Orientation

Outside Stateroom with window

Admiral class room with large bath tub

Dining corner
Inside Stateroom

Superstar Virgo swimming pool
Office view from ship
With collegues
After orientation dinner

Superstar Virgo Inside View

What it takes to be great

Research now shows that the lack of natural talent is irrelevant to great success. The secret? Painful and demanding practice and hard work

What makes Tiger Woods great? What made Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett the world's premier investor? We think we know: Each was a natural who came into the world with a gift for doing exactly what he ended up doing. As Buffett told Fortune not long ago, he was "wired at birth to allocate capital." It's a one-in-a-million thing. You've got it - or you don't.
Well, folks, it's not so simple. For one thing, you do not possess a natural gift for a certain job, because targeted natural gifts don't exist. (Sorry, Warren.) You are not a born CEO or investor or chess grandmaster. You will achieve greatness only through an enormous amount of hard work over many years. And not just any hard work, but work of a particular type that's demanding and painful.
Buffett, for instance, is famed for his discipline and the hours he spends studying financial statements of potential investment targets. The good news is that your lack of a natural gift is irrelevant - talent has little or nothing to do with greatness. You can make yourself into any number of things, and you can even make yourself great.
Scientific experts are producing remarkably consistent findings across a wide array of fields. Understand that talent doesn't mean intelligence, motivation or personality traits. It's an innate ability to do some specific activity especially well. British-based researchers Michael J. Howe, Jane W. Davidson and John A. Sluboda conclude in an extensive study, "The evidence we have surveyed ... does not support the [notion that] excelling is a consequence of possessing innate gifts."
To see how the researchers could reach such a conclusion, consider the problem they were trying to solve. In virtually every field of endeavor, most people learn quickly at first, then more slowly and then stop developing completely. Yet a few do improve for years and even decades, and go on to greatness.
The irresistible question - the "fundamental challenge" for researchers in this field, says the most prominent of them, professor K. Anders Ericsson of Florida State University - is, Why? How are certain people able to go on improving? The answers begin with consistent observations about great performers in many fields.
Scientists worldwide have conducted scores of studies since the 1993 publication of a landmark paper by Ericsson and two colleagues, many focusing on sports, music and chess, in which performance is relatively easy to measure and plot over time. But plenty of additional studies have also examined other fields, including business.

No substitute for hard work

The first major conclusion is that nobody is great without work. It's nice to believe that if you find the field where you're naturally gifted, you'll be great from day one, but it doesn't happen. There's no evidence of high-level performance without experience or practice.
Reinforcing that no-free-lunch finding is vast evidence that even the most accomplished people need around ten years of hard work before becoming world-class, a pattern so well established researchers call it the ten-year rule.
What about Bobby Fischer, who became a chess grandmaster at 16? Turns out the rule holds: He'd had nine years of intensive study. And as John Horn of the University of Southern California and Hiromi Masunaga of California State University observe, "The ten-year rule represents a very rough estimate, and most researchers regard it as a minimum, not an average." In many fields (music, literature) elite performers need 20 or 30 years' experience before hitting their zenith.
So greatness isn't handed to anyone; it requires a lot of hard work. Yet that isn't enough, since many people work hard for decades without approaching greatness or even getting significantly better. What's missing?

Practice makes perfect

The best people in any field are those who devote the most hours to what the researchers call "deliberate practice." It's activity that's explicitly intended to improve performance, that reaches for objectives just beyond one's level of competence, provides feedback on results and involves high levels of repetition.
For example: Simply hitting a bucket of balls is not deliberate practice, which is why most golfers don't get better. Hitting an eight-iron 300 times with a goal of leaving the ball within 20 feet of the pin 80 percent of the time, continually observing results and making appropriate adjustments, and doing that for hours every day - that's deliberate practice.
Consistency is crucial. As Ericsson notes, "Elite performers in many diverse domains have been found to practice, on the average, roughly the same amount every day, including weekends."
Evidence crosses a remarkable range of fields. In a study of 20-year-old violinists by Ericsson and colleagues, the best group (judged by conservatory teachers) averaged 10,000 hours of deliberate practice over their lives; the next-best averaged 7,500 hours; and the next, 5,000. It's the same story in surgery, insurance sales, and virtually every sport. More deliberate practice equals better performance. Tons of it equals great performance.
The skeptics
Not all researchers are totally onboard with the myth-of-talent hypothesis, though their objections go to its edges rather than its center. For one thing, there are the intangibles. Two athletes might work equally hard, but what explains the ability of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady to perform at a higher level in the last two minutes of a game?
Researchers also note, for example, child prodigies who could speak, read or play music at an unusually early age. But on investigation those cases generally include highly involved parents. And many prodigies do not go on to greatness in their early field, while great performers include many who showed no special early aptitude.
Certainly some important traits are partly inherited, such as physical size and particular measures of intelligence, but those influence what a person doesn't do more than what he does; a five-footer will never be an NFL lineman, and a seven-footer will never be an Olympic gymnast. Even those restrictions are less severe than you'd expect: Ericsson notes, "Some international chess masters have IQs in the 90s." The more research that's done, the more solid the deliberate-practice model becomes.

Real-world examples

All this scholarly research is simply evidence for what great performers have been showing us for years. To take a handful of examples: Winston Churchill, one of the 20th century's greatest orators, practiced his speeches compulsively. Vladimir Horowitz supposedly said, "If I don't practice for a day, I know it. If I don't practice for two days, my wife knows it. If I don't practice for three days, the world knows it." He was certainly a demon practicer, but the same quote has been attributed to world-class musicians like Ignace Paderewski and Luciano Pavarotti.
Many great athletes are legendary for the brutal discipline of their practice routines. In basketball, Michael Jordan practiced intensely beyond the already punishing team practices. (Had Jordan possessed some mammoth natural gift specifically for basketball, it seems unlikely he'd have been cut from his high school team.)
In football, all-time-great receiver Jerry Rice - passed up by 15 teams because they considered him too slow - practiced so hard that other players would get sick trying to keep up.
Tiger Woods is a textbook example of what the research shows. Because his father introduced him to golf at an extremely early age - 18 months - and encouraged him to practice intensively, Woods had racked up at least 15 years of practice by the time he became the youngest-ever winner of the U.S. Amateur Championship, at age 18. Also in line with the findings, he has never stopped trying to improve, devoting many hours a day to conditioning and practice, even remaking his swing twice because that's what it took to get even better.

The business side

The evidence, scientific as well as anecdotal, seems overwhelmingly in favor of deliberate practice as the source of great performance. Just one problem: How do you practice business? Many elements of business, in fact, are directly practicable. Presenting, negotiating, delivering evaluations, deciphering financial statements - you can practice them all.
Still, they aren't the essence of great managerial performance. That requires making judgments and decisions with imperfect information in an uncertain environment, interacting with people, seeking information - can you practice those things too? You can, though not in the way you would practice a Chopin etude.
Instead, it's all about how you do what you're already doing - you create the practice in your work, which requires a few critical changes. The first is going at any task with a new goal: Instead of merely trying to get it done, you aim to get better at it.
Report writing involves finding information, analyzing it and presenting it - each an improvable skill. Chairing a board meeting requires understanding the company's strategy in the deepest way, forming a coherent view of coming market changes and setting a tone for the discussion. Anything that anyone does at work, from the most basic task to the most exalted, is an improvable skill.

Adopting a new mindset

Armed with that mindset, people go at a job in a new way. Research shows they process information more deeply and retain it longer. They want more information on what they're doing and seek other perspectives. They adopt a longer-term point of view. In the activity itself, the mindset persists. You aren't just doing the job, you're explicitly trying to get better at it in the larger sense.
Again, research shows that this difference in mental approach is vital. For example, when amateur singers take a singing lesson, they experience it as fun, a release of tension. But for professional singers, it's the opposite: They increase their concentration and focus on improving their performance during the lesson. Same activity, different mindset.
Feedback is crucial, and getting it should be no problem in business. Yet most people don't seek it; they just wait for it, half hoping it won't come. Without it, as Goldman Sachs leadership-development chief Steve Kerr says, "it's as if you're bowling through a curtain that comes down to knee level. If you don't know how successful you are, two things happen: One, you don't get any better, and two, you stop caring." In some companies, like General Electric, frequent feedback is part of the culture. If you aren't lucky enough to get that, seek it out.

Be the ball

Through the whole process, one of your goals is to build what the researchers call "mental models of your business" - pictures of how the elements fit together and influence one another. The more you work on it, the larger your mental models will become and the better your performance will grow.
Andy Grove could keep a model of a whole world-changing technology industry in his head and adapt Intel as needed. Bill Gates, Microsoft's founder, had the same knack: He could see at the dawn of the PC that his goal of a computer on every desk was realistic and would create an unimaginably large market. John D. Rockefeller, too, saw ahead when the world-changing new industry was oil. Napoleon was perhaps the greatest ever. He could not only hold all the elements of a vast battle in his mind but, more important, could also respond quickly when they shifted in unexpected ways.
That's a lot to focus on for the benefits of deliberate practice - and worthless without one more requirement: Do it regularly, not sporadically.

Why?

For most people, work is hard enough without pushing even harder. Those extra steps are so difficult and painful they almost never get done. That's the way it must be. If great performance were easy, it wouldn't be rare. Which leads to possibly the deepest question about greatness. While experts understand an enormous amount about the behavior that produces great performance, they understand very little about where that behavior comes from.
The authors of one study conclude, "We still do not know which factors encourage individuals to engage in deliberate practice." Or as University of Michigan business school professor Noel Tichy puts it after 30 years of working with managers, "Some people are much more motivated than others, and that's the existential question I cannot answer - why."
The critical reality is that we are not hostage to some naturally granted level of talent. We can make ourselves what we will. Strangely, that idea is not popular. People hate abandoning the notion that they would coast to fame and riches if they found their talent. But that view is tragically constraining, because when they hit life's inevitable bumps in the road, they conclude that they just aren't gifted and give up.
Maybe we can't expect most people to achieve greatness. It's just too demanding. But the striking, liberating news is that greatness isn't reserved for a preordained few. It is available to you and to everyone.

Doulos Floating Book Store

Hello all. I am back again. Too long didn't update my blog. Today, I went to Star Cruise terminal with my colleague in West Port to see the popular Doulos floating book store. It was a bit of disapointment for me, as I couldn't find a book that interest me. The price of the books are almost the same as normal book stores in Malaysia. Fortunately, I am able to buy a cook book for my mom. This book store is more suitable for children as they have a lot of novels and children books. This is accordance to their tag line "Bringing knowledge, help and hope". This ship is about 92 years old and it is on the Guinness Book of Record as the oldest passenger
ship. I am quite amazed as the on board crews are able to maintain the ship in such a good condition although it is nearly a century old. For more info about the ship, please visit the following web link: www.mvdoulos.org

5 Science Class of 1999 Gathering

After long 6 years, we finally meet each other again. We meet at
Restoran Sate Kajang Haji Samuri Klang branch. In terms of appearance
there are no major change on each other as I can still recognize each
of them. However, got one girl that I don't really recognize. I thought
she is another girl. When I said I don't recognize you, she gets angry.
But when I said you getting prettier until I don't recognize you, she
gets happy again. Haha... During our gathering, we chit-chat not stop
because too much to catch up. Just like summarise 6 years stories into
4 hours. Most of them have started working already. One of my friends
who works in Kuantan, knows my ex-hostel friend. This is a very small
world indeed. I never thought that there are three of my classmate who
work in my current company. But they all left already for several
reasons.

USB Portable Hard Disk

Pros:
1. Cheaper per Gigabyte for storage capacity. RM6 per Gigabyte compared
to RM110 per Gigabyte for USB thumb drive.
2. Larger capacity. Can store or copy almost anything without worry
running out of storage.
3. Can function as second hard disk.
4. Can create a portable OS (Operating system). For PCs or laptop that
support USB booting.

Cons:
1. Must handle with care. Hard disk is a delicate device that is
sensitive to vibration and shock.
2. Difficult to carry around as the size is far bigger than thumb
drive.
3. Slow detaching time. Computer needs time to detach the drive before
can begin using.

Hard Work & Determination

Congratulations to Esther Elizabeth Jack who obtained 15A1 in her SPM results. I was SPM top student in Raja Lumu for year 1999. I still can't believe that a school which always rank low among the secondary schools in Klang, able to produce a country's top student. This showed that student's own initiatives, hard work and determination plays an important roles in achieving good results no matter which school they attend. School and environment are not the main factor to produce top scorers. During my days, many parents not very willing to send their children to SMK Raja Lumu because according to them their children might not get good results if study in a low ranking and problematic school. But for me, this school is still good at providing the necessary education for me to continue my study to degree level. Furthermore, this school have dedicated teachers who are willing to help. Student attitude is important. When they don't know something or not sure about something, they should ask and not just keep quiet.

This article also published in The Star citizen blog dated 17 March 2006.

Comparison between MAS and Air Asia

Here are the comparision that I can make between MAS (Malaysia Airlines) and Air Asia.

MAS:
1. Better customer services. Their air stewardess are very polite.
2. Expensive. KLIA to Kuching cost RM288 but order in 1 days time.
3. Food provided. Tasty food. Provide delicious nasi lemak with anchovies sambal or sausage, orange juice, chocolate and fruits for breakfast.
4. Provide all major newspapers.
5. Provide nice plastic cups that will be thrown away after use. It is
a waste.
6. Fixed seat.

Air Asia:
1. Air stewardess polite but not on the par compared to MAS.
2. Cheaper. Kuching to KLIA cost RM185 but order 4 days earlier.
3. Food not provided. Have to buy in the plane. Nasi goreng satay cost RM9 and not delicious.
4. Just provide simple polistrene cup or mineral water bottle.
5. Free seat. Can choose any seat(like bus). First come first serve basis.

My first flight

It is my first time boarding an aeroplane. It is my business support trip to Kuching. I have to settle the device and software problems provided by my company to UiTM Sarawak. I reach KLIA at 6am. Without knowing much about broading an air plane procedure, I have to
ask at check in counter on the procedure. Everything was fine until the check in guy tell me that I can't take my bag into air plane as it is too big. Nobody telling me about the bag saiz limitation. So, I have to take out my laptop and carry it into the plane. I boarding the plane at
8.00am. I went there by MAS plane and reach there at 10.00am. The journey takes about 1 hour and 45 minutes. The view from air plane is spectacular even better than view from KL Tower or Petronas Tower. I can see the whole KL, Kuantan, South China Sea and Kuching.

When I reached Kuching, I took a cab to UiTM. The journey takes about 30 minutes. Along the way, I saw many semi-D houses. According, to locals, the semi-D houses only cost around RM200K - RM300K and the saiz of the houses is quite large compared to the peninsular. UNiMas is situated just beside UiTM. UNiMas and UiTM area are quite large but
most of the part is still covered by trees and not yet developed. I station in Sarawak for 4 days 3 nights. I stayed in UiTM hostel and my food is provided by the hostel canteen. The food is quite nice and quite different to the food in UKM. Their cooking don't taste very spicy. I think their cooking styles is to cater the majority. Most students there are from Sarawak which consist of Ibanise.

Doing support is quite tiring. Only sleep about 3 hours perday because have to help customer settle problems. My job become more tiring because the hostel office don't have a proper records of their students. Most of the records are hand written! My customer need to key
in the names for me before I can do my job. Then my another complain is the UiTM bathroom. Their bathroom is too small and I hardly able to clean my back using my hand! I don't know how the students can live there.

Four days pass quite fast. I back to KL on Sunday by Air Asia plane. When I reached KLIA, I saw the airport krew take all the luggage out from plane. They just take out the luggages by just throwing it to the trolley although some luggages got fragile label on it. Unfortunately, one of the bags was torn open and all the clothes were thrown all over the place. For those who never broad plane before, remember to pack your things properly before check in the luggages.

FM MP3 Modulator

I brought this device on this day. It works well on what it claims. The sound quality produce by this device is just the same as radio
broadcast. Anyway, this device works by converting the mp3 musics located in any storage device into FM frequency. This frequency can be received by car radio by adjusting to the correct frequency. So, you really need a FM radio in order to use this device.

It is easy to use by just plug into any 12v adaptor located in the car, select one of the seven FM modulator preset, plug storage device (can plug into portable hard disk if you have one) thru its USB port and press play. The buttons let you to advance through songs, control signal strength, start and stop.

The FM MP3 modulator package also include a audio cable that attaches to almost any CD player, DVD player, MP3 player and laptop. My only complain on this modulator is that many of its preset frequency are already occupied by local radio station. I only manage to set the frequency to 88.90 MHz. I hope in the future, no radio station will use that frequency. Or else my modulator will be useless.

Easter Egg

An Easter Egg is a hidden feature or novelty that the programmers have put in their software. In general, it is any hidden, entertaining thing that a creator hides in their creation only for their own personal reasons. This can be anything from a hidden list of the developers, to hidden commands, to jokes, to funny animations. You'd be surprised just how many things contain Easter Eggs... just look at the list that has accumulated here!

A true Easter Egg must satisfy the following criteria:
1. Undocumented, Hidden, and Non-Obvious
An Easter Egg can't be a legitimate feature of a product, or be an obvious part of a storyline. Easter Eggs will usually stand out either because they totally don't fit with their context (like a pinball game in a word processor), or because they have a deeper hidden personal meaning to the creators, so they threw it in for entertainment.

2. Reproducible
Every user with the same product or combination of products must be able to produce the same result given the instructions. If others can't reproduce an Egg, then it doesn't belong in this archive.

3. Put There by the Creators for Personal Reasons
The Egg must have been put there on purpose, and furthermore have a personal significance to the creators beyond just making a better product (movie, TV show, software program, etc).

4. Not Malicious
Easter Eggs are there for fun, not to do damage.

5. ENTERTAINING!
The most important element... if it's not there for entertainment, it's not an Egg.

Have a look at Easter Egg Archive