Career Beginings.

July 27, 2007 | 1 Comment

Read a very inspiring story from Jacklyn (who is into Personal Development and Empowerment) about how someone from bankruptcy, picks himself up and building a successful business now. As for me personally, never really experienced that but went through a similar thing with the company I worked for in the first 2 years of her start-up. We were threatened to be foreclosed by the Bank and it was no small matter and you really feel the heat and the pressure just to stay afloat. Thank God the company survived and grew to become quite a successful established corporate entity in her own field of expertise.

Recalled how I got the job with this company and looking back, it was quite funny really. I was a fresh graduate engineer and was dying for a job so that I could support my wife and child then. During that period of time, there was an excess of engineers plus very little openings and many of my fellow engineers were unable to get a job, not even with the Government. We were surviving on rock’s salary as a school teacher and boy it was tough! Without even a rented house, no car, no income and a forever hungry baby! We lived in a room with my mom-in-law who offered us free accommodation but we paid for our food. Remember to give thanks for parents and parents-in-law for they are a source of tremendous help and support for a young person starting life as a rookie.

I learned of this company doing something in line with my qualifications and training, so I headed to the office asking for a job. Never bothered to write-in to save time. I was disappointed for the Admin cum Personnel Manger told me that they already had 5 engineers and there were no vacancy for another! A very quick 3 minutes interview I got. Being young, arrogrant, reckless, fearless or hard-headed, I did not accept his answer, thinking to myself if at all anybody tells me there’s no vacancy got to be the boss himself! But how could I by-pass him to get to the boss? Well by way of the boss’ secretary! Don’t forget to give thanks for secretaries too! So I waited until lunch break saw the Admin Manager leave for his lunch, I sneaked back into the office chatted with the secretary, using all my charm and good manners, managed to get her fixed me an appointment with the boss who was away and won’t be back for a week. I did not lie to her if that was what you folks are thinking for actually I knew this boss by name but he never really know me. We were working for the telecoms before I left to pursue my degree and now he started his own company.

Of course I managed to meet him, got the job and since then had never looked back until now after retirement! Why I share this story and what it has got to do with Jacklyn’s story? Don’t give-up easily, persist and persevere until you get something to start with and then advance from there. Anyway what conclusions you may have drawn or derived is not that important but starting live from scratch and from bankruptcy requires determination, focus and some tenacity and that’s my 2 cents worth.

Posted by bokjae | Filed Under Life Experiences

Second Thinker’s Award

July 26, 2007 | 4 Comments

Thank-you to Sweetpea for giving me this Award! Second time for this one and made me feel honoured, loved and the appreciation. Just mention this on a post to express my heart felt thanks to you. Sharing my thoughts on how I feel about giving or receiving Awards and Tags :-

Part of an extended family - our circle of blogging friends is growing.
A Person - We are not just a visitor to help in the rankings.
A Friend - our relationship is getting more than just a Hi and bye!
Touching Lives - we are making efforts to know one other better by reading their blogs; sharing your joy and your pain.
Building Bridges - we respect each other by embracing our differences in many issues.
You Care - By giving blogging time to one another.

My thats what makes blogging so satisfying and fulfilling to me. Thank-you to all my blogger friends.

Posted by bokjae | Filed Under Badges, Memes

What will I do with $1 million?

July 25, 2007 | 8 Comments

I was so shocked to learned that my good friend doris is going to give me $1 million! Anyway the joy was short lived because it was a tag but thanks doris for allowing me to dream.

15% - for our Father.
45% - for our children.
15% - for social works.
25% - into our retirement fund.

Not too hard after all. Now I would like to know from these friends :-

Judy
Miche
Davidbong
Angel
Tracy.

Posted by bokjae | Filed Under Memes

Drowning Experience

July 25, 2007 | 11 Comments

I have died or nearly died once. It happened when I was about 5 years old and on the first day of the chinese new year. I could not remember the details but was told to me by my eldest sister about this incidenct. However, the memory of drowning stayed with me all these years.

On that day according to my sister, I was playing with a neighbour’s kid, a little girl by the name of leng-leng. The family was having lunch and somehow I fell into the big earthen jar which we use to contain water for all purposes like cooking, washing or bathing. All I remembered was suffocation and I felt cold. Then out of desperation I got to breathe and I remembered taking in water into my lungs. Then I felt that I was floating and then drowsiness and finally black-out. During that time I got the sensation of floating and it was not scary, not painful but just cold and dream-like before I totally lost all conciousness. The rest was related to me by my sister and to cut the story short, leng-leng who was only 2 plus or 3 raised the alarm and my dad rescued me from the jar, and leng-leng’s mom hang me upside down and gave me hard whacks to get the water out of my lungs and eventually I woke up. According to my sister, I was not breathing, water was flowing out of my nostrils and mouth plus I already turned blue.

The second time when I nearly died happened in the early 80’s when I took Durian with Brandy! Something dangerous and please do not even try. I did it unknowingly and I ended up having very high temperatures and became very sick for 2 weeks. The doctors could not find out what was the cause except telling me of some virus infection. I was given ice-bath at 5am in the morning and they took my temperature every few hours and many blood tests. When I got admitted into the hospital, I was having something like Rigor Mortis! My whole body was stiff and I could not bend my limbs and thats when my mom-in-law and rock took me to hospital. After a week in the hospital, I slowly recovered and after that I shed my body skin like a snake! My new skin was fantastic, supple, smooth and tender just like baby skin. Rock was envious of my new skin! Later, others told me that a few people died after taking the potent mixture of Brandy with Durians! The initial feeling that night after taking that was I felt very hot inside. The next day, my body broke out into rashes like having measels!

Posted by bokjae | Filed Under Life Experiences

Most beautiful of Creation

July 24, 2007 | 4 Comments

I am referring to women for they are the embodiment of beauty. The most interesting subject be it to men or to women themselves. My friend done a post on this titled Unlocked The Mystery of Women and she highlighted one important aspect of it is the key or keyword “Love”. If your woman is giving you the cold treatment or throwing crying tantrums, she said you can bank on it that it is the issue of unmet needs associated with love! She also mentioned about women who are control freaks and you men are in more serious trouble. Interesting to hear the views from a woman!

Digressing on this issue, there was this piece of juicy news yesterday where a wife with her daughter and grand -daughter stormed the house of her 72 year old hubby’s 20 year old girlfriend and beat her up. Ended in the police station and being charged for assault. Strangely I noticed that women are their own worst enemies! Even when you hear two women quarrelling over a man, they usually call each other vulgar names connected to their private parts which then lead to pulling each other’s hair, clothing and slapping! Strangely the wife seldom attack the man! Perhaps to save face, for it is easier on her ego to blame the other woman stealing her man than to believe her man was lusting after the other woman. In addition to what I gather from most women is that it is the most difficult thing to accept i.e. the infidelity of her spouse as compared to other vices like gambling, drinking etc. I guess women associate sex with love and for men, most think that sex and love exists independent of each other, more like the sub-set in a union in mathematics!

Another remarkable thing many men do not realize is that when a woman dresses herself up it is more for other women to see, appreciate, stir up envy rather than for the men! Just listened to the chattering of a group of women over high-tea and you’ll understand what I mean. I guess it spurs each other on to dress better! Competition?

Many times when your spouse snuggles up to you in bed, she may be just asking for a love hug more than anything else. For the man, when he does that you know 90% of the time what he really wanted! Well I guess as long as we live, this vast, complex and yet exciting differences between the sexes will provide endless hours of studies and volumes of books to be written till eternity.