Tuesday...

I went to the gym again todae...I included it in my schedule, it had to be in regardless of how busy i was...exercise has alwaiz been an integral part of my life...and i don that fact to end here...
After returning home from a VC talk i attended tis evening, i spent the time relaxing, reading some of the cards and letters i received during my birthdae....and chuckled to myself as i reminisced.....
it feels good....well, i muz hav said this a million times before, but I am going to repeat it anyhow....
i reali feel so so grateful and thankful that I've got true friends to support, encourage and care for me whenever i need it....and in the last week, i needed it especially badly....
and to be truthful, most of the time, i do need it to somewhat different extents...and the fact that i can be here doing wat i'm doing now todae is oso partly due to friends' support along the way...
thanks all, i reali can't do without u all....

ohh, and that applies to my family too! of cos! i needn't even spell it out, hahaz! love you daddy, mummy and sis! don worry abt me....i will take good care of myself while reaching for the skies!

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thks iwan, hahaz, i think blogger beta is pretty cool..cos it's much easier and neater to upload fotos now!

and thks too shelle...i will try my best in the emceeing thingy....
it's not at a very good time though...arnd that period, i have 3 major deadlines and an exam...and dat's juz for schwork onli....haiz...but don worry, The tougher the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it....
hahaz...that's wat challenges r for...to toughen us up....
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last night, i attended this talk at Wharton...it was a talk presented by Ambassador Kishore Mahbubani...
anyone heard of him before?
He used to be the UN Ambassador for Singapore, and was recently appointed Dean of LKY School of Public Policy in NUS...he's a Singaporean....
The title of the talk was "The Greatest Asian Century"....and he talked about the emergence of Asian countries and how that will affect the Western nations...their economic impacts and so on and so forth....
Just wanna share the 7 pillars of wisdom with which he said that Asian countries have adopted to create the success....

1. Science and Technology
2. Free market economics
3. The destruction of feudalism
4. Peace amongst Asian countries
5. Realization of the importance of Law
6. Education
7. Pragmatism

Well, after the talk, a good friend of mine kinda provoked me with his political views of Singapore....i had previously had a heated argument with him about this issue before cos i felt that his remarks got a little too personal...and while i didn't lose my temper, i got reali agitated last nite....

Moving away from that incident (we r okie now oredi, everyone is entitled to one's own opinions as long as it doesn't get too personal), I reali don understand why some ppl have so negative views of the ruling party...I'm not sure if i am allowed to talk abt this but since it's a fact, i suppose it's okie....
my personal opinion is that there is no perfect govt in tis world, there is no perfect human too....
but wat ours have done over the last few yrs...to be fair to them, have been nuttin short of admirable and remarkable....
moving through tough times and crises like SARS and some economic fluctuations, it has brought us to where we are todae....positive economic growth, lower unemployment rates and recognition by world powers when the IMF meeting was held in SG, and there r still many other examples too....
Right, it may have some flaws, it may not have been able to deliver some promises it made, BUT so wat? if another party had ruled, wld they hav been able to do a better job?
I have no answer to that, but the point I'm trying to bring across is that we should all be thankful and appreciative of the efforts our govt has made....

According to our ambassador (i spoke to him briefly after his talk), one of Singapore's strategic weaknesses is the attitude of many singaporeans who like to complain and when there are problems, instead of being proactive in seeking solutions...only passively wait for the govt to do sth abt it....
i agree somewhat....there r indeed many singaporeans who r like that....but it takes time to change mindsets....

In a similar vein, i mentioned before about our undergraduates complaining and making comparisons...this is all proof of our strategic weakness! Why can't ppl be more thankful, be more appreciative, be more grateful?
If you are so good, stand out, run for the elections....or stand out, change the system in our universities which you believe are flawed....and see if u can do a better job than those who are in the office now....

To summarise it all, we all, as Singaporeans, should do our part to ensure that our small but successful nation remains successful, uncorrupted and enjoy sustained and positive economic growth...
Each of us can contribute in our own ways, and no one is unimportant....
until we can have an aligned direction and vision, until we can be more proactive in solving problems, until the unappreciative can be more thankful, until then....we still hav a lot of progress to make....

and in my own little way, i hope to bring back to Singapore the kind of entrepreneurial spirit, the kind of open mindset, the 'can-do' attitude, the hopeful mentality that nuttin is impossible that makes individuals and countries successful...
and last but not least,....entrepreneurial success from my own efforts.....

hope u all can too...in all our own little ways....

For Singapore...