CHINESE NEW YEAR

Year of the Rat begins on 7th Feb 2008. We, the ethnic Chinese in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and those in Melbourne, Cairo, Moscow, Paris, London and Boston, and all other placess of the world, will be celebrating Chinese New Year together with the Chinese in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and China tomorrow.

By the way, how many of you know that the Koreans, the Vietnamese and Mongolians are also celebrating for their Lunar New Year which falls on the same day as the Chinese New Year?

“Rush Home” is the headline on today’s Star newspaper. It reported that a million of travellers were on the road as Chinese New Year exodus began. My two brothers, Kong Fatt and Kong Teck, and their wives and children together with my sister and her son are leaving KL at about 3pm to Segamat to celebrate Chinese New Year with us. Kong Teck and wife took a MAS flight to KLIA from Sibu this morning. We expect them to arrive in the evening to have family reunion dinner, all dishes specially cooked by my wife, on the eve of Chinese New Year.

I came back much earlier on 2 Feb, taking the 1525WIB MAS flight from Medan to KLIA. My wife and our youngest daughter, Josephine, drove all the way from Segamat to fetch me from KLIA. Our elder son, James, arrived home at about 11am this morning. He came back in his friend’s car, leaving Singapore at 6am. Our eldest daughter, just given birth to a baby boy, Jonas, in early morning on 16 January, is staying back in Kuching and not able to join us. So are Julie and John. Both of them are still in Melbourne, Australia.

To all my friends, pals and buddies, I wish you “Gong Xi Fa Cai” (in Mandarin) or “Kong Hee Fatt Choy” (in Cantonese). May you and your families be blessed and may you prosper as we celebrate a joyful and happy Chinese New Year on 7 Feb 2008.

TOMORROW WILL NEVER COME (There Is Always A Tomorrow For Tomorrow)

Have you ever heard of a guy’s plan to rappel off a sheer cliff of 100 feet near Bear Trap Ranch in Colorado, USA? All week he had been preparing himself for the rappelling trip. His physical preparation included “learning the ropes” on smaller cliffs and his mental preparation involved watching and talking to veteran rappellers.

However, when the day he was supposed to go, he was still very busy with a camping trip. The next day no one was going. The day after something else came up. From then until the end of the week he was going to make the rappelling trip….tomorrow. It never happened!

To this day, 20 years later, he still wonders,” Why didn’t I go? Was I unsure of my skills, was I too timid to take up the challenge or …….?

Something to share…..

When I was the Manager of Mekassar Estate near Bandar Mudhazam Shah, Keratong, Pahang from December 1985 – November 1988, I always wanted to make a trip to Tioman Island. However, I kept on postponing the trip. I have not visited the island till today.

Then again, when I was managing Morisem Estate in Kinabatangan, Sabah from December 1988 – December 1990, my intended trip to Brunei had also never come about till today.

When I was Plantation Controller for JCC Group from June 1995-December 2003, I used to visit its plantations in Sabah. I talked so much of making a trip to Labuan one of these days, but it never happened too. My problem was that I kept postponing the trip thinking that I could make it tomorrow.

This is the trouble of human’s weakness, keep postponing our plan as if we can make it tomorrow. Then we often find excuses because there is always a tomorrow for tomorrow. How true it is when someone says, “Tomorrow will never come.”

How to breakthrough this human’s weakness? Well, I think we have to keep telling ourselves “Do it now” whether it is a planned trip, a job assignment, a work programme or anything we plan to do today. We have to constantly remind ourselves to do it “Today Not Tomorrow”. Otherwise, there is always another tomorrow when tomorrow comes.

Believe in Yourself

If you are just like the cat that seeing itself as a lion in the mirror, then you are able to see yourself as a winner and not a loser. It is all in your mind and you are what you think you are! When you are told that you were born to be an eagle, then don’t behave like a chicken. Neither do you fly like a pigeon. Stretch out your wings and soar like an eagle into the high sky where there is no limit to vision.

It is a fact of life that everyone wants to be “somebody” such as a doctor, an engineer, an accountant, a successful businessman or a proud planter. Yes. You need to have a burning desire to be “somebody”. Once you have that burning desire, you start to believe in yourself. That is important. There is power in believing yourself. You will obviously build up your self confidence. When you visualize yourself as a winner, then you will succeed and will not become a failure. However, all successful men did go through much failure and even some big failure before they became successful. They learned as they had gone through many trials and errors.

When you give up believing in yourself and lack of self confidence, then you are afraid to try because you are worried that you will fail. You will loss your spirit to give it a try for you dare not fail. But is it not better to try and fail than never try at all? Have you ever heard of “Failure is the mother of success”? How true it is that failure is a major contributor to its success!

It is all right to make mistake for the first time but always bear in mind not to give up the first time you fall down. On the other hand, do not repeat the same mistake over and over again. Otherwise, you will give an impression that you have never learned from your mistakes. However, if you can attempt to do it right the first time, why not?

Believe in yourself, build up your self confidence, have big vision of your future, keep trying and always do your best in whatever circumstances, then you are on your road to success!

Get Them Involved, Not Just Tell & Show

Have you ever encountered that when you tell your subordinate to do something, he/she will come out with a lot of excuses for not doing what had been told to do? The lame excuse is none other than “Sorry, Sir, I forget.” I am sure you’ll “vomit blood” of having subordinate with that kind of attitude.

Worst of the situation is even after showing him/her how to do it, yet the work has not been carried out. What’s an excuse when he/she says, “Sorry, Sir. I can’t remember.” This time, you almost “vomited blood.”

Now you have to involve him/her in actual doing it, then he/she understands not only how to do it but also why and when to do it.

In plantation management, there is no short cut to get work done. Plantation Manager must walk the fields often with his Field Assistants. They may be good in theory but they are lack of actual working experience. Don’t just tell and show them, get them involved in all field operations, from jungle clearing right up to maturity when due for harvesting, one at a time with hand-on training and guidance, then they will understand that there is no way they can forget what had been told. It’s not may but must remember what had been shown in order to grow in their career path as a Practical Planter. No planter can run away from his commitment and integrity.

Likewise, the Field Assistant must walk the fields even more often with his Field Conductors. This is MLM, not Multi-Level Marketing but Multi-Level Management. They must learn the “tricks” from Plantation Manager and know how to involve his Field Conductors to get work done as expected from them.

Get everybody down the lines to get involved. Isn’t this "TEAMWORK"?

A Rare Photo

This photo was taken when Tan Peng Hoo and I were on our way back to Jambi after our visit to plantations in Sumsel Region on 26 July 2007.

When we reached Pauh after Sarolangun, suddenly I saw this man carrying something strange on his back as he walked along the roadside. I took out my camera but my driver already drove pass him. Then to my astonishment, I saw him actually carrying a wounded wild boar on his back. I told my driver to stop the Land Cruiser and waited for him to come near. I quickly rolled down the mirror, stopped him and told him that I wanted to take a photo of him carrying the wild boar. Guess what he said? “Mau bayar, pak”, that’s what he asked from me. No big deal. So I paid him a token sum before I took the photo.

Later on, I told Peng Hoo that this picture is worth much more than the small sum of money I paid the man as it was taken by chance. I wouldn’t have taken this rare picture if I did not bring along my camera.

My friends, whenever you go outing remember to bring along your digital cameras. You never know what you will come across by change to snap a spectacular photograph.

The Miracle Tree

When Pak Joni MS came to see me on 15.1.2008 morning, I felt very happy when he told me that his book on “Kelor” or the "drumstick tree" (Moringa olcifcra) has finally been published. The book was co-edited by Pak M Sitorus and his wife, Bu Nelly Katharina.

We have Moringa trees planted in Bukit Indah Estate in Jambi Region and I was told by Pak Hendra Sugianto that it was our Agronomy Consultant, Mr. Chiu Sheng Bin, who introduced it. It was Pak Tan Peng Hoo who downloaded all the information on the botany, method of cultivation and its great nutrition value and encouraged them to translate into Bahasa Indonesia.

Moringa tree is well known as “The Miracle Tree” because its leaves and pods can be an extremely valuable source of nutrition for people of all ages. Our intention is to have many Moringa trees planted near labour quarters in our plantations as if we are growing multi-vitamins for our workers so that they can have Moringa leaf powder and pods in their daily meals.

Do get hold a copy of this book. It’s on sales in bookshops in Indonesia. By the way you can get more information when you visit the website of www.treeforlife.org

Friends, Pals & Buddies

On 8 January 2008 morning, I was waiting for Pak Chiu Sheng Bin at Sun Plaza, Medan. We had an appointment at 11.30am to have lunch at Super Kitchen Restaurant on LG floor. He was taking 1350 flight to Penang. While waiting, it came across my mind that those people passing by in front of me were all strangers to me. None of them was my friend until Pak Chiu arrived. Then I suddenly realized that the friends I have are actually very few in number.

Even though we may claim to have a thousand friends but if we feel that we have none to spare, then the thousand in number is still inadequate. We have to make new friends in areas of our residence, our workplace and marketplace and ensure that they keep growing in number. Nevertheless, we will have to choose our friends wisely. Select those who are with us and not against us.

Obviously, birds of feathers flock together. We choose friends of same dream and same vision. We select friends who have same purpose in life and are going in the same direction with us. We are able to click closely with friends with same hobbies and share more on same interests. Make friends with those who can give us constant support and big hope and are able to lift up our spirit. These are the people with whom we want to expand our relationship.

Mix with the right type of friends. Truly, it pays to keep the right company. Spend more time with friends who have the same philosophy and discipline like us. They are able to influence us to move on and change our way of thinking with positive words and encouragement. They are able to help us to achieve our goals in life.

Gather a group of people as our friends or advisors who are able to assist us along our career path. They should include teacher, lecturer, doctor, dentist, accountant, engineer, banker, lawyer, tax consultant, insurance agent and of course, fellow planters. Do make friends with mechanics, plumbers, electricians, air-conditioner technicians and other handy men. How true it is that “a friend in need is a friend indeed.” We never know when we need their service and assistance.

In Proverbs 18:24, the word of God teaches us that “A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Be friendly all the times and there are surely some close friends whom we can call “brothers”.

However, God warns us in 1 Corinthians 15:33,” Bad company corrupts good character.” Disassociate ourselves from people who are not right for us.

Happiness is….

• receiving an unexpected phone call from a childhood friend
• receiving sms from good friends during weekends
• receiving emails from many friends
• receiving a postcard from a close friend on an oversea trip
• looking at photographs of old pals
• drinking coffee with buddies in a kopitiam during weekends
• reading comments posted by friends, pals & buddies in my blog

Postive & Negative Words

A man, who was unhappy in his work, unhappy with his family and unhappy with life in general, decided to escape to get away from it all. He joined a mute monastery, where he took a vow of silence. He could say only 2 words every 5 years.

This is perfect, he thought. No stress, no one to bug me, nothing but silence.

So he stayed there 5 years without uttering a syllable. At the end of that time, his superior called the man into his office and said,”You have 2 words you can speak. Would you like to say anything?”

The guy nodded his head and said, “Bad food!”

He went for another 5 years without uttering a syllable, and again his superior called him into his office and asked if he would like to say anything.

He nodded his head and said “Hard bed!”

Another 5 years passed, and his superior called him in and asked him if he would like to say anything, and the guy said, “I quit!”

His superior responded, “Well, I’m not surprised. You’ve done nothing but complaining since you got here!”

Something to share……

This story reminds us of someone who might have complained in silence for years since started working in plantations. “Bad boss”, “Hard job” and finally “I (bag and) go!” What’s a pity! He just could not make it to become a practical planter.

Negative words such as “I can’t”, “No way”, “What for?”, and “So what?” are damaging and could even pull us down and make us becoming failures. It is not surprising that people with negative thinking always find excuses not to do the possible!

Whereas positive words such as “I can”, “No problem, “Why not?”, and “Let’s try” will lift up our spirit to accomplish our job assignment. People with positive thinking always find ways and means to do what others cannot do!

In Proverbs 16:24, it was written, “Pleasant words are like a honeycomb. Sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.”

Words of encouragement such as “Do your best”, “You can make it” and “See you at the top” can fill us with burning desires and motivate us to act fast with full commitment.

Every one of us is seeking happiness in life. Someone says, “I've learned that if you pursue happiness, it will elude you. But if you focus on your family, your friends, the needs of others, your work and doing the very best you can, happiness will find you.”

When employees are valued, appreciated, and treated with proper respect by their employers only then they feel happy to work in the organization. However, to most employees who desire of being rewarded with annual increment and bonus, I believe that the real happiness in them is getting job satisfaction when they also hear words of praise such as “Excellent”, “Well done” and “You’re great!” We will surely feel proud of ourselves when we know that we have contributed towards the achievement of the organization’s goals.

The Bibles teaches us that in regardless of which company we work for and who we serve, we are actually serving our heavenly father. As written in Colossians 3:23-24, “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to Lord and not men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord Christ.”

Once we understanding this, there bounds to be happiness and joyfulness in serving as we give our very best to do what needs to be done with all our heart.

Max Anders teaches us that “The surest road to happiness is living for God, placing our ultimate hope in the next world, and learning to be grateful for the small things that come our way in this world.”

Friends, give a thought about it.

When To Retire?

The hard-working late retirees probably put too much stress on their aging body-and-mind such that they are so stressed out to develop various serious health problems that forced them to quit and retire. With such long-term stress-induced serious health problems, they die within two years after they quit and retire.

The late retirees are small in number, tend to die quickly after retirement and disappear from the population of old people beyond the age of 70.

On the other hand, people who take early retirements at the age of 55 tend to live long and well into their 80s and beyond. These earlier retirees probably are either wealthier or more able to plan and manage their various aspects of their life, health and career well such that they can afford to retire early and comfortably.

These early retirees are not really idling after their early retirements to get old. They still continue doing some work. But they do the work on the part-time basis at a more leisure pace so that they do not get too stressed out. Furthermore, they have the luxury to pick and chose the types of part-time work of real interest to them so that they can enjoy and love doing that “fun” work at a more leisure pace.

However, when you get older, you should plan your career path and financial matter so that you can retire comfortably at the age of 55 or earlier to enjoy your long, happy and leisure retirement life into your golden age of 80s and beyond. In retirement, you can still enjoy some fun work of great interest to you and of great values to the society and the community, but at a part-time leisure pace on your own term.

On the other hand, if you are not able to get out of the pressure-cooker or the high-speed battleground at the age of 55 and “have” to keep on working very hard until the age of 65 or older before your retirement, then you probably will die within 18 months of
retirement.

By working very hard in the pressure cooker for 10 more years beyond the age of 55, you give up at least 20 years of your life span on average.

Something to share…..

My colleague, FN, used to tell me, “Before 55, it’s working time. After 55, it’s overtime. After 60, it’s extra time. After 65, it’s anytime.”

I am thankful to God for his constant blessing on me for staying healthy and able to work extra years and walk extra miles (as a planter) well passed my age of retirement at 55. Like many other cheerful retirees, I would like to spend quality time with my dear wife so that we have our free time to travel and visit our children whenever we feel like to.

I did plan to retire in December 2007 as I have just passed 60 and it’s extra time for me. However, in obligation to my boss’ request, I will stay on for a while till my youngest son’s graduation in June 2008. I look forward to get out of the high pressure cooker on the day my boss agrees to release me.

Retirees of my age will certainly like to enjoy long, happy and leisure retirement life. God goes to these people who have past retirement and He recharges them so that they will age gracefully and live like Bob Hope who passed away at the age of 100. Continue giving and sharing......

A woman's Touching Speech

There were 10 men & 1 woman hanging on to a rope that extended down from a helicopter. However, the weight of 11 people was too much for the rope. So the group made a decision that one of them had to jump off.

However, there were no volunteers from the men. Finally, the lone woman volunteered. She gave a touching speech, saying that she would sacrifice her life to save the guys, because women were so used of giving up things for their husbands and children.

When she finished speaking……….all the men started clapping.

Something to share……

Hi guys. We may have a good laugh of the joke but that’s the high price we have to pay when we loss our focus and divert our attention from what we are doing.

In a crucial situation, we must have the discipline to ignore distractions and reject bad influences that might put us in a very risky position.

Nonetheless, concentration requires discipline and plenty of practice to acquire the art of focusing our mind and energy on what we are doing. Don’t ever get distracted! A person must always stay focused and concentrate on what he/she does in order to achieve the best results (or to survive).

Once we let go our hands, that’s the end of it. We FALL and we are DEAD!

A Nice Chrismas Story

There was once a man who didn't believe in God, and he didn't hesitate to let others know how he felt about religion and religious holidays. His wife, however, did believe, and she raised their children to also have faith in God and Jesus, despite his disparaging comments. One snowy Eve, his wife was taking their children to service in the farm community in which they lived. They were to talk about Jesus' birth. She asked him to come, but he refused.

"That story is nonsense!" he said. "Why would God lower Himself to come to Earth as a man? That's ridiculous!"

So she and the children left, and he stayed home. A while later, the winds grew stronger and the snow turned into a blizzard. As the man looked out the window, all he saw was a blinding snowstorm. He sat down to relax before the fire for the evening. Then he heard a loud thump. Something had hit the window. He looked out, but couldn't see more than a few feet. When the snow let up a little, he ventured outside to see what could have been beating on his window.

In the field near his house he saw a flock of wild geese. Apparently they had been flying south for the winter when they got caught in the snowstorm and couldn't go on. They were lost and stranded on his farm, with no food or shelter. They just flapped their wings and flew around the field in low circles, blindly and aimlessly. A couple of them had flown into his window, it seemed.

The man felt sorry for the geese and wanted to help them. The barn would be a great place for them to stay, he thought. It's warm and safe; surely they could spend the night and wait out the storm. So he walked over to the barn and opened the doors wide, then watched and waited, hoping they would notice the open barn and go inside.

But the geese just fluttered around aimlessly and didn't seem to notice the barn or realize what it could mean for them. The man tried to get their attention, but that just seemed to scare them, and they moved further away. He went into the house and came with some bread, broke it up, and made a bread crumb trail leading to the barn. They still didn't catch on.

Now he was getting frustrated. He got behind them and tried to shoo them toward the barn, but they only got more scared and scattered in every direction except toward the barn. Nothing he did could get them to go into the barn where they would be warm and safe.

"Why don't they follow me?" he exclaimed. "Can't they see this is the only place where they can survive the storm?"

He thought for a moment and realized that they just wouldn't follow a human. "If only I were a goose, then I could save them," he said out loud. Then he had an idea. He went into barn, got one of his own geese, and carried it in his arms as he circled around behind the flock of wild geese.

He then released it. His goose flew through the flock and straight into the barn -- and one-by-one, the other geese followed it to safety.

He stood silently for a moment as the words he had spoken a few minutes earlier replayed in his mind: "If only I were a goose, then I could save them!" Then he thought about what he had said to his wife earlier. "Why would God want to be like us? That's ridiculous!"

Suddenly it all made sense. That is what God had done. We were like the geese--blind, lost, perishing. God had His Son become like us so He could show us the way and save us.

As the winds and blinding snow died down, his soul became quiet and pondered this wonderful thought. Suddenly he understood why Christ had come. Years of doubt and disbelief vanished with the passing storm. He fell to his knees in the snow, and prayed his first prayer:

"Thank You, God, for coming in human form to get me out of the storm!"

Something to share….

To the children, Christmas is the day they receive gifts from Santa Clause.

To some companies, Christmas is the day of exchanging gifts among the employees.

To the working people, Christmas is just another Public Holiday.

To all Christians, Christmas is the day to celebrate the birthday of Jesus Christ who was born in Bethlehem 2000 year ago. It’s about God’s love for this world that he gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

“Christmas isn’t Christmas
Till it happens in your heart
Somewhere deep inside you
Is where Christmas really starts
So give your heart to Jesus
You’ll discover when you do
That Christmas is really Christmas
……..For you!”

MERRY CHRISTMAS 25 DEC 2007

“THREE WISE MEN CAME FROM COUNTRY FAR
TO SEEK FOR A KING WAS THEIR INTENT”

“CHRIST WAS BORN IN BETHLEHEM
MANY YEARS AGO”

“JOY TO THE WORLD!
THE LORD IS COME
LET EARTH RECEIVE HER KING”

“HARK! THE HERALD ANGELS SING
GLORY TO THE NEWBORN KING”

“CHRISTMAS ISN’T CHRISTMAS
TILL IT HAPPENS IN YOUR HEART

SO GIVE YOUR HEART TO JESUS YOU’LL DISCOVER WHEN YOU DO
THAT CHRISTMAS IS REALLY CHRISTMAS….FOR YOU!”

Wishing you a blessed Christmas and a Happy 2008 New Year!

It's The Incorrect Answer That Decides!

Two planters applied for a GM post in a plantation company. Both of them had the same qualification. The firm gave them a test to determine which one to hire. Each missed only one question.

The MD called the first candidate and said, “Sorry. We choose to offer the other applicant.”

“Why? We both got 9 questions right,” queried the one being rejected.

“Yes, but our choice isn’t based on the correct answers. It’s on the question you both missed,” the MD replied.

“How could one incorrect answer be batter than the other?” the applicant inquired.

“Simple,” said the MD. “For question number 5, the other guy put down, ‘I don’t know.’ You wrote, ‘Neither do I.’”

Something to share….

The above joke tells us that no matter how brainy a person cheats, somehow the truth will reveal. To cheat is no better than to steal. Both actions are dishonesty.

In Proverbs 10:9, it was written, “The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.”

For my fellow planters who had worked with Mr. Tony Chew Kong Yoon, can you remember the two important words he used to remind us? O Yes. If you do recall, our "Xifu" had taught us to build a solid reputation of HONESTY and INTEGRITY while developing a good working knowledge in plantation management.

A planter who is sincere, straightforward, reliable and trustworthy in his job will achieve his career advancement in plantation industry in years to come. He will eventually reap the fruit of being recognized and appreciated from the seeds of honesty and integrity that he has sown over the years.

Right Decision/Experience/Wrong Decision

During an interview, a reporter asked the CEO of a Plantation Group of Companies for the secret of his success.

“Two words.”

“And what are they?”

“RIGHT DECISIONS”

“How are right decisions made?”

“One word.”

“What is that?”

“EXPERIENCE"

“How do you get experience?”

“Two words.”

“What are they?”

“WRONG DECISIONS”

Something to share…….

Do not worry of making wrong decision for a decision made is better than no decision made. However, do not be fooled by someone who tells you that by not making decision is also a decision made. How do you feel about a person who says,” I’ve decided to make no decision.” Absurd and ridiculous, isn’t it?”

In life, you have to go through the progress of making many wrong decisions or mistakes in order to gain experience. Do bear in mind, not repeating the same mistake is of paramount importance.

I once heard, “Knowledge comes from experience and experience comes with age.”

In Proverbs 10:14, God says,” Wise men store up knowledge.”

How true it is that as we grow older, we have gathered a lot of experiences by making mistakes through many failures. Nevertheless, we must dare to fail to gain experience. Once we have acquired sufficient experiences, then we become wise and knowledgeable and are able to make right decisions.

A wise man once said, “I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decisions.”

Another wise man said, “It’s the confidence of making right decisions that separates the men from the boys and what separates the achievers from the non-achievers is the success of making right decisions.”

No doubt about it. Successful people (or achievers) always make right decisions!

Root Cause of Problem

A man feared his wife wasn't hearing as well as she used to and he thought she might need a hearing aid. Not quite sure how to approach her, he called the family Doctor to discuss the problem. The Doctor told him there was a simple informal test the husband could perform to give the Doctor a better idea about her hearing loss.

Here's what you do," said the Doctor, "stand about 40 feet away from her, and in a normal conversational speaking tone see if she hears you. If not, go to 30 feet, then 20 feet, and so on until you get a response."

That evening, the wife was in the kitchen cooking dinner, and he was in the den. He said to himself, "I'm about 40 feet away, let's see what happens." Then in a normal tone he asked, 'Honey, what's for dinner?"

No response.

So the husband moved to closer to the kitchen, about 30 feet from his wife and repeated, "Honey, what's for dinner?"

Still no response.

Next he moved into the dining room where he was about 20 feet from his wife and asked, Honey, what's for dinner?"

Again he got no response so;

He walked up to the kitchen door, about 10 feet away. "Honey, what's for dinner?"

Again there was no response.

So he walked right up behind her. "Honey, what's for dinner?”

;

;

;

;

;

;


"James, for the FIFTH time I've said, CHICKEN!"

Moral of the story:

The problem may not be with the other one as we always think, could be very much within us..!

Something to share…….

Talking about problem solving, very often we are confused of the real root cause of problem. We tend to point finger to others, forgetting that there are three fingers pointing back to us. By the way, this coincides with Confucius’ saying, “Think thrice to act!”

The Plantation Manager always thinks that the unsolved problem lies on his Field Assistant, but the main problem could be that he just knows how to delegate but fails to follow up and follow through to see that along the way he not only needs to monitor the whole situation and progress, but also needs to make further decision for remedial action to be taken in order to turn the situation around so as to get the problem solved.

How true it is that the root cause of problem could be the Superior who just knows how to talk and tell others what to do without him being totally involved in the operation to solve the problem!

Tale of Wooden Bowl

I guarantee you will remember the tale of the Wooden Bowl tomorrow, a week from now, a month from now, a year from now.

A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and 4-year old grandson. The old man's hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered. The family ate together at the table.

But the elderly grandfather's shaky hands and failing sight made eating difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor. When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth.

The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess. "We must do something about father," said the son. "I've had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor."

So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner. There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner. Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl!

When the family glanced in Grandfather's direction, sometime he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone. Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp words when he dropped a fork or spilled food.

The four-year-old watched it all in silence.

One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with pieces of scrap wood on the floor. He asked the child sweetly, "What are you making?"

Just as sweetly, the boy responded, "Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when I grow up." The four-year-old smiled and went back to work..

The words so struck the parents so that they were speechless. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done.

That evening the husband took Grandfather's hand and gently led him back to the family table. For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family. And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.

Something to share….

What have you learned after reading this Wooden Bowl tale, my young friends?

Do you remember how much your dad and mum had cared for you when you were a little child? How many suffering and anxiety your parents had gone through while bringing you up from childhood? How much love they had given you to see you through into adulthood? How much hope they had put into you when you finally got settled down to have your own family?

Don’t you think it’s your turn now to care and love them when they attain old age?

Don’t ill treat your aging parents who have sacrificed so much for you for there may be wooden bowls waiting for you too when you grow old.

Please be reminded of God’s warning in Proverbs 20:20, “If a man curses his father or mother, his lamp will be snuffed out in pitch darkness.”

Thus, it is wise to bring joy to your father and don’t be foolish to despise your mother(Proverbs 15:20)Be dutiful to your old age parents while they are still alive! God says,“ Parents are the pride of their children.” It’s too late for you to act when they are gone from your life. You will miss them and feel regretful in the rest of your life!

Law of the Garbage Truck by David J. Pollay

How often do you let other people's nonsense change your mood? Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day? Unless you're the Terminator, for an instant you're probably set back on your heels. However, the mark of a successful person is how quickly he/she can get back her focus on what's important.

Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson. I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab.

Here's what happened:

I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when, all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded, and missed the other car's back end by just inches!

The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us.

My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was friendly. So, I said, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!'

And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'

Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it. And if you let them, they'll dump it on you. When someone wants to dump on you, don't take it personally.

You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. You'll be happy you did.

So this was it: The 'Law of the Garbage Truck.' I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people: at work, at home, on the streets? It was that day I said, 'I'm not going to do it anymore.' I began to see garbage trucks. I see the load they're carrying. I see them coming to drop it off. And like my Taxi Driver, I don't make it a personal thing; I just smile, wave, wish them well, and I move on.

One of my favorite football players of all time, Walter Payton, did this every day on the football field. He would jump up as quickly as he hit the ground after being tackled. He never dwelled on a hit. Payton was ready to make the next play his best.

Good leaders know they have to be ready for their next meeting. Good parents know that they have to welcome their children home from school with hugs and kisses.

Teachers and parents know that they have to be fully present, and at their best for the people they care about.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their day. What about you? What would happen in your life, starting today, if you let more garbage trucks pass you by?

Here's my bet. You'll be happier.

So.. Love the people who treat you right.
Pray for the ones who don't.
Believe that everything happens for a reason.
If you get a chance , TAKE IT!
If it changes your life , LET IT!
Nobody said it would be easy...

They just promised it would be worth it!

Something to share……

How true it is that whenever we are driving, we always think that we are better drivers than others. When someone is overtaking us, we curse him as “hell driver” and somehow we tend to accelerate our speed wanting to overtake him. Perhaps this is a “Kia Su” garbage truck law in us?

On the other hand, when a car in front blocks our way when we want to overtake, we used to condemn this kind of driver as “kopi O license” driver. As usual,long before approaching, we have flashed the head light warning him to give way and move to the left. How impatient, annoyed, irritated and intolerant we are? Worst of all, the anger keeps boiling inside us!

We have heard of so many cases of law-abiding drivers being beaten by “road bullies”. These are sad cases of people being controlled by anger, a powerful emotion inside us that could take over our thoughts with violent force. It can strike us any time while we are driving, and it seems uncontrollable at times. When people turn to be “road bullies” and become violent because of anger, it will ultimately bring hurt and injury to others who are just strangers to them.

Just like the smiling taxi driver in New York City, we have nothing to loose being humble and apologize first even though we know we have observed traffic laws and not on the wrong side. This will somehow cool down the other driver even he has been blinded with anger. This is the best way to avoid a violent incidence when we have encountered a missed accident. I had come across several incidences like this and I used to say repeatedly “I am sorry, I am sorry” as soon as I came out from the car. So far it worked without any unpleasant incidence happened to me by being apologetic to the other driver.

Always remember, my friends, “FORGIVENESS” (by being apologetic) is surely the greatest remedy for calming down a man of anger.

Oh yes. Don’t ever let the garbage trucks run over us!

In Ephesians 4:31 & Colossians 3:8, God wants us to throw away all garbage in us, such as "bitterness, wrath, anger, malice, clamor, slander, evil speaking, abusive speech and filthy language.”

Are you ready to let go all garbage (also include hatred, nastiness, cruelty, wickedness, mischievousness, uproar, yelling, screaming, shouting, insulting, defamation, jealousy, envy, greed, resentment, offensive, assault, suspicion, distrust, unpleasantness, hostility, fury, rude, impolite, vulgar, abusive, bad-mannered, ill-mannered, etc) in you?

Heavan & Hell

A holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said, "Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like."

The Lord led the holy man to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew which smelled delicious and made the holy man's mouth water. The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths. The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering. The Lord said, 'You have seen Hell.'

They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man's mouth water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking.

The holy man said, 'I don't understand.' It is simple' said the Lord, 'it requires but one skill. You see, they have learned to feed each other, while the greedy think only of themselves.'

Something to share……

I remember my friend, Pak Chuah, once told me this story when we first met and he had shared with me his thought from the management aspect. "As a leader, we must share our past experiences with team members unselfishly so that they are well guided while going through hands on training from A to Z. We can’t build up a team if every one of them is only thinking of oneself without love, concern and care for others in the group."


How true it is. By just putting a group of people together does not necessary can form a team without the true spirit of working together and learn how to cooperate with each other. Nevertheless, when they are able to work together, each team member will surely become more initiative, innovative, creative and productive.

As a team member, you are a part of the team you are in. By having the spirit of sharing and care, then you learn to contribute while helping other team members to grow. Moreover, whenever you learn to share with others in your team, you will also receive more in return. Then every team member will eventually become contributors in playing his/her part to build a super and solid team.

A wise man once said, “Coming together is just the beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is SUCCESS!”

The spirit of TEAMWORK has been well documented in the Bible. In Ecclesiastes 4:9, God put it very clearly, “Two are better than one. Because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls. For he has no one to help him up.”

In other words, two persons can make up a TEAM and can accomplish more than one person, with much better results in work performance. If one person falls and fails, then the other person will give him encouragement and motivation to lift up his spirit to keep on trying until he succeeds. However, if a person is alone and when he fails, he will fall into deep trouble and will never rise up again for there is no one to care and help him up.

NEVER INSULT ANYONE

This is just a joke downloaded from forwarded email. Nevertheless, the massage is clear. “Never insult anyone”

An American and a Japanese were sitting on the plane on the way to LA when the American turned to the Japanese and asked, "What kind of -ese are you?"

Confused, the Japanese replied, "Sorry, Sir, but I don't understand what you mean."

The American repeated, "What kind of -ese are you?"

Again, the Japanese was confused over the question. The American, now irritated, then yelled, "What kind of -ese are you...Are you a Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Javanese or other kind of -ese?"

The Japanese then replied, "Oh, I am a Japanese."

A while later the Japanese turned to the American and asked what kind of 'key' was he.

The American, frustrated, yelled, "What do you mean what kind of '-key' am I?"

The Japanese said, "Are you a Yankee, donkey, or monkey?"

Moral of the story:

Never insult anyone if you don’t want to be insulted!

The terminology that people often used to call other races based on their skin colour usually appears to be very sensitive, offensive and insulting, such as the followings:

In Hong Kong (after being colonized for 100 years), the Hongkee called the British and other westerners Kui Loi (“ghosts). The Singaporeans called them Ang Moi (red hairs). In China, they are politely called Lao Wye (foreigners).

The Indonesians called them Bule (Indonesian-English Dictionary: white skin people) just as the blacks are known as Negro (Indonesian-English Dictionary: a black – esp. in colonial period) to the Americans. In Malaysia, the white men are known as Mat Salleh to the Malays.

One has to be humorous about his skin colour and feels great about it :

One pastor from Ambon joked about his skin colour saying that he’s a “Hitachi”, meaning “Hitam tapi Cina” Well, well, well. He told us that he was born in a mixed marriage family of a Chinese father and an Ambonese mother.

If you are born in a mixed marriage family, you are just great!

I remember I was having lunch in a Chinese restaurant in London in 1972. A family of 3 generations walked in. Guess what I saw? The elder of the family was a Punjabi with a Chinese wife. Their daughter-in-law was an English lady. Obviously their grandson was having Punjabi, Chinese and English blood and a grand good-looking fixture of 3 great races!

When you travel out of your country, you may be white, black, brown, yellow in skin colour, but you can be Americans, Australians, South Africans, Brazilians, Cubans, Koreans and so forth depending on which country you are citizen of.

During our recent trip to Beijing organized by CTC travel in Singapore, there were 33 of us from Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. All of us are of Chinese origin (whether we are keturunan Cina or suku Tionghua). The Chinese Immigration Officers at Beijing International Airport recognized us as Singaporeans, Indonesians and Malaysians. That’s because we were holding passports of Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia and we are citizens of the respective countries. Undoubtedly, we are all proud to be Malaysians, Indonesians and Singaporeans when we were tourists in Beijing,China.

BEIJING TOUR 12 - 19 OCTOBER 2007

It had been my childhood dream to visit Beijing since I learned about Great Wall of China when I was in primary school, way back in the 50s. I wanted to climb the Great Wall of China long ago and, thank God, I had finally made it, together with my wife, during our recent Beijing tour from 12 – 19 October 2007. The Beijing Chinese put it this way, “You are not a (good) guy if you don’t climb the Great Wall of China.” We felt so great about it that we wish to share our photos with our children, relatives and friends.

We also visited other tourist spots in Beijing such as the well-known Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City (Imperial Palace), the Ming Tombs, Yiheyuen (Summer Palace) and Daguanyuan (Grand View Park). In Chengde, we visited the Imperial Summer Resort and Little Potala Palace.

The trouble with joining a tour was that our time was totally controlled by the local Chinese tour guard though we could visit many palaces as arranged in the tour itinerary and at the convenience of traveling in a comfortable coach. He was well versed in China history and whenever he stopped, it was good listening to him as he briefed us the related historical events. However, he had skipped the Mao Zedong Memorial Hall where the preserved body of the late Chairman was displaced for tourists to have a quick look. It was certainly regretful for many of us in the tour group because his excuse was merely of not having sufficient time for us as we need to queue up for hours to get inside the Memorial Hall. On the other hand, many of our time were wasted by taking us to places where we were expected to buy jades, silks, Chinese medicines, Chinese teas etc. Mind you, the pricing was not cheap though the buyers could get some satisfaction out of it on bargaining. Many of us ended up buying costly Chinese medicines after a free lecture on health and free diagnosis by the so-called highly qualified sinsehs in Tongrentang, a famous China traditional medicine shop with a 100 year history.

Besides climbing the Great Wall of China, there was a lot of walking when we visited the about tourist attractions. A free foot reflexology section had been arranged on the 4th night after dinner to release our pain and aching on our legs due to too much of walking but we were asked to tip them. That’s fine but some of our tour members ended up buying Chinese medicines again!

We were also disappointed at Shimao Tianjie known as Beijing Xin Tian Di where we were supposed to enjoy our shopping spree and keep our heads up to watch the 4D undersea movie shown on the long screen under the roof. Instead, we were given 5 minutes to take some photos just to show that we had been there. There was no such show on the roof screen as we arrived there at the wrong timing!

Nevertheless, we did enjoy the grand Ice Skiing and Colourful Dancing Show after the wonderful spa at Beijing Tianlongyuan Hot Spring. The Old Peking acrobatic show brought us back to the memory lane. They used to performance on the streets during the good old days in Peking and we had watched them many times in Kong Fu movies. The evening cultural show Golden Mask Dynasty was very grand after we had spent the whole afternoon in the Happy Valley Theme Park. Well, only the children in our tour group were having happy hours in the 6 theme zones.

The slogan of “One World One Dream” was everywhere. It’s all about Beijing Olympic Games to be held on 8.8.2008. However, our coach just stopped by the roadside for us to take photos of the still under construction “Bird’s Nest” Main Stadium for Beijing Olympic 2008. We also came across many authorized shops selling Beijing Olympic 2008 souvenir when we were brought to shopping malls to purchase other Made in China products and gifts for friends and relatives.

If you plan to visit Beijing in August 2008 coincide with the Summer Olympic, you may have to pay much more than what we had paid for joining the tour, hotels and foods. But if you can afford, why not? It’s once in a lifetime opportunity, right?

I and my wife are planning to visit other places in China, may be Shanghai or Jiucaigoa. We hope our children can join us in 2008. But we will keep reminding ourselves, “We'll go there as tourists, not as sick patients. So there will be no more free diagnosis by sinsehs and no more buying Chinese medicines.”