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Live Life With No Regrets!
Entrepreneur, philosopher, thinker, game designer, software developer, actor, writer.
"My purpose in life is to entertain people, to allow them to have fun, laugh and enjoy life."
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June 29, 2007
Living Life
The thing about living life is that there are breaks but there are no short cuts.
You do get breaks in life, an audition works out, you get promoted. But there are no short cuts. You still have to work hard preparing for your concert, you still have to work hard in your new position. There is no “I’ve made it.”
It’s a paradox in the sense of I know that God has been leading and guiding me through my life, yet I know also that I have to work in life, to concentrate, to focus, to be disciplined.
It’s a paradox in the sense of I know that God has been leading and guiding me through my life, yet I know also that I have to work in life, to concentrate, to focus, to be disciplined.
There is no magic way of getting out of debt. No fairy tale godmother that came into my life and waved her magic wand and *poof* all of my debt is suddenly gone.
Another example is romance. Having a woman walk into your life isn’t enough. You’ve got to make it work. You’ve got to woo her.
It’s about saving money, and making it work. If you want to get a house, get a wife, raise kids. It’s all about work. But it can be satisfying when we keep our eye on the goal.
Think of it in another way, your life story will be a pretty bad story if things were to magically happen with deux ex machina popping up in your life regularly.
You as the hero have a journey to work out, there will be twists and turns, hard decisions to make, sacrifices to lay on the altar and you could create a plot twist to change things around.
Being Poor...
There are benefits and also dark sides to being poor:
1. You learn to manage scarce resources.
2. You know what is the most important things to spend your resources on.
3. You gain an eye to look for opportunities to extend your dollar or to get benefits for free.
4. You learn to appreciate the truly finer things in life without the distraction of materialism.
5. You stretch yourself further.
6. You learn to rely on things other than just money to get things done, persuasion, intellect.
The dark side of being poor:
1. You may start to believe no one wants to help you.
2. You may believe that being poor is your lot in life.
3. You may start hating those who are rich.
4. You can be so distracted looking for money that you forget that life is more than just money.
5. You may keep shortchanging yourself in career choices, life-partner choices.
6. You may learn to pinch pennies but not focus on earning bigger dollars.
June 26, 2007
How To Respond To Criticism the Malaysian Way...
If a foreigner (diplomat, journalist, etc.) criticizes your country's policies:
"You should not interfere with our internal affairs."
If a citizen (journalist, activist, etc.) criticizes your country's policies:
"This is a sensitive issue. You should not raise it up."
If the issue is valid, use an irrelevant and worse example to contrast:
"If we are really (anti-Christian, anti-Chinese, etc..) you wouldn't see (churches, chinese) on the streets."
OR attack them back...
"You say we (ethnic/religious group) are bad??? Look at Hitler! That (Christian/German/Westerner) killed so many people." -- (Though they neglect to mention that there were also Christians, Anglo-Saxons and Westerners on the allied front fighting for freedom).
OR claim knowledge of harmful motives or lack of knowledge on the criticizer's part.
"The west is engaged in X-religion bashing." or "The west wants to (politically/economically) colonize us again." or "You don't know our country."
OR (Singapore way...)
"That point is irrelevant to the issue."
"You cannot compare (USA/Finland/etc...) president's salary with Singapore". (I see, then we shouldn't also look at world rankings for Best Airport, Least Corrupt Country, Most Competitive Country.)
Finally when all else fails... (and this is my favourite)...
"It's a Jewish conspiracy."
June 25, 2007
God Expects The Best From Us
I think that God expects the best from us.
Not to be the best but the best from ourselves.
"From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." (Luke 12:48b)
June 24, 2007
The Art of Gatecrashing
Here's a picture of a gatecrasher I met on the evening of the big premier of Ocean's 13 at Cannes.
He's not the only one, I saw like at least 20 over other people dressed in tuxedo's and dresses wishing to get in.
Actually gate crashing at the Cannes Film Festival isn't that bad--if you're interested in watching foreign films. Not blockbusters.
You can watch quite a few interesting films by hanging around the entrances of the theatres and unashamedly holding up a sign (like the gentleman pictured).
The problem is though that some need a badge as well. And that's harder to get. A Cannes entrance pass costs about €200.
If you do have a pass you don't need to beg for a ticket. Each pass gives you about 200 points to spend on getting tickets. Unknown films or rare ones are cheap, maybe 10 points or so. A movie like Ocean's 13 though... costa about 110 points. That's more than half your point allocation and it needs a privileged pass of a special colour.
I did wear a tux, but I didn't get to see Ocean's 13... no point watching it if you can watch it back home for S$9. I had a movie pitch anyway to go to.
He's not the only one, I saw like at least 20 over other people dressed in tuxedo's and dresses wishing to get in.
Actually gate crashing at the Cannes Film Festival isn't that bad--if you're interested in watching foreign films. Not blockbusters.
You can watch quite a few interesting films by hanging around the entrances of the theatres and unashamedly holding up a sign (like the gentleman pictured).
The problem is though that some need a badge as well. And that's harder to get. A Cannes entrance pass costs about €200.
If you do have a pass you don't need to beg for a ticket. Each pass gives you about 200 points to spend on getting tickets. Unknown films or rare ones are cheap, maybe 10 points or so. A movie like Ocean's 13 though... costa about 110 points. That's more than half your point allocation and it needs a privileged pass of a special colour.
I did wear a tux, but I didn't get to see Ocean's 13... no point watching it if you can watch it back home for S$9. I had a movie pitch anyway to go to.
Jogging along the French Riviera (25 May 2007)
Here's a picture of me (posed of course) jogging by the French Riviera.
It's actually along the coast of the town I was staying in for the Cannes Film Festival, Juan Les Pins.
The view is great but watch out for cars, there aren't any good jogging tracks there. But it's a nice view.
I understand how people in colder climates can exercise anytime of the day. It's unlike in Singapore or Malaysia when the only good times are in the early morning or evening.
It's actually along the coast of the town I was staying in for the Cannes Film Festival, Juan Les Pins.
The view is great but watch out for cars, there aren't any good jogging tracks there. But it's a nice view.
I understand how people in colder climates can exercise anytime of the day. It's unlike in Singapore or Malaysia when the only good times are in the early morning or evening.
June 21, 2007
Live The Dream
Yeah.... went for the Live the Dream audition on Sunday.
Actually, I nominated my friend Nancy who really sings well, but she turned them down after they called twice.
But as for me, I'll give anything a shot.
I sang Nat King Cole's "Let There Be Love"
They didn't say I was bad. But they asked me whether I could something more upbeat, more pop. It's then that I realized I don't listen to anything other than musicals.
Oh well... there's always next year...
Actually, I nominated my friend Nancy who really sings well, but she turned them down after they called twice.
But as for me, I'll give anything a shot.
I sang Nat King Cole's "Let There Be Love"
They didn't say I was bad. But they asked me whether I could something more upbeat, more pop. It's then that I realized I don't listen to anything other than musicals.
Oh well... there's always next year...
June 20, 2007
God Is Great, But Malaysia Ain't So
The recent Lina Joy case shows the hypocrisy and weakness of the Malaysian legal system.
As the news of the verdict filtered out shouts of "God is Great" filled the air by a crowd of about 200 people outside of the courts.
Lina Joy, a Christian was disallowed from changing her legal status from Islam to Christian.
Lina had received death threats for her challenge to the legal system in Malaysia. But as we see, history repeats itself, the judges were as weak as Pilate, who washed his hands of responsibility and handed Jesus to the Jews.
In this case, it was Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim and Datuk Alauddin Mohd Sheriff who handed Lina over to the Islamic Shariah courts.
So was Pope Benedict right? Is there no compulsion to believe in Islam? Or is it spread by the sword or in this case the sword of the courts?
I can only pray for my Malay friends that one day they will know the freedom to worship God in freedom and in truth.
The irony for Malaysia is this: For a race that considers itself privileged, they fail to give themselves the basic human right to freedom of religion.
June 17, 2007
You Make The Perfect Hero...
Why is that?
We think at times, "I can't be a hero... I'm not good at this or that... or I can't..."
Let's read what Christopher Vogler writes in "The Writer's Journey" on a hero.
Interesting flaws humanize a character. We can recognize bits of ourselves in a Hero who is challenged to overcome inner doubts, errors in thinking, guilt or trauma from the past, or fear of the future. Weaknesses, imperfections, quirks, and vices immediately make a Hero or any character more real and appealing. It seems the more neurotic characters are, the more the audience likes them and identifies with them.
Flaws also give a character somewhere to go—the so-called "character arc" in which a character develops from condition A to condition Z through a series of steps. Flaws are a starting point of imperfection or incompleteness from which a character can grow. They may be deficiencies in a character. Perhaps a Hero has no romantic partner, and is looking for the "missing piece" to complete her life. This is often symbolized in fairy tales by having the Hero experience a loss or a death in the family. This subtraction from the family unit sets the nervous energy of the story in motion, not to stop until the balance has been restored by the creation of a new family or the reuniting of the old.
In most modern stories it is the Hero's personality that is being recreated or restored to wholeness. The missing piece may be a critical element of personality such as the ability to love or trust. Heroes may have to overcome some problem such as lack of patience or decisiveness. Audiences love watching Heroes grapple with personality problems and overcome them. Will Edward, the rich but cold-hearted businessman of Pretty Woman, warm up under the influence of the life-loving Vivian and become her Prince Charming? Will Vivian gain some self-respect and escape her life of prostitution? Will Conrad, the guilt-ridden teenager in Ordinary People, regain his lost ability to accept love and intimacy?
So, if you think you're flawed and can't think that God can do anything with you... you may be the hero. Remember heaven is watching you, they're rooting for you. Because of your flaws that makes you an even better hero. And you know what? There are 2 types of heroes. The willing and unwilling ones. both make equally entertaining stories. But the unwilling hero must change at some point, he must become committed to adventure.
Your audience, the saints and angels are rooting for you.
The story function of the Hero is learning or growth. Therefore grow.
The aspect of the hero is that he is always active. Act.
The true mark of the hero is not strength or bravery but SACRIFICE. Die to yourself so that you may gain life. Sacrifice means "making holy".
[Origin: 1225-75; (n.) ME < OF < L sacrificium, equiv. to sacri- (comb. form of sacer holy) + -fic-, comb. form of facere to make, do1 + -ium -ium; (v.) ME sacrifisen, deriv. of the n.]
June 16, 2007
Play! A Video Game Symphony
It's a symphony of video game music, which shows that video game music isn't simple but really great music, matching even cinema quality.
Among the tunes that were familiar to me were Super Mario Bros, Oblivion: The Elder Scrolls IV, Legend of Zelda, and Metal Gear Solid.
We took the cheapest tickets to watch, since its a symphony the emphasis is on the music. I must say that even sitting at the top most level--Circle 3, the music at the Esplanade Concert Hall was excellent.
Having a concert of video game music adds another stamp of approval into making video games a mainstream creative art form on par with theatre, music and dance and film.
It would be quite stressful for me to play in an orchestra, I would be afraid to miss my cue. A wrong note here, or the timing off by a millisecond, and you would notice.
The symphony reminded me on what it means by timing. Each of us has to play a part in this world, we enter into the grand symphony of life with a purpose. Our song plays but for a while in a orchestral arrangement of lives arranged by the Great Composer himself.
There is a time for everything a time to be born and and a time to die.
So how do we live? We learn from mistakes, we practice until we get to be so good in the art of living that it becomes effortless. If we make mistakes, then what we did was a rehearsal for another moment when it will become second nature for us to do the right thing.
June 15, 2007
Pizza Express Jazz Club (28 May 2007)
One of the things that I did in London was to visit Pizza Express Club in Dean Street in London. John Williams and John Etheridge was performing there that night.
The Pizza Express Jazz club is between Oxford Circus and Tottenham Court. The diner is open normal hours but the Jazz club is only open 7:30pm before performance starts. Sometimes it's hard to get seats, you have to reserve in advance. There weren't any tables free but they allowed us to sit at the bar.
Thanks to Donna for the night there. When we went to sit at the bar, a couple came in and sat behind us. The man kept on going back and forth from the bar.
We had some light conversation with them. Just before it started, we asked the lady, "So your husband plays music?"
"Yes"
"Does he perform as well?"
"Who is he?"
"John Williams"
"Nooooooooooo..................."
Yes, the guitarist of the night, the performer of that famous song from Deer Hunter "Cavatina" was sitting right behind us.
Anyway, after the performance we chit-chatted. I told him that I'm an actor and puppeteer as well and he highly recommended to me to watch "Lion King".
He was nice and affable, and kept to his privacy. At first he didn't want us to take his photos but was kind enough later after the show to have some with us. Nice guy.
The Pizza Express Jazz club is between Oxford Circus and Tottenham Court. The diner is open normal hours but the Jazz club is only open 7:30pm before performance starts. Sometimes it's hard to get seats, you have to reserve in advance. There weren't any tables free but they allowed us to sit at the bar.
Thanks to Donna for the night there. When we went to sit at the bar, a couple came in and sat behind us. The man kept on going back and forth from the bar.
We had some light conversation with them. Just before it started, we asked the lady, "So your husband plays music?"
"Yes"
"Does he perform as well?"
"Who is he?"
"John Williams"
"Nooooooooooo..................."
Yes, the guitarist of the night, the performer of that famous song from Deer Hunter "Cavatina" was sitting right behind us.
Anyway, after the performance we chit-chatted. I told him that I'm an actor and puppeteer as well and he highly recommended to me to watch "Lion King".
He was nice and affable, and kept to his privacy. At first he didn't want us to take his photos but was kind enough later after the show to have some with us. Nice guy.
June 14, 2007
Teach Us To Number Our Days...
This is what 201 glass beads look like.
This represents the number of days left in the year. Not that many.
I'm keeping a physical count of days left to achieve my 3 main targets of:
1. Writing a full-length screenplay.
2. Designing a board game
3. Writing a mobile game.
"Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12)
This represents the number of days left in the year. Not that many.
I'm keeping a physical count of days left to achieve my 3 main targets of:
1. Writing a full-length screenplay.
2. Designing a board game
3. Writing a mobile game.
"Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12)
English Ice Cream Cone
I purposely bought an ice cream cone from an ice cream van when I came out of the Tate Britain.
You can find ice cream vans all over England. I wanted to remember the ice-cream I had when I was a kid. Putting in a stick of Flake in it that makes it really English.
The ice-cream is really creamy (and fattening I suppose). It costs £1.75 (really expensive huh? About S$5.31 or RM12! I can buy like 10 plain McDonalds ice-cream cones with chocolate topping for that price!)
You can find ice cream vans all over England. I wanted to remember the ice-cream I had when I was a kid. Putting in a stick of Flake in it that makes it really English.
The ice-cream is really creamy (and fattening I suppose). It costs £1.75 (really expensive huh? About S$5.31 or RM12! I can buy like 10 plain McDonalds ice-cream cones with chocolate topping for that price!)
June 8, 2007
Future Tech is Bright
If you haven't heard, Microsoft just unveiled Surface, the new face of computing of the future.
It utilizes multi-touch sensing technology, combined with projectors, etc.
If you saw Minority Report, you may remember Tom Cruise donning a glove to manipulate images on a screen. Or if you saw The Island, starring Ewan McGregor, you may have noticed the display table the antagonist used.
The technology is available now, and you may see it soon by the end of this year!
These screens are only the beginning. Every surface can be interactive and can be used to manipulate or display data.
No more USB ports and syncing to your PC. (My pictures from my Europe trip could be uploaded faster by just dragging directly from my phone to the Flickr website.)
I could download a file directly into my thumbdrive by just touching the screen.
You could have board games with interactive boards rather than cardboard ones, play pong, or even something akin to the chess we saw Star Wars. (They have to invent 3D hologram displays next.)
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4217348.html
What's Worse Than Words That Cannot Be Taken Back
They say that a man is only as good as his word.
Most mistakes can be rectified but words cannot be taken back. What is said is said. You can apologise but you can't change the past.
What's worse than that?
I say email.
Email isn't just words that cannot be taken back, it's words that can forwarded. It can be used as "proof" that you said this and that.
That's another reason why I prefer to go and talk to someone about an issue rather than to send an email.
June 5, 2007
Two Weeks With No Blog Entries!
Apologies for those who have been wondering where I've been.
I've been away in Cannes and London and I didn't want to spend a lot of money on Internet cafes. I also couldn't upload photos through their PC's as well.
The other reason is that I'm in the midst of upgrading my laptop. At first I wanted to save all my essential data onto my backup disk and then reformat the hard disk to clean it up. My machine was grinding away too slow after almost 3 years, so it was time to give it a rebirth by reinstalling to OS and getting rid of stuff that you've installed over that time.
But I realized that it's too dangerous and a waste of time to go through your hard disk to back it up. It's easier to just buy a new hard disk, swop it out with your old one (putting the old one in a portable case). You have the comfort of a brand new hard disk and a new backup device with all your precious files still intact.
The problem was that my laptop needs very specialized screwdrivers, and I'll have to go to Sim Lim Square today to find them.
I'll upload my photos as soon as I can!
