Quote of the day

"I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying." --- Michael Jordan

Peer Pressure

How to combat peer pressure at work and at school?

1. Think about what is best for the company you work for

Many times, others think solely about themselves, but if you think about the company as a whole, it will help your judgment process

2. Avoid gossiping in the workplace

This is very important. The last thing you want to do is start getting into a gossip battle with someone else at work. Go about your own business and get your work done well.

3. Keep a positive attitude no matter what.

Those who pressure you to do things you don't want to do will likely be frustrated if you have such a positive attitude.

4. Keep a smile on your face.

Do not talk behind other's backs. This is very hurtful and a good way to get yourself into trouble.

5. Choose your friends wisely.

There's a big difference between someone who pressures you into wasting your money on stuff you don't need and someone who draws you into drugs and alcohol. Kids who use that kind of peer pressure will make you feel rotten in other ways, so it's best to avoid them.

Find someone in your group of friends who objects to drugs, alcohol, crime, and cigarettes. An ally can really help when push comes to shove. Make sure you respect them, though, so the strategy doesn't backfire.

Support someone who's undergoing peer pressure. When cocaine is being passed around a party and kids are giving someone a hard time, pull them away from the crowd.

Emphasize that doing drugs, drinking alcohol and smoking are illegal. Ask your friends if they want to go to jail, get suspended from school or get into trouble with their parents. Tell them the punishment isn't worth the crime.

Learn the gruesome truth about the health effects of drugs, alcohol and smoking. They kill your brain cells. These chemicals ruin your skin, teeth, and hair and make you look and feel gross.

5. Take a broken record approach.

No matter what anyone says, repeat, "I don't do that stuff". You don't need to justify your decision.

Read horror stories on the Internet and share with them whoever's trying to pressure you. Some peers can only appreciate in-your-face messages like stories about destroyed lives. Email and text-message them URLs so they can see for themselves.

Avoiding peer pressure doesn't require not conversing with others. Converse and associate yourself, but don't compromise. Dealing with peer pressure isn't easy, but it can be done, so keep your head up and smile! :))

Trade-offs

Oh well, the past one week I've been digging myself in Mathematics. So much that I discovered I've a burning passion for it. Mathematics rocks! :))

And, I realise I really enjoy studying. Vividly remember how I used to laugh @ my friends for being bookworms, burying themselves in books. Oh well, so who's a frequenter of the library these days?

K is flying to Sweden ONCE AGAIN! Sometimes I really envy for all that he has. A warm AND rich family, an overseas job which allows him to shutter between SG and Sweden every now and then, a bunch of like-minded friends who play music, and many more.

But I guess that's the trade-off for subjecting myself to a bond. Less freedom, but perhaps more of other stuff?

Stages of Life... (Part 1)

Just a random post on life...(written 2 years back; I'd forgotten to publish it...

0-4 years old:

You were most probably living the happiest stage in life where u need not study and all you did everyday was sleep, eat (drinking milk), being pampered, carried all around and play! Adults would be busy taking care of u.. playing with u... You learnt how to speak, how to crawl, how to walk and how to run.. hahhaa.. For me, life before four is something that is extremely vague thus I do not have much memories of anything..All I remembered was my enemity against pacifiers.. They make me uncomfortable.. hehe.. but i had a bad habit of wearing pampers.. hahaha... At the turn of five years old, i met "him".. Something that has a love-and-hate relationship with me.. It was something I had to rely on for the rest of my life and yet I didn't like it a single bit.. My childhood mates were of course my beloved brother and cousin.. All the dumb child's play like role-playing doctors, nurses, teachers etc... and doctor games tt we played...I kind of miss them.... Fortunately, i need not attend nursery and that saved me from an extra year of pain and agony from reading and studying...

5-6 years old:

OMG! Inauguration of SCHOOL! Afterall, it was a Christian kindergarten so things weren't that bad... I started picking up my ABC and 123 and of course, it's FUN! ... However, I lost touch with all those kindergarten friends of mine already....

My ambition: To be a DOCTOR~~

7-10 years old:

Primary School!! Life still wasn't that pathetic...Kids started to go to school to learn more complicated stuff not just academically but also socially.. At this point in life, everyone is a friend to you and there wasn't any hard feelings between anyone... hehe.. Differences between the opposite sexes were never highlighted and your teachers make you hold hands with one another till primary three....I vividly remember this guy who sat next to me in class who often lacked behind others in his work.... We talked a lot a lot and I was often punished because of that.... Subsequently, we started assigning homework to each other though most of the time, he was the disciplined one who kept to his promise... I evolved to be more like a teacher to him going through his work and "correcting" them within my mental capability... Had my teaching ability been spotted back then? CLUELESS....

When I entered primary three, I was first exposed to "foreign students"... This wealthy Indonesian boy, Bobby, who was my first best male friend in primary school. Sitting behind me in the classroom, both of us could go on for hours bickering about trivial stuff.. Nevertheless, no argument ever affected our friendship... At the end of the day, both of us always made up and we would walk home together with his maid who would pick him up from school... Though the journey wasn't that long, those images stay in my memory ALWAYS...

Primary 4 followed shortly and I met friends whom I term as Best Friends, YP.LY.. I attempted lies so that I could linger in school a while longer to play but my grandmother was smart enough to see through them. However, she was kind enough not to expose me in front of my Mom. Woo! Thanks!

It was also during this stage in life that I first experienced my lifetime hobby- MAHJONG! hahaha...

My ambition: to be a Teacher or Lawyer~~~

11-12 years old:

Probably the worst two years in my life and in primary school as I had to transfer to a new school and adapt to a totally new lifestyle.... Everything started from 0 and within two years, PSLE appeared on the agenda...It was probably at this stage in life that I suffered my first major setback in life as i underperformed..

Needless to say, this was also a point in life when bgr crept into my life... Friends confide in you as to who they have taken a liking to.. Gossips flew all around and if you wanted it to be a secret, the best way was to not let a single person know... The more happy memory in this stage was probably the integration of mahjong into my life since I played mahjong every vacation and almost every other night at my cousin's house...Was vulgar in it as well? hahaha

I am still steadfast in my ambition to be a LAWYER!

13-16 years old:

To everyone, this stage in life is always memorable and unforgettable... You start to rebel against teachers, parents and anyone who tried to control or take away ur freedom! You openly challenge the teacher's authority, you start to engage in emotions like infactuation and crushes... You seek intimidation with the opposite sex... Terms like backstabbers, hypocrites became pervasive in your life... You always coined them as detestable etc... However, I cannot help but agree it is definitely this point in life that you meet your true friends in life... The people who will walked through life with you.... For me, the first two years in secondary school is what I'd term as the transition period.. I didn't have much good memories perhaps because I wasn't a competent participant in the social setting as yet..It was in secondary two when I met Karine and Debbie that I finally opened up... We hanged out at Westmall almost everyday after school and those days were really carefree....

Entry into sec 3 & 4 changed my life completely... Nominated and perhaps voted the most outspoken and talkative GIRL in class, I am not sure whether to take that as a compliment or an insult... hahaha.. I understood the meaning of unrequittance, the struggles especially when the opposition party is your best friend....Yet, without ignition, wounds won't hurt as much... Time heals them.

Subsequently, I met SH, one of my best pals in life... Those crazy acts in school, and the whining about the distance between our homes etc. We have always been looking forward to the day when both of us would live in the same neighbourhood so we could turn the whole neighbourhood upside down... God granted us our wishes eventually but it came too late... It's insignificant now...

Before I put a full-stop to my teenager years, I met the two most important PALS in my life-Chris.WenX. Together with SP, SIDY was established.. I would single out those days with them as the most memorable period in my teenage years... The swings, the nasi lemak, the complaints, the prefects, the macdonalds, basketball sessions, the sms-es, the phone calls, the bus rides... Everyday, there were a million things for us to lament on...

From them, I learnt one important rationale in life - Every end is also another new beginning...

Uncontained laughter, happiness was present in every single cell of mine.... When you needed help, you knew instantly who to seek, comfort was always available.. Even till years later, the bond, the telepathy that you share never disappears.... For that, I heart them.....

When you least expects it, God throws you yet another lifeline... Ta-daa~ Pigsy Ang! We were originally two planets that would never ever have clashed. Even if we did chance upon each other, we always inflicted damage on each other... Arguments never ever escaped our conversation even till the day when we were put to sit next to each other... But when two planets are forced to revolve around each other peacefully, an unexpected reaction ignites... That's why till today, he's still the one who will drive me around whenever I requested.. He's still the one who would send some chocolates to my place and tell the banglas not to remove them.....

When you realise you lack the foundation that will pave the way to your dream, you steer away.
My ambition ~~ To be a Counsellor !

17-19years old:

My experience at AL Dente was one of the most enjoyable one, meeting great friends like Jun, Nick , Jeremy & Ben... till now, we still keep in contact occasionally and I really miss them a lot a lot! haha.. U learnt abt skills tt u nv knew.. for me, italian food! hahaha.. bar!! wines!! spirits!! beers!! u see how ugly men become when they fight for promotion and pay increase!!

Ambition: Singer or Accountant/Auditor

Point in life when u start to make decisions about your own future, some may already have a partner whom they intend to spend the rest of their life.. some still single.. some attached and stuff... U experience working life if u are a Poly student and if a JC Student, u learn all about stress!! hahaha... U see more backstabbers and hypocrites.. u start to miss ur childhood! U gossip about somebody around the clock.. u stare at guys in lectures, follow them, appearing at the same canteen many times a day in the hope of seeing them.. hahaha..

For me, i met another group of close friends, Shuin dee & JANICE & Jiaying who did all the above with me.. Getting enrolled into TDP provide the environment for me to mature, learnt how to handle politics better than in sec sch, made presentations in classes and grps, peer tutor a grp of students etc etc... & this was the first time i was able to officially skip classes w/o gving any1 any excuses! Damn cool! hahhaa.. I love Jan & Omma.. cause they really brought me tons of laughter and taught me different lessons in life, different from those that SIDY & SH & Deb did.! I learnt first hand auditing experience too @ EY.. i will always be grateful to AG for showing me the ropes back then, for being a mentor, a friend, a confidant, and a BOSS...

I moved into nightlife with Ben upon leaving EY and right there I met A, someone whom I shared an ambigious relationship with. Back then he often set me into thinking about the future, and I'm glad I met him. He made me realised what I wanted in life most, and in him, I found the courage and perseverance to set out for what I wanted most in life, to travel around the world. Without him, I doubt I will ever embark on my adventures to the different continents in the world. The exposure in ICB opened up my tiny little world, I became more receptive towards the different cultures, values, behaviour, etc.

In the last lap of my polytechnic education, I met another 2 good friends, Allan & Shuren. Two young, smart, and, promising lads who will some day in the future become our future leaders. The long and gruelling nights of current affair discussions, preparing for our scholarship interviews, psychometric tests, etc. always seem less tiring with their accompany. Finally, before I knew it, it was time for me to graduate from the Polytechnic and i dreaded it because it meant that everything was reset and I had to start all over again as a fresh undergraduate! Haizz....

After graduation, I went on cruise, and even got a job @ Hilton hotel working @ the front desk. Since I am so passionate about travelling, picking up the know-hows of the tourism industry is a must. It was right there where I get to interact with people of different nationalities the most. However, I was also exposed to the backstabbing world, the scandals.. etc etc.. I finally truly UNDERSTOOD the importance of education in SG. The privileged ones are always the smart ones. I see why foreigners dominate the F&B industries because Singaporeans are choosy characters when it comes to working.

Then I had to face one of the toughest decision in my life: Scholarship or SIA?

Ambition : Air-stewardess or Teacher/Lecturer?

20-23 years old:

And so I chose knowledge over glam, and I have to salute myself for making this wise choice. Come to think of it now, it shouldn't have been that hard a decision. I've to admit that studying in NUS is not as easy as what others perceive it. The rolling tons of coursework, competition, assignments, exams that you are have to deal with will easily turn a sane person insane anytime. Without the right balance in life, leisure activities, friends who show support, one will easily sink into depression. Of course, that's only if you wish to ace your exams and emerge as a top class honours graduate. If you are just aiming for a pass, it's as easy as ABC. Just show up for your tutorials, put in the minimal effort and you will be guaranteed a 'C' every semester for every module.

Joseph & Sharon; my first few friends in NUS who walked through the tortuous year 1 phase, me laughing @ their lame jokes while they laugh @ my laughter and poise because I burst into tears too easily while laughing. If you have ever been alone in a social setting, you will understand how much of a comfort it is to have someone sitting beside you during lectures, in tutorials, planning modules, etc.

Pauline, Rachel, HuiYun: I wasn't too receptive towards Pauline when I first met her because she was very quiet and looked like the studious type who was only interested in studying. So despite taking 2 modules tog with her, Calculus & Econs with her, we only attended school together and parted ways after classes. But never in my imagination would she become my best friend in NUS, who tolled through the first 3 years of school. Lunches, Dinners, takeaways in LTs, and eventually gatherings outside school with Rachel, Huiyun to the Botanic Gardens, Waraku, etc.

And I'm kind of tired..... Shall continue with it some other day about the interesting characters I met in my life..

Labelling II

Finally finished labelling all the past posts! It took me more than 6 hours in tally to do it.

Why on earth did I blog so much in the past?

Some of the posts are really random and I'd no clue how to label them?

But at least those from Stockholm are all classified in one label; STOCKHOLM :))

Lovely memories...

Sick (Again)

Haven't have the time to sit down to update my blog.

Been busy with school mostly, some tennis here and there, shopping, and chilling out with friends.

Maybe having to wake up early is really taking a toll on my body which explains why I fell sick for the 3rd time in less than a year! Arrgghh! I hate to be sick especially when I am down with a running nose. :(( It's extremely irritating when I've to keep wiping away the snivel. :(

So I was on MC for 2 days. I hate to be consistently on MCs because I am grounded @ home, and others might see me as a weakling which is totally untrue! I play sports actively and my physical condition cannot be better! It's just that with my throat completely sore (can't utter a proper sentence without my voice going hoarse), I would be better off resting @ home (according to the doctor). Plus, he says that I shouldn't be in school if not I will spread the virus to students, and my colleagues. :))

Please, don't fall sick again, my dear body!

Just-for-laughs.

My friend from India is getting married. She invited us to attend her wedding. 5-10 August.

Checked air tickets. $511/-. May I?

I went into the salon, flipped open the female mag as usual. Saw the latest louis vuitton ad.

New bag. Sistine Damier Ebene. Checked. $2.3k. May I?

Then I came back home. I looked at the pile of papers and envelops on my desk. Found my latest cc & other bills.

Looked @ the amount. WOW! I should hit lala land soon. The above will happen in my dreams. :))

Commencement

Hands filled with marking, vetting drafts, a level oral examination, so much so that I didn't have the time to sit down to blog about commencement, needless to say Egypt! Oh whatever happened to my one post a day?

I am really glad that I've finally come to the end of my academic career (at least temporary). It was extremely overwhelming as I sat inside the auditorium, lining up at the side of the stage waiting for my turn to go on stage, having shook the presenter's hand and be handed my degree scroll. Never in my dreams have I expected this day to leave me lingering in the times when I was in NUS, needless to say be in the elite group of FCH graduates.

People, you have completely no idea how precious that title is, or rather how many people covet for that honour. In the sea of people, there are only 43 FCH graduates in the entire Social Sciences cohort, which includes those from Psychology, Sociology, Political Science, CNM, etc. and including those from the double degree programmes. If we narrow down to the Economics Honours Class, then there is an elite group of 23 students (including those Law, Engineering, and Business students) who will eventually land the prize of the FCH title. Initially, I didn't think much of it. It was only until Monday, 12 July 2010 that I realise how fortunate I am to have been presented that honour and I start to have serious thoughts about what I am doing right now and in the foreseeable future.

So the 10 of us sitting in the FCH section started chatting over our employment, job prospects, salary scale, job scope. That was when I started to feel really lousy. All of us are employed by the Ministries and I've to say mine is definitely the lousiest of them all. After chatting to them, I realise that the Ministry that I work in is a place where the top-tier graduates shun and see it as a drop in the bucket in the realm of Public Service.

To cut to the chase, I feel that whatever I am doing now is seemingly meaningless in comparison to my pals who graduated with FCH. People are reading papers, doing analytical work, making presentations to perm secs, deputy directors of various depts whereas for me, I am reading work full of grammar mistakes, spelling errors, lacking in depth and general knowledge e.g. "Wheat is used to make corn".! The days when I read research papers, simulate regressions, analyse data and results are all gone with the wind. :(

To add bitter icing to the rotten cake, I think I do face quite a lot of people who do not put their money where their mouth is and of course the it's a small world people! It is not as though I can't find my feet in the environment unlike the freshies days in NUS, I just need bigger and better things to fill my mental capacity.

But anyway, I guess there's no point in my having a chip on my shoulder since I have penned it years ago. Or maybe LK is completely ON THE MARK. They can't make a 18 year old make decisions. :) It's unfair!

Best Pals since the Poly days..... :))

The Economist gang - times of playing monopoly deal, Wii, argghh! How I miss them!

So happy after we finally threw the mortar board...

There are many more pictures... Just too lazy to upload from my camera..... we shall await..