Just wanted to post a THANK YOU note on behalf of Jun-E, my high school friend, for those of you that helped her fill up her masters thesis survey after reading this blog of mine.

Just so you know, as a result of this thesis, she has appeared on air at Radio Singapore National together with Ahirudin Attan (also known as Rocky Bru) to discuss on the issue of blogging in Malaysia.

Your view counted! =).

I came across Zorro-unmasked's blog via Jeff Ooi's popular Screenshots blog. Read with much amusement at how he/she (i don't even know..eek) portrays our Minister of Tourism. But then realized that something wasn't quite right about the way he/she portrayed him, ended up posting a comment on his/her latest blog 'What about that seditious bit Addy?'.

Here was my comment to him/her:

"Came across your blog via screenshots. I must say, you do have a talent for writing with humour, however i sensed in your past few blogs it seems as if you have developed a unquenchable hatred towards this politician based on what he said, and have started making personal attacks on him.

Ever heard of 'address the issue not the person'? I think that's what we all should be doing.

Don't let a person's wrong words tempt us into making personal insults towards him and his manlihood. Funny as it may be (aka the crown jewels joke), it may not reflect well on ourselves as civilised people.

I'm sure even politicians have a good side, which their family and relatives can see in them and love them for it. Rediculing them would mean we make the same mistakes in allowing our thoughts and words hurt others?

=). Keep up the blogging. You do us Malaysians proud. "

And his/her response was:

"Jason, advised taken in true spirit it was given. Thanks. Really appreciate this. Yes, it does happen that the fingers on the keyboard move faster than the brain. TQ again. "

Loved his/her attitude towards my comment. Now THAT is the true Malaysian spirit. Always willing to accept constructive criticism. Oh, and of course, knowing how to Address the issue, not the person helps too. =).

As much as we like to give our Malaysian leaders a load of crap regarding their governance of our country, i must admit this article has shed new light on the way i view our deputy prime minister....

READ THIS

I guess he does deserve to be up there as deputy prime minister after all. Corrupted/inept or not, i believe he's definitely far knowledgable than your average malaysian (me included)

I've always admired people who can read incessantly and gain knowledge by reading a variety of book genres. Reading certainly does not come naturally to me. I'd much rather be playing sports, or computer games, or playing music, or drawing etc than read. But slowly, and surely, i vow to make this part of my everyday life.

Remember: You are only as deep as your thoughts. And thoughts only develop from adequate exposure ---> Books 

3.30am.

Can't sleep. Was browsing through friendster pictures, found accounts of many old friends, and looked at a million pictures of old and new friends.

Most of them had one thing in common: They had at least ONE graduation picture in their photos section.

DAMN IT.

What is it about that darn mortar board, graduation gown and scroll of paper!!! I don't even understand why I am coveting these things so much. My eyes get so green with envy everytime i see someone in the graduation gown, with that oh-so-perfect smile.

And then i get so pissed with myself for allowing myself to go green with envy.

T_T *sob

Please please.....let me be able to sleep now....

I hate having to conform to the NORM.

Norm tells us to play as a kid, get an education, grow up, graduate from college/uni, and get a 5-day week 9 to 5 job, and consider starting a business after you earn a little bit of money. Oh, and in-between, find a wife/partner and get some kids if you fancy.

I was fine following the norm, until i realized that 9 to 5 jobs suck. Big time.

I want to end up working 3 days a week, possibly 10 to 4, and spend the rest of my time....well....doing whatever i like to do.

And I want to have my own business before i'm 30 (am i too late?).

And....I want to enjoy the process of getting there.

Hére's a thought: possibly 95% of us are brought up in the low/middle class environment, where things change so slowly, despite our hard work. And we're listening to the people who are still stuck in the low-middle class group, telling us that no pain = no gain.

bah.

Next person that tells me to conform will get a piece of my mind. Really.

(p.s. lol i took the 'are u billionaire material' test, and twice i failed miserably 29%, and 30%, despite me trying to put the answers i felt were of 'billionaire material'...lol...maybe the constant intoxication of my mind with the ideation of 'conforming to norm' has stifled me irreversibly..)

Today I wondered, whether I can make 1 billion dollars before i die.

And then I wondered, whether I really WANTED to make 1 billion dollars.

I mean, I could make a billion dollars, but by then I would have been so ashamed of myself at being so selfish and self-absorbed that I would have died many times over.

Is it possible to become a billionaire by being generous at the same time? I mean, i think by the time i earn my first million, i will probably donate a good sum for the benefit of our society, probably in education.

At the rate i'm going, i think i'm wasting my time dreaming of becoming a billionaire anyway. I'm too:

1. Lacking in self discipline: I rarely plan my day meticulously, not to mention my weekly and monthly activities and schedules. Even if I do plan, i rarely carry them out 100% according to plan

2. Lacking in determination: I have good ideas, but they remain just that: Good ideas. I can't remember how many ideas i've started putting to action only for me to give up halfway because of the sheer difficulty in completing them.

3. Lacking in social skills: I don't think I am comfortable with making many shallow friendships whereby people 'use' each other for mutual benefits, especially when it involves monetary terms. Neither am I comfortable with 'shining someone's shoes' just to gain favour. I think I am too direct and transparent to handle complex interpersonal rships at the billionaire level.

4. Lacking in burning desire: At the moment, I still feel like a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none. I have many diverse interests, but no burning desire to pursue one interest to the end of its journey. Apparently, to make it big, one must be VERY adept at what one is doing, to stand out amongst the rest and earn the big bucks.

Goodness knows how many more weaknesses I have that are lifelong obstacles to me making it big time.

Owel, I'll stick to being a billion-hair for now. Hang on, do i even have a billion hair? Maybe its time to rub alcohol on my chin, chest and legs......

=).

"Sometimes you win, but you really lose. Sometimes you lose, but you really win."

That was a quote from the movie 'White men can't jump'.

I've been trying to teach this to my younger brother Francis, who has joined me in melbourne for studies this year.

Let me tell you about my brother Francis. My dad thinks he's got the potential to be a leader, and he has shown that he has the tendency to lead since he was young. He's always had the ability to order his friends around, make them work for him, listen to him, back him up. Once my dad described him as 'the chinese boy with a dozen indian followers', referring to the relationship between him and his many indian high school buddies. I never understood how he convinced his friends to listen to him, he just knew how to do it, and did.

As a leader, he's been a fiesty one. I've seen him in action. In his DOTA tournaments (a cybergaming tournament), he will easily scold his teammates with little hesitation whenever they make a mistake. And his words can be quite harsh too, they are hardly encouraging, but instead demeaning. Once, he even scolded me when i was his teammate in a friendly DOTA game. It wasn't til i gave him a knock on the head did he remember that i was, after all, still his OLDER/ELDER brother.

Now one may think: "What's wrong with Francis having high expectations of his followers?".

I say: "You win the tournament behaving like you do, but in reality, you risk losing your friends".

and I say also: "It doesn't matter if you lose tournaments, as long as your teammates/followers feel you've been encouraging and added value to them, you really win".

I could go on with so many other examples:

1. You backstab a friend to gain advantage ground for yourself. You win, but you reallly lose. You lose trust.

2. You retaliate to your enemies by constantly trying to hurt/embarass/harm them. You win, but you really lose. You lose respect.

3. You break a promise because you did think the person you promised to was worth your effort. You win spare time to yourself, but you really lose. You lose credibility.

4. You bribe a person of authority to get a favour. You win the favour, but you really lose. You lose honour.

5. You ignore your friends because you feel you need time to yourself. You win alone-time, but you really lose. You lose your friend's confidence in you.

The list goes on and on......

Try it. Before you make every decision, ask yourself.

"Do I really win?"