Friday, February 26, 2010

What's up in March?

In Feburary, we have our favorite Chinese New Year celebration. We have fun with friends, our family members and relatives. We collect red packets (or some give them out) during these 2 weeks.

Coming March, there are no public holidays. There are just weekends for you to rest.

But wait.

I'm sure you will want to rest on march weekends, but I'm sure you will not rest on your 1st Sunday of March (7th March 2010)!

It is because you will be at  

FASHION IN THE SKY






What Fashion In the Sky?

It's a collaboration between blog shops and emerging artistes who come together to set up this one-of-a-kind Rooftop Runway show.

The event will see to a three-hour long program with live performances by rising local talents, blog shop bazaar sale, artworks from artists and photographers, as well as the fashion show - first of its own for the community!


Why Fashion In the Sky?

I know you may heard of brands such as Donna Karans and Gucci, but there's a new wave of noteworthy talent and enthralling collections by our own local blogshops owners! They will be setting up booths on the event itself so that you can get your hands on these ravishing clothings (instead of clicking them online)!

This unique runway will be raising funds for the Haiti Relief too! All proceedings from this event will be donated to help the people of Haiti. You can help the people in Haiti too by donating generously to World Vision via Give.sg.

When Fashion In the Sky?

This event will be held at YMCA Rooftop @ 1 Orchard Road on 7th March 2010. from 4pm to 7pm.


View Larger Map


Best of all, Admission is FREE!

If you have not confirmed your attendance, you can RSVP at our Facebook Event Page.

Till date, we have 200 confirmed guests. However, as you know, it is just a confirmation through facebook. There might be less then 200 people turning up, or more than 200 that day.

But wait.

Did you see this in 25th Feb Mandrin Newspaper 早报?


Our Event is being covered by ZaoBao, the Top Mandrin Newspaper in Singapore!

With that news report up, and being read by Chinese readers all over Singapore, I'm sure the number of people who will be there may not be just 200! It will be much much higher!

Fashion In the Sky is a unique once-in-a-lifetime event. We do not know when we will be organising it again (if any). We do not know if we could get the best blogshops with the best apparels to set up their booths there again. We do not know if we could get the best models for the Runway show in the future.

However, What we know is that you are going to enjoy the 3 hours at YMCA Rooftop with us, be entertained by the live performances of our rising local stars, picking up the best-fit apparels from the your favourite blogshops, watching a Live Fashion Runway show at the Top of a Building  for the first time ever!

Enough said.

I will see you at YMCA Rooftop on 7th March 4pm :D


*P.S. I will be performing that day. Catch me Live!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Happy Chinese New Year 2010!

Happy Chinese New Year to everyone, my friends, my family, my relatives, and anyone who visits my blog too.

This is the Year of Tiger, according to the chinese horoscope.

This year's celebration is kind of different from the past, because I will be celebrating with my sister-in-law! My family has a new member lo:D

We visited relatives homes, play card game, talk about life and enjoying good meals these few days. My mum and sister-in-law also made a lot of new year cookies like pineapple tarts. We had yusheng too. This is just a small picture i took while others are crazily flipping and throwing up the yusheng. LOL.You can see the picture here.

I have fun with my little cousins who are in their primary schools this year. Another thing which is different, is that my elder brother is giving out red packets for the first time this chinese new year! haha. He just got married last month.

And Valerie went to hong kong this new year to visit her friends and relatives over there. Haha. I wish i can be there. I may be there again when they go over for chinese new year celebration? It will be fun traveling around :D

I may be visiting more friends this coming weekend, to catch up with them this new year.

Chinese New Year celebration lasts for 15 days, and let's enjoy this time with everybody around us yea!:D

Catch'up with you guys on my next post!

Saturday, February 13, 2010

The Current Infamous Pastor Rony Tan of Lighthouse Evangelism



If you read Straits times from Monday 07.02.2010 onwards, you would have learnt of Pastor Rony Tan of Lighthouse Evangelism. He appeared on the front page of the news on Monday, and a long passage is written about him. Thereafter, there are news about him everyday, online and offline.

So what is the Hot news all about?

Pastor Rony Tan is being called up by the ISD (Internal Security Department) of Singapore, for his undesirable and controversial comments of other religions during his church services. He has committed an offense under the Sedition Act.

What's more, those services which feature his comments were recorded and uploaded online too. They are found on YouTube after his case featured on newspapers. And with today's technology, everybody in the world can watch these videos!

His comments are kind of controversial and put the harmony between different religious groups in Singapore at risk. He got present Christians who were ex-Buddhists and ex-Taoists from his church to share their experiences and testimonies during the service. Rony Tan also asked them questions to probe further about some practices of the other religions. Some of his comments had their audience laughing out loud.


I have watched those videos on YouTube, just before they were removed by the user the next day. After watching them, I can say that his comments are quite ridiculous, and it's more of an entertainment to the crowd. The crowd laugh to his 'jokes' made at other religious.

I find that it is very very inappropriate for him to do this. Singapore is well-known for its racial and religious harmony. Different people from different background and different faiths can live together harmoniously. As he ridiculed other religions, he has not put himself, and his church in good light too.

The fact that Singaporeans can live without the fear of racial and religious riots on the streets, is because we respect each other's race and religions. If people think that by putting down other religions will put their own religions in good light, then they are very very WRONG!

It's meaningless. It's the same as gossiping and laughing at others, and trying to gain support from your friends to show that you have done the right thing sneering at others. And when your friends laugh with you, you feel good, 'cause you feel that your friends are on your side too. You may feel that you are in good light, and the people you criticize are in 'bad' light. But you are in the 'bad' light too! Because you did not show respect for others!

So if Pastor Rony Tan believes that he can strengthened the faiths of his church members with his 'funny' comments on other faiths, then he is dead Wrong! Furthermore, he had shown his inadequacies of his knowledge of other faiths. He is just making false claims and assumptions of other religions, and make it seems like he knew a lot. Now, he looked helpless when these religions have clarify his ridiculous claims.

Currently, there are many raging groups set up to 'protest' against Rony Tan. There's a Facebook group created to anti-Rony Tan, to vent their anger at his criticisms, to gather more people to join forces against him... Even though I'm not supportive of his actions, I think that it is needless to set up this anti-group.

I do not know what they want to get out of this group, by anti-Rony Tan, and criticising him of his actions, 'shooting' him up down left right. I'm being asked to join this group, but I decline. This is not the way to solve a problem. It's just creating more problems.

This issue may not end that soon. So let's follow the news. :D

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Cashflow101 Competition and Passive Income Streams



Yes. I came in 9th out of 120 participants in the Cashflow101 Competition organized by NTU Investment Interactive Club. The first prize walk away with $500, as he finish the game within 15 mins. I took 30 mins. I got the consolation prize, for my first attempt in a Cashflow competition. (My first time playing the board game too!)





This game is created by the famous millionaire celebrity Robert Kiyosaki, on his principles of wealth creation. He has written many books, the most popular being "Rich Dad Poor Dad"(read upteen times), and has co-author with Donald Trump on a book "Why we want you to be rich". And many other (similar) books.

This game teach you "How to get out of the Rat Race". You don't win the game by having the largest amount of money in your hand. You win the game by building enough passive income to cover your expenses, which means, you have jumped out of the rat race. Passive income is income that you receive even when you are not physically there.

Let's compare...

E.g. 1) You love baking and you decided to open a bakery shop. You do the baking in your kitchen, and you hire a cashier at the shop. Yes, you start your own business, you open your own shop, you love making cakes and cookies, you have your own employees, but what you are receiving is not passive income. It's still active income. Your shop will not operate when you are not there, because there will not be anyone doing the baking. When your shop did not open, your income stream stops too.

E.g. 2) You love baking and you decided to open a bakery shop. However, instead of you doing the baking yourself, you hire 3 chefs to do the baking, 1 store manager to run the operation in the shop, and 2 assistants to help out with the cashier and cleaning of the shop. You wrote out the plan as how the business will be run. At the end of every month, you totalled up the shop's profits, distribute your workers' salary, pay other expenses, and you keep the rest. This is passive income. When you are overseas, or at home with your family, your shop will still open, because the shop can run without you! You have created a business system for your manager, chefs and assistants to follow. Your job may just be visiting the shop, helping out, doing supervisory checks...etc, but you are not bound to it.

Above is a short explanation of what passive income is.

Basically, passive income can be built using several methods. Here are a few...

i) Investments:
Investing 10 million dollars with 5% interest every year, ie $500,000 per year of passive income from interest.

ii) Businesses:
Starting businesses, buying business, owning businesses. You build a business that will run by itself, that will work with or without you. Just like the e.g. 2 of the bakery shop above. You can buy businesses which have been built by others too.

iii) Writing books:
You receive royalties from books you sell. In Robert Kiyosaki's example, I think he has received a lot of royalties from books. His Rich Dad's series, the iconic purple and black cover books, can be seen in most bookshops in Singapore, and worldwide too, in different languages.

iv) Music/ CDs:
Michael Jackson is dead, but his family is still receiving royalties from all the CDs sold in music shops. Same goes for Elvis Presly too. Money continue to flow in, without them being there. Many of our favourite singers, Jay Chou, Lady GaGa, they are also earning from royalties.

v) Property Investment:
You buy a house, but not for you to live in. You buy it and rent it out to others. You collect monthly rentals. The good thing is, your monthly rentals will pay for the house itself, and at the end of the day, you still have your house. And when your house is fully paid, you receive all the money from the rentals! (my dad has been doing that for 10 years!)

vi) Franchising your business:
You had a successful business plan, and instead of you using your own money to open up more shops, you allow others to franchise your business. This is an example of how MacDonalds, and other businesses expand. You teach these franchisees how your business is run. They will then run the business, employ their own employees, and You, as a franchisor, you collect royalties from them. But the Cash is the big problem here. If you want to open a MacDonald franchise, you need to have at least $250,000 before they are willing to talk to you. Yes. "Talk to you" only. Shop renovation, machines, employees...etc have not been discussed. As far as I know, at least 2 million dollars is needed.

vii) Internet Marketing:
This is one of the cheapest way to start building a passive income stream. It's the same as building a traditional business, just that instead of the 'bricks', you have the 'clicks'. It's way a lot cheaper, and suitable for most people now. You can make money online with or without a website, through selling of information products, selling advertising spaces...etc. If you wish to build an effective website, I can proudly say SBI is the choice. You can read more by clicking here.

There are a lot of other ways to create passive income, but it's just too many to write all out here. If you can think of any, feel free to post it here to share with others :D

Actually I'm not very surprised that there are not many people who heard of 'passive income', 'cashflow', 'Rich Dad Poor Dad' book...etc. I've talked to a few people to join me in the competition, but none joined me, till I bump into Jiawen and Jonathan (both formerly from TPJC) at the competition itself.

Anyway, I had so much fun playing the game with them, and it's nice to know many others who enjoy the game too. It's really fun if you play without the clock ticking. It's kind of stress when you have to fight against time to jump of the rat race. I have to thank the facilitators for helping out too, if you see how fast they are handing out
money to participants and supervising the game at the same time :P

I recommend that anyone who want to be happier in life, Play the Cashflow game. I would highly recommend it. You may not want to read the Rich Dad Poor Dad book, or other money strategies book, but you will definitely want to play this game!

I'm going to find ways to get this game set (it cost $200-$300/set), set up a mini-Cashflow club, and teach the people around me how to get out of the rat race!

Any Cashflow lovers out there? Would you like to join me to set up this game? Or Would you like to learn how to play it?

I'm done with the planning of the cashflow club, and I will make it as interesting and meaningful for everyone who attended and played the game! Look out for more details here!

Monday, February 01, 2010

Nicholas and Yanzi's BIG BIG Day

Show you guys the pictures 1st!!







This is the BEST picture I think :D We rock yea!!


There are thousands over photos taken that day, many many thanks to my great choir buddies, Chin Soon and Fiona! The pictures they took are fantastic! One was holding a BIG Canon, another one was holding a BIG Nikon camera. They are really very hardworking. And it is always very fun having them around when shooting photos.

Chin soon and Fiona did not take pictures. They do not take photographs. They are capturing our emotions, our expressions, and most important of all, Wonderful Memories of my brother's wedding!
A picture says a thousand words. If there are 3000 pictures being shot that day, there are 3 million words being said! :D

I'm the Best Man for my brother that day. It's been great, exciting, and sometimes tiring too. But I'm feeling Good! Driving up and down places.

I'm feeling good too because it's the first FIRST time in almost 20 years(I think) my house has opened for friends and relatives (more than 10). Yea. Anyway, if you have been to my house in the past, you will understand. If you haven't been(or can't enter the door) to my house in the past, then, it's okay anyway. :D

My house will be more warming and crowded (with people, not objects) now, which I like it! Haha.
I have more reasons to stay at home, and invite my friends over too!!

The Wedding dinner is grand and splendid too. Food is nice, but didn't manage to have it all. My family and friends went up stage to shout "YUM SENG!!!" to congratulate my brother's marriage, and went over to more than 20 tables, and shout "Yum Seng!!". I ended up with sore throat for days. BUT I love the feeling!!!

It's a magnificent day for everybody. My brother is on to next stage of his life. I will wish him the Best!!

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