , brisk pace , that's when your mind will completely blanked out , allowing you to focus completely on .


Better yet , jogging is like a journey to re-discover yourself and allows you to forget about the trivialities in life , to do a little self reflection and soul searching . Even now , I am still perplexed as to why people don't like jogging . It is easily one of the best physical exercise that doesn't demands much and offers a lot of health benefits all packaged in an  convenient ,easily accessible . ( Well you just have to need yourself and an area to jog in ) If you haven't try it yet , grab your running shoes ( or even barefoot if you prefer ) and start jogging/running now ! 

My starting point and also my final destination : the yellow hump

The sign reads " Caution , slow down " . The first time I saw it , I  laughed as  it would be funny if this sign was a practical joke intended for joggers/runners that ran too fast .

On the side note , time does flies doesn't it ? In a nick of time , it's already the first of July . 2 months of break seems very short now with the way time moves . Nevertheless , this is the cruel reality of life . The fact is all of us are given the equal 24 hours a day , and no matter how we choose to spend it , time will march on relentlessly . So , why not choose to spend it in a more productive way ? Here's for a better future ! Cheers people . Until next post :)

End of First Year.

The sweltering oven-like temperature at night , occasional invasion of monkeys and flies , and not forgotten the pungent smell of the toilet . That would be roughly how a year spent in my hostel sounds like . Amidst all that , however we finally lived through that hellish year . And what made all these possible ? I would have to say it’s the roommates.

I am eternally grateful for my roommate this year. You see, since this is our first year , we are not given much choice on who or where we stay . You simply accepted what you were offered . In retrospect , none of us would never expect to made it through this semester . I certainly didn’t expect it. I remember the moment I got the news that I have been accepted to University of Malaya, I screamed. I literally screamed with excitement and joy . The atmosphere was electrifying .However , when the excitement dies down, comes trepidation and sense of anxiety . Then it turned into a brooding atmosphere. Those who are close enough to me would know that I am a deep thinker , or in a less flattering term , worrywart . I mean, I can really think , sometimes a little too much about every single trivial and important things . At that time , I was contemplating the worst case scenario , I am unfamiliar with KL ,heck I never even been there before , I have to stay with 2 other roommates ? What the heck , and it will only be a small room . Dang.

Then the day of departure came . At that time , I was unfortunately having eye disease and can barely open my left eye . When I went into my room , I saw a big , tall guy with his entire family . And oh boy , the room was freakishly small . We introduced ourselves and made some small talks . Then , we were relieved , for we thought it would only be the two of us , as it’s already 10 + am at that time when we are supposed to check in an hour earlier. To our surprise , our third roommate came , 2 hours later , alone , with only one luggage bag and laptop bag accompanying him .Well , still being sick at that time and with my lousy command of Mandarin , I barely spoke much to them in that orientation week.

However, that was then . How ironic it is , over time , we found out more about each other , and apparently we are quite matched in personalities and attitude . I have to say in the entire college , both of my roommates are among the craziest , funniest and friendly bunch . Even in universities , people form their own cliques , separate from them and form new ones. There are so much dramas even in just a mere first year. But I am glad , I survived them , and learnt some hard lessons along the way. Nevertheless ,I have the emphasized that during the ups and downs in this year , my roommates have never , ever been the cause of the bad times , and that they have always been there for me ( sometimes ) .Therefore , I am grateful , I must have done something good in the past life to be blessed with such luck .

Sadly, all good things must come to an end. It came early for this good thing . Merely a year , and we have already adjusted well to each other , yet the separation has to come . I wondered how would it be had we stayed together for 2 more years?

In just a blink of an eye , our 1st year as undergraduates junior have already ended ,and the long awaited 2 months break have arrived . Come the second year first semester , we will be given the right to choose our own roommates . I wished to stay together with these two roommates again , but the choice is not mine alone . Oh well , all good things will come to an end. But know this , eventhough you may not see this , but my memories spent with the two of you roommates will be etched forever in my brain , and I can only wish for all the best for both of you in the future ;) .

Now, with the end of my first year , I have a 2 months break to tinker with my life however I want it, and I am hoping to use it productively . Having survived this tumultuous first year , I can only pray and hope for the best for my second year and ahead. Hopefully , everything will be okay and the ride will be a smooth one. But hey , that’s the stuff I should be doing when I am about to enter second year .

For now, it’s time for the well-deserved HOLIDAY!!! Cheers people ;)

SFI

In my previous post , I was talking about financial freedom , and how I wished to attain it. However , mere talks wouldn't cut it , and vision without action are mere fantasies . I am currently having 2 months break now and I was hoping I could attain some supplementary income before going back to my studies .

There is but a problem . I am quite a lazy guy , and procrastination happens to be my best friend , the fact that I get bored easily over conventional , mundane 9-5 office job doesn't help either . As mentioned in the Entrepreneurship : Why Now ? post , I intended to start a business sooner or later . Nevertheless , I lack the capital and experience to do so .

That being the case , I am slowly running out of options to earn money steadily and achieve financial freedom . As I am getting more and more desperate and frustrated with my inability to earn sustainable income , a god-sent gift appeared before me ( To be exact , it showed up in my google search result when I searched for ways of earning money online ) .

It hit me that there are ways to start a business even without any capital , and one of them would be SFI . For the uninitiated ," SFI (Strong Future International) Marketing Group was launched in 1998. Starting with just one product, sold only in the United States, SFI has now grown to more than 51000 products and services (and growing daily) sold in more than 190 countries around the world.

SFI was created to allow anyone with a computer and Internet access the opportunity to tap into the worldwide e-commerce revolution. Anyone of legal age in his or her country can become an SFI affiliate for free by filling out an online registration form. There is no obligation or purchase requirements of any kind.

Once registered, affiliates are provided with professional Websites for marketing SFI's products on the Internet. SFI also provides all necessary sale support services, such as customer service, payment processing, and product shipment – all at no cost to the affiliate. For each sale generated, SFI pays the referring affiliate a commission. Additional commissions can be earned by building and leading affiliate groups. " , paraphrased from the original description from About SFI page.

If you still don't get it , let me just rephrase it and make a shorter summary . it's a god-sent gift to enable people without capitals to start up their own business ! It's basically an e-commerce business where you earn money by several methods , either by advertising or recruiting people ( kinda like multi-level marketing (mlm) , but not purely mlm ) , but I assure you , you can earn money even if you don't invest any of your own money in it.

But don't take my word for it , take a look at it yourself here . Be skeptical , make researches , and use your own judgement before deciding it's the real deal or not . After all , in this modernized age of globalization , there are plenty of scams and quick get-rich scheme that aims on taking your money .However , I would like to point out that should you find the truth that it's working , do not hesitate in joining .

Many people often shy away from opportunities as they do not wish to move out from their comfort zone , and this inaction of theirs resulted in a lot of lost opportunities . Please , I implore you , if you are capable of grabbing this opportunity , do it , and do it quick ! I have taken my first step , have you ?

Here's in hope that I would be able to grow my SFI business smoothly and ensure a sustainable income being generated monthly so that I will be one step closer to my financial freedom and provide for my family.

Two links that are worth checking out regarding SFI :

SFI home page

Triple Clicks store - an online store owned by SFI , akin to eBay, except that it's so much better in so many aspects .

Financial Freedom

I came from a rather poor family background . However , during my childhood days , I was rather contended with the life I was having , i.e the cheerful kid with no worries or problems whatsoever . At that time , I used to believe that my life would continue being lived this way forever and ever being happy and contended . Oh boy , how wrong I was . I was naive.

Upon growing up , my naivete and dream of living happily ever after without any worries was shattered . It all started during primary school life, when the value of money would come into play and forever altering my shallow perception of life . I still remember during my first day of school , when I would walk to the school while my more well-off peers would arrive in dazzling cars , chauffeured by their personal chauffeur or parents . Back then , I remember asking why I have to walk while other parents would personally fetch their children to school . The response then was " because the distance was very short and we can save money by doing it " . Well, true enough , it wasn't much of a trouble to walk , it's healthy right? Besides, we do save money. So , I happily accepted that reason and get on with life.

In secondary school , the same thing occurred , except the fact that the distance is no longer short , in fact it was quite some distant away and I have to take buses home and walked from the bus station to my house every single schooling day ( which by the way is quite far ) . Under the scorching , hot sun , carrying big , heavy school bags while walking back home alone , I remember asking myself repeatedly " Why am I being subjected to such fate while others are spared? "

When I brought that question to my parents , their only response was simply " Sorry son , we can't afford it ( car or other means of transportation to fetch me ) . And the same response subsequently followed whenever I tried to request something that requires monetary funding. While I am truly grateful to my parents for bringing me up amidst the hardship and sufferings they were being subjected to , being the hot-headed , bad-tempered , testosterone-filled youngster undergoing puberty at that time, I would often throw tantrum around and being mad, at nobody , for having to "suffer" like this .

Often there are a lot of times when I would be thinking of the unfairness of life , of why some of my well-off peers were able to enjoy more of the pleasures of life due to some extra cash in their pocket , of why I can only make limited choices and decisions due to lack of funds , of how the world seems to be revolving around money and our current society is too preoccupied with materialism to care about other more realistic and pragmatic priorities in life , such as health, family and love .

As I grow older matures more , I slowly learn to respect and fear the value of money. There's a lot of stuff being said about money ( i.e Money is the root of all evil , Money is indispensable , Money can make or break a person depending on their personality and attitude, etc ) However, one thing's for sure , it is that no matter what one may say or think about money , it is undeniable that money is a necessary tool for survival for most people. Have you ever lived in the street as a homeless beggar ? Have you ever tried not having real food to eat and only survive on instant noodles and breads for months? These may be an exaggerated worst case scenarios , but I assure you , these people are very much real and they exists. In today's cruel reality , it's obvious that money is essential and we need them to survive.

Hence , I had always strive for and advocates financial freedom . It is my main goal in life to attain financial freedom , provide for my family and ultimately educate people and raise awareness of the importance of financial intelligence , in hope that more and more people would be able to achieve it .

For that purpose , I have created a blog called Financial Guide , hoping to share whatever little financial knowledge that I have and hope that more people may benefit from this together !

* for a more detailed and longer post about my past and how I started to learn more about money , click here .

Life Long Learning

Ah.. finally , a small breathing space , a space all for myself , a moment where I will be able to enjoy in my peaceful, tranquil and majestic hometown ,Penang . Finally , a well-deserved small break after all those hard works and efforts spent facing book this semester ( oh well , not really that much hard works anyway lol ,more like facebooking all the time ,and I am actually playing truant , skipping an entire week of class before my actual study break ,but meh, who cares ! )

Home sweet home indeed ~ People say , the heart will yearn for something familiar if you haven’t see it for a while . Why, so true indeed . It referring to my beloved hometown in this case.

I have always felt at ease in home , not because of the conveniences here ( washing machine , soft bed , air conditioner when needed , usable internet and best of all ,unlimited food ftw ! ) , but because of the freedom and flexibility it offers. though the convenience does serve as an added bonus ! And at home , I will have more opportunities to do whatever I wanted to do most and learn whatever I wanted to learn . You see, I am never a fans of textbook-based approach . In fact , I abhorred it. I hate the fact that since young , when we are still the innocent and naïve little sponge who could have absorbed everything easily , we have been drilled with the concept of textbook-based approach .

I can’t speak for other countries , but as for my own country , I can affirm you for sure , that having being subjected to arduous , long hours of digesting facts and figures , then regurgitating them during examinations , and subsequently forgetting them after examination , our education system is not one that I would put my children through . I think it is rather retarded that we should adhere to such rigid education system which , in my opinion , limits our creativity and opportunities to explore other subjects .Take for example , if a student who’s really talented in arts and drawing but not so inclined towards memorizing and studying facts, let’s name him John , be subjected to such education system , spending close to 12 years on learning stuff which may not necessarily be of importance to his future , wouldn’t it be a complete waste of time ? Besides, wouldn’t it stifle and limit his potential ? Wouldn’t it be better if John uses perhaps half of that time memorizing facts to hone and enhance his artistic skills ?

In countries like US , the education system is so much more efficient and effective . For instance , after their A level ( our pre-university equivalence ) , the students there are free to take and explore whatever subject they like in a gap year, before continuing their tertiary education .Now, that’s practical education .

All in all , I believed in life long education instead of a short term one. In today’s society , most people perceive “learning”  in very narrow terms: it’s what we do in school, and once we’ve got our college degree, the learning phase is over – it’s time to work.

Of course, things aren’t really that black and white:we carry on learning after we’ve left school, and not just in our careers but in every aspect of our lives. And learning often doesn’t equate to taking qualifications or passing exams. Approached the right way, learning isn’t a process of ticking boxes on a curriculum or course outline – it’s about exploration, growth and enrichment.

Learning should be a life long journey , something that one should continue doing till the last breath . True education should be an endless pursuit of pragmatic and practical knowledge , no matter in what field or aspect . Great leaders are often people with substance possessing wealth of knowledge .Steve jobs once said “ Stay hungry , stay foolish “ . Once a man stops learning , that’s when he stops living .

Recently , I was hooked to musical instruments and only now starting to venture into this fascinating world of music . And let me tell you , the joy and epiphany of learning something new , is simply fantastic ! As I slowly indulge in this journey of learning , the thrilling sense of acquiring yet another fascinating piece of knowledge from an endless treasure troves excites me and gives an adrenaline rush that’s unlike any activity . Remember that feeling when you encountered a difficult math problems that had you thinking for hours, maybe even days? Frustrating right ? How about the feeling after you solved it eventually ? That euphoria moment , that’s the feeling you will have when you learnt something new.

So, people , what are you waiting for ? Start learning and pick up new skills now !

Entrepreneurship, Why Now?

Inthis past few weeks ,I have been engagedwith the idea of entrepreneurship and starting my own business with the passion , vigor and energy more than Iever had in my past 20 years of living . The reason ? Well , for starters , inthis past few weeks ( 3 weeks to be exact ) , I have been attending businesstalks and entrepreneurship workshop conducted by renowned and successfulbusinessman , most noticeably , speakers like YB Tony Pua, former CEO of CyberVillage ,a pioneer in e-commerce , Ms Winnie Loo , CEO of A Cut Above , MrMichael Tan , CEO of myparttimejob.com and recently Mr Jonathan Quek,CEO ofTrue North Asia and Ms Candice Lee, Sales Director of Capital Asia Group.

I havealways been interested the idea of doing business from early age. You see, Ialways thought that working in a 9-5 job , collecting money every month isretarded . I mean , sure , there are lot of high flying employees out there whoare earning 5 figure salaries , living an exciting life , but unfortunately also, in this cruel , realistic world , there are too many people , stuck in themiddle income trap , often just stuck being an employee who works for the rich, deprived of knowledge to excel and achieving their true potential .

Thus , being an employee and working forothers have always had a bad impression in my heart and mind. Though , if I hadto work , I would definitely prefer working for people who have truecapabilities and knowledge , whereby I can learn and gain something ,andworking with people who are fun , friendly and downright crazy.( something likein nuffnang and Capital Asia,I believe) ,instead of being under tyrannyof the inept ( which ,unfortunately happened to a lot of employees in Malaysia).I am always drawn to unconventional work cultures that promote work hard andplay hard. Do you know that in Nuffnang’s office, there’s a place called Nuffie’sZone, whereby people can just sit down and rest on the plush sofa ,relaxinguntil they are ready to work again? Oh and they have a PS3 in their office too.Now, that’s what I called awesome work culture !

Butof course, if possible , I would love to start my own business and making a jobout of things I love doing best . Idigressed . Today, I had the honor to listen to the speech by Mr Jonathan Quekand Ms Candice Lee , both of whom have had a lot of ups and downs in their life,and very inspirational visionaries that strives for big goals ( and arecurrently in the progress of completing them ) .

MrJonathan Quek is the CEO of True North Asia ,a consultancy company aimed topromote youth intelligence and provides alternative investment consultancy ,while Ms Candice Lee is his partner and also the Sales Director of Capital AsiaGroup , a real estate consultancy group .

Asthey shared with us about their core values , what they do , the obstacles theyfaced when they first started , everybody’s eye lit up . Their enthusiasm was infectious , their passion was evident ,and the atmosphere was electrifying . Mere words alone would not do justice tothem . Their stories are simply inspirational and motivational.

Hereare some excerpts from the their talk . “ Imagine a plane , with fourpropellers , flying from K.L to Hawaii. Now , Hawaii is your destination .Doing business is a lot like flying this plane. In order to fly the plane , youmust have four propellers which are a metaphor for the Marketing department ,Human Resource department , Operation department and Finance department. Andyou must always set your destination right first . So, the destination is yourWHAT , the plane is your HOW and thefirst reason that got you flying that plane in the first place is your WHY. Ifyou have a very strong WHY , then you would know WHAT you want and the HOWwould eventually come :.

“

“There’s this one game in Miri where theyoungsters would spend playing .In Miri, there are a lot of monkeys , andmonkeys love peanuts. So ,the youngsters would take a lot of peanuts , lay themon the ground to form a trail , leading to a coconut contraption ( where theyput more peanuts into that coconut ). When a monkey follows the trail ofpeanuts , eating them along the way , eventually it will find the coconutfilled with the peanuts inside , and put its’ hand inside to pick up thosepeanuts. But , because the size of the opening in the coconut is quite small ,just barely big enough for the monkey’s hand , when the monkey grab a lot ofpeanuts , it won’t be able to take its’ hand out . So, the monkey will betrapped , and when it’s trapped , it will scream for help and eventually thevillagers would heard of the scream would come and catch it. Well , you see, alot of people are like the monkeys , they chase after things that they want ,often being too greedy and don’t want to let go . If the monkey just let gosome of the peanuts , it can always return and get more peanuts next time , butbecause of its greed and foolishness , the monkey got trapped. “

“Life’snot how fast your start but how well you end the race “

Theabove paragraph with quotations are excerpts from Mr Jonathan’s talk , notdirect transcript of it , but mere interpretation from my own memories. Anotherinteresting point worth mentioning from their talk is that they actually had instantnoodles for almost 6 months back when they are near bankruptcy.

MsCandice’s talk was also filled with fiery passion and enthusiasm , as shetalked about how had a complete turn over of her life . She shared with us hervery amusing history back when she was 20 years old , and told us that the twomain obstacles holding people back from doing the things they want to do are lackof emotional security and lack of strength of character. I guess one of themain highlights of her talk is when she talked about having the right plan forlife and she had a very detailed plan , in her own words “ to build a hotel ofmy own ,with the profits being used to set up an orphanage , in which we willtrain and provide financial education to the youths in that orphanage ,empowering and grooming them . When they grow up , they will be given sharesfor the hotel and be the ones managing and continue to grow it further . “

WhenI heard that , it truly sent chills down my spine , in a good way of course. Itwas so remarkable to see someone so young having such detailed plans , down tothe nitty-gritty details planned out for her future . After that , sheexpounded the concept of personality profiling , in which people’s personalityin general can be divided to 4 elements , namely fire, water, wind and earth.

Firetype of people are generally bold and courageous ,and are often adventurousrisk takers . While they may be the people who dare to be different and leads ,the flaw of a fire type person is that they are egoistic , proud and sometimeseven too full of themselves.

Watertype of people are generally obedient people who are great listeners, beingemotionally sensitive and very adept to changes , though their flaws would bethe slow pace that they work in , and lack of motivation and little interest inmost things. They would be the best people to consult when you break down andneed a shoulder to lean on and cry.

Windtype of people are typically influential , outgoing extroverts . They arenatural sales man that are very socially active and optimistic people. However,their flaw lies in their lack of discipline , attention-seeker and they oftenhave short-lived enthusiasm .

Earthtype of people are analytical people who often have deep thoughts &reflection , driven by laws and principles . They are usually quite reservedand trustworthy . Nevertheless ,they might occasionally have self-pity and theycan be quite judgmental sometimes, and easily falling into mental stress.

Somehow,I felt like I possesses characteristics from all of the elements above , thoughit’s more like a mix of several characteristics from each element . However, I findthis personality profiling very interesting , in the sense that this is whatpeople should be learning. If you read around my blog , you would have noticedthat I advocate the thinking of 3 rd perspective , that each and everyone of usis unique and should respect other people’s opinion even if they contradictours.

Ina nutshell , I guess I have really did acquire something from the talk afterall .People should have big dreams , dare to be different and ultimately make adifference in people’s life. Listening to their motivating talks , I reallyhope I would be able to make it big in the future ,meeting more people likethem and learning from them .

Yousee , I always believed in lifelong learning rather than just school ,textbook-based approach . I find it paradoxical that the formal educationsystem that is supposed to be empowering us , ironically did the opposite ,which is to limit people’s freedom of thinking flexibly and creatively .Learning is an endless process . I believe when one stop continue learning andimproving themselves , that is the time they die. Oh well, more on that nexttime. For now, I am just grateful I had the chance to listen to their wonderfultalks and meeting some right people in my life now. I suppose maybe,just maybe, this is destiny’s intervention too ? Be sure to check out their websites and blogsif you have the time ;D ! OH, by the way , the last tips that MsCandice shared with us was her business philosophy which was P.H.D ,whichstands for…….*drum rolls* Pain ( able to endure pain and work hard) , Hungerfor knowledge , and Dreams for which you should be fighting for , doingeverything to achieve them. That’s all for now , tata!

An incoherent musing~

Fate is a strange thing indeed . One moment , you will be outraged over the place that fate throws you into , somewhere that the you in the past would obviously despise and even cursed incessantly should you even put one foot inside it , yet another moment you would discover that the place fate puts you in is actually not bad after all. , and slowly ,  you would realize that the destiny is right all along , that the one who pulls the string of fate high above have already knew it beforehand that this place, the very place that you once detest , is the best place for you.

The paragraph above somehow describes the situation I am in right now. I used to detest public universities , public local universities to be more precise. The reason? No particular reasons actually. If there was any, it was probably due to my immature , naïve conjecture that all public universities in Malaysia especially are filled with racial sentiments , prejudices and not so bright people. Oh boy , how wrong I was . But hey, you can’t put all the blame on me. For a 17 year old guy , right after SPM , with most of my peers at that that time choosing to go either private universities or going abroad for studies ( mind you , they are an awful rich lots ) , and with all the mass media keep publishing bad news about public universities , coupled with rumors and gossips from relatives , it’s inevitable that my perception about our local universities would be shaped that way.

In a way, studying in  English Educated school is a double-edged sword . Sure, I mean , I am very grateful for my mediocre proficiency in English now, but on the other hand , most of us, eng-ed students ,if not all are incapable of speaking mandarin ( which is a shame really ,considering its importance in the world and that it’s the representation of our Chinese roots ) . Second of all , is that most of the eng-ed students came from a middle or upper income families . ( This is not really a generalized stereotype for all eng-ed students but a mere opinion that I observed from my school ) . This happens to be the case in my school.

So yeah, whenever the topic of graduation and the future comes up , I will be hearing my peers thinking of going abroad , for instance UK , Australia and etc , or some opting to stay here , preferring to go to colleges first before pursuing their tertiary education in private universities .So, there I was , always the guy with a few other , not so fortunate people that came from more frugal background will be raising the idea of going to local universities. And every time , almost immediately the richer peers would glare at us , their face making the expression of fear and horror, as if we have just mentioned apocalypse . Subsequently, we will be bombarded with various horror stories that only happen in local universities , for example , how we would be robbed of our possessions and tortured with incompetent lecturers , being subjected to the tyranny of the inept , staying in uncomfortable , dirty hostel , and for our female counterparts , facing sexual discrimination , harassment ,and even getting raped in the worst case scenario.

Hence, after hearing relentless complains and bad rumors regarding public universities , I actually succumbed to their stories and complained aggressively about going into public universities . In fact , I nearly fought with my parents to get into college . But as fate would have it , due to financial constraints and other factors , I eventually relented and get into this public university , University of Malaya ( UM ) ,after which I found out most of the fears and initial trepidation I had was unfounded , though the part about not so comfortable hostel was quite true, but I did get used to it anyway *chuckles *.

University , or rather should I say , public local university is a very strange place . It is a place where we discover a lot of things . In here , I learnt and discovered a lot , having able to see the world using another perspective . Initially , it was quite difficult to adept because the people here ( the Chinese here anyway ) are used to speaking Mandarin , and having studied in English Educated school for my entire schooling life , the transition was rather abrupt and sudden . I am still struggling to adept now . Though , I reckon I would make more friends ( and maybe even getting the chicks to dig me more xD ) if I had learn Mandarin . But alas, some things aren’t meant to be , so .. I will just have to let it be ;D . Oh, and that rumor about public local universities not having bright students ? Total bullshit . I have met some of the brightest people in UM , some of them having insanely high IQ , while some others possesses intelligence in other areas . In fact , I am quite amazed by their ability . I have seen some people excelling in sports , logical and rational thinking , while some others have superior leadership and managerial skills , with some even possessing very sharp business acumen. Heck , I even have a coursemate that is already earning big bucks every month even when he’s studying , and the best is , he have no plans to work after graduation ! Cool huh ?

In a nutshell , I may have plans to go somewhere else and study other things , but fate knows better I guess . Yes , perhaps if I chose to go elsewhere to pursue my tertiary education , life might have been easier on me , or maybe even more difficult. Either way , I am quite satisfied for my current life , and really grateful for living under a roof right now . It is indeed a blessing when I heard of plights from my other peers in other local universities .

That aside, this week have been quite a productive week . Last Thursday , I attended a business talk and met YB Tony Pua , the former CEO of Cyber Village ,a pioneer in e-commerce and DAP strong man .Also present was  Winnie Loo, CEO of A Cut Above . Today , me and my friends went to Tune Talks Sdn Bhd in Petaling Jaya for a site visit for our course assignment . Surprisingly , the receptionist at the company gave us a very warm reception even though we went there without prior notice . Even more shocking is the fact that they grant us an impromptu interview, when we did not even make a proper appointment ( well , in actual fact , we did , sadly we got rejected due to lack of time , according to their ceo ) Surprise Surprise… But this was a good surprise. It was really unexpected that they showed such politeness and courtesy to an unknown strangers , especially to a bunch of young students like us. It really amazed me .

This week’s many business related events have set me thinking. In fact , the idea of starting my own business have been playing in my mind for quite some time now. However, there are a few setbacks and problems. The major one being my laziness and tendency to procrastinate. Secondly , capital is needed to start a business and being undergraduate students that are still studying , I don’t have that capital ( though later I would soon realize there are ways to start a business that require less or no capital at all ). Last but not least , is lack of capable and competent partners. You see, business is never a solo work, and when you are starting a business , especially at this age, it is essential to find partner(s) who have the same vision as you in order to avoid complications and at least have a few other brains to help u tackle arising problems.

Well , the first and second problem isn’t really much of a problem , but the real problem is the third one. Often in society , there are too many people who don’t share the visions and aspirations to think big , go out there and realize it . Most people are felt satisfied following the norm , which is to just study hard , work hard , be a good employee , and continue churning money for the their boss. Now, what they don’t realize is that the higher they rise on the pay hierarchy , the more work they have to do , and in the end , they will be trapped in a vicious cycle. I believe this is what they called the middle income trap. Hence, study hard and working hard concept is no good. In order to break through this vicious cycle , one must learn to earn money the smart way , one of which is to earn passive incomes .

Passive income means to let money serve you , work for you , instead of your working for money. One way to achieve passive income is to start your own business. I digressed . Either way , this post’s main focus is neither about passive income nor business ,and I am certainly not the most appropriate man to expound these principles hence I shall stop here. Nevertheless , the main problem here is , so far , I have only found a few friends only who I believe have the vision and ideas to make it big , though they seem to be too busy with their respective activities lately . Oh well, everyone have their own commitments anyway. My only wish now is to be able to find some capable , competent partners who have the same thinking and visions as me , and together, hopefully we will be able to achieve something big ;)

Honestly though , I don’t know what’s stopping us. The knowledge is there , the tools are provided , the only thing left is to make the first step , yet it seems to take an eternity for some people to make that step. When you realize it , it will be too late already. The current me can only pray and wish for the best. That aside , I am still wishing for love, peace and happiness ;) To a better tomorrow yeah!!!