still trying to let reality sink in...

earthquakes and tsunamis rocked south asia on sunday.. and killed more than 60,000 pp as of today. the earthquake was teh largest in 100 years, and caused many waves (that rose up to as high as 3 storeys) to go crashing down on many beaches in the region. as a result, many drowned in the gigantic waves or in the turbulent sea, where they were sucked to when the waves retreated. countries affected numbered at least 9 (if im' not wrong) and Bangladesh (or was it Indonesia?? i forgot which asian country) lost 5% of its population in this disaster.

so i thank You, Father, for putting me, my family and my friends in Singapore, where we're sheltered from the tsunamis by all the islands. Father but at the same time i pray for those in our neighbouring countries, i pray for those who have lost their homes, that they can have their homes rebuilt soon, and for those who have lost their family, Father, i pray that You will give them strength to go on with life, and that Father, they will keep their eyes upon You and You will give them faith. Thank You Father, for carrying us at our darkest hours. Thank You for listening to all our prayers, in the name of Jesus Christ i pray, amen.

i look forward to better days ahead..

was reading some more articles related to the prev post. wrote down qte a few useful quotes here but i think He doens't want me to publish them cuz my attempts were foiled twice. so nvm..

the night's really cold
but elusive is the warmth..
i wanna snuggle up,
but now the cosiness is gone...

Are you at the helm or hemmed in?
Don’t be a victim of circumstance. Take over the reins of your career and blaze your own trail

Many people go about their working lives not thinking about their next job, either because their job is very satisfying or they do it for the money and perceived stability it offers.


Whatever the reason, jobs today have become more precarious. Gone are the days of life-time employment. The work environment now is more unpredictable where stability is a chimera and change, a stark reality.


Given such a scenario, would you rather wait for events to catch up with you or be in control of the events that will lead to the inevitable change down the road?


Here are some tips to help you chart your own career:

Assess what you are good at
There are two things to consider: Basic technical skills and the inner drivers which motivate and make you happy.


Basic technical skills are fairly easy to assess as they are largely based on your education and training. It is worthwhile to re-visit these from time to time to ensure they are up-to-date and, more importantly, will remain relevant in the future.


The inner drivers that motivate you and push you to outperform the competition may be less obvious. For example, some people are more creative than practical, patient rather than action-oriented, thoughtful rather than outgoing.


It is important to know these because human motivation will always be fuelled by its inner drivers which will in turn lead you to your career choice. If these are combined with relevant technical skills, you can enjoy more job satisfaction.

Stay marketable
While obvious, not many people take this point seriously once they have achieved a certain level of competency.


Staying marketable can mean many things, but you can boil it down to two things. First, there is the external perspective. Ask yourself:

What is the market telling me? Is there a trend of change in my area of expertise, and if so, what is it?

So, if you are in direct sales, what other distribution channels are emerging which may overtake your present skills and ways of doing things?


Paying attention to these trends will help you manage change rather than let change manage you. Second, ask how marketable you are. If you were to lose your job today, what is the probability of getting another one and how long would it take?


Simply put, how should you project your competencies and energy to the outside world at any given moment so as to maximise your chances of success?


Revisiting the answers to these questions could prove useful. When combined with external trends, they will be the basis of your constant renewal to ensure your marketability.

Remain connected
Never underestimate the power of networking. If you rely solely on job advertisments, you will be one among many applying for the same job.


While this approach is not wrong, consolidating and expanding your network of contacts will increase your chances of securing a job.


Securing a job or a promotion will depend on what you have to offer, but it also has a lot to do with human interaction. Networking is an art in itself. A person often needs to put aside quality time to engage in it. For instance, instead of going home after work, make the effort to meet new people, possibly in a different environment.


Nurturing contacts is a fundamental factor in controlling your career. The more you connect with other people, the higher your chances of creating opportunity and the more recognisable you will be in the market.

Be self-reliant
Too many people allow others to govern their careers. This is because they live in a comfort zone and believe that the next step forward will be proposed to them. These people are creating a dependency link.


On the other hand, if you are constantly in control of the factors which will create your own career, you are in charge of your own destiny. From time to time, do a reality check of how dependant you are on external factors or how much you are in control of your own career. If you know which way the balance is tipping, you will be in a better position to either redress it or give it extra weight in the right direction.

Be prepared
Pretend for a moment that you are about to miss out on a promotion or, worse, lose your job. How prepared are you to cope? Ask yourself what have you been doing? More importantly, what you have not been doing in the past to secure the future. Being always ready to spark the change you want or to cope with the change that befalls you is imperative at all times and will smooth out any transition in your career.

If you analyse what you are good at and its relevance, take action so that your skills and motivations are aligned with opportunity, and continue to nurture the relationships which will make a difference to your future, you will be at the helm of your own success. Even as the economy is improving and job prospects are looking brighter, don’t wait for the statistics to tell you where you stand. Take control, and make sure that you influence the statistics positively for yourself.

Article contributed by Bernard Bulens, chief executive officer of Ashmore International which specialises in executive coaching, leadership development, performance management and human resources. E-mail: bbulens@ashmore-i.com; Website: www.ashmore-i.com

This article first appeared in ST Recruit on December 22, 2004.

You Should Date An Italian! You love for old fashioned romance, with an old fashioned guy An Italian guy is the perfect candidate to be your prince charming If your head doesn't spin enough, just down another espresso with him Invest in a motorcycle helmet - and some carb blocker for all that pasta! hmmmmmm really??? Which Foreign Guy Should You Date? Take This Quiz

oh i wanted to blog bout my results..its out!!! 5 days early!!!

i failed 2 subjects.. thermo and mech of deformable solids. but!! i'm really happy.. cuz its much better than wat i expected ald, ie failing 6 subjects. i seriously tot i'd fail the entire sem but due to God's grace i managed to avoid that. ya i SERIOUSLY expected to faill all my subjects except for lab (for which there were no written paper) and fluids..

and i'm extra happy cuz i passed my design module (altho i only got a D for it), which i was really afraid of failling.. cuz the module entails a major project work which constitutes 50% of the grades and 6 hours of lessons per week plus extra time for project meetings.

so.. ya.. Thank You, Father, for your grace, for always pulling me through no matter how difficult the times were. Thank You for giving me strength, wisdom, and joy.. amen.

i realised how come there are so many sad entries but comparatively little happy ones. cuz when im sad, i tend to blog more.. in this way i'm hoping that my sadness will be purged out of my system. but when im' happy, i'm too busy enjoying my happiness to blog. heeez.

and today i realised why nowadays i've been so confused and afraid and disappointed. cuz in the past, i was sheltered by my parents, by dhs, by tj..by my youth. i din have to make much major decisions, and even when i did, the consequences of making the wrong ones wasnt that great. basically, my path was laid out for me, and all i had to do was to follow it.

but now........
i can't say i've grown up, but i can definitely say im' starting to, at least. and the journey is difficult. uncertainties here there everywhere.....fraught with so many things to consider, to be mindful of.

everyone wants to stay in their comfort zone. me too. but pp say to me: to learn, you have to fall. i learnt cycling without falling down.. can i repeat the feat again???

i'm definitely looking forward to the rainbow at the end of the rain..

oh btw rainne, i hope the previous entry's long enough for the music to load on your computor! haha ;)

haha yeah i said i'd blog happy thoughts for the next 3 entries but i din specify the frequency right?? :P

haha but then ya i'm feeling pretty happy nowadays :D
probably its becuz something good happened to me (which i can't remember) and i feel slightly happier.. which enables me to have more good things coming my way.. again its a cycle. but now its a joyous cycle! :D ya i muz try to keep the cycle gg..

oh anw after my GE on tues and wed this week, i went alone to the pasar malam at boon lay to look see. some pp might think i'll feel pathetic and sympathise w me, but to these pp i say "wait!" cuz no i dun feel this way at all. i mean i dun purposely arrange solo shopping trips, juz that when i happen to have them, i enjoy those few hours(esp when i dun feel hungry), and i dun feel sorry for myself juz cuz im' shopping alone. cuz i guess, for me, ya its always more enjoyable to do shopping with your gal pals, (for gals) but well shopping can be done by oneself too..

do y'all noe, when i'm on the mrt train (esp when i'm alone) i do alot of shoe and feet gazing. and i get so envious of those fair and (not too) plump feet...... i think they look so nice! unlike mine, dark and scrawny. and rough. (hmmmm am i weird?? i dun think anyone ever points out bad things about their body in their blogs right??? heh) my feet being thus, 2 problems are created. 1. my feet look ugly!!!!!!! 2. becuz of my lack of flesh in the feet, its kinda hard to buy shoes.. cuz sometimes teh shoes are too loose.. as in the part covering my feet doesnt cover well..heh

its so bad that i'm contemplating wearing sports shoes to school again. juz so my poor feet can take a respite from the malicious uv rays. and hopefully it can at least become fair again..

oh and i managed to finish my assignment on time yesterday!!! i'm kinda encouraged.. cuz for the past few months (or even sems if i'm not wrong) i've been getting panic attacks when i've to complete something with a deadline, thus delaying my progress, thus feeding my panic even more and thus creating yet another vicious cycle in my life. so basically becuz i panic, i usually dun complete my assignments on time. but this time, i managed to calm myself down, and by His inspirations ya i did manage to finish it on time this time! yay. and thx to my general elective too.......

did i mention it?? its emotional development: insights of shakespeare. sounds chim eh?? it is loh. but not cuz of shakespeare..i learnt qte alot from there..(one part of which is on how to manage panic. hehe. i mean actually i noe how to ald.. juz tat the course affirmed wat i noe, and made me more effective.)but cuz its so chim i think i only learnt 50% of the course. hmmm i hope i pass the paper. haha juz joking. oh no, actually i'm not. i really do want to pass teh paper.. hahaha.

hmm today 2 of my frens came back from overseas. welcome back!!! :D

and we celebrated our dear Dawn's birthday today. although her bday's 3 days later, but well, HAPPY 21st!!! wanted to get her a cake, but erm turned out that we ate in delifrance so there wasnt much chances to. sorry gal!!! mebbe we'll make it up to you next year :P

hmm i shldnt say sad things hor. altho ok i broke the resolution ald.. by complaining bout my feet.. but hey dun you think they make the entry more interesting??? hahahahaha ok i can juz see your weird expressions liao.

oh i htink i'm a VAK person after all.. ie visual, audio, kinesthetic person. means i do communication with pp mainly by visual, followed by audio, followed by kinesthetic means. ie most of hte time i receive information by picturing them in my head, and pepper my sentences with words like "see". eg "i see", "see you next time", instead of "i get it", "talk to you again". do you all see wat i mean?? :P

so, looking :P at this perspective, there're 6 types of pp (3!) ie vak vka kva kav akv avk. i've got the personality profile of each of these types in my notes, mebbe i'll post it up next time. then mebbe you all can try and find out which type you are too!! hehehe. but think i'll do this when i've really got a lot of time to kill. which is, errr not v often. :P

and yeah i learnt this thing from my ge too... ;)

wah i've written so much!! hope my entry doesn't get erased again!!! heh. ok im gg bed now.. nitez everyone.

i juz changed teh background music!! in line with my new resolution.. :D

may take a while to load tho.

hmmmm actually i'm getting a bit sick of my blog background. feel like changing it.. but when i recall the time and effort i put into doing my blog background the last time, i hesitate to take it off so soon..

btw pp, do you noe you can comment? juz click on the link called "do a pirouette!" or "[x number of] pirouettes!" to view or post comments to my blog. the links are found below each entry. hee.

(a pirouette is a short spin in ballet jargon. i chose to use this word for comments cuz well, the theme in my original blog layout was dance. so since i used dance as a figurative for the description of my life, i thought it would be appropriate to use a pirouette as a figurative for a short comment)

anw really thx to those who have asked after me, and shown me concern these few days. your encouragements juz strengthen me in my efforts to get myself out of the dumps.. :)

anw i'm so tired of sad blog entries that i have resolved to only blog happy thoughts for the next 3 entries. and hopefully for more after tat. hehe.yepz, even if there're actually much more unhappy thoughts in my life than happy ones. i hope eventually my life, and not juz my blog, will be filled with happy (at least neutral) thoughts too. :)

:)

music of the moment: falling star

i'm tired. tired tired tired tired tired tired. tired.

tired of negative thoughts. tired of uncertainties. tired of fear. tired of disappointments. tired of envy. tired of low selflove. tired of trying to be strong. tired of trying to grow up. tired of trying to hang on. tired of feeling misunderstood. tired of my own expectations. tired of trying to adapt.

to those who love me, dun worry im juz taking a breather. no matter wat, life goes on. no?
well i do hope i'll blog bout something positive soon. i'm tired of unhappy blog entries too. heh

i tot i've envisaged it bad enough. but everytime it juz turns out to be worse.

i really feel like a child.. so inadequate in everything tat i do. i noe im wonderfully and fearfully made, i guess i place too much attention on my flaws.. but they juz seem too many.. too big.. and they juz occur too frequently for me to ignore them.

i'm having a headache now and i dunno how to get rid of it. panadol? does it work this time?

oh yay! its working.. tried to blog juz now but cldnt cuz there was sthg wrong w blogger.

anw taufik won!!!!!!!!!!!!! woo hoo!!! actually i htink i'm seriously charmed by him. cuz before today i had absolutely no idea how he looks like, havent heard him sing before. juz knew tat "taufik" was one of the finalists for the singapore idol. ( btw, was at the train station the other day and heard this guy commenting to his gf tat the singapore idol is a tv programme to show others tat singaporeans cannot sing

was chattign on teh phone juz now. dun wanna blog anymore for tonight. no mood.