Tipping Point

I've been quite worn out these few weeks due to a lot of presentations and projects. But finally after this week I only have 1 presentation left =). But final exams are looming in 3 weeks. I'm going to psycho myself to work for it, =P. *go for finals!*

Anyway, last week I went to Borders with my parents then bought two books. One of the books are the one that I've been wanting to buy: Gray's Anatomy -- a medical book, but it's put on bargain so I got it at only around $19 which is totally worth it (according to me). I only glanced a bit of it but because there are a lot of medical terms I'm not reading it for the time being. Maybe next time when I feel like it haha.

However, the other book is a business book, listed in the top 10 list for business book. It's called Tipping Point. I havent finished reading it but so far I think it is really a good book. And anyway it's not only for business, I really can apply it in other aspects of life. Actually what motivated me to buy this book is because the day before I had a demoralizing consultation with my prof regarding my D+ paper. *LOL*

Here is the story: I showed Prof my assignment and he read through it. And actually what destroys the whole message credibility is only the first two paragraphs (or maybe to pinpoint it further, the second paragraph). Whereas, everything else (3rd & 4th paragraphs) are actually doing very well. He told me how those two horrifying opening paragraphs destroy the credibility of the message. He also told me how a bit difference in the words used in those paragraphs can make a huge difference. Maybe D+ to A+? hahah.. maybe not A+ but B+ :p

So in the end I can't change the grade. But I learned the hard way how something very minor such as the choice of words can destroy the whole thing. This is an exact example of the famous Indonesian proverbs: "Karena nila setitik rusak susu sebelanga". ~ A tint of red ink will destroy the whole container of milk (literal translation)

When I went to Borders last week, I was walking through the business section and saw an interesting cover with a slanted matchstick imprinted on it. And I read the summary. And I found out how it is actually what has been happening to me in my D+ grade. Without further ado (also considering that it's NYT #1 bestseller), I bought it.

So far it has been an enjoyable read and I highly recommend this book for everybody else =D

*** Notes: it's really a coincidence how I found that book only one day after I had my consultation. But anyways, this kind of things happen to my life a lot. After having a great experience (be it good or bad but still memorable in some ways), I will find other things which I can relate my previous experience to.

Darwin vs God discussion

A few days ago was Darwin's Day and in my highschool alumni forum, there is this discussion concerning Darwin Theory, whether it's real and credible or it's a fake fairytale.

I observed the arguments. Those who argued for the credibility of Darwin Theory provided links of videos and researches journals. On the contrary, the one who believes that Darwin Theory is a fake doesn't want to state his views before the other side can argue for Darwin Theory by themselves instead of relying on those urls.

The end? No conclusion. Both sides (especially the one who believes that it is fake) is really stubborn.

My view? I believe it is true

How? I don't care. I'm not a scientist, so it's not my duty to prove it.

Then why belief? I don't know. Just because I do. Just because it makes more sense to me

Then I don't mind being compared to apes? Nope, I don't mind. What if my ancestors are apes? The fact now is that I'm not and it's all that matters.

Aren't you insulting God by saying that? Err... I don't really care about God. He can deal with His problems, I'm sure. I have faith in Him. Not necessarily I'm insulting him by the fact that my ancestors are apes.

Facts: I'm not a Christian or anything but I believe that God exists. Just that I think humans shouldn't bother Him. He can take care of Himself. Don't you think so..?

NUS Choir Concert

title: Varsity Voices

I watched NUS choir concert today.. With empty stomach... which sends signals to my head and making me having a headache.

Actually the concert is quite good (better than ours I think), but I could not really enjoy it. The sound and harmony is nice, the arrangement is quite good also, and I really appreciate their performance but I can't enjoy it because all the songs they sang are very serious songs. Of which I can't really process. And having empty stomach & headache didn't help.

I went with Ernest and met with Kenny, Jiaqi & her friends, and also Jeth there. Was quite surprised because at first I though more choir members will come along. It appears that I'm wrong haha.

Kenny is being emo as to when we are going to be as good as NUS choir (and cross-finger, VJC choir)

NUS got the championship and full mark for choir 2008 grand prix in St. Petersburg; the same grand prix we're going to attend this June. I know we're not up to their standard yet.

Anyway, a good choir ability is necessary. But, for me, I will still enjoy coming to SMUCC although it's not as good as NUS. Why? not the situation, not the abilities, but for the sake of singing =).

Faith

I'm not a Christian, I'm not a Catholic, but this is one inspirational story that really touches me. It's a story of faith and family.

Feel free to visit the blog:
http://songernlim.wordpress.com

I'm impressed for the faith this family has on God and His blessing.

Be strong, Jonathan

p.s. Jonathan is my choir friend

Doubutsu Uranai

Evelyn
11/07/1990

You are Orange Sheep, who is quiet sort, and is a touchable person.
But you possess feminine attraction as well.
This may seem like flirting to fellow women, and may be misunderstood by men.
You are a sociable, but tend to keep a distance from people, and will not show your real emotions and feelings easily.
Although you are modest, you are a proud person as well.
You don't apologize or yield to things.
You have great tactics to make others take in your demand, without them realizing taht they are doing so.
You are extremely good at negotiating and bargaining.
You tend to feel isolated, and in order to overcome that loneliness, you have lots of interests.
You have sharp eyes, and can make your ideals come true by effectively adopting other people's expectations.
Although you lack leadership sort of action, you have perseverance to take up any challenge.
You can also use money efficiently, and therefore you are a shrewd shopper.
You are good at catching the heart of men.
You will be liked by different type of people.
But this may give them false idea, and cause misunderstanding.
Although you may take men lightly, once married, you will become a devoted wife and a mother.

n.b. then I also checked my family's animals & colors..

And then I go to wiki and I found this:

• Earth group: (self-centered, focused)
  • Tiger
    
  • Wolf (younger sis)
    
  • Monkey
  • Koala (mum, elder sis)
    
• Sun group: (self-centered, easily distracted)
  • Pegasus (dad, bro)
    
  • Elephant
  • Lion
  • Cheetah
• Full moon group: (mindful of others, focused)
  • Sheep (me)
    
  • Panther
• New moon group: (mindful of others, easily distracted)
  • Fawn
  • Tanuki (raccoon dog)

end note: interesting... anyway it sounds pretty much true :D

link to the test: http://world.doubutsu-uranai.com/index.html

The Principle of Increasing Opportunity Cost

also called "The Long-Hanging-Fruit Principle".

I was studying Economics during Gamelan practice last night and I came across this principle. Here is what it says: "In expanding the production of any good, first employ those resources with the lowest opportunity cost, and only afterward turn to resources with higher opportunity costs"

Basically the principle was saying that you should choose the easiest sources to get your hands on before switching to more difficult ones.

The book gives one analogy about a new replacement CEO who is assigned in a non-effective company. According to this principle, the CEO should first tackle the problems that are easiest to solve first and then tackle on the harder ones after. I think this makes a lot of sense though instead of tackling such miniscule problems I would tackle those of high importance which is the root of every others. But then again, I've never been a CEO so I should learn from those successful CEOs xD.
[The book states easy problems with high consequences of bringing the company to be better though].

Anyway, my point of writing this relates to the post I made before. Regarding the apple tree thingy. Such a coincidence that after I made that post I found this principle when reading my econs book. This princible of 'low-hanging-fruit' sort of broke the logical relation in the previous one.

Suppose the guys as the apple-pickers
And the girls as the apples

If we apply this principle, then logically the guys will pick those low-hanging apples (easy girls).
And anyway, the principle said that the fruit-pickers will only reach the top if he is planning to collect all the fruits.
So in conclusion.. the guys that will reach the top is a.. womanizer?

Oh man, that sounds super wrong, hahahaha

However, that makes sense, don't you think? How many top women fell for such guys? Because these guys have the gut to go after them. =P.

Yet, mankind is not a fixed subjects. There are a lot of irregularities regarding our species. Not only in our species, in everything that exists in this world, there are always outliers. Things that are different from the rest. So, there should still be guys somewhere out there who have enough guts yet not womanizers.

I really think that I learned to observe many humanity issues through what I've learned from Economics. Interesting, eh?

Girls are like apples on trees

Girls
are like
apples on trees.
The best ones are
at the top of the tree.The
boys dont want to reach
for the good ones because they
are afraid of falling and getting hurt.
Instead, they just get the rotten apples
from the ground that aren't as good,
but easy. So the apples at the top think
something is wrong with them, when in
reality, they're amazing. They just
have to wait for the right boy to
come along, the one who's
brave enough to
climb all
the way
to the top
of the tree.

Something random I found on the internet =)
Nice, huh?

Econs application

Do you know what makes an all-rounder a bad thing?

If you are not a good enough all-rounder (and sometime good enough is not enough), you will always be at comparative disadvantage

(to be updated later)

安靜了 - S.H.E

It's been quite some time since the last time I updated. Been busy with school and tomorrow (well today actually) I got finals >.<. less than 12 hours.... my Business Law paper is on 1 pm and now is 1:10 am haha.

Anyway, when I studied during the previous days, I tuned on [V] channel Taiwan and heard of this sweet sweet Chinese Song. It took me quite a while to figure out the title with my limited Chinese vocabulary but in the end I found it to be 安靜了（ａｎ　ｊｉｎｇ　ｌｅ）sang by S.H.E. Moreover, just now I figured out that Jay Chou composed it. Anyway the song is super nice though I could not really make sense of the translation I found in the net. Here's a youtube vid ;)



and here's the lyrics in hanzi, pinyin, and translation =)

安静了 - Silenced

只剩下钢琴陪我站在这里
zhi sheng xia gang qin pei wo zhan zai zhe li
I’m left standing here with the piano beside me

梦想中属于我们的婚礼
meng xiang zhong shu yu wo men de hun li
The wedding I’ve dreamt for us

却成了单人结婚进行曲
que cheng le dan ren jie hun jin xing qu
Has become a solo wedding march

在这场爱情较力的拔河里
zai zhe chang ai qing jiao li de ba he li
In this tug-of-war of love,

爱我还是爱你
ai wo hai shi ai ni
Will you love me or yourself?

你选择了自己 wo~
ni xuan ze le zi ji
You chose yourself

撒娇的可爱的
sa jiao de ke ai de
Childish… adorable…

粘人的爱哭的
nian ren de ai ku de
Clingy… crybaby…

照片里曾经的都是你喜欢的
zhao pian li ceng jing de dou shi ni xi huan de
[The person] in the photos is everything you once loved

如今我还在原地
ru jin wo hai zai yuan di
Now I remain at the starting point

你却走回你的记忆
ni que zou hui ni de ji yi
Yet you went back to your memories

你说我爱你太多就快要把你淹没
ni shuo wo ai ni tai duo jiu kuai yao ba ni yan mo
You said I love you too much, you’re almost drowning

你害怕幸福短暂一秒就崩落
ni hai pa xing fu duan zan yi miao jiu beng luo
You fear happiness is only for an instant, that it will fall apart in a second

分开是一种解脱让你好好的想过
fen kai shi yi zhong jie tuo rang ni hao hao de xiang guo
Separation is a release; it will make you think

我想要的那片天空你是不是能够给我
wo xiang yao de na pian tian kong ni shi bu shi neng gou gei wo
Whether you can give me the happiness I want

你说我给你太多却不能给我什麽
ni shuo wo gei ni tai duo que bu neng gei wo shen me
You said I give you too much, but you can’t give back

分不清激情承诺永恒或迷惑
fen bu qing ji qing cheng nuo yong heng huo mi huo
Can’t tell passion, commitment, eternity and infatuation apart

爱情是一道伤口我们各自苦痛
ai qing shi yi dao shang kou wo men ge zi ku tong
Love is a wound, we bear the pain on our own

沉默是我最后温柔是因为我太爱你
chen mo shi wo zui hou wen rou shi yin wei wo tai ai ni
Silence is my last act of kindness… because I love you so

只剩下钢琴陪我站在这里
zhi sheng xia gang qin pei wo zhan zai zhe li
I’m left standing here with the piano beside me

梦想中属於我们的婚礼
meng xiang zhong shu yu wo men de hun li
The wedding I’ve dreamt for us

安静了在我枕边的梦里
an jing le zai wo zhen bian de meng li
Was silenced in the dreams of the person beside me

我知道相爱原本就不容易
wo zhi dao xiang ai yuan ben jiu bu rong yi
I know loving someone isn’t easy to begin with

爱不是一加一
ai bu shi yi jia yi
Love is not ‘one plus one’

努力就有结局 wo~
nu li jiu you jie ju
[Where] hard work guarantees a happy ending

撒娇的可爱的
sa jiao de ke ai de
Childish… adorable…

粘人的爱哭的
nian ren de ai ku de
Clingy… crybaby…

照片里曾经的都是爱着你的
zhao pian li ceng jing de dou shi ai zhe ni de
[The person] in the photo once loved you

脸颊的泪还温热
lian jia de lei hai wen re
The tears on my cheeks are still warm

却没有人握我的手
que mei you ren wo wo de shou
But no one is here to hold my hand

你说我爱你太多就快要把你淹没
ni shuo wo ai ni tai duo jiu kuai yao ba ni yan mo
You said I love you too much, you’re almost drowning

你害怕幸福短暂一秒就崩落
ni hai pa xing fu duan zan yi miao jiu beng luo
You fear happiness is only for an instant, that it will fall apart in a second

分开是一种解脱让你好好的想过
fen kai shi yi zhong jie tuo rang ni hao hao de xiang guo
Separation is a release; it will make you think

我想要的那片天空你是不是能够给我
wo xiang yao de na pian tian kong ni shi bu shi neng gou gei wo
Whether you can give me the happiness I want

你说我给你太多却不能给我什麽
ni shuo wo gei ni tai duo que bu neng gei wo shen me
You said I give you too much, but you can’t give back

分不清激情承诺永恒或迷惑
fen bu qing ji qing cheng nuo yong heng huo mi huo
Can’t tell passion, commitment, eternity and infatuation apart

爱情是一道伤口我们各自苦痛
ai qing shi yi dao shang kou wo men ge zi ku tong
Love is a wound, we bear the pain on our own

沉默是我最后温柔是因为我太爱你
chen mo shi wo zui hou wen rou shi yin wei wo tai ai ni
Silence is my last act of kindness… because I love you so

- work of lene from http://www.jay-chou.net forum -

Expression Number

I just read Zadok's blog today and I got this test (based on name), which he got from J's blog, which I haven't visited for a very long time now. (Sorry J! :P)

Anyway, here's my result...

Your Expression Number is 1

You have the skills to be a top executive or businessperson. But first you must develop your natural capacity to be a good leader. You are truly original - with a creative approach to life and a very sharp mind. You reach for the sky, and you have the potential to reach it. Assertive and straight forward, you have little need for supervision. You are self-confident, self-reliant, and courageous in your convictions. While you sometimes fear loneliness, you prefer to be left alone. A bit self centered, you may be hard to life with at times. You also have a strong dominant streak - which can push others away at times.

What's Your Expression Number?

I think it's quite suitable. I got this number a lot, and I mean A LOT. When I put on my birth date I also usually got this number '1'. (I learned a bit of numerology, haha...)

Seeing the results above often send my thoughts to my dreams. However I still have a lot to do and push myself to my potential limit.

Despite knowing I have such a potential, I cannot really pursue it because mostly I will find myself lazing around. *Sigh* (I don't know how many times I sighed today [yesterday])...

Send me your motivation! That's sooo gladly appreciated :D

E.S.

So far...

Anyway, it's quite late to begin a new blog to mark the beginning of my new chapter, which is college life; as my school has been running for four weeks already. (Yeah, we're in week 4!)

So.. Let me tell you about my progress so far...

I am never a studious person. So I'm not too stressed out with the schoolwork right now. Some of my friends are on the edge already. Yep, lessons are stressful, but I'm not really stressed out :D

I'm taking five course units this term: Technology & World Change (TWC), Academic Writing (AW), Introduction to Statistics (Stats), Business Law (BL), and Leadership and Team Building (LTB).

By looking at the subjects I'm taking... You should be able to guess which university I am from (if you are Singaporean). Of course this does not apply to my friends who already know, hahaha!

I quite enjoy the university life, actually. It is not too different from school despite the harder thinking and heavier workload (*sigh..)

So many things have been going in just four weeks. I met a lot of new friends, learned quite a lot of things, too.

Well I think that's all I want to say for now. I might elaborate with more details if I remember something I want to tell :)

I'm off to bed now! Good night :D

E.S.

Hello

Hi! Welcome to my new blog. As for who I am, do check the profile page in the navigation bar above :3

This is not my first blog. On the contrary, this is my i-do-not-now-what-is-the-count try to make a blog. And again, hopefully I will not abandon this blog.

I started this blog as a sign of a new life (my college life!).

Do follow and read!

E.S.