www.Go To The Mountain - Musings of a Potential Guru

Sembawang is the northernmost point of Singapore and is actually the nearest point to Malaysia. It has a rich history and colonial architecture still remain there today. Although it has a suburban residential area, there are military, industrial and recreational facilities there. It once hosted a major British naval base (sine 1938) and still has port facilities handling regular shipping traffic there today. It was previously where all our vehicles came through from car carriers. It was once the site of Nee Soon rubber estate. In 1968, the naval base was handed over to the Singapore Government who converted it into a commercial dockyard as Sembawang Shipyard. There was a time where nobody wanted to live there when allocation for HDB flats were given  but today it is bustling with activities - as good as if not better than many elsewhere since all highways were connected. There are many interesting things to discover at Sembawang and the peripheral area...

News from Salt Lake City, Utah reported that Stephen R. Covey, author of " The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People" and three other books that sold millions of copies have died aged 79. He died from complications after a bicycle accident in April. He was knocked unconscious in the bike accident on a steep road. He suffered bleeding in his brain. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8LM4C1l70U The 7 Habits was a #1  Best-seller. Never had I read something so empowering, r emarkable, elegant, thoughtful and enlightening on family, relationships, values and communication. There is power and conviction, one of the most exceptional books I have ever read. It is so good that everybody should have one so that you can read it over and over again and use if as a source of reference and more than that and most importantly to apply it for it will work wonders in your life because they were principle based. For a quick reference, here they are and what I thought it's...

The Bee Gees were quite ordinary musicians from their humble beginnings. They were from a place in Manchester, England before moving to Australia and then making it big in the USA. Today, only Elvis Pressley, The Beatles, Garth Brooks, Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney have outsold the Bee Gees. The Bee Gees or Brothers Gibb have since retired when Maurice died in 2003 but few people knew that actually broke up in 1969 as Robin went on his own. The Bee Gees were very special and very talented as they not only sing but also wrote and produced. They gave Barbara Streisand "Gulity" and "Woman In Love": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr-fOJdeUus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ppc_dT-J5E Andy Gibb "Shadow Dancing", "Thicker Than Water" and "I Just Want To Be Your Everything": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcHlL6PR5NU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqCmGQKmGnw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-xfFqWaK1s Dionne Warwick's ...

Simon and Garfunkel, separately known as Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel has a song - El Condor Pasa which went "I rather be a sparrow than a snail. Yes I would, if I could. I surely would." Here it is, enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVoDNjzZlbY For you to sing along: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doggdcSp1lQ In fact, don't we rather be mothers than fathers since mothers are that great? No, don't think we could. Are you able to go through child-birth? If so, you would be every woman's dream come true. A Russian proverb goes: "There are many fathers but only one mother" while a French proverb says: "A father is a banker provided by nature". Mothers are truly great. What about fathers? The first of the Ten Commandments stated very clearly: "Honour your father and mother". Not only that, it comes with a promise: that is if you honour your father and mother, "you will live a long life, ...

Tribute To Dr. Goh Keng Swee I used to hear some adult talks when I was young that he was the brains behind the Singapore success story. You name it and he has his fingerprints and footprints all over the places - MOE, SAF, Jurong Industrial Park, JTC, GIC, MAS, EDB, NTUC Fairprice, PSA, NOL, The Zoo, Bird Park, SSO, Underwater World, SRU and countless others. All these were started from scratch. He started Defence by reading a book. He was responsible for Singapore's economic miracle. In fact his economic miracle did not just benefited Singapore but also many other countries in Asia today for when Singapore became costlier, the factories relocated under similar concepts. If any one of us were to succeed in just one arena it would have been incredible but what expletives or tributes could you pay to such a great man?  Yet many lesser men with a small achievement under his belt would be boasting endlessly but here is a man who gave his life for his fellow men. That he is a g...

Mother's Day was celebrated recently. Like Christmas and many other such special occasions, it can easily take on a different meaning, a commercial exercise at best. Nothing wrong with that. I didn't put out a message before hand to have an observation and found that filial piety is alive here or so it seems as restaurants were all full. Today's mothers are no different. I will in no way belittle today's mothers because I have personally witnessed amazing childbirths which is nothing short of miraculous and I have always told people that once you ave witnessed a childbirth, you will change as a person. Many of our parents' generation do not have doctors and the technology available nor the amenities and modern facilities and comfort. Even the doctors were not skilled in cutting the umbilical cords.  I always thought my generation's belly buttons were much uglier as doctors those days just cut, tied a knot and tucked away, they don't do aesthetics....

Spiders take a very long time to patiently build a web. Time and space is relative. So is success. The more success you have the more friends and relatives. The security at the building where I park my car in town had just asked me to pay up car park fees and I told them that I thought I had just paid up recently. Fortunately, I did not argue with them, checked and found out that indeed the last transaction was in July and now the last quarter was due. I mean, besides the pocket emptying out in double-quick time these days, time really flies. Three months have gone by and it felt so recent. Soon, we'll be clearing cobwebs in our homes again as we normally do during spring cleaning for the Lunar New Year. If not for anything, at least it is symbolic. In the process, you will discover many things. Maybe an unopened gift still in its splendour with the wrappers on. Several keys in your drawers where you do not have the faintest idea what they were for and you may even try them on...