LONG, long time time ago, there was a mountain, not as tall as the Everest but definitely beats Bukit Timah. On top of the mountain, there was a village. And in the village, there were 2 strong young men. One named Clever and the other named Smart.
The mountain has everything the villagers need to survive, but its water supply is scarce. Rain only falls every Saturday and Sunday. Fortunately, at the bottom of the mountain, there lies a spring of Thousand Wonders. The water is so refreshing and tasty that the villagers would not mind traveling far to carry the water up the mountain. It is said to have many wondrous medicinal values.
So Clever and Smart came up with a business idea together. They told the villagers that they'll help the village to transport water from the spring all the way up to the mountain and only for a minimal fee of 5 silver coin per bucket.
The villagers welcomed this idea. This mean they can carry out their daily chores without worrying about carrying water.
So, Clever and Smart each invested 10 silver coins to get a wooden bucket from the provision stall and started their business.
The journey up and down the mountain is rough. Though a man-made path was created through frequent usage by the villagers, the road is still rocky and at times steep.
However, being strong and young, Clever and Smart both find the task of carrying water fairly easy and manageable. On the first day of their business, they managed to carry 10 buckets of water, earning 50 silver coins.
To celebrate their success, Clever and Smart went to the pub and treated everyone there to free flow of beer. Everybody was happy.
On the second day, both of the strong, young men bought another bucket and a wooden pole. They can now carry more water per trip.
So, they slogged through the day and sold 18 buckets of water each. Clever wanted to go to the pub and treat everybody beer again, but Smart rejected it. He said he wants to rest well for the next day.
This went on for 1 year. With Clever and Smart resting on Saturdays and Sundays, they both earn an average of 1800 silver coins a month.
After carrying water for 1 year, Smart started to ask himself a question. Is he really going to carry water until he can no longer carry any more water and live the rest of his life on his savings?
Even though he has a considerable amount of savings considering that he is very thrifty and spends his money wisely, the cost of having a family and support a family of 3 would deplete his savings and reduces the amount he can save in future. He wants his children to have a good education in a town nearby, but the cost of sending his children to study outside the village is very high. All these worries about money started to make him think about the future.
Clever on the other hand, has already asked his girlfriend to marry him and is already planning to build his house on a piece of land he bought on borrowed money. He is very assured that his income will be able to pay for his expenses, support his wife and return the borrowed money.
One fine day, Smart decided to take a break and travel to the nearby town. The journey takes half a day and by the time he reached the town, it was night fall. He decided to lodge in an inn.
Although this town is small, it is surprisingly modern. That night when Smart decides to take a bathe, he realise that he did not need to carry buckets of water out from a well at all, instead, water is flowing out from a pipe.
Amazed and intrigued, Smart spent the rest of the night studying the contraption.
The next day, Smart went to look for the mayor. After proposing his brilliant idea to the mayor, the mayor invited Smart to join him for lunch. He has agreed to Smart's request.
From that day onwards, Smart is no longer the water boy. He is now an entrepreneur. What he proposed to the mayor was that he requested to borrow a small sum of money to hire the town's engineer and some pipes and a pumping system. In return, he'll use the money to build a pipe system that connects the spring back to the village where there is already a demand for the water. After recouping the cost, he will return the borrowed money with interest, on top of that, he will bear the cost of constructing a pipe connecting the spring to the town where more people can enjoy the Thousand Wonder water.
Living on his savings alone, Smart spent 1 year to build his pipe, as he wants to cut cost, he only hired immigrants who seeks a better life but demands only food and lodging and a small sum of silver for compensation.
Soon, Smart's pipe was operational. He announced to the village that the water from his pipe only cost 3 silver coins per bucket. This immediately destroyed Clever's business. Clever's water needed a waiting time before it is delivered but Smart's water was instant and cheap.
With his business destroyed, Clever immigrated to the town where he continued his water carrying business, but this time, its is to the town's people.
In the beginning, people were sceptical about paying such a high price for the water, their water source is a nearby river and it served them well. But after much advertising campaign and testimonies that displayed the wonders of thousand wonder water, people started to buy Clever's water. Seeing the increasing response of the people, Clever decided to up the price of the water since the town's people were more wealthy.
Smart's pipe can now fill 40 buckets of water everyday. Earning him an income of 120 silver coins a day. After taking a break and finish repaying his loan to the mayor, he is now ready for the next phase of his project. He waited 1 year to save up a considerable sum of money. Now that he does not need to physically carry the water, Smart have more time to find his true love and search for good land to buy. Within 6 months, Smart upgraded the pumping system at the spring. The new pump can now fill 60 buckets a day. Smart bought a piece of fertile red soil land at the bottom of the mountain and started planting Thousand Wonder trees from a far away land.
As the tree is hard to grow, not many people are growing it, but the value of the tree under good hands can generate immense wealth.
After 5 years since he borrowed money from the mayor, Smart is ready to build the pipe to the town as he promised the mayor.
Hiring 10 workers and the best engineering team he gathered over the years, he managed to complete the pipe in less than a month.
As usual, Clever is forced to move his business. He resents Smart for once and again forcing him to relocate. He have yet to finish returning the borrowed money for his land and his 1 year old son needs to be fed. His world is falling apart as the only thing he is good at is carry water.
Getting older did not help Clever at all. His joints are sore and his health deteriorating. "Friends" started to leave him as he has ceased to become their free source of beer.
Both young men started out strong and young, both are intelligent in their own right, both are hard working and both strives for very good ideals. But yet, the 2 young men ended up at 2 ends of a crossroad. One can only look back and yearn for his lost glory, while the other can look ahead and plan for the future generation.
Everyone can appreciate the convenience pipes and tap water bring, but not every one is willing to bear the burden of building their own pipes.
It does not take much brain power to build pipes, just strong mental will to create a better future that no one but you yourself can see.
The World Is Flat
EARTH is round, but the world is flat.
You can virtually see one end from the other end. You can get from north to south, east to west in a day. You know what's happening miles away without moving from where you are with a click of a button. You can say something that can be heard by millions around the world. You can hear the voices of billions around the world.
This may sound cliche but truth is, the world is shrinking. Not in terms of traveling time, not in terms of communication speed. But something else that is closer to home. Your job prospects.
China has a population of 1.3 billion people.
India has 1.1 billion people.
How many universities does China has?
More than 2000!
http://colleges.indiaedu.com/asia/china/colleges-universities/index.html
How many graduates do you think the universities in these countries churn out each year?
http://www.uis.unesco.org/ev.php?ID=7122_201&ID2=DO_TOPIC
http://www.chinatoday.com/edu/a.htm
17 million people graduate from university in China every year.
How about India?
http://www.rediff.com/money/2005/dec/19guest1.htm
A whooping 48.7million.
Now, how many people do you think Singapore has as her citizens?
4.8million?
Let's not forget the other Asian countries which are populous.
Do the math.
Singapore Graduates VS Foreign Graduates
University graduates in a prestigious foreign university has: the same level of skill; equal or higher level of intelligence; much much much much much much higher drive to improve their lifestyle; less less less less less less less expectations for reward. Grabbing at anything thrown at them and a determination to strive to excellence.
University graduates in Singapore University has: complacency; super duper high expectations in terms of pay, welfare, leave, benefits; lazy or lack of drive to improve lifestyle (comfortable existing lifestyle); broken language (rojak:eng-chi-kien).
The Ugly Truth
It is common sense to know what determines a thriving business. To every company in the world, getting the best talents who are also hard working at the lowest cost possible is what they all want.
Even diploma holders who proves themselves more capable than degree holders are highly preferred due partly to the lower pay expectations. Education qualification no longer play a major role in securing job.
While it is comforting to indulge in the fantasy that as long as you keep getting higher qualifications, you will have a better chance to get a better job and a better life, reality is cruel.
Cruel in the sense that it smacks you in the face only when it is too late.
Life
You are only born once, you only have 1 twenty-first birthday, you only become 40 years old once, and death is a once in a life time opportunity, you won't miss it. It is in one direction and so far, no one has defied that pattern.
Getting a job and maintain your lifestyle is important. At least it keeps you alive. But staying alive is not enough. You need a life.
Getting a life is not only about going party and drinking beer, it is not only about watching soccer with a group of friends and have a great deal of fun.
It is not about tolerating having to wake up at a fixed time early in the morning everyday, squeezing the public transport or the road with tonnes of people like you, getting to work and get told when to have lunch, when to do what to do and when to go home.
It is not about getting a measly sum of money at the end of every month and sighing to yourself thinking: how is this going to be enough?
Don't just live; have a life.
Life is about fulfilling dreams and helping others, life is about leaving behind a legacy, something people of the future will remember you for.
Life is about doing whatever you want whenever you want.
It is about not having to worry about your loans and bills, not having to worry about the money needed to buy your house and having a family, having the best wedding, having the best honeymoon, having the best bedroom for your children, having the best birthday party every year for your children.
It is about having the chance to eat breakfast with your children, be with them when they need you most, guide them along the path in life, play along with them, read them bed time stories and watch your children go to sleep.
It is about accomplishments you can feel proud of at the end of the day when death calls and you have to go.
It is the confidence to say: My life is so wonderful, I have no regrets even if I die tomorrow.
Now What?
It is always repeated again and again, plan for your future. Don't blindly follow what works. What is working for others may never work out for you. You need to be the one to decide if it works for you. Facts are meaningless words until you decided to give meaning to it, to utilize it to shape your decisions.
A golden rule I learnt was that: You can never change a person, only that person can change himself.
The final question I post to you is: Is what you choose to do really going to get you what you really want in life?
You can virtually see one end from the other end. You can get from north to south, east to west in a day. You know what's happening miles away without moving from where you are with a click of a button. You can say something that can be heard by millions around the world. You can hear the voices of billions around the world.
This may sound cliche but truth is, the world is shrinking. Not in terms of traveling time, not in terms of communication speed. But something else that is closer to home. Your job prospects.
China has a population of 1.3 billion people.
India has 1.1 billion people.
How many universities does China has?
More than 2000!
http://colleges.indiaedu.com/asia/china/colleges-universities/index.html
How many graduates do you think the universities in these countries churn out each year?
http://www.uis.unesco.org/ev.php?ID=7122_201&ID2=DO_TOPIC
http://www.chinatoday.com/edu/a.htm
17 million people graduate from university in China every year.
How about India?
http://www.rediff.com/money/2005/dec/19guest1.htm
A whooping 48.7million.
Now, how many people do you think Singapore has as her citizens?
4.8million?
Let's not forget the other Asian countries which are populous.
Do the math.
Singapore Graduates VS Foreign Graduates
University graduates in a prestigious foreign university has: the same level of skill; equal or higher level of intelligence; much much much much much much higher drive to improve their lifestyle; less less less less less less less expectations for reward. Grabbing at anything thrown at them and a determination to strive to excellence.
University graduates in Singapore University has: complacency; super duper high expectations in terms of pay, welfare, leave, benefits; lazy or lack of drive to improve lifestyle (comfortable existing lifestyle); broken language (rojak:eng-chi-kien).
The Ugly Truth
It is common sense to know what determines a thriving business. To every company in the world, getting the best talents who are also hard working at the lowest cost possible is what they all want.
Even diploma holders who proves themselves more capable than degree holders are highly preferred due partly to the lower pay expectations. Education qualification no longer play a major role in securing job.
While it is comforting to indulge in the fantasy that as long as you keep getting higher qualifications, you will have a better chance to get a better job and a better life, reality is cruel.
Cruel in the sense that it smacks you in the face only when it is too late.
Life
You are only born once, you only have 1 twenty-first birthday, you only become 40 years old once, and death is a once in a life time opportunity, you won't miss it. It is in one direction and so far, no one has defied that pattern.
Getting a job and maintain your lifestyle is important. At least it keeps you alive. But staying alive is not enough. You need a life.
Getting a life is not only about going party and drinking beer, it is not only about watching soccer with a group of friends and have a great deal of fun.
It is not about tolerating having to wake up at a fixed time early in the morning everyday, squeezing the public transport or the road with tonnes of people like you, getting to work and get told when to have lunch, when to do what to do and when to go home.
It is not about getting a measly sum of money at the end of every month and sighing to yourself thinking: how is this going to be enough?
Don't just live; have a life.
Life is about fulfilling dreams and helping others, life is about leaving behind a legacy, something people of the future will remember you for.
Life is about doing whatever you want whenever you want.
It is about not having to worry about your loans and bills, not having to worry about the money needed to buy your house and having a family, having the best wedding, having the best honeymoon, having the best bedroom for your children, having the best birthday party every year for your children.
It is about having the chance to eat breakfast with your children, be with them when they need you most, guide them along the path in life, play along with them, read them bed time stories and watch your children go to sleep.
It is about accomplishments you can feel proud of at the end of the day when death calls and you have to go.
It is the confidence to say: My life is so wonderful, I have no regrets even if I die tomorrow.
Now What?
It is always repeated again and again, plan for your future. Don't blindly follow what works. What is working for others may never work out for you. You need to be the one to decide if it works for you. Facts are meaningless words until you decided to give meaning to it, to utilize it to shape your decisions.
A golden rule I learnt was that: You can never change a person, only that person can change himself.
The final question I post to you is: Is what you choose to do really going to get you what you really want in life?
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