The Courage

We never escape from the thought on how successful people became successful. Is it because they are smarter? Is it because they are hardworking?

Such questions will always be asked time again and again. The 'success' here refers to being extraordinary successful, ala Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Barrack Obama, Li Ka-shing and others.

Anyone with a tinge of ambition would look up at successful people in their field as their role model - in business, science, politics, social work, medicine, entertainment and others.

Again we ask how did they do it? Many would answer it was being at the right place, at the right time and with the right opportunity. So without those complementary factors, one yearning for success wouldn't find one?

In other words, luck plays a role if we believe that success is dependant on those three factors. In a way is like playing jackpot, trying to hit the right spots in one go.

Because of this, some just dream about what they desire to be or to have but resign to the fact that this is the reality - luck is king. No luck then nothing. But is it so?

I think in most cases these successful people created the story themselves in which they believe in so strongly. They created the time, place and opportunity because having those three factors mean nothing if one doesn't capitalise them.

Like you and me, many of them were just ordinary people and also yearned for success in the beginning but the distinguishing factor was they didn't just yearn for it but made it a reality. We like to believe that luck plays the biggest role because it is easy to blame on when things don't work our way. How convenient.

Some people are genuinely born smart but for people like us we have more to do and it is definately not the end of the journey.

When one has nothing, you have nothing to lose and the way out to break away from whatever is your predicament is to have the courage and be bold to get out of the invisible box. And since it is invisible, there isn't a box in the first place. The box is created by you.

Never give up trying just as Thomas Edison reminded us that he wasn't a born genius and yet tried countless times to invent the lightbulb.

As long as we have the right attitude, ability to think outside the box and the determination, we can invent our own lightbulb. The question is do you have the courage to do so?

Yes we can

Transcript of Barack Obama's victory speech in Chicago:

Hello, Chicago.

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.

It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.

We are, and always will be, the United States of America.

It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.

It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America.

A little bit earlier this evening, I received an extraordinarily gracious call from Sen. McCain.

Sen. McCain fought long and hard in this campaign. And he's fought even longer and harder for the country that he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine. We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader.

I congratulate him; I congratulate Gov. Palin for all that they've achieved. And I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead.

I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart, and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on the train home to Delaware, the vice president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.

And I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years the rock of our family, the love of my life, the nation's next first lady Michelle Obama.

Sasha and Malia I love you both more than you can imagine. And you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the new White House.

And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother's watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight. I know that my debt to them is beyond measure.

To my sister Maya, my sister Alma, all my other brothers and sisters, thank you so much for all the support that you've given me. I am grateful to them.

And to my campaign manager, David Plouffe, the unsung hero of this campaign, who built the best -- the best political campaign, I think, in the history of the United States of America.

To my chief strategist David Axelrod who's been a partner with me every step of the way.

To the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done.

But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. It belongs to you.

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington. It began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston. It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to the cause.

It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep.

It drew strength from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on doors of perfect strangers, and from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized and proved that more than two centuries later a government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished from the Earth.

This is your victory.

And I know you didn't do this just to win an election. And I know you didn't do it for me.

You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime -- two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.

Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us.

There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after the children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage or pay their doctors' bills or save enough for their child's college education.

There's new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build, and threats to meet, alliances to repair.

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.

I promise you, we as a people will get there.

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can't solve every problem.

But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it's been done in America for 221 years -- block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.

What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night.

This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.

It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other.

Let us remember that, if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers.

In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.

Let's remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance and individual liberty and national unity.

Those are values that we all share. And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.

As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.

And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too.

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.

To those -- to those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright: Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.

That's the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we've already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight's about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons -- because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.

And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America -- the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.

At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.

When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.

When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.

She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome." Yes we can.

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.

And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change.

Yes we can.

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves -- if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.

This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.

Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.

For dream and with dream, therefore I am.

If without dreams I wouldn't be here as what I am today.

I wonder what will I become if I lead a life without dreams?

Without dreams, can I reach this far? Without dreams, what can we do? Without dreams, what will be of us? Without a dream, I fear for without one.

Dreams are the fuel cells for the journey life. Without them we will be stagnant and mere meat and bones without purpose of our existence in this realm.

We eat, we drink, we sleep, we fight, we love, we care, we grow, we die - what are we for in this world?

Because of dreams.

Because of dreams I fight, I suffer, I love, I care, I eat, I drink, and I grow - all for my dreams but why must I fight, I suffer, I love, I care, I eat, I drink, and I grow for my dreams?

Because to live my dream I will be happy. Because of dreams we seek joy and happiness.

Because of dreams.

Everyone has a dream be it tomorrow's meal, your true love, your career, your wealth, your dream car and whatever you desire is a dream

For dream and with dream, therefore I am.

My writing journey

I was pretty reluctant to write this post but a friend recently suggested that if I want to be understood more clearly then of course I've to be clear to others about myself and what I think.

Over the years I lost my ability to express myself in a more personal fashion and geared towards being opaque in my personal postings to the point that even Robert Langdon cannot decipher. Or to quote Shanice, "too cangih".

My background in blogging/writting was rooted in writing economic and political commentaries/articles in Blog City where I first started writing in 2003. I don't think it was even a blog but more of a net-based current affairs column with the exception that readers can comment and the added intereaction.

I was active in writting back then dishing out my comments and analyses on a regular basis. Each post took me an average of six hours to write and often forgetting about meals in the process. It was a very holistic exercise for me as I really do enjoy writing on current affairs. My activeness peaked when one of my commentaries was published by The Star under my usual pen-name, Benkaiser.

Over time I earned a small base of readers who would give serious and constructive feedbacks.

In hindsight I find it pretty amazing because a couple of posts discussing the possibilities of the future are realities today. One of it was about Air Asia which back then was a major minor peanut in the commercial aviation sector. I wrote about its prospect of surviving in the domestic market and it needs to branch out to regional destinations to survive the onslaught of competitors from Singapore to Thailand.

The wow-part for me was that the strategies I suggested on what Air Asia could do in the regional market is almost an mirror image when it first started venturing out of the borders.

Another wow post for me was about Penang, titled "Reinventing Penang" in which I wrote about the future of the state moving away from manufacturing and increase its reliance on service sectors. This was way back then when both the federal and state governments were comfortable being in that static position of relying Motorola, Intel, Seagate and other manufacturing giants.

Years later, the federal government launched the Northern Corridor project and now the current state government embarking on service-delivery improvements initiatives, which are so crucial to the northern jewel state. Many of these developments are like echoes of what I proposed.

By now, some of you may think I am boasting myself but I am just writing what I feel. That is all.

Moving on I closed down Blog City due to other commitments and moved on to Xanga where I started personal blogging. I found it fun writing about the going-ons of my life and friends in college which most of time I tend to dramatize but keeping to the facts. In a way it was like writing parodies or in the context of a novel. This was when I'd alot of creative licences.

But somehow over time, with the intrusion of personal problems and issues, those creative licences were slowly banned one by one after I migrated to Blogspot. My writing became vague, shorter, irregular and sometimes pure no-brainers. Without realising I actually lost my ability to write about myself, my life.

I was still going strong in serious writing but mostly confined to academic subjects with a lot of focus on hard finance. Slowly but surely my blog became a pariah to many, if not all readers having no idea what I was writing about.

Fast forward to present I started writing more again but mostly work-based. Recently I became a de-facto chief of information and research who is responsible for managing and publishing all the writings for the firm's e-newsletter. It is like being a magazine editor and so I've to do alot of solid research on taxation, accounting, economics, business, politics and other related topics as the articles are targeted at clients and general readers.

I am happy to take the role as way before I joined workforce I entertained the thought of joining business publications like BRW as a business writer or back to university and do a PhD so that I can become a full time researcher and get my research papers published in journals.

This is my journey in writing thus far and if given the chance to have those creative licences back I would be more than happy to have them again so that you-know-who-you-are won't complain so much :p

PS: I've a lil weird liking for writing legal/charter codes like those stuff in the legislation books.

Taking the calculated risk

By now many would have felt the chill from the fast slowing real economy and probably started cutting down unecessary expenses and draft a whole new budget much tighter than before.

The combination of value whitewash in the stockmarkets and job security is a daily worry. Even the central bankers do not know what will happen tomorrow, so what more for the laymen?

Over some round of beers and already counting down towards Christmas my friends and I were planning our annual Kris Kringle - the main highlight was that we have decided to cut down the maximum value of each present, limiting it to $10 this year compared to $15 in the previous year.

It is not so much of the presents but the process of guessing who bought you the present counts, but still money counts anyway. For some of us the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis wasn't a too distant memory. It is still pretty fresh in my head.

Instead of guarding the purse zealously I've gone the other way instead when almost everyone is spelling property as D I R T Y. Due to some pressure I've to commit into this heavy landed transaction but only after some intense negotiation over the titles.

No doubt it will be a big blow to my purse and this is when financial planning really kicks in - draft up a comprehensive budget and stick to it like your life jacket for which failing to do so can cause some real financial pain. And it is really painful......

Oh well, real life economic 101 lesson came abit too early for me. The principle of allocation of scare resources is oiled up and working its gears. In other words I bought the opportunity cost.

But I believe that if the plan is well drawn out and executed then it shouldn't be a problem :-)