AdvoBlog

Both you and I have the ability. Its a matter of just going forth for it!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=lf#!/video/video.php?v=483830584745

Fellow friends of the Universe!

Advo is getting clearer and clearer in what kind of company it wants to become! We are growing to become a world brand and in our paths, many people had questioned us! What makes a GREAT company? I had friends and really good friends who shared the following...

HP is successful because it is the #1 PC company!
Microsoft is successful because it monopolizes the world computer operating system!
Apple is successful because it creates lifestyle and monopolizes the MP3 world!
Google is successful because it is going to monopolize the world's information!

While all of them monopolize a part of the world in one way or the other, what does Advo do?
You can monopolize the world yet you cannot take away every single individual's dream! The power to dream is a given birthright! Advo will never want to monopolize anyone yet it is charting towards igniting dreams in every single individuals!

ADVO - THE WORLD's DREAM COMPANY!

Making Dream Come True for every human being!

Watch out for the next BIG BRAND in every single little heart!

Mini's finally here!!! The whole anticipation, and now, it's actually in my life!

The whole AdvoGang went down to the showroom to get my cooper, it was amazing! Two cars to receive one, totally rocks! Thank you guys! The whole scenario built up to the point when all were pointing to a specific red cooper outside the showroom, insisting that that was my car. Looking from a distance, that could not be it as I was suppose to have 2 cute white stripes on my bonnet. On closer look, lo behold, the car plate was 2386 (read: ADVO) - that's my number!! It turned out to be quite anti-climax as they had forgotten to put on the stripes and I had to send the car in for the cosmetic upgrade the very next day! Dang.....gua gua gua.

Well, at least I get to experience the drive in 2 designs

All in all, it was a fantastic experience. The excitment is still lingering. When I was driving this morning to get the stripes on, it felt good. It's not really just about me. I realised that through the pursuit of this dream car of mine, I am able to bring to the people around me, a different experience (you should take a look at my parents' faces...haha, and SY's excitment to be the FIRST passenger). The excitment and joy is shared and amplified.

As one of my student put it "I just saw your cooper! It's so awesome (even without the stripes) congrats! Another item off your goals for 2010!" My sincere wish and urge is for everyone of them, to also check off the A1 for Os and A for As in their dream list. In fact, for all those around me, to pursue in the direction of what they would love for themselves, joyfully and relentlessly. Ganbatte!

Its been a few years that I last watched the national day parade!

I realised Singapore has become more and more beautiful over the years.
Especially the esplanade and marina area when the camera pull up and show us the entire view.
It is indeed a touching scene. When Singaporeans from all over Singapore gather to sing the national day songs and celebrate Singapore's birthday together!

We may only occupy a red dot in the world's map... yet Singaporeans are working hard in their respective arena to contribute to a greater future for Singapore.

Quite a number of my students are participating in the YOG and National day parade performance.
I think it is good that the nations are providing opportunities for the upcoming generation of Singaporeans to contribute their share to the nation despite their age.

Though there are alot of complaints from Singaporean, I think we need to give credit to our government for providing the fundamentals, policies and structures to ensure the basic needs of citizens are fulfilled and at least the economy is progressing even in times of adversity.

Though it is a fact that we still have lotsa rooms for improvement yet within 45 years of independence, it is alot that we have achieved!

Proud to be a fellow Singaporean.

To build a democratic society... based on justice and equality, so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress of our nation!

However I have been pondering what is Singapore's dream? =D

Today I passed by the uncle selling tissue again. I remb the last time my mum and I passed by him... my heart goes out to him. So my mum and I decide to buy tissue from him. Later we agreed to return him the tissues and he was very grateful for it.

As usual today I approach him with a nominal sum. This time round I decided I do not want to take the tissues from him. Initially he insisted but later he relented.

After I walked pass him, I begin to think... It will be quite cool if I am financially capable, I will be able to give him certain amount of money every month.

Then later.. I thought maybe he wanted to be independent.

So I begin to think.. it will be great if I can start a platform that can help people like him to earn their own living. Be it whatever challenges they have.. i.e health or physical conditions. Yes! One more thing on my dream board! =D

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

I hear many people say they wanna be a super coach.. good coach...
Today a thought struck me! Being very good at coaching myself is not sufficient.

I used to think that grooming people is something very troublesome. I just have to ensure that I am doing well myself.

However now I feel that rather than spending alot of time on my students, I should look at grooming coaches to duplicate the effect. I alone has limited power. Together with a group of coaches, the effect is multiplied! more students will get to benefit from it. =)

Saturday, September 19, 2009

In millionaire-rich Singapore, majority income below national average

Nowhere in the world are you more likely to run into a millionaire than in Singapore. But the great majority of households in the city-state earn less than Singapore's average household income.

How can the majority earn less than the average? Is it because some are very rich?

Singapore had the highest concentration of millionaires last year, with 8.5 percent of the country’s households owning more than $1 million, reports the Boston Consulting Group. Switzerland was second, with 6.6 percent, followed by Kuwait, 5.1 percent, United Arab Emirates, 4.5 percent, and the United States, 3.5 percent.

With such a profusion of millionaires, of course, Singapore is rich, very rich.

Last year, the average monthly household income was 7,090 Singapore dollars (about $5010) for resident households and 7,750 Singapore dollars for employed households, according to a paper published by the Singapore Department of Statistics. Resident households denote Singaporeans and permanent residents and employed households are those where at one least one member is employed.

Incomes were increasing, said the same paper, pointing out:

"In 2007, 33 percent of employed households earned a monthly income of at least 7,000 Singapore dollars. In 2008, 39 percent of employed households earned a monthly income of at least 7,000 Singapore dollars."

But that means 61 percent – or the great majority – earned less than the average household income.

Indeed, the median income – the income of half the households – was considerably less.

The median monthly household income, according to the same paper, was 4,950 Singapore dollars for resident households and 5,480 Singapore dollars for employed households.

The paper explained: "The median household income refers to the income in the middle of the income distribution, that is, half of the households have higher income than the median household income and half have lower income than the median household income."

Still, things were looking up, said the paper.

The income gap last year narrowed for the first time since 1998, it said: The Gini coefficient dropped from 0.489 in 2007 to 0.481 in 2008. "This decline reflects the faster income growth among the 21st to the 90th percentile of employed households," it added.

But the highest income group earned more than 17 times as much as the lowest income group. See these figures taken from the paper.

Average monthly household income from work among employed households
Decile 2007
Singapore dollars 2008
Singapore dollars
1st to 10th 1,220 1,310
11th to 20th 2,240 2,480
21st to 30th 3,040 3,430
31st to 40th 3,970 4,430
41st to 50th 4,900 5,460
51st to 60th 5,880 6,730
61st to 70th 7,140 8,040
71st to 80th 8,730 9,720
81st to 90th 11,330 12,910
91st to 100th 20,440 23,020

In life... we seem to have lotsa challenges to handle..

Some people are slowed or halt by obstacles... while others jump over it and fast forward...

What is your choice?

Is it that tough to move ahead? Not really... I personally feel we should be tasks driven.

Just do what needs to be done... Get it done and over with... many atimes there will be emotions involved.
It is the emotions that is sabotaging our growth... yes! I know it is something that cannot be denied.
What is a human without emotions? What am I talking about here?
I only come to terms with this recently. Its about controlling emotion. Not allowing emotion to take control of us.
Feel, reflect and learn... move on with a FRESH start!

Its easy... its simple... keep our eyes on the big picture!

Know where we are heading and all this seems too trivial to brood over it.

I know there will be times where we will off balance... The key is know where to pull ourselves out of the situation and pamper ourselves.

I think at the end of the day.. its to learn how to love ourselves when the need arise.

That's my learning recently.

One of my boys was looking at the Periodic table for quite some time, so I asked him what he was looking for. It turned out that he was searching for “methane”. He thought that methane was an element. I admit I was really taken aback, because this was the first time that I came across such a scenario. This woke me up and made me realise that I really cannot take for granted, even the stuff that are seemingly fundamentals. (: (:

I have a student, who is pretty much on her own and somewhat unhurried, in her own pace, own zone when she's in class. I always wondered, what makes her tick, and what drives her. I knew there was something within her, an alter ego, someone lively and bursting with energy. And I wanted to see that.

Yesterday, I saw it. I saw the energy and life flowing from her as she danced gracefully on stage. It was awesome! I felt like a proud parent as I saw this talent seamlessly displayed.

This reminded me of what Ken Robinson said - some people need to move, to think.

If you wait long enough, people will show you the goodness in them Each one has their own DNA for success. Put the faith forward.

I read Randy Pausch's last lecture a year ago, and recently, I revisted the last lecture he gave in his beloved university. He demonstrated his passion to pursue relentlessly on what he wanted and he's determination to live his best life, even when he knew his time was up soon, hit me.

We don't know when the reaper will come for us. What some of us take it for granted (that there's always time), Randy was grateful for. He fought his best battle.

I find his spirit and passion both humbling and inspiring. And this, I would like to share.

"It is not about achieving your dreams but living your life. If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself, the dreams will come to you." - Randy Pausch

I happened to read an article about the story of young millionaire. Nowadays, more and more poeple especially the younger generation are turning entrepreneurial in their bid for financial freedom. In the article, they have shared the key to their success:

1) Have a clear plan on what you want to achieve in both short and long term

2) Execute your plan accordingly and make periodic reviews for improvements

3) Stay focused and be passionate

You will face obstacles and challenges along the way to success. People tends to give up when they face challenges.But you have to realise that nothing worth doing is easy but if you keep at it, you become better at it and you will make it. Dont give up!

I often see singapore kids wasting food, including my own students.
They will buy a mac donald meal and after eating a few strands of fries they decided to throw the entire packet of  fries away.
They buy 2 scoops of ice cream and end up not even finishing off 1 scoop.

I know children are getting more pocket money from their parents, therefore they have higher purchasing power.
However, I feel they need to be educated on the value of spending, wants vs needs and treasuring what they have.

At the other end of the world, people (including children) are scavenging for leftover food in the rubbish dump.

This is an article I found from the internet.

Garbage scavengers in the impoverished Manila area of Tondo are not looking just for re-usable goods among the rubbish but, increasingly, for food to feed their families.

"A lot of scavengers sell recycled food that they segregate from other waste. It's common practice around here," said Tondo resident Amy Ignacio, who has been collecting trash from a fast-food restaurant for the past six years.

Feeling it was wasteful to throw away leftover chicken with some meat remaining, she re-cooks it to make pagpag to feed her children.

"With the kind of life we live, this helps a lot. When you buy a bag worth a few pesos, you can already feed one whole family," Ignacio said.

Ignacio said none of her three children have become sick from eating recycled food.

When she collects enough, she shares the re-cooked leftovers with her neighbors.

Thousands of families like Ignacio's live in Tondo, among the mounds of garbage bags that they transport from nearby dumpsites.

Most earn less than 200 pesos ($5) a day and subsist on segregating and selling recyclable waste such as plastics and styrofoam.

With food inflation eating up the income of families living in Tondo, some days they can only buy a few kilos of rice.

As more and more turn to pagpag, some authorities are concerned about the health threats eating leftovers may pose.

The National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) warns that eating recycled food severely compromises children's nutrition, and food-related diseases may appear later.

But for those living hand-to-mouth, the threats can seem far-distant.

Three out of ten Filipinos in a population of 88.57 million people live below a government-defined poverty line of 6,274 pesos ($149) a month per family of five.

"I eat this sometimes, when my mother does some scavenging. It tastes good," said seven-year-old Mariz Lozada of pagpag.

Ryan Telegrepo, Ignacio's neighbor, said poor people cannot be choosy enough to reject recycled food.

He is not worried about feeding leftovers to his seven-month-old baby.

"Before we would only (at) a pinch, eat some leftovers. Now, it's our main meal. Recycled food. That's why you see many people selling it in small bags," he said.

Though the practice is widespread in the Tondo area, the chairman of a scavengers' cooperative prohibits his members from eating and selling recycled food.

"You don't know where this food is from. It's as if you devalue the person by selling him food that has already been eaten. It's inhuman," said Danny Tanael, chairman of Eco-Aid cooperative.

The NAPC also warns against eating leftovers and recommends needy families apply for cash transfers to buy food.

"There are other sources of livelihood through which poor families can earn," said Dolores de Quiros-Castillo, assistant secretary for the anti-poverty commission.

"At the end of the day, this kind of food taken from garbage bags is not good for the health."

 http://www.reuters.com/resources_v2/flash/video_embed.swf?videoId=81453

Singapore Education Summit (SES) was over last weekend.

Attended a few talks by the speaker. Of all, my favourite is by Jerry Mills.
Personally I feel he is a special speaker who composes and sings.
Not that his songs were fantastic but i think it is interesting when you put words and learnings into songs. When you sing or as the song plays, the lyrics gets closer to the heart.

One thing he mentioned is that we all have CHOICE!
If something is not right for you, you just gotto make a choice and decide.
We really shouldnt be stuck in the situation and hope it will work out on its own.

He was very nice... I received a complimentary latest released CD from him with signature. One of my fav song is "We've Gotta Choose".

Here goes the lyrics...

Once I was a prisoner, a prisoner in my mind,
Dreaming about the day that I would leave it all behind.
And the whole darn time the only thing
that held me under lock and key
Was not knowing my imprisonment was all inside of me.
We've gotta choose.. We've gotta choose...
To be free. To be free...

To be free of always thinking
I'm not doing what I should.
To be free of things not turning out
the way I thought they would.
To be free of all my troubles,
to be free of all my woes.
To be free of always thinking
I should know just how it goes.
We've gotta choose... We've gotta choose...
To be free. To be free...

I spent half my life not knowing
what I though I ought to know.
Now many years have come and gone,
I've got a long, long way to go.
I sure did take the long way,
and the wrong way a time or two.
But I must admit the whole darn time
there's something I never knew...
I wish I knew...
That we've gotta choose.. We've gotta choose...
To be free. To be free...

To be free to face the darkness.
To be free to face the light.
To be free to face my destiny
and to do it with all my might.
To be free to make good choices.
To be free come sun or rain.
To be free to just accept myself
in spite of all the pain,

We've gotta choose. We've gotta choose to be free...

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO49CZR0x04

(^.^)

Today met up with a student and spoke to him.
He didnt do quite well for his mid year.
I asked him what he has been doing during the sch holidays. He told me his father ask him to study and practise more questions.
Knowing him, I told him.. he doesnt even understand and grasp the concept, its pointless practising.
Its just like going to war without ammo.
The more you fight, the more defeated you feel and lower your morale.

He agrees... the more he do and the more he cant complete the qns, he will feel dishearten and this deters him from continuing.

I look at his file, some maps are missing and the maps are not organised and properly filed up. So I ensured he is equipped with the maps. Next he told me now he is ready for battle.

I said NO.. not yet. He has the ammo, he needs to learn how to use it.

Once he has master the skills and techniques and equipped with the ammo, he is ready for battle.

Lately I have been sitting in a few sessions with some Sec 3, 4 and Jc kids.

They say they have been working hard but not seeing results.
When ask how they deem as working hard? Their answer is they practise alot. 
So at the end of the day, it boils down to the concept that I have brought up previously.

Equipped with the ammo, learn how to use them, practise using until accuracy kicks in and the student is ready to be sent to the battlefield! =)

Have fun honing your skills this holiday!

Recently, I do not know by luck or by chance or because it was meant to be that way, I was exposed to people who I am unsure if they are stubborn or really lost in their pursuit of what they truly want in life.

When I asked students what they really want? Normally those students whose answer is I don't know, their results will be not as good. Yet when I asked them more... they will mention they are lost as in what to do to improve their results and they keep asking us to help them. Seriously, my msg to these students is WE CAN'T HELP YOU unless you are willing to follow wholeheartedly. And the first rule to change is to STOP being STUBBORN that you are lost! If you keep saying that, I am 100% sure no change will occur!. In fact, this is scary... its like you want to change yet you keep saying u can't or are lost or unclear! Now is the critical period of O and A level coming up, keep your eyes on the prize of scoring straight A1 and A for the coming exams!

Finally, the same to us as adult! We know deep inside us that change can be fast yet we love to create many stories to tell us that we can't instead of telling ourselves all we need is faith and courage and as long as we are COMMITTED (to ourselves) to grow, we will overcome all challenges and live the life we imagined.

For once, do it for yourself and commit to a greater and more meaningful life! Magic is on the way for all of us!

I am extremely touched by the eulogy of the grandson and grandniece of Dr Goh!

Farewell to Dr Goh Keng Swee - eulogy from grandson Goh Ken-Yi

Farewell to Dr Goh Keng Swee - eulogy from grand niece Marian Hu

... what you put in will be returned to you.

Last weekend, just on a whim, I decided that I really should schedule some time to practise playing guitar every day, otherwise I am never ever going to get better. So I put it on my Google Calendar. For one hour every day after I get home from work, I will practise my guitar.

The funny thing is, later on the same day that I made this commitment (I hadn't even started practicing yet!) a friend of mine called me up and asked if I'd be interested to jam with a few other people, play some cover songs, that sort of thing. So of course I said yes!

And now I really really have to honour the commitment to practise for an hour every night, otherwise I am totally going to embarrass myself on Saturday in the studio. If it wasn't for the phone call giving me the push I needed to practise, I think my plans would just have stayed plans, but never translated into action. It's so spooky the way that the universe works to force you to grow!