PURPOSE OF LIFE

To all my dearest readers and visitors,

Today, we write to share with you the bamboo slip, as shown below, which was hanging on my wall for many years.

This bamboo slip had been hanging at a junction between my living and dining hall since many years ago. If I am not mistaken, I bought it from one of the shops in Malacca for my younger sibling who faced several blows in his studies. However, he passed it back to me when he moved out from my previous house. I find the poem reflected in it is so meaningful and have a great impact to my life. I use it as my guiding principle in my walk toward my destiny literally means "The destination of human being". However, you can also prescribe to it as a success formula.

The stain in this banner is very old and the stain suggests that it had been hanging for too long. However, due to its rich content, I find it difficult to cast it away. 

Perhaps it is good for me to brief you in detail as what is its meaning so that you may appreciate it as I do. It tells us not to talk about the past failure, and don't be fascinated about our dreams. Instead grab hold of present opportunities and move towards our pre-set goals. Then you shall reward with Success, or so called SUCCESS FORMULA.

Do you agree with it? If not, please voice out your view.

As far as I am concerns, four important points were being raised here:-

1. Do not let your past failure to hold you back. 

As it may not a failure as you deemed it to be, but rather a turning point as it should be. If you have recalled my previous article, you should know by now that a lots of successful people who have managed eliminated the wrong path before they found their success. 

2. Never fascinated about your dreams. 

It encourages us to put it into action. Dream is good, though it can not guarantee you success. But every success begins with a dream. So, you decide which to choose. Here, I confess that I always prescribe to the former that led me to achieve some success.

3.  Stay focus on your purpose. 

This is a very useful fundamental guiding principle. Stay focus and never distract your attention to any other thing if success is your ultimate goal. This is not easy because we use to walk by sight and the circumstances may be overwhelming and swing your heart away from your pre-set goal. That is why the successful people form a small percentage of the whole population. 

4. Moving forward.

Let us acknowledge the fact that we can't change the past. The most we can do about it is to review and learnt from it so as to avoid making the similar mistakes. Having said that, we have to keep on moving forward and progress with it. That's make our life meaningful and useful. In this regard, we have to make our pre-set goal materialised for the betterment of the world which will benefit from our contribution. Thus, leaving behind a good and sound legacy.

With the above briefing, we hope you have a good grasp of understanding life and its main purpose. Who knows, you may get one and hang it at your wall so as to remind you as when you need it. Practise it daily until it becomes part of your behavior.

Thanks for your precious time for reading this article.

James Oh

WORLD PAVILION AT THE WORLD EXPO 2010

Dear friends, 

Further to our preceding article on this World Expo 2010 Shanghai, China, we are pleased to cover the exhibition booth my country have put up in the Malaysia Pavilion.

It is no surprise and normal for every country to put its best to attract foreign investment as nowadays it is very competitive especially amongst the developing countries. Malaysia is no exception. It was learned that we have even spent RM 35 million, a large amount of our dedication and commitment to give our best shot to the world. We hope our Minangkabau architecture, though very much different from the norm of its other counterparts will bear fruit at the end of the day. 

It is very amazing and interesting to see our Tourism Ministry take a daring move in presentation of its uniqueness to draw the crowds from the rest of the world. Let us hope that it is not due to the inexperience of its own contractor, Venturepharm Sdn Bhd, a pharmaceutical company, which may be totally new to them. Being new does not mean that they lack foresight and experience, but rather due to their strategic plan of being distinct from the rest. 

However, we hope that the Ministry will step forward to let the people know about their strategy of putting forward such a unique style with a new perspective. That is very important to show to its people of its serious commitment, dedication and spirit on par with the rest. 

To achieve success, we must dare to admit mistakes, if it is so and take credit if it proves otherwise. There is nothing to be a shame of if we put our best yet we lose out to others. On the other hand, we at least learnt a good lesson and just don't repeat it next time.

In reality, no one is perfect, so do us. Let make it accountable to the people because this fund is from their pockets so to speak. Transparency and accountability is the only way ensure credibility, don't forget that we are in twenty one century-  the internet sphere.

Let wake up and move forward to put the country's interest above everyone's interest. This is the sure way to stop the brain drain out from our country. Let us make the 2020 Vision a reality and the country needs lots of talented people to work it out as time is against us. Less than 10 years is a very short period for us to do catch up work.

For those who have visited our booth, please let us know your personal feedback or view. We at Lift You Up, always believe that there is room for improvement. As such, we always welcome both good and bad.  

Your Chief Servant,

James Oh
Founder and Group CEO

Skype me at james.oh18

http://liftyouup.blogspot.com

WORLD EXPO SHANGHAI 2010

Happy day to you,

When we talk about the World Exposition Shanghai 2010, it will not be complete if we do not touch about its history. Please do not worry and we are not going to dwell in-depth in it, that is our promise. We are also fully aware that everyone is very much concern about its future rather than its past. This exposition first began in the year 1851 when the Great Exhibition of Industries of All Nations was held in London. This World Expositions since then have been regarded as grand events in all aspects ; be it economic, scientific, technological, ideas, thoughts and cultural exchanges; serving as an important interactive platform for historical experiences, innovative ideas, and how to take it effectively to the future.

China, having a long civilisation of more than 5,000 years is currently a popular international exchange and peace loving country. It would like to put out it's best for the world to see after the spectacular performance of hosting its first Olympic Sports event. This Exposition is a grand memorable event for being the first registered World Exposition in a developing country. On the same token, China and its people will give their dedication and commitment to give it a best shot, in return for the support and confidence given by the international communities for its successful bid for this Expo. This will definitely match the world's expectations of its future development. On this basis, there is no doubt that the Chinese people will present to the world another successful, splendid and unforgettable event. Their national pride, commitment and dedication will be put to the test again.

As such, being the first World Exposition with the theme of City, Exposition 2010 will attract not only governments but people from across the world. By focusing on the theme "Better City, Better Life", lasting for 184 days, all its participants will not only display urban civilisation to its fullest extent, but also share and exchange their urban development experiences by disseminating advanced notions on cities and explore new approaches to human habitat, lifestyle and working conditions in the new century. This is the way we can put all our thoughts together and learn how to create an eco-friendly society and maintain the sustainable development of human beings collectively. This is a real noble move and needs global support.

By now, you are able to see this Expo will centre on innovation and interaction. Innovation, creativity from the mind and soul, which help to transform this mission into a reality. Through this great mission, peace and sustainable growth will be endured. As such, we, at Lift You Up, see this as a new light and hope for the whole world and let us work together to make this mission a reality.

The Expo 2010 Shanghai China is expected to have more than 200 nations and international organisations taking part in the exhibition as well as 70 million visitors from home and abroad, ensuring the widest possible participation in the history of the World Expositions. As such, this Expo 2010 Shanghai China will be put in a global perspective and everyone is encouraged to participate so as to turn this Expo 2010 Shanghai China into a happy reunion of people from all over the world.

Apart from the above, the Expo 2010 Shanghai China will be expected to play a significant role in cultivating of cross-culture dialogues. Before the conclusion of the Exposition, a "Shanghai Declaration" will be issued. This declaration, will be another milestone in the history of the World Expositions. It will epitomise the insights from its participants and embody the people's ideas for future cooperation and development and extensive common aspirations, thereby leaving a rich spiritual legacy of urban development to people throughout the world.

Needless to say that the Chinese Government will go to great lengths to make Expo 2010 Shanghai China a special event that carries on traditions and opens a new vista into the future. Our motto is: "Keeping in mind the next 60 years' development while preparing for the six months' Exposition."   

Here, you can see that this expo will be the galleries of human inspirations and thoughts on how they are going to move forward to tackle its challenging tasks so to speak.

And last but not least, we at Lift You Up, like to take this opportunity to wish Shanghai a great success.

  

Your Chief Servant,

James Oh

Founder and Group CEO

Skype me at james.oh18

http://liftyouup.blogspot.com

WORLD CUP 2010 - HOPE OF PEACE

Hi! Folks, 2010 is very exciting year. Now, most of the people on earth are watching an exciting sport events day and night whenever there is time available for them. Food hawkers in my country  also join in to install big TV for football shows for their fans. Why is this sport so popular? To understand the rationale behind it. It is more appropriate to get an understanding of its international association called FIFA. The FIFA World Cup (also called the Football World Cup, the Soccer World Cup, or simply the World Cup) is an international association football competition contested by the men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not contested because of the Second World War. You can see it has a short history of  less than 100 years, but its popularity is overwhelming, far exceeded many other sports which has longer history than this. The current format of the tournament involves 32 teams competing for the title at venues within the host nation(s) over a period of about a month – this phase is often called the World Cup Finals. A qualification phase, which currently takes place over the preceding three years, is used to determine which teams qualify for the tournament together with the host nation(s). This qualification phase has been completed prior to 2010. Now we are having the 19th World Cup tournament.  During the 18 tournaments that have been held, seven national teams have won the title. Brazil have won the World Cup a record five times, and they are the only team to have played in every tournament. Followed by Italy, which have won four titles, and Germany are next with three titles. The other former champions are Uruguay, winners of the inaugural tournament, and Argentina, with two titles each, and England and France, with one title each. Which country is the likely champion  this year ? Please let us know your choice and rationale. Thanks for your kind participation. The World Cup is the world's most widely viewed sporting event; an estimated 715.1 million people watched the final match of the 2006 World Cup held in Germany.[1] The current World Cup is being held in South Africa from  June 11-July 11, 2010, and the 2014 World Cup will be held in Brazil. We choose to write this article so as not to miss this popular sport. Secondly it is also becomes a hot topic among the politicians as whether our government has granted a sport betting licence to a company.  No doubt the sport event is held for a good spirit and eventually hope that the world will be united through this ball, which resembles hope of unity to this world. This event also functions like the Olympic games which bring the world together for some healthy games.  However, now you can see this sport has also been commercialised until sports betting become an international event and is so easily accessible. Hence, other questions such as morality issues will be raised.  But, one thing we are very concern is whether such unhealthy betting will eventually affect the quality of the game. We rather keep this question to you to ponder. However, we are very pleased if you wish to share it out your views. You are always welcome here. Thanks for your precious time and look forward to hearing from you, Your Chief Servant, James Oh Founder and Group CEO Skype me at james.oh18 http://liftyouup.blogspot.com

HENG EE HIGH SCHOOL AND ITS FOUNDER

Dear friends, Lately I drove back to my hometown and all of a sudden, there were some inspiration,flashing out some sweet old  memories during my stay in Penang. As a result, I wrote several articles on those matters. Today, the article I am going to share with you my secondary school where I spent six good years there,  i.e. 1974 to 1979,  none other than Heng Ee High School. It is located on Hamilton Road in the George Town  area and is relatively close to Penang Free School, one of the oldest schools in Penang and I don't  think it needs any further elaboration. However, it does not apply to my school which does not have such a long  historical background. As such, I will cover some of its unique story and hope you are enjoy reading it. This school has its own uniqueness in the sense that its ground is divided into 2 sections: one side comprises the  school administrators' rooms, teachers' room, staff room, cafeteria, foyer, school hall, blocks of classrooms,  computer rooms, living skills rooms, science laboratories and a football field while the another side comprises a  small car park, basketball courts and a volleyball court. This piece of idle land has been acquired subsequently  for expansion of the school. It has been conveyed to us when I was studying there,  but it had been acquired many years after I left the school. When we talk about this school, one major component which cannot be omitted is its founder. I believe  this great man should deserve more coverage as he had contributed significantly to our society and the   school in particular. Do not forget that being a foreigner and establishing a Chinese School in a foreign country is  definitely not an easy task. Thank God for his persistence and endurance throughout his  journey of struggle. Mr Goh Boon Poh is currently the principal of this school. The photo, above, shown the front view of this school The school was founded in 1957 by the late Datuk Father Arthur Julien, a Belgian missionary  who arrived in Penang from China in 1952. He had also established the Heng Ee Primary School  and Heng Ee Kindergarten in 1952 and 1969 respectively.  There is no surprise for him to be  awarded a Datukship for his significant contribution to our society. Some of you may able to see  that being a westerner and wanting to establish a Chinese school in a foreign country certainly  impose a great challenge to him. He used to share with us the challenges he had gone through  when we attended his classes once a week. I always salute him for what he had done, but he  always attributed this values with the Chinese values, which I find lots of similarity. No wonder  that he spent lots of his time to master Mandarin and he can speak even better mandarin than I  do. I found him to have even a deep understanding of Mandarin and our cultural values. He made   himself so humble that we could treat him as a friend, who always stand by to assist us in any way he could. I recalled that he even convince the headmaster at that time to allow us to make use of  the classroom during the school break for our revision as he knows that majority of the students  are from lower income group and many of us do not have proper place to study at home. To reduce the consumption of electricity, he even offered us his room to smaller group of students  who wish to come at night to study in the school. He always keeps the school expenses to a minimum  as this school only received very minimum funding from the government despite it being designated as a national  school. Most of the expenses are bored by public donations. The great man had impacted my life a lot .I always looked upon him in my life of struggle as well. It is truly blessed to know this great   man at our young age despite me being  always a shy pupil, who chose to struggle silently than to share  it out with others. I have only been transformed after I accepted Christ as my Savior.   On my way back to Kuala Lumpur, I asked for the guard’s permission to enter the school  compound and take the photo of the little statute resembling him standing at the open space  between the school front and the other building.  Though he had gone, but his spirit of  dedication  to serve the needy students are beyond words. I can vouch for him – being the  man who walk  his talk - uses every possible means and assistance he can have to reach out  to those students in need, regardless of race and social status.This made most of  us students  feel proud of him. I recalled a few of us have approached him to borrow the classroom for prepare for our  school examination. His smiling face well indicated to us that he was more than happy to do  so and truly understand our difficulty to study at home. I learnt that he also offered his room,  at the school, to students who truly need a room to study which otherwise was not available  at their own homes. He seemed to know every need of his students. He gave us all the  necessary encouragement when we were saddled by unfortunate incidences. He always shows  us the way and always standby to give the necessary encouragement that could cheer our hearts  and souls. NO wonder that lots of us loved him very much and he gained our highest respect.  Though he had gone, but his spirit and name will be always remembered.  He was always very proud of this school, for being able to use Mandarin language as a medium  to conduct classes here as he found that this language has lots of high values that need to be  preserved. He used to describe all these values and cultivated them in our lives despite being a  foreigner to us. We can sense that his love conquers all barriers and we are always looked upon him for such a cheerful spirit. He does not always look cheerful and energetic, but he was always  willing to offer his hands to anyone who needs his assistance. It was learnt that he contributed the entire heritage of 50,000 pounds he received from his father  to this school. He can speak mandarin very well and he faced a great challenge when he initially  raised funds to build these Chinese school from the Chinese community. Firstly people are  doubtful of him for being Westerner and willing to build Chinese schools in foreign land.  Thank God for his endurance throughout his challenging years and today his name will never be  forgotten. Though the statue subsequently built after his death is no comparison to his contribution  to this school, it will serve as a remembrance of his great work, He can be remembered as a   model to the world at large. Before we put an end to this article, we urge those who know about his life to contact us either via comments or email to jamesoh2003@yahoo.co.uk or bthongoh@hotmail.com so that we  can blog more about his life and his great contribution in the internet sphere. Thank you for  your kind participation.  We look forward to hearing from you, Your Chief Servant, James Oh Founder and Group CEO Skype me at james.oh18

THE SECRET OF THE PERAK CAVE, IPOH

Hi! Folks,

This is the place I used to buy pomeloes on my way either back to Penang or Kuala Lumpur, where I am currently staying. The above photo of the Perak Cave, or Pek Lik Tong in the local Cantonese dialect is taken where I usually stopped by to buy pomeloes. 

Pi-Li Dong in Mandarin or Perak Tong is one of the favorite tourist spots throughout the year. This cave temple has some historical facts which you may find interesting and memorable. Perhaps you may stop by or visit this wonderful cave. No surprise that this cave temple was visited by some great and unforgettable heroes like the Father of Modern China, Mr. Sun Yat Sun 1866-1925, influential intellectuals Hu shih (zhi) 1891-1962, Yu You Ren 1879-1964 and Chinese master artist, Zhang Da Qian (0r Chang Ta-Chien 1899-1983) etc. As a result, it can be easily ranked as one of the hottest spot among all the cave temples found in Ipoh till date. 

You may probably recall that at one time Ipoh was relatively a remote mining town. Before the commodity price crashed in the '70s, Ipoh used to be nick name as The town of the many Millionaires due to its enormous reserves of tin ores. The Chinese who invented the open cast mining method in the Kinta Valley Tin ore reserve Belt can even outperformed the tin ore output of the British designed Tin Dredging to a certain extent as this method is a much cheaper form of mining. 

During the height of the Chinese revolution, Sun Yat Sun sourced financial help from overseas Chinese and Ipoh is in no exception. He made visits here to ask for financial assistance from the rich local miners. The visit was probably followed by sequential visits by other Chinese intellectuals and high profile individuals which adds glamour into its formation.

It was learnt that Perak Cave was also developed by Mr. Chong Sen-yee, from Guangdong Province, China. He was the first person who discovered this remote location and hence applied to the authority for the cave to be converted as another cave temple for worshippers. Thereafter, he spends his life of half a century in developing the cave in stages. He then spent his later years writing poems. This great figure, who had so much passion and dedication to this cave project passed away peacefully in 1980. His Son, Mr. Y.C. Chong is heading the management of this well known Buddhist cave temple currently.

Though these people had gone, their works and legacy left behind to the future generation will not be forgotten. Take a tour inside this cave, there are so many great works that are still intact. Discover it yourself when you are there.

Thanks and please do not stop here. Please direct your contacts or friends to read this article so that they will add this tourist spot in their next tour to Ipoh.

Your Chief Servant,

James Oh
Founder and Group CEO

Skype me at james.oh18

http://liftyouup.blogspot.com

GREEN AT BANDAR UTAMA

My dearest friends, The above photo gives me a very good impression as how the owner makes use of his creativity to plant a whole row at his corner unit with bundle of lovely flowers. Though the owner is no longer there, leaving behind his wife, but his good work is never been written off. This old couple is very humble and friendly and I was invited to his house several times when her husband was around. Their little garden is always well maintained despite being elderly, their spirit is always very encouraging. They are also one of the pioneers in this phase of Bandar Utama. Their next door neighbour which is the other corner unit is also not wanting to be left out. Looking at the huge rosy plant they have, make this area appealing and attractive. Thanks for being blessed with all the good neighbours always greening the environment with care. They tried every opportunity they have to green the environment. Even the hole at the edge of the road was covered up by my neighbour despite it was ignored by the relevant authority.  Whereas I planted pomegranate tree just outside my main entrance. How wonderful,  blessed with some fruits while greening the environment. Killing two birds with one stone. See my trees in the photos above. This tree is also surrounded by other plants which also blossom at certain seasons. As a result, the corner will form a florist corner as my unit is just opposite their units. Though the other corner was initially just awful with a bare electricity pole, it was subsequently dressed up with a square retaining wall and other attractive plants. You can see how wonderful this area is with a little effort by surrounding neighbours who always explore new ideas to make this place more appealing. The above photo is taken at the Centre Point which is opposite my house. This little shopping paradise has not only all sorts of retailing shops and restaurants but this area is also having some green even inside the centre, with a small pond filled with lively fishes and turtles.  Other latest attraction include the roof-top garden which occupies almost 30,000 sq ft and houses over  500 species of rare tropical and temperate plants - - making it possibly the largest roof-top garden in Southeast Asia in terms of variety and number of plants. The garden is the brain-child of 1Utama director Datuk Teo Chiang Kok who had been concerned about preserving the environment in the face of mushrooming development. As such, we express our heartfelt thanks to Datuk Teo. The roof-top garden coincides with another green initiative – an actual rainforest enclave cultivated within 1 Utama called the Rainforest. Both projects were led by distinguished botanist and researcher Dr Francis Ng, who recently was awarded the prestigious David Fairchild Medal 2009 (Plant Exploration) presented by the National Tropical Botanical Garden of the United States.  We are truly proud of both of them who have made the Nation proud of their remarkable contributions. Read more about The Secret Garden, please click the link below:- http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=32983 --------------------------- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6aq-d5CIf8 Please click to the link below for location map and direction to this wonderful shopping mall. http://www.1utama.com.my/contact.aspx  Your Chief Servant, James Oh Founder and Group CEO Skype me at james.oh18 TO READ OTHER RELATED ARTICLE, PLEASE CLICK AT THE TITLE OF THE POST.