The results of positive affect on motivation are internal change and improved performance

I am alive this moment, and not planning to waste any of it :)

What is not of today that worries you will be a distraction for you to complete what you need to complete today.

Life is what you choose it to be, followed by the necessary action to make it so -Winson

Positive side: Opposition can be used as a tool to motivate further improvement -Winson

Don't be perfectionist, nothing is perfect. But if you have to, perfect the art of handling imperfection. -winson

The journey of life sometimes takes you through rough roads, and that is when you have something to share about how you overcame it.

Our purpose of life drives us and keep us motivated to wake up every morning and take a little step daily towards it.

Leadership is about.... handling the good time, as well as the rough time....

History is written by those in power, and the loser, almost always seems to be the bad egg.

Management by Objective (MBO): Have detailed expectation of what we want even before we start

It is necessary to mature, but it is not necessary to grow up. Have some fun :)

This is how life is like, after one hurdle, you should pick up speed for the next one...

When you put yourself on the line, that is when you will perform best.

We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves; otherwise, we harden.

One way to get the most out of life is
to look upon it as an adventure.

There is only one way to happiness, and that is to cease worrying things which are beyond the power of our will.

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

A good deed is never lost: he who sows courtesy reaps friendship; and he who plants kindness gathers love.

Thinking will not overcome fear, but action will

Men do less than they ought,
unless they do all they can.

In darkness, light shines the brightest, in adversity, we display our best ability.

The chances that you get to enjoy your leisure time gets better if only you plan it

Have patience with all things, but first of all with yourself.

A Long Break

After about a couple of decade not writing blog, or at least that was how it felt like, I decide to write something today. But have no specified topic to write about, so lets just say I'll comment on something and everything that I can remember or know that is happening around me.

1. Economic Crisis OR Financial Crisis: Friends and family around me has been talking about the crisis and our stock market hitting rock bottom. That is then when we buy our house and invest a few 100k into blue chip stocks. Apparently over a period of 5 years, it will double your income. Well if that is true, lets us dig into our pocket and see how much we have :) 2nd problem, when do we exactly hit rock bottom :) And lastly, will you have that much to invest, just in case you have emergency. Well have to do a risk analysis already

2. Politics: Nothing like what I have read in the Sejarah textbooks. It is amazing how politic play a role today. It even seems to overshadow everything else like the police, the judiciary, the MACC and it is like all this pillars of the country is under political party. Well how sad that we can only make a decision every 4 to 5 years (that is, every general election). So, it is like we pay a movie ticket and watch it for 5 years. In between, you could do nothing about it. But one thing I do wish, can everyone involved in it just think of the country first, and everything else second. Look at the shape of the economy in our country. Companies are doing all the cost cutting for survival and we still can see a lot of 'advertisement' of political leaders, of that our country is in a good shape, of everything is good and fair. Nope I don't buy that. We have come into the working world and we only know one thing, only RESULT is justifiable. I don't see any activity that can justify result from 8/3/08 until now. So, zero result thus far, and not to mention the poor return of my EPF :( I thought the country did pretty well last year. Enough talk I suppose, I could go on forever.

3. Global Climate Change: I have said this many times, look at the kind of weather we have. It is really bad. It gets really hot and we have rain almost every evening. The climate is definitely changing, but how would it affect things globally. No one knows, hopefully our kids still gets to see what we see today.

4. PMP: I am doing this course and it is just so hard to answer some of the questions. I am really trying to work hard, after a long day of work, going back and do revision. It is not easy especially after a long day at work place. I suppose I need a lot of motivation and a lot of coffee. And hopefully with a lot of trial exam question and a lot of reading and memorizing, I can make it through.

5. Scandals: Is it me or what but there seems to be a lot of scandals lately. How come Dr Chua's issue re-surface? Scandal is subset of politics I suppose.

6. Meetings: I propose we held some meeting under the tree rather than air-con rooms. It is better for the environment and heck, important meeting of the state can also be held there, why not a small company's meeting, right.

7. Health: I seem to have problem with cough, it haunts me so often and it takes so long to get well :( Also it takes so long for me to recover after a game of basketball. My muscle ache is really a nuisance. Otherwise, pretty cool. Not to mention my mental stress increased when Man Utd went down to Liverpool at Old Trafford. But let me tell you what champion is made of, they will come back stronger AND so am I.

Well 7 points, represents 7 days in a week, 7 deadly sins, 7 heavenly virtue and of course the 7 dwarves :) I better get on with what I am doing and more updates down the road...

In the photo today: Indiana Choo and the Landmine Museum of Cambodia. Wow, boy do I look like .......

Blessed weekend ahead :)

A farewell is necessary before we can meet again, and meeting again, after moments or a lifetime is certain for those who are friends.

The longest journey is the journey of self discovery.

There is no self-made man. You will reach your goals only with the help of others - Teamwork

Quality is not an act. It is a habit. -Aristotle

“You see things and say ‘Why?’ but I dream things and say ‘Why not?’”. Man Utd for quintuple? Why not!

A good deed is never lost: he who sows courtesy reaps friendship; and he who plants kindness gathers love.

The secret of happiness is freedom, and the secret of freedom, courage.

There are no classes in life for beginners: right away you are always asked to deal with what is most difficult.

For a creative writer possession of the ''truth'' is less important than emotional sincerity.

Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it.

Global Catastrophy

I have been living in Malaysia all my life. Though I have traveled here and there, most of the time, I have spent it here. I can't help but to notice a few things from where I live here.

- It is getting hotter and hotter all the time. I can either get dehydrated immediately when I am in the open air. It feels that the sun is burning directly into my skin as well. Can't sleep with my air-con ON. I don't think it is about me getting older, but I believe, it is really getting hotter and hotter, day by day.

- There are times when Malaysia entirely is in 'haze' due to forest burning in our neighboring country, Indonesia. The haze affects us by difficulty of breathing, blurred vision and asthma patience have it the worst. The cause of forest burning is of course open burning, which further complicate our environment.

- Sudden rain, and certainly qualify for the word thunderstorm. It was all hot and dry for the first half of the morning and suddenly the 2nd half of the day, it suddenly rained so heavily that trees start to fall the other day. But this are just not isolated incidents, I have seen this happened many times, at times off guard (forgot to carry my umbrella).

And in other countries, you can see the following news

- Tsunami (happen because of earthquake), but I suspect it is part of the effect of Global Warming. I am just guessing, and I am no scientist.

- Heavy snow fall in UK (not the usual but extreme type, happened recently). Climatic changes, attributed to global warming as well.

- Australia, bush fire due to extreme heat, another global warming effect. People actually die of dehydration in Australia and the county recorded the highest temperature somewhere in this year.

- Melting of ice caps. No one really bothered but I have read this many times over in newspaper and watched in TV documentary

Some what can we sum up to all this news and many others which I couldn't recall right now. Is our industrialization and free market capitalism promoting global warming? And how does company re-acts to it? There was call for Green IT during the WCIT forum that I went last year. It may work and it may not, as some claims that at this stage, it is already too late to reverse anything that we have done over the many years to our delicately balanced nature.

Well some people may not know what is the effect of global warming. What I understand, the melting of ice caps due to increasing temperature will cause a rise in water level, which significantly reduce land area. Not only that, the rise in temperature will kill a lot of species.

- Killing of plankton as food for fishes will cause a chain re-action in reducing the number and diversity of fish. This will reduce protein source for us, which is important component for human growth.

- Plantations will not produce enough food, due to the extreme weather and temperature. Not enough food will be a major problem for countries all over the world. Already now, people are dying of starvation in desert rich countries such as Africa. The rice of temperature will eventually turn almost all major land into desert.

- Not enough fresh water for consumption. Yes, with the growing population in the world, the water is decreasing with global warming. You can imagine when our kids grow up, their problem is that they do not have enough water to drink.

Well, what do you think? I don't know about you, but I myself should use less plastic, drive less and car pool more, support Green IT, support environmental groups, do less myself in contributing pollution, use less water, share this with others etc. But will what I do really help to reduce Global Warming. I don't know, but at least, I don't want to contribute further to global warming as much as I could. God knows, but I think I better pray about it, hopefully God can give us a hand to fix this Global Warming problem that we, human started.

Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.

Of Blogging and Journalism

I have been doing more journal entry lately then blogging. I journal by having quiet time, taking down the learning time with the Word of God and having it written in my journal. It has been a long time since I actually sit down and write, as most of the time, I would have typed everything that is in front of me. As I write, I felt a weird sense of hand actually feeling cramp after about 2 to 3 paragraphs. Anyway it has been a great experience and it is refreshing to the soul. I actually felt I learned more during this quiet time.

Let me then summarize the steps of what I do in order to journal. I get up early in the morning and while it is quiet and still BUT awake, I take up the Word of God and start to read using a daily reading planner. Daily reading planner is to ensure that I do systematic reading everyday and not random or choose only what I would like to read. After reading, I would think and meditate upon the word or sentence that strikes me most. I write out the scripture and then followed by whatever observation that is interesting that I could pick up from the passage. Then I write about application of it in my own live and finally a word of prayer for this learning. It is that simple, and it takes me roughly about 30 minutes depending on my level of consciousness early in the morning.

And after I did that consistently for a while, it doesn't feel that bad anymore. It used to be a hard task that I must get myself to do, but now, I do it everyday without much effort. I do feel aligned first thing in the morning after I do the journal :)

As for blogging, I do remember and it always cross my mind that, yes, I have to blog about this and that etc. However coming in terms of doing it wasn't as simple. As for now, I guess there is just too many topics in my mind right now, probably I would just do a quick summary of it.

1. I just joined Project Management Institute (PMI) and is currently an aspiring student for Project Management Professional (PMP)

Tough nuts, a lot to read and a lot to understand. This will take much of my time off me.

2. Chip (my pet) just ran off a couple of days ago. He left me and Dale at home. So sad :(

I have actually been searching for him high and low, but couldn't find him, this is bad. I still continue to try to find him everyday. I look here and there, I take a walk with the hope of finding him, but I still couldn't. I really hope Dale is OK as he has lost a brother and a playing partner. Now he looks so boring and I do not have time or the time to bond with him :(

3. I have conquered Siem Reap along with Angkor Wat.

This is an entry I want to blog about a lot more, but not now due to time limitation.

4. This is the worst news, I got cough again :(

Hopefully it takes much shorter time to recover. Till then...

One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his greatest surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn't - Henry Ford

The 1st step in acquisition of wisdom is silence, the second listening, the third memory, the fourth practice, the fifth teaching others.

We must care for what is in our hand, then to worry that which is off our hand

Like a truck on a slope, after achieving one milestone, you should look for the next milestone, otherwise you go downhill - winson

Who should write the requirement document, the end user or the vendor?

95% of people want success in everything, which they can't. That leaves 5% successful people who knows how to prioritize what they want.

You can either gain wisdom by slowly experiencing everything yourself, OR you can gain wisdom quickly from those who has done it.

Loving is not just looking at each other, it's looking in the same direction. Happy Valentine's Day Folks.

First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.

“All the world is birthday cake, so take a piece, but not too much.”

“Learning is what most adults will do for a living in the 21st century.”

When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money.

You cannot make it as wandering generality, you must become a meaningful specific - Zig Ziglar

The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. Man Utd extends lead.

Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.

Is Quality Relevant in 2009?

We first start to explore what happened to the Big Three automaker in USA. Ford, GM and Chrysler are the 3 top brands and are movers and shakers of the automobile industry in USA. We heard about them going to the Congress meeting and proposing a bail out plan to the Congress. You must be wondering what really happened to them, certainly their products do not lack in quality as compared to that of the Japanese giant like Toyota's.

In the past, according to ASQ Quality Progress Jan 2009 edition pg. 14, Toyota has a defect ratio of 1.5 defect per car compared to 3 defect per car for US automakers in the 1980s. Currently it is about level, i.e. Toyota has 0.9 defect per car compared to that of 0.95 of US automakers. So the quality is about the same which implies that quality did not cause the pitfall of US automaker. HOWEVER, the perception of quality did. Toyota cars are perceived to be high quality for the long commitment and continuous commitment to the capital Q. When we speak of Toyota, first thing that came to mind is quality, compact, fuel efficient and affordable. This bold well with consumer who has for a long time wanted to save on fuel consumption and have a good lasting car for usage.

Second area that we see defeat in US automaker is the COST. The CEO wages for US automaker is scandalous to start with and Japanese company like Toyota has a more hierarchical and controlled wage structure for them, even to the CEO, I believe. And in line with quality, Japanese company like Toyota also has a systematic quality, cost, improvement and effective mind set where continuous improvement is an everyday thing. What is inefficient is immediately taken care of. They do quality thinking everyday from top to bottom of the organization. At the end, since the quality right now is about the same, I believe the cost in producing a car of the same quality by both Toyota vs US automakers must be a huge gap causing the cost of non-quality being passed on to the user. Meaning if you buy from GM, Ford or Chrysler, chances are your car is more expensive than a Toyota not because it is better, but because you pay for 'a not so effective way of doing things'.

A summary from above, concentrate on Quality and Quality mind set across the organization, is the key to business survival in the long run.

And next question you may be asking, what about us Quality Professionals? Are we relevant or should we be the first on the chopping board because we are not exactly in the production line to produce goods for our customer? Or some management may brand it, it is time for survival fight, it is not time to think and spend more on Quality. Well, the time to invest and really push forward for us Quality Professionals is now.

In this economic environment, it is important that quality professionals demonstrate the ability and the promises of Quality as we have seen in articles, text books and concepts, adapt it into our environment and yield the benefits of it. Here are four ideas of how to start with:

1. Communicate the need of Quality across organization. Form action teams to get quality project executed with the buy in from management. Put yourself on the line, and get the buy-in from management to support such cause as to see the result that can be yield. As the environment is turbulent, go for short and effective projects that can yield a lot of savings for the organization or greatly enhance sales.

2. Communicate the need of Quality upwards. Speak to management using Cost of Quality (COQ) concept. Attempt to decipher and study the cost of failure and show how can quality projects and quality initiatives reduce that. Again put yourself in the line, and be pro-active to push through the understanding to management team.

3. Be pro-active and continuously look for ways to improve in terms of quality, processes, reduce wastage, improve output, reduce time and improve output even from each and every employees.

4. Record the results and outcomes of this projects as bolster for your future quality projects. This will be prove to you, your management and also to your organization that quality thinking and quality initiatives is important during good time, more so during the bad times. Sell Quality to your organization so that they embrace it.

So to answer the question, quality is relevant in 2009, and I can see that organization that is able to embrace quality by each and every employee shall emerge from this economic slump stronger, better and more competitive than ever before.

I find that nonsense, at times, is singularly refreshing. AND, Man Utd still tops the table with a game in hand :)

Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending. Man Utd tops the table... still...

It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry.

Gong Xi Fa Cai! Happy Chinese New Year and blessings to you and your family.

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined. Happy Holiday

Fall seven times and stand up eight.

A Long Holiday (not enough though)

We had a pretty long holiday. A 2 day holiday for Hari Raya and then comes a working Friday and then off again for the weekend. It was a good break to relax and spend some time at home with family. After that it was the Christmas and New Year in the month of December and come January it is Chinese New Year. Well the flow of holiday seems good while the financial crisis and recession continue to hinder any mood of joyous and festivity. Coupled with the problem with Satyam, the overall outlook of the new year seems to be able to do much better. And of course not to forget our fellow human beings in Gaza, some of whom have died while Hamas and Israel continues to engage each other in a war that is punctuated by cease fire calls on and off, but they actually have been fighting all this while.

I like to spend a long holiday to really sit down and reflect on all this things. I may not be able to change anything at all, but, it is time for me, at least, to sit back and look at everything I understand from a perspective which I myself can accept. Whatever it is, things will get worst, according to the bible in the book of revelation. Probably that is a place to start to find peace in my heart amidst chaos in the world.

Haha.... that is all my ranting today :)

This is where I want to be.... ahhh....

Real difficulties can be overcome; it is only the imaginary ones that are unconquerable. Liverpool draw!

The man of wisdom is never of two minds; the man of benevolence never worries; the man of courage is never afraid - Confucius. MU tops.

What does your report card says about George Bush as president?

Experience is the hardest kind of teacher. It gives you the test first, and the lesson afterward.

It doesn't feel right that people are dying in needless war. It seems to some that there are no alternatives other than war.

Teamwork divides the task and multiplies the success. Man Utd 3 - 0 Chelsea: A satisfying result :)

It is time to take action and go for the league with 3 games in hand :)

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

Beta Release of Windows 7 soon http://ping.fm/jBHwX

When you play, play hard; when you work, don't play at all. - TR

A likely impossibility is always preferable to an unconvincing possibility (Aristotle)

Resolution 2009

From young, I have been setting targets and goals and it has been a few fruitful years. Though some of the years, the target was over-set, which causes me to few a bit down for not achieving it. There were also times, that it was fruitful and able to push me forward very well. I remember there were time that I didn't even know where I kept my resolution. Whatever it is, resolution is a tradition to me and I would go around asking people what their resolution is. Funny but interestingly, most people do not have one or a very vague one.

Here is how you can do it most effectively as far as I am concern. I am no expert but I must say that I have enough experience of it over the past 10 years to know what to do to setup your yearly resolution

1. FOLLOW what your heart tells you. Take time to meditate, think, think and think. Talk to yourself on what really makes you happy and what really propels you forward and make you feel good. Your heart must buy what your head says. Think with the very end in mind. I know this is tough, but when you set this year resolution, think as far as possible what would the end result be from your goals and actions this year. Begin with the end in mind, says Covey

2. THINK big, start small, walk persistently...

3. WRITE it down... anything you do, the one thing you MUST do is write it down. Somehow it helps your brain to stick the info in better.

4. Get an accountability partner to help ensure you follow up

5. Work on it, don't drift. Stick to the wall and look at it everyday. Ensure you move inch by inch towards it. At least millimeters.

There is a lot of good expert out there that have written great books about it, but if you are really serious about it, get excited and go for your goals that you have set out to do :)

In the pic: Still thinking of this vacation place. Forgot the name though.

Anybody who wants the presidency so much that he'll spend two years organizing and campaigning for it is not to be trusted with the office.

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. - Charles Darwin

Are we charting our destination or just drifting along?

If we do not plan what to do with our time, we will help do what others has planned for themselves.

Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get (Dale Carnegie)

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident - Arthur Schopenhauer

My resolution next year is to look at my resolution before next year ends :)

New Year coming, so New Goals and New Resolution!! No time to look back, lets move forward together...

Christmas countdown, everybody....

People say that Christmas is a time you make your wish and it will come true. I made my wish and waiting for it to become reality :)

Recession or not, financial crisis or not, Merry Christmas :)

Is Christmas too commercialized that it has lost its meaning? Santa, what do you think?

I probably wouldn't have the bandwidth to wish everyone a Merry Christmas... so, Have a wonderful and memorable Christmas 2008!!

The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook

Bought a present? Made a wish? Thought of someone? Go give/wish/tell them your best wishes.

2009

Strategic plan for 2009 and beyond

The year 2008 is coming to a close already and there have been many turmoil and turbulence along the way over the entire year. 2009 is not going to be better if we do not re-strategise now and change the business direction if necessary.

If the demand for the existing products and services are going to be lower the year ahead, something needs to be done now in order to mitigate the anticipated downturn.

Intel’s corporate strategy of building the US$33 Atom CPU to complement the matured US$100 Core-2 or Duo Core CPU, months ahead of the expected cyclic slowdown in demand for PC’s and electronics products, is able to sustain the growth in a trying economy. Now we can see a lot of ATOM based mini notebook or netbook from all sorts of brands.

Toyota’s corporate strategy of providing affordable mid-range saloon, Camry, is definitely creating a nice niche market. Its small car market is doing very well too. Its high end Lexus is also doing well competing with other up-market cars.

Core competence and NPI

I have the opportunity to share my knowledge and experience with some of the multi-national corporations (MNC’s) and local enterprises on supply chain management for global as well as local operations. The good news is that some of the MNC’s are still forecast a less than average growth for 2009 in spite of the imminent global recession in the horizon. Almost all of them ride on their core competence and outsource the rest, as well as having new product introduction (NPI) as a strategy to maintain or surpass the current organic growth

Dell’s corporate strategy to sell the production facilities in order to outsource production is a testimony of the adoption of the emerging virtual corporation, in order to focus on the brand power. Dell is very much in line with HP, Apple, Sony, and other computer manufacturers. Foxconn and Hon Hai are the major beneficiaries for the PC, notebook and mobile phone contract manufacturing in China and Taiwan having an annual sales of US$80 billion or so.

Toyota has perfected the Toyota Production System that is being adopted as the fundamentals for Lean Manufacturing. While the big three automakers in the USA are waiting for the US$25 billion government bailout, Toyota continues to be profitable with the subtle philosophy of simplification and standardization. Toyota has a very effective mass customization strategy that leverage with powerful customer and supplier relationships to deliver high quality cars at affordable prices.

Changing corporate and supply chain strategies for competitiveness and survival

Some of the movers and shakers of global supply chain management are redefining the conceptual framework, corporate and supply chain strategies, as well as operations management. All of them are customer focus and demand driven in order to provide perfect on time and complete delivery performance to ensure total customer satisfaction.

Foxconn has emerged as a global leader in contract manufacturing by supporting the clients’ supply chain strategies of low cost, high quality and delivery reliability. Its ODM (Original Design Manufacturer) strategy is years ahead of the competitors. It has aligned the corporate and supply chain strategies effectively.

IT-enabled Supply Chain Management

Many of the corporate IT projects have gone awry and failed to be effective because of the fundamental flaws of not addressing the business process and people first prior to IT implementation. This cart before the horse approach has been proven to be the root cause to implementation failure throughout the world.

Education and training can save the corporation millions of dollars that can go into consulting, implementation and customization without any real benefits and results.

Once the management and staff are properly educated and trained to develop and refine business processes and practices. The processes can then be clearly mapped with simplification in mind, making the configuration of an ERP/SCM system will be much easier and less time consuming and costs.

Human capital development

In a turbulent economy and marketplace, it is strategic to develop the human capital so that the best employees can be retained to ensure continuity during the recovery and upturn. It is also the best time to improve on the current processes, fine tune the effectiveness, and perfecting the on-time and complete (OTC) performance.

The way ahead

It is time for the enterprise to sharpen the supply chain thinking and invest in the human capital to become more innovative and competitive to cope with the turbulent economy and marketplace.

Source: Cicie Chin

You can control the situation, but you cannot control how I choose to act

Newton got his idea when an apple dropped on his head.. you might consider dropping something bigger for a start :)

For every action, there is an equal and opposite re-action

Had a great weekend, attending a garden wedding & spending a great day @ Hotel Imperial. Outstanding and wonderful atmosphere, blog it soon!

Congratulations.... Abi & Brian, on your wedding day!!

If you think of the story of chicken and egg, which comes first,then, most probably, you are very free. No I am not thinking about it.

A morning can never be as fulfilling without a cup of hot coffee

What is the one thing you want to change given the opportunity?

Feeling rather good with the progress made today

Testing out the latest gadget that I am trying out... ping.fm

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

I got a book, a small book for a run-down price during the MPH sales near my house. I think I have got more than what I have bargained for. For a few reasons, reason no. 1 is that it is small enough for me to finish reading within the appropriate time frame. I found that this days, I do not have the endurance to finish a book. It happened when I try to read the last thick book, that is, one of the Lord of the Ring book. Even when I tried to read the Harry Porter book, I couldn't finish one. So having bought and completed Randy's book is one of my personal achievement, that yes, I am still able to find the concentration to finish a book.

OK, moving forward, like to share with you what I have learned from the book, I figured that there will be a couple of people who is like me, who will always try to look for synopsis of the book rather than going through the whole book. The story begin frankly with our Professor Randy Pausch who has been diagnosed with cancer. The story goes on to tell us how he thinks life is all about, how he navigated it through and how he summarizes it for the benefit of his students and also his family in his last lecture in Carnegie Mellon University.

A few of the things that strikes out in the book or lesson learned are

1. Life meaning is about fulfilling your childhood dream (well, yes, that is what Randy has achieved)

2. He throws in a couple of adventure and the lessons that he had learned throughout life. I remember especially the one on head-fake.

3. It is also one of his happiness to be able to enable other people's dream, which is what a lecturer's life is all about. Training the students for the coming future in his field of expertise, that is the virtual reality.

4. His second last section is on how to life your life, that is, to Randy how he had live his life or his life lesson thus far. He is telling us his way that he thinks best of living it. No argument there with our professor.

5. His final remark is a bit touching. It is mainly for his wife and his kids, which he may not be able to see very much of in the time of his writing of this book. Nevertheless, he has given much thought and communication with his wife. The think about him is that he views communication, jovial and his choosing not to succumb in sadness or depression really sticks out strongly for him.

The book contains some photos which shows that the professor in his 40s still look very boyish and handsome and has been able to exude a strong sense of friendliness and influence in the place he works and people around him. The way his think and a piece of his thought throughout the book gives us a fresh insight of a dying man with a strong and firm battling spirit for the betterment of his family is really an inspiration to me. Not only that I am not facing such issues, but I am living my life so much less 'treasured' compared to him. Well if one thing Randy did in this book is to tell me to live my life to the fullest and in every moment of it. Live my life to the very minute of it, with the people that I treasure most.

Go get the book, the author is already dead now, that is, somewhere July/August 2008 this year. However he will always be remembered, at least by me. Go 'google' this famous name out or get a hand on his book. Have a nice day :)