I have attempted this Strength Profile test and here is the outcome of my talents and strength.

"Book Description
Unfortunately, most of us have little sense of our talents and strengths, much less the ability to build our lives around them. Instead, guided by our parents, by our teachers, by our managers and by psychology's fascination with the origin of disease, we become experts in our weaknesses and spend our lives trying to repair these flaws, while our strengths lie dormant and neglected.

Marcus Buckingham, co-author of the international bestseller, First, Break All the Rules, and Donald O. Clifton, Chair of the Gallup International Research & Education Centre, have created a revolutionary programme to help readers identify their talents, build them into strengths, and enjoy consistent, near-perfect performance. At the heart of the book is the Internet-based StrengthsFinder(r) Profile, the product of a 25-year, multi-million pound effort to identify the most prevalent human strengths. The programme introduces 34 dominant "themes" with thousands of possible combinations, and reveals how they can best be translated into personal and career success. In developing this programme, Gallup has conducted psychological profiles with over two million individuals to help you learn how to focus and perfect these themes.

So how does it work? Each book contains a unique identification number that allows you access to the StrengthsFinder(r) Profile on the Internet. This Web-based interview analyses your instinctive reactions and immediately presents you with your five most powerful themes. Once you know which of the 34 themes--such as Achiever, Activator, Empathy, Futuristic, or Strategic--you lead with, the book will show you how to leverage them for powerful results at three levels: for your own development, for your success as a manager, and for the success of the organisation.

With accessible and profound insights on how to turn talents into strengths, and with the immediate on-line feedback of StrengthsFinder(r) at its core, Now, Discover Your Strengths is one of the most ground-breaking and useful business books ever written. "

	Learner
You love to learn. The subject matter that interests you most will be determined by your other themes and experiences, but whatever the subject, you will always be drawn to the process of learning. The process, more than the content or the result, is especially exciting for you. You are energized by the steady and deliberate journey from ignorance to competence. The thrill of the first few facts, the early efforts to recite or practice what you have learned, the growing confidence of a skill mastered-this is the process that entices you. Your excitement leads you to engage in adult learning experiences-yoga or piano lessons or graduate classes. It enables you to thrive in dynamic work environments where you are asked to take on short project assignments and are expected to learn a lot about the new subject matter in a short period of time and then move on to the next one. This Learner theme does not necessarily mean that you seek to become the subject matter expert, or that you are striving for the respect that accompanies a professional or academic credential. The outcome of the learning is less significant than the "getting there."
	Input
You are inquisitive. You collect things. You might collect information-words, facts, books, and quotations-or you might collect tangible objects such as butterflies, baseball cards, porcelain dolls, or sepia photographs. Whatever you collect, you collect it because it interests you. And yours is the kind of mind that finds so many things interesting. The world is exciting precisely because of its infinite variety and complexity. If you read a great deal, it is not necessarily to refine your theories but, rather, to add more information to your archives. If you like to travel, it is because each new location offers novel artifacts and facts. These can be acquired and then stored away. Why are they worth storing? At the time of storing it is often hard to say exactly when or why you might need them, but who knows when they might become useful? With all those possible uses in mind, you really don't feel comfortable throwing anything away. So you keep acquiring and compiling and filing stuff away. It's interesting. It keeps your mind fresh. And perhaps one day some of it will prove valuable.
	Individualization
Your Individualization theme leads you to be intrigued by the unique qualities of each person. You are impatient with generalizations or "types" because you don't want to obscure what is special and distinct about each person. Instead, you focus on the differences between individuals. You instinctively observe each person's style, each person's motivation, how each thinks, and how each builds relationships. You hear the one-of-a-kind stories in each person's life. This theme explains why you pick your friends just the right birthday gift, why you know that one person prefers praise in public and another detests it, and why you tailor your teaching style to accommodate one person's need to be shown and another's desire to "figure it out as I go." Because you are such a keen observer of other people's strengths, you can draw out the best in each person. This Individualization theme also helps you build productive teams. While some search around for the perfect team "structure" or "process," you know instinctively that the secret to great teams is casting by individual strengths so that everyone can do a lot of what they do well.
	Activator
"When can we start?" This is a recurring question in your life. You are impatient for action. You may concede that analysis has its uses or that debate and discussion can occasionally yield some valuable insights, but deep down you know that only action is real. Only action can make things happen. Only action leads to performance. Once a decision is made, you cannot not act. Others may worry that "there are still some things we don't know," but this doesn't seem to slow you. If the decision has been made to go across town, you know that the fastest way to get there is to go stoplight to stoplight. You are not going to sit around waiting until all the lights have turned green. Besides, in your view, action and thinking are not opposites. In fact, guided by your Activator theme, you believe that action is the best device for learning. You make a decision, you take action, you look at the result, and you learn. This learning informs your next action and your next. How can you grow if you have nothing to react to? Well, you believe you can't. You must put yourself out there. You must take the next step. It is the only way to keep your thinking fresh and informed. The bottom line is this: You know you will be judged not by what you say, not by what you think, but by what you get done. This does not frighten you. It pleases you.
	Command
Command leads you to take charge. Unlike some people, you feel no discomfort with imposing your views on others. On the contrary, once your opinion is formed, you need to share it with others. Once your goal is set, you feel restless until you have aligned others with you. You are not frightened by confrontation; rather, you know that confrontation is the first step toward resolution. Whereas others may avoid facing up to life's unpleasantness, you feel compelled to present the facts or the truth, no matter how unpleasant it may be. You need things to be clear between people and challenge them to be clear-eyed and honest. You push them to take risks. You may even intimidate them. And while some may resent this, labeling you opinionated, they often willingly hand you the reins. People are drawn toward those who take a stance and ask them to move in a certain direction. Therefore, people will be drawn to you. You have presence. You have Command.

Fairy Tales - 童话(中） 동화 （韩）

It is interesting to know that Koreans are besmitted with popular Chinese song - Tong Hua (Fairy Tales who was sung by Michael Kwang). See the similar MV - Original MTV (Chinese) and the translated version (Korean). I prefer the originial as actor and actress really acted as if they were in their real lives. Enjoy viewing these MTVs!

Chinese version (Original)with english subtitles



Korean Version

NUS Biathlon

Done my NUS biathlon and the timing was not as good as before. Anyway, there are many more competition ahead for me to participate. Last Monday, I went for the training with JC Low who corrected us the proper swim strokes to maximise the efficiency in the sea water. We trained for almost 2 hours and then we went off. I went off to Junction 8 and waited for Collin to pick me up.

Yesterday I went for Japanese class and my Japanese classmate aced through JLPT 1. Wah lao....I failed JLPT 2 and it was my first time in my history of education to fail the national examination. I never never have had failed any examinations from Pri level to University level. It was such a shame that given my clean record to pass all the examinations, especially with exceptional high marks, I only failed JLPT 2 which was equivalent to GCE 'O' Level standard. I wish I could speak Japanese fluently...but more practice is still required.

Anyway, I received an email from a cochlear implantee who went for cochlear implant operation to acquire better hearing. He shared a lot of his insights after his operation and he remarked that cochlear implant gave him a positive and full LIFE and he is able to complete Grade 8 Piano course. Wow...The idea of going for cochlear implant is not remote for my case as I have to think of my future especially career. In order to climb the career ladders, communication is extremely vital especially teleconversation. This fact will never be denied though some people try to mitigate the bare truth that they do not really like to communicate over the phone. But the bottom line is that they have to make some necessary phone calls to do the urgent tasks. And who wants to hire someone who cannot do such a simple task like calling someone to solve problems? That is the reality that the deaf has to grapple with. Perhaps, after the Half-Ironman competition, I will find out more about cochlear implant and decide on whether I should go for operation. My parents, Gilbert and Collin fully support my decision if I were to go for cochlear implant operations.

See the excerpt from a cochlear implantee and I have erased the name to protect the identity of someone.

"Morning Adrian,

No problem! Was waiting for your email for quite a few days now and was wondering if I had missed it.

I'll give some background information about me first! I was born in 19XX, with severe to profound hearing loss. (So that means I'm XXXX this year.) My hearing loss was near to being profound when I was implanted at the age of XX. Before that, I was wearing hearing aids and communicating verbally throughout my life. Like you, I had pronunciation problems, but people around me gradually adapted to that.

I have been implanted for XX years now, and I find that it has led to a tremendous improvement in the quality of my life by increasing vastly the quality of hearing. Granted, the first few weeks after the implant gave me headaches, since some time is needed for your brain to adapt to the implant and to learn to interpret the sounds. What I heard was plenty of static and chatter with little meaning, but day by day, my interpretation of the sounds steadily improved.

About your question on whether I'm able to hold a conversation much better, I cannot emphasis how much I want to say yes! I'm able to hold a conversation very well (only asking the person to repeat himself once or twice throughout the whole duration) one-on-one, as well as in group conversations up to four people. Beyond that number, however, I cannot keep up. This is only applicable in a noisy environment like a hawker centre. In quiet environments, like in a meeting or a lecture, I'm able to hear the lecturer very well no matter where I sit, and I'm able to take questions easily in a meeting of many people. You will find that if you have a cochlear implant, you will be amazed at how many new sounds you can pick up. A few examples I can think of are the tick-tock of the car signal (when you signal right, there will be a tick-tock sound), and the soft purr of a cat. Before, I could not hold a conversation over the telephone with my hearing aids, with the implant, now I can hold a conversation over the phone. These are just a few of the many amazing benefits the implant has given to me. And oh, I picked up the piano a few months after I was implanted, and I'll be taking my Grade 8 piano exam in a few months' time. So you can see how much my perception of sound has improved.

After the implant, my pronunciation got much better and people are able to understand me much better (I'm going to emcee in an upcoming launched hosted by SGH ENT), but I still have to remind myself to articulate properly and to prevent bad habits from creeping in. Even with the implant, you still have to remind yourself to self-correct because of the nature of our hearing and our past speech history with hearing aids.

Nevertheless, like a hearing aid, the cochlear implant is still an electronic medical device. When showering or swimming or in situations when much water is involved, you need to remove it. However, with the Cochlear Freedom speech processor, you'll be able to wear it throughout strenous exercise and sports like soccer, badminton, ultimate frisbee, basically sports that involve a lot of running and jumping (I engage in all these while wearing my Freedom!)

Yes, I'm also able to understand people who are speaking to me from behind etc. However, this is only applicable to people with clear voices or people who I am familiar with, and in certain situations. Due to my 13 years' worth of hearing with hearing aids, lipreading was a skill that I had to pick up, but you'll find that with the implant, you'll rely a lot less on lipreading. I must stress that when you have the implant, you will find that you'll still rely on lipreading, because most likely by now, you will have a habit of resorting to lipreading first before hearing. This applies when you have the implant, and you will need to enforce self-discipline and try not to lip-read people in order to train yourself to hear without lipreading.

This is where I talk about the part of the cochlear implant not being a magic bullet. Too many times in my course of volunteer work, I come across many implantees who fail to maximise their implant because of either of two reasons: their parents did not teach them properly/did not teach them at all OR the young adults/adults (young adults mostly, the adults always had questions on how they could improve in what area etc) always resorted to sign, lipreading, or didn't want to wear the implant at all (which is really such a waste). Nevertheless, the majority of cochlear implantees have experienced much success with the implant.

Yup, SGH recommends you to go for therapy or rehab after you get the implant. Before I went for rehab, I was actually quite able to understand the sounds around me by then. But the purpose of the 6 month rehab session for me (I'm not sure how often I went - maybe once every two or three weeks?) was to make me learn to hear without lipreading (some of the sessions were spent like this - my back was to the therapist the whole time, and she would ask me to repeat sentences, stories, or words he/she spoke to me). Admittedly, I still use lipreading because there are just some people out there who speak ever so softly or have these really weird voices/accents or just keep mumbling. I'm sure you have come across people like that hahaha.

As for the regular check-up, I don't think Dr Low meant checking software/maintenance etc. What he meant most likely was your regular mapping sessions - initially after the implant, they will do an initial map on you which will act as your sound program for the speech processor. Initially you'll be doing a map every 6-9 months to keep improving your level of hearing, but as the years go by, your map will most likely eventually 'stabilise' and you will go for fewer maps ie. once every 1/1.5/2 years.

As for the hardware in your head, you won't have to worry too much about that. Prof Low is a very capable doctor, and as far as I know, under him there has been no device failures (which is a very real risk overseas). The cochlear coil by itself is a very hardy device and will not break so easily in your head. It's covered by a lifetime warranty too (for Cochlear, I'm not sure about Advanced Bionics) so if it breaks in your lifetime, they'll replace it.

Hopefully this answered the questions you had. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask me! Doing the implantation is a very important decision to make, and you should be well-informed before making it. However, once doing it, and putting the appropriate effort in.. the potential benefits are immeasurable! I have to say my life really changed so much for the better after the implant!"

Anyway, let's see how it goes. Today I will be rushing down to National Stadium for my cycling training.

Packed schedule arghh.....

From 5th March onwards, my schedule will be super packed with training for Half-ironman, dragon boating training and my courses. See my schedule here.

Chinese New Year

I had a fabulous time over the CNY period with my friends and family and most importantly with my partner. Come to think that it is not easy to be out to your family with your partner and it is either not easy for my parents to be extremely nice to your partner. Even now, I still do not know whether my mom knows about us. As the Zen buddhism tradition believes in "don't know" concept, it is better off that my mom remains as what she chooses to be.


Anyway i was looking at the website for the meditation course and i found one. It was offered every Saturday for 6 lessons on sitting meditation, walking meditation, Dharma talks, interview, Kong-an practice and Hua Tou practice. I have just emailed to that person-in-charge with some questions and I see how whether i can register for this mediation classes. Sometimes I need to reconnect with the Higher being to nurture my spiritual side. I also need a quiet moment to do my deep thinking about the Life itself. Anyway I will see how it goes.

A nice little cute video before CNY

I always like cats and penguins
See this youtube movie.
Awesomefully cute!!!

Today is Fridae and following will have a long week

Wow. We will have a long week including CNY holidays. I received an email from someone that she is looking for someone who can lead SMU students to Sikkim, India which is among my top favourite must-go places. Sikkim is the second smallest state of India. Sikkim is termed as the Switzerland of the east, a heavenly paradise on earth. Mt. Khangchendzonga, the third highest peak in the world at 8586 m, dominates the landscape and is revered as Sikkim's guardian deity. So i am quite excited about it but i could not confirm cos I am planning to look for a job. So, this year, I am asked to go to China for overseas dragon boat competition and Sikkim for overseas volunteerism work. But i must say that i really really miss the trekking experience in Nepal. Collin told me that he wanted to visit Nepal with me one of the day and it certainly makes me feel more excited about it. However, we need to be realistic sometimes. We cannot always apply for leave to go for holidays. So, sometimes, we have to hold back for a while. Lost opportunity does not mean it is lost forever. It may revisit one day provided we have lesser committment at that moment.

On top of that, I have 2 more trips that Collin and I plan to celebrate. I have to see how it goes first.

Valentine's day!

After work, I wanted to do some shopping for books as usual ...so I walked down to Raffles City SC which was more packed than usual with couples who want to spend their valentine's day. Flower business was very brisk and everywhere u can see couples holding bouqets of flowers or balloons, leaving other single green with envy. So, i went down to MPH but i could not find any books that interested me..so I wanted to go up to Sembawang MUSIC centre to browse thru some japanese drama...the drama that i wanted to watch "1 Litre of Tears". Unfortunately, the drama series were not out yet so I went downstairs. As I was walking downstairs, an oil painting caught my attention. It was really special to me...as it flooded me with an old memory of my time when I first took my art class at Parklane Shopping Centre.

I remembered the first time I drew was just a simple drawing paper and crayon. I was only 5 years old when my mom sent me for art classes in 1985. I was asked to draw according to the teacher's instruction. We were asked to draw a misty mountain and on its foot, a hut with the lonely river was drawn. A fisherman was walking towards the hut and it certainly made me feel nostalgic once more time. It was like walking down the memory lane when I was young once more time again...Reflecting on the present moment, I am already grown up adult, armed with University degree, beautiful partner, stable career and fun batches of my friends. It seemed that Time has stood still for me at that moment that I was transported to that day when I was just 1.4 metres standing in front of the stand with its huge white drawing paper. I remembered there were around 5 or 6 older students busily drawing. I peered out from my drawing board to take a look at my teacher's drawing and went back to draw the outline. I could remember that it was raining at that time and it was freezing cold to draw in an air-conditioned room. After 1 hour was up, we were to hand in the drawing paper and i handed in my paper, brimming with pride. That was my first art piece.

Coming back to the reality, I held up the oil painting and i fingered across the oil painting. Though the colours were totally different, the feeling that poured into painting was the same....it struck a chord in my heart, belting a little memory "Yesterday once more". I stood there for quite some time before i decided to buy a painting.

Then I headed back home and changed quickly. I popped in the "March of the penguins" and it was really a good documentary. It won a best Oscar award and it described the march of the Emperor penguin to the place of origin where they found love, nursed their chicks and finally marched back to the sea. The cycle of life repeats all over for the next winter. It was definitely worth to be watched!Then i slept for a while and i suddenly felt a gust of wind brushing aside my face. I woke up and walked out to get water. I saw Collin busily preparing meal for us and I was happy to see him again. Today was a Valentine's day...and we prepared meals together. We had a quiet moment sharing interesting topics.

What a beautiful day for me..what can I ask for more since everyday is a learning lesson for all of us. A powerful and simple message reminds me that 'just being alive is one of the most beautiful gift from God.' No one will know what will happen the next day.

My cupcake won a prize!

Done some simple decoration for my cupcakes yesterday.

Enable Masterplan 2007-2011

I was invited to work on the disabled issues pertaining to Disabled Sports and Volunteerism with the disabled. I am glad to know that the recommendations which I have brought up has been published and has already been circulated to the public.
Enabling Masterplan 2007-2011

Secondly, the Deaf Boleh committee has some concern about the ENABLE Fund. The current practice is that if the companies want to hire disabled, the companies must ensure that they MUST hire the minimum of 4 disabled people. It will be difficult for the companies to obtain the funds even if they are willing to give chance to the disabled people. We felt that it could be counterproductive and therefore, they suggested that it is best to do away with the criteria. Instead of abiding the minimum of 4 criteria, the companies can hire 1 disabled and they are still qualified to tap on the ENABLE Fund.

So, I conveyed their concern to the one of the Steering Committee members to do away with the minimum of 4 disabled people. See the newspaper articile extracts from CNA.

Companies adopt ways to help disabled workers fit in
By Satish Cheney, Channel NewsAsia Posted: 13 February 2007 1936 hrs

SINGAPORE: Better job opportunities for the disabled is part of the masterplan for the disability sector for the next five years.

It has even been recommended that funding be extended to companies that employ just one disabled person.

Currently, the Enable Fund offers grants to firms employing at least four disabled persons.

One of these workers is 32-year-old Priscilla Wong, who was born deaf and mute.

Despite her disabilities, she has been groomed to be a production line leader to help disabled workers joining the company, Natural Cool Holdings.

She said a case of low-self esteem often discourages disabled people from seeking employment.

"Chances of getting a job are hard these days. But also, many disabled people have low confidence and feel inferior. I was simple-minded during my school days, but now I have accepted the reality of my environment. I am a little bit happy here," said Ms Wong.

Natural Cool Holdings, which produces electrical switch gears, currently employs five disabled workers who earn the same salary and benefits as other employees.

It is currently tapping into the Enable Fund to train existing workers to cope with disabled workers.

But the company said it is not hiring them out of pity, but because it has trouble finding enough manpower to work on its production lines.

It also suggested another way to encourage companies to hire disabled people.

"Instead of funding, I think the tax rebate method will be better for the company. As long as the workers work well and the company grows, we may not even need the funding," said Steven Chen, CEO.

The company will be taking in three more disabled workers next week and said it is keeping its doors open to others keen for a job. - CNA/so