The cure for ignorance is education

The cure for ignorance is education

The Biggest Time Wasters in the Office Environment

Saw this article. Interesting to note that the 'water-cooler' is a time waster in an office environment. Does that mean we shouldn't have a pantry in the office?
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If you’re wondering what the biggest productivity-killer is in your small business, consider getting rid of the water cooler.
That’s a joke, of course; socializing is a key benefit of office environments and helps build teams, so you don’t want to restrict hallway chatter too much.
According to an Amplitude Research survey of more than 300 employees, the top time wasters at work are:

• “Water-cooler conversations” or chatting with co-workers (14%)
• Computer and software problems (11%)
• Meetings (11%)
• Web surfing (9%)

You might think that Facebook and Twitter would be high on the list, but they were way down at 5%.
About 15% of employees say that miscommunication with co-workers wastes a lot of time, so communication in general seems to be a big issue. So keep meetings focused on solving real problems and make communication with employees as open and unambiguous as possible. And 17% of workers say that office politics eats up a lot of time; that’s another thing that a small business owner can help just by setting the right tone.
So don’t throw out the water cooler just yet. Start with focused meetings and communication.

Read more: http://business.time.com/2012/10/17/the-biggest-time-wasters-at-work/#ixzz2AdxVPdZZ

The issue with foreign maids

I read with interest the problems faced my Malaysian families in getting foreign maids to work for them. The latest issue about Indonesian maids only doing one chore for RM700 per month is an indication of the fact that such luxuries are long gone now.

Everyone must realise that we must not fundamentally change the way we manage our household. Personally, I do not have a maid. I used to have but that was more than 10 years ago. I realised that I can cope without them with some important changes to the lifestyle.

Efficiency:

To get something useful requires some form of investment. There is no such thing as a "free lunch". In my case, I got myself the following equipment to help save me time and effort.

1. Industrial/Intelligent grade front-loading washing machine (big enough and strong enough to wash shoes, canvas bags or curtains)
2. Industrial/Intelligent grade dryer (big enough and strong enough to dry the previously mentioned items)
3. An intelligent dishwasher (pots and pans etc. Yes, it is capable to handle the oily stuff Asians cook)
4. Standard vacuum cleaner
5. High-end hand-held vacuum cleaner (this one is important, you need to make sure any hair or dirt on the floor be disposed off immediately, a hand-held vacuum is very handy).

Practicality:

High based furniture is recommended. These are furniture that does not have any skirting or have edges that rests on the floor. The tendency of such furniture is that we tend to assume that we do not need to clean the bottom of the furniture. The first picture below is recommended while the second one should be avoided.





Common Sense:

Most important rule - clean up after yourself! This rule is so important that it literally ensures you have a neat home at anytime of the day. If you do not believe me, look at western countries - they have no maid but seem to be able to keep a nice and clean home.

Playful versus Immaturity

I saw this motivational poster recently and the first thing that didn't click with me is the subject matter, "Immaturity". In my mind, the first impression about this photo is about an old guy playing a trick on another and having honest fun doing it. I don't think there is anything immature about this scene. What do you think?

The worst advice to give to an elderly......

Do you know what is the worst advice to give to an elderly? Please slow down and enjoy the rest of your life. Instead of getting a positive outcome, it accelerate the inevitable! 

Give them all the encouragement to work even harder.

How does one self-motivate

Self-motivation is something that a lot of people find hard to do. I am talking about doing something for oneself without an external push factor.

In the working world, here is where performers deviate from do-ers. For do-ers, the need to "do" is great because of the motivation "of not be reprimanded". For performers, the need to "perform" comes from the motivation of reaching a goal that is higher than what has been stated or expected.

In life, if one does not have imagination, one cannot come up with a "goal" to aim for. This is the core problem. You need to be in control of this first to be able to be easy self-motivated.

Suicide rates in Europe 'linked' to financial crisis

The link above is to a BBC website. Money makes the world go round. Have a read. Moral of the story: always be thankful with what you have!

The secrets of getting old

Something motivational to start the day. We are getting older as each day passes!

The Secrets of Old Age

What should I do to marry a rich guy? A story of LOVE and BUSINESS

Below is a very famous "forum posting" from a lady to the web asking where can she find a rich guy to marry. Not sure whether there was ever such a posting before but it has been doing its rounds for some time now. The basic storyline remains the same.

Although it is funny but there is some semblance of truth. LOVE and BUSINESS does not mix. LOVE is faith and trust while BUSINESS is about maximising. The first is on intangibles while the second is on tangibles.

How can they ever mix?


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A young and pretty lady posted this on a popular forum:

Title: What should I do to marry a rich guy?

I'm going to be honest of what I'm going to say here. I'm 25 this year. I'm very pretty, have style and good taste.  I wish to marry a guy with $500k  annual salary or above.

You might say that I'm greedy, but an annual salary of $1M is considered only as middle class in New York.

My requirement is not high.  Is there anyone in this forum who has an income of $500k annual salary?  Are you all married?

I wanted to ask:  what should I do to marry rich persons like you?

Among those I've dated, the richest is $250k annual income, and it seems that this is my upper limit.

If someone is going to move into high cost residential area on the west of New York City Garden(?),  $250k annual income is not enough.

I'm here humbly to ask a few questions:
1) Where do most rich bachelors hang out? (Please list down the names and addresses of bars, restaurant, gym)
2) Which age group should I target?
3) Why most wives of the riches are only average-looking?  I've met a few girls who don't  have looks and are not interesting,  but they are able  to marry rich guys.

4) How do you decide who can be your wife, and who can only be your girlfriend?  (my target now is to get married)

Ms. Pretty

A philosophical reply from CEO of J.P. Morgan:

Dear Ms. Pretty,
I have read your post with great interest.  Guess there are lots of girls out there who have similar questions like yours. Please allow me to analyse your situation as a professional investor.

My annual income is more than $500k, which meets your requirement, so I hope
everyone believes that I'm not wasting time here.

From the standpoint of a business person, it is a bad decision to marry you. The answer is very simple, so let me explain.

Put the details aside, what you're trying to do is an exchange of "beauty" and "money" :  Person A provides beauty, and Person B pays for it, fair and square.

However, there's a deadly problem here, your beauty will fade, but my money will not be gone without any good reason. The fact is, my income might increase from year to year,  but you can't be prettier year after year.

Hence from the viewpoint of economics, I am an appreciation asset, and you are a depreciation asset. It's not just normal depreciation, but exponential depreciation. If that is your only asset, your value will be much worse 10 years later.

By the terms we use in Wall Street, every trading has a position, dating with you is also a "trading position".
If the trade value dropped we will sell it and it is not a good idea to keep it for long term - same goes with the marriage that you wanted.   It might be cruel to say this, but in order to make a wiser decision any assets with great depreciation value will be sold or "leased".

Anyone with over $500k annual income is not a fool;  we would only date you, but will not marry you. I would advice that you forget looking for any clues to marry a rich guy. And by the way, you could make yourself to become a rich person with $500k annual income.This has better chance than finding a rich fool.

Hope this reply helps.  If you are interested in "leasing" services, do contact me.

signed,
J.P. Morgan CEO

To be rich and famous - it takes style to make it work

What does it take to be rich and famous? Well, having money is definitely a given but there must be something else that makes you an object of jealousy. The difference is ....STYLE.

Look at the series of pictures below from a yacht club. Are you curious about the owners of the boat? If you are, then it is true, if you have style, you will be an object of glamor.

Why it is important to set goals instead of dreaming - the transition of a child to and adult

Today's topic of conversation in FLY.FM was on the number of successful candidates in the recent SPM examination that got all As. There were over 9 thousand successful students compared to the rest that did not get straight As which numbered over 300 thousand.

First of all, congratulations to EVERYONE who worked hard to get the best that they could get.

The DJs on the morning crew focused on the rest of the SPM candidates, those that did not get all As. The idea which they wanted to share with their listeners is that - "IT IS NOT THE END OF THE WORLD".

This fits in nicely on the subject that I wanted to discuss today which is goal setting. When we are young, our world is a world of imagination. This is how we spent hours playing with just a simple stick or ball. However, adult life is reality and we need to switch from the world of imagination to reality as we progress from a child to an adult.

Although UPSR, PMR and SPM are national exams that children take between the ages of 12 to 17 in this country, they must be adult in thinking and not assume childish expectations just because of their age.

I have seen many children traumatised for life because they dreamt of getting something that they cannot achieve. You cannot blame them. Responsibility lies with parents and educators. They must provide the necessary support and guidance to ensure a child will always be positive in life.

Setting goals and achieving them is a very strong confidence booster for children. Although not many people can see this but art classes, drama classes, the choir, public speaking and many more "non-exam-subject" activities in school all provide the necessary life experiences to make one focus on a particular goal. For example, the goal for public speaking is to be able to choose an interesting topic, talk about it in public with such confidence that you can sway the listeners to believe you. This is a goal that is achievable.

Once you join the rat race, your capability as a worker will be assessed in your ability to deliver something that has obvious benefits to the organisation that you work for. Everything you do will need to be documented and presented to your fellow workers for comments. If you have not transitioned from dreaming to setting goals, you will easily be identified by your colleagues as a weak member of the team.


Therefore, to those not getting the results as perfect you have dreamt, DO NOT worry. Life still goes on. With hard work, you can achieve anything.

The internet is changing roles: a joke that is thought provoking

The internet has changed many things. Even the role of a parent to share the secrets of the “Birds and the Bees” has been superseded!

This brings to the important aspects of 2 important subjects that Malaysia is trying to grapple with: sex education and legalised gambling.

1. Sex Education

Why bother when it is easily available on the web?

2. Legalised Gambling

Why bother when one can easily gamble online?

The answer to the two questions is simple. What type of sex education and what type of gambling to you want your countrymen to know? Our destiny destiny lies in our hand. Why allow our destiny being dictated by the cultural norms of foreigners?

Sex education should be plastered with the notion of love and monogamy. Porn does not teach you that. To control gambling you need to control the providers of gambling facilities. Easier to police the provider than a gambler. Moreover, protection of  consumers can be easily supervised.

NANG THIS POST, NANG THIS POST, NANG THIS POST

Relationships – the rules and problems remain the same

My life has been fruitful up to this point and I am thankful for it. The experiences that I had have helped me confront many potential problems. It has also given me an insight into the topic of relationships.

When one is young, he or she will learn about the rules of relationship between a child and a parent. In school, he or she will learn the rules of relationship between friends, between student and teacher, between student and the general student body. At work, one will learn the rules between colleagues and between staff and supervisor. In love, you will learn the rules governing you and your significant other.

Taking all this into context, you should be equipped to handle anything regarding relationship that life could throw at you.

The problem is, not everyone knows the rules.

You will face conflicts, trials and tribulations. This is the sad fact of life.

The solution? Relearn the rules and share it with as many people as you can. If you just change one person, you have in fact reinvented a life.

New Year is coming!

Time flies.

Taking a few days of here and there before the coming of the new year. I do wonder whether it will really help me relax. After working for 17 years, I think lethargy has set in. I will need to have a new target to focus.

Book Review: When it's hard to learn

My wife's book.

Book Review: Theories of Adolescence by Rolf E. Muuss

My wife's book.

Book Review: Dealing With People You Can't Stand; R. Brinkman & R. Kirschner

My wife's book.

Book Review: The Adolescent Journey; Marsha Levy-Warren

Wife's collection.

Book Review: How To Talk So Kids Can Learn; Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish

Wife's collection.

Book Review: Raising Cain; Dan Kindlon & Michael Thompson

This book is owned by my wife.