Letter to self

Hello my friend

How are things? I hope to find you in good health and form.

In regards to your current situation, I have little to offer in advice as I myself have never been involved in such a complex state, however, I must urge you to make your decisions based on what you want.

Having said that though, I also believe that you should strive for the stars, reach out for what is beyond your ability to achieve. Only in doing so will you push yourself to attain greater heights. And at times, to do so you will have to take risks, if you want something bad enough, be prepared to take risks that are beyond the norm. Sacrifice what you need to, and take the risks that others would shun. Sometimes, the payback is worth it.

Do not accept and live life as you know it. Read and look and realise that the world is larger than what you know. In terms of your life, realise that the way you live is not the only way of life, there are many other ways of living life, ways that you may deem impossible at first, but who knows, you may very well lead that life if you plan properly and have a bit of luck.

Understand that sometimes you will have to throw away everything you have and move out of your comfort zone for the long term future. Do not be afraid to do what is necessary to move up in life.

While I may advise you in such a way, realise that advice given is only from a point of view and only an opinion or at times an option. Nothing is set in concrete, no matter what others say, you always have the last say as its your life.

Well, take care and all the best.

Your friend

Wannabe ver 2.0

:D

Punishment

I believe that criminals should be punished to the harshest extent possible. That the punishment be such that it brings the criminal to despair at the thought of facing it, that they will carry the scars of their punishment for an eternity to remind them of their crimes committed. That the very thought of being punished again makes them cry out in fear.

Why do I advocate such an extreme stance? Because I believe every criminal commits a pre-meditated crime, and for that, the crime is committed with a full understanding to what is being done and what the punishment is. Why should there be a leniency plea when there is no leniency in crime?

Bargain pleas, second chances and lenient sentences do nothing but trivialise the crime and tell the criminal that to a certain extent they can get away with the crime. Punish the criminal for the crime and punish the criminal well, set the example that crime will not go unpunished. There should be no pity for the criminal.

Non-serious Post 1.1 - Things I like

4. I like technology for the promise of change that it brings. I like minimalist looking cutting edge technology, designed in black and white, sleek and sexy. I do not buy much of it myself simply because at times it costs too much and technology being technology tends to get outdated pretty fast. When it comes to technology, at times the packaging it comes in matters as much as its functionality. The sleeker it looks, the better!

5. I like lazy rainy mornings, where I wake up and lie in bed, listening to the rain fall and just feeling the cool fresh atmosphere. And turning around and going right back to sleep. Without having to wake up and haul my sorry self to work.

6. I like ambitions, dreams and plans. Realistic and unrealistic ambitions. And then slowly planning on how to achieve it, and implementing the plan. Gives me a purpose in life and something to look forward to. Of course, the unrealistic ambitions get filed under "Day dreams" ! But then, who is to say what is achievable and what is not? With drive, hard work, some money and a bit of luck, you can always hope for the best and head for your dreams. I think life is too short not to have any ambitions and dreams.

As for plans, there is a certain pleasure in planning something out step by step, and anticipating its outcomes and dealing with them theoretically. Sometimes it is an exercise in futility, but sometimes speculative planning makes you think of things in a new ways, and opens up your eyes.

Non-serious Post 1.0

Hi hi!

Well, this is my none serious post, at least an attempt to post something not so serious to increase my readership, hits and popularity! I too harbour wild dreams of being a world famous blogger and publishing my first blemoir (blog-memoir) :P

I realise that serious blogs aren't really too popular unless they're politics (shouldn't be taken seriously), technical (only for other technical people) or maybe religion (which is too serious). Education too at times is just too serious, and Life plans? bleh, :P

So I will avoid all that and post something totally irrelevant. Today I will post a partial list of 10 things that I like in no particular order.

1. I like hard fast thumping mind blowing music - the type that grabs you and makes you have a sonic epileptic fit. The type of music that you just can't keep up with the beat unless you've popped some strange pill that gives you an adrenalin rush, and you still can't dance to it everytime you blink you've missed 5 beats!

2. I like winning - doesn't matter whether I'm the under-dog or the favourite to win, doesn't matter whether I'm playing pool or playing some computer game, or whether it's just a run around the park. I like to win, I love to win, I want to win. Winning gives me this sweet sensational rush.

3. I like to Just Do It! I like it when I'm doing something, under pressure and sometimes, after a while I just like the feeling I get when I throw everything up (figuratively) and say "Screw all this, lets just get down and do it." I think people have to do it more often, life would be more exciting and driven.

ok. I'm tired :p

Most posts from my partial list of 10 things I like to do

It's my life

A conversation had/to come with various people - friends, family and other curious people that want to know what I want to do with my life. I wonder whether conversations like this occur all the time, I understand that people can be curious, and sometimes they want the best for you - but for goodness sakes, there is nothing wrong with me wanting to take a bank loan to do an MBA at INSEAD.

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"Yes, one of my goals in life is to do an MBA."

-> Where will you be doing it?

"Well, I would like to hopefully get into INSEAD to do it. I feel that the exposure I would get at top school like INSEAD would be very much different, in terms of what I would learn, and who I would be learning with."

-> I've never heard of it, is there really such a school? Is it a reputable school?

"Yes it's a reputable school. If I'm not wrong, it's one of the top schools in the world. Ranked in the top ten by Forbes and other (people/companies).

-> Are you sure? Then how come I've never heard about it?

"Just because you have never heard about it doesn't mean it is bad and direputable. It's apparently very well recognised in Europe and by established companies."

-> Will it be a full time MBA? Sounds expensive, does that mean you will quit your job for it?

"Yes, I will have to quit my job as it's a full time MBA. In fact, I'll probably have to take a loan to pay for it."

->Really? Doesn't sound to good, why don't you do an MBA at a cheaper place? In fact, why do you even want to quit your job? What's wrong with you?

"Because I believe that somethings in life are worth paying for. And no, I don't think there is anything wrong with me."

-> Really? You must be mad, I'll rather use the money to buy a BMW.

"Go ahead, nobody is asking you to study for the MBA. I'm not asking you to pay for my MBA, I'll be the one taking the loan and studying, not you. I guess different people have different opinions and place different values for things in life, personally, I believe that an MBA will make me a better person in various ways."

-> Who ever heard of quitting a job and then taking a loan for an MBA?

"Yes, I will quit my job when the time comes, but I believe that I would be sacrificing the short-term for the long-term gain. As for taking a loan, I look at the MBA as an investment, taking a loan to do my MBA would be the same as your taking a loan to buy a house."

"Why do I have to be like everybody else? Why can't I be different, and reach out to my dreams. What is wrong if I want to achieve more in life?"

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And it goes on

A weekend in Singapore, and yesterday, a sushi dinner with some friends and more work. What more could I ask for? Except perhaps marriage! But that is happening after my MBA.

According to the latest update from reliable sources, I am going to get married after completing my MBA, something that I hope to do at one of the following schools

i) INSEAD
ii) Said
iii) Jules

So now that I have more or less a road map for my personal life, it is going to be time to move on to sorting out my academic and professional life. Will have to take a look at the GMAT starting next year or so to ensure that I will be able to achieve an adequate score.

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Work is pretty good so far. I am beginning to realise the pros of my job vs the cons of my job. However, my plans to go to INSEAD Singapore's open day have been interrupted and it looks like I will have to give October's event a miss.

Anybody going for it?

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I realise that one of the times I dislike talking to people is when they have settled down into a rut and do not want to move out of their comfort zone.

"Blah blah, yeah I'm comfortable in my job and I don't want to do anything exciting."

Or maybe it is just people that do not want to consider that the world is bigger than what they are doing. It is really sad when people do not sit back and realise that outside of their door, outside of their job and their current lives is a whole world just waiting for them. I think maybe people have to make the jump to look at their lives not from inside-out, but from outside-in.

I hope that I will never fall and be too comfortable in a rut and not willing to explore the world and what it has to offer - whether personally or professionally.

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And before I forget, for what it is worth, to the victims of Hurricane Katrina - I am sorry that it happened and God bless.

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