Hashzine

AGEING is something you cannot avoid in life

Share with you -by Patrick R

dated on 22nd April 2008

This is Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's advice on ageing the best way one can. Yesterday, he shared some personal insights into how he himself deals with ageing. Here is the transcript of his remarks.

MY CONCERN today is, what is it I can tell you which can add to your knowledge about ageing and what ageing societies can do. You know more about this subject than I do. A lot of it is out in the media, Internet and books. So I thought the best way would be to take a personal standpoint and tell you how I approach this question of ageing.

If I cast my mind back, I can see turning points in my physical and mental health. You know, when you're young, I didn't bother, I assumed good health was God-given and would always be there. When I was about - '57 that was - I was about 34, we were competing in elections, and I was really fond of drinking beer and smoking. And after the election campaign, in Victoria Memorial Hall - we had won the election, the City Council election - I couldn't thank the voters because I had lost my voice. I'd been smoking furiously. I'd take a packet of 10 to deceive myself, but I'd run through the packet just sitting on the stage, watching the crowd, getting the feeling, the mood before I speak. In other words, there were three speeches a night. Three speeches a night, 30 cigarettes, a lot of beer after that, and the voice was gone.

I remember I had a case in Kuching, Sarawak. So I took the flight and I felt awful. I had to make up my mind whether I was going to be an effective campaigner and a lawyer, in which case I cannot destroy my voice, and I can't go on. So I stopped smoking. It was a tremendous deprivation because I was addicted to it. And I used to wake up dreaming... the nightmare was I resumed smoking.

But I made a choice and said if I continue this, I will not be able to do my job. I didn't know anything about cancer of the throat or esophagus or the lungs, etc. But it turned out it had many other deleterious effects. Strangely enough after that, I became very allergic, hyper-allergic to smoking, so much so that I would plead with my Cabinet ministers not to smoke in the Cabinet room. You want to smoke, please go out, because I am allergic.

Then one day I was at the home of my colleague, Mr Rajaratnam, meeting foreign correspondents including some from the London Times and they took a picture of me and I had a big belly like that (puts his hands in front of his belly), a beer belly. I felt no, no, this will not do. So I started playing more golf, hit hundreds of balls on the practice tee. But this didn't go down. There was only one way it could go down: consume less, burn up more.

Another turning point came when - this was 1976, after the general election - I was feeling tired. I was breathing deeply at the Istana, on the lawns. My daughter, who at that time just graduating as a doctor, said: 'What are you trying to do?' I said: 'I feel an effort to breathe in more oxygen.' She said: 'Don't play golf. Run. Aerobics.'

So she gave me a book, quite a famous book and, then, very current in America on how you score aerobic points swimming, running, whatever it is, cycling. I looked at it sceptically. I wasn't very keen on running. I was keen on golf. So I said, 'Let's try'. So in-between golf shots while playing on my own, sometimes nine holes at the Istana, I would try and walk fast between shots. Then I began to run between shots. And I felt better. After a while, I said: 'Okay, after my golf, I run.' And after a few years, I said: 'Golf takes so long. The running takes 15 minutes. Let's cut out the golf and let's run.'

I think the most important thing in ageing is you got to understand yourself. And the knowledge now is all there. When I was growing up, the knowledge wasn't there. I had to get the knowledge from friends, from doctors. But perhaps the most important bit of knowledge that the doctor gave me was one day, when I said: 'Look, I'm feeling slower and sluggish.' So he gave me a medical encyclopedia and he turned the pages to ageing. I read it up and it was illuminating. A lot of it was difficult jargon but I just skimmed through to get the gist of it.

As you grow, you reach 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 and then, thereafter, you are on a gradual slope down physically. Mentally, you carry on and on and on until I don't know what age, but mathematicians will tell you that they know their best output is when they're in their 20s and 30s when your mental energy is powerful and you haven't lost many neurons. That's what they tell me.

So, as you acquire more knowledge, you then craft a programme for yourself to maximise what you have. It's just common sense. I never planned to live till 85 or 84. I just didn't think about it. I said: 'Well, my mother died when she was 74, she had a stroke. My father died when he was 94.'

But I saw him, and he lived a long life, well, maybe it was his DNA. But more than that, he swam every day and he kept himself busy. He was working for the Shell company. He was in charge, he was a superintendent of an oil depot. When he retired, he started becoming a salesman. So people used to tell me: 'Your father is selling watches at BP de Silva.' My father was then living with me. But it kept him busy. He had that routine: He meets people, he sells watches, he buys and sells all kinds of semi-precious stones, he circulates coins. And he keeps going. But at 87, 88, he fell, going down the steps from his room to the dining room, broke his arm, three months incapacitated. Thereafter, he couldn't go back to swimming.

Then he became wheelchair-bound. Then it became a problem because my house was constructed that way. So my brother - who's a doctor and had a flat (one-level) house - took him in. And he lived on till 94. But towards the end, he had gradual loss of mental powers.

So my calculations, I'm somewhere between 74 and 94. And I've reached the halfway point now. But have I?

Well, 1996 when I was 73, I was cycling and I felt tightening on the neck. Oh, I must retire today. So I stopped. Next day, I returned to the bicycle. After five minutes it became worse.

So I said, no, no, this is something serious, it's got to do with the blood vessels. Rung up my doctor, who said, 'Come tomorrow'. Went tomorrow, he checked me, and said: 'Come back tomorrow for an angiogram.' I said: 'What's that?' He said: 'We'll pump something in and we'll see whether the coronary arteries are cleared or blocked.' I was going to go home. But an MP who was a cardiologist happened to be around, so he came in and said: 'What are you doing here?' I said: 'I've got this.' He said: 'Don't go home. You stay here tonight. I've sent patients home and they never came back. Just stay here. They'll put you on the monitor. They'll watch your heart. And if anything, an emergency arises, they will take you straight to the theatre. You go home. You've got no such monitor. You may never come back.'

So I stayed there. Pumped in the dye, yes it was blocked, the left circumflex, not the critical, lead one. So that's lucky for me. Two weeks later, I was walking around; I felt it's coming back. Yes it has come back, it had occluded. So this time they said: 'We'll put in a stent.'

I'm one of the first few in Singapore to have the stent, so it was a brand new operation. Fortunately, the man who invented the stent was out here selling his stent.

He was from San Jose, La Jolla something or the other. So my doctor got hold of him and he supervised the operation. He said put the stent in. My doctor did the operation, he just watched it all and then that's that. That was before all this problem about lining the stent to make sure that it doesn't occlude and create a disturbance.

So at each stage, I learnt something more about myself and I stored that. I said: 'Oh, this is now a danger point.'

So all right, cut out fats, change diet, went to see a specialist in Boston, Massachusetts General Hospital. He said: 'Take statins.' I said: 'What's that?' He said: '(They) help to reduce your cholesterol.' My doctors were concerned. They said: 'You don't need it. Your cholesterol levels are okay.' Two years later, more medical evidence came out. So the doctors said: 'Take statins.'

Had there been no angioplasty, had I not known that something was up and I cycled on, I might have gone at 74 like my mother. So I missed that deadline.

So next deadline: my father's fall at 87.

I'm very careful now because sometimes when I turn around too fast, I feel as if I'm going to get off balance. So my daughter, a neurologist, she took me to the NNI, there's this nerve conduction test, put electrodes here and there.

The transmission of the messages between the feet and the brain has slowed down.

So all the exercise, everything, effort put in, I'm fit, I swim, I cycle. But I can't prevent this losing of conductivity of the nerves and this transmission. So just go slow.

So when I climb up the steps, I have no problem. When I go down the steps, I need to be sure that I've got something I can hang on to, just in case. So it's a constant process of adjustment.

But I think the most important single lesson I learnt in life was that if you isolate yourself, you're done for. The human being is a social animal - he needs stimuli, he needs to meet people, to catch up with the world.

I don't much like travel but I travel very frequently despite the jet lag, because I get to meet people of great interest to me, who will help me in my work as chairman of our GIC. So I know, I'm on several boards of banks, international advisory boards of banks, of oil companies and so on.

And I meet them and I get to understand what's happening in the world, what has changed since I was here one month ago, one year ago. I go to India, I go to China. And that stimuli bring me to the world of today. I'm not living in the world, when I was active, more active 20, 30 years ago. So I tell my wife. She woke up late today. I said: 'Never mind, you come along by 12 o'clock. I go first.'

If you sit back - because part of the ending part of the encyclopedia which I read was very depressing - as you get old, you withdraw from everything and then all you will have is your bedroom and the photographs and the furniture that you know, and that's your world. So if you've got to go to hospital, the doctor advises you to bring some photographs so that you'll know you're not lost in a different world, that this is like your bedroom.

I'm determined that I will not, as long as I can, to be reduced, to have my horizons closed on me like that. It is the stimuli, it is the constant interaction with people across the world that keeps me aware and alive to what's going on and what we can do to adjust to this different world.

In other words, you must have an interest in life. If you believe that at 55, you're retiring, you're going to read books, play golf and drink wine, then I think you're done for. So statistically they will show you that all the people who retire and lead sedentary lives, the pensioners die off very quickly.

So we now have a social problem with medical sciences, new procedures, new drugs, many more people are going to live long lives. If the mindset is that when I reach retirement age 62, I'm old, I can't work anymore, I don't have to work, I just sit back, now is the time I'll enjoy life, I think you're making the biggest mistake of your life.

After one month, or after two months, even if you go travelling with nothing to do, with no purpose in life, you will just degrade, you'll go to seed.

The human being needs a challenge, and my advice to every person in Singapore and elsewhere: Keep yourself interested, have a challenge. If you're not interested in the world and the world is not interested in you, the biggest punishment a man can receive is total isolation in a dungeon, black and complete withdrawal of all stimuli, that's real torture.

So when I read that people believe, Singaporeans say: 'Oh, 62 I'm retiring.' I say to them: 'You really want to die quickly?' If you want to see sunrise tomorrow or sunset, you must have a reason, you must have the stimuli to keep going.'

This story was first published on Jan 12, 2008.

Yes, hashing is one of the stimuli, keep hashing and look forward to see your mates every coming Tuesday. On!On!
- Websitekang - 24-04-08

WORLD'S EASIEST QUIZ

Share with you -by Sunday Lim

dated on 20th January 2008

WORLD'S EASIEST QUIZ
(Passing requires 4 correct answers)

Please answer all questions before scrolling down for the answers.
1) How long did the Hundred Years' War last?

2) Which country makes Panama hats?

3) From which animal do we get catgut?

4) In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution?

5) What is a camel's hair brush made of?

6) The Canary Islands in the Pacific are named after what animal?

7) What was King George VI's first name?

8) What color is a purple finch?

9) Where are Chinese Gooseberries from?

10) What is the color of the black box in a commercial airplane?

All done?
Remember, you need 4 correct answers to pass. Check your answers below.

Big Mistakes

Share with you -by J D

dated on 7th December 2007

"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out,"
-- Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962

"Man will never reach the moon regardless of all future scientific advances."
-- Dr. Lee DeForest, "Father of Radio & Grandfather of Television."

"The bomb will never go off. I speak as an expert in explosives."
-- Admiral William Leahy , US Atomic Bomb Project

"There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom."
-- Robert Millikan, Nobel Prize in Physics, 1923

"Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons."
-- Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers ."
-- Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

"I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, And I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won't last out the year."
-- The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957

"But what is it good for?"
-- Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.

"640K ought to be enough for anybody."
-- Bill Gates, 1981

This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us,"
-- Western Union internal memo, 1876.

"The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?"
-- David Sarnoff's associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s.

"The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a 'C,' the idea must be feasible,"
-- A Yale University management professor in response to Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.)

"I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face and not Gary Cooper,"
-- Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading role in "Gone With The Wind."

"A cookie store is a bad idea. Besides, the market research reports say America likes crispy cookies, not soft and chewy cookies like you make."
-- Response to Debbi Fields' idea of starting Mrs. Fields' Cookies.

"Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible,"
-- Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895.

"If I had thought about it, I wouldn't have done the experiment. The literature was full of examples that said you can't do this,"
-- Spencer Silver on the work that led to the unique adhesives for 3-M "Post-It" Notepads .

"Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You're crazy,"
-- Drillers who Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to his project to drill for oil in 1859.

"Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau."
-- Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University , 1929.

"Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value,"
-- Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre, France

"Everything that can be invented has been invented,"
-- Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, US Office of Patents, 1899.

"The super computer is technologically impossible. It would take all of the water that flows over Niagara Falls to cool the heat generated by the number of vacuum tubes required."
-- Professor of Electrical Engineering, New York University

"I don't know what use anyone could find for a machine that would make copies of documents. It certainly couldn't be a feasible business by itself."
-- the head of IBM, refusing to back the idea, forcing the inventor to found Xerox.

"Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction."
-- Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872

"The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon,"
-- Sir John Eric Ericksen, British surgeon, appointed Surgeon-Extraordinary to Queen Victoria 1873.

And last but not least...

"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
-- Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp.,

Philosophy of the Stock Market

Share with you -by R H

dated on 6th August 2007

Once upon a time in a village, a man appeared who announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10.00. The villagers, seeing that there were many monkeys in the forest, went out and started catching them.

The man bought thousands at $10.00. As supply started to diminish and villagers started to stop their efforts, he announced that now he would buy them at $20.00.

This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again. Soon, the supply diminished even further and people started going back to their farms.

The offer rate was increased to $25.00 and the supply of monkeys became so scarce that it was an effort to even see a monkey, let alone catch it.

The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at $50.00. However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would now buy on behalf of the man.

In the absence of the man, the assistant told the villagers, "Look at all the monkeys in the big cage that the man has collected. I will sell them to you at $35.00 and when the man comes back, you can sell them to him for $50.00 each."

The villagers queued up with all their savings to buy the monkeys.

After that, neither the assistant nor the businessman could be found anywhere but the monkeys were everywhere!

Wonderful Years

Share with you -by Michelle Yip

dated on 30th May 2007

TO ALL THOSE WHO WERE BORN IN THE 50's and 60's / early 70s

First, we survived with mothers who had no maids. They cooked /cleaned while taking care of us at the same time.

They took aspirin, candies floss, fizzy drinks, shaved ice with syrups and diabetes were rare. Salt added to Pepsi or Coke was remedy for fever.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention

As children, we would ride with our parents on bicycles/ motorcycles for 2 or 3. Richer ones in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a private taxi was a special treat.

We drank water from the tap and NOT from a bottle.

We would spend hours on the fields under bright sunlight flying our kites, without worrying about the UV ray which never seem to affect us.

We go to jungle to catch spiders without worries of Aedes mosquitoes.

With mere 5 pebbles (stones) would be a endless game. With a ball (tennis ball best) we boys would ran like crazy for hours.

We catch guppy in drains / canals and when it rain we swim there.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually worry about being unhygenic.

We ate salty, very sweet & oily food, candies,bread and real butter and drank very sweet soft sweet coffee/ tea, ice kachang, but we weren't overweight because......

WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, till streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.

We would spend hours repairing our old bicycles and wooden scooters out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem .

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, multiple channels on cable TV, DVD movies, no sensurround sound, no phones, no personal computers, no Internet.WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and we still continued the stunts.

We never have birthdays parties till we are 21,

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and just yelled for them!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

Yet this generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 40years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned

HOW TO

DEAL WITH IT ALL!

And YOU are one of them!

CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the government regulated our lives for our own good.

and while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.

PS -The big type is because Long-sightedness or hyperopia at your age

doc, will i live to be 80 ???

I recently turned 65 and had to choose a new primary care physician for my Medicare program.

After two visits and exhaustive lab tests, he said I was doing "fairlywell" for my age.

A little concerned about that comment, I couldn't resist asking him, "Do you think I will live to be 80?"

He asked: Do you smoke tobacco or drink alcoholic beverages?"

"Oh no," I replied. "I don't do drugs, either."

"Do you have many friends and entertain frequently?"

"I said, "No, I usually stay home and keep to myself".

"Do you eat rib-eye steaks and barbecued ribs?"

I said, "No, my other doctor said that all red meat is unhealthy!"

"Do you spend a lot of time in the sun, like playing golf, boating, hiking, hashing or bicycling?"

"No, I don't," I said.

"Do you gamble, drive fast cars, or have a lot of sex?"

"No," I said. "I don't do any of those things."

He looked at me and said, "Then why do you give a shit?

Songkran Day- Thailand Water Festival-13 of April

Share with you -by Au Kiat

dated on 9th April 2007

GM is leading a bus load of MH3 members to find out how the fun is as from 12-04-07 to 15-04-07. Please wait for the report!

Interesting park in Korea

Share with you -by Sunday Lim

dated on 31st March 2007
The Rambo Granny of Melbourne, Australia

Shared with you by Steve Lau on 21-03-07

granny1.bmp Gun-toting granny Ava Estelle, 81, was so ticked-off when two thugs raped her 18-year-old granddaughter that she tracked the unsuspecting ex-cons down - - and shot off their testicles.

The old lady spent a week hunting those men down -- and when she found them, she took revenge on them in her own special way, said Melbourne police investigator Evan Delp. Then she took a taxi to the nearest police station, laid the gun on the sergeant's desk and told him as calm as could be:

'Those bastards will never rape anybody again, by God.' Cops say convicted rapist and robber Davis Furth, 33, lost both his penis and his testicles when outraged Ava opened fire with a 9-mm pistol in the hotel room where he and former prison cell mate Stanley Thomas, 29, were holed up.

The wrinkled avenger also blew Thomas' testicles to kingdom come, but doctors managed to save his mangled penis, police said. The one guy, Thomas, didn't lose his manhood, but the doctor I talked to said he won't be using it the way he used to, Detective Delp told reporters. Both men are still in pretty bad shape, but I think they're just happy to be alive after what they've been through.

The Rambo Granny swung into action August 21 after her granddaughter Debbie was carjacked and raped in broad daylight by two knife-wielding creeps in a section of town bordering on skid row. "When I saw the look on my Debbie's face that night in the hospital, I decided I was going to go out and get those bastards myself 'cause I figured the Law would go easy on them," recalled the retired library worker. "And I wasn't scared of them, either-- because I've got me a gun and I've been shooting' all my life. And I wasn't dumb enough to turn it in when the law changed about owning one."

So, using a police artist's sketch of the suspects and Debbie's description of the sickos', tough-as-nails Ava spent seven days prowling the wino-infested neighborhood where the crime took place till she spotted the ill fated rapists entering their flophouse hotel.

I knew it was them the minute I saw 'em, but I shot a picture of 'em anyway and took it back to Debbie an d she said sure as hell, it was them, the oldster recalled.. So I went back to that hotel and found their room and knocked on the door and the minute the big one, , opened the door, I shot 'em right square between the legs, right where it would really hurt 'em most, you know.

Then I went in and shot the other one as he backed up pleading to me to spare him. Then I went down to the police station and turned myself in.

Now, baffled lawmen are trying to figure out exactly how to deal with the vigilante granny. What she did was wrong, and she broke the law, but it is difficult to throw an 81-year-old woman in prison, Det. Delp said, espe cially when 3 million people in the city want to nominate her for Mayor.

Unbelievable shot taken on Australia Day in Perth

Shared with you by Oil Rig Lim on 02-02-07

This is amazing!

Check out this awesome photo - this one deserves an award. Fireworks, Lightning, Sunset, a Comet, and the greatest of Aussie icons, the Beach all in one image.

In addition to the obvious features in the photo, look between the two displays of lighting up the sky to see the third - McNaught's Comet. The photo was taken just north of Hillary's Marina, which you can see the harbour wall on the left with fireworks being launched.


Tips of Warren Buffet - Second Richest Man of the world

Shared with you by Steve Lau on 31-01-07

Subject: : Warren Buffet - Second Richest Man of the world

There was a one hour interview on CNBC with Warren Buffet, the second richest man who has donated $31 billion to charity.

Here are some very interesting aspects of his life:

1) He bought his first share at age 11 and he now regrets that he started too late !

2) He bought a small farm at age 14 with savings from delivering newspapers.

3) He still lives in the same small 3 bedroom house in mid-town Omaha, that he bought after he got married 50 years ago.

He says that he has everything he needs in that house. His house does not have a wall or a fence.

4) He drives his own car everywhere and does not have a driver or security people around him.

5) He never travels by private jet, although he owns the world's largest private jet company.

6) His company, BerkshireHathaway, owns 63 companies. He writes only one letter each year to the CEOs of these companies,

giving them goals for the year. He never holds meetings or calls them on a regular basis.

7) He has given his CEO's only two rules. Rule number 1: do not lose any of your shareholder's money.

Rule number 2: Do not forget rule number 1.

8) He does not socialize with the high society crowd. His past time after he gets home is to make himself some pop corn and watch television.

9) Bill Gates, the world's richest man met him for the first time only 5 years ago.

Bill Gates did not think he had anything in common with Warren Buffet. So he had scheduled his meeting only for half hour.

But when Gates met him, the meeting lasted for ten hours and Bill Gates became a devotee of Warren Buffet.

10) Warren Buffet does not carry a cell phone, nor has a computer on his desk.

11) His advice to young people: Stay away from credit cards and invest in yourself.

Sex said by some of the famous men and women

Shared with you by Pecker on 18-01-07

"I believe that sex is one of the most beautiful, natural, wholesome things that money can buy."
--Tom Clancy

"You know "that look" women get when they want sex? Me neither."
--Steve Martin

"Having sex is like playing bridge. If you don't have a good partner, you'd better have a good hand." --Woody Allen

"Bisexuality immediately doubles your chances for a date on Saturday night." --Rodney Dangerfield

"There are a number of mechanical devices which increase sexual arousal, particularly in women. Chief among these is the Mercedes-Benz 380SL." --Lynn Lavner

"Leaving sex to the feminists is like letting your dog vacation at the taxidermist." --Matt Barry

"Sex at age 90 is like trying to shoot pool with a rope." --George Burns

"Sex is one of the nine reasons for reincarnation. The other e eight are unimportant." --George Burns

"Women might be able to fake orgasms. But men can fake whole relationships." --Sharon Stone

"My girlfriend always laughs during sex ---no matter what she's reading." --Steve Jobs (Founder, Apple Computers)

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch." --Jack Nicholson

" Clinton lied. A man might forget where he parks or where he lives, but he never forgets oral sex, no matter how bad it is." --Barbara Bush (Former US First Lady -- and you didn't think Barbara had a sense of humor)

"Ah, yes, divorce, from the Latin word meaning to rip out a man's genitals through his wallet." --Robin Williams

"Women complain about premenstrual syndrome, but I think of it as the only time of the month that I can be myself." --Roseanne

"Women need a reason to have sex. Men just need a place." --Billy Crystal

"According to a new survey, women say they feel more comfortable undressing in front of men than they do undressing in front of other women. They say that women are too judgmental, where, of course, men are just grateful." --Robert De Niro

"There's a new medical crisis. Doctors are reporting that many men are having allergic reactions to latex condoms. They say they cause severe swelling. So what's the problem?" --Dustin Hoffman

"There's very little advice in men's magazines, because men think, I know what I'm doing. Just show me somebody naked." --Jerry Seinfeld

"Instead of getting married again, I'm going to find a woman I don't like and just give her a house." --Rod Stewart

"See, the problem is that God gives men a brain and a penis, and only enough blood to run one at a time." --Robin Williams

EVER WONDER. . .

Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin ?

Why women can't put on mascara with their mouth closed?

Why you never see the headline "Psychic Wins Lottery"?

Why "abbreviated" is such a long word?

Why doctors call what they do "practice"?

Why lemon juice is made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?

Why the man who invests all your money is called a broker?

Why do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front!

Why the time of day with the slowest traffic is called rush hour?

Why there isn't mouse-flavored cat food?

Why Noah didn't swat those two mosquitoes?

Why they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?

You know that indestructible black box that is used on airplanes?

Why don't they make the whole plane out of that stuff?!

Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?

Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?

If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?

If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?

Beauty of Math

Shared with you by T T on 01-12-06

1 x 8 + 1 = 9
12 x 8 + 2 = 98
123 x 8 + 3 = 987
1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876
12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765
123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654
1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543
12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432
123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321

1 x 9 + 2 = 11
12 x 9 + 3 = 111
123 x 9 + 4 = 1111
1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111
12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111
123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111
1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111
12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111
123456789 x 9 +10= 1111111111

9 x 9 + 7 = 88
98 x 9 + 6 = 888
987 x 9 + 5 = 8888
9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888
98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888
987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888
9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888
98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888

Brilliant, isn't it?
And finally, take a look at this symmetry:

1 x 1 = 1
11 x 11 = 121
111 x 111 = 12321
1111 x 1111 = 1234321
11111 x 11111 = 123454321
111111 x 111111 = 12345654321
1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321
11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321
111111111 x 111111111=12345678987654321

Albert Einstein Quotes

Shared with you by R H on 14-7-06

With Charlie Chaplin.

“When you sit with a nice girl for two hours, it seems like two minutes.

When you sit on a hot stove for two minutes, it seems like two hours.

That’s relativity.”

At age 7.

“If I had only known, I would have been a locksmith.”

“Gravity cannot be held responsible for people falling in love.”

At age 14.

“Education is that which remains when one has forgotten everything learned in school.”

“Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I am not sure about the former.”

Wedding with Mileva, in 1903 at age 24.

“A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life, depend on the labours of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received.”

In 1905 at age 26.

“If my theory of relativity is proven successful, Germany will claim me as a German, and France will declare that I am a citizen of the world.

Should my theory prove untrue, France will say that I am a German, and Germany will declare that I am a Jew.”

EINSTEIN’S “MIRACLE YEAR” Published Works in 1905 at age 26:

1. The Photoelectric Effect, used Planck’s Quantum Hypothesis.

2. Special Theory of Relativity.

3. How Mass and Energy, were Equivalent.

The first, from four pages of Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity sent for publication on March 1916 at age 37.

With Elsa, his second wife, in 1920 at age 41.

“Since the mathematicians have invaded the theory of relativity, I do not understand it myself anymore.”

“The human mind has first to construct forms, independently, before we can find them in things.”

In 1921 at age 42, Nobel Prize for his 1905 work on the Photoelectric Effect.

“Science without religion is lame;
religion without science is blind.”

“These thoughts did not come in any verbal formulation. I rarely think in words at all.

A thought comes, and I may try to express it in words afterward.”

In 1921

“Each of us visits that Earth involuntarily and without an invitation. For me it is enough to wonder at its secrets.”

“There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

In 1927

“Do not worry about your difficulties in mathematics, I assure you that mine are greater.”

“The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is at all comprehensible.”

In 1928

“It would be possible to describe everything scientifically, but it would make no sense; it would be without meaning, as if you described a Beethoven symphony as a variation of wave pressure.”

In 1929, with Max Planck, author of Quantum Hypothesis.

“One reason why mathematics enjoys special esteem, above all other sciences, is that its laws are absolutely certain and indisputable, while those of other sciences are to some extent debatable and in constant danger of being overthrown by newly discovered facts.”

In 1930 , with Rabindranath Tagore, modern India’s poet, Nobel Laureate for Literature.

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

In 1931, with Thomas Mann, german democrat and novelist, Nobel Laureate for Literature.

“If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor.”

In 1932

“Before God we are all equally wise - equally foolish.”

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.”

Becoming an American Citizen in 1940 at age 61 with his secretary and his stepdaughter.

“Sometimes one pays most for things one gets for nothing.”

In 1942, with Robbert Oppenheimer the main scientist in the creation of the atomic bomb.

“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought,
but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”

In 1950

“Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence.”

Albert Einstein Born 14 March 1879 Ulm, Wurttemberg Germany. Death 18 April 1955 at age 76 Princeton, New Jersey, USA.

Dies of heart failure.

Einstein was cremated in Trenton, New Jersey.

His ashes were scattered at an unknown place.

Dining out around the world

Shared with you by Sunday Lim on 13-7-06

...  Click...Dining out around the world

Planet Mars will be the brightest in the night sky starting August.

It will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye.

This will cultimate on Aug. 27 when Mars comes within 34.65M miles of earth.

Be sure to watch the sky on Aug. 27 12:30 am.

It will look like the earth has 2 moons.

The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287.

Share this with ur friends as NO ONE ALIVE TODAY will ever see it again.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

May You Be Blessed

Shared with you by Sunday Lim on 16-6-06

...  Click...May You Be Blessed

12 or 13 ??

Shared with you by Sunday Lim on 04-4-06



----- PLEASE WAIT UNTIL THE GROUP CHANGES POSITIONS.

IS IT TWELVE OR THIRTEEN??


[]


This will drive you crazy!

WHERE DOES THE EXTRA MAN COME FROM? don't ask me; I haven't figured it out yet



Live a Life That Matters

Ready or not, someday it will all come to an end.

There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.

All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else.

Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.

It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.

Your grudges, resentments, frustrations, and jealousies will finally disappear.

So, too, your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do lists will expire.

The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.

It won't matter where you came from, or on what side of the tracks you lived, at the end.

It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant.

Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.

So what will matter?

How will the value of your days be measured?

What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built;

Not what you got, but what you gave.

What will matter is not your success, but your significance.

What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught.

What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.

What will matter is not your competence, but your character.

What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you're gone.

What will matter is not your memories, but the memories that live in those who loved you.

What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.

Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident.

It's not a matter of circumstance but of choice.

Choose to live a life that matters.

This is Maths about sex-- not Mad about sex.

It takes less than a minute .

Work this out as you read ...

Be sure you don't click for answer until you've worked it out!

Delete this if things like these are considered "a waste of my precious time" .

1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would like to have sex (more than once but less than 10)

2. Multiply this number by 2 (just to be bold)

3. Add 5

4. Multiply it by 50 -- I'll wait while you get the calculator

5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1756 ....

If you have not, add 1755.

6. Now subtract the four digit year that you were born. You should have a three digit number

...  Click for answer...

One-Question IQ Test

Here's a one-question IQ Test to help you decide how you should spend the rest of your day......

There is a mute who wants to buy a toothbrush. By imitating the action of brushing one's teeth, he successfully expresses himself to the shopkeeper and the purchase is done.

Now, if there is a blind man who wishes to buy a pair of sunglasses, how should he express himself?

Think about it first before you click for the answer...

...  Click for answer...

How to find your " G Spot "

Shared with you on 08-3-06

" G " of the G Spot stands for " Grafenberg " named after Dr Ernest Grafenberg, a German gynaecologist who in 1950 wrote a report about an erogenous spot in a woman's body. In 1980, at a meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sex in Dallas. Texas, Dr Whipple and her partner John Perry told the audience that " there is a spot inside the vagina that is extremely sensitive to deep pressure." " at the moment of orgasm, many women ejaculate a liquid through the urethra that is chemically similiar to male ejaculate but contains no sperm."

You want to know how to find the G spot? the 64 year old grandmother asked the crowd gathered at Zeffirino, a fine dining Italian restaurant located on the top floor with a commanding view of Hong Kong's harbour.

The crowd shyly murmured " yes" and famed sexologist Dr Beverly Whipple whipped out her index and middle fingers.

" take your fingers, palm facing up and insert them into your vagina," she said. " Find the front top wall and feel around the raised spot or a series of ridges. When you feel the spot, apply pressure. For some women, this is very pleasurable."

So where exactly is the G spot located? " The Grafenberg Spot lies directly behind the pubic bone felt through the front wall of the vagina." " It usually located about halfway between the back of the pubic bone and the front of cervix, along the course of the urethra ( the tube through which you urinate) and near the neck of the bladder, where it connects with the urethra. The size and exact location vary."

Still confused? Then imagine a small clock inside the vagina with 12 o'clock pointing towars the navel.

" The majority of women will find the G spot located in the area between 11 and 1 o'clock. Unlike clitoris, which protrudes from the surrounding tissue, it lies deep within the vaginal wall, and firm pressure is often needed to contact the G spot in its unstimulated state."

How can a woman find her own G spot?

" It is almost impossible if you are lying on your back, because gravity tends to pull the internal organs down and away from the vaginal entrance, so one would need very long fingers and a short vagina. "

" A sitting or squatting position would be better. Because the first sensation women usually experience when G spot is stimulated feels very much like an urgent need to urinate. One solution is to look for the spot while seating on their toilet. Urinate before attempting to locate your G spot so you will not worry that your activities are signalling a full bladder.

Explore the upper front wall of your vagina by applying firm upward pressure.

" As you stimulate the G spot through the vaginal wall and it begins to swell, it can often be felt as a small lump between the two sets of fingers. You will probably experience a distinct internal sensation that will cease when you release the finger pressure."

Dr Whipple also demonstrated how to locate the male G spot. The best technique is to slide finger into the anus and find the prostate, which is located about 5cm up just behind and below the bottom of the penis shaft.

" You should stimulate it with a ' come here' motion." Dr Whipple added. " Palm up, finger going back and forth as if you are telling someone to come here."

A picture is better than a thousand words...  click for G Spot illustration...

Source: Condensed from the Starmag, The Star Sunday 5 March 2006, for your reading pleasure in case you missed the last Sunday paper.

Disclaimer: Anyone using the information does so at their own risk and shall be deemed to indemnify Malacca Hash House Harriers from any and all injury or damage arising from such use.

Tammy of NYP, Singapore

Shared with you on 02-3-06

Quote "

Nanyang Poly 10 mins SEX VIDEO CLIP Revealed!

Nanyang Poly probing sex video clip by Maria Almenoar ( The Straits Times, Monday, Febuary 20, 2006, Page 4 of Prime section)

NANYANG Polytechnic is investigating a rumour that a video clip of one of its students engaging in sexual acts is making its rounds on the internet.

Local forums and blogs have been buzzing with the news of Tammy, said to be a 17-year-old Nanyang Polytechnic Information Technology student who had taped a sex act with her boyfriend on her mobile phone.

According to one blog entry, the cheerleader's mobile phone was apparently stolen by a girl who was jealous of her popularity.

The thief found the 4.8MB video, uploaded it and mass e-mailed it to lecturers and students of the school.

According to the blog www.bexafraid.com, the couple are seen having sex in various positions in the 10-minute long video clip.

Other blog entries focus on the possibility of Tammy being expelled from school although it is believed to be unlikely that the video was shot on school grounds. A group of hackers is also believed to have retrieved Tammy's personal details from the school's database and distributed it.

The Straits Times, however, could not find the video posted on the Internet anymore after repeated searches.

Blog entries about this incident started on Thursday, but bloggers noted on their sites that they did not want to be seen as distributing porn by posting the video.

In an e-mail response yesterday, Nanyang Polytechnic said that it has yet to positively identity the person in the video as one of its students.

When asked what kind of punishment would be meted out if Tammy or the student distributing the video was found to be one of its students, the spokesman said that the school will first investigate to find out more about the matter before coming to any decision.

"The rumour that the polytechnic is looking into expelling the student is therefore untrue," it added.

Bloggers were divided on their responses - some felt she "deserved it" while others sympathised with her situation/

Said a blogger using the nickname Nypian :"I don't understand why the victim should be punished. Isn't she humiliated enough that it is in the open?"

Unquote"

...  Download video clip...

Management Lessons

Shared with you by B M on 10-2-06

Raytheon CEO turns lessons learned into hit booklet

When William Swanson joined Raytheon as a young engineer in 1972, he was timid and sat quietly scribbling notes at meetings. Decades of observations and wisdom have been boiled down into 33 concise leadership tips that Raytheon had printed into a 3½-by-6-inch booklet called Swanson's UnWritten Rules of Management.

By word of mouth, it is turning into one of the hottest underground leadership books in memory. So far, Raytheon has given out 100,000 copies. Swanson, 56, spoke with USA TODAY corporate management reporter Del Jones.

Q: How did you come up with the rules, and why 33?

A: One for each year I had been with Raytheon. I grew up keeping track of everything in engineering notebooks. When I started at this company, I was extremely shy. Others spoke at meetings just to impress the boss, and I would say to myself, "That was dumber than dirt."

One time an engineer who I respected was asked a question point blank, and he said, "Gee, I don't know that, but I'll get you the answer by tonight." It was the right answer, and I wrote it down. I ended up with many scraps of paper.

Years later, I was asked to give a speech about the lessons I learned going from engineering to management. I grabbed my scraps and turned them into a presentation. One day we sat down with a tape recorder and turned it into a book.

Q: Which is most important?

A: No. 4: "Look for what is missing. Many know how to improve what's there; few can see what isn't there." People think differently when I ask, "What are we missing?"

Q: What rule do people find most difficult to follow?

A: No. 13: "Those who speak knowingly and confidently often wind up with the assignment to get the job done." People are reluctant to speak up, especially to the CEO. We want you to speak up, because we want to know who understands the problem and who can get it solved. We're looking for that self-confidence, that no-fear attitude. Not cockiness, but self-assuredness.

Q: Which rule do you personally find the most difficult?

A: No. 14: "Strive for brevity and clarity in oral and written reports." The invention of the BlackBerry is great self-discipline, because I have to type with my thumbs, and that forces me to get to the point.

Q: You certainly kept your book short and to the point.

A: People who read it on the plane are done by the time they get to altitude.

Q: Publishers have called. Why don't you sell it?

A: We're evaluating that. I've got a full-time job, but my passion is education, so we would have to figure a way to get the proceeds to go to education, math and science.

Q: Looks like we had better act fast if we want a free copy.

A: (Laughs). You can order it on our website (www.raytheon.com).

Q: Do you include your e-mail address in the book?

A: Yeah, and people get a double stunner because they get an answer back, usually the same day, some within seconds.

Q: You have only one rule out of 33 that you say "never fails."

A: Yes, "A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter, or to others, is not a nice person." I first noticed that 30 years ago when a customer was very rude to the waiter when ordering wine. It's something that I've observed that's been consistent.

Q: In No. 3, you essentially say that if we are not being criticized on the job, it's because we're not doing much. We hate criticism, so how do we keep the fear of criticism from getting in the way of taking a risk?

A: That's a hard question. It's one of the qualities of leadership. You've got to have self-confidence. Look at it his way: If I'm not being criticized, it means I'm just making layups. When I started out, I would not have ranked self-confidence as one of my attributes. I've been blessed with good bosses and mentors. If you have trouble with Rule 3, get yourself a mentor or a coach. If you want to aspire to bigger and better things, confidence is something you have to have.

Q: No. 28 says that we remember one-third of what we read, half of what people tell us, but 100% of what we feel. What do you mean by that?

A: When Mom and Dad tell you not to touch the stove, what's the first thing you do? Touch the stove. You don't do it again because it makes an impression at a higher level. ... Nothing affected me more than meeting a pilot who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. We make a device that is a decoy to enemy missiles. The pilot said the decoy allowed him to come home, hug his wife and kiss his daughter. It brought tears to my eyes. I kid people that we want the takeoffs and landings of Raytheon aircraft to be an even number.

Q: Rule 31 advises us to put yourself in your boss' shoes.

A: This was given to me by a leader in Taiwan. He asked me if I knew why he takes his granddaughter for walks to the top of a hill. I said, "You want to show her the view and spend time with her." He said, "That's partially true. I'm trying to instill in her that when you're at the base of the hill, you can only see so much. When you get to the top, you get a better perspective."

I find that bosses try to make the best decision they can with the information they have and the position they are in. I try to get the engineering manager to make the same decision they would if they happened to be president of the business. Are my business presidents making decisions that are good for their businesses, or are they making decisions that are good for the corporation? Good people think one or two levels up.

Q: Rule 30 is a little confusing: When facing issues or problems that are becoming drawn-out, "short them to the ground." What does that mean?

A: Often in meetings people start giving their opinions without facts. One time we had this defect in a missile. Some of the harnesses were getting nicked. Everybody had an opinion. Finally, I went to the production floor and saw that a smaller person was building the harness one way, but a taller worker could not get as low and had to rotate the harness. Sure enough, when we rotated the harness, it would go up against an edge, and that caused a kink in the wire. When managers go to the floor and talk to operators, that's an example of shortening it to ground.

Q: No. 23 says to fill the boss in on all the potential risks, not just opportunities.

A: When someone is making a presentation, I'm immediately saying, "What are the risks?" If they've addressed the first two or three things that pop into my mind, the review is over. I'm going to approve their project because they've thought it through. If someone hasn't thought through the risks, that ends the briefing, too. You sit there and wonder, "What else have they forgotten?"

Q: If you were to add Rule No. 34, what would it be?

A: I've got a bunch of them. One is simple: When in charge, be in charge. I've noticed that new managers will be hesitant to be in charge. When you get the keys to the bus, it's time to drive.

Q: You have others?

A: Hold people to a high standard or the organization will gravitate toward mediocrity. Here's another: When things go wrong, true leaders take responsibility and rectify a mistake with speed and passion. They take action that most other people would find too hard. One more: If you're doing something and it doesn't work, no one will care that it was done on cost and on schedule. If it works and exceeds expectations, no one will remember if it was late and overrun.

Swanson's UnWritten Rules

1: Learn to say, "I don't know." If used when appropriate, it will be used often.
2: It is easier to get into something than to get out of it.
3: If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much
4: Look for what is missing. Many know how to improve what's there; few can see what isn't there.
5: Presentation rule: When something appears on a slide presentation, assume the world knows about it and deal with it accordingly.
6. Work for a boss to whom you can tell it like it is. Remember, you can't pick your family, but you can pick your boss.
7: Constantly review developments to make sure that the actual benefits are what they were supposed to be. Avoid Newton's Law.
8: However menial and trivial your early assignments may appear, give them your best effort.
9: Persistence or tenacity is the disposition to persevere in spite of difficulties, discouragement or indifference. Don't be known as a good starter but a poor finisher!
10: In doing your project, don't wait for others; go after them and make sure it gets done.
11: Confirm the instructions you give others, and their commitments, in writing. Don't assume it will get done.
12: Don't be timid: Speak up, express yourself and promote your ideas.
13: Practice shows that those who speak the most knowingly and confidently often end up with the assignment to get the job done.
14: Strive for brevity and clarity in oral and written reports.
15: Be extremely careful in the accuracy of your statements.
16: Don't overlook the fact that you are working for a boss. Keep him or her informed. Whatever the boss wants, within the bounds of integrity, takes top priority.
17: Promises, schedules and estimates are important instruments in a well-run business. You must make promises don't lean on the often-used phrase: "I can't estimate it because it depends on many uncertain factors."
18: Never direct a complaint to the top; a serious offense is to "cc" a person's boss on a copy of a complaint before the person has a chance to respond to the complaint.
19: When interacting with people outside the company, remember that you are always representing the company. Be especially careful of your commitments.
20: Cultivate the habit of boiling matters down to the simplest terms: the proverbial "elevator speech" is the best way.
21: Don't get excited in engineering emergencies: Keep your feet on the ground.
22: Cultivate the habit of making quick, clean-cut decisions.
23: When making decisions, the "pros" are much easier to deal with than the "cons." Your boss wants to see both.
24: Don't ever lose your sense of humor.
25: Have fun at what you do. It will be reflected in you work. No one likes a grump except another grump!
26: Treat the name of you company as if it were your own.
27: Beg for the bad news.
28: You remember 1/3 of what you read, 1/2 of what people tell you, but 100% of what you feel.
29: You can't polish a sneaker.
30: When facing issues or problems that are becoming drawn-out, "short them to the ground."
31: When faced with decisions, try to look at them as if you were one level up in the organization. Your perspective will change quickly.
32: A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter ; or to others ; is not a nice person. (This rule never fails).
33: Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, an amateur built an ark that survived a flood while a large group of professionals built the Titanic!
Postscript: The qualities of leadership boil down to confidence, dedication, integrity and love.
About Swanson
Industrial engineering degree, California Polytechnic State University ('72). Magna cum laude.
Attended Cal Poly on a golf scholarship. Today he plays fewer than a dozen rounds a year.
Became Raytheon CEO in 2003, chairman in 2004. Raytheon's 2004 revenue: $20 billion. Headquarters are in Waltham, Mass. He has a second home in California wine country.
Loves to cook dishes such as beer-can chicken. Has 20 flavors of ice cream in his freezer.
Jokingly calls himself a "wino." Favorite wines are from California vineyards Talley and Edna Valley.

An Inspiring Speech

Shared with you by B M on 18-1-06

This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky Ð I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation - the Macintosh - a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me Ð I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I retuned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything Ð all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and Polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions. Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.

Gratitude

Shared with you by R H on 17-1-06

Richard Carlson

"When we bring gratitude back to our lives, it sparks an inner joy and heightens our perspective. When you're looking for things to be grateful for, you'll find them. Conversely, if you look for things to complain about, you'll find plenty of things as well!

Gratitude is a very simple concept. If we're not grateful for what we have, it will never be enough- or good enough. When we don't feel grateful for our lives and for the people in them- and when we don't articulate and share that appreciation- our loved ones and others feel it and know it. If you are able to incorporate a deep sense of gratitude in your life, you'll notice an enormous difference. All it usually takes is looking at things a little differently. Instead of the flaws, focus on the beauty. Marvel at the gift of being alive

When you are grateful for everything you have, magic happens."

This is pretty cool.... see what history was on your Birthday.

After you've finished reading the info, click again, and see what the moon looked like the nite you were born.

This is neat.

Click .....so neat :   .. Please click for Birthday Calculator ..

.

A curious religious debate is raging in Egypt.
The question is: should you keep your clothes on when having sex?

The Guardian:   .. Please read on ..

.

Bosses' Words

Shared with you by F T on 13-1-06

Quotes taken from actual Federal (US) employee performance evaluations...

"Since my last report, this employee has reached rock bottom and has started to dig."

"His men would follow him anywhere, but only out of morbid curiosity"

"I would not allow this employee to breed"

"This employee is really not so much of a has-been, but more of a definite won't be"

"Works well when under constant supervision and cornered like a rat in a trap"

"When she opens her mouth, it seems that it is only to change feet"

"He would be out of his depth in a parking lot puddle"

"This young lady has delusions of adequacy"

"He sets low personal standards and then consistently fails to achieve them"

"This employee is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot"

"This employee should go far, and the sooner the better"

"Got a full 6-pack, but lacks the plastic thing to hold it all together"

"A gross ignoramus - 144 times worse than an ordinary ignoramus"

"He certainly takes a long time to make his pointless"

"He doesn't have ulcers, but he's a carrier"

"I would like to go hunting with him sometime"

"He's been working with glue too much"

"He would argue with a signpost"

"He has knack for making strangers immediately"

"She brings a lot of joy whenever she leaves the room"

"When her IQ reaches 50, she should sell"

"If you see 2 people talking and one looks bored, she's the other one"

"A photographic memory but with the cap over the lens"

World Class Salesman

Translated by Websitekang ( 30-12-05 )

A country bumpkin went for an interview as a salesman in a world class supermarket which has everything to sell in the city.

The boss asked him, " Have you been a salesman before?"

" I was a door to door salesman in my village." he amswered.

" Alright, come to work tomorrow, after your work, I'll come and see how you do," the boss said since he quite liked the kid.

After a long day, and near knock off time, the boss really came to see this young man.

" How many sales have you done?" the boss asked.

"one!"

" Only one? our average salesman could make 20 to 30 sales a day! and how much was the sales." the boss was astonished.

" 300 thousand US dollars!" answered the bumpkin.

" What?? How did you make it??" shocked by the boss.

" It is like this, a man came to buy something and I first sold him a small sized fishing hook, and then a medium sized hook, and at last a big sized hook."

" After that, I sold him a light strength fishing line, then medium strength, and then the strongest fishing line we have in the shop."

" Then I asked him where he intends to go fishing, he said seaside. I then suggested him to buy a boat, and I brought him to the boat counter to buy a 20 ft boat coupled with two powerful engines. Then he said his car was not powerful enough to pull the trailer, so I brought him to buy a latest model Toyota landcruiser at our car sales counter."

The boss with all the admiration, asked," The guy came in to buy a piece of fishing hook, and you managed to sell so much things to him, that is amazing!"

" No sir, It wasn't like that, " answered the country bumpkin," he came to buy a pack of Tempons for his wife, and I told him, " Look! your weekend is ruined, why don't you go fishing!"

Translated from Oriental Daily Press( 30-12-05 ) by Websitekang foryour reading pleasure

Note for your Protection

Share with all of you by Inpaq (30th Dec 2005 )

IMPORTANT FOR YOUR PROTECTION:

A stock clerk was sent to clean up a storeroom in Maui, Hawaii. When he got back, he was complaining that the storeroom was really filthy and that he had noticed dried mouse or rat droppings in some areas.

A couple of days later, he started to feel like he was coming down with a stomach flu, complained of sore joints and headaches, and began to vomit.

He went to bed and never really got up again. Within two days he was severely ill and weak. His blood sugar count was down to 66, and his face and eyeballs were yellow. He was rushed to the emergency at Pali-Momi, where he was diagnosed to be suffering from massive organ failure.

He died shortly before midnight.

No one would have made the connection between his job and his death,had it not been for a doctor who specifically asked if he had been in a warehouse or exposed to dried rat or mouse droppings at any time.

They said there is a virus (much like the Hanta virus) that lives in dried rat and mouse droppings.

Once dried, these droppings are like dust and can easily be breathed in or ingested if a person does not wear protective gear or fails to wash face and hands thoroughly .

An autopsy was performed on the clerk to verify the doctor's suspicions.

This is why it is extremely important to ALWAYS carefully rinse off the tops of canned sodas or foods, and to wipe off pasta packaging, cereal boxes, and so on.

Almost everything you buy in a supermarket was stored in a warehouse at one time or another, and stores themselves often have rodents.

Most of us remember to wash vegetables and fruits but never think of boxes and cans.

The ugly truth is, even the most modern, upper-class, super store has rats and mice. And their warehouse most assuredly does!

Whenever you buy any canned soft drink, please make sure that you wash the top with running water and soap or, if that is not available, drink with a straw.

The investigation of soda cans by the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta discovered that the tops of soda cans can be encrusted with dried rat's urine, which is so toxic it can be lethal. Canned drinks and other foodstuffs are stored in warehouses and containers that are usually infested with Rodents, and then they get transported to retail outlets without being properly cleaned.

Please forward this message to the people you care about.

(I JUST DID!)

Formula for life - hilarious

Share with all of you by Inpaq (08 Dec 2005 )

for laughs....

ROMANCE MATHEMATICS

Smart man + smart woman = romance

Smart man + dumb woman = affair

Dumb man + smart woman = marriage

Dumb man + dumb woman = pregnancy

OFFICE ARITHMETIC

Smart boss + smart employee = profit

Smart boss + dumb employee = production

Dumb boss + smart employee = promotion

Dumb boss + dumb employee = overtime

SHOPPING MATH

A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he needs.

A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn't need.

GENERAL EQUATIONS & STATISTICS

A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.

A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.

A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.

A successful woman is one who can find such a man.

HAPPINESS

To be happy with a man, you must understand him a lot and love him a little.

To be happy with a woman, you must love her a lot and not try to understand her at all.

LONGEVITY

Married men live longer than single men do, but married men are a lot more willing to die.

PROPENSITY TO CHANGE

A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't.

A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change, and she does.

DISCUSSION TECHNIQUE

A woman has the last word in any argument.

Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.

HOW TO STOP PEOPLE FROM BUGGING YOU ABOUT GETTING MARRIED

Old aunts used to come up to me at weddings, poking me in the ribs and cackling, telling me, "You're next." They stopped after I started doing the same thing to them at funerals.

Anyone looking for a job? They are looking for his replacement

Share with all of you by R H (12 Nov 2005 )

Nguyen executioner revealed


The hangman who will execute Australian drug trafficker Van Tuong Nguyen in Singapore has been revealed as a semi-retired 73-year-old grandfather.   .. read on. Darshan Singh, Singapore's chief hangman ..

Latest news from The China Press on 28-11-05: Darshan Singh was fired." they called me a few days ago and said " you need not to hang Van Tuong Nguyen and you also need not to come to work any more" I think they are fed up with my news in the media. " Darsan Singh said.   .. read on. Darshan Singh, Singapore's chief hangman sacked ..

It was all over.   .. read on. He was hanged ..dated 2nd Dec 05.

An amazing water bridge in Germany

Share with all of you by Oil Rig Lim (11 Nov 2005 )

For those who appreciate engineering projects

Origins: The photograph displayed above is one of a real structure, a kilometer-long "concrete bathtub" water bridge over the Elbe River in Germany that joins the Elbe-Havel canal to the Mittelland canal near the eastern town of Magdeburg.

As Deutsche Welle described the bridge upon its completion in 2003: Taking six years to build and costing around half a billion euros, the massive undertaking will connect Berlin's inland harbor with the ports along the Rhine river. At the center of the project is Europe's longest water bridge measuring in just shy of a kilometer at 918 meters. The huge tub to transport ships over the Elbe took 24,000 metric tons of steel and 68,000 cubic meters of concrete to build.

The water bridge will enable river barges to avoid a lengthy and sometimes unreliable passage along the Elbe. Shipping can often come to a halt on the stretch if the river's water mark falls to unacceptably low levels. Plans for joining the two canals had been conceived as far back as 1919, and construction on such a project began during the 1930s, but first World War II and then the post-war division of Germany put the project on hold until after German reunification was achieved in the 1990s.

THE MAYONNAISE JAR AND COFFEE

Share with all of you by R H (07 Nov 2005 )

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar...and the coffee...

THE MAYONNAISE JAR AND COFFEE

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, " I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things-your God, family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions-things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car. The sand is everything else-the small stuff. "If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.

The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Sing Karaoke. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal." Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

The Railway Across the Roof of the World

By Oil Rig Lim on 2nd Nov 2005

I've compile a one page infor on the above subject, hope this will be a good travelling infor for yr web site.
 
I'm gathering infor to plan for a tour as soon as the train start its service to Lhasa. Interested ?
 
cheers,
 
Limht aka Oil Rig Lim

How about having a rail ride across the roof of the world and a hash run in Lhasa, one of the world’s highest cities located at 3.76km in the sky. This is almost like having a city at the top of Mt Kinabalu in Sabah !

The world's highest train line linking Lhasa in Tibet from Xining in the China western province of Qinghai is now completed in October 2005.

About 80% of the 1,956km(1,220mile) rail lines lies above 4,000m(13,000feet) crossing mountains passes up to 5,000m(16,500feet) high. The highest station is in a town called Nagqu, an altitude of 4,500m(14,850feet).

The train have special cars that are sealed like aircraft to protect passengers from altitude sickness. The construction of the railway started in 1958 and reported to cost US$5 billions. The railway is expected to be opened for service from June 2006.

Luxury trains are being built for the new track. They feature pressurised carriages to minimise the risk of altitude sickness and tinted windows to protect from strong ultra-violet rays. Canada's Bombardier has won the US$280m contract to build 361 cars, some of which will have deluxe sleeping compartments with individual showers, glass-walled sides to provide panoramic views, entertainment centres and gourmet dining areas, and toilets with sewage and waste-treatment systems. The cars will be pulled by diesel engines capable of maintaining an average speed of 100 kph, even at above 4,000m, when the thinness of the air can cut power by almost half. There are seven tunnels and 286 bridges on the 1,110km-long stretch of new line. At its maximum altitude in the Tanggula pass, the track runs 5,072m above sea level - higher than Europe's greatest peak, Mont Blanc, and more than 200m higher than the Peruvian railway in the Andes, which was previously the world's most elevated track. The longest tunnel - at Yangbajin - stretches 3.3km. The longest bridge spans 11.7km over the Qingsui river. For more infor :

Truth is sometimes stranger than fiction, and how about 70 kilometers east the capital of the Czech Republic, Prague, lies a small town called Sedlec.

It might have been an ordinary enough town, if not for its extraordinary church.The inside of this church is decorated with artworks made of real human bones.

The story begins in 1218, when a certain Abbot Henry made a pilgrimage to the holy land and brought back a jar full of soil from cemetery, which he spread over the Church.

As a result the church came to be regarded as more sacred and turned into a popular burial spot .

By 1318, more than 30,000 bodies were buried there and by 1511, it had become necessary to remove the older bones to make place for the new ones.

These later became the material for the macabre creations.

In 1870 a local woodcarver was hired by the Duke of Shwartzenberg to decorate the inside of the church with the human remains (approximately 40,000 sets of human bones).

Now it is one of the most extraordinary church in the whole world.... Boney Church - isn't it morbidly amazing???

Attached are some of the pictures of this Boney Church - its simply astonishing

Neo economics!! "Saving is sin, and spending is virtue."

Share with all of you by R H (14-10-2005)

A Simple Article on Economics

Japanese save a lot. They do not spend much. Also Japan exports far more than it imports. Has an annual trade surplus of over $100 billions. Yet Japanese economy is considered weak, even collapsing.

Americans spend, save little. Also US imports more than it exports. Has an annual trade deficit of over $400 billion. Yet, the American economy is considered strong and trusted to get stronger.

But where from do Americans get money to spend? They borrow from Japan, China and even India. Virtually others save for the US to spend. Global savings are mostly invested in US; in dollars. India itself keeps its foreign currency assets of over $50 billions in US securities. China has sunk over $160 billion in US securities. Japan 's stakes in US securities is in trillions.

Result: The US has taken over $5 trillion from the world. So, as the world saves for the US, Americans spend freely. Today, to keep the US consumption going, that is for the US economy to work, other countries have to remit $180 billion every quarter, which is $2 billion a day, to the US! Otherwise the US economy would go for a six. So will the global economy. The result will be no different if US consumers begin consuming less. A Chinese economist asked a neat question. Who has invested more, US in China, or China in US? The US has invested in China less than half of what China has invested in US. The same is the case with India. We have invested in US over $50 billion. But the US has invested less than $20 billion in India.

Why the world is after the US? The secret lies in the American spending, that they hardly save. In fact they use their credit cards to spend their future income. That the US spends is what makes it attractive to export to theUS. So US imports more than what it exports year after year. The result: The world is dependent on US consumption for its growth. By its deepening culture of consumption, the US has habituated the world to feed on US consumption. But as the US needs money to finance its consumption, the world provides the money. It's like a shopkeeper providing the money to a customer so that the customer keeps buying from the shop. If the customer will not buy, the shop won't have business, unless the shopkeeper funds him. The US is like the lucky customer. And the world is like the helpless shopkeeper financier.

Who is America's biggest shopkeeper financier? Japan of course. Yet it's Japan which is regarded as weak. Modern economist complain that Japanese do not spend, so they do not grow. To force the Japanese to spend, the Japanese government exerted it self, reduced the savings rates, even charged the savers. Even then the Japanese did not spend (habits don't change, even with taxes, do they?). Their traditional postal savings alone is over$1.2 trillions, about three times the Indian GDP. Thus, savings, far from being the strength of Japan, has become its pain.

Hence, what is the lesson? That is, a nation cannot grow unless the people spend, not save. Not just spend, but borrow and spend. Dr. Jagdish Bhagwati, the famous Indian-born economist in the US, told Manmohan Singh that Indians wastefully save. Ask them to spend, on imported cars and, seriously, even on cosmetics! This will put India on a growth curve. "Saving is sin, and spending is virtue."

Before you follow this neo economics, get some fools to save so that you can borrow from them and spend.

3 useful tips for the users of mobile phone

Share with you by Lim Sunday HHH (12-10-2005)

3 useful tips for the users of mobile phone:

1) Emergency number

The Emergency Number worldwide for Mobile is 112.

If you find yourself out of coverage area of your mobile network and there is an emergency, dial 112 and the mobile will search any existing network to establish the emergency number for you, and interestingly ...this number112 can be dialed even while the keypad is locked. Try it out.

2) Locked the keys in the car? Your car has remote keys?

This may come in handy someday. Good reason to own a cell phone: If you happen to lock your keys in the car and the spare keys are home, call someone on your cell phone. Hold your cell phone about a foot from your car door and have the other person at your home press the unlock button, holding it near the phone on their end. Your car will unlock. Saves someone from having to drive your keys to you. Distance is no object. You could be hundreds of miles away, and if you can reach someone who has the other "remote" for your car, you can unlock the doors (or the trunk).

Editor's Note: *It works fine! We tried it out and it unlocked our car over a cell phone!"

3) Hidden Battery power

Imagine your cell battery is very low, u r expecting an important call and u don't have a charger. Nokia instrument comes with a reserve battery. To activate, press the keys *3370# Your cell will restart with this reserve and the instrument will show a 50% increase in battery. This reserve will get charged when u charge your cell next time.

A Transplant Story

Share with you by Websitekang (05-10-2005)

In spite of hard running, some of us do worry about the problem of heart. I came across a story of Mr Seah of Singapore, the first South East Asian heart transplant survivor and he will on Oct 12 join the " rare club " of those who have lived for 20 years a heart transplant patient. For his 20th anniversary, the Singapore Heart Centre will throw him a party.   .. read on. The first South - East Asian to undergo a heart transplant..

Share with all of you by R H (04-10-2005)

Next time someone starts to spread gossip, think of this:

In ancient Greece (469 - 399 BC), Socrates was widely lauded for his wisdom.

One day the great philosopher came upon an acquaintance who ran up to him excitedly and said, "Socrates, do you know what I just heard about one of your students?"

Wait a moment," Socrates replied. "Before you tell me I'd like you to pass a little test.It's called the Triple Filter Test."

"Triple filter?"

"That's right," Socrates continued. "Before you talk to me about my student let's take a moment to filter what you're going to say. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"

"No," the man said, "actually I just heard about it and..."

"All right," said Socr ates. "So you don't really know if it's true or not. Now let's try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my student something good?"

"No, on the contrary..."

"So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about him, even though you're not certain it's true?"

The man shrugged, a little embarrassed.

Socrates continued. "You may still pass the test though,because there is a third filter - the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my student going to be useful to me?"

"No, not really..."

"Well," concluded Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is neither True nor Good nor even Useful,why tell it to me at all?"

The man was defeated and ashamed.

This is the reason Socrates was a great philosopher and held in such high esteem.

It also explains why he never found out that Plato was having an affair with his wife.

Share with all of you by R H (29-09-2005)

The Dark Horses

By Jack Canfield and Mark V. Hansen

After Fred Astaire’s first screen test, the memo from the testing director of MGM, dated 1933, said, “can’t act! Slightly Bald! Can dance a little!” Astaire kept that memo over the fireplace in his Beverly Hills home.

An expert said of Vince Lombardi: “He possesses minimal football knowledge. Lacks Motivation.”

Socrates was called, “An immoral corrupter of youth.” When Peter J. Daniel was in the fourth grade, his teacher, Mrs. Phillips, constantly said, “Peter J. Daniel, you’re no good, you’re a bad apple and you’re never going to amount to anything.” Peter was totally illiterate until he was 26. A friend stayed up with him all night and read him a copy of Think and Grow Rich. Now he owns the street corners he used to fight on and just published his latest book: Mrs. Phillips, You Were Wrong.

Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women, was encouraged to find work as a servant or seamstress by her family.

Beethoven handled the violin awkwardly and preferred playing his own compositions instead of improving his technique. His teacher called him hopeless as a composer.

The parents of the famous opera singer Enrico Caruso wanted him to be an engineer. His teachers said he had no voice at all and could not sing.

Charles Darwin, father of the Theory of Evolution, gave up a medical career and was told by his father, “You care for nothing but shooting, dogs, and rat catching.” In his autobiography, Darwin wrote, “I was considered by my father, a very ordinary boy, rather below the common standard in intellect.

Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor for lack of ideas. Walt Disney also went bankrupt several times before he built Disneyland.

Thomas Edison’s teachers said he was too stupid to learn anything.

Albert Einstein did not speak until he was four years old and didn’t read until he was seven. His teacher described him as “mentally slow, unsociable and adrift forever in his foolish dreams.” He was expelled and refused admittance to Zurich Polytechnic School.

Louis Pasteur was only a mediocre pupil in undergraduate studies and ranked 15 out of 22 in chemistry.

Isaac Newton did very poorly in grade school.

The sculptor Rodin’s father said, “I have an idiot for a son.” Described as the worst pupil in the school, Rodin failed three times to secure admittance to the school of art. His uncle called him uneducable.

Leo Tolstoy, author of War and Peace, flunked out of college. He was described as “both unable and unwilling to learn.”

Playwright Tennessee Williams was enraged when his play, Me, Vasha was not chosen in a class competition at Washington University where he was enrolled in English XVI. The teacher recalled that Williams denounced the judges’ choices and their intelligence.

F. W. Woolworth’s employers at the dry goods store said he had not enough sense to wait upon customers.

Henry Ford failed and went broke five times before he finally succeeded.

Babe Ruth, considered by sports historians to be the greatest athlete of all time and famous for setting the home run record, also holds the record for strikeouts.

Winston Churchill failed sixth grade. He did not become Prime Minister of England until he was 62, and then only after a lifetime of defeats and setbacks. His greatest contributions came when he was a “senior citizen.”

Eighteen publishers turned down Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull, before Macmillan finally published it in 1970. By 1975 it had sold more than seven million copies in the U.S. alone.

Richard Hooker worked for seven years on his humorous war novel, M*A*S*H, only to have it rejected by 21 publishers before Morrow decided to publish it. It became a runaway bestseller, spawning a blockbusting movie and highly successful television series.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. —Joshua 1:9

Share with all of you by R H (09-09-2005)

Things You Would Never Know Without Indian Movies
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1. A man will show no pain while taking the most ferocious beating but will wince when a woman tries to cleanse his wounds.

2. The hero cannot fall in love with the heroine(vice versa) unless they first perform a dance number in the rain.

3. Once applied, make-up is permanent, in rain or in any other situation.

4. Two lovers can be dancing in the field and out of nowhere, 100 people will appear from god-knows-where and joins them in the dance.

5. In the final scene, the hero will discover that the bad guy who he is up against is actually his brother and the maid who looked after him is his mother and the chief inspector is his father and the Judge is his uncle and so forth.

6. Key English words used in the movie (usually said out loud between sentences) are No Problem!, My God!, Get Out!, Shut-up!, Impossible!, Please forgive me!

7.They drop down on grounds and roll and roll while singing and came out with different clothings.

8.They can run around the coconut trees, singing, battling eyelid, and throwing glances at each other and change clothes all at the same time without being out of breath.

Things You Would Never Know Without Chinese Swordsman Movies
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1. Being the hero's parents will always be unlucky and will usually be killed by enemies when the hero is young, and the hero will become an orphan.

2. When a man is wounded and dying, he always manage to catch his breath and speak a few sentences to reveal the killer before dropping his head and being declared dead.

3. Skilled people are able to fly over roof tops, up trees and across distances without any sweat. But when travelling to towns and villages, they still have to walk or ride horses.

4. The heroes need not have to work for money, but will always have golds and silvers with them to pay for their dishes.

5. The heroes and villains will meet each other very often no matter how big the country is and no matter where they are.

6. Healing internal wounds in the body is as easy as sitting down cross-legged, palms on the knees and smoke coming out from the head.

7. They can keep alot of stuff in their sleeves and waistband and never drop them.Especially alot of gold and silver ingots...

Share with all of you by R H (19-08-2005)

Cup or Water?

A group of working adults got together to visit their University lecturer. The lecturer was happy to see them. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

The Lecturer just smiled and went to the kitchen to get an assortment of cups - some porcelain, some in plastic, some in glass, some plain looking and some looked rather expensive and exquisite.

The Lecturer offered his former students the cups to get drinks forhemselves. When all the students had a cup in hand with water, the Lecturer spoke: "If you noticed, all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal that you only want the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. What all you wanted was water, not the cup, but we unconsciously went for the better cups."

"Just like in life, if Life is Water, then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold/maintain Life, but the quality of Life doesn't change."

"If we only concentrate on the cup, we won't have time to enjoy the water in it."

Share with all of you by B Tan (29-07-2005)

The Law Of The Seed

Take a look at an apple tree. There might be five hundred apples on the tree, but each apple has just ten seeds. That's a lot of seeds! We might ask, "Why would you need so many seeds to grow just a few more apple trees?" Nature has something to teach us here. It's telling us: "Not all seeds grow. In life, most seeds never grow. So if you really want to make something happen, you had better try more than once."

This might mean:
· You'll attend twenty interviews to get one job.
· You'll interview forty people to find one good employee.
· You'll talk to fifty people to sell one house, one car, one vacuum cleaner, one insurance policy, or a business idea.
· And you might meet a hundred acquaintances just to find one special friend.

When we understand the "Law of the Seed", we don't get so disappointed.
We stop feeling like victims. We learn how to deal with things that happen to us.

Laws of nature are not things to take personally.

We just need to understand them - and work with them.

IN A NUTSHELL
Successful people fail more often. But they plant more seeds.
When Things Are Beyond your control, here's something that you must NOT DO so as to avoid misery in your life:
- You must not decide how you think the world SHOULD be.
- You must not make rules for how everyone SHOULD behave.
- Then, when the world doesn't obey your rules, you get angry
- That's what miserable people do!

On the other hand, let's say you expect that:
- Friends SHOULD return favours.
- People SHOULD appreciate you.
- Planes SHOULD arrive on time.
- Everyone SHOULD be honest.
- Your husband or best friend SHOULD remember your birthday.

These expectations may sound reasonable. But often, these things won't happen!
- So you end up frustrated and disappointed.
- There's a better strategy. Demand less, and instead, have preferences!
- For things that are beyond your control, tell yourself:
- "I would prefer "A", but if "B" happens, it's OK too!"

This is really a change in mindset. It is a shift in attitude, and it gives you more peace of mind ...
You prefer that people are polite ... but when they are rude, it doesn't ruin your day.
You prefer sunshine...but if it rains, it is ok too!
To become happier, we either need to change the world or change our thinking. It is easier to change our Thinking!

In summary
It is not the problem that is the issue, but rather it is your attitude attending to the problem that is the problem.

It's not what happens to you that determine your happiness. It's how you think about what happens to you!

Hashing Mishap(3)

Fact: Based on the news published in the China Press and Nanyang Siang Pau on 16th July,2003.

It was a normal hashing day for the Ipoh HHH on Friay ( 15-7-05), the weather was gloomy and it was drizzling. However, the hashers as usual gathered at the foot of the Merlimau hill with a height of about 1000ft. They started the run at 6.00pm and the run was involved with climbing up the hill. By 7.15pm everybody was back and they found that hasher Hu Ban Toh did not return. Apparently he had lost his way. Rescue team was moblised and luckily he came out only in the wee hour of the morning. That had caused the anxiety of the other over a hundred hash members.

He chose the lane known as " Great Wall" which was actually about 500 ft high, others like lane 46 and 49 which were actually much higher. Apparently, he went on his own and did not follow papers.

Hu, aged 72 has been hashing for the past thirty over years, and he was well and unhurt and walked down from the hill by himself. He is a prominent figure in the Chinese education community.

By Websitekang ( Informations adpated from the N S Pau and the C Press )
date: 16-7-2005

Hashing Mishap(2)

The report is written here for your information.

Fact: Based on the news published in the China Press and Nanyang Siang Pau on 14th July,2003.

Pieces of a human skeleton were found at Bukit Wang, Jetra, North Kedah of Northen Malaya on 13th July 2005. It was believed that it belonged to a hasher by the name as Lai Kim Kwang of Kota Setar HHH of Kedah as his belongings including a hash T shirt were found by the side of the skeletons. Anyway, it has to be confirmed further by a DNA report.

Mr Lai was found lost on 18-10-2003 in a normal hashing activity in the evening. After the incident, more than 500 people including uniformed persennel and volunteers had been mobilised to comb the area for about forty days for rescues but in vain. Mr Lai was 60 at the time he was lost, and was a businessman and a member of the Kota Setar HHH. He was an experienced hasher of more than twenty years, but also had two records of losing his way prior to this incident.

Our sympathy to Mr Lai's family and Kota Setar HHH.

Coincidentally, Similar " lost " case happened on 20-9-2003 in Seremban HHH.  .. read more from archives of MH3 website..

. By Websitekang ( Informations adpated from the N S Pau and the C Press )
date: 14-7-2005

THE GREAT BEER DRINKERS by Inpaq (05-07-2005)

"Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel shamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams If I didn't drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say to myself, "It is better that I drink this beer and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver." ~ Jack Handy

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may leave you wondering what the hell happened to your bra and panties.

"I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day. " ~Frank Sinatra

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may create the illusion that you are tougher, smarter, faster and better looking than most people.

"When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading." ~ Henny Youngman

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may lead you to think people are laughing WITH you.

"24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? I think not." ~ Stephen Wright

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause you to think you can sing.

"When we drink, we get drunk. When we get drunk, we fall asleep. When we fall asleep, we commit no sin. When we commit no sin, we go to heaven. So, let's all get drunk and go to heaven!" ~ Brian O'Rourke

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause pregnancy.

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." ~ Benjamin Franklin

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol is a major factor in dancing like a retard.

"Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza." ~ Dave Barry

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause you to tell your friends over and over again that you love them.

To some it's a six-pack, to me it's a Support Group. Salvation in a can! ~ Dave Howell

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may make you think you can logically converse with members of the opposite sex without spitting.

And saving the best for last, as explained by Cliff Clavin, of Cheers. One afternoon at Cheers, Cliff Clavin was explaining the Buffalo Theory to his buddy Norm. Here's how it went:

"Well ya see, Norm, it's like this... A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo, and when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first.

This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members.

In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain