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.