tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post1129774082992107686..comments2024-03-19T18:44:15.041+08:00Comments on Little Stories: Life And How To Survive ItGilbert Koh aka Mr Wanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01027678080233274309noreply@blogger.comBlogger77125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-47009436668572412112008-08-18T09:48:00.000+08:002008-08-18T09:48:00.000+08:00One post rejected. I don't agree to my blog being ...One post rejected. I don't agree to my blog being used as a vehicle for other people's politics. This applies whether you're from the PAP or the Opposition.<BR/><BR/>Thread closed, as the comments have generally strayed too far from the original topic.Gilbert Koh aka Mr Wanghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01027678080233274309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-14339366126445587572008-08-13T00:27:00.000+08:002008-08-13T00:27:00.000+08:00Ah, they always say the same old inspirational thi...Ah, they always say the same old inspirational things in the convocation speeches. Steve Jobs delivered very much the same message in the commencement address at Stanford in 2005. "You've got to find what you love", he said, ending with a call to the graduates to "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish". Those who find these kind of speeches inspirational can view Jobs' speech at http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-84339871351293566252008-08-12T09:32:00.000+08:002008-08-12T09:32:00.000+08:00The secret, IMO, is not contentment, but detachmen...The secret, IMO, is not contentment, but detachment. There is a fine distinction here which will elude many.<BR/><BR/>Buddha was probably one of the most ambitious human beings who ever lived on this planet. No modern-day CEO or politician could possibly hold a candle to him, in this respect.<BR/><BR/>The man was a prince; heir to a kingdom; had no lack of material luxuries; possessed a lot of earthly power. Was that enough? <BR/><BR/>Nope. He had the grand ambition of mastering his own mind; discovering his own soul and unveiling the very nature of reality.<BR/><BR/>And YOU think you're ambitious, by seeking a few million bucks and a successful career? LOL.Gilbert Koh aka Mr Wanghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01027678080233274309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-48121337669355554472008-08-12T01:02:00.000+08:002008-08-12T01:02:00.000+08:00people who say the secret in life is contentment a...people who say the secret in life is contentment ain't gonna get far ahead.<BR/><BR/>why?<BR/><BR/>because if one lowers his/her expectations such that they are already met, there's nothing left to aim for, and/or to achieve.<BR/><BR/>that's just sad. life is too short to settle for mediocrity.bluBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16625600904359822072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-16712469206627680922008-08-11T00:25:00.000+08:002008-08-11T00:25:00.000+08:00The secret to happiness is contentment... That wha...The secret to happiness is contentment... That what you have is enough, and you are happy with that...<BR/><BR/>I don't know about the rest of you, but that works on me...<BR/><BR/>Comparing to my elite friends, I probably made the least amount of moola, but in return, I have alot more time to spend on the things I want, with the people I love...<BR/><BR/>I think most importantly, we just have to understand that work, will always be work... It is NOT an extension of who we are, and not the reason of our existence... Do what you have to do, then pack your bags, go home, walk your dog, cook a meal, read a book...Agent Cherryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506053937698933535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-84891616564231923372008-08-10T21:38:00.000+08:002008-08-10T21:38:00.000+08:00i'm at this crossroad of my life and getting a lit...i'm at this crossroad of my life and getting a little frantic about getting a job. Was directed to your blog by a beautiful lady. Inspiring entry i must say. Thank youAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-9509484101140474092008-08-10T08:04:00.000+08:002008-08-10T08:04:00.000+08:00maybe smile more often. when u smile, no one can t...maybe smile more often. when u smile, no one can tell what is going on in your mind. what is truth anyway but honesty to your own self and doing your own thing?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-70929552123768284362008-08-10T01:14:00.000+08:002008-08-10T01:14:00.000+08:00Eh, I've already realized those things he spoke of...Eh, I've already realized those things he spoke of.<BR/><BR/>But he can afford to talk about those things because:<BR/><BR/>1. He's not a poor student who has study loans to pay.<BR/><BR/>2. He doesn't have parents to support and give money to.<BR/><BR/>3. He has enough money to live cheaply and simply all his life without working (probably).<BR/><BR/>Hey, I'll like to do what I like all my life too. I've already found it, and I'm doing it. But I can't keep on doing it. The money and loans always worries me, and I don't want to sponge on my parents. <BR/><BR/>So at the most, I can only try to do what I like part time, while he can do what he loves and get paid for it.<BR/><BR/>Reality hurts, and no amount of words can sooth that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-38754788709590057502008-08-09T22:24:00.000+08:002008-08-09T22:24:00.000+08:00Well Adrian Tan did represent LKY against the SDP ...Well Adrian Tan did represent LKY against the SDP (a lawnet search will verify that). <BR/><BR/>However, it's just not right to call a lawyer who represents LKY a 'hatchet man' simply because of this association. <BR/><BR/>Read the reported judgment, and one realizes the biggest miscarriage of justice (in the construction of Defamation Laws) was perpetuated not by the lawyers, but by...bluBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16625600904359822072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-52321724260004329752008-08-09T15:45:00.000+08:002008-08-09T15:45:00.000+08:00hi! anyone care to enlighten me on the avoid telli...hi! anyone care to enlighten me on the avoid telling the truth part? =)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-44136956506254924612008-08-07T12:49:00.000+08:002008-08-07T12:49:00.000+08:00Truth needs courageI often lie as I realised that ...Truth needs courage<BR/><BR/>I often lie as I realised that telling lies makes the other party happy. I continue doing it for a long while without knowing that I was hurting myself. <BR/><BR/>The truth will set you free, how apt. Recently, I have stopped telling lies and the other party (parents) started becoming uncomfortable. Eventually with more truth, our relationship distant. Eventually estrange. <BR/><BR/>Though the relationship is non-existent now but I am happy as there is no more guilt. <BR/><BR/>In summary, imo (1) No lies, white lies are bad too and (2) With certain Truth, comes sacrifice. <BR/><BR/>Take care xoxo<BR/>TTAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-8576678312635524692008-08-07T08:24:00.000+08:002008-08-07T08:24:00.000+08:00When I read the paragraph about being hated in Adr...When I read the paragraph about being hated in Adrian's speech, I think about J B Jeyaratnam. I admire him for his courage and determination to stand by his belief and conviction. Nothing will destroy the man's spirit.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-77940679929561977152008-08-07T01:33:00.000+08:002008-08-07T01:33:00.000+08:00Excelleeennnt shite! :DExcelleeennnt shite! :DRuokhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06766049696405676133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-84310492509167918892008-08-06T19:41:00.000+08:002008-08-06T19:41:00.000+08:00onlooker August 4, 2008 1:28 PM: After all, look a...<I>onlooker August 4, 2008 1:28 PM: After all, look at the trend of web developers, in more advance countries more are becoming Freelance(aka consultant). Why this trend?<BR/>... By becoming independent, they get the respect that they did not get while working for a company (they can ask for better pay and not fear retrenchment).</I><BR/><BR/>Bingo, I did that too some time ago, although more due to a sudden career event than by conscious choice. [Aside: Although as with Mr Wang's TAR theory, I had originally thought of escaping from the tyranny of my outsourcing company's bosses.] Back at the outsourced days, clients actually respect my professionalism more than my bosses who might have deemed me their competition. Ironically, my former company lost some deals to me partly because their size could not give them the nimbleness of a small set-up.<BR/><BR/><I>Mr Wang: However, my simple personal requirement is that my job should be interesting to me. It need not be interesting to me forever, but it MUST be interesting to me while I'm still in it.</I><BR/><BR/>I'm in the midst of a transition again myself. I do not have deep pockets or rich parents. However, I sometimes wonder if the confidence to take a risk comes easier to me because like Mr Wang I qualify for Mensa. I say this because I see others doing similar transition as me struggling and wonder if they are happy. This is where Adrian's "not telling the truth" rule comes to play. E.g. When asked by my peers how I find this/that challenging stuff, I may not tell them if I find it easy. This is because people sometimes ask not because they want to hear the truth, but because they want to hear something that they can feel comforted with.<BR/><BR/><I>Adrian Tan: What I recommend is not for everyone. The vast majority of Singaporeans will choose the life expected of them. I just want to highlight another way to happiness.</I><BR/><BR/>Yes, I agree it may not be for everyone. I also like to point out that it does not make one's life any lesser even if one did not pursue one's passions. The reflection and evaluation of one's life is a very subjective and individual activity, broad rules-of-thumb cited by Adrian will always have exceptions. Anon at August 5, 2008 12:13 AM gave good examples. Even my parents are examples.<BR/><BR/>My parents are smart but they did not have the opportunity for self-actualisation due to the different socio-economic situation back then. I respect them for meeting the lower Maslow's needs and giving a chance for their children to achieve the higher ones. I look around and see that even though Singapore has progressed economically, there is still a significant proportion of poor families in Singapore that are not better off financially than my parents 40 years ago, i.e. living hand-to-mouth days. For these families, earning one's daily bread is more important that chasing the dreams.<BR/><BR/>Maybe the topic would be more appropriately titled as "Life and how to <B>EXCEL</B> it". You don't need to be chasing dreams to <I>survive</I>.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-6223963368417737992008-08-06T16:51:00.000+08:002008-08-06T16:51:00.000+08:00Aiyo Mr Wang, just type key words 'adrian tan davi...Aiyo Mr Wang, just type key words 'adrian tan davindar singh SDP' on google and you'll find references to Adrian Tan's involvement in the SDP's defamation trial. <BR/><BR/>Tan also sat beside Davindar Singh's during the open court hearings, witnessed by the public gallery.<BR/><BR/>Perhaps Mr Wang could ask him to pen his thoughts on being the assistant to Lee Kuan Yew's hatchet man. <BR/><BR/>But Adrian won't budge. Why? Because he likes to keep his job, and all the material trappings that come with it. Never mind what he said in that convocation.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-66400925564649225232008-08-06T14:47:00.000+08:002008-08-06T14:47:00.000+08:00AT has just posted about the "TRUTH".. by looking ...AT has just posted about the "TRUTH".. by looking at some of the comments, I can feel some love it... some hate it... Some argued, some agreed... This is the nature by itself... We can't deny it.. I once told my friend "Tell lies with confidence" but one condition, it must not harmful to others by any means or not to promote your destiny...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-85559460151727014522008-08-06T12:04:00.000+08:002008-08-06T12:04:00.000+08:00He was Davindar Singh's right hand man at the defa...<I>He was Davindar Singh's right hand man at the defamation trial of opposition SDP and its leaders.</I><BR/><BR/>Really? That's surprising. There are like 100 litigation lawyers at Drew & Napier, all specialising in different things. Divorce, construction, employment, shipping, criminal cases, company law etc.<BR/><BR/>Hri Kumar is the chap who normally works with DS on defamation cases.<BR/>Adrian, on the other hand, works on intellectual property disputes, such as trademarks, copyright infringement and so on.Gilbert Koh aka Mr Wanghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01027678080233274309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-82358709874250416562008-08-06T11:57:00.000+08:002008-08-06T11:57:00.000+08:00Adrian wrote the local bestseller Teenage Textbook...Adrian wrote the local bestseller Teenage Textbook in the 1990s, which was later made into a movie.<BR/><BR/>He is also a lawyer at Drew & Napier.<BR/><BR/>He was Davindar Singh's right hand man at the defamation trial of opposition SDP and its leaders.<BR/><BR/>Is Adrian Tan himself a slave to his job?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-80043479407691822112008-08-06T10:40:00.000+08:002008-08-06T10:40:00.000+08:00I know what I want, and I get what I want, but I a...I know what I want, and I get what I want, but I also started with and end up with a lot of what I don't want. Somehow it's not easy to stay focused on what you want all the time... Am I suppose to keep lowering my expectations like what most people do? Any ideas on how to thrive in, not just survive, life in a noisy, crowded environment like Singapore?siepiauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17203018890803377204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-78164837402690020192008-08-06T10:31:00.000+08:002008-08-06T10:31:00.000+08:00Dear Anon at August 5, 2008 9:32 PMMy/our past mem...Dear Anon at August 5, 2008 9:32 PM<BR/><BR/>My/our past memories have been systematically erased. Our gahmen is trying to make the great leap forward (w/o condom). And there is absolutely nothing we (the little people) can do.<BR/><BR/>You have to admit that Adrian Tan is absolutely correct in one thing. Truth will get you nowhere.<BR/><BR/>I know that we are in reality cooked by just a few (how many PAP cadres are there?). What to do? we are cowed into paralysis by their shadows. <BR/><BR/>I belong to the generation which is "in between". I belong to the class which is neither rich or poor. I am neither stupid or smart. In fact I am mildly dylexic. Like a duck, outwardly calm, but really paddling like crazy.<BR/><BR/>I straddle between (looking in from outside) the perfect world of the Mr Wangs and the insignificant lives Tan Ah Kows. Tan Ah Kow may in fact be happier as he is ignorant of his fate as fodder.<BR/><BR/>Frankly I dun care anymore. I want to shelter my kids. And I am lamenting the fact that despite my best efforts I am still falling short.<BR/><BR/>NoNameAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-87467273520087908382008-08-05T23:21:00.000+08:002008-08-05T23:21:00.000+08:00I thank u, mr wang for posting this post. I find i...I thank u, mr wang for posting this post. I find it the most meaningful of all your posts, although I enjoy reading all your post; and they make me think a lil more. This post is also inspiring. I am going to graduate next yr, the career I aspire for is not my parents' dream job although it's sth legal and useful to society; probably my parents wun understand and kick me out or sth..=P Well, nonetheless, I will just do my best according to my wishesAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-65293939968539991422008-08-05T22:39:00.000+08:002008-08-05T22:39:00.000+08:00"We spend out lives chasing cars and clothes, work..."We spend out lives chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy things we don't need. The things we own, end up owning us. If you don't know what you want, you end up with a lot you don't." - The Fight ClubAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-66820589979267976842008-08-05T21:32:00.000+08:002008-08-05T21:32:00.000+08:00NoName: August 5 posting at 12:52.Hi NoName. I am ...NoName: August 5 posting at 12:52.<BR/>Hi NoName. I am not offering advice just some thoughts. There are three spaces we grow up in: the public, the personal and the private. When we were young (although that could mean different things because I am an old man) the public space was very much further away. Rarely did it encroach into our personal and/or private spaces because government had not learned and put in place the psychological, social,economic and cultural controls/parameters that over the last thirty years have gained currency in Singapore. When the government intruded it was often violent and obtrusive - the search for gangsters/communists and other opposing elements were rough and deliberate (yes the Special Branch often raided houses at 3am in the morning). Today the methods are less obtrusive but certainly more pervasive and harder to put aside. In the past, with more personal and private spaces there was opportunity to grow and develop inner strengths and qualities even in poverty. No matter how poor we were, we knew something of the myths, the stories and the arts of our past. I am not saying that present day folks do not know these, far from it. However, in the past with little else to entertain or preoccupy us these myths became sustaining and shaping forces within us.<BR/>Do not hide the truth of what is happening from your children. They are more canny and aware than we imagine. Open their eyes.<BR/>At the same time sustain their inner psyche for when all else is done or all else fails it is the inner psyche that will buoy them up and drive them forwards. The common cause of all citizens is the shared awareness of our past and our myths. There is no need to enter into intellectual debates about these, rather I would prefer that we teach the young to rediscover these and to live them.<BR/>One of the commonest tricks in the armory of the social propagandist and manipulator is to put up such issues precisely for debate.In the process, their values are distorted and lost. So what I am saying is: give the young the personal and private spaces they need. Do not be tempted by the exuberance given to public space. Live the life of the inner spirit and to be honest not all intellectual gods are able to do that. The young will find their own path if the inner ballast is there.<BR/>I hope the sharing is of some use.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-42364637008758822652008-08-05T12:52:00.000+08:002008-08-05T12:52:00.000+08:00Mr Wang, you dun have to post this.I want to say t...Mr Wang, you dun have to post this.<BR/><BR/>I want to say that it is indeed an inspiring speech. Some will be bitter for the glimpse of paradise out reach, but each soul saved is cause for rejoice.<BR/><BR/>Having said that, all I want is for enough of u intellectual gods to come down from Mt Olympus to die on the cross (ala christ), get shot (King, etc) or just get sued. Is that too much to ask for so that MY kids have a fighting chance at living a real life?<BR/><BR/>*note: desperate cry for help from a loser in the top 10-15 percentile - uniquely singapore*<BR/><BR/>NoNameAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-52497056862204668242008-08-05T11:35:00.000+08:002008-08-05T11:35:00.000+08:00hihi...nice to know u ^^ Congratulation to you get...hihi...nice to know u ^^ Congratulation to you get in top 3 ...Wish you all the best ^^阿包 abaoohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10491519291235901574noreply@blogger.com