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Saturday, October 31, 2009

Concentration and focus

"Determine what specific goal you want to achieve. Then dedicate yourself to its attainment with unswerving singleness of purpose, the trenchant zeal of a crusader."

- Paul J. Meyer


"On the way to work, concentrate on the way ? not the work."

- Jim Rohn


"When you work, work all the time you work; put more of yourself into what you do."

- Brian Tracy


"When every physical and mental resource is focused, one's power to solve a problem multiplies tremendously."

- Norman Vincent Peale

Friday, October 30, 2009

Communication

"Outside of the privacy of your own home, all speaking is 'public speaking'. There is no such thing as 'private speaking'."

-- Patricia Fripp


"Speak softly. If you really want to be heard, lower your voice."

-- Terri Levine


"Think before you speak, and then speak clearly and distinctly. Face the customer directly, lean forward, smile and relax."

-- Brian Tracy


"I have to laugh when I hear the term 'soft skills'. There is nothing soft about learning how to communicate, how to give constructive feedback, or how to negotiate with a union, employees or customers." ?

--Peggy Klaus

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Improve Your Life

I like the following quotations from Jeffrey J. Mayer. You can register to receive a weekly newsletter from SucceedingInBusiness.com and read some of his quotes and other business tips.



Improve Your Life:
=====================================

The road to success is based on the choices you make.

There will be many challenges. Face them one at a time, and you'll go further and farther than you ever dreamed.

Learn to see the invisible opportunities where other people only see visible limitations.

You grow by building on your strengths. By getting better at the things you're already good at. Become good enough and you become an expert.

Experts stand head and shoulders above everybody else.

Say YES to your big dreams, and your whole world changes.

You succeed when you do what it is you know.

Take action, and the purpose will be revealed.

Expect and demand the best from yourself and those around you.

You can be good, pretty good... or GREAT.

Acknowledge the people who have helped you. Nobody goes through life alone. Your successes are an accumulation of the things you have learned and the ideas you have gathered from the people you've met along the way.

As you grow and develop in your business, industry, community and family, your growth comes from those who came before you.

Remember: You're standing on the shoulders of giants.


The Power Of Enthusiasm:
=====================================

Put enthusiasm into your work. Look forward - with excitement - to each new day.

Be energetic. Enthusiasm is contagious. It effects your colleagues, your customers, your family and your friends. You'll feel better when you put energy and enthusiasm into your life.


Vision And Values:
=====================================

Think of your vision as a lighthouse. It's a beacon that lights the way and shows you the direction you want to go.

It shows you your path to success while illuminating the obstacles to be avoided.

When you know what your vision is you make better choices and build better relationships.
You are in control of your destiny. It's your life.

If you're not having the best year of your life, you're a fool to think it will get better if you don't make some changes.

Remember: Relevance is something we earn by the importance others place on what we do for them.


Building Relationships:
=====================================

You are paid for your wisdom.

Knowledge is the information you get from reading books.

Wisdom is what you've learned from your experiences.

#1 Sales Secret:

Find out what the other person wants, then help him find the best way to get it. The best way to find out what someone wants it to ask. Learn how to ask brilliant questions and you'll be a huge success.

Remember: It's not about you. It's about them!
Think in reverse. Ask yourself these four questions:

1. What does the customer want?

2. What does the customer need?

3. What does the customer value?

4. What does the customer expect?

#1 Motivation Secret:

You can't make anybody do anything. The only way you can get anybody to do anything is to make the other person WANT to do it.

Remember: Logic makes people think. Emotion makes people buy.

People don't buy what they don't understand.


Add Humor - Laughter - To Your Life:

When something embarrassing happens, remind yourself that 'someday you'll look back on this...' and laugh.

Don't take everything so seriously. Since you're going to look back on this and laugh about it later. Then try to laugh about it now.

As you go through life, be flexible instead of rigid.

Expect that things won't go as planned. Plan for the unexpected. If something happens, you're prepared. And if it doesn't, you're better off.

See the humor in your life. Many events are funny, if you can take a step back and look at what's happened.

Take a deep breath and relax. Chill out, and laugh... in spite of life.

Remember: Everything becomes a wonderful story you can tell.

Changes and Choices

"There are two ways of meeting difficulties: you alter the difficulties, or you alter yourself to meet them."

-- Phyllis Bottome


"To those who have confidence in themselves, change is a stimulus because they believe one person can make a difference and influence what goes on around them. These people are the doers and the motivators."

-- Buck Rogers


"Nature gives to every time and season some beauties of its own; and from morning to night, as from the cradle to the grave, it is but a succession of changes so gentle and easy that we can scarcely mark their progress."

-- Charles Dickens


"The main dangers in this life are the people who want to change everything or nothing."

-- Lady Nancy Astor

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Top 15 ReferDesk pages

I like to use ReferDesk and set it as my home page.

Bob Drudge, the Webmaster of ReferDesk, ranged the top 15 ReferDesk pages and have it at:

Top 15 ReferDesk pages
http://www.refdesk.com/topref10.html

I had recommended it to my Students in DLS (SM 2 & 3 from NIE) and here are the first five sites listed on the page:

Newspapers - USA and Worldwide
- over 3,500 U.S. papers listed by state and over 1,500 international papers listed by continent/country.

Crosswords Resources
- over 75 links to top crossword puzzle sites and resources.

My Search Engines
- over 260 search engines in 19 subject categories.

Site of the Day Archives
- locate your favorite 'Site of the Day' in this archive dating back to August 1999.

First Things First
- start your day with easy access to top wire services, newspapers, comics, sports, weather, and much more.

If you like to see the rest, just visit:

Top 15 ReferDesk pages:
http://www.refdesk.com/topref10.html

On planning

"People waste most of their waking hours every day going through the motions, chatting idly, shuffling paper, putting off decisions, reacting, majoring in minors and concentrating on trivia.

They spend their time in low priority tension relieving, rather than high priority goal-achieving activities."

-- Denis Waitley


"Planning is a real waste of time....for those who waste time."

-- Doug Firebaugh


"Every evening, write down the six most important things that you must do the next day.

Then while you sleep your subconscious will work on the best ways for you to accomplish them. Your next day will go much more smoothly."

-- Tom Hopkins


"Failing to plan means planning to fail. What are your goals?"

-- Brian Tracy

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Attachment

People become attached to their burdens sometimes more than the burdens are attached to them.

-- George Bernard Shaw


When I spent many long nights reposting my NIE 2003- 2005 SM 2 and 3 student name lists on my blog, I somehow do felt that I am doing something to fulfil my attachment and it is a burden that I self-imposed.

I think the memory I have in 2001 to 2007 teaching "Digital Literacy Skills" NTU students who are SM 2 and 3 scholars from PRC is something I treasured. At the beginning, we only have Microsoft Office Skills and Library Database Searching Techniques to impart to students. After web became a common communication interface, we introduced it in the course and started to use Geocities to compose web pages in 2002.

I have all the 2003 -2005 students' web sites log on my web pages for assessment purposes and it was a nice place for me to revisit it when I shown new students the work done by their seniors.
Thoughout the years, I have increased my teaching load from 4 classes to 7 classes per year.

Going retrospectively, it is a burden to do the list again now as some of the text were in html codes and have to be re-edited into normal text.

Having the list in the past years and building slowly is less stressful than converting it within a few days before 26 Oct 2009.

I just cannot bear having the list disappear forever when I know that Geocities is closing the free web hosting websites. That is why I think I am attached to my burden.

I do not think others will find my job worthwhile, yet somehow, I think if my ex-students found the listing in the future, they may appreciate it.

Well, I do it to keep my teaching memory in my treasure troll. It is something that is self-fulfiling for me. Hence, I echo what the quotation say, "People become attached to their burdens sometimes more than the burdens are attached to them."

Do you do something like that once in a while?

If you do, you know what I mean and how I feel!

Cheers!


Dexterine Ho

GeoCities free web hosting is

GeoCitiesfree web hosting was closed on 26 Oct 2009!

Yahoo! will delete all GeoCities websites due to the closure of its free hosting service.

Yahoo! is closing not only GeoCities but also such services as Yahoo! Briefcase, Farechase, My Web, as well as Yahoo Pets, Yahoo Live, Kickstart and Yahoo For Teachers.

Here are some useful links that I had on my Geocities teaching webpages http://www.geocities.com/dexterine from 2003 to 2005:

Useful links:
3 D Textmaker Fun to experience! Animate your text and save it as animated GIF file!

Free Buttons Allow you to modify the colour of the buttons and add button text

Quotation sites List quotation sites for you to search for quotable quotes by subjects or keywords

Flash buttons Creating one or a panel of flashbuttons without tears

Anfy Homepage

Microsoft Top tips for PowerPoint

Presentationzen.com/

Searching Guide 1

Searching Guide 2


Learn PPT Onlline
Power Point Presentation:

* Presentation Scenario

* Presentation Exponents (A slide-to-slide guide)

New teaching web site at dexterine.tripod.com From 2006 June

Student's Home Work: Example

2005 teaching page

2004 teaching page

2003 teaching page

As most of the above teaching pages at Geocities (http://www.geocities.com/dexterine) are not accessible now, I just spent one whole day recreating my 2003- 2005's student name list on the blog.

The NIE SM 2 & 3 students' web project after 2006 are posted on Tripod: http://dexterine.tripod.com/ under the tab "DLS in NIE"

if you like to have direct access to the NIE teaching page, just visit http://dexterine.tripod.com/id40.html

MY 2005 Student name list: SM 3 Group 1

MY 2005 Student name list

SM 3 Group 1

(All the links of the Geocities web pages created by them are now not available as Yahoo closed the free web hosting on 26 Oct 2009)

1 CHENG SHAN
2 DING GUOQIANG
3 GUO AIFEN
4 HE HONG
5 LI HONG

6 LI QING
7 LI XIAO
8 LIANG XINYU
9 SHENG XIAOGENG
10 SONG QINLONG

11 WANG YI
12 XIA BIN
13 XIONG YUANTING
14 YAN LINA
15 YANG LIFENG

16 YUAN XIANLI
17 ZHANG CHENG
18 ZHANG YI
19 ZHAO LU
20 ZHOU DAPENG

MY 2005 Student name list: SM 3 Group 4

MY 2005 Student name list

SM 3 Group 4

(All the links of the Geocities web pages created by them are now not available as Yahoo closed the free web hosting on 26 Oct 2009)

1 AN WEI
2 BAI YONGCHAO
3 CHEN SHU
4 FU YECHAO
5 HUANG DEZHAO

6 LIN YAYING
7 LIU JIA
8 LU JIAO
9 LUO YINDI
10 MO WEI

11 NIU CHANGLEI
12 QI LIHUA
13 TIAN HUI
14 WU QIANG
15 ZHANG HONGZHOU

16 ZHANG YAO
17 ZHANG YU
18 ZHAO GUANGLEI
19 ZHENG YANJUN
20 ZHOU HONGMING

MY 2005 Student name list: SM 2 Group 9

MY 2005 Student name list

SM 2 Group 9

(All the links of the Geocities web pages created by them are now not available as Yahoo closed the free web hosting on 26 Oct 2009)

1 Chen Qin
2 Ding Zejun
3 Fang Zhefei
4 Gao Zhiming
5 Huang Yuli

6 Lang Shuang
7 Li Guoliang
8 Li Hui
9 Li Yize
10 Liu Jiannan

11 Ma Ji
12 Sun Zhe
13 Wang Fei
14 Wang Tiantian
15 Weng Yao

16 Xia Yu
17 Yang Qian
18 Yang Shuai
19 Yang Yang
20 Zhu Wenchao

MY 2005 Student name list: SM 2 Group 10

MY 2005 Student name list

SM 2 Group 10

(All the links of the Geocities web pages created by them are now not available as Yahoo closed the free web hosting on 26 Oct 2009)

1 Cui Yifang
2 Feng Xueying
3 Gu Yangshuo
4 Han Xiaohan
5 Huang Yingying

6 Li Sujie
7 Shu Haojiang
8 Su Le
9 Sun Zhongyinan
10 Wang Kaiwen

11 Wang Mengxi
12 Wang Xiang
13 Wang Xiao
14 Wu Jiawen
15 Xia Bingxing

16 Xiao Dezhong
17 Zhang Simin
18 Zhao Xumin
19 Zheng Yanchao
20 Zhong Hua

MY 2005 Student name list: SM 2 Group 11

MY 2005 Student name list

SM 2 Group 11

(All the links of the Geocities web pages created by them are now not available as Yahoo closed the free web hosting on 26 Oct 2009)

1 Chen Mengli
2 Dong Feng
3 Guo Meng
4 Han Ling
5 He Shu

6 Huang Min
7 Ji Xiang
8 Li Chao
9 Li Shengjin
10 Luan Qianqian

11 Meng Lei
12 Wang Fang
13 Wang Liyong
14 Wang Renzhe
15 Wang Xiaole

16 Xie Yin
17 Zhang Chunyan
18 Zhang Hao
19 Zhang Xuan
20 Zhong Yuan

MY 2005 Student name list: SM 2 Group 12

MY 2005 Student name list

SM 2 Group 12

(All the links of the Geocities web pages created by them are now not available as Yahoo closed the free web hosting on 26 Oct 2009)

1 Cao Luyan
2 Chen Yanhong
3 Cheng Xikai
4 Cui Min
5 Deng Chunhui

6 Gui Lin
7 Huang Qingyin
8 Ji Tuo
9 Li Yancheng
10 Li Yongmei

11 Ouyang Lili
12 Teng Lei
13 Wang Laohu
14 Wei Yazhe
15 Xie Wei

16 Xu Zhengji
17 Zhang Xiaoyue
18 Zhuo Jiali

MY 2005 Student name list: SM 2 Group 13

MY 2005 Student name list

SM 2 Group 13

(All the links of the Geocities web pages created by them are now not available as Yahoo closed the free web hosting on 26 Oct 2009)

1 Chen Xi
2 Deng Lu
3 Huang Ruixiang
4 Jin Mengyi
5 Luo Danlin

6 Luo Jiayu
7 Nie Zhenzhi
8 Wang Lu
9 Wang Yawen
10 Xuan Zhiyang

11 Yang Xiao
12 Yang Xiaolu
13 Ye Shuqin
14 Zhang Jixin
15 Zhang Wentao

16 Zhang Yi
17 Zhao Wen
18 Zheng Encen
19 Zhong Hua
20 Zhou Yanyan

SM 2 and 3: optional web topics 2004

Interesting Places in Singapore and Memory of Singapore

Students' Choice in 2004 (Published on their Geocities Web Page which is not available now)

Great World Cities at Kim Seng Road
What to see: 9-12 Toilets with Thematic Deco

Parkview Square near Bugis Junctions
What to see: Statutes of famous personalites like Plato, Newton & Danty etc...

Orchid Garden at Botanic Garden
What to see: Orchid in four "seasons?"

National Institute of Education in NTU Campus
What to see: Library, Building of different Schools etc

Nanyang Technological University
What to see: Yunnan Garden, Chinese Heritage Centre, Nantah Lake, Canteen 1 and Lee Wei Nan Library


Singapore Memory and Singapore from the perspective of Chinese Scholars, 2004

A Colourful Singapore

Singapore and Everyone

Different Places Introduced in Students' Pages
*Sentosa *Singapore River *Life in NIE

MY 2004 Student name list: SM 3 Group 2

MY 2004 Student name list

SM 3 Group 2

(All the links of the Geocities web pages created by them are now not available as Yahoo closed the free web hosting on 26 Oct 2009)

1 Cao Min
2 Chen Ye
3 Fu Chunmiao
4 Ge Bin
5 Hu Yueping

6 Huang Guangpu
7 Li Chong
8 Li Rui
9 Liang Kun
10 Liu Tong

11 Liu Wenhu
12 Pang Caiji
13 Qing Songlin
14 Qiu Ningyi
15 Sun Yuan

16 Tao Qian
17 Wang Fei
18 Wang Xiu
19 Zhang Li
20 Zhu Ling

MY 2004 Student name list: SM 3 Group 3

My 2004 Student name list

SM 3 Group 3

(All the links of the Geocities web pages created by them are now not available as Yahoo closed the free web hosting on 26 Oct 2009)

1 Bai Yunfei
2 Cai Yi
3 Fu Haitao
4 Fu Kangkang
5 Gao Jing

6 Guo Min
7 Li Baihong
8 Li Xiaohui
9 Liang Peiyuan
10 Lin Lin

11 Ning Zeyu
12 Sun Zhuoxin
13 Yang Fan
14 Yang Mingfei
15 Yang Yizhou

16 Yu Hangying
17 Zhang Kuan
18 Zhang Guowei
19 Zhong Yuan

MY 2004 Student name list: SM 3 Group 4

MY 2004 Student name list

SM 3 Group 4

(All the links of the Geocities web pages created by them are now not available as Yahoo closed the free web hosting on 26 Oct 2009)

1 Bei Junjun
2 Chen Yaqi
3 Guo Wei
4 Guo Xinqing
5 Jiang Mingxuan

6 Jin Xu
7 Lin Zhe
8 Liu Ting
9 Liu Xiao
10 Shan Wenming

11 Shao Jun
12 Si Guanglin
13 Suo Yujing
14 Wang Wei
15 Xu Mingming

16 Yao Yujin
17 Yu Liguo
18 Zhang Huiyuan
19 Zhang Juntao
20 Zhou Zheng

MY 2004 Student name list: SM 3 Group 5

MY 2004 Student name list

SM 3 Group 5

(All the links of the Geocities web pages created by them are now not available as Yahoo closed the free web hosting on 26 Oct 2009)

1 Bo Juyi
2 Chai Yu
3 Chen Xi
4 Dong Tongtong
5 Guan Xiaochong

6 He Mingguang
7 Hou Wanyi
8 Liang Dayang
9 Liang Yuanxi
10 Liu Hui

11 Luo Xiaodong
12 Ma Qian
13 Ren Ye
14 Shi Wenqian
15 Tang Haitao

16 Xiong Beili
17 Zhang Meng
18 Zhang Fan
19 Zhang Lei
20 Zhao Xiaolin

Monday, October 26, 2009

MY 2003 Student name list: SM 3 Group 1

MY 2003 Student name list

SM 3 Group 1

(All the links of the Geocities web pages created by them are now not available as Yahoo closed the free web hosting on 26 Oct 2009)

1 Chen Qitian
2 Chen Ziliang
3 Chu Hong Gang
4 Huang Wei
5 Jin Guoqing

6 Li Qiao Yang
7 Liu chang hui
8 Peng Li
9 Shen Yuan
10 Shi Xia Qing

11 Sun Hong Mei
12 Wang Haixia
13 Wang Ji Hai
14 Wang Jing
15 Wang Kai

16 Wang Zhi Yuan
17 Wang Zhilin
18 Yang Yuanguang
19 Yu Yue
20 Zhou Yong

MY 2003 Student name list: SM 3 Group 2

MY 2003 Student name list

SM 3 Group 2

(All the links of the Geocities web pages created by them are now not available as Yahoo closed the free web hosting on 26 Oct 2009)

1 Dai Xiaoming, Robbie
2 Fan qu, Flint
3 Hu Nan
4 Hu Xing
5 Liao Jie

6 Liu Yang
7 Ning Rong Rong
8 Shi Jing Sheng
9 Tian Ya Fei
10 Wei Lei

11 Wei Xiao Hong
12 Wu Bo, Jack
13 Wu Zhengning
14 Wu Zhi Hao
15 Xu Zhenyu

16 Zhang juan juan
17 Zhang Jun Bin
18 Zhao Hui
19 Zhou Iiting
20 Zhu Guo Jun

MY 2003 Student name list: SM 3 Group 4

MY 2003 Student name list

SM 3 Group 4

(All the links of the Geocities web pages created by them are now not available as Yahoo closed the free web hosting on 26 Oct 2009)


1. Dong Kaika
2. Fei Wei
3. Guo Jian
4. He Jianpeng
5 Huang weiping

6. Li Dongwei
7.Li Fei
8. Liang Yuxi
9.LinYu
10. Ni Wei

11 Pan Tan
12. Pei Yiyang
13. Shao Zaiming
14. Wang Yinjie
15. Wu Liang

16. Wu Xia
17.Yang Site
18.Yi Suhuang
19. Zheng Shichun
20. Zhou yuan

MY 2003 Student name list: SM 2 Group 14

MY 2003 Student name list

SM 2 Group 14

(All the links of the Geocities web pages created by them are now not available as Yahoo closed the free web hosting on 26 Oct 2009)

1. Chen lin, Cynthia ***
2. Chen Taotao
3. Hua Xia
4. Li Hao *
5. Li Haoyang ****

6. Liu Junlian .
7. Tang Lin
8. Tu Xiaoying
9. Wang Xueqian **
10. Xie Boya

11. Yu hang.
12. Zhang Heliang
13. Zhang Qiushi
14. Zhang Yi *****
15. Zhang Ying

16. Zhang Yu xiang, Chris
17. Zhong Tian
18. ZhuWei

On personal responsibilty

"You are responsible, or it won't get done. There's a fine line between taking it personally, and handling it personally. Individual responsibility leads to happy customers. Do you take responsibility or try to pass it off?"

-- Jeffrey Gitomer


"You can't change what you don't acknowledge."

-- Phil McGraw


"We are taught you must blame your father, your sisters, your brothers, the school, the teachers - you can blame anyone but never blame yourself. It's never your fault. But it's always your fault, because if you wanted to change, you're the one who has got to change. It's as simple as that, isn't it?"

-- Katherine Hepburn


"Refuse to make excuses or blame others. The leader always says, 'If it's to be, it's up to me.' "

-- Brian Tracy

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Preparation

"Preparation is the mark of the professional. Do your homework before the negotiations."

-- Brian Tracy


"Nothing is more powerful for your future than being a gatherer of good ideas and information. That's called doing your homework."

-- Jim Rohn


"From product knowledge springs the expertise to work with clients in the effective and professional manner that earns high income. Invest ten minutes daily reviewing your product information or using your product so you know it inside and out."

- Tom Hopkins

Friday, October 23, 2009

Chinese electronic resources

Today, I attend the following LAS talk:

Topic: Introduction to and comparison and analysis of Chinese electronic resources (in Mandarin) 大陆中文电子资源介绍与比较分析

Speaker : Mr Zhang Hongyuan
Assistant to the Director, Head of Acquisition Department, Wuhan University Library, China

Date : 23 October 2009

Time : 3.30 pm - 5.30 pm

Venue : Toa Payoh Public library

As the organiser think that the group attending the talk will be small, we only register at the venue on day of talk.

About the speaker:

Mr Zhang Hongyuan is Assistant to the Director and Head of Acquisitions Department of Wuhan University Library.

He started his career in librarianship in library of Wuhan Hydraulic and Electrical College, the former Wuhan Hydraulic and Electrical University (WUHEE), in 1986.

Prior to that he majored in library science at School of Library & Information Science of the Wuhan University and graduated with BSc degree.

In 1991, he obtained his MSc (Information Management) degree from Graduate School of the Wuhan University.

He has served in the library of WUHEE for nearly 12 years. Since WUHEE combined with other 3 universities and the new Wuhan University established in 2000, he served in the new university’s library until now.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Driver or Passenger

Attended the following talk at National Library today:

PROFESSIONAL TALKS

Topic : Driver or Passenger - Responding to Changes - NTU Library

Speaker : Mr Choy Fatt Cheong, University Librarian, Nanyang Technological University Library

Date : 22 October 2009 (Thursday)

Time : 4.00pm - 5.30pm

Venue : Imagination Room, Level 5, National Library Building

LAS Professional Development Scheme (PDS) Points:
46 (Applicable only to librarians who are participants of PDS)


This talk highlighted some of the major initiatives undertook and discuss some problems and issues encountered in respond to the challenging environment.

The Current Time, Around the World

Like to know the international time for all the country at the present moment?

Or

If you are in Singapore and like to know which countries share the same time zone as ours, then

http://www.timeticker.com/

is a good site for you!

The web page created by Martin Zwernemann (http://www.zwernemann.com/) help to tell the Current Time, Around the World

When you open the page, the default time zone is GMT.

You can set the time zone you like to view by choosing the name of the countries listed on the window on the right.

If you like to know which countries follow the same time zone, just view the window on the left.

It also come with a ticking sound to make you feel that time is constantly running.

You may mute the ticking with a click on "Mute Ticking" and let the system read you the time using real audio.

It is fun and handy!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

別讓靈魂跟不上

人不可能在一天內做完所有的事!

你只要將一天中最很重要的事情做完就已足夠了。

這並不是不求上進,恰恰在於懂得放下的,才最終會贏;
而整日忙碌不休的人,收穫的往往只是焦慮和疲憊。

我看到了這樣一個故事:

有一支西方的考察隊深入非洲腹地考察,
請了當地部落的土著人做背伕和嚮導,由於時間緊,需趕路,
而這些土著人很吃苦耐勞,背著幾十公斤的裝備物資依然健步如飛,
一連三天考察隊都很順利地按計劃行進,大家都很開心。

可是第四天早上,考察隊準備出發的時候,
土著人們都在休息不走了,好說歹說就是不願出發。
隊員們很奇怪,這幾天大家相處得很好啊,
是不小心觸犯了他們還是要坐地加錢?

這時,土著人的頭領解釋道,
按照他們的傳統,如果連續三天趕路,第四天必須停下來休息一天,
以免我們的靈魂趕不上我們的腳步。

這個現代人也許看來很難理解的解釋,讓我很受觸動。

我們的生活太忙碌了,工作和生活的壓力讓我們日復一日地在趕路,
以至於我們很少停下來思考一下,就不斷地被很多東西推著走,
或者追逐著眼前的東西而去,
而我們的靈魂早已落後在我們匆匆趕路的身影後面無影無蹤。

沒有了自己我們的生活就交給了外物去控制。

又到了一周,我們是不是也放緩腳步,等一等我們的靈魂?

~~~忙~~~

如同… ”心” 己 “亡”

也如同…. 一個人沒了靈魂!

Story and message edited from an email forwarded to me by a friend, May Kong.
(Thanks May!)

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

為什麼您的狗叫'放下'?

有這樣一個故事:

一個著名的寺院裡住著一位非常有道行的道長。他每天都要在傍晚6時去餵他的狗。

狗的名字很奇怪,叫做"放下"。

每到日落時分, 靜修道長就為"放下"送飯了,嘴一邊呼喚著 : "放下!放下!"

小弟子覺得很奇怪,就問道長:

"為什麼要給狗起這個奇怪的名字,人家的狗都叫阿黃、來福什麼的,為什麼您的狗叫'放下?"

靜修道長不語,讓他們自己去悟。

小弟子就觀察老道長,終於發現:

每天當道長餵完狗後,就不再讀經書,到院中打打太極拳,散散步。

小弟子到道長面前,訴說了他們觀察的收穫,

老道長微笑地點點頭說:"你們終於明白了。

其實我在叫狗的時候,其實也是叫自己'放下',讓自己放下許多事情。

因為人們不可能在一天內做完所有的事情,你只要將一天中最很重要的事情做完就已足夠了。

在人們越來越習慣動輒高呼殘酷競爭時,其實學會"放下"的意義就越大。

正仿佛當你自覺遭遇滅頂挫折時,不妨手搭涼棚,

你一定會發現:天並不會塌下來。

這並不是不求上進,恰恰在於懂得放下的,才最終會贏;

而整日忙碌不休的人,收穫的往往只是焦慮和疲憊。

Story and message edited from an email forwarded to me by a friend, May Kong.(Thanks May!)

Monday, October 19, 2009

Life without regrets

Who am I?

I am who I say I am and tomorrow someone else entirely.

--- White Oleander


It is hard to say that we live life without any regret. Why?

I am sure that you, like me have more than one regret in life?

Though we like to have a life full of joys and happiness, yet it is so easy to do something that make our life the other way round!

We like to put off something that brings us joy!

We fail to see the opportunity to experience joy!

We tend to use excuses like we have not thought about it!

Though joys is in our life seeking list, we do not have it on our busy schedule!

We sometime know it was coming, yet we were too rigid to depart from our routine to experience it!

We like to cram so much stuff into our life and keep joy out of our calendar!

We tend to schedule our headaches first and let our fresh mind doing the fire fighting all the time. We just leave no room for joys.

We live to fulfil our promises to others and not keeping the promises we have for ourselves.

When all the conditions are perfect for joys, we are too tire to enjoy it!

If you add one decade to your life, and compare your energy level you have with that a decade ago, you will understand that life has a way of accelerating as we get older.

Our days will get shorter, and the list of promises we have made gets longer.

Do you have clothes that you bought years ago and have no time to wear? Do you have shoes that you pay a lot for it and have never find a change to put your feet into it?

Do have gifts that you kept for others or yourself and it is, until today, remained as an unopened gift?

Do you thrown away expensive food that you kept in your fridge as it was too costly to eat without any reasons or occasions?

Even though we do not run life like a race, yet we treat our life (from birth to the grave) with so much hurry!

We have the tendency to find the quickest way to to get from one place to other!

Why not have some time in between to look at the sky and things around you!

Steal some moments in life to feel the wind blow!

Have some time to hear the music and song of life before it is over.

Just reflect and look at life in retrospect, 5 years from now, or 10, 15, 20 etc., would you be happy with things you have done today or at this very moment? Or would you be disappointed or regret that you did it now?

It is so easy to correct them when we look at the mistakes we made in the years just passed us.

With that kind of mind set, when we explore, dream or discover any new thing now, we could make a wiser choice!

Some statements of life, like "if I know, I could have, might have, and should have" may has less occurence in our description in retrospect.

Just remember, it takes us less effort in the future if we have less worry and regret about life. So we choose to make it it right at the time you do it! The choice is yours at the moment of your action!

Just remmember, If we hurry through our days and make choices that we are going to regret or feel disappointed, we are wasting our life!

Do you still want to hurry so much and lost so much in time!

Life without regrets is not easy, yet, you may create it slowly now with all your remaining life!


Dexterine Ho

Sunday, October 18, 2009

On personal philosophy

"My philosophy is that not only are you responsible for your life, but doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment."

-- Oprah Winfrey


"Take your job seriously, BUT don't take their complaints personally. If you take it personally you'll get upset, and lose your edge. If you take it too personally, you'll lose your edge and your job. If you take it seriously - it's you with them. If you take it personally, it's you against them. What steps can you take to ensure keeping your cool?"

-- Jeffrey Gitomer


"A character is a completely fashioned will."

-- Novalis


"Your personal philosophy is the greatest determining factor in how your life works out."

-- Jim Rohn

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Some time you need to learn how to shake off a talkative colleague or friend who monopolizes your time.

Spend time with other colleagues/coworkers or friends who make your day flow meaningfully is the way to build a meaningful life.


In the future when you reflect upon your life, you will appreciate the input of others to your life that make it greater collectively.

When you talk or connect with others, do keep that perspective in mind and make their life fill with good and meaningful input.


Dexterine Ho

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Information

Information is our most precious resource, limited only by the constraints of human intelligence, innovation and imagination.

However, like most resources, it is not shared equally.

I would like to see full and free sharing of information and knowledge, across all sectors and borders, guided by the shared values and unversal language of human rights.

-- Mary Robinson, Former president of Ireland


Being a former librarian, and now teaching the information studies courses, I understand that it is a long to go for any one who works in the library and information field to achieve the goal of Mary Robinson.

Nevertheless, I think with our (anyone who possess valuable information and knowledge) collective efforts, we can close the gap and make free sharing of information and knowledge, across all sectors and borders possible!


Dexterine Ho

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Priceless possession

To be rich in admiration and free from envy,

to rejoice greatly in the good of others,

to love with such generosity of heart that your love is still a dear possession in absence or unkindness

- these are the gifts which money cannot buy.


-- Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)

Saturday, October 10, 2009

A new phase of existence

A new phase of existence begin today. I have more space created today with an additional 40 sq ft of display cum work area added to my home office.

The freedom I gain from the space allows me to revise my conception of life.

I know it is time to take more creative move.

It is not a risk as I am not speculating or trading it with any of my financial returns.

Being considerate and putting other needs before me, luck seem to support me in an insolent manner, allowing me to sensibly increase my gains with a minimum of effort.

However, I have to avoid letting myself intoxicated with the mood of success.

Being contended yet don't fall into the trap of an easy life.

I tend to choose works that I like and within my capacity.

I am comfortable with work that other think it is hard and unbearable, like understanding library classification systems (DDC or LC), Chinese Language (Simplify or Traditional stokes), teaching & training, 3D display for schools & advance information & database search, libraries and many innovative art and craft, gift wrapping and flower arrangement ideas, etc...

Being a workaholic I tend to immerse in work and forget about time.

A lot of things like food and drinks are essential yet not critical to me. I need to eat regular meals and have tea breaks to refresh my mind, yet time for lunch can be 11.30am or 1.pm depending on work flow and schedule on my calendar.

Having an afternoon nap is not a fix pattern in my daily life, yet with a short and power nap once in a while do make a day recharged with lot of extra energy.

For the interest of my physical and mental health, I have to beware of overwork!

It is for my best interests and for my body to have chance to move about physically.

Travelling to other countries if I have a chance once or twice a year is great.

If I am unable to see new things outside Singapore, I will create some new experience by visit all kinds of exhibitions and libraries, attending performance, meeting friends and work groups.

Being on the move and able to mix new ideas with old experiences make me feel good about myself.

Nevertheless, I have to be a little reasonable with the schedule of my own work and activities and do not over "book" myself with too many things on my calendar.

When a day is overfill with too many events, I may just take away one or two activities and make room to rest or breath normally.

With that kind of give and take, I can flow with less stress from over commit myself with too many task and activities.


Dexterine Ho

Friday, October 02, 2009

Watch your thoughts

Watch your thoughts; they become words.


Watch your words; they become actions.

Watch your actions; they become habits.

Watch your habits; they become character.

Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.


Forward by someone via email and source not provided.