The process of making a decision

October 4th, 2007

Today I attended Landmark forum, and listened to the introduction of their programme. They talked a lot about how the past experience could affect a person in making future judgments. There was also a talk about how to create and take options, take charge in our lives, and live with the consequences that we’ve made. In short, for us to live without regret.

How has past experienced affected my decision making capabilities? In the forum I heard people talking about how sour their relationship with their families. How they’ve had prejudice opinions to their partners; these opinions which are formed because of the past experience, then, act as a mental barrier between them. So whatever the other parties are trying to say, they can’t get the real message through. At that point, that was clear to me that a person’s past experiences can act as a hindrance for them when moving on to a new level of life. In my life, sometimes, this happens.

To realise that we have options, and to live the consequences from the options that we take, those are two statements that I’ve learned in the last couple of years. I am glad that there is a pool of people here in this small island that shares the same opinion as me. In this country, to tell people that they have options is rather hard to do.

I had numerous conversations with taxi driver, and I could only remember less than 5 taxi drivers that spoke highly of their lives. There was one taxi driver that I could not forget. He said he drove the taxi because he was bankrupt. He put a smile in his face when he said that. He told me, “Young man, I’ve lived a very meaningful life. I celebrated when I succeeded, and had no regrets when I failed”. I was impressed. If I become a taxi driver, I would like to tell my passenger my kind of story and put a smile in my face at the same time.
I was rather surprised that there were plenty of sharing in the forum. People are very open. They’re still friendly, even after the event. Again, that’s a rare quality in Singapore. One of the things I hate about the people here in general is that they’re somewhat reserved. There are these kinds of thoughts hanging in the air, “I don’t want to speak up if I don’t have a wonderful idea”, “I don’t know you, why should I share my things with you”, “Speaking out meaning I’ll be the center of attention. I don’t want to.”

I shared my piece of story last night with these people. From that piece of story, I told them that I’m in the middle of a junction of different decisions. In the end of the story, I thought I knew the answer already. But I know this early morning, my mind is not sure about the answer that I wanted to take. That makes me confused again. I throw a question back to myself, what do I really want in my life.
The process of making a decision is hard, not only in business world but also in real life. But what is easy is to live up with that decision. And that’s the art that I’m trying to master.

It’s been a long time

September 21st, 2007

It’s been a long time since my last post to the blog. I can’t sleep tonight, I think my mind is troubled. Then I thought, what did I do when I was troubled. Suddenly, I remember that I used to write a lot. And somehow it eases the mind.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hatta’s word to us, the east men

June 14th, 2007

Read to what he said and think bout it!

(Mohammad Hatta, dikutip dari tulisan berjudul “sosiologi Budaya ‘Malas’ dan ‘Rajin’ di

Nusantara” karya Waruno Mahdi)

“Orang Barat sangat mengmoekakan hasil. Hasil ditaroknja dimoeka, laloe ia berichtiar mentjapai hasil jang sebesar-besarnja jang dikehendakinja itoe dengan membanting tenaganja jang ada…. Orang Timoer mengemoekakan tenaga. Tenaga ditaroknja dimoeka, dan dengan tenaga jang paling sedikit terpakai hendak digapainja hasil jang sebesar-besarnja. Ia sedikit menggoenakan tenaga, sebab itoe hasil jang mungkin ditjapainja dengan tenaga jang sedikit itoe sedikit poela djumlahnja.”

My good friend said…

June 12th, 2007

He said, “Don’t stay put, do something for a change!”

You’re right, my friend. The sun never waits and I’ve gotta pick my lazy bum off the chair.

terror activities, act of desperation, and dominant player

June 9th, 2007

I had a lunch discussion with office mates over few topics like Hollywood vs European movies, Al Pacino, and Pirates of the Caribbean. One of the topic that we talked about was terrorists and their activities. There were four of us (S, M, D and Me), and each of us has our own opinions. So… Read the rest of this entry »

What I had on May, this year and the years before

June 5th, 2007

May is the fifth month of the year. When I was still in school, it was this month which I usually studied hardest. It was time for the final exam; be it going to the next grade or graduation.

BollockIt’s been almost 2 years since I graduated from univ. In may 2005, I think I was struggling with my final year project. Report writing, paper submission. On top of that, I was busy sending out my resume looking for a job. And it won’t complete without me saying that I received rejections more than receptions.With my extra experience in AIESEC and leadership position in some organizations, I thought I was well armed. But I was wrong. Unless the resume was very exceptional, what the potential employers wanted to see in it was grade; words like First class honours and such. And I’d say that NTU grading system was bullshit, a total bollock.

In may 2006, I was busy socializing. Partying and such. Live like there’s no tomorrow.
May 2007 has been a rugged ride. I started to think about what I want to do, how I should handle things, and such. I started to feel that I am responsible with my own actions. Higher self awareness if I can rephrase it. Hmm… maybe that sounds mundane, but hey… I’ve just got an enlightenment. Thinking about how I can cut the distance, my romance, careers, how I would want to go for a master degree.

I like what Eben Moglen words about how to change the world. There are two things to change the world according to him:

  • Know exactly what you want
  • Know exactly how to get it

According to John Nash, “An individual’s action depends on what is best for the group and what is best for himself”. I don’t want to change the world yet, so I’ll just change myself first.

Google is spying on me

May 30th, 2007

Can’t believe it that google has interests in me.

I am touched

May 29th, 2007

I simply couldn’t sleep at 4am in the morning. I flipped trough a couple of people’s blog and I was touched by an entry in dey’s blog which is a poem extracted from Heinz Shalloff: Read the rest of this entry »

Bali and my stuff lately

May 26th, 2007

Bali is magic… I love that island. On my last trip there, my head was full of questions and thoughts, and that’s why I was mentally ‘tortured’ for 2 hours in the plane while sitting and doing nothing. When one does nothing (no physical activity), one’s mind is actually busy. Very very busy. One thought will enter one’s mind, one after another. And the scariest thing about our thought is that, it doesn’t recognize the law of time and space. Sometimes we can think we are in Tokyo buying a chocolate bar. That chocolate bar reminds us of a certain romantic event. Then in a split of second we are thinking about giving a chocolate to our first crush.

That was what happened to me for 2 hours, inside Airbus crossing Indonesia’s islands. No in-flight entertainment, no one to talk to, no pretty air steward to chat with… so I was by myself. My mind kept asking questions which I couldn’t answer. Constantly battling. When an answer comes, another answer will pop up instantly which will negate the previous thought.

But…. few minutes before landing in Bali, voila… I’ve got the thought which was satisfying. The island is magic. No wonder the island is called, the island of Gods, or an island of a thousand temples.

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I promised to marielle that I’m gonna write something about, Singapore as a handbag society, which the status of a woman can be valued from the handbag she posses. I know naught about handbag, so I need to do a little bit of research before I can write about that.

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Indogroove would be launched, but not so soon yet. I’ve got to find time to do that, otherwise I would procrastinate again and again. Before I know… suddenly peuffff… gone is the opportunity

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I’ve got dental braces and I’ll buy a book: How to Kiss with Braces. Not only that I will read that book, but also I have to start practicing it.

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Oh… OSIM triathlon. Will I die while running or swimming during the competition? If yes, then I would have to start my training sessions from this week.

life-partner-replacement theory

May 21st, 2007

Due to popular demand, here I present my theory that I said earlier on. Let me start by raising a question. Why do a person need a partner, or a life partner to be specific? Or if I can, I would like to rephrase it to be, why a marriage is so important for a person? Read the rest of this entry »