When one has a purpose in life, one would do things with more motivation.

Everyone in this world is never in control of his or her own lives. The moment we are born into this world, our parents sat down and decided our future for us. We were taken into schools selected by our parents. As we grew up and thought we could make our own decisions, advertisements on televisions and reports in newspapers swayed our decisions.

An aspiring dancer will come to know that being a dancer will not be feasible in Singapore; She will have read a report about the numerous dancers who have failed in their attempts to be a full-time dancer. She becomes a property agent.

An aspiring writer in Malaysia will come to know that being a writer will not provide any steady income in Malaysia; he sees in the news about a writer who struggles and eventually gives up on his dreams. He becomes a banker.

Somewhere out there, a group of people is engineering us to be what they want us to be. A real estate agency, during a meeting, creates scenarios to convince the aspiring dancer to be a property agent. A bank in Malaysia, during a meeting, creates news in the newspaper to convince the aspiring writer to be a banker.

We are always being social engineered.

A good social engineer creates scenarios to change a person’s decisions. He toys with the victim’s trust to get what they want. A skilled social engineer is very skilled at developing a ruse that stimulates emotions, fears or guilt.

We are always being manipulated. Before a couple goes into a relationship, the guy engineers a story or an excuse to convince the girl to go out with him. When we watch movies in the cinemas, we are manipulated by the trailers that develop the ruse within us. In one day, we are being manipulated more than twenty times by more than ten people.

We are never in control.

To win a chess game, you control your opponent’s movements with your movements. That is the basis of becoming a winner; that is the basis of becoming a skilled engineer. Either you control the game or you will be controlled by the game.


Adapted from “The Perfect Story” by Low Kay Hwa.

Memories are like a piece of exquisite glass: Beautiful, fragile yet
dangerous. When you break it, it will shatter into pieces, and every
slice of the glass, which was ever so beautiful minutes ago, will
turn into sharp blades that cut your skin.

The longest wait is not created by the amount of time passed, but by your mind.

To tell a compelling story, pepper the stories with well-known facts
and slot in the fictitious components strategically.

There is a very indistinct difference between not remembering and
forgetting: When we don’t remember, the memory still lingers at the
back of our minds threatening to pulse on us anytime.
When we forget, we just don’t remember.

It’s not about how the world sees you; it’s about how you see the
world.

The destination is never important. It’s the journey that is important.

Conquer Recklessness

Learn to recognize when speed is not important.
Race when being first is important; move at your own pace at all
other times. It is not necessary to always strike the first blow,
to provide the first solution, or to reach a goal before anyone else
does. In fact, it is sometimes vital to strike the last blow, to give
the final answer, or to arrive after everyone else.

Conquer Stubbornness

A person would always have been ready to accept defeat if the cost
of winning is greater than the cost of losing.
It is always best to end things peacefully than to win or lose.

Conquer Overconfidence

Overconfident thinking is flawed because he does not take all
possibilities into account. One may understand the task at hand,
the support of his fellows, and the ramifications of his success,
and he may have even planned for unanticipated factors—but he has
failed to understand his own capabilities. He has planned only for
success, because he has concluded that there can be no failure.
Every person, in every task, should prepare for the possibility of
failure.

Conquer Defeatism

Defeatism is just as dangerous as overconfidence.
Although it might have seemed contradictory to the goals of conquering
overconfidence, a person would first plan for success, then for
failure. A person who always plan for failure expected to lose,
and usually only used minimal effort—enough to say that they had tried.

Conquer Arrogance

The acceptance of others is not a guarantee. Like everyone else,
whether a person is accepted or not is based on their behavior.
The one who believes that he is more important than others only
demonstrates that his opinion is to be ignored.

Honor Your Promises

Deliver more than you promise. The best way to be always
certain of this is to deliver much, even when you promise nothing."

If you made a promise, you should have always been prepared to keep
it, or else to have made amends. A person should never have make a
promise he or she was not certain they could keep.

A person must use not only his rational mind but also his intuitive
mind in order to ascertain the truth of a situation.

Ignorance

Simply ignoring facts that do not fit with one's viewpoint is
foolhardy. Ignorance is a part of life but it must not be feared.

Emotions

Emotions must be understood first, and it is your duty to
explore your own feelings. Unless you can confront your thoughts
and feelings, you will never achieve peace. Emotions, then, are not to
be overcome or denied, but rather understood and dealt with.

You must accept death and life, rot and growth, corruption and purity,
hate and love, not as opposites but as dual pairs, each can't exist
without the other, as nature intends.