Day 180 - Taxi Driver 2

Day 180 - 820 days to go

I had a very good experience today with a taxi driver. Based on my few times experiences with other taxi drivers, I found that the taxi driver sent us back to hotel is OK. Hence after sending us to the hotel, I offered him to send us to airport.

I think he must be very happy to receive such an offer which is out of his expectation. He sent us back to hotel and earned HKD23 but he earned HKD250 when he sent us to the airport. Therefore, for those taxi drivers and other sales staff who think that they do not need to provide good customer services to customers and tourists especially, they may be losing repeat sales.

Happy Events:

1. I am happy to offer to the taxi driver another business deal that will make him happy.
2. Happy to contribute to Hong Kong economy by spending almost 6 full days there.
3. I had 6 days of happy family trip especially the moment I spent with my girl alone when my wife was doing her shopping with her mum. It was very good for father-daughter bonding.

Creativity: I think Hong Kong is a more open society than many SEA or Asian countries and as such promotes creativity.

Creativity is limited by what one can do and as such limited by what one cannot do. As such, how open is a country and society will have a direct correlation with the level of creativity, in turn, innovation. As such, it is not surprised that USA is one of the, if not the, most creative and innovative country in the world as they are perceived to be the most open, in many aspects, country in the world.

Taxi Drivers – The Frontline Service Providers To Tourists

Day 179 – 821 days to go

I traveled to more than 10 countries in the world from the very developed countries such as USA and Australia to the less developed countries such as Southeast Asian countries. The first service experienced was with taxi driver essentially. Therefore, to a tourist, the service provided by taxi drivers will affect a tourist’s perception of a country.

For this trip I took a few times of taxi in Hong Kong and I had mixed feeling about the service provided. In general, the older generation is more friendly and polite but may not be true if they are younger i.e. below 40 years old. Some of the younger ones do not give me good impression in terms of the way they treat their customers. Some are very impatient and do not provide much help to us when we are not sure about certain places or when the name given is slightly different from the actual ones. Instead of helping us, they asked us to refer to our hotel staff who is very helpful and patient. What a big contrast to the taxi driver. Another one teased us as we do not speak Hong Kong style Cantonese. He even argued that resident and citizen means the same thing. I do not know why he brought up the issue but one thing for sure is that I will not simply argue with my customers especially if the issue has nothing to do with my company or my work function.

A lot of tourists do not have very good impression about the services provided by sales and service support staff in Hong Kong. This round I experienced some very nice ones especially the hotel staff and also one old taxi drivers. So are some sales staff in shopping malls. Of course the same type of mixed experiences applicable to any countries. However, service providers should know that their service will have perpetual impact to the reputation of a country in the service industry. Therefore, they should provide their best service to tourists so that they will recommend their friends and family members to visit the countries that they enjoy the most. They will become repeat customers if they are happy.

I still love to visit to Hong Kong but I may avoid taking taxi if possible due to some bad experiences as I do not want my holiday to be spoiled by a rude taxi driver by chance.

Happy events:

1. Visited the Avenue of Stars and tried the ferry from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island.
2. Went to Temple Street and other shopping areas for more shopping.
3. Had a very nice dimsum lunch at a very popular Chinese restaurant that has many branches.

Creativity: Flexibility to change or even do not proceed with initial plans is a must for results.

I have been talking about eating the stinky tofu at Temple Street but I finally do not proceed with it today so that we can go back to our hotel earlier.

Not so happy event:

Had two bad experiences with two taxi drives today.

Charity Walk With Andy Hui

Day 178 – 822 days to go

The first activity this morning was to take part in the charity walk organized by the Redford company’s Redford Charitable Foundation. The walk was held at The Peak which is the home for very rich people and also a tourist attraction. The famous Madame Tussauds Hong Kong is also situated at the same venue.

It is estimated about 1000 people took part in the event with Andy Hui who is the popular Hong Kong singer to be the VIP. His charitable foundation also donated HKD250,000.00. Hopefully one day I can also set up my own charitable foundation to help the needy. At present, I can only contribute within my means for various type of charity events. Therefore, to be able to take part in my first overseas charity event is one of the best things I achieved in this 3^rd Hong Kong trip.

After that, we went to Lan Kwai Fong and witness how Hong Kong people celebrate Halloween. Not only that many local and foreign participants celebrated the fun event but also Hong Kong authorities. It is interesting to see how supportive is the police department supported the event by blocking/closing a few roads plus sending many police men there to ensure the safety of the participants there. No wonder so many foreign people like Hong Kong very much as it is a very foreigner and tourist friendly country. My girl already fall in love with this place after spending two days here.

Happy Events:

1. Able to contribute to the charity event in Hong Kong.
2. Had my first ever fun-filled experience at Lan Kwai Fong which is a must visit place for drinkers or people who like night life.
3. Planned and rushed for the hotel shutter and made it one minute before the arrival of the bus despite many obstacles happened at the train station. It was really worth my runs at the IFC train station.

Creativity: Plan or have a few option in order to achieve certain result is a must in life. To others, it is back up plan but to the one who prepare for the back up plans, it is innovation.

From The Peak, I analyse a few options to leave the place and also proceed to the next destination. However, I did not carry out all plan as we just went with the flow and end up in Lan Kwai Fong which was also one of our options.

In Time - I Got A Day

Day 177 - 823 days to go

In Time is one of the best ever movie I have ever watched because of the very futuristic and creative story line. I was stressed when I watched the movie as I related to it very much. To live life to the fullest was what the movie projected. I used to think besides any accidents which could be saved by even a millisecond, the next one that can change the results and hence the life of a person is in sport. A millisecond can create a winner and many losers and hence the life of the winner. My personal experience is that by far In Time is the best movie to show the value of a second to human lives.

I went to Wong Tai SIn temple with my family. Maybe is due to a normal weekend and hence not very crowded. I am sure during holidays and special holidays for the temple or festive season in Chinese calender, the temple will be packed with people as it is one of the most popular and famous temple in Hong Kong.

Happy Events:

1. Able to plan and work towards taking the hotel shutter back to hotel despite it was only minutes to spare after our movie.
2. Registered for the Charity Walk tomorrow at The Peak. Andy Hui who is the popular single is the partner in this walk with his Andy Hui charity foundation.
3. Had a delicious but good price supper near the hotel. Thanks the staff for showing us the way.

Creativity: Not sure how story writer of In Time movie got his idea but it was one of the best ever movies I have ever watched.

Watching, reading, listening to an creative speakers, author etc can actually motivate and inspire another person want to do the same fate.

Tourism Industry

Day 176 – 824 days to go

I think tourism industry is one of the best industries to be promoted and developed by any country. It does not involve any factory and hence not production that may cause pollution. Furthermore, it is a happy industry that focused in bringing happiness to people. In general, consumers of this industry spend money happily to buy more happiness.

Hong Kong is one of the most successful countries in developing tourism. One of the success factor is food. Hong Kong is famous and popular as a food heaven as well as cheap goods imported from China. Of course, it is like the Milan in Asia that is leading the trend in fashion.

Finally found out the reason why my phone line and BB is not connected as the line has been transferred to a new service provider despite my instruction not to activate it first. Happy to know that once again I can predict problem but sad to know that people still made mistake despite clear instruction.

Happy Events:

1. Planed well and maximize the usage of time for traveling time.

2. Bought a pair of K-Swiss running shoes from Citygate factory outlet to prepare myself to erase all my PB (personal bad).

Creativity: Analyse different options to choose the best one for decision making may help oneself to be more creative as brainstorming itself will lead to more creative ideas through research.

Happy to know there are so many options to move around HK namely taxi, bus, hotel shutter, train, travel package, rent a car, and walk.

Amazing Hong Kong

Day 175 - 825 days to go

Today is the first day in Hong Kong and I learned quite a bit about the personal and business success in HK. First of all, they do a lot of promotion for their business and they do it aggressively even with manual publicity i.e. hand out flyer at various busy MTR station. Secondly, they can get very cheap products from China. I really cannot believe what I saw at the Ladies Street i.e. they sell shirt for HKD5 each and if buy 5, get another one free. It is beyond my imagination to produce a shirt and make at least two levels of profit for a HKD 5 product which can be sold for 10x higher.

HK people's pace in walk, work, speak and almost everything is faster than us. They are every competitive due to they have the higher number of citizen to choose from for th ebest quality.

Happy events:

1. Had a good nite on the first day in HK
2. Able to use internet access when I am back to hotel.
3. Learned quite a bit on why HK and the people are more competitive and successful

Not so happy event:

Out of the blue, I cannot access my phone and hence I am not able to receive mail from company.

Creativity: Creativity and innovation also dependent on whether one is able to foresee the future and also plan and take action on the expected the change.

Two-In-One

Day 174 - 826 days to go

Today I worked two-day hours in one day time as start before 9am to worked till 11pm plus. It is amazing that human is so flexible or rather stretchable when the situation requirement him to do so. We got a phone call from the authorities for a meeting yesterday and there is only 24 hours for me to prepare myself. Hence, I was working with full concentration for the entire morning till afternoon. However, I make sure I attend yoga class during lunch as it is a must-not-miss to me.

We had a fruitful discussion and we understand better what is in the mind of our authorities. We will work together to develop the capital market further. Personally, I think that if our market do not open up and develop, we will be removed form the investment horizon of the global competitors.

Happy Events:

1. Able to complete tasks that may require 2 days of work if I worked at a normal pace.
2. Had a very fruitful discussion with the authority.

Creativity: A lot of time we are creative when we face problem and issue. Therefore, I always like issues to be address.

Problems or needs are the building block of creativity

Luck - Preparation Meets Opportunity

Day 173 - 827 days to go

I like the above definition of luck i.e. preparation meets opportunity. Most people always see the success of other people but they do not see the preparation done by the lucky people. We can only be as lucky as we prepare. Every single day, there is always opportunity for us to gain something but whether we will be able to seize the opportunity or not dependent on if we are ready there and then.

Receive a meeting invitation from an authority to discuss on our possible new product launching. Feel blessed that we are so lucky to have met the right person with the commitment to develop the capital market together. We will do our best to work towards developing the market for the benefits of many investors.

Happy Events:

1. Received a call for one of the most important meeting in my life for new product launching.
2. Very lucky to get many good materials from the internet for my meeting tomorrow.

Creativity: As I mentioned, luck equal preparation meets opportunity. We have to always be creative even for looking for information from internet. If we only use the conventional ways to search for information, we will surely miss lots of information.

Terry Fox Run - T-shirts Sales

Day 172 - 828 days to go

I always believe things happen for a reason. As a result of cancelling my trip to KK climbathon, I got two free tickets to watch the David Foster and Friends Asia Tour 2011. The ticket price is RM389 each. It was a fantastic concert and I have never watched a concert with so many good singers and good songs.

In addition, I have another weekend to sell Terry Fox Run T-shirts at Bukit Aman car park. Within 2 hours, we managed to sell close to 60 pieces. It was selling like hot cakes. My experience about 70% of the people or runners who we met will buy. Of course, part of the reason was that my friend, PK Chan helped me to promote on the spot. He has been running for the past 25 years and hence know a lots of runners. Therefore, friendship and networking is very important even for charity events. Really appreciate his help. Without his help, I think 40 to 50% of the runners we promote will buy. Many of them took part in the charity run before and other heard about it. It was also a good chance to meet up with some runners who are in my facebook and the yahoo group for the first time. I even learned how to promote a running, swimming and cycling event online through a newly met runner.

At night, I had a good family dinner with mum and my family members. It was great to bring mum out as she hardly step out of the house after she got a stroke. Of course, I had a good afternoon nap too after so many weeks without a break from weekend activities.

Therefore, I gained more from wasting the 3 air tickets to KK. The only thing I missed was the opportunity to meet up with other runners in KK.

Happy Events:

1. Achieved quite a bit of things after letting go the trip to KK.
2. Had a good afternoon nap on weekend after so many weeks without break from busy weekend schedule.
3. Had more time with family and my mum from missing the trip.

Creativity: Blessing in disguise or luck is a very important factor in creativity.

Sometimes by chance we meet with certain people at certain event and hence sparks our creative ideas in certain way. Therefore, God's will is very important in creativity and hence we should always follow the flow in life.

David Foster & Friends Asia Tour 2011

Day 171 - 829 days to go

Attended an enthralling night of entertainment featuring David Foster and his superstar friends such as Michael Bolton, Charice -dubbed by Oprah Winfrey as the Most Talented Girl in the World - Russell Watson, Ashanti and Philip Bailey at Stadium Putra Bukit Jalil.

Met an ex colleague and discussed about some business plan and idea. Bravo to him who is a successful business man now.

Happy events:

1. Attended the above concert and met some long lost friends too.
2. Have some good discussion with my ex colleague.

Creativity: team support is very critival to convert creative ideas to innovation.

Without team support, ideas may only stay as ideas forever.

Day 170 - Things Happen For A Reason - 2

Day 170 - 830 days to go

I am supposed to be in KK getting ready for th eKK climbathon but I chose to stay back as my wife cannot make it to the trip. Well, do I regret or feel sad that after training for a few months, I cannot go for this run. Well, it is almost 100% that I do not feel any pain for not able to go. Instead I focus on what I can achieve in lieu of the KK trip.

Well, I am able to work on my projects, get to sell some T shirt, have a good talk with a for friend who is heading the communication department and so on. Therefore, we should always accept what happens to our plans after we plan and work towards a certain plans.

Happy Events:

1. Despite not able to go to KK, I achieve quite a bit on other things.
2. Had a good chat with a colleague and learnt about a good website that she always log into and I am sure will be beneficial to me too.

Creativity: Don't always assume or may be don't assume at all.

Today I am able to borrow and use a jacket from a colleague who is a few inches shorter than me and I can fit nicely into his jacket just because I think there is no harm to try first.

Terry Fox Run - Support

Day 169 - 831 day to go

I am so happy to know that many colleagues still support the TFR despite the fact that they will only buy and cannot take part in the run. The reason is that we will be having our family day on the same day. From the support, we know exactly who will buy t shirt for charity and who will not for various reasons.

I have been involving in charity events for many years and learned quite a bit on human behaviour. Most people are genuine but some are for ulterior motive. Regardless of thier motive, as long as they contribute to charity, somebody will benefit. Therefore, it really does not matter why they contribute.

Happy Events:

1. So happy to see so many supports from my colleagues for the Terry Fox Run. I am especially happy this year they they are supporting 100% without any benefits of running with the T as we will be having our family day on the same day.

2. Attended the appreciation lunch for all staff involved in the 2011 The Edge Bursa Malaysia Rat Race. So happy to see all these nice people who contribute their time beyong their official duty.

Creativity: Think beyond the ordinary scope will contribute to creativity.

We should always question ourselves how to make thing bigger, better and the like. We should also question why not.

Things Happen For A Reason

Day 168 - 832 days to go

I canceled my trip to KK Climbathon 2011 as my wife cannot make it due to job commitment. Well, I do not feel bad about it as I always accept the natural flow of life. No doubt I trained for it and paid for the airfare for 3 persons but I do not think that I should feel bad. Things always for a reason and I take it positively.

Now I can spend more time with my mom and other fasmily too. I can have more time to sell Tery Fox Run T shirts for chairty. I can have more time for my work. I can do three more sessions of yoga. Look like I gain much more than I lose. Therefore, we should focus on what we can gain and what we lose.

Happy Event:

1. I can do many more events by letting go one event
2. I can do more exercise like yoga and running.

Creativity: making use of what other people say to aplly to another party is a creative way of communication. (to me is office politics)

One can always make use of one party statement to attack a third party for the actual motive of hurting the fist party instead of the 3rd party.

Never Give Up

Day 167 - 833 days to go

Got a very good news from my CEO after he came back from lunch. He had a good conversation with a few senior management staff in a bank and regulator in the capital market. They discussed about various aspects of the market which include new product launching. I am very happy to hear that the authorities are open to our suggestions to launch some derivatives products which are useful for risk management and price discovery purposes.

I was extremely happy as the progress really boosted my confidence in life and career. I have been getting cold shoulder from almost everybody when I say I want to launch D product. Everyone from my colleagues, market participants, bankers and so on , do not think that I can ever launch this product due to sensitive issue. Yes, we know that there are many thing that we may not be able to do last time but market developmed and scenarios changed. We should always believe in ourselves and work towards our goals if we believe that what we do is right and can benefit many others.

That is the reason why I have been working against all odds to insist the project has to been in my dream list for new product launching. I have a passion for this product, I see the market is ready for it, it is successful in many countries, many people are trading it online and so on. The only key factor is whther our regulators are ready to let market participants to trade on the product or not.

I believe our regulators know the world capital market very well. This product has been tested in other market for more than a couple of decades and whatever can go wrong with the trading of th eproducts, have been implemented or in place. Therefore, I am very confident that as long as we can prove to the regulators that we have rigorous control measures in place and thus it will not compromise investors protection and national interest by launching the products, our regulators are open to the peoposal.

Happy Events:

1. The above good news is one of the best in my life
   
2. Got some famous biscuits from Hong Kong after my friend came back from holiday.
   

Creativity: Never give up to think above new ideas is very critical for innovation।

The difference between success and failure may be one step away.

1. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

I Am A Lucky Guy

Day 166 - 834 days to go

Today I went to Bukit Aman car park to sell Terry Fox Run T shirts and met my running buddy PK Chan. Not only that he bought 4 pieces of T shirts from me but he also help me to sell another 10 more on the spot. So thankful for his help and time spent. From the response and comments from his friends, he is a well respected guy and liked by many people. Bravo PK and I am glad to be your friend too.

After the sale, I went to attend the Clickbank workshop to continue to enhance my knowledge in that area. Despite less tired than yesterday due to the one hour training yesterday, I felt at sleep a few times. Maybe was happy and hence a bit relaxed. Nevertheless, I think I did not miss much in the class.

Happy Events:

1. Able to sell 18 t shirts within an hour.
2. Made a few new friends in the class.
3. Had a very good seafood dinner at Pantai Seafood Village.

Creativity: Automation or software will enhance our skill set and creativity.

In order to be more effective and act faster than competitors, we should make good use of the development in technology. Nowadays not only that we compete on digital information, we compete and hence excel in technology.

Terry Fox Run

Day 165 - 835 days to go

Today I had a last outdoor training before next week's KK climbathon with a group of runners at Batu Cave. On the spot, I sold 9 terry Fox Run T shirts to my running buddies and their friends. Really thankful to their support. Immediately I went home before rushing out again to attend my clickbank x workshop class.

After the class, I had a good dinner with my classmate and our mentor Mr. Patric Chan at the Dome KLCC. We had a good time and some further sharing before our next class on the following day.

A bit tired for the long day and slept before midnight.

Happy Events:

1. Finally started my sale for Terry Fox Run t shirt.
2. Had a good training at Batu Cave.
3. Attended another day of interesting workshop.
4. Had a great time with classmates.

Creativity: Read the same book or attend the same class after a while will contribute to new ideas and creativity.

Nowadays things change everyday or even every minutes. Therefore, in order to keep up to the market development, continuos learning even for the same subject is a must.

Movie - Real Steel

Day 164- 836 days to go

I watched Real Steel today and was amazed by the computer effect. Nowadays it is very difficult to tell if what we see in a movie is due to computer effect or not as it is just too real.

In the morning, we had a meeting with a bank and two regulators in the market. It was like a intelligent debate and everybody is trying their best to defense their point or agenda.

Went to check out the new condo with colleagues and was told that it was a great buy due to the special offer and the booming outlook of the area.

Happy Events:

1. Had a good lunch with colleagues with two bows of rice.
2. Watched an interesting movie.
3. Help a colleague to buy some chocolate cake and just in time to be a birthday present for another colleague.

Creativity: Attend meeting and listed to discussion is a great way to learn and be creative.

Different people has different skills and experience. Hence, involve in a meeting is a very good way to learn a lot in a very short frame of time.

Leadership and Work-Life Balance

Day 163 - 837 days to go

A bit annoyed today as there is no proper communication in the office. I am supposed to do a recce at Sunway Lagoon with other colleagues for family carnival but I decided not to go after notified to have an urgent meeting. I am perfectly alright with the urgent meeting which is very important to the department. However, I am not sure why people just do not want to be frank and direct. rather, I was informed through a third party. Again, most people just do not want to be a bad guy and make people unhappy.

I am a bit disappointed not because of the above incident but rather I am viewed or perceived as a person who does not know what is more important to be as an employee. I think either I am projecting such a not so good image or just that people are unwilling to be a bad guy. However, I think in order to be a great leader, one should not be afraid to tell another person in the face for critical issue.

Happy Events:

1. First time attend an external meeting with my CEO and learned quite a bit from him for the last two days when we were preparing for a few meetings. Learning on the fly is the most effective way to learn and teach.
2. Met the group Treasure in a large local bank and his teams of heads of departments. Had a very fruitful discussion on a few subjects.

Creativity: Use one justification to cover or support an ulterior motive is a creative way to get thing done.

We should always read between the line and do not straight away agree with a proposal in a meeting as people may use the above strategy to achieve personal interest and agenda.

Largest Library in the World

Day 162 - 838 days to go

To me, Internet world is the largest library in the world and also the largest treasuries chest in the world. It has different meaning to different people. No matter what, the intention of surfing the web is the same i.e. hope to find something valuable to the searcher.

Internet created a lot of job and business opportunities. However, at the same time it also affect the survival of certain industry such as physical mail, office boy, courier services and the like.

This virtual world is very similar to the real world in a sense that there are good and bad things and people within this world. We have to be very mindful when we deal with our counterpart in this virtual world and also cannot believe with what we see and hear immediately without verification.

Happy Events:

1. Today, I watched a movie played during lunch time on Eco and environment. It was a local production and the message sent via the movie should not be taken lightly.
2. Spent a few hours to look for materials for work and found many good article which can be used for my next few projects.

Creativity: innovation needs to be tested and ideas need to be debated. Therefore, it is always good to have discussion before implementing some ideas.

Brainstorming and teamwork is very important for innovation.

Not so happy events:

People are very bias but I accept it as human nature. I went for the above movie and when I want to sit down, my colleague told me that the seat has been taken. Not sure based on what policy a seat should be reserved for another staff. maybe she is her friend and I am not...sigh despite the fact that I have been nice to her.

Team Work - Leadership

Day 161 - 839 days to go

Today I did a product development presentation to our CEO to gather with the whole team. We went over and discussed slide by slide and almost point by point. It was a very fruitful experience as my CEO gave a lot of valuable input on pointers and also how to present the pointers as well. Eventually I will present the slides to our group CEO.

I am glad to have a CEO who even teach you how to do presentation. Despite the fact that I am a head of department and have been doing presentation for many years, I learned quite a lot in this session. Team work definitely help and contribute to personal success further.

Happy Events:

1. Glad to learn directly from my CEO on presentation skill.
2. Register for my Iphone packgae and did the TOS. Hope to get my Iphone soon.
3. My daughter finished her national exam and I can sleep like normal now.

Creativity: Observe and learn outher people ideas and ways of doing things

Copycat is one of the easier and effective ways to contribute to creativity and innovation

Day 160 - Focused

Day 160 - 840 days to go

One of the most important factors for personal success is focused. When one is focused, task will be completed on time or at least will be completed some time later. When one is focused, thing will get easier as the only way to complete a task is to take the first step and move on without fail. Like a marathon, as long as a runner does not stop, even an ultra marathon will be completed.

Happy Events:

1. Finally signed up my phone package with Celcom, it is more than 15 years late as I was choosing between Celcom and Maxis 10 years ago as they were the top two GSM phone providers and the rest were PCN system. However, due to the substantial increase of subscribers, their line was always congested. As a result, I chose Maxis. However, Maxis is getting more expensive by the day despite good customer service whenever I call their customer services line. Well, customer services is important but it does not mean that you do not have to care about your customers' pocket. So long Maxis and thanks for the good services provided all this years.
2. I chose Ipone package instead of blackberry package which I have been using for the last 5 years. I do not have good experience with the two BB handphone that I used and hence I changed to Iphone after 5 years. The only advantage of BB over Iphone in the past was the push mail feature. However, most, if not all smart phone provide push mail service too. Therefore, I think one fine day BB will be a history if they do not enhance the quality of their phone and also applications. No matter how successful a business was, enhancement and innovation is the only way to ensure sustainability of business

Creativity: Simple feature as basic as color can bring about higher sales of goods and may even sell at a premium.

Success story include Ferrari Red, White Ipac and Iphone, smart cover for Ipac 2 and so on.

Think Before You Shoot

Day 159 - 841 days to go

I attended the Kuala Lumpur Photography Festival for the last two days. I attended two talks only but lucky to learn some interesting and useful skills. One of the most important concept I learned is "Think before you shoot" commented by Alex Wong who is a Malaysian but teaching in Turkey now. I also like the way he does assessment for his students i.e. his, his students 's and other parties which include students' family members' assessment for the student project.

It was an interested remark as most people will normally think before they talk, write, blog, react, response, record, act, and the like. However, think before you shoot is something new to me as a novice in photography. Now confirm that we should think before doing anything except those action or instinct that are like autopilot.

Happy Events:

1. Learned some interesting insight or philosophy on photography which is very similar to my philosophy in life.
2. Spent a good couple of hours bask myself around all kinds of beautiful things on photography which include my good friends, participants, talks, gadgets, promoters, pictures and so on. Really feel thankful that I was invited to attend this not-to-be-missed annual event.
3. Mom's stroke condition has been improving despite after 3 years of getting the stroke.

Creativity: To learn more that one field of knowledge will sure contribute to creative ideas and output such as graphic design + photography + computer skills.

Similarly, befriend with people who have diff background and interest will greatly enhance one knowledge that will be useful to progress further in life, eventually.

KK Climbathon Training

Day 158 - 842 days to go

I went to Gunung Nuang for jungle running to prepare for the above. It was tough running up a hill couple with slippery trail after rain the days before. To me , this trekking is like the journey of life with ups and downs, flat road, dry and wet surface, hard and soft ground, and all kinds of obstacle. However, as long as we do not stop, we will reach our destination and goal. Therefore, for any undertakings, main thing is to take the first step and move forward. We may need to take a rest at some point so that we are recharged to enable us to continue our journey.

Happy Events:

1. Today is a very busy but fruitful day. Woke up at 5am to get ready for my jungle training. Reach home about 12:30pm. Then get ready to attend a photography talk conducted by my two friends. Immediately after the talk, went to watch a movie. Reach home at 6:30pm and then get ready to attend a high school 33th anniversary dinner and reach home at mid night.

Creativity: Keep on thinking for solution is part of creativity exercise.

I was not able to do what I did yesterday due to tight schedule but after thinking hard, I was able to come out with alternative solution such as doing thing concurrently instead of one after next by asking another person to move on or start another task first.

Team Work

Day 157 - 843 days to go

I am a lucky guy. So far for the last 4 positions in 3 companies, I always work with a good team in my department and division. We support each other and work our best when it comes to common goal and results. I gave my full support to my team since my first job and got rewarded most of the time. Even if I was not or rather many staff were not rewarded as usual during financial crisis in the late 90s, I was rewarded with great friendship and teamwork.

As such, I was invited by my first supervisor Daniel Choi to join him for the 3rd time but this time I did not take up the offer as I really enjoy the team work and the friendship built in this company. This company is just like my second home and I have lots of brothers and sisters here. We work, laugh, have fun, face stress, encounter office politics, good and crap leaders and all the happy and unhappy events together. Of course with facebook and other social media, we will be connected as long as we want.

Happy Events:

1. Good teamwork performed by my team and we are able to complete our task with short notice.
2. A happy farewell to my friend, Aidura and I wish her all the best in her future undertakings.
3. Invited to join the family day committee to contribute more happy and fun ideas and arrangement in order to have a great family day on 13 Nov.

Not so happy event:

I will have to miss my Terry Fox run again on 13 Nov which will be my company's family day but I will try my best to sell T shirt to raise fund for charity.

Creativity: Change the order of doing things or use a different approach would be able to solve some issues that would not be able to achieve if the same approach is used.

Adding another means or option or swapping another tool or approach is a way to achieve some results that would be impossible to achieve with the same means.

Office - The Second Home

Day 156 - 844 days to go

Work-life balance is the state of dream life to anybody who is working. However, to many, the state of work life balance is actually become a new definition i.s. 50% of 24 hours spend in office and the other 50% spend outside office or home. This is the new definition of work-life balance to many now. Since we spend more hours in the office than at home, it is not too much to say that our office is our second home.

Different people will have different reasons to stay in the same company. For instance, good salary level, job satisfaction, company facilities, perks, convenient, easy job, location, and so on. To me it is more on the friendship that I build and enjoy now. Of course I like the job function and the overall pay package as well as the location of the company which is convenient to me.

To most people including me, a lot of time we have to live under stress no matter is in family or office. Hence, we need supports or at least a way out to ensure that we can cope and deal with the stress we face. Other family members and colleagues will be very critical under such a circumstance. Therefore, good family members and colleagues are a very vital part in our personal and office life.

Happy Events:

1. Despite very busy, I was manage to spend some time for yoga and aerobic as attending these classes are the most important leisure and soul searching activities for me in office. If I stop going to these class when there is no reason for me to go, it will be my time to leave this company as I cannot work without heart and soul in this company any longer.
2. After our PD department heart to heart talk with the CEO during our Talk Shop session yesterday, I found that my CEO is more friendly and nice to us or at least me based on my personal experience. He has been a very good boss and leader and by far the best leader for my entire career life. Now he is even nicer than before. Wow, I must be very lucky to be so direct and honest to him and get very encouraging response. Yup, no matter what, he will be my best boss and leader forever as I do not plan to work in any other company in future. If I ever quit, my next move will no longer a 9-5 job. Thanks Boss.

Creativity: Flexibility is part and parcel of creativity. Instead of working after 5:30pm, I chose to do exercise then and work now which is 2am in the morning. I still can complete my work but at the same time I enjoy my office life.

Rearrangement of work schedule or daily routine is one of the many creative ways to make full use or better use of our 24 hours. To be creative, one must be flexible in thinking and application. Rearrangement of work schedule is just an example of applying the flexible principle in innovation.

Talk Shop

Day 155 - 845 days to go

Today our product development team attended a Talk Shop organised by CEO. Talk shop's is to talk about one's work or work matters. We started from talking about the high level overall picture at 30,000 feet, then 20,000 feet and all the way to 1,000 - the output or product. This is the first time I attended such a talk shop.

I found it very interesting and beneficial as it enable us to look at our work and function from different level. Everybody contributed their opinion impromptu which ended with challenges at the end. We had a heart to heart talk with the CEO to trashed out whatever we believe in and otherwise. Of course, some very personal feeling and thus the support that we hope to get from the CEO.

I am looking forward to a better work relationship and team work within the company as everyone in a company should deal with matter professionally and not personally. I hope CEO will disseminate the message across all department. Like what I assure the CEO, "We will focus on work I we will ignore the rest i.e. the office politics".

Happy Events:

1. Had a wonderful farewell lunch with my soon-to-be-ex-colleague Puan Aidura. We wish her all the best in her future undertakings.
2. Again I am lucky. CEO drop by my office to have a short chat and when he proposed something, I was able to show him that I have done the something. After that, I informed my staff that I am lucky again. Luck is when opportunity meet preparation.

Creativity: Begin with the end in mind like one of the seven habits of highly effective people.

Think ahead and predict what will happen will allow us to plan for option or alternative. This will contribute to innovation from creativity.

3 Years Business Plan

Day 154 - 846 day to go

Today I attended a three years business plan presentation by my CEO. He presented it to the group CEO with the present of a few departments. In general, it was a good presentation without much queries raised by the Group CEO. Nevertheless, some budget figure was challenged by the CEO and other colleagues. I really learned on the fly how a smart CEO can pick up questionable and illogical figures by going through a proposal.

The proposal was done by one of the department and when CEO questioned on the justification, it was explained but I can sense myself that it was not convincing enough. One lesson learned from this experience is that we should let our peer to challenge our budget and assumption used before we present it to a higher level. This is one of the most critical but may also be the most overlooked aspect of a proposal.

Happy Moment:

1. Arising from my CEO's request for a report, I completed the 7-page report in 2.5 hours yesterday. This report help me twice today i.e. I sent to the Group CEO for an update and I also presented it to my supervisor again when he ask me to do it. I did it before he asked.
2. Rushed home after work to help my girl to find her notebook. Despite not able to find it, at least she has tried hard to find it.

Creativity: It is what inside that count - be prepared.

When the Head of Strategy asked about our plan to launch 14 products in the next 3 years, I was able to provide 5 justification for the adequacy of our resources, by using logical thinking skill.

Focused

Day 153 - 847 days to go

To me, work is like running a marathon or other races. You need to take the first step and just have to continue to move on, you will reach the destination or complete your task eventually. In order to achieve good results or at least meet certain preset target, you need to be extremely focused. The main criterion to remain focused is not to expose yourself to distraction, both by external party or your own self.

One thing to avoid is to check your email or you mobile phone as after checking, you may lose your focus and start doing something else. If there is anything very critical, you should have been contacted with phone call directly. Therefore, we should be aware that information or messages sent via email or sms, should not be regarded as important or urgent information. Hence, we should not check it too frequently and hence lose focus, in turn lost business or failed to achieve goals.

Happy Events:

1. Is the same event I wrote on the not so happy event below. Proven again I am right that the colleague who wants to assume the role is not capable to do it but just want to claim credit in front of everybody. End up passed to me. I have already analysed the feasibility of the project and highlighted very clearly what need to be done for the success of the project. Sometimes people just want to be hero without realising that they are not capable to assume the role. When they failed, they passed to another person and can even blame on the new project manager for the delay. I really pity people who do not realise that they are the source of problem and not other people.
2. Today I am extremely focused and hence missed my breakfast and lunch due to busy schedule and yoga class during lunch time. maybe it is a good idea to let th estomach rest fro time to time. First time to have 3-in-1 i.e. eat one meal for bfirst, lunch and dinner at one go.

Not So Happy Event:

Today I heard another remarks indirectly, from a not so useful colleague, about his unhappiness on the progress of a project that he proposed to assume but passed to me later. I do not really bother to know why he passed back to me but I just understand that no colleague will pass an easy task to you if he or she can complete it and claim credit on it. When they passed to you after assuming it, there must be something is not so right.

Creativity - Train out of the box

Day 152 - 848 days to go

Today I did not join any running event despite the fact that there are more than one event available. There are another two seminars which I would like to join too. The reason is that I chose to stay home to give moral and physical support to my daughter who will be sitting for a national exam. I brought her to have dim sum for breakfast and cooked instant noodle upon her request for late lunch.

I attended a colleague, Mr. How's wedding dinner. It was held in an restaurant that is new to me. The food was quite tasty and I heard the price is not cheap. I think it only makes sense to be not so cheap when the food is nice.

Happy Events:

1. Happy to attend my good colleague - Mr. How's wedding.
2. Completed an one hour "in-house" training for my KK climbathon by filling up my 3 liters waterbag and added a few books to add weight to the bag. Then I walked up and down my staircase for one hour. Will continue to do training for a better result next year

Creativity: Old thing but new application.

Sometimes we just have to gather market information for the latest trend and latest use of certain thing in a new way.

Skrine Regatta Charity dragon Boat Race

Day 151 - 849 days to go

Today I took part in a very fun and meaningful event - a charity dragon boat race at Putrajaya organised by Skrine. Dragon boat race requires strong arm and hence we thought we have better advantage with more male members. However, we were beaten flat in the first heat despite the fact that they have more female team members that our team. From the event, some takeaway for our improvement in other events:

1. There are many factors contribute to the success of a project, event, person, etc. As long as we do not master the most critical factor, we will lose to others or may not succeed.
2. Team work is the most important factor to the success of a team event or project, in general.
3. Experience is another critical success factor that may overcome certain weaknesses of a team.
4. Luck is also very important in a competition. Sometimes one wins merely due to the weakness or mistake of the competitor as not because the winner is strong.

Happy events:

1. Took part in a charity event.
2. Mom has been coping well after dad passed away for one year. Hope to have more time with her.
3. Met up with a ex course mate and offered with a career advancement opportunity.

Creativity: Lots of interest in lots of areas is very important to get new idea and contribute to creativity

Many a times I get idea triggered by an idea learned rather than applying an existing idea itself.