上善若水

上善若水。水善利万物而不争，处众人之所恶，故几于道。居，善地；心，善渊；与，善仁；言，善信；政，善治；事，善能；动，善时。夫唯不争，故无尤。

《道德经》第八章

"赢" 照

This is literally my reflection on 27 Feb 09 when I attempted to capture Edison Chen as he left the airport in a tinted van with curtains. In case you didn't know who he is, Edison 陈冠希 is a former Hong Kong celebrity who had his sex photos with/of a number of females celebrities stolen from his computer when he had sent it for repairs. The extremely saucy photos surfaced and became the BIGGEST scandal in the Hong Kong entertainment scene in 2008.

He was in town recently for a couple of events and had both the local and foreign media in a frenzy. It was an experience of a lifetime (and fun!) for me to rub shoulders with tens of foreign paparazzi, jostling with another tens of securities and squeezing with hundreds of screaming fans and curious onlookers. I enjoyed myself although it was tiring and my back was aching from trying to take as many photos of him as possible. But I came to realise why some people are so obsessed with him. He is quite a charmer.

But is he a hero or a villain? Some people admired him for his ability to "score" with so many hot female starlets while some called him shameless for this display of voyeurism. While the photos and poses are shockingly explicit, the ladies in them are obviously willing parties. So who is at fault? Do we sneer at their sordidness or snicker at Edison's lack of computer knowledge? But before we even pass their sentence, have we asked ourselves: Are we any holier behind our own closed doors?

I'm not defending him but like what Jesus said, "Let those without sin cast the first stone."

What the medal means to Singapore

The Olympics Women Table Tennis Finals could not be held at a time more aptly than on the day of the annual National Day Rally. And the PM made the right decision to delay his 'live' telecast of the rally to broadcast the game. He knows that the game will be able to "rally" more Singaporeans than his own "rally" that night. A true leader knows how to make both the right short-term decisions and the necessary long-term plans to attain the desired effect. And he did this to to the effect of reinforcing his points about the Foreign Talent Scheme during the rally too. What better ways and timing to do this than during the game itself?

PM noted native Singaporeans' concerns over foreign talents taking away jobs and depressing wages. It is a genuine concern and it has been around for quite some time. The silver medal reminded Singaporeans that we have got to open our mind and wake up our ideas. There is much to gain economically and culturally from them. If we had clung on to our “纯种意识”, we would still be trapped in our "well". The silver medal demonstrated again how we could make a name in the international arena, raise our bar and inspire Singaporeans that we CAN achieve great things.

We should look at this medal on the broadest picture possible. This is when, sports is not just about the game. This is when, sports is a country policy and a governmental strategy. We should not belittle the weight that sports have on a country. Ultimately, all of us want to "Shine for Singapore" and for the country to stand proud. So let us face the bare reality. To do this, we must remember that the pioneers of Singapore's history are once made up mainly of foreigners too. We are a smart population but we are limited by resources and our size. To grow, improve or even to survive, we need to do all that is necessary and sometimes seemingly awkward. Lucky for us, our leaders have the foresight and the courage to implement what turned out to be an exciting and moving medal in Singapore's history.

比上不足，比下有余

Just something that came across my mind during a course I attended recently. I was reminded that there are smart people with "足" to learn from and we cannot be complacent with our "余". We can learn a lot from not-so-smart people too. There is always a “上” and learn from the right “下” too.

《论语 . 季氏》

Some wise words to ponder over for the coming new year!

孔子日：

“ 君子有三戒：少之时，血气未定，戒之在色；及其壮也，血气方刚，戒之在斗；及其老也，血气既衰，戒之在得。”

Work and Passion

"When you work for money, you tire easily. When you work for your ideals, you can bear the cold. When you work out of interest, you will never tire."

Taiwanese Tech Billionaire - Terry 郭台铭

[曾经做过]≠[已经做完]