I am pondering whether I coud take a similar path as Helen Keller

Since I was young, I was always intrigued by Helen Keller's bold courage to touch people's lives. Her great ability to master 5 languages i.e. English, French, German, Latin and Italian spurred me to study Japanese, Chinese and Hakka in greater depth. Occasionally, I made a foray to learn some languages e.g. Thai, Nepali, German, Italian, French, and even Mongolian. But I only knew some common greetings in these languages.

I was so impressed by her great tenacity and single-minded to bring her message across to people through her universal language i.e. Love.

I reminisced that time when I stumbled across a manga drawing of Helen Keller. I did not know her at all but that story about her life caught my attention so greatly that I kept reading that book countless times!

Eventually, I decided to buy a novel "The Story of My Life" that was written by Helen Keller. In this story, it chronicled her difficult childhood, growing up phase and adulthood.

My most favourite 2  phrases are below

 "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than exposure."

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us." 

Things will happen for a reason

Quoted from one of the chapters in The Flipside - Adam J Jackson

"There is truly life after all illusions break down. Life after all fallout of our own mischief. Life after the pieces have been shattered, after all the threads have come undone. It is a message to anyone who has faced any trauma or setback, there is a REALLY a LIFE. After anything that may happen to us and all that we may encounter, there is life."

"Learned Helplessness is a psychological condition which can affect people and animals. It is a tendecny to interpret past experiences in such a way that when a similar situation arises, you believe yourself to be powerless to do anything about it. You 'know' that any effort is futile because past experiences taught you that you were powerless to influence change. Nothing you did in the past made any difference. You are convinced that you are helpless, so you don't bother trying to help yourself."

"Optimists take responsibility for their future. Optimists act from knowledge - they research situation and accumulate information to help them make the most appropriate decisions and this forms the basis for whatever action they take. Optimists are active in pursuing their dreams, rather than sitting by as a passive observer allowing life to happen to them as pessimists are prone to do. Optimists seek and maintain strong networks which is an issue that arises time and again in people's stories of the flipside."

Blessing in Disguise, 結局は身のためになる辛酸

I bought this book "The Flipside" by Adam J Jackson. It is definitely a big YES-YES worth to read. It is based upon a simple and inspiring idea that every challenge or difficulty, no matter big or small contains an equivalent or greater benefit or hidden opportunity.

Have you ever heard the phrase, 'Blessing in Disguise',[塞翁失马.],[不幸に見えて実はありがたいもの 《つらいが後でためになる物事》.]? Truth be told, many of us would probably lament about our dire situation or start finger-pointing at anyone whom we think that someone is responsible for our downfall.

If we take a while and ponder for a while, we probably feel better if we could understand that 'a crisis is always an opportunity.'

From the ancient Chinese sage, when written in Chinese, the word 'crisis'機会（きかい）or 机会（ji2 hui4）is composed of two characters - one represents danger and the other represents opportunity.' - John F. Kennedy 12 April 1959.

［to sidetrack a bit here, actually it comes from two different words 危机／危機（きき）'disaster' ＋ 机会／機会（きかい）'opportunity'］

In other words, a crisis is a message telling us that there is an opportunity waiting to be found and sometimes, it will be the opportunity of a lifetime.

A short anecdote from this book to share with you that in everyone's life, there is always a flipside to our misfortune.

Hsieh Kun-Shan was a teenager working in Taiwan and when he was walking barefoot with steel rods, all of a sudden, he was electrocuted by high-voltage wire. He was knocked unconscious immediately and he only woke up 2 days later. He lost most of his right arm, his entire left arm and right leg below his knee. His right eye was severely damaged and his left foot was deformed by accident.

Despite his harrowing experience, Hsieh considered himself to be one of the luckiest men on earth. How would anyone in his right state of mind call himself as being luckiest fellow?

Following his crisis, Hsieh learnt to live with his disabilities and invented special device to enable himself to feed himself and bathe himself. Gradually, he taught himself to paint using his brush with his mouth. Eventually, Hsieh became one of the most influential Mouth and Foot oil painter and won many awards for his great achievements. He has become a legend or household name in Taiwan. Today Hsieh is not just an oil painter, he is now a motivational speaker and lecturer sharing his life experience and how he leveraged on his bad experience to regain his dignity and confidence to live his life fully.

I like this simple post and video!

FWYstudios and US Sydney collaborated to create a re-branded look for Match.com. The campaign features 20+ animated characters conceived by US and developed by FWYstudios. Each character couple is designed to appeal to a different audience. “Better Together” is the melancholic tale of a Pea and a Carrot. Welcome to our magical world where all things that are supposed to be together are.

"Better Together" for Match.com from FriendsWithYou on Vimeo.

My first biggest decision

Wow, it has been a long time since I last posted my entry...For those followers, I am back in action heee...
Well, today I have nothing much to do so I thought of blogging to kill time anyway.

Last month, I made a hard decision to go under knife to enable me to hear better. For the past few months, I realised that my hearing has been deteriorating drastically and I could not just ignore it as a small and inevitable problem. I have given it much thought about it of possibility of going for CI operation for years.
3 years ago, I casually walked into the clinic to see my doctor, Professor Low and I suddenly thought about CI. I asked him about the CI and my eligibility for being a candidate for the CI operation. He told me that I was most likely a candiate for the operation but I was not mentally prepared for it. Anyway, he gave me a contact of someone who had a similar background so I emailed to him.

We contacted each other for a while and the overall discussion on pros and cons about CI was adequately covered. But still, I was not prepared for that.
I just brushed this matter aside and did not think about it.

But there was only one incident that changed my mind about CI and reaffirmed my decision to go for CI operation.

In Dec, I had a sudden vertigo attack and constant tinnitus in my right ear. Then after unexpected incident, I realised that my right ear could not hear as well as before. I began to worry about the possibility of myself slipping into silent world. I do not want to sabotage my future.
I decided to take charge of my future and I want to be in control of what I want to go. I take full responsibility of my life and decide to fix an appointment with my doctor.

I went for the MRI check up to see whether I am eligible for the CI operation. That is the first prerequisite for the CI operation.

Then after 2 weeks, I went to see Professor Low (SGH) and he gave me a complete clearance that I am able to go for the CI.

Before I was admitted to the hospital for the surgery, I need to go for several check-up e.g. detailed hearing check-up, blood test and some other tests.

Eventually, I was admitted to SGH on 8th Feb 2010 in the morning and my 2-hour operation was scheduled at 9am.

Life is like climbing 80 floors

80 Floors

There were once 2 brothers who lived on the 80th level. On coming home one day, they realized to their dismay that the lifts were not working and that they had to climb the stairs home. After struggling to the 20th level, panting and tired, they decided to abandon their bags and come back for them. They left their bags there and climbed on. When they struggled to the 40th level, the younger brother started to grumble and both of them began to quarrel. They continued to climb the flights of steps, quarreling all the way to the 60th floor. They then realized that they had only 20 levels more to climb and decided to stop quarreling and continue climbing in peace. They silently climbed on and reached their home at long last. Each stood calmly before the door and waited for the other to open the door. And they realized that the key was in their bags which were left on the 20th floor ......

---------------------------

This story is a reflection on our lives... many of us live for the expectations of our parents, teachers and friends when we were young. We seldom get to do the things that we really like or love. It is under so much pressure and stress that by our early 20s, we get tired and decide to dump this load.... and enjoy life. Being free of the stress and pressure, we work enthusiastically and dream ambitious dreams.

But by the time we reach our 40s, we start to lose our vision and along with that, our dreams and goal in life. We began to feel unsatisfied and start to complain and criticize. We live life in misery as we are never satisfied.

Reaching 60, we realize that we have little time left for complaining and we began to walk the final episode in peace and calmness. We think that there is nothing left that could disappoint us, only to realize that we cannot rest in peace because we have an unfulfilled dream.....a dream we abandoned about 60 plus years ago......

So what is your dream? ......Keep them alive....Follow your dreams so that you will not live with regrets ......and you will have stories to share with your loved ones.

Happy Feet!

A heart-warming short video clip about the young penguin chick who seems to be following his caretaker everywhere he goes as if he is its mom.

I wish to have that cute Happy Feet!

Deaf dog and Deaf Cat

Don't you think they look so cute and innocent while they are sleeping? No matter how loud their owners are calling them, they remain oblivious to the world, just like Sleeping Beauty or Sleeping Prince. I could not help laughing at them as I know that I am also like one of them. :)

They are so irresistibly cute! Have a good laugh!

YAH! 50+ Singapore Community

I brought my parents to Suntec City just now as there was a programme targeted at senior citizens who are 50 years and above. I always wanted them to be more exposed to community so that they can derive greater meaning from their lives and have their greater responsbilities in planning their lives.

Many of my friends often tell me that they do not know what to do with their ageing parents as they have entirely different lifestyles. Sad to know that many old parents, who are left alone at home, are lonely and tend to be depressed easily. I do not want to see my parents like that.

I want them to be positive and also to lead their active and healthy lifestyles. I encourage my mom to take up taichi courses while my dad to take up basic IT programme. However, given my busy schedule, it's hard for me to allocate my time to search for suitable programmes for them.

Finally, good opportunity came my way as I saw the advertisement "YAH!". YAH means Young at Heart and I immediately signed up for my parents. I brought them down to Suntec City just now and they liked some programmes offered there. My parents were considering to sign up for basic IT courses at Bishan soon and it only cost $45 for 3 3-hours lessons. My dad would definitely love to learn how to surf internet so that he can check the stock prices from Internet!

As for my mom, she wanted to write a Chinese blog and shared her thoughts with her readers! I am encouraging her to do that! At least she's coming out of her shell of loneliness to open space of fun and enjoyment!

Then, we walked around and my mom saw the line-dancing demo. She was immensely captivated by it and she asked around how she could sign up for this course. I was very much touched by her gesture that she was taking more responsibility to plan and enjoy her life.

In the past, she would tell me that she did not like that activity that was associated with old people or to mix around with any busybody aunties at the void decks. She often lamented that she was feeling lonely and moody most of the time. Of course, I was deluged with guilt for not spending my time with her and I had to rethink my priority so that I could spend my quality time with her at home. For instance, I asked her to teach me Chinese every once a week so that she could have a sense of fulfilment in contributing to my wellness and learning.

I guess every parent has his/her needs like us. Sometimes, we need to put aside time to help them to plan what they want to do first and eventually, they find something that can give them a great sense of fulfilment.

Perhaps I would definitely understand the loneliness better when I am 60 or 70 years old in future.

Banana George!

Today I'm going to dedicate my time to collect some interesting stories about people who have their great zest for lives! This month, I'd compile as many interesting stories as I can and I hope that this simple short article will continue to bring smile to my readers!

Have you heard of Banana George? A truly legendary 93-year-old won numerous awards and records including his entries in Guiness Book of World Records!

Ever-smiling George who always loves to wear his favourite colour - bright yellow - clothes is often seen at the lake, practising his water skiing prowess! He never fails to amaze me that despite his age, he continues to live his life to the fullest.

Let's go wacky with Banana George this time! Dun let the age stop you. It's just a number as long as you think that you are young at heart!

http://www.bananageorge.com

Finally we are now in Year 2009 - Bullish Year?

It's time for me to start typing away my thoughts/concerns/fears about this year. Amidst merry-making celebration during the last hour at the last day of much-cursed year 2008, there was a mixture of feelings welling up in me. Everyone was anticipating that year 2008 was a year of prosperity and prospect as it carried a number "8". Yes, a big lucky number that everyone has been clamoring over to possess it! 

And even a telephone number with all digits being 8 was sold for USD$270, 723 in Chengdu, China and a man in Hangzhou went to such an extent to sell his license plate "A888888" for RMB 1.12 Million. And of course, the most recent Olympic Summer ceremony, which both made the world fascinated and green with jealousy, began on 8th August 2008 at exact 8 seconds and 8 minutes past 8pm (Beijing time). 

With so much craze over a mere number 8, would it be able to match up to everyone's expectation that Year 2008 would be the "best" in the history amidst the worst economic recession that was sparked off by a CEO of Lehman Brother, scandal of milk, Sichuan earthquake, Madoff scandal and the most recent Bangkok club fire?

A few days ago, I was reading TODAY newspaper and there was an interesting article on "When life gives you lemons". Why do we feel so depressed or upset and fail to remember that there are many reasons for us to be happy?

Teen's dying wish to save 5 lives, axed banking veteran landed himself a teaching job, doing IT for free in India, lowly-educated mechanical designer vowed to work hard despite great adversity...so on.

As I was leafing through every Happiness article, I found myself beaming with smiles and my general mood being lifted! I reflected on myself as I am so fortunate to be thankful for having:

• Supportive Family and Friends
• Wonderful close friends
• Good health
• Stable financial health
• Freedom to enjoy doing my things
• Positive mindset
• Ditto and ditto

It's also a time for me to make a good lemonade since Life gives me lemons! Why complain and lament over its sour taste? Make do with it to make a sweet lemonade and savour every moment of Life!

"Fear's the greatest disability" - Nick Vujicic, Without Limbs

Just now, I attended a seminar by Nick Vujicic who was born without limbs. It was truly inspiring seminar for me as I always wanted to meet him in real person. That chance finally came.

Nick Vujicic was born in Melbourne in 1982, being limbless without arms and with one small foot with two toes protruding from his left thigh.

He shared that his life was filled with hardships, obstacles and tears. According to Australian law, he was not allowed to study at the mainstream school even though he was not mentally handicapped. However, it seemed there was a change of fate that he was allowed to study at the mainstream school where he learnt to write using his two toes of his "foot". Because Nick was perceived as being so different from the normal student, he was often singled out as being bullied by other students and thus, he became depressed by age of eight. Nick started to think of committing suicide to escape all these taunts at school. He even begged God to grow his legs and arms so that he would be a normal person just like everyone. After Nick began his soul searching, he realised that he could help to inspire many people. Eventually, his life picked up and he started to give his talks at his prayer group. Nick went on to set up his first organisation, "Life Without Limbs".

While his life completely turned around for better, Nick gave thousands of motivational speech overseas focusing on the topics that teenagers face. He created his first DVD, 'Life's Greater Purpose' which features a brief documentary of his life. A few photos of his childhood and how he enjoyed playing sports. Nick has a big dream. He wanted to publish his first book "No Arms, No Legs, No Worries!" by end of 2009. His dream is getting bigger and bigger! No way does he allow his handicap from reaching his dream.

While pictures of Nick during childhood beamed across thousands of supporters at Paya Lebar Church (I was not a Christian), two helpers carried Nick onto the long table on the stage, drawing thunderous applause from audience. Some of them wept silently while others cheered for him.

Immediately, a powerful voice pierced throughout the cacophony and finally, the limelight shone on Nick, a mere 1-metre handsome statue without limbs. One would imagine how difficult his life would be and many of us took many things for granted e.g. washing clothes, picking up the telephone, playing sports

Nick pointed to his protusion and described it as a "chicken drumstick", eliciting roaring laughter from audience. LOL!

This man went on to prove many critics wrong that he could swim, he could skate, he could play golf, he could ride horse, he could do many things that no one ever believed. Recently, he went surfing in Hawaii!

Towards the end of the show, Nick shared, "I asked God for arms and legs. I believed that I will have arms and legs when I see God. But I will still trust God if God says NO!" Because of this, Nick can meet 660,000 people worldwide, inspiring and giving them becons of hope.

Finally, I managed to get a chance to hug Nick and told him personally that he was truly my inspiration. I gave him a yellow folder with my short articles about me and my name card.
I am so glad to meet him in person, a truly larger-than-life personality who continues to inspire me in many ways.

You can visit his website at http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org

"The most important thing is to control your own destiny"

Today, I had a lunch meeting with a CEO of Thai Express at Tiong Bahru Plaza. Prior to it, I read about him in the Straits Time as he was nominated as one of the Spirit Entrepreneurs for 2007 batch. While reading that article, the very words that captured my attention were:

"Ivan has a soft spot for disability and elderly."

That was why he wanted to create job opportunities for disabled and mature workers to work at Thai Express.

In short, Thai Express is a chain of restaurants that serve authenatic Thai food and up to now, there are 75 outlets in Singapore, Malaysia, New Zealand, Australia and even in a flung-off country that is Outer Mongolia! I was genuinely impressed to know that Ivan has a great tenacity and determination to push for expansion of Thai Express to many pockets in Asia. Digressing from this topic for a while, I went on backpacking in Outer Mongolia in the middle of winter in 2006.

After reading that article about him, I scoured the internet looking for any useful contacts but in vain. I wrote in online Thai Express feedback form with a brief introduction about myself hoping that someone would help to forward the email to Ivan. The next day, I got an email reply from his secretary. The answer was immediate "YES" and Ivan wanted to meet me and Collin soon.

We arranged to meet up at Tiong Bahru at Thai Express Cafe and he came in a few minutes after I arrived at 12pm sharp. We really had a lively discussion ranging from Amazing Race Asia, careers to entrepreneurship. I found out that his wife was a fervent supporter of our team and I thanked him profusely for that. I believed that Amazing Race Asia really brought many people closer to us at heart! He further added that one of the days, he wanted to bring his wife out for lunch with all of us!

After my discussion with him, my conviction about Ivan certainly solidified that he has a big heart for disabled. He shared with me that he hired a few deaf workers and they were doing well there. Ivan has a strong belief that everyone regardless of any differences be it disability, age or whatever, can make his/her useful contribution to any company.

When he started out doing business at Thai Express in 2002, it wasn't easy for him as he had to do almost everything as being a one-man show. He had not taken any off-days and even now, he still has to work over weekends. The only time he could spare was to spend quality time with his children who are the important source of his inspiration.

Before we parted our way, Ivan said to me that he welcomed any deaf who are keen to work in Thai Express if I knew anyone. (Pls let me know if you are keen).

"Oh, because you had a handicap, you shouldn't do this or that."

Yesterday night I went down to Singapore Management University (city campus) to meet up with a group of young SMU students. Earlier on, they emailed me to ask me to share my thoughts of being a deaf person living in Singapore. They wanted to write a book on deafness so as to raise a better awareness about deafness in Singapore. Of course, I'm very pleased. In fact, there was no other such book that wrote about the deafness.

SMU students spent their significant time to understand the deaf community better during their school period. They learnt basic sign language, and gave useful lessons to some deaf people through an interpreter. After spending a few months mingling with the deaf community, they felt that not many people have their right perception of the deaf community. Worst still, many of them held their wrong perception that deaf would mean that they would not be able to talk or even label them as being "DUMB". Therefore, SMU students wanted to correct the misconception of the deafness through writing in the book.

Prior to meeting them, I felt a strong sense of responsibility for the deaf community as I know that many deaf people are marginalized or stigmatized of being "less-abled" individuals. I also had a fair share of discrimination at my workplace. I had a supervisor who told me right in my face that, "Because you have a HANDICAP, you should't do this or that.". I was simply shocked by it and I knew that this kind of statement definitely reflected my supervisor's lack of maturity, empathy and understanding for different group of people. Surprisingly though, my supervisor even had his/her own handicap which he/she is not even aware of it! A few months later, I shared that incident with my supervisor about this insensitive remark and eventually he/she apologised to me for making this remark. I wasn't sure whether he/she was truly feeling bad about it. Still, I was glad that I brought this issue up to him/her and handled this problem as much diplomatic as possible. 

I decided to put on a brave front to share my past experiences at work place with SMU students. I felt that if no one would ever tell his or her real story about the actual discrimination at workplace, no one would ever know about it. I knew that there are many disabled people who continue to keep silent about their discrimination at workplace, yet they endured it lest they might lose jobs, or even their places at workplace. 

The question is that why do we want to be a nail that sticks out to be eventually hammered in....

"If we didn't die, we would not appreciate life as we do."

I would like to share with my readers about this charismatic adventurer who is a big symbol of adventure, passion and living life to the fullest to me. Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau.

Perhaps those, who were born before 1980s, could probably have some vague recollection of a legendary adventurer, scientist and charismatic man who captained his legendary ship "Calypso" across the world's oceans. Not many people are aware that he was the first man who held the very key to unlock the secrets of unknown world.

"Underwater World".

Captain Jacques made his first French underwater documentary film on Par dix-huit mètres de fond' (= 18 meters deep") in 1943, creating the first invention of underwater camera. Without him, we would not probably marvel at the secret riches of the underwater world through the eyes of documentary films. He believed in his personal motto, "Il faut aller voir” (”We must go and see for ourselves”).

I have quoted a few short paragraphs of his thought-provoking philosophy towards life.

"One of the great lessons that we learned from the Captain’s life is that is doesn’t take advanced educational degrees, wealth, or connections in high places to achieve success. It takes only creativity, desire, and an instinct for innovation. Cousteau evolved from a sickly child into a self-proclaimed misfit, then into a naval officer, later into an inventor and master cinematographer, and finally into the world’s greatest explorer and father of the modern environmental movement. None of it was planned, or handed to him, or laid out in advance. “Sometimes we are lucky enough to know that our lives have been changed,” Cousteau said about his first experience using goggles underwater. He took the seeds of chance and nurtured them into forests of experience, relying only on a visceral drive to create and discover new things.

“I have accepted death not only as inevitable but also as constructive,” Cousteau once said. “If we didn’t die, we would not appreciate life as we do.” We were young when Cousteau uttered those words, and knew nothing of death, but we appreciated life because he appreciated it, and because he showed us how. He was not only captain of the Calypso, he was captain of our imaginations, and clearly one of the great men of the 20th century. Our only question now is, where is the successor to the charming and charismatic man who skippered the dreams of our youth?

It has been said that true happiness lies in the fulfillment of childhood dreams. If there is any truth to that statement, then happiness for many of us means donning a red wooly cap, climbing aboard an affectionately named ship, pointing to the horizon, and announcing to a small group of bold adventurers, “We must go and see for ourselves.”"

It's time for us to be a child with our limitless curiosity and imagination again! Don't you think we should start now?

A Chinese saying goes, "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. But the second best time is TODAY."

Build Castles In the Air

"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them."

- Henry David Thoreau -

A little thought about the Law of Attraction

Perhaps you might find it hard to believe that Law of Attractions works everywhere and every time provided you conscientiously practise this simple Law of Attraction.

It's simply just that you need to manage your mind and see things in positive way. Even if anything around you is not getting any better or seems to be worse than before, that's a BIG CHALLENGE for you. It's how you need to create a space between a response and stimulus (propounded by Stephen Covey - 7 Habits of Highly Effective People). By giving yourself sufficient space between stimulus and response, it demands a lot of discipline and foresight to strategize how you need to react to different kind of situations.

In short, if you put your mind and heart in getting what you REALLY want, and you must experience how you have actually received, things that you have in your mind will be magnetized to you. It's absolutely NO QUESTION ABOUT IT!

I have a real experience which you might think it is just a small thing. Believe it or not! It happens to all of us regardless of who you are. It obeys us!

I was taking a driving test last Friday, and I failed my driving test 4 times. I was kinda sick of failing my driving test and had to go for driving revision. It did not come cheap. You needed to shell out at least US$60 for 2-hour lesson and it was not really pleasant to book online, slot this training lesson in your overly packed schedule, drag yourself out of your house to the driving school and get yourself virtually frustrated with yourself for not getting things right.

If I were to turn this around by escaping from these unpleasant things which I have mentioned earlier, I would have to pass it once for all. But the question is that how I want myself to pass my test?

So, I practised just 3 simple rules:
1. Know what you want and ask the universe for it.
2. Feel and behave as if the object of your desire is on its way.
3. Be open to receiving it.

I imagine myself driving in an air-conditioned air and my tester being patient with me. He would say, "Adrian please don't be nervous and stay relaxed." Besides that, I visualized myself driving along the route which was the easiest of all test routes. I was actually experiencing it at that moment, the feel of the steering wheel, the comfort that I was experiencing, the feel of coordinating between clutch, brake and accelerator pedals and everything felt right for me.

And I would write it down in my journal. "I want to pass my driving test on 24/10/2008 at 3pm."

On that very day on my way there, I wasn't nervous about it though occasionally, nervousness crept into me. After doing some warm-up driving lesson, I had to wait for my tester in a waiting room. Finally, a tester named "Ong" came in and I explained to him about my hearing loss. He said, "Don't worry. Just do your best. I want you to do the test route 1." My heart jumped at it as it was the easiest of all test routes! And moreover, it came true as I visualised about it earlier on! Instead of being too ecstatic, I remained calm and throughout the test route, I only made 12 demerit points! I finally passed my test!

Next month, I will receive my much-coveted prize - my driving license!

BINGO! I made it!

Finally I passed my driving test!

I felt so triumphant that I finally passed my driving test. It even coincided with my important goal for this year. Prior to passing my driving test, I wrote my intention to pass my driving test on 24th Oct at 3pm. I visualised myself having a kind tester and easiest test route to secure higher chance of passing my test.

It seems that my visualization exercise worked and I went on smoothly without any major glitches! I felt so great to earn my driving license next month after 4 repeated failures. A saying goes, Failure will make you stronger and tougher!

Now, the next goal is to pass JLPT 2 on 7th Dec!

Good luck to me!

Meeting up my first primary school teacher!

It was like waking up from a deep slumber to realise that 29 years had passed by and so many things have happened within an eye's blink. Many people walked in and out of my lives; some of them left indelible footprints while others had been unfortunately obliterated by the waves of change. 

Yesterday I went to visit my very first primary school teacher who taught me for 4 yrs. She was Sister Maria Riva, hailed from Milan, Italy...Yes, a fashion capital of the world and you might be wondering a simple num who came from the world of glizty fashion. She shared that when she was around 30 years old, she came to Singapore on ship on her missionary. Her first posting here was at my alma mater school, Canossian School for the Hearing Impaired. At that time, there was only 2 special schools and I was enrolled there.

I remembered my very first time when I was there. I immediately cried at the unfamiliarity of the place. No later than I thought, I was engulfed by 2 warm wings of Sr Maria and I immediately felt I was secure and warm. She was there with full of smiles and warmth. Her smile dissipated my fear and insecurity and I was slowly introduced to my new classmates. That is where I started my first education in that school.

Now, she is 76 years old and recently went for hip and knee operations. She was walking well though she seemed to lose weight significantly. She is now helping at St. Jospeh Homes where many old and sick people will be looked after there. 

We asked her whether she is planning to go back to Milan for good. She said that she is happy to stay here and afterall Singapore is her second home. She is now PR and she is contented to be here in Sg. I promised her that I will ask my ex-classmates to visit her soon and I will send her photos. 

She mentioned to me that the very first time she saw me waiting for her, she could not recognise as I changed so much all these years. However, she could recognise my familiar laugh lines.

Before we took photos together, we bidded each other goodbye and I told myself that I must regularly visit her whenever I have time. She is one of the important persons who left her footprints in my life.

My ex-NJC principal

I finally had a chance to meet up with my ex-NJC principal, Mrs Maureen Ng. It has been 10 years since I left NJC and it was like walking down a memory lane which was covered with autumn falling leaves. It was kinda of nostalgic feeling of being back to the salad-day when you felt very green and innocent of the tough reality out there in the real world.

We had a lunch at Bali Thai restaurant at Velocity and we had so much things to share about. It seemed that we were getting closer to each other than before and I began to see her more of a down-to-earth human being with her big heart as compared with my perception of her being a tough-fisted iron lady with her great responsibility to steer NJC to a greater height.

She is now retired and she is actively helping out with her charitable organisation. 

After I finished my O level examination, I always wanted to enter NJC and at that time, my cut-off points from my preliminary examination was slightly above entry cut-off. Nevertheless, I was undaunted by it and my parents accompanied me to see Mrs Maureen Ng who had served as a principal of NJC for 6 years. However, at that time, Mrs Ng was so busy that she had to turn away some of the guests who wished to see her. But we were not deterred by it so we waited for her outside her outside for hours. Eventually, Mrs Ng agreed to let us in her office. During the conversation, she went through my report book and my secondary school ex-principal's testimony carefully. She asked a few questions about my academic results and finally she said that it was quite difficult for me to enter NJC given my preliminary exam cut-off points. Initially, I was disappointed that I might not be admitted into NJC so she finally asked me a last question, "Why do you want to come to my NJC?". I innocently answered her question that when I was small, I often took a bus home, passing by an old NJC building. I often saw NJC students donning their grey uniforms and I immediately liked to be one of them." It seemed that my simple answer won her over and she gave me a toothy smile. 

She said, "Okay, you shall begin your term next week." before she went out of her office with my documents. Initially, I could not understand her but when I turned to look at my parents, they all were already smiling at me and I knew that I would be one of the NJC students ooon. My dream was finally fulfilled.

Then after the release of O level results,  my cut-off points met the NJC entry points and I went to become one of the top A level students with 4 'A's and 2 'S' papers. Without her belief in me and if she were not to give me any chance, I would not be able to lift my head up with pride to show that I am able to produce best results. 

On that very day during the release of A level results, my parents and I were really nervous wreck and I constantly was worried that I could not obtain straight As.  As the clock ticked by, time seemed to be in eternity and I could not stand the feeling of being in suspense. What if I failed my Further Mathematics? What if I failed my GP? If it really happened,  my hope of entering University was dashed. 

As I was walking towards the empty whiteboard which would display the A level results, Mrs Ng came straight out of the office and she gave me a VERY BIG SMILE. She went towards me and immediately hugged me! She said to me ,"Adrian, you have done very well! You scored 4 As and 2 merits for S papers. I'm so proud of you!" My parents were there! Other students looked on. I was somehow in the daze and I did not know what I should do. Should I jump for joy or should I believe her? The Truth took some time to sink in my mind and I started to feel euphoric! I thanked her profusely and I told my parents that I did well. 

Fast forward 10 years and when we were sitting in the Bali Thai restaurant, I recounted that moment, and Mrs Ng told me that the moment the A level results came to her office, she immediately looked for my name and she was extremely happy that I did so well in the examination. That was why she came forward to find me before she gave me a warm hug. 

The lesson from it is that we must always learn to give other people a chance to prove themselves. Even if they did not do well, the invaluable lesson they would learn is to learn to be more magnanimous and caring and from there, they can accomplish much more things later in Life. 

Met up with my ex-schoolmate

I had a lunch with my ex-schoolmate from my secondary school. He is now working as a Head Trainer at Adam Khoo Learning Technology Centre.

It has been ages since I last left my secondary school and lost contact with him. It was kinda an old feeling welled up inside me upon seeing an old friend.

We had a lunch together at Velocity catching up with each other be it our family life, careers, and our aspirations. He also shared about his dream of moving to the States to be among the top speakers in US.

See this inspiring profile of my friend.

Ramesh Muthusamy

Ramesh is a Trainer with the Adam Khoo Learning Technologies Group Pte Ltd, and a Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming, and is also a Certified Lead Trainer for the "I am Gifted, So are You!" and "Super Kids" workshops.  He is a former National Debater 1997-1998 and among his speaking accomplishments has also won a several speech contests. As a Toastmaster, he has been a club officer twice, serving as the Vice-President Public Relations and Vice President Education and has

taken up challenging roles as the chairperson for various Contests and other Ceremonies.  In 1997, Ramesh won the best speaker trophy in the "Bridging Minds" Brunei-Singapore debates which was televised live to over 5 million households. In 1998, as the Presentation Captain he helped his college lift the prestigious Singapore Press Holdings Geography Challenge Trophy.  In 2000, he became the National "Open" category Champion at the Singapore 21 Speech Contest. He is the current two-time champion of the Toastmasters International, Division S Table Topics (Impromptu Speaking) Contest for 2001 and 2002. In May 2002, he represented one of the Divisions in Singapore at the Toastmasters District 51 International Speech Contest and emerged as the Champion after competing with 12 other contestants from the Pan South East Asian Region.  In August 2002, Ramesh became the first ever Singaporean to compete in the Inter-District Speech Contest in San Antonio, Texas. After battling it out with the best speakers from South Africa, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Britain and Ireland he returned home as the second-ranking speaker outside the United States of America.  Ramesh has trained for the following organizations: Officer Cadet School, Great Eastern Life, Changkat Changi Secondary School, Springfield Secondary School, Mayflower Secondary School, The Salvation Army., and many others. Ramesh has also coached many speakers, debaters and performers who strive for speaking excellence. He was the Area S6 Governor helping to organize educational and leadership activities for his area.

Dragon Boat Sava Sprint Sept 2008

Today we had a Dragon boat competition at Bedok Reservoir. We went down at around 8am and our first event started at 10am. We had our brief warm-up before we were assembled into our formation for our first event. For our first event, we did fairly well as we managed to get into semi-final. 

Same thing for other event - mixed team event and we also got into semi-final. 

However, we did not win anything after competing with mighty teams in semi-final competition. Though we did not win anything from the event, the very one thing that we won is the friendship, trust, comradeship and determination not to be defeated are the biggest prizes for all of us.

We are going for the next event in November and we believe that we will make it to the top

 three position in the final!

Calendar

It's interesting to note that in the ancient times, Chinese originally used "seven luminaries" or "七曜" qīyào. Here it follows: All these words mean that:Monday is "Moon day"
Tuesday is "Fire day"
Wednesday is "Water day"
Thursday is "Wood day"
Friday is "Gold/Metal day"
Saturday is "Earth day"
Sunday is "Sun day" indeed.

But only when China started to adopt the names of the Western days of the week, these names were largely disappeared from Chinese lunar calendar. However, these names remained in Japanese and Korean calendars till present day!

http://www.cjvlang.com/Dow/dowchin.html

Learning Korean language 한국어 (韓國語)

Learning how to type in hangul alphabet and learn their pronounciation.

모든 인간(人間)은 태어날 때부터 자유(自由)로우여 그 존엄(尊嚴)과 권리(權利)에 있어
동등(同等)하다. 인간(人間)은 천부적(天賦的) 으로 이성(理性)과 양심(良心)을
부여(賦輿)받았으여 서로형제(兄第)애(愛)의 정신(精神)으로　행동（行動）하여야한다．

Modeun Ingan-eun Tae-eonal ttaebuteo Jayuroumyeo Geu Jon-eomgwa Gwonrie Iss-eo Dongdeunghada. Ingan-eun Cheonbujeog-euro Iseong-gwa Yangsim-eul
Bu-yeobad-ass-eumyeo Seoro Hyungje-ae-ui Jeongsin-euro Haengdongha-yeo-yahanda.

－－－－－－－－－－－－Ｔｒａｎｓｌａｔｅｄ　－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

----------Useful learning resource for Korean learner-----------
How to key in the Korean hangul using keyboard (Gongjin Cheong Romaja)
http://jdm0777.com.ne.kr/boho/romaja.htm

Inspiring Dog Fights to Live Normally

Hi! My name is Faith! I was born on Christmas Eve in the year 2002.

He was born with 3 legs - 2 healthy hind legs and 1 abnormal front leg which need to be amputated. He of course could not walk when he was born. Even his mother did not want him.

His first owner also did not think that he can survive. Therefore, he was thinking of "putting him to sleep". By this time, his present owner Stringfellow met him and wanted to take care of him. She is determined to teach and train this dog to walk by himself. Therefore she named him "Faith".

In the beginning, she put Faith on a surfing board to let him feel the movements. Later she used peanut buuter on a spoon as a lure and reward for him to stand up and jump aro! und. Even the other dog at home also helped to encourage him to walk. Amazingly, only after 6 months, like a miracle, Faith learned to balance on his 2 hind legs and jumped to move forward. After further training in the snow, he now can walk like a human being.

Faith loves to walk around now. No matter where he goes, he just attracts all the people around him. He is now becoming famous on the international scene. He has appeared on various newspapers and TV shows. There is even one book entitled "With a little faith" being published about him. He was even considered to appear in one of Harry Potter movies.

His present owner Jude Stringfellew has given up her teaching post and plans to take him around the world to preach that even without a perfect body, one can have a perfect soul".

In life there are always undesirable things. Perhaps one will feel better if one changes the point of view from another direction.

Life is the continual demonstration of the Strength of Life!

Inspiring Story...

A simple inspiring message for you....

When someone tells you that you can't do something ...

Look around...

Consider all options...

Then GO for it!

Use all the things what you have!

In the end, you will succeed and prove them wrong!

Reconnection....

Don't you think that it is time for us to get reconnected with old friends whom we have not seen for years? It's like rummaging through the dusty suitcase which was stacked away under the bed and it was like rediscovering your forgotten past. Or those people who suffered from concussion, suddenly remembered their pasts stretched from somewhere across their minds' eyes.

When you left your secondary school, do you remember the person who made your day memorable? When you left your junior college, do you remember that person who gave you a chance to try again until you did better than before? I'm sure that there is a some body who played his/her pivotal role in shaping your life or having made a great difference in your life.

I will be meeting my ex-principal from National Junior College, my very first Primary School Italian teacher, my ex-class mate from NUS and my ex-school mate from my secondary school. Gosh, I am getting busier to search for my old friends who have left my footprints in my life.

Indeed, the world might be small but in fact, we could not find anyone everywhere.

I kinda like a simple poem and share it with you:

There are moments in life when you miss someone so much that you just want to pick them from your dreams and hug them for real!

When the door of happiness closes, another opens; but often times we look so long at the closed door that we don't see the one, which has been opened for us.

Don't go for looks; they can deceive. Don't go for wealth; even that fades away. Go for someone who makes you smile, because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright. Find the one that makes your heart smile.

Dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go; be what you want to be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do.

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.

The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so at the end,you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.

Don't count the years-count the memories...........

Thien Nhan

This little Vietnamese boy was abandoned by his mother and left in a forest, where he was mauled by a wild animal and lost his right leg and his genitals. He underwent more suffering in his young life than most people have in their whole lifetime, but now has been adopted by a caring Vietnamese family and receiving medical treatment.

Here is the official website: http://help-thien-nhan.blogspot.com/