Category My2centsWorth

My reviews and opinions on movies, food and anything that is worth recommending and sharing around for others to know. It’s just my two cents worth, nothing much.

Singapore’s 40 Richest

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The nation’s ecnomy is improving and so too are the fortunes of its richest tycoons as their total wealth has jumped 20%.

Singapore is emerging from its deepest recession since the island became an independent nation in 1965.

Though the economy may shrink up to 6% this year, there are signs that the worst is over. GDP expanded in the second quarter for the first time in a year.

Exports and manufacturing were up in July, and property prices and sales are picking up. The country’s main stock index has jumped almost 90% since its March low.

All of this has meant a boost in the fortunes of the nation’s richest. The total net worth of Singapore’s top 40 is $39 billion, up 20% from last year’s $32 billion.

Ng Teng Fong is No. 1 again, worth $8 billion, $1 billion more than last year. Kuok Khoon Hong’s net worth is up $2.2 billion to $3.5 billion, thanks in part to a 70% jump in the stock price of palm oil firm Wilmar International.

View the list of rankings of Singapore’s 40 richest here>>>

Religion, God & Other Separate Matters

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Below is a blog entry from Mr Wang Says So. He provides an excerpt from a book that provokes thought and demands soul searching especially if we are Christians.

I shall quote a conversation between a certain old man and a certain young man, in a novel which I shall not name. What the book title is, and who the author is, is less interesting than the point which the fictional old man makes:

“Four billion people say they believe in God, but few genuinely believe. If people believed in God, they would live every minute of their lives in support of that belief. Rich people would give their wealth to the needy.”

Everyone would be frantic to determine which religion was the true one. No one could be comfortable in the thought that they might have picked the wrong religion and blundered into eternal damnation, or bad reincarnation, or some other unthinkable consequence. People would dedicate their lives to converting others to their religions.

“A belief in God would demand one hundred percent obsessive devotion, influencing every waking moment of this brief life on earth. But your four billion so-called believers do not live their lives in that fashion, except for a few. The majority believe in the usefulness of their beliefs—an earthly and practical utility—but they do not believe in the underlying reality.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “If you asked them, they’d say they believe.”

“They say that they believe because pretending to believe is necessary to get the benefits of religion. They tell other people that they believe and they do believer-like things, like praying and reading holy books. But they don’t do the things that a true believer would do, the things a true believer would have to do.

“If you believe a truck is coming toward you, you will jump out of the way. That is belief in the reality of the truck. If you tell people you fear the truck but do nothing to get out of the way, that is not belief in the truck. Likewise, it is not belief to say God exists and then continue sinning and hoarding your wealth while innocent people die of starvation. When belief does not control your most important decisions, it is not belief in the underlying reality, it is belief in the usefulness of believing.”

“Are you saying God doesn’t exist?” I asked, trying to get to the point.

“I’m saying that people claim to believe in God, but most don’t literally believe. They only act as though they believe because there are earthly benefits in doing so. They create a delusion for themselves because it makes them happy.”

“So you think only the atheists believe their own belief?” I asked.

The Charter for Compassion

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If you have not watched this compelling presentation- “The Charter for Compassion” by Karen Armstrong before, please do so now.

“I say that religion isn’t about believing things. It’s ethical alchemy. It’s about behaving in a way that changes you, that gives you intimations of holiness and sacredness.”

~ Karen Armstrong on Powells.com

Performance-related Pay doesn’t encourage Performance

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The clue ought to be in the name. Performance-related pay is pay for performance, and the better performance you turn in and the harder you work the more you will get to take home. Except, academics are now suggesting, more often than not the opposite may be the case.

New research by the London School of Economics has argued that, far from encouraging people to strive to reach the heights, performance-related pay often does the opposite and encourages people to work less hard.

The findings are, of course, deeply controversial, given the depths of anger still felt by many over the role of performance-related pay in causing or contributing to the current economic crisis.

“We find that financial incentives may indeed reduce intrinsic motivation and diminish ethical or other reasons for complying with workplace social norms such as fairness,” argued Dr Bernd Irlenbusch, from the LSE’s Department of Management.

“As a consequence, the provision of incentives can result in a negative impact on overall performance,” he added.

Companies therefore needed to be aware that the provision of performance-related pay could result in a net reduction of motivation across a team or organisation, he suggested.

Read the full article here>>>

Facebook, Twitter at Work Make Better Employees: Study

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Chanced upon this interesting article some time ago that I believe would make many of us feel less guilty of our habits at work. Do you agree with this study? Ha ha…

Caught Twittering or on Facebook at work? It’ll make you a better employee, according to an Australian study that shows surfing the Internet for fun during office hours increases productivity.

The University of Melbourne study showed that people who use the Internet for personal reasons at work are about 9 percent more productive that those who do not.

“People need to zone out for a bit to get back their concentration,” Coker said on the university’s website (www.unimelb.edu.au/)

“Short and unobtrusive breaks, such as a quick surf of the Internet, enables the mind to rest itself, leading to a higher total net concentration for a days’ work, and as a result, increased productivity,” he said.

According to the study of 300 workers, 70 percent of people who use the Internet at work engage in workplace Internet leisure browsing.

Read the full article here>>>

Gay Marriage—How Should Christians Respond?

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This is an interesting article with a good thread of comments that might be helpful in providing some Christian perspective  towards dealing with matters of homosexuality. Below is an extract.

“Rising generations need to articulate a stance that protects the nature of marriage in a way that is both logical and loving,” says Jonathan Merritt, a faith and culture writer who serves as national spokesperson for the Southern Baptist Environment and Climate Initiative.

“We must move away from the us-versus-them, culture war mentality that treats our gay and lesbian neighbors only as our political enemies, and begin embracing them as people of mutual goodwill who happen to see things very differently than we do.”

Eric Bryant, author of the book Peppermint-Filled Piñatas, echoes Merritt’s call to love our gay neighbors. “Christians are known for who we hate rather than how we love,” he writes in his blog.

“This moves us out of the conversation and polarizes those involved so quickly, no progress can be made,” Bryant says that it’s crucial for Christians to love people we disagree with, and to discuss the gay marriage issue with civility.

“We cannot influence others we have pushed away,” he writes. “This includes those who are struggling to figure out what to do with their sexual desires while growing up.”

Read the full article here>>>

The World’s Perception of Christians

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Below is an interesting excerpt about people’s perceptions towards Christians in general. Comments are welcome to verify the accuracy on some of these perceptions.

In 2007, David Kinnaman published his groundbreaking book, UnChristian: What A New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity. This book is the result of three years of extensive interviews with young adults today.

Through his research, Kinnaman discovered the negative perceptions the unchurched (he called them “outsiders”) had toward Christianity, which altered their willingness to commit their lives to Jesus.

Kinnaman’s research explores the six perceptions these outsiders have of Christians:

(1) Hypocritical: Outsiders consider us hypocritical—saying one thing and doing another—and they are skeptical of our morally superior attitudes. Christians present the church as a place only for the virtuous and morally pure people.

(2) Too focused on getting converts: Outsiders wonder if we genuinely care about them. They feel like targets rather than people. They question our motives when we try to help them “get saved,” despite the fact that many of them have already “tried” Jesus and experienced church before.

(3) Anti-homosexual: Outsiders say that Christians are bigoted and show disdain for gays and lesbians. They say that Christians are fixed on curing homosexuals and on leveraging political solutions against them.

(4) Sheltered: Christians are thought of as old-fashioned, boring, and out of touch with reality. Outsiders say we do not respond to reality in appropriately complex ways, preferring simplistic solutions and answers. We are not willing to deal with the grit and grime of people’s lives.

(5) Too political: Another common perception of Christians is that we are overly motivated by a political agenda, and that we promote and represent politically conservative interests and issues. Conservative Christians are often thought of as right-wingers.

(6) Judgmental: Outsiders think of Christians as quick to judge others. They say we are not honest about our attitudes and perspectives about other people. They doubt that we really love people as we say we do.

Read the full entry here>>>

Becoming “BIG” People

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Being BIG refers to the magnanimity of our inner being; our capacity to love others and in being secure in our true identity.  

Our “BIG-ness” should not  be solely measured by our qualifications or size of our paychecks, but especially on how well we take care of  the poor and vulnerable around us.

10 Characteristics of Big People:

  1. Big People are GENEROUS
  2. Big People are ACCEPTING
  3. Big People FORGIVE and FORGET easily
  4. Big People EMPOWER others to be successful
  5. Big People don’t try to be BIG PEOPLE
  6. Big People treat “LITTLE” People well
  7. Big People LISTEN
  8. Big People honour LEADERSHIP and accept GUIDANCE
  9. Big People respect MANNERS and “SPATIALITY”
  10. Big People have BIG CAPACITY

I believe we should desire becoming BIG PEOPLE just as our God is a BIG God. My prayer is that I will be able to reflect His likeness. Amen.

Dear A.I.G., I Quit!

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The following are extracts from a letter sent on Tuesday by Jake DeSantis, an executive vice president of the American International Group’s financial products unit, to Edward M. Liddy, the chief executive of A.I.G.

DEAR Mr. Liddy,

It is with deep regret that I submit my notice of resignation from A.I.G. Financial Products. 

I take this action after 11 years of dedicated, honorable service to A.I.G. I can no longer effectively perform my duties in this dysfunctional environment, nor am I being paid to do so.

Like you, I was asked to work for an annual salary of $1, and I agreed out of a sense of duty to the company and to the public officials who have come to its aid.

Having now been let down by both, I can no longer justify spending 10, 12, 14 hours a day away from my family for the benefit of those who have let me down.

I have the utmost respect for the civic duty that you are now performing at A.I.G. You are as blameless for these credit default swap losses as I am. You answered your country’s call and you are taking a tremendous beating for it.

But you also are aware that most of the employees of your financial products unit had nothing to do with the large losses. And I am disappointed and frustrated over your lack of support for us.

I and many others in the unit feel betrayed that you failed to stand up for us in the face of untrue and unfair accusations from certain members of Congress last Wednesday and from the press over our retention payments, and that you didn’t defend us against the baseless and reckless comments made by the attorneys general of New York and Connecticut.

Read the full letter here>>>

Five Myths on Leadership

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A myth is something that is false, but believed to be true. As in many things in life, there are several myths surrounding the concept and practice of leadership.

Unfortunately, these myths prevent qualified people from rising to the top. By listing these leadership myths, it is my hope to dispel many of the false beliefs.

Myth 1 – Leadership is a rare ability only given to a few

Many people still think leaders are born not made. This can’t be further from the truth. Most people have the potential to become good leaders. Leadership is not like a diet pill.

Like most learned skills, it takes time, training, and lots of trial by error. The key ingredient making people good leaders is the ability to care about others. The second ingredient is a sense of purpose, vision or mission.

A good leader charts a course and provides direction to those they lead.

Myth 2 – Leaders are charismatic

Many leaders are charismatic, but closer scrutiny shows that most leaders are not. Some of the world’s most famous leaders had warts–some sort of shortcoming or personality issue.

In a leadership role, people skills are very important–more important than technical skills. However, the best leaders are those who work toward a goal. Your cause, your purpose and your mission in life will make you charismatic, not the other way around.

Myth 3 – The person with the title, most rank or the highest position is the leader

True leadership is not based on position or rank. It is based on action, performance, ability, and effectiveness. We all relate to working for those people who were placed in leadership roles who did more to demoralize and destroy the business than anything else.

People naturally gravitate to those they want to follow, respect, and work with. There are no limiting job descriptions, job titles, and few rules and regulations. If a person comes up with a new idea, he or she puts a team together of people who have the desire and knowledge to make it work

Myth 4 – Effective leadership is based on control, coercion, and manipulation

Leadership is about the future, not the past. Joel Barker’s has the best quote about leadership, “A leader is someone you would follow to a place you would not go to by yourself.”

Good leaders gain followers out of respect and their ability to cause people to work toward a particular goal or achieve a destination. People follow because they can relate to the vision or goal personalized by the leader.

A good leader helps people become better than they are. A good leader creates a work environment that attracts, keeps and motivates its workforce.

Myth 5 – Good leaders have more education than other people

Educational degrees may mean you have a good education, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you are a good leader. When it comes to leadership, experience is the best teacher.

The U.S. military has the best leadership development program in the world. In the military, you start out at the bottom. You are placed in leadership positions and closely evaluated.

As your experience broadens, so does your responsibility. This practical experience is reinforced with weeks and months of formal training throughout the individual’s career.