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Powerful Message from Steve Jobs

Diana — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 10:50:21 +0000

‘You’ve got to find what you love,’ Jobs says

This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That’s it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: “We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?” They said: “Of course.” My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents’ savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn’t see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn’t interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn’t all romantic. I didn’t have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends’ rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn’t have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can’t capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky – I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation – the Macintosh – a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn’t know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down – that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me – I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I retuned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple’s current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn’t even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor’s code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you’d have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I’m fine now.

This was the closest I’ve been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960′s, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.

I hope this speech inspired you as much as it has inspired me.

I go back and read it from time to time when I need a boost.

There is more to Life than Work

Diana — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 02:59:20 +0000

Some people are parasites, depending on others to feed them and refuse to work. It is not that they cannot work, but they choose not to work and take the easy way out, like sitting the whole day in the shop lot waiting for customers to walk in and give them business. For others, they prefer to nap the whole day and give excuse after excuse like cannot handle work pressure, etc. Just yesterday, I read an article in the newspapers of a young girl, a graduate in Computer Science from Australia who committed suicide after having depression and came back from Taiwan six months ago. This is so tragic as her condition could be averted by taking medication and seeing the mental health doctor. Life is more than work, it is about enjoying what you do and learning how to handle the daily grind and dreary pressure that may come along your way.

Lawsuit Funding for You

Diana — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 11:02:28 +0000

Should we get involve in an accident and need to go through a lawsuit in court, we may need some lawsuit cash advance to pay first for the court case. This is possible because not many people will have the emergency cash to spend in situations like this. For a pre-settlement funding, you will pay back when you have won the case and this is how they recoup their finances and earnings. You don’t have to be stuck financially in a lawsuit and the lawsuit loans settlement provides an avenue for most ordinary people like us – some of whom may be cash-strap. In the USA, you are lucky as there is this company known as Light House Legal that provides such services for your consideration.

Lawsuits are expensive and time consuming. Sometimes, you may even have to wait for months before your case can be heard in court. That is why top notch litigation lawyers are paid top dollars if they are good and usually win the legal case in court. If we were to turn to the banks for legal cases like accidents, et cetera, the banks may turn us down in our request for financial funding. So, it pays to read blogs and be the first to know that such services like lawsuit cash advance is available.

Unhealthy Side Effects

Diana — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 02:42:23 +0000

You might like to know that I had ambitions of becoming a doctor when I was young, but that was not to be. Instead I studied Computer Technology in Singapore and worked in the IT line. On a side note, Actos is an oral diabetes medicine that has been shown by recent studies to lead to serious injuries such as heart attacks, heart failure, and an increased risk of bladder cancer, which can result in an Actos lawsuit. Pioglitazone, the chemical name for Actos was sold under the trade names Actos, ActoplusMet, Competact and Duetact.

So beware of what you are buying off the shelves from the pharmacy in your neighborhood. Some of the medication that we take may have adverse side effects. So it is better to do some research on the internet first before purchasing that medication or as prescribed by your doctor who may be unaware of the lawsuits. Hence, it is good to seek second or even third opinion from the medical experts if you can afford it. You can never take your health for granted and trust to consume every medication given to you safely.

Some of the side effects may take years to be discovered by clients or patients. By then it may be too late for you already. So, be in the know all the time as knowledge is power and brings good health. Some of the medication may cause obesity or numbness of the peripherals. Others may have worse side effects.

Milking the Internet

Diana — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 02:21:37 +0000

Making money on the internet certainly requires some effort and luck. Your computer is your cash cow for you to milk from the internet with broadband connectivity. You have to be resourceful by scouring through the thousands of web sites to find the select few that pays regularly for some work done in a timely manner. Nobody is going to teach you how to do it and it is up to your determination to find the needle in the haystack. During good times, it was lucrative but not anymore. A lot of people are still jobless and the unemployment rate hovers around 9% in USA in current times.

EPF Reaps RM6.53 Billion In Investment Income In Q1 2011

Diana — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 04:57:42 +0000

The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) opened the year with a commendable investment performance registering RM6.53 billion income in Q1 2011, a year-on year growth of 19.76 per cent or RM1.08 billion compared to the corresponding period in 2010. The significant hike was primarily due to encouraging equity performance on the back of stronger corporate earnings and resilient economic fundamentals.

In Q1 2011, investment in Equities contributed RM3.23 billion or 49.44 per cent of EPF’s total investment income, representing a 20.24 per cent hike compared to the RM2.69 billion recorded in Q1 2010.

“Equity prices were further boosted by strong performance across all key sectors, primarily benefitting from higher global commodity prices, while construction-related stocks strengthened with the announcement of several major projects under the Government’s Economic Transformation Programme (ETP). The favourable trade volume had also facilitated EPF to capitalise on profit taking,” said EPF Chief Executive Officer Tan Sri Azlan Zainol when commenting on the unaudited Q1 2011 investment income results.

Loans and Bonds accounted for the second largest contributor to EPF’s investment income, with a return of RM1.77 billion for Q1 2011. This represented an increase of RM436.59 million or 32.66 per cent rise in reference to the RM1.34 billion recorded in the same period in 2010. Malaysian Government Securities, meanwhile, generated an income of RM1.35 billion, up RM71.54 million compared to Q1 2010.

Returns from Money Market Instruments also recorded double-digit growth, increasing 14.61 per cent to RM153.09 million from RM133.58 million in Q1 2010.

Investment income from Properties meanwhile grew by 29.76 per cent or RM6.45 million, increasing to RM28.12 million from RM21.67 million during the same quarter in 2010.

As at 31 March 2011, the EPF’s total investment fund stood at RM450.26 billion with the asset allocation as follows :

Types of Investments	RM billion	Asset Allocation (%)
Malaysian Government Securities	125.15	27.79
Loans and Bonds	145.51	32.32
Equities	160.05	35.55
Money Market Instruments	17.71	3.93
Property	1.84	0.41
Total	450.26	100.00

“With the global economy expected to experience uneven economic recovery and more moderate growth for the remainder of the year, EPF will continue to consolidate its investment efforts to ensure that members’ retirement savings are optimised. To this end, we will continue to be cautious and vigilant in our investments by maintaining a prudent and low-risk investment approach,” stated Tan Sri Azlan.

About the Employees Provident Fund (EPF)
The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) is Malaysia’s premier pension fund, providing basic financial security for retirement. The Fund is committed to preserving and growing the savings of its members in accordance with best practices in investment and corporate governance. It will always be guided by prudence in its investment decisions.

As a customer-focused organisation, the EPF delivers efficient and reliable services for the convenience of its members and registered employers. The EPF continues to play a catalytic role in the nation’s economic growth, consistent with its position as a leading savings institution in Malaysia.

Petronas buys Canadian shale gas assets worth $1bil

Diana — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 00:31:51 +0000

Malaysian oil giant Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), via its wholly-owned subsidiary Petronas International Corp Ltd (PICL), has signed an agreement with Canada-based Progress Energy Resources Corp to acquire 50% of the latter’s interest in shale gas assets worth C$1.07bil (US$1.09bil).

In a statement, Petronas said the agreement was signed to develop the Altares, Lily and Kahta shale gas assets in north-eastern British Columbia. “The assets included in the transaction cover approximately 150,000 gross working-interest acres of land with an estimated contingent gas resource of more than 15 trillion cu ft. The assets will be operated by Progress,” said Petronas.

It said the proposed acquisition would mark Petronas’ maiden entry into Canada and would allow for accelerated upstream growth that could potentially advance a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export value proposition in that country. “Petronas views the acquisition as a highly attractive opportunity, paving its entry into the North American shale gas industry while at the same time further strengthening its position as a leading global LNG player.”

As part of the acquisition, Petronas and Progress have agreed to establish an LNG export joint venture to conduct a feasibility study on the economic viability of an integrated LNG export facility in western Canada. “This could provide a strategic alternative to the traditional North American pipeline gas market,” Petronas said.

The two companies have also agreed to collaborate on other potential natural gas opportunities in western Canada. “The transaction is conditional upon relevant regulatory approvals and Petronas expects the transaction to close in the third quarter of 2011.” Bank of America Merrill Lynch is the exclusive financial advisor to Petronas on this transaction.

Obama: Al-Qaida head bin Laden dead

Diana — Mon, 02 May 2011 06:23:45 +0000

WASHINGTON – Osama bin Laden, the glowering mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks that killed thousands of Americans, was slain in a firefight Sunday with U.S. forces in Pakistan, ending a manhunt that spanned a frustrating decade.

“Justice has been done,” President Barack Obama said in a dramatic late-night announcement at the White House.

A jubilant crowd of thousands gathered outside the White House as word spread of bin Laden’s death. Hundreds more sang and waved American flags at Ground Zero in New York — where the twin towers that once stood as symbols of American economic power were brought down by bin Laden’s hijackers 10 years ago.

Another hijacked plane slammed into the Pentagon on that cloudless day, and a fourth was commandeered by passengers who forced it to the ground before it could reach its intended target in Washington.

U.S. officials said the helicopter raid in Pakistan was carried out by CIA paramilitaries together with the elite Navy SEAL Team Six. The U.S. team took custody of bin Laden’s remains, which American officials said were being handled in accordance with Islamic tradition.

The death marks a psychological triumph in a long struggle, although its ultimate impact on al-Qaida is less clear.

The greatest terrorist threat to the U.S. is now considered to be the al-Qaida franchise in Yemen, far from al-Qaida’s core in Pakistan. The Yemen branch almost took down a U.S.-bound airliner on Christmas 2009 and nearly detonated explosives aboard two U.S. cargo planes last fall. Those operations were carried out without any direct involvement from bin Laden.

Obama said he gave the order for the operation after receiving intelligence information that he did not further describe.

HK ‘Superman’ Ka-shing ahead in malls bid

Diana — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 02:43:34 +0000

By BUSINESS TIMES

The Cheung Kong Group, owned by Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, has emerged as the front runner to buy three shopping complexes put up for sale by TMW Asia Property Fund.

Cheung Kong, which also helps manage AmFirst REIT in Malaysia via its affiliate ARA, is said to be going through the books of Ipoh Parade in Perak, Klang Parade in Selangor and Seremban Parade in Negri Sembilan.

Sources told Business Times that Cheong Kong was selected after its offer thumped those made by two other listed companies.

However, it is unclear if Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd made the bid directly or through one of the funds affiliated to it.

Li, who is also Asia’s richest man, is known as “Superman” in Hong Kong due to his deal-making ability. His Cheung Kong conglomerate is one of Hong Kong’s biggest property developers and owns the world’s largest operator of container ports, among others.

German-based TMW Asia Property Fund is selling the three shopping complexes which it bought in 2005 in a tender. The tender closed on March 8 2011.

The fund is managed by Pramerica, the real estate investment management business of Prudential Inc from the US.

It is understood that the asking price for the three assets was set at RM500 million.

International property consultant Rahim & Co was appointed as the exclusive agent to handle the tender.

Real estate agent, Rahim & Co’s managing director Robert Ang, when contacted by Business Times to confirm the bidders declined to comment.

TMW Asia bought the properties which then belonged to the Lion Group for RM340 million.

According to previous reports, Seremban Parade has a nett lettable area of 316,847 sq ft and sits on 1.97ha, Ipoh Parade has a nett lettable area of 594,414 sq ft on 4.14ha and Klang Parade has 696,045 sq ft of space.

Cheung Kong’s affiliate, ARA Asia Dragon Fund, bought two properties in Malaysia last year – One Mont’ Kiara in Kuala Lumpur and Aeon Bandaraya Mall Melaka – for a total of RM710 million.

Malaysian Politics are So Ridiculous

Diana — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 10:05:26 +0000

The false accusations that Anwar Ibrahim is facing show that election is just around the corner. The government is scared of Anwar and suddenly Datuk T comes out with a sex tape linking Anwar with a prostitute to tell the public that he is unfit to rule. From sodomy charges that dragged on for so long to divert Anwar’s attention on politics, to the sex tape now. And then Hishamuddin wants to sue Anwar for defamation. To be truthful, Anwar has done nothing wrong other than walked into the trap set up for him, as widely believed. Everyone knows Anwar is innocent and all these rubbish are out to get him to quit politics. What about our PM Najib with Altantuya and Razak Baginda? I have seen pictures linking our PM Najib with Altantuya who was murdered and the case is still unsolved. This is more serious – taking a young innocent life compared to sodomy or sex tape. Thanks to Anwar, the political landscape has changed for the better especially for the Chinese and Indians, hopefully. Malaysian politics are indeed crazy and are so ridiculous!