Congratulate Richmond Tan and Charmaine Tan from Pioneer Junior College

Last week I read in the papers about a success story of two student from my former college, Pioneer Junior College (PJC), who aced their A-Level exams against all odds. As I read the news I felt a strong surge of happiness going through me. It really reminded me of my days in Pioneer.

I didn't particularly start out as a model student, in fact I would admit I was quite notorious. Haha. I didn't ace my exams, and sometimes even performed below par and often find myself at the lower end of the class position. However, my teachers were very patient towards me. They didn't give up on me. They counselled me, talked to me like an adult (it was a big thing for me back then when I was 17 years old) and spent time and effort to let me know of the importance of education. 

I remembered my form teacher Mdm Betty Tong even once said, "Even if you decided not to study or score for your exams, you must still grow up to be a nice person and treat people with respect. I am not here just to tell you to study, but also here as a friend to impart certain life values to you, so that you can grow up and impart similar values to others."

Till today these words etched deep in my heart. When I founded Project Awareness, my own volunteer group, these words resonated in my mind. And so wherever I go, I remind myself to also impart life values to the family that we take care of, especially the young children.

This is the impact that PJC will leave on its students. It's not just an educational institute, but a place where values are imparted, good manners are forged and life skills handed down. The principal and every teacher share the same passion and dedication to every student, no matter who or where they are from.

To everyone out there, do not give up on your dreams. Go out there and take the step to pursue it! 

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Richmond Tan and Charmaine Tan, for a job well done! I am truly proud of them and hope that they can achieve greater success in the future! Once a Pioneer, Always a Pioneer. While I Live, I Learn!

Happy Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year celebration is coming to an end, but we still have to move on with our daily life. By the way, I hereby wishing all my friends a very Happy and Prosperous Chinese New Year. May you be blessed with abundance of good luck, great wealth and good health. Huat!

This year, apart from writing greeting cards for my sponsors and clients, I also wrote a very meaningful card to one of my supporters as well. Hope that she will do well in her study and be dare to pursue her own dream in near future. 

Before Chinese New Year, I visited Degree Hair Studio again. I really love their services and professional advise for my image, despite the fact that I'm overweight now. Lol. Which mean it is time for me to lose some weight when I go for my reservist this coming week. Thank you Bern, Jas and Degree Hair Studio for everything! If you are still looking for a place to do up a wonderful hair, this is the place to go! For appointments call +65 6732 3320 now! You can also LIKE Degree Hair Studio Facebook by clicking HERE.

Anyway I will be stepping back to recording studio to record a new single, as I know many of you are still waiting for my new song, and do be patience. I believe the new song will be release this June/July 2016.

Life is a competition

What is the meaning of life? This is one of the most frequently asked questions by all of humanity since the beginning of time. It is a question naturally asked by people because they have the ability to make choices about life. The question would appear to be difficult to answer and different for every individual depending on their circumstances. It is the ultimate search for truth and purpose in life; the reason we were born, wake up everyday and exist.

The truth is, life is just playing by different rules. The real rules are there. They actually make sense. But they’re a bit more complicated, and a lot less comfortable, which is why most people never manage to learn them.

Life is a competition

That business you work for? Someone’s trying to kill it. That job you like? Someone would love to replace you with a computer program. That girlfriend / boyfriend / high-paying job that you want? So does somebody else.

We’re all in competition, although we prefer not to realise it. Most achievements are only notable relative to others. You swam more miles, or can dance better, or got more Facebook Likes than the average. Well done. It’s a painful thing to believe, of course, which is why we’re constantly assuring each other the opposite. “Just do your best”, we hear. “You’re only in competition with yourself”. The funny thing about platitudes like that is they’re designed to make you try harder anyway. If competition really didn’t matter, we’d tell struggling children to just give up.

Fortunately, we don’t live in a world where everyone has to kill each other to prosper. The blessing of modern civilisation is there’s abundant opportunities, and enough for us all to get by, even if we don’t compete directly. If you deny that competition exists, you’re just losing. Everything in demand is on a competitive scale. And the best is only available to those who are willing to truly fight for it.

You’re judged by what you do, not what you think

Society judges people by what they can do for others. Can you save children from a burning house, or remove a tumour, or make a room of strangers laugh? You’ve got value right there. That’s not how we judge ourselves though. We judge ourselves by our thoughts.

“I’m a good person”. “I’m ambitious”. “I’m better than this.” These idle impulses may comfort us at night, but they’re not how the world sees us. They’re not even how we see other people. Abilities are not prized by their virtue. Whatever admiration society awards us, comes from the selfish perspectives of others. A hard working janitor is less rewarded by society than a ruthless stockbroker. A cancer researcher is rewarded less than a supermodel. Why? Because those abilities are rarer and impact more people.

Our idea of fairness is self interest

People like to invent moral authority. It’s why we have referees in sports games and judges in courtrooms: we have an innate sense of right and wrong, and we expect the world to comply. Our parents tell us this. Our teachers teach us this. Be a good boy, and have some candy.

But reality is indifferent. You studied hard, but you failed the exam. You worked hard, but you didn’t get promoted. You love her, but she won’t return your calls. The problem isn’t that life is unfair; it’s your broken idea of fairness.

Take a proper look at that person you fancy but didn’t fancy you back. That’s a complete person. A person with years of experience being someone completely different to you. A real person who interacts with hundreds or thousands of other people every year.

Why life isn’t fair

Our idea of fairness isn’t actually obtainable. It’s really just a cloak for wishful thinking. Can you imagine how insane life would be if it actually was ‘fair’ to everyone? No-one could fancy anyone who wasn’t the love of their life, for fear of breaking a heart. Companies would only fail if everyone who worked for them was evil. Relationships would only end when both partners died simultaneously. Raindrops would only fall on bad people.

Most of us get so hung up on how we think the world should work that we can’t see how it does. But facing that reality might just be the key to unlocking your understanding of the world, and with it, all of your potential.