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Today marks my first year anniversary with Arc Worldwide Singapore. I reflected on what I’ve gone through and thought it would be good to pen down these thoughts.

I have always believed that you should do what you love, and you should do it with a bunch of like-minded people. True enough, I am now working with a bunch of passionate and never-say-die people. They are professional. They are always trying their best to achieve the best. They are a group of amazing people that I will never stop learning from them.

I (think I have) matured a lot too. Started with being thrown into the deep sea (as described by my boss), getting frustrated with clients and trying my best to control my temper, to now taking things calmly as they come, knowing how to manage clients and writing good detailed briefs.

I sincerely thank my colleagues for being patient with my inexperience as an account manager. They taught me along the way, from how to write a good creative brief to how to service clients as an account manager, not a project manager. I am still adapting my mindset - trying to think of the big picture, of the marketing aspect and providing value-added advice and suggestions to clients. It’s hard work for me, because I was trained as an engineer, my mind is systematic and process-oriented. Despite all my insecurities, my boss is forever kind enough to reassure me that having these backgrounds are good. Haha.

And let’s not forget the crazy moments I share with my forever-spontaneous colleagues! They introduced (and got me addicted) to toy collection (Re-ment, Treeson, Tokidoki, Kamen Rider, Transformers), organized crazy Friday dress-ups, caught cardless people on cameras and laughed at every single word I pronounced.

Of course, not a company is perfect. I have my own ups and downs in Arc too. But luckily until now, the happiness dominates the frustration. And I think this is the environment that my management is trying to achieve.

Happy employees create good vibes in office!
So, are you happy working in your company? Have you reflected on why you are feeling this way?

When the workout starts
The limbs get jelly-ish
The mind has to be tougher
And I will just be hoping
The 1-hour session to end as soon as possible!

Ok, the paragraph above doesn’t constitute a poem or any other form of literature. But it pretty sums up what I felt today when I had my first session with Frankie.

It all started with me wanting to help Sucker lose weight. As he is very very overweight, he sometimes has problems with his knees, back and shoulders. There is always this nagging feeling inside me that he really needs to lose some kilos, but as both of us lack the discipline to go jogging on the weekends, we do nothing about it.

And so the days pass like nobody’s business…

Until that day when he hurt his back while playing badminton and having difficulties moving around (thus causing the whole world to wait for him), it suddenly dawned on me that we have to do something about his weight for his health’s sake. So I asked seijinm for his opinion on workouts, diets and having a personal trainer to help. And he recommended Frankie to us.

Frankie is a private personal trainer, using the gym facilities in Intercontinental Hotel. The first thing I like about this is that it doesn’t require a gym membership, so we only need to pay for Frankie’s time. Coupled with free usage of jacuzzis (both indoor and outdoor), steam bath, the hotel’s swimming pool, and Frankie’s attitude, I am convinced that we will achieve our targets with him. So both of us signed up with him, Sucker training for 3 days a week and me training twice a week.

So now back to my current situation. I am still feeling the soreness in my thighs, arms and abdomen. I know that my fitness level has deteriorated since 3 years ago (imagine 3 years without netball and volleyball trainings!). But as I told Sucker, we can do it together! And I will persevere till my fitness level is better than before.

I would like to end this with my dad’s famous saying: “A man needs to take care of his health first. When he is healthy, he is able to take care of the family. When his family is taken care of, then he can only concentrate on his career.” He believes that this is a man’s responsibility, and this is actually meant for Sucker. But I think this saying also applies to everyone of us.

Come on! You guys have to cheer us on! And you guys have to work out too!

MY CLASSIC TREESON MIMOBOT IS FINALLY HERE! *claps with joy*

Special thanks to the owner from Lumiaire Canada for agreeing to deliver his goods overseas, and using a better delivery package eventhough I paid for the cheaper one.

[Image courtesy of Mimobot]

Since I’ve posted ads on hardwarezone.com.sg and clubsnap.com to sell my camera, I might as well do it here (although my blog doesn’t generate as much traffic, hehe).

I want to sell my now-old-toy.

I have owned it for about 2 years now. As you will notice in my blog and my other online profiles, I am not a camwhore, so the camera usage is actually quite low. At a scale from 0 to 10 (10 being in mint condition), I rank mine at 8. It is well maintained, although there is a little dent at the side because Sucker knocked it on something someday accidentally.

The package is as below:

Package Contents:

• Digital Camera (LCD screen has screen protector)
• 2pcs Lithium-ion Rechargeable Battery
• 1 External Charger and
• 2pcs 1GB XD card
• 1pcs 2GB XD card
• USB cable
• Original manual
• CD
• soft camera case

Warranty is until 30 Aug 2010 from Harvey Norman.

I also have a mini tripod and Adobe Photoshop Elements CD to be given away if you need. But I’m not including them here as I got it for free also. Original receipt will be provided.

I am looking at price around SGD250 (price is negotiable).

If you have read until here, there is a 50% chance that you might be interested. Please leave your comment here, or email me at meikit.ng [at] gmail [dot] com. I will be glad to arrange a timing for you to review the package.

If you are the other 50%, I trust that you are my true friend, so please help me spread the words far and wide. Rewards will be given to the one who successfully refers a buyer. *grin*

Have a nice day. And may my camera find a suitable owner soon…

P/S: My sis is the best! She helped me put on Low Yat forum too! Haha.

This year is the first year I witnessed a Raffles Hall’s float after graduation. As the hall is unable to accept freshmen due to hall renovation, the floaters have no one but themselves and the seniors.

The NUS Rag Day concluded well for us. We surprisingly (or maybe not surprisingly) snagged “The Least Cost Float” award, and the hall celebrated in jubilation. Sadly though, as pointed out by Devil, this year we didn’t have first years to share the joy with us. That aside, I truly believe that the years will just get better for us Rafflesians. What better way to start the year anew with newly renovated rooms and a batch of enthusiastic seniors! I am extremely proud of the team! Really.

Joy aside, I can’t help but start pondering about the real meaning of NUS Rag and Flag. I always have this doubt during Rag Days, when there are so many signs of unhealthy competition. Do the student bodies still comprehend the true meaning of this event?

I might not know the true meaning of NUS Rag and Flag, but according to what was explained during my RHOC days, Rag Day is a showcase event by NUS students to thank the public for donating money on Flag Day. It used to be held at Orchard, and several times at Padang, but for many years, it was held at NUS SRC field, where it’s far from public eye, and is not as easily accessible. But I shall not digress, choice of venue is not something that I want to discuss now.

Our hall has been out of the award radar since 1997. We may not have the ability to create the best designed or best presentation float, but we always start building our float with an objective in mind. At times, we want to be the most environmental-friendly float, so we ditched all usage of spray paints (and sometimes even paints), created claddings with recycled papers and used unwanted scrape cloths. At times, we focused on the process, we wanted every senior and every freshmen to contribute to creating the float, so we planned our orientation around that, allowing senior-freshmen interaction. Yes you are right, a hall like us may not be able to comprehend what’s the feeling to win the Chancellor Shield, so we always try our best to tell ourselves that it’s alright not to win, it’s the process and forged friendships that matter.

But a few questions I want to ask: Do we need to do things “unscrupulously” just to wow our freshmen, wow the judges and win some awards? Why can’t we do float in honour of the original intention?

Take a look at the image below. What comes into your mind? Spray paints… messiness… litter?

When building float, most of the participating teams have ignored the environment and the need to play fair. Some used spray paints and won awards; others who didn’t use and lost thought they could have stood a chance to win “The Most Environmental-friendly Award”. Some commissioned parts of the float to be built professionally. Some tried to eliminate stiff competition by imposing weird regulations. Weirder still, in my opinion, the organising committee for Rag and Flag didn’t even step in to mitigate/solve these issues.

People may criticise me for being a sore loser. Some may even feel that there’s no right or wrong, as long as they have enough money to do what they want, and all these are justified as long as they win awards and everyone is happy. But the noble objective of Rag Day has already been distorted by all these competitions, its rules and weird judging criteria. I should have just pulled out from Rag Day when I was the head. But (I confessed) I was selfish as I had a large and responsible team.

In my opinion, the competition element should stay, because it provides the motivation for all to excel and surpass their own limits. Therefore, it’s crucial that the organising committee review the objectives of Rag and Flag, and ensure that the objectives are well-propagated. They need to tell the participating bodies that we are serious about thanking the society and you guys better buck up and participate fairly. Every Rag Day was executed that way before I graduated, I don’t see why the standard could deteriorate so drastically these few years.

Anyway, our hall should just probably quit joining Rag Day altogether, and spend the money on some other activities which can achieve the same objectives that we initially wanted. Who knows, we might even achieve better results if executed properly. =)

Your opinion?