1. 真正爱你的男人，一下子说不出真正爱你的理由，只知道自己顾不上注意别人。
2. 真正爱你的男人，其实总惹你生气，你却发觉不了他到底做错了什么。
3. 真正爱你的男人，很少当面赞美你，可是心里肯定你是他最棒的。
4. 真正爱你的男人，会在你忘记回复他短信时狠狠地说你一顿。
5. 真正爱你的男人，只可能在你一个人的面前流眼泪，当你触摸到他时，也触摸到了那颗只为你跳动的心。
6. 真正爱你的男人，会默默地记住你不经意说过的话，在某时某刻重复它们。
7. 真正爱你的男人，不会轻易做出承诺，因为他想让自己成为你心中说话最算话的男子汉，只想给你最可靠最安全的幸福。
8. 真正爱你的男人，总告诉你不要胡思乱想，因为其实他在为你们谋划着最美丽真实的未来。同时让你无忧无虑地等待他要给你的惊喜。
9. 真正爱你的男人，可能不像你一样清楚地记得某些纪念日，他觉得爱你是每时每刻的，并不是靠这几天简单的日子。
10.真正爱你的男人，不会轻易对你当面说“我爱你”，因为他为你做过的每件事都已经这么说了。除非在非常时刻，为了不让你无端地误解他。
11.真正爱你的男人，总觉得有些话只说一遍就够了，因为你已经了解他的心。说得多了，他会觉得不珍贵。
12.真正爱你的男人，如果他去机场接你，不会像你期望的那样捧着玫瑰大声叫“亲爱的”，只是自然地提过你的行李，然后想用眼睛抱紧你似的心疼地说，怎么瘦得像豆芽菜了？
13.真正爱你的男人，当你发脾气时，只会不做声地听你把火发完，然后慢慢地说，你明天有课吗？早点睡吧。
14.真正爱你的男人，不懂当你生气挂掉电话后应该立即打来，过了若干小时后会发条短信问你消气了没有？如果你质问他为何这么久才打来，他会理直气壮的说，你生气时我的解释一定没有用，等你的火消了，我的解释才有效果。
15.真正爱你的男人，总是叫你小姑娘，可是每次他做什么重大的决定，却总想先听听你的建议。
16.真正爱你的男人，不喜欢玩具小毛熊，却一直把你送他的小熊放在床头。
17.真正爱你的男人，当和你发生争执时，总是控制不了地先妥协，先承认“我错了”，过后发来短信以“神经病”开头，以“宝贝”结尾。事实上你也清楚，这次是你有点无理取闹。
18.真正爱你的男人，很想很想你时，也会买玫瑰送你，傻傻地等着你，却不知道自己捧的是月季。没关系，他的心里送的是玫瑰。
19.真正爱你的男人，都不甜，但是他的吻能传递他嘴巴所有的热情。
20.真正爱你的男人，当听到你对他讲很“酸”的话时，他反而会装得很正经，其实心里很甜很甜。
21.真正爱你的男人，如果不能经常见到你，他会让自己忙碌起来，为了不去想你，因为他知道一想你将会一发不可收拾．．.
"The well-dressed woman draws her husband away from another woman's door." Spanish Proverb.
"Women shouldn't be too smart, and try not to pick at details in a marriage." Quan Yifeng
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Task Based Learning
Pre-Task Activities
While-Task Activities
Post-Task Activities
"Know your numbers and keep a record of your daily measurements."
While-Task Activities
Post-Task Activities
"Know your numbers and keep a record of your daily measurements."
Saturday, October 25, 2008
From dateless geeks to dating bosses
THEY were outcasts in school, introverted, with no girlfriends.
But these 'computer geeks' have now made it their business to put couples together.
Mr Andy Lim, 28, and Mr Vary Yong, 27, are the co-founders of Who Works Around You, a matchmaking agency that allows singles who work late or on shift duty to meet up with other singles who may have the same working hours and work in the same area.
It was during one of their 'no-life' moments last year when the two web designers came up with the idea.
Mr Lim had been working overtime one night and eating cup noodles for dinner when he realised that there were other colleagues around.
'We often see lights in the building next door,' he said.
'I thought, I'm sure there are people here wishing they could date a 'neighbour', then they wouldn't feel so lonely.'
Now, their matchmaking agency is on the verge of being one of the first to be accredited by the Social Development Unit (SDU).
The New Paper understands that the accreditation process is in its final stages and the announcement is expected soon.
Accredited agencies will be awarded the SDU Trust Mark and will be listed in the Registry of Dating Agencies and the Registry of Dating Practitioners.
Not bad for a pair who, not too long ago, had trouble meeting people themselves.
'Social outcasts'
Mr Lim said when he studied digital media design at Nanyang Polytechnic, he was a loner.
He said: 'I was academically weak and a lot of people didn't want me to be in their project group. I was pushed from group to group, depending on which group didn't have enough members.
Added Mr Lim: 'During lunch, I would take away food and eat alone. I also watched movies alone and even ate at buffets alone.'
Mr Yong was similarly geeky and said he 'only had one or two friends' when he studied multimedia in Ngee Ann Polytechnic.
Whenever a new computer game was released, he would play for up to 17 hours a day.
Mr Lim and Mr Yong met online through a group of friends in 2006.
Last year, together with another business partner, they each put in about $15,000 from their website design company iFoundries to create www.whoworksaroundyou.com.
The firm, which became operational in January, has since attracted more than 1,300members, with at least six couples going on to have steady relationships, they said.
The website currently provides free subscription, but members who want personalised match-making can sign up for their packages, which cost $388 onwards.
Pharmacist Serene Leong, 31, and paramedic Johnny Tan, 31, who have been going steady 'for a couple of months', have the duo to thank for pairing them up.
The venture has drawn some flak.
Financial consultant Tracy Lim, 23, for example, said: 'They don't look like the sort of people who can create love.'
But Miss Leong retorted: 'Making yourself look good is just a marketing gimmick.
'If you can't deliver what people want, then what's the point of being so attractive?
'They (Mr Lim and Mr Yong) are more focused on their clients than on generating business quotas.'
Looks irrelevant
While Mr Lim admits he is no Brad Pitt, he insists that looks have nothing to do with being a good matchmaker.
He said: 'You can be a geek, a nerd, the ugliest person in the whole wide world, as long as you have the passion, confidence, you can still be a good matchmaker.'
So, can two 'geek' matchmakers cut it themselves when it comes to love?
Mr Lim said he has been in a relationship for four years, with someone he met while volunteering in the PAP youth wing.
Mr Yong proposed to his girlfriend on 08/08/08 and they plan to marry on 09/09/09.
To which Mr Lim commented: 'I can't believe an outcast can be so romantic.'
by Benson Ang, TNP.
"If you want to be successful, find someone who has achieved the results you want and copy what they do and you'll achieve the same results." Anthony Robbins
But these 'computer geeks' have now made it their business to put couples together.
Mr Andy Lim, 28, and Mr Vary Yong, 27, are the co-founders of Who Works Around You, a matchmaking agency that allows singles who work late or on shift duty to meet up with other singles who may have the same working hours and work in the same area.
It was during one of their 'no-life' moments last year when the two web designers came up with the idea.
Mr Lim had been working overtime one night and eating cup noodles for dinner when he realised that there were other colleagues around.
'We often see lights in the building next door,' he said.
'I thought, I'm sure there are people here wishing they could date a 'neighbour', then they wouldn't feel so lonely.'
Now, their matchmaking agency is on the verge of being one of the first to be accredited by the Social Development Unit (SDU).
The New Paper understands that the accreditation process is in its final stages and the announcement is expected soon.
Accredited agencies will be awarded the SDU Trust Mark and will be listed in the Registry of Dating Agencies and the Registry of Dating Practitioners.
Not bad for a pair who, not too long ago, had trouble meeting people themselves.
'Social outcasts'
Mr Lim said when he studied digital media design at Nanyang Polytechnic, he was a loner.
He said: 'I was academically weak and a lot of people didn't want me to be in their project group. I was pushed from group to group, depending on which group didn't have enough members.
Added Mr Lim: 'During lunch, I would take away food and eat alone. I also watched movies alone and even ate at buffets alone.'
Mr Yong was similarly geeky and said he 'only had one or two friends' when he studied multimedia in Ngee Ann Polytechnic.
Whenever a new computer game was released, he would play for up to 17 hours a day.
Mr Lim and Mr Yong met online through a group of friends in 2006.
Last year, together with another business partner, they each put in about $15,000 from their website design company iFoundries to create www.whoworksaroundyou.com.
The firm, which became operational in January, has since attracted more than 1,300members, with at least six couples going on to have steady relationships, they said.
The website currently provides free subscription, but members who want personalised match-making can sign up for their packages, which cost $388 onwards.
Pharmacist Serene Leong, 31, and paramedic Johnny Tan, 31, who have been going steady 'for a couple of months', have the duo to thank for pairing them up.
The venture has drawn some flak.
Financial consultant Tracy Lim, 23, for example, said: 'They don't look like the sort of people who can create love.'
But Miss Leong retorted: 'Making yourself look good is just a marketing gimmick.
'If you can't deliver what people want, then what's the point of being so attractive?
'They (Mr Lim and Mr Yong) are more focused on their clients than on generating business quotas.'
Looks irrelevant
While Mr Lim admits he is no Brad Pitt, he insists that looks have nothing to do with being a good matchmaker.
He said: 'You can be a geek, a nerd, the ugliest person in the whole wide world, as long as you have the passion, confidence, you can still be a good matchmaker.'
So, can two 'geek' matchmakers cut it themselves when it comes to love?
Mr Lim said he has been in a relationship for four years, with someone he met while volunteering in the PAP youth wing.
Mr Yong proposed to his girlfriend on 08/08/08 and they plan to marry on 09/09/09.
To which Mr Lim commented: 'I can't believe an outcast can be so romantic.'
by Benson Ang, TNP.
"If you want to be successful, find someone who has achieved the results you want and copy what they do and you'll achieve the same results." Anthony Robbins
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Hey doc, how good is your English?
FOREIGN-TRAINED doctors will have to meet more stringent English language requirements before they can practise here.
The Singapore Medical Council (SMC) has said that it wants foreign-trained doctors to be able to do equally well in understanding, speaking, reading and writing in the language.
They will be given a score on each of these skills on a nine-point-scale, and must do equally well in all four, scoring seven. Nine is the top score. This differs from the present method, which requires them to get an overall score of seven.
The change, announced on the SMC's website, applies to the scoring system for the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). Other tests recognised by SMC are the Test Of English as a Foreign Language and Occupational English Test.
The scoring of the IELTS, administered by the British Council, has led to some confusion about what level of proficiency is regarded as adequate.
Dr Charles Vu, who sits on the medical manpower development panel of Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), said: 'You can potentially have someone from Myanmar or Vietnam who can read and write but not be able to speak English well.
'Listening to and speaking English should be just as, if not more important, when communicating with patients.'
The issue of foreign-trained doctors' ability to communicate with patients has surfaced time and again, but is more significant now, with the Health Ministry's expanding the list of recognised foreign medical schools from 20 in 2003 to nearly 160 last year.
Among the recognised universities are some which do not use English as a medium of instruction, such as Nagoya University's faculty of medicine and The West China College of Medicine in Sichuan University.
Dr Vu said that with the expanded list of recognised schools, more stringent English requirements are more important now than ever before.
Said an SMC spokesman: 'Casenotes, requests and communication between health-care professionals are all in English, so for patient safety, whatever is communicated in the management must be understood.'
There were 524 foreign-trained graduate doctors registered here in 2006, up from 460 the year before. About 8 per cent, from countries such as Japan, South Korea, Belgium, Germany and China, need to take language tests.
Various hospitals here have programmes to immerse foreign-trained doctors in local culture. Alexandra Hospital organises events for staff to showcase their culture, and Tan Tock Seng Hospital holds Chinese and Malay language classes for its foreign doctors.
But Associate Professor Tay Eng Hseon, who chairs the medical board at KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH), cautioned against too stringent requirements for the language.
He said KKH lost an excellent anaesthesiologist who just could not make the cut in the language department. Despite repeated attempts, the doctor only managed a score of six. The hospital appealed to retain the doctor but was unsuccessful, said Prof Tay.
Jessica Jaganathan, The Straits Times
"Learning in itself isn't difficult, the difficulty is in the mind."
The Singapore Medical Council (SMC) has said that it wants foreign-trained doctors to be able to do equally well in understanding, speaking, reading and writing in the language.
They will be given a score on each of these skills on a nine-point-scale, and must do equally well in all four, scoring seven. Nine is the top score. This differs from the present method, which requires them to get an overall score of seven.
The change, announced on the SMC's website, applies to the scoring system for the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). Other tests recognised by SMC are the Test Of English as a Foreign Language and Occupational English Test.
The scoring of the IELTS, administered by the British Council, has led to some confusion about what level of proficiency is regarded as adequate.
Dr Charles Vu, who sits on the medical manpower development panel of Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), said: 'You can potentially have someone from Myanmar or Vietnam who can read and write but not be able to speak English well.
'Listening to and speaking English should be just as, if not more important, when communicating with patients.'
The issue of foreign-trained doctors' ability to communicate with patients has surfaced time and again, but is more significant now, with the Health Ministry's expanding the list of recognised foreign medical schools from 20 in 2003 to nearly 160 last year.
Among the recognised universities are some which do not use English as a medium of instruction, such as Nagoya University's faculty of medicine and The West China College of Medicine in Sichuan University.
Dr Vu said that with the expanded list of recognised schools, more stringent English requirements are more important now than ever before.
Said an SMC spokesman: 'Casenotes, requests and communication between health-care professionals are all in English, so for patient safety, whatever is communicated in the management must be understood.'
There were 524 foreign-trained graduate doctors registered here in 2006, up from 460 the year before. About 8 per cent, from countries such as Japan, South Korea, Belgium, Germany and China, need to take language tests.
Various hospitals here have programmes to immerse foreign-trained doctors in local culture. Alexandra Hospital organises events for staff to showcase their culture, and Tan Tock Seng Hospital holds Chinese and Malay language classes for its foreign doctors.
But Associate Professor Tay Eng Hseon, who chairs the medical board at KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH), cautioned against too stringent requirements for the language.
He said KKH lost an excellent anaesthesiologist who just could not make the cut in the language department. Despite repeated attempts, the doctor only managed a score of six. The hospital appealed to retain the doctor but was unsuccessful, said Prof Tay.
Jessica Jaganathan, The Straits Times
"Learning in itself isn't difficult, the difficulty is in the mind."
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Pronunciation
Daily Pronunciation
SELF DIRECTED LEARNING
"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life." Steve Jobs.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Get familiar with financial terms
I HAVE been amused by comments on forums about investors asking the Government for help with their failed investments.
Although information is easily accessible, many of us ignore obvious facts and instead choose to make our decisions based on sales pitches.
Therefore, it is important to have a basic understanding of financial terms, so that we would know what constitutes misselling:
Low- or no-risk savings
The only low- or no-risk savings instrument is a pure savings or fixed-deposit account without an insurance element.
As long as an insurance element is included, it is a form of investment.
By default, it involves the participating or life fund of an insurance company, which consists of equities and fixed-income instruments.
Life-fund growth projections have been cut aggressively over the last ten years to 3 to 4 per cent now, after distribution charges are accounted for.
Equities generally appreciate in normal times, while fixed-income instruments do not.
As life funds contain a large proportion of fixed-income instruments, it is not difficult to understand why the returns from life and endowment policies are not impressive.
If the growth rate falls below the inflation rate of 5 to 6 per cent, the risk would be the erosion of my savings by inflation.
Therefore, if I had chosen an investment-linked product, which is perceived as being higher- risk, and chosen to have my investment fully allocated to fixed-income instruments, would that make my investment safer, as the salesperson would have me believe?
The so-called 'savings' are also cancelled out by the commission and insurance charges.
How can such an investment fairly be called 'low-risk'?
Long-term savings
Life-insurance and endowment plans of 25 to 30 years take on average 20 years to 'break even'. As a savings plan, it is ineffective.
Guaranteed payout by end of term
The 'guaranteed' payout at the end of a policy term is actually the sum assured of an insurance policy.
While most think the bonuses as guaranteed, they are actually almost entirely non-guaranteed, and dependent upon the performance of the life fund.
Product or fund of the month
There is always a rush for certain funds if they are seen as being the best investments at the time.
While their launch might coincide with their peak, things could go down from there.
Low-risk or guaranteed funds
These are commonly sold whenever markets take a downturn.
Guaranteed products were aggressively promoted in 2002 to 2003, and structured products from 2005 up to the present.
If not for the financial crisis, structured products would still be sold as 'safe' products.
Incentives and gifts
More complex and sophisticated products usually come with gifts or incentives, as they are harder to sell.
Complex financial terms
Terms like 'leveraged' and 'enhanced' sound good but do not reveal anything about a product.
When it comes to investing, act prudently and understand what you are getting yourself into, and learn to accept and embrace the outcome.
Mr Teo Eng Kiat, My paper.
Although information is easily accessible, many of us ignore obvious facts and instead choose to make our decisions based on sales pitches.
Therefore, it is important to have a basic understanding of financial terms, so that we would know what constitutes misselling:
Low- or no-risk savings
The only low- or no-risk savings instrument is a pure savings or fixed-deposit account without an insurance element.
As long as an insurance element is included, it is a form of investment.
By default, it involves the participating or life fund of an insurance company, which consists of equities and fixed-income instruments.
Life-fund growth projections have been cut aggressively over the last ten years to 3 to 4 per cent now, after distribution charges are accounted for.
Equities generally appreciate in normal times, while fixed-income instruments do not.
As life funds contain a large proportion of fixed-income instruments, it is not difficult to understand why the returns from life and endowment policies are not impressive.
If the growth rate falls below the inflation rate of 5 to 6 per cent, the risk would be the erosion of my savings by inflation.
Therefore, if I had chosen an investment-linked product, which is perceived as being higher- risk, and chosen to have my investment fully allocated to fixed-income instruments, would that make my investment safer, as the salesperson would have me believe?
The so-called 'savings' are also cancelled out by the commission and insurance charges.
How can such an investment fairly be called 'low-risk'?
Long-term savings
Life-insurance and endowment plans of 25 to 30 years take on average 20 years to 'break even'. As a savings plan, it is ineffective.
Guaranteed payout by end of term
The 'guaranteed' payout at the end of a policy term is actually the sum assured of an insurance policy.
While most think the bonuses as guaranteed, they are actually almost entirely non-guaranteed, and dependent upon the performance of the life fund.
Product or fund of the month
There is always a rush for certain funds if they are seen as being the best investments at the time.
While their launch might coincide with their peak, things could go down from there.
Low-risk or guaranteed funds
These are commonly sold whenever markets take a downturn.
Guaranteed products were aggressively promoted in 2002 to 2003, and structured products from 2005 up to the present.
If not for the financial crisis, structured products would still be sold as 'safe' products.
Incentives and gifts
More complex and sophisticated products usually come with gifts or incentives, as they are harder to sell.
Complex financial terms
Terms like 'leveraged' and 'enhanced' sound good but do not reveal anything about a product.
When it comes to investing, act prudently and understand what you are getting yourself into, and learn to accept and embrace the outcome.
Mr Teo Eng Kiat, My paper.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
The New English: Chinglish
... Thanks to globalization, the Allied victories in World War II, and American leadership in science and technology, English has become so successful across the world that it's escaping the boundaries of what we think it should be. In part, this is because there are fewer of us: By 2020, native speakers will make up only 15 percent of the estimated 2 billion people who will be using or learning the language. Already, most conversations in English are between nonnative speakers who use it as a lingua franca.
In China, this sort of free-form adoption of English is helped along by a shortage of native English-speaking teachers, who are hard to keep happy in rural areas for long stretches of time. An estimated 300 million Chinese — roughly equivalent to the total US population — read and write English but don't get enough quality spoken practice. The likely consequence of all this? In the future, more and more spoken English will sound increasingly like Chinese.
It's not merely that English will be salted with Chinese vocabulary for local cuisine, bon mots, and curses or that speakers will peel off words from local dialects. The Chinese and other Asians already pronounce English differently — in both subtle and not-so-subtle ways. For example, in various parts of the region they tend not to turn vowels in unstressed syllables into neutral vowels. Instead of "har-muh-nee," it's "har-moh-nee." And the sounds that begin words like this and thing are often enunciated as the letters f, v, t, or d. In Singaporean English (known as Singlish), think is pronounced "tink," and theories is "tee-oh-rees."
English will become more like Chinese in other ways, too. Some grammatical appendages unique to English (such as adding do or did to questions) will drop away, and our practice of not turning certain nouns into plurals will be ignored. Expect to be asked: "How many informations can your flash drive hold?" In Mandarin, Cantonese, and other tongues, sentences don't require subjects, which leads to phrases like this: "Our goalie not here yet, so give chance, can or not?"
One noted feature of Singlish is the use of words like ah, lah, or wah at the end of a sentence to indicate a question or get a listener to agree with you. They're each pronounced with tone — the linguistic feature that gives spoken Mandarin its musical quality — adding a specific pitch to words to alter their meaning. (If you say "xin" with an even tone, it means "heart"; with a descending tone it means "honest.") According to linguists, such words may introduce tone into other Asian-English hybrids...
Any language is constantly evolving, so it's not surprising that English, transplanted to new soil, is bearing unusual fruit. Nor is it unique that a language, spread so far from its homelands, would begin to fracture...
by Michael Erard (Extracted)
Full Text: Wired
In China, this sort of free-form adoption of English is helped along by a shortage of native English-speaking teachers, who are hard to keep happy in rural areas for long stretches of time. An estimated 300 million Chinese — roughly equivalent to the total US population — read and write English but don't get enough quality spoken practice. The likely consequence of all this? In the future, more and more spoken English will sound increasingly like Chinese.
It's not merely that English will be salted with Chinese vocabulary for local cuisine, bon mots, and curses or that speakers will peel off words from local dialects. The Chinese and other Asians already pronounce English differently — in both subtle and not-so-subtle ways. For example, in various parts of the region they tend not to turn vowels in unstressed syllables into neutral vowels. Instead of "har-muh-nee," it's "har-moh-nee." And the sounds that begin words like this and thing are often enunciated as the letters f, v, t, or d. In Singaporean English (known as Singlish), think is pronounced "tink," and theories is "tee-oh-rees."
English will become more like Chinese in other ways, too. Some grammatical appendages unique to English (such as adding do or did to questions) will drop away, and our practice of not turning certain nouns into plurals will be ignored. Expect to be asked: "How many informations can your flash drive hold?" In Mandarin, Cantonese, and other tongues, sentences don't require subjects, which leads to phrases like this: "Our goalie not here yet, so give chance, can or not?"
One noted feature of Singlish is the use of words like ah, lah, or wah at the end of a sentence to indicate a question or get a listener to agree with you. They're each pronounced with tone — the linguistic feature that gives spoken Mandarin its musical quality — adding a specific pitch to words to alter their meaning. (If you say "xin" with an even tone, it means "heart"; with a descending tone it means "honest.") According to linguists, such words may introduce tone into other Asian-English hybrids...
Any language is constantly evolving, so it's not surprising that English, transplanted to new soil, is bearing unusual fruit. Nor is it unique that a language, spread so far from its homelands, would begin to fracture...
by Michael Erard (Extracted)
Full Text: Wired
Monday, October 13, 2008
The CEO's Oath (Proposed)
A recent Gallup poll indicates that Americans now have no more trust in business leaders than they do in Washington politicians. Fairly or not, people have become willing to believe that executives, as a class, are greedy and dishonest.
So is the Hippocratic Oath needed for managers? The Hippocratic Oath is an oath taken by doctors to ensure medicine is practiced ethically.
The following are exerpts from the oath Harvard professors Khurana and Nohria proposed for managers.
1. As a manager...my purpose is to serve the public's interest by enhancing the value my enterprise creates for society.
2. I pledge that considerations of personal benefit will never supersede the interests of the enterprise I am entrusted to manage.
3. I promise to understand and uphold, both in letter and in spirit, the laws and contracts governing my own conduct, that of my enterprise, and that of the societies in which it operates.
4. I vow to represent my enterprise's performance accurately and transparently to all relevant parties, ensuring that investors, consumers, and the public at large can make well-informed decisions.
5. I will not permit considerations of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, party politics, or social status to influence my choices.
6. I will manage my enterprise by diligently, mindfully, and conscientiously applying judgment based on the best knowledge available.
7. I recognize that my stature and privileges as a professional stem from the honor and trust that the profession as a whole enjoys, and I accept my responsibility for embodying, protecting, and developing the standards of the management profession, so as to enhance that respect and honor.
"You have to create a new class of managers whose interests go beyond themselves. If business people really behaved like professionals, you wouldn't need regulations. Corporations have become the most powerful institutions in our society. Those institutions are too important to be not trusted." Rakesh Khurana, Professor of Business Administration in Organizational Behavior, Harvard Business School.
Adapted from TNP.
http://www.hbrgreen.org/
http://rakeshkhurana.typepad.com/rakesh_khuranas_weblog/
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=176808
So is the Hippocratic Oath needed for managers? The Hippocratic Oath is an oath taken by doctors to ensure medicine is practiced ethically.
The following are exerpts from the oath Harvard professors Khurana and Nohria proposed for managers.
1. As a manager...my purpose is to serve the public's interest by enhancing the value my enterprise creates for society.
2. I pledge that considerations of personal benefit will never supersede the interests of the enterprise I am entrusted to manage.
3. I promise to understand and uphold, both in letter and in spirit, the laws and contracts governing my own conduct, that of my enterprise, and that of the societies in which it operates.
4. I vow to represent my enterprise's performance accurately and transparently to all relevant parties, ensuring that investors, consumers, and the public at large can make well-informed decisions.
5. I will not permit considerations of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, party politics, or social status to influence my choices.
6. I will manage my enterprise by diligently, mindfully, and conscientiously applying judgment based on the best knowledge available.
7. I recognize that my stature and privileges as a professional stem from the honor and trust that the profession as a whole enjoys, and I accept my responsibility for embodying, protecting, and developing the standards of the management profession, so as to enhance that respect and honor.
"You have to create a new class of managers whose interests go beyond themselves. If business people really behaved like professionals, you wouldn't need regulations. Corporations have become the most powerful institutions in our society. Those institutions are too important to be not trusted." Rakesh Khurana, Professor of Business Administration in Organizational Behavior, Harvard Business School.
Adapted from TNP.
http://www.hbrgreen.org/
http://rakeshkhurana.typepad.com/rakesh_khuranas_weblog/
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=176808
Friday, October 10, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Right skills count, not certs
Panel says Govt should send 'strong message' to workers that hiring trends are changing.
TWO women had applied for a sales manager position. One had a diploma in hotel management while the other had risen through the ranks.
Orchard Hotel's general manager Melvin Lim picked the woman with no paper qualifications.
'Our business is about dealing with people, and she was less aloof and more friendly. She also showed a willingness to learn, so it would be possible for us to nurture her,' he told The Straits Times.
Increasingly, employers like Orchard Hotel are putting a higher premium on skills and attitudes that fit the job rather than academic qualifications. They can be an attitude of self-improvement, or an ability to handle complex tasks.
The growing emphasis on such capabilities is a trend the Government should highlight to people, said an industry-led panel overseeing efforts to train adults for jobs.
The 13-member Lifelong Learning Endowment Fund Advisory Council made the call at a media conference yesterday, urging the Government to send a 'strong and consistent message'.
Other recommendations it made in its annual review of the Workforce Development Agency's (WDA) work are: get regular feedback from employers on the types of skills they need, plus invest more in building better adult training centres and introduce competition among them.
In line with the recommendations, the WDA launched a public education campaign yesterday, with advertisements lined up for this month to encourage workers to pick up a skill.
The council, formed in 2001, oversees the budgetary matters and funding policies of the WDA's manpower development funds.
It includes representatives from the labour movement, self-help groups and various industries.
The chairman, Mr Bill Chang, hailed the Government's 10-year masterplan, announced in February this year, to boost continuing education and training.
This year, the Government will inject $800 million into the Lifelong Learning Endowment Fund, to fund training programmes. The top-up will bring the fund to $3 billion.
But more needs to be done, said Mr Chang, an executive vice-president at SingTel.
Rapid economic changes tend to make knowledge outdated in a few years. With high value-added jobs coming in and low-cost ones moving out of Singapore, workers have to keep improving their skills to stay relevant, he added.
Such developments, however, seem to be lost on workers, said council member Sam Tan, an MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC and executive director of self-help group Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDAC).
In the past 15 years of training workers, the CDAC found many have the attitude that they need to upgrade their skills only when they are retrenched, he said.
WDA's chief executive Ong Ye Kung noted that manufacturers, too, seek workers with such attributes as discipline and the ability to follow procedures, while employers in services look for those who can relate to people.
Retailer Metro's director of operations and human resources, Mr Edward Tan, recalled hiring graduates who failed as operations managers because they could not take the long hours and lacked a customer-first attitude.
'Customers are more demanding these days. Not everyone enjoys or has the passion to serve,' he said.
By Goh Chin Lian, Straits Times.
TWO women had applied for a sales manager position. One had a diploma in hotel management while the other had risen through the ranks.
Orchard Hotel's general manager Melvin Lim picked the woman with no paper qualifications.
'Our business is about dealing with people, and she was less aloof and more friendly. She also showed a willingness to learn, so it would be possible for us to nurture her,' he told The Straits Times.
Increasingly, employers like Orchard Hotel are putting a higher premium on skills and attitudes that fit the job rather than academic qualifications. They can be an attitude of self-improvement, or an ability to handle complex tasks.
The growing emphasis on such capabilities is a trend the Government should highlight to people, said an industry-led panel overseeing efforts to train adults for jobs.
The 13-member Lifelong Learning Endowment Fund Advisory Council made the call at a media conference yesterday, urging the Government to send a 'strong and consistent message'.
Other recommendations it made in its annual review of the Workforce Development Agency's (WDA) work are: get regular feedback from employers on the types of skills they need, plus invest more in building better adult training centres and introduce competition among them.
In line with the recommendations, the WDA launched a public education campaign yesterday, with advertisements lined up for this month to encourage workers to pick up a skill.
The council, formed in 2001, oversees the budgetary matters and funding policies of the WDA's manpower development funds.
It includes representatives from the labour movement, self-help groups and various industries.
The chairman, Mr Bill Chang, hailed the Government's 10-year masterplan, announced in February this year, to boost continuing education and training.
This year, the Government will inject $800 million into the Lifelong Learning Endowment Fund, to fund training programmes. The top-up will bring the fund to $3 billion.
But more needs to be done, said Mr Chang, an executive vice-president at SingTel.
Rapid economic changes tend to make knowledge outdated in a few years. With high value-added jobs coming in and low-cost ones moving out of Singapore, workers have to keep improving their skills to stay relevant, he added.
Such developments, however, seem to be lost on workers, said council member Sam Tan, an MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC and executive director of self-help group Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDAC).
In the past 15 years of training workers, the CDAC found many have the attitude that they need to upgrade their skills only when they are retrenched, he said.
WDA's chief executive Ong Ye Kung noted that manufacturers, too, seek workers with such attributes as discipline and the ability to follow procedures, while employers in services look for those who can relate to people.
Retailer Metro's director of operations and human resources, Mr Edward Tan, recalled hiring graduates who failed as operations managers because they could not take the long hours and lacked a customer-first attitude.
'Customers are more demanding these days. Not everyone enjoys or has the passion to serve,' he said.
By Goh Chin Lian, Straits Times.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
I want to be Top
THE Olympic Games have been my dream since I was a young swimmer.
When I first started swimming, I imagined standing on the winner's podium and receiving my medal.
I was five.
Not hard to believe, especially with me coming from a family with a strong swimming background. Although no one forced me to swim, I always felt comfortable in the water. It makes me feel free.
By the time I was 10, I had started my competitive career, and in my first contest, won two gold medals and broke two age records.
It made me more determined to make it to the Olympics, and each time I won or broke a record, I would tell myself that I was one step closer to my dream.
But it was never easy. I had to make sacrifices.
I'll always remember how hard things were for my mother and me when we began our new life here, after we moved to Singapore when I was 13.
She was the only family member I had close by, and is always there for me.
We had our share of struggles adjusting, when everything was new and unfamiliar.
Because of my standard of English, I was placed in a Primary 5 class in Queenstown Primary School, although I was 13.
At that point, my rigorous training schedule began.
I woke up daily at 6am for school, then trained after school till about 11pm - so much so I felt like a machine because I got so little rest. I hated waking so early, when others were still snuggled in bed.
Unlike other teenagers, I do not get to go out often with my friends, and my holidays are spent in intensive training.
Even a treat at a fast-food restaurant is not allowed. I have to stick to a strict diet.
After I was admitted to the Singapore Sports School, I received world-class training while pursuing my studies.
Each time I compete or train overseas, I have to catch up when I return.
In the two months before the Olympics, when I had to train intensively, the school even adjusted my academic timetable to put my mind at ease.
The one thing that keeps me going through all these struggles is my family. Without their encouragement and support, I would not be where I am.
In the years we have lived here, we have adapted quite well to the lifestyle. The hardships we endured made us appreciate better what we now have.
The only way I can repay my mother is to make her proud of my swimming achievements. It is my driving force.
I'd like to tell young people: Believe in yourself and give all you can to achieve your dreams. Victory will definitely be sweet. Never tell yourself 'I am already there', and rest on your laurels.
The only way to be the best is to persevere.
The next thing that I'm looking forward to is the Fina Arena World Tour at the end of month, where I'll compete in places such as Sweden, Germany and Moscow.
Next stop on the way to my big dream: Top three at the London Olympics, 2012.
Wuhan-born Tao Li, 18, is a Secondary 3 student at the Singapore Sports School. At the Beijing Olympic Games, she was the youngest swimmer among eight finalists in the 100m butterfly event and came in fifth. She also broke the Asian record in the 100m butterfly.
The Straits Times, Oct 6, 2008.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Things I have learned in my life so far
Helping other people helps me.
Having guts always works out for me.
Thinking life will be better in the future is stupid. I have to live now.
Starting a charity is surprisingly easy.
Being not truthful works against me.
Everything I do always comes back to me.
Assuming is stifling.
Drugs feel great in the beginning and become a drag later on.
Over time I get used to everything and start taking for granted.
Money does not make me happy.
Travelling alone is helpful for a new perspective on life.
Keeping a diary supports personal development.
Trying to look good limits my life.
Material luxuries are best enjoyed in small doses.
Worrying solves nothing.
Complaining is silly, either act or forget.
Actually doing the things I set out to do increases my overall level of satisfaction.
Everybody thinks they are right!
Low expectations are a good strategy.
Whatever I want to explore professionally, its best to try it out for myself first.
Everybody who is honest is interesting.
by Stefan Sagmeister, Rockstar Designer.
"Character gets you out of bed; commitment moves you to action. Faith, hope, and discipline enable you to follow through to completion." Zig Ziglar
Having guts always works out for me.
Thinking life will be better in the future is stupid. I have to live now.
Starting a charity is surprisingly easy.
Being not truthful works against me.
Everything I do always comes back to me.
Assuming is stifling.
Drugs feel great in the beginning and become a drag later on.
Over time I get used to everything and start taking for granted.
Money does not make me happy.
Travelling alone is helpful for a new perspective on life.
Keeping a diary supports personal development.
Trying to look good limits my life.
Material luxuries are best enjoyed in small doses.
Worrying solves nothing.
Complaining is silly, either act or forget.
Actually doing the things I set out to do increases my overall level of satisfaction.
Everybody thinks they are right!
Low expectations are a good strategy.
Whatever I want to explore professionally, its best to try it out for myself first.
Everybody who is honest is interesting.
by Stefan Sagmeister, Rockstar Designer.
"Character gets you out of bed; commitment moves you to action. Faith, hope, and discipline enable you to follow through to completion." Zig Ziglar
Thursday, October 2, 2008
7 Steps to Communicate Your Message Effectively
You understand how to use PowerPoint to create beautiful presentations and how to use various technologies to share that presentation with others. All your technical know-how, however, doesn’t save you from the anxiety that comes with speaking publicly. Here are some tips to help you give a phenomenally effective presentation.
1. Identify your audience and the type of presentation you will be giving. Are you informing them of something, helping to build their skills on a topic, or trying to persuade them of your point of view? Focus on this goal to help you organize your material effectively.
2. Don’t read your speech. Write an outline with key words and phrases to help you keep on topic and organized. Use a large, bold font so that you can easily read your notes without having to stare down at your note cards. Making eye contact with your audience gives you credibility.
3. Memorize your opening and closing. Most audiences will pay the most attention to the beginning and end of any speech, so it is vital to deliver a strong, clear message during these parts. Memorizing allows you to look your audience straight in the eye, making you appear credible and committed.
4. Open with a story, relate a personal anecdote, and use metaphors. These are all ways to catch the interest of the audience and make your presentation more personal and effective.
5. Know your material and know the background material so that you can answer questions at the end of the presentation.
6. Know how long you must speak and end on time. No one enjoys listening to an overly long presentation, so respect your audience’s time and end punctually.
7. Practice, practice, practice. This will decrease your anxiety and better your presentation.
by Joanne Sujansky (Adapted) IT World
1. Identify your audience and the type of presentation you will be giving. Are you informing them of something, helping to build their skills on a topic, or trying to persuade them of your point of view? Focus on this goal to help you organize your material effectively.
2. Don’t read your speech. Write an outline with key words and phrases to help you keep on topic and organized. Use a large, bold font so that you can easily read your notes without having to stare down at your note cards. Making eye contact with your audience gives you credibility.
3. Memorize your opening and closing. Most audiences will pay the most attention to the beginning and end of any speech, so it is vital to deliver a strong, clear message during these parts. Memorizing allows you to look your audience straight in the eye, making you appear credible and committed.
4. Open with a story, relate a personal anecdote, and use metaphors. These are all ways to catch the interest of the audience and make your presentation more personal and effective.
5. Know your material and know the background material so that you can answer questions at the end of the presentation.
6. Know how long you must speak and end on time. No one enjoys listening to an overly long presentation, so respect your audience’s time and end punctually.
7. Practice, practice, practice. This will decrease your anxiety and better your presentation.
by Joanne Sujansky (Adapted) IT World
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