2 Financial Rules To Live By.

There's a lot of great advice out there to saving money. But if it overwhelms you, start with just these two simple rules and you'll be on your way to financial independence.

When it comes to the way we think about money, I've noticed there are two kinds of people: those who think $1,000 is a lot of money, and those who think $10 is a lot of money.

I fall into the second category. But I'm not especially frugal. I have a fairly nice car, I take a vacation every year, and it isn't too hard to convince me to drop a few hundred dollars on a great pair of shoes now and then. I've never even clipped a coupon. But I've also maxed out my retirement savings, bought a house, and live without debt — all on an average salary for where I live.

What I've done isn't extraordinary, but it does seem somewhat rare. That said, I think most people can accomplish this fairly easily. All you have to do is live and die by two simple rules...

1. Pay Yourself First: The Best Kind of Cliché

"Pay yourself first" is a very common piece of financial advice. It's simple enough to follow, but that doesn't make it easy.

If you can save $200 per month at a 6-percent interest rate, you'll have more than $200,000 in 30 years. At the very least, you'll have a great savings fund at the ready for whatever life may bring. But how can you come up with that cash when you barely have any money left between paychecks?

The answer is to take that money off the top. And yes, it'll sting a bit at first.

I've made a habit of taking contributions to my retirement and savings account right off the top of each paycheck on the very day it hits my bank account. I try to cut pretty deep too, leaving myself just a little more than I need to pay for expenses.

This works on two levels: It forces me to really budget to meet my basic expenses while keeping extra cash out of easy reach. I can still retrieve the money from my savings account if I happen to need it, but because I have to make a decision to transfer funds, they usually stay put. I allow myself to spend whatever I don't need for expenses on whatever I like — if I don't spend it by the time my next paycheck comes, I roll that into savings too.

I also save any additional money I get. I think a raise, tax return, or bonus can go two ways. It can raise your standard of living, or it can raise your standards. Rather than creating more expenses to suck up these extra dollars, I live the same way day to day and tuck the extra money away for something better.

2. Practice Mindful Spending

Having some leeway in your paycheck isn't a given, but I think many people have more wiggle room than they realize.

This is what I mean when I say that I think $10 is a lot of money. When I decide to buy something, it's a decision, not an impulse buy. I want to spend my money on things that really have value for me, not just things that are convenient or appealing at the moment. So while I can buy something nice once in a while — without guilt — I have a hard time going out for lunch or buying (you guessed it) a latte.

Less expensive purchases are an easy mental hurdle to get over because they're so small it seems that they could hardly amount to anything. The truth is, these seemingly insignificant purchases can easily amount to, or exceed, that $200 you may be aiming to save.

If you spend $4 every morning on a latte, and $12 each work day for lunch, this adds up to $80 per week — for a grand total of $4,160 per year. If you earn $50,000 per year, that's a full month of your salary. Do you really want all that money to amount to a bunch of coffee and Subway sandwiches?

This isn't to say that no one should ever buy a latte. But if I spend this kind of money every week, I don't have anything to devote to my savings. That's a sign that these seemingly small indulgences just aren't affordable, at least for me.

This is why I've also decided not to opt for cable TV or an extensive cell phone plan. I don't feel that I live like a pauper. After all, I have money saved that I can turn to not only in an emergency, but also to pay for things that I feel really add enjoyment to my life, rather than just distracting me for a few hours or days — and steadily subtracting dollars from my bank account.

What Are Your Rules?

Over time, I've learned to save money as diligently as I pay my bills. I also try to spend what's left as mindfully as I can. I can't say I always succeed, that I never overspend or that I'm not often tempted to break my rules.

Nevertheless, I'm sticking to the strategy that has kept me out of debt, and helped me save enough to meet some key financial goals — and still have some fun. I know of other people who've done even better by employing these rules much more stringently than I do. As for me, I'll keep saving up for my next big purchase by keeping all the little ones in check.

p/s: Houston we got a problem, my bank account is running low due to unnecessary spending... Start working and risk having low concentration in CLP classes?.. Maybe I will just do part-time. =) Problem solved.

Of Rock, Pebbles and Sand Philosophy.

A philosophy professor stood before the class one day, when the class began, wordlessly the lecturer took out an empty jar and proceeded to fill up the jar with 2" in diameter rocks into it. He then asked the students, if the jar was full.

They agreed that it was.

Then the professor picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He then shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course rolled into the open areas between the rocks. He then asked the student again if the jar was full.

They agreed it was.

The professor then picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, as you have guessed it, the sand filled up everything else.

"Now" said the professor. "I want you to realize that this is your life. The rocks are the important things- God, your passion, your family, your health, your true friends - things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

Whereas the pebbles are the other things in life that matter but on a smaller scale. The pebbles represent your job, work and home. Lastly the sand is everything else. The small stuff and the material possession; jewellery, your car, your investments.

The same can be applied to your lives. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are truly important. Pay attention to the things in life that are critical to your happiness and well-being; for instance put more attention to your family, play with your children, get a medical check-up, exercise.; take care of the rock first- the thing that really matters. Set your priorities right and the rest is just sand.

On top of this,

Upon explaining the items mentioned, the professor took out a bottle of beer and pour it into the jar and of course the beer filled the remaining space within the jar making the jar truly full. On a lighter note, there is always a room for beer no matter how full your life is.

Criminal Lawyers: Unscrupulous or Champion of Justice?

There is a common negative perception of criminal defence lawyers. This perception stems from the simple fact that defence lawyers often work for some of the most evil and horrid people imaginable. How, one is inclined to ask, can anyone with some moral scruples justify this?

To understand what would motivate a man of morals to defend the lowest scum of society, it is important to be aware of one basic presumption — the presumption that all accused are innocent until proven guilty.

After all, many a case has ended in the acquittal of a suspect who everyone had thought was guilty, until some new evidence came to light. On more than one occasion, years after a trial, DNA evidence has overturned the conviction.

Clearly, then, it is more than money that could motivate a lawyer to defend the accused criminal. After all, it is in the interest of justice that there is a fair trial — justice must not only be done, but be seen to be done, in the words of one famous English jurist.

Beyond that, it is important to note the complexity of the law. I am not a student of criminal law, although when studying the English legal system, I was particularly fond of answering questions on the English Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. Nevertheless, the civil law is incredibly complicated, with an immense maze of rules and nuanced precedents that can take years to even partially unravel.

The same applies for criminal law. Any advanced society needs to be able to handle a wide variety of situations and circumstances. In the days of cavemen, doling out justice would have been simplicity itself — and yet, even then, I am sure that on more than one occasion, complex cases with grey areas would arise.

In a modern society, we are forced to confront cases, both criminal and civil, that can be mindboggling in their complexity. A decision that would be suitable for one circumstance may not do justice in another circumstance. To address this problem, judges distinguish and create new precedents.

This growing array of laws presents a problem for the layman, and that is where lawyers come in. Defence lawyers exist to preserve justice through a simple economic concept — competition.

If the prosecution did not have to argue with a fellow lawyer, but contend instead with the layman (be he guilty or not), it would have a field day. The constant walkovers would make the prosecution complacent, and before long, they would be doing a shoddy job of handling trials.

Judges too would tire of constantly facing the same walkovers, and after a while become conditioned to be naturally predisposed against the accused, or just as bad, begin to take trials less seriously than they ought to be. It is quite likely that if criminal lawyers only defended clients that they truly believed to be innocent, travesties of justice would begin to be committed in much larger numbers than they are at the present.

The purpose of defence lawyers was summed up beautifully by one counsel, famous for his practice of defending some of the most malevolent men to be tried in a court of law. This man said that the purpose of a lawyer is not to act as an independent agent defending the accused, but to act as a legal mouthpiece — to say what the accused would have said, had he legal training.

It is of course true that many lawyers are unscrupulous people. Certainly, some have less than fine motives for defending their clients. But it is impossible to deny that they serve a purpose in our society, and that this purpose has been, to date, much underrated.

Source: http://www.infernalramblings.com/articles/Law/155/

Egoism

There is a saying:
"Success is never so sweet as when it accompanied by the failure of a friend."

Horrible saying but deep in its roots there is a bitter truth. We as a human like that. It gave us joy and feel superior over our best friends in their worst time. This is a quality we all share. After millennia of evolution, human learned to set some rules in his life and divide his actions in to good and evil. But somewhere along the way we forgot who we are. We forgot we are a being derived with selfishness. We are alive because of that egoism in our life. We very well try to hide it bit we all know it’s in there. Deep down we haven’t yet evolved. We just change our skins.

It is my belief that in order for human to evolve, they ought to embrace their selfishness. Only by embracing it that we can truly understand ourselves and in that process we get to next level. The higher path.

-Boston Legal, Season 3 Episode 24-

Wedding Dress

Never should've let you go
Never found myself at home
Ever since that day that you walked
Right out the door

You were like my beating heart
That I, I can't control
Even though weve grown apart
My brain cant seem to let you go

Thinking back to the old times
When you kept me up late at night
We use to mess around
Laugh and play, fuss and fight

I guess its too late, Im dancing this dance alone
This chapters done, the story goes on

Baby
Can't believe that you are not with me
'Cause you should be my lady
All I want is to set your heart free

But if you believe that you belong with him
Promise me, you wont let anyone hurt you
Remember, I will always be here for you
Even if it kills me to see you

In that wedding dress, dress
Oh see you in that wedding dress, dress
See you in that wedding dress, dress
Oh see you in that wedding dress, oh no

Snappin out this misery
Depression this aint me
But I always turn around
180 degrees

You got control of me
And I, I cant explain
Somebody call 911 Emergency
Before I go insane

Since youve moved on
You took a piece of me give it back
So much pain in my chest
Blacking out, heart attack

I guess its too late, Im dancing this dance alone
It's too late

Baby
Can't believe that you are my big me
'Cause you should be my lady
All I want is to set your heart free

But if you believe that you belong with him
Promise me, you wont let anyone hurt you
Remember, I will always be here for you
Even if it kills me to see you

In that wedding dress, dress
Oh see you in that wedding dress, dress
See you in that wedding dress, dress
Oh see you in that wedding dress, oh no

And I see you with your man
and it's hard to understand
If we belong, if I did you wrong,
where we even began
We would always fuss and fight
and it seems nothing was right
But I loved you girl and you were
my world but you'd never trust this guy
'Cause the things I do when
I'm on the stage,
they say I'm a superstar
You couldn't understand all
the female fans
and then we grew apart
And I just don't get when
you're acting like some other person
But I try my best to hold on
at the times when it ain't working
And everytime that you say
it's over it breaks my heart
and I don't know why
'Cause you've done it a lot
of times in the past
but I get back up and try
You said we could work it out,
how could you hurt me now
And you moved on to the next,
I'm left with an imperfect smile


But if you believe that you belong with him
Promise me, you wont let anyone hurt you
Remember, I will always be here for you
Even if it kills me to see you

In that wedding dress, dress
Oh see you in that wedding dress, dress
See you in that wedding dress, dress
Oh see you in that wedding dress, oh no

A Note Not Reach.

By the time you found this little present I have prepared for you,

It would probably be weeks after Christmas but just to clear things with you,

I really miss you when you're not around and there's something I gotta say,

The things we did, the things we said kept coming back and put a smile on me during your absence. In the world where sincerity has lost its meaning, you filled my world with so much hope. You showed me how to face the truth. I think it was you who brought back my single piece of confidence I have lost and you taught me how to love again.

Everything that is good in me I owe to you. If it is not because of you, I would not have learnt love but because of you, what I learnt from you. Every choice I made was different. I learnt that if you do that you'll be living your life to the fullest; it does not matter if it's 50 years, or 5 minutes. Thank you for being the person you taught me to love and to be loved.

I loved you since I met you and I have not allowed myself to truly feel it until today.

In my heart is where you are, that I can assure you. It grew fonder when you are not around.

Merry Christmas and Happy 2011.. May this year bring us joy and cheers, It has been a special 2010 as Cupid and Santa work hand in hand to prepare me such a special gift You'll always be that special someone in my heart: always close, everyday and every step along the way.

I hope you'd like this little gift I prepared for you =)

I love you Chubi.. *huggiez + smoochiez*

Love,

Ethan W.H Tan

Sign she is not The One

The bad times outnumber the good
You should feel secure and content in your relationship at least eighty percent of the time. If you can’t remember the last time you actually had fun together without arguing or things getting fraught it could be time to pack your bags.

They constantly put you down
A bit of friendly teasing is cute, but if your other half seems to get their kicks from making you the butt of all their jokes or belittling you in public, alarm bells should definitely be ringing. Putting someone down – especially in front of others - is a power game that you should play no part in.

They refuse to talk things through
All relationships hit rocky patches, but if your partner deals with things by shutting down and giving you the ultimate passive-aggressive silent treatment you’re never going to be able to work through your issues together. It’s time to move on.

Little things get on your nerves
Okay, so it’s annoying when he/she leaves the cap off the toothpaste or forgets to put the milk back in the fridge, but those aren’t deal breakers. It’s when you start to feel irrationally annoyed by silly little things like his hairy toes or her singing in the shower that you know they’re not the one for you.

They take you for granted
Familiarity is a wonderful thing, but not when it’s at the expense of good manners. It’s part of your partner’s job spec to make you feel appreciated and loved. If they’re not upholding their side of the bargain, they don’t deserve to have you.

You disagree about the future
If you’re in continual disagreement about major life choices that lie ahead such as whether or not to start a family together, you need to think carefully about your next move. Hanging around hoping to change their mind is a risky gamble.

They forget important stuff
No matter how busy or stressed your other half is, there’s no excuse for forgetting important things like your birthday, anniversary…or name! It’s a forewarning of further neglect to come.

You can’t stand their friends
The company a person keeps says a lot about them. Feeling uncomfortable or unwelcome around the people he or she holds dear is an early indicator of friction and tension in years to come.

There’s no spark
Cast your mind back to when you first started dating. Were you excited every time you heard from them? And are you now? Those in lasting relationships still get a rush when their lover sends them a text or gives them a call. If you no longer do, we seriously doubt they’re the one.

They don’t like your family
If they love you, they need to be accepting of those you hold dear too. If they make snide remarks about your family or behave rudely towards them, it doesn’t bode well for your future happiness together.

A wise man once sat in the audience & cracked a joke.
All laughed like crazy. After a moment he cracked the same joke again and a little less people laughed this time.
He cracked the same joke again & again, When there was no laughter in the crowd,
he smiled and said

"When u can't laugh on the same joke again & again, then why do u keep crying over the same thing over and over again"

Lesson : Forget the past and move on…

You Had Me At Hello by A Day To Remember

I'm missing you so much, I'll see you die tonight
Just so I can get to you before the sun will rise
I know the signs are on and I feel this too
None of that ever seems to matter when I'm holding you

And I'm wasting away, away from you
And I'm wasting away, away from you

What have I gotten into this time around
I know that I had sworn I'd never trust
anyone again but I didn't have to

You had me at hello.

I've never seen a smile that can light the room like yours
It's simply radiant, I feel more with everyday that goes by
I watch the clock to make my timing just right

Would it be okay?
Would it be okay if I took your breath away?

And I'm wasting away, away from you.
And I'm wasting away, away from you.

What have I gotten into this time around
I know that I had sworn I'd never trust
anyone again but I didn't have to
You had me at hello

You gave me butterflies at the mailbox (you had me at hello)
You gave me butterflies at the mailbox (you had me at hello)
You gave me butterflies at the mailbox (you had me at hello)
You gave me butterflies at the mailbox (you had me at hello)

You gave me butterflies (you are so cute)
at the mailbox (you had me at hello)
[x4]

What have I gotten into this time around
I know that I had sworn I'd never trust
anyone again but I didn't have to
You had me at hello
You had me at hello
You had me at hello

As fickle as love is, you pulled me through. You gave me a new perspective in life.. Life is such an irony, it will make an unexpected turn so just appreciate whatever you have. A brand new year, a brand new Ethan.

I will survive LIFE.

Sharpen Your Axe

“Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have laboured hard for.” - Socrates

A few years ago, while at Lawas in Sarawak, I was told this story of a very strong and skilled Kayan woodcutter who asked for a job with a timber merchant.

He got the job with a good salary and decent work conditions. And so, the woodcutter was determined to do his best for the boss. His boss gave him an axe and on his first day, the woodcutter cut down 15 trees. The boss was pleased and said: “Well done, good work!”

Highly motivated, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but could only fell 13 trees. The third day, he tried even harder, but only 11 trees were chopped down.

Day after day, he tried harder but he cut down fewer trees. “I must be losing my strength,” the Kayan woodcutter thought. He apologised to the boss, claiming he could not understand why.

Great leaders like Steve Jobs, Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela have a continuous appetite for learning and growth.

“When was the last time you sharpened your axe?” the boss asked. “Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been too busy cutting down trees,” said the woodcutter.

He sharpened his axe and immediately was back to 15 trees a day. Since then, he begins the day by sharpening his axe.

Most leaders are too busy doing and trying to achieve, that they never take time to learn and grow. Most of us don't have the time or patience to update skills, knowledge, and beliefs about an industry, or to take time to think and reflect. Many assume that learning ends at school and so sharpening our axe is not a priority.

So, what exactly is sharpening the axe? Dr Steven Covey, who popularised the term, believes it means “increasing your personal production capacity by daily self care and self-maintenance.”

Most people fail to understand what it means and mistake it for taking a break or vacation. If you're overworking yourself and your productivity drops off, take a break.

However, that isn't sharpening the axe; that's putting the axe down. When you put down a dull blade and rest, the blade will still be dull when you pick it up.

The woodcutter does need downtime to rest, but it is not “sharpening the axe.” The woodcutter only becomes more productive by sharpening his blade, analysing new woodcutting techniques, exercising to become stronger, and learning from other woodcutters.

Sharpening the axe is an activity. You too can sharpen the axe of your life. Here are 10 ways:

● Read a book every day;

● Get out of your comfort zone by changing jobs. A new job forces you to learn;

● Have a deep conversation with someone you find interesting. Sharpen your axe through that interaction;

● Pick up a new hobby. Stretch yourself physically, mentally or emotionally;

● Study something new;

● Overcome a specific fear you have or quit a bad habit;

● Have a daily exercise routine or take part in some competition;

● Identify your blind spots. Understand, acknowledge, and address it;

● Ask for feedback and get a mentor; and

● Learn from people who inspire you. Subscribe to YouTube/leaderonomicsmedia and watch interviews of great leaders.

You have to do it as often as possible. But if you're so focused on your task at hand with no time for discussion, introspection, or study, you're not really moving forward. Just as a car needs to be refuelled to keep going, we too need refuelling through learning.

The Management Mythbuster author David Axson believes most organisations still rely on outdated management strategies. Unless we are sharpening our axe daily by observing the changing world and changing ourselves accordingly, we risk becoming irrelevant.

Andrew Grove reinvented Intel and oversaw a 4,500 times increase in market capitalisation by his daily habitual “axe-sharpening” ritual of understanding global changes and taking advantage of these to ensure Intel remained relevant.

Employees at Japanese organisations like Toyota believe it's a crisis if they do not create improvement each day. The “Kaizen mindset” means that every day, whether you're a line worker or executive, you find ways to learn something new and apply it to what you're doing. This forces employees to be alert, mindful and constantly improving.

Great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Steve Jobs have a continuous appetite for learning and growth. They always listen and watch in the hope of learning new ideas and discovering new truths and realities.

Many of us do just the opposite. By staying in the same job for many years, although we become experts and our roles become easy, our learning flattens.

We don't like changing jobs as there is pain and struggle in taking on new roles. But the more we struggle, the more we learn.

When a new boss with new expectations takes over, we sometimes find ourselves struggling even though we have been in the same role for years. We try harder but still fail to impress. Why does this happen?

Much like the woodcutter, trying harder will not yield results. This is because we did not upgrade ourselves nor grow in the “easy” years. Our years of experience count for nothing as we did not keep up with the world around us and were ignorant and mindless of things that were evolving daily around us.

Two weeks ago, I interviewed Harvard Prof Ellen Langer, who reminded me of our natural inclination to be mindless. Mindlessness is our human tendency to operate on autopilot, whether by stereotyping, performing mechanically or simply not paying attention.

We are all victims of being mindless at times. By sharpening our axe, we move from a mindless state to a mindful state; from “blindly going with the flow” to thinking and “breaking boundaries.”

Why then do so many people fail to sharpen their axe? Well, axe sharpening isn't as fun as whacking away at the tree. And it is painful and tedious work.

Religious leader David O. McKay once said: “The greatest battles of life are fought out daily in the silent chambers of the soul.”

Sharpening the axe is a daily inner battle. Research reveals that self-educated presidents like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln sharpened their axe daily by cultivating the discipline of reading.

In a number of Asian organisations, when there is a crisis or financial situation, the first thing that gets slashed is training programmes for employees. Yet, in a crisis, there is a greater need for employees to have sharpened axes to deal with issues.

Crises often helps companies to become great because they finally take time to sharpen their axe by re-looking at their current strategies and reinventing their industries, sometimes through painful reforms.

Before the 1998 Asian financial crisis, the Korean auto industry were jaguh kampung and known for low-quality cars with strong domestic car sales.

The crisis forced them to take a step back, sharpen their axe, become mindful to the world and move to sell the majority of their cars outside South Korea.

Of course, too much or aimless axe sharpening can become another form of procrastination. Many like to attend training courses and classes but end up never using the axe. After sharpening the axe, use it or all is in vain.

How are your various blades doing? Your skills, your knowledge, your mind, your physical body, your relationships, your motivation, your commitment to succeed, your capacity for growth, your emotions - are all of them still sharp? If not, which ones are dull, and what can you do to sharpen them?

Lincoln once said: “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I'll spend the first four sharpening my axe.” What are you doing to sharpen your axe? Take a step back this weekend and start sharpening your axe.

"Gambling refers to the betting of money on an event with an uncertain outcome, with intent of winning additional money. The decision to gamble a certain amount of money is based on three parameters namely; how much to bet, the predictability of the event and the conditions agreed upon between the gamblers. The skill of a gambler lies in performing the calculation between the three parameters and making a decision about what amount should be put on stake and how much to expect in return."

The effects:
1) Lead the gamblers towards crime. The addiction gets on to them to such an extent that they fail in thinking wisely before acting due to which they might land up in worse situations. They may take wrong decisions in life. People who fall prey to gambling tend to drift away from their families and waste money on other bad practices. The treatment of such addicts again needs money. There is a lot of expenditure on curing the addicted gamblers of society.

2) When gamblers indulge into excessive gambling activities, they tend to spend time and money at the expense of their jobs and time with family and friends. They tend to stay away from their near ones, resulting in distrust between them and their loved ones. Gambling at the cost of one's job results in a decline in the quality of one's professional life. Addiction to gambling is sure to hamper one's career.

Why people indulge in gambling though they know the fact that they are splurging their money and valuables?
People are seen taking to gambling as a way to run away for their problems, stress, anger and loneliness. Gamblers often exhibit mood swings and a strangely secretive behavior. They run behind gambling without the thought that gambling is actually inviting more problems in their life. Their unquenchable thirst of profits makes them continue wanting more. They start borrowing money and taking secret loans to bet money. In spite of the losses they face, they continue betting. Their addiction to gambling can leave them in bankruptcy.

It is in my believe that money could only be earned with a whole load of efforts, commitment and hardwork. It was instill in me perhaps by my parents that money do not come easily, and only through hardship that the money you earned would be appreciated by you, yourself. If someone came to tell you that gambling required a whole lot of effort and commitment and hardwork, what say you? you know with the analysis you made based on your mathematical knowledge, your physic knowledge and the 'experience' altogether.

Lets take an example of the process of making a pot, claypot or "tembikar"(Malay language). In the process of making that particular pot, it(the pot) has endured a tremendous amount of heat so that it could become harden and beautifully carved. What I'm trying to imply here is that in order for a human being to learn, this sort of problems or hardships he/she endured is simply natural or basic and simply inescapable. This leads me to be reminded of this phrase quoted by the grandfather in that movie "the ultimate gift" where he said that a person will only begin to live until they lost everything, it is like the perfect way to start and that he refered that as the 'gift' of problems. It is never too late to be incurred by problems no matter how old a person is and that is a mere fact of life where problems will smack us down on our face and how we solve will be up to us, we can sit down and whine about the problems or we can take steps to get over it. It is up to you but who knows behind those problems lies this "reward" for your perseverance. You just have to accept the challenges so you may feel the exhilaration of victory.

Maybe it is God's will to make things so hard for many of us.....

Maybe this is a part of our learning process, every process gets tougher before it gets easier, this makes learning a gift even if pain is our teacher.......

Maybe it is a series of gift that would lead us to the 'ultimate gift' who knows......

Sometimes a friend has gotta to be cruel to be kind....
And one gotta agree with this statement that a person would not be rich without friendship and I treasure friendship. Good Night

Toxic Friends

The term above may sound a little to unfamiliar to a lot of people but for me that would be how I would refer to a minority friends of mine who hangs out with me quite often. These are the people who possessed negative influence towards a person's life whether it is you or another friend of yours who happen to be in that circle of people. In general, most guys will not seek the company of this sort of people but when they initiate a meet up, you tend to meet up as to accomodate. It is easy to say but hard to do as in getting rid of them completely from your life.

First and foremost, I find that this people has the capability to shape your attitude especially if you spend a lot of time with them. Think about it, your opinions towards the environment, social life and basically everything in life. In other words the way you invest your time in people would shape the man you become, that is why it is important for a person expand his horizon by travelling to new places and see new things. For example, if you spend time listening to people constantly complaining about his job, his screwed up love life, his fucked up family and all. Initially this will rub off on you and one question do they leave you having so charged up of your life and that you are now having the view towards your objective in life.. Hell NO right? logic explains it all. They will juice up that negative energy and eventually they will have that vibe instill in you and teaches you to look at life as a victim of it. That is just bad attitude I would say.

Next, this type of company would derail you from your goal you have planned. Ever had this experience when you planned to read this book, clean your home, save the cat, wash the car, spend more time with your loved ones, expand your business, contribute constructive opinions towards saving the middle eastern etc.. Then that phone of yours ring telling you to go out to hang out some place immediately. The next thing you know, you are waking up early in the morning tired after that console you gave to him and the worst part is all that activities you planned to do on that night are delayed obviously. What I'm trying to explain here is that you gotta take up that courage to actually say NO to certain activities that might ruined your plan or agenda for the day. Logically if people constantly pull you away from your plan, consequently this will make you unbalanced in certain ways if you are not achieving your personal goal. Lets say taking the pass for the night causes them to tease you or make fun of your other goals instead of supporting them, what is the point actually of going out with them? Good friends would want you to succeed though they may be busting your balls left and right with those silly things you did last time as long the intention is good. You simply gotta use that inner self of yours to feel that intention out, it is no technique to it. Toxic friends on the other hand are afraid of seeing you succeed because they are not succeeding in theirs. If your friends aren't respectful of your dreams and ambitions, they won't respect the time you devote to those pursuits, and they'll try and get you to come to do shitz or listen to them whine.

There is a saying that you would earn a quite similar amount of salary with that group of friends you are spending time with. So, what is the advice her, hang out with people with rich people. Not all perhaps. Success in business is related to drive, hard work, persistence, and a hundred other qualities. High earners bring value to their companies and are rewarded for it. Their outer reality reflects their inner reality. Thus, hang out around people who give value to their companies. They're much more likely to give value to their friends as well. It is just my mere opinion but it is all up to you on how you evaluate a person. Some rich brats who inherited their father's business could not be ALL screwed up.. =/ Something to ponder about huh.. Well I talked to quite a number of them, some maybe arrogant and boastful so just ignore those bastards I would say. They are of no benefit.

OK lets say if those mentioned above have not influenced you in a slightest way, how about this, by accepting the company of toxic people you are not only hurting yourself but you are also hurting them. Ouch it may sound, but it is true ; by being available to hang out and hear all of your friends’ problems, you are allowing them to continue in their negativity. If they have a sympathetic ear and a cold beer on hand to deal with their sorrow, they're going to continue using negativity as a path through life. Problems are meant to challenge us, to make us grow by rising to the occasion. It's not always easy, but the true path around a problem is through it: stepping up, manning up and solving what needs to be solved. By always being sympathetic when your friends complain, you're allowing them to be beat by the problems in their lives. It's a cruel world out there which only the strongest survive; battle of the foetus.

If anyone who happened to flip through this page, perhaps you should start sorting out your friends. The toxic and non-toxic friends. Nevertheless, do not get confused with my point here. Everyone has ups and down, or bad times of the year, or their life. That is the time where your true friend will need a shoulder to cry on, somebody to listen or even some real help. None of that makes your friend a negative person. You are wise enough to distinguish the person who is having a bad day, bad month or bad year versus those who chose the path to be in dump and do not take the initiative to make a change to themselves. Friendship is one of the very best parts of life. And don't tolerate the people who use you as a crutch -- you'll end up smelling like an armpit.

Doctrine of Separation Of Power

The doctrine of separation of powers has a mixed record, and a richness and a complexity that defies easy description.

THE doctrine of separation of powers has been in the news repeatedly in the last few months.

Perak: In the Perak constitutional crisis it was alleged by opposition sympathisers that judicial review of the actions of the then Perak Speaker was a trespass by our judiciary into the privileges of the Perak Assembly.

The adverse judicial verdicts against the Perak Speaker were alleged to be a violation of Article 72 of the Federal Constitution which states that “the validity of any proceedings in the Legislative Assembly of any State shall not be questioned in any court”.

Case law from Malaysia, the UK, India and Australia does not present a consistent and coherent picture of how immune Assembly proceedings are from judicial scrutiny.

Generally, courts refuse to examine matters that are purely internal to an Assembly proceeding.

However, if constitutional issues are raised or personal liberty is deprived or there is gross abuse of democratic norms by Mr Speaker or by the House, courts have not abdicated their duty to interpret the Constitution.

In many cases in India, habeas corpus has been issued to order release of people wrongfully detained on the orders of the House.

Lower courts: About 10 days ago in the Dewan Rakyat, MP Nurul Izzah Anwar asked why magistrates and sessions courts came under the jurisdiction of the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz cleverly replied that they were actually placed under the Federal Court Chief Registrar’s office.

He adroitly avoided, and evaded, the central issue that in Malaysia lower court judges can be part of the AG’s Chambers one day and be transferred to the hallowed halls of the judiciary the next morning.

Federal Court rejection of doctrine: MP Karpal Singh wanted a government response to the Federal Court ruling in PP v Kok Wah Kuan (2008) that “the doctrine (of separation of powers) is not a provision of the Malaysian Constitution even though it influenced the framers of the Malaysian Constitution”.

Nazri affirmed that the doctrine of separation of powers that divides the institutions of government into three branches is effective in the country. He also said that separation of powers ensured that cases before the court were not intervened by any quarter.

Judge as executioner: The Chief Justice and the Bar Council President have questioned the plans of a Sessions Court judge to execute the punishment of caning he had earlier imposed on a young offender.

Indeed, the order of the Sessions Court President trespasses into the function of the executive and converts the judge into an adjudicator as well as an executioner.

All of the above four examples indicate different views of the doctrine of separation of powers.

Indeed this fundamental constitutional ideal has a richness and a complexity that defies easy description. There is no one concept; there are many conceptions.

In France, the doctrine is applied very differently from Malaysia. As part of a strict separation among the organs of the state, the judiciary is not allowed to interfere with the executive and legislative branches.

Disputes between the citizens and the state go to special administrative courts that apply a special body of administrative law. Any questions about the constitutionality of legislation are determined by a special committee of the French Parliament.

In the US, India and Malaysia, on the other hand, the effectiveness of judicial review of executive and legislative actions is the litmus test of the working of separation of powers.

Executive-legislative relationships: In the US, the President and his Cabinet are not, and cannot be, members of their legislature (the Congress). The President and his Cabinet are not answerable to Congress and cannot be dismissed on a vote of no confidence.

In Malaysia, the UK and India, on the other hand, the motive force of the Constitution is a conjunction between the “parliamentary executive” and Parliament.

The PM and his Cabinet are integral parts of the legislature; they are answerable, accountable and responsible to the lower House and can be voted out on a vote of no confidence.

If one were to examine the relationship between the executive and the legislature in Malaysia, there is neither separation nor a check and balance. The executive dominates Parliament politically and has also captured the legislative process.

Parliament legitimates; it does not legislate.

As in France, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong has an important and independent law making power of his own under Article 150 of the Constitution.

In addition, the executive makes a great deal of subsidiary legislation which in amount exceeds parliamentary legislation by about 15 times.

Clearly, the centre of gravity of the legislative process lies in Putrajaya not in Parliament.

Executive-judiciary relationship: In the relationship between the judiciary and the executive, the Constitution sought to ensure that the higher echelons of the judiciary are separate from, and independent of, the executive.

The Constitution provides for the existence of the superior courts, the judicial hierarchy, the jurisdiction and composition of the courts, constitutional procedures for appointment of superior court judges, protection for security of tenure, favourable terms of service, insulation from politics, judicial power to punish for contempt and judicial immunities.

The principle of constitutionality and the administrative law principles ofultra vires and principles of natural justice enable the courts, if they are minded to, to ensure that no matter how high and mighty the functionary of the state may be, the law is always above him.

The gilt-edged provisions of the law on judicial independence have, sadly, not worked well because of poor appointments, lack of integrity at the top at various periods in the past, factionalism within the judiciary and a general unwillingness on the part of many judges to uphold the check and balance provisions of the Constitution.

There are other problems as well. Many executive actions like preventive detention are expressed by the law to be non-reviewable in the courts. Most judges interpret these provisions literally even though legal luminaries around the world have suggested many ways to denude “ouster clauses” of their effect.

The 1988 amendment to Article 121(1) does indeed weaken the inherent powers of the courts to prevent transgressions of the law. The position of Subordinate Court judges as part of the Judicial and Legal Service is quite unsatisfactory.

The absolute powers of the Attorney-General over prosecutions, his right to pick and choose which law to apply, and his power to transfer cases laterally or horizontally have hitherto remained impervious to judicial review.

All in all, the doctrine of separation of powers has a mixed record. One’s view of its working depends partly on how one views its salient features.

This is simply like 'Vios' had been brutally murdered by some serial murderer.. Flesh and skin tissues are being slash out and the internal organs have been stabbed vertically and horizontally. Damn.. What's next?? bring it on!!!!!!!! I have survived your first obstacle, you have more???.

These Days- Bon Jovi

I was walking around, just a face in the crowd
Trying to keep myself out of the rain
Saw a vagabond king wear a Styrofoam crown
Wondered if I might end up the same
There's a man out on the corner
Singing old songs about change
Everybody's got their cross to bare, these days



She came looking for some shelter with a suitcase full of dreams
To a motel room on the boulevard
I guess she's trying to be James Dean
She's seen all the disciples and all the wanna be's
No one wants to be themselves these days
Still there's nothing to hold on to but these days



These days the stars seem out of reach
These days there ain't a ladder on the streets
Oh no, no, no
These days are fast, nothing lasts in this graceless age
There ain't nobody left but us these days



Jimmy shoes busted both his legs, trying to learn to fly
From a second story window, he just jumped and closed his eyes
His momma said he was crazy, he said "Momma, I've got to try
Don't you know that all my heroes died
And I guess, I'd rather die than fa-fa-fade away, yeah"



These days the stars seem out of reach, yeah
But these days there ain't a ladder on the streets
Oh no, no, no
These days are fast, love don't lasts in this graceless age
Even innocence has caught the midnight train
And there ain't nobody left but us these days



I know Rome's still burning
Though the times have changed
This world kept turning round and round and round and round
These days

These days the stars seem out of reach, yeah
But these days there ain't a ladder on these streets
Oh no, no, no


These days are fast, love don't lasts in this graceless age
Even innocence has caught the midnight train
And there ain't nobody left but us these days

These days the stars seem out of reach, yeah
These days there ain't a ladder on these streets
Oh no, no, no


These days are fast, nothing lasts
There ain't no time to waste
There ain't nobody left to take the blame
Oh no, no, no
Oh no, no, no, these days
There ain't nobody left but us these days




It is simply amazing how so many things could happen in a year from the starting day of the year itself from a small occurence such as chair breaking till a wreackage of an entire car with the driver and passengers coming ot of the car with simply a few scratches on their arm and chin. This must be divine intervention to cushion the impact. In addition to that, the seat belt was malfunction. =)

You tell me now, 2 passengers and a car managed to move a 3 ton lorry and the lorry hit the taxi at its front. Incredible huh? consider the momentum caused from that impact... =) Miraculous....

As night fall, the virtues of one self has lost its direction; confused.. Fear, Love, Pain, and the whole crazy things fooling around with the rationale of one's head. That voice messing around in head is not a pleasing experience at all.

All the boy was requesting is the reason why everything is happening in such a consistent rate, one after another till he has no grip over any situation, unablility to take control over matters in life is frustrating and left his confidence bruised and his decision making ability to flaw big time. The positive self has wrecked along with the car. He is feeling sick of everything that is happening and starting to have doubt over his religion till a point he has the presumption that religion is something created in order to constraint society, to keep society from being over 'rebellious'.

Perhaps there are no such thing as God's grace or divine intervention, "where is the love under the sky?" he asked while lying down on his bed listening to the rain drops hitting the roof.

Sick ass Jokes

Q: What is the closest thing similar to a woman's period?
A: Your salary, it comes once a month lasts about 5-7 days and if it doesn't come means you are in big trouble.

Q: What three things are common between the sun and woman's underwear?
A: Both are hot, both look better while going down and both disappear at night.

Q: Why do men ask for a woman's hand in marriage?
A: Because they are tired of using their own.

Q: What's common between men and video?
A: Both go backward... forward... backward... forward... backward.... forward... stop and eject.

Q: What goes in dry, comes out wet, and gives warm satisfaction?
A: A teabag. (if you're thinking of something else then you have a dirty mind)

Q: What is the similarity between men and rats?
A: Both keep searching for new HOLES.

Q: What's the difference between biology and sociology?
A: When the baby looks like his dad, then it is biology. When the baby looks like the neighbour, then it is sociology.

Doctor: You look so weak and exhausted. Are you having 3 meals a day as I have advised?
Lady: Doctor, I thought you said 3 males a day.

Q: Girl friend & boy friend go for a movie. In the dark, a mosquito enters the girl's skirt. Guess where it would have bitten?
A: The boy's hand.

Q: Tarzan and the animals went to the river to take a bath. Tarzan removed his clothes. All the animals laughed. Tarzan asked 'Why'?
A: The animals told him...........'Your tail is in the front'.

The Best Chain Letter

(Note: An e-mail from a friend.)

****Hello, my name is Billy and I suffer from guilt for not forwarding 50 billion fucking chain letters sent to me by people who actually believe, if you send them on, a poor six-year-old girl in Scotland with a breast on her forehead will be able to raise enough money to have it removed before her red neck parents sell her to a travelling freak show.

And, do you honestly believe that Bill Gates is going to give $1000 to you, and everyone to whom you send 'his' email?

How stupid are we?

Ooooh, looky here! If I scroll down this page and make a wish, I'll get laid by a super model I just happen to run into the next day!

What a bunch of utter bullshit.

Maybe the evil chain letter leprechauns will come into my house and sodomise me in my sleep for not continuing a chain letter that wasstarted by St Peter in 5AD and brought to this country by midget pilgrim stowaways on the Endeavour.

Fuck 'em!!

If you're going to forward something, at least send me something mildly amusing.

I've seen all the 'send this to 10 of your closest friends, and this poor, wretched excuse for a human being will somehow receive a nickel from some omniscient being' forwards about 90 times. I don't fucking care.

Show a little intelligence and think about what you're actually contributing to by sending out these forwards. Chances are, it's our own unpopularity.

The point being?

If you get some chain letter that's threatening to leave you shaglessor luckless for the rest of your life, delete it.

If it's funny, send it on.

Don't piss people off by making them feel guilty about a leper in Botswana with no teeth who has been tied to the arse of a dead elephant for 27 years and whose only salvation is the 5 cents per letter he'll receive if you forward this email.

Now forward this to everyone you know. Otherwise, tomorrow morning your underwear will turn carnivorous and will consume your genitals.

Have a nice day.

Billy Connolly

PS:Send me 15 bucks and then fuck off.

A Pencil Is Mightier Than A Sword

A boy was watching his grandmother writing a letter. At one point, he asked, “Are you writing a story about what we’ve done? Is it a story about me?”His grandmother stopped writing the letter and said to her grandson:“I am writing about you, actually, but more important than the words is the pencil i’m using. I hope you will be like this pencil when you grow up”. Intrigued, the boy looked at the pencil. It didn’t seem very special. “But it’s just like any other pencil I’ve ever seen!”

“That depends on how you look at things. It has five qualities, which, if you manage to hang on to them, will make you a person who is always at peace with the world.

First quality: you are capable of great things, but you must never forget that there is a hand guiding your steps. We call that hand of God, and He always guides us according to his will.

Second quality: now and then, I have to stop writing and use a sharpener. That makes the pencil suffer a little, but afterwards, he is much sharper. So you, too, must learn to bear certain pains and sorrows, because they will make you a better person.

Third quality: the pencil always allows us to use an eraser to rub out any mistakes. This means that correcting something we did is not necessarily a bad thing; it helps to keep us on the road to justice.

Forth quality: what really matters in a pencil is not its wooden exterior, but the graphite inside. So always pay attention to what is happening inside you.

Finally, the pencil’s fifth quality: it always leaves a mark. In just the same way, you should know that everything you do in life will leave a mark, so try to be conscious of that in your every action”.

This beautiful loneliness is tragical
so help me if I can't win this war.
Touch me and not bother if every seconds it makes me weaker,
You can save me from the man I have become..

They say that behind every great man, there is a great woman but i think that is a lie because when it comes to you, I would rather have you by my side. You don't know how much I count on you to help me. When I have given in everything I have got and feel like giving in and you'll look at me and give me that come-here baby smile and tell me everything is gonna be alright. Then you'll take my hand and yeah~ you'd pull me close and hold me tight. Well I'll just lean because I trully believe that you're my better half.

Momma always say in order to strive forward, you gotta let go of the past, then that is the time when you will be ahead of things. Momma was right in some way I presume, it is like a riddle waiting to be solved, filled with secrets that we still have to find, so mysterious right from the beginning of time that we are not wise enough to see. Perhaps there is a reason for you and I. And you're the answer of that riddle.

note: no intention to defame you here, but your pouty lookin lips looks like "burung belatuk"

I was thinking how nothing lasts, and what a shame that is. Along the way you bump into people who make a dent on your life.

Some people get struck by lightning. Some are born to sit by a river. Some have an ear for music. Some are artists. Some swim the English Channel. Some know buttons. Some know Shakespeare. Some are mothers. And some people can dance.

Your life is defined by its opportunities... even the ones you miss.

It's a funny thing about comin' home. Looks the same, smells the same, feels the same. You'll realize what's changed is you.

Benjamin, we're meant to lose the people we love. How else would we know how important they are to us?

Everyone feels different about themselves one way or another, but we all goin' the same way.

You can be as mad as a mad dog at the way things went. You could swear, curse the fates, but when it comes to the end, you have to let go.

For what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.

*quotes frm Curious Case of Benjamin Button*