Perseverance - The Story of Michael Jordan

I found this so inspiring, so I thought I should forward it:

Michael Jordan was born in 1963, in the slums of Brooklyn, New York.

He had four  siblings and his father's earnings were not sufficient to provide for the whole family.

He grew up in a poor neighborhood. Exposed to mindless violence and heavy discrimination in the slums, he saw for himself only a hopeless future.

His father saw in Michael, a lost soul and decided to do something.

He gave Michael, who was 13 years old, a piece of used clothing and asked: "What do you think the value of this outfit would be?"

Jordan replied,"Maybe one dollar."

His father asked, "Can you sell it for two dollars? If you can sell it, it would mean that you are a big help to your family."

Jordan nodded his head, "I'll try, but no guarantee that I'll be successful."

Jordan carefully washed the cloth clean. Because they didn't have an iron, to smoothen the cloth, he levelled it with a clothes brush on a flat board, then kept it in the sun to dry. The next day, he brought the clothes to a crowded underground station. After offering it for more than six hours. Jordan finally managed to sell it for $2. He took the two dollar bill and ran home.

After that, everyday he looked for used clothing, washed and ironed it, and sold it in the crowd.

More than ten days later, his father again gave him a piece of used clothing, "Can you think of a way you can sell this for 20 bucks?"

Aghast, Jordan said, "How is it possible? This outfit can only fetch two dollars at the most."

His father replied, "Why don't you try it first? There might be a way."

After breaking his head for a few hours, finally, Jordan got an idea.

He asked for cousin's helpto paint a picture of Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse on the garment. Then he tried to sell it in the school where the children of the rich study.

Soon a housekeeper, who was there to pick his master, bought that outfit for his master. The master was a little boy of only 10 years. He loved it so much and he gave a five dollar tip. 25 dollars was a huge amount for Jordan, the equivalent of a month's salary of his father.

When he got home, his father gave him yet another piece of used clothing, "Are you able to resell it at a price of 200 dollars?" Jordan's eyes lit up.

This time, Jordan accepted the clothes without the slightest doubt. Two months later a popular movie actress from the movie "Charlie's Angels", Farah Fawcett came to New York for her Movie promos. After the press conference, Jordan made his way through the security forces to reach the side of Farah Fawcett and requested her autograph on the piece of clothing. When Fawcett saw this innocent child asking for her autograph, she gladly signed it.

Jordan was shouting very excitedly, "This is a jersey signed by Miss Farah Fawcett, the selling price is 200 dollars!" He auctioned off the clothes, to a businessman for a price of 1,200 dollars!

Upon returning home, his father broke into TEARS and said, "I am amazed that you did it My child! You're really great! "

That night, Jordan slept alongside his father. His father said, "Son, in your experience selling these three pieces of clothing, what did you learn about success?"

Jordan replied, "Where there's a will, there's a way."

His father nodded his head, then shook his head, "What you say is not entirely wrong! But that was not my intention. I just wanted to show you that a piece of used clothing which is worth only a dollar can also be increased in value, Then how about us - living & thinking humans? We may be darker and poorer, but what if we CAN increase our VALUE."

This thought enlightened young Jordan. Even a piece of used clothing could be made dignified, then why not me? There is absolutely no reason to underestimate myself.

From then on, Michael Jordan felt that his future would be beautiful and full of hope.

He went on to become the greatest basketball player of all times.

Taken from a facebook post of a very learned friend.

Book Review - The Secret Life of Anna Blanc by Jennifer Kincheloe.

There is a certain charm to this novel, especially with the endearing nature of our heroine, Anna Blanc. At the turn of the century, before the world hears of gender diversity and women in leadership, Anna Blanc was the epitome of a lady of proper upbringing. Boring, but proper. Respected. When she decided to use her brains rather than be a pawn to her father's business dealings, it looked like the men's going to get a good education of what the fairer sex can actually do. This is such a promising start to the story. It reminded me of Peggy Carter from the Marvel, also a lady of this era, born out of turn. What Anna lacks is the gusto, wits and intelligence of Peggy. I missed the resourcefulness and sharp insights that you see in Peggy. In many sense, Anna is the untrained Peggy, lots of potential, but just not there yet. Entertaining nonetheless, but left more to be desired of a stronger plot, unforgettable character and the intelligence of a clever crime.

Prejudice & Mercy

The Prejudice

I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands,
organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with the same
food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases,
heal'd by the same means, warm'd and cool'd by the same winter
and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If
you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die?
And if you wrong us, do we not revenge? If we are like you in the
rest, we will resemble you in that.
The Merchant Of Venice Act 3, scene 1, 58–68

The Quality of Mercy

The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much
To mitigate the justice of thy plea;
Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice
Must needs give sentence 'gainst the merchant there.
The Merchant of Venice, Act 4, Scene 1

Interesting Read - 16-Year-Old Malala Yousafzai Leaves Jon Stewart Speechless With Comment About Pacifism

This is an article that came through the email; source quoted below. It is exceptionally amazing the maturity of this young child's thinking, in the correct approach to terrorism and more importantly, the bravery under life-threatening situation.

Malala Yousafzai, the 16-year-old Pakistani advocate for womens rights and access to education, appeared on the Daily Show last night, ahead of Friday's announcement for the 2013 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Her answer to one of Jon Stewart's questions left him speechless.
An outspoken critic of the Taliban's tactics in her native Swat Valley from a young age, Malala was the subject of an attempted assassination at the hands of a Taliban gunman because she was unafraid to speak out.
Then, at just 14 years old, a Talib fighter boarded her bus, pointed a pistol at her head, and pulled the trigger. But she survived, made a full recovery in England, and has become and transformative figure in human rights.
She was favored to become the youngest Nobel Peace laureate ever, and has been widely recognized for her work.
In the key moment of the interview, Stewart asked her how she reacted when she learned that the Taliban wanted her dead. Her answer was absolutely remarkable:

I started thinking about that, and I used to think that the Talib would come, and he would just kill me. But then I said, 'If he comes, what would you do Malala?' then I would reply to myself, 'Malala, just take a shoe and hit him.'  But then I said, 'If you hit a Talib with your shoe, then there would be no difference between you and the Talib. You must not treat others with cruelty and that much harshly, you must fight others but through peace and through dialogue and through education.' Then I said I will tell him how important education is and that 'I even want education for your children as well.' And I will tell him, 'That's what I want to tell you, now do what you want.'

http://www.businessinsider.com/malala-yousafzai-left-jon-stewart-speechless-2013-10#ixzz2hWPYjJCp

The Amazing Camel and Its Creator

This is reproduced in its entirety from a email chain.  So much technical info about this technical animal.  Who can still deny the facts? The Amazing Camel and Its Creator (Moody Press) If you ever doubted that God exists, meet the Very Technical,  Highly Engineered Dromedary Camel.  When I'm hungry, I'll eat almost anything- A leather bridle, a piece of rope, my master's tent, Or a pair of shoes. My mouth is so tough a thorny cactus doesn't bother it. I love to chow down grass and other plants That grow here on the Arabian desert I'm a dromedary camel, the one-hump kind That lives on hot deserts in the Middle East . My hump, all eighty pounds of it, Is filled with fat-my body fuel -- not water as some people believe. My Mighty Maker gave it to me because He knew I wouldn't always be able to find food As I travel across the hot sands. When I don't find any chow, my body automatically Takes fat from the hump, feeds my system, And keeps me going strong. This is my emergency food supply. If I can't find any plants to munch, my body uses up my hump. When the hump gets smaller, it starts to tip to one side. But when I get to a nice oasis and begin to eat again, My hump soon builds back to normal. I've been known to drink twenty-seven gallons of water in ten minutes. My Master Designer made me in such a fantastic way that In a matter of minutes all the water I've swallowed Travels to the billions of microscopic cells that make up my flesh. Naturally, the water I swallow first goes into my stomach. There thirsty blood vessels absorb and carry it to every part of my body. Scientists have tested my stomach and found it empty Ten minutes after I've drunk twenty gallons. In an eight hour day, I can carry a four hundred pound load A hundred miles across a hot, dry desert And not stop once for a drink or something to eat. In fact, I've been known to go eight days without a drink, But then I look like a wreck. I lose 227 pounds, my ribs show through my skin, And I look terribly skinny. But I feel great! I look thin because the billions of cells lose their water. They're no longer fat. They're flat. Normally my blood contains 94 percent water, just like yours. But when I can't find any water to drink, The heat of the sun gradually robs a little water out of my blood. Scientists have found that My blood can lose up to 40 percent of its water, And I'm still healthy. Doctors say human blood has to stay very close to 94 percent water. If you lose 5 percent of it, you can't see anymore; 10 percent, you can't  hear and you go insane; 12 percent, your blood is as thick as molasses And your heart can't pump the thick stuff. It stops, and you're dead. But that's not true with me. Why? Scientists say my blood is different. My red cells are elongated. Yours are round. Maybe that's what makes the difference This proves I'm designed for the desert, Or the desert is designed for me. Did you ever hear of a design without a Designer? After I find a water hole, I'll drink for about ten minutes And my skinny body starts to change almost immediately. In that short time my body fills out nicely, I don't look skinny anymore, And I gain back the 227 pounds I lost. Even though I lose a lot of water on the desert, My body conserves it too. Way in the beginning when my Intelligent Engineer made me, He gave me a specially designed nose that saves water. When I exhale, I don't lose much. My nose traps that warm, moist air from my lungs And absorbs it in my nasal membranes. Tiny blood vessels in those membranes take that back into my blood. How's that for a recycling system? Pretty cool, isn't it. It works because my nose is cool. My cool nose changes that warm moisture in the air From my lungs into water. But how does my nose get cool? I breath in hot dry desert air, And it goes through my wet nasal passages. This produces a cooling effect, and my nose stays as much as 18 degrees cooler than the rest of my body. I love to travel the beautiful sand dunes. It's really quite easy, because My Creator gave me specially engineered sand shoes for feet. My hooves are wide, and they get even wider when I step on them. Each foot has two long, bony toes with tough, leathery skin between my soles, My feet are a little like webbed feet. They won't let me sink into the soft, drifting sand. This is good, because often my master wants me to carry him one hundred miles across the desert in just one day. (I troop about ten miles per hour.) Sometimes a big windstorm comes out of nowhere, bringing flying sand with it. My Master Designer put special muscles in my nostrils that close the openings, keeping sand out of my nose but still allowing me enough air to breathe. My eyelashes arch down over my eyes like screens, keeping the sand and sun out but still letting me see clearly. If a grain of sand slips through and gets in my eye, the Creator took care of that too. He gave me an inner eyelid that automatically wipes the sand off my eyeball just like a windshield wiper. Some people think I'm conceited because I always walk around with my head held high and my nose in the air. But that's just because of the way I'm made. My eyebrows are so thick and bushy I have to hold my head high to peek out from underneath them. I'm glad I have them though. They shade my eyes from the bright sun. Desert people depend on me for many things. Not only am I their best form of transportation, but I'm also their grocery store. Mrs. Camel gives very rich milk that people make into butter and cheese. I shed my thick fur coat once a year, and that can be woven into cloth. A few young camels are used for beef, but I don't like to talk about that. For a long time we camels have been called the "ships of the desert" because of the way we sway from side to side when we trot. Some of our riders get seasick. I sway from side to side because of the way my legs work. Both legs on one side move forward at the same time, elevating that side. My "left, right left, right" motion makes my rider feel like he is in a rocking chair going sideways. When I was six months old, Special knee pads started to grow on my front legs. The Intelligent Creator knew I had to have them. They help me lower my 1000 pounds to the ground. If I didn't have them, My knees would soon become sore and infected, And I could never lie down. I'd die of exhaustion. By the way, I don't get thick knee pads because I fall on my knees. I fall on my knees because I already have these tough pads. Someone very Great thought of me and knew I needed them. He designed them into my genes. It's real difficult for me to understand . . . How some people say I evolved into what I now am. I'm very technical, highly engineered, dromedary camel. Things like me don't just happen!

 

Speak Up!

Have we ever attended a talk or a presentation that requires us to lean forward and strain our ears to listen? I believe we will find it hard to understand a speaker when he or she speaks really softly. Changing the role, do we ourselves encounter this problem? Are we too soft for our audience?

District Officers, Presidents and Fellow TMs, speaking up and be audible is key to a successful speech. When our speech is loud enough for people to hear without having to adjust in their seats, we have achieved our first step – catching their attention, and then we can focus on delivering a good speech. This is why the technique of voice projection is very important. I am saying this will regards to occasions where using a microphone is not possible, or when you need to be heard across a very noisy room. Tonight, allow me to share with you some techniques that you may want to use to try to project your voice and be heard.

First thing first, when we speak, what do we need? Our mouth to form the words.. 

Our throat where our voice comes from… what else? Air! We take a breath of air and then speak, without air, we cannot articulate any sound. Therefore the first thing to do is to ensure you breathe right. We must all use the right technique to inhale and exhale in order to project our voice.

Question, what do we use to breath? We can inhale through our nose or our mouth. Anyone can tell me, where would the air go? Our lungs? The correct place to push our air through is our diaphragm – the area below our lungs above our stomach. 

Let’s all try this together – Let’s all stand, and place one hand over our lungs and another over our diaphragm – the area underneath the lungs and above our tummy. Now breathe normally… how many felt that your lungs has expanded? How many felt that your diaphragm expanded? The correct way is for your diaphragm to expand. Now try again, try to breathe such that there is no movement at your lung area but your diaphragm expands accordingly.  You can do this with your nose or our mouth, however, I personally find this easier for practice sake breathe through my mouth.  This is an exercise that we can all try at home, where you practice breathing to ensure that your diaphragm expands. How to make this better? Your stance is important -stand up straight with the feet shoulder width apart and relax. This improves balance and breathing.

Now that we have air in the right place, how is it to be used? As you exhale, air moves from your lungs through your windpipe.  It then passes between your vocal cords. As they vibrate, sound happens. You use your throat, tongue, lips, and jaw to shape the sound into words. The only way for your voice to be heard is to allow air to carry your voice through. That’s what we refer to as resonance. It is the concentrated pressure through which one produces a focused sound. True resonance will produce the greatest amount of projection available to a voice by utilizing all the key resonators found in the vocal cavity. Where is the vocal cavity? Our mouth alone? Actually it is our mouth, nose, and the whole cavity that is within our head. 

The two extremes of resonance are “head voice,” which is where high sounds resonate, and “chest voice,” which is where low sounds resonate. However, most sounds the human voice makes can also resonate in the mask, or the front of the face. A voice with plenty of mask resonance is strong, and clear, no matter how loud or soft. A voice with good mask resonance is pleasant to listen to and flexible, allowing for rich vocal variety. Mask resonance is a combination of nasal and mouth resonance. The sound you are looking for will produce a pronounced vibration in the front of your face.

Let’s try it. You can try this sitting down. Say “Mmmmm.” See if you can feel the buzzy sensation in the front of your face. That’s mask resonance. Another way to produce it is to simply say “Mmm-hmm,” like an enthusiastic “yes.” Now say, “Mmm-hmm one. Mmm-hmm two. Mmm-hmm three.” Can you feel that sensation carry over into the words “one,” “two,” and “three?” This is how we should be producing our sounds in order to create the most resonance and the best projection. 

So far, we have learnt how to breathe, and how to speak. Now let’s put this all together. Let’s practice breathing and speaking. Best if we stand to do this. Let’s do this together. Stand, with our feet comfortably apart, our hands at our lungs and diaphragm, and breathe to expand our diaphgram. Next hmm with our mouth and nose, and say “One” Can we all feel resonance? Now’s let’s try it with one breathe and count to 5, with as much strength as we can. No shouting or yelling, just breathing and speaking.  Breathe in, hmm, count 1,2,3,4,5.

Can we feel and hear the difference? Thank You, Ladies and Gentlemen, we have successfully completed our first voice projection exercise.

Going forward we can practice at home and try to use mask resonance at the beginning of a sentence and try to keep that sensation in the words that follow. Spend 20 minutes a day working with this, and add it to your awareness as you practice your presentations, and you are on your way to more powerful speeches.

This is a speech delivered in front of an audience for the Advanced Project - A Demonstration Talk.

Evaluation - The demonstration of breathing and resonance took too long and the speech was exceeded. Timing of such speeches is important in order to know exactly how long each demonstration with take. On the whole it is not particularly successful as the technique is hard for the average audience to grasp. Vocalists took years to master them!  

The Aging Population – A Case for Nursing Home

Fact No 1
900 000 – This is the number of Baby Boomers that will retire from the workforce and enter their silver years from the year 2012. This population is more than a quarter of the current citizen population. This is the statistics provided by the National Population and Talent Division. This Age Pyramid provided by the board of statistics in Singapore, shows that the first batch of baby boomers is now hitting the retirement age of 65. 

Fact No 2

10    – 10 Years - Singapore’s life expectancy has increased by 10 years over the last 3 decades: from 72 years in 1980 to 82 years in 2010. This is the statistics also provided by the National Population and Talent Division. The life expectancy trend below as provided by the CIA world factbook, 2011 shows how rapidly our life expectancy has increased since 2000.

Fact No 3

0.78 – Singapore has a fertility rate of 0.78, statistics provided by CIA World Factbook. It is the average number of children that would be born per woman during the child bearing years. This is a figure that is down from 1.16 in 2000. The chart below shows the decreasing trend of our country’s fertility rate.

President and fellow TMs, based on the facts that I have just mentioned, we can draw a simple conclusion. Our beloved country Singapore is aging, and it is aging most rapidly. The social and economic implication that is associated with this problem is humongous. How do we adequately provide for the needs of this large aged population when we do not have enough younger population to share the costs and the burden?  This is a problem that is best left to the right government authorities, afterall, as individuals, we cannot do much to help with these social and economic problems… or can we?

My fellow toastmasters, tonight I would like to appeal to each of us to do our part as individuals, on a specific aspect of this whole aging population problem. Support the building and establishing of nursing homes in our neighbourhood. Our government’s mandate is for every constituency to have one nursing home by 2013 in order to cater for the demand. However, in the last one year we hear of news that people are protesting against the building of nursing homes in their estates.

In May 2012, the Straits Times published an article where the residents of Bishan said No to having a nursing home built in their neighborhood. In Feb of the same year, the residents of Toh Yi estate protested against the same. In Feb this year, the people of Yew Tee estate raised the same concerned as well. Why? The May 2012 article has this to say on the protests from the residents of Bishan:

One resident was quoted - Our children play football there. If there is no football field, they will play in the void deck and stain the walls.'

Another resident said 'the old folk will be groaning right into my home'. And add: 'If their kids are going to skirt their responsibility and dump them (the aged parents) there, then they can travel farther to visit them.'

The residents argue that if the home is set up, air flow to their homes will be blocked and they will have to use the air-conditioner more often to dispel the heat.

Really? The government is tackling the problem aged population, and we are concerned with air cons and stained walls? It may seem trivial but this article demonstrates the underlying misconceptions towards nursing home.

Misconception No 1

Nursing homes are for abandoned parents whose children are irresponsible and extremely unfilial. In an Asian and Confucius-influenced society that values filial piety, people used to be ashamed of leaving their parents in a nursing home. The stigma associated with nursing homes remains deep rooted among us. In reality, our society and way of life has changed so much since the olden days of “three generation under one roof”. The modern life is now an all-consuming, day-to-day challenge as we juggle work and raise a family in a frantic world filled with competitions that we cannot afford to lose. We could only provide our parents with a decent home and we visit them over the weekend once a while. What will happen when both parents reached the age where they needed round the clock help to perform their daily activities? This is the question that many working professionals may also face sooner or later. Asian values, Confucius teaching, filial piety. In this day and age, it is not a question of value, but a question of practically and necessity.

Misconception No 2

Nursing homes are cold, dark, lonely places filled with sad old people waiting for the inevitable outcome of life. This is a scene off the Chinese soap drama. It is no longer true in this day and age. A very basic service provided by nursing homes run by Ministry of Health include medical care, nursing care, physiotherapy, dietary services and dental care for their residents. Some nursing homes even provide for special needs like dementia and psychiatric conditions. The privately Pacific Healthcare nursing home in Bt Merah extends their services to provide diverse recreational and social activities, including regular visits from volunteers that positively contribute to the psychological well-being of our residents. The Salvation Army Peacehaven Nursing Home in Changi, claimed to be a “home within a home” where residents live in a home-like environment with their own rooms. The centre even provides guided autobiography sessions that allowed residents to share their life stories with staff and fellow residents before their memories fades. This is a picture of a cold, dark, lonely place? Certainly not. In fact, it sounded like a place where the residents are well-taken care of both physically and psychologically. 

Ladies and gentlemen, it is high time we dispel with such misconceptions of nursing home and face the problem of aged population, with a clear understanding of what it takes to tackle this problem as a mature society. Nursing home is a necessity and a reality. It is a place with trained care-givers that performs a better job at meeting the needs of the elderly under a comfortable and conducive environment. What more can we ask for? As one very wise resident from Yew Tee said in the newspaper article: "We're all going to grow old one day.” Taking care of the aged paves the way of us when our turn comes in the future. Have a hand in shaping the decision that would affect us ultimately. Start now and support the establishment of nursing homes in your very own estate.

This is a speech delivered at Toastmaster Chapter Meeting, for Advanced Project 5 - An Abstract Concept. It is a topic that is close to my heart, one that I will face in the not-too-long future. 

Evaluation - the presentation of the statistics at the start of the speech needs to be clearer, better so as to be more impactful.