Little do we realize we’ve been graced with gifts after gifts, countless blessings of abundance. I’m deeply grateful for the passion that life brings, the opportunities to fail and excel and above all, the privilege of purpose. Perhaps it’s not about what has happened to me that I can only be grateful for. Rather, to turn my mind to celebrate the joys of the successes of all my loved ones while gaining insight to their pain, tears, their journey on the path of resistance, and surrendering my own struggles as I identify with them at the same time.

The weekend was greeted with news of great joy, the Oxenham siblings brought Peekspy towards an exit with Ebay, being encouraged by the potential growth of homegrown startups. With news of Dominic’s assignment making its way to Jean Paul Gaultier’s show, during JPG’s upcoming visit to the Academy of Art. While sharing in Gerald’s freedom of being liberated from months of uncertainty, to find new doors opening. And basking in the beauty of Eugene’s self awareness of his struggles despite being in the military, yet pressing on and tuning his mind towards a perseverance of his lenten sacrifice.

Some times it takes years to uncover what we can be truly grateful for. These notes have inspired me since I was 21 to delve deep into understanding the world of poverty. Mohammad Yunus, the author of Creating a world without poverty, opened the Pandora in my mind to the countless blessing and opportunities in education I’ve received by simply being in this part of the world.

I’ve ever since hung on to the desire to provide the best I can for the poor, to constantly question myself, what more can I do, what more can I do.

Perhaps PlayMoolah has been set a part, to create a small dent in the universe, to equip us with the skills to manage their finances, perhaps in that process provide a simple way and bring us a step closer to emerge out of the poverty trap. It’s a journey of a lifetime and we’re constantly giving our best to innovate on the possible solutions, it’s not a one size fit all, we begin with the world’s children.

If there’s one thing that I’m thankful for, which has also caught me by surprise, 4 years after being continually inspired by Professor Yunus, I find him here in Singapore, creating Grameen labs with my community, right here in the familiarity of my home.

And you, thank you for sharing in my life, one simple way or another.

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Mindfulness teacher, Jon Kabat Zinn spoke at the conference at the Computer History Museum here in California. Thinking  to myself, perhaps words may not do justice to the immense gratitude I had for the fruitful panel, I decided that perhaps a simple handshake, this gesture in serene silence and gratitude may suffice for my measure of thanks.

The Power of Mindfulness – the panel was almost breathtaking. It was when Jon mentioned the following, “It’s about being mindful of yourself…” And in an immediate second or two, he corrected himself saying, “No, it’s more than that, perhaps you learn to be intimate with yourself, to know who you are and be comfortable with who you are.”

He reciprocated with silence, with full understanding of my deepest gratitude.

And in all curiousity I asked, “How is it that you have such a deep and profound precision of your choice of words?” The concise nature of his language and  how he corrected himself astounded with me. His pursuit for the right words enlightened my mind to search for the reason beneath it all.

And he replied, simply, “Because I care.”

This encapsulates the experience so well. Be inspired just as I was.

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A big thank you to Meng and his introduction to Wisdom 2.0 i found myself in the midst of like-minded and amazing individuals who represent the beauties of mindfulness. Nuggets of Wisdom and Inspirations from the various speakers. Here goes…

In the context of mindfulness in companies. “Starting up the company, is not simply a purpose but an expression of purpose.” This blew me away, very often we turn to doing things, executing tasks as a means for us to show the world, that we do what we do. The expression of purpose becomes a way of life, a way of living, a being. It’s no longer about the fulfillment simply at present that supersedes the past or the future. But encapsulates the moment, now, that allows the very purpose be fulfilled in its mutli-faceted fashion. Free and open to accepting the shapes and designs that it takes and unravels.

As individuals who self reflect, we realize that this has to ascend to an organizational level too, we reflect as a team. Simple suggestions came with the weekly TGIF beer bash, that allow everyone on the team to evaluate what is the one thing that can be improved. I was told once by a Mentor a very long time ago, to work on 1% that I am good at, everyday, you will be a little better at what we do day by day. Small Wins, Small Improvements.

We all are strapped with time, how is it that we often find ourselves mutli-tasking, trying to do too many things at one time. You might have asked this question, how is it that I can scale more efficiently? I heard one of the deepest wisdoms that I found at the conference, from Premal from Kiva, “The best way to scale is to deepen relationships!” How true, how apt, how beautiful. Makes me pause and think for a moment, what do we chase after so often?

Leaders though are no different from their team mates, in companies with flat hierarchies, they are leaders because they have been entrusted to make decisions and have thought about it long and hard enough for their team members to trust and believe that they will make the right decisions for the company.

Many lessons I’ve learnt from this one panel, wisdom after wisdom has caused me to nod in agreement and to reflect all over again how we build teams and fashion our companies.

Am inspired to reflect on the next, The Power of Presence…

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It’s a time of excitement and anticipation for every child. This is the time of the year when decision-making isn’t so difficult your 9 year old, waiting for this merry occasion to arrive and perhaps even before Christmas, the decision for what Mum would buy, would have already been decided.

The wish list seems to get longer and longer, the items larger and larger in value, when is it that enough is enough? How do you explain the budget that you have for each child during this Christmas? Can they understand why it’s important to choose an item within a budget? How involved are they about the budgets at home? Northwestern Mutual one points that, “Holidays are a good time to teach lessons in finance.”

Budgets are a proportion of our money that is available to us for specific purposes, it is critical in money management to teach our young their money on what they decide and choose to spend on. Why is it important? A budget sets the precedence for a few things,

1. It teaches children to understand what can we afford in our family.  Speaking to a Mom this Christmas we found her 10-year-old son contemplating how much he could spend on his Sister’s gift and how much he would apportion his savings to purchase gifts for the rest of the family. There and then, the notion of a budget was surfaced to him, explaining that he will have to spend within his means and decide how much he could afford to purchase in gifts for the entire list of family. Setting a budget enabled him to decide how much he would allocate to purchase meaningful and affordable gifts for each person at home without overspending and living within his means.
2. Budgeting also sets the stage on how your child will possibly think about buying the next time he goes on a shopping trip. Budgeting is a process that gets the young one thinking, how can I afford what I want? More importantly, am I apportioning my money so that I can have a balanced goal in mind for healthy spending and saving? This will be timely for us to teach our young, to learn the decision making process behind how the young one makes choices.

The budgeting exercise teaches them to understand that we have to work within their budgets! What can your child do? Start a budget for the upcoming New Year! A way to start the new year with some budgeting goals in mind!

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15th November 2010

November marked the start of Global Entrepreneurship Week here in Singapore and around the world. This initiative fuels activities, programs and business plan competitions etc, that surrounds being creative, innovative and entrepreneurial.

It was a privilege to be a part of the panel at the Global Entrepreneurship Launch 2010 this year. ”Can We Create The Next Steve Jobs” – that was the panel discussion with a stellar group of Entrepreneurs, Darius from TenCube, David from Studionorm and 19 year old Junliang who started his own tuition service agency before even going to college. An educator, Choon Kiat from and our very own local school and our Minister for Entrepreneurship, Mr Lee Yi Shyan.

The event was put together by Spring Singapore with NUS Entrepreneurship Center, the audience made up of students from the elementary to the tertiary institutions, aspiring entrepreneurs and stakeholders. The discussion thrived around inspiring our young people to explore in their young age what they enjoyed doing, more importantly, to seek out what they truly love.

Steve Jobs, a visionary and innovator started this creative idea back in the late 1970s with his co-founders Steve Wozniak and Mike Markkula. Ideas start small with humble beginnings, allow us to face challenges head-on, push limits and to fight for what we believe in. Even when the going gets tough, there are always chances for exploration and to be brought back to the fundamentals of why we first started. We may not have a Singaporean version of Steve Jobs here today, but I am definitely certain that we are planting seeds that will yield good fruits in the years to come. Visionaries do not spring out overnight, neither are they created out of prototypes, small steps and attainable goals will bring us far in this search for our very own visionary here in Singapore.

Will you be the next visionary in your own right?

10th November 2010

My trip back to my Alma Mater brought back tremendous memories of the early years of my childhood. Primary School in CHIJ Our Lady of Good Counsel, up a small hill in Serangoon Gardens, I spent my 6 years of early education. The topic of discussion centered around the journey of Entrepreneurship, the audiences were made up of young primary 5s and 6s, in their blue and white pinafore. This slide was talking about the value of network and friends. You might never know that the best friend sitting beside you, a life-time partner in your next business.

To the young people, I said, DREAM, I used to build castles in the air all the time as a little girl. Being explorative and ambitious in what I wanted to do, at the age of 7, confidence hanging in the air, reality however, far fetched to some extent. That never impeded me from dreaming. I took on the role of a teacher then, playing this role with my brothers. Also had my own currencies at home and  gave my brothers my version of money made out of torn magazine papers. What entrepreneurial attributes displayed – it was hilarious looking back on hindsight!

Parents, do keep an eye for the type of games your children choose to play, it’s pretty fascinating! There’s a desire for questions and a hunger for answers among the little ones I met. “What advice will you give to us who want to be Entrepreneurs?” In my response, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way (Thank you Wilson). If you never try, you’ll never really know.”

This made me laugh. “Can you speak Singlish?” – asked one of the Primary 6ser, “Okay lah!” I replied  Thank you Reini for the awesome capture!

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The Thesis I’ve been working on for the last few months, Triggers within Persuasive Technology and Persuasive Games for Savings and Money Management.

The study delves into the persuasiveness and outcomes in Persuasive Technology and Persuasive Games. With user’s mindsets and perspectives shaped, one questions their spending habits, more importantly, behavioural actions of actively take up a long term saving plan were a result of the study.

Such is consistent with research that has been found with Professor Lewis Mandell, that savings knowledge alone is in fact insufficient if  not practiced with good financial behaviour, in the real world. What  money lessons do we take away with us if we do not put into practice what we have learnt?  It remains pure knowledge, and left unapplied to the real world. Fascinating discussions and outcomes were derived out of the study, key results that surfaced, respondents were able to apply what they had learnt through in-game scenarios and apply them in their decision making processes that were related to purchases. Respondents questioned and cognitively processed their spending behaviour that would affect their savings pattern in the current saving goals that they were aiming for.

Identifying Triggers, as Stanford Professor BJ Fogg defined as, a prompt or cue, call to action, within games do allow us to determine what resonates and spurs the user to take an action or make a decision. This is important not only in determining what actions are surfaced as a result of the triggers, but more so, these Triggers suface as learning or reflection moments for each and everyone of us.

Each trigger encompasses tremendous potential for learning, and applying what one has learnt in-games to the real world.

With all that in mind, behavioural change alone has to be continually reflected with clear intentions by the social agents who design the tools and games that seek to influence or persuade users. This applies every day, in all areas, doesn’t it?

The study was done with college students at the National University of Singapore. An inspiration throughout the Thesis, Professor Tim Marsh, thanks for all the supervision! Thank you to all who took part in this study and helped in one way or another.

Will love to share more if you are keen to find out more about the research. Do feel free to get in touch!

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Down in Carmel Valley this weekend and here’s a glimpse of the view that we have from our place! A special big thank you to the people who have made this journey possible.

Other than soaking in on the beauty of Carmel, I am personally incredibly fond of long showers. As Paul Graham shares in his latest essay, The Top Idea in Your Mind, he mentions the ideas to which comes to mind in the shower is far more important than he thought.

It sets a time where a constant flow of energy rushes rapidly and ideas run through my mind like sparks of fire. The one top idea springs up instantaneously and trickles down, one after another, like a domino connecting the dots in the macro picture of things. And then the Ah-Ha moment hits and it’s almost an epiphany be it for new product iterations or on insights related to theories that range anywhere from education to politics.

We all find solace in our own unique places where ideas flow endlessly.

There’s a snippet of life I’d like to share. A young Mom with 2  kids, found that she was diagnosed with breast cancer the year she turned 35. With the horror and endless pain from chemotherapy, she would always fight to show a brave front in front of her two children. Her rationale, “Why should I make everyone suffer with me when it’s a pain that I can bear on my own? ” She used to laugh it off when we asked her how she was doing. “Not very different”, she’d say.

How do you cope I used to ask, after endless probing, she turned to me and said, “I’m still human, we learn to deal with things in our own ways. I take long showers and it’s there that I let my tears stream.”

This has stuck with me since the day I heard her. Each and everyone of us may go through a similar contextual experiences but through our very diverse lenses, we derive a multitude of meaningful experiences, beyond ideas.

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I knew I wanted to fly as a child. Always. A friend of mine said, when you dream that you are flying in the middle of your sleep, it’s almost a representation that life’s taking on a new phase or a new chapter for him. I seem to reckon so too. My first voyage!

Here’s presenting,
MK734 flying out
from Palo Alto, CA
Airport!

“Ask and it will be given to you seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7

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So here I am back in the bay area. 8 months have zipped by and everything here does not seemed to have change very much. It’s possibly that my perspective and outlook to events and things have very well been shaped and sharpened.

All seems to be a matter of how one chooses to perceive the circumstances and trials around them. I was touched and inspired by a meeting with Mia, a Mom of two kids, 5 and 12. Mia spent some time over dinner to share how her experience of seeking the best for her very special child and how she turned her child’s learning around. Often some children do not quite fit into schools due to the traditions, systems, ways of teaching and learning found in schools. Does your child come home crying? Upset over what school has done? Feared going back to school day after day?

What do we do when these things happen? We let it slide by because we have no clue what to do next. Or do we simply settle for the simplest alternative – convenience? Unrelenting standards never to settle for less will some times help to push us through to get the best for our loved ones. Persistently striving to search for the best school around that fits her first born, then 6. From researching in magazines to forums, to speaking with countless people and going the lengths to convince the people around her that turning a blind eye to her child’s happiness in school was simply, not alright?

Mia taught and showed me the love a Mother has for her child, despite circumstances that one resides in, has many alternatives. It’s very much the same picture to begin with, it’s just painted in a different way, played out with workarounds in a different manner.

Today, the little one spends time at The Nueva School, for the gifted.

Cheers to all the Moms who fight every day for the best for their little ones – Thank you.

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What do you see?

As cliche as it sounds, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. What beauty do we choose to see as a result of our experiences, circumstances, the people who have shaped our world and left an impression on us?

Do we choose to see the problems that come our way as imperfections or as opportunities? We define our own imperfections and our own opportunities, circumstances may rule so, but we all have a choice. How we choose to live out the decisions we make, we all have a hand. How far will you go in determining what is worth the mark at the end of the day. I could say, I’ve tried my very best and walked away knowing that the outcomes may be different, but the process well tried, well experienced, well lived.

In Fooled by Randomness, Nassim Nicholas he shares, “The only article that Lady Fortuna has no control over is your behaviour.”

I’m trying to learn to see the beauty in things, even in things I find distasteful or unpresentable. But it seems that in the essence of appreciating beauty in the imperfect, that new versions of beauty will emerge out of these newly altered perspective. A problem presented, now thus seen as a manner in which learning is set to take place.

Some introspection for the morning.

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