Passion brings everything to life.

Why do some people spent so much time on their work and emerge still fresh and ready for more while others toll through life with dread of work? One of the reasons is the attitude cultivated early in life through knowledge and understanding of how attitude can cause a difference between enthusiasm and disinterest. The choice of attitude would determine the type of outlook the person has on life resulting in the person's success or failure.

Another criteria affecting positive or negative outlook on everything is passion, a strong interest in something. It results in great efforts to achieve particular goals without seemingly tiring effort. Thus, a person with a passion for somethings puts in one hundred and one percent effort into that something, yet emerge fresh and ready to do even more should the need arises.

Take for example a person with a passion for a certain subject. The person would devote all his/her time to the subject, sometimes even forgetting the passage of time or essential needs. To improve on the particular subject, he/she would even delve into all available sources so as to reach or gather more knowledge. Such a person knows no tiredness or any kind of deprivation in his/her passion for subject.Expertise in the subject concerned is the obvious outcome when soon everything regarding the matter has already been grasped, becoming the master of the subject. In such a circumstance, success is a certainty.

As can be seen from the above, achieving success can be accomplished with ease when a passion for something has developed by a person. Such a passion could be inborn or cultivated through circumstances that are favourable for the growth of the passion. It might have started with just a little spark of interest which when encouraged can rage into a fire strong enough to have its light drive off obstacles to sufficiently reach deep and far to find slaking its thirst for information hardly possible.

Knowing how passion can drive a person's energy towards its goal, should we not, as parents, learn to recognise our child's interest or prepare fertile ground for the growth of such interest? Helping the growth of our child's interest or encouraging the interest seen in our child would be the first step to helping him/her towards a great wonderful future in which whatever is done is done with passion, with a love that can only lead to mastery of his/her interest. Certainly, there can be no greater happiness than being engaged in one's strong interest throughout life. Lovely is the life of a person under such circumstances.
(Next: Growing the passion.)

Veterinarians' 2010 Convocation in Universiti Putra Malaysia.

A person's achievement in one of life's many successes depends upon his responsibility to go through the tough studying that is required to pass examinations to reach a particular goal in life. This is the story about Ong Jin Seng who has gone through the first part of his life striving for excellence in many things.

In today's world, knowledge, be it from school, an institution or an expert is of utmost importance if one were to wish to become one of the best in his/her spere or niche in life. Knowledge through trial and error or experimentation is very slow although possible. So, the best option is to obtain it from somewhere. Of course, there are people who have succeeded in business through hard work and hardly any knowledge but this is where luck plays an important role. Depending upon luck to succeed is full if uncertainties. In fact most who depend upon just luck and hard work alone in business fail. Those with success stories based on luck and hard work are the exceptional cases.

After his standard six examination, he was selected to be one of the few non-Malays to enter a residential science school. Always among the top scholars, at the age of fifteen, he won the top prize in Malaysia in an English essay competition on a Japanese film conducted by the Japanese Government. For that, he got a one-week home-stay in Japan.

Throughout his life, his interest in nature has been consistent and so when he successfully for a veterinarian course in the university, he had his dream come true.
Even as he studied, he spent more time on his creatures than on the course, although that was not neglected at all. As a result of this great interest, he finally received his degree this year in October. Even before the convocation, he was already employed by the well-known Underwater World in Langkawi, Malaysia.

Despite the amount of work he does each day, he found his first job interesting and fun. Forever on the search for knowledge on animals, fish and other exotic creatures, I believe his work is more a hobby than a job; for each time I talk to him, it was always about his work with the penguins and fish. One of his pets at the Underwater World is his cute baby penguin. From what he has told me, life must be beautiful. I am happy for him.

Below are some of the pictures I took at the convocation.

Lessons from the life of Abraham Lincoln.

Today I read about one of the most famous man in the world who got where he was through true grit and determination. His life is a series of failures that only ended in success through his ability to face hardship and overcome the many obstacles that stood in his path. He is none other than the 16th president of the United States, President Abraham Lincoln.

This man was born into poverty, so poor that his parents were driven out of their land in 1816 and young Lincoln had to do rough and tough jobs to support them when the family moved to then Perry County in Indiana. At the age of nine, he lost his mother.

Then, in 1832, at the age of 23 years, he started a small general store with a friend. He sold out his share of the store to the friend who died soon after leaving him to settle a debt of one thousand dollars. Unable to pay the debt, he became a bankrupt which took him 17 years to settle. Yet, his will to succeed did not lessen.

Even in love, it was no smooth sailing as his first love died even before the proposed marriage. His second match with a woman did not lead to marriage either. Eventually, his luck came in the form of Mary Todd and they were married till death did them part. Their successful married life is a lesson to those who have failed in their very first love.

Lincoln became a lawyer through his own study. In 1837, he was admitted to the bar and from then on we find his contempt for slavery. To act on this, he entered politics where he lost many times before he was elected. His election to the state legislature was only successful at his second attempt. After that he lost when he sought to be the speaker of the state legislature. He lost again when he ran for Congress and was only successful at his second attempt. As a congressman, he did a good job. Yet he failed to be re-elected two years later.

He failed in many things. He failed to get the post of land officer in his own state. He failed to become a senator. He failed to get his party's nomination for vice-presidency.

Such failures could have stopped a lesser man. Yet, in 1860, he was elected the President of the united States of America.

As the president, he turned to his mission of freeing the slaves. To him it was an injustice that could only bring harm to the nation to have masters and slaves. In the eyes of God, all men are equal. In the eyes of this president, all citizens are equal and his greatest mission was to rid the country of slavery. It took a war to do it and he unknowingly gave his life to achieve it, for just six days after the surrender of the Confederate Army to his cause, he was assassinated.

From the story of his life, he must have been given the mission to end slavery in America. To me, he not merely ended slavery in America, he showed the world that all men are born equal and slavery as well as ideas of master race are an injustice which should never be allowed to happen. Never in any religion or God-fearing people can such ideas of slaves and masters be promoted. Even our all powerfult God never consider Himself to be Man's master. He is God, our creator.

Bruce Jenner: A great example of achieving the full potential of bodily-kinesthetic intelligence.

Bruce Jenner was born with part of his intelligence awry because of dyslexia. He had to struggle to be able to read. He was terrified of being called upon to read in front of the class.

Children with dyslexia have problems reading, spelling and expressing themselves. As a result of this disability, he dreaded going to school where he felt that every other child was better than him. His self-esteem was at an all-time low then.

Fortunately, every child has almost all, if not all, the intelligences necessary for life. Although his verbal-linguistic intelligence was affected by dyslexia, his prominant innate bodily-kinesthetic intelligence inherited from his athletic parent's genes took him to success in the field. His father,William Jenner, had won a silver medal in the 100-yards race in the U.S. Army Olympics in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1945. Jenner's grandfather had run in the Boston Marathon several times. As he wrote in his book, "By the time I turned two, I'd already developed a big chest, wide shoulders and boundless energy, prompting my dad to nickname me Bruiser."

Let us see how he used this prominant innate intelligence to overcome his verbal-linguistic weakness.

Fortunately, little Jenner discovered something he was good at. His teacher wanted to see who could run the fastest and it turned out to be Jenner. He enjoyed the positive response then. As he excelled in sports, he worked at it to achieve his wonderful decathion success in the 1976 Olympics.

As he became aware of his ability in ahtletics, he realised that that was his strength, the strength with which he could overcome obstacles that dyslexia had placed in his path. One of the first and most important obstacle he had to remove was his inferiority complex developed from knowing that students with good verbal-linguistic intelligence could read and write well to achieve better grades than him.

His athletic ability was encouraged by his parents and coaches. His football coach's praise for his fantastic talent on the field gave him the confidence to strive to be the very best. As a result of focusing on his most prominent intelligence, Jenner was on the football, basketball and track teams at high school in Newtown, Connecticut. He won the water-skiing championship three times in the Eastern States Competition and was the New York pole-vault and high-jump champion. His wide athletic talent took him to become one of the greatest athlete in the world.

In Graceland College, through a football scholarship, he almost reached an insurmountable obstacle when he injured his knee and did not have the chance at football. Fortunately, 16 months later, he could play basketball and train on the tracks. Then, in 1970, he not only won his first decathion but broke the records. Decathion can only be won by athletes with all-round talent in sports as it covers ten different track and field events lasting two days. It covers running, jumping and throwing events requiring strength, skill, speed and endurance.

Since then, he trained for the decathion. He made it in the trials to be chosen to represent the United States in the 1972 Olympics and in Munich, Germany, he came in at tenth place. Though he was placed tenth, it was a terrific feeling to be chosen for the Olympics so quickly, merely two years after his first decathion in college.

Supported by his first wife, Chrystie Jenner, he often trained eight hours a day to aim for another chance at the Olympics. For winning the Amateur Athletic Union decathion in 1974 and 1976 as well as the Pan-American Games in 1975, he was chosen for the 1976 Olympics in Montreal where he won a gold medal, smashing his own world records. After this he stopped aiming for more athletic victories, having proved to himself that he was not inferior to any other, merely having different intelligence. As we can see, he not only became aware of his weakness, he had the determination to overcome it and worked very hard to do so. He is one great example to any human being with or without a disability.

Not only that! In going into his life, we learn how this great athlete, not only took his innate Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence to its highest potential in the decathion but came through speaking and writing aspiring messages to everyone which shows that he even worked on his weakness with success. This is possible as researchers have discovered that most of us exploited only about TEN PERCENT! of our brain. If we find a way to stimulate twenty or thirty percent of our brain power, imagine how much more can we possibly achieve. Wow! It would be just fantastic!

Getting back to Bruce Jenner, his good looks and modest demeanor helped him to become a national symbol and celebrity. With his celebrity status, he easily found fame in some film appearances. He was also a sports commentator. (That despite his problem with verbal-linguistic intelligence!)With an enthusiasm for success and life, he tried a number of entreprenuerial projects, the last rejuvenated by his third wife, Kris Kardashian who became the driving force behind a family business that covered a wide range of commercials. He also made appearances on television, sometimes with members of his family. He wrote books to inspire children. Success in life and business made a millionaire out of him.

Perhaps, we should see how this man could bounce back from obstacles. At one stage of his life of fame, he found that he still was burdened with the nervous dyslexia schoolboy mindset and his private life was in tatters. Everything was in a mess and his main source of income was from public speaking jobs. After working so hard, with two divorces, he found he had nothing much to show for it. Fortunately for him, his third wife came into his life to save him from his problem. Here, perhaps, we can say there is an element of luck. Or, could it be that, as I have often written, when one door closes, another opens.

The courage to try.

We may have all the knowledge, knowhow to perform something but if we do not have the courage to go out there and do it, we can never know whether we can ever make a success of it.

Once upon a time, there were two young men who worked for a company which produces a medicated oil and oilment. It was a very well-known established company with its products already established in the market. It had a fleet of vans with employees to covered not just established Chinese medical halls or shops. It's employees reach out to every nook and corner of the Asian market, going to every possible place to advertise as well as to introduce and sell their product.

The two young men whom I have mentioned through their industry and competency in every aspects of sales gained the confidence of the company. Promotion lead them to the chambers where production and marketing knowledge was available. Soon, both of them were knowledgeable as regards the purchasing and use of the ingredients of the products.

As these young men grew in knowledge and age, the wish to have a family arose. In Chinese companies, they do not give sufficient incentives for their more ambitious employees to remain. They do not believe in giving better pay to keep their best employees. That is the one weakness of many Chinese companies in Malaysia.

However, having worked at the same company for such a long time, they knew not of any other work with a better salary to turn to. They were only capable where making oilment or cream is concerned.

So, were they willing to risk starting their own production of such oilment or cream? It was a big question. The knowledge was there. However, starting a business involves more than just knowledge. Do they have sufficient money? Then, there is the organisation. The marketing must be successful.

Of course, they were financially poor, otherwise, they would not have to work starting from the lowest rung. They know the availability of the ingredients, the packaging and the market. Were they willing to start small and strike out from there?

One of them could not see how that could happen. He saw failure from the start. He could not find the courage to give it a try.

The other young man saw it as an opportunity to strike out on his own while he was still young. From his point of view, there was no more room to progress further in the company he had been for so many years. He knew he had only one option left and that was to start his own manufacture and sales. With his knowledge, he knoew he could succeed. So, he resigned from the company and went home to present his plan to his parents. They supported him physically and financially.

With that, that young man started his own production of oilment and cream which brought him popularity among the people where he frequently sold his product. His sales was good as the oilment and cream were effective. His company did not become as big as the company he had worked for, but his income from the sales was and is many times the income he could ever get under the employment of any other company. His is a very small localised company but he is so much better off as his own boss. There is so much pride and confidence with his own effective products, products he had improved on as chemical companies discover better ingredients.

This is a story to show how knowledge alone is insufficient for success. Confidence through one's ability is not enough. There must be courage, the courage to burn your boats and reach out for the possiblities that lie ahead.

Of course, there is no guarantee of success in everything we do. However, if we do not gather our courage and venture forth, we would still be standing at the same spot forever. How would life be like then?

The Fort Hood Massacre: Being prepared as well as the right time and place ensures success; and even create heroes.

Yes! Preparedness as well as the right time and right place can and do create heroes.
Most of us had read about the extraordinary courageous civilian police officers, Sergeant Kimberley Munley and her partner, Sergeant Mark Todd, who acted instantly to prevent more casualties in the massacre of unarmed soldiers in Fort Hood, Texas. In the incident Sergeant Todd was just behind her and could possibly be the one to fire the last shot that brought down the gunman before handcuffing him.

Apparently, the Fort Hood’s Special Reaction Team had been practicing a new protocol whereby the first responder to a shooting scene must act immediately to eliminate the gunman to prevent more deaths.

Sergeant Kimberly Munley and Sergeant Mark Todd have been trained in this new protocol for more than a year. So, they were well-prepared to tackle the 5th of November 2009, Thursday afternoon massacre.

The above mentioned new protocol was put in place as a result of lessons learned from another shooting which took place at Virginia Tech in 2007 where 32 people died as a result of cautious first responders to the scene waiting for sufficient backup as the gunman went undeterred from classroom to classroom on a killing spree.

From the above, we ought to realize the present situation has improved because someone did learn from a mistake and acted on it by introducing a new protocol for such circumstances.

Another lesson we can learn from this episode is the preparedness of the officers. The scene occurred at the time and place they were available for action. As well- trained police officers, they were ready for it.

Coming back to us in our everyday life, how often are we ready for some of the things that happen in our lives? Apart from technical and professional knowledge which, of course, is out of our reach, what about daily happenings and opportunities?
Many things happen in our lives but, quite often, we are not ready for them. That is the reason we and our children should learn whatever there is to learn, as knowledge; even though such knowledge may seem unnecessary at the moment; is valueable and we can never know when fate dumps something into our path and such knowledge becomes useful. Preparedness for whatever we desire in life is necessary so as to be in the position to benefit from life’s happenings taking place at certain times and places in our lives. Can you think of the knowledge that may become increasingly important to you as the years go by?

Okay, back to our brave Sergeant Kimberly Munley. According to Sergeant Kimberly Munley, the scene was so chaotic that she did not think but responded with the training she was given, a training which requires automatic action of skill and courage. Her courage took her to face the gunman who was merely a few feet from her, without waiting for the fellow officer behind her. Her skill at handling her weapon resulted in her ability to bring the gunman down even as she was shot in her legs and knuckle. No doubt about it, she was obviously a courageous person ready to face death in the course of duty, certainly an exemplary law enforcer. Such an attribute ought to be immortalized in a film for our future generation.

God must have watched over her as she went into duty to save others even as she placed her own life on the line.

God bless her. May God bless every one of us too as we move forward towards our unforeseen future.

Will-power makes the difference.

I once conducted an experiment with a kerosene lamp fitted with a glass funnel to protect the flame as well as to lead the smoke upwards out of it. After some hours, there was this very thin layer of soot on the inner surface of the glass funnel.

That thin layer of nicotine stain is also in the throat of the smokers. That is the reason smokers cough a lot in the morning; the vain attempt to get rid of the nicotine stain which is the foreign matter in their throat.

Many of my students know it. So do many smokers. Many smokers know they ought not to smoke. They know and understand that smoke will pollute their body with undesirable chemicals and smoke. Just as smoke will leave a thin stain on the fingernails and teeth, it will also stain the walls of their airway and the lungs. They have the knowledge. They know the smoke is dangerous to themselves and their loved ones who are often near enough to take in the secondary smoke. Yet, they continue with the dangerous habit. Why? It has to be a lack of will-power.

There are, in fact, many things in life we know ought not to be done by us. Yet, we do it. Why? The problem lies in the lack of will-power. There are also many things which we should do. For example, we know we have to inculcate some discipline into our children. We have to find the time to explain to the children the reason certain things need to be done or not done, how it is done correctly and encourage them to do it with praise to have them repeat the deed and cultivate a good habit. Yet, there are those parents who do not do it. The excuse has always been, ”I do not have the time. I am too tired after work. They are still too young to understand.” Are those excuses valid? If we do not teach them when they are still young, then, when are we going to teach them? Are we going to take action only when things get out of hand and unmanageable? That would be too late.

There were times when I heard relatives give good advice to such parents, but they still do nothing. There is no will. When there is no will, there can be no way it can be done.

Another indication of a lack of will is the delaying tactics of some people. It’s always: “Never mind. I’ll do it another day. Another day follows another day and still, it is too early to start on it.

What is the difference between a successful businessman and an unsuccessful one, a hardworking person and a lazy guy or a good parent and a slip-shod one? Have you ever thought of it?

Let’s take business. You gather knowledge on the particular type of business, know how to go about it and the amount of money or finance required as well as the best place to operate it. The time is right. So, you have the knowledge. You have the money or the financial backing. What else do you need? All you need next is to do it. Move. Put your plans into action. You have planned the work. The will to work the plan must be the follow through. Without the will to do so would leave it forever merely a plan. How much will you put into the work is the next important factor. A half-hearted effort produce a fifty percent success. Nothing less than a hundred percent is the effort required to succeed.

In Penang, In my thirties, I met a fish-breeder in Air Itam. It was a time when I wanted to make sure I would be a successful discus breeder. I have always believed that, to be the best, learn from the best available.



He told me how he learned all he could about the fish, bought ten of them (They were very expensive then.) and stayed with his fish day and night, caring for his fish with hundred percent attention till they paired off and started breeding. When he was successful at breeding, he exported his more beautiful fish. If my memory serves me well, he was even mentioned in one of the discus books written by one famous writer on this fish.

So, the will to carry out what had been planned with a hundred percent effort is the way to success. Students, inventors and people from all walks of life will always find this to be true.

You are where you are because someone believes.

There was this story in the email about a child waiting for his mother at a junction. A stranger came along and stopped in front of the boy.
"Can you show me the way to the post office?" the stranger enquired.
"Of course! Just go down that street and you'll see the post office on the right side." the boy told him.
"Thanks. One day, I hope to have the opportunity to show you the way to heaven," the man who was a pastor said.
Upon hearing that, the boy said,"Aw! Forget it. How can you know the way to heaven when you don't even know the way to the post office?"

Of course, as adults, we understand that the pastor could be new in town and, therefore, do not know his way around. For the young boy, he just could not believe that a person who does not even know the way to the opost office could direct him to heaven.

This just shows that we have to be careful with how we approach young minds. With young minds, there has to be appropraite explanations; without which, the conclusions may be different. For example, if the pastor had told the child that he is new to the place, a total stranger to the town, the child would be able to understand his predicament. And if he had told the child that he was a pastor, the child could have understood how it was possible for him to know about heaven.

Belief is important to all of us. When we were young, our parents allowed us to be taken off their hands by another individual because they believe we would be safe with the person. We were sent to kindergarten because our parents believed that it would help put us in good standing with other children academically. We were allowed to go to the sundry-shop by ourselves because our parents believe we know the way and how to cross the road safely. We were given pocket money because our parents believed we knew how to count and use them correctly.

How did we managed to have our parents believe us? Easy. We learned all that was to be learned and showed them that we could do it.

Then, when we grew up, we managed to get an employer to believed that we could do a good job and was employed. If we happen to be at the top tier of the company, we must get our colleagues to believe we can help them to improve their financial position and their status in the company as well as in society if they work together with us to improve the production or the company. On the other hand, if we are in the lower rank and hope to climb up the promotion ladder we must get the head of our department to believe that we are an asset to him/her, that we can do the job and do it excellently.

Again, no matter who we may be, all we need to do is to show others that we can and will do it. Looking at our performance and listening to others on our reputation, people will know what we are capable of. So, perform well as a good manager/employer who cares for his workers or as an efficient worker who cares for his or her manager/employer and the company at all times.

Then, one day someone believed that we could make his/her life even happier and we got married. From then on till we leave this earth, whatever we get or not get depends on just one important factor; belief. In marriage, we must give our spouse the confidence and security of a happy marriage. It must be consistent so that all our efforts create the belief that we are the right people in our spouses' lives.

Love by itself cannot bring belief. We may care for a person very much but if we do not act consistantly for both persons' happiness, it can never be a happy marriage.
I know this for a fact. You see, though I loved someone, I knew there was no happiness I could bring her. So, I changed from the positive person I usually am to the negative person that was not my nature. As expected, without belief in the person, the relationship failed. So, love alone cannot create a happy relationship. Love must be followed by positive actions to create a belief that the relationship will work.

In life, all kinds of success comes only with belief.
I will be writing more on this as belief is of utmost importance in our lives.

The Power of ONE

Here comes the early arrivals.


Food and drinks are prepared for those who come from afar.


The Sungai Petani volunteers have put up a screen to show Sri Sri Ravi Shanker, his vision and his work.


Waiting to start the long Kriya.


However, people keep pouring in and the numbers exceeded one thousand.


The more than a thousand people entering the hall.
The more than a thousand people focused their attention on the AOL teachers just before the 'Full Moon Meditation' The hall was packed with minds of one goal, meditate for peace in our world. After the meditation, AOL members renew their friendship before departing.
And it was time to call it a night.


The day was Thursday, the 6th of August 2009. Volunteers gathered early to make it to the Municipal Hall of Butterworth so as to ensure the hall was ready, food for those who were hungry after having to travel long distances to reach the place, a screen and a speaker system for disseminating information on the Art of Living were ready for the evening’s ‘A Thousand People To Meditate For Peace’.

Before that evening, there had been intermittent rain for the last seventy-two hours. It was a clear evening, with the moon appearing as the evening wore on.. Obviously, God is with us in our endeavour.

When everything was ready, at a little past seven, AOL members and their friends came, welcome by the enthusiastic, smiling, clapping volunteers who had gathered at the entrance.
Members of AOL went for their long Kriya while the non-members were entertained by the Sungai Petani people to dances and songs as well as information about our founder, Sri Sri Ravi Shanker and The Art of Living Foundation.

Then, at nine o’clock, everyone gathered in the hall to do a breathing exercise and the ‘Moon Meditation’.

The gathering was a great success. People from Kangar,Alor Star, Sungai Petani, Baling, Penang Island, of course Butterworth, Bukit Mertajam, Taiping, Teluk Anson, and even as far as Kula Trengganu came for the gathering for peace.

Success, in fact, is inevitable when it is done with a noble cause. It was a gathering for peace, a factor so desirable in the preservation of orderliness and calm, without which there can only be chaos in the lives of all. Without peace, there can only be uncertainty, restlessness and confusion. There will be suffering, pain and death, not just for ourselves but also for the very people we know and love.

With a worthwhile universally desirable goal in mind, it is easy to get like-minded people to be committed to the purpose. With the single purpose in mind, such committed people can even be selfless in consistently performing whatever tasks are necessary to achieve success. Every person in the group or organization would certainly give of their best to reach this goal.

In this kind of group, we see the power of unity in achieving an aim. When the goal is big enough, worthwhile enough, each member of the group or organization will strive to give of his/her best. The built up energy or force would gather momentum, gathering positive action, enthusiasm and a strong desire to work towards the particular goal.

It’s one of the greatest, most wonderful experience. to be engulfed in the positive attitude, the enthusiasm and the happiness of achievement. You have to be in it to understand and appreciate the force of many united as ONE.

Imagination leads to creativity.

Someone did say: A picture is worth a thousand words. And there is so much truth in that.

Have you ever ask for directions and found the description of the route so difficult and confusing? Who is not good at words? Is it him? Or is it you? Who could not picture the route clearly? Again, is it him or is it you?

How can a person who cannot picture a route clearly in his mind, describe it well to you? It could be the other way around. Without a good imagination, how can anyone imagine the junctions or roundabouts with their turning into another street. How does anyone picture the landmarks that are described along the route?

Well, nothing good or great can be done without some imagination. A town-planner needs imagination. So does every man or woman, some more, some less.

Even a simple job of painting the floor needs imagination, otherwise, just as in the cartoon I saw sometime ago, a painter started work at the door and painted himself into a corner, trapped by his own wet paint.

Only when a person sees through his/her imagination, can he picture what he hopes to achieve. Only when he/she sees a solution to a problem can he solve it. How can anyone see a solution without some imagination? How can anyone draw a good design without visualising it in his mind? Without imagination, how can there be creation? How can there be success for your child without first imagining how it can be done?

As you can see, imagination and creativity are very necessary factors in the success of any individual, be it at school or in a job.

And creativity certainly needs imagination. To create something we need an idea. You need to picture the thing you wish to create. With that picture, you can imagine how it could be used. What practical purposes does it have. Only when you are able to picture that which is in your mind, can you think of the materials and tools you need to construct what is pictured.

So it is important that we stimulate imagination in our children as well as in ourselves.

The question that arises is: How do we do that?
So my next posting will be stimulating imagination and creativity.

Good prenatal care and parent's health can prevent brain abnormalities

A week ago, a friend complained about her maid and the agency which provided her with such a maid.

According to her, the maid just could not learn to do the simple house work that is required of her. Although taught for two months the use of the washing machine, the drying of the clothes and other daily necessary maintenance work, she just could not perform without supervision.

According to the lady, the maid has no brain for learning even the simplest things.

I understood very well her frustration at having to supervise every move of the maid but I also could not help but feel sorry for the maid who could be suffering from some kind of problem due to an abnormality in her brain.

The proper development of the brain determines the future of the child. The child who has abnormalities in his/her brain will have to go through life suffering the scolding and disgust of disgruntled parents, teachers, spouse and employers.

A pregnant mother may discover from her gynecologist that abnormality in the brain may occur at prenatal stage due to poor prenatal care or the health of the pregnant mother.

Other than this, too much shaking of the head or a fall with the head striking the floor hard can cause damage.

Cerebral palsy, dyslexia and dyscalculia are the possible problems that may arise due to some abnormality of the development of the brain.

According to medical science, cerebral palsy which impairs the flow of messages from the brain to the muscles is an injury to a foetus' brain during late pregnancy or the first two years of a child's life.

Dyslexia is a learning disorder due to difficulties in recognising and understanding written language. This is not due to low intelligence or brain damage. It is believed to be due to an abnormality in the brain. According to medical science research, reading therapy has been able to stimulate as well as correct the brain.

Similar to dyslexia, is a mental disability known as dyscalculia which has to do with a poor ability at figures in arithmetic.

We are fortunate that medical science has been able to pinpoint the problems and their origins. It is up to the parents to prevent them. When faced with such problems, immediate action to consult the relevant specialists must be taken to overcome them to help the child get a better chance at success.

Teamwork in life.

On Saturday, I went as a volunteer to help the Art Excel in The Art of Living Centre in Sungai Petani. We had six groups comprising of six participants in each group. Each group has a mixture of boys and girls. All the participants were below the age of twelve. One of the games played by the groups was to see how they could lie on the floor and form the longest unbroken line in the shortest time possible. They could use anything they have on their body.

The group that won showed many of the qualities essential to success in life, which was what should be the case as that was the aim of the game.

That group used all their name-tag straps, their spectacles, and the boys’ shirts and stretched their hands and legs to form the longest line to win.

Firstly, there was quick thinking on their part. They thought of using whatever they had to achieve their objective. So off came their straps, spectacles, handkerchiefs, and boys’ shirts. This part was copied by the other groups.

Next came speed of action in carrying out the idea. They were aware of what they had to perform, They acted as one without need for further instruction. It showed their attentiveness to what was required of them. They were aware of what is required of each of them.

Of course, there was the element of luck. The length of their arms, legs and bodies was a contributing factor in the game. Just as in life, luck does play a role.

Finally, the most essential cooperation made all the difference; without it the team could not have achieved its goal. I noticed that there was one team where a boy was reluctant to part with his shirt and it was the deciding factor. It caused the team to lose by just a mere few centimeters which could have been overcome with a 40 centimeter-shirt. The boy was not cooperative and was reluctant to comply to the wishes of the other team-mates. The team was only as strong as its weakest member. Again, this has been found to be true.

What does such a game teach us? First and foremost, every member of the team is important. In any endeavour. Choose the strongest or best possible team-mates so as to have the best possible chance for success. Weaknesses in essential factors for a particular field will show when the going gets rough and tough.

Cooperation is necessary, even at the expense of individual considerations. The group must come first. Nothing supersedes it. Without this attitude, dissatisfaction is bound to arise to weaken the strength of the group. Everyone has to work together to move in the same direction.

In a fast changing world, speed in taking action to implement ideas so that projects can materialise fast, thus putting the group in front of its competition.

As we live in communities, the above mentioned qualities ought to be inculcated in our precious children and us so as to have a better opportunity for success and happiness in life.

Thriving during recession.

Have you noticed that there are people who are unaffected by recession? Each day, as I go around, I see places where business goes on as usual or even better these days. That started me thinking. Why? How is that possible?

No matter what you are, your needs have to be fulfilled regardless of your situation. Right? You have to eat and drink. You need a means of transport. You need basic things to survive.

Someone has to supply these basic things and needs. It could be just anybody who thinks herein lies an opportunity to start anew.

Let’s take water. Everybody working outside the home needs liquids to replenish that which has been lost throughout the day. Poorer people take in cheaper fluids while richer ones take more expensive fluids.

During recession, money is scarce, so people tend to be more careful and spend less. So. There are generally more who buy cheaper fluids to drink.

With that understanding, would not it be reasonable to presume, more people would go to places where drinks are sold at a lower price? During recession in Malaysia, where roadside stalls are allowed to operate, ice-water stalls do better business than coffee-shops or restaurants. I notice that this is happening. Of course, there are the exceptional coffee-shop or restaurant doing brisk business at all times, in spite of recession. Their secret? Well, that would be another posting.

Then, we come to food. No food, no energy. So, no matter what, everyone of us has to fill our stomachs with food. There’re numerous places to get food; there are big restaurants in hotels, small restaurants in town, coffee-shops, road-side stalls and stalls in compounds of houses.

Of course, the last two places are the cheapest places to get food. And I can see that some of them have just as delicious or nutritious food, if not better, than those big expensive restaurants.

I have seen a husband and wife team doing non-stop business at their small make-shift stall each morning. There are father and son or daughter partnerships enjoying improved business at such stalls.

What factors determine their popularity? Well, having tasted some of the food, I would say that it has to be fairly tasty to have customers return daily for their food. However, with knowledge to cooking easily available through books, clubs or associations and the internet, almost every stall can produce fairly good taste. With that in mind, there is the price factor. Is your food cheaper than the others around? Is it clean and hygienic? If you can fulfill these factors, there can be no doubt, you can have a successful food business during the recession.

You want good food? Then, you say, ”Cheap!” How can that be? All I can say is that it is perfectly possible, especially during the recession.

Well, some weeks back, I read how a lady wanted to sell one of her beautiful photographs for six hundred dollars. She put it in a traditional shop hoping to get six hundred a month if she could get a sale in one month. After three months, the photograph did not attract even a single buyer at that price. Her profit after three months was zero dollar.

She had earlier heard of an offer to sell her photographs at a dollar each. In her calculation, that dollar could not even pay for her time and travelling to get such a photo snapped. Only after her failure to sell it for six hundred, di d she reconsidered the offer and found that many buyers were attracted to the same photo, earning her a sum that was quite satisfactory.

Now, perhaps you have the picture. Similarly, although each packet of food sold cheaply gives a very small profit; if we multiply that small profit by the huge number of packets sold to the numerous customers turning up for the food, you will find that it could be more than what you would get should you try to gain more per packet selling to much lesser customers.

As for governments, they should relax some of their regulations concerning such sales as the move would help some of the citizens to overcome their temporary difficult financial situation.

For those looking for opportunities and ways to overcome retrenchment, I just hope this helps.

Smoking was his downfall.

To be good, if not excellent, every individual must be disciplined. Disregard of the factors which determine success in his/her particular field can lead to failure.

I had a gymnast who was initially determined to achieve success. He was always one of the first to be ready for practices. He did very well in competitions winning the individual championship as well as medals in every gymnastic event.

He was selected to be a member of the Kedah state team. He won some medals. For his effort, the state presented him with ‘The most promising gymnast’ of the state medal in recognition of his efforts.

Unfortunately, this recognition was the beginning of his downfall. His friends could have praised him too much. It went to his head. He could have thought he was already sufficiently good to ignore rules, regulations and discipline.

He had a group of friends who made him a hero, a demigod, and he was soon no longer able to see his path to success clearly. Nay, he had lost sight of it.

His group was made up of heavy smokers. He joined them although this coach had told all gymnasts in the team that stamina was important and keeping their airways free of smoke, besides the practice, was of utmost importance where stamina is concerned. Nevertheless,he became addicted to cigarettes.

Although, he did return for training, he did very little; putting in the least effort. Maybe, he thought he was too good for this coach. Then after a certain period of time, he was weaker and unable to complete a routine in floor exercises with sufficient stamina to end it well. He was weak and was not stable; he stumbled as he landed on his feet at the end of each routine.

Eventually, this coach had to give him a warning on his addiction to cigarettes. Then, at the state meet, he failed to get a place in the state team. Other gymnasts have improved while he had deteriorated. He had forgotten what i had taught him; that talent alone does not take a person to the very top. What is required to achieve the best results is lots of training using the right methods. This weakness happened to a gymnast who had shown promise in achieving better results just a year ago!

In every endeavour, no matter what field we are in, discipline and knowledge are important. Knowledge tells us how to achieve a certain level, a particular result. Discipline gets us back on track when distractions appear. Discipline ensures we continue with our goal despite having obstacles appear in our path. Success cannot evade a talented one who carries on despite encountering any kind of river, having to get over or around all sorts of walls, facing rain or shine, or any other obstacles.

Knowledge and practice together with talent make the difference between being average and being excellent.

It's essential to success.

You have read the story of Michael Malloy,‘The man who would not die.’ in 'article of the day' provided by 'The Free Dictionary', dated 3 May 2009, a Sunday. To collect their insurance on him, the five villains had to resort to so many ways to kill him. They gave the alcoholic so many drinks throughout the day. Yet, he survived! They replaced his drinks with poisons such as antifreeze, turpentine, horse liniment and rat poison.He did not die! They made him eat raw oysters soaked in wood alcohol, carpet tacks and metal shavings. It did not affect him in any way. They even left him in the snow to freeze. He did not have any problem with that! Finally, in desperation, they drove a taxi at 45 mph into him. It only landed him in a hospital for a few weeks! It was, of course a fantastic story. How was it possible for a man to not die despite being given so many harmful as well as poisonous things to ingest? How was it possible with so many attempts on his life? Unbelievable! Yet, according to the story, it was true.

Eventually, he did die of gas poisoning in January 1933 when they used a hose to pump gas from a jet into his lungs. With that, the story illustrates very well how success was finally achieved through perseverance. If, at any one of their failures, they had given up, their scheme would not have succeeded!

In our lives, even in honest living, there are times we face hardship and problems which seem to dog us every step of the way.

For me, it was my poor health during the first fifteen years of my life. Fate dealt me what seemed a lousy card which turned out to be my lucky draw. Through having suffered the first few years and the trauma of having a medium walk over my painful body, I realized the importance of good health.

Good health is not easy to come by when one’s body is weak and often wreaked with mysterious kinds of sickness. It took many years of struggle to reach the health I enjoy today. If, at any time I had lost hope of turning my health around, I would have remained a sickly, weak person. And because it took so much and so long to arrive at this health, I treasure it even more.

My health is a part of my thoughts every day. I am constantly in search of ways to improve my health even more. Once I told a friend about the latest health research on a certain natural supplement and was making enquires on it; with the friend’s astonishment at my search expressed thus: ‘Come on! You do not need to think of improving your health any more. Look at you! What more do you want?’

Inventors are constantly trying out things to improve on certain things which they have their minds on. Sometimes, it is easy. At other times, it is tough. At such times, they have to persevere. If, for a moment, they become frustrated and drop their project, all their efforts would have gone down the drain.

To be successful in life, we have to learn to drop away frustrations and disappointments and continue to work at the things we want out of life.

Life’s like that. Isn’t that true?

Can't buy me love.

Parents naturally love their children. Unfortunately, they do not always seem to do their best for their children. Why?

Could this be the result of modern living where the law of the concrete jungle deems that each individual needs to work so hard at a particular job to the extent that he/she neglects his/her family, in order to survive? For some, this appears to be the case.

In the process of reaching personal goals, some parents forget their loved ones and take for granted that a shelter, money and all the other luxuries of modern life is sufficed to have the child achieve success; to grow and develop in life. Sometimes, they even forget their partners.

When adults or children are neglected; merely supplied with the necessities of day to day living; the bond between one parent and the other, the bond between parents and their children slowly degrades and love for each other is diluted.

When this happens, are we surprised that one of us easily strays off the marriage path into some promising backyard? It happens everyday in our concrete jungle. Yet nobody pose the obvious question: Are we not losing the very thing we work so hard for money to achieve?

Why are we working this hard, spending hour after hour chasing money? Is it just to become rich? Of course, we need money! Certainly, we need to work. We can have our 'Hard Day's Night', but how much wealth do we really need to be happy? A hundred dollars a day? Two hundred?

As the Beatles so rightly sang, money 'Can't Buy Me Love!' To chase after the momentary happiness that money can bring, we allow the happiness that is secured in our homes to dissipate through taking our loved ones for granted.

I have known as well as read in newspapers of children preferring to live with people such as grandparents and child-minders. These children have lost the bond with their true parents. Their parents just do not exist in their world.

Parents must spend time with their children. Children can only love those who have the time to love them. They do not understand the social contract which states that they must love someone just because that someone gave birth to them and gave them existence or provide them with child-minders and grandparents. Even if it is written on a piece of legal document, such young children have not learned to understand it!

Only when there is love, can rules be set by parents to establish discipline. Obeying good rules such as teeth-brushing before bed-time and bath-times must be enforced by the parents. However, obeying can only come about if there is love and care for the person who gives the orders. The only other way is through fear. However, fear can only be employed as long as the child is weaker than the parent. Woe betide the parent when the teenager is strong enough to rebel.

Obeying is made easy with love and structured living. The procedure is followed each day and so is expected to happen. Parents must think of appropriate punishment for going against rules. The punishment could be cancellation of certain activities enjoyed by the child. For things like reaching for electrical outlets, it could be an immediate light slap on the hand. Rules, praise (when rules are obeyed,) and punishment when rules are not obeyed, teach discipline and cultivates respect if it is done with explanation and consistently. This amount of effort can only persist if there is time and love for our children.

Explanation is important when meting out punishment. When I was a disciplinarian in a school dealing with more than a thousand students, I had to punish certain children for misbehaviours. I always make it a point to explain why action had to be taken. I also taught them to thank me for taking the trouble to do so. I believe in it! It is so easy for me and other authorities to turn a deaf ear or close one eye and claim I am not responsible for discipining them. Are we not responsible? I shall write on this in a future post.

Love, respect and obedience which lead to discipline are important factors in the development of a successful child.

Listen to love, knowledge and success.

Have you noticed that there are people who talk, talk and talk and never want to listen?

Some people like to hear their own voice. Some do not have sufficient opportunities to talk. Some think they know more than you. So, when they have the opportunity, they would talk non-stop. They pour out their knowledge. They hardly put in. Their glass of knowledge and understanding take a long time to fill.

I do talk but not much. Sometimes, I listen more. I listen even more if I come across someone who knows many things. I encourage him or her to talk with questions to extract even more experience and information. I learned to do that when I was young.

In one previous posting, I have told about my ‘dumbness’ and introvert character when I was young. In my dumbness, I had no alternative but to listen. I discovered that people are encouraged to talk when they have an interested listener.

Later, Napoleon Hill and Norman Vincent Peale confirmed my discovery. Alas, from them I also realized the idea was already a century old! I was no great thinker after all. Nevertheless, this average guy did benefit from it, making friends very easily and learning a lot as a result. Napoleon Hill and Norman Vincent Peale did help by getting this big-headed fellow to be more humble and encouraged me on the right path of listening more to those more knowledgeable than me.

When we are good listeners, we learn a lot through the experience of others. It is one of the better ways to learn as it would have taken us more than one life-time to learn so many things.

Besides learning, it is easier for people to like those who pay attention. Giving attention is an indication of respect for the speaker and interest in whatever is communicated. That is one of the best secrets to becoming popular!

This liking for the listener has been exploited by salemen. A salesman or anyone who listens carefully to his/her client will find the client more receptive to what he/she has to say.

How do we teach our children to learn to be good listeners? First, we can be models. We ourselves must be good listeners. We must listen to our children and understand them well. Our children will imitate. Next explain to them that through listening to somebody, we can learn to do a particular thing well. Thus, each time a benefit can be derived from listening to people with knowledge. This will lead to listening for knowledge or instructions from the teacher.

My own ability to understand English grammar and teach it well is the result of listening to a TESL lecturer who explained the use of Time-lines to show when to use the various tenses that we need to master as an English Language teacher. Today, I am able to explain and use Time-lines efficiently because I paid full attention to what was explained. I am forever grateful to that lecturer.

Imagine how important being able to listen well is! As our children become older and more mature; to have them realise its role, whenever the appropriate situation arises, we could point out to our children, how the boss listens carefully to his executives’ views, value them and, only then, take appropriate action; how executives have to listen to understand clearly what is wanted by the boss, then go down to the workers and instruct them correctly on what they have to do. The workers will have to listen attentively to be able to carry out their task correctly. If, at any point, someone does not listen carefully, an important idea or point may be lost, a misunderstanding can take place and a costly mistake can result.

From the above, it is obvious that listening is an important art which brings plenty of benefits.

Negativity drives parents and children apart.

"No! You must not do that!"

"No! I can never allow such things!"

"No! No! and No!"

Sometimes, our children get too many of such responses to requests.

We ought to examine our feelings we had concerning such matters when we were young. If we are always told whatever we wish can never be allowed, how did we feel? Of course, we were unhappy. This part should not deter us from refusing something that will be detrimental to our children. What we should look into is 'Did we feel the answer was unjustified; that our request was made properly and our need was right and proper."

What ought to be done is to find out the reason for wanting something. Is the want beneficial? Can there be harm. Let our children know we care. Let them understand our concern. Let them realise we are not being unreasonable. They will appreciate it, even though not at the moment of refusal. Although they may show a frustrated face, they will come to understand what we are doing for them.

Wanting to know and understand our children's wishes, discussing with them, telling them why and what we think thus; helping our children share our feelings; revealing to them the actual reason for not wishing them to do something, will get them to understand us better.

Through talking with them about their wishes, they will understand we are not merely going against their wishes; that our "No!' is a clear indication that we love and care.

Unfortunately,many parents do not have the time to explain to their children. They demand to be obeyed. When this happens, the frustrated child moves away from requesting permission. They do whatever they wish without consulting the parents. The parents no longer have the opportunity to guide their children; as they would no longer be confided to by their children in their activities; and that is dangerous.

Such children have distanced themselves from their parents; going into activities without the benefit of the wisdom of their parents. Sometimes, such children end up well while there are those less fortunate who find the wrong company and fall into problems they are unable to get out of, especially when they no longer consult their parents anymore for advice or means to overcome them.

So, negativity can drive a wedge between our most precious children and us, leaving us no chance of assisting them in steering their ship to success and safety.

Understanding wipes out antagonism.

“That woman only knows how to shout! For no reason whatsoever, she shouted at me for blocking her way. How was I to know she would be coming from that direction? How was I to know?”

If you know and understand what kind of person you are dealing with, then such an outburst would not have taken place. You would have understood that she suffers from mood swings. You would have realized that at certain times of the day her bad temper took over. It just did no matter how good she had been just a short while ago.

I had the advantage of knowing such a lady very early in life. During normal times, she was the best type of person you can ever find on planet earth. She would be very friendly, helpful and her beaming smile could put you in heaven! What a gal she was? There were times when she would bring food to share with her friends.

With her, the mood could swing to the opposite side in an instant. When that happened, dark clouds would rush to the scene and thunder threatened to crash down upon any unaware victim.

Fortunately, I understood her moodiness well and could recognize the symptoms of change easily. Whenever the change occurred, I got out of her way to a safe distance. With that, I remained her good friend until I was given a transfer away from there.

People used to ask me why she never shouted at me. I told them that, by that time, they should have known her type. They should have been able to see the dark clouds in her demeanour when her mood changed. All they had to do was to leave and stay out of the lightning that would flash forth.

Understand her and you need not feel any antagonism against her. After all, she herself is a victim of emotions not within her control. Be compassionate towards her fate. Given a choice, she would not have wanted it this way! Nobody asked to be like that!

“I don’t want to go with him! He counts every cent he spends!” One of my annoyed friends told me.

Well, what was said was perfectly true. Yet, I did not fault Tan.

I got to know Tan in 1971. We would go out and at the end of the day he would want all the money he had spent divided exactly by two. I had no quarrel with that as it was only right that I pay for my part of the trip and enjoyment. However, for whatever money I took out, he would not offer to share the expenses. That was his calculative habit.

Then, one day, another teacher from his hometown, told me that there was a time Tan sold ice-cream each day to earn his pocket money as he came from a very poor family. In the early 1950’s, each ice-cream sold at five cents each merely fetched him a profit of one cent.

Thus, every cent counted. The past was still with him and he could not let go of that unfortunate period. He was the victim of his past.

When we understand Tan, we realize how fortunate we are. We are blessed with such good fortune. We ought to sympathize with people like Tan. The horrible past remained a burden. What a relief if he could just leave that burden behind!

In fact, it is actually quite easy to overlook such an insignificant characteristic of Tan. He was a very friendly, helpful person who never harms anyone. In his own way, with his jokes and easy-going manner, he is very good company. He was a part of my life for a good number of years as I liked his sincerity in everything he did.

Being able to mix with whoever one encounters in life is important to our happiness. We should teach our beloved children to understand others through relating the various types of people and their peculiarities.

An excellent start in society.

"Wow! Isn't he great! Hey, young little fellow, where did you learn such good manners?"

Is not such praise what we would like to hear others give our child?

However, that can only happen with the correct teaching and guidance.

Just as a kid can be taught to ask to be taken to the toilet; with the right training, so can a kid be taught how to greet people.

From the earliest possible time, when opportunity presents itself, like the time we and our child meet a neighbour, tell him or her what to say to the uncle or auntie.

"Say hello to uncle. Say: Hello, uncle." Our voice should be encouraging and clear.
Accept any mumbling of the greeting with praise.

Practice makes perfect. Do this greeting as often as circumstances permit. Our children will soon get used to greeting people. With appropraite praise and encouragement, even a timid child will gain sufficient confidence to greet people.

Before a function, prepare our children to greet people by telling them how to do it.Then, at the right time, prompt them to to say the necessary. If necessary, tell them the words to use. However, never ever laugh at our children's clumsiness. If ever, they falter, give them the right words again. that is what correct teaching is all about. There must be no discouragement through any action or words. Never hurt our children's feelings. And remember they are still very young with many more years to learn.

From experience, I can assure anyone that the adults around will be pleased with the attempts by our children. They will show their pleasure at such politeness with smiles, delight and kind words; all these will be ample reward for our children. Such rewards are the nutrients for the healthy growth of self-esteem.

We are not merely developing self-esteem; we are also teaching the right behaviour, the right manners and the knowledge that approval is always given to the right deeds. Even more important, success in society begins thus with the right behaviour, habits and attitude.

To have our children well liked and popular at such a young age; is not this an excellent start?