He's Working Hard For The Money

In China, Camry salesman Lin Baojia nets $14 for every car he moves-if the buyer loads up on extras By David Rocks and Ian Rowley

Lin with a giant bow that new Camrys sport when presented to buyers ASSIGNMENT ASIA

In a country where auto sales have been growing at 20% to 30% annually, moving the metal should be a breeze, right? Before you answer, check in with Lin Baojia. The 41-year-old is among Toyota's (TM) top salesmen in China, unloading about 60 Camry sedans a month, but it's not exactly easy. "If there's anything wrong with the car, customers can call me on my cell phone at any time," says Lin, who sports a Toyota-issue uniform of a dark-brown suit with a yellow smiley-face button on the lapel. "When someone calls in the middle of the night, it's usually a big emergency, so I'll do everything I can to get out to be with him."

It's all part of Toyota's strategy of building sales in status-conscious China by coddling customers. Unlike in the U.S., where the Camry is as middle class as you can get, Toyota positions the car at China's high end. The sedans, cosmetically a bit different from the American Camry but essentially the same vehicle, range from $27,000 to $37,000-big money in a country where you can get a decent car for a bit over $4,000. That means buyers are mostly big shots used to getting what they want, when they want it.

Toyota tailors its operation to make customers feel they're the most important people on earth. When prospective buyers (80% are male) arrive at the dealership where Lin works in the southern city of Guangzhou, they're checked in at the gate. Then they're ushered into the showroom and greeted by name. Contact details are immediately entered into a database so the sales staff can call back in a day or two to encourage them to buy. There's a white baby-grand player piano tapping out gentle melodies. The service area features leather sofas, Internet access, free coffee, and snacks. Windows overlooking the service bay give the place a feeling of transparency in a country that's usually anything but.

"OPEN ARMS"
The operation sells Camrys made at Toyota's joint-venture factory in Guangzhou, plus a handful of other models imported from Japan. The dealership is light and airy, with high ceilings and a design intended to "resemble open arms," says Tetsuya Ezumi, sales chief of Guangzhou Toyota Motor, the manufacturing operation. The Guangzhou venture has roughly 140 dealerships in China today and expects to hit 350 by 2010 (another Toyota joint venture has a separate roster of nearly 300 dealers, and Lexus has 31). All told, Toyota sold roughly 500,000 cars in China last year and expects to move 1 million annually by 2010.

Lin and his colleagues are happy to answer any questions about the cars, but they avoid pouring on the pressure. "If I look desperate to sell today, people will think something is wrong with the car," Lin says. Once a customer has decided to buy-prices are fixed, haggling is prohibited-most pay in cash at what looks like a bank teller's window. When it's time to pick up the new car, it's wrapped in a giant red ribbon and delivered in a small ceremony with family and friends. There's a special room that's enclosed in glass and sports a mirrored wall on one side because "buyers like to see themselves behind the wheel," says Ezumi.

Toyota's sales staffers have learned to cater to customers' whims big-time, and few do it better than Lin. In one case, a recently purchased car developed a short circuit in a downpour late at night and wouldn't start. Lin arranged to have the car towed to the dealership to get it fixed, then sent the owner on his way at about 2:30 a.m.-with two cases of mandarin oranges in case he got hungry. Other times, he has picked up drivers who called him after drinking too much. He says he hops out of bed to give them a lift home in the wee hours. "Behind each customer stands a brother, a father, an uncle, a friend," Lin says, "and he'll recommend that others he knows come to me to buy a car. Good service is an investment."

All this for a commission of $14 per car. And that's if Lin can sell the customer on insurance and extras such as GPS navigation or a radar system that warns the driver when he's about to hit something while backing up. Lin manages the full commission 90% of the time, but when he doesn't, it sinks to $7. After factoring in his base salary of some $140 monthly, Lin earns enough to own a car-but not a Camry. Instead, Lin has a Mitsubishi-and isn't shy about saying so. "The challenge is to be a level below the customer," he says. "Since I'm only a salesman, I shouldn't drive the same car as you."

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_05/b4069064075832.htm?link_position=link1

Top 10 Ways To Save The Planet

1. Switch to a renewable energy supplier. By heating our homes and using electrical appliances, we are responsible for around a quarter of all the UK's carbon dioxide emissions, which in turn contribute to harmful greenhouse gases. You can reduce these effects by switching to a 'green' supplier, which supports the development of renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and hydroelectric power - and your bills won`t necessarily be any higher. For more information, visit www.greenenergy.uk.com or www.greenenergy.uk.com

2. Go CarbonNeutral. Another way to reduce the impact of your carbon dioxide emissions is to offset them by contributing to an environmental project. Use the free online calculator at www.carbonneutral.com to work out exactly how much carbon you generate, then find out how you can neutralise it. For example, you can take part in the company's dedicate-a-tree scheme by contributing to forest-planting project. Also look out for companies that operate a CarbonNeutral policy: in London, for instance, Radio Taxis black cabs recently embarked on a programme to measure and reduce its carbon dioxide emissions, and to offset them through renewable energy projects in Sri Lanka and Bulgaria, and forestry projects in the UK and Germany.

3. Switch them off! Appliances still use electricity when they're not being used - unless you turn them off completely. According to the Energy Saving Trust, every year video recorders use £113 million and televisions £50 million worth of electricity while on standby. So save the planet - and money - by turning them off at the wall.

4. Use high-efficiency lightbulbs. They last 12 times longer than normal ones and use only a fraction of the energy. For each bulb you fit, you could save up to £7 on your annual electricity bill.

5. Get your home checked out. For a report on how to conserve power in your house, fill out the Energy Saving Trust's online home energy check at www.energysavingtrust.org.uk or call 0800 512 012.

6. Be water-wise. Always check that you have turned taps off properly: a dripping tap loses about two drops a second, which is around 90 litres a week. Fit water-saving devices to toilet cisterns and water-saving taps. And if you have a dishwasher, use it sparingly: half-loaded machines use more than half the water of a full load. Skip a wash a week and you'll save 5,000 litres of water a year.

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A story about Jerry and his attitude

This is a good story to ponder. The world will be a great place to live in if we are like Jerry.

Jerry is the manager of a restaurant in America. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would always reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"

Many of the waiters at his restaurant quit their jobs when he changed jobs, so they could follow him around from restaurant to restaurant.

The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was always there, telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, "I don't get it! No one can be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"

Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, I have two choices today. I can choose to be in a good mood or I can choose to be in a bad mood. I always choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I always choose to learn from it.

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I always choose the positive side of life."

"But it's not always that easy," I protested. "Yes it is," Jerry said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. It's your choice how you live your life."

Several years later, I heard that Jerry accidentally did something you are never supposed to do in the restaurant business: he left the back door of his restaurant open one morning and was robbed by three armed men. While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him.

Luckily, Jerry was found quickly and rushed to the hospital. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body. I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Want to see my scars?"

I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place. "The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied. "Then, after they shot me, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or could choose to die. I chose to live.

"Weren't you scared?" I asked. Jerry continued, "The paramedic were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the Emergency Room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'He's a dead man.' I knew I needed to take action."

"What did you do?" I asked. "Well, there was a big nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. "She asked if I was allergic to anything." 'Yes,' I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply.

I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live. Please operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."

Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day you have the choice to either enjoy your life or to hate it.

The only thing that is truly yours-that no one can control or take from you-is your attitude, so if you can take care of that, everything else in life becomes much easier.

Amazing Circus Act

XXVIIIth CIRCUS MONTE-CARLO - Partner Equilibristic


Partner Equilibristic - Watch more funny videos here

New Tortoise And Hare Inspirational Teamwork Story

This is an age old fable of the tortoise and hare race. Everyone knows who won the race or do you? Well, recently I heard a new version of this story with a new twist. Read this inspirational teamwork story with lessons in teamwork from an age old fable.

1. Once upon a time a tortoise and a hare had an argument about who was faster. They decided to settle the argument with a race. The tortoise and hare both agreed on a route and started off the race. The hare shot ahead and ran briskly for some time. Then seeing that he was far ahead of the tortoise, he thought he'd sit under a tree for some time and relax before continuing the race. He sat under the tree and soon fell asleep. The tortoise plodding on overtook him and soon finished the race, emerging as the undisputed champ. The hare woke up and realised that he'd lost the race.

The moral of the story is that slow and steady wins the race. This is the version of the story that we've all grown up with.

2. But then recently, someone told me a more interesting version of this tortoise and hare story. It continues.

The hare was disappointed at losing the race and he did some soul-searching. He realised that he'd lost the race only because he had been overconfident, careless and lax. If he had not taken things for granted, there's no way the tortoise could have beaten him. So he challenged the tortoise to another race. The tortoise agreed.

This time, the hare went all out and ran without stopping from start to finish. He won by several miles.

The moral of the story? Fast and consistent will always beat the slow and steady. If you have two people in your organisation, one slow, methodical and reliable, and the other fast and still reliable at what he does, the fast and reliable chap will consistently climb the organisational ladder faster than the slow, methodical chap.

It's good to be slow and steady; but it's better to be fast and reliable.

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5 Things You Shouldn't Worry About When Blogging

With all the social interaction, the sharing of your personal thoughts and having to put yourself out there in an attempt to promote your work, blogging can be a tricky business if you are reserved about it. All the top bloggers are willing to put aside their worries to make their blog a success. Are you willing to open up?

Below are the top five concerns people typically have that holds them back when blogging, complete with reasons why you shouldn't worry about them.

Don't be worried that you will run out of ideas
If you have any form of regular publishing schedule it's quite possible that you will worry about running out of ideas for posts at some point. For the longest time this was one of the biggest reasons why I didn't (or couldn't) do guest posts; it was difficult enough trying to keep up the posting schedule for my own blog without worrying about doing content for other sites.

However, think about it; there is a huge amount of inspiration out there. Regardless of whether it is from reading books or websites or just from talking to people, there is always something out there that can spark a new idea when you need it. If you really want to make the most of it, jot down those ideas for use at a later date. You will quickly create a backlog of potential posts. It's shocking how many ideas get lost simply because they don't get written down.

Don't be worried about posting less (or more)
A lot of sites claim that the more you post the more popular you will be. That is generally true if you want to take your blog to the very top (and even then it's not a hard and fast rule), but for most of us, it really boils down to quality or quantity. I used to post more often than I do now. When I originally made the decision to post less, I was concerned it would effect the number of visitors, subscribers etc. However, I chose to use the extra time I'd created to provide more quality posts. You know what? I didn't lose half my readers as I feared, quite the opposite in fact!

Don't be worried about getting personal
The idea of putting up your personal thoughts and feelings on certain topics online for the world to see can be very daunting, especially if those thoughts are controversial or contrarian. It can be tempting to play it safe and write sterile posts, giving little away about the person behind them, like with the average corporate website. However, the personal touch is exactly why blogs are so popular. One idea that has been written about numerous times over the years can suddenly get a new lease of life by a blog covering it from a personal perspective.

Don't be worried about promoting your work
Don't worry about submitting every post of value you write to Digg, Stumbled Upon, Reddit, or other social bookmarking sites. That's what they are there for (they just don't know it yet ;) ). As long as you take part in the community and submit quality content from other sites as well, you will have to do much worse to be labeled as a spammer. After all, those sorts of sites are for finding interesting links. You are writing interesting content, right?

Another common practice for promoting your blog is by commenting on other sites. If you think your content relates in some way to a post, don't be shy about it, leave a comment and let people know. The basic rule is this: as long as you treat your commenting with the same attention as your posts, nobody will care if you slip in a little self-promotion as long as it's relevant.

Don't be worried about asking for help
Whenever I've had a surge of subscribers it's usually because I wrote a killer post but what really helped to boost my stats was to actually ask people to subscribe. If I want people to submit content to social bookmarking sites I ask them to. Want comments, opinions and feedback? Ask for it. Want to exchange links? Ask! In over a year of blogging, the worst response I got when I asked for something was... well, actually I didn't get a reply back. So why are you worried?

So what are your thoughts? For those of you that blog, what's holding you back?

Written by James, a blogger at Organize IT.

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Great video-Good Character Is Caught And Not Taught

Children imitate what parents do. Good character in children begins with us as parents. We-sharecare Society For Children and Youth had develop a social commercial video to raise the awareness of the importance of Good Character Education in children. Please help forward this video to as many friends as possible if you find it useful and meaningful.

Character is caught and not taught

Dear friends, loved ones and working associates,

We-sharecare Society For Children and Youth is pleased to announce that we have engaged film production service of Jteam Production to develop a social commercial video to raise the awareness of the importance of Good Character Education in children.

We hope you will enjoy this short commercial just as much as we do and help us forward this newsletter to as many friends as possible if you find it useful and meaningful.

亲爱的朋友和社会工作伙伴们，新加坡互怀儿童与青年协会最近与Jteam Production一起拍了一部社会广告来提高儿童，家庭与社会品德教育的重要性。

我们希望您看了这个简短的社会广告后，如有被它的意义感触到，就帮助我们把这通讯到更多您的朋友，让他们受益。

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Singapore government plays Cupid for Valentine's Day

Worried that a low birth rate could threaten the country's very survival Singapore's government is playing Cupid, using Valentine's Day to promote romance and marriage.

In a city where many singles say they are too busy making money to make love, the government plans to step up its official "Romancing Singapore" campaign on Thursday, the traditional lovers' day, to encourage people to take up dating.

The campaign, launched in 2002 and managed commercially by the private sector since 2005, has lined up a series of events throughout February and on Valentine's Day itself to try to reverse the falling birthrate. And a separate initiative sees the government directly funding efforts to promote romance.

In 2006 it launched the one-million-Singapore-dollar (704,000 US) Partner Connection Fund to support dating agencies that come up with what it called new "social interaction opportunities" for singles.

"A lot of countries, they let nature take its course but in Singapore because of our work and lifestyle, we don't have a lot of time," said Andrew Chow, a manager with Romancing Singapore.

"We are trying to educate the singles that dating is in fact a lifestyle. I think nowhere else in the world does things like Singapore."

Among the events Romancing Singapore has planned to give Cupid a helping hand is an evening date on the newly-opened Singapore Flyer, the world's tallest observation wheel at 42 storeys high.

The Valentine's Day event, billed as "Love In A Capsule," is organised by Romancing Singapore and Clique Wise, another social networking outfit. From movie marathons, Friday night shopping sprees and treasure hunts, Romancing Singapore says it has tapped more than 5,000 singles to participate in previous events.

Love comes at a price, though - a date on the Singapore Flyer costs 140 US dollars, which includes a gourmet dinner at a spa resort. All 24 slots have been booked, said Chow.

Violet Lim, co-founder of dating agency Lunch Actually, agreed Singapore's fast-paced lifestyle has made it hard for couples to connect.

"We play the role of an introducer," she said. "A lot of people who join us, they are not exactly people who can't find dates on their own. I would say it's more due to their schedules."

A subsidiary of Lunch Actually, Eteract.com, received funding from the government's Partner Connection Fund for its online dating platform. The platform allows singles to get acquainted by chatting and even playing games in cyberspace, said Lim, adding the identities of participants have been verified.

The number of babies born per woman in Singapore fell to an historic low of 1.24 in 2004 and 2005, far below the rate of 2.1 needed for the population to replenish itself, the government has said.

This shortage prompted authorities to offer cash incentives for couples having more than two children, encourage foreigners to adopt citizenship, and ease up on previously taboo subjects like sex.

"We have managed to reverse the decline in births, but only barely," Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a message on the eve of Lunar New Year earlier this month.

"Last year we only had 37,000 resident births, just 2,000 more than in 2004."

Lee said that ultimately the issue is not just about financial incentives but other factors including "social attitudes".

Singapore had a population of 4,588,600 last year but about one million of those were non-resident foreigners, official statistics show.

Perhaps among those numbers lies the partner Joyce Tia is seeking.

Tia, a group financial controller in her thirties, will join a dinner date organised by Ideas and Concepts dating agency on the eve of Valentine's Day.

"I am looking for a long-term relationship so having the dating agency to provide me the background of the person is good," said Tia.

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Products with offensive slogans taken off shelves

A RANGE of cheeky cosmetics and bags with Jesus-inspired slogans like "Get tight with Christ" and "Redeem yourself in His eyes" has been yanked from shelves of a retailer here.

Fashion outlet Topshop, which has eight stores here, pulled the items late last month following complaints from Catholics who called the items "disrespectful", The Straits Times reported.

A spokesman for Wing Tai Retail, which manages Topshop in Singapore, said it was sorry if it had offended the Christian community.

"We don't want to offend our customers," said the spokesman, who asked not to be named.

At the centre of the controversy were body creams, lip balms, bags and other items marketed under the "Looking Good for Jesus" line.

The lip balms had the message "Get tight with Christ!" and "Think pure thoughts until next hot date" on its packaging.

A hand and body cream came with the words "Get His attention" and "Redeem your reputation and More!"

The phrases rankled Christians here, including accountant Grace Ong, 24.

She said: "Why would anyone use religious figures to promote vanity products? It's very disrespectful and distasteful."

There are eight Topshop outlets in Singapore, but only three - stores in Wisma Atria, Marina Square and VivoCity - sold the religious-themed products, the spokesman said.

The spokesman was unable to provide more details on the offending items yesterday as the Wing Tai office was closed for the Chinese New Year holidays.

However, Wing Tai said the products are from Blue Q, an American brand.

M&Co, a local firm which has imported Blue Q's products for the past two years, said the items "poke fun at everyone but (do) not single out any particular group".

Still, Catholics like Nick Chui are not laughing.

The 27-year-old marketing executive wrote toWing Tai last month after spotting the items at Topshop.

Mr Chui said: "These products trivialise Jesus Christ and Christianity. Besides, there are also sexual innuendoes
in the messages and the way Jesus is portrayed in these products."

Mr Chui said he is thankful that Topshop has pulled the items from its shelves.
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1GB 20 years ago and 1GB now!!! [PIC]

It's amazing how quickly technology advances these days...

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Yahoo's Board REJECTS Microsoft takeover Offer!

Yahoo Inc.'s board plans to reject Microsoft Corp.'s bid to buy the Internet pioneer, The Wall Street Jornal reported on its Web site Saturday.

Board members concluded the unsolicited $44.6 billion offer massively undervalues the Web pioneer, a person familiar with the situation told the newspaper.

The bid was made public Feb. 1.

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Takalah Tan Life Lessons From A Tragic Encounter

After completing his National Service duration of two and a half years, Takalah proceeded to do Mechanical Engineering Degree at National University of Singapore. It is indisputable at that time for one to state that pursuit for thrill is a integral part of Takalah’s life. The quest for thrill seems not to evade Takalah till 24th May 1994. Takalah encountered a calamity and was plunged into the deepest pit of tragedy.

Takalah Tan clinched a job in a coveted company; where out of seven thousand applicants, only Takalah and another were chosen. As part of the employment terms, he was to be issued a car for mobility purposes. Sadly, just a week before Takalah was to start his career in this coveted Multi-National-Company, he met with a tragic motorbike accident.

He never thought riding motorbike is that dangerous but the uncalled-for happened. Takalah Tan now knows the truth but it is too late.

Just sent to hospital by an ambulance. In fear of spinal injury, Takalah Tan’s neck was supported by the above orange frame.

Just sent to hospital by a Civil Defence Ambulance. In fear that neck movements may aggravate possible prevailing spinal injury, Takalah Tan’s neck was fixated by the attachment of an orange circumferential frame on it.

The accident broke his right leg, dislocated his left shoulder, blinded his left eye, tore away his left-nose, broke his skull (liquid around his brain leaked dry) and had blood clots in his brain which resulted in brain injury.

His tragedy prompted his dad to postpone his heart-bypass operation. Just two weeks before Takalah discharged from NUH, his dad was struck by a fatal cardiac seizure. Upon regaining his consciousness, conscience prick the brain injured Takalah to feel accountable for his dad’s death.

Having been the primary cause for such a great sense of hopeless despair in his family, Takalah had little to fend himself with when the family members harshly scolded him for not following their instructions prescribed during the process of his recovery. The strict treatment and negative feedbacks aplenty from loved ones and peers indeed saddened and disturbed Takalah.

To make matters worse, Takalah was thrown into solitude. Due to his brain injury, Takalah could not remember his associative relationship with the many who visits him to care for him. The infliction of permanent amnesia on Takalah has greatly widened the rift between Takalah and peers.

Takalah Tan’s memory recall and retention handicap has resulted in his loss of close relationships with many friends. His good chemistry with close-ones has been badly corrupted by Post Traumatic Brain Injury handicaps.

Takalah required multiple reconstruction surgeries: “Talk about ‘The Ugly Look!’ What about me? Where do I stand?” Takalah Tan queries…

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How To Prevent Razor Burn | Tips For Healthy Skin Care

Most men have to shave their facial hair for work or at the request of their wives. Women have their underarms and legs to worry about. Many of us shave every day and our skin has a hard time keeping up with all the irritation.

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20 Simple Ways to Get Happy

5. Declutter. It's nearly impossible to meditate, breathe deeply, or simply relax when every surface is covered with papers and bills and magazines, your cabinets bulge, and you haven't balanced your checkbook in six months. Plus, the repetitive nature of certain cleaning tasks -- such as sweeping, wiping, and scrubbing -- can be meditative in and of itself if you focus on what you're doing.

6. Just say no. Eliminate activities that aren't necessary and that you don't enjoy. If there are enough people already to handle the church bazaar and you're feeling stressed by the thought of running the committee for yet another year, step down and let someone else handle things.

#18) "Give priority to close relationships." One study of more than 1,300 men and women of various ages found that those who had a lot of supportive friends were much more likely to have healthier blood pressure, cholesterol levels, blood sugar metabolism, and stress hormone levels than those with two or fewer close friends....

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Australian Real Estate Agents File Suit Against Google

Two Australian real estate agents have filed suit against Google for their vanity search results. Apparently, an article alleges that they are scummy businessmen, and they don't like that.

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Nick Vujicic, Life Without Limbs motivational stories

He is an amazing inspiration. It wasn’t until I saw Nick Vujicic's story that such thoughts ever entered my mind. You may have to thank God for your many blessings

Nick is a young man of 22 years of age. He is a resident of suburban Brisbane, Queensland. He has a positive approach to life and is outgoing and friendly, with a happy and cheerful personality. He has a smile that makes anyone feel comforted and at ease. But life hasn’t been easy for him.

His parents, both lifelong Christians, had eagerly anticipated the birth of Nick Vujicic, their first child.

Nick Vujicic was on the morning of the 4th of December 1982 in Melbourne, Australia. However, the last two words on the minds of his parents was "Praise God!". That is because their firstborn son had been born without limbs! All his mother could say was, “Please, take him away!”

There were no warnings or time to prepare themselves for it. The doctors were shocked and had no answers at all! There is still no medical reason why this had happened.

The whole church mourned over his birth and Nick Vujicic parents were absolutely devastated. Everyone asked, "If God is a God of Love, then why would God let something this bad happen to not just anyone, but dedicated Christians?" Nick’s father thought the baby wouldn't survive for very long, but tests proved that Nick Vujicic was a healthy baby boy just with a few limbs missing i.e. no legs, no arms.

Understandably, Nick’s parents had strong concern and evident fears of what kind of life he would be able to lead. The first biggest hurdle was for his parents to be at peace and trusting that God was in control. It took them a number of months of tears, questions and grief before that complete trust overtook their hearts. God provided them strength, wisdom and courage through those early years and soon after that Nick was old enough to go to school.

There are a few people who assume that because of Nick’s physical disability that it meant that Nick Vujicic would also be mentally disabled. The law in Australia didn't allow Nick to be integrated into a main-stream school because of his physical disability. God did miracles and gave his mother the strength to fight for the law to be changed. Nick Vujicic was one of the first disabled students to be integrated into a main-stream school.

Nick liked going to school, and just try to live life like everyone else. But it was in his early years of school where he encountered uncomfortable times of feeling rejected, weird and bullied because of his physical difference. It was very hard for him to get used to, but with the support of his parents, he started to develop attitudes and values which helped him overcome these challenging times. He knew that he was different but on the inside he was just like everyone else. There were many times when Nick felt so low that he wouldn't go to school just so he didn't have to face all the negative attention. Nick was encouraged by his parents to ignore them and to try start making friends by just talking with some kids. Soon the students realized that Nick Vujicic was just like them, and starting there God kept on blessing him with new friends.

There were times when Nick felt depressed and angry because he couldn't change the way he was, or blame anyone for that matter. Nick went to Sunday School and learnt that God loves us all and that He cares for you. Nick understood that love to a point as a child, but he didn't understand that if God loved him why did He make Nick Vujicic like this? Is it because he did something wrong? Nick felt like he was a burden to those around him and the sooner he go, the better it'd be for everyone. Nick Vujicic actually wanted to end his pain and end his life at a young age, but he is thankful once again, for his parents and family who were always there to comfort him and give him strength.

Due to his emotional struggles, he had experienced bullying, self esteem problems and loneliness, God has implanted a passion of sharing his story and experiences to help others cope with whatever challenge they have in their life and let God turn it into a blessing. To encourage and inspire others to live to their fullest potential and not let anything gets in the way of accomplishing their hopes and dreams.

One of the first lessons that he learnt was not to take things for granted. Nick Vujicic had that wake up call around the age of twelve and realized just how much he was blessed with. He took his foot for granted, his family and the fact that he wasn't born in a third world country, with all the blessings that God had freely given.

And we know that in all things God works for the best for those who love Him.

Romans 8:28

There is no such thing as luck, chance or coincidence that these "bad" things happen in our life.

Nick had complete peace knowing that God won't let anything happen to us in our life unless He has a good purpose for it all. Nick Vujicic completely gave my life to Christ at the age of fifteen after reading John 9. Jesus said that the reason the man was born blind was "so that the works of God may be revealed through Him." Nick truly believed that God would heal him so that Nick could be a great testimony of His Awesome Power. Later on Nick was given the wisdom to understand that if we pray for something, if it's God's will, it'll happen in His time. If it's not God's will for it to happen, then He has something better.

Nick Vujicic is now 21 years old and have completed a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Financial Planning and Accounting. Nick is also a motivational speaker and love to go out and share his story and testimony wherever opportunities become available. Nick Vujicic had developed talks to relate to and encourage students through topics that challenge today's teenagers. He is also a speaker in the corporate sector. In recent years, Nick has learnt to become independent and can now take care of all his personal needs. He can do everything from brushing his teeth, combing his hair, dressing up, taking care of my personal hygiene and even shaving. He get around the house by jumping around. Outside the house, Nick get around in an electric wheelchair. Nick love to swim, fish and play soccer. Nick has a passion for reaching out to youth and to keep himself available for whatever God wants him to do.

Nick Vujicic has many dreams and goals that he has set to achieve in his life. He wanted to be a witness for God, to become an international inspirational speaker and be used as a vessel in both Christian and non-Christian venues. He also wanted to become financially independent by the age of 25, through real estate investments, to modify a car for him to drive and to be interviewed and share his story on the "Oprah Winfrey Show". Writing several best-selling books has been one of his dreams and he hope to finish writing his first by the end of the year. It will be called "No Arms, No Legs, No Worries!"

Nick Vujicic also finds time for such normal pursuits as swimming, music and fishing. How do you fish if you don’t have arms? He has a fishing rod with an electronic reel.

You might think these goals are too far-fetched. However, Nick Vujicic believed that if you have the desire and passion to do something, and if it's God's will, you will achieve it in good time. As humans, we continually put limits on ourselves for no reason at all! What's worse is putting limits on God who can do all things. We put God in a "box". The awesome thing about the Power of God, is that if we want to do something for God, instead of focusing on our capability, concentrate on our availability for we know that it is God through us and we can't do anything without Him. Once we make ourselves available for God's work, guess whose capabilities we rely on? God's!

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:13

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Measuring the Speed of Light: Interesting Thing of the Day

Fun with mirrors and math

From ancient times, astronomers and other thinkers wondered how fast light moved; for a long while, conventional wisdom held (reasonably enough) that it traveled instantaneously.Early EstimatesFrom ancient times, astronomers and other thinkers wondered how fast light moved; for a long while, conventional wisdom held (reasonably enough) that it traveled instantaneously. Galileo described (and possibly performed) an experiment in which two subjects stood about a mile apart, with a third person observing them both from a distance.

The first person uncovered a lantern, and as soon as his partner a mile away saw the lantern’s light, he uncovered his lantern.

The third person’s job was to measure the time between when he saw the first light and the second light; Galileo then intended to use that amount of time, along with the distances between the participants, to calculate the speed of light. Unfortunately, the test was inconclusive, because the delay was too short to be measured accurately. Even Galileo admitted it was more a test of response time than a measurement of the speed of light.

All he could conclude from the experiment was that light traveled at least 10 times faster than sound.Over the following centuries, several astronomers made inferential estimates of the speed of light based on observations of the movements of planets and stars. Some of these estimates were quite shrewd, sophisticated, and (it would later turn out) fairly accurate, but they were unsatisfying because they required educated guesses about astronomical speeds and distances and could not be reproduced in a laboratory.

So in the middle of the 19th century, two French scientists started investigating the problem independently, each arriving at a novel way to make the measurement with readily available equipment.Wheels and MirrorsIn 1849, Armand Fizeau sent a beam of light through a rotating wheel with a large number of teeth around the outside. A mirror on the other side reflected the beam each time a gap appeared in the path of the light.

Fizeau realized that if the wheel rotated fast enough, the return beam would be blocked by the next tooth as it came around. So he varied the speed of the wheel until the reflected beam disappeared, performed a bit of math, and got a result of 315,000 km/second (195,732 miles/second)—certainly in the ballpark.

Meanwhile, Foucault was working on a different but equally clever technique, which he demonstrated the following year. Foucault’s method was to shine a sharply focused beam of light onto a rotating mirror, and from there onto a fixed mirror. Once the light hit the fixed mirror, it bounced back onto the rotating mirror and then back toward the source. But because the mirror was rotating, the angle at which it was positioned had changed slightly by the time the beam made its return trip.

Consequently, the reflected beam did not line up precisely with the original. Foucault could easily measure the angle between the original light source and the reflected beam, and along with known constants (the distances between the various surfaces and the speed of the mirror’s rotation), it was a matter of a few straightforward calculations to convert that small angle into a representation of speed.

Using this technique, Foucault produced a measurement of 298,000 km/second (185,167 miles/second), which is shockingly close to the modern measurement of 299,792 km/second (186,282 miles/second), keeping in mind that the latter figure applies only in a vacuum; light travels more slowly in air.

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Singapore girl Ah Meng dies

So when Ah Meng the orang utan died yesterday, aged 48, it marked the end of an era at the Singapore Zoo.

Ah Meng dies

SHE was a great-looking Singapore girl who rubbed shoulders with royalty, movie stars and statesmen.People paid to sip tea with her, and countless others liked nothing better than to be photographed next to her.So when Ah Meng the orang utan died yesterday, aged 48, it marked the end of an era at the Singapore Zoo.

Saddened by the news, former zoo chief Bernard Harrison remembered: 'She had the character to be a mega-star, the personality to pull that off and became a legend.'Ah Meng was a household name and remained the zoo's star attraction, even as age slowed her down. In human terms, she was nearly 95, and is believed to have died of old age.

Born in Sumatra, Indonesia, she arrived at the zoo in 1971 after being removed from a family who kept her as an illegal pet.Stardom came in 1982 with the zoo's 'Breakfast with An Orang Utan' programme, which featured Ah Meng at centre stage.Within four years, she featured in almost 30 travel films and more than 270 write-ups worldwide.

Among those who dropped in on her were Britain's Prince Philip, pop superstar Michael Jackson and actress Elizabeth Taylor.Such was her pulling power that the then Singapore Tourism Promotion Board made her a Special Tourism Ambassador in 1992, the first non-human recipient of the award.

The zoo's former head of public relations, Mr Robin Goh, said part of Ah Meng's charm was how she took to people.'She came from a domesticated background as a pet and behaved differently from wild orang utans. She could drink tea from a teacup and looked good for an ape,' he said.Ah Meng is survived by four children and six grandchildren.

A memorial will be held at 11am on Sunday at the zoo, and the public will be able to view Ah Meng's body from 9am.Reacting to the news, President SR Nathan said at yesterday's Istana open house that Ah Meng had long been a symbol of the Singapore Zoo.'

A lot of people, both local and foreigners, have enjoyed her company,' he said. 'I'm sure the patrons of the zoo will miss her. But that's life.'

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