Modelling Happiness

"Don't even have to chase it, happiness is in the mind, just look into yourselves and you find it"

Since I began my life as an academic years ago, I quickly realise as an academic, research based on modelling is quite often, by that, it means building up of knowledge with an aim of getting an insight. Recently, I found some economists try to "model happiness"! Their findings show that people vary in term of their level of happiness by their educations, genders and even race.

Out of curiosity, I searched online for "happiness" in the eye of Buddhism. I took Buddhism studies in my school day and it has quite an impact on me. I found an article and it brings back what I learnt about this religion. From the article, I see that the main difference lies in the fact that, Buddhism puts "desire" on the front-line as the main deciding factor for happiness. Though, at times, this is hard when things are often in the grey region, rather than white or black. More importantly, however, is that there is this "non permanence" in everything as "change is constant", and so the more desire and the more we yearn for something, that "something" may not last forever over time, only left is, however, our reaction to "that something" in question, how we face it and how we deal with it and more importantly, are we aware of our reaction to it.

Therefore, sometimes, meditations might help us see the perspective because it helps us look at ourselves again and bring those issue back for reflection and if we can do that, we attain "happiness", as in the condition of "a state of mind", that way, you "create happiness", and that is possible. In the light of Buddhism, this should be the case despite your education, gender or even your race. There should be no inequalities, unlike what some economists had suggested.

Should we "teach Gordon Brown a lesson"?!

Sometimes I just love the drama in this country, even the Prime Minister can be "a bully" and in the midst of this accusation leads to another drama involving the national bullying helpline nearly has to close down.

Today I was preparing my lecture material and came across a news article about the losses made by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) recently of about £3.6 billions. RBS is one of the UK banks to be nationalised following the credit crisis. Now it is 84% owned by the taxpayers, which make me part of the owners of the bank, since I pay tax. I thought of using RBS as an example to explain the application of present value concept in the valuation of stock prices, and I found that I could also crack a joke about "teaching Gordon Brown a lesson", that the theory of capital structure has to be re-written now that it includes the taxpayers, do we even care about the returns at all? In any case, I am not going to discuss the economic situation on this blog. It is just the use of the example that make me smile as I thought this would be quite funny.

All else, I think I am slowly moving towards getting material more organised this week about the lecture. LM so kindly engaged a "spy" and give me feedback about the students who attended my lecture, which I think have been very helpful, at least from him, I can see that students still enjoy my lecture, which I am quite reassured, so something must have been done right. So, next Tuesday the lecture will be filled with quite a number of examples to work out and explain the time value concept, annuity and the perpetuality evaluation. I quite enjoy it as I prepared them today and hope it brings out well in the lecture next week then.

Effortless like Kim Yu-Na's figure skating

I wonder what people really are thinking about when they "look for quality"? What actually attract to them, be it watching a sport, reading a book or appreciating a piece of art. I was talking about this to a friend recently. We agree that, what we considered as quality lies in the fact that, we "feel comfortable" about seeing what we see.

This brings me to think of the next question, what is quality and how to define quality in a piece of work and the word "effortless" comes to the mind, and it seems to be associated with "simplicity" without being"simplistic". In my opinion, it is not easy to attain a level of simplicity in what you do, because this often means you have gained full understanding of the matter and that it has become clear to you, so it become easy for you to present them to your listeners, audience or readers. And therefore they "feel comfortable" about you because you appear to be "effortless".

I love watching South Korea's Kim Yu-Na earns figure skating in the recent Vancouver Winter Olympic 2010. Her skating is effortless. How to explain her effortlessness then? I think firstly, of course she mastered the skills and the techniques to skate and then she presented them with ease, even for some rather "highly complex moves", and she makes it look easy, and make the audience and viewers "feel comfortable", and she captures the hearts of many by her performance and indeed she had won a gold medal for her excellence.

I don't think we should think too hard or too complex on the stuff we work on. Things only get complicated as it goes on and so should not be too complex to start. How it proceeds and end up being "effortless" is really for us to find out, but should really only happen after things we work on become "clearer" as we gain "better understandings".

Right timing is good timing

"take things one at a time because there is always a right time for everything"

I am still exploring different ways to deal with my Tuesday's lecture. What's becoming clear to me, however, is that, I began to realise an efficient way to prepare my lecture material, as I gain better understanding of a few things affecting the way I work. Things are slowly in control as I began to see ways to my delivery of the lecture material to help students concentrate better. For example, I had contacted the IT to order a green laser pointer, in which the colour could still be very visible 10 metres away from the screen. I decided to get a better laser pointer because I find walking around, rather than standing still at one point makes it better for students to get the attention, also not to make them feel they are not being "left alone". It helps boosts moral and concentration in class and cut down the noise level.

I feel I don't have to make hard lecture copies earlier in the week and I only need one day to do this job. I used to be worried that there would not be "enough time". Things are not as bad, so one day should be fine. I therefore could spend time doing my slides properly and clearly, and only need to put on the website after my lecture. The drawback of making copies earlier is that if I decided to include new material later, it will make it hard for the students to follow while in the lecture, though I might still put the notes on the website.

I still don't quite get it with my Tuesday's students. They look "blank" on their face and you just not sure if they understand or not, though on Tuesday, I did have students asking me questions while we were doing some exercises in the lecture together. Sometimes, I suspect it could also be the lecture theatre at fault. I hate this, 25 rows of benches with no stairs in the middle, only on both extreme right and left side of the theatre, making it feel very suffocating, and having a class between 4 pm to 6 pm, how wrong a timing is that, and with 230 students in a single theatre, it's no joke.

I kind of feel that, though it is true, like some colleagues said, that noises are one big factor affecting you when you give lecture, but honestly, I find myself not being able to think too much or being bothered by it too much if you think you had done your best to cut down on noise volume, because my job is there to give the lecture, and more importantly, there are others in the lecture who are serious and want to listen to the lecture. I should think of them a bit more and so the more I should get on with it.

Tomorrow lecture at 9 am is the one that I had my first lecture last week. I enjoyed this lecture. I am thinking this will be fine as I spent quite a lot of time today preparing the material, hope tomrrow's lecture gives me good vibes so that I will be motivated a bit for my next Tuesday's lecture. However, next Friday session at 9 am will be my last lecture and while I might miss giving one lecture that I had enjoyed very much I gain extra time for me to do my research, which is not a bad thing. So, at the end of it, I think I am going to focus on my strength to help me improve my lecturing job (just remember of Whitney Houston, as I wrote this :D)

What lies ahead for Whitney Huston?

Last year Whitney Huston's performance on X factor was a disappointment! However, I quite looked forward to her "comeback". I admired people who took courage to make changes in their life, despite the outcome. Her new single was much looking forward to because we want to hear her "new sound". When I heard her sing on Oprah Winfrey's show, she just blew me away. Many celebrated her for finally breaking away from a failed marriage and fighting the drug addiction

Whitney's recent concert was reported to be under fire in Australia. She has a lot more in the UK to perform and I am not sure will she be again be made known for the wrong reasons. A colleague claimed Whitney Huston was not in a good form to comeback, but it is hard sometimes as a celebrity, in that you may not be involved in planning your public events, and it might just be down to the agent who is doing it all for you.

However, the fact is, Whitney Huston seems to be paying a HIGH price for her past behavior looking at her performance. I am not really a big fan of her, but she does have a powerful and soulful voice that move me. Perhaps it is very silm chance now that she can bring that back.

They say it is better to learn from other people experience, because it is cheaper, but it is more effective to learn from own's mistake, but this could be costly. There is no one else to blame except yourselves, but be aware, just a little aware than others, that way, you can end up paying a lower price. So, to what extent Whitney is aware of her weakness to help her show the best of her strength at this stage of her singing career? Maybe she had taken things too fast, too soon, too much? perhaps this is all her agent's strategy for her "comeback"? Taking a step back, see the big picture, I believe she is never too late to "re-position" herself if she is thinking of a "genuine comeback".

Precious

"Even in fantasy, there is light". Precious is a movie about searching for that light in the dark. However, it felt like a docu-drama at times, especially the rather believable monologue by actress, Gabourey Sidibe, who played the lead character, "Precious" (just watch the film trailer, and you know what I mean) This makes the story feels raw, as if a sexually abused victim narrating her past using flash-back and story reconstructs. With all the superb casts and acting in place, this film developed a style of its own, unique and distinctively different.

One just couldn't believe how anyone who is as monstrous as the mother in the film, who abused her daughter and let her daughter raped by the stepfather, can still bring out the bitter side of her own life and wanted sympathy from others and Mo'Nique who played this character, did it extremely well. She had already won few awards, including the BAFTA for her excellent performance in this film.

The last twenty minutes, her conversation with social worker, Ms. Weiss, which is played by Mariah Carey, and with a break-through performance, whose facial expression says it all about the monstrous mother, was the one to watch in this film.

I don't hate Monday

If you hate Monday, read this. Monday is my "working from home" day as I need to concentrate to prepare my lecture material for Tuesday. So, I don't hate Monday, :D

I find dish washing task is a mean to an end. I got that task sorted early on the Monday morning, went on to do my dinner and smoothie, then put them back to the fridge. I felt more focused doing my work subsequently, which is about the lecture material preparation. Now that I decided to use both powerpoint slide and overhead projector (OHP), I need good coordination between the two medium on the use of materials, helping students understand the topics better. I spent quite some times thinking of doing that effectively.

I have time to go for a swim shortly after, and I feel free about myself, perhaps because I had time well spent today. It's an unique emotion only I know how that felt like.

I did some research in the evening. Looking through the revised paper JL sent me, carefully sourced for additional material needed to support his arguments written in some short revised paragraphs, I find out what to write and organise them quite quickly in my head and then put them down in words. It's a short 500-words-ish paragraph, but it's precise and sharp, JL should be please. This is a piece of research I so enjoy doing, mainly because of the good fire-work with JL, let's hope this research gets a "good home" in the end.

I also checked the emails and find students needing attention on exam results, need to see me, so I should attend to those tomorrow. I am still not sure about how much all these demand of me. At times. I feel I have loads of free time (as there are seriously a lot fewer contact hours over here), but due to my unfamiliarity with the system (since this is only my first year here), the consequence of dealing with students expose me to uncertainly in term of my level of commitments, which I must be careful and weigh them properly with my time for research.

All else, I am looking forward to having a productive lecture tomorrow. I think I need a bit practice dealing with big group, and I believe the more I do it, the better I will become. So, BRING on the challenge!

Climate change

I woke up about 6.50 am this morning not quite sure why the bedroom is slightly brighter, when I later pull open the curtain, I realised it was actually snowing quite heavily overnight, and outside the window looks whiter and brighter than normal. Immediately, I felt like going back to sleep which I didn't really do so, because I had planned my day and I want to start.

The rest of my day, after my breakfast, was simply spending on my laptop, as usual. What is different this time, however, is my slightly tiredness I felt to want to go a little slower on my task and I also felt a little restless. I even end up not going for my swim which was scheduled for this afternoon. Is this the climate's change effect on me, I wonder.

I read an article recently addressing similar issues, highlighting the importance of preserving energy when the weather gets colder in winter, for purpose of keeping warmth in the cold, however, I cannot remember having problem "preserving my energy", as mentioned in the article.

However, as the hours of the day passed, I seemed to get better, following favourable weather conditions with some good, but low sunshine. I got myself out and about, did some shopping, feel a bit "energetic" in the open. I do get out at least once a day daily (not when you are at work, since that is already out of the flat compound), even just a walk is fine. There is always a fear of cabin fever if one stays in the enclosure too long, and even more so when the weather is cold.

As I now reflect, I think it could be the morning task that I had planned didn't go on well and taken up a bit of time that add on to my "lack of energy" and "restlessness", and with the weather condition, it makes the situation worse. Let's hope the weather get better tomorrow, sometimes hard to say, as it has a mind of its own and can be unpredictable. Well, just keep the focus and things will be fine, never mind the weather! :D

Preparing dinner is a therapy

" Be aware of wonder. Live a balanced life. Learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.”
— Robert Fulghum

I struggled to make dinner tonight because I was feeling a little lazy on the weekend. I had set a routine to wash my dishes from the past evening and then do dinner, as this help save energy and water. But, this means doing dinner for me is fulfilling two tasks. Obviously, in the end, I get my dinner prepared and had my dinner tonight.

I realised setting routines, such as washing dishes and making dinner or even writing blogs end of each day is a good practice to help one's stay focus and keep things in perspective. I also especially like to listen to music while making my dinner. I was listening to "going out with Alan's Carr" and half laughing at the silly and funny jokes he made with the call-in audiences. At times, I love listening soothing vocal jazz or dinner jazz while making dinner. I enjoy cutting my vegetables, mixing them together with spices, garlic, ginger and hot chilli powders and I also enjoy preparing my smoothie. I enjoy seeing my fruits, which consist of graph fruits, berry, carrots and lychee and the yougurt blended together in the smoothie mixer, always like them to be blended as smooth as possible and then I would add frozen strawberry, mango and Avocado pieces and blend them all again, and when finished put aside in the fridge for later after dinner.

As I fulfilled each task, things get completed and I am pleased. This means I can be ready to get on to the next task, which for today was doing my crunches and then have my shower, while I left my rice to be cooked and the vegetable to be steamed all in the same cooker.

Finishing this task just reminded me I should do the same for all other tasks, research, teaching, swimming, etc, i.e., not be distracted by bad days, for example, in order for tasks to be completed. This simple task of doing my dinner and cooking has some good, but strange therapeutic effects, it's a reinforcement on the importance of completions of anything you do in life, and never ever let anything takes over, and to follow the flow and keep moving as it could potentially brings positive vibes surrounding your everyday life.

The fun and Joy of "public speaking"

I was happy about my "performance" in today's lecture. I had heard all sorts of difficulties of teaching in large groups (today group was about 150, I have another Tuesday group of 230 students), that students can be noisy and distracting, etc, all make the new teaching tasks feel like a daunting task.

With an aim to do my job well, or least don't want to have complains from students, I consulted other colleagues about how they deal with large group in teaching. One colleague told me the students loved "to be entertained". I was feeling a bit sad about this comment, not sure if that works as this encourages students not to take you seriously.

Yesterday, LM shared with me his strategy to deal with large students group in the lecture. I then realised students get distracted and not paying attention, because you didn't give them "enough attention", not to say you have to "entertain" them to give attention, it's just appropriately showing to them you know they are there, and that you are willing to help, if they have any problem. This is the idea I get from LM, which is quite useful.

Anyway, in today's lecture, I used body languages like "eye contacts", appropriately to give "attention". I receive positive responds based on what I observed in the students. There is also no need for me to ask the students to "keep quiet" like in the Tuesday lectures, I also didn't feel the needs to "stop for a while" to let the students "quiet down". Today's situations were better controlled and I think I had also enjoyed today's session of lecture. I hope to build on this on my subsequent lectures and hope this "success" helps to boost my confidence for my Tuesday's lecture. I want to bring back the joy and fun of fighting the nerve in public speaking and still do a good delivery and then feel absolutely satisfying, just like during those day when I was a CTM (i.e., Competent Toastmaster). Let's do it! :D

Food can have "exotic tastes" and still healthy

I was reading a study about the situation of overweight men in the UK and was reminded that "overweight" is an issue that was brought to discuss in parliament. Indeed, among the UK population, 50% are overweight and among them, about 1/3 are clinically obese.

Some British friends coming to the issue of "overweight" and "diet" would not deny about the bad dietary habit the Briton are very used to, which affect health badly. They often would be so kind to add that, this is not the case in other countries, like in Asia. I can remember in Singapore how convenient and cheap to dine outside. Indeed, one of the attractions in Singapore is it's variety of culture and food, which presented visitors with varieties of tastes of of "exotic food".

"Exotic Tastes" are often the highlight in most Asian food. Such "tastes" add to the "content" of the food we eat and make it "fun". The main "objection" to the "health standard" of the western food is related more to the food's nutrient's composition, like calories or fat, for example. These are rather important, and can easily be forgotten or overlooked when people are "carried away" by the "exotic tastes" of the Asian food.

The priority this country has put on addressing the issue of "overweight" has helped give good public awareness on healthy eating and had benefited me. Indeed, food can be "tasty" as well as being healthy, it's the food processing that matters.

Brotherhood

I watched the film "Two Brothers", a story about two twin tiger cubs, who were separated and how they reunited again years later. A rather heart-breaking story with some sense of humor, at times funny and with great humanity. It cleverly humanizes the behavior of tigers to interact with the human, giving it space to reflect on the humans' treatment of the wild animals. I was deeply moved by the story, and equally attracted to the cute tiger cubs which are great actors in the film. They took the central stage in the film and I just adore them. Here's some lovely pictures of the cubs from the film.



If you had not got enough of that, the above also gives you the film's trailer to satisfy your interest.

What worth mentioning is that, the lead character at the end of the film said of the two tigers that they were never learn to hunt, and that all great predators who escape from captivity become man-eater when return to the wild. However, as seen from the end notes of the film, it says, "it is up to us, the tiger's deadliest enemy, to ensure the survival of the greatest of the great cats, the last lord of the jungle." so, what happen to the tigers in the end? Maybe you should get a copy of the DVD and watch it, you would sure enjoy it!

How is Susan Boyle related to Dominos' Pizza

Success can be "easy" and it is a matter of luck and good timing. Susan Boyle is an example. And she even drive the profit of sponsors, like the Domino's pizza. It is not easy to read her through the media because people around her are making too many comments about her. But, media has it that she was under lots of pressure, and was seeing professional therapist. Perhaps the overnight success might prove too much for her to handle and she seems "going too far to be herself" She also reportedly refused to move out of her council house in Scotland despite a recent break-in.

Susan Boyle, who even Lady GaGa said she loved her, reminded me of someone who had just won a million pound lottery and still in a state of shock, though obviously enjoying it at the same time. It's very common for a million pound lottery winner to simply "lose it" because managing a million pounds is as hard as managing a £1000 lottery win, it's about financial planning and managing that state of shock.

Susan Boyle is an inspiration ALL because she made that first step to the audition (let's face it, Britain got talent, as a reality TV, is not really about "talent", isn't it? you not necessarily have to impress judges with your "talent", "talent" is subjective and has been re-defined by the reality TV show), and give her all, and made it, still is about timing and luck, in my opinion, but also about her courage, confidence and dare to be herself, all important quality to show other not-so-lucky wannabes, but who are working hard to hit the stardom.

Susan Boyle is perhaps the only person who know her own strength and weakness, and how far this can go, but there is a certain calmness in her, as I can see, therefore, though occasionally she explosively "going too far to be herself", her calmness is going to help her stand on her feet tightly and be grounded.

Welcome to civilization

Once I had made my decision it would not be easy for me to turn my head. I had come this far and overcome obstacles every step of the way, getting my grips and handle tight, as if rock climbing. Obviously, as always, things could have been better.

I feel I learn a bit more of myself and my potential to "make things happen" in the whole process. Having lived in this country, off and on, for about 10 years now, I see things slightly different from the locals, especially also being a foreigner. I have lived in Scotland most of the 10 years and you realized some cultural differences in term of peoples' behaviors. Certainly, I think the geographical location, and especially even more so if it is isolated, has a great impact on this. I remember a colleague, who is a Scottish in my former Institution, was commenting on issue relating to this, but however, was rebutted by another Colleague who is also Scottish as well. I just felt thankful at that moment that I am a foreigner, I am not biased by anything deep rooted in my cultural connection in this country that unable me to "let go" if I wanted to. That is why, making a move to a different part of this country to seek for new employment is not a very difficult decision to make. It is really just simple as that.

Climate change, how it affects people thinking and people interaction, should be an interesting area for research, but realistically, it does has an impact on people thinking. When I was asked in a recent induction, what I think of the workplace, I said that I think Loughborough is dynamic, because it is surrounded by other Universities of similar, if not, even better standard, and the more this motivated competitions and encourages a pragmatic sense of approach to problem solving and management, which I much prefer.

Indeed, when I told an English friend last year that I will be going to Loughborough, he immediately responded, "welcome to civilization", which I can see why now, :D

Stay Awake at work on Monday

I love to read "self help" article, like this one about "stay awake at work". This helps you reflect upon your own strategy to overcome similar problem and see if something new can be learnt from it. The followings are my simple strategy to help me kept awake at work

1) EAT light lunch, heavy lunch makes you sleepy easily
2) ORGANISE things you have to do at work, put them point by point. You won't forget and will be reminded to finish them.
3) ALWAYS try and have 10 minutes nap in the afternoon, then wake up, brink your eyes in cold water. That is by far, the MOST EFFECTIVE mean I found to be kept awake (This applies only if you have your own office and a door that has no transparent glass :D)
4) TAKE THINGS one at a time, when you suddenly feel you have TOO MUCH TO DO, that makes you more aware of "attending to the tiny details", and the more you feel discouraged.

I have never felt "consistently tired" about my work in the day. It is like what the article had suggested to be a sign that you are "bored" with your work. some "disruptions" do occur time and again, which you would expect, but not to the extent of causing concern to have a change of job or career for me. :D

I'd Do It All Again (on Valentine day)

I like Corinne's expression when she sings this song, sometimes I cannot hear some of her words' Pronunciation properly, but her emotions were deep and able to move me to large extent, her voice is so unique, and she is not using "personalities" to win fans, which is what I like about her. She said she sang this song in memories of her husband who died last year, so this is a song about lost, it should mean something to her, especially when Valentine day is round the corner, she should feel different if she sing this song on the day.

Happy Chinese New Year 2010

It's interesting that I was only reminded that Chinese New Year is round the corner by a friend.

I guess I have lived too long in this country not to have my "body clock" in tune with the Lunar Year Chinese Calender. Others in my home country might say I am now a "banana" (i.e., yellow on the outside, but white inside) man, which isn't true, because I had not forgotten my mother tongue and proud to be able to converse 100% "purely" in Mandarin with my Chinese colleagues, which impressed some, hehe!

It's not appropriate to say someone to "lose his roots" by increasingly "not celebrating" the Chinese new year. Nothing is lost, it's just the way of thinking and adapting. 人家说入乡随俗，你没听说吗？

Anyway, if you are 12-, 24-, 36- or 48-year-old after your birthday in 2010 then based on the Chinese Astrology, this is likely to be your year, i.e., year of the Tiger. There are characteristics of a tiger and those characteristics, combining the western horoscopes that may interest some. Happy Chinese New Year 2010! wishing you all many happy returns.

Fashion designer McQueen found dead

I often cannot imagine how it feels like to be in a dark place, not that I have not been there, just that when it ended up in a suicide, like McQueen, it's another thing. Famous people are often made known when they died, obviously for people like me, I only hear them for the first time, such as the Fashion Designer McQueen.

I believe there is a desire in there to die for some peace in mind. The fear of not able to get through life without the essential, which in the case of McQueen, seems to be his mother, who passed away in early this month. Often I ask myself, can I imagine life without this, without that, then deep in me, I would start imagining the real situation and after a while, subconciously, you strangely convince yourselves you can "get over that".

It's often a moment of thought that makes the difference. Take a deep breath when you are feeling helpless, let the process help you focus, just like a form of Buddhistic mediation, help bring back the perspectives, will giving you strength to get on with life, to move on, yes, feel the fear, and get on with it, :D

Insider Secrets to Get Your Resume Read

A former boss had been kind enough in the past to help me draft up my CV for a job application. A recent read of an article with the above-mentioned title, reminded me that, I have not been updating my CV since I join my current institution last August.

Anyway, my former boss focused a lot on information and keeping them organized which is quite important in a CV. I came across this article that I read that stresses a bit more on being "user-friendly" and "appealing" which probably work well with "being informative".

Let's hope this work

I had tried blogging before and it didn't last long,

I see the merits in it, but I am not sure how this is going to work for me. I used to write diary when I was younger and it is helpful as it allows me to reflect.

I decided to have a go at blogging again.
- It's not the route to be a superstar to be like other, be a celebrity in the shortest time possible
- It's not really about getting your voice heard, though this may work itself if done properly.

I have decided blogging should be about sharing -- a thought, an idea, an article, a song or a film -- things we do that made up our leisure times, which I think I still have some to spare. So I should start with things I come across on the web and that I love them, I put on my blog for others to read and I would classify them for easy referencing. If anyone stumble onto my blog and love it, they can leave a message, always welcome! Let's see if this works.