Stand for something! What do you stand for?

What do I stand for?

I stand for The Happy Life Project, and all the great possibilities that it offers to people who can see, or envision, those possibilities.

I stand for the Unicity Opportunity, and its powers to Make Life Better for people all over the world.

I stand for the Unipower system for success - a system that levels the playing field, and enables people regardless of their prior capabilities and socio-economic background, to get any extraordinary results that they can freely set their minds and hearts on.

I stand for the great possibilities that I see for myself and my family - the result, the success, and the lifestyle of a Diamond-rank distributor, to be achieved before the September 2012 Korea Global Leadership Summit.

I stand for the Possibilities and the Success of everybody who choose to succeed in life through The Happy Life Project.

I am the Source and the Cause of all that matters in my life, everything that I wish to create in the days, the months and the years ahead.

I choose to be Responsible, 100%, for everything that happens, and everything that doesn't happen. I give up having anybody, anything or any circumstances to blame, whatever happens.

I am powerful, as the empowered, as well as the empowerer.

I am a Go Giver. I choose to be one, and I claim the results and possibilities of the Laws of Stratospheric Success. That means, I give great value in every human encounter - much more than I expect in payment; I serve many across many territories in our borderless world; I deeply care for others and focus on what really matters to them; I contribute the best of myself, my authentic self, in every situation; and I am ever ready to receive even as I give whatever I can.

In my pursuit of success in life, I acknowledge that I already enjoy the abundance and blessings of God, my Lord, Jesus Christ. I also acknowledge the leverage power of the 4 Partners - Unicity the Make Life Better Company, Unipower the people-enabling system, the Unipower Team, and myself. God and the 4 Partners make the Big Game, light work.

I am Lim Eng Hai, and these are what I stand for. What about you????

A million dollar vision of Singapore

On 11 September 2002, I posted the following article in my organization's private website. I never let go of this vision through the difficult years when the burden was heavy, the journey was lonely, and the result, nothing to shout about.

Now in conjunction with Singapore's 46th National Day, celebrated with great fanfare and fireworks just a few days ago, and given the great success and inspiring results we've been able to produce in the past 2 years, I feel it is time to roll out what I called ..

A Million Dollar Vision: An opportunity not to be missed.

Please read on.

I envision Singapore emerging as the Network Marketing capital of the world. I foresee a vibrant, happy, positively-charged city in which an unbelievable 40% of the 4m population is actively or passively involved in Network Marketing.

The active network marketers, celebrated on a global platform, do a global business connecting every day with people within the immediate region, Southeast Asia, and well beyond.

Their activities touch millions of lives all over the world, certainly in all the active network marketing regions of the world – Asean, China, Japan, Korea, USA, Latin America, Europe.

This vision is founded on certain conditions currently in place and trends that are at work today.

1. Singapore is the most globally connected city of the world. That makes it the best place in the world to build and run a global business.

2. Singapore is losing its edge in many traditional industries in the light of sustained competition from low-cost manufacturing giants such as China and others. Hence, a government-sponsored drive into biotechnology or life sciences.

3. However, the climb up the technology ladder involves ever-smaller job creation. People displaced by unprecedented shake-out in many industries - from manufacturing to finance and other services – are forced to look for new ways to make a living and ensure their economic well-being. For many, going into business for themselves has become a matter of necessity rather than a matter of choice.

4. Network Marketing, totally banned until the year 2000, provides a compelling option to middle-class risk-averse Singapore, unused to the ways and risks of traditional businesses. For a people unprepared to risk their personal capital, lacking in entrepreneurial experience but abundantly blessed with capacity and desire to learn, the emergence of Network Marketing is but a timely Godsent. It provides more than a welcome relief to thousands of people at a time when they feel deeply insecure about their economic wellbeing.

5. Serious Network Marketers cannot help looking beyond the domestic market, driven out by the smallness of Singapore and attracted by the bigness of the market potential regionally and beyond. Their international endeavors will be facilitated by the connectedness of Singapore and encouraged by the ease of building a global network of relationships by leveraging on unrivalled socio-cultural, linguistic, physical and technological connections.

Socio-cultural connections

Singapore has a globally-connected population of 4m. It includes expatriates and foreigners who have “permanently resided” in the island state but still maintain family and friendly links with people from various parts of the world. Even the core group of Singaporeans have active family and social contacts in various countries where they or their forebears come from – Malaysia, Indonesia, China, India, USA, Europe. In addition, the transient foreign worker population includes hundreds of thousands from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines and China, even the US and Europe. Many of these groups - such as the 500,000 Chinese nationals said to be working in Singapore - have a very visible or audible presence in Singapore’s social landscape. Look out or listen out for them not just along Orchard Road or Shenton Way but also in the HDB heartland.

Linguistic connections

If you can’t speak Pudonghua, you can find thousands who do in Singapore. Likewise with Malay, Indonesian, Thai, Tagalog, Indian, Japanese, Korean, even Russian, French and Dutch. If you want to communicate with someone in Thai, find a Thai in Singapore who speaks in English with you and speaks in Thai with his compatriot. Likewise, with the others.

Physical connections

Singapore has one of the busiest airports and seaports in the world. Global competition and a marketplace open to all major players in the world will keep prices down and send them even lower over time. Travel is already easy and cheap, and it will become easier and cheaper; so will movement of goods. This is the positive spin-off missing from the generally negative press coverage of Port of Singapore recently losing some high-profile customers to Johor’s new port. The positive spin-off, however, is relevant mainly to those who travel frequently and those who have a vested interest in the cost-effective movement of goods.

Technological connections

Singapore has the highest mobile phone penetration rate in the world – a remarkable feat after only 5 years of breaking up Singapore Telecommunications’ monopoly.

In March 1997, as M1 was rolling out its competing services, SingTel had achieved a penetration rate of only 14%, based on 430,000 subscribers on a narrowly-defined population base of 3.1m Singapore residents. In August 2002, the mobile penetration rate had climbed to a previously unimaginable 75% - or 3.1m subscribers, on a more broadly defined population base of 4.1m. Prior to 1997, the conventional wisdom of how high mobile phone penetration rate can be was 50%, or a level below that. The 50% was the mobile phone penetration rate in Scandinavia.

Singapore’s Internet connectivity is also possibly one of the highest in the world, and its cosmopolitan population, exposed to the latest in technological gimmickry, one of the most Internet-savvy in the world. Singapore epitomizes a world where business can be done “at the speed of thought”!

Interpretations and Postulations

Here’s one interesting interpretation of the phenomenal increase in mobile phone penetration: Great ideas, products and services spread like wildfire in Singapore’s compact marketplace, and can far exceed conventional wisdom of what’s achievable or thinkable.

Now, imagine combining the opportunity of network marketing on a global scale with the necessitating, facilitating and encouraging (or push and pull) factors that are uniquely Singapore’s. What do you think will happen in 10-20 years?

Based on this convergence, I believe Singapore will, within this generation i.e. in 10-20 years, emerge as the Network Marketing capital of the world, with a currently-unthinkable audacious-sounding 40% of the population involved, providing a rich pool from which many inspiring Global Network Marketing Leaders will appear.

Singapore is the right place and now is the right time to build a global business that can produce million dollar cheques, and I am thinking per month and in US$! Next, all you need is the right vehicle with the right products – not any company and any product.

Are you going to pass up this opportunity of a lifetime and continue to gripe about life being hard in resource-poor Singapore? Or are you going to take advantage of Singapore’s unique global advantage and turn its connectedness into a currently-unimaginable personal fortune?

I have made my choice, and will continue to steadfastly build my global pipeline to realize what some may call my global pipedream.

How about you? The choice is yours, has always been.


Lim Eng Hai
11 September 2002
– a day to celebrate humanity

Shalina, Welcome to the President's Club!

Yes, more than a pretty face, indeed ... A Leader with Beauty, Vision, Power, Tenacity and Results!

In January 2009, Shalina, a hardworking mother of two with 3 paying jobs and one non-paying passion to her name, was awarded a box of Bios Life Slim for being among the winners in a beauty pageant for beautiful moms. She was a runner-up in the Ibu of The Year 2009 contest held at Orchid Country Club.

In July 2009, on our follow-up and encouragement, Shalina finally decided to use the product diligently in preparation for the Mrs Universe pageant in Latvia, where she represented Singapore as Mrs Singapore Universe.

On 19 August 2009, on her return from Latvia as Mrs Best Smile (living up to her name Shalina Ismail (read, Is-smile)), I met with Shalina to show her how she can leverage her life experiences todate, both the happy ones and the not so happy ones, and translate them all into something big and hugely valuable, through The Happy Life Project. We met over lunch at the Tiffin Room in Raffles Hotel, a classy venue befitting a beauty queen, I had said :)

Shalina saw some possibilities, and signed up on the spot, opening a franchise account with Unicity that very day.

A few days later, on 22 August 2009, right smack in the middle of "Puasa" or fasting month, Sha attended her first big meeting, a Super OPP at Suntec City, and met with Triple Diamond Khun Joe and CEO Stewart Hughes.

She saw something, confirming that she wanted to build a personal franchise with Unicity, but missed somethings. She went about sharing Unicity's great products, especially Bios Life Slim, generating quite a lot of orders but at the expense of her already highly-constrained time. Her time constraint kept her from much-needed training and exposure to the Unipower system.

In February 2010, after persistent never-give-up enrollment by her leaders, she attended Unicity's Global Convention in Bangkok. There, she caught a bigger, sharper, stronger vision of what's possible for her in the Happy Life Project, with the Unipower system. She met her idol, her role model - Khun Rasa Comeban, the first female Triple Diamond in the world of Unicity.

Shalina returned to Singapore a good follower, open and ready to plug into the system, drawing power from the system, and the system's training, events and leaders, not herself. She has not looked back since, moving forward with stealth and great speed, climbing the pin ranks every quarter.

Today, 18 months after she caught the full vision and decided to succeed with the Unipower system, Shalina becomes a fully-qualified Presidential Director in Unicity.

Shalina is now "jobless", having quitted all the jobs that previously locked up almost all her time and attention but never did pay her enough to meet her needs and daily expenses. But she's never been better paid. She enjoys a 5-figure monthly income which she richly deserves.

Shalina, Welcome to the President's Club!

You will be joining me, and Nancy Long, and Aaron Ong, on The Wall at our office in HDB Hub, Toa Payoh, very soon.

From that vantage position, we have a big task ahead of us, to fulfill with great passion, pleasure and purpose - to inspire many more people to take control of their health, their finances, their time and their life so as to achieve Health, Wealth, Freedom and HAPPINESS!

The Happy Life Project

Welcome to a discourse on The Happy Life Project, a life-work which I am proud of and happy to share freely and openly.

Here's a preview of what the project is all about.

Ever heard the oft-quoted conventional wisdom, "Money Isn't Everything"? We agree. It isn't.

If we were to ask you, between Money, Time and Health, which of these is the No 1 priority in your life right now? Would it be Money? Or Time? Or Health? Which is it?

From numerous conversations with people from all walks of life, 8 out of 10 will pick Health. It doesn't necessarily mean they have a present health crisis. Of the rest, most will choose Money and some will choose Time.

However, has it ever occurred to you that most people do live their life like "Money Is Everything", despite what the conventional wisdom says?

Well, did you notice most people give up a lot of their time, including precious time with children and loved ones, for many years, even decades, trying to make money and then, more money? They work so hard that they compromise on their health and well-being, taking on more stress than is good for the human body. In the process, they lose their health. Then, after many years of making and saving money, they'd have to spend all of their hard-earned money to buy back the health that they lost. No wonder people say "Money Isn't Everything"!

Nobody likes to live their life like that, but many don’t know how else to live. In many cases, people end up resigned and cynical, sighing and saying, "Oh well, life's like that".

Well, life need not be like that at all. The Happy Life Project offers a complete solution to this near-universal dilemma.

What if we can show you how you can have more money? Make it "a lot more money" because if it is not a lot more, why waste each other's time talking? What if in the process of making a lot more money, you get to free up your time to do the things you love to do with your time? And, what if in the process of achieving that higher level of Wealth and Freedom, you get better health immediately, and in time, you get to free yourself from niggling worries about health, and how you'd look and feel and be at 65?

Wouldn't all that be great? Imagine! No more living a life of compromises. No more having to make the tough choice between more money or more time, and neglect your health for the sake of money? What if life is not about Money OR Time OR Health, but instead, Money + Time + Health?

Wouldn't you be very much happier?

Think about this. Money isn't, and wasn't ever, everything. Money is but a tool of life. So is Time and so is Health.

We want more money, more time and more health so that we can live out our life happy.

By now, you must have got the idea why we call our project THE HAPPY LIFE PROJECT.

Someone said, everybody has his or her own happy life project. Yes. However, if you don't know how, you can take the rest of your life and never get there. They call that "the rat race".

The Happy Life Project is a 3-5 year project. In 3-5 years, we can achieve passive income. Not just passive, but also massive, and also growing. Imagine, retiring in 3-5 years with Passive, Massive and Growing Income - and enjoying it long after you have stopped working.

Many people go into business for themselves in pursuit of this ideal only to find that the journey from active income to passive income takes 20-30 years. Sometimes, even 40-50 years; sometimes, never.(For the sake of clarity, active income is like this: You work, you get paid; you don't work, you don't get paid. Passive income? You work, and work and work, then you get paid and paid and paid, and the money continues even after you have stopped working.)

What do you think of working all your life till you are 80 or 90 years old, to create a passive income source for your next generation? Know of anyone who thinks (and works) like that?

Why not create that passive income for yourself to enjoy, by achieving it within 5 years, by when you'd still be young and healthy enough to enjoy the wealth?

The Happy Life Project is a powerful program, or shall I say empowering program open to all. It can deliver ..

Financial Freedom (meaning, you'd be free from financial constraints and worries)

Time Freedom (you own your time, and can do whatever you like, whenever you like with whoever you like, without asking someone else for approval), and

Health Freedom (you're free from worrying about how you'd be when you're 65).

We are talking not about a sometimes-freedom, but an all-the-time freedom; not 30% free, or 40% free, but instead 100% free.

Now, picture this: If you can achieve 100% Financial Freedom, 100% Time Freedom and 100% Health Freedom, and get it all within 3-5 years, wouldn't that be great? In The Happy Life Project, we call that The 100% Happy Life.

If you're open to finding out how this is possible for you, and checking out hard evidence that this great life has been gotten by others before you, get back to the person who told you about the project in the first place, and make an appointment for him or her to tell you more.

Come explore exciting new possibilities for yourself, working on a project where you won't have to do everything by yourself. Instead, you get to leverage on:

1) a time-tested corporate vehicle, with powerful products that many people don't know about yet but need badly and urgently;

2) a proven system for building a huge personal franchise; and

3) a professional, highly-celebrated, world-class team who will walk, run or fly with you in your journey towards success and freedom.

We are excited for you that you're even reading this preview right now. We strongly encourage you to take that first step to find out more.

Let's meet, and begin the conversation.


Yours truly in The Happy Life Project

Your Stepping Stones to Success: Walk on them

Ever so often in our business of sharing a great idea and many great possibilities for people, we get a "No" for a response. Recently, I received a SMS from a long-time business associate, who said: "I just got 2 No's today. Disappointed. Sigh."

My immediate response was to reply: "Congratulations".

Lest she think I am cavalier about her feelings, I later explained by email, "Why sigh with disappointment (when you get a few No's) when you can smile with anticipation?" Surely, we got to work through the No's to get to the "Yes". And if we don't get enough No's, we won't get to the "Yes"!

Experience confirms that we will get more No's than we will get "Yes". Why is that so? Well, that's life! Isn't that our growing up experience? Isn't that our children's growing up experience? I say, it's easier for us to just accept it, and work with it, than to ask, Why Why Why.

Let's not get emotional with every "No" that we get. A No is just that - a No. It's not even what many tend to call a "rejection" - an emotionally-laden interpretation of a simple two-letter word.

OK OK, if you must have any emotion, try being excited! Why? Because every "No" does indeed bring us closer to the "Yes".

So, come on, straighten up your back and shoulders. Steady yourself. Put that beautiful (or handsome) smile back on your face. Go all out again and again to get as many No's as you can get because you know, that simply brings you the next Yes and another Yes and another Yes ..

Hey, the No's are but the Stepping Stones to Success. See that photo at the top, of a favourite poster of mine that I stick behind the door of a wardrobe in my son's bedroom. I want him to grow up knowing that.

"Don't Quit", it says. "Every obstacle is a stepping to success."

So, if success in life and whatever you do is what you want, do yourself this favour: Walk boldly .. on the stepping stones to your success!

I wish you every success that you deserve.

My Acres of Diamonds

My Acres of Diamonds, they are all around me.. they cover a pretty big regional footprint ... Singapore, Malaysia, Hongkong, Thailand, Indonesia ... Now, what (or who) do you think "diamonds" look like? ;)

Diamonds!!!! Don't miss those right under your feet!

In the course of building my Network and coaching new people in setting up their own global distribution franchise, specialising in products that address everybody's everyday health concerns, I often come across new distributors who get very excited about the potential of opening up exciting new markets. Like Thailand? Indonesia? India? China? Europe?

Whenever I have the chance, I'd advise these new apprentices against flying here, flying there and flying everywhere. Usually, the price of doing all that is disappoinment - massive costly disappointment. We're all familiar with the saying, "Rolling stones gather no moss". It is true. I've been there, done that. It's confirmed, as if I needed to :)

Besides, how can we build in other people's country if we don't first build well in our own? Furthermore, it takes a Turk, not a German, to build the Turkey market. I am quoting Gursel Ayikbaba, a handsome, battle-hardened Turkish leader sponsored into the business in Germany by the Diamond from Nurenberg, Gerhard Reuhausser, both of whom I had the privilege of meeting in Bangkok recently.

The story that captures and conveys, tells and retells, this advice best is the story about The Acres of Diamonds. Here, I quote a recent re-telling of the story in an email from Bob Proctor's Insight of the Day based on excerpts from a radio show, Our Changing World,
by Earl Nightingale, 1921-1989, author of The Strangest Secret.

"Acres of Diamonds

One of the most interesting Americans who lived in the 19th century was a man by the name of Russell Herman Conwell. He was born in 1843 and lived until 1925. He was a lawyer for about 15 years until he became a clergyman.

One day, a young man went to him and told him he wanted a college education but couldn't swing it financially. Dr Conwell decided, at that moment, what his aim in life was, besides being a man of the cloth - that is. He decided to build a university for unfortunate, but deserving, students. He did have a challenge however. He would need a few million dollars to build the university. For Dr Conwell, and anyone with real purpose in life, nothing could stand in the way of his goal.

Several years before this incident, Dr Conwell was tremendously intrigued by a true story - with its ageless moral. The story was about a farmer who lived in Africa and through a visitor became tremendusly excited about looking for diamonds. Diamonds were already discovered in abundance on the African continent and the farmer got so excited about the idea of millions of dollars worth of diamonds that he sold his farm to head out to the diamond line. He wandered all over the continent, as the years slipped by, constantly searching for diamonds, wealth he never found. Eventualy, he went completely broke and threw himself into a river and drowned.

Meanwhile, the new owner of his farm picked up an unusual looking rock about the size of a country egg and put it on his mantle as a sort of curiosity. A visitor stopped by and in viewing the rock practically went into terminal convulsions. He told the new owner of the farm that the funny looking rock on his mantle was about the biggest diamond that had ever been found. The new owner of the farm said, "Heck, the whole farm is covered with them" - and sure enough it was.

The farm turned out to be Kimberley Diamond Mine .. the richest the world has ever know. The original farmer was literally standing on "Acres of Diamonds" until he sold his farm.

Dr Conwell learned from the story of the farmer and continued to teach its moral. Each of us is right in the middle of our own "Acres of Diamonds", if only we would realize it and develop the ground we are standing on before charging off in search of greener pastures. Dr Conwell told this story many times and attracted enormous audiences. He told the story long enough to have raised the money to start the college for underprivileged deserving students. In fact, he raised 6 million dollars and the university he founded, Temple University in Philadelphia, has at least ten degree-granting colleges and six other schools.

When Dr Russel H Conwell talked about each of us being right on our own "Acres of Diamonds", he meant it. This story does not get old .. it will be true forever.

Opportunity does not just come along - it is there all the time - we just have to see it."

The Greatest of All Life Skills

If you were asked to identify the Greatest of All Life Skills, the one thing that will help get you whatever you want in life, and give you happiness in your interactions with family, friends and other people, what would you pick?

Imagination? Visualization? Learning? Teaching & Coaching? Parenting? Making Things? Selling? Communication? Public Speaking? Having Empathy (EQ) for people? Caring & Sharing?

What's your pick? Is it something else? If so, what is it?

I pick Listening, which is to be distinguished from Communication. Aren't they the same thing, some may ask. No, because communication involves not just listening but speaking too. Listening is only a part of communication, though a very important part, without which there can be no meaningful communication. Without listening, I'd suggest, we also cannot do well many of the other things listed above e.g. parenting, caring & sharing, teaching & coaching, selling.

I sat in a workshop recently where some very wise and successful people shared this simple idea that all communication must have 3 components: the transmitter, the message and the receiver.

We need the transmitter to send out the message and the receiver to get it. There's never a lack of messages to send or receive in our information-rich world. Of the other two components, guess which one is under-developed or under-used: Transmitter? Or receiver? (Answer: Receiver!)

When thinking of the receiver, let's think of how the dial of a receiver is often not turned on full, or perhaps sometimes, not turned on at all, whereas the transmitter is often at work all the time, seemingly over-time. I often think about why we are created with one mouth and two ears but too often act like we were created otherwise? ;)

When I pick Listening, I don't mean listening as we habitually and carelessly practise it, but really listening i.e. listening with our heart, listening without jumping to conclusions, listening without passing judgment, listening without subjecting the message to personal processing and interpretation. Look at listening with heart this way: We let the message we receive enter our ears, go through our brains, and then sink into our heart and let it stay there. You can call that, taking the message to heart.

But how do we normally listen? The message enters one ear and we let it slip out of the other. Or we let the message enter one ear, subject it to a screening or interpretive process, and then register a message quite different from the original message!

If we could listen better, we would understand each other better. If we could understand better, we can relate to people better and connect more effectively.

In any session on life skills, how much of the time do you think we should train and workshop on the art of listening and how much time on public speaking? (I'd love to know what you think.)

By my reckoning, and you may or may not agree, the Art of Public Speaking is passe and over-rated. In contrast, the Art & Science of Listening is little appreciated, often neglected, yet holds the more important key to effective relationships at work and at home and happier, more productive communications and conversations in forums big and small, from the coffee shops to the United Nations.

If we would just learn to listen better, I believe, we can conceivably eliminate petty fights, socially costly misunderstandings, and big, destructive wars. If we'd just listen well, we'll inevitably learn to appreciate each other better, realize how similar people are, regardless of ethnic, religious, intellectual or socio-economic backgrounds, and then learn to accept and even love each other. What do you think?

One of Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People exhorts us to "Seek first to understand, then only to be understood". How are we to understand, and then be understood, if we do not first listen well?

Motivational guru Zig Ziglar says help people get whatever they want and you will get whatever you want. But how would we know what people want, let alone help them get it, if we do not first listen and find out?

Can someone think of another life skill more powerful than Listening? This is not a rhetorical question that seeks to hammer home a point, caring not for an answer. It is a listening question that seeks out a considered response. Why? Because, I think, that whatever stands above or close to Listening as the Ultimate Living Skill, we better get really good at that one too.

Happy Listening - everyday, everywhere!

3 Things That Make A Leader Great

On April 4th 2010, I had the privilege of sitting in a hotel ballroom with thousands of others to listen to and learn from some of the greatest leaders in the Unipower Team. Here, I'd like to share what I picked up from one of them - Khun Phawadon Nasareerat, a Presidential Double Diamond and the youngest ever Unicity Diamond at 33. What was extra remarkable about his achievement was that this former public health ministry officer who was part-timing as an aerobics instructor achieved it in 3 years.

The photo shows some of us who went to Bangkok for the UPS weekend with Khun Phawadon and his new, free company-sponsored Porsche - his reward for building up a Double Diamond rank organization!

We were on our way out to get a cab after the all-day UPS Advanced Leadership Training at Rama Garden Resort on April 4th when we heard someone call out my name from the dark. It was Khun Phawadon, all dressed in black, standing in the dark under a tree (which explains why we didn't spot him before he spotted us) - next to his brand new black Porsche.

It was so nice of him to call out to us, and then, to patiently take many photos with us, individually and as a group.

Earlier in the day, Khun Phawadon spoke on the three qualities of "a legendary leader", in the league of CEO Stewart Hughes and Triple Diamond Khun Rasa. If you want to be a geat leader, have a heart for others, he said. "Having a position or the rank won't get you there; having a heart for others would."

The three things that make a legendary leader, according to Khun Phawadon, and which we created the opportunity to revisit, review, contemplate and internalize in Singapore yesterday, are:

1) Give - Be a Giver: Have the spirit, the heart and the mindset of a Giver, giving and contributing unconditionally without expecting something in return. Having the heart of a Giver helps when we go out prospecting, sharing with people the Happy Life Project, and also, when we work as a Team to make a success out of every event created to support the success of our people. A Giver doesn't stop nor get discouraged when people say "No" to our opportunity, or seem to fail to notice our contributions. A Giver contributes freely anyway, without calculating or holding back for a direct benefit.

2) Stand - Be a standpoint for your people. Stand up for your people. Stand up for what is right and what is good for them. Our people may not always agree with what we advise or advocate, but we, as the standard setter, must keep doing, sharing and promoting what is right to do, not just what we or they like to do. Set the standard that our people will look up to and that would lift them up in their lives and in their business. Let's be there for others - be other-centred; not self-centred.

3) Change - Be prepared, be willing and be ready to change. Start by changing our dressing, our attitude, our mindset, our being. Change the way we talk and the way we lead. Do not resist change. Go for all the functions or events recommended for people and leaders to achieve personal breakthroughs and transformation. Dare to change, whether or not you like it, for the sake of others. Again, let's do what is right, not just what we like.

So, let's Give, let's Stand and let's Change! A huge thanks to K. Phawadon for sharing his wisdom - a wisdom well beyond his youth, and which must have come from working the ground, building his now-gushing pipeline.

She, the Cause of the Happiness of Hundreds

Just back from another Unipower Seminar in Bangkok on 3rd April, I cannot help but marvel at how our amazing business can truly Make Life Better for people from all walks of life, so thoroughly, so completely.

At the latest UPS weekend, on April 3rd-4th, 10,000 people were inspired by the brand new success stories of four guest speakers - a high-profile business owner Khun Kiin, a little-educated seashell vendor Khun Tik, a young career police officer Khun Neh, and a playful, "good for nothing" dish-washing son of a hawker who is now a young Presidential Director, Khun Nikhom Jaima.

Here, let me introduce you to just one of them - Khun Tik (see photo), the little-educated woman who sold seashells (clams, cockles, mussels and the like, I presume) in the market.

Khun Tik, who is in her 40s, is a mother of 2 with little education, a 4th Grader. Her education was disrupted when her school closed down when she was only in the 4th grade. She started working at the age of 12, selling things in the market. That's the only way she knew how to make money.

From young, she recognized the importance of money. "Money is needed to make life better". How to make more money? Work harder. So, for 20 years, she would work very hard, setting up stall in the morning market and then, in the afternoon, setting up stall in the afternoon market so as to make more money. She'd do this every day for 10 years, then 20 years.

"I am my own boss. I got money but I am not rich," she said. "I also had no time for my children." During the festivals, the kids would ask for her time. But those would be the best time to do more business. She felt bad, but she couldn't help but continue to make the same trade-off - time (from the kids) for money (to feed the children, and also her mother, who became her responsibility after her father died). Over time, her health suffered.

When introduced to the Unicity Happy Life Project, Khun Tik realized that it offered just what she needed - money, time and health.

"I cannot read, I cannot write, but I know what's in the Unipower system - the KPI, the passport to success. Whatever I didn't understand, I'd just ask my upline. I only needed to follow."

"I remember one situation when I felt fear. I was doubtful. So, I called my upline who was elsewhere. He encouraged me, telling me that I am good enough, that I can do what I had to do, and that it's OK, I should just go do it." As a result of following that advice, Khun Tik got to recruit and build a Cambodian team. They were in the hall on April 3rd, waving the Cambodian flag in grattitude and admiration for her, their leader.

Khun Tik made a hard decision early on in in her Unicity business. "I learnt that I cannot ride on two horses at one time. So I made the decision early in my business to close my stall. I became a Director in 4 months."

Now, she is a Senior Director. "What does that mean? I don't know. All I know is that I make THB100,000 a month! Also, now, I have time to see my kids. I have better health." (THB100,00 works out to over S$4,000 - a big sum of money in Thailand).

Khun Tik remembers well and takes to heart the advice that she received from everyone of her big leaders. She remembered being touched by the the kind first words of Presidential Triple Diamond Khun Rasa to her: "Do you know that you can be the cause of success and happiness for hundreds of people?"

She remembered being encouraged by another advice: "We don't need smart people. We just need people with strong hearts."

In closing, Khun Tik wisely said, life is about choices, and encouraged everyone to make the right choice. Choice #1, Do the work first then play. Choice #2, Play first then do the work. Choice #3, Play Play and Play and don't work. "I chose the first one," she said.

One of the most powerful thoughts that Khun Tik shared was the significance of a butterfly. "The butterfly in flapping its little wings sends out waves across the universe." We can make a big difference in the life of others.

Now, if Khun Tik can do it, why not you? Be inspired, to do something about your life, and the lives of those dear to you.

Fisher Boy: From abject poverty to a life of luxuries in 6 months

Please meet Khun Num, a 21-year-old, whose personal success story kills all the excuses that people can possibly make for not making a success of their lives. You know, one of the choices in life, to make money or make excuses? Khun Num's story helps us make the right choice.

Khun Num hails from the southern Thai province of Surat Thani. His father, the breadwinner of his family, died when he was still very young, of pre-school age. To help his family out, and to see himself through school, he had to start working from the young age of 10. Khun Num would work by night, going out to sea with the fishermen, and in the day, he would go to school like all the other kids.

However, he'd have to walk miles to school for that was the only "transport" he could afford. On the way, he would look longingly, and often hungrily, at the food plied along the way, but he would have to settle for the only staple his family could afford - instant noodles, which he got to eat only when he reached home.

To people who heard his story, he came to be known as Noodle Boy and to me, the Fisher Boy.

When he reached high school age, Khun Num wanted to secure for himself a brighter future. He wanted to enroll himself into a technical school. But the school fees were too high. That didn't stop him from opening his mouth or what some people would say, "trying his luck". Well, he got lucky! He approached the school, declared his interest but pleaded that he had only a little money to afford a portion of the fees. The school, moved by his plea, and probably his quiet but steely determination (which remains evident today), agreed to take him in, letting him pay only what he could afford!

Some 6 months ago, in mid-2009, someone from the Unipower team in Unicity Thailand approached him, asking, "Do you want to be rich?". Sure, he does. But how? He was advised, he'd not be given the fish, that means no financial help. But he'd be taught how to catch the fish, by the best teachers. Khun Num was game, and willing to learn.

Given his meagre resources, he had to struggle every step of the way, but the difficulties never stop him. Money was needed at every step of the way - opening an account with Unicity with 500 baht, buying his first two products to try - Nature's Tea and Super Chlorophyll, collecting enough orders (equivalent to over S$1,000) to upgrade his account to a Fast Start account earning higher commission of up to 20-30%, purchasing the Business Owner's Pack, enrolling for the 3-day Eagle Camp, visiting Bangkok to behold his new future in the UPS.

He epitomises the Friedrich Nietzche wisdom, "He who has a why to live for can bear almost 'any how'".

Just half a year later, on 16 January 2010, Khun Num was to stand on the UPS (Unipower Seminar) Stage, in front of more than 10,000 people. That's when I first heard his amazing story. He shared his success and how he had achieved a high income of 50,000 baht (over S$2,000) a month. He was a picture of confidence and grattitude to the many great teachers who showed him the way, and the Unipower system.

On March 20th 2010, I met Khun Num in person, face to face, in Dubai, during our all expenses paid Unicity reward holiday. I learnt from his upline and leader, Presidential Ruby Khun Nagorn (first right in the photo), that the stay at the Atlantis Paradise Hotel was another of Khun Num's personal vision realized.

As he was building up his vision of the future, he came across a video of the Atlantis Paradise of Dubai. He then said to himself, he'd certainly like to go there for a holiday one day. That dream, which predated Unicity's Dubai trip announcement, has so very quickly become reality for Khun Num.

Other dreams will be realized as this very pleasant fellow, who walks ramrod straight with quiet confidence and a ready smile, continues to walk steadily and consistently towards his new life.

Everytime I think or talk about Khun Num, I can't help feeling that that his personal triumph over adversities - his quick rise from poverty to a life of riches and exciting new possibilities, with the help of Unicity the company and Unipower the people-enabling business-building system - simply empowers others to succeed. His story takes away all the excuses from our doing whatever we have to, to get the life that we want.

Be Inspired. Be Blessed!

You Can Do It: Be the Success that You Dream of

We don't have to be clever and figure everything out by ourselves. The greatest wisdoms have been retold and retold for generations. Pick and choose something that makes you better, happier.

Pick a favourite or two or more from the following "Bob Proctor's Insights of the Day" which I have selected from my collection for you to consider and internalize (i.e. to make a part of you)...

"If I accept you as you are, I will make you worse; however, if I treat you as though you are what you are capable of becoming, I help you become that." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1749-1832, Author and Philosopher

"Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not; it is the first lesson that ought to be learned; and however early a man's training begins, it is probably the last lesson that he learns thoroughly." - Thomas H. Huxley
1825-1895, Biologist

"There comes a moment when you have to stop revving up the car and shove it into gear." - David Mahoney, Executive and Philanthropist

"Don't waste your life in doubts and fears: spend yourself on the work before you, well assured that the right performance of this hour's duties will be the best preparation for the hours or ages that follow it." - Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882, Poet and Essayist

"Those with goals tend to succeed because they are focused and know where they are going, while those without goals do not." - Ted Karam, Author

"You don't get to choose how you're going to die. Or when. You can only decide how you're going to live. Now." - Joan Baez, Singer, Songwriter and Activist

"The big secret in life is that there is no secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you are willing to work. It is called massive action. Action is the gas in the tank. Without it, the car will not run." - Marcy Blochowiak, Author of No Glass Ceiling

So, choose. Choose whoever, whatever you have always wanted to be and to do. Then, just Be, just Do.

You Can Do It!

Life After Politics: An Even Higher Calling

Please meet Khun Witthaya, an independent politician who served as a Senator for 7 years in Thailand's Upper House, representing a constituency near the Thai town of Khon Kaen.

He is now a Senior Director in Unicity, with big dreams of becoming a Presidential Diamond so that he can go back to his people as a politician again, serving the people regardless of their political affiliations or colours, be it "red" or "yellow", as he had done before as an independent. This time, with Unicity, he will have more power to help make life better for his people!

Khun Witthaya's entry and early success in Unicity represents a new breakthrough for Unipower. Having broken into many corporate boardrooms and upper echelons of Thai society, Unipower is now breaking into the corridors of political power.

This seasoned politician, a naturally powerful speaker on the Unipower Stage in Bangkok on Saturday, 16th January 2010 given his 7 years experience in the cut-and-thrust of Thai politics, enrolled into Unicity as a result of a dare!

His son sought to enrol dad, then out of the Thai Senate but still fraternising in political and high society. But dad feared a loss of face from associating with Network Marketing. He didn't want to be seen too near or inside a Unicity DSC (Distributor Service Centre). He'd rather wait in the car for the son to finish up for up to 2 hours.

When son persisted, Khun Witthaya challenged the son to produce the 100,000 baht monthly income he talked about being able to get before he would consider. The son produced the result, and father had to keep his word.

Khun Witthaya took the UPS stage as a new Senior Director in Unicity, after being in the business for just under one year. Based on the translation of what he said, and a brief chat I had with him at Rama Garden Resort the next day, I gathered that Khun Witthaya was fully attuned to all that happens in the Unipower system. He had humbled himself to go through all the training available - from the 8 Steps Basic Training to the Eagle Camp and others. He was there at the all-day training by the two Presidential Triple Diamonds Khun Joe and Khun Rasa on Sunday, 17th Jan 2010.

On the stage, Khun Witthaya spoke of how he learnt and mastered the 8 Steps, committed to being a Core Leader, worked the 10pts a day Passport of Success programme. As a result, he produced the success that qualified him to take the UPS Stage, and wowed the crowd like no other speaker did.

From the stage, he vowed to work his way up to Presidential Diamond, inspired by the empowering leadership and fine examples of Khun Joe and Khun Rasa. His ultimate dream? "After I have succeeded as a Presidential Diamond, I will go back to my people. I will serve my people again, regardless of political colours. This time, I will be able to do more for them as I can offer them an opportunity to make life better."

That is life after politics, and then, before too long, for Khun Witthaya, a 2nd lease of political life on completing the The Happy Life Project.

What great possibilities. Awesome.

Lord, thanks for the powerful winds of change!

Happily, I'd like to continue the blogpost of March 13.

I am glad I learnt from God's Eagle - not to be afraid of adversity or challenges, nor to flee from them, but instead, to position myself to take them on, and harness the power of the winds of change to soar higher than ever before.

The challengers turn out to be friends sent by God(see the picture), with signs to make sure we do not doubt that, and the enemies and detractors were forced by divine circumstances to be come friends and willing co-workers, lending their numbers and energies to lift us all higher.

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! God is truly GREAT!!

Friends, I've never enjoyed as much effortless success as I have since March 19th - the day things all turned around in my favour, from what seemed like a low point to a series of high points in our business development efforts. This is only the beginning of a new beginning ......

My wish for you this Chinese New Year

Hi, In a few days, on Jan 26th, we enter the Year Of The Ox ("Niu").

If you are celebrating the Chinese New Year, I wish you a Happy "Niu" Year, regardless of whatever is happening in the world. May you defy the constantly negative news, and enjoy all the good things in life that matter most to you:

SLIM BODY
STRONG HEART
FAT WALLET
FULFILLING WORK
HAPPY FAMILY
& STRESS-FREE LIFE.

Gong Xi Fa Cai, Keong Hee Huat Chai, Gong Hey Fatt Choy.

God Bless You :)

The Reason for the Season

Hi Readers,

In my business, we teach and prepare people for the 90:10 rule. (Some say 80:20; but from my observations, it looks more like 90:10 most of the time :))

For 90% of people, "Seeing is Believing". In other words, for most people, they think that only when they can see (e.g. that our business model works), will they believe that it does.

For the other 10% of people, the reverse is true: Believing is Seeing. Because they first believe, they can picture vividly the possibilities in the future as if it was already real and present.

I was reflecting on these thoughts, among others, as I thought about what I'd like to share with my highly-valued and greatly-treasured friends and associates in a Christmas email. Surely, Christmas could not come and go without comment from comment-happy me :)

Here, I am sharing with you a lightly-edited version of my Christmas eve email to my friends, partners and colleagues.

I thought about the "Seeing Is Believing" bit as I marvelled at how people all over the world, Christians and non-Christians, celebrate Christmas, acknowledging knowingly or unknowingly the historical event that occurred over 2,000 years ago - the birth of baby Jesus.

I remembered sharing with someone who was in trouble with himself and making a mess of his life only a few weeks ago, that Christ was the only baby ever born to die.

He would die young so that we may live long and abundantly. He would die poor and wretched so that we may live rich and well. He would die taking on all our infirmities and sicknesses on his body so that we may live in health. He would die cursed so that we may live blessed. He would die, a Star hanging from a Tree (see picture), bearing all of our sins and wrongs so that we may walk in His righteousness and appear spotless in God's eyes.

Then, I thought to myself: Hey, Jesus was God personified - in speech, in action, in demeanour and in style. Everywhere Jesus went, as recorded in the Bible with many supporting cross-references, he performed great miracles e.g. bringing people back from the dead, healing the sick, helping the blind to see again, calming storms with just one utterance, walking on water.

For those people who believe in the axiom, "Seeing Is Believing", consider this: Did everyone who see Jesus do what he did and hear Jesus said what he said believe what they saw and heard? Some did; many didn't.

Now, do I have to see God personified to believe that He exists? Nope, not for me, not anymore. I'm happy to say that I regard myself to be among the 10 in the 90:10.

I believe; therefore I see. And for that, have I been blessed mightily.

I am thankful to God for watching over me, my family and my finances all of this year. With divine timing and interventions, we have been able to navigate the ups and downs of the economy and the markets exceedingly well.

I am thankful to God for answering all of our little prayers, reaffirming us in our faith that nothing is ever too trivial for God nor is anything too big. Whatever concerns his children, matters to Him.

I am thankful to God for empowering us with a stress-free, rest-ful life. Whatever happens to the economy, or the marketplace, we have no need to be anxious or worried. What we can do, we do; what we can't, we just leave it to God. Our being anxious doesn't contribute to the solution, and for those of us in the health & nutrition business, we know very well that anxiety or stress is bad for health.

I realized that it's because of Jesus that I can talk to God, talk about God and have a relationship with God.

I do feel greatly blessed, highly favoured and deeply loved, every day.

Now, you know my "secret" - the source of my unshakeable calm and enduring optimism :))

This Christmas, please allow me to be completely open with you and share with you what gives me both Rest and Power to do what I want to do. It's Jesus, whose birth we all celebrate with Christmas.

You must have heard or read these verses before, but if there is ever a good time to read them again, it is now:

"For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." - John 3:16-17

So, my dear readers, I wish you a Wonderfully Blessed Christmas. May the true meaning of Christmas touch you and bless you in the days and the years ahead.


God Bless You,

Eng Hai.

Stroke patient Alvin stages remarkable recovery

Alvin Chan, a 31-year-old stroke patient, shows how he is now able to lift his left hand without the struggle, the pain and the contortions of the recent past. It's been just over two weeks since he was introduced to the rejuvenating powers of Unicity's anti-aging drink Enjuvenate.

Within these few weeks, his mobility has improved so much that the nurses at his stroke rehabilitation centre are sitting up and monitoring his progress closely, inquiring about the reason behind his accelerated recovery.

Alvin Chan suffered a stroke in Jan 2008. The blood vessels in his brain burst in three different places. Surgery helped, and another surgery is due soon - to patch back a hole in his skull.

By Alvin's own admission, the stroke was the result of neglect of underlying conditions such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure. He has a sordid family history punctured by similar episodes. His mother died of stroke while his father was disabled by the same disease and is now being cared for in a nursing home.

"I used to think stroke or heart attack happen only to old people. Now, I know better."

He is being proactive now to make sure it doesn't happen again. He wasted little time putting himself on Enjuvenate after being introduced to it by Ms Yap Wee Cheng (seated next to him) who had been volunteering at his rehab centre and giving him free Yoga Therapy. He is also using Bios Life with a view to weaning his body off the dependence on three different medications for high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

Alvin is not only enjoying the first fruits of the better health that Unicity's products offer. He has also seized upon the economic lifeline that comes with membership in Unicity.

He used to be a Yong Tau Fu hawker before stroke felled him. Unable to continue with his business or to get a job, he has been living on public assistance and running down his limited personal savings. Then, one day, in a private conversation, he told Wee Cheng he was looking for a way to make money.

He didn't have enough money to open a S$1,000 Bios Life Franchise account. But he trusted and believed us enough to cough up the cash to buy Enjuvenate for immediate use. He also listened well and took action quickly.

In the two weeks that his body has been healing fast, Alvin wasted no time to share the products with his friends - in the home and outside. By Oct 14, he has generated enough sales of Enjuvenate, Bios Life Slim and other products (like SGGC) to upgrade his Unicity account into that of a Bios Life Franchise.

In the short time that he has been with us, Alvin has been a great inspiration.

His experience has also strongly validated a few of the central themes of our business:

1. Our products work. They do for people what we said they'd do.

2. Having no money is not a good reason to not get started. Those who do not have the S$1,000 to buy the products first can always sell S$1,000 of products before signing up for a franchise.

3. Using the products out of understanding and belief in what "trusted others" say, and then believing the products even more out of first-hand personal experience, is a necessary and powerful first step in our business of word-of-mouth marketing.

Alvin, Congratulations! And Thank You!

The future is now bright and exciting!

Bangla Maths grad sweeps floor in Singapore

I recently became acquainted with a Bangladeshi worker who sweeps the floor in my apartment block. His name is Rahul.

I was getting out of my flat and calling out loudly to wifey inside to tell her that I was leaving when Rahul looked up and answered, "Yes Sir?"

I smiled and explained to him that I was talking to someone inside. He continued to look my way as I was putting on my shoes and as I waited for the lift to come up, seemingly eager to strike up a conversation.

So, I asked where he comes from (Bangladesh) and his name.

Then he asked me if I am a teacher and I said, yes. But how did you guess, I asked. He pointed to the book that I had pressed against my body under my arm, and read "The Secret ...?".

So, I showed him the cover with the title, The Secrets to the Millionaire Mind, by T Harv Eker, adding that I teach business, show people how to set up their own businesses and how to make their life better.

I asked him what he studied in school. He said that he is a graduate in Mathematics from Bangladesh's Dhaka University! (I thought to myself, "A Maths grad!!!!") My lift came. I excused myself and wished him a good day.

The little chat left me wondering .. How did a highly-educated Maths graduate from Bangladesh end up sweeping the floor in Singapore's HDB flats? ... Is this a problem of a poor country providing too much higher education and not enough economic or employment opportunities? Is this a problem with universal University education, like what seems to be happening in Malaysia and what I think has been happening in The Philippines? Think graduate maids.

Or is Rahul doing a cleaner's job in Singapore because he gets to make more money this way here than if he tried to convert his Maths degree into a job back home? Which, if so, is kind of a good thing for him, and his family.

Before long, my thinking turns positive and creative as it is conditoned to do, and I am wondering ... Perhaps, Rahul's is a long convoluted journey with many twists and turns which may possibly lead to something great and inspiring for his family, his countrymen and even mankind.

Let me tell you what else I'm thinking ... I want to lend him a little book. Yes, a book. The same book that opened my eyes 7 years ago to an exciting new world of incredible possibilities that I didn't up to then realize even existed. The same book that has since changed my life forever.

But first, I've got to find Rahul - at the right time and the right place with the book on hand.

Strange ... I haven't seen him outside my door again since ... except yesterday morning when we crossed each other's paths in the lobby downstairs, both in a hurry going in different directions. He recognized me, and said, Hello Sir.

Maybe, it's not yet the time for him. I do believe that if what I have in mind is meant to be, Providence will take care of it.

Presenting New Hope .. and 2nd chances in life

I am happy and honoured to present to you New Hope Community Services - a charity that provides temporary shelter and counselling support to the displaced and homeless and also ex-offenders fresh out of prison with nowhere to turn to.

New Hope is represented in this photo by its founder and executive director, Pastor Andrew Khoo (standing in the middle), and Warren De Souza, a young entrepreneur who volunteers at the charity (1st from right).

My partners and I at The 5E Network recently found common cause with Pastor Andrew and New Hope, and went ahead to adopt the charity as our favourite charity to work with and to support long-term, on an ongoing basis. We are impressed by their passion, mission and good work to help the displaced and the shunned in Singapore's affluent society.

With this "adoption", we will help New Hope build up a source of income that is independent, recurring, growing and significant. We have set a long-term target of S$10,000 a month, or S$120,000 a year. New Hope runs on a budget in excess of S$400,000 a year. Our efforts kicked off in April 2008 with a handful of us - Lily Soen (seen in this photo with hubby Hoong Chiu), Alice, Sunny and I - procuring S$1,000 of sales with which to open a high-yielding Bios Life Franchise account for the charity.

Next, we are looking to identify one or two suitable candidates people from the two main groups that New Hope helps - the homeless and ex-offenders - who have a burning desire to turn their lives around and do whatever it takes to make life better. When we find these candidates, we'd go all out to sponsor, train and guide them to build up a personal franchise of their own. They may then be an inspiration to others.

Meanwhile, we have proceeded with our other major intention to promote New Hope's cause wherever we have influence or the opportunity to do so, with a view to procure for them financial and other kinds of support from as many sources as we can find. We have created a Facebook group to publicise their work and promote awareness of their cause. We have presented the charity to a group of Rotarians with a view to working out some long-term collaboration between the charity and the international service movement.

This is the beginning of an exciting, heart-warming and inspiring journey.

I'd like to invite you to join us. Together, we can give new hope to those who'd otherwise feel hopeless and give a second chance to those whom society would normally shun or dismiss as no-hopers.

To help you make that decision, you can find out more about New Hope Community Services at www.newhopecs.org.sg

Never ever give up .. whatever the pain or loss

Top of the news today. Last par in front page article on the latest market sell-off.. "We have dealers telling us that their clients are threatening to kill themselves if they are hit by further margin calls," said the risk management head of a local brokerage.

That reminds me of a piece of information from a resident when I dropped by the university hall of residence Raffles Hall yesterday. I was told a PRC student, in Singapore on a scholarship and a Chemical Engineering undergrad, jumped off the top floor, i.e. the 8th floor, of the next door Kuok Foundation Hostel only a few nights earlier. He died.

In our banter, we wondered if exam or study stress drove the undergrad to commit suicide. But then, we thought aloud, if the deceased was a scholar, and so, was presumably above-average smart, how could he have been overcome by academic stress to the extent that he would give up on life???

If his studies were that stressful that it made life seemed not worth living, then why not just give up on the studies? There are many other options in life! I've known of many drop-outs who've made good, and living full and happy lives. Why give up on life and thus on every future possibility?

Today, on reading today's news, I wondered further about the student who gave up on life. Perhaps there's more to the suicide than academic stress. Perhaps, like so many tech and market-savvy, street-wise undergrads nowadays, he might have made some ill-timed moves in the stock market. Perhaps, the sharp selldowns in recent weeks - the consequence of growing fear of an economic downcycle, might have hit him badly.

Yes, perhaps. But even so, why give up on life?

The following thoughts apply to those people referred to in the front-page news article - stock market players who are feeling suicidal because of their hefty losses and mounting debt obligations. Why not pluck up the courage, be brave and face up to the losses, and if necessary, go through the pain and shame of bankruptcy?

Bankruptcy doesn't kill, and thanks to bankruptcy laws recently amended to allow risk-takers a second chance after a financial fall, bankrupts can always make a comeback. A dead man cannot.

Life, to be lived out with the body, spirit and soul that God has so ingeniusly created for us, holds out immense and untoild possibilities, for those who'd treasure that life, be brave in the face of the storms of life and stay alive to fight the good fight another day.

In my business, we always advise people that the most assured way to succeed is to never ever give up.

It's the same in the business of life. Never ever give up, and we will succeed - whatever we choose to do with our lives, one way or another.