Singing Christmas Tree

This Friday, I will be joining my Church Choir to sing at the Singing Christmas Tree at Ngee Ann City. Two of my family members are also in the Choir. Looking forward to it... should be fun.

Celebrate Christmas In Singapore

Once again Christmas is coming. Singapore will celebrate Christmas at Orchard Road (the stretch of road between Orchard MRT and Paragon) from 16 to 25 Dec 05. Exciting events have been planned every evening. Beginning with the flagging off of the parade of floats on the 16th, to the Grand Concert and Street Celebration on Orchard Road itself on 25th, the birth of Jesus will be presented in attractive and meaningful ways.

Highlights of the events include:

Christmas Celebration Village 圣诞村
Civic Plaza (fronting Ngee Ann City) will be transformed into a lively village of celebration. Tribal and ethnic groups from different parts of the world will be celebrating Christmas in their own unique ways right here in Singapore. Visitors will get to see their varied Christmas customs, songs and dances, and also view their native crafts, wares and costumes.

Singing Christmas Tree 圣诞树报佳音
One of the major features of the Christmas Celebration Village will be a “Singing Christmas Tree”. A huge Christmas tree will feature live singers and musicians on/in the tree itself. Inspiring music, beautiful decorations and colourful bright lights will combine to produce a wonderful and spectacular experience.

Other Highlights of the events are:

Stage Performances 舞台表演
Foreign Tribal and Ethnic Groups 海外少数民族
Parade of Floats 圣诞花车
Grand Christmas Concert on Orchard Road 乌节路大型圣旦音乐会

Those who are free, do drop by Orchard Road starting from tomorrow to have fun. Program booklet will be distributed there along Orchard Road.

Oh yes, before I forget, I am involved in the Singing Christmas Tree on one of the nights and also volunteering as usher for another night too.

Coaching Session 1

A friend of mine is attending a course on "coaching" as she intends to set up her own personal coaching program as a business. So she asked to 'coach' me for her course assignment. I met up with her today for my first 'coaching session'.

Wow! We spent 3 hours freezing ourselves at KFC because she had many incoming and outgoing calls during our session. *sigh* All my fingers and toes were numbed at the end of it.

Well, that aside, I did gain something from her 'half-past-six' session. Thanks to her! Let me recap what we did...

1. Rate my Current State from scale of 1 to 10 for the following. Why I rate them that way?
a. career/business -- 2, just starting my 'business partnership program, uncertain of outcome
b. finance -- 5, can survive but can't splurge like when I was working full-time
c. relationship -- 8, generally happy and contented
d. health -- 6, feel ok and hardly fall sick, though my antioxidant level is poor for now

2. Which of the 4 is the most important to me and why?
d. health, w/o it I can't enjoy the rest

3. What is my Ideal State or goals in 5 years time?
a. career/business -- have my own education business
b. finance -- I will be contented with $120k annual net income :P
c. relationship -- be in 'honeymoon' stage (asking too much?)
d. health -- strong enough to help others and enjoy life

4. What am I going to do to make it to my Ideal State or goal?
d. health -- since my health is the most important, I got to build my health; I just started the Phamanex LifePad which is a moneyback guarantee for health.
a. career/business -- my business partnership program is also based on health and beauty products, so it fits in well with my objective to strengthen my health and to do my business
c. relationship -- go for weekly exercises with people close to me to keep fit and establish bond
b. finance -- by doing my 'business' well I can gradually build up my finance

5. What are the challenges to my goals?
a. career/business -- lack of funding and suitable partners
c. relationship -- understanding hidden messages
d. health -- sleeping late and too much internet, eyesights deteriorating with eyebags showing

6. What are the skills I need to acquire to ensure I achieve my goals?
a. career/business -- fund raising skills to get investors
c. relationship -- learning the art of reading between-the-lines, I am a direct person
d. health -- time management skills, discipline

7. What am I going to do to acquire these skills?
read books and surf internet on such topics for the next 2 weeks; sleep early by 1 a.m.; for every hour I am online I should be offline for the next hour (wow.. tall order)

Business Partnership

Finally, I thought I should join my friend in her business partnership program under "ST World Wide". I was impressed because it has differentiated itself from other MLM models. I will go with her to do the registration tomorrow.

Met another friend and I told her about what I was about to join but she is very skeptical about it and advised me against it. She even tried to 'coach' me as she has decided to become a 'life coach' after attending a coaching course. Well I allow myself to be her 'guinea pig' to 'coach' me for my EdD program. Let's see how it goes. :)

Searching For Direction

Ah, this blog seems to be almost 'dead' as I usually blog elsewhere. I think I shall blog here more frequently from now on.

To begin, I shall write down some of the reflections I have on my life lately...

I have been working ever since I left Secondary School due to my family's financial needs then, but I have never stop learning and studying. I worked very hard full-time and study part-time for many years, and am doing a research programme now.

Some people commented that I love to study. Well, it's not that I like to study, but it's because I love to learn and believe that learning is lifelong. I study courses/programme that are useful for my work so that I can be a better contributor to the companies I worked for.

I left my full-time job about 6 months ago so that I could have more time to focus on my research study. I did some freelance work to supplement my income. However, some setbacks have thrown me out of focus. I am now thinking of quiting my study as my initial purpose of pursuing the research study seems to have lost. I need to make my decision about it within the next few days, as the university is asking me for my school fee now.

Someone has been asking me to join her 'franchise' business lately. I have attended some of the talks conducted by her business group and was quite impressed though I still have some reservations. I shall decide on it within the next few days too. If I were to take it up I would ensure its success. Hmmn... back to sales and marketing again?

Oh no, two big decisions to make... study and business 'franchise'. I need to pray and ask God for direction and wisdom.

NDP 2005

Today is Singapore National 40th Birthday. Watching the parade on my home TV once again made me proud to be a Singaporean. Yes, I may complain once in awhile about certain policies, etc, but deep in my heart I know where I belong... Singapore is my home. All my traveling overseas made me love Singapore even more. Yes, we might still have many rooms for improvement, yet...

Thank God for the peace and prosperity we have.
Thank God for our government.
Thank God for our freedom of worship.
Thank God for our education system.
Thank God for economy...

I pray that God will continue to bless Singapore as more and more leaders submit to His leadership to lead this small nation.

Below are some shots taken from the TV... better than those I took during the last Preview at the Padang I guess.

parachute descending

the touch down



the cannon salute

getting ready to fire

the Padang, where the parade was held

one of the majestic fighter planes

the beautiful fly pass

President Inspection

the tanks

tank salute

dragon dance

fireworks at the finale

Istana Open House

Went to the Istana Open House yesterday... probably my first time... hehe, can't believe it? It's true. Anyway, it was interesting to observe what some people did there. Took some shots....

Inside the Istana... my first time visit

this couple seems to ignore the fact that they were on the Istana ground, and that there were thousands of visitors passing them by... strange couple *eyes rolling*

clowning with kids ;)

thinking time...

nice sculpture, attracting many professional photographers


St Margaret's Secondary School Band performance...

producing nice pieces..

creative music from the kitchen

Young Only Once

Have you ever thought about what you would do if you were younger? If you could wind back the clock to the time you were a teenager, or when you had just finished your study, or when you were still in your twenties, etc... What would you have done differently?

This question came to me recently as celebrated my birthday with my family recently. I paused and thought hard. Now I am one year older… I wished I were younger, as I looked at the teenagers and youth. But I know I could be young only once. I couldn't wind back the clock... even researchers have been trying hard to invent cosmetic to prolong youth of people, yet it isn't possible.

I wish I could have done something different when I was younger… perhaps I wouldn't do certain things, perhaps I would do certain things, etc... But I guess I should learn to grow older graciously, and with pride...

So my wish is that all young people would treasure their youth, so that when they are old there is no regret in their life.

My Profile

Name:
Betty, the short of Elizabeth

Occupation:
Education Consultant/ Headhunter / Lecturer / Director

Universities:
Australia and UK

Activities I enjoy:
Badminton, cycling, jogging, music, playing guitar or any musical instrument, listening to soothing music/songs, singing, arts & crafts, swimming, travelling, humours,

Current hobbies:
Blogging, Web Designing (self learning), Internet surfing, poetry writing

When and how I started blogging?
In 2003 , when blogging was still very new in Singapore, I happened to surfed into someone's blog. Out of curiosity, as I always am, I tried blogging myself. My experience tells me that blogging is good for one's souls and also a good way to reach out to others through our writings if we do it the right way.

My first blog is a very emo blog, but it is also my favorite blog. Why?

• I learned so many things about the use of internet
• I could fully expressed and found my identity there
• I discovered my gift in poem writing
• I was able to touch lives of my blog visitors.

I have closed down that 4 years-old blog recently. In all I have more than 10 blogs, each sharing about different aspects of life.



last updated: 21 Jul 07