1 of my favourite TV shows has finally come to an end. I’m not talking about American Idol. I’m talking about Britain’s Got Talent. This year, the BGT competition has been very popular due to one person – Susan Boyle.

I believe you should’ve known who is Susan Boyle by now, unless you’ve been living in another world. She is the 47-year-old lady from Scotland who is jobless, single, and has a worse luck than many of us. And yet, she has a big dream – to perform in front of a lot of people. Try Google for her name. I bet you can come out with thousands of search results. Or try to look for her Youtube video too. She can really sing!

The reason Susan Boyle has become one of the most popular names in the whole world just after 1 performance is because many people see themselves in her – undiscovered, hopeful, and with a big dream. They put all their hope on her shoulders – if she can win this, why not everyone else?

But she didn’t win the competition. It’s not that she did not perform well during the final. She did. But the thing is, people got tired of her.

And that is the sad thing about our society. When we see ourselves in someone or something, we praise the person and lift him/her up into the sky…and some even pray the person like a god or savior. But once things turn sour or boring, we kick the same “savior” aside and leave him to rot by the roadside. Why? Because we’re tired of the person and he has nothing else to give us. Nothing interesting anymore. Just like an old toy which has become boring.

This kind of thing might not happen to Susan Boyle alone. In fact, it can happen to anyone or anything that is popular. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about it because that is the power of the society (and in some cases, the media). What we can do though, is for ourselves – to face the challenges, taunts, burdens, etc bravely. Face them head on. Because it is OUR dream that we are chasing, not other people’s dream.

To Susan Boyle and everyone else who is in her situation – be brave. Know the reason why you are being so brave for, the reason why you step out from your shell and into the limelight, the reason why you are willing to work day and night, and the reason why you should ignore the rest of the world with their negative comments. Nobody can stop you from calling your journey “end of dream” except for yourselves.

And for those people and the media who love to make people’s life a big mess……go find other better things to do.

p/s…Do read this article from one of the judges of GBT. Piers Morgan: Final blog

This post is not about motivational topic, it’s about a dream I’ve had few days ago.

I had this dream of 2 Singapore celebrities, who were trying to ask me out. (ok ok, I know this will never ever happen in real life). Let’s call them A and B. However, I’m more interested in A because B is just too “manja” for me.

So B tried to ask me out for a number of times but I rejected. She then turned to my parents and tried to make them like her.

A on the other hand, made a move as well. She asked me to go her house and have dinner with her family. I agreed.

When I reached her house, I was asked the wait at the living room with her. She then asked “Alvin, do you notice any difference in my living room?”

I looked around – from the window, to the TV set, to the aquarium, and then the altar. And I stopped. On the altar, there were statues of several deities but there was something else. A and her family were praying something else with joss sticks.

It was a …..a can of luncheon meat. =_=

And yeah, I woke up 30 minutes before my alarm clock rang and said “What the heck was that?!”

Guess I must be feeling too excited for my new job next week.

p/s…. my blog was attacked by WordPress’ famous white screen of death due to a plugin upgrade. I’ve fixed it for now…and hopefully it won’t come back to haunt me.

I have friends telling me that Australia is a good place to stay….some Singapore…some US…some London (ok, London IS NOT a good place to stay due to its gloominess). This kind of “grass is always greener on the other side” is no longer new to most of us. But I can tell you that, most people (not all) who think that grass is always greener on the other side, will most often end up disappointed.

Just few days ago, as I was reading John Bogle’s Enough, I came across this simple story which sounds a bit like this:

Long time ago, there was this rich farmer who wanted to be richer. He has heard stories about diamond mines in a land far far away and due to his greed for more money, he went on a journey searching for these diamonds. He tried and tried…and tried… but after years of searching, he could not find a single diamond. He was getting very old and very tired. And he decided to end it once and for all – he jumped into the deep ocean and committed suicide.

Not long after that, another person took over his house and farm. One day, as this new owner was walking along the river behind his house, he saw this shiny object in the river – this shiny object was a huge diamond. And that area then became a very famous mine for diamonds.

After reading this short story, I feel it further strengthens 2 of my beliefs – opportunities are abundant irregardless of where you are and best things in life could be something you have been experiencing all this while.

All you need to do is to pay more attention to your surroundings, to your life, to your job, to the people around you. What most people don’t do is that they focus more on something they don’t have….other countries, other jobs, what other people have, etc. That is why to them, grass is always greener on the other side.

So for a change, try focus more on your own life, yourselves, your family, and what is available to you now – and then try to make the best out of them.

Hope it helps.

When I tell people about my dreams to start an animation studio and to produce a graphic novel which can be turned into a movie, I get mixed responses. Some people will encourage me and provide moral support. These are the people who I can trust and people who I believe will be with me throughout my journey. But there is also a large number of people who will tell me that I’m too old for that, or it’s too late to change, or worse….Alvin, grow up.

For example, just a few days ago, I posted my artwork in a local forum. I was looking for tips and guidelines as to how I can improve my art. I know it’s bad. After all, it’s been a while since the last time I used my cheap drawing tablet. But the reply I got was very demotivating – “Seriously, for your age, your art is very very bad”.

Actually, the person didn’t mean any harm but when you first read the message, you’ll have the idea that he is saying “you are too old to do this”.

It was very demotivating at first. But after a while, I cleared it off my mind because I feel that one is never too old to pursue one’s dreams. We see this in a lot of people, people who are very frustrated with their boring 9-5 jobs that they quit, and move on to pursue their dreams. And I’m not talking about people in their 20s or 30s, I’m talking about people in their 40s or more. Some people do that while in their retirement age.

Perhaps that explains the recent success of Susan Boyle, who at 40+, finally manages to achieve one of her lifelong dreams. A lot of people see themselves in her – people who have this unfulfilled lifelong dreams, hidden inside their heart for years. And she just shows everyone that it is still possible to do that no matter how bad things are (jobless, etc) as long as she believes in it.

So to those who are already not very young, but still have their lifelong dreams hidden somewhere within them…..don’t feel bad. You’re not alone. And the good news is, you can pursue those dreams of yours no matter how old you are. Remember that it is not age that matters, but your will to achieve what you want to achieve in life.

As for me, I have many dreams to pursue (ok, I’m greedy when it comes to this) and I will not give up no matter how old I am. After all, I only live once.

This is a personal post about myself, my dreams & ambitions….and how much I’ve changed in the last 10 years.

When I was a kid, people would tell me that I’m going to be a successful person and I’m going to start my own business…be my own boss…and most importantly, be rich. Yes, people (relatives and family friends) have been telling me that even when I was just 4 or 5 years old.

When I was in secondary school, people would tell me that I’m going to be my own boss, and again..be rich. Until one point that I myself started telling my heart that i am going to be rich. I will become the next Alvin Pintu-Pintu (a.k.a. Bill Gates of Malaysia) and have my own office building…… Yes, you got that right – my own office building. That WAS my dream back then.

Since then, I’ve been thinking about that dream without even thinking how to actually get there in the first place. But people change with time……things do change as well. I’ve changed.

The Alvin now, just want a simple life (and i used to think that those who want a simple and easy life are actually wasting their life away….how foolish i was back then). But I also want a life worth living.

I don’t need to be THAT rich or to have my own building. Those are the definitions of success from other people. My current definition of success is to have a meaningful life which contribute to the society by doing what I am passionate about. Maybe that’s why I am thinking of venturing into the creative works industry – game design, animation, arts, story-telling, etc.

I no longer need those big houses, big cars, big office buildings (though they are nice to have…but having them don’t guarantee happiness in my life)…..i would rather have the ability to leave a positive mark in the society then having all that.

Maybe some people would call me foolish…. but as Steve Jobs said “Stay hungry, stay foolish”. It’s not that bad