Hurt

Secret War Journal[27 February 2011]

All I wanted to say was... I'm hurt. When was the last time I...

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True... My life's full of regrets. Hahas, ironic...

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One by one, all shall fall just as prophesied.

You won't see it happening because you had let your guard down.

But it has begun.

Begun it had, none will be spared.

Just like how dominoes fall in succession.
This decision, I won't back down, we're too deep into it for that.



And so, I took another step further down the path of Destruction...

Past:Promise

Secret War Journal[20 February 2011]

Our dark past....

...One binding promise

One filled with regret and misery...

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I wish I could let go... but I can't.

You left when I needed you most. I admit it's my fault, I didn't know reality then...

You were my last strand of hope that dreams do come true.

You shattered it just had Death had. One part of me never moved on that year. One part of me is still trapped in that past. I don't want to remember the horrible things that happened. 

But it had happened, and there ain't going to change... not even you, I guess...

Sometimes, I wish you never made me promise that. I wished I knew it was going to be binding. It's as if our path will never ever cross again. 

Maybe those are just my excuses... but I don't believe that no one remembers you. That you're hardly ever mentioned anywhere when old friends are found after all those years.

It's as though you're just a fragment of my dreams and you never existed. Are you?

Even if it's impossible, at least let me apologise one last time? I've changed. I don't want to live with so much guilt, I have more than enough regrets already...

TM: Social Etiquette

Secret War Journal[19 February 2011][TM Session #4]
This week marks the last week of the 2-week series of social etiquette by Ms Suzenne Zheng. Shall we begin?

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Useful things to take note for public events:

• Punctuality
• Refrain from asking personal questions
• Respect people's privacy

Tips for the actual day of interview:

• Come early
• Ask the reception who are the interviewers (to know how to address them) and for the interviewers' emails.
• Do not cross leg until determining interviewer is friendly

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Conversation Skills
General Tips:

• Silence your inner critic
• Begin with the obvious (conversation starter)
• Compliment carefully
• Use friendly body language
• Turn the spotlight on others - Be humble
• Listen
• Keep the conversation light
• Give equal time to other participants of the conversation (avoid one-sided conversations)
• Have a sense of humour
• Make your exit graciously
• Avoid personal questions

Salutations (how to address someone):

• You're not allowed to place titles on yourself when introducing yourself(e.g. Dr./Prof) unless you're in uniform
• Introduce yourself without the use of "Mr/Mrs/Miss/Mdm"

If Jane Low is married to Jonathan Tay, Jane should be addressed as either

1. Mrs Jonathan Tay
2. Mdm Low
3. Mrs Tay

Note: Addressing Jane as Mrs Jane Tay meant that she's a widow.
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How to introduce oneself:
"Good morning/afternoon/evening, Mr/Ms/Mdm [surname]. I'm [your name]. How do you do?"
How to introduce others:
"[Person A], please meet [Person B], [Profession of Person B]"
"[Person B], please meet [Person A], [Profession of Person A]"

Note:

• Attend to the more important person first. In this case, Person A is the more important person.
• By convention, women are more important than gentlemen
• If both people are of the same gender, the older one is the more important person.
• Business-wise, the ranking of the person is taken into account.
• Do not shake hands if the other party is Muslim ladies or monks (not appropriate)

How to introduce oneself in a phone call:
"Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening, [your name] speaking"

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Email Etiquette

• Do not start with "Dear..." but rather "hi [recipient]" when ending an email with "Best Regards"
• No smileys
• No shorthands.

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After an email, email the interviewer a thank-you note.
Example: "Thank you for interviewing me. I can be reached at..."

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Dining Etiquette
Terminology:

• Aperitif-- An alcoholic drink taken as an appetizer before a meal.
• Entrée -- Main Course

Positioning:
Bread on your left; Drinks on the right

Ordering:
The gentlemen place order, not the ladies
E.g. "This lady wants [item], that man wants [item],..., [finally your own order]"

Breakfast:
Bread basket: Offer a bread to the left, take one for yourself, finally, pass the basket to the right.

Toast: Cut into 2 equal triangles (the standard); eat from the corners and one at a time.

Lunch/Dinner:

• Knife, at all times, cannot point outwards
• Fork, at all times, must face downwards

Buffet-style

• DO NOT take for others, take only your own servings
• Take at most 2 of the same item
• Follow the meal procedure (appetizer, main course, dessert), do not start with the desserts.

Functions

• The main focus is not on the food, mostly just drinking and socialising.

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Check your personality
There are four main types of personalities as described by her, namely:

1. Natural
• Sporty; casual dressing
• Suited for athletes or NS men
2. Classic
• Self disciplined; very organised
• Pedantic (Anal)
• Suited for auditors, accountants, etc
3. Dramatic
• Dress to express themselves (relate Lady Gaga)
4. Romantic
• Stylish; Best fashion sense among the four
• Outgoing; good interpersonal skills
• Suitable for entrepreneurs

By the request of Stephanie, here are some of our personalities, as analysed by Ms Zheng:

• Stephanie -- Natural Classic
• Leroy -- Very Classic
• Joshua -- Classic  

Note:

• It is also useful for relationships, less conflict would occur between the couple if their personality are the same.

V

Secret War Journal[14 February 2011]

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! :)

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V means something else to me. It means Vengeance. Yes, this is the year of Vengeance. One by one, each will pay for all the wrongs they did to me in the past. I remember all and the time for karma has come.

JC Lightbulb Joke

Secret War Journal[14 February 2011]

Q: How many RJC students does it take to change a light bulb?
A: 4 whole faculties. One to design the new bulb, one to
manufacture and test it out, one to write a proposal on it and one to market it.

Q: How many HCJC students does it take to change a light bulb?
A: The whole school. To compete with RJC.

Q: How many VJC students does it take to change a light bulb?
A: The whole school. One student to screw it in and the rest to cheer and wave flags and banners to give him/her support.

Q: How many NJC students does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. They can study without light.

Q: How many AJC students does it take to change a light bulb?
A: They’re too busy trying to be one of the top 5 JCs.

Q: How many ACJC students does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. They’ll rather use all their money to employ YJC to do it for them.

Q: How many YJC students does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. Only one teacher to tell them what a light bulb is in the first place and to demonstrate how to change the light bulb. (So how do you think they’re able to change it for ACJC?)

Q: How many CJC students does it take to change a light bulb?
A: They’ll prefer it to be darker. (Hmmmm?*raises eye-brows* )

Q: How many JJC students does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. Their physics is so bad that they made their macho male physics teacher cry.

Q: How many TPJC students does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. Would they even bother?

Q: How many SAJC students does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. They believe in praying for it.

Q: How many NYJC students does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. They are still using oil lamps.

Q: How many SRJC students does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Huh, what litebarb?

Q: How many PJC students does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Heck the light bulb lah, the principal would do something about the rightbarbs. Let’s do 300 jumping jacks for not wearing the proper school attire.

Q: How many MJC students does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. They are too busy trying to get promoted.

Q: How many IJC students does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. They are Innovians. They’ll find ways out of the dark.

Q: How many TJC students does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. They think they are already very bright.

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Note: This is meant to be a joke and it is not written by me. No offense is intended.

TM: Social Etiquette and Speaking Skills

Secret War Journal[12 February 2011][TM Session 2 & 3]
Hmm, ahhh I didn't had the time to talk about the previous session last week. My sincere apologies. Perhaps I should start by talking briefly about the previous session.

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Session 2: Speaking Skills

Basically, last week, we received advice from Mr Max on how to say or present.

I won't be talking in detail (though most should be self-explanatory) because the purpose of this series is to give you a clear idea of what Talent Management entails. Of course, it also helps to serve as a lasting mental note for myself. ;)

Alright, for Speech and Presentation, we can categorise them into 4 stages. Namely,

1. Pre-Speaking (Preparation)
2. Speaking - Fluency
1. Volume
2. Pacing
3. Pauses
4. Signposting
3. Speaking - Clarity
1. Vocabulary
2. Pronunciation
3. Stress & Intonation
4. Post-Speaking (Reviewing)

There are also non-verbal features in a presentation.

• Posture
• Eye Contact
• Facial Expressions
• Gestures
• References to slides - Do no read from slides
• Use of Statistics - Use sparingly

Other speaking devices include

• Rhetorical Questions - to stimulate audience to think
• Quotations - for effect
• Audience Interaction - for relating to audience

These skills would be really useful especially for JC1s who are having their Project Work where they need to present in Oral Presentations (OP). :)


For more info: go http://eslgold.com/speaking/simple_presentation.html and http://eslgold.com/speaking/elaborating.html

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Session 3: Social Etiquette

For this session, we have an external vendor, Suzenne Zheng, Founder of First Impressions Image International to come educate us on the aspects to take note of for job interviews.

In summary, she taught:

• Top 10 list of what employers dislike during job interviews for males and females
• Dress code for job interviews - including shoes and ties
• How to tie a tie (which I hadn't done so for a year)
• How to walk properly (in the business world)
• Colour Theory (Cool and Warm and their definitions) - Colour Harmony
• Appropriate Sitting Postures for Job Interviews (2 for males, 5 for females)
• Appropriate hairstyles for males and females
• Face shapes and how to identify them and apply styles accordingly
• Appropriate eye brows
• Appropriate Sock length for males
• Need for punctuality for job interviews
• Brisk walking
• Avoid "bedroom face" (and long or spiky hair for males)

One interesting thing to note would be how your height affects your hairstyle (for females):

• If you're >1.66m, you can keep long hair
• If you're >1.40m but <1.66m, you can keep shoulder-length hair
• If you're <1.40m, you should keep your hair short.

Alright, that should be all. =]

All of me and none

Secret War Journal[12 February 2011]

Like all old amea, I wanted to forget everything...

One part of me did not want to move on...
Another part of me hope for a better future...
Yet another wish everything stay as it is now because of the bleak future ahead...

My daily dilemma of whether to hold on to fragments of memories continues...

Reason why I have this blog? To record my memories in case I forget them all...

Walking off, without a word

Secret War Journal[9 February 2011]

By the time you realised I have walked off, I'm already too far away.

I left abruptly not because I have nothing to say or nothing to dispute your words.

It's because I'm sick... and tired of all these nonsense.

Yes, I would had tried to reason it out to knock some sense into the situation but patience had dried up. It dried up just as rivers did. I cease to care because no one does anyway. No one, on your side on that matter. So why I should I go an extra mile for people who don't even care? I might as well concentrate on others.

Sometimes, I just stop talking because I don't want to waste anymore of my energy to talk to an imbecile. Because talking and not talking seriously don't make a difference so why bother. It's much better to not talk, saves me the anger from...

Enough said.

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Disappointment is one. But I rather have at least a single day where my mood is near genuinely happy instead of all these rubbish.

If you're going to give me attitude, I'm going to give you back the same shit, if not more. I will because I CAN.

False King

Secret War Journal[2 February 2011]

Tell me I'm wrong,
Tell me I'm right,
Tell me I'm the false King.