wtf

After adding me on facebook as a friend (without any msg to introduce himself), I fb messaged him to ask if we had knew each other before.

*#@$*$#

I am certainly good with making new friends through facebook but this??

wtf?!

Resources for Entrepreneurs

There are too many resources out there proclaiming to be issuing credible advices for entrepreneurs and startups. Most of them just reiteratie the same old points in different forms and claimed to have a deep interest in it. Recently, I came across Paul Graham and his perspective on the 18 mistakes that startups always make.

He’s the founder behind YCombinator, a successful organization in Silicon Valley that specialize in providing seed funds and mentoring for Startups. Due to his experience, I found the list to be very concrete and can personally relate to many of these.

For others who prefer more concrete resources: This site offers you a list of 60+ resources that entrepreneurs can turn to in their bid to bootstrap.

Speechless

Sometimes, I can’t help but feel perplexed at the business ideas that can exist in the world. Check this one out: Runpee.com.

It actually tells you when is the best time to go for a pee in the midst of a popular movie.

*Speechless*

Crime Watch

I have always prefer to watch Crime watch over other fictional drama show for the simple fact that they are reenactments of real life. Besides that additional reality element in the show, the ability to understand the modus operandi of criminal is another attractive trait of it.

In addition, there’s that sense of security that empower the viewer of a show as he feels distance from the stories in the show.

Thus, how should one feel when he can closely relate to the scenes in the show?

The India Experience

Life in India certainly offers a different set of challenges from the one faced in Europe. Instead of the stress of having to adhere to a strict budget to curb the rocket high price, the challenge here is whether my body, especially stomach, can take to the lifestyle here,

The fact that a few of them fall prey to virus during the first week further heightened the alert level within. I am a fan of curry and dal, but to have them for every meal was a different topic altogether. Environment wise, the non-systematic way of life, especially on the road (where 4 cars can take a 2 lane road with 1mm of space between them) can be pretty nerve wrecking.

Coming from a place where progress is preached to be closely associated with being orderly and neat, adapting was certainly not going to be easy. The constant screeching and horning on the road, coupled wtih the high amount of the pollution did not make that process any much easier.

“Keep an open mind” – That was the advice passed on to us. How important that has proved to been. Things were felt much clearer once one take a step back and observe.

Behind the chaos, lies streaks of order and behind those noise, is a hidden sense of peace. They are simply at ease with the constant ongoing rumbling For instance, horning is just part and parcel of the traffic infrastructure. Unlike Singapore, vulgarities and anger are not part of the package together with the horn sound. Instead, their face simply remain emotionless as they sound their horn to warn off pedestrians or motorists.

It boils down to one word – respect. During my conversation with the locals, this element has never fail to present itself in one form or another. Mutual respect, more often than more, present themselves between two Indians and can be felt in the interaction between two.

In that case, why do I not feel the same level of respect present between two unknown Singaporeans back home. Is it an inevitable side effect of development? Or is it due to the lack of a common history? Or rather, could it be the influx of immigrants that is stretching the definition of Singaporeans, which consequently diminishes one’s national identity?

There’s really so much more to discover over here. Incredible India.

Social Entrepreneurship

The stay in India over the last three weeks has certainly raised my attention and interest to social entrepreneurship. The main lure about social entrepreneurship is the double dosage of satisfaction that it gives. On top of possibly generating passive income and the chance to call something your own, the additional satisfaction came from the knowledge that your venture actually brings good to the world. Such balance would help to solve the everlasting dilemma between the different callings in life.

Hence, it is no wonder that I am very impressed with this new toilet bag that turn human waste into fertilizers. Not only does it solves the problem of sanitation and polluted water, the conversion might actually increase the income of the poor. Great work by the Swed – Peepoople

House Hunting

Moooo…

Keep an open mind – That was the conclusion of the presentation which my group did on Monday, and certainly the mentality which kept the 6 of us mentally strong over the last three days. It had been a hell of an adventure trying to find a suitable house and making it operational.

The easiest part was the search for THE house. Due to various reasons, the choice was quite apparent but it was in the name of bargaining that we kept holding out. That lasted till a fat 20% discount off the original monthly rent was given. (During the holding out period, we were already at the shopping mall opposite , purchasing stuffs as if we were going to move in.)

Contented with this bargain, we happily moved our stuffs in to find the service apartment unit in the following states:

* The house has no electricity supply (Investigation reveals that the root source of unpaid electricity bills)
* The house was totally dusty.
* Cockroaches-infected kitchen warerobes.

The electricity was supposed to came back up before night fall but the cut remained even till 10pm. After much knocking around the neighbours’ house (With some shutting of door in our face), one neighbour finally helped us to call the correct electrian. After another one hour, he finally came but managed to solve half of the problem, leaving us with the following problems:

* Half of the power are still off (Including two toilets off)
* Two out of three air cons leaking water.
* cockroaches-infected kitchens.
* Internet connection not working.
* A thick layer of dusts on everything.
* One door without door knob
* No source of water
* No source of gas stove
* Fridge that works occasionally. (Imagine the food that needs to be chilled)
* Wiring problem for selected parts of my room

Over the next two days, numerous calls were make to every single agency/agent/maintenance guy/manager/security guard/… to fix everything.

Add in the ir-reliability of the phone connection here and the frequent misunderstanding and perhaps, one will comprehend the high level of challenge this whole affair is.

Of course, funny moments are plentiful. Top of that list is when this Indian guy just came into the house and start muttering “cable” and “where”. After some gesturing and sorting out, we reckoned that he was the internet guy that we contacted. Apparently, he was merely a television technician who does not do internet at all. However, at no time during the phone conversation was the word “tv” mentioned.He left, grossly disappointed after we told him we want internet.

Never have I felt a greater sense of satisfaction at a fully operational house than this.

One more reason to justify my reluctance to sell Mankiw’s Textbook

From Mankiw’s blog:

“
Even better than I thought

MIT economist Jonathan Gruber emails me:

Greg -

I thought you would appreciate this. My daughter likes doing her homework in my office but she needs a flat surface on which to write. She perused all the textbooks in my office and decided she liked your macro book best as her writing surface. Now she won’t use any other book and won’t do her homework in my office if we can’t find your book. So now you have another reason to recommend your macro text!

Jon

“

I wonder if Gruber’s daughter is using the same blue hard cover textbook that I have. With its perfectly flat hard-cover, I can understand her reason for doing so.

Incredible India

Apart from the incredibility of the thousand years old country that I currently reside in, the mix of individuals in this team is as astonishing too.

From engineering to policies studies, life sciences to communication and new media, computing to business to engineering sciences and Economics: The wide range of disciplinary background of each individual ensures different perspectives are being brought forward on each discussed topics.

Apart from Singaporeans, the nationality mix of the group includes French, Indonesian, Sri Lankan, Hong Konger and Filipino.

With such a diverse mix of interests and specialty, the QnA sections of each segments are often the most interesting. The speaker or company would have to face questions pertaining to all aspects of their companies. Operations, experiences, mortality and environmentally friendliness are some of the enquiries often popping up.

With an addition of a lawyer, this team has enough capability to fill up the functions of a MNC form of company.

First Glimpse

It is difficult to believe that I am actually viewing such a scene with my own eyes. This typical Indian scene is not viewed from a bollywood show, nor from some magazines but with my own eyes

The chaos in India is nowhere those often portrayed – it is much more than that. The cars wheezing around, missing individuals and bikes by centimeters; small stalls being set up all over the pedestrians walkways, these are just parts and parcels of the Indian’s life.

These relative chaos, as viewed through the eyes of perhaps, an overly order citizen, might not be that negative. Occasionally, I can feel streaks of peace being haphazardly emitted from the chaos. More time is needed to really experience the Indian culture.

At least for now, I know that the title ‘Incredible India’ is justified.