Earth Hour in Singapore's Orchard Road
Shaw Centre and Wisma Atria were quite conscientious in turning off their lights as was Ngee Ann City. The bad boy in Orchard Road was the Heeren which was still brightly lit as I walked along the road.
Live Life With No Regrets!
Entrepreneur, philosopher, thinker, game designer, software developer, actor, writer.
"My purpose in life is to entertain people, to allow them to have fun, laugh and enjoy life."
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March 28, 2009
March 25, 2009
Spending Time
Time is really the most valuable commodity that we have. And yet we fritter it away needlessly.
Surfing the net, playing computer games, talking cock.
What we really need is to really have in mind what is the purpose for every moment.
But it's tough. Why, because thinking is tough. Thinking of what we want for this moment, of taking responsibility for each moment, for each word that we speak. It's something that doesn't come naturally.
It is easy to do whatever comes to our eyes at that moment, a TV program, a newspaper article, an email. But thinking "What is the most important thing must I do?" is hard. Secondly, actually doing it is hard, not physically hard, but the inertia of moving our bodies based on what we command it to do. Doing chores for example is easy. What special skill is there in sweeping the floor or doing the laundry? But it's hard because our flesh doesn't want to do it, even though our mind and spirit wants to do it.
I think perhaps one idea to realize is that we must relinquish our lives. Life is like that. We don't control our environment, but only how we respond to it. I wish that there were never any chores to do in life, but life is like that. There are so many things that we wish in life, but in reality is different.
I wish that I had more time in the evenings when I come back from Bible study or from rehearsals. I wish I could learn the guitar, learn martial arts, learn dance, and so many things. But life is limited. In reality, minus our sleep and working hours, eating, exercising, we only have about 2-3 hours of free time each day. I wish it was 5, but it isn't.
I wish I was a better teacher, actor, had more money, had my own house, were married to a beautiful wife, more intelligent, more confident, had a better body, had better business skills, had better credentials, more loving.
All these are good, and some I am right now working on accomplishing but we have to have priorities, do it step-by-step, have a plan on how to do it, and constantly monitor our progress towards them. But we have limited resources. Time, money (I can't afford a maid to do my chores), relationships, physical limitations (I realize I need 7.5 - 8 hours to be in peak mental condition), mental limitations (I only know so much, I've only learnt so much).
So, we have to make decisions on how we use it. Letting go of one thing for what we must decide is the most important. Sometimes I think that the distractions that we allow ourselves to get distracted with are our way of avoiding facing the important questions in life. What is the most important thing I have to do? What is my purpose in life? How am I going after it?
But whatever our condition, God asks what we do with it. I am not Bill Gates or Warren Buffett or Steven Spielberg or Hugh Jackman. I am Nicodemus Chan. And that speaks something. And I can do something about it. God can use me.
March 12, 2009
No Such Thing As A Break
There's no such thing as a break in life. Life is a dynamic moving environment. The moment we decide to prop up our legs, that's the moment we start stagnating.
The real break is in eternity when we join our Lord and Heavenly Father above.
But in the meantime, there's still goals to achieve, things to accomplish while on this earth.
March 10, 2009
Appearing to be Clever
I wrote in my personal journal this line the other day:
Success doesn't belong to the clever. It also belongs to those who appear to be clever. But if you don't think you're clever yet know that you have to appear to be clever to succeed, doesn't that make you clever?
Inspired by:
Epimenides the Cretan says, "All Cretans are liars". (The Epimenides Paradox)
Justice must not only be done, it must also appear to be done. - Lord Hewart C.J., R. v. Sussex Justices, Ex parte McCarthy
March 2, 2009
Learning A Skill
I realize that when you are learning a skill, books are the starting point to gaining knowledge. However there are certain things that memorization will not do. There are skills that can be learned faster when you are actually doing it not just reading about it. Learning isn't about just reading and memorization, it's also doing. Imagine learning swimming merely by reading a book!
The same goes for skills like programming, photoshop, social skills, speaking. You can read about it but you also need to do it.
And it's not just reading what the manual says. There is a culture, conventions and practices that go with it. There are certain habits that good practitioners of the skill do, even without thinking because they understand there are certain pitfalls and safeguards to prevent.
