Wilson Wijaya, Lee (李伟山)

Golden Rule; Still Applicable?

2012-07-12T02:09:00.000+08:00

The Golden Rule

From the Wikipedia, the GOLDEN RULE or ethic reciprocity is either of the following:

(Positive form): One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself.
(Negative/prohibitive form, also called the Silver Rule): One should not treat others in ways that one would not like to be treated.

And in the Bible, the Greatest Commandment stated by Jesus, said (Luke10:25-28):

²⁵And one day an authority on the law stood up to put Jesus to the test. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to receive eternal life?”

²⁶What is written in the Law?” Jesus replied. “How do you understand it?” ²⁷He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your strength and with all your mind.’(Deuteronomy 6:5) And, ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ ”

²⁸“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do that, and you will live.”.

So all great teachers/philosophers/thinker/spiritual leaders/guru taught all almost the same thing, DO GOOD TO OTHERS, DON'T HURT OTHER AND YOU WILL GET NO HURT.

I would like to ask you this question: Do you agree with this view? Have you applied it in your life? Some will say that indeed they believe in it and that's the reason they are doing good deeds.

Others will say they never mind about it. They just don't give a damn and live they life as they would. There are so many critics arise from this rules, stating that it doesn't always follow the rule.

As far as we concern, didn't rule make to be disobeyed? Is there such thing as KARMA.

Let's discuss about this in my entry today. I found it interesting to talk about. Before that please kindly read the quotes on the picture above. Give a thought for a minute.

When I see my life it always follow the standard pattern, life is so unexpected.

I gave hard effort in my difficult subject but I ended up getting low mark.

I gave helps to my friends who are in most need but when I faced problem there no one there to listen.

I gave much donation to society but my family was scattered.

Maybe these some examples that you faced currently and made you have the conclusion:

THE RULE DON'T EXIST.

It just don't work for me, what have I done to end up in this situation? Didn't I follow the rule?

You are not the only one facing this problem, I and thousands more people face the same issue.

Sometimes it is not right to uphold any faith and believe when we are facing the problem.

Should we give up on humanity then? Should we just break free and do anything?

My friend hold on for a moment. Close your eyes, take a deep breathe, and relax.

Life is not simple and don't follow any 'rules'. It's a surprise moment for you.

Just because one person hurt you doesn't mean the whole world go against you.

Don't give up your life just because one person who doesn't understand you at all.

Your life is much more worthy than that. Yes this person failed you, so what, move on with your life.

Just have a thought that one day he will pay price double than what person did to you.

For example your partner cheated on you. You loved him/her so much till the point you will give up your life for that person. However you found out that this person backstab you. Much worst, the person did it with your super duper best friend. Then you feel that you have lost everything. No one can be trusted. You end up hating others and yourself. Then reckless decision you made is to end your life. You gave everything but why this happened to you. Don't you deserve something much better? YES, you deserve the BEST. That's why life turns you to this pitch black condition. Life is the hardest teacher, he use our fear to stroke us. It feels more painful than rod stick. But it will not kill you, instead it will strengthen you. Don't take my words, think about past experience that you had. If you are currently having the problem, close your eyes and take the bitter medicine as it is. One day you will get heal and thanking the 'drug'.

Doing a good deed while expecting others to do the same will lead you nowhere. Trust me it won't gain you everything. But doing good deed for the sake of it and yourself will give you inner peace. Giving a bread to a hungry homeless beggar and receive a warm smile and thanking for him, this is just a heavenly moment. Don't your heart get flustered when doing so much more than meeting your boyfriend/girlfriend. I think this is why we all want to do good, regardless of our religion doctrine. It's just our calling deep inside, a fulfillment for our heart most desire. I remembered the conversation between a murderer and detective on Detective Conan manga when the detective helps the murderer from falling:

Murderer: Why do you help me, don't you know who I am?

Detective: I don't know your reason for killing but do you need a reason to help others?

I think all of us need to reflect on this: DO WE NEED A REASON TO HELP OTHERS?

Life will not kill you if you don't let your guard down. Remember what Kelly Clarkson said: What doesn't kill kill you make you stronger (listen to the music below). It's not the end of everything though it seems so dark and nowhere to go. This is the hope of humanity, the reason of doing good just because of nothing. Don't expect back and do give wholeheartedly. Maybe we can say LOVE is the reason behind. Golden Rule will just go around as it is and it still will be the big reason of what people doing now. Whatever the cause, the important thing is the mean and process. Though you get back what you give, think that life pay back its debt to you. If life pay you back double, just take it a bonus and reason to give more to others. Don't you think the world will go slightly better in time?

Make a decision for you now. Either you follow the rule or not, believe or not, you have no reason to do good deeds. Just do it like Nike said on their shoes logo. But do think about it cause sometimes good deed can turn out to be bad result. For example you want to help poor by giving donation, but it turns out that the donation go to personal wealth. Don't take hard on it. I know it will be difficult. It's money we are talking about, the hard earn money. How come this people cheat you for personal gain? Well I don't know the reason but I believe you will get back much more for your good intention. As long as you keep the good intention and trust to other, life will not disappoint you twice (or may be three times :p). Follow your heart inner desire and calling. At the end the payment due will come to you either in good way or bad way. Let the life take its own course.

~Wilson Wijaya,Lee/12 July 2012~

I am an IDOL

2012-07-08T22:59:00.001+08:00

I AM AN IDOL

Before you go on with the entry, I would like to say:

Congrats to Regina Ivanova for winning INDONESIAN IDOL 2012 and to Kamasean Y. Matthews for being great contender to Regina. Both of you are the winner. Battle is not over yet, it is just started.

For those who didn't know who they are, both are grand finalist for INDONESIAN IDOL 2012.

Watch this YouTube video to listen to her voice:

I hope that you like what you heard. Regina won the title of INDONESIAN IDOL 2012.

Now it made me thought: WHAT IS IDOL? WHO IS IDOL?

If we see from the dictionary.com, then the meaning of IDOL will be:

"any person or thing regarded with blind admiration, adoration, or devotion: Madame Curie had been her childhood idol."

If you see the title, then you will conclude that I'm so full of myself stated: I AM AN IDOL.

Actually you are right, I think myself as an IDOL, not just a mere blind admiration/adoration/devotion but a full impact to others people life. As you can see from my previous entries, I believe that people who read them can at least gain something. With this in mind, I want to call myself an IDOL then. Not a celebrity or popular figure, but a mere boy with motivation to touch people's lives. No, I don't want to be like a famous public figure. i just want to share my thoughts. If you like it, it's good enough for me. If you disagree with me, I love to hear from you.

I personally believe that everyone should be an IDOL. Yes we ought to be a role model for others. Not saying that we are all mighty but knowing that we are imperfect and accept the nature of it. Like my entry: NOTHING IS PERFECT, I'm sorry to say you can't find any "perfect" things in the world. There must be flaw somewhere, though it's just a small little one. But what I like is, our effort to be perfect, to achieve what is IMPOSSIBLE and finally can find the answer of our questions. This is what I would like you to have in mind. We are a social being, affected by others. Hence we need to see, learn, and adapt from our environment. And this is for me an IDOL is being a good example (not necessarily perfect).

If we only care about outside appearance, then celebrity or famous people can be IDOL. But I don't think their appearance that defines IDOL. Remember my notes about Susan Boyle (What's wrong with SusanBoyle?). I would like to share the story of Regina now. She has been a cafe singer for some years. Her dream was to be next INDONESIAN IDOL or at least famous singer. She tried to go for the very first INDONESIAN IDOL. Unfortunately she didn't make it to finalist. She tried again the next year and again she failed. Maybe she was not that good at that time. Maybe her appearance affected the result or any other reasons. She tried 6 times to enter INDONESIAN IDOL. And again she got disappointed. But she tried one more time. Yes this year, she made it to be one of 12 finalists. And amazingly she won the title. After 6/7 years disappointment, she made it to the end and achieved a great result by winning the competition. This is for me an IDOL.

For me this is what defines an IDOL, their effort and story. And I believe all of them have their own story to be told. Even people like Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Madonna, or even Michael Jackson. They seem to enjoy world as celebrity but trust me there are some price to pay for that. Everything comes with no "free money". Hence I don't need to be famous/rich/glamour/handsome/celebrity to be an IDOL. I’m IDOL for myself and people around me. So I proudly say that I AM AN IDOL.

Can you be the next IDOL like me? The answer is ABSOLUTELY YES. You can be an IDOL and role model for others. A teacher is IDOL for students. Student will learn and take from their teacher. So be responsible teacher for them. You will DEFINITELY affect your student future. Parent is IDOL for their family. They are the first IDOL their children ever met. Unfortunately many of them didn't realize it. They act as they like and don't care about the children. They think money is the source of happiness. They run catching money and forget the family. Remember dad and mom, what you did will be the reflection of your child future and behaviour. It's just a simple example and all sort of life can be IDOL. Whether you are rich/poor, boos/employee, President/servant, religious/lay person, you can be one. It doesn't matter if you are a doctor/lawyer/teacher/housewife/trader/maid or anything else. What you need is a seed of "IDOL" in your heart. Every time you think, speak, and act, remember that you are an IDOL. Repeat the mantra "I AM AN IDOL". If you are ready to do it, do it right and responsibly.

You, yes you, the one reading this blog now. You are an IDOL for people around you even people you haven't met before. Like me, there is high possibility that I don't even know you but thanks for reading my blog. Thanks to spare your precious time to read my entry. And I hope and pray that you will get something out of my blog. I have faith in this. And I hope you can share and continue to be a blessing for others by starting your own blog for example. Or share motivational words through Facebook or Twitter or others social media. Share this entry if you feel benefited from it. There is no such thing as little action. The small step that you take will lead you to endless possibility. And be surprised to find out that you are an IDOL for someone else. BE AN IDOL.

~Wilson Wijaya, Lee/8 July 2012~

Where Does Inspiration Come From?

2012-07-05T01:10:00.000+08:00

According to dictionary.com in World English Dictionary, inspiration is:

stimulation or arousal of mind, feeling, etc, to special or unusual activity or creativity
the state or quality of being so stimulated or aroused
someone or something that cause this state
an idea or action resulting from such a state
the act or process of inhaling; breathing in

When we talk about inspiration, we often talks about idea, imagination, dream, person, or story.

Inspiration comes in many ways and forms.

But then the question asked where it comes from? How to get inspiration?

Well based on my experience I would like to share where to find inspiration in your life.

You must know what I'm talking about, just take it as reminder.

Sometimes what you truly need is not far away from you. Just look around.

~Wilson Wijaya,Lee/4 July 2012~

1. Dream and Imagination

I know you will say,"I KNOW THAT!" but the question is DID YOU REALIZE IT?

Most of the time what or where do you want is just as far as dream and imagination. When we truly want to have something, our brain somehow manages to tell us. Dream more than just a flower, nice thought, or imagination.

Everything great we had now started from a simple dream and imagination. Imagine if Wright brothers didn't dream that human can fly, there will be no air plane. It's so simple to the point people tend to ignore it. Unfortunately children are forced not to dream big. Before you make it, you have to dream it, imagine it, want it. Don't let people make you down. Have faith and give your very best.

My experience:

When I was in secondary school, I imagined to study abroad. I even dreamed to enter Harvard or Oxford (I know you will tell me it's too BIG for a dream). But that's point, dream BIG enough till people tell you it's impossible. Although I didn't attend neither of them, I ended up at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. It's BIG enough for me to be able to graduate from there.

Starting from a small town, Baturaja (even Indonesian didn't know where it is - 4 hours from Palembang), I went to an international hub city, Singapore. I learned new thins and gained new knowledge. It's such a blessing for me and it started from a DREAM. Till today I still dream to attend Harvard and on the way to make it happen.

2. Creations

Anything that people make or create can be inspiration. Not just things made by human but also things that came by itself (or created by GOD if you believe). Music, film, poem, picture, painting, song, drama, theater, and so on, you name it.

Al these things can be inspiration in human life and they intended to be one.

Nature, sea, mountain, flower, rain, and even disaster. Tsunami became inspiration for human race to be one and united. Love became inspiration for film, drama, song, etc. They try to persuade us into some values or philosophies. So look around yourself, there are so many creation. What is the creation that inspired you the most?

My experience:

I was so inspired by so many songs, drama, films, and arts. Indeed I will say it proudly I was so inspired by Korean and Japan lifestyle. I go insane about Japanese life and tradition (HONESTLY). In one or other way, they have shaped me to be who I am now. Hollywood has been my inspiration for a whole life. Their movies has been my friend for better and worse. My mood can change easily by watching movie and drama. Here are some lists of drama/movie that has change my way of thinking (please check by yourself if you have time and like it):

The Bucket List (film)
49 Days (Korean drama)
Scent of Woman (Korean drama)
Departure (Japanese film)
Doraemon (Japanese anime/manga)
Detective Conan (Japanese manga)

3. Past Experience

When I said experience, it's not just your but others also. Sharing, teaching, discussion are ways to get inspired by others. Think moment in the past that really inspired you to move on and stand strong. It could be the day when your parent passed away. Or the day when people looked down on you and your family. Or the day when you won your very first medal. Make them your motivation to walk your life now.

Actually it's hard to inspire and motivate people.

Don't think being a motivator is easy, you can just talk about good thing. No, you are wrong. It's hard to motivate people since only you that can motivate yourself. Motivator just remind or let you know about the motivation you have. At the end you are the judge which one to be your motivation. Coming to seminar of great and successful person is useless if you are not ready. You first have to be ready to be motivated, to learn, to hear, and get inspired. So if you are ready, talk to great people, share with others, and inspire you and others.

My experience:

I have met so many people that inspired my life.

Starting from my family, my mother is such an excellent example.

You have heard about her story from my past entry (read this).

Then moving on to superstar, political figures, and teachers.

They have shaped my thinking and the way I see the world.

Thanks to them I become the man who now are trying to motivate people.

Well I don't like to be called motivator, I prefer to say it as SHARING.

Through this blog, twitter, Facebook, etc I shared my thinking, story, and inspiration.

That are some inspiration sources for me and I'm sure you may have more.

The point is remember to look around yourself where you can find an inspiration.

Walk on the pathway in the afternoon, breath slowly, enjoy the moment and view.

There you may find such a wonderful "lamp" above your head.

The key to get the inspiration is LET YOURSELF BE INSPIRED.

I think there is no other way to get inspired other than let yourself to be one.

Don't thin too much or find it far way in difficult place.

Look deep down yourself and soul to find the answer.

Besides that, I would like to remind you NOT TO LET OTHER DISTURB YOU.

As I said you are the key, filter of what you want inside you.

If you let people word inspire you, you will get it and be motivated.

If you let people word discourage you, you plan to fail yourself.

Hence it's become a sword with two edges.

It can become a strong weapon to conquer the world.

Or it can become a poison that kill you.

Before you get inspired, let yourself first to be inspired. Then the inspiration can become motivation to push you forward.

Dare to dream big. If you shoot the moon, you may end up shooting the star.

The one that can dream is the one that conquers the world.

Imagination is the door to the new world of fantasy and creativity.

~Wilson Wijaya,Lee/5 July 2012~

Question about LIFE: Have you???

2012-06-30T19:15:00.000+08:00

Purpose of Life

If you follow my twitter account then you will know what I'm talking about.

Well for those who have no idea what I'm talking about well let me quote my twitter:

Question about life:1. Have you found joy in your life? 2. Have you brought joy to other people life? 3. Have you made meaning of your life?

~Wilson Wijaya, Lee/30 June 2012~

This tweet later gained comment from one of my best friend:

Friend: Not at all. Any solution for this?

Me: I'm also on the way to find the answer. Everyone will surely have different answer. Depend on your own standard.

Then you will ask me, how the hell I get to ask these questions?

\This morning, 3AM to be exact, I watched The Bucket List on TV. The movie was really good and keep me reflecting on myself how far I have went. What will be on my bucket list to achieve before I "kick the bucket"? Where is the end of it and when will the end come?

There was conversation on movie on Greek paradise, to be able to pass the gate you have to answer the questions. Then what will be you answer, have you thought about it before? It's funny to know that most of the time we life our life as it is.

Well people say let it flow like river stream till it find the final end.

However to live my life to fullest I need to know what the purpose of my life. Sure enough I believe all of you also looking for the most final answer. What is the purpose of your life?

I think through this question we can narrow down our meditation about purpose life.

1. To find joy in our life.

2. To share the joy with others.

Hence we can make a meaningful life in our road to final end.

Either you believe in God or not, heaven or hell, karma, etc the life is too good to be wasted. We only have one life; unless you believe in reincarnation. Though you believe that you will be born again, you will not repeat the same life. Each life is unique and different according to you.

I'm not a spiritual leader nor a wise old man. I don't really like to have a deep thought and meditation. However it struck me to think about my life. The thinking is so deep yet so engaging to keep me go deeper. In religion they tell you that purpose of life is to be together with your creator, to be free from all misery, and to find final rest and peace.

Knowing that it doesn't make my life can go in waste and doing nothing.

Living my life to fullest give more meaning by making a way to make a value of my life.

I won't teach you how to live you life, it's your choice to make.

But I would like to engage you in reflection and thinking how you want to fill your life.

If you choose to make a meaning in life, please do so.

If you do otherwise, I will not against it as long as you don't disturb others.

Answering the Question

Back to my friend comment, any solution to answer the question. No, I have no solution till now, you can follow Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, or any other religious figure on earth. Else you can make your own spiritual guide on answering the question. I think the best answer is YOU, yes it depends on how YOU see and live it. I will try to help you answering the question through reflecting question. Let me break the explanation to each question:

1. Have you found joy in your life?

Before answering this question, please answer the following question in your heart. Give a thought. What is joy in your life? Having a lot of money? Having a big house? Having a big name and famous? So far what have you done to make it happen in your life? Education? Religion? Work? What defines the joy in your life? What values that effect you? Religion? Philosophy? Social norm?

Joy is a joy as long as it fill your heat. For me a joy is when a mother gives birth with love to her child. Joy is when a father dies to protect his child. Joy is when a child can live a happy life with their parent.

I may not be rich to found joy, may be my poor situation make me find joy and value in money.

I may not be clever to found joy, completing degree with my best effort is a joy for me.

I may not be religious to found joy, having a simple prayer in my room is joy of life.

As you can see the situation and condition limit the meaning of joy.

They define and make meaning of joy itself and back to YOU.

Hence the answer I suggest is WHAT DO YOU THINK?

2. Have you brought joy to other people life?

Well this is an arrogance question. I could say I have big impact for thousands or billions lives. If you see it like that, Jesus or Buddha or Muhammad have brought joys to their follower. Then until we can be like them, we have not brought any joy to other people. WRONG, I don't think so. Even just one people means that I have brought joy to him/her. Have you treated your spouse well? Have you loved them as yourself?

A teacher gives joy to student trough teaching. A mother gives joy to her child through love and care. A man gives joy to a woman though sharing of love and life. A simple smile can bring thousand joy to some people but at the same time can bring sadness. Everything has two side of coin in it, bad and good. Again it backs to situation and condition how it will turn out.

Money can bring joy to a family but at the same time can be a disaster. Love can bring joy to people but at the same time can hurt them deeply. To bring joy to people for me means to know what to offer to them. Simple conversation can be a joy. Your presence can be be a joy. A kiss can be a joy. Hence the answer I suggest is WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?

3. Have you made a meaning of your life?

If wasting your life is what you chose, then you have made meaning of it. If developing your talents made you happy, then you have made it. If having family is your sole purpose, then you have got it. A value comes from the owner how he/she values the value. If you see my past entry on Words about Working Bryan Dyson said:

Value has value only if its value is valued.

I think this the answer of this question. A meaning has a purpose and mean only if you give the meaning to it. Hence the answer I suggest is WHAT MEANING YOU GIVE MEANING TO IT?

Conclusion

A life is only life until you give meaning to it.

Whether you will succeed in your life or you will fail it, the decision is yours.

The question can be a guide to you to pass though the road of life.

You can make it as a mere question that pass you one day.

Or you can make it as obsession to fulfill your desire.

Else you can make it as guide and reference to move on.

I aint a teacher nor a philosopher, just a normal student of knowledge and wisdom.

However don't get blinded by the question till you forget what is truly important.

Stay still, stop, think, and reflect is good as long as you decide the next step.

If you stop at some point and not moving on, I wish that is the point when you have found the answer.

If not then i suggest you to keep moving forward with new perspective.

Life is a choice whatever you chose please be responsible about it.

~Wilson Wijaya, Lee/30 June 2012~

Who is She? My Mother

2012-06-25T16:06:00.000+08:00

Brief Career History

The author interviewed Madam Lim, a single mother in her late 50. Her husband just passed away on May 2010. She runs a medium restaurant selling variance of food and a small bakery shop. She has four children, three daughters and one son. The oldest daughter is a dentist, currently working at family clinic. The second daughter is a medical student, currently serving as intern. The son is a university student, currently studying in the last year. The youngest daughter is an accountancy student, currently studying in second year.

Madam Lim is a Chinese descendant. She can speak Mandarin and some dialects. She was in food and beverage industry for almost 21 years. She started by helping her husband in running the business since her husband is illiterate. She, herself, was not degree holder. She only finished her Junior College. Due to her family financial background, she couldn’t pursue university degree. She started to work since young to help her poor family. She has nine siblings.

Madam Lim is brilliant and smart even though she couldn’t enjoy university life. She has sharp thinking, excellent communication skills, and good management skills. She picked those skills by herself through the experiences she has undergone. Madam Lim managed to expand her husband business from a small restaurant to a medium restaurant with strong customers’ loyalty. The restaurant is well known for their fast serving and delicious food. She also managed to open a small bakery shop, catered to birthday and wedding cake, along with the restaurant. On top of that she successfully entered her four children to university. Even some people didn’t believe that she could do that.

She is also an entrepreneur. On May 2010, her husband passed away due to sudden heart attack. Then she has to manage the restaurant and the bakery shop alone. She struggled with the family economy to sustain her three children education cost. Due to the economy recession, the business didn’t go well. Luckily she got opportunity to open family dental clinic together with other relatives. She also joined her friends in other business projects. She is a good risk analyst, excellent predictor, and deep thinker.

The fairy tale is too good to be true. In fact she was diagnosed with diabetes type II, a genetic illness (Amy Adams, 2000). In spite of her illness she continued to fight and pursue her dream. She wanted to see all her children to be successful in the future by having university degree. She continued running the restaurant and bakery shop; and looking after other business. She is a strong-willed person.

NETWORKING, is that so IMPORTANT???

2012-06-23T22:32:00.001+08:00

NETWORKING

Nowadays people often talk about how important networking is.

To be a successful person networking is indeed very helpful.
In Indonesia, sometimes people can get easy way thought so called "networking".
Well I would like to talk about it in my entry today.

Why would I talk about it now?
Honestly my sister went for some AIESEC program to Hanoi, Vietnam.
There she met with a lot of people from different country; namely South Korea, Taiwan, China, South Africa, USA, and Vietnam itself.
My suggestion to her:

Meet new people, talk with them, interact and learn from them. Make your network as wide as possible.

This is her chance to make friends with people from different background and nationality.
Well she attended university in my home country Indonesia and there is limitation to make international friend.
I can call myself lucky to get accepted at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
As we know Singapore becomes a global hub both education and business purposes.
Hence I had the bigger chance to make friend with people from many Asia's country and beyond.

Before I had no imagination that I could meet people from Europe/USA.
Even thinking to have friends from middle and eastern part of Indonesia never cross my mind.
I have no tools and barely know no one.
The friends that I had limited to my school friend only.
And even that I didn't try to make a lot of friends from high school.
Well you can ask my high school friend, how many of them know me personally.

It's not that I didn't want to make friends at the first place.
I'm an easy going person and people person, ask my friend to confirm this ;)
I thought as long as I could move on by myself I need no one.

But times prove me wrong.
I learn the power of networking through courses, experience, and sharing.
Though I took Engineering course, I loved to join Business course.
There I learned how important networking is.
When people gather, talk about their idea, sharing their thought, it can stimulate ourselves.
Networking is like making spider web, connecting from one point to another.
It combines two people or more with same ideas or like minded.
Networking is not just about chit chat, it's how we share with other our opinion.
Knowing people from the way they talk, present themselves, and engage in conversation.
We learn about the attitude of being social person.
Experience is the best teacher.

As student, we join different kind of group. It's a way for us to learn about networking.
There are a lot of so called "professional" club to help us learn the real word works.
Let's just say AIESEC, Toastmasters, Lion, etc. You name it.
Since I joined Toastmasters, I will talk about it to share it with others.
It is a club to train both leader and master of public speaking.
They train us how to be a good presenter yet with a good impression.
It helps us to know how to think on the spot, same like we are having conversation.
We need to think fast but we can't show it to the next person.
We need to keep the conversation engaging and exciting to keep it forward.
But at the same time we have to focus not to get out from the track.
It is the best way to learn by doing.

Third, we can learn from others' sharing.
Like now I share my experience and I hope you can get something out of it.
This is the point of networking, sharing; ideas, opinions, critics, suggestions.
Take from others that you think good for your improvement.
And at the same time, give advise for others' improvement.
We learn and grow together as human being.
Don't forget to take note the important point.
And apply what you have learned and heard in the next battle.
This is how we learn.

To end this entry, I would like to give you my pointer on networking from my experiences.
Please feel free to add on in the comment section below.
As I said we learn, grow, and share together.

Let's go with the pointer:

Focus on the goal and don't lose track. Know why you go there for networking, either knowing new people or getting some new ideas for example.
Talk to people and don't be shy. You are there to meet, talk, and share with others not just enjoying the food (if any) or being alone. Make sire you are prepared on what you want (Look 1).
LISTEN. Well as much as you want to talk, you have to listen to others. It's not just about you but also your partner. You can learn and get something from listening to others. Don't get intimidated.
Keep the contact. People tend to forget to keep contact at the end of the conversation. Exchanging name card, phone number, email, or even adding at social media can be a way.
Have the attitude!!! It's important. People won't talk to rude guy. Keep your manner, the way you talk, your poise and posture. Make sure you treat other the way you want to be treated.

Have a good networking and first of all YOU GOT TO ENJOY IT!!! :)

~Wilson Wijaya, Lee/23 June 2012~

A Letter to Dad

2012-06-20T18:16:00.002+08:00

Last Sunday, we celebrated Father's Day.
For all fathers: Happy Father's Day, may you be a light and salt for the family.
For all children: Happy celebrating Father's Day, be a good child to your dad.
For all wives and mothers: Happy to see you with your loved one, may this will go to eternity.
And for those who don't have father: Happy to you who still have memory of your beloved father.

And like me, who don't have the warm of father's hug anymore, we can only bring the memory of him.
Indeed we know that our father live forever in paradise.
Now I feel the pain of having no father around and envy them who still have complete family.
Happy are those whose family has both arm of father and mother.

This is just a letter that express my feeling towards my father.
It can be a reflection for you who miss your dad.
And also a reflection for you who still have dad to talk to and speak to.

I think I will do this more often to express my thought and feeling.
A letter to my dad who will never be able to read this.
A letter to my dad who is happy now in God's house.
A letter to my dad who will always pray for his son.

Dear Dad,

How are yo now? It's been a long time I see your face. Are you still healthy as before?
Are you happy there in God's house? Is that place better than home hence you leave first?
Don't you know how much mom cried near you asking you why you had to leave first?
Are you still that fat as before or have you slimmed down a bit?

Dad, I never imagined to say this, but I miss you now.
I really missed the time we had a conversation.
I really missed the time we spent time together as one family.
I really missed the time we had dinner together in our big table.

When you left us alone in silence, I asked God, why now? Why not later?
I never imagined to lose one of my parent so young when I still need them the most.
I don't care if my friend called me "spoiled brat".
I enjoy the time we had together, though you never speak a lot of words to me.
Though the memory I had are both smile and cry, happiness and sadness.
I always blame God for this, even till today.
Though I said to my self and friends I'm OK, I will never be OK.
I will never be the same anymore.
My heart was broken the moment I heard the news. I cried, I shouted, I went insane.

You left me before you saw me in my glory.
It was just one more year before I graduated, the moment you have been waiting for even till the last of your breathe. Why couldn't you wait for that moment? Why must God take you earlier?
People said that I didn't cry at all during your wake.
How could I cry if I really didn't understand what happened?
How could I make my mom sadder by crying with her?
How could I cry if I'm the only son in the family who has to be strong?
People just don't understand the pain that I felt that time.
I was pain that even tears couldn't wash it away.

But it was history. It was yesterday. It was my past part of my life story book.
I need to move on with my life and I believe you want me also to do the same.
Dad, did you know that now I have graduated?
Did you know how I wished you could see my graduation?
Did you know how I wanted to have picture taken with you in my robe?
How i wished you are seated there in the auditorium to see me in that stage.

I can't be a filial son to you.
Even now I was facing problem, I really don't know what to do.
Could you tell me what to do?
I can't meet my mom expectation and i believe it is also your expectation.
Have I failed you as a son?
Have I been a embarrassment to you?
I may not be the smartest student in my class.
I may not be the highest paid among my peers.
Surely I may not have the proudest job among my friend
Do feel that I am a failure?
I wished you could talk and console me, how I want you to be with me, support me, and encourage me.
Let me be selfish this one time, dad I want to e just a child.
I don't want to grow up and be adult.
I just want to be with you like last time when I need not to worry about anything at all.
Could I have that moment one more time and stay still?

I wish you all the best there dad. Enjoy your new life without pain and sadness.
Please watch me here with all your love.
Though in the silence, pray for your child to prove the world.
Let me be the son that make you proud the most.
Let me live your legacy here and to pay them who looked down on you.
I will make sure that they will pay every penny that they spent to mock you and mom.
I will defeat the world that has been hard on you and mom.
I will make sure your name will be remembered.

Please wait for me there. Till I come back to you, please be healthy and strong.
Protect our family and guard us with your shield.
Let me prove my self to you for once and all.

With love,

Your son

In Memoriam:

Me and My Dad

Words about WORKING

2012-06-12T20:40:00.000+08:00

"Working Quotes"

Here some interesting speeches/quotes that I found very true.
I like to share it with my friends around the world.
Hope you guys can learn something from the inspiring words.

1. Bryan Dyson, Former CEO of Coca Cola

2. Unknown

Being First is EVERYTHING

2012-06-12T01:09:00.001+08:00

Before you read my entry, please kindly watch the video first.
The topic starts from 8:00 onwards.
If you like it, you can watch the whole video :)

From Wikepedia:

Malcolm T. Gladwell, CM (born September 3, 1963) is a Canadian journalist, bestselling author, and speaker.^[1] He is currently based in New York City and has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1996. He has written four books, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Make a Big Difference (2000), Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (2005), Outliers: The Story of Success (2008), and What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures (2009), a collection of his journalism. All four books were New York Times Bestsellers.

Have you ever wondered if being first is everything?
Is there any different between: Being first is everything and Being first in everything?
Which one are better and why?
Where is our stand on this topic and how do we see this view?
From the video Malcolm said that being first was not that good at all.
How many persons who are first that are not more successful than the second/third?
We can see Google is not the first search machine but make the biggest till today.
Apple was late in entering the market but could stand the ground.

If we look around our neighbor, we can see others example that being first is not always good.
Improving and making the old ideas better, bigger, and cheaper are much important in entering market.
How many copy cat company can gain more profits than original?
And most of the times people goes to cheaper product with lesser quality.
Being first entering market gives us more advantages but at the same time gives us more risks to handle.
Whereas the second and third will only follow the platform with some improvement along the way.

Being first is everything but never be the first in everything.
I don't think you will agree with me but for me I think we should consider about this.
Yes we should try our best to be the best that we can be.
In addition being first will give us sense of accomplishment and self esteem.
It is always great to be in first rank in the class.
I'm really proud to be the winner of International Speech contest in my club.

However I can't be the first in everything and none can do the same (IMHO).
Maybe we see people who are so wonderful; first rank in class, pretty, rich, nice, etc.
However believe me, there is some flaws that we may not see with our naked eyes.
Well I met such person before in my life.
Nobody is perfect and nobody will be one.
There is always some course where we can't be the first and we don't want to be.
I don't want to be the first punished by new law.
I don't want to be the first getting new disease.
I don't want to be the first tasting the death.

As human there is an urge to be the first in every subjects.
Even our mother pushed us to be the first in class.
Hence we grew up with this "program" that we need to be first always, every time, and everywhere.
We don't like to be defeated and there is a big shame in losing.
Instead of realizing that we may be weak in this area, we push ourselves to our limits till the end where we break.
Hopefully people can realize that it is good to be first but the best is we learn from the process.
End is not an end at all without realization and understanding of the road.
Who will achieve it? Where is it? When will it be? What can it be? How to get there?

Instead of running to be first, give all our best in our work and process.
Whatever the end; the important lies on our means.
Improving and innovating is the key to sustain our existence.
People who fail to see their enemy are deemed to lose their position.
Being first means that we need to work harder to make the gap bigger with second and third.

~Wilson Wijaya, Lee/12 June 2012~

Lady Gaga VS "INDONEISA"

2012-05-29T16:02:00.000+08:00

Lady Gaga VS "INDONEISA"

Well as we know Lady Gaga's concert was CANCELED by her.

First of all let make some lines of understanding :

I'm her fan, follow all her songs, like to listen them, and respect her as artist.
I'm a Catholic, believe in GOD, and don't intend to worship Satan in near future.
I'm just a normal boy who grew up in Indonesia for almost 20 years.

I hope you have some pictures of me :)

So let's see what's wrong with Lady Gaga to make her banned from entering Indonesia.
Yes Indonesia has 95% of Muslim population but there are Muslims who like Lady Gaga (IMHO).
And I don't think they will shift their religion just because of her.
Don't get me wrong. I don't say all what she did is right.

As my last blog entry not all we planned will go as planned (link).
However the result of this incident is huge; money, good name, chain effect.
I heard U2 considering to cancel their concert in Indonesia due to this.
We don't know who else will do the same or worse we get black list form big STAR.
And this will just benefit our neighbor (you know what I mean).

As a person who grew up in Catholic belief and East value, I understand why people hate her to the bone.
But living in Singapore for 4 years make me encounter new perspectives.
I think there is some values that we need to learn from Gaga.
But I agree that there is also values that we need not to take from her.
For example we can learn how to be bold in giving our opinion.
Young people need to learn not to dictate what to do, instead they need to be innovative and creative.
We can see Gaga in believing what she believes hence we can learn form it.
But there is limitation in showing our creativity.
I don't think you want to wear meat dress in Indonesia, unless you want people rape you to take the meat :p
Being sexy doesn't mean we need to be vulgar.

Actually without Gaga here Indonesia already faces problem with so called morality.
The honorable representatives were caught watching porn during meeting.
One were considered having sex video and the video was distributed all over the country.
So many of them are caught by corruption watch police due to corruption issue.
Is that what we called "honorable" to be role model of young people?
Is that what they want us to learn from television news everyday, every time, everywhere? It is even worse than Lady Gaga in a way.
At least Gaga teach us how to be true in ourselves (listen Born This Way).

Stop using religion/doctrine/dogma to stop "Westernization" or modernization.
You can stop it for a while but at the end you will lose.
If not our country will lose to others.
Instead of that teach our young people what is right and wrong.
Show us the right way in doing, honest words to utter, and respectable behavior.
If you show us violence, don't blame us to be violence as well.
How many demonstration by young people tuned out to be violence?

Guard the young people with LOVE and RESPECT.

Teach us with action and not just word.

Show us example through your work.

Protect us with shield of TRUTH.

"Love and respect yourself. Guard yourself with strong conviction and belief. Protect yourself from lies and shield your soul with TRUTH."

Wilson Wijaya Lee/ 29 May 2012

Be Happy VS Full of Plan

2012-05-28T14:19:00.001+08:00

Be Happy VS Full of PLAN

It's been a long time since I post my last blog entry (June 2011).
Today is a joyous occasion for me since I found out that there is one person who read and gain benefit from my blog entry.
I feel blessed and happy for that one person.

"If only one person read my entry and gain benefit from it, I will not stop write on my blog"

~Wilson Wijaya, Lee 2012~

I will try my best from now on to keep my blog alive though I don't know what to write to you guys.

Well for today, for the beginning of my new entry I would like to talk about being happy and live life full of plan.

Yesterday, my friend commented my photo on facebook:
"Hey Son, where are you now? Seem like enjoying life?"

Then my replied:

"Life must be enjoyed wherever we are dear :)"

This morning I gave my one cent of advice to my "child":
"Let's see how it goes and just let it flow"

Then my "child" replied to me:
"Cannot be, everything must be planned. I'm not that type of person. Without plan everything will be mess. If plan A fail, there is plan B."

Me: "It suits you very much."

My "child": "Yup"

It makes me wonder how we should enjoy our life and be happy about it.
Should we go with the flow or everything must be planned and on the list.
I personally not a type who like to plan everything though I also don't like to go without plan.
For me there is a limit to how I plan my life.
Though plan is very important to make sure that we know exactly where we are going, not all plan will go as we planned.

In life there are forces (if you don't believe in GOD) that sometimes "disturb" our list from A to Z.
Unfortunately we only can plan but the result depends on so many factors.
For example: I plan to have a bright life, high status, and wonderful family.
However in pursuing that I stumble with unemployment.
I can't see to have family in near future.
There is always problem with my family; big or small.
My dad passed away before he can see my graduation.
My life didn't go as my plan :(

Actually having plan is good to some limits (IMHO).
We can plan what we want, where we go, how we do it, who will help it, when we achieve it, and so on.
With the exact list from A to Z our life is structured and arrange properly.
Go to school till high school, than enter university, graduate with good Honors, find high paid job, having family, then have bright and wonderful children, and so on.
We can list and plan everything and we can go deeper by having sub-plan in each big plan.
Life is like schedule and deadline to meet.
We are challenged by ourselves to meet the target and achieve the greatest.

On the other hand, don't you think it is a hectic life; life with all plan.
Don't you want to have freedom; free to do anything, free to have anything, free to get anything.
Our society have value of freedom with responsibility.
Free-thinker is seen as outcast and freak.
But I think it's good to some extent to have no plan at all.
Let life give you its own surprise and find different thing in every corner.
So many great achievements are resulted from not planned experiments.
While walking in the garden, Newton saw apple fallen form the tree.
Archimedes was having bath up when he then thought about the water coming out.
And the rest is only history.

At the end the decision is in your hand.
It's your life and you know yourself best than anyone else (unless you believe in GOD again).
Whether you want to live your life freely or you want everything listed from A to Z.
Decision is yours and no one, including me, can choose for you.
My piece of advise is live your life as you wanted not as people told you.
If you want to have no plan at all, please with all means do so.
If you want to have plan and control of your life, please kindly make a good one.

Some turn may need plan for you to get success.
Other turn don't need any plan to surprise you.
Both surprise and plan make our life more colorful and brighter.

I just want to end my entry with my quote:

"Have plan in your life, make a good one. However let the result turn out by itself. Let some surprise find you in your way." ~Wilson Wijaya, Lee/ 28 May 2012~

... because iGave

2011-06-17T15:40:00.000+08:00

... because iGave

A Story about LOVE

2011-02-26T23:23:00.001+08:00

One, young, academically excellent person went to apply for a managerial position in a big company.

He passed the first interview. The director who did the last interview, made the last decision.

The director discovered from the CV that the youth's academic achievements were excellent all the way, from the secondary school until the postgraduate research. He never had a year when he did not score.

The director asked, "Did you obtain any scholarships in school?" The youth answered "none".

The director asked, " Was it your father who paid for your school fees?" The youth answered, "My father passed away when I was one year old. It was my mother who paid for my school fees."
The director asked, " Where did your mother work?" The youth answered, "My mother worked as a clothes cleaner. The director requested the youth to show his hands. The youth showed a pair of hands that were smooth and perfect.

The director asked, " Have you ever helped your mother wash the clothes before?" The youth answered, "Never, my mother always wanted me to study and read more books. Furthermore, my mother can wash clothes faster than me."
The director said, "I have a request. When you go back today, go and clean your mother's hands and then see me tomorrow morning."

The youth felt that his chance of landing the job was high. When he went back, he happily requested his mother to let him clean her hands. His mother felt strange, but with mixed feelings, she showed her hands to her son.

The youth cleaned his mother's hands slowly. His tears fell as he did that. It was the first time he noticed that his mother's hands were so wrinkled and that there were so many bruises in her hands. Some bruises were so painful that his mother shivered when they were cleaned with water.

This was the first time the youth realized that it was this pair of hands that washed the clothes every day to enable him to pay the school fee. The bruises in the mother's hands were the price that the mother had to pay for his graduation, academic excellence and his future.

After finishing the cleaning of his mother hands, the youth quietly washed all the remaining clothes for his mother.

That night, mother and son talked for a very long time.

Next morning, the youth went to the director's office.

The Director noticed the tears in the youth's eyes and asked, " Can you tell me what you did and learned yesterday in your house?"

The youth answered, " I cleaned my mother's hands, and also finished cleaning all the remaining clothes.'

The Director asked, " Please tell me your feelings."

The youth said, Number 1, I know now the meaning of appreciation. Without my mother, there would not be the successful me today. Number 2, by working together and helping my mother, only now I realize how difficult and tough it is to get something done. Number 3, I have come to appreciate the importance and value of family relationship.

The director said, " This is what I am looking for in my new manager.
I want to recruit a person who can appreciate the help of others, a person who knows the sufferings of others to get things done, and a person who would not put money as his only goal in life. Son,you are hired."
Later on, this young person worked very hard, and received the respect of his subordinates. Every employee worked diligently and as a team. The company's performance improved tremendously.

A child, who has been over protected and habitually given whatever he or she wanted, would develop the entitlement mentality and would always put himself first. He would be ignorant of his parent's efforts. When he starts work, he assumes that every person must listen to him, and when he becomes a manager, he would never know the sufferings of his employees and would always blame others. This kind of person, may be good academically and may be successful for a while, but eventually would not feel a sense of achievement. He will grumble and be full of hatred and fight for more.
If we are this kind of protective parents, are we really showing love or are we destroying the kid instead?*

You can let your kid live in a big house, eat good meals, learn piano, watch a big screen TV. But when you are cutting grass, please let him experience it. After a meal, let him wash his plates and bowls together with his brothers and sisters. It is not because you do not have money to hire a maid, but it is because you want to love him in the right way. You want him to understand, no matter how rich his parents are, one day their hair will grow gray, same as the mother of that young man . The most important thing is your kid learns how to appreciate the effort and experience the difficulty and learns the ability to work with others to get things done.

What are key factors for my future career?

2010-10-27T16:49:00.001+08:00

Conclusion

Based on interviewee as well as analysis and discussion, and reading the prescribed text and recommended readings for this course, the two key factors that will be taken into account in career planning and development for food and beverage industry, the owner of a medium restaurant and a bakery shop and an entrepreneur is motivation driver and values.

Motivation is very important to achieve goals in order to fulfill some need or expectation. Motivation is what an individual can do, will do (given the ability) and allowed to do (Kant, 2009). Motivation also leads to degree to which an individual wants and chooses to commit in certain act. There are a lot of uncertainties in the future, but motivation will drive individual to strive and fight. Like Madam Lim, her motivations drive her despite of her illness, running the restaurant and bakery shop alone. She wanted to see her children graduated from university. In order to do so, she worked hard to earn living and save money for university fees. Finding the right motivation will keep individual stand after so many falls. To be an entrepreneur, motivation will help to cope with unpredictable result; whether the business will be successful or failed.

Motivation is like oil and fire is career. Without oil the fire will die. Simultaneously career can grow with unending motivation.

However finding the right motivation is another issue. Luckily Madam Lim found the right motivation for her. It was not money or social status but family and good education. Hence motivation must be supported by personal values. Values will build personality. The religion, parent, community, and school provide individual with right values. Each individual has to develop it as guidance in doing anything. It becomes integrity of each person. Guy Kawasaki on The Art of Start mentioned that the company should try to make meaning not a lot of money. By making meaning there is chance for the company to make money. Whereas by making money the company can destroy meaning. It is similar to career. The career should make value in contrast to popular believe that career should make a lot of money. If individual don’t have integrity, they will use any means to achieve their goal. In other word they can use illegal way to get what they want. In conclusion motivation with right values and integrity are the requirement to work in 21st century.

Why am I the Coolest Intern?

2010-10-21T23:57:00.013+08:00

Hi, first let me introduce myself to you :)
My name is Wilson Wijaya.
I am a fourth year student from Nanyang Technological University (NTU).
My major is Mechanical Engineering, specialized in Innovative Design.
In addition to that, I have minor in both Business and Entrepreneurship.
My interest is on Social Media. You heard it right, Social Media.

Why am I the world's coolest intern?
Here are the reasons:

1. My world is ONLINE.

You just need to name it:
facebook : http://www.facebook.com/wilson.wijayalee
twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/Wilson_Wijaya
buzz : wilsbear2004@gmail.com
youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/wilsbear?feature=mhum
blog: http://wilsbear.blogspot.com/
Basically you can find me anywhere. Just Google me for real, Wilson Wijaya.

2. I eat, think, and sleep about SOCIAL MEDIA.

I'm 24/7 online. I'll do everything using social media.
I twit, change facebook status, upload video to youtube, write on my blog, buzz anyone, make event using facebook, and manage facebook fan-page.
You can call me online whore :p

3. I can do anything online.

Starting from twitting to writing blog. I can do anything. Check my facebook notes and blog article that I wrote.
I love to make video and put it on youtube. I'm planning to have my youtube show :D

SOCIAL MEDIA is my life and source of vitality.
It's my WORLD.

On top of all, I'm young and passionate about it. I have full energy about Social Media and I'm really familiar about it. I can engage and communicate well using Social Media to my friends, family, and other people. Where on earth can you find person like me?

Commitment = Marriage

2010-10-19T19:55:00.000+08:00

In this rapid, fast, and dynamic environment, commitment becomes the very first issue in anything. It is applicable to our study life, club/organization, project, assignment, and even service to God. Let’s face this, we are NTU student, busy people, doing a lot of things, and thinking 24 hours a day is far from enough. On top of this, we still need to serve God in our community, let it be core team, executive committee, or church helper. All of these force us to have highly committed attitude so that we can handle it well. Now let us focus only in service to God, core team in our context. Are you an ex-core team? Or are you in core team? I believe we are quite familiar with the words; SPIRITUAL COMMITMENTS. Before I start, let me ask you this question,

“Do you think it is important to have SPIRITUAL COMMITMENTS as core team member?”
“If I’m not in the core team anymore, should I just quit this SPIRITUAL COMMITMENTS?”

These questions may be wandering in your mind, I hope so. If not, then I bring you the questions.

Let’s recall our mind, what are the SPIRITUAL COMMITMENTS?

Eucharist
Bible reading and reflection
Prayer life
Confession
Devotion to Mother Mary

It’s simple, sweet, and nicely put. But what is the meaning behind it actually? Can I just skip it? Do I need to do all? May I just do one at a time?

Commitment is equal to marriage. In marriage vow, the husband unites himself to the wife and vice versa. They are no longer two but become one. It’s the same thing when we are baptized. We no longer belong to ourselves but to the Church and HIM personally. We unite ourselves as body of Christ. In this union “take” and “give” action must take place. Same as husband and wife, the husband can’t give all the time and the wife can’t always take from the husband. Christ will always give us His blessing and love; we can take it freely anytime and anywhere. However we also need to give back to God and His people.

Do you think if we don’t do any of five commitments the glory of God will fall? NO. It won’t change anything. God will always be God. That’s why He is God and not like others King. We do those because our longing to Him and our love to Him. Deep inside our heart we are longing to be one with Him, our creator, you and me. All these five are only the path to bring us closer to Him and make Him known to us.

Hence whether we are in core team or not, as long as we are Catholic, the follower of Christ, we should uphold these commitments in daily life.

But nowadays many people didn’t realize that they need these paths. We are too busy and concerned with our earthly stuffs. I don’t say that we can’t do anything else. However we need to set time for these in our super busy and tight schedule. Let me explain why we do need to pursue this in daily life.

1. Eucharist

First and foremost is Eucharist. It’s not just the celebration. Moreover it’s about receiving the real body and blood of Christ in our human body. The real presence of Jesus in appearance of host will be received. When we take part in the communion, God’s love and blessing are poured upon us. We make God’s sanctuary inside our body. Don’t you remember Saint Paul’s word, “You are the temple of the Holy Spirit?” By eating the bread, God transforms our heart to be like Him. He changes us to be more like Him, remember the story in Genesis that God made us with his own image. We are the image of God and to make it even more we need to receive the real image through Eucharist. Father Gerard shared with us that our body had expiry date and it is seven days. Hence we need to be “relived” every week. Eucharist is the source of power, strength, joy, peace, and love. Where on earth can you find celebration which unites heaven and earth and God’s presence is made real?

2. Bible reading and reflection

Having received the body of Christ alone is not enough. There is old saying, “Know someone from his words.” Listening to God’s word make us become closer to Him, the speaker. Remember what Tommy said about listening to God. One way is to listen to God through his bible where the writer recorded His word to us. In Old Testament, Yahweh was speaking to His people, Israel, through the prophets. In New Testament, God was speaking through His son, Jesus. In fact, Jesus himself is words of God that made flesh. See the connection, to understand God, know God, and fall in love, we do need to listen to Him. After this we need to bring it to higher level, proclaiming the words of God. Jesus told his disciples to bring and spread the good news to the end of the world. We, in fact, are responsible to this task. Reflection helps us to relate and make the bible to daily practice. Hence the word is not just on the lips but also put in action. Do you remember the meaning of three crosses we make before the Gospel reading?

3. Prayer life

After listening to Him, we also want to talk back to Him. In every communication, it is a two ways communication that is effective to build relationship with someone. We don’t want just to listen but we also want to speak up. We want to have conversation with Him. How do we do that? The answer is through prayer. Prayer is one way to have conversation with God. It’s free, 24/7, anywhere, and not complicated. You don’t need anything, basically, just a heart and love to him. Even you don’t need a word in your prayer. Don’t you believe me?

4. Confession

Yes, we have good relationship now with God. We receive Him through Eucharist. We listen to him through bible. We have conversation with Him through prayer. Everything looks perfect, complete, and nice. What is lacking? In relationship, sometimes, or maybe most of times, we make mistake that hurt our partner. We don’t intend to do it but it happened. Then we apologize for it and promise that we’ll never do that again in future. Same story happens with our God. What is our mistake? SIN. Sin huts our God. It makes Him upset, sad, and angry, He fells betrayal from His beloved. Because of this we need to say sorry to Him. But it’s not enough, we need to change our life. Hence confession leads us to conversion. Conversion is moving forward to God’s face while leaving the sin behind. Pope John Paul II called for the universal conversion. Pope Benedict XVI called for whole Church conversion. In his homily, Pope Benedict said,

“We are not alone in this spiritual itinerary," Pope Benedict clarified, "because the Church accompanies and sustains us from the start with the Word of God, which encloses a program of spiritual life and penitential commitment, and with the grace of the sacraments.”

5. Devotion to Mother Mary

To know a person is through his friends. Friends and families are the one who know us the best. It is the same with our Lord. His friends and families are the one who know Him the best. Mother Mary knows Him very well. After all, she is His mother. Hence the devotion to our mother should bring us closer to our Lord, Jesus Christ. According to Legion of Mary handbook, a true devotion to our Mother will lead us to her son, Jesus Christ. Who are Jesus’ friends then? Saints who have done His will throughout the ages are His best friend. We can know Jesus from them, their life, action, charity, love, and activity. All of them resemble Jesus’ love to them. We need to learn and do it on our own. Pope John Paul II told the youth that everyone can be saint, are called to be saint. Pursue your own holiness.

From the explanation above you can see the connection between each other. We can opt to do one or worse do nothing. It will go in flow and continuously. And it doesn’t matter if you are core team or not, if your new to Catholic or not, if your are male or female, if you are young or old. Everyone is called to follow Jesus steps. That’s why we are called the follower of Christ. Remember the fourth point Archbishop Nicholas Chia told us during the Commissioning Mass, for community to be a good community you must have willingness to learn, fellowship, teaching, and reaching out. It’s not just for the community but for us also as individual. We do need these four factors for our growth. Spiritual commitments are the practical fruit. Do you want to be closer to God or you want to be far away from Him? Be careful of Spirituality Anorexia.

Exam/Relax = Stress

2010-04-23T01:11:00.000+08:00

Some of you may be surprised to find the title of the note.
Some of you may find this is ridiculous that I write a note just 24 hours before my first exam.
Well, let me clear the air.
This note is dedicated to all of us (having exam or not) who are facing stress in our life.
I feel pity to some of us who are troubled to control their degree of stress.
It includes me in the list.

I believe most of us know the meaning of stress.
Everyone has their own meaning of stress.
Some of us can take higher degree of stress as normal level,
while the others can't do that.
Hence I will not talk much about the stress itself.
In fact I'll talk more about the before and after effect of it.

During this exam period, I know the "kiasu" level increases exponentially.
And the relaxation/entertainment decreases in same way or more extreme.
(Well for some it isn't effected)
Hence the stress-meter tells us that we are at the level of almost break down.
Furthermore, the force to ourselves to get good grade (GPA) 5 makes it worse.
The combination of these make body as boiling machine that almost explodes due to the pressure.

The simple formula of for stress/pressure:
Pressure = Force / Area

In this case, pressure is our stress, force is our workload, and area is our body, mind, and mental.
As we know our workload is a constant.
Well you can't say that you only want to take one from seven examinations.
In addition the ECA, feeling, and relationship make the force bigger.
The area is a variable but under control.
You can't change it as you wish to a very large amount.
(Well you can't make your brain bigger).

Hence if we substitute the value to our formula we get:
Stress= (Exam+ECA+Feeling+Relation

ship) / (Body+Mind+Mental)

From this we can derive that:
1. If we don't have exam/ECA/feeling/relationship, our stress will decrease or better 0.
2. If we have bigger mind/mental/brain/body, our stress will decrease.

Is it possible to achieve the ideal condition? It's not theory calculation. It's experimental.

From my experience and observation, I suggest some of my idea:

1. Reduce the force/workload
Well it doesn't mean you have to take lesser subject (21->19). Yes, you can if you want.
What I suggest that you make your own study strategy. Don't copy others.
Please do you think if you follow A+ student so you'll become like them?
Our brain is a wonderful safety box. It can keep a huge number of memory.
But be careful that the memory is not kept in short term memory.
Make your own schedule/agenda. Plan well.

2. Improve your Body, Mental, and Mind
How to improve? You are the one that can answer it.
You know yourself better than others, don't you?
Exercise, do sport but don't over do it.
Keep positive thinking, if you already said to yourself that you're stupid, useless, and failure,
you'll be what you said. Hypnotize yourself with good and encouraging words.
Yes you can! Fighting! Be positive! I can make it!
Take time to relax and do stuffs that you like; games, facebook, singing, reading, dancing, etc.

It sounds repetitive and classic but it's TRUE.
As I said in my earlier note, BALANCING is the important aspect in life.
When you can balance everything, you life will mostly perfect. (I don't dare to say perfect).
This what we tend to forget. Balance your life well.
So it' doesn't mean that you study like crazy.
And also it doesn't mean that you play like crazy.
Remember BALANCE.

From the art of war, know yourself before the enemy.
Conquer yourself to conquer others.
It's true and applicable from times to times.
What is your strength? What is your weakness?
How does your strength help you in exam?
How does your weakness pull you down in exam?
What can you do to make your weakness be your strength?

Now let's share your experiences and ideas.
How do you handle your stress?
How do we make our life to be balance?
Leave comment as references for others.

What is my Passion?

2010-04-20T16:05:00.001+08:00

Arghhhhhhhh again and again I complain about my life.
Well not really complaining more on the crying about it.
The reason is as simple as I don't know what my passion is.

Well I can ask other what they think about my passion,
but it's not the point of others tell me of what to do.
It'll be useless if it doesn't come from my heart.
When doing something with so much passion,
it doesn't matter about the result.

Let me talk stupid thing with you.
Have you ever realize your passion?
Either study, music, film, public speaking, acting, drama,singing, etc.
When you have the passion, you'll do it happily without hesitation.
Even in the point you'll fail, you still can stand up and redo it with your passion.
We can see how important passion in doing something.
It really helps you a lot.

Now, when you don't have any passion or mood doing something,
do you think you can do it?
Well, maybe yes or no.
Yes you can still do it, but you don't know the result.
If the result goes right, you'll just say it's good enough.
If the result goes wrong, you'll mostly leave it as it is.
No you can't do it.
How do you expect someone doing something he/she doesn't like?
It's impossible to make it, even it's possible, I bet you'll get good result of it.

I believe most of us can see the difference.
In our real life, you can see many people doing something for their passion or not.
Some people chase money, higher social status, fame, good grade etc as their motivation.
Others just do it for their satisfaction in life.

As we reflect to ourselves, what motivates you in doing something?
It is simply a calling of passion in your heart or any other motivation.
When you have enough money, will you feel satisfied?
When you have high social status, will you aim higher?
When you have fame as you wanted, will you die for it?
When you have the highest grade in class, will you feel proud of it?
When you had enough, you'll stop since you don't have other reason of doing it.

The passion sustains human in doing and accomplish many things till now.
The passion of film, drama, and acting make Oscar to be the most prestigious award.
The passion of music, singing, and harmony make Grammy to be the highest achievement award.
The passion of peace, God, and service make religious life to be the most valuable way of life.
The passion of science, truth, and charity make Noble to be the most honorable award.

Everyone is indeed different from each other.
Same passion can drive people differently.
But same passion will make people success in their pursuit of happiness.
So what is your passion in life?
Have you fulfilled your passion?

Nothing is PERFECT

2010-04-03T16:11:00.001+08:00

Can you get 100% pure gold?
Can you get 100% pure kindness?
Can you get 100% pure love?

Some of you know the answer, NO.
I'm not a typical dreamer who dreams about finding a true love.
That's why all Disney story is very popular.
They sell dream to the children, a dream about perfect world, ideal word.

BUT, too bad, there is no such ideal/perfect world in our real world.
This is not a Disney world where everything ends up happily ever after.
A typical ending for all Disney classic story.
They change everything and fix it to our imagination of world.
A true love, a perfect world, where good conquer bad.

A pure gold can't stand for itself. It's too soft to be used.
That's why when you go to the shop you may be find 99% but not 100%.
A pure love can't stand for itself. It's too fragile, easily break.
That's why when you have it you need to take extra caution about it.
A true kindness can't stand for itself. It's too beautiful to be true.
That's why there is no trust you always wonder a true motive behind something.

Have you wondered why God never created something as perfect?
If you say human is prefect, there will be no dead.
If you say flower is perfect, there will be no fading.
If you say life is perfect, there will be no sadness and trouble.

People always argue that this will make us strong.
This will tamper us to be a tough man.
That's true, this imperfectness makes us a strong human.
This will shape us into a strong human being.

If all is perfect, then human is just lazy and usefulness creature.
If all is perfect, we are just a cry baby and never be an adult.
If all is perfect, I will not learn new thing every second I breath.

Because we are imperfect, we can know each other and be social individual.
We help each other to cover our own imperfectness or defect.
Like gold need other to make it strong, we can't stand by ourselves.

But don't depend too much on other people. That's another human mistake.
Since we are not perfect then let other to complete us, fill us.
It's wrong. I don't agree with that statement.
Since I'm not perfect, I need to pursue my perfectness.
Even though I know I'll never be perfect but I always try to be perfect.
Live my life in perfect mode.
Love like perfect love.
Be kind as no reason to do it.

We are just God's creation and result of social evolution.
Yes, it's true BUT it's not reason we can't be perfect.
Perfectness is just mere standard made by ourselves.

How do you know whether you are perfect or not?
You ask other to mark you.
You look through yourself and mark yourself.
You follow society requirement to be perfect.

My friend, live your life to the fullest.
Have no regret when the time comes.
Try everything while you can and never look back.
That's your standard of perfectness.

How to be a realistic person?

2009-08-27T16:41:00.001+08:00

Have you wonder whether you are a realist or not?
Do you think your life full of flowering words or sentences?
Do you wonder why people always gives good answer not realistic one?

Well, to be honest with you I also do same thing.
When talking with others, I always gives flowering words.

"It's OK."
"There will be time for that."
"No, You can do it."
"I'll be good listener."
"You are not alone. I'll be with you."
"That's the friends are for."

You know I'm not the kind of imaginative or romantic person.
I'm a realistic person.
If I can see it that must be true and vice versa.
How come you believe the words when the bad thing happened to you?
How many people give word of encouragement?
Sharing good story with so beautiful meaning, like whatever happen is for your good.

I'm not despise them.
Nor I hate them.
I like it and it's really encouraging.
But sometimes I need real answer not a flowering, beautiful, diplomatic answer.
Yes, it wont help me nor console me.
But you must face reality. You live in real world.

"It's OK."
How come you say that? I'm not OK.
I'm sick. Give other answer. More practical.
What's OK when I'm hurt, feeling alone, crying, sad, got backstabbing?
I'm not belong to this place and you said it's OK.
You see all thing to simple my dear friend.
Life is complicated.

"Make your life simple"
Life is not simple. If it is, I wont be hurt like this.
I wont feel this feeling.
I wont complain about it.
Nothing is simple. Even a single snow has very complicated structure.

"There will be time for that"
OK then. Why the time is not now?
What the difference you give it now and then?
if it's just the same, why wont you give it now?
You said I'm not ready then why you make the desire.
Why you let me know about this?
Why?

"No. You can do it."
Very nice. So you want me do it by myself.
If I can do it I wont say I can't.
It's really heavy. Even I can't bear it.
Then will you help me to do it?
No. You just want me to finish it by myself.
Again it's just the word of encouraging.
You're not in my position.

"I'll be good listener."
One big lie is this word.
Come on, you can stand with it but not your ear.
You are already tired to listen to all my word.
Even you always tell me to shut my mouth.
How come now you said this word?
When I'm talking you say to shut up.
When I keep silent you say to talk and you'll listen.
What a liar are you.

"You are not alone. I'll be with you."
You say this word when you can't be with me for 24 hours.
You're in USA and I'm in Asia or Africa.
You truly just say this word.
After party what is left is the host who need to clean all the mess.
Ask for the others. Maybe they end up having another party at nearby bar.

"That's the friends are for."
What is the purpose of friend?
What are the friends for?
Can you elaborate more.
If you answer like this, it's just 10/100.

I'm not asking you to answer your friend like that.
Nor discourage you to not console other.
I just challenge you to think from their shoes.
When you want to console other, please put yourself on their behalf.
Stating normal and common word will not help a lot.
At the end of the conversation your friend will say:
"Thank you. You really help me."
for the sake of attitude.

Departure to NEW Beginning

2009-05-11T23:26:00.000+08:00

While watching Departure (Japanese movie), I make this note; 4.26 am.

I remember I made status note on facebook, stating:

"Nothing is last for forever, treasure every moment you have, cherish every time you get together, hold tight every thing you have NOW."

After watching the movie, it becomes clearer what it means to me.
Every human at one point will pass away and rest from all world things.
We're tired from all the problems, projects, tasks, and maybe life.
We want to sleep at peace and put everything behind.

Often we hear people say that death is beginning of a new journey.
It's not an end but a new starting point.
Like birth, death is also a turning point.
Death and life is like a piece of paper.
Side by side, face to face, both always walk together.

Isn't it funny?
When you die people will take care of you.
Other will decide the coffin, the burial place and ceremony, everything will be prepared for you.
When you die, you will not bring anything.
Just like you came to the world without bringing anything,
you will go back with the same way.
Do they spend hundreds or even thousands for the coffin?
Do they spend hundreds or even thousands for the burial?
Do they spend hundreds or even thousands for the grave?

Can you imagine when somebody leave you forever?
You can't touch, talk, hear, or even look him/her.
Let's say your mother, father, sister, brother, husband, or wife.
Until today, at this moment, I can't imagine I lose my special persons.
Even I know someday they will go and rest in peace.
I still need them all.

How about I leave them first?
Can they face it? Can I accept this fate?
Which one is the easiest choice, be the left one or be the person who leaves?
Can we choose? Do we know the answer?
Do we have any choice?

I think it'll be nice if I can be encoffineer.
I make sure my loved one grant eternal beauty.
I make sure my loved one get eternal rest peacefully.
I make sure my loved one give last memory to me.

Death is life.
Life is death.
When you live, live to the fullest.
Don't hold any regrets.
After you're tired, rest peacefully.
Your new beginning will start very soon after you wake up.

The Process/The Outcome

2009-05-11T23:25:00.000+08:00

I thought this matter for very long time now.
I asked my friends, seniors, and fellow teachers.
They had different views about this matter.

Suddenly, today, this evening, after celebrating my friends' birthday
this topic came out in our conversation.
Sorry to my friend for making him angry talking about this.
I didn't mean that.
But, it's interesting to talk about this matter.
And also I want to know your opinion about this matter:

"What is more important the process or the outcome?"

You can talk about your mark/grade/title/degree or whatever.
OK to help you, let's just focus on our grade/mark, especially for NTU's student.
We know that in our graduation we will get honour, whether 1st class, 2nd upper, 2nd lower, 3rd class, or pass with merit.
Do you think this is more important than your four years study in university?
What do you look, good honour or good process?

In my honest opinion, I do agree that process is above the mark, although mark is also important.
Having good process will and will not result in good mark.
However it ensures that we had good knowledge and information about the subject.
Mark is not the first and only measurement to decide the understanding of the student.
Especially your mark is mostly affected by 2,5 hours paper at examination hall.
There could be a lot of things happen during the exam that make the student not perform well.
For example, having stomachache will disturb your concentration.
Or you are so nervous so you forget how to solve the problem, make stupid mistake due to not be careful in answering the question.
The student also have feeling of burden because the exam will surely make you grade.
Is it fair to judge the student only in the 2,5 hours?
How about their process during the one semester?
Don't they have other chance?
Just because they fail in the exam, their grade will certainly go down.

But, we can't blind about the mark/grade.
It's also important.
That's our first impression to the company so that they call us for interview.
My friend told me before what the mark/grade meant for company or interviewer.
The manager of a finance company told him that mark/grade expressed your seriousness in study.
Having good mark/grade means you are very serious in study and will be also the same in working.
But I argued that how come he told from the mark/grade.
I know for sure (well from my experience) that sometimes even though I have put much effort on one subject, at the end I just got "enough" mark.
What is the standard of the "seriousness"? Is it A+, A, or A-?
How about the other grade, B, B+, B-?
Don't they who didn't get A put less effort than them who got A?

Unfortunately the company see the mark/grade first before your personality.
Well at least to get interview, you need to get at least 2nd lower.
That's the reality of workplace.
That's the fact about the world now.
To get in first you must have good mark/grade because with that they believe you have good knowledge and ability for the company.
Good mark/grade means you are cleverer than others. In this competition era you need to differentiate and good mark/grade is how you differ from others.
After that your interview will decide everything.
You need to show all your ability and persuade the interviewer that you're capable for the job.
So is your mark or your process more important?
Well it's up to you to decide.
I want to know your opinion.

In life truly marks are not important.
It's your skills and abilities which will make you be a successful person.
But in order to get in you must make the first good impression with good mark/grade.
Having good process will or will not lead you to good outcome.
But learning and knowing how to make the good outcome surely add your skill.
Is the experience the good teacher, isn't it?
What will we follow, the ideal world or the real world?
I know for sure we live in the real world which sometimes doesn't follow the ideal one.
Now it's time for you to speak up.

Emansipasi, Wanita=Pria?

2009-05-11T23:24:00.000+08:00

"Ibu kita Kartini, putri sejati
putri Indonesia, harum namanya

Ibu kita Kartini, pendekar bangsa
pendekar kaumnya untuk merdeka

Wahai ibu kita Kartini
putri yang mulia
sungguh besar cita-citanya
bagi Indonesia"
Setiap tanggal 21 April, bangsa Indonesia merayakan Hari Kartini.
Hari kartini memperingati kelahiran Raden Ayu Kartini, salah satu "wonder women" Indonesia.
Kontribusinya sangat besr bagi kemajuan penyetaraan gender.
Siapa yang tidak kenal Beliau.

Masih ingat dulu waktu SD, tanggal 21 April diadakan upacara bendera.
Setiap siswa diminta untuk memakai baju daerah dan foto Kartini dipampang di tengah lapangan.
Lomba-lomba dan pagelaran seni juga ikut memeriahkan hari jadi Beliau.
Terus-menerus diingatkan bahwa Kartini adalah pencetus emansipasi wanita di Indonesia.
Wanita kedudukanya sama dengan pria. Mereka setara dengan kita, kaum pria.

Dari tahun 1879 (tahun kelahiran Kartini) sampai 2009 banyak perubahan terjadi di Indonesia.
Kaum wanita juga mulai unjuk gigi di ranah umum.
Prestasi yang membanggakan mungkin adalah ketika Ibu Megawati menjadi presiden wanita pertama.
Walau sebelumnya dia diganjal dan tidak dibolehkan menjadi presiden karena masalah gender.

Apakah ini menandakan Indonesia sudah benar-benar terbuka bagi kaum wanita?
Apakah kedudukan mereka sudah setara dengan kaum laki-laki?
Apakah wanita sama dengan laki-laki?

Opini pribadi saya, Indonesia masih belajar menghargai wanita.
Memang benar sudah banyak kaum wanita yang "go public", tetapi banyak juga kaum wanita yang masih ditekan oleh kaum adam.
Ambil contoh TKI, PSK, pembantu rumah tangga.

Masih banyak TKI kita yang mungkin akan mendapat kemalangan di negri orang ditipu oleh orang sendiri.
Jauh menjadi TKI, mereka malah dijual menjadi penghibur dan pemuas nafsu laki-laki.
Dengan iming-iming gaji besar, mereka dibawa ke kota besar dari desa untuk dididik oleh "mami".
Miris melihat wanita bercita-cita untuk sekolah tinggi, tetapi harus putus sekolah karena masalah ekonomi dan gender.
Masih banyak generasi lama yang menganut laki-laki harus maju lebih dahulu dari perempuan.
Saya teringat pernyataan Ibu Megawati ketika berjumpa dengan ibu-ibu di sebuah pasar di Jawa:

"Mana yang dipilih untuk disekolahkan, anak laki-laki yang biasa-biasa saja atau anak perempuan yang lebih pintar? Tentu saja anak laki-laki toh?"

Sekali lagi, masalah ekonomi menjadi penghalang bagi emansipasi

Sama seperti kaum Tionghoa, anak laki-laki adalah putra mahkota di keluarga.
Mengapa tidak, mereka yang akan meneruskan nama keluarga.
Ketika menikah wanita diwajibkan untuk mengikuti nama keluarga suami.
Hal yang wajar bagi masyarakat dengan sistem patrealisme.
Jadi, lebih untung menginvestasikan dana ke anak laki-laki daripada perempuan.
Toh akhirnya anak perempuan akan diambil oelh keluarga orang.

Masyarakat tidak mungkin berubah pandangan dalam waktu semalam.
Semua ini membutuhkan proses yang panjang dan pasti akan menghadapai kendala.
Tidak hanya di Indonesia, di negara lain pun penyetaraan gender masih menjadi masalah.
Tetapi, adanya usaha dan perjuangan tanpa henti untuk mengusahakan penyetaraan gender sudah baik.
Perlunya penekanan akan kesadaran pria dan wanita kedudukannya sama dan diciptakan untuk saling melengkapi bukan saling menjajah atau menguasai.

Jadi, tidak benar bila pria menjajah perempuan.
Lebih tidak benar lagi wanita menjajah pria.
Istilah suami takut istri dan istri takut suamin seharusnya tidak ada di kamus kita.
Perlu diingatkan wanita tidak sama dan tidak akan pernah sama dengan pria.
Adanya rasa saling mengerti dan menghormati adalah mutlak dalam hubungan pria dan wanita.
Memang benar sekarang wanita bisa melakukan pekerjaan pria dan sebaliknya, tetapi fungsi utama dan pertama setiap gender tidak akan bisa digantikan.

Wanita tidak akan pernah bisa menhasilkan sperma untuk membuahi ovum.
Laki-laki tidak akan pernah bisa melahairkan tanpa ovarium dan kelenjar susu.
Wanita diciptkan dari tulang rusuk laki-laki,
bukan dari tulang tengkorak untuk memerintah laki-laki
bukan dari tulang kaki untuk menjadi budak laki-laki.
Wanita diciptakan sejajar dengan pria agar kita saling menhormati dan menghargai serta melengkapi satu sama lain.

Happy Katini's Day 2009

What's wrong with Susan Boyle?

2009-05-11T23:20:00.000+08:00

Susan Boyle, 47 years old woman from British Got Talent.
She is not really pretty lady.
She is far away from entertainer's look like we often see on television.
She is not really sexually attractive.
She said she hasn't been kissed and lived with her cat in her house.

But she has something that sometimes people forgot to see: DREAM.
I believe all of you know about her, at least heard about her.
The phenomenal audition in British Got talent has struck everyone who watched it.
More than 25 million viewers and still can grow more watch the audition on youtube.
It's funny, isn't it.
What does make her so different?

I watched the audition for more than 20 times now.
I looked for comment video from yotube; NBC, CNN, and other news program.
There is a interesting comment made by the anchor:

"If Susan is pretty, sexy lady, will she become famous like this?
It's just because she is not beautiful. It makes her interesting."

Well, I can say I agree and disagree with that.
Yes, it becomes interesting since she is not pretty.
But, she is truly beautiful.
She is full of confidence, brave, and never stopping to dream.
She chosen a right song for her audition "I dreamed a dream-Les Miserables"
Susan Boyle's audition
Like the Amanda, one of the judges of BGT, said:

"I'm so thrilled because I knew everybody was against you.
I honestly think that we were all being cynical and IT'S THE BIGGEST WAKE UP CALL EVER, and I just want to say that it's a complete privilege to listening to that."

Yup, that's what Susan brought to us.
A wake up call. Never judge a book from its cover.
From simple, humble, and unattractive woman, come out beautiful voice like an angel.
We tend to think ugly people, the less attractive ones, is not important.
They make our world become ugly, not beautiful.
They are like eyesore and need to be disposed or be covered.

What make Susan become superstar is not 100% her voice.
I agree she has beautiful voice, but other people also have it.
What she has that make her different is DREAM.
She dreamed for 47 years to sing in front of many people.
She dreamed for 47 years to become professional singer.
She dreamed for 47 years to rock her audience.

And this what sometimes other programs forgot to bring to surface.
Not only family background, social background, appearance, but also about hope and dream.
Idol program is here to make dream of person like Susan to become reality.
We have a lot of entertainer with good look, sexy body, nice voice,and young age.
But we do need person like Susan who teaches us never stop dreaming.
Someday your dream will come true and you need to believe it.

Even though people look down on you.
Even though people mock you in public.
Even though people laugh at you.
Even though people say it can't happen.
Even though people don't support you.
Just believe in yourself.

Show the world you have talent.
Roar to the world your voice.
Shout to the world your dream.
Tell the world your talent and dream.
That's what Susan has taught us and me.

"I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high,
And life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving."

Let Go and Accept Back

2009-05-11T23:15:00.000+08:00

Listening to Westlife's old songs, I make this note. 9.27pm.
Today and yesterday I screwed the time and my life.
Just doing nothing, sleeping, watching, laughing, listening to music.
Well, at least I did quite a lot different things in two days.
Not that bad.
But wait a minute, where is studying for exam?
Do I forget to mention it?
The answer is NO.

I didn't study for two days after having my last paper.
Well, my next exam is Monday and I have SU-ed it. It explained everything.
But I must study tomorrow for the subject, ADM330 (Contemporary Art South-East Asian).

Today I learned a lot from many things.
I want to share it to all of you who read my note.
First, after I read my friend's note about "Let Go", I realize something.
It's hard to let go, but we can do it even with tear in our eyes.
Somehow when I listened to Westlife on youtube, I remembered about Brian McFadden.
He is the former member of Westlife from 1998-2004 then he decided to focus on solo and his family.
I couldn't imagine how other members let him go from the band.
After almost six years together, having fun together, he had to leave the group.
I won't talk about his decision whether good or bad, but more on the letting go.
I watched the press conference on youtube, it was very emotional.

As I said before, it's hard to let go but we can let go.
Like friends, mark, exam, goods, even family, we need to learn to let them go.
Whether they go from our life or we leave them behind.
Life is not that simple and easy. Easy to say but hard to do.
My friend's note about this has struck me on my face.

But my question now, after I let them go why can I accept them back?
Feeling of betrayal, sad, left alone, hatred make us not be able to accept them back.
Even for family, we can accept them.

After leaving, looking down, and mocking it's hard to see them as before.
This world is so funny, why on the earth you come back to me after I let you go.
You don't feel happy with him/her and want to back in my arm.
After so much pains, tears, and shouts to ask you back nor you're yearning to come back.

Can't we accept them?
Aren't they worthy at all in our eyes?
Just because some mistakes, we cut all relationship.
Just because some arguments, we don't want to see his/her face.
Just because some misunderstandings, we blame everything to him/her.
Just because some problems, we close our eyes and our heart.

Love is painless.
Love is blind.
If you love him/her, not also you will let go but also you will accept them back.
It's hard, isn't it? It's just unconditional situation. It's a only for perfect world.
NO. It's real. It's true. It's for our normal world.

How about do we learn to not only letting go but also accepting back?
It's not only for person but also goods.
When we can do it, how beautiful things could be.
As perfect example Jesus has shown us to let go but more importantly to accept back.