tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-141536272024-03-13T18:26:42.695+08:00Vacuum StateAbout the Unity of Inner-Self and Environment.michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867685967275729776noreply@blogger.comBlogger519125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14153627.post-68856417624662443262017-11-10T21:32:00.001+08:002017-11-12T09:41:31.828+08:00Provoking the Guilty<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-04TMRrXwR18/WgekwP5TfMI/AAAAAAAAHRI/SbodrK0P0EkZBCpjmfYh4T_pWPTPKHyTACLcBGAs/s1600/Slide1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="480" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-04TMRrXwR18/WgekwP5TfMI/AAAAAAAAHRI/SbodrK0P0EkZBCpjmfYh4T_pWPTPKHyTACLcBGAs/s640/Slide1.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>[Read the chat further below...]</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">L</span>ast Wednesday, a woman chatted me up on Facebook out of the blue. I smelled a rat. as her language and purported professional status did not seem to correlate. </div>
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Instead of blocking her, I sought to find out how far she will go. So I started asking some questions that led to a long and winding conversation. You can follow the chat below <span style="color: blue;"><b>(my dialogue is in the blue bubbles)</b></span>. Ignore my banking lingo, as they were just some gibberish I made up on the fly.</div>
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She didn't answer my questions and evaded them by talking in broad general nothings. I persisted and managed to provoke enough guilt or fear in her, that she eventually crashed out of the conversation. Further inspections show that her profile and timeline seem to relate a lot with Nigeria.</div>
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The Chat:</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9bus3cPDxks/WgVWc0vkhFI/AAAAAAAAHQ4/7jKdOWVCroYTpEn3G7-zPkaW4JFPjj5tACLcBGAs/s1600/scam1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1009" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9bus3cPDxks/WgVWc0vkhFI/AAAAAAAAHQ4/7jKdOWVCroYTpEn3G7-zPkaW4JFPjj5tACLcBGAs/s400/scam1.jpg" width="251" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9IPiLvGmNqk/WgVVJlg-VzI/AAAAAAAAHQg/qiU24i8BXggKNnZiHrt6gwKVFNCHnp3AgCLcBGAs/s1600/scam2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1453" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9IPiLvGmNqk/WgVVJlg-VzI/AAAAAAAAHQg/qiU24i8BXggKNnZiHrt6gwKVFNCHnp3AgCLcBGAs/s400/scam2.jpg" width="296" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nbtZ-6TTGOY/WgVVmiGnURI/AAAAAAAAHQs/h_MnGvH_cAEwqUVsJGA5BwWnOXKv4bhFQCLcBGAs/s1600/scam3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1542" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nbtZ-6TTGOY/WgVVmiGnURI/AAAAAAAAHQs/h_MnGvH_cAEwqUVsJGA5BwWnOXKv4bhFQCLcBGAs/s400/scam3.jpg" width="280" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QEuiHkvHaxI/WgVU_4Ul9iI/AAAAAAAAHQY/IThAiMe0gYIjh9jOuxF2A67PW372JsPNwCLcBGAs/s1600/scam4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1218" data-original-width="1054" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QEuiHkvHaxI/WgVU_4Ul9iI/AAAAAAAAHQY/IThAiMe0gYIjh9jOuxF2A67PW372JsPNwCLcBGAs/s320/scam4.jpg" width="276" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X7Ek9YODdpQ/WgVU24JdzmI/AAAAAAAAHQU/iB6V1bFE6UgGhO3ul8tez2WishD0_-iRgCLcBGAs/s1600/scam5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1445" data-original-width="1068" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X7Ek9YODdpQ/WgVU24JdzmI/AAAAAAAAHQU/iB6V1bFE6UgGhO3ul8tez2WishD0_-iRgCLcBGAs/s400/scam5.jpg" width="295" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mVQ26f4coyI/WgVUzNNAI2I/AAAAAAAAHQQ/7M1qvbiCCvsiO0vjx6afWVNT4IEvYiePQCLcBGAs/s1600/scam6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1038" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mVQ26f4coyI/WgVUzNNAI2I/AAAAAAAAHQQ/7M1qvbiCCvsiO0vjx6afWVNT4IEvYiePQCLcBGAs/s400/scam6.jpg" width="258" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: blue;"><b>This could well be a script for a comedy skit. To learn about film making, click <a href="http://michael-chua.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">here</a>.</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: blue;">Online scams like this happen by the millions daily. To find out more about online security/fraud and risks, click <a href="http://tech-risks.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">here</a></span>.</b></div>
michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867685967275729776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14153627.post-19595325030176470342017-03-15T14:54:00.000+08:002017-03-15T14:54:51.893+08:00Coffeeshop Talk - Cyberspace<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BzRuvY-oTM8/WMjiVssxMJI/AAAAAAAAG8w/0CanLHHQkysNomdz4UD5RHdDW4nc3EtJgCLcB/s1600/kopi%2Bcong.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BzRuvY-oTM8/WMjiVssxMJI/AAAAAAAAG8w/0CanLHHQkysNomdz4UD5RHdDW4nc3EtJgCLcB/s400/kopi%2Bcong.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>[Talking to myself while waiting for my Bee Hoon at my neighbourhood corner coffeeshop.]</b><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Where do you live?</span><br />
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Cyberspace.<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Where is Cyberspace?</span><br />
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Everywhere.<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">What do you mean? Can you give me an example?</span><br />
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In the memories of computers. They are interconnected. Ah yes, ... the Internet.<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Why do you live in Cyberspace? Did you choose to live there?</span><br />
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No, I was tricked into it. Then it became convenient. Now I can't live anywhere else.<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Why can't you live anywhere else?</span><br />
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It's convenient in Cyberspace.<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Isn't it more convenient to switch off?</span><br />
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Switch what off? You can't switch Cyberspace off. It is there. Will always be.<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">I mean, you can switch your computers off. Your smartphone off.</span><br />
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And my smartTV off too?<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Yes. Disconnect.</span><br />
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Then where will I be?<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Here. Now.</span><br />
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Now? What do you mean 'Now'?<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Now. The moment. The breath you take. </span><br />
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You mean, like you and me now? I don't get it. And then what?<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">And then we are present together. Enjoying the moment.</span><br />
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Enjoy what? So boring.<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Have you tried?</span><br />
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Tried what?<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Being in the moment.</span><br />
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<b>[Silence.]</b><br />
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Not for very long.<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Why?</span><br />
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Cos' I feel that I am missing out.<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">What will you miss out?</span><br />
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I don't know. I don't even know what I will miss out. Isn't that more scary?<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">So you are living in fear?</span><br />
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<b>[Silence]</b><br />
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Yes.<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Yes what?</span><br />
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Yes,... you know... it is hard...<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Say it.</span><br />
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Ok, ok... beat it. Yes, I am living in fear. Fear of missing out. Fear of not knowing what is to come. Am I wrong?<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">You are not wrong. You are not right either. There is no right or wrong. Only choices and consequences. What have you chosen?</span><br />
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Chosen? What do you mean?<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">You have chosen Fear haven't you?</span><br />
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Yes. So?<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">So what are the consequences?</span><br />
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Liddat lor.<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Do you feel comfortable? Relaxed? Peaceful?</span><br />
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<b>[Pause]</b><br />
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Not really.<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">So these are your consequences. Now you can make a different choice. Do you want to make that choice? Live in the moment.</span><br />
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Ok, let us post this online so that more people are aware. <br />
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<span style="color: red;">... Oh crap! How come? Singtel 4G is down?!!!</span><br />
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For more Coffeeshop Philosophies, click <a href="https://jupilier.blogspot.sg/search/label/coffeeshop%20philosophy?m=0" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<br />michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867685967275729776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14153627.post-68349620868415771712017-01-10T09:19:00.004+08:002017-02-02T14:37:02.909+08:00My Rather Morbid Year To Cheer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YFt6JUYQCl8/WGxqcKZ8SuI/AAAAAAAAG4Y/gz30dLOhTZorxhtrvrgKywOCzB5hjnPIgCLcB/s1600/20170104_111913.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YFt6JUYQCl8/WGxqcKZ8SuI/AAAAAAAAG4Y/gz30dLOhTZorxhtrvrgKywOCzB5hjnPIgCLcB/s400/20170104_111913.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">This was 2016 for me, a mix of sweet, sour and bitter:</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-brdGi9BbQMc/WHMUeoScANI/AAAAAAAAG5s/CmzvvXs3qfQiWx-sWbCVevmRj7rWjeRPQCLcB/s1600/MOVIE%2BPOSTER%2Boption%2B2%2Bfinal%2B%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-brdGi9BbQMc/WHMUeoScANI/AAAAAAAAG5s/CmzvvXs3qfQiWx-sWbCVevmRj7rWjeRPQCLcB/s200/MOVIE%2BPOSTER%2Boption%2B2%2Bfinal%2B%25282%2529.jpg" width="141" /></a></div>
<b><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;">The Next Plot</span>,</b><br />
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a short film about: "A grieving old man struggling against religious stigma to be buried next to his late wife," was released. I wrote, produced, directed and acted in this gig; collaborating with Red Dot Film Makers.</div>
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I was enduring an excruciating pain on my neck and my arms during the production, but the show must go on.</div>
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For more, click <a href="http://michael-chua.blogspot.sg/2016/02/the-next-plot.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0q7lwYqWB5U/Vx9dHwSQ6NI/AAAAAAAAGtI/TAdA7RUknS0xYgI8OtEjoxC1mlwA-4C0wCPcB/s1600/Ken2zen%2Bversion%2B4%25281%2529%25281%2529%25281%2529%25281%2529_40%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="91" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0q7lwYqWB5U/Vx9dHwSQ6NI/AAAAAAAAGtI/TAdA7RUknS0xYgI8OtEjoxC1mlwA-4C0wCPcB/s200/Ken2zen%2Bversion%2B4%25281%2529%25281%2529%25281%2529%25281%2529_40%25281%2529.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;"><b>The Next Life</b></span></div>
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I recovered from the crippling and excruciating pain through meditation and help from an Osteopath. This after seven months and numerous futile trips to mainstream doctors, alternative medicine, self medication, massages, spiritual healings and conmen healings. For more, click <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.sg/2016/04/pain-2.html?m=1" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
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This seven month saga has changed my life forever. It was so painful that at one stage, I thought I was going to die. I really did. No exaggeration. It was so painful that I didn't know that such pain was possible or even existed. 'Health is wealth' rings very loud and true to the bone for me now. When I am in trouble now, I ask myself if I am in pain. If not in pain, then I won't sweat it.</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mi8CK6Bor_c/WHMAL6VcwFI/AAAAAAAAG4o/UgjlLZwrcIAu4T8RSUyNGy_vuG1b8mhIQCLcB/s1600/20160815_194639.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mi8CK6Bor_c/WHMAL6VcwFI/AAAAAAAAG4o/UgjlLZwrcIAu4T8RSUyNGy_vuG1b8mhIQCLcB/s200/20160815_194639.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;"><b>The Next Bank</b>,...</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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Soon after recovery, I joined a team working in a bank that was acquired by another bank. There was so much to learn working on the handover. Virtually, I was going through a crash course in banking, spending long hard hours going through the tediums of merger. Despite that, it was a harmonious and happy environment, one that I was sad to see go after the takeover.<br />
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I congratulate the managers who have created this little sanctuary. Not easy being in an industry that is in the cut-and-thrust of the market economy.<br />
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On a different note and in the wider picture, there are currently a lot disruptive technologies changing the banking world that may even result in the demise of banking itself, as we know it. To read more about it in 'Digital Banking', click <a href="http://tech-risks.blogspot.sg/2016/12/digital-banking.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-631VhZI5fyk/WHNcOHm5V5I/AAAAAAAAG58/jMasxUCA9cgU96ElNkcvbem5rPu49qnmwCLcB/s1600/20160903_173300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-631VhZI5fyk/WHNcOHm5V5I/AAAAAAAAG58/jMasxUCA9cgU96ElNkcvbem5rPu49qnmwCLcB/s200/20160903_173300.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<b style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-large;">Pulau Ubin</b><br />
This is where my favourite short film for 2016, "More than Words that Touches" (sponsored by Ogawa) was shot. It has been sometime since I have been there, but it remains as the same sleepy tropical isle. The 'uncle' selling coconut juice and cold drinks is still around, busy and healthy as ever. For more about the shoot, click <a href="http://michael-chua.blogspot.sg/2016/11/more-than-words-that-touches.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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The story is about a daughter who returns to Pulau Ubin to visit her father after living in the mainland for many years. This is a reminder that we should spend more time with the people we love.<br />
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Here is the video:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sffnSR1K1Ww" width="400"></iframe>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ABB1rnkHbWI/WHMAaIMTj-I/AAAAAAAAG4s/wjQv-LPSxwYwUyUYnhYuXcJPVr-uwvHEwCLcB/s1600/IMG_3124.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="141" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ABB1rnkHbWI/WHMAaIMTj-I/AAAAAAAAG4s/wjQv-LPSxwYwUyUYnhYuXcJPVr-uwvHEwCLcB/s200/IMG_3124.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;">Devil Revealed</span></b></div>
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A film maker whom I trusted, ran away with my money. I lent him some money, in the orders of four-figures to pay for a movie premier in a theatre. Another person I know of lent him another four-figure sum of money. But that is a paltry sum compared to his investor, who put in a six-figure sum of money and getting nothing in return. Not even a copy of the video.<br />
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He has since vanished. He is not in his home, with his family and had left the country. I don't know where he is now. I have previously persuaded him numerous times to return the money, but it was futile. He went the way of the Devil - really silly to ruin his reputation and nail his career to an early death, for a mere few thousand dollars. This is a pity because he is young and talented!!! But without integrity, everything amounts to naught.</div>
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There is still time to surrender and repent. If not, he can be arrested and stained with a criminal record, upon returning to Singapore.<br />
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For more about the movie, click <a href="http://michael-chua.blogspot.sg/search/label/Justice%20Devil" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WYJmlIxK2Eg/WHMEY2zxscI/AAAAAAAAG5Q/uRpPkDx775IGi2u13wbp2M0OMBmjZE62ACLcB/s1600/20161008_121913.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WYJmlIxK2Eg/WHMEY2zxscI/AAAAAAAAG5Q/uRpPkDx775IGi2u13wbp2M0OMBmjZE62ACLcB/s200/20161008_121913.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;"><b>Bloodline Blues</b></span></div>
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I directed an action genre for the first time. It is about a young heir to a noble family escaping from his obligations to reconcile with his lover in Asia, after the death of his father.</div>
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I realised that I had to decide on how much fantasy to allow in the fight choreography. In other genres, I work to make the film as close to real life as possible. </div>
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Real life fights are different. They are brutal, bloody, ugly and fast. Few people would like to watch them. The audience will cringe at the blood, gore and brutality.<br />
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A major lesson I learned is that when there is a critical demand in a production for more moving parts, more actors, more locations, more props and higher criticality for editing continuity, there will be more noise (with a capital 'N'). Be wise enough to separate the signals from the noise - stay calm and know what matters and what don't; and what you can change and what you cannot. And...<br />
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"God, please grant more people with this wisdom."</div>
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<b style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-large;">RIP Mum...</b><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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My mum died after succumbing to cancer. Weeks before that, she started asking for hugs. Surprising, as traditional Chinese parents don't hug their children after they have become adults. In her last days, however, my mother defied traditions and customs to hug us. It was her way to express her love for us. She chose to go to where love is. </div>
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I have lived in the West for many years and now have problems adjusting to a culture of no-hugs. Some people still looked at me with suspicion when I hug them. Some Singapore guys who are badly constipated by this cold culture of no-hugs scorned at me when I hugged other people, especially women. They think that it all amounts to an excuse for sexual molestation. How sad when a hug is viewed from fear and distrust.</div>
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Let's free all hugs from taboo and sexualisation.</div>
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;">HANIFF</span></b></div>
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I walked the red carpet for the first time at the 4th Hanoi International Film Festival (2016), where "Certified Dead (2016)" was premiered. Click <a href="http://www.certifieddead.com/" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
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We were treated as VIP for 7 days with gala dinners, award ceremonies, a trip to Halong Bay, ...etc. It felt surreal, as I have never dreamed of being an actor, let alone as one that was now walking down the red carpet with reporters and fans snapping photos at the sidelines.</div>
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It is easy for actors to be carried away and believe that they are larger than life under such conditions. Though, it remains that the crux of acting will always be about telling stories and making the emotional connections with the audience.</div>
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<b style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-large;">RIP Jackie Liong</b></div>
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An actor friend died instantly in a tragic car accident. He was on the way to work with his wife on the highway when another car came from the opposite direction, hit and toppled his car, killing him instantly. His wife seated next to him survived and was warded in hospital.</div>
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This above picture is one of Jackie (far right) and me at the "Back Alley Bulls" movie shoot. RIP Jackie.<br />
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Fore more about "Back Alley Bulls", click <a href="http://michael-chua.blogspot.sg/2013/06/back-alley-bulls.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
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Here is what happened during that tragic day...</div>
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The human journey is fragile. Live everyday to its fullest, as if it is your last,... or first.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;">Film Award...</span></b></div>
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"Certified Dead" won the Best International Film Award at the 14th Royal Bali International Film Festival (2016).<br />
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That brings the year to a happy end. Something to cheer about.</div>
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michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867685967275729776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14153627.post-77371879871470722762016-04-26T17:08:00.001+08:002016-11-28T10:33:02.502+08:00How I Overcame my Chronic Pain.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today is the 11th day I have woken up to a painless body, after a harrowing seven- month ordeal. I am immensely grateful for the recovery and I will never again take good health for granted. It is like being blissfully born again every morning. </div>
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The pain started sometime in September 2015, from what I thought was a 'normal' stiff neck due to work and stress, it developed to a pain that turned terribly worse. The pain quickly spread to the shoulders and arms till the end of my finger tips. The doctor said that my nerves were impinged by the neck vertebrae that triggered the stretch of pain downstream. </div>
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The pain was permanent and persistent. There was no break in between. I woke up in pain, went through the day in pain, went to bed in pain and sometimes got woken up in the middle of the night by the pain. It was like a dark cloud had descended and there was no way out, nor could I do anything about it. The doctor said that the only way out was a surgery to space out the vertebrae, but before that, he suggested that I go to a physiotherapist to check if conditions could improve.<br />
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I graded my levels of pain from 1 to 10, with '1' being the least painful, and '10' being the most painful.<br />
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During that time, there was never a '1'. It was usually waking up at level '4', where the neck, arms and fingers were already electrically charged in pain and physical movements had to be gradual, so as not to aggravate the situation. By the time I returned home at the end of each day, it was usually a level '6', when the walk from the bus stop to the the house was a long painful struggle. Each step felt like a destructive pull on the nerves. Sometimes the struggle to walk home ground to a halt for me to still my mind from the pain.<br />
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If I did reach a level '8', I had to look for a sofa or a bed to lie down immediately as it was unbearable. When nobody was around, I would literally be screaming out loud. Lying flat motionless, would gradually ease the pain and I would go down back to level '4'.<br />
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If I got woken up by the pain in the middle of the night, it was a '10'. It was painful enough to bring me to tears.<br />
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I became foolishly obsessed with the numbers, as if it was a way to look forward to a less painful day. I embraced those numbers. Then, I realised that the numbers had become my virtual hope and my escapism.<br />
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The pain crippled my life. I am usually someone who observes good habits, and used to be very healthy. I jogged and worked out three times a week and kept my sugar and carb intake low. So, I had never thought that I could end up this bad even in my darkest nightmares. But now, I struggled just to walk upright, without looking bent and lopsided. I became obsessed with fighting the pain till my mind switched off from many other essential chores.<br />
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I became absent-minded, forgetting to turn off the tap, or where I left my phone; once, I even offered to pay for my food twice at a checkout counter. The world felt entirely different from what I used to know - the one when I was pain free. "Health is Wealth" now rang very loudly for me, as I went through the trauma of a malfunctioning body.<br />
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As I didn't want to go for surgery, I tried alternative healing methods, like acupuncture, Tuina, acu-pressure massage, chiropractic realignments, osteopathy, Reiki; and spiritual healings from Christians speaking in tongues. I even got approached by gurus and charlatans that made preposterous claims so that they could con me.<br />
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Some professionals were honest. They did their best, but couldn't heal me. The others weren't much better than those sleazy charlatans. Some over-serviced and over-charged, probably to support their posh clinics and lavish lifestyles. Some tried scare tactics to break down my self-confidence so that they could dominate and control me. It was all about the money. The bottom-line was that none of them brought my pain down.<br />
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Among the professionals, I only continued with the Osteopath, because he was the only one who could give me a comprehensive explanation of my problem. He could also answer all my questions with specific answers. In contrast, I got nebulous answers from mainstream practitioners. Ultimately, they always conclude by explaining that the body is 'degenerating' and 'aging'. I don't buy that. I know many people accept that we all grow old and degenerate, but I beg to differ. I believe that it is all in the mind. If we have to die, we could die 'healthy', just like my father did, he died in his sleep peacefully at the old age of 89 years old.<br />
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The Osteopath diagnosed that the source of the problem was the stomach and that it had caused the muscles to pull and compact the vertebrae, therefore squeezing the nerves firing up the pains down from my neck to my fingertips. Recovery was patchy. I got better after a few sessions, and then it got worse. This cycle went on several times - my getting better, then followed by another spike of pain.<br />
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When I told mainstream health practitioners about the Osteopath's diagnosis, none of them supported the argument. They were not comfortable going down this route of reasoning. They consider it impossible and radically different from what they were taught in their medical school. Though it should be noted that Osteopathy pre-dates physiotherapy and was propounded by a Western trained medical doctor in the US. Nonetheless, they were not convinced. While I did not expect them to embrace the Osteopath's diagnosis, I was surprised that they were so closed to new inquiry and thinking.</div>
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I tried to keep myself as positive as possible. It was more difficult to do so being in constant pain, with no end in sight. One night, after being woken up in pain, I questioned if life was worth living at all. This defeatist thought surprised me, as I used to be a very positive person. It was then I realised that I had changed. It scared me, so I resolved to turn around. I had to find a way. I didn't know how, as there was no sustainable progress and I didn't even know if I would ever be healed. I had to endure my life one day at a time.<br />
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Eventually, I accepted that the pain will be here to stay and that I will have to plan my life around it. That means to get on with life as normal as possible despite the pain. Principally, it required acting against the pain. It can't get worse! </div>
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Then on the 3rd of February 2016, it did get worse. A lot worse! The pain suddenly spiked up so much. It was so crippling, that I had never knew such pain could even exist. It was mind shattering. The pain level busted all the previous levels - by far! It was probably a level 13. It was unbearable sitting or lying down, even when motionless doing nothing. Any movement would trigger an explosive pain. A sneeze, a cough, sitting on the throne in the loo, or even a fart for that matter, sent electrifying pain down the nerves. I struggled getting out of bed and made my way to the kitchen to make a cup of hot chocolate. I needed the energy. I had to. I was alone in the house and I was starting to feel weak. The choco powder spilled all over the cup and made a mess, as my hand trembled in pain with each twitch of the fingers and each twirl of the wrists. It was terrifying.<br />
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I thought I was going to die. My mind started to wander negatively and pondered why I would have to die this painfully. What had I done wrong to deserve this?! I thought that, this was it. I knew that if I were to stay at home I would not get any better.<br />
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So I dragged myself to the nearby clinic. There, the doctor gave me a steroid injection, and a cocktail of strong medicine like muscle relaxants, pain killers, menthol cream to apply on the body,..., etc. I normally do not take strong medicines, but in this instance, I threw in the towel and downed the medicine desperately. After that, I started hallucinating. That was probably because I was not used to medicine, especially those strong drugs.<br />
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The hallucination was beautiful though, as I could see exotic vast landscapes with brilliant colours and everything seemed and felt larger than life. Next, I found my emotions and presence getting curiously connected with those beautiful visuals.<br />
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In one, I was in a desert with red-brown sand dunes and a narrow road cutting across diagonally. Then an old black vintage car drove past leaving a tail of colourful dust. It looked like a guppy with a long colourful tail.<br />
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In another, it was a seemingly mundane situation of a man talking to a woman, however, they were in such perfect harmony and their movements were so continuously smooth that it was inexplicably fascinating to watch.<br />
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It was so relaxing going through those mental visuals. I was in a parallel universe momentarily.<br />
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That night, as I closed my eyes, I saw three sparks of bright white light coming down from high up and hovered around my head. It was a relaxing feeling, then a cozy and safe feeling as the light blended into my body. I could feel the pulsations as it happened. I felt very protected and the pain subsided significantly.<br />
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My Christian friends said that the White Light was probably the Trinity. Another (Christian) said that it was probably my hallucination, even though I told her that I did utter Jesus' name prior to that to call for help. Ultimately, people choose what they want to believe. I know it was not the medicine, as I had seen those White Light a few times before when I was not on drugs or medication. On the previous occasions, the White Light had also healed me, but of very minor ailments. I don't know who this White Light is. I don't profess it to be God, Jesus, nor would I attempt to give a name to it. I just know that it represents Love.<br />
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Just to clarify, I don't normally take pharmaceutical drugs, as I try to keep my body free from unnecessary chemicals, and avoid them as much as possible.</div>
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Meanwhile life goes on, particularly in the film industry where the show must go on. There were some mornings when I was worried about how I could possibly get through the day. But somehow, I always did. So some of the films and TV dramas that you see me in, could well be the ones made when I was really sick. <span style="color: blue;">For more about my acting gigs, click</span> <a href="http://michael-chua.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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Miraculously, when the cameras rolled, the pain somehow disappeared, either that, or I couldn't remember that it was there, as I got into the script character. Upon the shout of 'cut', I started to feel my body coming back with the pain. Then, I realised that it is possible to beat the pain with my mind. But how could I do it? That was the question.<br />
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That was my first turning point. I figured that I could beat the pain through meditation. I have meditated regularly for more than ten years, until last September when the pain took over. It became too distracting and I could not focus. But now my experience in front of the cameras on set taught me that it is possible to ignore the pain. So I started doing that - ignoring the pain. I did it for a few seconds first, then prolonged the time. Then I learned that if I could ignore the pain past the first three minutes, I was able to conquer the pain. Gradually I did. After each meditation, I felt better and then woke up the next morning with a lower pain level. There were times when it was too difficult to focus as the pain was overwhelming, so I stopped for that day. In all, I succeeded 8 out of 10 times.<br />
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The second turning point was when I met a young man during one of the film shoots who told me that he too was in pain, and had been so since he was a child. Then, he emphasised that despite his pains, he was not going to stop doing the things he loved. That surprised me because I wouldn't have known he was in pain, had he not spoken. In a morbid way, he got used to his pain.<br />
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Those few words tipped the scales. The coin finally dropped. The secret is that I must play the key role in my own recovery. I am now confident that I can succeed, despite the excruciating pains still shimmering, and imminently exploding.<br />
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I usually did not let people around know of my pain so as not to trouble anyone, especially in a production set. At business meetings, I would just ask to be forgiven if I slouch on the chair. I did not want my problem to be an inconvenience to anyone.<br />
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Subsequently, I experimented with many things: activities, food, different routines,...etc, and tried to measure their effectiveness, no matter now small. Some worked, some didn't. I stuck with those that worked and dropped those that didn't. Some tricks like drinking lots of beer did help to numb the senses and feel less of the pain. It was kind of a painkiller, but a less harmful one than those prescribed. However, I know that it had to be applied with moderation, otherwise I would be fueling yet another problem.<br />
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So I stuck with meditation, swimming, going to bed early and cutting my carb/sugar intake. A friend of mine gave me an inversion table, a table that enables me to hang myself upside down to loosen my spine. I did that too. Through experimentation, I also learned that certain fruits are natural painkillers, like bananas (it has magnesium), blue berries and other berries.<br />
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It wasn't a straight line progress to recovery. The pain eased and spiked several times. There were several false hopes, but overall with each cycle, the average pain went down. So slowly, but surely, I healed myself in tandem with my osteopathic sessions. Then on the 17th April 2016, I woke up for the first time in 7 months, with no pain.<br />
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This trauma has changed my perception of life forever. I now resolve to live it to the fullest no matter what happens.<br />
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I am healed. I hope this is permanent. I dread to even think of what it used to be like. I get goose bumps writing this article itself. No longer will I allow health issues to fester and get myself into a rut of crippling pains. My advice to readers here would be the same.<br />
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If you are unwell now, don't give up. Start living and let yourself heal.</div>
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If you are well and healthy, enjoy the bliss. Don't get angry over trivial matters. In comparison with a painful body, many matters will seem trivial. Many seemingly urgent matters are probably unimportant. Prioritise and choose what is important. Enjoy your good health.<br />
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<b><u><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Footnotes:</span></u></b><br />
I believe in the comprehensive healing of the body, and when possible, to stay away from drugs. Western medicine seems to fix only the symptoms, which may not last very long. A body is a system, if we forcefully intervene in one part, the imbalance will profess elsewhere. It is akin to a computer program - fix a bug here and the program will bomb elsewhere in another line of code.<br />
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I think Western medicine is good in an emergency, or when the sickness has gone into too deep a state to risk using slow and natural methods of healing. It does have its place, and I am thankful to those doctors who have helped me in this traumatic period.<br />
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Thankfully, apart from this saga, I am rarely sick. When I am sick, I rest and heal myself by eating well and drinking lots of water. It works most of the time. When it doesn't, then I try Traditional Chinese Medicine. When all else fails and it gets dire, I resort to Western medicine.<br />
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Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) treats the body in its entirety. It checks for the source of the problem and helps to balance the body by prescribing herbs or applying acupuncture. While I have very positive experiences with TCM, the recent acupuncturists I went to seemed to be treating only my symptoms. They applied the needles only to those areas that were in pain. So that didn't work. I used to know of a very good acupuncturist who would think hard before applying the needles and they didn't necessarily land on where the pain was. However, I have lost contact with this acupuncturist.<br />
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The physiotherapist asked me, "Is pain good or bad?"<br />
In that moment of excruciating pain, I blurted out, "Bad!"<br />
Then, upon contemplation, I thought it could be good. Pain is a signal that somewhere in our body, something is malfunctioning. So here on, I listen to my body intently. Things are never purely good or bad. In the good, there is some bad. In the bad, there is some good. This is represented by the Yin and Yang symbol.<br />
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Pain is very complex. Through the saga, my threshold of tolerance for pain has raised progressively. What used to be unbearable is now bearable, and what was crippling now borderlines the unbearable. Also, when different parts of the body are in pain, the part of the body that has the worst pain dominates, and the less painful parts feels trivial in comparison.<br />
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Pain can also be lessened by applying heat on the body. Heat changes the chemical composition of the affected areas and different signals are sent to the brain.<br />
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Pain ought to be carried by the nerves in the body, but there are cases where the main nerve is fully squeezed by the vertebrae, and the person experiences no pain. Somehow, the body is very intelligent and works around the problem.<br />
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During the spiritual healing, my Christian friends surrounded me in a circle, put their palms on my shoulders and spoke in tongues. Each of them seemed to speak a different tongue. Some of them sounded a little bit like Arabic. I could feel pulsations on my body as they chanted and my body did feel less painful, but only for a short while. By the time I was on the way home in the bus, all the progress was gone. Some Christians think that speaking in tongues means speaking in the Holy Spirit, but I beg to differ. With due respect, they are probably speaking on behalf of some wandering spirits. I do appreciate their intention to help me though.<br />
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One masseuse suggested that my pain could have been caused by spurs growing out of my spine and that I ought to go for an MRI to confirm that. The fact is that probably 90% of people my age would have spurs, though most with spurs experience no pain. So be careful with opinions from people who are not fully trained. They are effectively quacks, but can bring your morale to the ground. In the world of agony, keeping your morale high is crucial. That is why real doctors are taught to relay their findings to the patients and their family in an emotionally neutral tone.<br />
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Another masseuse talked down to me for not exercising enough, while he demonstrated that I could only turned my head to a very limited arc. To add insult into injury, he warned that it would be very dangerous if I drove because I would not be able to see the blind spots. What kind of comment was that? How would that help me to heal? He was not even correct, as I did exercise regularly prior to when my pain started. And he said all that, while I was visibly cringing in pain. I infer that he was deliberately trying to demoralise me so that he can position himself as the saviour. In his eyes, I am a recurring business potential.<br />
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One charlatan tried to get me to pay him thousands of dollars for a spiritual initiation, claiming that he has the mandate from God. He said that I was possessed by evil spirits and he could help me. It was so ridiculous that I didn't even bother to argue with him. I just walked away. He then bluffed me and said that I would go back to him after two weeks as my condition would deteriorate quickly; and that he could afford to wait.<br />
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Two weeks later, his side kick called to ask for an introducer's fee. He said that was a fee for him for having introduced his guru to me. I thought that given that the guru was so rude and crude, they should be the one paying me for my tolerance and time. I think the guru took the intimidating stance to try to break down my self esteem and confidence, so that he could control me. For hints on how to identify a fake guru, click <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.sg/2009/10/holistic-sunday.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><b><u>Emotional Pain</u>.</b></span><br />
Some people had it so bad with emotional pain that they cut themselves physically for relief. They said that at least physical pain has a locale. They cannot grapple with the frustration of being immersed in pain without a physical presence. I have my fair share of emotional pain in my life, though I hadn't resorted to cutting myself. Perhaps it is because my emotional pain is not deep enough, or that I managed them better. 'I' here refers to the soul, the 'little voice' behind the mind, telling the mind what to do. Some people cannot differentiate between the two and think the mind and the soul are one. <br />
<br />
The soul is like the tree, grand and steady, always peaceful. The mind is like the leaves, they flutter whenever it gets emotional. But the soul is always peaceful.<br />
<br />
The stomach is said to have a direct connection with the emotional state of the mind. So I guessed that could be what drove my stomach out of balance and resulted in the pains.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u><span style="color: yellow;">Disclaimer:</span></u></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: yellow;">The above is a chronicle of my journey in pain and what works for me. Some of what works for me may not work for you, as we are all different. I am also not a medical doctor nor one trained in medicine either, so none of the above should be construed as medical advice. I am merely sharing my experience. Believing is not necessary, but contemplation is. I am not selling any seminars, magic potions or club memberships. So feel free to take what you believe in and apply with your own discretion, and drop those you think are ridiculous.</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u>Some Related Posts in this Blog:</u></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Reiki, click <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.sg/search/label/reiki" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Raja Yoga, click <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.sg/2009/05/raja-yoga-intensive.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Focus, click <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.sg/2014/03/focus.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: cyan;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: cyan; font-size: large;"><b>Share this post if you find that it has benefited you and that it will inspire someone else to live their life to the fullest.</b></span></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867685967275729776noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14153627.post-70621309532378245322015-07-12T10:09:00.000+08:002015-07-12T10:27:37.218+08:00Jim Carrey's Commencement Address, Mahrashi University of Management Graduation 2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bufz8qhQZYY/VaHPB6qpt4I/AAAAAAAAGUQ/KynnVHczpeM/s1600/f1f42cc0-e66a-11e3-8608-5d9ab139dc43_Carrey-painting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bufz8qhQZYY/VaHPB6qpt4I/AAAAAAAAGUQ/KynnVHczpeM/s400/f1f42cc0-e66a-11e3-8608-5d9ab139dc43_Carrey-painting.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
A very inspiring speech by Jim Carey.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="240" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/V80-gPkpH6M" width="427"></iframe>
<br />
The entire speech is inspiring and the one minute starting from 10'18" sums it all.<br />
When confronted between Love and Fear, choose Love. I believe that we all know that, but many are too afraid to take that leap of faith. Isn't it funny?<br />
<br />michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867685967275729776noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14153627.post-91112326011651072422015-04-24T12:46:00.001+08:002016-04-25T16:40:16.664+08:00In Memory of Dr Aaron Tiansoo Lim<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #555555; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">It<strong>
</strong>took me a few weeks to get over this. Dr Aaron Tiansoo Lim passed away peacefully
in the morning of 19<span style="font-size: small;"><sup>th</sup> January 2015. I heard that he was having
some heart problems since December last year.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<span style="color: #555555; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 107%;"><br /><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">
I learned so much from Dr Aaron's classes. He often reminded us that
he was not teaching us anything new, rather, he was just helping us to remember
what we already know, but have forgotten. More importantly, he showed us how it
is possible to live a wealthy and spiritual life of material abundance. That
being spiritual does not mean having to be materially poor, nor letting others
walk all over you. This, we have heard of many times, but it was easier to live it
when we can see someone else living it before our eyes.<br />
<br />
Many of us have learned a lot from Dr Aaron from his classes like:<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: yellow;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="color: white;">-</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: white;"> </span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> </span><span style="color: white;">
</span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 107%;">A Course In Miracles<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: yellow;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 107%;">105 Universal Laws<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: yellow;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 107%;">Spiritual Parenting<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: yellow;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 107%;">Rich People, Poor People<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: yellow;">Face Reading</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #555555; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">If
you are interested to learn what we have learned in his classes, click </span><a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.sg/search/label/Dr%20Aaron%20Lim?updated-max=2007-09-24T10:40:00%2B08:00&max-results=20&start=3&by-date=false" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">here</span></a><span style="color: #3d85c6;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #555555; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">His
classes were spiced with anecdotes of his colourful life - from his kampong
days; the time he was a boy etching a living as an errand boy for the famous
Rose Chan outside cabarets; his sleeping rough in carparks for lack of a home;
his stint as a Fulbright-Hays Scholar in the US; as a Professor at <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bringham Young University in Hawaii; and his
later years as an entrepreneur in Malacca.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #555555; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">I
visited Dr Aaron in Malacca several times, also to help at the Blessed Kitchen
he set up serving free lunches to the needy once a month. He told me that he
merely took the initiative to start, and soon after, attracted many volunteers
and food sponsors. He said, "There are many out there who are willing to
serve. You just need to help everyone get started."<br />
<br />
Dr Aaron probably didn't let anyone outside the family and very close friends
know about his illness.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #555555; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I
happened to send him my script for a film on the 5</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><sup>th</sup> December 2014
for his review and got a quick reply. It read:<br />
<br />
"That's such wonderful news, dear Michael. It's difficult to write a
perfect script but if anyone has the talent to write one, it is you. I am
anxious to see the final movie. Take care and good night. Much love always.
Tiansoo"<br />
<br />
Leaving no hint of his illness. He once told us he did not like telling anyone
when he is ill, for soon after, he will get a deluge of ‘greetings’ reminding
him that he is sick. Like, “Get well soon”,…etc. His point is that we are what
we think, and so the trick is not to be consistently reminded of thoughts we do
not want, or do not need.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">The passing of Dr Aaron has reminded me to live the
spiritual life, turn the other cheek to love and harmony and watch my thoughts.
For thoughts become things and become what I will experience for myself. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">He once went through with us in class of “What is this Aaron
Lim?”, as an exercise of who we are.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">“Is it just a name? it cannot be just a name, for any name
can be my name. A name is just a label. Or is it just a body? If so, after my
death, my body will lay there motionless. Is that me? I don’t think so. The ‘me’
has gone. It is lifeless. The spirit has departed the body.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">A few months have passed, but I am still saddened by Dr
Aaron’s departure from this human plane. He once told me that the departure
from one plane is the birth in another plane. I don’t know where he is now, but
who knows we will meet again someday somewhere. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867685967275729776noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14153627.post-50777793876665818762014-10-04T13:13:00.004+08:002014-10-04T14:01:18.508+08:00“If you don’t study hard you will be cutting grass like this man here!!”<br />
<br />
<b>This is an interesting post I am reproducing here with the permission of Ms Aya Imura...</b><br />
<br />
<b>The original story appears in <a href="http://www.fivestarsandamoon.com/if-you-dont-study-hard-you-will-be-cutting-grass-like-this-man-here/" target="_blank">here</a>. </b><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.fivestarsandamoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/aya.png"><img alt="aya" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-7256" src="http://www.fivestarsandamoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/aya.png" height="284" width="400" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
To be honest, this is the biggest culture shock I got in Singapore: I once saw a mother pointing at the hardworking landscaper, as if he is invisible, delivering her public lecture to this poor kid. It was along the lines of “If you don’t study hard, you will be cutting grass like this man here”.<br />
<br />
It has been four years since I moved to Singapore. Every now and then I am still asked “What is your greatest culture shock since living in Singapore?” my replies are usually politically correct, such as food and lingo.<b> But to be very honest this is the one: the lack of respect and bigotry towards a certain group of occupation. And unfortunately this is also the biggest shock shared among a lot of the Japanese here in Singapore. </b></div>
<b> </b>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In Japan, first thing we teach children is “<i>Every <span class="pthn2" id="pthn2_3" style="height: 12px;">job</span> is respectful and precious”</i>.
We cannot go putting our values on other people’s work.” In Singapore
however, many adults would tell their children to study hard so they
would not end up a <span class="pthn2" id="pthn2_5" style="height: 12px;">cleaner</span> or bus <span class="pthn2" id="pthn2_4" style="height: 12px;">driver</span> in the future. Worse still, they make it an effort to condescend those profession to make sure they got their point across.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
We have a tradition to value every craftsmanship and professionalism
in Japan. As long as we take our job seriously and keep improving,
people will admire us and support us.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In Japan, professionals with great craftsmanship and skills are considered our national treasure. In fact we have a “<i>Living national treasure</i>” system and there are 166 living craftsmen (like cloth weaver, bamboo craftsman, potter etc) registered as “<i>Living natural treasures</i>” and the state supports them in passing of their skill to the next generation.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>We also have a tradition of respecting every individual, regardless of the amount of education they accumulate.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Take for example: the ex-prime minister Mr Kakuei Tanaka. The man
left school at the age of fifteen and worked as a construction worker,
yet he was never discriminated and rose to be the head of a proud
nation.</div>
<a href="http://www.fivestarsandamoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/5001161184_8132bebafe.jpg"><img alt="5001161184_8132bebafe" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-7255" src="http://www.fivestarsandamoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/5001161184_8132bebafe.jpg" height="428" width="297" /></a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Mr Konosuke Matsushita aka “The God of management”, the founder of
Panasonic, dropped out from the school at the age of nine. With
determination and hard work, Panasonic is arguably the largest consumer
electronics company in Japan. Upholding the true spirit of knowledge and
education, he founded The Matsushita Institute of Government and
Management in 1979 keeping a <i><b>“No prior education requirement”</b></i> for their new students till today, where 43% of their graduates making key politicians and policy makers.</div>
<a href="http://www.fivestarsandamoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ph_konosuke.jpg"><img alt="ph_konosuke" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-7257" src="http://www.fivestarsandamoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ph_konosuke.jpg" height="480" width="322" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
If we want to work at the headquarter of big companies like Toyota
immediately after we graduate, yes going to a good university does help a
lot. But if we leave school at fifteen years of age and decide to
become a craftsman, people will equally respect us as a professional.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I remember reading the results of an interesting survey. A survey was
commissioned to understand children’s ambitions from 9 countries in
Asia. The question posed was: “<i>What do you want to be in the future</i>?”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In many countries like Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong, Vietnam, becoming a medical doctor was the most popular answer.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In Japan, the most popular answer was to be a <i>Patisserie</i> (Pastry chef).</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Guess what was the top Singaporean kids answer?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Interestingly, it is: “Manager”.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
------- <b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<u><b>My Note:</b></u></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>In Asian movies, it is common to find the hero as the Princeling or rich man. </b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>However, in Eastern European and Russian movies, the hero tends to be a playright, poet, artist or political prisoner.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Some food for thought.</b></div>
michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867685967275729776noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14153627.post-85688710500909347252014-09-02T11:07:00.000+08:002014-09-02T13:55:22.177+08:00To Make Money or Make Sense?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u2KAUtvZgYA/VAPn759-qfI/AAAAAAAAGHk/T3I7hOXzXL4/s1600/photofunny.net__final_346884273210_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u2KAUtvZgYA/VAPn759-qfI/AAAAAAAAGHk/T3I7hOXzXL4/s1600/photofunny.net__final_346884273210_.jpg" height="400" width="298" /> </a></div>
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<br /></div>
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While waiting to go into a seminar, my friend and I struck a conversation with a stranger who was very impressed with the previous seminar in this same institution and was looking forward to the evening's event. He opined that it is a rare to find university professors who can make money and not just talk about making money. Further he emphasized that the professor in the previous seminar did not only reveal "how to make money", but "how to make OBSCENE sums of money".</div>
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Curious about who we were talking to, we asked for this stranger's name and got an "Andy". </div>
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"Andy? ...and your surname is?", we asked.</div>
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"Andy will do," he replied firmly.</div>
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And so we called him "Andy Will Do".</div>
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"Andy Warhol!", I added in jest. </div>
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"Not Andy Warhol!" he retorted, and then went on to criticise Warhol for being overly commercialised and that he would not regard that man as an artist. </div>
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"But Warhol makes money! Not only that, he makes OBSCENE sums of money!" I added.</div>
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Evidently, Andy Will Do did not see that coming and was instantly silenced. </div>
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Then, it was time for the seminar and we went into the room. </div>
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Thankfully, and to my surprise, the seminar was not about maximisation of profits, or making OBSCENE sums of money, but rather about "Running Companies Through Humanistic Approaches". And that coming from three medium-sized companies in China is commendable. That was surprise number two. </div>
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The three companies mentioned were:</div>
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<li>Tecsun Wood Houses</li>
<li>Fotile Kitchen Ware</li>
<li>Good -Ark Electronics.</li>
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All three of the companies practised Confucian values and Tao philosphy and purportedly placed a lot of emphasis to allow their employees to reach their personal goals and potentials in the long term. And all that happening with a very healthy bottom-line and rapidly expanding businesses too.</div>
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Tecsun's core values, for instance are "Honest, Diligent, Having a loving heart and Do not take short cuts". Its Employee Handbook has been reprinted 30 times and sold over half a million copies.</div>
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Fotile's mission is to "Make people feel better about their homes". In 2013, their growth exceeded 45% and the number of its patents exceeded the sum of those of its nine competitors.</div>
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Good Ark explicitly makes happiness the company's purpose since 2011 and is committed to introducing Sage culture, embracing Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, to the world and creating happiness to humanity.</div>
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<b>So apparently, it is possible to "Make Money AND Make Sense".</b></div>
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The seminar was a refreshing change. Too many business seminars are about making money and more money and then deliberately making the audience feel inadequate and small, before heading for the final kill of selling you a highly priced follow-up course. It didn't happen here and I am glad. I left the seminar feeling inspired and hopeful for humanity.</div>
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<u><span style="color: blue;">Note:</span></u></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">This commentary is made based on what we listened to during the seminar. We are not related to any of the companies and do not have access to business data for us to verify the claims made in the seminar. Nevertheless, I am happy to accept them at face value.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Incidentally, just after I had finished this post, I got this "Thought of the Day", flashed in a website I stumbled upon:</span></b></div>
<div class="yiv6922912234attachmentTitle" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1409681984167_113374" style="color: #3b5998; font-weight: bold; padding-top: 8px;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">Thought Of The Day</span></i></div>
<div class="yiv6922912234attachmentDescription" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1409681984167_113376" style="margin-top: 2px;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">'Being
good in business is the most fascinating kind of art. Making money is
art and working is art and good business is the best art.' </span></i></div>
<div class="yiv6922912234attachmentDescription" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1409681984167_113376" style="margin-top: 2px;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">- Andy
Warhol.</span></i></div>
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michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867685967275729776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14153627.post-552852922998586832014-08-14T10:21:00.000+08:002014-08-14T10:21:59.895+08:00Cup Half Full or Empty?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cZ3oxRbdrSs/U-wXxro2YMI/AAAAAAAAGFA/Ifx2yA2oRg0/s1600/20140813_185552.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cZ3oxRbdrSs/U-wXxro2YMI/AAAAAAAAGFA/Ifx2yA2oRg0/s1600/20140813_185552.jpg" height="640" width="360" /></a></div>
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Cup half full or empty?<br />
Urgh!!!!<br />
Shuddup and drink the tea.<br />
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<span style="color: yellow;"><b>Thinking is the source of suffering, not the drinking...</b></span><br />
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<br />michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867685967275729776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14153627.post-75044504824906613522014-03-07T13:12:00.000+08:002014-09-10T10:32:05.853+08:00Focus<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--xSmVSPz16c/VA-35-Ko5CI/AAAAAAAAGIU/iELDrmr7ci4/s1600/IMG_0946.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--xSmVSPz16c/VA-35-Ko5CI/AAAAAAAAGIU/iELDrmr7ci4/s1600/IMG_0946.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></a></div>
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Thoughts become things. What you think manifests. It all starts with a thought. This is the Law of Attraction.</div>
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But why didn't some of your thoughts come true? </div>
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To be more exact, only strong thoughts that you truly believe in can manifest. Everyday we have thousands of thoughts in our mind every minute competing to manifest . So only the strongest manifest. The weak ones fade away.</div>
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However, your thoughts can only be strong if you believe in them.</div>
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For instance, if you shout aloud every morning that you are a billionaire hoping that you will become one on mere affirmation, you are unlikely to succeed. Fact is that you know how much you have in your bank account. In fact, effectively you are telling yourself, "Who are you kidding?..." So, instead of a positive affirmation to move towards your goal, you have helped yourself moved away from your goal unwittingly.</div>
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A more workable affirmation can be something like, "Ï have more than enough money to spend everyday!" This will work whether you have a million dollars left in the bank at the end of each day or just a few dollars. It is something you can believe wholeheartedly without feeling like a rotten liar. Particularly if you had realised that you are persistently lying to yourself.</div>
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Once you believe in your thoughts, you will have to be able to focus on your thoughts. Focus will add energy to your thoughts so that they will become forms. Monkey minds that jump around from one frivolous thought to another will not succeed. Focus is probably the hardest part.</div>
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Meditation increases focus and cuts out clutter. There are different meditation techniques available. Try out several techniques and choose one most suitable for yourself. For instance, if you are physically hyperactive, you may like to try walking meditation. If you are musically inclined, listen to classical music but follow the sound of one instrument. If you are sensitive to vibrations, try chakra meditation. Some techniques focus on the photo of a guru, some the tip of a candle flame,...etc. Whichever method, they all teach you to focus.</div>
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I learned a technique recently that focuses on a humble black dot on a white surface. I find it more effective than using the other objects, as it is something so simple and mundane that it is easy to move your eye away if you are not focusing</div>
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A black dot is more mundane than the beautiful tip of a candle flame and more neutral than the face of a guru. There is nothing interesting about the black dot other than using it as a focusing exercise. Using a beautiful or profound object on the other hand distracts you, but fool you into believing that you are focusing well.</div>
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Practise focusing. For unless you can focus, you cannot have strong thoughts and therefore they will not manifest. Instead, other thoughts that are relatively stronger will manifest. And they can be any other lingering thoughts that you are not aware of.</div>
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The dangerous part is that we are mostly unaware of what we are thinking of, until it is too late. In other words, it is difficult to track the mind with the mind itself. So harbour healthy thoughts. Allow yourself to react to situations and even be angry about them, as being positive does not mean that you should become blind to negative things around you. Observe, but not judge. But after allowing yourself the spontaneous emotions, tell yourself not to allow those unwanted thoughts to fester.</div>
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Set yourself some thought checkpoints and motivations. Tell yourself that you don't want to have ugly thoughts because it will give you an ugly face. Ultimately, it feels better to be positive than negative and it is easier to love than to hate. Positive thoughts energise. Negative thoughts wear you out. When you are tired, you also run the risk of poor judgment and slipping down the slippery slope into calamities. So have enough rest and sleep too. They are essential ingredients to success.</div>
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I find acting and role playing an effective method for self realisation. As it allows me to go through the emotions and results of a scene sincerely.</div>
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If acting is too hard, you may like use the state of your bedroom or house as a measurement of how clear or cluttered your mind is, as what is outside is inside, and vice versa. Clear the clutter outside and the inside too clears. This is an easy checkpoint.</div>
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Some people go into hypnosis to understand their subconscious thoughts. I simply record my dreams when I wake up in a diary. I find it very useful to check my thoughts and to make the necessary corrections.</div>
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Minimise the use of technology where possible, particularly the use of smartphones. They are one major cause of monkey minds in today's world.</div>
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All the people that I have met that are successful are those who are able to focus on their thoughts that they truly believe in. None of them have monkey minds.</div>
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So why are gurus only teaching you the Law of Attraction skin deep? I suspect that they may not know some of the finer points which I have discovered the painful and hard way. Most gurus are money motivated. They are mostly selling generalised motherhood statements. Some boast of very successful students out of their large cohorts. By the law of big numbers, if you put enough people there, some will come out successful accidentally.</div>
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What we want is a method that works consistently. I have discovered that it is mostly to do with the ability to focus. If you can focus well, everything will fall in place smoothly. If they are not falling in place smoothly, that means that you are not focusing well enough.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">IMPORTANT:</span></b> Do not confuse being 'focused' with being 'stubborn and attached'. They are mutually exclusive.</div>
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<span style="color: blue;"><u><b>NOTE:</b></u> I am not trying to sell you any motivation seminars or magic crystals, but just sharing something I have discovered recently and have found them to yield the results I want. In fact, you are likely to have already known of what I have shared, except that may be you have not put them together clear enough such that your mental gears engage. </span></div>
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<br />michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867685967275729776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14153627.post-22956165585158455212014-01-24T17:27:00.002+08:002014-01-24T17:32:03.518+08:00Thoughts, Words and Action<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3,"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent"></span></span><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--6sixIlWsLk/UuItwlnKAbI/AAAAAAAAFzQ/7Hr5DTEFxAI/s1600/10CITYSCAPE+030.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--6sixIlWsLk/UuItwlnKAbI/AAAAAAAAFzQ/7Hr5DTEFxAI/s1600/10CITYSCAPE+030.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3,"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent">There
are a few Hokkien spewing uncles behind the bus I took today. They sweared at each
other to say "hello". Then they proceeded to chat at full blast volume
about 4D lottery numbers and karaoke go-go girls, in between spicing their lines swearing their mother's fannies away.<br /> <br /> By the time they were
getting off the bus they had already fucked up their entire clan and
ancestry. Then finally, they bade each other farewell like best friends
or brothers.<br /> <br /> What a show?!</span></span></span></span></span></h5>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3,"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent">Evidently, they didn't mean any of the profanity they hurled at each other. In other words, their thoughts, words and action didn't really match totally. Life would be simpler if our thoughts, words and actions matches I think.</span></span></span></span></span></h5>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3,"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent">For the case of these uncles, they were all eager to let out their penned up frustrations the moment they see each other - their best friends. That's my explanation for their odd mismatches. I would check my thoughts if I were them, for they become words and the danger is when they manifest to become actions. They probably will not manifest as in their words, but their harsh thoughts wouldn't do them good. Why risk it?</span></span></span></span></span></h5>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3,"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent">I know of someone who once said that he was not concerned if nobody turns up for his weekly meetings at a time when there were record turn outs. I think he said that to sound as if he is detached about the turnout numbers. Fast forward a few years, now he has hardly anyone turning up for his weekly meetings. The thing was that he planted the unwanted seeds for the action to manifest.</span></span></span></span></span></h5>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3,"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent">In another case, there was a woman who consistently said that she did not like money and that the husband was not giving her money. The latter which infuriated the husband as he was giving her a lot of money regularly. Again, fast forward a few years, and now she gets nothing from the husband.</span></span></span></span></span></h5>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3,"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent">So be careful with your thoughts and words, for they wil become true in action and manifestation. </span></span></span></span></span></h5>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3,"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent">I am going to re-examine what I say, then trace them backward to my thoughts, from today. If they are thoughts I want to seed, then I will check if I can find richer and more specific words to represent them. For then, they will manifest more precisely with less pain - if at all.</span></span></span></span></span></h5>
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michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867685967275729776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14153627.post-69264983357475061972014-01-14T20:18:00.002+08:002014-01-14T20:21:49.819+08:00Sufi Meditation<div style="text-align: justify;">
I have always been intrigue by quotes from Sufis like Rumi and Khalil Gilbran.This one from Rumi may touch your heart:</div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">“The minute I heard my first love story,<br />I started looking for you, not knowing<br />how blind that was.<br />Lovers don't finally meet somewhere.<br />They're in each other all along.”
</span></i></span><br />
―
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/875661.Rumi">Rumi</a>,
<i>
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/791993">The Illuminated Rumi</a></i></div>
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When I was a kid, I loved to swirl round and round like sufis do. Then I will lie down on the floor after that to enjoy<i> </i>the blissful detachment from my own mind. Nobody taught me that. I just did it instinctively.</div>
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Last Sunday, I attended my first Sufi group meditation. It is different from other methods of meditation in that it does not require one to focus on anything. And so it required a little bit of getting used to in the first few minutes. :)<br />
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michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867685967275729776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14153627.post-65684701308630425862013-09-04T14:58:00.001+08:002014-04-28T10:30:39.366+08:00Jeff Ma's talk at the Singapore Expo<div style="text-align: justify;">
Buddhists abhor gambling, as for one to win, many have to lose. All other religions I know of forbid gambling. Personally, I don't gamble, as they cause unnecessary anxiety and awakes the greed in me.</div>
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It is therefore surprising that in a seminar that I attended recently stretching two days with about six prominent speakers, I ended up learning most from the gambler among them, Mr Jeff Ma. Jeff is a well-known card counter and it is said that many casinos ban him from playing blackjack in their premises.<br />
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He said that people are generally averse to losses, they are not averse too winnings, which leads them to 'bias omission' or 'inactivity', ie. the decision not to make a decision. This must never be an option. That he learned when his mother had a stroke and the doctor that normally wouldn't do a brain surgery to old people. At that point, he knew that an 'inactive' decision (not to do anything) would normally mean that his mother will not live pass another sixty days. Against normal practice, they decided to get her to the operating table and the result is that his mum is still living and well today.</div>
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His method is data-driven and not based on gut-feeling.</div>
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He related to us how he lost $50,000 in one round of black-jack, even though his decision was data-driven. Then he went on to lose another $50,000, in yet another round of black-jack, in yet another data-driven decision. Dejected, he went to his room, slumbered on the floor, stared at the ceiling and contemplated quitting. Then curiously, after long thoughts, he decided not to quit and go back to the tables and subsequently won $100,000, and then later, another $70,000. </div>
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He said that he won his rounds based on data-driven decisions and lost also based on data-driven decisions. In other words, the right decision made based on data, need not always end up with the desired outcomes. That said, we have to continue to make the right decisions although sometimes they don't come up with the desired outcomes. In other words, we must be able to separate right decisions from outcomes, and not be discouraged by the latter if they don't turn out desirable. So we must learn to embrace 'failures' and not be disheartened by them.</div>
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I think one of the reasons that I learn more from Jeff than the others is that he was purely sharing his experience and was not trying to sell me anything. In an act as if sarcastic of the other speakers, he did playfully asked the audience to take out their smart phone to go to Amazon to buy his book, "Bringing the House Down". </div>
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In group work, he said that there must be trust, transparency and communications. Of which he told us that they use code words to get around other people knowing what they are communicating to each other. For instance, the word 'paycheck' means something. So one of their team members would said out loud to the dealer, "Hey! You are taking away my paycheck!"</div>
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Yet another code word is "sweet" for "sixteen". And one of his team member is so happy whenever he utter the word "sweet", that in one time at the end of the game, he was paid some winnings, even though he had lost.</div>
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Finally, he related how he was sharing his experience in Silicon Valley among venture capitalists and other financiers, when suddenly, a billionaire VC who didn't seem to be listening and was busy with his Blackberry most of the time, said, "I don't believe you...". </div>
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"What do you not believe?" Jeff asked.</div>
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"I don't believe you wanted to quit," he quipped.</div>
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Recounting the time he was lying down on his hotel room floor, despondent and starring at the ceiling, he said that, that billionaire was right, he never wanted to quit. And so he didn't quit. Had he quit, he wouldn't have gone back and won some money, had the book written, a movie made and his talking to us at the seminar.</div>
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Here are some clips:<br />
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michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867685967275729776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14153627.post-2999942999990176202013-04-30T08:57:00.000+08:002013-04-30T08:57:04.520+08:00Kid's Play - The Child in You.A friend of me sent me this video from Evian. I am not related in anyway to their marketing, but this ad reminds and inspires us to live the child in us. Enjoy!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/pfxB5ut-KTs" width="560"></iframe>
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<br />michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867685967275729776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14153627.post-9040858104966067622012-12-23T11:47:00.001+08:002012-12-23T11:53:33.567+08:00Rich Church Poor Church<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fBFtLvnfWrk/SKUmfcANohI/AAAAAAAACms/q18liL-plds/s1600/20080503-cw-168.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fBFtLvnfWrk/SKUmfcANohI/AAAAAAAACms/q18liL-plds/s320/20080503-cw-168.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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In Poor Church, I watched a Christmas skit on their makeshift stage. A church goer next to me commented that it will be nice to have a real backstage where the actors can prepare themselves and emerge into each scene more seamlessly. I replied that it wouldn't really matter as this is a church and not a professional concert hall. Besides, the message conveyed through the skit was entertaining and clear - that we should celebrate Christmas with God in our hearts and not be overwhelmed by the frills of Christmas shopping and parties. Before the service, there was a simple buffet dinner. After that, we had a nice dessert buffet for everyone to get know each other better.</div>
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In Rich Church, we watched a Christmas musical on a collosal stage with props of an outlandish and stately American home complete with a winter fireplace; a huge back-up choir and live orchestra in the backstage, their silhouette focused by cleverly positioned and synchronised lights and colours, visible through a translucent screen. The auditorium seats 3,000 odd of us with a professionally lit stage, pristine sound system and two large video screens magnifying the performance delivered by two camera cranes. It was an entertaining performance. The singing and entertainment were cleverly orchestrated with preachings in between and eventually culminating in a hard sell to convert non-believers. It was cleverly done by asking everyone to close their eyes and raise their hands if they so wish to be converted, to overcome their shyness. There was also peer pressure to ask believers to look at non-believers and say, "I will accompany you if you would step out to accept Jesus".</div>
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I am never a fan of hard sell of any product, religion included. Sadly, religion is a product and all religions are man-made without exceptions.</div>
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As the hard sell made its assault, I couldn't help but imagine how Jesus would have felt if he sees all these bright lights and sizzle displayed before him in the name of converting non-believers into believers. Couldn't it be done the same way as he did under the canopy of a tree in an open ground without any frills? Can we truly enlighten people about their spirituality inside by exploiting the crass materialism outside? Can we solve the problems of this material world that tempts us to stray away from God, with the same mind that had created them?</div>
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Big churches need big funds and these come from church goers. But should these funds be channeled to the teachings of Jesus and the Bible, or to commercial outlets and glitzy auditoriums?</div>
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May be among the thousands recruited in Rich Church, some will see the Light and experience salvation. However I suspect that many will be led into many blind alleys and meanders. Poor Church is materially poor, but I find its congregation warmer and its size of a more human scale. It also does not hard sell, or sell at all. It treats its congregations and guests as seekers of the Christian faith. </div>
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Of course, being spiritual does not mean that one has to be poor. We need material to survive in this human journey. However, if we are overwhelmed by material and lose ourselves in the insanity of the material world, then we will be led further and further away from our heart and God. That is my discomfort with Rich Church. This is my opinion. I am not imposing this on anyone. Rich Church goers will continue to do what Rich Church goers do. Ultimately, whatever we do, whether we are conscious of them or not, they are on our journey towards self realisation and salvation.<br />
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Have a Merry Christmas everyone! </div>
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<br />michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867685967275729776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14153627.post-66383873137173637632012-12-22T12:09:00.002+08:002013-01-05T12:12:18.013+08:00Reading Books<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ij1gb4VdQ9w/UNUtwI1nZpI/AAAAAAAAFK8/DFnUc13meZM/s1600/blog.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ij1gb4VdQ9w/UNUtwI1nZpI/AAAAAAAAFK8/DFnUc13meZM/s320/blog.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I stopped reading books since I started having a smartphone. Then last month, while searching for my guide book to Guangzhou, I stumbled upon some fascinating books from my boxes. I had them for a long while, but haven't read them as they have been packed into boxes since I moved out of my old place.</div>
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Unexpectedly, merely seeing these books energised me. An instant lightness embraced my body as I recalled the bliss.</div>
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Smartphones, cyberspace, asynchronised telecommunications and constant multi-tasking fragment our attention. I believe that without technology and commerce, we all have an inherent natural flow that keep us in bliss. When this natural flow is too frequently interrupted it will break our intuition and tire us.<br />
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I am now back into reading books. The smartphone is still my pal and a useful one at that, but it is now carefully kept in check. I think it is the same that the soul should be firmly in charge of the mind. When the mind is overwhelmed by intense emotions, the soul becomes momentarily paralysed. :) While emotions flutter like leaves, the soul ought to remain sturdy like the trunk of the tree, unperturbed and in-charged.</div>
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michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867685967275729776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14153627.post-66551566301746023922012-09-28T12:15:00.001+08:002012-09-28T12:15:35.598+08:00Kid's Play - A Little Girl's Breaking News...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L3zxJ8ivCa0/TKVNPT9j5MI/AAAAAAAAEkM/rfOQK5pFkV8/s1600/childrens+day.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="315" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L3zxJ8ivCa0/TKVNPT9j5MI/AAAAAAAAEkM/rfOQK5pFkV8/s400/childrens+day.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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This post is borrowed from my friend Karen Tan's Facebook posting. It is reproduced here with her permission (with very minor corrections to typo errors and formality):<br />
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<span style="color: yellow;"><i>-----------------</i></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;">This is my daughter's most original way of breaking the news that she didn't do too well in her Chinese language test. She breaks into a song at bedtime. Completely improvised. </span><br />
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<span style="color: yellow;"><i>"O Mama, your eyes are as round as the ... zeroes that I get on my Chinese paper... </i></span><br />
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<span style="color: yellow;"><i>O Mama, your eyeballs are as crossed as the "x"es that my teacher marked on my test paper ....</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: yellow;"><i>O Mama, your lips are as red as the red ink that fills the pages of my test paper ....</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: yellow;"><i>O Mama, your cheeks are as fat as the scary Chinese test paper that I didn't like sitting for ....</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: yellow;"><i>O Mama, your ears are as wrong as the words that I wrote wrongly when I should have written something else .... </i></span><br />
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<span style="color: yellow;"><i>O Mama, your legs as as long as the cane that my teachers threatens us with ....</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: yellow;"><i>O Mama, your hair is as black as my teacher's face when she returned me my test paper ...</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: yellow;"><i>and in her soprano finale ... </i></span><br />
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<span style="color: yellow;"><i>O MAMAaaaaaa.......!! I love you SOOOOOoo!!!!"</i></span><br />
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Wouldn't anyone forgive this little angel easily?!! :)<br />
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michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867685967275729776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14153627.post-89061898004815188702012-08-29T17:12:00.003+08:002012-08-29T17:21:36.525+08:00Distractions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hFi5CzbptKc/UD3ZNtltaYI/AAAAAAAAFEU/UzNgelHqF-w/s1600/Sentosa+Flower+046.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hFi5CzbptKc/UD3ZNtltaYI/AAAAAAAAFEU/UzNgelHqF-w/s400/Sentosa+Flower+046.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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I have not updated this for three months. I have been busy acting and maintaining my other blog - about acting (click <a href="http://michael-chua.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">here</a>), but that was not the real reason for neglecting Vacuum State. Rather, it was my recent obsession with my smartphone that has distracted me.</div>
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On the flip side, my smartphone has helped me extensively to communicate with agents, organise my gigs, negotiate terms, fix appointments, send invoices, check payments, record my lines and practise them, take photos of costumes and even helping me to find the shoot location on site. Ironically, my efficiency is at all time high. Without the phone, I would need a manager and a secretary. But high efficiency comes at the cost of fatigue and fragmented attention. The result is a scattered brain and a monkey mind, as the phone turns from a useful tool to a distraction and then finally to an obsession of checking emails, advertisements, Facebook and other updates every few minutes.</div>
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In the public places, it is common to see people fixated with their phone. Many even extend their online expeditions beyond the necessary mundane chores, into movies, imaginary second lives, games and mindless chatter. I suspect that their their mental states would be more agitated than mine. An agitated mind becomes cluttered, forgetful leading to the ultimate drop in effectiveness and then the soul becomes a slave of the technology.</div>
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So a useful technology like a smartphone can easily turn to enslave us. Are you a master or a slave of technology? That is the question.</div>
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I notice that my intuition also drop as I rely more on technology. So, it is time to go on retreat to get my mind and tranquility back. You will thus see more posts here in time.</div>
<br />michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867685967275729776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14153627.post-25788251479936913172012-05-29T12:26:00.000+08:002012-05-29T17:12:58.656+08:00Remembering Foo Toon Jong<div style="text-align: justify;">
<u>Foo Toon Jong, RIP 19 May 2012</u>.</div>
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It took a few days for me to decide to write this post. Perhaps it is because it takes that long for me to accept the vulnerability of this human journey itself. </div>
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Toon Jong was nicknamed "Tom Jones", because of how the two names rhymed and also because we had spent countless hours strumming the guitar and singing at the Club room. We both were volunteers in the Singapore Polytechnic Welfare Services Club (WSC) and Tom was a volunteer at Bukit Ho Swee Tuition Centre, Villa Francis Home for the Aged and Singapore Association for Retarded Children (now more politically correctly named as "MINDS"), from 1974-1978.</div>
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Toon Jong was at a staff bonding function in his new job, when during the activities, he had to excuse himself as he didn't feel well. He then went to rest on a couch and passed away peacefully there. Doctors concluded that he had a cardiac arrest.</div>
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During his wake, I learned from his wife that Tom never had any serious illness. He was a non-drinker, non-smoker, not over-weight and was always careful with what he ate. I last met his wife during their engagement held in a community centre in 1982 - thirty years ago. Time flies. Tom works for a civil engineering construction contractor. Such jobs are usually highly stressful, which could be the reason for his clogged artery and cardiac arrest. Some months ago, another younger WSC grad, <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/2012/02/remembering-chang-yew-kee.html" target="_blank">Chang Yew Kee</a>, died of heart attack in his sleep at the age of 49 - he was also working for a contractor.</div>
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This is not to prejudice the construction contractor business, but rather to say that we need to watch our stress levels, as stress is the single biggest killer.</div>
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After the wake, some of us suggested that we should meet at least once a year, before we never have the chance again. Sadly, it takes situations like these to renew interests to connect with each other. I used to phone them regularly, but gave up after sometime. I may have gotten a few phone calls from them (on their initiative) in the last 32 years, but too few to make a dent.<br />
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Perhaps now, things will change, alas getting back to be 'brothers' and 'sisters' in one big family - as we used to refer to ourselves as - back in the <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/Good%20O%20Days" target="_blank">good old days</a>. :)</div>
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<br />michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867685967275729776noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14153627.post-21280450798636815422012-05-07T19:08:00.002+08:002012-05-23T14:46:16.585+08:00Feels Like 500 Miles<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9GQEWZfwRL4/SQh30HhxxhI/AAAAAAAAC0Q/MTDHMheSe10/s1600/103-0305_IMG.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9GQEWZfwRL4/SQh30HhxxhI/AAAAAAAAC0Q/MTDHMheSe10/s320/103-0305_IMG.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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This is the 500th article and Vacuum State is completing its 7th year. Vacuum State started on the 4th July 2005, out of curiosity to dip my toes in the world of blogging and also the compulsion to express and share what I experience in my spiritual journey.</div>
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Prior to 2002, I was a hard-nosed engineer. Everything has to be logical and scientifically proven. If not, I would not take it seriously. That was the only way I would approach a subject and grow my interest in it.</div>
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Then one day in 2002, on a long and frustrating day, I decided to take a break and visit the Holistic Fair at Fort Canning, Singapore, not knowing at all what it was all about. There, I met the Self-Awareness Society and signed up for the <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/7dtj" target="_blank">7-Day Transformation Journey</a> and a <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/reiki" target="_blank">Reiki</a> I course with Master Parag Pattani, and I have never looked back since.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6GwoBq76qI8/Rr8oxpw22zI/AAAAAAAABRQ/zetVzs-DKPo/s1600/IMG_0552.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6GwoBq76qI8/Rr8oxpw22zI/AAAAAAAABRQ/zetVzs-DKPo/s320/IMG_0552.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I began to experience the peace and clarity that I have overlooked when I was so busy running around working in the past. Through the clarity, I also began to get a 'feeling' of things to come. Then through Reiki, I started to feel vibrations of things around me, get a <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/psychometry" target="_blank">feeling of the meaning behind those vibes </a>and see <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/aura" target="_blank">auras</a>. <br />
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Then one day, unexpectedly during meditation, I merged into the ambiance in an instance. I could not feel anything or any part of my body and was in total bliss. It was like I was not around, but yet, I knew I was there. Everything was ONE. And so I nickname this experience, and consequently the name of this blog, "Vacuum State".<br />
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There are many ways that the Universe reveals itself beyond the physical, some by vibrations, visions, feelings and even through numbers.<br />
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I found Dr Oliver Tan's <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/power%20of%20numbers" target="_blank">numerology</a> very useful and have since read the character of behaviour of numerous people based on their date of birth. Date of birth gives a clue to our character potential. However, there is no such thing as fate, but only destiny based on character, habits and thinking.<br />
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Similarly, our <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/2007/09/face-reading.html" target="_blank">facial features</a> are clues to our character and destiny as they are a result of our thinking. Hence to change our destinies, we only need to change our thinking. Nothing is fixed. Nothing is permanent.<br />
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What is most important is that my readings on my friends' date of birth and faces have helped them to understand themselves better and change their ways as they desire.<br />
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And so I share these new experiences in this blog.</div>
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I started attending talks by many spiritual gurus and write about them. Among them were talks by the <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/Brahman%20Kumaris" target="_blank">Brahma Kumaris</a>, the <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/art%20of%20living" target="_blank">Art of Living</a>, <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/Ajahn%20Brahm" target="_blank">Buddhist Abbots</a>, the <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/theosophy" target="_blank">Theosophical Society</a> and other spiritually awakened teachers. Some of the talks in Chinese are interesting in that they look at the same thing in a very Chinese manner, from the perspective of 'balance' - the core precept of <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/tao" target="_blank">Tao</a>.<br />
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I could then reproduce the speech almost in ad-verbatim in the blog. This is astonishing as I did not use any voice recorders. I don't know how I did it either, I just know and could almost hear the echoes of the speaker word-by-word, as I wrote. Perhaps I was so enchanted by the speakers that I was entirely in the present moment with a photographic memory like a child.<br />
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Then I also realised there are several very good videos online, like talks by <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/eckhart%20tolle" target="_blank">Eckhart Tolle</a>, <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/sadhguru%20jaggi%20vasudev" target="_blank">Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev</a>, <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/ajahn%20chah" target="_blank">Ajhan Chah</a>, <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/abraham" target="_blank">Esther and Jerry Hicks</a>, <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/Hew%20Len" target="_blank">Hew Len</a>, etc, and included them in the posts, as blogger.com got more user-friendly to easily include video embeds.<br />
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The Buddhist Library's monthly Movie Nite in Singapore is also a good source of inspiring movies, carefully selected by the organiser for screening. You can read some of the movies <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/Movie%20nite" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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Then, I also joined a group called the <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/Bucky" target="_blank">Bucky Group</a> in Singapore, who meet in an unlikely place of a hair salon called "Hair Affair" - on Saturdays and at MacRitchie Reservoir on Sundays. And they have been doing this for 17 years!!! They read books, watch videos and discuss the philosophies and teachings of Buckminster R Fuller. There were also some video sessions that were kinda 'spiritual', like the group study of the "<a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/What%20the%20Bleep" target="_blank">What the Bleep Do We Know</a>" series, "<a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/Neale%20Donald%20Walsch" target="_blank">Conversations with God</a>" by Donald Neal Walsh, and talks by a <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/anthony%20di%20mello" target="_blank">Catholic Priest Father Anthony de Mello</a>.</div>
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I am fascinated by the philosophies of Buckminster Fuller. He expressed the Universe in such a comprehensive manner and propounded that there are generalised principles governing what we see around us. And that what we thought were separate subjects in school like Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics,...etc, all belong to the same Universe obeying some 'generalised principles'. From such generalised principles come the technology to construct livingry - implements that improve the quality of living; though the other (destructive) use of technology to make weapons, called weaponry is much despised.</div>
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And so I started a series on "<a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/technology" target="_blank">Technology</a>", as it is a subject that helps us to do more with less and serve humanity. What more, I am a trained engineer and have been an information technologist for more than 20 years. It makes me proud to be a technologist. :)</div>
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The <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/education" target="_blank">Education</a> series was also inspired from the Bucky Group meetings and also through the books of futurist and author <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/toffler" target="_blank">Alvin Toffler</a>.<br />
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For a time, I also blogged about my experiences in the <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/future" target="_blank">Futurist</a> Group that was organised by Steffan Perner when he was residing in Singapore. That group stretched me beyond my comfort zone of looking at life and the future. I began also to listen to points of views of many atheists and some of their surprising anxieties of not being able to live forever, since they don't believe in God or reincarnation.<br />
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There are yet other atheists outside the Futurist Group that feel that they need to educate people that there is no god, and they are spreading this belief like a religion. I find this to be an oxymoron, as if they truly believe that there is no god, then there shouldn't be any belief to spread about. But, they are free to do what they like.<br />
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The same argument goes about their anxiety about the termination of life after death. If there isn't a life after death, then it shouldn't matter as one wouldn't be around to experience it.<br />
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Also through the Bucky Group, I got to know a <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/Dr%20Aaron%20Lim" target="_blank">Dr Aaron Lim</a>. Dr Aaron is a botanist and runs a successful food business in Malaysia. He gives talks in Malaysia and Singapore on requests from people who knows him by word-of-mouth, with the seminar fees going to orphanages and children charities.</div>
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Dr Aaron's talks is yet another turning point in my life. He speaks about the light hidden in seemingly mundane day-to-day events and helped me to re-discover spirituality. Often, amid the maze and haste of our daily life, the soul behind what is physical is lost. He also taught me that one does not have to be poor, miserable and endure sufferings to be spiritual. Being 'spiritual' doesn't mean that you have to be financially poor, be submissive and allow everyone to walk all over you. In fact, being spiritual essentially mean the need to love yourself and stand up for yourself, as it is only when you are ok, that you can love and help someone else.</div>
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Dr Aaron's seminar series on the <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/Universal%20Laws" target="_blank">105 Universal Laws</a>, <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/Spiritual%20Parenting" target="_blank">Spiritual Parenting</a>, <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/A%20course%20in%20miracles" target="_blank">A Course In Miracles</a>,...etc, espouse numerous spiritual reflections and explanations of what is behind many seemingly mundane daily events.</div>
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From there, I realised that spirituality is beyond religions, gurus and even the sit-down meditations. Spirituality is life, though we have been too blinded to see the light shining within; and our quest now is only to find our way home. So, I started blogging about everything from the spiritual perspective; beyond talks, books, videos and intuitive/paranormal experiences. The question is that if there is something illuminating, or that there are lessons to be learned, then it ought to be in the blog.<br />
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I then blog about matters that are close to the common people, like the monetary system, <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/usury" target="_blank">usury</a> and "<a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/folly" target="_blank">design follies</a>" as a protest against wasteful public constructions. I also write about the street concerts or <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/getai" target="_blank">getais</a> during the Chinese Hungry Ghosts Festival.<br />
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Then, the light seems to shine everywhere I go. I even learn stuff going to the neighbourhood coffee shop, and that started the "<a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/coffeeshop%20philosophy" target="_blank">Coffeeshop Thoughts</a>" series.</div>
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Amid the 'everything' I blog about there are two topics that stand out: </div>
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One is '<a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/Nature" target="_blank">Nature</a>', which never lies. Nature responds to what is around and offer what it has without expectations and without the need to understand the colossal whole but just with the mere faith that the whole will work seamlessly together.<br />
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My revived interest in 'nature' led me to think more about 'health' and ferment enzymes and wines. Fermenting wine is now a hobby. Alcohol is frowned upon by some religions and is also an extra load for the liver and kidney to process. However, taken in moderation, enzymes in wines aid digestion and carry nutrition to different parts of the body more efficiently. <br />
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My interest in nature also led me to join more nature walks. One particularly impressive one is the <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/2010/09/bucky-group-herbal-garden-tour.html" target="_blank">herbal garden</a> maintained by Mr Tan and his team of volunteers. Together, they till the land and give out herbs free-of-charge. It is a labour of love and a service to anyone that approaches them. All these amid the rat race in highly urbanized and densely populated Singapore! Isn't this commendable?<br />
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The other topic of much interest is 'kids'. They are so true to everything and are in perpetual bliss. That is, until they hit puberty where the compulsion (and perhaps duty) to procreate distracts them away from the purity of their childhood. For that, I started the wonderful series of "Kids' Play".</div>
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My wish is that the "<a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/Kids%20Play" target="_blank">Kids' Play</a>" series can someday be written as a script for a movie. There is so much innocence and wisdom in children. They have not forgotten as much as we have as adults. Children, together with puppies, kittens and flowers, are my window to the divine. Actually, there is someone I know who has got out of depression just by adopting a kitten - God does work in strange ways! :)<br />
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Then out of the blue in late 2010, I was spotted by a film director and asked to act for her film. What is more surprising is that some months later, two of the films won awards: one for the <a href="http://michael-chua.blogspot.com/2012/03/hentak-kaki.html" target="_blank">Best Film</a> in the Singapore International Film Festival; and the other a <a href="http://michael-chua.blogspot.com/2012/03/iaaca-gold-award.html" target="_blank">Gold Award</a> in the International Anti-Corruption Public Service Announcements Award, organised by the IAACA in Hong Kong. Further one of the feature films which I played a support role in, is securing world-wide distribution. Then, two months ago, I won the <a href="http://michael-chua.blogspot.com/2012/03/3rd-ssfa-2012-best-performance-award.html" target="_blank">Best Performance Award</a> in the 3rd Singapore Short Film Awards (2012).<br />
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And I have been getting many gigs - way above the average. The people I have met in the acting circles have also been very kind to me. They have encouraged me, given me tips on acting, brought me gigs, and there were even producers who have paid me a little bit more without my bargaining for. This is amazing happening in a highly competitive industry which is tight-fisted with budgets.<br />
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I have learned a lot about society, human behaviour, life and myself through the scripts, roles and scenes I acted in, while getting into character and being the character, instead of outwardly 'acting' as the character. Like the master Sanford Meisner said, <b><span style="color: yellow;">"Acting is the ability to live truthfully under imaginary circumstances."</span></b></div>
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There is so much I would like to write about 'acting' that I have now created a new blog <a href="http://michael-chua.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Michael Chua</a>, so as to separate the commercial aspects of acting away from Vacuum State which I would try to keep it away from dollars and cents, as much as possible.<br />
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Evidently, I am in the <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/flow" target="_blank">FLOW</a>. It is easier to be in the FLOW, than against the FLOW. From here, I realised there is this 'flow' in our life. Learn to recognise this flow, and go along with it. Especially when you are in the downside of your energy cycle and need an easier route.<br />
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So stick around with energetic people and avoid energy vampires - at least until you are ready to stand on your own. Places also differ in their energy levels. If you intuitively know of certain places that mysteriously energises you without your trying to perk up, then that place is likely for you. Frequent that place to charge up. And those energetic people and places need not necessarily be spiritual gurus, expensive life coaches, luxurious holiday resorts or grand churches. Sometimes, these humble saviors can appear as children, animals, a cozy corner in your house, or just your ordinary looking walkway by your neighbourhood.<br />
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My spiritual quests did not stop during my waking hours. At night while asleep, we all dream and I was curious about what goes on during that time. So I kept a <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/dreams" target="_blank">dream</a> diary and was surprised with its revelations about my sub-conscious thoughts and why I should watch them. Though of late, I have learned not to focus too much on 'watching' them, but instead to be sure that I control my thoughts and not let my thoughts control me. There were also instances when I meet people in my dreams first, months before I physically meet them in person.<br />
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I don't normally publish my dream log, but there is one so lucid that I have included it as a blog post in <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/2009/12/dream-interpretation-riot.html" target="_blank">Dream Interpretation</a>. That dream was probably about a mental tussle I have between spiritualism, organised religions and their accumulated material wealth. We store various thoughts in our sub-conscious everyday unknowingly, and re-organise them in our dreams.<br />
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I took lucid dream interpretations and logs one step further and ventured into astral travel. I did that with a master. During astral travel, everything I saw was no different from what I see in my waking hours. There is virtually no difference apart from knowing that I am awake in my dream and have the ability to fly and walk through walls effortlessly. It is hard to convince those who haven't experienced astral travel about the surrealism of the experience, so I am not attempting beyond this.<br />
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The lesson I learn from astral travel is that it reminds me that whatever we see around us even during our waking hours are illusions, and so I will not take them too seriously. That means, I am IN this world, but not OF this world.<br />
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The other splinter blog that I have started is <a href="http://vacuumstate.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Vacuum State Travel</a>s, though I had not been updating it as much as I like.</div>
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There is a reasonable following in Vacuum State. Some have commented, some have corresponded with me, yet others have asked to meet up with me, which I did. It is all very encouraging. Vacuum State now averages 100-200 hits a day.</div>
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What I would love to see is perhaps a community emerging as a result of Vacuum State and also guest writers sharing their experiences. Every journey is unique and every journey would be a good mirror for oneself.<br />
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There are no easy answers of 'right' or 'wrong' in spirituality. I now look at matters as 'choices' and 'consequences'. Besides, what is 'right' or 'wrong' often depends on which side you are on or whether you are looking at it merely from a human perspective. For instance, a fallen tree on my roof would be considered a disaster to me, but would be a paradise for the termites.<br />
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There are even contradictions among religions and spiritual groups. I have been told by a spiritual group that Reiki healing is bad because it interferes with the person's karma. In another instance, a leader from another spiritual group turned pale when I told her I could feel vibes and channel healing energies. What is surprising is that she is willing to believe and revere the founders of her group, whom she believes are highly psychic, though she has not met before, nor are any of these founders still in the human plane. Yet she will not believe that one of her ordinary members standing right in front of her could possibly be psychic.<br />
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So accept beliefs that you are comfortable with and leave those that you are not. Not that what you did not accept was 'wrong', but rather that they did not resonate with you.<br />
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Of course, as we evolve in our consciousness, so will our beliefs. So our beliefs today may be our superstition tomorrow. We mustn't be foolishly attached even to our beliefs.<br />
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I believe if we were to put LOVE first, then everything else is secondary. As the late <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/2006/08/growing-old.html" target="_blank">Teresa Hsu</a> said, "When the Buddhists and Christians came to my place, they argue and cannot agree,... but when we speak about helping the underprivileged, everyone from both sides agree immediately." This, I think, is evidence that Love precedes all other rhetoric.<br />
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Personally, I do not have to agree with everything I listen to, or see. Sometimes I even learn a lot through disagreements. As such, I have even journal a Bucky Session that discussed about a book by an author I do not agree with. It is an exercise of separating the singer from the song. Read <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/2009/01/bucky-group-36-monkhood.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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There were also instances when I cheekily turned somebody else's article upside down on its head spiced with lots of sarcasm to see if we can force ourselves to look at the topic from an opposite direction. Read <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/2012/01/principles-of-bad-conversations.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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Lest some of you may think that I am sitting here (or somewhere) in Utopia happily hacking away on my keyboard for Vacuum State, this is not quite the case. I am probably like most of you readers who go through the daily grinds, tediums, frustrations and menial chores. I have also my fair share of encountering deceits, betrayals and injustice from people who continues to live in a degratory manner due to the insecurities of rejection and fear. Ultimately, we have to forgive them for they do not know - that they too, are divine. Our inner peace should never depend on them. And like most of you readers, I am learning everyday about myself and walking my own path.<br />
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I have given up wondering if all these are happening because of, or despite of all the problems that I had in the last ten years. Either way, it doesn't really matter. What is meant to be is meant to be, and everything happens for a reason.<br />
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Keeping up with at least one article a week in this blog is a challenge and that is why you are not seeing such a frequency. Not only that I am hard pressed for time and mind space, especially now that I have the new acting blog, but also the inspiration that has to come. Spirituality is unlike other topics like technology and finance where words can be crafted based on objective inputs. There needs to be inspiration for the words to flow and that is why sometimes I write in unlikely places like trains, coffee shops or bus stops - whenever the light happens to shine. It is also often very hard to describe the experiences, as words can never encapsulate the whole experience.<br />
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This blog feels like 500 miles of a meandering and winding road, going through steep and undulating terrains for the last seven years. It has been an enlightening journey. I always think that no matter what we do, whether we are conscious of it or not, we are taking a journey towards self-realisation. So enjoy the journey no matter what - accept all the sweet and sour, warts and all.</div>
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Last, but not least, a big HUG and THANK YOU for visiting Vacuum State all these years. Without you, the words will just go through empty halls.</div>
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<br />michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867685967275729776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14153627.post-85265648897502410602012-04-26T11:46:00.001+08:002012-04-26T12:07:40.458+08:00Re-inventing University<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Wrote the following in response to this picture upload, after my morning run yesterday. I didn't expect a long essay, but it just flowed. Here it is:<br />
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Universities need to be reinvented. No lectures. No lecturers. No classrooms. But a master <i>curriculumnist </i>that structures a syllabus to the student's needs, abilities and pace. Training material will be slides and videos, either from the university, or selected by the<i> curriculumnist</i> from the Internet.</div>
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The student can contact tutors of respective specialisations if they need academic help or if they have questions. At least half of the tutors must be full-time practitioners from the industry. The other half must be PhDs with ongoing research activities.</div>
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Exams will be set by a board, mutually exclusive from tutors and <i>curriculumnists.</i> Exams will test the students' knowledge and master of the first principles. Where practicable, all questions will be scenario based, preferably picking up a seemingly mundane happening that students see everyday. All questions are compulsory. There will be no multiple choice questions.</div>
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There will be no fixed quota to pass or fail students. Those who don't make the grade fail. Simple as that. The passing marking will be fixed at 50 marks.</div>
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There will be no students' appraisal of lecturers or anyone else. As there will be no lectures. If they fail, it will be their own bloody fault!!! </div>
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<i>Curriculumnists </i>will be appraised by senior management of industries that employ his graduates.</div>
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Tutor performance is measured based on how many students under his charge pass.</div>
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Examiner performance is measured by how many students examiners fail.</div>
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Universities are funded based on number of students that pass (no mere headcount) and the quality of research work of their tutors. Quality of research work is based on the number references made to their papers and/or how many patents in their name are realised into products (and how successful are the products). NOT MERELY HOW MANY PAPERS THEY CHURN OUT IN A YEAR!!!</div>
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<b><u>Now, the best part:</u></b> since there is no physical classroom constraints and that all curriculum are individually customised, anyone keen can be admitted. There will be no school fees, however, students failing the course will have to pay the full fees of the course in arrears. Given that there will be huge savings in physical campus space, staff and the shedding of traditional infrastructures, governments should have money to afford this free education for all.</div>
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Then this morning, I got an email from TED.com about their newly created website at <a href="http://ed.ted.com/">ed.ted.com</a> to encourage institutions to use their material for the lessons.<br />
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Such synchronicity!<br />
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Universities being turned into documentary video productions are mentioned by illuminating thinkers and authors like Buckminster Fuller and Alvin Toffler, as far back as the 1970s. Now we are seeing them in action.<br />
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For other posts on education, click <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/education" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<br />michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867685967275729776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14153627.post-70961699031145646322012-03-20T15:30:00.001+08:002012-03-20T15:36:17.040+08:00My Actor's Blog<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have started a new blog to chronicle my acting journey. This is to separate the more technical and commercial aspects of my acting experience from the purer spiritual aspects of Vacuum State. This blog will continue to post articles from a spiritual perspective, whatever the subject matter may be, and that includes the subject of 'acting' and 'film making'.</div>
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Do visit the new blog "Michael Chua", by clicking <a href="http://michael-chua.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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Do give me your feedback, as it is a new blog and comments and criticisms are critical to determine its future path.<br />
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And about the subject of "Who Am I?" as it depicted in the picture above. We are seen as different things to different people, but we are never what they think. We are not even what we do, for what happens is all outside in the phenomenal world in the physical plane. Who we are is more esoteric and more peaceful.<br />
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<br /></div>michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867685967275729776noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14153627.post-76093715047922611872012-02-26T14:12:00.000+08:002012-02-26T14:14:35.978+08:00Enlightenment Guaranteed<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6fXi4lOJe1I" width="420"></iframe><br />
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This is a film screened by the Buddhist library on the 18th February 2012.</div>
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"Enlightenment Guaranteed" is a light comedy about two lost souls finding their way to a Zen monastery to rediscover themselves.</div>
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In the film, the two brothers are lost in Tokyo, but as it turned out, became an opportunity and experience for both of them to bond and understand each other. So, a seemingly adverse situation being lost in what was an outlandish city like Tokyo to them, turned out to be a blessing. The secret here is to learn from the trouble itself.</div>
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The two brothers are contrasting characters: One who hasn't meditated before and another who meditates regularly, but it ended up that the one who hasn't meditated adjusted better to the strict and grueling monastery life. As the one who meditates regularly, took everything overly seriously and attempted to look for perfection in everything, leading to much psychological hardships during the retreat. Whereas, the brother who did not meditate before took in everything in his stride. Everything to him seems fine. Nothing worried him much.</div>
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Similarly, when we meditate, we do not look for perfection, but to go with the flow.</div>
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<br />michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867685967275729776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14153627.post-26570891246425229332012-02-17T09:56:00.000+08:002012-02-17T16:08:40.126+08:00Kid's Play - Enterprise<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L3zxJ8ivCa0/TKVNPT9j5MI/AAAAAAAAEkM/rfOQK5pFkV8/s1600/childrens+day.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L3zxJ8ivCa0/TKVNPT9j5MI/AAAAAAAAEkM/rfOQK5pFkV8/s320/childrens+day.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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There is this trusting little girl who never locked her school locker. Nothing had been lost, until one day when she left some sweets in it. The sweets disappeared, but some money was left there, presumably, by the taker.</div>
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Curious, she again left sweets in the locker, and then again found some money left there the next day, apparently in exchange for the sweets. </div>
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Amazed, she repeated the process, but this time , leaving more sweets there, and voila, she found more money left in her locker.</div>
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She then thought this could become a business and bought more sweets to leave them in her locker, and true enough, money flowed in and a business quickly flourished. Her locker soon became the popular de-facto candy store.</div>
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Then came a new student from a financially poor family who needed money. Realising that, she transferred her business to the new student and even bought the new stock.</div>
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And so, a social enterprise and micro-economy is born.</div>
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For more posts on Kid's Play, click <a href="http://jupilier.blogspot.com/search/label/Kids%20Play">here</a>.</div>
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<br />michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867685967275729776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14153627.post-29274761050884784512012-02-15T09:23:00.001+08:002012-02-16T11:08:33.445+08:00Remembering Chang Yew Kee<div style="text-align: justify;">
Two days ago, an old friend, Chang Yew Kee, died of a heart attack in his sleep. He was only 49. We were old Polytechnic friends and didn't get to meet after my departure from Singapore, and then we lost contact of each other soon after. </div>
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During our Poly days, we were members of the Welfare Services Club. Then, we served the underprivileged in the Homes every weekend. It was also during this time that I learned the concept of the Buddhist espoused 'Cause-and-Effect' philosophy from Yew Kee. He also told me that he often pondered about the Buddhist ideal of ridding oneself of all desires, and that he would probably not be able to do so completely. This is something I ponder deeply myself too, till this day. </div>
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It is important to treasure friends and express gratitude to them when they are still around. Truly, we don't know what comes next and when our time is up in this human incarnation. That is why I live everyday as if it is my last. I think it is better this way.<br />
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Lastly, I would like to take this chance to say a big 'thank you' to all my friends. Thank you for just for being my friend. </div>
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(Belated) Happy Valentine's Day!<br />
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Rest in Peace Yew Kee!</div>
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ps. Yew Kee has a Christian wake. I heard from his family that he converted to Christianity in the year 2000.</div>michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867685967275729776noreply@blogger.com0