Parenthood

I was doing my usual grocery shopping round at bukit timah plaza when i saw this couple and their baby daughter, and a thought made me smile.

if you do not already know, we have 3 princesses of our own, and from the look on this couple, this baby is most likely their first.

how do i know?

simple, they tend to be more loving, affectionate and devote an obscene amount of time cooing their baby. It was the same with us and our first one.

add 2 later, our family outings (even for grocery) is longer spent oohing and aahing but more like sessions of be carefuls, don't runs and stop shoutings.

but we still love our brood just the same and wouldn't change a thing, even the slightly elevated blood pressure levels. It is priceless to see all of my princesses play and laugh hysterically together, at least until the older 2 get too rough and someone eventually cries.

so to all young couples with a baby, enjoy your time. And to those planning more, there will be more priceless moments to come.


Sent by SingTel MobileM@il. Dial *36245 for FREE email access!

How big does a big contract need to be?

Today, I had my first experience as a small fry trying to pitch to a big organization.

Background, I had a project land on my lap. This project is small, about 40 K a year for 2 years, and the best part was that everything had been set-up for the client, so the client need not do anything further (well not that much anyways as I had done all the hard work)

Today I had a meeting with the senior management to seek their view, and I was frankly disappointing by what was said: We're not going to do it because its peanuts. If it's 40 million, then it's worth doing.

I was pretty hurt by that high and mighty comment, because I have done this project on a pro-bono basis, looking to build quanxi with this organization. Instead I was asked to go suck eggs.

For the first time, I finally felt how countless of start-ups felt like when they approach big organizations to buy their product etc etc, and I got to thinking, surely this is NOT the way.

But instead of seeking revenge (which I could easily), I think it' best to move on and look for like-minded people to work with

Changing fortunes

Last week, i had the opportunity to reconnect with an old friend, jeff, in penang, and i got to wonder, how life moves in funny circles.

when we were roomies in college, he had this DAP banner hanging on his side of the wall, while i had a poster of an atomic blast on mine - not sure which was more politically incorrect then. I used to kid with him that he's gonna get me in trouble with the govt in malaysia.

recently with the political change in penang, he is now part of the state machinery, and somehow it is quite comforting that the state has this brilliant chap on the payroll.

the job ahead of him is not easy, which is to look at how to sustain and increase manufacturing investments into the state. I know it first hand as i used to debate about the situation here in singapore with my colleagues when i was a civil servant.

but the good part is that jeff is still very much rooted and has not changed one bit or taken his new position into his head.

and on the other side of the coin is another friend we know who had for many many years championed the cause for MIC. Unfortunately his fortunes were less good as the leadership team there had overlooked his services. He's not a bad guy, he's got charisma and he's put his career on hold for the party.

wisely, i've been told that he's reconnecting with his career again and screwing MIC, which was just about what ever other voter did during the march 8 elections.

then i look at myself, from an employed person with 3 degrees to an unemployed one. Of course i label myself as freelance, but to be honest it's starting to get stale when project don't pan out and with it, the promise of some windfall.

perhaps i am not an entrepreneur, or perhaps the windfall has not come. Perhaps the problem is within, in that i can't begin with the end in mind because i don't know what the end is. One of my professional mentors once told me, long term goal, short term wins are needed.

to paraphrase mulder: i want to believe. But it gets harder before it gets easier.


Sent by SingTel MobileM@il. Dial *36245 for FREE email access!