Love Summer

Love Summer by Wendy 375 featuring cotton skirts

踏不出去的 2010

二零一零。给我很多疑惑、感动、很多欢笑泪水、也很多遗憾的这一年。

不管做了什么决定，希望明年的我，是双倍快乐的。

地球还是不停地转动，星光依旧灿烂。

我那对我不离不弃的朋友、家人，谢谢你陪我走过2010。

明年，一定会做到更好。：）

Jingle Merry Cheer

Jingle Merry Cheer by Wendy 375 featuring red coats

For Christmas! :D

A person can always dream. Going by this rule, I have come out with a humble wishlist of mine.

I want......

1) Career

A career that not only pays me well but also fulfills my emotional needs. 

2) Health supplements

Supply of Bio B-Complex or Redoxons to keep me fit and healthy.

3) Books

Supply of books- All types of books from Donald Trump, Mitch Albom, to Cecelia Ahern and Candace Bushnell. 

4) Camera

A Lumix LX3/5 or Powershot S90/95. A compact camera that is good enough to see me through my life's journey. 

5) Flower headband

A headband with flowers. (I don't like the felt ones...) Saw a very cute one in Vincci today but it doesn'it worth the money. Am starting to think of having a DIY one... where can I find those flowers? 

6) Bean bag

Plain red, beige or brown makes a good match to my living room.

7) Starbucks coffee

Buy me starbucks on any day, and I'll be happy. (My flavour is a latte frap on sunny days and hot latte on moody days.)

8) A new winter coat

OK I know I've already got half a wardrobe of these BUT I just don't feel warm enough yet. My body almost got frozen when I was in China. I will need a thick-enough coat IF I were to go there again you see. 

9) My smile

May I always be blessed with the strength to face and endure difficult situations ahead.

10) Health

A healthy and fit body. So that I can dance like no one is watching.

11) Family

Finally, I wish that my family and friends are always blessed with all the health and happiness the world could offer.

心情

2010年，十二月的冬天。

原本以为不会再因工作而踏上冰山雪地的我，却再次地拍着胸口，飞往那壮观、美丽中带着残酷冷风的北京。

一个trip返来，心里有好多感想。

觉得人生像是一个无法预测的过程。明明编辑好的一本书，却不能翻一翻，瞧瞧里头内容写些什么。

又觉得，人有不同。有些人只要努力工作挣钱，就得过个十年二十年。有些人幸运地享受着喜欢做的事情。也有些人，以名利和社会地位为生活目标。少数人，以情义为重心，爱恨分明，不想违背原则，所以多年来还在原地踏步。

人对生活的定义也不同。没有共同的梦想和一致的步伐，两个人在一起是不是不会长久？

这一回，朋友们真的都结婚去了，留下我一人孤军作战。

飞与不飞，好像已经不是我的决定。

在可以安睡的几个夜里，梦里尽是失去的亲人、工作。

感恩。

Beautiful and historical China

I am back from China. The trip was a complete rush but we made it possible (managed to apply visa and prepare for flight) in less than 24 hours' time! First time in Beijing, except being overwhelmed by the weather, I love every other things to bits. Its architecture, the culture, the magnificent Forbidden City and the historical Tian'anmen Square. Unlike Beijing, Shanghai is just a warmer city full of hustle and bustle. But the night visit along the Bund was great. Photos below. Some of them are courtesy of Capt J. :)

Blood donation campaign?

Copy says "DONATE BLOOD TO THE NATIONAL BLOOD BANK. NOT TO MOSQUITOES!"

Then I looked at the side and realized it is a Ridsect ad. Kills Aedes, it adds.

Congratulations on the creative ad! Cool and serious, yet humourous in its own way. :)

www.facebook.com/RageAgainstAedes

Source: The Star, 20 November 2010

The Casual Code

The Casual Code by Wendy 375 featuring distressed skinny jeans

Earth Colors

Earth Colors by Wendy 375 featuring cropped shorts

Customer satisfaction is the key to CRM

I went to a hair salon for an express haircut yesterday. As I am keeping my hair short these days, I need to get it trimmed every two months so that it doesn't curl at or grow beyond my shoulders. I must say, the more I trim it, the faster it seems to grow nowadays! I have come to reckon that keeping short hair is a high-maintenance job- it requires a lot of patience and money!

And so, I slotted RM16 in the machine and got myself a coupon. The hairdresser sat me down; We discussed how I wanted my hair to be trimmed and he started working on my hair. He got it done in 10 minutes and I wasn't happy with the length. I requested to trim it again and he did it. Again I was not satisfied because by then, I decided to just make it even shorter so that it looks bob. He did it for the third time, and in the end I walked out from the salon with a smile on my face.

I posted this on my FB and apparently, my friends do find me demanding and ridiculous. But the purpose I shared this is to applaud the hairdresser. Why? I paid so little and he treated me like a queen. He could well be a junior stylist, but I chose to pardon his inexperience and I will still come back for the next cut because of the customer service. "If I go to a restaurant and the waiters are rude, no matter how delicious the food is, I will not visit them again," said a friend on FB.

Five reasons why customer satisfaction is the key to CRM:

1) Happy customers are good story tellers.

2) Happy customers make free word-of-mouth promotions (sometimes exaggeration) for you- on any occasions, across any channels.

3) Technologies made it possible for a happy customer to digitally update his/ her whearabout and status- the moment he/she steps out from your store. Note that once things are on social media, the reach is infinity.

4) A happy customer is sure to return for a repeat purchase.

5) A happy customer wouldn't mind/ notice if you have a price increase.

Check out X-Cut Salon, the express haircut concept by A Cut Above. In case you are not aware, the stylists are trained and exprienced hairstylists from A Cut Above.

Take a look at my new hairdo. They've never let me down!

Love for Denim

Love for Denim by Wendy 375 featuring high heel boots

Earth Colors

Earth Colors by Wendy 375 featuring a metallic handbag

The Casual Code

The Casual Code by Wendy 375 featuring marc by marc jacobs handbags

Social Media: between Private and Public

"A recent blog post in Hong Kong lambasted a new restaurant in Central, but did not state that the author was the marketing manager for the restaurant next door to the one he was slamming. Disclosure, in this case, is your friend."

Source: Angie Wong, Food & Lifestyle Editor, Hong Kong

While living in the digital era, we seem to have forgotten to keep ourselves low profile. The world of digital taught us to be loud; We strive to be heard because for once, we have a chance to speak up boundlessly and we all believe that our voice matters. The ever-changing trend has invented Web 2.0- from IRC and ICQ to blogging, social networking, photo-sharing, podcasting, youtube and microblogging..... The list could just go on and on, and before we know it, a new trend will magically appear with a snap of a finger.

In the early years, these media was meant for people to keep in touch with friends and to digitalize their daily activities and personal lives. It comes in handy as one does not need to be involved in any heavy programming, and yet he/she could enjoy the ownership of a personal website. Then marketers see the opportunity and they started to engage with their customers via a two-way communication online.

But no one is there to tell us that we are drifting away from our privacy and identity.

This issue is especially serious when marketers started to employ social media in their marketing plans. As a marketer, we act professionally on one hand but on the other hand, we have a different profile altogether. If we choose to criticise about the competitor(s), do we have a valid reason for saying it or is it just based on a personal view? At what position are we suppose to talk about our competitor(s)? Being a human being, we show our likes and dislikes; We want to vent our frustrations on our personal space, but if we are not careful enough, it will indirectly influence our professional image.

Picture the scenarios below, what are your take backs?

1) Brand A decided to purchase a competitor's domain names and keywords, hoping that it would steal the crowd from its competitor. 

Question is, for all the dollars spent on this irrelevant purchase, do you get an effective reach? Do you want to take such a risk, for the exchange of your company's credibility? Check out these links for Google's trademark policy.

What is Google's U.S. trademark policy? - AdWords Help

When will my ads appear for trademarked terms? - AdWords Help

How can I get permission to use a trademarked term? - AdWords Help

2) You join the Social Media team of a company. 

As a general rule set by the company (to avoid having your personal opinions online), you are required to delete your blog and remain neutral on Facebook. Are you willing to accept the rules and hide your online presence for the benefit of the company?

3) You found cam-whoring photos of your school teacher/ professor/ consultant/ client on Facebook.

Now, does it tell you more about this person? Or does it tarnish the relationship between you both? I once have a teacher who teaches professionally in class; but behind the scene, she enjoys doing sexy photoshoot and modelling... I mean, I still see her as an inspiration, just, what would the guys think? ;)

Till today, the difference between what is private and public work is still unclear. There's no code of ethics to follow, except those that are drafted by the companies using the tools. The challenge here is to remain grown up and professional- that's probably the best way to move forward.

I've got a gold and a silver! --2010 ISTD Medallist Festival Malaysia

I am overly excited; I have too many things to tell but will just keep it simple and short. :)

Our team from Shall We Dance Studio (Karman, LiShen, Kalvin, Kim, Shaw, Heng and myself) took part in the ISTD Medallist competition last weekend and guess what! We have proudly brought back a total of 11 medals! It is really my biggest gift for the Halloween plus the greatest achievement in 2010!

My partner Shaw and myself.

 On the dance floor: Shaw and I; Kalvin and Karman.

 Photo session with Mr.Richard Hunt and Ms. Yvonne Taylor-Hill from ISTD.

 Don't we just LOVEEEE the medals!

 Ivy, principal of SWD Studio and my Latin dance instructor.

A gold and a silver- I'm contented; But at the same time, I want to do even better in the future.

They say results don't lie. I couldn't agree any more. Days and months of hard work and persistent practice off the stage have rewarded me with this in return. How nice!

Special thanks to Ivy and Shaw, for making things possible for me. And to my friends who gave their moral support, I love you all! 

XOXO...

Way to go Wendy! 加油了！

I attended my ISTD grading exam today- and I managed to pass with flying colors!

Many thanks to Ivy my excellent dance instructor, and Shaw, my partner who patiently trains with me and helps make the impossible happen!

They say, one minute on stage and ten years of practice off the stage. I am really glad that the extra hard work, my sore feet and backaches have all paid off!

I have an important appointment tomorrow but I just can't sleep now!

我竟然在今天的ISTD升级试中考到不可思议的分数。

很感谢教练Ivy的悉心教导； 感谢我的partner- Shaw，没有他耐心的一起练习，我根本不可能有这样的成绩！

他们说，台上三分钟，台下十年功。我的努力、腰酸背痛终于都没有白费。

今晚一定睡不着觉了啦！

Air Asia Creative Ad

Air Asia Singapore has recently launched a new ad- it put a smile on my face when I read through the copy. Brilliant!

Source: AirAsia Singapore Facebook page

Now I would want to see how Tiger Airways responds to the ad. :)

How to measure ROI for Social Media

We have seen blogs, tweets, FB pages, events, communities, and groups growing like mushrooms in the recent years. Most businesses include these media as one of its channel of interaction; Many use social media advertising to connect people to their websites; And a lot others use it as their marketplace over the internet.

Now, if you are a marketeer and your have to deal with a HIPPO (Highest-Paid-Person-Opinion- usually a boss or a client) who insists to see the ROI for your social marketing plan, how and where do you start?

The magical word here is "Engagement".

I've got this from the net and it is by far the most meaningful measurements I have seen:

35 Social Media Engagement Metrics (to use if you’ve demonstrated the value of engagement)

1. Alerts (register and response rates / by channel / CTR / post click activity)

2. Bookmarks (onsite, offsite)

3. Comments

4. Downloads

5. Email subscriptions

6. Fans (become a fan of something / someone)

7. Favourites (add an item to favourites)

8. Feedback (via the site)

9. Followers (follow something / someone)

10. Forward to a friend

11. Groups (create / join / total number of groups / group activity)

12. Install widget (on a blog page, Facebook, etc)

13. Invite / Refer (a friend)

14. Key page activity (post-activity)

15. Love / Like this (a simpler form of rating something)

16. Messaging (onsite)

17. Personalisation (pages, display, theme)

18. Posts

19. Profile (e.g. update avatar, bio, links, email, customisation, etc)

20. Print page

21. Ratings

22. Registered users (new / total / active / dormant / churn)

23. Report spam / abuse

24. Reviews

25. Settings

26. Social media sharing / participation (activity on key social media sites, e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Digg, etc)

27. Tagging (user-generated metadata)

28. Testimonials

29. Time spent on key pages

30. Time spent on site (by source / by entry page)

31. Total contributors (and % active contributors)

32. Uploads (add an item, e.g. articles, links, images, videos)

33. Views (videos, ads, rich images)

34. Widgets (number of new widgets users / embedded widgets)

35. Wishlists (save an item to wishlist)

If the above does not make up enough figures (gosh!), you may drill it down to the conversion rate, or the number of sales made via the social media channels.

朋友们都结婚去了

[雪白的婚纱，
心爱的新郎，
一枚紧紧套住爱情盟约的戒指。
這樣的畫面，是每个女生一生中最幸福的时光。

那是朋友们婚礼上的幸福时光。
不是我的。

祝你幸福，我很好。我是宇珩。]

 

写这一章，不是因为想嫁想疯了，而是因为最近听说以前一起工作的同事终于找到了她的“真爱”。

我敬佩她；因为她有着非一般的毅力，似蔷薇， 有野性、可以药用。

偶尔我也会畏惧、压力；因为时间巨人已把她塑造成一位凡事都要求完美的主任级人物。

她智慧与情商兼备；维缺一位好情人。

她辞了工，打算成家。

欢送会的照片照得她双眼有神，笑容可鞠，我看了心里有感动、祝福、也有鼓舞。

17年的璀璨青春，献给了公司、给了地球，幕然回首， 有情人终成眷属，当成佳话！

......然后，我才发现，她的另一半也是个女人。

祝福你们！

Lee Kuan Yew's Farewell to His Wife

A very touching and affectionate farewell note from a first Prime Minister of Singapore, to his beloved late wife, Kwa Geok Choo. 

From The Malaysian Insiders.

The last farewell to my wife — Lee Kuan Yew

October 06, 2010

Ancient peoples developed and ritualised mourning practices to express the shared grief of family and friends, and together show not fear or distaste for death, but respect for the dead one; and to give comfort to the living who will miss the deceased.

I recall the ritual mourning when my maternal grandmother died some 75 years ago. For five nights the family would gather to sing her praises and wail and mourn at her departure, led by a practiced professional mourner.

Such rituals are no longer observed. My family’s sorrow is to be expressed in personal tributes to the matriarch of our family.

In October 2003 when she had her first stroke, we had a strong intimation of our mortality.

My wife and I have been together since 1947 for more than three quarters of our lives. My grief at her passing cannot be expressed in words. But today, when recounting our lives together, I would like to celebrate her life.

In our quiet moments, we would revisit our lives and times together. We had been most fortunate. At critical turning points in our lives, fortune favoured us.

As a young man with an interrupted education at Raffles College, and no steady job or profession, her parents did not look upon me as a desirable son-in-law. But she had faith in me.

We had committed ourselves to each other. I decided to leave for England in September 1946 to read law, leaving her to return to Raffles College to try to win one of the two Queen’s Scholarships awarded yearly. We knew that only one Singaporean would be awarded. I had the resources, and sailed for England, and hoped that she would join me after winning the Queen’s Scholarship.

If she did not win it, she would have to wait for me for three years.

In June the next year, 1947, she did win it. But the British colonial office could not get her a place in Cambridge.

Through Chief Clerk of Fitzwilliam, I discovered that my Censor at Fitzwilliam, W S Thatcher, was a good friend of the Mistress of Girton, Miss Butler.

He gave me a letter of introduction to the Mistress. She received me and I assured her that Choo would most likely take a “First”, because she was the better student when we both were at Raffles College.

I had come up late by one term to Cambridge, yet passed my first year qualifying examination with a class 1. She studied Choo’s academic record and decided to admit her in October that same year, 1947.

We have kept each other company ever since. We married privately in December 1947 at Stratford-upon-Avon. At Cambridge, we both put in our best efforts. She took a first in two years in Law Tripos II. I took a double first, and a starred first for the finals, but in three years.

We did not disappoint our tutors. Our Cambridge Firsts gave us a good start in life. Returning to Singapore, we both were taken on as legal assistants in Laycock & Ong, athriving law firm in Malacca Street. Then we married officially a second time that September 1950 to please our parents and friends. She practised conveyancing and draftsmanship, I did litigation.

In February 1952, our first son Hsien Loong was born. She took maternity leave for a year.

That February, I was asked by John Laycock, the Senior Partner, to take up the case of the Postal and Telecommunications Uniformed Staff Union, the postmen’s union.

They were negotiating with the government for better terms and conditions of service. Negotiations were deadlocked and they decided to go on strike. It was a battle for public support. I was able to put across the reasonableness of their case through the press and radio. After a fortnight, they won concessions from the government. Choo, who was at home on maternity leave, pencilled through my draft statements, making them simple and clear.

Over the years, she influenced my writing style. Now I write in short sentences, in the active voice. We gradually influenced each other’s ways and habits as we adjusted and accommodated each other.

We knew that we could not stay starry-eyed lovers all our lives; that life was an on-going challenge with new problems to resolve and manage.

We had two more children, Wei Ling in 1955 and Hsien Yang in 1957. She brought them up to be well-behaved, polite, considerate and never to throw their weight as the prime minister’s children.

As a lawyer, she earned enough, to free me from worries about the future of our children.

She saw the price I paid for not having mastered Mandarin when I was young. We decided to send all three children to Chinese kindergarten and schools.

She made sure they learned English and Malay well at home. Her nurturing has equipped them for life in a multi-lingual region.

We never argued over the upbringing of our children, nor over financial matters. Our earnings and assets were jointly held. We were each other’s confidant.

She had simple pleasures. We would walk around the Istana gardens in the evening, and I hit golf balls to relax.

Later, when we had grandchildren, she would take them to feed the fish and the swans in the Istana ponds. Then we would swim. She was interested in her surroundings, for instance, that many bird varieties were pushed out by mynahs and crows eating up the insects and vegetation.

She discovered the curator of the gardens had cleared wild grasses and swing fogged for mosquitoes, killing off insects they fed on. She stopped this and the bird varieties returned. She surrounded the swimming pool with free flowering scented flowers and derived great pleasure smelling them as she swam.

She knew each flower by its popular and botanical names. She had an enormous capacity for words.

She had majored in English literature at Raffles College and was a voracious reader, from Jane Austen to JRR Tolkien, from Thucydides’ The Peloponnesian Wars to Virgil’s Aeneid, to The Oxford Companion to Food, and Seafood of Southeast Asia, to Roadside Trees of Malaya, and Birds of Singapore.

She helped me draft the Constitution of the PAP. For the inaugural meeting at Victoria Memorial Hall on 4 November 1954, she gathered the wives of the founder members to sew rosettes for those who were going on stage.

In my first election for Tanjong Pagar, our home in Oxley Road, became the HQ to assign cars provided by my supporters to ferry voters to the polling booth.

She warned me that I could not trust my new found associates, the leftwing trade unionists led by Lim Chin Siong. She was furious that he never sent their high school student helpers to canvass for me in Tanjong Pagar, yet demanded the use of cars provided by my supporters to ferry my Tanjong Pagar voters.

She had an uncanny ability to read the character of a person. She would sometimes warn me to be careful of certain persons; often, she turned out to be right.

When we were about to join Malaysia, she told me that we would not succeed because the UMNO Malay leaders had such different lifestyles and because their politics were communally-based, on race and religion.

I replied that we had to make it work as there was no better choice. But she was right.

We were asked to leave Malaysia before two years.

When separation was imminent, Eddie Barker, as Law Minister, drew up the draft legislation for the separation. But he did not include an undertaking by the Federation Government to guarantee the observance of the two water agreements between the PUB and the Johor state government. I asked Choo to include this. She drafted the undertaking as part of the constitutional amendment of the Federation of Malaysia Constitution itself.

She was precise and meticulous in her choice of words. The amendment statute was annexed to the Separation Agreement, which we then registered with the United Nations.

The then Commonwealth Secretary Arthur Bottomley said that if other federations were to separate, he hoped they would do it as professionally as Singapore and Malaysia.

It was a compliment to Eddie’s and Choo’s professional skills. Each time Malaysian Malay leaders threatened to cut off our water supply, I was reassured that this clear and solemn international undertaking by the Malaysian government in its Constitution will get us a ruling by the UNSC (United Nations Security Council).

After her first stroke, she lost her left field of vision. This slowed down her reading. She learned to cope, reading with the help of a ruler. She swam every evening and kept fit. She continued to travel with me, and stayed active despite the stroke. She stayed in touch with her family and old friends.

She listened to her collection of CDs, mostly classical, plus some golden oldies. She jocularly divided her life into “before stroke” and “after stroke”, like BC and AD.

She was friendly and considerate to all associated with her. She would banter with her WSOs (woman security officers) and correct their English grammar and pronunciation in a friendly and cheerful way. Her former WSOs visited her when she was at NNI. I thank them all.

Her second stroke on 12 May 2008 was more disabling. I encouraged and cheered her on, helped by a magnificent team of doctors, surgeons, therapists and nurses.

Her nurses, WSOs and maids all grew fond of her because she was warm and considerate. When she coughed, she would take her small pillow to cover her mouth because she worried for them and did not want to infect them.

Her mind remained clear but her voice became weaker. When I kissed her on her cheek, she told me not to come too close to her in case I caught her pneumonia.

I assured her that the doctors did not think that was likely because I was active.

When given some peaches in hospital, she asked the maid to take one home for my lunch. I was at the centre of her life.

On 24 June 2008, a CT scan revealed another bleed again on the right side of her brain. There was not much more that medicine or surgery could do except to keep her comfortable.

I brought her home on 3 July 2008. The doctors expected her to last a few weeks. She lived till 2nd October, 2 years and 3 months.

She remained lucid. They gave time for me and my children to come to terms with the inevitable. In the final few months, her faculties declined. She could not speak but her cognition remained.

She looked forward to have me talk to her every evening.

Her last wish she shared with me was to enjoin our children to have our ashes placed together, as we were in life.

The last two years of her life were the most difficult. She was bedridden after small successive strokes; she could not speak but she was still cognisant.

Every night she would wait for me to sit by her to tell her of my day’s activities and to read her favourite poems. Then she would sleep.

I have precious memories of our 63 years together. Without her, I would be a different man, with a different life. She devoted herself to me and our children.

She was always there when I needed her. She has lived a life full of warmth and meaning.

I should find solace at her 89 years of her life well lived. But at this moment of the final parting, my heart is heavy with sorrow and grief.

* This eulogy by Singapore’s Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew was delivered at the funeral service of his wife, Madam Kwa Geok Choo at a private ceremony at Mandai Cremetorium today.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication. The Malaysian Insider does not endorse the view unless specified.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia- A Learning Trip 柬埔寨学习之旅

Leaving behind my heavy workload, I embarked on a long-awaited journey to Cambodia. No luxurious aircraft, no deluxe hotel; All that I have are a backpack and a pair of canvas shoes. 卸下繁重的工作，背起了背包去流浪。没有豪华的飞机、更没有名贵的饭店；有的只是一个背包和一双帆布鞋，原来生活可以这么简单！

Pardon me for the pictures below- I have excluded the magnificient palace and sacred pagodas, fancy cuisines, and other sites of interest (I'm sure you can easily get these from the internet). 为求写实，我删去了一些美食及宏伟壮观的风景照（那些照片应该很容易在网上找到吧）。

 

Commuting to the hotel. It was raining all the way- the "cabin" was covered by some waterproof canvas but it did not stop the rain from coming in. P/S: This driver is a staff from the hotel- and according to him, he is only making USD40 a month! 在去饭店的路上。雨下得很大，车厢只用一层帆布围着。这名司机是饭店派来的，他告诉我他一个月的工钱只有40块美金！

 

Tuol Sleng (S-21) Museum. A high school that turned into a prison and torture chamber during the Khmer Rouge. During Pol Pot's genocidal rule (1975-1979), about 1-2 million people were starved to death, tortured, and killed. 30,000 people died in S-21. Tuol Sleng (S-21) 博物馆。这是一间于波尔布特的种族灭绝统治时期(1975-1979)被转用成监狱和刑场的高中。在这期间，约1至2亿人被迫饿死，受尽折磨和被杀害。其中三万人死于S-21。

 

 Some actual torture devices. 暴权统治遗留下的刑具。

If not because of the Khmer Rouge, Cambodia would have become a developing nation like us......  

如果没有那一段残暴的悲剧，今天的柬埔寨会不会像我们一样，也在顺利发展？

On the ferry to Koh Dach village. Ander chatting away with Sovann. Sovann is studying in a university while driving tuk-tuk part time. He wants to become a tuk-tuk driver after his studies. To many Cambodians, growing up and becoming a tuk-tuk driver (or a tour guide) is like a norm, it is a big job; A major source of income in their country. 在前往Koh Dach村庄的途中，Ander与Sovann聊了起来。Sovann目前于一所大学上课，同时兼差做tuk-tuk司机。完成学业后，他想当一名全职的tuk-tuk司机。对许多柬埔寨人来说，长大后能成为tuk-tuk司机或导游， 就是他们的梦想。

Does this picture bring you back to the 80's? 这张照片是否带你回到了80年代呢？

We were greeted by some villagers on a motor-bike. At first we thought they were friendly. After being greeted by a few villagers, we started to doubt if they are genuinely... 村民们纷纷骑着摩托车热情地向我们打招呼。原本以为这是他们表达友善的方式，怎知。。。

Then we looked back and here they are! All chasing behind us with their silk on the bike! Then we realized these people wanted to make money by selling their silk! 回头一看，不得了！后面跟来了好多摩托车！他们追着要我们购买做好的丝绸。

Joe, 15 years old. Joe, 15岁。

I will never forget the girl. Monica, 13 years old. While taking the pic, Ander was consistently reminding me how dirty the girl was. But I know, it is not her choice to be in this state... 我永远不会忘记的小女孩，Monica，13岁。摄此照时，Ander一直在提醒我这女孩有多脏。可是我却深深地感觉到，生处这样的环境，并不是她所能控制的。

Joe and the sister, Jane. Joe和姐姐Jane。

Poor children waiting to be fed... 嗷嗷待哺的孩子们。

Innocent boy and girl. 一脸的无邪、天真。

A bed, a curtain and a kitten. That's what they call a "home". 

一张床，一片帘子，还有一只小猫。这就是他们的“家”。

The monks. 小和尚。

Kang (15), So (16), and Oh (15), our Oudong tour-guides. (At this age, they are only standing at about 155-160cm.) They offered to guide us up to the hill top for exchange of some tips. Kang (15岁), So (16岁), 和Oh (15岁)，是陪伴我们上Oudong山的导游。（在这个年龄，他们只有155-160公分的高度。）为了赚许一些小费，他们常为游客们提供导游服务。

On the way back... it kept me thinking and thinking.... 回家的路上- 感触很深、很深。

The trip has opened my eyes to the life of a third-world country. Going deep into the countryside to meet their people is especially meaningful. I came back with a heavy heart- it left me wonder what and how I can contribute to their people; it has also taught me to be grateful of what I have.  这一趟让我对第三世界的生活大开眼界-尤其是走进偏远的村庄和人群接触。我带回了一颗沉重的心，一直在想如何能对他们做出贡献。

Be grateful of what we have, and live this life to the fullest! 珍惜当下，惜福，感恩！

Mobile OnAir goes live onboard AirAsia A320 aircraft with Maxis’ support

"Ladies and gentlemen, we will be taking off shortly. For your safety, please fasten your seat belt, put your seatback upright, and return your tray table to the original position. We also ask you to turn off your mobile phone as it will interfere the aircraft navigational systems. Thank you for your co-operation."

We used to make that announcement every single time we go onboard.

I can still recall seeing an anxious passenger calling home using the Airphone, during a flight from JFK to ICN. She was obviously worried; had tears running all over her face and yet the connection was bad! It was a 12 hour journey and it must have been a tough one for her. Something must be happening at home and she needed to get immediate updates before setting foot on the home land.

Time has changed.

Some people made it possible!

AirAsia and OnAir recently launched their inflight connectivity services in AirAsia's A320 fleets. Such service is made available on AirAsia's flights to Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Colombo. Maxis, the key marketing partner has prided themselves as the provider of this service.

Mobile OnAir uses the industry’s most advanced and extensive infrastructure for mobile communications, along with Inmarsat SwiftBroadband, high-capacity services from Inmarsat 4th generation satellites.

Silhouette- Win a trip to New York

I discovered this via Facebook banner and tried playing with it. It's an application that runs on Augmented Reality (AR). (Is it augmented reality we call it? Or virtual reality?) Well what does it do? It allows you to try on a selection of stylish glasses- real time and online!

For an eyewear company to come out with such an interesting idea, I am really giving this a thumbs up! Impressive!

The execution is great except that the instructions are not clear. I have my photos taken but did not know how to continue. (I was expecting a Thank You message but did not get anything like that.) I suggest it could be more user friendly by adding in some acknowledgement messages upon completion of each step and make navigation clear and easy.

Check it out today! 

Steps to join:

1) Upload or take a shot of your photo (take the shot live, using your webcam)

2) Mark your eyes and one of your ears so that the system will "wear" the glasses on your face

3) Share your photo and stand a chance to win a trip to New York!

Here's one of the photos I did! :)

From Office Lady to A Night Out Chic

It's 5.30PM. Time to go catch up with your folks for a cuppa or some drinks.

But wait, are you wearing the right attire? Do you want to go hang out looking as a boring OL?

This video shows how to transform in just 5 minutes. :)
(Well, I think 5 minutes is not practical. To do a slight change of clothes plus enhancing the make up, I need a good 10 minutes.)

Online Banner Advertising

Do you hate logging on to your MSN everyday, only to see something popping up and starting to play by itself at the left bottom of the screen? What's your reaction? Pleasing or annoying, it has caught your eyes, some where, some how. Hasn't it?

Some people say banner ad is slowly fading out in effectiveness. I do not disagree. Over the years, online advertising has been widely used as a popular marketing tool for businesses all over the world. Marketing messages are everywhere and they become too loud and misleading. But at the same time, I could still see it soaring high for at least the next 5 years. Because the World Wide Web is part of our life, it keeps us informed and connected; trilions of people are making money out of it on a 24/7 basis; hence, this business can only grow stronger and stronger- it cannot afford to die.

Key is, how do we do it right?

The factors below are worth to be considered.

1)Location and size of ad

They do matter. Online banners are not cheap, do not waste your money investing in the wrong space. Certain locations tend to be more successful. This is also why some spaces tend to be cheap, some tends to sell at a higher price. For instance, Google's AdSense ad locations heatmap shows these locations, with darker orange giving the strongest performance and fading to light yellow with the weakest performance.

2)Storyboard

Do you have an interesting story to tell? Cut the long story short because online banners don't do magic. Keep it precise because you only have one chance to give that first impression. Don't expect user to click on a long-winded banner- if they want to see stories they might as well go read a book or watch youtube. ;)

Look at this story, well-structured, but it takes 5 frames for one to realize the carat, ie. "Free KFC". How many people would actually wait to see the last frame?

3)Design and creative

It needs to be simple and clean. Always blend the colour, concept and overall design with the relevant contents.

4)Attractive copy

People like to see words like "Free" and "Win". Oh especially Malaysians and Singaporeans (ehem!). I know how you may think words like these are over-used and they are deceiving. But they are still powerful so fret not. Again, this copy oughts to stand out, not to be hidden in the last few frames.

5)Animation, sound, video

If the space supports rich media like these, make good use of it. However, do note that a banner with excessive animation would only make the file heavy. So check the allocated file size before you proceed.

6)Buttons

Replay, close, hyperlink. This is to make the banner more user friendly. We don't like to see a banner that keeps playing and there's no close button on it. It feels like we're forced to see your show. ;)

7)Practicality

Don't try to fool users. People appreciate authenticity over exaggeration. Besides, using over exaggerating ads make your company image less credible.

This ad tells me that after drinking Milo, I can kick like how Stephen Chow does in his Shaolin Soccer.

8)Add humour ;)

This is to support what is mentioned in (7). A bit of humour gives a new life/ twist to the story. You may exaggerate a little just to put a smile on the audience's face.

To me, an ad is an ad. It is hard to justify one's ROI by just seeing the click-through or conversion rate. As people do not know what will appear on a page at any given time, it is important to realize that mere exposure to your banner ads on a regular basis will result in an increase in interest and subsequent sales for your company. When the strategies are done correctly, ad placed at the right location and seen by the correct eyes, it can drive you high traffic and your desired effectiveness.

Have you got something to share?

My New Dancing Shoes! 那双新舞鞋！

Let me introduce my brand new, diamantes-covered, 3-inch-high latin dance shoes.

My dance exam is around the corner and I often have backaches and leg pains due to excessive practice.

I'm very sure the new shoes would give me strength to walk through a longer journey!

Am loving it! :)

今天我要好好炫耀一下我期待已久的这一双全新，镶钻，且3寸高的拉丁舞鞋。

升级试即将来临，近来的频密练习已经让我全身酸痛，喘不过气来。

相信这双鞋不只能取代破了的那一双，她也会赐我力量，陪我走得更远！

爱死了！ :)

中秋-感恩！ Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

每逢佳节倍思亲。

以前在国外工作，过年过节不能回家时，总会想起这句话，心中还会不禁感触。

回到大马工作，想家的时候就开车返南，不时也会致电给妈妈，因为距离的拉近，感觉心里踏实了很多！

你CALL了家人吗？ ：）

"My heart grows fonder of faraway loved ones on lonely festive days..."

When I was working overseas and had to spend festive days away from home,  I was often  overwhelmed by this saying. And the thought of it makes me miss the dearest ones a lot.

Now that I am back in my home land, I get to drive home and buzz Mom whenever I like; It feels great being able to connect easily due to the shortened distance.

Have you called home yet? I just did. :)

I M I S S F L Y I N G...

It has been a month plus since I stopped flying.

As much as I hate and have been avoiding to say this-- hmm I must admit I miss flying!

Looking back at the old photos, I am smiling to myself. Could not imagine life without going through that phase. Likewise, cannot believe time has flown so quickly that I have actually been there, done that.

What I am missing, is not the tiny galley, but the sense of belongings at work.

What I am missing, is not the long flying hours, but the enjoyment of after-work.

What I am missing, is of course, not waking up in strange cities, but the feeling of coming home to an open arms after each flight.

Friends I made along the way. Batch mates, crew friends, captains. You are the best people that I have no regrets knowing.

What I have gained from this job, is a lifetime experience made of bitter sweet memories. Years later, when I am stressed out with work, I will recall places I have been, wonderful friends I have made, and I am sure, this beautiful memories shall stay, and not fade away.

Happy Chinese New Year peeps!

No matter where you may be today, I wish you a happy day and please remember to enjoy life!

Welcome, 2010!

Time does not pause for men.
It sees us through

good times, bad times, sorrows and joys.

The oceans, the skies, the trees and the birds;
Ever so impressive, so beautiful, so glorious.

Obstacles that we have learned to overcome,
Memories, friends that we have chosen to drop,
It is all those things, that make us who we are today.

And you, my dear,
I want you to know, for sure,
That you are in my place,
And I in yours.

Let us drink,
For new hopes, challenges, and achievements
are awaiting us ahead,
In this wonderful year of 2010.