MYPT Part 2 - A Day in Manulife Phú Mỹ Hưng

After an exciting first day in Ho Chi Minh City, all of us are went to sleep early for the main event of the trip - our visit to Manulife HCM HQ at Phú Mỹ Hưng. I woke up at 645am (probably my body clock thinking that it's already 745am Singapore time)... After washing up, went upstairs where the hotel's dining area is at. Again, I'm quite impressed at how it was set up, we had a good aerial unblocked view of HCMC. They have simple breakfast menu but it was good.

After breakfast, we waited for our driver from Manulife office to bring us to the office. Our driver, Mr Hoa arrived was on time. We began our journey in the Manulife van.

After travelling for about 20 minutes, the roads started to become wider and there were lesser motorcycles. There were plenty of land around but with huge office buildings. Mr Hoa explained that this is District 7, a new section of the city with less than 20 years history. In a way, it felt like Singapore's business parks.

The difference is that the buildings are much bigger and there's more space in between them. Soon, we arrived at Manulife Plaza. When we got there, we were given an orientation of the Manulife office. We took the opportunity to pose and take photos around the Manulife office.

Steve posing in front of the Plaza	Angie taking out form for CY to sign
Is this their Sales Builder?	Collections Dept - Lucky S'pore has GIRO

When it was time, my colleagues and I were led into a large agency room where we were warmly welcomed by the agency members. The meeting began with an introduction by one of the Senior Division Manager in Manulife Phú Mỹ Hưng (PMH) Agency. The session was conducted in Vietnamese. None of us had any idea what she was saying but we clapped along. It was only until a translator came to help us translate the greetings. Soon after, Mr Chow Wing Kee, Chief Operating Officer of Manulife Vietnam came to greet us. After all the greetings were over, we were invited to give a short presentation. Angie and Ryan impressed our Vietnamese colleagues through their sharings on enthusiasm and how they achieved their goals.

After our presentation was over, Manulife PMH Agency had 3 very successful FPs to share with us their success stories in the business.

Despite presenting to us through a translator, I was able to feel the enthusiasm in their speech. It was very obvious why they are so successful in the business given the level of conviction and commitment they put in to serve their clients.

The first speaker, Nguyen Thi Thuy Duy (bottom left) achieved top 3 rookie last year in HCMC. She was successful because of her attitude towards servicing clients well especially "orphan clients". Despite being very young (21years old?) in a country where age seniority determines level of respect, her success is an inspiration to me to follow her footsteps in servicing clients well. One can never be too young or too old to perform your best.... (reminds me of recent conversations with a friend on topic of "心", "no heart... no matter how easy also won't do, got heart.. it doesn't matter how difficult, how far.. will still do")

The 2nd speaker, Nguyen Anh Tuan (top center) is a 50year old former theatre director. When he came on, he was full of energy and praised Ryan's speech. He achieved top 16th position in SEA last year. The one idea I learnt from him is (after translation) "In life, one has to give first before getting anything in return". I feel this philosophy applies to our lives as well - sow the seeds, harvest the returns. Again, service was emphasized in his speech.

Finally, Phung Trong Toan (bottom right), a Senior Division Manager (2002-2007 MDRT Achiever) gave an inspiring speech on enthusiasm and having clear goals. I keep hearing him mention "muk piu" (sounds abit cantonese... as it means goal). He shared on the need to write down the goal, see it daily and remember so that we will commit to achieve the set objective.

The meeting concluded with Q&As for both sides as well as a group photo taking session.

Agnes presenting a token of appreciation to our hosts

Then it was time for lunch. We were treated to a very nice lunch at Nam An Restaurant. Had a good spread of Vietnamese dishes. We were able to taste almost all of the famous Vietnamese food at this restaurant. After lunch, we returned back to Manulife Plaza again where our team did our key activity - the Mid Year Planning for the rest of the afternoon.

As the saying goes - "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy"..... we went to celebrate dinner at KFC... and ice-cream for desert. :D

Happily enjoying the spread

A nice collage of guessing the "special" icecream mix

MYPT Part 1 - First Day in Ho Chi Minh City

On June 1st, I went to Ho Chi Minh City with my colleagues for our Mid Year Planning Trip (MYPT). We took a Tiger Airways flight and started our journey by checking in at Changi Budget Terminal at 530am. The queue was very long - didn't expect that it would be such a full flight for such an awkward timing. Most of us were very tired as we didn't get much sleep night the night before. The flight there lasted 2 hours. Due to the time difference, we gained 1 hour and arrived at Tan Son Nhat International Airport at 830am.

On exiting the plane and entering the airport through the bridge, I felt like we're still in Changi Airport. The facility looks very new, clean and well maintained. Clearing customs and immigration was quite hassle free despite the scary uniformed officers. I celebrated my entry into Vietnam due to my bad experience trying to enter Penang with an expired visa previously.

Coming out of the terminal, it was very spacious... kinda reminds me of the Chennai International Airport as the taxis were all at the side waiting. The difference is that the there were not as many taxi drivers touting their services. One taxi driver tried to pose as "Mai Linh" despite his taxi logo being different. We hesitated to board the taxi until we saw a Toyota Innova taxi labelled with Airport Services (forgot the exact words). Asked an airport staff and took the cab for USD10 to our hotel. I was quite surprised with the driver seat on the left side as this was my first experience. We were quite happy that all of us could fit into 1 taxi - saved us cost and trouble of finding another taxi.

Entering the city, I had a sense of nostalgia..... the city looked and felt so much like Chennai except that it's very clean and "autos" were replaced with "ninjas on motorcycles" (most were wearing face masks). Along the way, we saw lion dances celebrating the opening of a new shop. This was the first hint for me of the influence of Chinese culture in Vietnam. The 2nd hint was almost every shop we went to, there was an altar for what I assume to be "tu di gong" as it was placed on the floor.

Reaching our hotel - Saigon Mini Hotel 5 in District 1, we were all quite surprised as we had no idea our hotel was so "small". However, the interior exceeded my expectations. I am quite satisfied with the stay there except for the poor airconditioning. Nonetheless, it is great value for $$ - helpful staff, very central location and free wi-fi access.

After checking in, we took a taxi out (another Toyota Innova... seems like this is their favourite car) to Nhà hàng Ngon restaurant.

Pond in Restaurant	Enjoying my phở gà

The restaurant looked very posh and expensive. We had our first meal of phở with gỏi cuốn and lime soda.

After lunch, we began our sight seeing trip around Ho Chi Minh City starting with Notre-Dame Cathedral and then the General Post Office building next to it. We went to more places including the newly opened Hard Rock Cafe inside Intercontinental Hotel, Reunification Palace and so on.

Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) is bustling so much traffic that we were initially very lost on how to cross the road. It took quite some time to find out the strategy to cross "safely". There aren't that many cars but with so many motorcycles around, it is very quite challenging. Nonetheless, being in a group does provide abit of safety. We wrapped up the sight-seeing with shopping at Bến Thành Market. It's amazing at the amount of effort required to negotiate and the amount one can slash. We bought fresh Blue Mountain coffees from the market! mmmm~~ (I failed in my task to avoid coffee... haha.. how can I resist such a wonderful taste!)

Finally, we wrapped up our day with dinner at Pho2000 which is famous for hosting Bill Clinton back in 1995. It had been quite an eventful Day 1 in Vietnam. Part 2 will come up soon.

Outstanding Weekend by Unleashing the Power Within

I just had the most unbelievable experience at Tony Robbins' 4-day Unleash Power Within Seminar. Personally, I thought that having go through Millionaire Mind Intensive last November, I "had enough motivation" and I KNOW how to make sure I do what I set out to do.

It wasn't just another motivational seminar. WE DON'T NEED MOTIVATION. Everything's already inside us. He just helps to dig deeper into our soul and find our "motive for action". Intellectually, this seminar, I gained some new ideas and ability to rationalize my behavior. However, change don't happen from rationalization. It happens from action which comes from strong emtions. There are 2 exceptional activities that brought about strong emotions......

1. The Firewalk

Psycho your brain till you distract it from pain. Psycho your body to protect you from the fire. Physically walk on the fire!!! .... HOT FOOT!

2. The Dickens Process

Peering into the future living my life with my limiting belief (5, 10, 20 years from now.. somewhat like having a Ghost of X'mas Future visiting you). I went through somewhat a similar process in Millionaire Mind.. I thought that back then I had already gained a breakthrough .... Going through the process this time was HORRIFYING.... the pain..... was unbearable. My fingers went numb. I was wobbling left and right. My pelvic muscles went numb.

..... when the pain was at its most extreme............ POOF!!! I'm back! It didn't happen. I'm still here in September 2009! I CAN CHANGE! YES!!!

I'm so THANKFUL that I'm alive. I'm so THANKFUL that I have ALL THAT I NEED WITHIN ME NOW to CREATE a BETTER FUTURE.

Love & Gratitude

CY: The INFJ

I've taken 3 tests in facebook recently relating to the MBTI personality tests. 2 of which concluded I'm an INFJ while one an INFP. Being someone who likes to read more about my possible characteristics, I went to search for more information. The more I read, the more I agree that I'm an INFJ.

Introverted and yet complexly extraverted feeling. (http://www.personalitypage.com/INFJ.html)

Some of the characteristics which I highly agree (http://www.infj.org/public/infjness.html):

- Value personal integrity (being true to myself)

- Easier to express deepest feelings and sentiments non-verbally or in writing

- Sometimes looked upon as naive, due to idealism

- Rarely gets into conflicts (but when erupt, can be very bitter)

- Keen interest in paranormal/psychic experiences (think "The Secret" and Law of Attraction)

- Loves personality tests and other self-improvement tools (HIGHLY AGREE!)

- Sometimes seen by others as cold and hard on the outside (not caring enough?)

- love quotes/quotations and are often "philosophers" or "theologists" (very true, I frequently copy-paste quotes)

More readings (http://www.geocities.com/lifexplore/infj.htm)

- They can be very much involved in the world of people, as well as quiet, imaginative, and in their own world (seems like a Gemini trait?)

- INFJs have a strong love of learning

- Reading holds a particular fascination for them because it allows them to have quiet reflection time and engages their imagination

- They are quiet and orderly, reflective and thoughtful, and sincerely want to please their teachers and learn the right thing (teacher's pet... hehehe...)

- INFJs tend to be devoted to what they believe in and seek work where their needs, values, and ideals can be deeply engaged (wah... this one right on target)

- One would do well not to underestimate the amount of perseverance, energy, and time INFJs give to their priorities. What they do, they do with an almost religious intensity (I love this! Extremely stubborn once target is set.... Illogical sometimes due to high belief in intuition)

- Leisure-time pursuits for INFJs are often solitary or involve the company of others who are particularly important to them

- INFJs are hard to get to know. They have an unusually rich inner life, but they are reserved and tend not to share their reactions except with those they trust

- They prefer and enjoy agreeing with others, and find conflict disagreeable and destructive (hypocrite? unavoidable.. now I know why my "StrengthsFinder" profile has "Harmony" in Top 5)

Being INFJ, now I know why I like to write alot about my thoughts and myself. Writing is my way of communicating... Anyway, this blog post is just a rough insight into why I behave in certain ways. I just noticed that the INFJ traits corresponds well with my Top 5 strengths especially Harmony, Responsibility and Learner.

June Quotes

"When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps." ~ Confucius.

"When defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not sound, rebuild those plans, and set sail once more toward your coveted goal." ~ Napoleon Hill

"Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. And it will leave you unfulfilled" ~ Barack Obama

"Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently" ~ Henry Ford

"He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not remains a fool forever" ~ Andy Dingley

The 5 S of Our Lives

I attended a talk by Dr. Andrew Goh (an NTU prof) on a topic very dear to me - "What do you want out of your life?".

I love it when he simplified how people would answer the following question:-
"How's Life?"

There are basically 5 possible answers (or in any other form but within the same context of the 5). They're the 5 S. Starting at the lowest level...

5. Struggling
We live our life struggling through our daily activities, earning.. well... not enough to feed ourselves and family. Plenty of hardships. People from all levels can be in this stage including managers who earn well over $10k/month. E.g. Earn $10k, spend $11k or maybe working in an environment that blocks one's growth... This answer is quite common.

4. Surviving
This is the MOST common answer I hear among friends. I had a wide grin hearing this answer as it was something I could relate to. In financial terms, this could mean you just earn enough to cover your financial burden (guess that's why this answer is very common among fresh grads - earning their starting pay but have to pay off loans, etc... leaving them with 0 balance every month.)

3. Stabilising
Well, I haven't heard anyone use this term specifically... Too formal. I guess it's relative would be "Ok lor", "Good", "Fine". This one also quite common to hear. This is a stage of our lives where things are abit more stable. No need to worry too much about finances as you have extra coming in but at the same time, there are unknown events that can still tear you down to S4 or S5 (e.g. retrenchment).

2. Succeeding
Again, don't hear anyone use this before... Something similar? Probably... I have not really interviewed a succeeding person. Hmmm... was around some succeeding people but... hmmm... I'm at a loss for words. This is quite interesting. There's definitely a meaning behind this for myself. Anyway, succeeding is a good stage, alot of those that I met in this stage look quite happy. However, not all are. In terms of financial independence, most of them have it. Tony Robbins mentioned that we humans have 6 basic needs, the first 4 needs can be easily be satisfied by superficial things including drinking, smoking, etc (that's why we have heard stories of some rich people cheating on their wife? It's just that something is empty inside...). One may be financially free but can still be empty... which is why the final S...

1. SIGNIFICANCE
Leaving a positive legacy/mark in other people's life....... be it your family, friends, strangers, etc. Doing work where your full potential is utilised. I am unable to fully describe this but personally, it is something that I feel deep inside my heart. I used to think I should chase money, interestingly, after seeking the masters who have "been there, done that", I realised it isn't right. The more I chase it, the more elusive it is. Instead, focus on the fundamentals - leading a significant life will naturally bring money... the more significant, the more income. At the moment, this is just a theory/plan that I strongly agree.


"You can get anything you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want." ~ Zig Ziglar

"There is no shortcut to any place worth going" ~ Anonymous

My Top 5 Signature Themes

Last week, I was introduced to this book - "Now, Discover Your Strengths" by Marcus Buckingham. It talks about how most of us live our lives focusing on fixing our weaknesses. Alot of times, we take our strengths for granted. Well, no point for me going into too much detail about this, you can check this out in his website or the book.

Anyway, the great part about the book was a unique ID key that allows you access to create an account to take the StrengthsFinder profile quiz. And, below is my "simple" certificate. Read simple description of each here.

From the top 5 themes, I realised something very profound. As I continue to read the book (quite fast to finish - about 3 days), I could relate to each of the 5 themes and understood why I did what I did...... It all made sense.

Restorative - I take alot of pleasure in fixing problems (technical, personal, relationships). The more complicated it is, if I can fix it - I feel satisfaction. Otherwise, definitely will feel defeated, spend hours thinking through the problem, patterns and how to solve it. Some obvious examples for myself are my eagerness to help friends fix their computer related problems, spending hours playing Sudoku (those super hard ones), Weiqi, etc. I remember my time at my previous IT job, spending time overnight at the Data Centre trying to fix a system down issue, couldn't fix it, felt frustrated (due to pressure from upstairs? maybe not... looking back I think it was more of myself)

Learner - I didn't really notice this until recently which explains my increased frequency to library. However, learning not necessarily means reading. I learn various skills. When I was young, I enjoy learning notes in the school band, learnt abit of drumming. I picked up cooking. I picked up Weiqi, Salsa, Mahjong, Chinese Chess, IT technologies. My learner theme comes into play as I write this blog as I feel so passionately that I need to share what I learn to confirm my learning. Also, I can see how my Restorative theme and my Learner theme pair up when I play Chinese Chess (although I got thrashed heavily in Viwawa, I kept pressing on... because I want to learn ... and restore). I think my housemates can verify this. They are very much surprised at why I spend so much time playing over and over, losing over and over.. until I finally manage to win abit more consistently.

Harmony - Ah... ok. This one - I am generally nice person :) ... I think the term - Agree to Disagree Agreeably comes into play here? Maybe abit to specific but more of ... as long as general environment friendly and happy, good. A good example is when I play online games (where kids these days generally are so rude, you'd fear for the next generation), I tend to keep quiet and ignore nasty comments than talk back. At the back of my head, I was thinking - it doesn't affect me, why bother.. they can be as rude as they want to be if it makes them happy.

Context - This is an interesting one. This is very true - I feel alot more connected to a person if I get to understand their past. Mixing this with my Restorative nature, I have made use of this strength before in rationalizing why people do what they do. I do love finding more about history' e.g. why Adolf Hitler came to power and yet this mad-man was a son who loves his mother so much. It intrigues me.

Responsibility - Honesty & Loyalty eh. Hmmm... This particular theme, I do feel I have it but sometimes I question it. I thought that probably Positivity would be higher on this list. However, since I wrote my initial comments as such, it could probably mean I have not fully utilised this particular strength. However, I do have a recent example of something I did for my client. I went out of my way, got into some trouble for the sake of my client to ensure that I have acted responsibly in his best interest.

There's alot of things going through my mind after finding out this. As one of my strongest theme is Context, I'm looking back at all the events happening to me and using my learner and restorative strength, I'm rationalizing and determining how I came to be what I am today. Anyway, shouldn't dwell too much on where I'm weak. I'm actually very excited now I know my strengths...... Today is only like Day 1 where I try to notice how my strengths come into play during my daily activity (possibly my learner strength energize me here, ie. applying what I learnt).