The Bright Moon

I was having dinner at Marche, vivo city yesterday. The moon has again grabbed my attention. It was beautiful and magnificent. it was so bright and clear.

Today I got an email from a friend in Emmaus (my prayer group in st Mary) about the fact that yesterday moon is a rare appearance of it. It was the brightest in the last 50 years!! the moon was 17 thousand miles closer during that time.



To read the full story:
http://sciencemode.com/2008/12/13/missed-fridays-full-moon-its-back-tonight/

Water Crystal Research By Masaru Emoto

Quoted from: http://www.life-enthusiast.com/twilight/research_emoto.htm

Do you know different thoughts imposed on a distilled water will result in different crystal structure of the water. Some pictures from the article:

The crystal structure of water that is subjected to Heavy Metal Music

The crystal structure of water that is subjected to word "You make me sick, I will kill you"

The crystal structure of water that is subjected to Adolph Hitler


The crystal structure of water that is subjected to Love and Appreciation

The crystal structure of water that is subjected to word "THANK YOU"

The crystal structure of water that is subjected to Mother Theresa

More information on Masary Emoto on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masaru_Emoto

TIME & MONEY

Do they sound familiar to you? Yeah, it is one of the most important topic in finance. Time is Money, addressed as time value of money by the financial people. I will not talk about that anyway. I am not gonna explain how closely related they are. Just remember this phrase:

“ Young People sacrifice their TIME to earn MONEY, meanwhile the old folks sacrifice MONEY to get TIME”

That is why in this writing I would like to talk about how to MANAGE them.

I have been doing well with financial management (still along way to the millionaire dream TARGET). However, one thing that I just realized after a conversation with one of my new housemates, he is a very handsome and wise guy, any lady interested can let me know XD. We were on the way back from the Xmas thanksgiving mass in St Mary. I was complaining about how fast the time has flied. I couldn’t even APPRECIATE the one week. As if the number of day in the week is getting lesser and lesser.

My big wise friend from SMU gave me a good suggestion that might be effective to solve my concern. It is to start a diary, taking note , just a brief one, of your activities in each day. I do not know whether such thing will work or not but definitely I am going to try it out.

I have been recording my daily expenses for the previous three months. At first it was challenging. However I realize that by doing such simple thing, I am getting more and more aware of my spending and better in terms of financial planning.

The Trap of Perfectionism

Dear Reader,

How are you? I hope your life is great as it is for me. You might think that I have been abandoning this blog or you might think I am not serious of being a blogger. You might be right from certain points of view. BUT...

I wish to clarify that I am a kind of person that value commitment as one of the most important things in life. I did take words actually I am trying to be a warrior that came out of my mouth as promise and try to realize it. However I have been a perfectionist in writing blog. Almost everyday I am thinking of sharing something interesting to the world and again... the big BUT comes in. I tend to procrastinate and think that tomorrow will be a better time for me to write my idea in a “PERFECT” manner. And as you see here... the blog is not moving as if tomorrow never come.

IT IS ENOUGH... this blog is not an academic journal that needs lots of check and reviews. It is a random collection of writings that record my thoughts and observation on the world.

I, W****** K******, will quit being a perfectionist in writing blog and finish what I have started. this statement is not binding in any law of any country, so please don't sue me XD

I welcome you back to my blog... I will try to (no more try to... commitment le... never heard about 'le', it is singlish... very happening in singapore "le"...) update this blog at least once a week from now on... YEAH... IT IS A COMMITMENT now....

Cheers,
WK

Pascal's Wager

Pascal’s wager

Introducing a genius named Blaise Pascal….

He is a French philosopher that utilized the probability theory to justify why human should believe in God.

	God exists (G)	God does not exist (~G)
Living as if God exists (B)	+∞ (heaven)	−N (none)
Living as if God does not exist (~B)	?? not specified perhaps N (limbo/purgatory/spiritual death) or −∞ (hell)	+N (none)

From the matrix, he argued that believing in God is absolutely more beneficial than not believing.

Further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal%27s_Wager

What do you think?

Inspirational Videos

Thanks to zenhabits.net

Let start with words from Will Smith



I think he got it right! Success requires perseverance and Learning from others smooth the path to success.


Here is Job Steve, one of the most powerful business leader. He is the CEO of Apple Inc and Pixar.




And lesson from a professor on the importance of dream in your life.




Or an insightful stroke experience by Jill Bolte Taylor.




Last but not least a father with so much love for his son. This is wonderful!




They are just ordinary people, like YOU and ME, doing extraordinary things. Maybe this hug campaign video will teach us what a person can do for the human-beings.

Take care of your hand, sir!

I was reading cnn.com today when I saw this photo:

taken from www.cnn.com

Notice the officer that was lifting the lady. Don't you think his hand is a bit inappropriate?

(Moral of the story: Please take care of your hand position when taking photos)

My Monday (cont'd)

After the peaceful dinner, I walked calmly to Lot 1. Suddenly an SMS vibrate my phone. It is from my meeting buddy. He couldn’t make it on time. Hence I decided to go to CCK library that is located inside the mall. That was my virgin visit to Choa Chu Kang library.

I like to read books but library is not my favourite hang-out place as I do not only love to read book but to BUY the book. I can resist myself of buying other items but not books, especially if there is promotion or discount.

On 7.30 pm I went out from the library and met Andy and Valent for our short ‘business’ meeting. Through this meeting I become aware of the importance of having a face to face meeting for a discussion. The energy level was increased through the meeting. We have a fruitful meeting that day.

I end the day with a smile in my face. And... a thankful prayer before my sleep.

My Monday

Today was started with a dreadful struggle to get up from the lovely bed after a busy yet pleasant weekend. I forced myself to detach from my rest after the third snooze of my little alarm clock, located at the side of my bed.

As usual I was the first person to leave the house. Walking toward the MRT station, I talked to myself that today was going to be another lucky day. I started to sing softly as I walk. Singing could bring my mood up, one technique that I learned from “The Secret” movie.

Once I arrived at the MRT station, I started to grab a book that I have just bought few days ago to keep myself busy. To my amusement, this book reminded me of many things that had gone unnoticed in my life. One of them was to keep silence moment, get out of the busy me, and be still in the middle of the high speed human activity in this world.

I have witnessed several people’s death. Several are able to face their death with a peaceful mind, some are desperately fighting against it and others are just to fragile to accept the pain and as the result they withdraw themselves from the reality. To my deepest observation, those who are able to face their life with a smile are those who believe in the power of love. At the end of our day, the most important thing is to have someone that loves you around.

I have witness the loneliness that someone feels near death. Not to be bias, but I really think believing in a religion is important. To believe that your journey is not ending but a new and eternal salvation is waiting. The book entitled “Tuesday with Morrie” have surprisingly able to capture and express my observation about this “Love and death phenomenon”. What a great work it has. It also reminds me to define my priority that is beyond the material world. This literature is a very good reminder to my ambitious personality.

In the office, I started my day with small biscuits for my breakfast as my hand busy clicking the mouse and reading emails. I started to have more works that I have to go out from the office at 5.30pm instead of 15 minutes earlier.

I reached Choa Chu Kang MRT at 6.20pm and spending around 30 minutes for a lonely dinner. This time I walked and acted at a snail's pace, tried to appreciate the surroundings and the gifts that I have. Some people might think I am a freak as I walked slowly and smiled without reasons….

Wew… It’s 12.15 midnight…. This post will be continued

The Essence of Dreaming

Finally, I am back to the blogging world…

Life has been very different from me. I have “evolved” from being a student into a good-looking working young adults. It is not as frightening or boring as what most of my seniors have shared to me. However I realized that the regularity of working life might lead me into the trap of a normal life. The security of regular job and the culture of the surroundings have almost successfully persuaded me to follow the crowd.

I have almost forgotten my dream, which have become lesser as I aged. Although I used to say to my friends, “Dream big now, while you are at university (or a student) and write it down. The working life will not allow you even to dream”. And guess what? I encountered it in my days of working. It is where the “REALITY” seems to be contradicting to your dream.

I am fortunate to be reminded about this. I am lucky to have my dream intact and to have taken a simple small step toward the great intention. Are you curious enough? Visit www.zhops.com

Britain's Got Talent

Rome Home Sweet Home

My friends and I had been searching for a place to stay in after leaving NTU hostel. In fact we had been contacting many property agents and asking people that we know for any recommendation and suggestion. The reason that made it difficult for us to find a good place was that our group wanted to move in early July but settled the deal by end of May 08. Many had tried to convince me that it would be difficult but hard works did pay.

After sharing with several friends, many had feedback that our unit is a very good deal. Some pictures of the unit were taken using my mobile phone camera:







So Do you think it's an HDB, Condo or EA?

I would not give you tips for finding good house as I don’t have ones. However I would like to share what we had done to get such a good deal.

1. Define our requirement. It should not be merely defining the type of accommodation, the location and the move-in time but it is also important to determine the total budget of the group. For us, we base our search on type (e.g. 3+1), location (distance from MRT) and the rental fee.


2. Search on internet (http://www.sg-house.com/, http://www.flatsdb.com/, etc), read newspaper for any listing, ask friends or call the agent. Don’t hesitate to ask me if you need contact number of a good agent. I have some. (Note: if you are using agent, remember to ask them about the commission fee and other administration fee)


3. Visit the house with several people of your group to derive a fair judgement. Sometimes the emotion override man's conscience. Don't forget to bargain!


4. Pray, pray and pray! Yes I did pray to God for His guidance in finding the desired unit the night before with all my heart... And... it's just the night before I closed the good deal.


5. Last but not least, ensure that all the member of the group put effort for finding the place. It needs not to be fair but sufficient. Hence all will know how difficult it was to find a good place.

A Grateful Engineer

I have just come back from a prayer meeting in NTU. It has been a while for me not having such a great time praising and worshipping my wonderful God. I came to the prayer meeting with so many things inside my head. I have just cleared my final examination as an undergraduate and completed my final presentation for the degree. I am unofficially a BACHELOR... yeah a bachelor with so many things in his head...

"William Kangdra B. Eng"

Although I have finished most of the necessary stuffs of my academic life, there are still so many things that I have to work on... career, fiancée finance, business, friends or a place for living. All this things distracted me from being thankful of all that I have received during this past few months. And... truly the prayer meeting with the theme of thanksgiving is just a perfect reminder to me.

Here are some of the great events that I should be grateful for:

1. Completed my last examination as an undergraduate in NTU. Definitely there is still room for improvement but I guess I have done my best for all the papers. During the exam preparation process itself I learnt a lot of new things. I meant beside the technical knowledge. Hint: it’s about belief, perseverance and compromise.

My Last paper: MP4010

2. Finished my FYP presentation. I really thank Prof Heng for helping me so much during the presentation and inspiring me throughout the year. If you asked me what is one thing that I regret in life, the thing will be I didn’t take URECA under Prof. Heng in third year. (I am kidding... I shouldn't have regretted what had happened)

My Final Year Project: Electroencephalography (Mind Controlled device)

3. I am a National Achiever Congress 2008 graduate (Thanks Benny!!!). Yeah, it is a great three days seminar. If you were reading one of my posts and thought that being a millionaire before thirty years old is a joke, I think you need to attend this congress. I have meet James and Eric in this event. They are a very motivated and programmed-to-success kind of people.

4. Makan Sutra session. It’s a free event organized by the government agency for foreign student and for me it is a very good networking session. I got to know new people like: Yos from Nigeria, Desy from Medan (my home town), Hartono from Jakarta, Victor from Malaysia (KL), and many more.

Left to right: Desy, Lele, Rica, Kadek, Sophie and a handsome guy :-p

5. I have produced a (technical) paper that was accepted to the Second International Convention on Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology, i-CREATe 2008. Hence I got a chance to go to Bangkok for free. Yay!

Be grateful and all the good things will come upon you!

45 minutes to final paper

HURRAY.....

A list of the most asked questions in Google.

It was 2.30 AM and in the middle of exam period. I spent the full day typing my final year report. Without further ado I would like to share this information with you. It is taken from Google Zeitgeist

Who is...
1. who is god
2. who is who
3. who is lookup
4. who is jesus
5. who is it
6. who is buckethead
7. who is calling
8. who is keppler
9. who is this
10. who is satan

What is...
1. what is love
2. what is autism
3. what is rss
4. what is lupus
5. what is sap
6. what is bluetooth
7. what is emo
8. what is java
9. what is hpv
10. what is gout

How to...
1. how to kiss
2. how to draw
3. how to knit
4. how to hack
5. how to dance
6. how to crochet
7. how to meditate
8. how to flirt
9. how to levitate
10. how to skateboard

I guess I am lucky for knowing who God is, having felt what love is and being an expert in how to kiss :-p

Mystery of a couple

I was having lunch with the current most famous Indonesian in NTU, who is happened to be my close neighbour as well. After the short lunch, we had a small chat about “having a girlfriend”. It reminded me to an observation that I had postulated long time ago. This thought came upon me when I was waiting in a mall with one of my senior. We observed that most of the couples constituted one of the following combination options:

1. Handsome man and a not so pretty woman OR
2. A Pretty woman and a not so good looking man

Disclaimer: I said “most” of the couple. Hence if you are part of the handsome + pretty couple, you are the exception.

I suggested several reasons for this trend:

1. The good looking individual admires the character of the not-so-good-looking person. It can be the personality, the LOVE, the wealth, the inner beauty, etc.


2. Another possible reason is that most of the good looking individuals are so proud of themselves that make them reluctant to go and search for a couple. Many of them think that they are worthy to be desired by the opposite sex as they are handsome or beautiful. Imagine if both the handsome and pretty individuals are not looking for couple and not putting effort to propose, when will they match?

Morals of the story are:

1. Don’t think that the only reason for the good and not-so-good couple is merely money. It can be one of the reasons but not always.


2. If you are pretty or handsome, go and search for your couple now! Don’t wait for a handsome prince or beautiful princess to come and give you an “invitation to treat”

The 22nd Birthday

Today is my eighteen twenty second birthday. Let's me share my wishes list here:

1. to always love my parents and family. I want to see them happy all the time.
2. to start my own online business by the end of this year and make it a success.
3. to improve my personality and character. to become better and better.
4. to find ... (sorry, it's not for public disclosure)
5. to excel in my study and do well in my last exam.
6. to go back to medan and meet my grandma, family and friends.
7. to be a millionaire before thirty (please don't tell me that it's impossible)
8. to find a nice and comfortable place to stay... preferably it is cheap also... hehehe
9. and many more...

Amin...

Karantina on Fire

Today around 9.30am, I was woken up by the ring of my mobile phone. It was a message from brother, David. I used to ignore any message received when I was on bed but this time I instantaneously woke up from my sleep and grabbed the handphone. It said in bahasa Indonesia:

“Ko, karantina kebakaran.tp uda reda.semua selamat .ama skrg di ruma goi”

Yeah it’s not a proper bahasa Indonesia and today was not an April Fool day. Oops.. let me translate it into English, or maybe Singlish:

“Bro, karantina on fire. but it’s in control now. Everyone OK. Grandma is now in
aunt’s house”

“Karantina” refers to my grandma’s house where I used to stay in. I have been staying there for at least seven years, I guess. It was located on Jalan Karantina (the address). That is why we call it with such a funny name, e.g. karantina means isolation in english. After reading that message, I called my brother’s handphone and asked for more details.

According to my brother the fire was originated from the workshop that was located just behind my grandma’s house. It happened in the early morning. I can’t imagine how scary the condition was as they have to leave the house from the second floor of the house, it’s through the window.

Everything is fine now. We lose half of the house but I really thank God for His protection to ones that I love. One of my aunts experiences minor injuries but I heard it is not too serious. All of them move to my parent’s house that had been left empty for long time. Please pray for my family. I hope this trauma will not haunt them for a long time.

Pre-exam celebration

Wooohooo....!!! I am just too excited that I can’t concern to my study. Yeah... the exam is coming. Today is just simply too wonderful for me. Thanks God for giving me such wonderful friends around me. I hope I can always be a good friend to them also... Thanks for celebrating my birthday, MAE-ers... although it is too early... and to Blazers as well.... Two thumbs for the organizers

I was surfing some schools website with one of my friends tonight. He went to SMU Sutomo’s webpage. Surprisingly it was not online anymore. Strange huh!!! Yeah it’s strange! But we came out with a powerful online business idea from there... Guess what.... hahaha... sorry it’s a big plan of us... not for public disclosure!
Anyway... it is another blessing for me and I am just too excited to start the business... Will we make it happen? Wait for the next post...

In spite of those blessings, I am started to worry for myself. My worries are:

- Am I too business minded? Am I only thinking about money and business? I am afraid that I will be too focused on them... and forget about others (Pray that God will always remind me of all this!)

- Can I always be a good friend? A friend that can always help others... I am just too scared to be a best friend of others cause I really don’t think I am that good!

Hope I can be the contrary of the above bad points. Amin....

Unknown Sacrifice

I had been reading the following story several times yet it has never failed to draw me into feeling the sorrow resulting from such a shameful act by the “son” character in the story. I believe it is also applied to many people, especially me. It might be insignificant sacrifices by our parent or someone around us and yet we consider it as unworthy or even shame to acknowledge the person as someone close to us.

A note for my family: I love you all!!! I am so sorry if I’d missed to acknowledge your help and care.

To friends: Thank you for all your helps and cares. I am a weak human that is arrogant and naïve. I ask you for another help, which is to remind me of my weaknesses.


My mom only had one eye. I hated her... She was such an embarrassment.
She cooked for students & teachers to support the family.

There was this one day during elementary school where my mom came to
Say hello to me.

I was so embarrassed.

How could she do this to me?
I ignored her, threw her a hateful look and ran out.
The next day at school one of my classmates said, 'EEEE, your mom only
Has one eye!'

I wanted to bury myself.
I also wanted my mom to just disappear.
I confronted her that day and said, ' If you're only goanna make me a
Laughing stock, why don't you just die?'

My mom did not respond...
I didn't even stop to think for a second about what I had said, because
I was full of anger.
I was oblivious to her feelings.

I wanted out of that house, and have nothing to do with her.
So I studied real hard , got a chance to go abroad to study.
Then, I got married.
I bought a house of my own.
I had kids of my own.
I was happy with my life, my kids and the comforts, Then one day, my
Mother came to visit me.
She hadn't seen me in years and she didn't even meet her
Grandchildren.

When she stood by the door, my children laughed at her, and I yelled at
Her for coming over uninvited.
I screamed at her, 'How dare you come to my house and scare my
Children!'
GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!!!'

And to this, my mother quietly answered, 'Oh, I'm so sorry. I may have
Gotten the wrong address,'
And she disappeared out of sight.
One day, a letter regarding a school reunion came to my house.

So I lied to my wife that I was going on a business trip.
After the reunion, I went to the old shack just out of curiosity.

My neighbors said that she died.
I did not shed a single tear.
They handed me a letter that she had wanted me to have.

'My dearest son,
I think of you all the time. I'm sorry that I came to your house and
Scared your children.
I was so glad when I heard you were coming for the reunion.
But I may not be able to even get out of bed to see you.
I'm sorry that I was a constant embarrassment to you when you were
Growing up.

You see........when you were very little, you got into an accident, and
Lost your eye.
As a mother, I couldn't stand watching you
Having to grow up with one eye.
So I gave you mine.
I was so proud of my son who was seeing a whole new world for me, in my
Place, with that eye.

With all my love to you,
Your mother.

Tickle.com

Some tests that I have taken from Tickle.com (mostly during last semester Exam)...

The Brainteaser Test
Result: 29/30

Are You a Natural Leader?
Result: Ahead of the Pack

What's Your Destiny?
Result: Manager

The Enneagram Test
Result: Type 7 - The Adventurer

Your Subconscious Self
Result: Work Life

The Brain Test
Result: Left-brained

The Super IQ Test
Result: Creative Theorist

What Shapes Your Personality?
Result: Organized

The Classic IQ Test
Result: Visionary Philosopher

and... the list goes on...

Life is precious

Life is a challenge, accept it.
Life is a battle, fight it.
Life is a tear, face it.
Life is a journey, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is precious, treasure it.

What a nice reflection of life they were. It was taken from one of my friends’ blog. However if you asked me to choose one, it will be “Life is precious“ and I will treasure it to the fullest.

This thought came to me yesterday night. It is when I was walking alone at midnight, accompanied with the gentle breeze and silence of green grass, to the most outstanding building in NTU. Yeah... it’s ADM building! It has been a while for me to walk at night. Anyway, I went to my cousin’s birthday celebration.

Those experience remind me to my previous experience when I first came to NTU. My friends and I used to spend time together for late supper in Jurong West. A life full of fun and freedom! I think I missed those fun moments in my life. University life is going to over soon and I hope to make the best out of the time left by enjoying my days in NTU more and more!

Ps. ADM pond is a nice “ romantic” place to hang out with your gf/bf at night. Recommended for the new couple in BLAZERs. Congratulation for both of you!

Law of Attraction

This list of four steps, couched in quasi-scientific terms, is quite similar to, and was influenced by, the panentheistic "Seven Steps in Demonstration" first outlined in the famous non-denominational New Thought book Become What You Believe by Mildred Mann (1904 - 1971):

Desire. Get a strong enthusiasm for that which you want in your life, a real longing for something which is not there now.

Decision. Know definitely what it is that you want, what it is that you want to do or have, and be willing to pay in spiritual values.

Ask. [When sure and enthusiastic] ask for it in simple, concise language. . .

Believe. Believe in the accomplishment with strong faith, consciously and subconsciously.

Work. Work at it. . . a few minutes daily, seeing yourself in the finished picture. Never outline details, but rather see yourself enjoying the particular thing . . . Eventually, you will see a time where it will just appear, as a gift or such, or you may see an opportunity to get what you were asking for.

Feel gratitude. Always remember to say, "Thank you, God [or the universe]," and begin to feel the gratitude in your heart. The most powerful prayer we can ever make is those three words, provided we really feel it. Feel as though you already have what you wanted.

Feel expectancy. Train yourself to live in a state of happy expectancy... Find a way it will appear in your life, and keep believing in that. May it be that someone gives it to you, or you find an initiation to get it.

... quoted from wikipedia

Heart vs Brain

Wew... just finished a quiz on Mental Health module (HP803)... What a fulfilling day it was... and it is blogging time.

Let me start with some secrets shared by my FYP Professor, an inspiring man with wonderful life.

It was a day after LISC 2008 (read: honeymoon with God). I was in the lab with another master student when suddenly my professor approached both of us and offered a celebration lunch for successful submission of our papers (one on EEG device and the other one about new rehabilitation proposal). Nah... It is not about the free food!!! It’s about his sharing... it’s about his way of thinking that he shared during the 4 hour chat. What a great time it was!

Curious enough??? Unfortunately I can’t disclose all the tips here... but let me share some of them:

1. Count your blessings
2. Follow your heart and not your brain
3. Acknowledge others and praise them for their talent or positive character
4. Focus on your success, your dream and go after it
5. Don’t let the negative energy from other to infect you
6. Don’t complain!
7. One can do and so can you
8. Etc (you can read the secret of millionaire mind for more)

He also asked three questions to me:
1. Why did Adam and Eve fall into sin?
2. Why there is pain and suffering?
3. What is the meaning of life?

I have tried following my heart for the previous two days and it has been wonderful. One example is when I went to the convention by URECA Mensa. It was a struggle for me to go for the convention as it was raining that day and I had a lot of deadlines. Despite all that I went there and I found an opportunity to improve my brain memory... what a blessing luck it was!

There is always a time for everything! Just follow your heart!

The Miracle Baby

If you are wondering where God is or whether God exist. This baby might help you to find the answer!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUdLIH-krL4

It's amazing...

Lucky Engineer

Presentation about (Post) graduate study in MAE Farewell Dinner has never failed to persuade me to take a master degree. The short forum in the event also stressed some good points of having a career as an engineer in Singapore. Adding my personal opinion, I shall share why engineering is having a good prospect in Singapore.

Firstly, it is pretty obvious that Singapore intend to develop its competency in engineering, from OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) to OED (Original Design Manufacturer). This means that Singapore will need more experts in engineering degree. Looking from nation perspective, Singapore, not like Hongkong, is not going to focus on finance field solely.

As an engineer, one will have an option to shift to other field. In fact I know a lot of people that shift from engineer to business or finance sector. On the other hand I have known none come into engineering field from other fields. It is very flexible! Many engineering opportunities are available with their specific tasks and roles.

Given the current economic situation, engineering career ensures good security. The shaking global economy, which is originated from the sub-prime dilemma, may result in recession in some country. This unstable business environment will directly impact the finance and business sector but is cushioned by the nature of engineering job. No company will shut down its million dollar plants if they are making loss but there are a number of finance industry employees or even CEOs retrenched due to the unfortunate event.

Lastly, it is a good start for an inexperienced graduate. It may not pay starting salary as high as the investment banking does. However the increment is probably better and the four tough year of your study will not be a waste.

Blessed Monday

Yesterday was a blessed day for me. It was started with the first group meeting which was intentionally arranged between me, another two master students and my professor. The other two master students could not come to the meeting. Hence I am the only person that met the professor, Prof. John Heng. I am so enthusiast to have this meeting to update him with my FYP progress. During the weekend I was able to identify unique EEG signal that corresponds to a certain task. It is great to tell him this good sign of development after seven month of no significant result.

To my surprise, I was not only able to elaborate my findings to him only but I also given a book as a present. Its title is Secrets of the Millionaire Mind. A subject that is currently I am interested in, to be a millionaire. In addition to this wonderful gift, he also shared his experience in this subject. He talked about vision and mission, correct mindset about being rich (right, happy and rich) and also his experience. Now I understand why my senior Andy Prima admires him so much. Hope to get to know more from him and of course to be a millionaire.

The book is not the only blessing that I got for the day. I was called for third round interview by Exxon (I consider this a blessing as well). Yeah after the embarrassing “congrats” case. Anyone reading this blog, please pray for me :-D hahaha...

Thanks God.

An Interview

Inspired by a weird humble friend of mine.

It was actually happened few weeks ago. I was called for a second round interview by one of the companies that I have applied for. As a mechanical engineering student, I was considered as one of the lucky few to be called for an assassination interview by the company. I arrived at the interview place earlier and was asked to wait at the lounge.

After sitting for 15 minutes, a pretty girl smiled at me and asked me to follow her to... yeah... It is to the interviewing room. With confidence, I opened the door and started this conversation:

WK: good... morning... (With a cute smile)
All interviewers: (with a friendly smile)... Good morning...

I closed the door, moving to the interview table and approaching one of the interviewers. FYI, there are three persons that interviewed me at that time. Let me refers them as OS, OJ and OB.

WK: (offering a firm handshake) Hi...
OB: My name is “Congrads” Congrats...
WK: (asking my self if it was a "congratulation") My name is William...

OB gave out an expression as if he was asking something that I haven’t replied to.

WK: Pardon me...
OB: Congrads... (this is what I heard, it supposed to be “My name is Congrad”)
WK: (with innocent face) Thank you...

What a stupid answer it was! I can still remember how surprised the other two interviewers were after hearing my lame reply.

Defining Memory

Finally it is Friday again. I had been struggling intensely in the previous two weeks. There were a lot of assignments and deadlines, recruitment fairs and of course the unforgettable FYP (Finding Your Partner Final Year Project). It was tiring indeed. However I would not write about the pathetic exhaustion of that busy period in this post.

Last weekend my old friend dropped by Singapore as a transit of his flight from Beijing to Indonesia. Hence I went to the airport to fetch him and bring him around Singapore. During dinner, we engaged in a conversation about our life. A life that I think has been moving very fast. From this conversation, I started to ask myself how vivid a memory that I had during my study in NTU. I am hardly able to express memorable moment during those three and a half years of study in Singapore. Am I not enjoying myself here, in Singapore?

A definite NO will be a correct answer to this. In fact there was a bunch of interesting experiences that I had as a university student in Nanyang Technological University. Those experiences were forgotten because I didn’t appreciate them. In fact, most of the experience, inclusive of studying, is a wonderful experience if we really value the action.

After those reflections, I started to wake up by saying to myself that all the list of things that I had to do that day was something fun. I started to talk to myself that I had to enjoy every single action in my day. As a result, I find my day brighter and happier. I could enjoy doing things more despite my busy schedule. FYI, the method of speaking to your own self is what I identify as “Power of Words”. I will write about this in other post. Watch it out!

Appreciating every action is a way to slow down time and value one’s life more. By defining any activities as something interesting will help us to gain greater joy in our life. However it is good to know the meaning of one’s life as well. Tell me what you think is the meaning of your life?

Delusion of Money

As the saying goes, “Money is the root of all evils”. These sayings are centuries old and currently rebuked by many motivational book writers such as Robert Kiyosaki, Merry Riana and Peter Tan. They argue that money is not the root of all evils but it is the wrong use of this instrument that leads to wrong doings. This idea is further supported by one of my close friend in his blog, where he argued that money is one of the necessary ingredients to get other important things in life, inclusive of happiness.

The current situation of our world authenticates the notion that money is an important element in human life. It will be a very naive of me to disagree with the majority as I am one of those that keep looking for opportunities to multiply my assets. I have the very same believe that money can be used to facilitate us in reaching comfort and pleasure in today’s world.

However have you ever wondered why we need money or why there is money as our exchange tool? The original intention of money was to facilitate exchange of goods and services between humans, which were previously done by barter. Further reflection of mine resulted into a conclusion that money was created to reduce conflict between humans due to the non-standardized exchange of goods. In other words it was intended to craft more peace in the civilization.

Unfortunately the original purpose of money itself has ruined over centuries and people started to gather money to build up their wealth. Our current society, definitely inclusive of me, has forgotten the most important function of money itself and started to race in gathering them as private wealth. As the result, the current world is too cruel for those that are less able or willing to gather the exchange tools. This stupidity has trapped us in an endless race with our own species. The competition has become compulsory for all human beings to survive. Regrettably it seems impossible to quit from this race or even stop the mass battle.

I argue that this yearning of mans to create wealth for themselves is originated from our very deep desire of freedom, free from the worry of starving or any sufferings in general. Our limited knowledge as a human causes our brain to hallucinate that getting more and more wealth or money will set us free. It was a delusion at the beginning but has become a bitter reality that we have to face nowadays.

I have ever watched several movies that shown primitive lives. They do not need money as they are able to satisfy their needs as well as live happily and freely with the Mother Nature. They do not worry about tomorrow but are able to live their life to the fullest today. It sounds abstract to us as we cannot imagine where on earth one can live without money. But our ancestor did that.

It is not suggested to quit from the race. The only thing what we can do now is to join the battle and be one of the winner. The winner will be able to inspire and help others to get out of the endless race.

Family

The family is like a book-
The children are the leaves,
The parents are the covers
That protecting beauty gives.
At first the pages of the book
Are blank and purely fair,
But Time soon writeth memories
And painteth pictures there.
Love is the little golden clasp
That bindeth up the trust;
Oh, break it not, lest all the leaves
Should scatter and be lost! .
The husband needs to be blind at times;
the wife, deaf;
both need much of the time to be dumb.
Ivan N. Panin

The above poem was introduced to me in this week “Mental Health” class and prior to this on the same day I did simple graphic editing on my family photos. (This is going to be my first post with a picture on it)

Family and my life

I tried to express how grateful I am to be given such a wonderful family. They are not perfect individuals but our unity as a family compromises the flaws in us. It is just too astonishing to be a part in such an understanding and caring family.

Despite all the blessings that I have received, I was also aware of people in this world that is not fortunate enough to have a good or even complete family. According to some researches, the majority of them are more likely to fall into mental illness. This fact was also affirmed by my lecturer, who is a practicing psychiatrist in SGH. A family does impact the way we perceive and act, it is the foundation of believe and norm.

I, myself, agreed with it but I also believe that we are the one that are responsible to our own attitude. As a human, we are unique and blessed with a brain that is so magnificent. It is possible for us to change anything, inclusive of our own improper behaviour. Let me tell you a piece of my struggle in building my confidence.

I was once a boy with little self confidence as I grew up with my grandmother, which is a conservative yet lovable and caring person. It was terrible for me to even think of speaking in front of a group of people. I stammered and felt cold of just being seen by the audiences.
To cut the story short I was lucky enough to be given opportunities (I won’t disclosed it in this blog) that helped me to realize that nobody is perfect and superior or inferior from the others. My father kept reminding me by saying: “We ate the same food and I believe that whatever things other can do is also possible for us”. It shouldn’t be taken literally; it is true that every person is unique and able to do great things in their own ways. However I believe that my father is trying to tell me that as a human we have the ability to improve ourselves and be even better than the other.

Today I still keep trying to improve my confidence level. I am still far away from being fully confident but I can feel the difference between the old me and now. Hence I want to emphasize that it is not the environment that confined our choice as we usually think but it is ourselves that let us being dragged by the environment. We, as I did, have the choice to form our own personality.

Non academic activites

Finally the proposal for Barclays Technology Challenge had been submitted two days ago. It was a tiring yet exciting experience to work in a supportive and cheerful team. Thank you Erlin, Henry and Max! After the submission I was hoping other slacking days in my last semester (of course without taking FYP into account). However this morning I woke up with a list of to do list and found out that I still have a number of non-academic activities that I have committed myself to.

Tuesday: Prayer Meeting – to help me grow spiritually. It’s a place to recharge myself with a bundle of prayerful activities.
Wednesday: Yoga class – an opportunity that I think I won’t be able to get after I graduate. It costs $10 for 5 sessions. I believe that this exercise will help me to regulate my body better.
Thursday: Toastmaster Chapter Meeting – to learn public speaking skill and built up confidence level.
Friday: Karate training – It is actually scheduled to be twice a week (Tuesday and Friday). Due to other commitment I have to sacrifice the Tuesday training for good. This is my passion sport. I love it. It builds not only physical strength but also your mental power.

The activities take up almost every night of my weekdays. Should I reduce it?

History and Now - Soeharto

What a tiring yet a recharging weekend it was. Sunday is always a wonderful day for me. After going to church, I went for LISC preparation day in NTU (I am staying in NTU hostel anyway). It was a recharging spiritual experience that lasted for four hours to five o'clock in the afternoon. After dinner, I went to sleep and found out that it was 10 o'clock at night when I woke up. What a fulfilling rest it was...

At that very night I started to wake my computer up and journeying together with it to the virtual world of internet. A series of chats with friends welcomed my presence and accompanied me until I ended up reading a news on the visit by MM Lee to Soeharto. Here was the link to the news in Channel News Asia:

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/322309/1/.html

He visited the second president of Indonesia, which was laying in hospital in his critical condition. Lately the successor of Soeharto had been sued for its corrupt action before the reformation regime.

I have no idea about the extent of corruption that Mr. Soeharto had performed during his governance in Indonesia. It is also hard for me to understand the sufferings that he had caused to Indonesian society. However I agree with the comment of MM Lee that Mr. Soeharto was a hero of the past that had brought Indonesia to come out from crisis after its independence and he deserved to receive that recognition.

This issue brought me to a reflection of how easy human forgot their history. Even for me, there are many times that I had failed to recognize the companion and care that I had received from others in the past and started to take the current representation of him or her that did not satisfy my expectation as the lasting image of the individual.

Is there not a meaning of the past to us?