"10 Values: Build to Last" By My Leechie Idol Ms. Elim Chew

Wanna share this touching yet motivating article written by my idol, ms. Elim Chew =)
(http://www.straitstimes.com/SME%2BSpotlight/SME%2BBlogs/Working%2Btowards%2BSuccess/STIStory_453404.html)

"A Good Friend Mr. Tan Ye Peng, the founder of CityCare and Social Innovation Park Fellows Award 2008 winner shared with me about ten values to build companies to last. The SIP Fellow Award is an award to recognize outstanding and high-achieving individuals who are creating systemic change to the community and Mr. Tan was one the four award recipients.

I had the opportunity to share these same values that I live by, at the NUS Commencement Ceremony for Business School with a graduation class of 400 to 500 students. I was the speaker and presiding office to give out the scrolls.

As the speaker, I saw the faces of graduates who would be facing the world as they leave NUS to impact the business community or to start their own business.

I trust that the 10 values I shared with them will bring them success in life and the business they are involved with. I believe as you begin to apply them, you will see positive changes that you desire to see happening to you also.

People often ask me how I become successful in what I am doing or how they can be successful in life. I do not believe in get-rich-quick schemes or any shortcuts. They may get you somewhere for a while but eventually it is about building your character and values as the foundation and cornerstone in your life that will bring you true lasting riches and success. The values on Building to Last are the very values that I treasure and live by.

10 Values: Build to Last: Here we go!

1. LOYALTY
Choose who you align yourself with.
In a company, the CEO's vision becomes your vision.
If you are managing your own company, you would want your staff to be loyal to your vision so that together you can achieve it.

2. COMMITMENT
You must be committed to the company and whom you have chosen to align yourself with,

Vision without commitment is not going to get you anywhere.

You can set many visions but if you are not committed to it, nothing will happen.

3. RESPECT
Respect for one another, respect for the leadership that you are under. Speak well of each other. Show proper respect to whom honour is due.

It is important to learn how to respect and honour one another. When you respect others, you are respecting yourself and respect will follow after you. Attitude is everything.

4. ACCOUNTABILITY
You must be accountable to your CEO - the one that sets the vision. If you are not accountable and connected to your CEO, you would not know.
- Whether the strategy is updated?
- Whether you are still in the right direction that your leader wants you to do?
When there is accountability, there will be update on the progress, accurate communication and constant evaluation to empower you so that you can play a part to add value to your company. Then we are building something that will last!

5. FAMILY
You can be working so hard for your family but you have no time to enjoy with them. Nobody at the end of his life, would be lying down on his bed and say his last words, "I wish I can work one more day!" No! They would probably say, "I wish I had spent more time with my family.

6. LOVE
Without love, you cannot build anything that will last.
Love what you do, love yourself and love people.
You will build a great team to help you and a great network of contacts.
The value of who you are is in the network of people you know.
If you love what you do, everything is possible. If you love what you do, then you need not work for the rest of your life because you are doing something that you love. Isn't that nice?

7. FAITHFULNESS OR TRUSTWORTHY
You often hear the saying, "When you are faithful in what is little, you will be faithful in much." Faithfulness in the little things like punctuality, submitting reports on time, keeping to deadlines and especially when dealing with money or handling what belong to others. When you are faithful in the little, you can be trusted with more responsibilities and promotion will come along.

8. HARD WORK OR DILIGENCE
To deliver above and beyond what is required and to do it well through hard work or diligence. It is about delivering excellence. In doing that, you will be noticed and opportunities will present themselves.

9. INTEGRITY
The more you build your life on integrity, the better will be your way and greater will be your life. You will build trust, people will believe in you and this is the way of a good and trusted leader. A leader that people will willingly follow and respect.

10. GENEROSITY
Be a giving person, a giving organization
Give and much will be given back to you.
I learn the most in volunteering and giving back to the community.

As a Founding Director of the Social Innovation Park, One of the ways that I am involved in to contribute to the community is to champion social entrepreneurship movement which uses business models to solve social issues.

Interestingly, there is an existing global interest in Singapore as the Centre for the 3rd Sector in Asia - creating sustainable change through social entrepreneurship. This 3rd Sector encompasses non-governmental organizations, the non-profit, the voluntary welfare organizations, charities, co-operations, social enterprises and philanthropic bodies.

Charities here pulled in a record $820 million last year. Singapore has great potential as the Centre for the 3rd Sector where our local Warren Buffets and Bill Gates can do good with the bulk of their wealth.
Being in this movement has given me great opportunity to connect not just locally or with Asia, but also GLOBALLY.

Coming back, as I stood there evaluating my purpose at the NUS Commencement Ceremony, I saw Alvin Pang receiving his degree from me, I knew that was the reason for my purpose. My heart was filled with tears of joy.

Few years back, Alvin Pang wrote his story in my book "My Voice", a compilation of youth stories. Alvin was a school dropout and was not able to continue his studies when he failed his PSLE. Due to poor family background he had to work to help support the family. He had to work in all kinds of odd jobs such as newspaper delivery, cleaner, stall assistant because of his lack of education. He often felt the discrimination of others but he was determined to change that by saving hard to go back to study again.

He believed that if he can do every kind of job well he would have no problem with studies. Indeed, he passed his O levels as a private candidate and at 27 years old, he graduated as an outstanding student in Ngee Ann Polytechnic Mass Communication diploma course and went on to pursue his dream at the NUS Business School.

Finally, his spirit of working hard and not giving up has earned him a degree at age 30. Alvin is a great example that when you abide with positive values, it will surely come back to you in a positive way some day. I always believe as you pave your path with the right values, one day it will lead you to the right path.

When much is given, much will be given back to you.

Everything I have today is given to me because I live by these 10 positive values.

10 VALUES TO BUILD TO LAST:

LOYALTY
COMMITMENT
RESPECT
ACCOUNTABILITY
FAMILY
LOVE
FAITHFULNESS
HARDWORK
INTEGRITY
GENEROSITY

ONCE you have these 10 values, I believe you will build a firm foundation for great leadership.

Positive values make you different from others.
Positive values attract opportunities. "

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Check out this really meaningful n cool clip!


Check out this clip...the 11 yr old boy is a really talented dancer...he's good!SALUTE!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ0zq2ZJIoA

10 Things Your Commencement Speaker Won't Tell You

Wise words from mr. Hub: "There is a simple lesson to be drawn: Elites buy assets class when they are cheap not expensive, ordinary folks buy "things" when they are expensive as everyone is chasing. "Things" i mean referring to junk stocks that has no value."
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10 Things Your Commencement Speaker Won't Tell You

By CHARLES WHEELAN 

"Class of 2012,

I became sick of commencement speeches at about your age. My first job out of college was writing speeches for the governor of Maine. Every spring, I would offer extraordinary tidbits of wisdom to 22-year-olds—which was quite a feat given that I was 23 at the time. In the decades since, I've spent most of my career teaching economics and public policy. In particular, I've studied happiness and well-being, about which we now know a great deal. And I've found that the saccharine and over-optimistic words of the typical commencement address hold few of the lessons young people really need to hear about what lies ahead. Here, then, is what I wish someone had told the Class of 1988:

1. Your time in fraternity basements was well spent.
The same goes for the time you spent playing intramural sports, working on the school newspaper or just hanging with friends. Research tells us that one of the most important causal factors associated with happiness and well-being is your meaningful connections with other human beings. Look around today. Certainly one benchmark of your postgraduation success should be how many of these people are still your close friends in 10 or 20 years.

2. Some of your worst days lie ahead. Graduation is a happy day. But my job is to tell you that if you are going to do anything worthwhile, you will face periods of grinding self-doubt and failure. Be prepared to work through them. I'll spare you my personal details, other than to say that one year after college graduation I had no job, less than $500 in assets, and I was living with an elderly retired couple. The only difference between when I graduated and today is that now no one can afford to retire.

3. Don't make the world worse. I know that I'm supposed to tell you to aspire to great things. But I'm going to lower the bar here: Just don't use your prodigious talents to mess things up. Too many smart people are doing that already. And if you really want to cause social mayhem, it helps to have an Ivy League degree. You are smart and motivated and creative. Everyone will tell you that you can change the world. They are right, but remember that "changing the world" also can include things like skirting financial regulations and selling unhealthy foods to increasingly obese children. I am not asking you to cure cancer. I am just asking you not to spread it.

4. Marry someone smarter than you are. When I was getting a Ph.D., my wife Leah had a steady income. When she wanted to start a software company, I had a job with health benefits. (To clarify, having a "spouse with benefits" is different from having a "friend with benefits.") You will do better in life if you have a second economic oar in the water. I also want to alert you to the fact that commencement is like shooting smart fish in a barrel. The Phi Beta Kappa members will have pink-and-blue ribbons on their gowns. The summa cum laude graduates have their names printed in the program. Seize the opportunity!

5. Help stop the Little League arms race. Kids' sports are becoming ridiculously structured and competitive. What happened to playing baseball because it's fun? We are systematically creating races out of things that ought to be a journey. We know that success isn't about simply running faster than everyone else in some predetermined direction. Yet the message we are sending from birth is that if you don't make the traveling soccer team or get into the "right" school, then you will somehow finish life with fewer points than everyone else. That's not right. You'll never read the following obituary:  "Bob Smith died yesterday at the age of 74. He finished life in 186th place."

6. Read obituaries. They are just like biographies, only shorter. They remind us that interesting, successful people rarely lead orderly, linear lives.

7. Your parents don't want what is best for you. They want what is good for you, which isn't always the same thing. There is a natural instinct to protect our children from risk and discomfort, and therefore to urge safe choices. Theodore Roosevelt—soldier, explorer, president—once remarked, "It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed." Great quote, but I am willing to bet that Teddy's mother wanted him to be a doctor or a lawyer.

8. Don't model your life after a circus animal. Performing animals do tricks because their trainers throw them peanuts or small fish for doing so. You should aspire to do better. You will be a friend, a parent, a coach, an employee—and so on. But only in your job will you be explicitly evaluated and rewarded for your performance. Don't let your life decisions be distorted by the fact that your boss is the only one tossing you peanuts. If you leave a work task undone in order to meet a friend for dinner, then you are "shirking" your work. But it's also true that if you cancel dinner to finish your work, then you are shirking your friendship. That's just not how we usually think of it.

9. It's all borrowed time. You shouldn't take anything for granted, not even tomorrow. I offer you the "hit by a bus" rule. Would I regret spending my life this way if I were to get hit by a bus next week or next year? And the important corollary: Does this path lead to a life I will be happy with and proud of in 10 or 20 years if I don't get hit by a bus.

10. Don't try to be great. Being great involves luck and other circumstances beyond your control. The less you think about being great, the more likely it is to happen. And if it doesn't, there is absolutely nothing wrong with being solid.


Good luck and congratulations."

— Adapted from "10½ Things No Commencement Speaker Has Ever Said," by Charles Wheelan. To be published May 7 by W.W. Norton & Co.

A version of this article appeared April 28, 2012, on page C3 in some U.S. editions of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: 10 Things Your Commencement Speaker Won't Tell You.

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Interesting article shared by Moo Mo:
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/yes-you-can-become-a-millionaire-farmer-2012-05-03?link=MW_Nav_NV)

Yes, you can become a millionaire farmer

By Paul B. Farrell, MarketWatch

"SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (MarketWatch) — “‘If you want to become rich,” Jim Rogers, investment whiz, best-selling author and one of Wall Street’s towering personalities, has this advice: Become a farmer.”

That was in Time magazine last summer. So did you make the leap? Listen to Rogers? Leave Wall Street? Leave that stuffy ol’ bank? Get on the road to becoming a millionaire farmer?Still thinking? OK, let’s examine four possible ways you could get into farming this year:

• You could buy some natural resources and commodities mutual funds
  
• You can get into a hedge fund, trust, partnership or private equity firm investing in farmland
  
• You might actually bite the proverbial bullet, buy a working farm and live off the land or
  
• You can have your cake and eat it too, like Michael Murphy who publishes the highly-successful New World Investor biotech newsletter and also operates a unique permaculture farm.

There’s an even bigger reason for abandoning the financial world for farming. “We don’t need more bankers. What we need are more farmers,” says Rogers. “The invisible hand will do its magic.”

In short, farming’s not just another great way to get rich. There’s a higher calling in it, a mix of money, enjoying life, fulfilling your destiny, and a dose of altruism: “The world has a serious food problem,” says Rogers in Steve Gandel’s exciting Time article. And “the only real way to solve it is to draw more people back to agriculture.”

Hopefully this will inspire more bankers to say bye-bye Wall Street, hello “best job of the 21st century.”

Opportunity knocks: world need more farmers, can’t feed 10 billion in 2050

Just how badly does the world need more farmers? Jeremy Grantham’s firm manages $100 billion, warns of an “inevitable mismatch between finite resources and exponential population growth,” plus a “bubble-like explosion of prices for raw materials,” plus commodity shortages that will become a huge “threat to the long-term viability of our species when we reach a population level of 10 billion,” making “it impossible to feed the 10 billion people.” See 5 money moves on commodities bear is making now.

Impossible? Yes, the planet’s “carrying capacity” cannot feed the 10 billion people UN demographers predict on the planet as we add three billion more by 2050. So that’s a constraint on the world’s future. Grantham concluded, “as the population continues to grow, we will be stressed by recurrent shortages of hydrocarbons, metals, water, and, especially, fertilizer. Our global agriculture, though, will clearly bear the greatest stresses.”

In short, agriculture is the world’s biggest commodity problem, biggest challenge and the biggest opportunity, bigger than Wall Street banking on the path to a successful and satisfying life. Below are some ideas and leads on the four paths to success.

Invest in farmland, local, national and worldwide

Here’s another way to leveraging your talents and passion for agriculture, investing in farmland. Bigger players include Canada’s Agcapita, Brazil’s Agrifirma plus American investors like Ceres and Chess Partners. Earlier we wrote about 416 agricultural real estate deals across the world .

Why are these operators crucial to farming? Water and wind erosion are wiping away crop soils 10 to 40 times the rate of soil formation. Forestlands are disappearing at rates over 500 times the replacement rate, a trend accelerated by today’s new age of 100,000-acre mega-fires.

So farmland operations like CeresPartners and ChessCapitalPartners are making valuable contributions by financing and owning smaller farms.

And also on the plus side, remember, throughout history successful farmers often created local banks. They become farmers first, then got rich, then become bankers too.

Invest in a farm, get your hands dirty, operate your own farm

Can you combine farming and Wall Street? You bet. Back when I was on Wall Street at Morgan Stanley one of the top three men commuted from his large working farm in Princeton. Another key man was Barton Biggs, chief global strategist for 30 years. Smart Money said he was “without question the premier prognosticator on the international scene.” Institutional Investor magazine put him on its “All-America Research Team” 10 times.

Biggs now runs the Traxis Partners hedge fund. In his best-seller, “Wealth, War and Wisdom,” Biggs advises investors to prepare for “the possibility of a breakdown of the civilized infrastructure.” How? Be a farmer. Seriously: “Your safe haven must be self-sufficient and capable of growing some kind of food ... It should be well-stocked with seed, fertilizer, canned food, wine, medicine, clothes. … Think Swiss Family Robinson.” 

Michael Murphy is another great example: For decades Murphy has been advising investors on “mega-shifts” in technology, in his New World Investor newsletter and his recent “Survive the Great Inflation.” We detailed his unique operating farm in “12 Tips for Profiting on Commodity Demand.”

Murphy “walks the way he talks,” combining his world of finance with the unique process on his operating farm, a commitment that led to “permaculture” farming certification.

Finance insiders can get ‘rich’ farmers on a ‘permaculture’ path

“Though the problems of the world are increasingly more complex, the solutions remain embarrassingly simple,” says Bill Mollison, co-founder of the global “permaculture” movement. What’s really impressive is the peaceful Zen sense about this spiritually rich permaculture way of life.

That’s right, it’s really not just living in two separate worlds for guys like Murphy. This is a commitment, a way of living. Here’s how the permaculture course describes this way of life:

“Permaculture is an ecological design system for sustainability in all aspects of our lives. Permaculture teaches us how build natural homes, grow our own food, restore diminished landscapes and ecosystems, catch rainwater, build communities, take care of waste and much more.”

“The philosophy within permaculture is one of working with rather than against nature, and of protracted and thoughtful observation rather than premature and thoughtless action. Permaculture design techniques encourage land use which integrates principles of ecology and applies lessons from nature. It teaches us to create settings and construct ecosystems which have the diversity, stability, and the resilience of natural ecosystems. In the spirit of sustainability, it also teaches us to allow natural and designed ecosystems to demonstrate their own evolutions.”

In short, permaculture farming is a way of living, in a different world from agribusiness giants Monsanto and Cargill. Farming is a lifestyle that fits biotech expert Michael Murphy who merges both, much like the great Zen masters and the guys I knew from Morgan Stanley. But most of all, this way of farming is a worldwide movement. And if you want to explore it further, check out all the courses offered by the Permaculture Institute .

15 agricultural innovations to help you be a millionaire farmer

A couple weeks ago, just before the annual Earth Day celebration, the Worldwatch Institute published an impressive list of “15 sustainable agricultural practices that are protecting the environment while also improving people’s livelihoods.” That’s important because these innovations protect the future of our world.

The world of “agriculture provides food for all of us and income for more than one billion people around the world,” says Worldwatch’s Danielle Nierenberg: “Relatively simple innovations to reduce the amount of food we waste, or to help the urban poor become more self-sufficient, can help agriculture feed the world without destroying the planet.”

What an opportunity: Global population is rapidly accelerating, from just six billion 12 years ago to seven billion last year, adding three billion more in the next generation. Rogers got it right: “We don’t need more bankers. What we need are more farmers.”

Alternatively, natural-resources funds or commodity trading

The simplest way to get your feet wet (while you’re thinking about a bigger move into farming and agriculture) would be to get a feel of the market. Invest in some natural-resources funds. We asked analyst Michelle Swartzentruber to compile a top-10 list from the Morningstar database:

• Prudential Jennison Natural Resources /quotes/zigman/587231 PRGNX -2.33%
• T. Rowe Price New Era /quotes/zigman/240028 PRNEX -1.52%  
• Van Eck Global Hard Assets /quotes/zigman/154217 GHAAX -2.14%  
• Ivy Global Natural Resources /quotes/zigman/247905 IGNAX -1.19%  
• RS Global Natural Resources /quotes/zigman/252321 RSNRX -1.75%
• Fidelity Select Materials /quotes/zigman/226568 FSDPX -1.03%  
• Fidelity Select Natural Resources /quotes/zigman/203738 FNARX -2.19%  
• Franklin Natural Resources /quotes/zigman/159106 FRNRX -2.16%  
• John Hancock II Natural Resources /quotes/zigman/393680 JINRX -1.73%  
• ING Global Resources /quotes/zigman/369223 IGRSX -1.86%  

You might also take Jim Rogers other suggestion from his 2007 best-seller “Hot Commodities,” where he called commodities the “world’s best market.”

More on this later, but if you look closely at our list of the top-10 best natural resources funds you can see how volatile the underlying commodities have been in recent years: Positive on the short-term year-to-date basis and the longer 3-year annual average basis, but in negative territory on a medium term one-year basis.

Bottom line, if you really want to become a millionaire farmer, my guess is that neither passive funds nor active commodity trading will satisfy a passion for farming. So if you really want to invest in agriculture … if you believe farming is your calling … if you see an opportunity to get rich … and if you have a strong desire to make a contribution to the world’s need to feed billions in the next generation … then at some point you might just walk out the door, into the world of agriculture and become a farmer."

Tiger Crystal Freeze Party at Artery

Attended this Tiger Crystal Freeze event organized by Lifestyleasia.com at Artery last fri nite...the last time i was at Artery was more than 2yrs ago when i organized an event there...how time flies...guess Artery has undergone major renovation since...

Enjoying my tiger crystal liquid nitrogen drink ;p

Leechie behind the bar counter ;p

Playing bartender here ;p

Enjoying our tiger crystal cocktails...

The Top 5 Needs of Men and Women ;p

Came across this interesting article posted by a fren...it first appeared in Simply Her mag (http://divaasia.com/article/4650)

"A long-lasting happy marriage takes more than just understanding the needs of your spouse; it goes beyond mere acceptance of your spouse’s emotional and physiological makeup and learning to meet his or her needs.

After years of counselling married couples, American clinical psychologist and marriage counsellor Willard F. Harley, Jr concluded that the top five needs of men and women fell into 10 categories:

Her Top 5 Needs

1 Affection Women often associate affection with security, comfort, protection and approval. When a man shows his wife affection, he’s sending subliminal messages to her that he’ll take care of her, stand by her and protect her.

2 Conversations When women have intimate conversations with their spouse, it reassures them and make them feel loved and supported.

3 Honesty and openness A women needs to be able to trust her husband completely. When a man doesn’t maintain an honest, open communication with his wife, he undermines her trust.

4 Financial support Many women marry for the financial security their spouse provides.

5 Family commitment A woman needs her husband to be a good father and to be committed to the family.

His Top 5 Needs

1 Sexual fulfilment Most women can go without sex for months, but for men, it’s pure torture. In fact, they would probably do it all the time if they had their way.

2 Recreational companionship Even after marriage, couples should make an effort to involve themselves in their spouses’ activities.

3 An attractive spouse A man needs a wife who looks good to him.

4 Domestic support Most men like having domestic chores like cooking and cleaning done for them.

5 Admiration Men want their wives to be proud of them. So when you tell your husband that he’s wonderful, it motivates him to achieve more."
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Btw, leechie saw this phrases on my fren's msn status:
"我将于茫茫人海中寻找我唯一之灵魂伴侣,得之 我幸，不得 我命"
"幸福是靠自己去爭取的~不管是友情或愛情~~錯過了就沒有了..."
I got him to explain the first phrase for those of us who r not too familiar with chinese, the first phrase simply says tt he's looking for his one and only soulmate amongst the crowd...if he manages to find the One, then he's lucky...if otherwise, tt's his fate...
The first part of the 2nd phrase simply tells us tt our happiness is dependent on us!We gotta fight for our happines ya...doesn't matter if it's frendship or love...once u miz it, it's gone forever...o.O"

Check out this funny clip on a pretty korean school teacher...hang on for the surprise awaiting u ;p

Johnnie Walker Jet Black Party at Mercedes-Benz Centre

This by-invitation only party was held at Mercedes-Benz Centre in Alexandra. After Daniel parked his car at the basement carpark, there were fleets of Mercedes queueing up at the entrance of the building...fetching us up to the higher levels where the party was held...well, arrival in style! =)

And there was this beautiful Mercedes at the door...of course, i couldnt resist not taking pics with it...lol...

The only pity was that i wasnt allowed to sit inside this car for pic-taking...

Cocktails served were Johnnie Walker Sour n Red Flag...but there was a speciality Johnnie Walker Gold Reserve cocktail with guava in the Gold Reserve lounge which opened at abt 11.30pm...

Posing with the gold reserve bottle at the Gold Reserve lounge

Bumped into VJ n here r some of the pics taken by him...when i remarked that the pics look well-taken...his response was that he only takes good pics when drunk...lol...

I happened to b standing next to this Mercedes car n some guests thought leechie was a staff from Mercedes...lol...

Pics taken at the Johnnie Walker Photobooth...

With Justin

Bumped into Steve who won the competition to meet the djs n was at the party with his pretty gf...he showed me pics of the hot female dj...lol...how time really flies, the last time i saw him was at the Johnnie Walker F1 party last year...he asked abt Brian, who was supposed to b in KL...

Thanks Johnnie Walker for this glamorous party with all the beautiful cars =)

What's Thy Passion? o.O

The one who has the foresight to see emerging trends well ahead of others tends to b comfortably well ahead of others as well o.O

“I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university.” ~ Albert Einstein

My life is a joke. I couldn't stop giggling while doing the torturing yoga, ESP when the yoga teacher try to correct my pose. N the entire class laughed along -.- free entertainment for them. So kind of me

From NMK wall:


Tears rolled down my leechie face when i saw this posting on Ms. Neo Mui Kian's wall...

"This has been around before but still brings a tear to my eyes :

WE DON'T HAVE TOO MANY FRIENDS...........JUST GOOD FRIENDS

Let's see if you send this back...
A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell. He painted a sign advertising the 4 pups and set about nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he was driving the last nail into the post, he felt a tug on his overalls. He looked down into the eyes of a little boy.
"Mister," he said, "I want to buy one of your puppies."
"Well," said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat off the back of his neck, "These puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money."

The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer. "I've got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?"

"Sure," said the farmer. And with that he let out a whistle. "Here, Dolly!" he called.
Out from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur.

The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with delight. As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse.

Slowly another little ball appeared, this one noticeably smaller. Down the ramp it slid.. Then in a somewhat awkward manner, the little pup began hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up...

"I want that one," the little boy said, pointing to the runt. The farmer knelt down at the boy's side and said,

"Son, you don't want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would."

With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of his trousers. In doing so he revealed a steel brace running down both sides of his leg attaching itself to a specially made shoe.

Looking back up at the farmer, he said, "You see sir, I don't run too well myself, and he will need someone who understands."

With tears in his eyes, the farmer reached down and picked up the little pup.

Holding it carefully he handed it to the little boy.

"How much?" asked the little boy... "No charge," answered the farmer, "There's no charge for love."

The world is full of people who need someone who understands.

It's National Friendship Week.

Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND.
as well as those who WERE!!!
If it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends."

Collected my jet black passes yest on my way to the gym. Comes with a cute small bottle of johnnie walker n a lovely black color carrier...


i actually followed nmk n her frenz to Carlton for yummy tim sum lunch after her seminar...

Madness at FJ Benjamin Sale!!!

This was the first time that i've been to a FJ Benjamin sale here...learnt that the last one was some 2 years back? o.O me n my mum first went on the 3rd day of the sale, which was also the Good Friday hol...we went there, hoping to catch some good la Senza bargains...but la Senza wasnt featured in this sale this time round...but there were plenty of other good buys! we went back again on the last day of the sale when there were further markdowns, esp the clothes n shoes which ran out of sizes...

Ppl there were grabbing Raoul bags as if they were free! Everytime the staff brought in boxes of bags to replenish...ppl were rushing n snatching n fighting for these bags!!! Madness manz!!! These r the Raoul bags that we managed to haul back on the last day of the sale...8 bags in total...all genunine leather bags...v.good deals...no wonder ppl were so crazily grabbing the bags...lol...btw, fb frenz commented that the white one is v.pretty

Here's another pic of other Raoul stuff that I bot from the FJ Benjamin sale...bought some Raoul shirts for my leechie dad too...met a guy who was willing to share the bundled deal with me n explained to me the difference between straight, tapered n slim cuts for the gents shirt...he even modelled the shirts for me...lol...

Pretty Raoul shoes...i love the pink shoe box too...lol...

Pretty Guess shoes for leechie

I insisted on buying this pretty pair of Guess heels although my leechie mum says i cant walk in them =.=

Pretty Guess denim shoes when worn on my feet

Bought this pair of Guess boots although the chances of me wearing them in singapore r extremely skinny =.=

Purple Guess shoes for my leechie mum

Guess Watches: Purple for my leechie mum n black for leechie

Stay tuned for more pics ;p

April Fools' Day at JPO

Spent the day at Johor Premium Outlets...which seemed to b relatively quiet when we arrived...the familiar snaking queues at the various boutiques when JPO first opened was nowhere to b found! o.O anyway, i finally managed to get into Burberrys...bot a lovely wallet =)


Polo Ralph Lauren is now open...n we happened to b there on the first day of the further markdowns...scored a few good buys ;p Adidas is also having sale now...but lesser variety as compared to when it first opened...n there is totally no q at Levis now...i had to q for more than 1 hour juz to make payment on my first trip there >.<" n they ran outta bra sizes at la Senza...so we only bot panties this time round...

I gotta comment on the service of some of the boutique staff...as what everyone knows, customer service is virtually non-existent in sg...the staff at Polo Ralph Lauren were v.helpful in assisting me to search for what i wanted...well, juz in case u were wondering...i bot the polo tees from the kids department ;p one of the Adidas staff was equally helpful to assist my leechie mum find her right shoe size =) Ferragamo staff asked for my contact details so that they could update me on new shipments...pretty refreshing from some snobbish boutique staff in sg! o.O

Bought this pair of bright purple Adidas shoes for my leechie mum...her fav color is purple! lol...


Bought these 2 items at the recent Reebonz sale:
My new Prada bag. Does it look nice or aunty? O.o fb frenz commented that it looks nice...but my cynical leechie mum laughed at the floral prints =.=" i guess a louder personality is required to carry this loud bag...lol ;p


My Miss Marc bag which came with an obvious stain on the strap...the staff didnt look too pleased when i asked for the price to b marked down...one staff even commented that the original price tag wasnt too high to begin with...well, i was given the impression that they prefer to sell only exp bags o.O

btw, i learn a phrase from one of the fb guys which goes somthg like this..."if u buy stuff with money that u dont have...sooner or later, u'll have to sell stuff that u have!" oh perhaps i shld scrimp on food to save $$$ to buy a branded bag so that i will get to lose fat? lol ;p

Trying out Gellish for the v.first time...i dunno how to describe Gellish in chinese to Gina...who expressed great surprise when i told her my chinese is v.lousy >.<" anyway, i forgot to put on blusher before going out n she promptly asked how come i didnt put on makeup! =.=


Penang fried kway tiao from Malaysian Food Street at RWS. Look at how small the serving is o.O