Monday, May 6, 2013
My Artwork
Most recently I decided to digitize all the artwork I did in my mid 30. Unfortunately, not all the pieces were well kept enough to show case their original luster, but with a bit of Photoshop, I was able to bring some of them back to their formal glory.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Slow Day
It's a slow day in the small town of Pumphandle, Saskatchewan - the streets are nearly deserted. Economic times are tough so everybody is in debt and everybody is living on credit.
A tourist visiting the area drives through town, stops at the motel, and lays a $100 bill on the desk saying that he would like to inspect the rooms upstairs before picking one for the night.
The motel owner gives him a key and as soon as he walks upstairs, the owner grabs the bill and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher. The butcher takes the $100 and runs down the street to retire his debt to the pig farmer. The pig farmer takes the $100 and heads off to pay his bill to his supplier, the Co-op.
The guy at the Co-op takes the $100 and runs to pay his debt to the local prostitute, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer her "services" on credit. The hooker rushes to the motel and pays off her room bill to the motel owner. The motel owner then places the $100 back on the counter so the traveler will not suspect anything.
At that moment, the traveler comes down the stairs, states that the rooms are not satisfactory, so he picks up his $100 bill and leaves.
No one produced anything. No one earned anything ... However, the whole town is now out of debt and now looks to the future with a lot more optimism.
......................And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how a Stimulus package works.
A tourist visiting the area drives through town, stops at the motel, and lays a $100 bill on the desk saying that he would like to inspect the rooms upstairs before picking one for the night.
The motel owner gives him a key and as soon as he walks upstairs, the owner grabs the bill and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher. The butcher takes the $100 and runs down the street to retire his debt to the pig farmer. The pig farmer takes the $100 and heads off to pay his bill to his supplier, the Co-op.
The guy at the Co-op takes the $100 and runs to pay his debt to the local prostitute, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer her "services" on credit. The hooker rushes to the motel and pays off her room bill to the motel owner. The motel owner then places the $100 back on the counter so the traveler will not suspect anything.
At that moment, the traveler comes down the stairs, states that the rooms are not satisfactory, so he picks up his $100 bill and leaves.
No one produced anything. No one earned anything ... However, the whole town is now out of debt and now looks to the future with a lot more optimism.
......................And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how a Stimulus package works.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Even Americans Cannot Spell
For those of you who study English as a second language, you must find spelling a really pain. Unlike Spanish that spells as it reads, English spelling is without definite rules. Here is an example of a "public display" of bad spelling. The picture was taken from a stretch of road leading to Southern Guilford High School in North Carolina. It proves that even Americans cannot spell.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Monday, May 31, 2010
Foxcomm Suicide Spree: an Organization Point of View
Dr. Chen of my organization sociology class gave us his opinion on the Foxcomm suicide spree. He attributed the problem from organization point of view, which he pointed out as extreme Taylorism.
Foxcomm, in its pursuit for efficiency and cost reduction might have purposely refined the entire production line into simple but monotonous steps that any non-skilled labor can perform with least amount of training.
Employee quarters were built close to the factory so the deployment of extra labor can be mobilized in a whim. Securities are tight in these compounds in fear of industrial espionage. In the sense, these employees are merely paid captives of the company whose only goal is to produce.
He further added that workers are isolated socially, emotionally, and physically. The isolation lent its way to magnify any personal problems within which caused enough despairs that lead to eventual suicide.
Foxcomm, in its pursuit for efficiency and cost reduction might have purposely refined the entire production line into simple but monotonous steps that any non-skilled labor can perform with least amount of training.
Employee quarters were built close to the factory so the deployment of extra labor can be mobilized in a whim. Securities are tight in these compounds in fear of industrial espionage. In the sense, these employees are merely paid captives of the company whose only goal is to produce.
He further added that workers are isolated socially, emotionally, and physically. The isolation lent its way to magnify any personal problems within which caused enough despairs that lead to eventual suicide.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
My buddy Freddie found me in Facebook
The biggest present I got for the New Year is hearing from a long lost friend. My friend Freddie contacted me on Facebook couple of weeks ago. I have not heard from him for almost 14 years. I knew Freddie when I was 17. We were roommates.
I remembered contracting German measles and had to be confined in isolation for a week. I reacted to measles badly; I didn’t have any appetite and was too weak even to stand up. Thank God Freddie was there, he was the one who nursed me to health. He brought me water and food and helped me to walk about in my room. I remembered seeing him seating by my bed, praying for my recovery. In between my sleeps, I often hear him reading the scripture to me. I believed that God spoke to me through him and it was because of him I became a Christian.
We were in touch all the way through my early working years in the United States. I couldn’t even remember how we lost touch of each other. I did try to look for him couple of times on the internet but with no avail. But now I know he is in Singapore so it’s time for me to plan my next vacation to meet him. So Freddie, my buddy, I am coming soon.
I remembered contracting German measles and had to be confined in isolation for a week. I reacted to measles badly; I didn’t have any appetite and was too weak even to stand up. Thank God Freddie was there, he was the one who nursed me to health. He brought me water and food and helped me to walk about in my room. I remembered seeing him seating by my bed, praying for my recovery. In between my sleeps, I often hear him reading the scripture to me. I believed that God spoke to me through him and it was because of him I became a Christian.
We were in touch all the way through my early working years in the United States. I couldn’t even remember how we lost touch of each other. I did try to look for him couple of times on the internet but with no avail. But now I know he is in Singapore so it’s time for me to plan my next vacation to meet him. So Freddie, my buddy, I am coming soon.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
年度笑話冠軍
一隻蛇與一隻兔子在森林中的叉路相撞，兩人爭吵一陣後竟發現，彼此都是個瞎子，便惺惺相惜了起來。
蛇泣道：「我從小就沒了父母，連水中的倒影也看不見，到現在我還不曉得我是什麼動物。」「我也是耶！」兔子也感傷的說：「我也不知道自己長什麼樣子.....」
一陣長談，蛇想出了一個點子，它向兔子道：「我想到了，我門彼此觸摸對方，告訴對方是什麼動物好嗎？」
兔子興奮的大叫 :「好啊好啊好啊，我終於可以知道我是什麼動物了！」
蛇說：「我先來！！」
接著他便把小白兔捲起來......
「嗯！ 你有溫暖的身體，毛茸茸的身子，長長大大的耳朵，尖尖的鼻子，健壯的後腿，還有一小條尾巴，末端還附一個小毛球....」
「我知道了！！」蛇高興的大喊：「你是隻小白兔！！」
知道身世的兔子大喜：「該我了，該我了！！」
便蹦蹦跳跳到了蛇的身邊，開始用鼻子觸摸....「嗯？哇！！你是個冷血動物，臉皮跟身子皮都很厚，還有黏黏噁心的外表，嘖嘖！有長長可以到處鑽的身體，但是竟然沒有肩膀.........哇靠！頭小小的沒什麼腦袋，嘴巴竟是全身最大的器官......天啊！！嘴巴裡有毒牙！還有分叉的舌頭！！」
兔子突然大怒跳開：「你他媽的竟然是立法委員！！」
蛇泣道：「我從小就沒了父母，連水中的倒影也看不見，到現在我還不曉得我是什麼動物。」「我也是耶！」兔子也感傷的說：「我也不知道自己長什麼樣子.....」
一陣長談，蛇想出了一個點子，它向兔子道：「我想到了，我門彼此觸摸對方，告訴對方是什麼動物好嗎？」
兔子興奮的大叫 :「好啊好啊好啊，我終於可以知道我是什麼動物了！」
蛇說：「我先來！！」
接著他便把小白兔捲起來......
「嗯！ 你有溫暖的身體，毛茸茸的身子，長長大大的耳朵，尖尖的鼻子，健壯的後腿，還有一小條尾巴，末端還附一個小毛球....」
「我知道了！！」蛇高興的大喊：「你是隻小白兔！！」
知道身世的兔子大喜：「該我了，該我了！！」
便蹦蹦跳跳到了蛇的身邊，開始用鼻子觸摸....「嗯？哇！！你是個冷血動物，臉皮跟身子皮都很厚，還有黏黏噁心的外表，嘖嘖！有長長可以到處鑽的身體，但是竟然沒有肩膀.........哇靠！頭小小的沒什麼腦袋，嘴巴竟是全身最大的器官......天啊！！嘴巴裡有毒牙！還有分叉的舌頭！！」
兔子突然大怒跳開：「你他媽的竟然是立法委員！！」
Sunday, November 29, 2009
富人; 窮人
"當你得意的時候，它是你的一條退路； 當你失意的時候，它是你的一條出路。 我們並不缺少機會，而是缺少訊息； 我們並不缺少訊息，而是缺少貴人相告； 我們並不缺少貴人相告，而是缺少相信。 我們之所以不相信，是因為我們拒絕了解！ 富人都是相信再看見;窮人都是看見再相信~~~ 請問您想當哪一種人呢?!"
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Catholic Coffee
Four Catholic men and a Catholic woman were having coffee.
The first Catholic man tells his friends,
"My son is a priest, when he walks into a room, everyone calls him 'Father'."
The second Catholic man chirps,
"My son is a Bishop. When he walks into a room people call him 'Your Grace'."
The third Catholic gent says,
"My son is a Cardinal. When he enters a room everyone says 'Your Eminence'."
The fourth Catholic man then says,
"My son is the Pope. When he walks into a room people call him 'Your Holiness'."
Since the lone Catholic woman was sipping her coffee in silence, the four men give her a subtle, "Well....?"
She proudly replies, "I have a daughter, slim, tall, 38D breast, 24" stomach and 34" hips.
When she walks into a room, people say, "Oh My God."
The first Catholic man tells his friends,
"My son is a priest, when he walks into a room, everyone calls him 'Father'."
The second Catholic man chirps,
"My son is a Bishop. When he walks into a room people call him 'Your Grace'."
The third Catholic gent says,
"My son is a Cardinal. When he enters a room everyone says 'Your Eminence'."
The fourth Catholic man then says,
"My son is the Pope. When he walks into a room people call him 'Your Holiness'."
Since the lone Catholic woman was sipping her coffee in silence, the four men give her a subtle, "Well....?"
She proudly replies, "I have a daughter, slim, tall, 38D breast, 24" stomach and 34" hips.
When she walks into a room, people say, "Oh My God."
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Software as a Service
The first time I learned the term SaaS was when I attended a service science seminar in the Raddison Hotel in Taipei. SaaS stands for Software as a Service. SaaS is a model of software deployment whereby a provider licenses an application to customers for use as a service on demand.
Sounds complicated? You shouldn’t feel this way; if you have a gmail account than you are already the benefactor of SaaS. Gmail is basically an email service (an application) that you subscribe through your internet browser. There is no software to install or program to update even though Google upgrades its software almost once every quarter.
The advantages of SaaS are tremendous:
1. There is no upfront cost to buy the application software, which could run up to thousands of dollars.
2. You pay a monthly fee, kind of like paying for your phone bill
3. Application can be accessed anywhere and anytime as long as you can log on to the Internet.
4. Data is securely saved in a professional data center, backed up daily in several locations
5. Software upgrade is completely transparent
Salesforce.com, one of the pioneers in the adaptation of SaaS made millions with its CRM systems. Smaller company like Armorize Technologies is able to sustain its revenue growth without the aid of venture capitalists or banks. Could this be the next disruptive technology in software evolution? Would Microsoft follow Google’s footstep by launching its Microsoft Office in SaaS format? Let’s us just wait and see.
Sounds complicated? You shouldn’t feel this way; if you have a gmail account than you are already the benefactor of SaaS. Gmail is basically an email service (an application) that you subscribe through your internet browser. There is no software to install or program to update even though Google upgrades its software almost once every quarter.
The advantages of SaaS are tremendous:
1. There is no upfront cost to buy the application software, which could run up to thousands of dollars.
2. You pay a monthly fee, kind of like paying for your phone bill
3. Application can be accessed anywhere and anytime as long as you can log on to the Internet.
4. Data is securely saved in a professional data center, backed up daily in several locations
5. Software upgrade is completely transparent
Salesforce.com, one of the pioneers in the adaptation of SaaS made millions with its CRM systems. Smaller company like Armorize Technologies is able to sustain its revenue growth without the aid of venture capitalists or banks. Could this be the next disruptive technology in software evolution? Would Microsoft follow Google’s footstep by launching its Microsoft Office in SaaS format? Let’s us just wait and see.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Judging a Book by Its Cover
The other day I told my wife that I found a certain celebrity exceptionally pretty. She laughed and said because she has an educated look. Then I told her I also like a newscaster from ET Today, she smirked and said she is simply a good looking brainless bimbo.
Come to think of it, you can, to some degree, judge a person’s culture background by his or her looks. Here are my personal observations:
1. Highly educated people tend to have more elegant manner (with an exception of our past minister of education who seems to take pride in picking his nose in public).
2. Construction workers are usually tanned, muscle bound, and red faced (excessive alcohol consumption?). Their teeth are stained with betel nut juice and the facial muscles are marred with harshness and brut.
3. People who dress nicely gain more respect from others
I am particularly puzzled by my last statement because choice of clothing can easily upgrade one’s look without too much of an investment. A simple but well pressed shirt, a color coordinated pair of pants, and a nicely combed hair makes all the difference.
Come to think of it, you can, to some degree, judge a person’s culture background by his or her looks. Here are my personal observations:
1. Highly educated people tend to have more elegant manner (with an exception of our past minister of education who seems to take pride in picking his nose in public).
2. Construction workers are usually tanned, muscle bound, and red faced (excessive alcohol consumption?). Their teeth are stained with betel nut juice and the facial muscles are marred with harshness and brut.
3. People who dress nicely gain more respect from others
I am particularly puzzled by my last statement because choice of clothing can easily upgrade one’s look without too much of an investment. A simple but well pressed shirt, a color coordinated pair of pants, and a nicely combed hair makes all the difference.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Toastmasters Hsinchu: from ashes to phoenix part V
The move
My term as the president finally came to an end in June of 2002. Even though I was able to hand over the club to Paul Chang, he accepted the post of the presidency reluctantly. Fortunately, the reluctance was short lived. Paul’s first decision was to move the club out of the Science Park. We found a small conference room in the Empire Building with capacity of 14 and with a little push, we could cramp 20. The move put us in deficit of $3,000 a month. If nothing improved, we would run out money in less than 2 years.
The venue was clean and well lit. It had a big U shaped table where members could see each other during the meeting. The new location attracted a variety of people from all works of life. We started to see participation from students, teachers, insurance agents, business people, salespersons, and homemakers. Before we knew it, we started to run into space problem. We quickly moved to a bigger place on the 6th floor with a meeting capacity of 60. But the venue cost us $5,000 a month. This time, if nothing improved, we would run out of money in about 14 months
The breakeven analysis
The formula was simple; we needed 36 members to break even, which meant any extra cost would have to come out of the club treasury; we needed extra source of income. After a heated debate, we came up with the following ideas
1. Increase the annual membership fees from $1800 to $2400 paid in full and none refundable
2. Charge a fee at $100 per guest
3. Sign a longer lease and bargain for a discount
The fee increase cost us 8 members, but the newer members didn’t seem to mind. Guests were happy to pay the fees. We got a 10% discount by committing our club on an annual lease. The combined effects reduced our breakeven point down to 30.
The Business News Weekly
The president of ChungLi Chinese Toastmasters club which I helped to sponsor was a personal friend of the formal vice president Annette Lu. It was through her connection, the district office was able to invite Ms. Lu as a guest speaker in the Spring Convention 2002. As a result, Toastmaster was written as a featured article in the Business News Weekly along with interviews on several prominent Toastmasters.
eMarketing finally paid off
If you were to use “Toastmasters” as a keyword to search for the district website in Google or Yahoo! at that time, Toastmasters Hsinchu would come up at the top 3 listings. Needless to say, we were flooded with inquiries and from that day on we never had a meeting without guests. Membership stood at steady 35+. Monetary problem was no longer a treat but the thing of the past.
If you were to attend a Hsinchu club meeting today, you never would have guessed that the club had gone through so much hardship in the past. But much of its success came from all the successive presidents, each brought with them a brand of leadership that made what it is today. After all, Toastmasters is where leaders are made.
My term as the president finally came to an end in June of 2002. Even though I was able to hand over the club to Paul Chang, he accepted the post of the presidency reluctantly. Fortunately, the reluctance was short lived. Paul’s first decision was to move the club out of the Science Park. We found a small conference room in the Empire Building with capacity of 14 and with a little push, we could cramp 20. The move put us in deficit of $3,000 a month. If nothing improved, we would run out money in less than 2 years.
The venue was clean and well lit. It had a big U shaped table where members could see each other during the meeting. The new location attracted a variety of people from all works of life. We started to see participation from students, teachers, insurance agents, business people, salespersons, and homemakers. Before we knew it, we started to run into space problem. We quickly moved to a bigger place on the 6th floor with a meeting capacity of 60. But the venue cost us $5,000 a month. This time, if nothing improved, we would run out of money in about 14 months
The breakeven analysis
The formula was simple; we needed 36 members to break even, which meant any extra cost would have to come out of the club treasury; we needed extra source of income. After a heated debate, we came up with the following ideas
1. Increase the annual membership fees from $1800 to $2400 paid in full and none refundable
2. Charge a fee at $100 per guest
3. Sign a longer lease and bargain for a discount
The fee increase cost us 8 members, but the newer members didn’t seem to mind. Guests were happy to pay the fees. We got a 10% discount by committing our club on an annual lease. The combined effects reduced our breakeven point down to 30.
The Business News Weekly
The president of ChungLi Chinese Toastmasters club which I helped to sponsor was a personal friend of the formal vice president Annette Lu. It was through her connection, the district office was able to invite Ms. Lu as a guest speaker in the Spring Convention 2002. As a result, Toastmaster was written as a featured article in the Business News Weekly along with interviews on several prominent Toastmasters.
eMarketing finally paid off
If you were to use “Toastmasters” as a keyword to search for the district website in Google or Yahoo! at that time, Toastmasters Hsinchu would come up at the top 3 listings. Needless to say, we were flooded with inquiries and from that day on we never had a meeting without guests. Membership stood at steady 35+. Monetary problem was no longer a treat but the thing of the past.
If you were to attend a Hsinchu club meeting today, you never would have guessed that the club had gone through so much hardship in the past. But much of its success came from all the successive presidents, each brought with them a brand of leadership that made what it is today. After all, Toastmasters is where leaders are made.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Protesters or Mobters
When I was overseas on vacation, I was kept in touch of the news events of Taiwan from BBC World News and CNN. Apparently, the world sees the signing of the free trade agreement between China and Taiwan as a landmark event that will change the once tension ridden cross-strait relationship to a point of harmony. I smile with the gratification knowing we have finally emerged from the shadow of formal president Chen.
But when I returned home and turned on the TV, I was greeted with news clips of violent clashes between the police and protesters. Angry protesters were in a brutal frenzy, hitting the police with their fists and feet. Rocks and homemade petrol bomb were thrown aimlessly. I quickly turned off the TV thinking just what went wrong with our nation; those are not protesters, they were but bunch of mobsters.
To make matter worse, TV commentators, instead of condemn the act of violence, were quick to blame the government of not handling the situation democratically. “The implementation of the marshal police policy is the root of violence,” said one of the commentators. But in my opinion, it’s simply the blatant disrespect for the law and order.
The Chinese delegates have gone back to China and it’s time to find those who incited violence and throw them in jail. After all, we have enough footage to nail these mobsters, don't we?
But when I returned home and turned on the TV, I was greeted with news clips of violent clashes between the police and protesters. Angry protesters were in a brutal frenzy, hitting the police with their fists and feet. Rocks and homemade petrol bomb were thrown aimlessly. I quickly turned off the TV thinking just what went wrong with our nation; those are not protesters, they were but bunch of mobsters.
To make matter worse, TV commentators, instead of condemn the act of violence, were quick to blame the government of not handling the situation democratically. “The implementation of the marshal police policy is the root of violence,” said one of the commentators. But in my opinion, it’s simply the blatant disrespect for the law and order.
The Chinese delegates have gone back to China and it’s time to find those who incited violence and throw them in jail. After all, we have enough footage to nail these mobsters, don't we?
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Toastmasters Hsinchu: from ashes to phoenix part IV
With a healthy member size and steady influx of guests at every meeting, it was time for me to work on the attitude of the officers and the club as a whole.
The Officer Handbook and Expense Subsidies
Toastmasters Headquarters provided handbook for each officer. They were wordy and applicable mostly to clubs in North America. I broke the lengthy documents into bullet points and modified the duties to suit Hsinchu Club. Off site trainings were then conducted over dinner or lunch with all expenses paid from the club treasury. We also decided to entice the officers to attend Area level officer’s trainings by providing travel and meal subsidies.
The Distinguished Club Program
For a club to be successful, the accomplishment must be measurable. The Toastmasters Organization, in its infinite wisdoms, devised 10 achievements to measure a club’s success in leadership, teamwork, education, recruitment, and paperwork. An achievement of 5 out 10 is considered as successful. My goal was to attain that goal. Paperwork, recruitment, and teamwork (officer training) were easy, but getting members to complete their education program was tough. I had to push a C6 member to complete 4 more speeches and a C8 member to come up with 2. Funny it may sound; it was the C8 member who gave me the hardest time. He waited until the very last meeting of my presidency to complete his C10 speech. Nevertheless, the club got its Distinguished Club Award.
The Christmas Party
President sets the tone of the club. I liked to see our club as place where people can mingle, network, and at same time, pick up their communication and language skills. I wanted the words to get out, not through the website or fax, but through the month of every member. Christmas celebration seemed like a good starting point for members to invite their friends. The main attraction of the party was a raffle with first prize of NT$3,000 in cash! The cash was encased in a block of ice to symbolize the “Cold Hard Cash”. Winners had to break the ice to get to the prize. The party was a success; I got 2 more members out of it.
The District Involvement
For the past 5 years, Hsinchu club never participated in any speech contests; we couldn’t even get members to agree on a club level competition. We never sponsored any officer trainings; our officers always had to travel to another city, which was one of reasons attendance was so poor. So I volunteered to sponsor an officer training in Hsinchu even though I knew I could be the only person putting the show together. Fortunately, Bruce was kind enough to help. Despite the home court advantage, we only had 4 officers in attendance whereas Taoyuan club had 7 plus 3 more tag along members. ChungLi Club only had 3.
I guess my attitude must have moved the heart of officers and members, I started to see more attendance and more enthusiasm but when I told them Hsinchu was going to sponsor the Area Speech Contest, I quickly realized my optimism was premature; no one in the club would participate but the officers agreed to prepare the venue under the condition that I represent Hsinchu as the contestant. The contest went well; I won the area contest. A month after, I also won the 2nd place in the Division contest, which meant I was one of the finalists in the District Contest also. Yes, we only had 4 divisions at that time; each division needed 2 contestants for the District contest. Although I didn’t get anywhere in the District contest, but I made lasting impression with district officers. From that day on, Hsinchu club was no longer anonymous; we finally emerged from our shell.
The Officer Handbook and Expense Subsidies
Toastmasters Headquarters provided handbook for each officer. They were wordy and applicable mostly to clubs in North America. I broke the lengthy documents into bullet points and modified the duties to suit Hsinchu Club. Off site trainings were then conducted over dinner or lunch with all expenses paid from the club treasury. We also decided to entice the officers to attend Area level officer’s trainings by providing travel and meal subsidies.
The Distinguished Club Program
For a club to be successful, the accomplishment must be measurable. The Toastmasters Organization, in its infinite wisdoms, devised 10 achievements to measure a club’s success in leadership, teamwork, education, recruitment, and paperwork. An achievement of 5 out 10 is considered as successful. My goal was to attain that goal. Paperwork, recruitment, and teamwork (officer training) were easy, but getting members to complete their education program was tough. I had to push a C6 member to complete 4 more speeches and a C8 member to come up with 2. Funny it may sound; it was the C8 member who gave me the hardest time. He waited until the very last meeting of my presidency to complete his C10 speech. Nevertheless, the club got its Distinguished Club Award.
The Christmas Party
President sets the tone of the club. I liked to see our club as place where people can mingle, network, and at same time, pick up their communication and language skills. I wanted the words to get out, not through the website or fax, but through the month of every member. Christmas celebration seemed like a good starting point for members to invite their friends. The main attraction of the party was a raffle with first prize of NT$3,000 in cash! The cash was encased in a block of ice to symbolize the “Cold Hard Cash”. Winners had to break the ice to get to the prize. The party was a success; I got 2 more members out of it.
The District Involvement
For the past 5 years, Hsinchu club never participated in any speech contests; we couldn’t even get members to agree on a club level competition. We never sponsored any officer trainings; our officers always had to travel to another city, which was one of reasons attendance was so poor. So I volunteered to sponsor an officer training in Hsinchu even though I knew I could be the only person putting the show together. Fortunately, Bruce was kind enough to help. Despite the home court advantage, we only had 4 officers in attendance whereas Taoyuan club had 7 plus 3 more tag along members. ChungLi Club only had 3.
I guess my attitude must have moved the heart of officers and members, I started to see more attendance and more enthusiasm but when I told them Hsinchu was going to sponsor the Area Speech Contest, I quickly realized my optimism was premature; no one in the club would participate but the officers agreed to prepare the venue under the condition that I represent Hsinchu as the contestant. The contest went well; I won the area contest. A month after, I also won the 2nd place in the Division contest, which meant I was one of the finalists in the District Contest also. Yes, we only had 4 divisions at that time; each division needed 2 contestants for the District contest. Although I didn’t get anywhere in the District contest, but I made lasting impression with district officers. From that day on, Hsinchu club was no longer anonymous; we finally emerged from our shell.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Toastmasters Hsinchu: from ashes to phoenix part III
It appears from the SWOT that the root of the problem is lack of members. Members bring varieties and energy to the club which in turn attracts more members. Large membership means more qualified officers can be elected to manage the club. Our goal was therefore to put together a membership drive to improve our membership stand.
The key to promote anything is marketing. Marketing is expensive. But cyberspace marketing is relatively low cost. Public Relation (PR) doesn’t necessarily cost money. One just has to find ways to publicize Hsinchu Toastmasters without putting a dant on the club treasury.
The Toastmaster Hsinchu Website
In the September 2000, Hsinchu Toastmasters website was officially launched. A string of keywords was embedded in the HTML code, mostly to do with English learning even though in my heart I knew Toastmasters mission is to do with communication and leadership. I even put Hess English School, Jordon English School, KOJEN English Language School as keywords to attract would be English students. The same set of keywords was repeated in Chinese. The idea was that whenever a person search for anything related to English learning, our website will appear first. I also indexed our site with all the major search engines at the time such as Yahoo!, Google, Openfind, Yam, Lycos, AltaVista, and Excite.
The WinFax marketing
In my search for no cost marketing, I came to learn that there was a certain Mr. Lin, a past VP of Public Relation 3 terms before who demonstrated overwhelming success with fax marketing. Having met with him for few hours, we put togethered a plan to periodically fax to all the companies in the Science Park and all the schoools in the Hsinchu district. The act of faxing was easy, but entering fax numbers and updating them in the WinFax database was a real chore; it took me an entire week. (But this was nothing compare with the time I spent putting the website together).
The Grand Science Park Magazine
The Grand Science Park Magazine is the most the popular magazine in Hsinchu. It is distributed free at all companies in the Science Park, major resident estates, and restaurants. I contacted the chief editor to publish an article on Toastmasters but was turned down because an article on Toastmasters was published only a year prior. (Good job former President Chris Chang). But instead she allowed Toastmasters to appear at “What’s New” column.
For a month or so, nothing! then it happened. I began to receive phone calls and enquiries, mostly from fax initially and then the website. By November 2000, we added 8 new members. Andrew Budai and Paul Chang were among them.
The key to promote anything is marketing. Marketing is expensive. But cyberspace marketing is relatively low cost. Public Relation (PR) doesn’t necessarily cost money. One just has to find ways to publicize Hsinchu Toastmasters without putting a dant on the club treasury.
The Toastmaster Hsinchu Website
In the September 2000, Hsinchu Toastmasters website was officially launched. A string of keywords was embedded in the HTML code, mostly to do with English learning even though in my heart I knew Toastmasters mission is to do with communication and leadership. I even put Hess English School, Jordon English School, KOJEN English Language School as keywords to attract would be English students. The same set of keywords was repeated in Chinese. The idea was that whenever a person search for anything related to English learning, our website will appear first. I also indexed our site with all the major search engines at the time such as Yahoo!, Google, Openfind, Yam, Lycos, AltaVista, and Excite.
The WinFax marketing
In my search for no cost marketing, I came to learn that there was a certain Mr. Lin, a past VP of Public Relation 3 terms before who demonstrated overwhelming success with fax marketing. Having met with him for few hours, we put togethered a plan to periodically fax to all the companies in the Science Park and all the schoools in the Hsinchu district. The act of faxing was easy, but entering fax numbers and updating them in the WinFax database was a real chore; it took me an entire week. (But this was nothing compare with the time I spent putting the website together).
The Grand Science Park Magazine
The Grand Science Park Magazine is the most the popular magazine in Hsinchu. It is distributed free at all companies in the Science Park, major resident estates, and restaurants. I contacted the chief editor to publish an article on Toastmasters but was turned down because an article on Toastmasters was published only a year prior. (Good job former President Chris Chang). But instead she allowed Toastmasters to appear at “What’s New” column.
For a month or so, nothing! then it happened. I began to receive phone calls and enquiries, mostly from fax initially and then the website. By November 2000, we added 8 new members. Andrew Budai and Paul Chang were among them.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Toastmasters Hsinchu: from ashes to phoenix part II
A little voice told me that running a club is no different from running a company. Since I ran a somewhat successful business in the past, I decided to put my experience to work. The SWOT analysis is a simple diagnostic tool that I used a lot at work.
Strength
1. Free venue, we can continue indefinitely without incur extra cost
2. Located in the heart of the Science Park with potential member pool of 20,000 highly educated people
3. A president with past experience managing Toastmasters club in the USA
4. A president who will not quit
5. $80,000 cash flow in the club treasury
Weakness
1. Lack of membership variety; most members are engineers
2. Lack of passion to volunteer as club officers
3. Other than the treasurer, all other officers are either inactive or quit
4. Location of venue is hard to find, and in bad shape
5. Officers have no idea what their duties are
6. Lack of enthusiasm to participate in the area, division, and district functions
7. Lack of focus, mission, and goals
Opportunity
1. Learning English is becoming a popular activity in Taiwan among adults
2. Toastmasters program works better than conventional English classes
3. President’s specialty is eMarketing
4. National universities in Hsinchu and employee at the Science Park account for large online population
Threat
1. It takes a village to save a club, not just a person
2. Club is under the threat of probation
3. Toastmasters is largely unknown to the general population as a whole
4. Traffic of the Science Park serves as a deterrent for people who works outside of the park
The SWOT gave me a snapshot of the health of the club. What need to be done next is to set goals, device a plan, and execute.
Strength
1. Free venue, we can continue indefinitely without incur extra cost
2. Located in the heart of the Science Park with potential member pool of 20,000 highly educated people
3. A president with past experience managing Toastmasters club in the USA
4. A president who will not quit
5. $80,000 cash flow in the club treasury
Weakness
1. Lack of membership variety; most members are engineers
2. Lack of passion to volunteer as club officers
3. Other than the treasurer, all other officers are either inactive or quit
4. Location of venue is hard to find, and in bad shape
5. Officers have no idea what their duties are
6. Lack of enthusiasm to participate in the area, division, and district functions
7. Lack of focus, mission, and goals
Opportunity
1. Learning English is becoming a popular activity in Taiwan among adults
2. Toastmasters program works better than conventional English classes
3. President’s specialty is eMarketing
4. National universities in Hsinchu and employee at the Science Park account for large online population
Threat
1. It takes a village to save a club, not just a person
2. Club is under the threat of probation
3. Toastmasters is largely unknown to the general population as a whole
4. Traffic of the Science Park serves as a deterrent for people who works outside of the park
The SWOT gave me a snapshot of the health of the club. What need to be done next is to set goals, device a plan, and execute.
Friday, October 3, 2008
I Create, I Own, I Love
A friend of mine sent me a set of photos he took from a trip to the ancient Angkor stone city in Cambodia. They were very nice pictures indeed. I downloaded all of them to the collections of photos that I have but labeled the folder Angkor+ the name of my friend. I did this because I felt the photos are not mine; I did not take them on my own.
Come to think of it, that has been my attitude towards photos all along. I remember purchasing slides from NASA on several celestial bodies, but I never got to really enjoy them because they were not my personal work. Ironically, to own a picture of Saturn and its ring at that magnification is not possible even with the most expensive commercial equipment.
Now I know why people will risk their lives rescuing old pictures, paintings, or letters in a blazing fire; we simply value things that we created.
I guess this is why it’s easy to divorce your spouse but hard to disown you children.
It’s easy to change your job but hard to throw away your career.
After all, our love for all things, inanimate or living, is merely a manifestation of our own creation.
FujiDog
My wife has been trying to adopt a dog in the University where she worked. It is a median sized, short haired black dog with fuzzy dark brown fur around her neck. She has long snout, skinny but strong legs. My wife likes her because the dog exhibits all the mannerism of a strong leader.
For days, we labored to entice her to eat from a bowel we provided for her. Eventually we were able to put a flee collar on her and a heart shaped tag with contact information and her name- “FujiDog”. The reason we call her FujiDog is because she looks just like the shopkeeper’s dog in the nearby Fuji Photo Studio.
For the next few days, FujiDog became a regular at my wife’s office. One day, we realized her collar was gone and her visit to my wife’s office became more sporadic until one day she disappeared all together. Rumor has it that FujiDog is being adopted by a group of students in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
“The love from many is better than the love from one,” my wife told me sullenly. Somehow we did not find the rumor creditable; FujiDog is obviously not on the campus ground. The sad thing is we didn’t even have a picture of her to remember her by.
Couple of months later, when my wife and I paid a visit to the campus humane society with our donation, we casually asked the students whether they have seen FujiDog.
“You mean the young bitch with brown fuzzy fur! She was one of the dogs contracted canine plaque that wiped out half of the dogs on campus couple of months ago. We had to put her to sleep!” said one of the volunteers.
My wife broke down and cried. As for me, I held my sadness well. The truth hurts, but at least I found some comfort through a timely closure.
FujiDog is in a better place, I am sure.
For days, we labored to entice her to eat from a bowel we provided for her. Eventually we were able to put a flee collar on her and a heart shaped tag with contact information and her name- “FujiDog”. The reason we call her FujiDog is because she looks just like the shopkeeper’s dog in the nearby Fuji Photo Studio.
For the next few days, FujiDog became a regular at my wife’s office. One day, we realized her collar was gone and her visit to my wife’s office became more sporadic until one day she disappeared all together. Rumor has it that FujiDog is being adopted by a group of students in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
“The love from many is better than the love from one,” my wife told me sullenly. Somehow we did not find the rumor creditable; FujiDog is obviously not on the campus ground. The sad thing is we didn’t even have a picture of her to remember her by.
Couple of months later, when my wife and I paid a visit to the campus humane society with our donation, we casually asked the students whether they have seen FujiDog.
“You mean the young bitch with brown fuzzy fur! She was one of the dogs contracted canine plaque that wiped out half of the dogs on campus couple of months ago. We had to put her to sleep!” said one of the volunteers.
My wife broke down and cried. As for me, I held my sadness well. The truth hurts, but at least I found some comfort through a timely closure.
FujiDog is in a better place, I am sure.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
The Irony of Adulthood
When I was a little boy I crave nothing more then just food sold in the street cart or a simple ice cream cone from the local store. Food seemed to taste much better in those days. I guess it had a lot to do with lack of pocket money. A simple night market visit was considered as more of a treat then norm.
In my late teens, I used to envy those who could afford to eat in a restaurant, drive a car, and own a color TV. I was denied all of those amenities in life because I was living alone in United Kingdom with very limited budget. The scholarship money, although paid for all tuitions, catered to only the modest needs of my daily living.
As an adult, I have acquired almost everything that I longed for in the past and yet I no longer have the time to enjoy what I have acquired. My healthy appetite for food is tinted with fear of gaining weight. I ate at restaurant because I didn’t have time to cook meals at home. I have a big screen TV but I rarely find entertainment channels amusing. I drive a car but it is merely a vehicle taking me from A to B. My desire to rid the world of corruptions and evil is replaced with endless responsibilities at work.
Isn’t ironic that when you had all the time and energy as a young adult you didn’t have the wealth or the maturity to take the advantage of them but when you’ve acquired the wealth and wisdom you become encumbered with responsibilities and old age.
In my late teens, I used to envy those who could afford to eat in a restaurant, drive a car, and own a color TV. I was denied all of those amenities in life because I was living alone in United Kingdom with very limited budget. The scholarship money, although paid for all tuitions, catered to only the modest needs of my daily living.
As an adult, I have acquired almost everything that I longed for in the past and yet I no longer have the time to enjoy what I have acquired. My healthy appetite for food is tinted with fear of gaining weight. I ate at restaurant because I didn’t have time to cook meals at home. I have a big screen TV but I rarely find entertainment channels amusing. I drive a car but it is merely a vehicle taking me from A to B. My desire to rid the world of corruptions and evil is replaced with endless responsibilities at work.
Isn’t ironic that when you had all the time and energy as a young adult you didn’t have the wealth or the maturity to take the advantage of them but when you’ve acquired the wealth and wisdom you become encumbered with responsibilities and old age.
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