Choose to be the Right Plant

Human definitely have similarities with plants!

Except the fact that both are living organism of course.

There are 3 kinds of plants that possibly match the human categories;

Parasitic Plant / Person - Definition: An animal or plant that lives in or on another (the host) from which it obtains nourishment. The host does not benefit from the association and is often harmed by it.
You and I know there are people who just love to take advantage all the time. They loved to win no matter what. The best is a Win-Lose situation for them. Try to prevent association of such people. I know of a particular person who just loved to take advantage of other people's honesty and was creating lies after lies after lies to protect himself while jeopardizing other's values & beliefs.

Epiphytic Plant / Person - Definition: A plant that grows on another plant and depends on it for support but not food.
Some people are really good at leveraging opportunities and circumstances. They may not fully take advantage of us in a one-way street but wise enough to use situations to springboard themself. I have a friend who is younger than me that is of this kind. He is a street-wise, sociable and adaptable person. From a messy life full of debts, he managed to turned it around and now living quite comfortably. We should learn the opportunistic part of that person!

Symbiotic Plant / Person - Definition: A close and usually obligatory association of two organisms of different species that live together, often to their mutual benefit.
The most beneficial person to be around is those who strive for a Win-Win relationship. It consists of Giving & Sacrificing and they never make any promises that they couldn't fulfill in the first place. Recently, I've met a young man in his late 30s, helping me genuinely without any upfront favours. In return, I initiatively return his goodwill. Guess what, I'll remember him for life!
I think our altitude of life very much depends on how many Symbiotic Friends that we have.

Therefore, DO UNTO OTHERS OF WHAT WE WANT OTHERS TO DO UNTO US.
It is a Grandmother's Principle, but it still works!!

Let's Make Our Money Meaningful!

Well, we make money everyday, then we spend it.....then we make some more.....and we spend some more...etc
Sometimes it is good to "give meanings" to the money that we earn or spend!
We've often thought about "The grass is always greener on the other side." Until we take into account of what we do have as compared to what other people don't have.

A simple "Thank You" to WorldVision is simply not enough. They have done a great job, not only providing fishes to those who needed it, but also equipped them with necessary skills to fish as well.
I like the idea of donating business kits to them, in the form of seeds, chicken, cows....etc.
At least, they can make a transition from dependent to independent & finally interdependent.

Few years back, I've adopted some children......
Flipping through those files really makes me feel that at the very least, I'm doing a little favour to these little ones.
Not to mention about Wii Sport, Wii Fit, Transformers toy ...etc, but some of them just wanted to SURVIVE!
Not to mention having a balance meal, they even have problem of getting a simple meal!
Not to mention having great education, they just want to get basic literacy!
Of course with WorldVision, now they have a much better life......

These are the letters & greeting cards which I've received on a regular basis. It is meaningful to look at them from time to time, reminding us on ONE of the purpose of making money.

Of course I want to be RICH but I also want to be RICHLY BLESSING OTHERS.
Sponsoring those kids makes me feel that way......perhaps you should try it too!

5 Major Bosses

The common chronologies in our life were:
- got born
- learn how to walk, talk & eat!
- go to school
- then go to bigger school
- if didn't drop out, then go to another bigger school called the college / uni
- graduated.....if can...
- find a job
- earn money
- if risk appetite is high, invest or do business or businesses....
- earn more money
- find a partner
- got married & have kids
- sigh......tired to talk about it, you know the rest of the stories.....finally, we are buried 6 feet under!

Besides targeting the highest Maslow's hierarchy of needs which is Self-Actualization & Significance, money is kind of orbiting our lives all the time.
And whatever we do, is like ....we are serving 5 major "bosses" in our life all the time!

Our 1st Boss: The Real Boss!
Of course the one who pay our salary.

Our 2nd Boss: The Government!
This is due to the existence of the 1st Boss. Of course in the name of nation-building, we pay tax.

Our 3rd Boss: The Bank!
Due to climbing the ladder of needs, we buy car or cars....then a house to put it in of course! Then a major portion of our money goes to the bank.

Our 4th Boss: Spouse / Family!
Our parents took good care of us, of course we will take good care of them as well. We buy them good food, nutrition ranging from birdnest, ginseng......all the way to super-multiple-variable-awesome-vitamins!
Then we spend time with them and if possible, bring them for a holiday! Hopefully, we serve them well.

Our 5th Boss: Children!
We feed them, bring them up, pay for schooling all the way until their life is sort of settle down & steadily earning a decent income.

At the end of the day, what's left?
A small-teeny-weeny portion of time & money left for us to do what we like....if there is anything that we like afterall. Sounds a bit sad huh?
No wonder people talks about setting Goals & Mission in life.
But most of the time, nobody plans to fail, just fail to plan.
I've once heard a prominent business person said, "Unhappiness is caused by Comparison."
Hmmm, quite true in a way. Some people compares negatively while some compares excitingly.

After knowing such a small portion of resources left for our ownself, we really have to cherish great moments with friends & family. Whatever we want to do, let's try to do it. Succeed or Failure is one thing but at least we don't regret trying it out.

For those who want to say "Thank You", say it.
For those who want to say "I'm sorry", say it.
For those who want to do things that's never done before, do it (I'm referring to the right thing!).

At the end of the day, we want to Live a Non-Regrettable Life.

Push & Pull Forces

Most of the times, when we wanted to Push ourself to do something, there is always another thing to Pull us back! Sometimes we just want to follow our Passion or Dream.
But due to our past experiences or failures, we tend step back and think .....
"what if...", "what happen next...", "is it worth doing...", "can I do it..."......etc.

It is like the Right-Brain fighting with the Left Brain....within our Brain!
I've heard someone said before, "The biggest prison in the whole world lies between our ears!" How true...

I've had moment like that before.
When I have a Direction of where I want to go, there is a Devil telling me otherwise.
When I try drafting those Details out, Mr. Distraction will divert my plan.
When I try to just Do It, it ended up as Damn It!!

In my opinion, the best treatment for such symptoms is JUST DO IT.
Sometimes the best time management method that I've ever use is just simply SAYING NO.
We need to do trading between exchanging good things with great things......or great things with greater things.

Once I break that decision barrier and was in the action mode, things become much easier. The initial inertia was the problem.

Remember these 2 forces, it is up to us to choose.

Direction ßà Devil

Details ßà Distractions

Do It ßà Damn It

Coffee-Business serving People or People-Business serving Coffee?

What an amazing book from the former President of Starbucks which contains nothing about coffee!
It is about how Starbucks focuses on People over Profits!
"There can be no coffee without people!"
That is the true essence of Starbucks.

Some companies believe that building a system, the system will build the business.
But Starbucks believe that building people, the people will grow the business!

I personally like one of the sayings in this book:
"Think Like A Person of Action and Act Like A Person of Thought".
Wow, simple & yet powerful stuff!

It is sort of the Yin & Yang between the Thoughts & Actions.
At times, we need to Think first before the Action. But sometimes, we need to Act first, then Think later.
This is very true especially a new opportunity arises.
When we analyze from A --> Z before taking actions, we could have miss the boat. And sometimes the boat doesn't return!!
But we can't be recklessly doing and running like a bull as well and be stubbornly positive about a hopeless projects. Persistency has to be coupled with Flexibility.
Imagine someone still persistently having faith & thinking positive about the growth of cassette industry in the year of 2011!!

Another empowering principle that I like from the book as well:
"The person who sweeps the floor should choose the broom!"
Some company truly believe human beings are capable of independent thinking if certain rules are removed.

Should we follow rules or should we fulfill the needs of people? The rule tells people "how-to-do" instead of explaining "why" & "what we are trying to achieve".

At Starbucks, they believed that they're in the Human Service Business, not the Customer Service Business.
As long as People are not being treated as Assets or Labour Costs alone, they can flourish in the environment of Encouragement, Appreciation, Reward & Respect.

Eventhough nowadays, consumers tend to go to Oldtown, Newtown, Georgetown or whatever Town kopitiam, I do prefer Starbucks off & on as I like the feeling of being greeted as a "friend" than filling up order number in kopitiam and passed it to a foreign worker who sometimes doesn't understand my extra request. I am saying this with all my respect to the foreign workers who contributed to the lack of workforce in the F&B industry. But sometimes it is good if we can understand them and vice-versa.

Let's learn to be a Logical-Person, Emotional-Person & a People-Person.

Sales ---> Marketing ---> Branding

Most of the business started off with the focus of Sales.
That is where we gather "bullets" to support in the long run. The basic resources to sustain a long term business are Cashflows & Profits.

Most of the time, Sales & Marketing goes hand-in-hand. Of course Marketing involves Product, Promotion, Place (the right location), & Price structure. But I think another 2 more P's are more important.....PEOPLE & PASSION!

From Marketing, it moves to Branding where it involves Promises, Meanings, Commitments & Emotional Attachments.

Well, I can see some businesses making a transition from Product Differentiation to Emotional Association. I guess both are as important.

But sometimes I like product differentiation and got confused on emotional association, trying to figure out what kinds of emotion that an ad trying to portray.
Example:

• Nissan's tagline of SHIFT.....hmm.....Shift on what? Thinking? Trend? Technology?...etc
• Seiko: EXTEND OUR LIMITS....hmm...Putting Daniel Wu doesn't really portray that...
• McD: I'M LOVIN IT.....after their concept change on the exterior....I've got it!
• Milo: From MINUM MILO ANDA JADI SIHAT & KUAT....to PLAY HARD, LEARN HARD.....telling us to enjoy life to the max?
• Nike: JUST DO IT.....of course the Swoosh does make us feel confident & instill sort of a sportmanship spirit into us! But I guess the most important factor for Nike is most of the well-known sport players wear it! That is a great exposure...
• Nokia: CONNECTING PEOPLE.....hmmm...of course that's the purpose of a handphone.....perhaps CREATING COMMUNITIES instead? But I think iPhone already successfully doing it!

Of course there are some who have personally branded themselves: Lillian Too, Joey Yap, Donald Trump, AirAsia --> Tony Fernandes, Virgin --> Richard Branson, Apple --> Steve Jobs ....etc.
But I got a little confused when I see the same brand ambassador carrying multiple brands such as Amber Chia or Eric Leong. I do respect their entrepreneurship & passion in helping certain brands to be more outstanding but eventually I'm a confused-kid looking at those ads!

Anyway, consumer's purchase is always boiling down into a simple formula of:
Emotion + Reason = Purchase!

Most of the time, we buy things EMOTIONALLY & then justified it LOGICALLY!!

I've had ex-colleagues who bought a LV bag, working as an executive in a company.....so, tell me bout it!! Don't tell me they need a new handbag because the old one has broken & accidentally bought a LV!

Well, branding is a very interesting field afterall. It enlivens a name created from nothing to something.
I have to admit that I do love certain brands......
As the saying goes....

Factories manufacture PRODUCTS, Consumers buy BRANDS.

Churchill Vs. Hitler

Winston Churchill

"When you meet him, you will believe YOU can achieve anything!"

Adolf Hitler

"When you meet him, you will believe HE can achieve anything!"




That is the difference between
a Self-Less Leader & a Selfish Leader!

Mr. Honda

Most of us drove or sit in a Honda car before, but do you know that Mr. Honda is one of the most persistent man ever.

In 1938, Mr. Honda had a little workshop and he developed a special piston ring concept and thought of selling it to Toyota Corporation. He is so passionate and dedicated in his work until he slept in his own workshop and pawned his wife's jewelleries to continue in his business research!

Finally, he completed the piston ring technology and presented it to Toyota. You know what.....he got rejected! It was due to the reason that certain standards were not met.

Then Mr. Honda continued to study for another 2 years to deepen his knowledge. After another 2 years, he eventually got a contract with Toyota.

We would thought Mr. Honda lived happily ever after.......

But at that time, Japanese government was gearing up for war and it was really hard to get concrete to build factory. Did Mr. Honda quit? No, he created his own concrete, then built his factory & get the job done!
What a true winner!

But....another bad episode happened!
During the war, the factory was bombed twice, destroying major portion of the factory.
Mr. Honda didn't dwell on it. Together with his team, he picked up gas cans that the US fighter had discarded and positively said, "This is a gift from President Truman!" Now he used that as the raw materials for the manufacturing process.
Talking about innovation, creativity & persistency, we can't beat Mr. Honda....!

What we didn't know was after the war, it followed by an earthquake!!
Most of us would have quit but not Mr. Honda.
Challenges after challenges, he persisted until he secured a long deal with Toyota.

But after the war, there was petrol shortage. Therefore, Mr. Honda couldn't drive his car to even buy food as he used to. Instead of putting himself in the corner facing dilemma, he thought of ways to go above it or under it or around it.....and finally he had a breakthrough!
He attached a motor to his bicycle to get around......
The neighbours saw it, like it and of course asked Mr. Honda to install it to their bicycles as well and they called it "MOTOR RIDE". The so-called "business" was so good until it ran out of motors!

Guess what? Mr. Honda set up a small factory producing motors. But, he has no capital....
Therefore, he appealed to almost 18,000 bicycle shops for his great invention and finally got 5000 of them to pay an upfront capital to fund his factory. Then he found out another problem.....the motor was too big & bulky!
He re-designed and created a scaled-down version of it and called it the Super Cub, exported it to baby boomers in US and ....... THE REST IS .....HISTORY....!!!

Anyone felt tired reading it? Not to mention the person experiencing it and solving endless problems & challenges that got in the way.

Now, when you see a Honda on the road......what do you really see? A CAR or a DREAM?

M.D.A --> Malaysia's Diversified Attributes

Russian is famous for Vodka...
US is famous for techy stuff...
Argentina is famous for beef & leather...
Japan is famous for electronics...
Italy is famous for design & fashion...
AND....

Malaysia is famous for ....check it out...

These are some of my observations of Malaysia's lifestyles in the past years....

1) Yellow Light means Green Light. Red Light means ....Green Light also!

2) General Parking means Public Parking. Handicapped Parking means.....Public Parking also!

3) Bargaining like mad in Pasar for 10 or 20 cents discount but later spend more money in KFC than what is being saved!

4) Receiving people's wedding invitation card means receiving a SAMAN!

5) Wearing helmet is "optional" when riding a motorbike!

6) Sometimes, Malaysian motorbike is meant for 4 person (2 adults, 2 children)! A Sandwich Approach!

7) Malaysian Version of "K.I.V (Keep In View)" => "See how lah"!

8) Malaysian Version of "I think it can't be done" => "Cannot meh?"

9) Some people thought pressing the Lift button for more than once will result in the Lift moving faster!

10) Breakfast is taken during Lunch time. Lunch is taken during Tea Time. Dinner is taken during Supper Time!

11) Ipoh Chicken Rice, Penang Laksa, Muar Otak-Otak EVOLVING to Myanmar Chicken Rice, Vietnam Laksa, Indon Otak-Otak. WHY? Coz it is all done by foreign worker nowadays!

12) You can spot an Indian restaurant easily as they are always ended in the "Corner"!

13) Do you know "Kacang Putih" is not white in color?

14) New Year is a celebration for Drinking & Spraying people's car on the street!

15) How do Malaysian Chinese educate their children? Through Counselling, Advice, or Brain Development? NO, NO, NO..... It is through "Rotan braised with Pork"!

16) I can only think of one word in which reading it the other way round would have a direct opposite meaning: Tuhan => Hantu!

17) We order "Maggi goreng" eventhough the mamak only has "Cintan"! Same goes with "Milo panas" despite the mamak serves u Ovaltine!

18) "Buffalo's Eye" => 1/2 cook broiled egg!

19) Bahasa Malaysia is our main national language. FOOD is our second national language!

20) To weigh fruits & vege in hypermalls, people never Queue-Up, they Crowd-Up!

21) Indian kind of Bahasa Malaysia is just rearranging the word structure from a Malay sentence. Eg. Malay says, "Eh, kasi sikit wang lah". Indian says, "Eh, wang sikit kasi lah"!

22) Instead of saying "Duit kopi", we should change to "Duit kopi putih" as White Coffee is the trend now!

Welcome to Malaysia.....

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm not sure the origin of Valentine's Day and whether Valentine is the founder's name. Who cares?

Some people perceived Valentine's Day as a day created by large corporation mainly for business generation & profit taking.
Some even thought that it is just another day. What is so special about it.....the earth still spins the same way!

To me, why not just merely enjoy it instead of thinking on the negative side of it or having too much analysis on the origination. It is beautiful and lovely to have such a day for couple to rekindle their love, for new couple to strengthen their love and most importantly, for secret-lover to reveal their secret!!

It can be a reason, an excuse or a purpose for us to do something or express our hearts out!

I'm married since 2002 and 2nd of October was the day that my life was coupled with another partner, Anne.

We used to enjoyed, argued, teased and supported each other and fortunately, until today!
I think these are the reason that we sustained our marriage and relationship.
Well, a calm sea will not make a skillful sailor! A calm relationship will not make a steady couple either.

Remember those days when we first met our secret lover, ideal guy or gal where our hearts pumping at 50kHz and our blood travels at 180km / hr!

We can't sleep, eat, study and think well whenever "he" or "she" is not around. We miss that person every minute, every hour and every day!

We used to wear an "angelic" or a "gentlemanic" mask all the time, speaking and behaving gently, well-mannered and acting as a YES man or woman! Sometimes to the extend of gently "lying" to our partner saying that:
..."YES, it is convenient, I'll fetch you..."
(You wanted to say: "Why not take a bus, then LRT, then take a taxi lah!")

..."YES, what a beautiful dress..."
(You wanted to say: "Don't waste money lah!")

..."YES honey, you are still slim..."
(You wanted to say: "Fatty bom-bom, curi jagung! Eh, sign up Marie France lah")

..."YES dear, it is delicious..."
(You wanted to say: "Better don't cook, next time order pizza ok!")

Well, it was those "Gentle-Lies" and Mask that actually keep a relationship interesting.
Time will dilute those interesting moments. Opening our mask and telling unnecessary "truth" will hurt a relationship sometimes. You might not agree but it is true.

Imagine on the 4 examples statement above, to be replaced by the bracketed statement!
You are just looking for trouble!
Well, HONESTY is a must in a relationship, but it must be coupled with RESPECT.
Tell the truth, but find the right way and the right time to communicate.
It will save you from unnecessary war!

As the saying goes, Make Love, not War!

Happy Valentine's Day.

Terminator Or De-terminator?

When we stop achieving what we want, what we don't want will haunt us!
Only time will tell which zone is taking over...

Sometimes when we venture into a new job or new project or a new venture, there will be lots of variables in front of us. Only a risk-taker is willing to explore & conquer bit by bit, puzzle by puzzle and eventually a quantum leap in achievements, perspectives and of course income.

All of us can't predict the future. We can only follow-through and solve problems along the way.

Think about these series of silly questions for awhile:
"Does a mother know how to be a mother before becoming one?"
"Does a student know how to be an engineer before becoming one?"
"Does an entrepreneur know how to be an entrepreneur before becoming one?"

Obviously "No" for all! Now I began to understand successful people always encourage us to do what we love and what we are good at instead of doing it for the sake of money alone. Of course money will be a great reward and a measurement of how our performance & innovation stands. It is a major resources to build bigger dreams. But that should not be the seed of starting something.

I've tried before when money is the only motivation to work, doubts will always creep in.

When we have doubt, it is most often that we don't know what we want in the beginning. Sometimes we can terminate an opportunity in front of us only to realise this is what we want in life later.

There's no perfect life. Fast forward our life 10 or even 20 years from now, then look back from that perspectives and review back, we'll gain our guts right away, whether to pursue or not to in a new venture!

At times, good decisions are found from the journey of making bad decisions.
How many of us got married straight away with our first boyfriend or girlfriend? That proves the point!

Therefore, a Terminator destroys Vision & Dreams while a De-terminator builds it up with hard work and perseverance. Which one are you?

But becareful not to Focus Naively but Focus Flexibly as the society, market and the whole nation is changing and adapting from time to time.

Let's quit quitting to be a quitter and don't quit winning to be a winner! Yeah!!!

Plan Ahead but Enjoy the "NOW"

Got to know a friend that really appreciate life & not planning in details of how her life is going to be.
She knows the life direction but not really hoarding after money & wealth. She can work really hard and play really hard too.
She told me "What's the point of planning so detail & suddenly the next day, we die!"

In the beginning, I just listened & not really agreeing but later as I thought about it, it has some truth in it.
Not that we don't plan our life but not to forget to enjoy "NOW" & appreciate "NOW". The worst day in our life is regretting what we didn't do, who we didn't appreciate & love and places that we didn't go.
I think the worst of the worst is not eating the FOOD that we wana eat!!

Okay, let's move forward, smell the roses, move forward & smell more roses!
We have to keep on keeping on.

Let us enjoy, talk to people, call-up somebody that we haven't been contacting & make new friends.
Continue our Malaysian culture, Let's go Yam-Cha!

Our Parents... An Asset or Liability?

With all the MBA, KPI and goal settings around, some people might treat their parents as liability. Or an asset if they are rich!
But they are neither an asset nor liability, they are HUMAN BEING!

Last Saturday, I've watched "Great Day", a malaysian-made movie (I prefer "Woo-Hoo" though...and I definitely miss Ah Beng's voice!).

I did laughed & cried, though I am a man! Man have tears too okay! Overall, I did enjoy the movie.
The only setback of that movie was the transition or the flow.
It was badly done. While there are scenes where people cried (...me too!) momentarily and suddenly it hops to another scene.
Anyway, it is easier said than done. I do salute and give respect to the director. But I do like how the camera framing certain scenes from certain perspective. It was really good angles! Plus the 2 "pakcik" who acts naturally and hilariously.

Man...nowadays, don't "pray-play" with "uncles", they can act one u know!

Well, that movie triggers me to reminisce back on my grandfather during the 80s. He used to fly kites with me when I was really young. I still remember I used to dragged him back when it started to rain as I was running and he was walking with a "tongkat", without the "ali" of course....hahahah! 

Then I remember on how my father loved to bring us for peanut cream & yam cake on the roadside while driving a dark green toyota with the plate number AK 2223.
And every friday, we'll go for swimming. Eventhough until now, I still don't know how to float!
Almost every Saturday, we'll dine out.
For every Tuesday night, I'll eat what my father had bought, which is the "triangular-shaped bun with margerine & sugar" while watching Blue Thunder!
And at times, my parents would rent a nintendo set for us for a week and I am a Mario Bros specialist! I did finished level 8 ok!
The most exciting time was when my father brought back whole lots of durian with his 60cc honda cub! We'll ate durian beside the "longkang" in our house and we'll wacked the whole bag!

During my primary school days, I used to bring 60 cents to school. My mother expected me to have a typical lunch consists of soup noodles but I bought "keropok" and "Animal Survival" stickers instead! When my mother found that out, I was asked to kneel down to "Tei Chee Koong-Koong" (aiyah, don't know how to translate, I guess "The-Floor-Deity") and promised the deity not to cheat anymore!
You know what, I've broke that promise!

Well, we are not super rich, but I would say I'm quite happy & lucky in a way coz my parents are still around.

My father was a vegetable wholesaler and my mother was a seamstress. During the 80s, there was a crisis and my father's business was suffering. My mother kept supporting him emotionally and she took care of me & my 2 brothers pretty well I would say. We ate Maggi mee sometimes, but some good stuff as well. Especially my mother's home-made mini pork chop!

With all the ETP, GTP, NKRA ....etc to build the nation into a high income nation, please do not forget on how our parents bring the food on the table, raise us up, gave us education, shelter and love.

Well, "Great Day" is a movie reminding us of how we ignore our parents at times, as we move towards the stream of income-building & cultural modernisation! I wonder if Chinese New Year no longer serve the purpose of bringing family members together in future as the future generations have less & less childrens.

Back in the 80s, our CNY gathering consists of around 20 - 30 family members.
Nowadays, perhaps around 10 members including spouse and children.
Further down the road, perhaps around 5-6 members. Maybe some children who study abroad prefer video-conferencing with their parents instead of coming back for a reunion dinner! They might order pizza, delivers to their home and have reunion of their own!

Whatever it is, please go back for a reunion dinner on the CNY's eve and remember, our parents doesn't have much "years" to see us. Appreciate every moments of it.

A Unique School

2 days ago, I went to a property forum entitled Rethinking Property, organised by BFM radio station. There were 3 prominent speakers.

It was an eye-and-mind-opener! One of the speaker that striked me the most was John Hardy, the founder of Green School in Bali, Indonesia.

I do not know there is such school that existed.
My first impression was .... yeah, another school teaching about green stuff, recycling waste, saving energy, blah blah blah...etc.
It is much more than that. Of course listening to the founder himself talks about his vision of creating "Green Leaders" in the future who cares about what happens to the world, put my grasshopper mindset in the backburner!

John Hardy & his wife Cynthia sold off their jewellery business to set this green school up.
The whole school was made of bamboo! No air-conditioning, but natural flow of air and no toxic building material but "organic" material. What a building!

The students can learn basic skills such as reading, writing and I like the fact that they focus more on the practical side instead of boring-standard-Teach-N-Go-curriculum like most school did. They even learn art & music and most importantly, interaction skills.

All of us are Rice-Consumers but the students learn to be a Rice-Producer!
They plant, grow & harvest their own paddy & vegetables.
There's no computer software of any kind that can do a better job in teaching children about the Law of Sowing & Reaping than planting with their own labor, knowing that "If they don't work, they don't eat" principle still exist in 21st century!

Moreover, they get to interact with students from all over the world. They learn, adapt, communicate & build projects together. It reminds me of the word GLOCALIZATION instead of GLOBALISATION.
What a great example of a local village with global society in it.

In my opinion, the skills & the talent that the students potentially build up with will enable them to be more holistically balance in the aspect of mental & emotional strength.
I can't imagine our future generations are still following the status quo of going to a typical school and scoring all the As that their parents dreamt of and expect them to have the adaptability and competitiveness in the global marketplace!
It is not the sole issue of competitiveness but also the morality & respect that we need to nurture the future leaders.

Well, be sure to check the website and find out more at http://www.greenschool.org.
Thumbs up and a big salute to John Hardy, Cynthia and the team that run that place.

Speed

Some people thought Action is Power!

Last week, I explored another factor.
"The Speed of Action has more Power, coz it could win the Race!"

Have you seen some of your own ideas being virtually copied & somebody make it a reality first?
At that moment, we were like...."How did the person know what I've been thinking on all the while?"
Not really...
It is the Speed of Doing Things & the Speed of Getting Things Done that win the Race of Life.
Sometimes we need to slow down and appreciate life. But there are times that we need to speed forward.

When we have any idea and want to do something, start strategising, planning & act fast, with whatever resources that we have in hand!
Then figure out the puzzles later...
Or else, words like
"aiyah....",
"seong-thong-nin-ah..."
"I could have done that!",
"How come I didn't thought of that first?"

I did listened to someone said before, "It is not how much you make, it is how fast you make!"

Well, it make sense...