Bashed, Everywhere

In this Internet age, if you choose a public life, you will have nowhere to hide if your integrity is questioned. Hee Yit Foong was given a Facebook group in facebook, and receive relentless criticism there. Picture below shows the group.

Hikers' Guide

I started to pick up hiking again. Two reasons for it: (1) it is a great family activity - especially now that my two sons are old enough for this reasonably strenuous outdoor activity. (2) as my age catches up, I need a form of exercise that work my cardiac system.

I have hiked 3 hills - Muka Head, Teluk Bahang Hill and Penang Hill now. Thanks to the Penang Hikers' Guide (picture below - full contents here). If you happen to have Hiker's Guide for other states than Penang, please let me know. My next target is to go out of Penang state for hiking.

Sin Chew Jit Poh Interviews Me on Old Mantin

Not long ago Sin Chew Jit Poh (星洲日报) interviewed my brother and me on our little eatery in my hometown Mantin. The report came out a couple of days ago in its "My Kampung" section. The article is also available on Sin Chew's online portal: see here.

Community Message: Stress Management Talk (Mandarin)

《转化压力为动力》讲座会
日期                     ： 14/3/2009
活动日子             ： 星期六
对象                     ： 大众
时间                     ： 4pm - 5.30pm
地点                     ： 槟城新港檀香寺多元化礼堂
咨询联络电话     ： 04-6451141
咨询电子邮件     ： mitra@thanhsiang.org
咨询网页： http://thanhsiang.org/ch/mitra
票价  ： 凡乐捐RM10将获得入门票一张，乐捐RM20将获得入门票三张。
详情：

• 了解压力，明白压力的根源。
• 压力背后，总有我们放不下的东西- 事情、看法、事件等。
• 没有事情是无法改变，而是改变得面对的，得处理的，才是造成许多人无法踏上改变的第一步。
• 压力的存在，也是突破的一个强大动力。若不好好静下心来，好好检视你的压力，得心打开，面对该面对的，停止该停止的，生命的另一扇门就会为我们展开。

此讲座会讲师为洪丽真心理辅导硕士。洪丽真硕士毕业于马大心理辅导硕士班，目前
全职推动亲子教育工作，拥有多年的辅导经验，并致力于将辅导、成长与瑜伽结合在
一起。

Teluk Bahang to Penang Hill Hike

After having hiked Teluk Bahang hill and Muka Head, I took the challenge the hike Penang Hill from Teluk Bahang last Saturday.

Based on the map, the entire journey spans 11.3km, about the distance from my house in Sungai Ara to Komtar.

I took my two boys and my friend Sitt together. We started at 8 and complete the journey - a total of 8 hours! It was not less streneous than Mt. Kinabalu 6,000ft - 11,000ft journey. I have not been so exhausted for long time.

Aging

Father's health is deteriorating quickly. At the age  of 79 now, he is not able to walk.

Just about 6 months ago, we were trying to stop him from riding his motorcycle. At that time he could hardly balance himself on the bike. We  went through the phase of putting up stern resistance to his request. At that time, we weren't just having strong opinion - he already had 3 accidents in which he fell from the bike.

In the recent weeks, he has not been able to walk even 30m from the road side the his favorite coffee shop. Furthermore, his coffee shop mates no longer able to engage in meaningful conversations with him because he was not able to understand their questions, therefore giving them wrong answers.

Yesterday he injured his head again and got 4 stitches from the hospital. After spending a night in the hospital on Chinese New Year day, he came back just now. Refusing to admit his loss of strength, he attempted to bath by himself. He ended up fell on the floor again. This time slightly injured the same place where he got his stitches, luckily not serious.

Unable to control his bladder, he often urinate on the floor and cause quite some inconvenience to everyone. We has spent many week convincing him using adult diapers would help everyone. But to no avail.

Whenever he tried to walk and unsuccessful, he always ask us, "Why like that, huh?"

Only until today, he is more receptive to the idea of diaper and wheelchair.

It seems like regardless of illness, old age and death, most of us has to go through denial before finally agreeing to face the inevitable.

He will have to live through this difficult period of the last few years of his time. In the mean time, we will have to learning about the spirit of filial piety, the how-tos of taking care of an old person.

Work and Study? Do a 'GTD'

Most people do part-time MBA. And it is nothing wrong with that. MBA are usually designed for industry-inclined folks, not for scholarly academicians.

Even MBAs are designed for working folks, it is still a big challenge to most of us. I have seen enough working people give up pursuing their MBA not long after the embark on the journey.

Work alone is bad enough, especially for those who work in tough workplaces. Switching our brains between study and work on daily basis accelerate our aging process.

One of the key skills needed to cope is to become more productive. But how to get our productivity up? Learn from the guru, of course.

There is a three-letter word GTD that represent a whole field of interest - Getting Things Done. It came out of David Allen's book "Getting Things Done":

From the moment we wake up until the time we go to bed, most of us have an overwhelming number of things to do everyday, at home, at school, at work. We have to go at a hurried pace just to get everything done, and sometimes we feel that we have too much to handle and our lives are getting out of our control. We get home tired, stressed out and worried about the things we failed to do and all the other things that we have yet to do the next day.
“Getting Things Done” by David Allen describes an “incredibly practical process that can help busy people regain control of their lives”, become more relaxed, and still get everything done. He provides systems, tools, insights, and tips on how to accomplish more with less effort, be happier and more successful individuals.

You don't need to rush to buy the book, yet. First, grab (download) a free copy of Productivity Magazine here. David Allen is interviewed in the first free edition.

Get a feel of this GTD movement, and take it from there. Put in some effort, you will be able to cope with your work+study life.