Snapshots of Life!

Advice to the world

http://boi.geness.ufsc.br/videos/dm9ddb.wmv

Love this video...played it at newbie meetings tonight...

posted by Li'er @ 2:12 PM 1 comments  

World news...things that make me go hmm....

Lazy Sunday morning...okay, not so lazy...recovering from St Patty's debauchery. I'm gonna miss this american college tradition. Everyone dressed in green, loud irish music blaring, and long lines at the bar. Gotta love St Patty's....Im hoping to keep the festivities alive when i get to KL next year this time.

Anyway, glanced through the news this morning....saw several things that made me go hmm...

"Hmm" Story ONE: http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/03/10/modern.pets/index.html
CNN report this morning on the evolving relationships between men and animals. There are actually 360 million pet animals in the US right now!

Woah!!! It's 60 million more than the number of Americans inhabiting the northen continent...and just to put things in perspective...if we took all 360 million animals and put them in Singapore, that's 9000% more than the current 4 million homosapiens living on the island. Damn!

According to the report, in 2005, a total of $36.3 billion was spent on pet care alone! That's an incredible amount of money when looked as a whole. And I am as "guilty" of lavishing gifts on my cats as well, and while I am glad to hear that there are doting pet lovers out there (some animals are still subject to cruelty).....this article did make me go hmm... If we can care so much for furry creatures, then why aren't we motivated enough to help people suffering in the developing world? It's just this sense of something being pretty misplaced about the priorities we have in society.

Now I love animals alot (proud owner of eleven cats myself + Moby here in the states), and I am not advocating a reallocation of resources (too many classical economists who have been taught about the concept of limited resources?) but perhaps a mindset shift to expand our options and share what we have with other humans who are in need?

I have to admit being perplexed when I see Britney Spear's chihuahua with a diamond collar or hear the story of how Mariah Carey had her dog driven in a limo across from the West to the East coast when it couldn't be put on a flight.... It's kinda screwed up when you think about the poverty situation in places like Africa and Pakistan....

"Hmm" Story TWO: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2005/iraq.transition/
Iraq's war is in it's third year anniversary...

Has it been 3 years already? I think I am suffering from war fatigue...sitting in front of the TV or reading news about the war casualties.... What on earth are we doing here? I still remember protesting the war as a freshman....new to college....sitting with the hippies with their drums opposing the war. And now we are in the 3rd year of war?! That's a mighty long time to be fighting.....

Now some might beg to differ and argue that the entry into this war was needed to establish stability in Iraq. I am opposed to the concept of war because of the senseless killing that occurs in war time on both sides. I don't know any Iraqis and can't fathom the situation, but I do remember talking to college students like myself who were enlisted for active duty. If they were not fighting, they would be graduating today.... I don't understand the conflict between the Sunnis and Shia's (Aman has tried to explain it to me).... Why is there a civil war? What is the fight about? All the broken dreams for the parties involved in the war.... and every single day, you can't walk away from media outlets and politicians keeping the war alive and real. The current state of the world really sucks!

"Hmm" Story THREE: http://www.csrwire.com/article.cgi/5180.html
This isn't really a "hmm" story...but just an update about the Coca Cola company. I am tracking what is happening in Coca Cola due to the situation here on campus. Coca Cola was kicked off the U of Michigan campus when it didn't meet deadlines set up by a 3rd party reviewer on it's practices. Now, I favor working with instead of against corporations in adapting their practices to current expectations of a corporation. There is a growing demand for responsible behavior...although the extent of that responsibility is debatable. Anyhow, they signed the UN Global Compact, and in my opinion, that is one step forward for Coca Cola and the activists. Yay!

posted by Li'er @ 6:12 AM 1 comments  

Chrysler's turnaround story

Ever wondered why DaimlerChrysler is keeping it's cool despite the onslaught of lay-offs in the automotive industry? This Fastcompany article which detail lessons derived about Chrysler's management and philosophy might hold the answer.

They started by asking themselves what were the qualities that made them so great during the crisis situations they faced in the last few decades, and tried to figure a way to bring those qualities into the good times. Talk about positive organizational scholarship...

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/98/chrysler.html?partner=rss

On leadership:
"By contrast, Zetsche depends on a team of executives, including LaSorda and Creed, to make decisions together even in the good times. And instead of assuming he knows what's best, he has spent a huge amount of time getting to know the company he leads by learning about its history."

On discipline and perfection:
"Apply intensity to every nut and bolt in the car."

On product focus:
"stay focused on the consumer, not the competitor"

And the one lesson that made me go, "hmm...good point!" :
"creativity actually occurs when the boundaries are defined, not when they are limitless."

posted by Li'er @ 4:25 AM 0 comments  

Cookies and Cream Icecream

Bleghs! I had my finance exam today and it wasn't fun. Studying for it was kinda painful too...and I tried to occupy myself with more meaningful activity by sleeping. I eventually got up in time for the exam, arrived just as the exam started, and gave up when i couldn't do the last question about forming a portfolio that would satisfy the Arbitrage Pricing Theory. I'll probably do average on the exam....maybe get a B for the class...which kinda makes me mad since I tend to have higher expectations of myself and don't like settling for an average when I think I can do better.

That said, the class is a farce and the attempts of attending lectures have only ended in 1 hour naps in the lecture hall. Sigh, what on earth am I doing in school? I haven't been a good student at all this semester, despite taking one class...haven't turned up for my other class that i am auditing (i think my professor has given up on me). I am not quite sure how my days just go by so quickly....but it's only 2 more weeks to the CSR Conference so there's some work to be done. This is like the lull period and I am looking forward to an exciting life in KL.

So anyway, was so upset that I ran to Village Corner to buy myself cookies and cream ice cream and kinder bueno chocolate. Cost me $8....freaking expensive icecream but well worth the money since a cup of it was all it took to make me feel better. That and hugging Moby (who fell asleep on my chest) and then watching girls fight for "Outback Jack" --> stupid show but the zero brain activity means I can relax and not think about the last exam question I couldn't answer.

Daddy's GPS system has arrived at my house. 4 boxes in total. I still don't get why he wants a GPS for Singapore. We are so SMALL! How can you ever get lost in Singapore? If all else fails, just follow the bus route home....I don't quite get how the map would help....

Mark is planning his trip to india for the summer. I am so excited for him and shared some prep info that I used last summer. The difference is that he's going with his church group on a mission to work with kids in the brothels of Mumbai. It will be for about 5 weeks, and they won't have contact with friends and family during the mission. While i understand the rationale, I don't know if I can survive being without family contact for so long. But well, am super proud of him for taking that step to do something different. I can't wait to hear his stories.... OOh! Plus he just gave me boxes of asian snacks! Gotta love pocky!

And I finally get to speak with Josin who has finally returned from China and Hong Kong. It's so good to be able to talk to old friends again....I am going to visit him at Northwestern next month! I loved hearing his stories about Hongkong, he's been through a rough period falling sick when he was there.

St Patty's day this weekend! Thinking of going to Chicago to watch the river get dyed green but decide against it to save money for a rainy day. I have to train myself to watch my expenses and be sensible about the things I buy. Back to the needs not wants mode which means staying home instead of going out so much. I feel like eating Zingerman's right now!

posted by Li'er @ 2:03 PM 0 comments  

Life after Spring break...

Ahh Spring break...this is going to be my last spring break for awhile. I'm going to miss it A LOT!

Why you ask? Well, the countries around the equator only have one season...and it's called summer with lots of rain. Hot, humid, and very very rainy...with chances of lightning. Hah! I remember there was a statistic that lightning activity is so high in Singapore that the odds of being struck by lightning was higher than anywhere else in the world. I think it's true because the local papers would often report of some poor dude who gets struck by lightning on the golf course.

http://app.nea.gov.sg/cms/htdocs/article.asp?pid=1203

And well, Spring break is made fun by college kids going crazy for a week before they submit themselves to the humdrum of school and papers and midterms...

So this Spring break, I spent it at Aman's house and then headed to Chicago to party with some friends. I got to meet Dave O, bond with Aman, put up with crazy people on Amtrak (dratted train broke down for 1 hr on the track in the middle of a cornfield), and then clubbed myself out in Chicago.... I'm still recovering from the Friday/Saturday night cocktails I had.

I was also clued into the dating scene in 2 major American cities (Cincinnati and Chicago)
Disclaimer: let's just pretend Cincinnati is a major city for this entry

Apparently, people do not just hang out at bars to meet other singles at these cities. In fact, if you allow yourself to be creative, even the local supermarket and that art museum become hot spots for the swinging single! I kid you not...

My trusted sources tell me that singles in Cincinnati hang out at the local Kroger near Hyde Park, and that Kroger speed dating services are held at this location. Figures as the Kroger outlets are 24 hours and well, there isn't very much to do in Cincinnati. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to check out the crowd. Somebody who has been there tell me what it's like?

In Chicago, I joined my girlfriends in an event called "First Fridays" held at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Now, I will openly admit I have very little appreciation for paintings on a wall and statues and sculptures. I would much rather shoot myself than to endure being in an art museum. The only art I like and can appreciate is moving art ie. dance. So I was a little skeptical but was pleasantly surprised to see the crowd at the museum. Young professionals all looking to have a good time. No sleazy guys looking to grab your butt; but people who actually seemed interested in having a conversation. There was food, a DJ spinning house music and alcohol...lots of it. And then the magical SD word....speed dating at the museum. For some strange reason, the contemporary pieces actually looked quite interesting after a glass of martini. I can't say I made the smartest comments on the floor...probably made a fool of myself; but hey...it's Spring break and I'm allowed to have some fun.

posted by Li'er @ 2:55 PM 0 comments