Today I’ll take time off from serious blogging to something a little lighter. This is found through Digg.com
Also , please check out the Dugg Stories on the right column on Digg.com
Have a nice day!
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Monthly Archives: April 2009
Failure before success
Failure before success
[edited 22/04/2009 with more Information]
During my meeting with Adeline Chong, we learnt from one another a lot of things. Among the things discussed was life, business, friendships, and the one that I’m excited about, failure (phailure, phailed, phail, you get the idea).
Abit about Adeline. During her Primary 6 exam (the trials), all students were mixed up sorted alphabetically across the 4 classes in our school (Red, Green, Blue, Yellow). Due to some administrative cock up, they (actually Mr. Tiwary, the Senior Assistant) decided to put Adeline in an all boys class. I’m guessing it was the 2nd class lah (in order), so I was there cuz my name is Philip (P) and she was at the last spot since its Adeline (A). <- ok, that was being TOO specific unnecessarily. Or unnecessarily too specific!
Adeline Wept.
Upon reflection, back then it wasn’t kewl to mix with guys. Don’t know why lah, but she didn’t feel comfortable having all that attention, I guess.
The Future Queen of Brunei, now Princess Sarah [wiki: Pengiran Anak Sarah | Crown Prince of Brunei] was her classmate (thus my schoolmate). My portfolio of friends from Brunei include, a lawyer, family doctor for the royal family, someone to take care of the nutritional needs of the country as well as to control epidemics, the ministers of foreign affairs and minister of defence (tactical), we’ve got a soldier (possibly an army general), more backup doctors and dentists, a couple of engineers (mechanical and the construction type), people in IT and Telecommunications, a professional vocalist, we’ve got all our bases covered. I find myself as the advisor to the Minister of Finance (also the Sultan) on how to manage people and money.
If Brunei were to start a war with Sarawak (oil or territorial issues), we got the backend support to get it done. OK, 25% of those mentioned are Malaysians lah, but still, product of the BEST school of that time, St. Andrew’s School.
It surprises me to see some contrasting fortunes for different personality types. I for one, was quite “promising” (hehe, self praise). I was top 10 throughout Primary School and within the top half in Secondary School. 2005 I flunked Engineering Diploma, 2006 my TER for an Aussie Matriculation was a pathetic 70+ where most friends get 85 and above, mostly in the 95 and above range. I flunked Finance (twice) and skipped a semester (thats about RM 11,000 + RM 5500). Hospital bills due to this failure (long story), also 5-figures.
A playful boy (that we all know and love back in high school) ends up being a decently successful engineer. A good looking guy (said by many) became a pilot flying in Newcastle Upon Tyne somewhere in London. We’ve got lots of Aussie graduates from Monash, Perth and of course, the overhyped, overpriced Melbourne U. My IT partner for all the school IT projects didn’t persue this useless course (of IT) but went for something so canggih it blows my mind away. He’ll be the future tactician for the Brunei army.
God works in mysterious ways.
The failures. So far only a handful have shared their so-called “failures” with me. I wouldn’t call it a failure because it is just a stepping stone to success. Sounds cliche (Gail – for you Arsenal fans) but I really believe its true. God has a greater plan in store for you.
I’m speaking for myself here when I say that “everyone has a rough patch in their life, especially during tertiary education”. All the mixed emotions, hormonal and biological changes (sic boobs, man boobs included) as well as our surroundings.
According to the 5-minute presentation entitled “Do You Know”, back in 1900, they say a week’s worth of New York Times is more information that any living human being will encounter throughout his lifespan. They predict in 2009, about 4,000,000 Terabytes of unique information will be produced. Ok, so the number is skewed due to the huge Science and research databases, and all those Sarah Palin porn. But isn’t it amazing?
Everyone deserves a second chance. Being a high flier in Kindergarden and Primary School does not guarantee future success. I feel I’m lucky considering that I hit my peak in the critical stages of my life. Its like going 3-0 down on halftime to win it on penalties in the end. That’s how I feel my life is. Its all about finishing strong in life.
Aim high. Don’t settle for mediocrisy. It may sound way off but my financial goals in life is to earn 5-figures off the bat, millionaire in 24 months and billionaire in 8 years. I won’t settle for a 12 hour 6 day week stressful job paying rm 6 an hour plus benefits (once u break it down) and having to put up with shitty bosses. Heck no.
I feel that in life, we are limited by the limits we were implanted with by the rich and successful. If everyone’s a boss, who will be the employees? Who will be the garbage collectors and waiter / waitresses of the society? Who will fix our Astro, and clean up our sewerage and be our doorman and drivers and amahs?
We were born naked and equal. So too will we die naked and equal.
Life is like a game of dice. 6 possibilities, everybody on earth has an equal chance. Breaking down the math, yes, there are various variables and environmental factors. Whatever your roll was, there are about a billion people just like you. Its what you do with your life and the ways you impacted this world that will be remembered by history.
Bottom line
1. If you’ve experience a huge failure in life, pick your self up. Give yourself time and never ever give up.
2. If you’re still high flying, and everything is rosey for you, thank God for it. I believe you will be successful. But prepare yourself for failure. You can never be too prepared for that.
3. Outward appearance does not truly reflect how a person is currently feeling; the problems he is facing. In the words of The Killers – “Are we human, or are we dancers?”
4. Remove negative feelings. Go jogging, dancing or gymming. And don’t forget to reward yourself with Haagen Daaz or Carl’s Jr once a while. Open up to the world and embrace the fallen nature due to our forefathers. No one is perfect. Acknowledge that we have fallen. Acknowledge that we make mistakes. Acknowledge that we are not always right.
5. Never give up. Never lose hope. Encourage, don’t pull people down with your negativity.
Orinigally posted by Phailed Pippo
20-April-2009
Adeline Chong
Click below..
Decision Model: Civic 2.0 vs Girlfriend
Scams
Ok, here’s a sensitive issue so if you disagree, please comment.
Taken from an old lowyat.net post:
[intro giving background of MLM]
These information are meant for you to know and warn your family members and loved ones before they become victims.“People got victimised by scams because they don’t know about it and they don’t know about it because those who knew about it did not share it”
Here are some hot scams(new scams no.16 down below) in Malaysia, briefly, (I will elaborate more if you contribute):
Jokes
If you understand the jokes below, that means you’re a geek; just like me!
I imagine those HP screens look AMAZING with 1366x768px spread over 16.4″ haha
It’s pretty funny that he looks at Vista Home Premium yet he hasn’t got a home
“I might be homeless but I’m not retarded”
From MacRumors.com
Wow, Microsoft must be desperate to beat Apple no matter what the cause.
And my sister joins a gym! Whoa.
Tomorrow is an exciting day. Goodnight everybody, and I leave you with this.
Proton Exora Claypot Chicken Rice
Exora, Persona, Saga is nice. Exora got Lukas’ seal of approval. So January 2010, if I’m still in Malaysia, I’ll “keong” one of these puppies.
Yet again, we played Catan with some friends from SIB. This one damn Kan-Cheong. Mr. Patrick Ho “fong-shui” to make it more sexciting. At the end, an interesting scenario developed. If Darrel were to build a road and house at an intersection, it would chop Lukas’ longest road effort, and give me the longest road and 10 points. Darrel also touches 10 points on the same move. So Yang Wei, how?
We had Claypot Chicken Rice with salted fish and lap cheong near Wisma Atria near KDU PJ. That’s where we bought our Catan. Had lunch with Yap and Merlvyn.
Lukas got some fun pics, so hopefully I can get it and show you guys. Check out his blog for updates.
Tomorrow got Engineering Fair at Taylors Main Campus starting 8am. I’ll be there around 10am. Then its BOWLING, baby!
Man Utd v Arsenal CL Semifinals 2009
When they said Man Utd had the easiest draw of the group, I agreed. But I told YW, “Yes, but we’ll be meeting the toughest opponent in the semifinals in Arsenal”. I was right.
I had a dream. No, not Martin Luther King sorta dream, but rather a weird and unconventional one. I was involved in a situation where I had to make a decision, and I backed down instead of following through. Was I easily swayed, or can we call it a rational move? I like it when a well-timed-aggression move pays off. Which reminds me:
Lukas has a good Poker face.
When I woke up, it was already the 60th minute. Didn’t see any goal action but I hear that it was from an impossible distance. Footytube.com to the rescue.
Bird Word – coined by Yap and gang, it is a literal translation of the Hokkien phrase “chiao hua”. The long running Simpsons competitor, Family Guy had a recent episode a month ago using a 60s music, “Bird is the Word”….. that goes something like… Youtube [link]
Surfing Bird – The Trashmen
A-well-a everybody’s heard about the bird
B-b-b-bird, bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
A-well-a bird, bird, bird, the bird is the word
A-well-a bird, bird, bird, well the bird is the word
A-well-a bird, bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
A-well-a bird, bird, bird, well the bird is the word
A-well-a bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
A-well-a bird, bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
A-well-a bird, bird, bird, well the bird is the word
A-well-a bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
A-well-a don’t you know about the bird?
Well, everybody knows that the bird is the word!
A-well-a bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
A-well-a…
Maybe we should make it our theme song! We’ll come up with a Phailed Remix ft Tiesto ;) [dreams]
We had a conference last night with Bob. I think there were 5-6 participants, and Skype technology was used. It performed well but it could be better.
Taylors Engineering Fair on Friday 8am-5pm. 30 over projects, probably 5 will be monetised. It would be fun if two parties [sic investors] were bidding for the same project. Hmmmm…. maybe I should make that happen! :P
God is great.
Patrick Ho Car Phail
Conversation with a girl
[10:59:07 PM] philipkhor says: hi
[10:59:18 PM] boongin says: hi.. 18/f/virgin here
[10:59:39 PM] philipkhor says: 21/m/available
[10:59:43 PM] boongin says: hi
[10:59:46 PM] boongin says: where are u now?
[11:00:36 PM] boongin says: busy?
[11:00:49 PM] philipkhor says: yes
[11:00:53 PM] philipkhor says: uploading utbe
[11:01:06 PM] boongin says: what’s ur name?
[11:01:25 PM] philipkhor says: Nick
[11:01:38 PM] boongin says: Nick Fisher?
[11:01:46 PM] philipkhor says: No. Nick Fry
[11:02:31 PM] boongin says: who’s Nick Fry?
[11:02:41 PM] boongin says: asl?
[11:02:43 PM] philipkhor says: k thx bue
[11:04:49 PM] boongin says: what’s bue?
[11:05:03 PM] philipkhor says: /block boongin
[11:05:05 PM] boongin says: sorry.. i’m innocent..
[11:05:13 PM] boongin says: block?
[11:05:14 PM] philipkhor says: let cyber.
[11:05:15 PM] boongin says: why?
[11:05:26 PM] boongin says: haha.. u’re so cute
[11:08:03 PM] boongin says: so Nick, what do u do for a living?
[11:08:13 PM] philipkhor says: sell property and insurance
[11:08:25 PM] boongin says: wow.. i’m doing A Levels
[11:08:43 PM] philipkhor says: nais
[11:09:05 PM] boongin says: what’s nais?
[11:21:24 PM] boongin says: woi.. add me lar!
[11:21:29 PM] boongin says: haha. jon here
[11:21:50 PM] philipkhor says: who’s jon?
[11:21:54 PM] boongin says: dammit u
[11:21:56 PM] boongin says: jon lee
[11:22:06 PM] philipkhor says: where meet u?
[11:22:19 PM] boongin says: add me lar
[11:22:34 PM] philipkhor says: hi
[11:29:36 PM] philipkhor says: ho
Difference between first and second
We played a game of Catan at Centerpoint just now.
Lukas went for the Mathematically best possible combination of numbers, double 8s, 5s and 9s. I was 2nd in position to choose my first settlement. I went for the 9,10 Mineral and 6 Clay, both of which were scarce.
Early game, my plan worked.. I quickly advanced to build 2 hotels and have another one on the way. But then Lukas manage to get the stuff to build more houses (despite his good numbers being on Wood and Wheat only). Once he got his Wood Port, he was flying.
John/me partnership got a lucky break by drawing 2 victory points and not those useless cards (Monopoly, Road Building, Year Of Plenty, Knight). Being the sole producer of Mineral, hotels were easy to come. We had the bare minimum of roads (far enough for a settlement to be built).
9 points a piece. Lukas monopolises Wood not realising he has most of the wood already. Costly mistake. Our turn, we were “fully loaded” with Minerals and Clay (3-to-1 for Wheat). We stole one of Lukas’ wheat and ninja the win.
What I’m trying to say is that in almost everything in life, the difference between first and second is so miniscule. Google has 70% market share while Yahoo! has only 15%. Both finds similar information and provide similar services. Yahoo had a head start, more features and a bigger team. Google dominates. Why such difference?
It is even more obvious in Formula 1 where first and second is separated by inches. Imagine, machines going at 250km/h across the start/finish line, and all that separates the winner from the runner-up is several inches. Back in the early part of the decade, there was one Qualifying session. 3 cars had identical times. For example, 1 minute 32.075 seconds (right to the THOUSANDth of a second). And for the first race this year in Melbourne, if the winner were to open a can of Cola and drink as fast as he can, the 10th car would have passed before he finishes his drink. That is, after a 300 Kilometer race.
Success of a project, company or organisation largely depend on the minor details that most people overlook. I’m not asking you to micromanage employees or teammates. You have to trust their skills in certain tasks. But for mission critical areas (that you need to identify), it is BEST you do it yourself.
Same with knowledge. Mr. Ali gave a good talk on why people nowadays don’t have jobs. It is not that there are no jobs available, it is because graduates do not have the right skills it takes for the changing job situations. This is mostly true in technical subjects like Engineering and IT. So, it is wise to learn skills and techniques to solve problems that we do not yet know are problems.
Oh, Paroimia this Friday / Saturday 8am – 10pm. Basically, it’ll go something like this. Sing songs, speech and introduction by elders of the church, a 45 minute play, emotional music plays, pastor calls for people to convert, you go to convert to christianity, then supper. Ping me if its different this time around!