Feeling a bit emotional now! Somehow feels someone is angry with me! Well maybe I m too sensitive but I m a woman and the female species is supposed to be sensitive to such issue! Anyway I am suppose to study now but end up msning friends over the msn! Getting more responsbility at the new job and I have written my first inspection report! Have to archive all these things so that I can summarise them for performance appraisal at the end of the year. This will also helps me to write my resume! YUP!
"People who come to your aid in a time of personal crisis are people of genuine compassion and courage. More often than not, people will try to act as though nothing is wrong. Others are either afraid or refuse to get involved, and quietly drift away."
- Words of Wisdom from Daisaku Ikeda
Hmm.. people of genuine compassion and courage will aid you in time of crisis. Can we say this of people who help those out during the cyclone and the earthquake? These people who despite of the horrendous condition still go out to the affected places to offer the people their strength and comfort. As the highest order of living creatures in this world, should not we the group that has the capacity to help each other out? The group that will be able to create a better world for all! Some time, we still cannot defeat nature!
Well, time to go back to my studies!
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
What can be done besides donating money?
Recently, there are a couple of disasters that struck the world, 1 of them happened in some of the poorest part of the world and the other one happened in the most populated part of the world! Watching all those scenes on TV and looking at the photos in the newspapers and internet touched many hearts! A lot of people want to help but there is a limit to what we can do or at least that is what we think! Unless you are already in those voluntary associations such as Redc Cross, doctors beyong borders or Care, it is really difficult uprooting yourself from your current position to be in the area!
The other concern is instead of helping, one becomes a burden! What can one contribute? To help to dig emergency sanitary toilets, to build tents, to distribute food, to apply first aids, to counsel etc.? Does one has the vaccinations and immunity to face the situation? I realise if i want to do any of this work, I have to be at least trained to do first aid! I must trained myself to be able to counsel and to give hope to these people! Facing the aftermath, I must not suffered from post traumatic stress! Seems like a lot of myself but this is true especially when you are living in an environment that is comfortable and sheltered!
I feel helpless with the situation in Myanmar! I can only pray the country's leaders will just relent and let help in. Contrasting with China, the government is actively sending help to the area but the area is too big and too remote and it is slowing the process initially. What is the cost of life? Probably can be easily illustrated by the reactions in these 2 countries!
Still have revisions to do. First paper on Tuesday!
"As long as we are human, we are destined to make mistakes. We all fall prey to flawed beliefs and views. What separates a forward-looking person from an intransigent one, a virtuous person from a malevolent one, however, is whether one can candidly admit to ones mistakes and take bold steps to redress them. "
- Words of Wisdom from Daisaku Ikeda
The other concern is instead of helping, one becomes a burden! What can one contribute? To help to dig emergency sanitary toilets, to build tents, to distribute food, to apply first aids, to counsel etc.? Does one has the vaccinations and immunity to face the situation? I realise if i want to do any of this work, I have to be at least trained to do first aid! I must trained myself to be able to counsel and to give hope to these people! Facing the aftermath, I must not suffered from post traumatic stress! Seems like a lot of myself but this is true especially when you are living in an environment that is comfortable and sheltered!
I feel helpless with the situation in Myanmar! I can only pray the country's leaders will just relent and let help in. Contrasting with China, the government is actively sending help to the area but the area is too big and too remote and it is slowing the process initially. What is the cost of life? Probably can be easily illustrated by the reactions in these 2 countries!
Still have revisions to do. First paper on Tuesday!
"As long as we are human, we are destined to make mistakes. We all fall prey to flawed beliefs and views. What separates a forward-looking person from an intransigent one, a virtuous person from a malevolent one, however, is whether one can candidly admit to ones mistakes and take bold steps to redress them. "
- Words of Wisdom from Daisaku Ikeda
Monday, May 19, 2008
... some online blogthings!
As explained by the title, some random blogthings that I took:
That's all for now!
| You Are 48% Feminine, 52% Masculine |
 You're sensitive at the right times, but you don't let your emotions overwhelm you. You're not a eunuch, just the best of both genders. |
http://www.blogthings.com/areyoumasculineorfemininequiz/">Are You Masculine or Feminine?
| Your Personality Cluster is Extraverted Intuition |
 A true wordsmith - a master of words Original, spontaneous, and a true inspiration Highly energetic, up for any challenge Entertaining and engaging, both to friends and strangers |
| You Are 50% Extrovert, 50% Introvert |
 Like most people, you enjoy being social But you also value the time you have alone You have struck a good balance! |
http://www.blogthings.com/areyouanextrovertorintrovertquiz/">Are You An Extrovert or An Introvert?
| All American Kid |
 You were well rounded and well liked in high school. |
http://www.blogthings.com/whowereyouinhighschoolquiz/">Who Were You In High School?
| Your Travel Personality Is: Easygoing |
 All you need is a scenic spot and plenty of time on your hands. You'll figure out the rest. You're not one to make lots of plans when you travel. You just follow whatever path seems right. |
| Your Thinking is Concrete and Random |
 You're excited by new ideas, and you are a true independent thinker. You are interested in what is possible. You like the process of discovery. You are often experimenting, challenging old ideas, and inventing new concepts. Rules, restrictions, and limit don't really work for you. You have to do things your own way, and you can't be bothered to explain yourself. |
http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofthinkerareyouquiz/">What Kind of Thinker Are You?
| What These Sunflowers Say About You |
 You bring happiness to everyone around you, and you are adored by many. You're bright, bold, and cheery. You nourish friends you with your optimism. |
http://www.blogthings.com/whatdotheflowersyoupicksayaboutyouquiz/">What Do The Flowers You Pick Say About You?
That's all for now!
Stress stress.. cramming..
Is cramming time! Lots of work to cram into a cranium that contains a brain that only uses less than 10% of its capacity! That means i have to work harder to make sure that the most essential stuff is entered though I believe the non essential has a better place in the brain! Anyway, less than 10 days to my exam and still I m in a daze state! That'a all for exam as I think I write something more encouraging! Yeah!
As the world is a in a desastrous mood recently, we should all reconsider our priorities.
Some quotes from "180 degree - Yearnings for Peace":
When a lamp is lit, darkness is dispelled. - Sikh Teaching
Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of services and compassion are the things which renew humanity. - The Buddha
Many raging fires are quenched by a single shower of rain, and many evil forces are vanquished by a single great truth. - Nichiren, 13 Century Buddhist Sage
A thousand people working hand in hand can achieve the strength of a thousand people; ten thousand people working without unity cannot achieve the strength of even one man. - Taoist Saying
As the world is a in a desastrous mood recently, we should all reconsider our priorities.
Some quotes from "180 degree - Yearnings for Peace":
When a lamp is lit, darkness is dispelled. - Sikh Teaching
Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of services and compassion are the things which renew humanity. - The Buddha
Many raging fires are quenched by a single shower of rain, and many evil forces are vanquished by a single great truth. - Nichiren, 13 Century Buddhist Sage
A thousand people working hand in hand can achieve the strength of a thousand people; ten thousand people working without unity cannot achieve the strength of even one man. - Taoist Saying
From Words of Wisdom, Ikeda sensei says "Iron, when heated and pounded, becomes a fine sword. Likewise, Buddhism teaches that our true strength and potential cannot be forged without hardships."
Will continue to do some cramming!
Thursday, May 8, 2008
3 Criteria: Short, Thin but Healthy and Stupid...
Interesting title? Of the 3 criteria, I have only meet one and that is short! Well I m not thin and never will. Doctor told me I have a mid-frame body size so that means I cannot be thin if not I will look like skeletor or those they used for medical study. As for stupid, I will use Jack Neo's movie "I not stupid" to explain. Technically it depends what area of stupidity u are refering to. We should not elaborate that here as that will be exposing my flaws! Curious? Please continue to be!
Today is an interesting day at work! Since I took up this new post, there are really a lot of interesting n new grounds that I have found myself tracked into. Firstly the countless licenses that a research facility needs to have and the many governmental regulations and authorities that u need to know and be familiar with. It is basic courtesy to call up and say hello so that they can expedite the process. It is also a familiar thing to receive government letters frequently! Remember, we should always engage the authorities!
My colleague who is away this week for course will be shocked when she comes back to work. I have sent her lots of emails for her information. I have been sending emails to almost everybody these few days for information and actions! Keeping her in the loop is good so that she knows what are the things happening!
Back to today! While I was busy trying to match some data, the maintenance person asked to see me. I wondered what happen and it turned out to be a non-compliance act that had happened at the disposal area. Following the person down to the crime scene, it was really a non-compliance act that nobody knew who had done it. I took some photos and asked for help! Yah, I m not exactly a trained crime scene investigator and this is definitely not CSI! Investigator Help arrives and pointed out that there are surveillance camera around the premises and they are 2 that overlooked into the disposal area. Feeling excited, we went to the Command and Control Centre and called up the recorded images. After some trial and error, we finally located the crime action. Now was to identify the culprits! It turned out that the identities were quickly discovered and I made a few phone calls to enquire! The confrontation was not good and I had to make more phone calls to clarify some policy issues. Eventually I got my policy answers and the responsible party called up to acknowledge the non-compliance and we close the case.
Suddenly the floor above us thundered as if something heavy had been thrown on the floor! No worry, this is not another repeat of Hotel New World. There are no cracks on the wall and I m still alive to write this post! Don know what happen though! A wild guess is it could be from the construction site next door!
Anyway, end of my tale for the day!
To sum up with a quote from Words of Wisdom by Daisaku Ikeda:
"A person who cannot genuinely empathize with others can never excel as a leader. So much of what ails society today is the result of too many people in leadership positions who do not or cannot identify with the plight of their fellow men and women. It is in enduring pain and struggles that the earth of our humanity is cultivated. And it is from this earth that a capacity to be genuinely concerned for the welfare of others blossoms."
I spring from the earth!
Today is an interesting day at work! Since I took up this new post, there are really a lot of interesting n new grounds that I have found myself tracked into. Firstly the countless licenses that a research facility needs to have and the many governmental regulations and authorities that u need to know and be familiar with. It is basic courtesy to call up and say hello so that they can expedite the process. It is also a familiar thing to receive government letters frequently! Remember, we should always engage the authorities!
My colleague who is away this week for course will be shocked when she comes back to work. I have sent her lots of emails for her information. I have been sending emails to almost everybody these few days for information and actions! Keeping her in the loop is good so that she knows what are the things happening!
Back to today! While I was busy trying to match some data, the maintenance person asked to see me. I wondered what happen and it turned out to be a non-compliance act that had happened at the disposal area. Following the person down to the crime scene, it was really a non-compliance act that nobody knew who had done it. I took some photos and asked for help! Yah, I m not exactly a trained crime scene investigator and this is definitely not CSI! Investigator Help arrives and pointed out that there are surveillance camera around the premises and they are 2 that overlooked into the disposal area. Feeling excited, we went to the Command and Control Centre and called up the recorded images. After some trial and error, we finally located the crime action. Now was to identify the culprits! It turned out that the identities were quickly discovered and I made a few phone calls to enquire! The confrontation was not good and I had to make more phone calls to clarify some policy issues. Eventually I got my policy answers and the responsible party called up to acknowledge the non-compliance and we close the case.
Suddenly the floor above us thundered as if something heavy had been thrown on the floor! No worry, this is not another repeat of Hotel New World. There are no cracks on the wall and I m still alive to write this post! Don know what happen though! A wild guess is it could be from the construction site next door!
Anyway, end of my tale for the day!
To sum up with a quote from Words of Wisdom by Daisaku Ikeda:
"A person who cannot genuinely empathize with others can never excel as a leader. So much of what ails society today is the result of too many people in leadership positions who do not or cannot identify with the plight of their fellow men and women. It is in enduring pain and struggles that the earth of our humanity is cultivated. And it is from this earth that a capacity to be genuinely concerned for the welfare of others blossoms."
I spring from the earth!
Friday, May 2, 2008
Say u to what?
Wanted to blog but cannot think of anything constructive to say. Just tot i will do something pretty random here. Just watched the movie "Talkingcock", a stupid Singapore movie made by Singaporeans for Singaporeans who love to talk cock and jokes only a Singaporean will know!
3 random dogs of 3 different colours made with towels! Woo Woo...
3 random dogs of 3 different colours made with towels! Woo Woo...
This is taken near Botanic Garden! Just random phototaking while waiting for the bus to Orchard Road!
Near home and pretty random too! Really early in the morning so there are no vehicles around!
Daring Nephew here! Is he not cute?! Yeah yeah! The position of a froggy!
Another random quote from Words of Wisdom by Ikeda Sensei:
"Everyone born in this world has a unique role that only he or she can fulfill. Were this not the case, we would not be here. The universe never acts without cause; everything invariably has a reason for being. Even the weeds people love to loathe serve a purpose. I might add that every cherry blossom has its own personality, a purpose and meaning in life that is unique to it--as do the plum, peach and damson."
"Not all who wander are lost." - J.R.R. Tolkien
Thursday, May 1, 2008
So is May Day ....
Happy May Day! Heard May Day come about because of a few workers that banded together to demand for shorter working hours in the late 19 century. As a result of their sacrifice, May 1 was destinated as the day for labour day and this spreaded all over the world as workers become to see themselves as much more than money making machines and cheap labour! Well, today is a holiday for many and a long holiday for some. Tomorrow, it will be a bit quiet at the office as many will take the opportunity to take leave for a short vacation. Yeah but I will still be going to work tomorrow!
I was at the bookshop on Wednesday and I bought this book called "The Last Lecture". Have not read it yet but it seems to be the last lecture of a professor from a US university. He was disgnosed with a terminal illness and when asked what his last lecture will be, he said the lecture should be about "living". How provocative a topic! I think most us of will probably decide about lecturing about our life, our achievements and the knowledge that we would like to pass down to the next generations. To talk about living shows the positive perspectives of the person and this will be a person to learn from. Not many people will talk about living and the other person that values every minutes of his living is non other than Daisaku Ikeda sensei. Every seconds and every minutes is important. Sensei taught us not to just talk about the future but to fully make use of the presence to create value and to never regret this day of our life. We can always say there is a tomorrow but if we do not make good use of today, there may not be a tomorrow. In order not to regret, we must use our time and thus our life carefully! Most of the time, we tell ourselves that we are afraid or that we cannot do this or that. In the end, we will regret we ever hesitate. Hesitating in doing things as it may turn out wrong but without doing, we will never know! At the end of the day, we know we have tried and looking back, it provides us with the consolation that the answers are known. All it takes then and now is the courage to live our life!
Just watched a movie called "Stomp the Yard". This is about this dance or sport called "Stepping". The stepping movement is great but behind all those dangerous yet fabulous sequences are lessons for the youth. Themes such as teamwork, integrity, honesty, and hardwork are good moral characters. Often, one has to make some choices but not all choices should include sacrificing one's belief and dignity. At the end of the movie, the movie quoted this from Dr Martin Luther King, Jr "Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of education".
Education is to train the mind as well as the character of a person. Pocessing high intelligence yet lacking in strong moral character does not make the person educated. Unfortunately this is a common sight in society today! Graduates from well known universities with mulitple degrees and Phds have shown their brain power but their characters may be in an unpolished state. These are the people who will probably take up positions of decisions in companies and the government. These are the people who will make the decisions and make peace. With no strong character built, their actions will be the perils of the common people. Thus, education should start with building character before inculcating knowledge which is neverending in the first place.
"The word "character" originated from the Greek words meaning "sculpture" and "impression." Character, then, could be thought of that which is shaped or etched. It may be true from a medical perspective that our psychological and physiological traits are generally predetermined genetically. Knowing this, however, adds little to our lives. All that matters is how we can better ourselves here and now."
- Words of Wisdom by Daisaku Ikeda
Building character starts from the home and do not leave it to the teachers who probably have problems making syllables deadlines!
BTW, I also like the song group "May Day" from Taiwan. Yeah!
Lastly and to quote from Daisaku Ikeda's Words of Wisdom again "The task of education must be fundamentally to ensure that knowledge serves to further the cause of human happiness and peace. "
Cheerios!
I was at the bookshop on Wednesday and I bought this book called "The Last Lecture". Have not read it yet but it seems to be the last lecture of a professor from a US university. He was disgnosed with a terminal illness and when asked what his last lecture will be, he said the lecture should be about "living". How provocative a topic! I think most us of will probably decide about lecturing about our life, our achievements and the knowledge that we would like to pass down to the next generations. To talk about living shows the positive perspectives of the person and this will be a person to learn from. Not many people will talk about living and the other person that values every minutes of his living is non other than Daisaku Ikeda sensei. Every seconds and every minutes is important. Sensei taught us not to just talk about the future but to fully make use of the presence to create value and to never regret this day of our life. We can always say there is a tomorrow but if we do not make good use of today, there may not be a tomorrow. In order not to regret, we must use our time and thus our life carefully! Most of the time, we tell ourselves that we are afraid or that we cannot do this or that. In the end, we will regret we ever hesitate. Hesitating in doing things as it may turn out wrong but without doing, we will never know! At the end of the day, we know we have tried and looking back, it provides us with the consolation that the answers are known. All it takes then and now is the courage to live our life!
Just watched a movie called "Stomp the Yard". This is about this dance or sport called "Stepping". The stepping movement is great but behind all those dangerous yet fabulous sequences are lessons for the youth. Themes such as teamwork, integrity, honesty, and hardwork are good moral characters. Often, one has to make some choices but not all choices should include sacrificing one's belief and dignity. At the end of the movie, the movie quoted this from Dr Martin Luther King, Jr "Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of education".
Education is to train the mind as well as the character of a person. Pocessing high intelligence yet lacking in strong moral character does not make the person educated. Unfortunately this is a common sight in society today! Graduates from well known universities with mulitple degrees and Phds have shown their brain power but their characters may be in an unpolished state. These are the people who will probably take up positions of decisions in companies and the government. These are the people who will make the decisions and make peace. With no strong character built, their actions will be the perils of the common people. Thus, education should start with building character before inculcating knowledge which is neverending in the first place.
"The word "character" originated from the Greek words meaning "sculpture" and "impression." Character, then, could be thought of that which is shaped or etched. It may be true from a medical perspective that our psychological and physiological traits are generally predetermined genetically. Knowing this, however, adds little to our lives. All that matters is how we can better ourselves here and now."
- Words of Wisdom by Daisaku Ikeda
Building character starts from the home and do not leave it to the teachers who probably have problems making syllables deadlines!
BTW, I also like the song group "May Day" from Taiwan. Yeah!
Lastly and to quote from Daisaku Ikeda's Words of Wisdom again "The task of education must be fundamentally to ensure that knowledge serves to further the cause of human happiness and peace. "
Cheerios!
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