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Showing posts from February, 2011

The Sands of Forgiveness

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The Sands of Forgiveness  by Author Unknown  A story tells that two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand: TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE. They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him. After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone: TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE. The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, "After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?" The other friend replied "When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind

Who Packed Your Parachute

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T ime to appreciate and thanks those people which contribute to every aspect of your life... even how negligible it seems.. . Who Packed Your Parachute  by Author Unknown Charles Plumb was a US Navy jet pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile.  Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent 6 years in a communist Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now lectures on lessons learned from that experience! One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, "You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!" "How in the world did you know that?" asked Plumb. "I packed your parachute," the man replied. Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude. The man pumped his hand and said, "I guess it worked!" Plumb assured him, "It sure did. If your chute hadn&

How Rich Are We? - Happy Valentine Day

How Rich Are We? One day a father and his rich family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose to show him how poor people can be. They spent a day and a night on the farm of a very poor family. When they got back from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?" "Very good Dad!" "Did you see how poor people can be?" the father asked. "Yeah!" "And what did you learn?" The son answered, "I saw that we have a dog at home, and they have four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of the garden; they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lamps in the garden; they have the stars. Our patio reaches to the front yard; they have a whole horizon." When the little boy was finished, his father was speechless. His son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how 'poor' we are!" Isn't it true that it all depends on the way you look at things? If you have love, friends, fa

This Is Good

This Is Good An old story is told of a king in Africa who had a close friend with whom he grew up. The friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever occurred in his life (positive or negative) and remarking, "This is good!" One day the king and his friend were out on a hunting expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. The friend had apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown off. Examining the situation the friend remarked as usual, "This is good!" To which the king replied, "No, this is NOT good!" and proceeded to send his friend to jail. About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he should have known to stay clear of. Cannibals captured him and took him to their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to the stake. As they came near to set fire to the woo

Value

 Value A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?" Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this." He proceeded to crumple the dollar bill up. He then asked, "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air. "Well," he replied, "What if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now all crumpled and dirty. "Now who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air. "My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20.   Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our wa

THE OBSTACLE IN OUR PATH

THE OBSTACLE IN OUR PATH In ancient times, a king had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the king for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the big stone out of the way. Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. On approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. As the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the king indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many others never understand.              Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve one's

The Window

The Window  (Author unknown) Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man  was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour a day to drain the fluids from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and   families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military  service, where they had been on vacation. And every afternoon when the  man in the bed next to the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window. The man in the other bed would live for those one-hour periods where  his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and  color of the outside world. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake, the man had said. Ducks and swans played on the water while  children sailed their model boats. Lovers walked arm in arm amid flowers
  DETERMINATON In 1883, a creative engineer named John Roebling was inspired by an idea to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York with the Long Island. However bridge building experts throughout the world thought that this was an impossible feat and told Roebling to forget the idea. It just could not be done. It was not practical. It had never been done before. Roebling could not ignore the vision he had in his mind of this bridge. He thought about it all the time and he knew deep in his heart that it could be done. He just had to share the dream with someone else. After much discussion and persuasion he managed to convince his son Washington, an up and coming engineer, that the bridge in fact could be built. Working together for the first time, the father and son developed concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the obstacles could be overcome. With great excitement and inspiration, and the headiness of a wild challenge before them, they hired their crew and began

The industralisation of Singapore

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Interesting post from yesterday.sg http://yesterday.sg/blogging/industrialisation-programme-in-singapore/ 31 Jul 09 The industralisation of Singapore Posted by Simply Jean under Blogging , Lifestyle , Reflections (0) Comment • (2759) Reads • Permalink A few weeks back, exhausted by my day’s happenings, I fell asleep during my train journey. I was suddenly awakened by a long announcement. Thinking that I had finally reached Boon Lay Mass Rapid Transport (MRT) station, I walked out to the platform only to find myself in an unfamiliar environment. “Joo Koon?” I thought to myself as I saw the signboard, and the realisation dawned upon me - the two new stations west-most of Boon Lay MRT station had opened some time back. Most of the commuters rushing into the train were foreigners; seemingly

Bak kwa, egg rolls, cookies and tarts

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Another interesting post from TheAsianParent.com (Singapore Edition) to be consider for Chinese New Year goodies preparation, either DIY or buy Bak kwa, egg rolls, cookies and tarts by Low Heng Jing   Filed under Lists and Guides , Recipes , Reviews , Weekend Guide We can count down to the days left to Chinese New Year with our fingers.  For me, besides the reunion dinner , the best part of this festival is the goodies served to visitors.  Pineapple tarts, bak kwa, love letters and sugee cookies are just some of my favorites. If you have not been keeping an eye on your calendar marked 3rd Feb 2011, it is still not too late to go on a last minute shopping spree now. Or maybe this year, surprise and impress your guests with homemade goodies.  But if baking is not your thing, no worries.  We will  make it easy for you.  Here’s a list of places where you can get all your treats. B.I.Y – Bake it yourself You don’t get pastries any fresher than the ones straigh

Ang Baos: how much is enough?

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Nice article I read from TheAsianParent.com (Singapore Edition) Ang Baos: how much is enough? by Shelly Sim   Filed under Uncategorized It’s that time of the year again to give and receive red packets! Commonly referred to as ‘Ang Baos’ locally, these envelopes containing money gifts are a symbol of good luck and are supposed to ward off evil spirits with their auspicious red colour. While this Chinese tradition has been around for centuries, one tricky question remains for every ang bao giver each year: How much money should be enclosed in each ang bao? This article seeks the traditional and modern customs of ang bao gifting to provide a better idea of how much should be included in your ang baos this year. Customary roots of the Ang Bao The tradition of ang bao giving is carried out by married individuals and elders as a symbol of well wishing and good luck to juniors and unmarried singles. In the old days when marriage takes place at a younger age, the