Life is a journey

now that i have more or less secure my next appointment which is to be Coy 2IC/OC..and as this fact start to sink deeper into my conscious mind, i am starting to relate better to this quote "with power comes great responsibility". with this appt, i will be managing more pple and in order to do the job well, in my perspective, is not so simple as completing the training requirements or deadlines of tasks given. what i think is more impt would be how i gloom,develop and nurture the guys under me.

personally, i had worked under a number of bosses already and none of them have the same management style. even if they have the common endstate in mind, the way they do it will still be diff due to personal traits and understanding of matters. thus by looking back at the diff bosses i worked with b4, i try to filter what are the good and bad style of management and way of getting things done. after tat, i have to match what is good practice to my personal trait. is that something that i will really do with my heart? cos when i do things juz bcos it is a gd practice does not mean i will do it well or wholeheartedly. only when i do things with my heart then i believe my guys can benefit from it.

ha..guess i am going thru one of those times where too many things are flashing past my mind..so dun know where to start..k nvm, guess i gotta start to write down wat i want my guys to achieve at the end of our journey together..

p.s. letting your hair down and getting all drunk can be a one gd way to refresh your mind and be recharged! but its juz one of many ways la..:)

You were born with the Sun in Leo and the Moon in Taurus. The key words of your character are pride, self-determination, strong will, objectivity, and moral dignity. Your goals are respectability and wealth.

You are ambitious, aspiring, and very capable of taking positions of responsibility. You are one of those individuals who likes to exercise authority, and you have a good deal of dignity. You are generous and magnanimous, and whatever negative characteristics your temperament may have are completely compensated for your warmth and noble outlook. Privacy is another of your important and sacred principles. You dislike having people interfere in your business, and resent others trying to reach you at intimate moments. You’re clear and bright, and your view of life is well integrated. Outwardly the stubbornness and fixity of purpose of your character are even more accentuated. No one can force you to change your mind about anything. Externally, your main consideration seems to be acquiring wealth and satisfying your pleasure-seeking instinct.

You are by nature energetic, proud and self-assertive. You project yourself enthusiastically and energetically into all situations. Your naturally outgoing disposition and personable manner usually make a good impression on people. Your heightened self-perception puts you in touch with a strong sense of will, and you can manipulate your will to suit your aims and desires in life. This position of the Sun gives the capacity for leadership, for you tend to attract people and to have a strong influence on them when they are with you. You do not like to depend on others, but you hold on to your friends, for they are usually pleased to help you when you need it. You are willing to help close friends who are deserving, but only if you know that your efforts will be appreciated. You often prefer to work alone. However, this is not your only choice, for you adapt well to working with people as long as you are free to express yourself. With a first-house Sun, there is a tendency to overestimate your own worth, but through repeated contacts with others you will inevitably come to a more realistic appraisal of your abilities and potential.

This is an entry not to be missed as you will be lead thru a journey of unfathomable circumstances that you can only imagined, dream about or watch on TVs!!

It all started with a gathering with 2 friends and the plan is to have dinner at JB. Thus once off work, I dashed off to meet up with them and we started the journey to JB. The traffic just b4 the sg customs was abit congested but it’s alright cos we spend our time in the car chatting away and taking candid and artistic pictures. Furthermore once we cleared the sg customs, the traffic was unbelievably smooth and in a twinkle of an eye, we reached JB already.

The first “event” that happened for the night was not very special but it delayed our itinerary abit and that is we lost our way. And the wrong route that we took resulted in us reaching our destination later by about 45mins. But anyway, guess we really know how to entertain throughout the journey. Hence our mood was still bustling when we reach the hawker centre for our dinner. Fast forward abit..we had a hearty meal and we made our way to our car.

Now, the unexpected happened..all of us entered the car already and just when I tried to closed my door, a man appeared and block me from closing the door. He looked dark and dirty and he started to rattle off a string of sentences saying how pitiful he was. I thought he was a beggar and was hoping that he will leave once we showed that we really are not going to do anything. However he persisted and did not want to leave. My friend, XW, who is sitting beside me then proceeded to argue abit with him and even gave him 5 ringgit. At this juncture, his tone changed and he started to sound more desperate AND he begin to draw out a knife from his pants..we were shocked, at least I am definitely shocked and a few scenarios did popped up in my mind and none looked good..i remained rather quiet and that point in time. My friend, XW was the main person so called “negotiating” with him. Next he begin to name his price..first he said at least give him $100 to $200 SING..so my immediate reaction was to say I dun have cos I really dun have ya..then next he lower his expectation and say ringgit also can..then I stretched my hand into my wallet, which was already on my hand actually, and gave him some money. He asked,” how much?” I say I dun know and ask him to count himself. In that split second, my sensing was that he has softened down and things look better. However, he continued to rattle off somemore of his personal plight and even apologised a couple of times saying he dun have a choice, etc..then he left….

We quickly locked our door and with one eye glancing back to make sure the guy really left, I proceeded to drove away..now this was when all 3 of us let out a breath and started bustling away again voicing out all our thoughts that drift past our mind while the man was having a knife facing us at such close range..guess our adrenaline was really pumping away as we left the customs..cos we end up on the wrong lane and gotta U turn back to JB and back to Sg again..as a result, we have to pass by the incident place again..a cold shiver really ran down our spine manz..

Hope my narration is not too boring but anyway I guess if u want a more exciting and informative descriptive of what actually happened, I will recommend you guys to check out XW’s for her blog and Jacen’s/ for his fluid description of the incident!

As for me, as always, I will focus on the learning points/take aways from this incident, issues that I did not really placed so much importance in the past

1. First cut, I think we really take our home country for granted and a lot of times, we dun really pay so much attention to safety and security issues that may be prevalent in other countries..as such, i think we are too complacent and are not wary of our environment and possible threats. These threats are in fact very real and omnipresent. Thus my first point is we should always try to take preventive measures. Cos once the real thing happened, it will be too late to do anything. You may try to salvage the situation with some quick thinking but really whats the chance of winning?
2. The above macro point lead me to my 2^nd micro point which I personally thought was how it lead to the robbery to happen. It was a wed night and obviously the crowd was not there. However, the 3 of us just seems to have endless energy as we were rather noisy at the hawker eating, giggling and taking pictures away. And that lead to unnecessary attention. Next after I paid the bill, I did not put my wallet back into my pocket and it juz happened that I placed my money at the outer compartment of my wallet i.e. can see my money from outside. Personally I think that’s a big mistake as I think the robber noticed that and followed us from the hawker center to my car… furthermore we were juz too full to pay attention to the surrounding and our guts was totally down. And this offered a opportunity window for him to strike. And couple with the fact that was no people around at that time. How can he missed such as opportunity rt?!
3. Next when presented with the decision of whether to give money, I made the decision to juz give him what I can dig out from my wallet. I did that as I felt that that’s the best thing to do at that time. He seemed emotional and with a knife on his hand, he could do anything. Thus I see no need to sacrifice anything other then abit of money. After I handed over my money, I sensed that he was more calmed. However, he continued to rattle a few more sentences which to us, at that point in time seemed like eternity..on the way back home, all 3 of us more or less agreed that giving him the money is more or less the best we could do at that point. Nevertheless, we did also wonder what if after I gave him my money, he still dun want to leave or worse still, he demand for more! Or even ask us to unload the car and he just drive off the car…so basically, the robber could have did more and cause more damages..or the worse worse case is he use his knife on me..thus the possible consequences really drive me to decide to juz hand over the money. Thereafter, guess all of us felt relieved and more importantly is all of us are safe and sound. Nobody can imagine what if any of us are hurt in the process. In that split seconds, guess all us really valued our friendship even more. So guess my advise here is, if if if ..and I mean if you really encounter such situation, money is really not important. If money can remedy the situation, dun struggle, juz let go..and hope for the best..
4. Summarizing the above points, guess I based quite a lot on my gut feel during the whole process though I did not articulate much..my sensing of the situation is that this man is here for the money in my wallet. Cos I exposed my wallet too freely and that caught the predator’s attention. And if that is his focal point, I sense that if I give him what him want, the situation will be remedy..thus, as a result I think I acted rather calmly throughout the whole process..so bottomline, safety is still most impt.
5. Lastly some overall advise for everyone, try not to visit JB during weekdays where human traffic is much lower. Go with more friends. Be alert and wary of the surrounding. Watcha for each other. When faced with the least desired situation, stay calm and accessed the situation, dun try anything rash..your life is still most impt. Dun wear and reveal your valuables, it will attract unnecessary attention.

Guess after the whole incident, 3 of us thought we did well in facing the situations. Thought we did not start well, guess we manage the situation quite well and was able to leave the incident behind with only this blog entry to show (and not any bandages or wat) there are still a lot of thoughts going thru our mind I believe…for e.g. can you imagine if the robber attacked from XW’s side of the door..what will happen considering our different type of temperaments and reaction?? There could be a lot of what ifs..but nevertheless, I am still a happy man now with my friends with me..ha though I think the robber might be a very happy man at this moment..but only this moment..

"Annual self anaylsis is an essential in the effective marketing of personal services, as is annual inventory in merchandising. Moreover, the yearly analysis should disclose a decrease in fault, and an increase in virtues. One goes ahead, stands still, or goes backward in life. One’s object should be, of cos, to go ahead. Annual self-analysis will disclose whether advancement has been made, and if so, how much. It will also disclose any backward steps one may have made. The effective marketing of personal services requires one to move forward even if the progress is slow." quoted from Think & Grow Rich by NAPOLEON HILL

Due to my longer travelling time back and fro work, i start to have abit of excess personal time for myself alone to ponder and reflect. Guess its definitely a plus point.

let me now share a few qns that i think is useful for self-analysis

1) Have i attained the goal which i established as my objective for this year?

2) Have i delivered service of the best quality of which i was capable, or could i have improved any part of this service?

3) Has the spirit of my conduct been harmonious and cooperative at all times?

4) Have i permitted the habit of procrastination to decrease my efficiency, and if so, to what extent?

5) Have i improved my personality, and if so, in what ways?

6) Have i been open-minded and tolerant in connection with all subjects?

7) Have i dissipated any of my energy through lack of concentration of effort?