My Beloved Mum

My Blog has shifted

2008-03-05T17:45:00.005+08:00

Its been 2.5 years since I started this blog. This blog has grown to such a stage that its taking a long time to load thus I have extend it to this site. You can access the new blog here.

There will no longer be any update on this blog starting 07th Feb 2008. Here is wishing everyone a Happy and Prosperous New Year !

Take care and God Bless.

Ready for $38,000 Investment 6th Feb 2008

2008-02-05T21:32:00.001+08:00

Mum, 06th Feb 2008 is the first time in my life that I put in a large amount of money into a highly lucrative investment in an online gaming portal. Thanks to Sanny and Brother Larry who shared this little gem.I gathered a few good friends of mine for many years to pull in the $38K capital investment. I personally invested $21,000. The first payout of ROI will be 9th Feb 2008. I will post an update of investment this saturday.

EDIT - Check out my casino investment returns here >>> Casino Weekly Payout

Cycling at Pulau Ubin !

2008-02-03T18:57:00.000+08:00

Today, my "Singles Delight"club members organised an Ubin Cycling Trip. It was drizzling when I reached Changi Ferry Terminal. It's been years since I went to Ubin. The last 2 which I organised was for my M1 friends and Compaq Colleagues. The turnout was quite good. Fortunately or unfortunately, the rain poured but it was fun. Always feel good to be able to feel like a kid again ! We visited Chek Jawa Wetlands. You should really visit the place, its beautiful ! I love it probably the weather was cooling and can feel the rain splashing on to your face while at the visitor stand ! Its awesome feeling !

Mum, I visited you at the temple today !

2008-02-03T00:00:00.001+08:00

Mum, new year is just round the corner. This morning, I visited you with Jordan, Aidan and their mother. You passed away when Jordan were 4 yrs old. He is 7 yrs old now and is the first time that he visited you. He misses you tons and even commented on your "new house" :) I later brought them to the amusement park at Bishan. Like previous years, I will visit you on the first day of Chinese New Year which falls on 7th Feb. This evening, we had our early reunion dinner at Auntie's place with Granny, Uncle, Tina, Wei Ming and her beautiful baby Eleanor ! I will be entering into a very high capital investment business with a few friends. I will update you more next week. Love and misses you mum !

Happy Birthday Best Friend | Buddy | Colleague Jennifer

2008-01-30T21:38:00.000+08:00

Today is my buddy, best friend, colleague's Jennifer's birthday ! The staff celebrated for her in the office and I took the opportunity to take some videos and pictures of this beautiful colleague of mine. Here goes...

I rejected my ex boss job offer !

2008-01-29T16:31:00.000+08:00

I rejected the job offer ! I surprised myself too...If I were much younger, I wouldnt hesitate to throw in the letter for a 20% increment,, travelling opportunities, global company, supervisory role..I guess I am just quite contented with where I am now. Moreoever HP is also offering me a permanent contract with opportunities to relocate to another country, hopefully Canada.

When I lay on my bed typing this post, I realised how much I mellowed down all these years..How much I enjoyed coming home, on my bed with my favourite book, listening to class 95 and surfing the internet on my crystal white macbook and a quick massage..Mid life Contentment instead of Crisis ?

Well, this is my "Zen" way of living now. To enrich my daily life, to be aware of whatever I am doing at "that moment". Zen promotes a very different way of understanding and dealing with reality. It's an interesting self discovery process on my part and I hope you can discover it yourself.

January is going to be over in a few day's time and I have yet to see any results in my CPA business but everytime when I bump onto Rani when we go out for lunch, I always remind myself that she is my goal accountant. If I dont achieve my my goals by end of this year, I would have to pay the penalty !! :) so better buck up !

Should I take up the new job offer ?

2008-01-24T14:43:00.000+08:00

All my working life, I have been blessed to work with many nice colleagues and bosses. My past few years jobs has been referred and recommended by them. Cassandra who was my ex M1 Manager recommended me into NETS to be a trainer.

Rani who was my colleague and best friend recommended me back into HP where I am currently working. Candice who was my ex M1 Team Manager when I was her Team Lead called me last week and asked me if I want to help her manage a newly setup regional call centre which next month I would have to go HK and India to understand their operation.

In life, there's always a situation that you have to make a decision. I used to manage a team during those days in Compaq and Jennifer is one of my team member. I guess its also fate that we are back working together again. She is one of the best, funny, cute, beautiful colleague and buddy that I get the honour of working with. We just clicked when it comes to managing the service desk in HP, I guess its the working style that we have gotten used to each other all the years in Compaq . If salary, travelling opportunities are out of the equation and there's any reason why I din take up the offer, she is one of the reason why I am staying back to help her manage her desk.

Weighing the benefits of both companies, my ex boss definitely is offering a very attractive package which is 20% higher than my current salary.. but I would have to give up wearing cargo pants and sweat shirt to work! Arrgh....

I wonder if HP would be willing to match that 20%...:8

So...I have to inform my ex boss soonest soonest if I would be taking the job...:)

Thank You Facebook ! I was finally found ! :)

2008-01-19T23:39:00.001+08:00

How many times in your life do you get to know that your friend is looking for you all these years? Quite recently, a long lost friend of mine found me through Facebook..What a pleasant surprise...Her name is Grace. We used to work in a team managing a contact centre when we were in the Navy. Her gesture touches me a lot. It goes to show how much she valued that friendship that we had during our times in the Navy. I managed to dig out some old photos of us but as a respect, I will post it here when she deem its fit to do so. :0 Here's my navy life pictures...:) Enjoy..

~Post Edited ~ Pictures of Grace n myself uploaded with Grace's blessings :)

Does your dad behaves this way ?

2008-01-12T12:18:00.000+08:00

I never had a good relationship with my dad all these years..and I never really understood him on a personal level..or should i say I never wanted to really understand him... Right after mum passed on, he shifted in to stay with me because we sold our old place..Living with him for the past 2 years was really an "eye opener" for me. I dont mean to bring down my own father but it's shocking to know that he doesnt know the very basic of boiling water, washing clothes, even switching on the television. Mum, you really really really took so good care of him. Every weekend I had to control my temper because I will see the same old things that he does over and over again. Today..oooh..he did it again..as a healthy retiree who refuses to work, he goes out everyday and he literally has to wash his clothes 3 times a week !! Shocking ? Let me break it down for you why he wears 35 pieces of clothes a week.

Daily

Shirt and Pants -

Briefs -

Extra Shirt that he uses it as a mat to sleep on at night. ( even when there's a blanket available )

Night Pant

That's 35 pieces of clothings a week !! and you know what ? he uses the soiled clothes as a daily floor mat and dump it into a plastic bag instead of a net bag that I bought for him. Imagine the wet and soiled clothes being kept in the bag for 2 days before being brought out to wash..Gosh !! his whole room stinks like hell and every weekend, I had to light up my belair oil to remove the smell from his whole room.

Every night when I am home, he is hiding in his room, every morning before i go to work, he is out of the house. We dont see each other now, neither do we talk. Its better this way if not I will quarrel with him again...

He squandered 10K plus of mum's money few months after mum passed on

His monthly expenses is $600 ( his own money )

He refuses to work

It's just overwhelming to list down the things that he doesnt know how to operate...I am just too tired to write about it.

Am I unfilial ? I dunno but to write it here is just an outlet to vent my frustration.

Sometimes certain people just baffles me...

2008-01-11T12:56:00.000+08:00

Today I received an email from a customer that I send reports to every month. The way he crafts his email gives people a very unfriendly tone. Many of us gets the feelings of him always trying to put us down despite the fact that most of us are doing our very best to fulfil and comply with their requirements.

His email to me edited to certain extent.

Melvin,

Tks for the update and report and I would like to remind you that the report must serve its purpose, i.e. the stats must be factual, accurate and validated before you publish it into the repository for ref. (in this context, pls. ensure that someone validate the stats before you submit it to us) Pls. refer to the XXXX document , I found the duration is incorrectly marked. It should be from XXX to XXXX and the service outage downtime recorded is XX mins. (This is what XXXX had reported to XXXX ) I believe XXXX has used your stats and report it accordingly in Dec's report to XXXX

Can you pls. work with XXXX (XXXX to assist) and amend the record accordingly? Pls. also note that you should not continue to copy such mail to XXXX and XXXX, both of them are no longer with XXXX.

Best regards
XXXX XXX X X

My reply to him : -

Good morning XXXX,

Thank you for sharing.

XXXX keeps a spreadsheet on all XX XX incidents that happened. I tried to ensure that every XXXX that happened and recorded in the XX XX spreadsheet is checked, updated and tally against hers to ensure the information is correct before sending out. . For the duration time, I took it from XXXX XXXX confirmed and resolved time. Please see below the incident rectified message that was being send out. The time confirmed and resolved time is from XXXX to XXXX thus it was recorded as such in the spreadsheet.

Hi XXXX,
Kindly advise if I should take XXXX confirmed and resolved time for future reporting and if this record should be amended to XXXX reported time.

Thanks
Melvin Tan

P.S - I am not complaining because in a job environment, you have to work with different people from different company. Its not easy to accomodate every person working style but if you make an effort to emphathise, understand the other other party working style, I am sure things gets done more efficiently...rather than asserting your authority with such unfriendly email tone..

Do you have such experience with your customers ? Share your comments here...

Jogging in the night...

2008-01-10T22:49:00.001+08:00

Phew...just back from jogging...been terribly busy with work and keeping up with my dateline to achieve my goals that I laid down on 8th Nov 2007. Been feeling tired and experiencing bad back pain so I decided to go for a jog earlier on. I am still on track to launch 5 mini campaigns on a weekly basis and to hit one winner. Already launched 2 campaigns and awaiting test results..

Our Local Comedian MC King Sudden Death

2008-01-06T11:56:00.000+08:00

It came as a shock when I read the news, though I am not a fan of his but his sudden death shocked many. Clearly healthy at 40 years old with no drinking and smoking bad habits, many were surprised. Read his blog post on New Year Eve's which I pasted below. Does he have a sudden feeling that he is leaving this place ? You tell me...

December 31
HAPPY NEW YEAR

Melvin >> News like this upsets me a lot, could it have been prevented in the first place ? I am reaching 40 in 2 years time. ...though I am very much a positive person now but when things like this happens, you tend to step back and reflect...have I done enough ?

Living life to the fullest ? Tellling your loved ones you love them ?Spending quality time with your family and friends ? Keeping myself fit and healthy ?
Loving yourself ?

The hard truth is, its never enough but you just have to be consciously doing that..when you are hit with situation like MC King, you will leave with no regrets..!

My penny thoughts..What about you ?

3rd Day 2008 - Fearful | Exciting

2008-01-04T00:12:00.000+08:00

Its the 3rd day of the new year already. I like to take a step back and see what I have achieved for the past 1 year. I din have a lot to shout about but overall, I have been a happier person. I owed it to friends who has been supportive, people like my buddy Rani whom our friendship has grown stronger...buddy like Labby who spend a good 9 months holiday stay at my home, bringing much laughter, happiness and also good home cooked food for me, Jennifer, colleague and best friend whom I am working with right now in the office. You have been a part of my life all these while, thank you. Now, back to my resolutions that I have made on 5th Nov. As I looked at my vision board every night and the big goals I have set for myself, I have that little voice at the back of my head telling me, this is going to be tough !! You cant make it ! Oh damn..that fearful feeling crept up so I am going to tell that "little voice" I am going to do it anyway...and I am going to achieve my goals..so stay tune as I fervently worked on my CPA Business !!

My Godson is off to Primary One !

2008-01-02T14:38:00.000+08:00

Mum, look at your beloved adopted grandson. Today is his first day in primary school. You bought his first water bottle when he was going nursery. Time flies, he is 5 this year and still cute as ever. You would be very proud of him if you are still around. I took leave today to accompany him on his first day. Confident little kid, no whining at all and he din cry !! :) So like me when I was younger..hehe..Love and misses you Mum...

Bye Labby ! Come back soon....

2007-12-29T00:36:00.000+08:00

Today is a happy day as well as a sad day for me. Happy because I am one of the brother for my friend CK's wedding. Sad is because my best friend and buddy Labby is going back to HK. She came on 1st April and with a blink of an eye, she already stayed 9 months. It has been a wonderful 9 months and I would like to thank her for bringing joy, fun and happiness into this home of mine. I learned how to cook, I indulged in food haunt which I usually dont, I enjoyed shopping in Giant at Tampines that we practically go every weekend..etc..etc..She has done much more for me as a friend and I would never forget that..Seeing her tearing her eyes in the departure gates really breaks my heart as I know how much she would like to work in Singapore and stay here. I told her to be patient and once my CPA marketing takes off, I will think of a way of "employing" her back. Till then, take care labby..You are missed by many of us who know you..* Rani, Jennifer, Fei Lou, Patricia..and many others..

Merry Xmas Eve ! and I lost my credit card :)

2007-12-24T10:11:00.000+08:00

Merry Xmas to all my friends ! Xmas is a day of giving and you know what ? I lost my newly approved credit card. Was trying to recall where I misplaced it. ~ ta da.. now I remembered ! I lost it when I was depositing money in Tampines Mrt after buying 8 money jars for my new money saving concept shared by my mentor Larry. You can read this amazing simple concept here. So what's next ? Got to wait for a replacement card ! Things happens for a reason !

Failure to achieve My Goals must be painful !

2007-12-22T22:16:00.000+08:00

Today, I met up with my mentor Larry and shared with him one of my goals for year 2008. Although I have publicly announced it on 5th Nov and some of my friends knows about it, I feel that I have not done enough or motivate enough to do more to achieve it. Speaking to Larry gave me a relevation. People do things for 2 reasons. Pain or Pleasure. Setting goals is easy but taking the steps to achieve it is painful. In order to make it even more painful for me to take "more and urgent" steps to achieve at least one of my goals, I have requested Larry and Rani to be one of my goals guarantor. I am requesting 3 more goals guarantor, if you are my blog reader and is keen, do leave me a comment. By the end of year 2008 if I do not achieve at least one of my goals, I will give each goals guarantor $100 which you are free to donate to charity or for your own pesonal purposes.

Do you track your PUB Bills ?

2007-12-22T13:51:00.000+08:00

Eversince I moved in to Punggol, I make it a point to track all my utilities bills and after 6 years, its interesting to note how much you realise you spend in each area. The bulk of my bills are from the electricity side probably because I have a mini voip system at home and some computer stuff that needs to be kept on. Thanks to Larry who recommended me a energy saver device which moderated my energy consumption if not, I cant imagine how much the bills would have been.

Celebrating Xmas with Granny

2007-12-16T23:07:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, I celebrated early Xmas with Granny. It's the first time I cooked ketchup prawns for relatives outside of my kitchen..except Betty of course. Hmm..they were impressed..hehe..Meaning I passed liao..Granny looks fine though she will gesture to me from time to time that "its time" for her to go already although I wonder if thats a sign from her but no matter what it means, I love her tons !

How to FIRE YOUR BOSS !

2007-12-13T13:11:00.000+08:00

It's been a long time since I have written. Been busy with work and the coming festive season Xmas. I have been reading on a lot of affiliate marketing blogs to pick up tips and tricks. I visited Jeff Roth's blog recommended by Amit, author of Super Affiliate Mindset. Jeff's journey in Affiliate Marketing is very inspirational and one of the post is so hilarious, I promised you will laugh your heart out reading it. Enjoy !

4th Dec - 27 Days to Year 2008 ~

2007-12-04T21:59:00.000+08:00

27 days to the Year 2008 !! Have you made your New Year resolutions? Years back, I have since stopped using the word resolutions' but rather the word GOAL. I have decided to do WHATEVER it takes to achieve my Goals. What's your GOAL ?

Cooking Lesson 2

2007-12-03T20:38:00.000+08:00

Rushed home today from work to learn lesson 2. :0
2 x simple dishes. Pepper chicken with potato and tomato soup.

Taste pretty good.. I must say...hehe...So if you want to try my skills, I dun mind being invited to your place to "mess" up your kitchen.. :P

Cooking Lesson 1

2007-12-01T20:52:00.000+08:00

Okay..so here it is...my first cooking lesson with my Shi Fu Betty! here is me cleaning up preparing the prawns for ketchup prawns later. Its really not easy to think about what to cook everyday ! If your mum is cooking everyday for you, give her a BIG HUG and say THANK YOU because its really not easy to whip dishes day in day out. Also thanks to Betty for sharing and teaching me!

Watch the sitting posture ~~

2007-11-29T15:09:00.000+08:00

Went to SGH for physhiotherapy that lasted 1.5 hours. After consultation, I was given instructions to specifically do 2 neck exercises everyday to work on the neck. Thereafter I was given a mechanical braces to stretch my neckbone before going for a neck heat pack treatment. The bill came up to $32..as compared to $65 bucks at First Chiropractic for a 10 mins session. Was advise to be conscious of my sitting posture in the office so as not to aggravate the strain on my lower back. Hopefully to see improvement in 2 months time...

SGH Back Therapy and Weight Management Product

2007-11-28T15:06:00.000+08:00

Tomorrow will be my first back therapy at SGH. Let's see how it goes...Still feeling the stinging and numbness on my fingers and back. Hopefully with this regulary therapy, it helps to relieve the pain. Weight Gainer product is always the last thing that I will ever buy or even try..But I am pleasantly surprised that I like the taste of Herbal Life Shapeworks mixed with orange juice. Its quite unlike weight gainer powder that I tried years back. I actually shared it with my colleague Jennifer. She is trying to control her weight whereas I am trying to gain weight, so this product that I bought couldnt have arrived at the better time. For her, its a replacement meal, for me, its an add on meal. Great ! Let's see the effect 3 months later !