In loving memory of my beloved wife

I saw the news... 3 kids dead in a fire. This is absolutely the saddest news of all. Prior to this, there was another 4 other had the same fate in fire. My heart sank when reading the news. Really, this should not happen to kids or anyone. Accident may not be able to be eliminated but there must be something to be done to avoid it.
I remembered when I was the intel engineer while attending a training, the coach asked what would be our next thing to do after the safety precaution sharing. I mentioned that I would get a fire exstinguisher. Yet, till today I only have a small tank, which also indeed get this when purchase the Latio as emergency kit.

Why are we adults so stubborn? We own the responsibility but always take for granted. This incident reminded me of my guilt to my wife. I am sorry.

I will discuss this with the kids for some emergency skill especially on fire related matter. There must be an emergency escape path.

Let's not take for grant. May there be no more such news. I do not want to read them anymore!

Moments ago, I bought a used Imac G4. The configuration will be considered outdated by today standard, but the condition and performance of the Imac is still wonderfully fast and stable. I would not think if I would try on an old PC that introduced more than 5 years ago.
The Imac G4 has a wonderful and attractive design in which I stil believed it inspired to be display as some form of decoration at home. Again the PC really lose out with the dull and boring square casing that never change except for some cosmetically face-off.
I am still in the mid of forcing the Imac G4 to be loaded with Leopard OS. I did not have any luck yet but I believed I will success when the 512MB PC133 SDRAM delivered to me tomorrow. Here I come again Mac OSX.
Continue to try on.

7 years ago while I was still a young engineer, I went for a 2-day EQ course. In the course, there was an analysis of self.... I still have this report and I still believed it is over 90% accurate of myself.

And here are the summary of the report...


Generally, your personality can be summarized as that of 'Creative Decider'

Your strengths are as follows
In a system that functions like a car, you would be the accelerator, while others would be viewed by you as the brakes. As iron is to a towering edifice, so are you to an organisation whose survival depends on the ability to devote seriousness to all tasks. For you, no nonsense is best sense. You thrive best in an atmosphere of instantaneity, where all endeavours and results are best executed and anticipated in the shortest time. You are probably most comfortable when the reins of authority are placed in your hands because of your preference towards assuming leadership. You love challenges.

Just as yeast and heat are important to the baker in raising and baking a cake, so are power and authority essential to you to get a task completed. It is very important to you to be given the freedom to complete a job. You are a person of action who likes to get things done quickly. Others often have difficulty keeping pace with you since you find them too slow for you. Bungee-jumping and the Camel Trophy would seem like child's play to you, given your keen sense of adventure and risk-taking.

Your desire to win motivates you to strive for greater heights. In short, you are Olympic material. Your refusal to be seen in weakness reinforces your appearance as an entity of steel, strength and courage.

You may have these weaknesses
What you reap is what you sow. Sow the seeds of kindness and you'll reap its abundant harvest. Touch another's life and one day that life may enrich yours in ways unimaginable. Show others of your keen interest by displaying a little enthusiasm and excitement in what they have to say. You may find it difficult to mix around with others. Reach out to others and they'll reach out to you. Be friendlier the next time you meet others. Though you are not comfortable in meeting, you need to learn to.

Respond to others in a more spontaneous way. Add a little more passion, devotion and power into your daily work and daily life and in all your relationships.

A summary of your strengths are as follows
Love challenges
Need to be given the power & authority to get the job done
Like to be different from others
Are known for coming up with new ideas
Are versatile
Are creative
Enjoy artistic activities

A summary of your weaknesses are as follows
Are too aggressive
Find working in teams too much of a bother
Are perceived by others as strange and too individualistic
Are easily bored, constantly desire to do new things
Tend to be a proud person
Tend to be impulsive
Are hot-tempered

In order to nurture your Emotional Intelligence (EQ), you should develop
Gentleness in speaking to others
More patience
Greater sensitivity to others' feelings
Ability to communicate your ideas to others
Ability to work in a team with others
Awareness that others may find your new ideas as rather 'wild'
Better skills in introducing changes which are seen to break traditions
Ability to 'include' and not 'alienate' others when you try to introduce new ideas

You tend to express your creativity in the following ways
Relatively brief analysis is applied due to drive to get things done fast.
May not be so open to ideas of others, preferring to do it on own so as to maintain control and feel a sense of superiority. May shun established methods and push ahead according to own way.
Quick, though hasty, generation of ideas, though not refined enough. Practicality, profitability and fast results govern creative generation.
Knows what is wanted.
Good overview and grasp of matters at hand.
Your creative ideas may be viewed as weird and unusual.
Your creative expressions are characterized by total freedom in speaking up, no holds barred.
Expressions of creativity may have shocking elements that are anti-establishment or contrary to tradition.
You have no difficulty to originate something contrary to the status quo if you think that the prevalent ideas are outdated and rigid.
You have the capacity to absorb a vast amount of ideas and opinions with great openness. These would then be analysed according to criteria such as personal freedom, or aesthetic qualities.

How you might improve on your creativity
Beware that many things may have slipped your notice while generating ideas. Refrain from half-prepared outcomes by investing much more time into the thinking and development process.
Make more efforts to explain to others your reasons for choosing a certain way of doing things, because your creative expressions may be viewed as inconsiderate and offensive.
You have to learn to accept other people's opinion and ideas, in humble realization that your way need not always be the best.
Seek an honest unbiased second opinion on works and ideas.
Toe the line if your creative expressions border on moral issues and political acceptability.
Admit that criticism of your ideas and works are inevitable and not necessarily bad.
Beware of personal arrogance and bigotry towards conventional thought and expression.

You can help your organization by
Working independently and guiding others under you.
Pushing others to get the job done.
Producing results and executing tasks on time.
Disciplining dissenters and laidback members.
Providing strong leadership.
Adding value to existing projects.
Inspiring through thought and action.
Enriching current opinions, source of novelty, aestheticism, beauty and art.
Offering totally different problem-solving approaches. Thinking outside the box and employing fresh methods in corporate strategy.
Generating breakthrough ideas and hence, fostering innovation and creativity.

In leadership and supervisory roles, it is important that you try to do the following steps
Be more tolerant of the weaknesses of others.
Present your remarks in a non-threatening manner.
Be more gracious and tactful with your words.
Be more gentle and diplomatic when disagreeing with subordinates.
Listen and consider the suggestions of others.
Be realistic enough and not too dreamy.
Learn to accept criticism of your suggestions.
Follow through on initial ideas before moving to newer ones.
Allow others adequate time to grasp your new ideas.
Translate your creative ideas into something that others can understand.

To enrich your interpersonal relationships with others, try to do the following
Learn to wait.
If you want others to work well under you, be kind and gracious in word and deed.
Admit your mistakes; learn to say sorry more often.
Learn to understanding others difficulties.
Realize that others may be different from you; give allowances for their differences.
Appreciate and humbly bear with others' activities and interests.
Introduce your views and opinions patiently and clearly.
Give others a chance to announce and implement their plans.
Be more realistic when sharing your opinions.
Be open to other's criticisms of your ideas and suggestions.

In facing conflicts, you tend to do this
May come across as stubborn and conceited.
Fight to win.
Get angry quickly.
Hurtful and brash with words.
Come on very strongly.
Wonder why others cannot figure out a simple solution to the problem.
Feel that others around you just don't understand.
Withdraw to a safe environment.

How to better manage yourself when facing conflict
Winning a friend over for life is better than winning a temporary fight.
Be willing to admit you could be wrong.
Don't insist on being right all the time.
Be patient in listening to the other party's views.
Be more aware and thoughtful of the consequences of any harsh remark or action.
Communicate your proposed solution for the conflict in a way that others can understand.
Use your creativity to resolve the conflict.
Accept that not all will think or agree with the way you do.

The following actions may cause stress
Constant and over-supervision.
Not allowed to do things the way you think is right.
Goals and results not achieved.
Authority and power threatened.
Being misunderstood.
Rejection of views and ideas.
Fetters, restrictions, restraints and any form of inhibition and restrictions on forms of expression.

Stress - Why you react the way you do
Despite repeated efforts, there is lack of achievement.
Find that others frustrate your attempts to obtain results.
Perceive that others are too slow.
Discouraged.
Disillusioned.
Rebellion
Withdraw into fantasy world.

Stress - How to overcome your unfavourable reactions
Divert frustration and stress away from people into activities like sports, etc.
Calm down before meeting others.
Speak more softly and gently.
Accept some limitations and work within them.
Accept the reality of the present situation.
Voice your opinions in a less argumentative and provocative way.

Your approach/strategy and attitude towards learning
Productive - much coverage in a short time.
Generally good power of concentration.
Treats difficult subjects as delightful challenges and mountains to conquer.
Strong drive and determination to complete and grasp subject and will not relent until this goal is achieved.
Good sense of overview or organization/direction of subject mater.
Creative approaches by investigating, from different perspectives, a particular interest.
Innovative: new ideas are fused with existing concepts.
Open to new things.
Flexible-minded: adaptable towards new subjects.
Broad minded and receptive to recent developments and almost any theory.

To be a more effective learner
Learn to be more patient and thorough in dealing with details that appear to seem not too relevant at first.
Accept diverse opinions from others and view these opinions as potentially enriching.
Don't be too quick to brush off something as unimportant just because it takes more time to learn.
Adopt more flexibility.
Be more relaxed.
Be more aware of implications of adopting new ideas.
In group settings that require interactive exchanges, be careful not to 'blast away' any stand that seems conventional lest it discourage healthy dialogue form your study partners.
Be prepared to sit through dry spells of boring material if you are to get anywhere eventually.
While applying new perspectives of studying, don't throw away conventional views, the bases of subsequent developments
Adoption of new ideas and unsubstantiated theories may run the risk of deception at personal or others' expense - hence, be cautious.