Choudon Orphanage

,Back in 2005, I was traveling across China and Tibet and I met a British gentlement (in his 50s) on the bus from airport to Lhasa City. He was helping out at an Orphanage ran by a Tibetan Couple without any government assistance. The founder (Nyima) was an orphan himself, and after seeing so many street kids in Lhasa, out of compassion and driven by his passion, he decided to quit his job as a tourist guide to setup and spend all his money on an orphanage. I guess Nyima is able to empathise and understand the orphans better than anybody. Amazing person. His wife also joined him full-time. 

Choudon Orphanage @ Lhasa, Tibet.

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We decided to visit the orphanage and tried to understand the situation. The orphanage was overcrowded, there was no showering facility inside (The Kids had to shower once a week outside), they are facing financial difficulties as the only source of support is donation....

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Unfortunately, the founder (Nyima) was not around when we visited the orphanage. Instead, his wife hosted us. As it was a long traveling trip for me, I had limited funds & donated some money at another place during the earlier part of the trip, hence, I did not donate any money. =(

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Taken @ the orphanage

(I cannot remember which one is Nyima's wife - I think the one in white)

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I did not forget the brief encounter, and I felt bad for not helping the orphanage. Fortunately, last year october, I met a Singaporean Lady who was going to Nepal, Tibet & China for a few months. She was kind enough to help me to find the orphanage and pass my small token (donation) to the orphanage.

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She had a hard time searching for the orphanage, as the address I gave her was 4 years ago. After a few hours of searching in the small alley of Lhasa, she located the orphanage (which had shifted) and met Nyima. I was so happy to know that the orphanage is still around. She gave me a sad news - Nyima's wife passed away in 2008 due to some illness.

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 It was sad. She was doing such a great job - showering love and protecting the helpless street kids, unfortunately, she left the world at a young age. It is just sad to know that a good person is no longer around. May she find peace and happiness in another world.

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Life is just so unpredictable.

Life is impermanent.

Beautiful Things in life: Potala Palace

Sunrise @ Potala Palace, Lhasa, Tibet (2005)

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There are certain moments in life that I will never forget. Those precious moments made my life colourful and meaningful. Something I will bring with me when I leave this world.

One of them is definitely seeing Potala Palace.

On the bus from the Airport to Lhasa City, I had a glimpse of Potala Palace - the excitement and happiness was overwhelming for me. It was an amazing moment. There are very few times in my life I felt this kind of extreme happiness. 

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I had seen other great momuments, but none of them bring this kinda happiness & excitement.

Why do I have such affection towardsTibet?

I really don't know. 

I just know that I will be back again... hopefully soon. =) 

Golden Week in Japan??? Bad Choice =(

I booked my flight to Tokyo last year (Got a good deal), but I did not realise that I booked it during the Golden Week in Japan. I could not change the dates, as it was a discounted ticket.

After looking at the youtube videos below & reading the online blogs, I was quite discouraged. =(

Train in Japan...

Wave Pool in Japan

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I was looking forward to a Zen experience - tranquil and serene- outside of Tokyo, and a bustling city life in Tokyo. But I think I will get a Crazy Experience... but I will take it positively and experience the craziness.

Wish me luck!!! haha...

Forgiveness... A liberating force...

Recently, someone made a nasty remark about me (I was informed by a credible source). My first reaction was anger, but I was not thinking about confronting that person. I just wanted to sit down and clear up any misunderstandings, as I have nothing to fear. However, knowing that person's personality, I know that sitting down won't clear things up, as that person would get very defensive and may be aggressive (Vulnerable & Huge Ego at work).

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At the same time, frustration kept accumulating inside me. Frustrated that justice was not done. I kept asking myself: So what even if I won? There will be awkwardness and embarrassment, which is unnecessary also. I thought of the things that I have learnt - forgiveness, but it was not easy.

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I do not need to defend myself. My frustration was created by my Ego. A nasty remark won't make me a lesser person. Action always speaks louder than word. I do not want to carry the past with me. When I contemplate about my death and that person's death, all these things become trivial and unimportant.

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I decided to forgive that person, and free myself from the prison of frustration.

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It is an Amazing feeling.

It is so liberating.

I felt like a free bird again.

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Life will always test you again and again until you learn your lesson.

There are still many things for me to learn...

There are still many tests ahead...

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Boundless Sky

(Taken @ Timor Leste)

Warren Buffett's Worst Mistakes

Taken from: http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/108869/warren-buffetts-worst-mistakes

Warren Buffett is widely regarded as one of the most successful investors of all time. Yet, as Buffett is willing to admit, even the best investors make mistakes. Buffett's legendary annual letters to his Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) shareholders tell the tales of his biggest investing mistakes. There is much to be learned from Buffett's decades of investing experience, so I have selected three of Buffett's biggest mistakes to analyze.

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Conoco Phillips

Mistake: Buying at the wrong price

In 2008, Buffett bought a large stake in the stock of Conoco Phillips (COP) as a play on future energy prices. I think many might agree that an increase in oil prices is likely over the long term and that Conoco Phillips will likely benefit. However, this turned out to be a bad investment, because Buffett bought in at too high of a price, resulting in a multibillion-dollar loss to Berkshire. The difference between a great company and a great investment is the price at which you buy stock, and this time around Buffett was "dead wrong." Since crude oil prices were well over $100 a barrel at the time, oil company stocks were way up.

Lesson Learned

It's easy to get swept up in the excitement of big rallies and buy in at a prices that you should not have -- in retrospect. Investors who control their emotions can perform a more objective analysis. A more detached investor might have recognized that the price of crude oil has always exhibited tremendous volatility and that oil companies have long been subject to boom and bust cycles.

Buffett says: "When investing, pessimism is your friend, euphoria the enemy."

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U.S. Air

Mistake: Confusing revenue growth with a successful business

Buffett bought preferred stock in U.S. Air (LCC) in 1989 -- no doubt attracted by the high revenue growth it had achieved up until that point. The investment quickly turned sour on Buffett, as U.S. Air did not achieve enough revenues to pay the dividends due on his stock. With luck on his side, Buffett was later able to unload his shares at a profit. Despite this good fortune, Buffett realizes that this investment return was guided by lady luck and the burst of optimism for the industry.

Lesson Learned

As Buffett points out in his 2007 letter to Berkshire shareholders, sometimes businesses look good in terms of revenue growth but require large capital investments all along the way to enable this growth. This is the case with airlines, which generally require additional aircraft to significantly expand revenues. The trouble with these capital-intensive business models is that by the time they achieve a large base of earnings, they are heavily laden with debt. This can leave little left for shareholders and makes the company highly vulnerable to bankruptcy if business declines.

Buffett says: "Investors have poured money into a bottomless pit, attracted by growth when they should have been repelled by it."

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Dexter Shoes

Mistake: Investing in a company without a sustainable competitive advantage

In 1993, Buffett bought a shoe company called Dexter Shoes. Buffett's investment in Dexter Shoes turned into a disaster because he saw a durable competitive advantage in Dexter that quickly disappeared. According to Buffett, "What I had assessed as durable competitive advantage vanished within a few years." Buffett claims that this investment was the worst he has ever made, resulting in a loss to shareholders of $3.5 billion.

Lesson Learned

Companies can only earn high profits when they have some sort of a sustainable competitive advantage over other firms in their business area. Wal-Mart (WMT) has incredibly low prices. Honda (HMC) has high-quality vehicles. As long as these companies can deliver on these things better than anyone else, they can maintain high profit margins. If not, the high profits attract many competitors that will slowly eat away at the business and take all the profits for themselves.

Buffett says: "A truly great business must have an enduring "moat" that protects excellent returns on invested capital."

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The Bottom Line

While making mistakes with money is always painful, paying a few "school fees" now and then doesn't have to be a total loss. If you analyze your mistakes and learn from them, you might very well make the money back next time. All investors, even Warren Buffett, must acknowledge that mistakes will be made along the way.

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It is always good to learn from others mistakes, but making mistakes in Investment is inevitable. Money can be lost, but the lessons should never be lost.

Don't make yourself a Victim...

Chinese New Year is a time of reunion, and for some unwise people, it is also a time to show-off or compare their material wealth or other achievements. I guess that is one of the reasons why some friends chose to spend this holiday away from Singapore to avoid all the senseless questions and comparisons. 

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Just now, I was chatting with a friend who was doing well in his career and was a top performer in his team. However, he was complaining about his work. I was also updating him about the progress of some common friends who are doing exceptionally well in their career/business & making lotsa money. Then, I felt a sense of  uneasiness in his voice. Then, he asked if I was feeling jealous about their success.

My reply was "Not Really".

He asked me "Why?".

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I decided to change topic as I knew it was affecting his mood. Most of us are making ourselves victim by comparing ourselves with better achievers and feeling that we sucks. On the other hand, we (aka Our Ego) felt good when we won somebody else etc..., hence, our mood is like a pendulum swing - so unstable and vulnerable. That's the nature of Ego. 

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Interestingly, I was re-reading The Power of Now when my friend called me. And I stopped at this paragraph (which has the answer to his question):

Some people would always rather be somewhere else. Their "here" is never good enough. Through self-observation, find out if that is the case in your life. Wherever you are, be there totally. If you find your here and now intolerable and it makes you unhappy, you have three options: remove yourself from the situation, change it, or accept it totally. If you want to take responsibility for your life, you must choose one of those three options, and you must choose now. Then accept the consequences. No excuses. No negativity. No psychic pollution.

Keep your inner space clear.

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Tibetan Lady waiting patiently for her water

(Taken back in 2005 in Gansu, Tibetan Plateau)
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Back then, I was wondering around the grassland aimlessly and saw this lady. Her calmness and peacefulness attracted me. She was waiting patiently for her water (which was pretty murky), and totally at peace with everything.

Amazing!

Ignorance ignorance ignorance...

Pastor Rony Tan has just apologised to both Buddhists & Taoists for his comments on both faiths. My initial reaction was anger, and I wanted to investigate further by watching the videos. (video 1 & video2). After watching the videos, I was sadden by how Buddhism was misrepresented. Pastor Rony Tan asked a 2-week ex-monk (a Christian Convert - Joseph) to discuss about Buddhism and made the whole religion practice sounded like a joke. Being a Buddhist layman, I found Joseph to be extremely ignorant about Buddhism.

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When Joseph was a monk, he asked "When can I reach Nirvana?"

My first reaction was ignorance ignorance ignorance. With such an ignorant question, I was wondering what had he learnt as a monk or a long-term Buddhist. 

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I just felt that if you do not know anything about Buddhism, you should not misrepresent it. Personally, I have only touched the surface, and I am awed & touched by the Wisdom, the Vastness and the Compassion (The Unconditional Love). I am not upset or angry anymore, as I know they are blinded by Ignorance. They really do not know what they are discussing. I just hope they realise their mistakes.  

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I am happy that I have never attended any Buddhist Talks that criticise other faiths. By degrading other faiths, will never make your own faith a superior one. =)
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May Joseph & Rony find Wisdom and Happiness!

May All Beings be Free from Sufferings!

Young Buddhist Monk

(This picture just put a smile on my face)

Taken from: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/02/colorful_india.html

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Death of Singapore's Richest Man....

Ng Teng Fong (estimated with a net worth of US$8billion) passed away today. Well, it really means nothing to me or the people around me. In fact, one of my colleagues was saying that it would be interesting to see who would get the inheritance. I realized that nobody really cares about his death.

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What has he done for the society? What was he remembered for? (Shrewd Businessman?? As written in the article) I knew nothing about Ng Teng Fong, except the fact that he was very rich. Period. Perhaps, he has done some charitable work in anonymity (I hope so).

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I compare him to Iconic Tycoons like Bill Gates, Warren Buffett & Lee Ka-Shing. I would feel sad if anyone of them passed away. They have contributed much to the society, in terms of Philanthropic activities and Business Philosophy, and most importantly, being a role model. Then, I realised that there is NO charismatic person in Singapore (except for LKY). There is no Singapore leader who I could look up to. It is quite sad. Singapore is packed with efficient mediocre people (that includes myself).

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People will remember previous tycoons like Lee Kong Chian and Tan Kah Kee, whom had contributed alot to the society. Interestingly, I saw a Tan Kah Kee Hall when I was visiting UC Berkeley.

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I doubt anybody will remember Ng Teng Fong 10 years from now. I don't even know who was the richest man 20 years ago (I think should be Sam Walton of Walmart). Rich people is only influential during his/her time.

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On the other hand, I would always remember inspirational characters like Ernesto Che Guevara, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Princess Diana, Deng Xiaoping, Einstein (who is more like a Philosopher than a scientist to me) etc... Their spirit is always around... inspiring us and the future generations.