DPM Teo & Pre-U Student

My 2-cents worth of opinion- Normally when we ask questions, we expect a direct answer. A coach or mentor will not give the solution but throw leading questions that will allow the questioner to seek his own answer. In this case, the setting may not have been appropriate.

We don't know exactly how DPM Teo asked the question, but the students expected a direct answer. That is partially a fault of our education system, where we are so used to being spoon fed all the answers. The other problem is that the audience might laugh if the answers to the questions are wrong, and this may also put off the questioner.

Whatever the situation, the student has no right to throw vulgarities at an elder.

National Achievers Congress (NAC) 2012

Some valuable takeaways from the congress:

FOCUS - Focus on One Course Until Successful

Millionaires delegate every thing

Either schedule your success or plan your failure

Build great relationships

How to build a great business? Create value first and expect nothing in return! WOW!

"It just takes one idea to live like a king for the rest of your life" - Ross Perot

By-election at Hougang

There's been a lot of debate going on as to whether the by-election at Hougang should be called ASAP, or it should be left hanging indefinitely. My opinion is that, it may work in WP's favour the longer it is delayed. It is said that time heals all wounds. Over time, those people who felt angry, their anger will subside. It may even turn to sympathy.

When people reflect on the actions of WP leadership, even though they had taken a long time to come to a decision, people will make comparisons. WP does not have the machinery to carry out investigations against the allegations. People will compare to the government, needing months, to implicate the heads of SCDF and CNP in misconduct; and that they took about one month to make public. So, why we expect WP to make hasty announcements?

So, my feeling is that WP may win by bigger margin the longer the by-election is delayed.

Good luck!

Quotes from Socrates

Many of his best-known utterances still speak to us today:

* Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for.

* Prefer knowledge to wealth, for the one is transitory, the other perpetual.

* Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.

* Beware the barrenness of a busy life. Leisure is the most valuable of possessions.

* We cannot live better than in seeking to become better.

* The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.

*Let him who would move the world first move himself.

Gold, or Silver?

You hear a lot these days about gold. It's no wonder. Even Bernanke says that people hold gold as "a protection against... really, really bad outcomes."

Yet few people talk about silver. Even though the potential for silver to appreciate could be many times that of gold right now.

Amazingly, silver prices remain well below the all-time high of $50.35...

And that was reached in 1980, more than 30 years ago.

In addition, the supply of silver is on a downtrend of historic proportions.

Did you know that unlike gold, silver is 98% consumable? Most silver, such as the metal used in electronics, is not recoverable. There's no viable way to recycle it.

In 1970 it is said there were 140 months of available above-ground silver. By 1990 that shrank to 50 months. By 2010 it shriveled to perhaps as little as 11 months.

Even more telling...

1. The amount of silver coming out of the ground is going down every year...
2. Few, if any new discoveries have been announced in the past 10 years...
3. Most silver comes out of the last stages of existing mines...
4. The quality of silver mined is the lowest it's ever been... And
5. Like most metals, silver isn't mined in veins any more. It takes many tons of earth and rock to process even an ounce...

So what has been keeping the price of silver so low? And why is it on the verge of a breakout that could be the biggest in several generations?

Eldercare centres & resident consultation

There are 2 issues here.
1. Big hoo-haa with regards to the siting of eldercare centres. Its such a shame that people have come to this - total disregard & disrespect for the elderly. Have these people forgotten that they will grow old one day?
Good that the govt is goign ahead with the planned centre.

2. It seems that the govt has to consult residents for everything - people are asking for too much. When you vote in a govt, you give them the mandate to do what they seem best for the country & the residents. If everything have to consult, there will be no progress at all!!

Pay & Corruption

Myth: Pay high and you get a clean government

Fact: Pay and corruption has no correlation. Highly paid officials can also be corrupt, and a rank-and-file worker can lead an honest, corrupt-free life. The most important factor is the person's moral values and character. Of course the higher you are in the power hierarchy, the higher the temptations. How much a person can resist these temptations will depend on his will power. Another factor that can help is his circle of confidantes.
Recent spate of high level, mid-level and low level officers in the civil service linked to corruption and cheating has debunked the long held mantra by the government that we need to pay top money to get top talents. Maybe now we have to look at how to give these top talents some soul as well.

NUS graduate scavenges through rubbish to support family

'NUS graduate scavenges through rubbish to support family'. When I read this article, the first thing that came to my mind was - hey! he's a graduate and should have been earning quite well. How come he came to this state?

After thinking through, I realised that I could be in similar state. School didn't teach financial management. It was through reading that I gained knowledge on financial education, financial independence. School didn't teach me these.

There are some books I will recommend:
Awakening the Giant Within - by Anthony Robbins
Rich Dad Poor Dad - Robert Kiyosaki
The Richest Man in Babylon - George S Clason (one of the first book I read, on how to manage my finances, and get money to work for you, instead of you working for money)
Master Your Mind Design Your Destiny by Adam Khoo

Good luck!

Knowledge and Education

I read 2 different articles on education trends on the same day. One was published in Singapore's Today newspaper. The other was in The Atlantic.

The Today reported that some enrichment centres now require 'entry tests' to enrol for their courses ('Sorry, your child is not bright enough'). It states that children as young as 6 need to pass a test to enrol into enrichment classes, which in the first place, was meant to help students get better results.

The other article, 'What Americans Keep Ignoring About Finland's School Success' explains how Finnish schools emphasise on equality when it comes to education.

It appears that we have lost sight the purpose of education in the first place. I thought that education is to enrich the human mind. To expand our brain. To enhance the quality of life. It now seems that Singapore's education model (and for many other countries as well), the main purpose of education has been to become economically productive. To such an extent, we force our children to study subjects that will lead to high paying careers in law, medicine. We should revert to the original purpose of education - i.e. to enrich the quality of life.

Economic downturn for 2012?

2 notable members of Singapore ruling party have warned us to take this year's expected slowdown in our stride, but still maintain that that Singapore will look at 1-3% growth.
What I expect from the government some pro-active measures to 'take in stride' the expected slowdown. I already seeing a number of companies laying off workers and relocating.
And the 1-3% growth may come from areas that don't employ bulk of Sporeans, e.g. construction and service industries. Why I say construction? We are looking at ramped up BTOs of HDB flats, and tunnels, roads and MRT lines.

Goodbye 2011. Hello 2012

What do I remember about 2011?

The first thing that came to my mind was the SMRT breakdown. It was so significant that it wiped off memories of the whole year. So, of course, 2011 was more than just the SMRT. Let's recap some of the happenings in 2011:

- the Arab Spring. Downfall of Hosni Mubarak. Demise of Muammar Gaddafi. Egypt still in turmoil. Syria still in turmoil. Iraq still unsettled. Afghanistan - ??

- the last KTM Train pulled out of Tg Pagar.

- GE & PE. WP won 6 seats. Loss of GRC to opposition.

- when you have bad news, you forget the good. There were 2 Royal weddings. Britain & Bhutan.

- flooding became more common. From once in 50yrs, now we expect floods everytime there is a downpour.

- On family front - My nephew got a daughter. Now, she is critically ill.

- Niece passed her PSLE. On second try. Good for her.

Well - 2011 was not so bad after all.

What does 2012 bring? Hope and pray for the best. Life is not a bed of roses, but there is always light at the end of the tunnel!

Think positive, and put our trust in GOD.

I for one don't believe in new year resolutions.