Thursday, 6 September 2012
Monday, 13 August 2012
Hari Raya @ Somerset
| Start: | Aug 18, '12 4:00p |
| End: | Aug 18, '12 9:00p |
So here it is again.
What : Tea-time potluck thingy Hari Raya gathering for Sohan
Where : 160 Killiney road 07-01
When : 4pm 18th August 2012
Who : You, of course
Why : Because Sohan says so
Coming
Sohan
Ur (+1)
MKY (+1?)
Diana
Devi
Moose
SnowyB
Elisha
LKM/WWK/LJY
Christopher
Agnes/GohCW
Raymond + family
Not confirmed
Centaur
Sunday, 8 July 2012
Wednesday, 6 June 2012
Lady in red, my newest squeeze...
我的二奶 ;)
I've never seen you looking so lovely as you did tonight,
I've never seen you shine so bright,
I've never seen so many men ask you if you wanted to dance,
They're looking for a little romance, given half a chance,
And I have never seen that dress you're wearing,
Or the highlights in your hair that catch your eyes,
I have been blind;
The lady in red is dancing with me, cheek to cheek,
There's nobody here, it's just you and me,
It's where I want to be,
But I hardly know this beauty by my side,
I'll never forget the way you look tonight...
Tuesday, 29 May 2012
Transit of Venus - 6th June 2012
| Start: | Jun 6, '12 10:00p |
| Location: | Singapore |
The Venus transits occur approximately four times in 243 years. Transits occur in pairs separated by about eight years and these pairs are separated by about 105 or 121 years depending on whether the transits occur in June or in December. The reason for these long intervals lies in the fact that the orbits of Venus and the Earth do not lie in the same plane and a transit can only occur if both planets and the Sun are situated exactly on one line. The last transit took place in 2004 and will occur again this June, exactly 8 years later, visible from Singapore during sunrise.
The next transit of Venus will be on the 10th to 11th of December 2117, so chances are you won't be alive to see the next one.
The transit of Venus is expected to start before sunrise on 6 June in Singapore. The greatest transit (the middle of the transit) occurs at 0933h Singapore Standard (Local) Time. The transit visible from Singapore ends at 1249h.
I saw the previous transit in 2004 with my telescope and its really amazing when you see this black disc crossing the face of the sun and realise that that small tiny disc is approximately the size of the earth. It really makes you stop to think just how tiny we are in comparison to things out there in the universe.
******************
Geocentric Phases Of The 2012 Transit Of Venus
Time is in Singapore Standard Time (SST), UTC +8
Ingress: Contact I @ 06:09:38 (41°)
Ingress: Contact II @ 06:27:34 (38°)
Greatest @ 09:29:36 (345°)
Egress: Contact III @ 12:31:39 (293°)
Egress: Contact IV @ 12:49:35 (290°)
**********************
http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/9573/tov2012fig02.png
********************************
There are events being organised by NUS with talks and opportunities for gazing but I won't be going. I will have my telescope and solar filter ready at my home to view it. If anyone wants to view it from my home, let me know early so that I can arrange the timing for you to view. The entire transit will last around 6.5 hours in the morning. (see timings above)
Clear Skies!
SPACE ADVENTURES (National Library Board) 2nd June 2012
| Start: | Jun 2, '12 10:30a |
| Location: | Singapore, Jurong East Library |
Am helping to dessiminate an upcoming astronomy activity organized by the National Library Board, this coming Saturday, June 2, called SPACE ADVENTURES.
Venue: Jurong Library (Programme Zone, Field)
Date/Time: Saturday 2 June 2012
It will be an all-day event starting from 10:30AM, with activities ranging from astronomy talks, arts & music, games, and stargazing sessions, all open to the public. This would be a great time to bring the family and kids as well!
Some of us will be volunteering our telescope setups for the public to gaze at the planets, bright DSOs, and the Moon. There will also be a giant projection screen to show celestial activity in the evening.
A quick snapshot of some of the activities and schedule:
1) Around the Universe (from 10:30AM, lucky draw, games)
2) Capture Music from the Heart (1:30PM, talk)
3) Boardgames Mania (4PM, games)
4) Urban Astronomy (8:25PM, talk)
5) Night Stargaze (6:30PM onwards, public stargazing)
You may also get more information about this event from the GOLibrary June issue (http://golibrary.nlb.gov.sg/).
Feel free to bring your telescopes too and spread the joy of astronomy!
See you there!
Clear Skies!
Tuesday, 15 May 2012
Sunday, 6 May 2012
Wednesday, 11 April 2012
Friday, 6 April 2012
What's the future, baby? April 6, 2012
One in three babies born today will live to 100, but all will likely lead longer, busier and more interesting lives, writes Catherine Armitage.
My name is Ruby Isabella. I am a baby born in Sydney in 2012. Life is ahead of me. Some of it is unimaginable, but we already know a lot of what I can expect, good and not so good, if things keep going much as they are.
My life will likely be longer, busier and more interesting than yours. It will be healthier if you can get this obesity thing sorted quickly. My parents are middle class and educated, so I've got a great head start. Even so, some things my parents take for granted, I'll do without, like cheap meat, abundant water, a house and plastic. Unlike my grandparents, I won't expect to die in a nuclear war, but a graze on my knee could be a serious medical risk.
Your linear lives look very straight compared to mine. My path will be less ordered than today's progression from school to tertiary education; to a job to marrying, buying a house, having kids - all the while working until retirement followed by death. I won't follow a path at all. It will be more like a progression of connected loops as if around a clock, with learning, work and caring fixed and constant at the centre.
I'm one of about 200 babies born on any day in NSW, or about 300,000 born in Australia every year. If I'd been a boy my parents probably would have named me William Lachlan, the current most popular boys' names. Like two-thirds of the babies born this year, I was born into a marriage. But couples without children are already overtaking the model of the nuclear family - Mum, Dad, a couple of kids - as the most common Australian household type. By the time I'm 18, almost one third of Australian households will have only one person in them.
My life expectancy right now is 81.4 years and William Lachlan's is 79.6 years. By the time I'm middle aged, my life expectancy will have increased to 91 years and William's won't be as far behind, thanks to medical breakthroughs. Of course that's an average, and many of us will live much longer. In fact so many of us - at least one in three - will make it to 100 that the President of Australia will reserve her telegrams for the very lucky or very disciplined few who get to 120. I'll be happy just to meet my great grandchildren.
When I'm 38, at the midpoint of the century, there will be 13.7 million more people in Australia than now. That's a 62 per cent increase. There will be nine billion people in the world and still growing.
At the turn of the century when I'm old, Tanzania and Nigeria will be the third and fifth most populous nations and they will long since have replaced China and India as the world's cheap labour source. But on production lines, they'll be competing with robots or human-robot hybrids which (or who?) can walk your dog and clean your house or assemble an aircraft or a cybernetic device on an automated production line.
But by then production lines might be obsolete because 3D printers will have evolved to produce made-to-order goods from clothes and shoes to household goods before your eyes.
My schooling will become more interesting as I go, as today's digital natives grow up to become teachers. They'll know how to use all the gadgets at their disposal to make learning easier, fun and compatible with my short attention span. I'll always be switched on. I'll crowdsource my big decisions, taking votes among my closest 30 or so net friends. I'll do a university degree of course - just about everyone will. I'll probably work in a knowledge-based service industry which will depend on mining data from customer transactions in unimaginable volumes to determine which services to provide to whom, where and when.
Knowledge will be growing so fast that I'll always be retraining. The workforce on-ramping and off-ramping which women now do in the child-rearing years will spread to men. We'll do it throughout our longer working lives, taking voluntary and involuntary breaks when we opt to recharge, rear children, care for relatives or change jobs.
If I get married, chances are it will be when I'm about 26, and I'll have lived with my partner first. But there's at least a one-in-three chance my marriage will end in divorce. There's about the same chance I won't get married at all. Over my lifetime the idea of family will become much less rigid and less biologically based. But we'll need to care for each other more than ever.
I'm big for my age, as you've probably noticed. My mother may have cause to regret that, just as her mother's mother came to rue drinking and smoking during pregnancy before anyone knew better. There will be no end to mother guilt as foetal conditions in pregnancy are seen to rival a child's genetic inheritance (nature) and social and physical environment (nurture) in determining its life chances.
For my generation of mothers, the pressure in pregnancy will be to ensure not just a healthy birth, but a long life. We'll consume particular nutrients in specified quantities, and shun others. We'll seek not just to minimise the chances of our offspring being prone to specific diseases but also to maximise the chances of them being academic or athletic, male or female.
I'll probably have one child, two at the most, at a younger age than my mother did, because I'll see how hard the juggle was for her. My workplaces will be set up so it will be easier for me to work longer hours while caring for my kids and parents, but I'll still be busier than my parents ever were. That's because I'm a member of the crunch generation, the one that will have to manage the flow-on effects of the postwar baby boom then declining fertility rates. Right now, there are five people in the work force for every person over 65. When I'm in my prime, aged 38 in 2050, there will be only 2.7 workers for each person over 65. I'll be busy.
I'll need to be among the "cognitive elite" to earn enough money for a house in Sydney. When I'm 30, a mid-price house in Sydney will cost $3.5 million. That's about $2 million in today's dollars, compared with $657,000 today. If I'm on an average wage, after almost 30 years aged 65 I'll have earned $8.6 million, or $2.6 million in today's dollars, with accumulated super of $2.3 million ($587,000 in today's dollars). But I won't stop working at 65. I'll keep going as long as I'm well.
I won't pay cash for anything. The debit and credit chip implanted in my hand will take care of things.
Carbon will be expensive in the low-carbon economy, recalibrated for climate change. In my late teenage years carbon dioxide emissions will plateau finally and half of them will be attributable to aviation. International air travel will revert to being a privilege afforded only by the rich.
I'll look back with disbelief at today's profligacy with plastic made from fossil fuels, in clothes and carpets and take-away containers. I'm unlikely to buy one, but hybrid petrol-electric cars will have much smaller, more efficient engines. Sensors will cause them to brake automatically to avoid impacts. In the cities they will run on smart roads also embedded with sensors which keep them a safe distance apart at a safe speed.
People and objects will communicate through sensors in everything from fridges to lounges to bathroom cabinets, so the fridge can restock, the lounge can tell us we're putting on weight, and the bathroom cabinet re-orders toilet paper.
There's a 70 per cent chance I'll live in a capital city. I'm not likely to see a Tasmanian devil in the wild. The golden bandicoot, eastern quoll and brush-tailed tree rat will become extinct by the time I'm 30. But I've a good chance of seeing a mammoth in the flesh, just as soon as scientists perfect the re-programming into an embryo of a mammoth cell preserved in ice and implant it into an Indian elephant.
In Australia, the Christian messages of Easter and Christmas will struggle for attention with other voices as secularism spreads. I've a good chance of being in the "Nons" (non-believers) which will be the fastest growing group in the developed world. But worldwide the figures for believers will increase as religious freedom revives in China.
Who knows, in my lifetime we may even get answers to some of the biggest questions confronting humanity. Brain research will lead us closer to the secret of human consciousness. Imagine if, before I die, I can search my soul - literally.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life/whats-the-future-baby-20120405-1wfez.html#ixzz1rFV6qczk
My name is Ruby Isabella. I am a baby born in Sydney in 2012. Life is ahead of me. Some of it is unimaginable, but we already know a lot of what I can expect, good and not so good, if things keep going much as they are.
My life will likely be longer, busier and more interesting than yours. It will be healthier if you can get this obesity thing sorted quickly. My parents are middle class and educated, so I've got a great head start. Even so, some things my parents take for granted, I'll do without, like cheap meat, abundant water, a house and plastic. Unlike my grandparents, I won't expect to die in a nuclear war, but a graze on my knee could be a serious medical risk.
Your linear lives look very straight compared to mine. My path will be less ordered than today's progression from school to tertiary education; to a job to marrying, buying a house, having kids - all the while working until retirement followed by death. I won't follow a path at all. It will be more like a progression of connected loops as if around a clock, with learning, work and caring fixed and constant at the centre.
I'm one of about 200 babies born on any day in NSW, or about 300,000 born in Australia every year. If I'd been a boy my parents probably would have named me William Lachlan, the current most popular boys' names. Like two-thirds of the babies born this year, I was born into a marriage. But couples without children are already overtaking the model of the nuclear family - Mum, Dad, a couple of kids - as the most common Australian household type. By the time I'm 18, almost one third of Australian households will have only one person in them.
My life expectancy right now is 81.4 years and William Lachlan's is 79.6 years. By the time I'm middle aged, my life expectancy will have increased to 91 years and William's won't be as far behind, thanks to medical breakthroughs. Of course that's an average, and many of us will live much longer. In fact so many of us - at least one in three - will make it to 100 that the President of Australia will reserve her telegrams for the very lucky or very disciplined few who get to 120. I'll be happy just to meet my great grandchildren.
When I'm 38, at the midpoint of the century, there will be 13.7 million more people in Australia than now. That's a 62 per cent increase. There will be nine billion people in the world and still growing.
At the turn of the century when I'm old, Tanzania and Nigeria will be the third and fifth most populous nations and they will long since have replaced China and India as the world's cheap labour source. But on production lines, they'll be competing with robots or human-robot hybrids which (or who?) can walk your dog and clean your house or assemble an aircraft or a cybernetic device on an automated production line.
But by then production lines might be obsolete because 3D printers will have evolved to produce made-to-order goods from clothes and shoes to household goods before your eyes.
My schooling will become more interesting as I go, as today's digital natives grow up to become teachers. They'll know how to use all the gadgets at their disposal to make learning easier, fun and compatible with my short attention span. I'll always be switched on. I'll crowdsource my big decisions, taking votes among my closest 30 or so net friends. I'll do a university degree of course - just about everyone will. I'll probably work in a knowledge-based service industry which will depend on mining data from customer transactions in unimaginable volumes to determine which services to provide to whom, where and when.
Knowledge will be growing so fast that I'll always be retraining. The workforce on-ramping and off-ramping which women now do in the child-rearing years will spread to men. We'll do it throughout our longer working lives, taking voluntary and involuntary breaks when we opt to recharge, rear children, care for relatives or change jobs.
If I get married, chances are it will be when I'm about 26, and I'll have lived with my partner first. But there's at least a one-in-three chance my marriage will end in divorce. There's about the same chance I won't get married at all. Over my lifetime the idea of family will become much less rigid and less biologically based. But we'll need to care for each other more than ever.
I'm big for my age, as you've probably noticed. My mother may have cause to regret that, just as her mother's mother came to rue drinking and smoking during pregnancy before anyone knew better. There will be no end to mother guilt as foetal conditions in pregnancy are seen to rival a child's genetic inheritance (nature) and social and physical environment (nurture) in determining its life chances.
For my generation of mothers, the pressure in pregnancy will be to ensure not just a healthy birth, but a long life. We'll consume particular nutrients in specified quantities, and shun others. We'll seek not just to minimise the chances of our offspring being prone to specific diseases but also to maximise the chances of them being academic or athletic, male or female.
I'll probably have one child, two at the most, at a younger age than my mother did, because I'll see how hard the juggle was for her. My workplaces will be set up so it will be easier for me to work longer hours while caring for my kids and parents, but I'll still be busier than my parents ever were. That's because I'm a member of the crunch generation, the one that will have to manage the flow-on effects of the postwar baby boom then declining fertility rates. Right now, there are five people in the work force for every person over 65. When I'm in my prime, aged 38 in 2050, there will be only 2.7 workers for each person over 65. I'll be busy.
I'll need to be among the "cognitive elite" to earn enough money for a house in Sydney. When I'm 30, a mid-price house in Sydney will cost $3.5 million. That's about $2 million in today's dollars, compared with $657,000 today. If I'm on an average wage, after almost 30 years aged 65 I'll have earned $8.6 million, or $2.6 million in today's dollars, with accumulated super of $2.3 million ($587,000 in today's dollars). But I won't stop working at 65. I'll keep going as long as I'm well.
I won't pay cash for anything. The debit and credit chip implanted in my hand will take care of things.
Carbon will be expensive in the low-carbon economy, recalibrated for climate change. In my late teenage years carbon dioxide emissions will plateau finally and half of them will be attributable to aviation. International air travel will revert to being a privilege afforded only by the rich.
I'll look back with disbelief at today's profligacy with plastic made from fossil fuels, in clothes and carpets and take-away containers. I'm unlikely to buy one, but hybrid petrol-electric cars will have much smaller, more efficient engines. Sensors will cause them to brake automatically to avoid impacts. In the cities they will run on smart roads also embedded with sensors which keep them a safe distance apart at a safe speed.
People and objects will communicate through sensors in everything from fridges to lounges to bathroom cabinets, so the fridge can restock, the lounge can tell us we're putting on weight, and the bathroom cabinet re-orders toilet paper.
There's a 70 per cent chance I'll live in a capital city. I'm not likely to see a Tasmanian devil in the wild. The golden bandicoot, eastern quoll and brush-tailed tree rat will become extinct by the time I'm 30. But I've a good chance of seeing a mammoth in the flesh, just as soon as scientists perfect the re-programming into an embryo of a mammoth cell preserved in ice and implant it into an Indian elephant.
In Australia, the Christian messages of Easter and Christmas will struggle for attention with other voices as secularism spreads. I've a good chance of being in the "Nons" (non-believers) which will be the fastest growing group in the developed world. But worldwide the figures for believers will increase as religious freedom revives in China.
Who knows, in my lifetime we may even get answers to some of the biggest questions confronting humanity. Brain research will lead us closer to the secret of human consciousness. Imagine if, before I die, I can search my soul - literally.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life/whats-the-future-baby-20120405-1wfez.html#ixzz1rFV6qczk
Sunday, 25 March 2012
Colours on Sunday
Its been at least 26 years since I last painted anything and that was back in school during art class! lol
Bought the easel, paints, palettes... the whole she-bang for Niangzi to indulge herself but decided to take a shot at it myself today after getting enough inspiration ogling at umm.... lets just say... fashion trends, walking Orchard today.
This was actually quite fun. Jee Yin sitting next to me watching and inquisitively asking every 2 seconds "Papa what are you doing?", mingled with the occasional "Papa I want to do painting also."
Going to make him a mini easel so he can sit and "paint" too, the next time either Niangzi or myself decides to paint again.
This painting btw, is titled;
"Sol", 2012
Watercolour on Paper
16.54" x 11.69"
Sunday, 11 March 2012
Midnight Goreng Pisang Madness (Fried Banana Fritters) - March 2012
... because we really, REALLY felt like having some.
Friday, 10 February 2012
Tuesday, 31 January 2012
Images of the Lunar New Year 4709 (January 23 - February 6, 2012)
Singapore - Ipoh - Penang - Ipoh - KL - Singapore
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
Finding Success in Life is like playing Super Mario Bros.
If you've been alive and living on planet Earth (at least the more developed portions of planet Earth with access to computer games), you would be familiar with the game. In it, you control a little short stunted animated character dressed as a plumber and jump him through and over pipes, ducts and brick walls, taking lifts and ladders to reach and to retrieve gold coins all the while avoiding pit falls and dangerous turtle-like creatures. Sounds surreal? Well, strangely enough, life is like that too. It doesn't matter where you are or where you live, real life, even in the parts that have never seen or heard of Super Mario before, follow the same patterns.
We've all read reports on the widening incoming gap in today's society. The rich are getting richer, while the poor are getting poorer. Social mobility is on the decline even in the self-proclaimed Land of the Free and their steadfast belief in the American dream, where a good life awaits those who work hard enough. Unfortunately, as the income gap widens, class stratifications begin to set in. If your parents are poor, you are statistically likely to remain just as poor while those who's parents are rich are increasing their wealth. So what is social mobility? Social mobility, is simply the ability to climb up the economic scale of the social ladder and to cross class barriers and stratifications.
So what you may ask, has this got to do with a little animated plumber? Plenty it would seem. Real life mimics art, or perhaps it is art designed after real life. The path you choose matters. The path to success is a maze of rising platforms, climbing ladders, hazards, slides and pits. Choose the right ones and you progress upwards like in the game where invariable, the goal is ever upward or forward. The higher you go, the harder the game becomes for you to progress.
Different people would choose differently. Some take the slow but steady ladder climb, other choose to take a leap for that fast rising platform to try and get a lead. Many hit hazards that retard their progress, some slide all the way back down to zero. The paths are many, and they start from childhood. The group of friends you choose to hang out with, the school you attend, the choice of subjects you take, all form the starting levels of your maze, In the adult phase in life, the choices become even more complicated. The career you select, the academic qualifications you obtain, the network of people you mingle with, the type of investments you make, they are all paths upward or downward. As you progress, the choices of paths for you may increase, or decrease depending on your initial choices. If Mario had jumped onto that missed platform instead of taking the easy gold coin on that side detour, would that larger cluster of gold coins now be for his taking?
Careers and success paths are rickety climbs, choices stacked upon choices. As you jump from platform to platform, your choices change. It is a continual process that never ends unless you hit a dead end. The midlife crisis is a common phenomenon that manifests itself when people in their midpoint in life, right after their initial frenzied charge, find themselves facing limited choices, missed chances, regretted paths or worse, dead ends. The select few, more capable or simply more lucky, made that string of correct choices and made the perfectly timed jumps to identify and leap for the rising platforms that let them proceed ever higher, leaving most of their peers behind.
To make matters worse, the world is innately unfair. Some people are born with higher starting points and can perhaps, even tap on the opportunities provided for by the efforts of their previous generations. Success of course is never assured and they too could fall as readily as everyone else. They too need to make the right choices at the right time but unlike the vast majority of us, some were born with a silver spoon and they start life with an inbuilt head start.
There are five key ingredients in every choice. Gamers do this every single time their little plumber is faced with a choice of paths. All five must be present in order for success to occur. Opportunity, recognition, want, essentials and position.
Opportunity. Firstly, an in opportunity must present itself. Unfortunately, this is beyond our control and your starting point matters. When an opportunity presents itself however, the other four kick in.
Recognition. Do you recognize the opportunity? You can hardly make a choice if you don't even recognize that an opportunity has present itself.
Want. Do you want to take advantage of the opportunity? Some people might see an opportunity but decide they don't want it. They are perhaps, already satisfied with their lives or prefer a more sedate leisurely life. You have to want to take the opportunity for you to progress.
Essentials. You might recognize an opportunity and want it, but do you have want it takes? Do you qualify for the job? Did you climb the right platform in your previous job to gain the right skills to take advantage of this new opportunity? You need to pad your tool kit with the right set of essential skills, qualifications and capabilities.
Position. You have everything it takes and are ready. The opportunity has presented itself and you see it, but, you are not in a position to grab it. The plumber is still lingering at a different place. Many people face this. They might be tied contractually and cannot leave, or they may be watching from the sidelines, situationally unready because of family problems or simply being in the wrong place at the right time. Like a footballer who is caught on the back heel and wrong footed just as the ball arrives at his feet in front of an open goal.
As the little plumber climbs and jumps his way upward, avoiding hazards and seeking the right platforms, these five items are continuosly evaluated over and over again. We too have to do the same assessments as we navigate through life, jumping from job to job, upgrading or downgrading property investments, buying and selling investments, choosing life partners, business partners, friends, or simply deciding whether or not to linger this morning for an additional cup of coffee before going to work. Every choice has bearing on the next set of present opportunities or paths before you. Can you see far ahead enough to plan? Are you perhaps, hedging your bets to take the route that you guess would lead to greater heights? Or are you taking the path of least resistance, preferring instead that upward is not necessarily the best life choice and a leisurely route is more desired. Are you making the "right" string of choices to reach where you want to go in life? As you stand on your current platform and stare out across at the other floors and platforms, watching as some of your peers climb stellarly past you while others, those moving at a more leisured pace or perhaps stuck in a more torturous path, have been left far below, the choices are yours to make. Unlike the little plumber Mario and his brother Luigi, the game controller is firmly in your hands and where you go depends on you and you alone.
We've all read reports on the widening incoming gap in today's society. The rich are getting richer, while the poor are getting poorer. Social mobility is on the decline even in the self-proclaimed Land of the Free and their steadfast belief in the American dream, where a good life awaits those who work hard enough. Unfortunately, as the income gap widens, class stratifications begin to set in. If your parents are poor, you are statistically likely to remain just as poor while those who's parents are rich are increasing their wealth. So what is social mobility? Social mobility, is simply the ability to climb up the economic scale of the social ladder and to cross class barriers and stratifications.
So what you may ask, has this got to do with a little animated plumber? Plenty it would seem. Real life mimics art, or perhaps it is art designed after real life. The path you choose matters. The path to success is a maze of rising platforms, climbing ladders, hazards, slides and pits. Choose the right ones and you progress upwards like in the game where invariable, the goal is ever upward or forward. The higher you go, the harder the game becomes for you to progress.
Different people would choose differently. Some take the slow but steady ladder climb, other choose to take a leap for that fast rising platform to try and get a lead. Many hit hazards that retard their progress, some slide all the way back down to zero. The paths are many, and they start from childhood. The group of friends you choose to hang out with, the school you attend, the choice of subjects you take, all form the starting levels of your maze, In the adult phase in life, the choices become even more complicated. The career you select, the academic qualifications you obtain, the network of people you mingle with, the type of investments you make, they are all paths upward or downward. As you progress, the choices of paths for you may increase, or decrease depending on your initial choices. If Mario had jumped onto that missed platform instead of taking the easy gold coin on that side detour, would that larger cluster of gold coins now be for his taking?
Careers and success paths are rickety climbs, choices stacked upon choices. As you jump from platform to platform, your choices change. It is a continual process that never ends unless you hit a dead end. The midlife crisis is a common phenomenon that manifests itself when people in their midpoint in life, right after their initial frenzied charge, find themselves facing limited choices, missed chances, regretted paths or worse, dead ends. The select few, more capable or simply more lucky, made that string of correct choices and made the perfectly timed jumps to identify and leap for the rising platforms that let them proceed ever higher, leaving most of their peers behind.
To make matters worse, the world is innately unfair. Some people are born with higher starting points and can perhaps, even tap on the opportunities provided for by the efforts of their previous generations. Success of course is never assured and they too could fall as readily as everyone else. They too need to make the right choices at the right time but unlike the vast majority of us, some were born with a silver spoon and they start life with an inbuilt head start.
There are five key ingredients in every choice. Gamers do this every single time their little plumber is faced with a choice of paths. All five must be present in order for success to occur. Opportunity, recognition, want, essentials and position.
Opportunity. Firstly, an in opportunity must present itself. Unfortunately, this is beyond our control and your starting point matters. When an opportunity presents itself however, the other four kick in.
Recognition. Do you recognize the opportunity? You can hardly make a choice if you don't even recognize that an opportunity has present itself.
Want. Do you want to take advantage of the opportunity? Some people might see an opportunity but decide they don't want it. They are perhaps, already satisfied with their lives or prefer a more sedate leisurely life. You have to want to take the opportunity for you to progress.
Essentials. You might recognize an opportunity and want it, but do you have want it takes? Do you qualify for the job? Did you climb the right platform in your previous job to gain the right skills to take advantage of this new opportunity? You need to pad your tool kit with the right set of essential skills, qualifications and capabilities.
Position. You have everything it takes and are ready. The opportunity has presented itself and you see it, but, you are not in a position to grab it. The plumber is still lingering at a different place. Many people face this. They might be tied contractually and cannot leave, or they may be watching from the sidelines, situationally unready because of family problems or simply being in the wrong place at the right time. Like a footballer who is caught on the back heel and wrong footed just as the ball arrives at his feet in front of an open goal.
As the little plumber climbs and jumps his way upward, avoiding hazards and seeking the right platforms, these five items are continuosly evaluated over and over again. We too have to do the same assessments as we navigate through life, jumping from job to job, upgrading or downgrading property investments, buying and selling investments, choosing life partners, business partners, friends, or simply deciding whether or not to linger this morning for an additional cup of coffee before going to work. Every choice has bearing on the next set of present opportunities or paths before you. Can you see far ahead enough to plan? Are you perhaps, hedging your bets to take the route that you guess would lead to greater heights? Or are you taking the path of least resistance, preferring instead that upward is not necessarily the best life choice and a leisurely route is more desired. Are you making the "right" string of choices to reach where you want to go in life? As you stand on your current platform and stare out across at the other floors and platforms, watching as some of your peers climb stellarly past you while others, those moving at a more leisured pace or perhaps stuck in a more torturous path, have been left far below, the choices are yours to make. Unlike the little plumber Mario and his brother Luigi, the game controller is firmly in your hands and where you go depends on you and you alone.
Finding Success in Life is like playing Super Mario Bros.
If you've been alive and living on planet Earth (at least the more developed portions of planet Earth with access to computer games), you would be familiar with the game. In it, you control a little short stunted animated character dressed as a plumber and jump him through and over pipes, ducts and brick walls, taking lifts and ladders to reach and to retrieve gold coins all the while avoiding pit falls and dangerous turtle-like creatures. Sounds surreal? Well, strangely enough, life is like that too. It doesn't matter where you are or where you live, real life, even in the parts that have never seen or heard of Super Mario before, follows the same pattern.
We've all read reports othe widening incoming gap. The rich are getting richer, while the poor are getting poorer. Social mobility is on the decline even in the self-proclaimed Land of the Free where the sky is the limit and the steadfast belief in the American dream, where a good life awaits those who work hard enough. Unfortunately, as the income gap widens, class stratifications begin to set in. If your parents are poor, you are statistically likely to remain just as poor while those who's parents are rich are increasing their wealth.
So what you may ask, has this got to do with a little animated plumber? Plenty it would seem. Real life mimics art, or perhaps it is art designed after real life. The path you choose matters. The path to success is a maze of rising platforms, climbing ladders, hazards, slides and pits. Choose the right ones and you progress upwards like in the game where invariable, the goal is ever upward or forward.
Different people would choose differently. Some take the slow but steady ladder climb, other choose to take a leap for that fast rising platform to try and get a lead. Many hit hazards and retard their progress, some slide all the way back down to zero. The paths are many, and they start from childhood. The group of friends you choose to hang out with, the school you attend, the choice of subjects you take, all form the starting levels of your maze, In the adult phase in life, the choices before more complicated. The career you select, the academic qualifications you obtain, the network of people you mingle with, the type of investments you make, they are all paths upward or downward. As you progress, the choices of paths for you may increase, or decrease depending on your initial choices. If Mario had jumped onto that missed platform instead of taking the easy gold coin on that side detour, would that larger cluster of gold coins now be for his taking?
Careers and success paths are rickety climbs, choices stacked upon choices. As you jump from platform to platform, your choices change. It is a continual process that never ends unless you hit a dead end. The midlife crisis is a related phenomenon that manifests itself when people in their midpoint in life, right after their initial frenzied charge, find themselves facing limited choices, missed chances, regretted paths or worse, dead ends. The select few, more capable or simply more lucky, made that string of correct choices and made the perfectly timed jumps to identify and leap for the rising platforms that let them proceed ever higher, leaving most of their peers behind.
Unfortunately, the world is innately unfair. Some people are born with higher starting points and can perhaps, even tap on the opportunities provided for by the efforts of their previous generations. Success of course is never assured and they too could fall as readily as everyone else. They too need to make the right choices at the right time.
There are five key ingredients in every choice. Gamers do this every single time their little plumber is faced with a choice of paths. All five must be present in order for success to occur. Opportunity, recognition, want, essentials and position.
Opportunity. Firstly, an in opportunity must present itself. Unfortunately, this is beyond our control and your starting point matters. When an opportunity presents itself however, the other four kicks in.
Recognition. Do you recognize the opportunity? You can hardly make a choice if you don't even recognize that an opportunity has present itself,
Want. Do you want to take advantage of the opportunity? Some people might see an opportunity but decide they don't want it. They are perhaps, already satisfied with their lives or prefer a more sedate leisurely life. You have to want to take the opportunity for you to progress.
Essentials. You might recognize and opportunity and want it, but do you have want it takes? Do you qualify for the job? Did you climb the right platform in your previous job to gain the right skills to take advantage of this new opportunity? You need to pad your tool kit with the right set of essential skills, qualifications and capabilities.
Position. You have everything it takes and are ready. The opportunity has presented itself and you see it, but, you are not in a position to grab it. The plumber is still lingering at a different place. Many people face this. They might be tied contractually and cannot leave, or they may be watching from the sidelines, situationally unready because of family problems or simply being in the wrong place at the right time. Like a footballer who is caught on the back heel and wrong footed just as the ball arrives at his feet in front of an open goal.
As the little plumber climbs and jumps his way upward, avoiding hazards and seeking the right platforms, these five items are continuosly evaluated over and over again. We too have to do the same assessments as we navigate through life, jumping from job to job, upgrading or downgrading property investments, buying and selling investments, choosing life partners, business partners, friends, or simply deciding whether or not to linger this morning for an additional cup of coffee before going to work. Every choice has bearing on the next set of present opportunities or paths before you. Can you see far ahead enough to plan? Are you perhaps, hedging your bets to take the route that you guess would lead to greater heights? Or are you taking the path of least resistance, preferring instead that upward is not necessarily the best life choice and a leisurely route is more desired. Are you making the "right" string of choices to reach where you want to go in life? As you stand on your current platform and stare out across at the other floors and platforms, watching as some of your peers climb stellarly past you while others, those moving at a more leisured pace or perhaps stuck in a more torturous path, have been left far below, the choices are yours to make. Unlike the little plumber Mario and his brother Luigi, the game controller is firmly in your hands and when you go depends on you and you alone.
We've all read reports othe widening incoming gap. The rich are getting richer, while the poor are getting poorer. Social mobility is on the decline even in the self-proclaimed Land of the Free where the sky is the limit and the steadfast belief in the American dream, where a good life awaits those who work hard enough. Unfortunately, as the income gap widens, class stratifications begin to set in. If your parents are poor, you are statistically likely to remain just as poor while those who's parents are rich are increasing their wealth.
So what you may ask, has this got to do with a little animated plumber? Plenty it would seem. Real life mimics art, or perhaps it is art designed after real life. The path you choose matters. The path to success is a maze of rising platforms, climbing ladders, hazards, slides and pits. Choose the right ones and you progress upwards like in the game where invariable, the goal is ever upward or forward.
Different people would choose differently. Some take the slow but steady ladder climb, other choose to take a leap for that fast rising platform to try and get a lead. Many hit hazards and retard their progress, some slide all the way back down to zero. The paths are many, and they start from childhood. The group of friends you choose to hang out with, the school you attend, the choice of subjects you take, all form the starting levels of your maze, In the adult phase in life, the choices before more complicated. The career you select, the academic qualifications you obtain, the network of people you mingle with, the type of investments you make, they are all paths upward or downward. As you progress, the choices of paths for you may increase, or decrease depending on your initial choices. If Mario had jumped onto that missed platform instead of taking the easy gold coin on that side detour, would that larger cluster of gold coins now be for his taking?
Careers and success paths are rickety climbs, choices stacked upon choices. As you jump from platform to platform, your choices change. It is a continual process that never ends unless you hit a dead end. The midlife crisis is a related phenomenon that manifests itself when people in their midpoint in life, right after their initial frenzied charge, find themselves facing limited choices, missed chances, regretted paths or worse, dead ends. The select few, more capable or simply more lucky, made that string of correct choices and made the perfectly timed jumps to identify and leap for the rising platforms that let them proceed ever higher, leaving most of their peers behind.
Unfortunately, the world is innately unfair. Some people are born with higher starting points and can perhaps, even tap on the opportunities provided for by the efforts of their previous generations. Success of course is never assured and they too could fall as readily as everyone else. They too need to make the right choices at the right time.
There are five key ingredients in every choice. Gamers do this every single time their little plumber is faced with a choice of paths. All five must be present in order for success to occur. Opportunity, recognition, want, essentials and position.
Opportunity. Firstly, an in opportunity must present itself. Unfortunately, this is beyond our control and your starting point matters. When an opportunity presents itself however, the other four kicks in.
Recognition. Do you recognize the opportunity? You can hardly make a choice if you don't even recognize that an opportunity has present itself,
Want. Do you want to take advantage of the opportunity? Some people might see an opportunity but decide they don't want it. They are perhaps, already satisfied with their lives or prefer a more sedate leisurely life. You have to want to take the opportunity for you to progress.
Essentials. You might recognize and opportunity and want it, but do you have want it takes? Do you qualify for the job? Did you climb the right platform in your previous job to gain the right skills to take advantage of this new opportunity? You need to pad your tool kit with the right set of essential skills, qualifications and capabilities.
Position. You have everything it takes and are ready. The opportunity has presented itself and you see it, but, you are not in a position to grab it. The plumber is still lingering at a different place. Many people face this. They might be tied contractually and cannot leave, or they may be watching from the sidelines, situationally unready because of family problems or simply being in the wrong place at the right time. Like a footballer who is caught on the back heel and wrong footed just as the ball arrives at his feet in front of an open goal.
As the little plumber climbs and jumps his way upward, avoiding hazards and seeking the right platforms, these five items are continuosly evaluated over and over again. We too have to do the same assessments as we navigate through life, jumping from job to job, upgrading or downgrading property investments, buying and selling investments, choosing life partners, business partners, friends, or simply deciding whether or not to linger this morning for an additional cup of coffee before going to work. Every choice has bearing on the next set of present opportunities or paths before you. Can you see far ahead enough to plan? Are you perhaps, hedging your bets to take the route that you guess would lead to greater heights? Or are you taking the path of least resistance, preferring instead that upward is not necessarily the best life choice and a leisurely route is more desired. Are you making the "right" string of choices to reach where you want to go in life? As you stand on your current platform and stare out across at the other floors and platforms, watching as some of your peers climb stellarly past you while others, those moving at a more leisured pace or perhaps stuck in a more torturous path, have been left far below, the choices are yours to make. Unlike the little plumber Mario and his brother Luigi, the game controller is firmly in your hands and when you go depends on you and you alone.
Friday, 20 January 2012
Happy Lunar New Year 4709 (Gregorian Calender 2012) Everyone!
| Start: | Jan 3, '12 |
| End: | Feb 6, '12 |
| Location: | Globally |
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