Tag: Life

The less obvious, the more intriguing.

Curiosity led me to discover this track to a secret Lagoon. Yes, I got lost in the middle but that was part of fun.

I love exploring the unknown because the novelty that comes along with it just never wears off. Again, I shared this moment with my little one Jamie…

Now, I’m sharing it with my readers. What are you curious about?

More often than not, I’m let down by own expectations. But when it comes to curiosity, I’m more likely to be surprised than disappointed.

There’s something about curiosity I can’t quite resist. Looking back at those so called hidden treasures I stumbled across, it wasn’t a map or a GPS or a guidebook, but curiosity that helped find my way…

Google chose their APAC headquarters to be based in Singapore rather than in Taiwan and elsewhere in Asia. Why do you think that is?

To be successful on the global stage, you must have a great command of English. If you don’t, you can forget about it. In that, Singapore outperforms the rest of Asia.

If you’ve ever studied a foreign language, then you probably already know the challenges and frustration that come with it.

So, what does it take to get your message across in a different tongue? Why do some countries do so well while others don’t?

In reference to English as a second language, today I learned that Taiwan, my birth country, ranked poorly (scored “low”) on the English Proficiency Index (EPI) 2018 released by English First (EF). Standing uncomfortably at the 48th place worldwide out of 89 non-English-speaking countries, this disappointing result was Taiwan’s worst over the last 8 years, dropped from the 40^th place in 2017, the 2^nd worst record in history.

With the next index due to be released on 05 November 2019, I’m very keen to find out how much worse it can get!

So, what needs to be done to increase the level of literacy and overall linguistic skills in English for Taiwan? Not that there’s a lack of focus or support from Taiwanese authorities, schools and parents. In fact, there’s plenty. But relying solely on an existing curriculum or external support network will not help students go far enough, because they have their own limitations, and this is true for any countries.

From a personal experience, it was the extra time and effort invested outside the school hours that helped me make a difference. Back in the day, I used to listen to the English broadcast on the radio to improve my listening and speaking skills. I also hired personal tutors (who were native English speakers) and went to private English classes in the evening.

I remember how I usually sat in a front row of the classroom acting like a top student. I just grabbed any opportunities I could to practice my English and ask a lot of questions.

Having a bit thick skin allowed me to keep my fears under control. Some common fears such as fear of being laughed at, fear of being called a show-off and fear of making mistakes weren’t simply in my vocabulary! To this day, I’m still the same person who loves learning new words and phrases.

With the convenience of internet everywhere, there’s really no shortage of external learning resources. So, to thrive, it all boils down to “inside job”. What? Inside job? Don’t freak out. By that I mean working on it internally to acquire language skills or any skills for that matter.

Lastly, confidence doesn’t come from self-talk, it comes from self-practice. It may not be as easy as ABC in the beginning but with practice, practice and practice, the results will soon speak for themselves…

You think you’re safe just because you don’t look for trouble? Think again! The trouble is… trouble will find you.

Yes, people stuff up, systems break down. Just another form of drama you don’t need but it pops up anyway. That’s life! Yes, shit happens. It stinks. It happens faster than you think. It happens faster than you can prepare for.

The setting: After a week long break, Sunday night it was me sitting in the bathtub trying to fix a broken tap.

A few hours passed, there was still no sign of progress. It became quite clear that it was going to be a long night. The thought of it just added more pressure to what already a stressful situation.

What about tomorrow? I had to go to work. My heart sunk as I started to feel more agitated and tense. Then came the infamous line: Why did it even happen? Why now? Why me?! – I lamented as I watch the clock ticking.

Well into the evening, out of desperation I called my brother for assistance. I also rang my electrician to see if he knows any good plumbers around. In between, I also did a bit Google Search trying to learn some quick DIY tips. Lastly, I called my boss and told him that I can’t make it tomorrow.

3 AM in the morning, I was still awake, still dealing with the same problem. I sat on the floor looking at the mess, I thought: Why should I feel grateful even when shit happens?

My Sunday night was ruined. I had to take a day off work. I still had to figure out what to do. There was no guarantee the situation would improve the next day.

I closed my eyes, took a step back and allowed myself to sink in a bit. A sense of gratitude started to emerge out of nowhere…

• Who was there to open the door to see me at mid night – my brother.
• Who was there to answer my call outside trading hours on Sunday evening – my electrician.
• Who was there to tell me it’s OK, not to worry if I can’t come to work tomorrow – my boss.
• Who was there to sit quietly and let me work on the issue alone – my dog.

Why should I be grateful even when shit happens? I’ve pretty much answered my own question…

Let’s face it. Even with good intentions, we all think negatively sometimes. Beating yourself up when you think in a negative way? It’s not going to bring you any positive outcome. So, what’s the point?

The key thing is to find ways of transforming the thinking pattern so that it doesn’t eat up the rest of your day. But how?

In September last year, I happened to see Dr Karl Kruszelnicki at Dymocks city bookstore on a book-signing event, for his latest book entitled: Karl, The Universe and Everything.

I’ve always been drawn by his wit and in-depth knowledge of many things – good, bad, beautiful and ugly. Sometimes even stuff you feel shy, embarrassed or ashamed to talk about, he writes about it.

Out of curiosity, I went to pick up one copy and had a quick browse while there. One chapter called Earworm really struck me.

I was fascinated by the well-researched information, particularly some good tips on how to get rid of earworms. To my surprise, chewing gum is said to be the most effective way to date.

If you don’t know what earworm means, according to Cambridge Dictionary, it means a song that you keep hearing in your head.

In my previous experience, an annoying song (I won’t name it here) was playing in my head again and again. It was spinning like a broken record, just driving me insane. It happened while I was out and about around a beach. All up, it lasted two hours.

How did I stop it eventually? As soon as I got home, I turned on my stereo and played one of my favourite songs on repeat. It was an instant cure! A gentle and effective way to kill an earworm, with no side effects! Of course, that song I played didn’t become another earworm. Even if it had, it wouldn’t have bothered me.

Well, that’s not the end of the story. To satisfy my inquiring mind, I wanted to know more. I wanted to find out if there’s a correlation between negative thoughts and earworms.

What if we start treating negative thoughts like earworms? Try chewing gum? Will playing my favourite 80’s songs help? Interesting huh? Well, that’ll be my next project. Watch this space.

For now, I’m going to leave you with something to chew on here. Till next time, stay tuned!

Chatswood Mall Market is a hectic place. There’s a good variety of market stalls to please all sorts of shoppers including food from around the world – Greek, Spanish, Turkish, Japanese, Chinese, Malaysian, Taiwanese, you name it. It also features a live musical entertainment in a wide range of genre every week.

“Citizen of The World” was the band busking one Friday evening some time ago. In fact, it was the second time I saw them there. Even though I was much drawn by their tune the very first time, I didn’t stay to watch them play. It was all because I was in a mad rush to do my grocery shopping.

It took me the second time to stop and immerse myself in their music. I found myself gravitating towards the energy and the emotions flowing through the band members. It felt as if the lead singer was singing for me especially when he was interpreting a very powerful ballad or a sad song as he called it. I could tell he must’ve sung it from his heart. It was very moving.

Captivated by their musical style, I decided to own it on the spot. Counted to 3, I took a few quick steps towards the centre stage, put a ten dollar note inside an open guitar case that already had some loose coins and notes lying around, then grabbed a copy of their latest EPs “Memories In My Head” from a box. For some reason, I was a bit nervous to get so close to them but I felt like they needed my support, so I just went for it.

Later that night I found the band’s Facebook page and decided to write them a text message to say how much I loved their gig. To my surprise, a couple of hours later the band members responded with thanks and some really kind words. One said it makes his day. The truth is they made my day as much as I made theirs.

I guess any one of us can be just another face in the crowd, but the thing is we all the power to make a difference to someone’s day even in a smallest fashion. I’d love to see the band make a name for themselves one day and continue to touch people through their songs.

Next time, if you happen to see an artist or a band playing a gig you like, why not stop, look and listen to the music. It’ll mean a lot to them…

PS: It gave me a great pleasure when they shared this post on their Facebook page.

When I first studied English as a 12-year-old school boy, I fell in love with the language straight away. Even to this day, the richness and the versatility of the language continue to fascinate me. The scope of what words can do really goes beyond imagination.

There’re many types of greetings in English, a typical textbook example often goes something like this:

Person A: How are you?

Person B: I’m good. Thanks, and you?

Person A: I’m good, too. Thanks.

Well, that’s pretty much the end of a conversation.

Of course, many real life conversations don’t always follow this pattern. They flow differently depending on the situations but more or less they all work along the same lines of “How are you?”.

In the very beginning, I was only a kid trying to figure out the massive grammar rules and all that. Relatively new to the English-speaking world (or the West as you may call it), I’d always thought “How are you?” was a meaningful question. But very soon I realized that no one seemed to take the question literally or seriously. Most of us were happy to take it and leave it – we gave a quick answer, then we moved on.

It’s not an overstatement to say that “How are you?” is the all-time most frequently used and abused cliché. There’s some everyday evidence to back it up. But I don’t want it to just end there.

Where do we go from here?

I truly believe “How are you?” needs a bit more personal attention or TLC. It’s a question not to be taken too lightly. After all, we are talking about our states of mind, aren’t we?

To delve into the world of “How are you?”, it’s a greeting that has power to change someone’s day, for better. If we mean it like we should, then it deserves a few more seconds of our time. A little bit patience goes a long way. It’s not hard to just stop, listen and wait for the answer before we end a conversation and go about our business.

Of course, not all human interactions warrant a high level of attention and that’s when more causal greetings come in like “hi” “good morning/afternoon/evening” etc. It’s simple, friendly, carefree, apt and to the point.

To a further extent, a great Australian charity organisation like R U OK? has been at the forefront of advocating a suicide prevention through life-changing conversations. With a question like Are you OK? as a starting point, it aims to re-write and re-define how we respond to this age-old question and help alleviate the stigma around not feeling OK or depression. This is a movement that gives much needed weight to this simple question.

While not everyone always wants to talk about their issues, it’s nice to know that people do care to listen… So, How are you?

Passion passion passion… What is your passion? What are you passionate about? This buzzword is just about everywhere.

If you’re a job seeker, chances are you’ll come across passion-related questions at job interviews. What are you going to say about it if you’re asked?

You might’ve already heard it a lot on some popular podcasts or read it from many social media post feeds etc. Topics about passion never stop to follow us around.

Should we declare that passion is now officially a cliché?

Passion, so overly used and abused that our brain literally has become desensitised. Don’t blame ourselves if we’ve already lost our way even before we set out to discover it.

Is it about time to take a step back and re-think about our obsession with passion?

It seems that the harder we try to chase our passion, the further we push it away. Time and time again we end up feeling frustrated and defeated even more.

When desperation comes into play, what does it leave us? Or maybe I should say where does it take us? Well, It moves us further away from our goals. It backfires.

For me, the last time I was in desperate need of finding my passion was when I was made redundant in October 2011 from a company that I had been with for 11 years.

Did I find my passion? No, but fortunately I did land a few jobs here and there. Whether I decided to stay, that’s another thing.

In hindsight, now I know the reason why I didn’t find my passion. The mistake I made was I tried to turn it into a money-making machine. By doing so, I lost track of what passion is all about – it is something you volunteer to do and enjoy doing, even without getting paid for it. Great if you have opportunities to monetize it down the road, but still OK if it doesn’t give you a short-term financial reward.

So, where is a good place to start if you aren’t there yet?

Try a bookstore! Remember the last time? Which aisle did you go to first when you walked in to a bookstore (either online or a retail store)?

In my case, I found myself hovering around the art/design, writing reference, business and health sections a lot. It’s a good indication, isn’t it?

I know I’ve grown and cultivated a newfound passion and I’m willing to do it for free. The trick is how to take the pressure off. The same answer I keep coming up with is: I don’t need to be good at it but I need to be good at doing it often…

 

Australia has long been regarded as The Lucky Country – a land of opportunities and a fair-go for all. The reality is we aren’t immune to all sorts of adversities, hardships, issues and problems like the rest of the world.

At the time of facing an uncertainty, I often experience a mild form of anxiety. It’s just part of the package called life. Perhaps it’s my fighting spirit or my survival instinct, I don’t allow myself to go astray. When I’m trying to re-group myself, two questions I ask myself are:

1. Who’s got the most unrelenting quality to deal with unpredictability in life? And
2. Who can I draw an inspiration from to help me get through the rough patch?

Well, we all need to eat, don’t we?! Perhaps diving into where food comes from is a good way to start. This is how the story goes…

One Saturday morning when I was sorting out my groceries, I was very much captivated by the colourful fruit and veggies – blue berries, strawberries, apples, grapes, cherry tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, yellow squash, you name it. Nothing brightens up my weekend like the fresh produce.

As I put them away in the fridge, I started to think of those hard-working people behind the scenes – growers I’ve never met.

To me, the abundance of food is always within easy reach, readily available at supermarkets. Whatever we need, just put them in trolley, go to a checkout counter and pay, then the job is done. Whereas, to growers, their crop is at the mercy of weather conditions every day of the year. Too much rain, too little rain or no rain at all can throw their livelihood into disarray.

What do they do when the weather turns ugly? What do they do when the drought hits? What do they do when the crop is ruined by an unforeseen calamity?

Do they grin and bear it, get back up and try again? Or do they just say “tough”, “why me?” and give up?

What do growers do to stay resilient, viable and competitive?

You bet! They’ve given me plenty of food for thought…