The Inevitable Facebook

I never quite like the idea of social network in the sense I never think they will really work (who in their right mind would use the Internet to interact with friends all the time). MySpace and Friendster didn’t quite work, why would Facebook be an exception?

I was sceptical of Facebook’s massive "linking" and sacrificing "privacy" (telling all your friends about what you do, including things which you don’t want them to know). Don’t be surprise it will be able to update what songs are you listening, what video you are watching, and even what things had you bought online. Imagine I was watching pornography and my status was updated to everyone I know, oh my gosh. Another thing which worry me is the lack of separation from my private and professional facebook indentity, which could affect each other quite a lot.

Then again, it seems like Facebook did really make it after all. Most of my friends are on Facebook nowadays, thus they seldom update their blogs or multiply anymore. If I am not connected to them on Facebook, it is a bit hard for me to get the updates. So it seems like Facebook is the de facto standard in getting connected with friends online. It is a success because every tom, dick and harry (IT savvy and non-savvy) is on Facebook; and I am on it now as well though I try to prolong the assimilation process.

Besides personal reasons, social media had been an inevitable tools for online business as well. Practically a blog, Twitter and Facebook are standard online marketing tools for any online business, so Malaysia Most Wanted needs to do its part to stay connected.

I was a bit worry about mixing of personal profile and business entity in Facebook (imagine my clients seeing a photo of me doing some crazy stuff), as both images just didn’t mix well. Luckily there is an obvious separation of Facebook Profile (which must be a human) and Facebook Fan Page (which could be any entity). Updates which happen in Profile page will have no effect on the Fan Page, which is just what I need.

So Malaysia Most Wanted is finally on Facebook, and so am I.

Life's a Dance

When I was fourteen I was falling fast
For a blue-eyed girl in my homeroom class
Trying to find the courage to ask her out
Was like trying to get oil from a waterspout
What she would’ve said I can’t say
I never did ask and she moved away
But I learned something from my blue-eyed girl
Sink or swim you gotta give it a whirl.
- John Michael Montgomery, “Life’s a Dance”



Sometimes we are so afraid to act on something; at the end we still loose it. I know a lot of things are not so easy psychologically, including asking a girl out and many other things. The thing is, things might still get worse if we didn’t do anything about it; though we might face some rejection if we did it. No matter what, there is always a price to pay either we do it or not, or we prefer to pay which price (never to get the girl you love, or possibility of facing one rejection?).

I know, I know. It’s easier to ignore it, as there is no disappointment if there is no hope. But then again, isn’t the price worth it and hope is what’s keep us going? Even if you give up this time, the hope will be burnt up again in the future, putting you on the same crossroad and making the same decision again. How many times should we run away?

It’s not just about a girl or love, as there are so many decisions we shall be making through out our life. Our career, our lifestyle, our business, our opportunities, our happiness and our destiny, all are formed by the decisions we make in life.

Sink or Swim, you gotta give it a whirl (so at least you know for once or more, what would happen if you do it; most of the time, even a failure could bring positive changes for the future).

Then again, it’s easier said than done, and that’s exactly why it’s so precious.

The Road to Richness

Human is a very difficult being to understand. We change our mind from time to time, and there is always something which even we didn’t realize.

The main reason behind my childhood dream to start my own company and be my own boss is to be rich; but at the end I become a semi-boss-turn-freelancer (a boss without helpers), with less appetite for richness. The funny thing being freelancer is we can’t actually get rich with it, but it does buy us some form of freedom in life. I get a bit of both world: I get some money and I get some freedom (is like half a rich man).

Human are very optimistic, especially programmers. I still carry some hope of gaining richness and true freedom through my master plan, as long as I am not too lazy or distracted to carry out the plan.


The real question is, do I still want to be rich? I was watching Thomas Crown (not a great movie, but it’s attractive in a certain sense), and I was attracted by his “free” lifestyle. I don’t really find excitement in stealing, but it’s the sense of freedom and not to be bound by material things in this world and just follow our heart. Money is used to buy enjoyment, and not being the slave of money. Again, do I want to be rich? Perhaps yes, or at least as rich as I don’t need to work anymore for the rest of my life, and preferably slightly more (and I am getting greedy).

Giving a further thought, perhaps I do want richness which could bring me freedom and certain sense of “luxury”. At the same time, I felt the pain of the actual hard work which need to be put in order to bring in the richness. Basically I want to feel the “freedom” of the rich person, and yet not wanting to pay the price to be rich. Oh, this is bad. I guess all this while, I am trying to find an “easy” way, a way which I believe would grant my wish without too much pain. Again, programmer could be very optimistic.

So I want the goods, yet I am not willing to pay the full price; so I aim for a lesser but still satisfactory goods, using alternative means. I could be day dreaming and being unrealistic, but I still believe it’s possible (it is a good thing, I guess; as there is still hope, which is a very important element to be alive). I might still have about 1 year to do it comfortable-ly before I feel the pinch (I thought all successful entrepreneur would need to go through the brink of despair before breakthrough).

Again, I am a very optimistic and complex-for-me-to-understand-myself being.

Passion

Passion is almost like Love, elusive yet in great demand. What is passion exactly? Perhaps something we really like, and will continue to do so out of our heart. No one need to command us to it, neither do we need to get paid, and we certainly would sacrifice time and sleep for it.


If I were to ask most people what is their passion, 9 out of 10 would have no idea. We walk the Earth without realizing what we would like or love to do; most of us walk this Earth in the name of survival.

How do we find our passion? I enjoy the moment of waking up about 8 plus, have time for breakfast and newspaper and only start work when I am ready for it. That is an enjoyable lifestyle, but not really about passion. How about things which keep me going and to look forward the next morning, something which could wake me up and chase the passion. How about things which could keep as awake, keep the adrenaline pumping and feeling of not quitting until I achieve what I wanted. It sounds like love, finding the love of our life, which might be a human, or might not be.

Is there one passion, or there are many passions? I enjoy hiking, software design & development, and probably dancing, art, writing and travelling as well. So which is my passion and which is not. Or perhaps the more relevant question is how would I like to spend my time wondering on Earth? What would I like to spend time doing most of the time which actually made me feel more fulfilled and happy? Is passion and hobby the same? (or passion is one notch higher than hobby).

We could not fulfill our dream yet most of the time, which is a good thing as there is still something to look forward to. I would like to achieve it one day, thus I am in the never ending process of trying. Once I realize I had achieved it, it’s like “game over” with a sudden happiness and let down at the same time. Most of the time, I will need to move on to another dream. If this is applied to the girls we meet in our life, we would be in big trouble.

Most of the time, if we can take money out of the equation, perhaps it is easier to explore and find out what are we passionate about. Money is only meaningful knowing what we can use with the money; absolute power is useless unless we know what to gain with the power. So money and power is just a means, not the end. Perhaps the process of making money or gaining power could be rewarding, but I don’t quite felt so most of the time. Nowadays, I decide to shun away from money which I have no interest of. Basically, it is painful to work for money just for money (as long as I still have a choice).

So Passion, Love, Dream, how are they interconnected? Perhaps it is all about something which makes our existent more fulfilled, given the limited time we have on Earth.

2010

Looking back in 2009 and thinking what I had done, I am not really quite sure of what had happened. I feel happier, and I always felt there is more which I could achieve. I travel a bit, business is getting better and there is still a lot to be done.


I don’t think I want to create miracle or do some exceptional feat, but more of consistency in trying to do something. It is very easy for me to get sidetracked and still could not complete something which I thought of quite a while ago. It is not something very difficult or out of my reach, but rather I need to be persistent and do step by step continuously (again, it’s very easy to loose track).

Basically, my object is very simple: to gain financial freedom. To be more exact, I wanted to live a life where I don’t need to work anymore (I can choose what I wanted to do, without the financial factor). To be even more exact, as beginner, I need to generate about RM 5K of monthly passive income. How am I going to achieve that? Through a mixture of earning more money now (through my software business) for long term investment and creating a long term passive income business. I got a rough idea and confident how this is going to work out, justly have to execute in a timely fashion.

In order to gain financial freedom in the very near future, I would need to accomplish the following in 2010

• Organic Growth of MalaysiaMostWanted.com (at least 10% a month), and expansion on Direct Advertising Revenue
• Development on new online services such as Travel, Wedding & Price Comparison
• Development on online creative business such as Video Editing, Home Deco Design
• Development on Software Development Business
• Venture into at least 1 property investment

Besides making money, I’ll be getting married, having our own place and hopefully be able to travel India for a month or so. And perhaps it's time to contribute slightly into charity, maybe World Vision or UNICEF.

I guess life have been pretty good, just that I am lazy and being a bit inconsistent for quite a while. Hopefully I have a clear head on what I wanted to achieve, and go full speed ahead.

Open Water Diving @ Sipadan

One more things in life got done: Got an Open Water Diver license in 2 days and diving in Mabul, Kapalai & Sipadan. Solved the mysteries of diving.



Diving could be fun, yet restrictive at the same time. The time and depth limit, acclimatize issue and buoyancy, and sinus sickness could hamper the diving experience. The underwater world is pretty, but not as beautiful as I would imagine. Problem due to the many dead corals, poor visibility and a big patch of darkness in the water.


Somehow diving isn’t just about diving. Is about the people, the sea, the lodge, the boat ride, the waiting and the island. It’s fun, but it’s not free (it is confined and costly).


Nevertheless, it is still a pretty good experience worth going back once in a while.

Photo Links: Diving @ Mabul, Kapalai and Sipadan, Underwater Photo from June

A Free Life

No matter how hard I try to shake off who I was, I found that it is very hard to certain characteristics to leave me. I will not be a big risk taker, I’ll yearn for freedom and I had learnt about the need to make gradual changes in life. I can no longer accept things as it is, because I realize there is always a way to make a change (as long as there is a will).


Career is a big part of my life, as it dictates how I spent most of my time, whether I will be happy and influence the quality and comfort of my life. Theoretically, I should be a good employee until I retired, but that didn’t happened. Perhaps I was influenced by my brother’s idea of the need to start a business (which he didn’t try at the end), or I didn’t found a corporation I could rely on, or perhaps I know that there might be little freedom and happiness in employment.

I have many friends that went south to Singapore to earn “bigger money”. I used to think this could be a good idea, but the money isn’t really “bigger” unless I returned to Malaysia. Besides, life in Singapore could be quite boring (though more systematic). Sometimes I envy those who could work in MNC or being transferred oversea, as they have a fatter salary and better qualify of life (in a better country). Perhaps I am not fated with this kind of job, or I didn’t put in enough sweat and time to get this kind of job. Perhaps I wanted freedom more than money, that’s why I am where I am now. That's why I no longer yearn setting up my own company or to be a millionaire.

I wanted to travel to other country, but my last plan for UK Holiday Maker didn’t work out. I wanted to travel for 6 months to a year, but somehow there is something which I cannot let go. It’s still about work and money. Theoretically I won’t need too much money to survive, unless I plan to start a family (which requires a whole lot of money and commitment). So I either need to make a whole load of money now, and have a stable passive income stream, which neither had happened yet. So I could either wait until I am “rich”, or just let go and execute the dream.

What does my heart tell me? This is confusing. I wanted to fly, yet I still wanted to secure my financial. 3 ways to achieve it, either I earn more, or I spend less, or I move and live in a 3rd world country (not very feasible if I plan to have children huh). While I am travelling, I found only 2 types of people could really have their freedom: the young ones without their own family, and the old ones who had retired.

While Mei Ru and I went diving in Sipadan, we meet a Japanese girl named Kayo. She was born in Japan, study in US, work in Japan, then study and work in China and Hong Kong, and now is a Diving Instructor in Sipadan. I envy her colorful life, and also her courage and her desire for travel and adventure. Why I didn’t do that when I was younger? Because I didn’t felt the need for freedom nor travel, I was thinking more of career and work.

This realization or “enlightenment” came to me while I was older, and I kind of forgotten what triggered it. Perhaps all started when we went to Taman Negara and decide to conquer Mount Kinabalu, maybe strengthen by my trip to Chiang Mai and Nepal. My “floodgate” and desire for freedom and travel are opened, and the desire needs to be filled.

Now I am at the crossroad again. How can I balance things, or there is no choice but to go for one extreme only. What is the right way to live my life, or rather how to follow and listen to my heart? Or rather, how can I have a satisfied and fulfilling life?

And the journey continues … (I know the answer is not going to popup by pondering here).

The Blue Dragon is getting married!

We try to make it fun, enjoyable and memorable for everyone. For all the invited guest, do come and joy us to party and have a wonderful wedding party (we'll try our best to make it fun for everyone).