Meaningful Living

  Most Chinese would know the phrase 得饶人处且饶人, which means, to forgive others whenever we can. This has been a very useful strategy for the Chinese.  Because when we force someone into a corner, we may trigger his need and urgency to fight back. This can then put us into a less advantageous position. There is another saying 狗急跳墙 : When a dog panics, it can jump over a wall. Hence, do not press the super-power button on your enemy. But, many Chinese would not know the full context of the former phrase.  It came from a high priest who gained enlightenment by spending many years playing the Chinese Go, and finally understanding the deeper meaning in it. 烂柯真诀妙通神 一局曾经几度春 自出洞来无敌手 得饶人处且饶人 Literal translation:  The game of Chinese Go is intriguing. One could spend a few years on a game. Never met a stronger opponent after coming out from the cave (meditation/enlightenment). Forgive others whenever we can.  Referring to the context from "never met a stronger opponent..."....

Sunk Cost : In economics terms, Sunk Cost is the amount of money already spent / invested that cannot be recovered. A simple way of explaining Sunk Cost Fallacy :  A situation where we feel that we have put in too much money (in relative terms), that we tell ourself not to quit that project/investment.  This fallacy can also be used in other areas like time, relationship, studies etc. Examples: 1.  You invested some money in the stocks of a company.  After a while, the stocks is not doing well, and you are starting to lose money.  But you held on to the stocks, as you do not want to waste what you have invested, and hoping that it will do well again. 2.  At the casino's slot machine, you have already dropped a lot of chips into the machine, and the bets put in outweighs the winning.  You chose not to stop, because you have already bet so much, and you hope luck will be on your side soon. 3.  After being with a girl for five years, you realised tha...

Came across something interesting from a TV program. The rice plant is one of the most successful plant species on earth, because man's successful cultivation of rice ensures the rice survival as a species.  The rice plants hence do not need to compete with other plant species for space and nutrients, because all these are taken care of by human beings.  On top of that, humans develop better rice varieties that are drought/pest resistant etc.  This can be said of many other plant species that human beings consume too. What about animals?  Using the same thinking, many animals also ensured their survival as a species by being useful to the humans, like the chicken.  The chicken will not be hunted to extinction by predators. They are propagated by human beings in a safe environment, and chicks being hatched and raised in assisted methods.  This ensures their survival as a species. But the question that I keep asking myself is, would you consider your species ...

I am not an expert in this area.  Captured here are just things I learned over the years, from conversations with CEOs and Design Directors over the course of my work, as well as from other learning. DO's 1.  Do your research on the company beforehand.  Understand and be familiar with their objective and philosophy, operations and products. 2.  Dress appropriately .  Be punctual. 3.  Greet.  Smile .  4.  Show interests in the Organisation (through your questions about their operations, outreach program etc), instead of negotiating for salary or work benefits straight away.  It is about how you can contribute to them, instead of how they can reward you.  But yes, you can negotiate the salary towards the end of the interview, when more or less you know you have a good chance of getting the job. 5.  Push the chair back in before you take your leave.  Thank the interviewers for their time. DON'Ts 1.    Do not spe...

There has been a lot of talks on climate change lately.  This post is to summarise some of the things we as individuals need to know/do to save the environment and hopefully, indirectly slows down climate change. Reduce-Reuse-Recycle Reducing is a more effective strategy than reusing and recycling , because when we reduce the use of say, plastic materials, then we have less plastic materials to reuse or recycle. Many years ago, there was a school doing a recycling project.  They built some artistic structures using used plastic and aluminum bottles/containers.  By having such an activity, some children may inadvertently buy more such items, in order to bring the containers to school for the project.  At the same time, in my opinion, reusing such items do not solve the problem.  It only delayed the problem.  Because many years later, they would still need to dispose of the structures. Examples of things we can do: 1.   Reduce the need for single-us...

In a recent group chat with a few ex students, the topic of money came up again.  The question was, Does Money give us happiness?  The obvious answer is yes, but we went on to discuss deeper. Why does money give us happiness? 1.  Spending money can boost our mood.  Researches have shown that buying experiences and gadgets increases the dopamine level and hence gives us happiness.  However, this dopamine level increases only when we are buying it, but quickly lowers after the purchase. So the happiness from the purchase may not last long , especially if we regret the purchase. 2.  At one National Day Rally, either Mr Goh Chok Tong or Mr Lee Hsien Loong (can't remember which PM as it was quite some time back) said something like this:  "... we work hard, so that we can have more options in life ." When we have more money, we can choose between hawker centre, expensive restaurants, or home delivery for our meals.  This gives us the satisfaction and ...

Do we need to use proper English? To me, it depends on the situation.  When we are with our friends or relatives, sure, use Singlish by all means, because everyone talks like that.  But we need to learn to switch over to using proper English when the occasion calls for it, like talking to superiors, with clients, when being interviewed for TV programs, when teaching the younger ones, etc. To me, the use of lah lor leh etc in Singlish is fine when used in Singapore, unless we are speaking to foreign visitors, where these words may confuse them.  However, some words just don't sound pleasant, in my opinion. Some common examples: 1.  "Actually".   There is too much use of the word 'actually'. Heard on a TV interview: "Because of this pandemic, most of our workers actually work from home.  We actually send some of them for training since this is the best opportunity for us.  Our sales actually dropped by 40%, and we actually hope to turn this around by the...

A new TV program started on channel 8 recently (财不怕退休), to give information/advice to young people on how to plan for financial stability when old. This is a summary of some key points from the program, as well as some of my views. 1.  We should plan for retirement as early as we can . In Singapore, even though we have the CPF scheme, it is likely only enough to meet our basic needs.  We plan early, so that we can continue to live the way we want to live, after retiring. 2.  General guideline for a young working adult:  Save 20% of the salary, use 50% for daily expenses, and invest the remaining.  For me, I would advise going for longer term, lower risk investments, because the objective is to plan for retirement, not to hit the jackpot. Some people don't save at all because they feel that they have CPF.  As explained above, CPF may give us just enough for basic needs.   On the other hand, there are people who are very prudent and save a huge prop...

It was reported that in Singapore, 16 new kidney failure patients are diagnosed each day currently.  This is a scary number.  Here are some notes on kidney failure. 1.   Common Causes : Diabetes : This is the most common cause of kidney failure.  When blood sugar binds to proteins, it causes the kidney filters to lose its function to filter toxins effectively Glomerulonephritis : This is the second most common cause of kidney failure due to kidney inflammation.  This is not treatable or preventable, but can be controlled with medicines High Blood Pressure : HBP can damage the blood vessels in the kidney, thus reducing the kidney's filtration functioning Exposure to pollutants , including cigarette smoke Injury to the kidney due to sports etc  Severe dehydration Certain medications (like some blood pressure medicine) (doctors will switch medications or stop the medicine temporarily for monitoring)     2.  Through blood test (or u...