Moo....

OK folks, got an email from a cousin that really tickled me. Read on...

TRADITIONAL CORPORATION
You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull. Your herd multiplies and the economy grows. You sell them and retire on the income.

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows. You sell one and force the other to produce the milk of four cows. You are surprised when the cow drops dead.

A FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows. You go on strike because you want three cows.

A JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then create clever cow cartoon images called 'Cowkimon' and marketthem World-Wide.

A GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows. You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, andmilk themselves.

A BRITISH CORPORATION
You have two cows. Both are mad.

AN ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows, but you don't know where they are. You break for lunch.

A SWISS CORPORATION
You have 5,000 cows and none of which belong to you. You charge others for storing them.

A CHINESE CORPORATION
You have two cows. You have 300 people milking them. You claim full employment and high bovine productivity. You have the newsman who reported on the numbers arrested.

AN INDIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows. You worship them.

A MALAYSIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows. You signed a 40-year contract to supply milk at RM0.06 per litre. Then midway through, you raised the price to RM0.60 or you cut the supply. When the buyer agrees to the new price, you change your mind again and nowwant RM1.20. The buyer decided you can keep the milk. They go look for milk that comes from recycled cows or the cow urineinstead. Your two cows retire together with the Prime Minister.

A SINGAPOREAN CORPORATION
You have two cows. One cow-peh and one cow-bu.


Hoped you had a good laugh (it's a Friday).



Fishmonger

Mushroom Kingdom!

Super Mario rules! This was certainly one of the first few games I learnt to play when Nintendo was first launched (remember the grey rectangular box?). Back then the game cartridges were large, thick, cassette-like tapes and I remember having to blow into it each time to clear the dust so that the cartridges could function properly. Take a look at some of the pictures below. This may seem quite familiar to some of you =)







How times have changed since. Today, Sony's Playstation 3 and Nintendo's Wii are all the rage. The game cartridges come in the form of DVD-ROMs and the game consoles are looking sleek and futuristic. The graphics have taken a quantum leap too in terms of quality and providing gamers with an interactive experience. Well, I've gotta admit, I've since not been able to catch up with the latest offerings on the market. In fact I haven't touched a computer game in more than 10 years! I'm lost each time younger friends of mine talk excitedly about the latest RPG game (yea, it took me quite a while to know what RPG meant - ROLE-PLAYING GAME).

Hmmm... I reckon if you would give me an old Nintendo set anytime, I'll be stuck on Super Mario for an entire day! Funny how we find simple thrills in playing a short, stocky character with the ability to fly above clouds, go down into green tunnels, hit square boxes with question marks, step on turtles, chase 'runaway' mushrooms....

I think there's a little bit of childhood fantasy in all of us.

Fishmonger

Captivating...

Yes ladies, this is the book I was talking about. Go get one for yourself now! Unless you're the fortunate person I'm giving it to. *wink*

And if you're keen on reading about Ms Lim Soo Hoon's book, "Sam: A Mother's Journey of Faith", you can purchase it from MPH for about 12 bucks I think.

Fishmonger

Women, Truly Captivating - Part II

Here's the speech that Ms Lim Soo Hoon made at the gala dinner of the Her World Women Awards Night. I'm sure it'll be an inspiration to you women, just as it was for me. I'm particularly impressed with her boldness in declaring her faith, both in what she believes in, and in her rock solid trust in the Big Guy above.

Ms Lim, you're truly captivating.

* * * * *

SPEECH AT HER WORLD WOMAN OF THE YEAR 2006 GALA DINNER, 6 MAR 07

Minister Vivian Balakrishnan
My Dear Family, Friends, Ladies and Gentlemen

1. Thank you for being here to share this evening with Esther and me. Thank you Simon for your very kind words. And thank you HerWorld and the Judging Panel for giving me this honour.

2. This award came as a complete surprise to me. Some time in early January, Simon told me that Her World would like to give me this award and asked if I would accept it. My first question to Simon was “Why me?” Simon mentioned my contribution to the community through my book on my journey when my elder son, Samuel, was battling cancer about 2 years ago. I told Simon that I was very honoured and flattered by the award but there are so many other women out there who have gone or are going through even much more difficult trials than I had. To be honest, I was concerned because when Simon mentioned the award, the first two words that came to my mind were “vanity” and “pride”. I wanted to be sure that if I do accept the award, I would do it for the right reason, certainly not for vanity and pride. I told Simon that I would need to pray about it.

3. That night, I asked my family members to help pray for me. Sam said “Mom, so long as you are unsure, don’t accept it.” I told him that I was unsure because of my concern that I was doing it for my vanity and pride. Yet I also know that if I accept the award, it would a wonderful opportunity for me to share with others God’s love for us, and to thank God for all He has done and is continuing to do in my life. Sam said he would pray for me. The next morning, he asked why I would want to accept the award. I repeated what I told him the night before. Sam then said “Go for it, Mom”.

4. Two weeks after I told Simon that I would accept the award, we found out that Sam had a relapse. His cancer had returned but we thank God that the tumour is localized, at the old place, in his thymus gland. Sam had a surgery about a month ago to remove the tumour but unfortunately not all could be removed. Sam is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatment and further down the road, will be having a stem cell transplant using stem cells from Russell, his younger brother. My husband and both my sons, whom I am very proud of, are here with me tonight.

5. As a Christian, I am taught to “be joyful always; to pray continually; to give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will” for me (1 Ths 16-18). I am also taught not to be “anxious about anything but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, (to) present our requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Ph 4:6-7)

6. Indeed, notwithstanding Sam’s recent relapse, God has granted my family and I much peace. Sam himself is very much at peace, still living life normally and we are greatly encouraged by that. We have learned that when we trust and obey God and do His will, He will give us many reasons to be thankful for. Yes, even with our new trial, our new journey of faith, there is much my family and I are thankful for.

7. And this award tonight has given me the opportunity to reflect on the many blessings in my life and for thanksgiving.

8. God knows my strengths for He is the one who has blessed me with them. He also knows where I am lacking and ensures that I am well supported there. I have a husband who besides being the handyman in the house, happily does the grocery shopping – I know nothing about where to get the value for money stuff – he does. I have a younger sister who lives with my family and is like a surrogate mother to my sons whenever I or my husband are away. I have a faithful and reliable domestic help who has chosen to work with my family for the past 18 years. I am deeply thankful that I have a large but close knit extended family who is always there to love, laugh and cry with me. I feel very blessed to have friends, some of whom are here tonight, who will stay with me through thick and thin, where at times no word need to be spoken for their presence is comfort enough.

9. I have been very blessed in my career as well, not just in the kinds of challenges and opportunities I have been exposed to, but in the relationships that have been formed over time. I am very thankful for the many good bosses, mentors and colleagues in my life, many of whom have become firm friends. If not for their care, compassion and unstinting support when my son fell ill 2 years ago, and even now, I would have found it almost impossible to work. Dr Vivian Balakrishnan was my Minister in 2004 and when he heard about Sam’s illness, he went out of his way to support me, giving me time to take care of Sam and even offering me the use of his office in the Singapore National Eye Centre should I need a place to rest or work whenever I accompany Sam to the National Cancer Centre for his treatment. I thank God that he was my Minister at that point in time. God has truly been taking very good care of me.

10. Throughout my life, I have taken on and am still taking on many roles. But one thing is clear. I am no superwoman and I don’t believe in superwomen nor for that matter, supermen. I think it will be impossible for anyone to play all his or her multiple roles equally well. For me, I have a simple philosophy. What I can’t do well or can’t do at all, I outsource. When my sons were very young and looking at picture books, they would point to the lady in the kitchen and say “Aunty Lina”, my maid, never “mummy”. When the Her World team wanted to shoot the video of me, they had suggested that one scene be of me in the kitchen preparing meals. You should hear the hysterical laughter in my home when I shared this with my family.

11. But of all my roles, the one that I treasure most is that of being a mother so I thank the Judging Panel that in deciding to give me this award tonight, they have recognized my role as a mother.

12. Motherhood has given me the deepest pain yet the greatest joy; the most tears yet the most laughs; humility yet pride. And most of all, it has allowed me to get to know my God so much more, beginning with Sam’s battle against cancer in September 2004. So I thank God for giving me this opportunity to be a mother to my 2 wonderful boys.

13. There is a story in the Bible about a man who before going on his journey, entrusted his 3 servants with his money. To one, he gave 5 talents of his money, to another 2 talents and to the last, one talent, each according to his ability. When he returned, the one who was given 5 talents said he had put them to good use and gained the master another 5. So also the one who was given 2 talents; he gained 2 more but the one who was given one talent, simply hid the money as he was afraid of losing it. When the master returned, this last servant thought his master would be happy. But his master was furious because he has not made good use of the talent that was given to him. The master expected him to be a steward, not a mere
custodian of his talent.

14. So likewise, God has given us gifts and resources according to our abilities and expect us to invest them wisely. We are responsible for ensuring that we grow well whatever we have been put in charge of.

15. I have been in the Civil Service for some 26 years. I love what I do and I am very proud to be a member of the Singapore Civil Service. I used to tell my colleagues that as civil servants, we are custodians of the public funds that have been entrusted to us but I am wrong. Like the Biblical story that I have just shared with you, we are to be more than custodians, especially if we are at senior positions – we are to be stewards, with a responsibility to protect, nurture and growing what has been entrusted to us.

16. When I first became a Christian about 9 years ago, one of the first things I learned was that we are all God’s children. My sons are also God’s children. My husband and I are but only stewards of our boys, looking after them on God’s behalf. I pray often that we have been good stewards of our children. I think we are not doing too badly because I know my boys are walking right with God. And I know that so long as they walk right with God, they will multiply the blessings God has given them and bless others in turn.

17. Whether as a career woman or a mother or any other role that I have taken on, I pray regularly that I will be a blessing rather than a burden to whoever God has put me in touch with each day of my life. My God has given me much. And as the Bible says, from anyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. (Luke 12:48) I pray I will do justice to this award you have given me.

18. Thank you once again for this honour. I have been conferred this award but I think this award is for all the women who are blessed with the faith, the peace, the strength and the tenacity to overcome whatever adversity they may face.

God Bless All of you!


Fishmonger

Women, Truly Captivating - Part I

Some of you may have read of two Singaporean women with two very different careers being honoured for their outstanding achievements sometime last month. The first is Major Esther Tan, Singapore's first female navy diver who was awarded the "Her World Young Woman Achiever 2006". The second is Ms Lim Soo Hoon, the country's first Permanent Secretary who is now serving as Perm Sec for the Public Service Division. She received the "Her World Woman of the Year 2006" award.

I have personally met both women before. Esther is an avid adventure racer and I have met her on several occasions through a friend of mine, Josh, an ex-Navy regular. I had the rare priviledge of meeting Ms Lim and having a short email correspondence with her when she attended a Leadership seminar I orgranised for my company nearly 2 years ago. Both women were down-to-earth, unassuming and for the most part, very kind. It was hard to see the tenacious and strong willed character behind their smiley, friendly faces. I am more accustomed to associating passionate, driven (and sometimes controversial) personalities with high profile women in society like Ivy Singh-Lim or Shelley Siu.

I have always applauded the achievements of women in society. Especially those who break the age-old chauvinistic belief that "Women are not as important/strong/capable as Men". You know, I think it's rather interesting to observe how the situation has improved these days. Boys are now taking Home Economics while women are allowed in Technical courses. More than half the intake at Singapore Universities are now women. And a third of the senior managers and professionals in the workforce are female, as opposed to 20% in 1990 (sources according to Newsweek). Hey, that's exciting news. I'm always a proponent of women rising up to greater challenges and taking on what traditionally was seen as male-dominated careers/sports/programs. In my church, the women are making an amazing impact in their workplaces and families and their spheres of influence are ever widening!

Way to go girls.

I recently bought a book on women. It wasn't so much for me but a female friend of mine. It's entitled, "Captivating". Well, here's a message from the author to God's precious daughters:

"Your heart matters more than anything else in creation. The desires you had as a little girl and the longings you still feel as a woman--they are telling you of the life God created you to live. He offers to come now as the Hero of your story, to rescue your heart and release you to live as a fully alive and feminine woman. A woman who is truly captivating."

Live out the life you were intended by God to live, women. Find your destiny, your calling, your purpose. You were designed for greater things too. And made just in His image. Hey, and if you're a woman reading this, I'll like you to know... "You're Beautiful.".

Fishmonger

Heart After You - MP3

Finally managed to upload an MP3 of the song, "Heart After You" sung live at one of City Harvest's services. May it bless your heart and draw you to be more like Jesus.




Fishmonger

A Heart After You

Well, some of you know that I'm a Christian and in church we sing many contemporary songs with meaningfully written lyrics. Some of them are fast and driving - think ROCK. Some are slow and contemplative - a kind of soulful and R&B mix. But there are only a handful of songs that engages me instantly upon listening to them the first time. The tune and lyrics seem to open your heart and bring you into God's presence right away. Here's one written by a local church (City Harvest Church) entitled, "A Heart After You". I hope to introduce it in my youth service when I have the chance to. I'm trying to get the MP3 up, so keep a lookout for that!

A Heart After You
(City Harvest Church)

Create in me a new heart
One that follows You
Place in me a deep desire
To know You as I'm known

Set my feet in Your ways
To live worthy of Your call
Draw me near to You Lord
Every single day

I just want to be more like You
Walk with You beside me Lord
Won't You be my guide
Place Your heart inside my soul
A heart that's ever true
One that's after You

All I desire
A heart after You


Fishmonger