What is mine is MINE 是我的就是我的

We human like to claim ownership of things, we like the idea of owning, regardless if whatever we own is useful to us, we just like to own it. Owning gives us a sense of entitlement, a sense of control. I don’t know about you, but I sure like the feeling of being in control, being powerful!

However, we are human, we are supposed to be civilized. So owning should be civilized as well, getting things that we wanted in the proper manner, either we buy it or we earn it; not robbing, not stealing, not confiscating for personal interest, not coveting or any other improper manners. Unfortunately, there are among us who act like animal, going around marking our territory like dogs who mark their territories using their urine. Now that’s disgusting!

Once you own something, make sure you cherish and protect it well, take the proper measures to ensure that no one else can take it off your hands easily, like keeping it safe with round the clock surveillance or armed guards, or even lock it up with chain or the safe deposit box. But if you do get what you own through urinating, then pray that it doesn’t rain! Once it rains, there goes all the invisible marking that dissolve into the rain water.

So, be careful of what you own and how you own it. When it is not yours, nothing can be done to make it yours!

The Truth 真相

“The Truth is Out There”, for Special Agent Fox Mulder in X-Files, it was a belief that he will never compromise. He has dedicated his entire career to finding the truth no matter what it takes. Even being banish to the basement office where he is out of sight and out of mind.

Regardless of which profession you are engaged in, there are always code of ethics to be upheld. Some professions are more rigid with their practice of code of ethics as compared with other professions, in particular for professions where their work impact the interests of the general public.

As much as I understand the need for completing one’s assignment and demonstrate one’s ability to deliver, what I don’t understand is the need to deliver by compromising ethics. It may seem like one is capable of meeting the current needs, but it doesn’t take a long term view and the implications of compromising ethics have on one’s reputation. And they truly thinks that no one will notice and they can get away with it. Seriously?!

What good does it do to report on “facts” that are not true? What good does it do to force someone to a corner and confess to things that are not true just so you gain an upper hand on the situation? Unfortunately, not much good, the results are temporary, very soon you will need another lie to cover the old lies, and the truth is still out there. Why spend effort in creating lies to cover up rather than seriously handling the issues? I’m sure the creativity involves are the same, and the later will be much more fulfilling!

9 Things You Simply MUST DO 九样必做的事

You will probably pick up this book because of its title and the desire to be successful in life. This is definitely the right recipe book. But, don’t expect the usual ingredients. There are so many things to do in life, but of all things, there are 9 things we simply must do if we are serious about being successful in life according to Dr. Henry Cloud:

1. Dig It Up
2. Pull The Tooth
3. Play The Movie
4. Do Something
5. Act Like An Ant
6. Hate Well
7. Don’t Play Fair
8. Be Humble
9. Upset the Right People

If I take this as a checklist and rate myself against this list and measure my own success, I’m seriously no where near the success that Dr. Henry Cloud has defined. If we look at this list closely, it is actually not difficult to do, the difficult part is actually take a good hard look at yourself and see the truth about yourself, then take action and do something about those flaws.

We are no mirror of ourselves, the person we see in the mirror is always perfect. How often do you admire yourself in the mirror and think that you’re perfect? I admit that I do that often enough. So we need truth tellers around us to tell us the truth about ourselves, so we can look at ourselves realistically, as who we really are.

At the end of the book, Dr. Henry Cloud provide a 12-step formula in applying these 9 things:

1. Do not go it alone
2. Receive wisdom
3. Receive feedback and correction
4. Find models
5. Review your patterns
6. Deal with impediments
7. Add structure
8. Practice, practice, practice, and Fail
9. Change your beliefs
10. Quarantine your weaknesses
11. Put your vision and goals on paper
12. Pray, pray, pray!

Now you know what to do and how to do it, let’s get started with a successful life!

Cleaning In Progress…正在清理中…

April 28 2012 is a significant day for all Malaysians who wanted to a better government and a brighter future! This day, a quarter of a million Malaysians of all walks of lives, ages and ethnicity came out in force and gathered at Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square) to voice our demand of a clean election and the power of choice to elect a better government to take this country forward. This is my first participation of such mass demonstration, because I want my voice to be heard and the ability to exercise my power to elect my government for betterment.

This year is 2012, 8 years away from Vision 2020, when Malaysia will leap forth and be part of the developed world, with world class facilities in terms of health care and education systems, as well as being able to compete on world stage in terms of financial competitiveness, high productivity and high income knowledge workforce. Are we any where near these goals? Or we are just making a small group of people rich and wealthy?

I was born in the 1970s and grew-up in the 1980s and 1990s. 1980s and 1990s were years full of aspirations where I saw the country developed in lightning speed. As I joined the workforce in the late 1990s, I wanted to share in the opportunities that workforce of other developed countries have, though I’m not much disappointed, but we can definitely do better to compete and raise the income level. I do not want to stay at the level of “affordability” when foreign companies came to Malaysia to setup shop. I want them to come because we are capable and they are willing to pay for the competitiveness.

It is not difficult to make things happen, it is not hard to do the right thing. There are definitely road blocks, hurdles and detours, but the essential thing is to keep on track and move forward with integrity. Do not let temptations thrown us off track and lost our ways. This is not the dream of our fathers when they fight for independence; this is also the dreams of our children for a promising future; this is definitely not the dreams of my generation to pass this on to our children.

If you didn’t manage to show your support on April 28 2012, you still have a chance with the vote in your hands, vote for your future. I knew I would.