John Maxwell's Inspirational Speech: Success (Only a small part)

"People say that there are 2 great days in life. One is the day they were born. The other one is the day they discover why they were born."


John Maxwell believes that you should work on your strengths and not your weaknesses. And it applies to skills only.

He reasons that if you work on your strengths, you will excel. But not weaknesses. Because they're weak, and if you try to work hard on it, it will not be good.

For example, if you fail something and got a grade like D, you try to work on this particular weakness, and ultimately, the best you may get is only C and it's average.


Nobody loves average things. People want the best. He continues to reason: Like say you dine at a restaurant, you don't want the food to be average. You want it to be the best. It goes the same for the waiter, and the service.

So don't practise your weaknesses, but rather, improve your strengths.


Success means 3 things:

1. Knowing my purpose in life.
2. Work on strengths.
3. Knowing what you're passionate about.



So, do you think you're a successful person?




*Regarding the previous post, I would still like to mention that I greatly miss the people in Avida Logisitics!

Nostalgia and other feelings..

Missing lots of people, especially teachers and most friends. The Virginia Tech Massacre made me think alot, and I tried to put myself in their shoes, where I imagine when I was being fired at while having lectures. It must be a horrific sight for them.

I always like to post crucial news like this sometimes, because it allows me to understand what is going on, and hopefully it will be discussed with the people who reads my blog. Food for thoughts will and always be in this blog.

May God bless them.

On a different note, polytechnic has started pretty smoothly for me. Classmates were helpful, but we still have some barrier, maybe because we only knew each other for 2 weeks. Assignments are piling up, and drawing is starting to be a torture. I was pretty inspired by a 15 minute video talk by someone, but I'll talk about it next time.

One thing though, I sometimes get targeted by some lecturers, and I don't know why. Hmmm..

Anyway, here are some pictures of my classmates:

(Top row) Me, Tyron

(Middle Row) Marilyn, Wei Qi

(Bottom Row) Ee Kheng, Rebecca

With Yao Zhong.

(From left to right) Fazal, Yao Zhong, Tyron, Aliff and me.

We're the only guys in the class.

Visual Communications 2007 01 (VC0701)

The Virginia Tech Campus Massacre.

I'm terribly affected by this massacre, so much so that I got way too emotional.

On the April 16, a gunman named Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people and injured 29 others in Virginia Tech University before killing himself. It is named as the worst campus massacre in modern US history.

Here are some of the victims that died, which was shown in the TIME magazine cover:

After reading the reports of the massacre, I could only say that it was sad for both the gunman and the victims.

The gunman:

Seung-Hui Cho

During High School, Cho was often teased and bullied because of his refusal to talk, shyness etc. When a teacher threatened to fail him if he did not read a particular passage, he started to read with a strange and deep voice. The whole class started laughing at him, and told him to GO BACK TO CHINA.

Is that meant to be a racist remark or what? Or are those students stupid enough to not know how to differentiate China and Korea? The bullying and teasing probably added on to his anger and hatred.

He was a loner, and to get him to speak was rare. Also, Cho was caught intimidating female students and writing violent and sick poetry. The professor was determined to resign if Cho was not removed from his class.

Cho's anger probably built up over the years, and he hated rich kids, and other stuff.

Then, it happened.

Cho killed his 2 victims, one male and female in West Ambler Johnston Hall. He left after killing them, and sent a package to NBC which contained writings and videos.

After 2 hours of the first shootings, he went to Norris Hall, and chained the main entrance shut, probably to prevent people from leaving. He then went to several classrooms and start shooting people. Students and professors died during the shooting.

After shooting, the asshole decided to kill himself.

Commendable acts of heroism. (Heroes of the Massacre)

Professor Liviu Librescu

Professor Liviu Librescu, a Holocaust survivor, blocked the door which the gunman tried to enter after hearing many gunshots. He quickly asked the students to escape through the windows. Most of his students managed to escape, which prevented even more deaths.

However, the hero professor died. The gunman fired through the door, and 5 bullets penetrated through the door and pumped into the professor's body, killing him.

Jocelyne Couture Nowak

She decided to block the classroom door with a desk with the help of the students and brought her students to the back of the class for their safety. It was unsuccessful, and 10 of the students together with her died.

Waleed Shaalan

He was together with a student, and when the gunman entered and fired at them, he was badly wounded and was beside a student who was playing dead. The gunman returned twice to check for any signs of life. When the gunman noticed the student who was playing dead, Shaalan distracted him by moving, and was shot the second time and died instantly. The student playing dead survived, thanks to Shaalan.

Finally when it's all over, the gunman committed suicide.

Here are some quotes from him:

"You have one hundred billion chances and ways to have avoided today. But you decided to spill my blood. You forced me into a corner and gave me one option. The decision was yours. Now you have bloods on your hands that will never wash off."

"You have vandalized my heart, raped my soul, and torched my conscience. You thought it was one pathetic boy's life you were extinguishing. Thanks to you, I die like Jesus Christ, to inspire generations of the weak and the defenseless people."

"Your Mercedes wasn't enough, you brats. Your golden necklaces wasn't enough, you snobs. Your trust funds wasn't enough. Your vodka and cognac wasn't enough. All your debaucheries wasn't enough. Those weren't enough to fulfill your hedonistic needs. You had everything."

"I didn't have to do it. I could have left. I could have fled. But now I'm no longer running. If not for me, for my children and brothers and sisters that you fucked. I did it for them."

The gunman snuffed out 32 innocent lives. I hope that if you're reading this, you would observe one minute of silence for those who died while saving others, and those who died innocuously.

As a form of respect, I will not blog until friday.

Let us pray for their souls to be blessed.

SYF competition result for North Vista Chorale.

Sigh, they competed, they did their best, but guess what they got?

CERTIFICATE OF PARTICIPATION.

KIDDING.

THEY GOT SUPER SUPER SILVER.

Though the previous SYF at 2005 we got a silver, at least we maintained the standard.

And I will tell you WHY getting a silver is a BIG DEAL.

1. The school before them was Anglican High School.

Before I began explaining, let me tell you that Anglican High School was the only choir of the day that got Gold with Honours, together with Catholic High School and Tanjong Katong Secondary School for the past 3 days. Why did I say it was a big deal? Think about it. If you was one of the judges, and you heard the choir sing so well, wouldn't you compare it with the next choir? It's like watching a great movie, and watching another lousier movie. You tend to compare.

2. As for the day, 7 Choirs that got silver the previous SYF competition in 2005 dropped to a bronze, while 2 choirs that got gold dropped to silver. And North Vista Chorale was one of the few that maintained it. It simply shows that the standard was even higher this year.

Here's the results of the schools of the day:

COP (Certificate of Participation)

B (Bronze)

S (Silver)

G (Gold)

GWH (Gold With Honours)

Look at the middle abbrievations which shows the results. The left column shows the results that the schools got previously. I'm not very sure about the one on the right.

(Taken from Crystal's blog.)

I managed to attend the competition miraculously to support North Vista Chorale, together with Yan Rong and You Hock. (Long story, but I won't elaborate.)

We sat from 2pm-5.30pm, listening to choirs. We heard the set pieces more than 10 times, and we knew it so well, I think we knew how to sing.

What impresses me most was Anglican High School, I was located among the front seats, and you could see almost everyones' expressions; fiery in their eyes, the enthusiasm, and the desire.

It was SO THRILLING AND EXCITING. Some choirs were very boring. Anglo Chinese School (Barker Road) Choir was one of those that disappointed me.

If I were to grade the top 5 performances of the PM session competition without biasness, here it is:

1. Anglican High School

2. North Vista Secondary School

3. Henderson Secondary School

4. Compassvale Secondary School

5. FairField Secondary School

I would like to congratulate North Vista Chorale for doing well, and that all of the efforts have not gone down the drain. Kudos to Mr Francis Liew too, because without him, there will not be North Vista Chorale.

Images below are taken from Crystal.

Thank you Mr Francis Liew.

And to every single one of you in the picture, thank you very much.

Congratulations.

All the very best, North Vista Chorale.

Tomorrow, or considered today, will be the Singapore Youth Festival (SYF) Centra Judging Competition.

I'm sure all of you choristers' efforts will not come to naught, especially with the conduct of Mr Francis Liew. Do your best, and make it the best performance you've done.

I can't go and support you guys, because it clashed with my timetable. Nevertheless, I still support you all mentally, and I'm sure the seniors will too!

Remember to sing with your diaphragm, and open your mouth wide, with raised cheek bones, pronounce your words properly and follow the rhythm of the songs. Sing with gusto! (I know it sounds like nagging.)


Aim for what you all want; a Gold, or maybe even better. But remember this thing. Do your best.


With that, I sincerely wish you guys all the best, and do tell me what did you all get.

The start of something new.

Well it's been 2 days of polytechnic life, and I'm still trying to adapt to it. I was greeted with people smoking just outside the school premises when I was entering, and it affected my mood abit.

Everywhere you go, people are walking all around, which is very similar to United States' high schools. I'm still trying to adapt.

I've met my classmates, and there's only 4 males in my class including me currently. There are around 20 students in my class. Visual Communications students are not united at all yet, groups of people are separated.


Lectures sucks big time because it gets very boring. Today was the worst, I had to attend lectures for 5 hours STRAIGHT. I couldn't open my eyes.

I'm getting worried for drawing lessons because I don't draw well although I took Design and Technology (D&T). Really hope that I can improve.

And the most interesting thing that we gonna do in months' time is...


NUDE DRAWING



I know you guys are probably shocked, surprised and other emotions being expressed out from your face. Yes, I'm not kidding. And it's not like we students are stripping to let our fellow classmates draw. I heard that models will be there for us to draw.

I guess nudity is a form of art, and I think I need to appreciate it. Who knows I turn pro in drawing males and females' genitals?!



On a serious and different note, I hope we (secondary school friends) will stay close, and keep in contact. Those in Nanyang Polytechnic, do message me every now and then and we'll go meet up for lunch or even dinner! Hope friends at Polytechnics, Junior Colleges, Institution of Technical Education and Secondary School be happy and have a smooth day everyday!

A new school, a new environment.

Got my timetable already, and I don't like it one bit.

Here's my timetable:

Monday- 1pm-6pm
Tuesday- 9am to 6pm
Wednesday- 9am to 3pm
Thursday- 9am to 4pm
Friday- 12pm to 5pm


Horrible, I rather wake up early in the morning and leave the school early. The timetable will most probably not change till the next semester.

Chatted with Edmond and Cheryl, and I think they're pretty friendly.

Also, I think I'm not going to buy the Fujitsu or Acer's notebooks. But rather, Apple's MacBook. I heard it's good for design. And I might not use Macintosh but Windows back.


Anyway, I would like to dedicate this post to my secondary school friends.

I guess most of us are starting school tomorrow, and we feel either anxious or excited. Entering a new phase of life, I hope every single one of us will have a smooth road ahead. I'm sure we will meet up during weekends to catch up with each other's lives. Keep in contact my friends.


"It doesn't matter where your friends are, what's most important is that they're close to your heart."

Appassionata.(Eh-Pa-Shun-Na-Ta)

My friends and I went to a concert called Appassionata this evening, performed by Nanyang Junior College Choir, with guest performances by The Hai Sing Catholic School Choir, and The Wild Empire at the Victoria Concert Hall. We went to support Kai Bin too!

Appassionata.

You Hock, Chee Meng and Claudia. It was an impromptu shot!

Melissa and Chee Meng.

Other friends not featured are YanYu, YouHock, Jeanne and Zi Lin.

Audience eagerly waiting for the concert to start.

The whole performance was not bad, and I'll rate it 7.5/10. Being a chorister, I could understand how much they put through their hard work. It's not only that you have to sing the note well, you also have choreography as well. I didn't really fancy the opening songs, but later, the songs were pretty good.

Some of the songs I like were:

O Magnum Mysterium

*Gloria* from Missa Brevis

Asadoya Yunta

Alleluja

Tres Cantos Nativos

Shima E

I also like The Wild Empire. Their voices blend really well and you could see their enthusiasm. Nanyang Junior College Choir sang Tres Cantos Nativos, and I will never forget the song. They started making animal sounds using a cappella and it was SO NICE! Choreography perfected it.

They sang pretty nice English songs, especially Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat.

Most of their soloists were very good and I love their voices. This concert reignited the passion in me to continue to perform choral singing, and I would like to sing with fellow choristers again.

I miss my North Vista Chorale, the juniors, the seniors, the peers, the teachers-in-charge and Mr Francis Liew. Why isn't there a Choir alumni? :(

Anyway, this trip with my fellow choir friends were extremely fun, and we were joking around with each other. Don't worry guys, I'm sure we will go out together again, to watch choirs and other musicals again! And Kai Bin, you did really well!

Shall end this post with...

Kai Bin and me.

Nonono, not this picture.. But....

Good ol' Appassionata!

Books Galore!

Recently, I went to Plaza Singapura, and boy did I found some cheap cheap deals! Located at the ground floor right in the middle of the shopping mall, Carrefour is clearing its stocks of books, bags, toys, DVDs etc.

I saw a Spiderman collectible, which was only $12! But since I've not been working, and my money was draining steadily from time to time, so I guess it's best not to buy it

Ironically, I spent more than $30 on books.

If you like to read books, you should come down as it is ridiculously cheap. $3 and $5 of books and they're totally brand new condition. Of course, the books are not the latest publications. Half of the books sold are mainly traveller books, like guides to China, Rome and other countries. But fear not, there are other very good books as well!

I bought like 7 of them, and if it's not because it was heavy, I could buy even more.

Here are some of them:

Clay Aiken Story

Clay Aiken! Everyone loves an inspirational book.

Diving with Sharks and Others

Managed to spot this only book and grab it. Marine animals and fishes always fascinate me.

Maldives Dive Guide

I don't go to Maldives to dive, but I believe someday I will, so I might as well buy this book in advance!

One Last Time

A spiritual book..

Reader Digest Word Power

Only word power/dictionary book I found, and it's pretty thick and heavy. This book will help expand my English vocabulary and for further reference!

Oh gosh, I think I gonna take a long time to finish reading these books (Not dictionary.). I've read only half of the book which Yeancy (my ex-colleague.) gave it to me. Even more, I've already subscribed to TIME magazine which it delivers every week! Not forgetting I read The New Paper everyday!

I think I gonna die from reading too much.

So if you're interested in reading, just check it out at Plaza Singapura 1st floor, right at the middle of the shopping mall.

I dislike him.

I get very worked up when it comes to environmental issues, especially towards global warming, pollution, and extinction of species. And I think this man sucks:






George W Bush (a Republican) from the Republic party.







Environment Issue:

George Bush withdrew U.S support from the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement which 141 nations had signed, in order to reduce greenhouse gases to stop global warming.



This guy thinks that supporting the Kyoto Protocol is too costly, and the White House EVEN QUESTIONED the science of global warming, and cited that millions of jobs will be lost if U.S joins this pact.



"His EPA's indifference to the dangers of carbon emissions was rejected by the Supreme Court."- Joe Klein, TIME magazine.





My comment: Hello? If all the 141 nations are doing it, why can't you? Global warming will cause sea levels to rise, and more low-land cities will be submerged. If one of a U.S city gets submerged, won't it also cause MILLIONS OF DEATH AND DAMAGES?



Facts of global warming are presented black and white, with explainations of how it will happen and why it will happen, AND THE REASON WHY MANKIND IS BEHIND IT. Why is the White House still questioning?





War Issue:






George Bush claimed that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, so there is a need to stop it. And so, U.S invaded Iraq and fought with the Iraqis. After a few years, have they really found weapons of mass destruction? No.

People died needlessly in the Iraq war, with U.S soldiers casualties to a few thousand, and tens of thousands to civilians in Iraq.

Up till today, fighting is still going on.

Some people says that U.S fought the war because of Iraq's oil. But U.S has vehemently denied it.


Comment: Iraq war is a mistake. Deaths are needless and pointless. It's so conspicuous.


Bush is a mistake. The war is a mistake.

Even Joe Klein from TIME magazine feels that Bush's presidency is one of the worst in U.S history.

What do you think?

Some people just don't understand.

After being involved in a conversation, I came to realise something. But before I do so, here's an extract of the conversation.


Me: I sometimes think I regret appealling out of Junior College.

Someone (with a loud voice): I think you're very funny. Do you know that my friend's son in Victoria Junior College is struggling with his 'A' levels? He scored so well for his 'O' levels and now he is struggling. If he is struggling and having enormous stress, do you think you can do it with your results?

Me (with a louder voice): Victoria Junior College has their own goals pinned for their students. They aim for 4As. Serangoon Junior College has a different one. So it's totally different.




No matter how hard you do your best, there will always be someone who will never understand the efforts you put, the stress you give yourself, the peer pressure around you, and that you had really done your very best.

Costly interests.

I realise most all my interests needs money. One such example is Scuba Diving. I need hundreds of dollars to support it, unless I work for a scuba diving company and have my fees waived.


Another one is that I always love arts ever since I joined Choir. It's been like 2 years since I've been to the Esplanade to catch a performance. My last trip was to watch the Sound Of Music. But such tickets are usually expensive; they can cost ranging from tens of dollars to a few hundred dollars.


So...I'm looking for next week's trip to the Victoria Concert Hall (VCH), to support my choir buddy Kai Bin! I used to call him Bin-Ge, which means brother. He's performing next friday together with his Nanyang Junior College (NYJC) fellow choristers. All the best Kai Bin!


Speaking of performers, I think that the greatest achievement when you perform for the audience is when you get a round of applause, especially if it is loud. Best still, if they stand up. Audience will never know how much effort performers put in, because it is only the surface that they view. So the best thing is that the audience must appreciate the performance.





On a different note, I would like to show all of you a conversation taken from a movie called Freedom Writers, and if possible, comment on it.


Student 1: These people don't give respect to us.
Teacher: In order for people to give you respect, you need to give it to others.
Student 2: Bullshit.
Teacher: What?
Student 2: Why should I give you my respect? Because you called yourself a teacher? How do I know that you're not a bad person standing up there?



Supposedly if you are the teacher, what would you reply? For me, I really have no idea on how to reply to it.

So many things to blog about.

I have so many thoughts and I wish to blog them down.


Thoughts about life, thoughts about my future, etc. There are alot of things I wanna blog. But I think I'll blog them after the new template is done, since I doubt people will read them anyway..


I'm really amazed with my new polytechnic friends. 2 of them are from Institute of Technical Education (ITE) with a NITEC certificate, and they topped their cohort and went to my course immediately without going through Higher NITEC. They're worthy to be emulated. One of the closer friend, told me that he had his own studio and that he is doing business. I was wowed, because he excels in graphic designs and are in partnership with a colleague. He's doing graphic designs for a medicine company, in which his designs will be printed in the bottles.

I've got a better clear view of what I will do when I completes the diploma. I'll probably be a graphics designer or some other stuff. But bear in mind: I don't intend to be a designer in the future. I would like to see this diploma as a stepping stone to further unrelated studies.

It's a pity that Nanyang Polytechnic does not have Scuba Diving Club for me to join. I don't wish to join other clubs. Sigh..


Speaking of polytechnic, Temasek Polytechnic rang me up today but I didn't pick up the phone. I'm assuming I have appealed successfully for its diploma in Retail and Hospitality Design. I can take the course if I want, but I will most likely reject it.


I'm ending this post with a big congratulations to Xi Boon and Kian Kei for enrolling in Republic Polytechnic successfully.

I hate dentists.

I finally know the reason why people don't visit the recommended dental check-up which is every 6 months.

I went to one dental clinic at one of the shopping plazas located near my area. I went inside, only to be greeted with one patient paying stacks of $50 notes that probably accumulated to $400-$600.

My goodness. I went inside the room and the dentist managed to rectify the problem using an x-ray. I had wisdom tooth.

For the first time, I was shocked. No, not because I had wisdom tooth. I didn't even know what was wisdom tooth until he told me.


He said the dental surgery to remove the wisdom tooth was $600.

$600 just to pluck out a tooth?! Why not I pluck for your patients and I just charge a fee of $60?

I was flabbergasted, and to make matters worst, he said I had 1 or 2 bad tooth that needs to be extracted. The price? $380.

Altogether? $980.


Nearly $1000 for extracting 3 tooths.


The dentist commented about my unhealthy gums. And to prove it to me, he used some sort of a tool which makes hairs stand on its end and 'grilled' around my gums, and true enough, it bled.


No matter what, I need to do the surgery. When I'm chewing or opening my mouth wide, there is an extremely sharp pain on my left cheek and my left ear. Terribly painful.



On a different note, I went to the Nanyang Polytechnic orientation today. It's not as good as my Junior College orientation. I am starting to miss Lynette, Jaspreet, Keane and Nicholas. College dance is the best.