在一次讨论会上，一位著名的演说家没讲一句开场白，手里却高举着一张20美元的钞票。　　面对会议室里的200个人，他问：”谁要这20美元？”一只只手举了起来。他接着说：”我打算把这20美元送给你们中的一位，但在这之前，请准许我做一件事。”他说着将钞票揉成一团，然后问：”谁还要。”仍有人举起手来。

　　他又说：”那么，假如我这样做又会怎么样呢？”他把钞票扔到地上，又踏上一只脚，并且用脚碾它。尔后他拾起钞票，钞票已变得又脏又皱。

　　”现在谁还要？”还是有人举起手来。

　　”朋友们，你们已经上了一堂很有意义的课。无论我如何对待那张钞票，你们还是想要它，因为它并没贬值。它依旧值20美元。人生路上，我们会无数次被自己的决定或碰到的逆境击倒、欺凌甚至碾得粉身碎骨。我们觉得自己似乎一文不值。但无论发生什么，或将要发生什么，在上帝的眼中，你们永远不会丧失价值。在他看来，肮脏或洁净，衣着齐整或不齐整，你们依然是无价之宝。生命的价值不依赖我们的所作所为，也不仰仗我们结交的人物，而是取决于我们本身！你们是独特的–永远不要忘记这一点！”

从前，有一座圆音寺，每天都有许多人上香拜佛，香火很旺。在圆音寺庙前的横梁上有个蜘蛛结了张网，由于每天都受到香火和虔诚的祭拜的熏托，蛛蛛便有了佛性。经过了一千多年的修炼，蛛蛛佛性增加了不少。　　忽然有一天，佛主光临了圆音寺，看见这里香火甚旺，十分高兴。离开寺庙的时候，不轻易间地抬头，看见了横梁上的蛛蛛。佛主停下来，问这只蜘蛛：”你我相见总算是有缘，我来问你个问题，看你修炼了这一千多年来，有什么真知拙见。怎么样？”蜘蛛遇见佛主很是高兴，连忙答应了。佛主问到：”世间什么才是最珍贵的？”蜘蛛想了想，回答到：”世间最珍贵的是‘得不到’和‘已失去’。”佛主点了点头，离开了。

　　就这样又过了一千年的光景，蜘蛛依旧在圆音寺的横梁上修炼，它的佛性大增。一日，佛主又来到寺前，对蜘蛛说道：”你可还好，一千年前的那个问题，你可有什么更深的认识吗？”蜘蛛说：”我觉得世间最珍贵的是‘得不到’和‘已失去’。”佛主说：”你再好好想想，我会再来找你的。”

　　又过了一千年，有一天，刮起了大风，风将一滴甘露吹到了蜘蛛网上。蜘蛛望着甘露，见它晶莹透亮，很漂亮，顿生喜爱之意。蜘蛛每天看着甘露很开心，它觉得这是三千年来最开心的几天。突然， 又刮起了一阵大风，将甘露吹走了。蜘蛛一下子觉得失去了什么，感到很寂寞和难过。这时佛主又来了，问蜘蛛：”蜘蛛这一千年，你可好好想过这个问题：世间什么才是最珍贵的？”蜘蛛想到了甘露，对佛主说：”世间最珍贵的是‘得不到’和‘已失去’。”佛主说：”好，既然你有这样的认识，我让你到人间走一朝吧。”
就这样，蜘蛛投胎到了一个官宦家庭，成了一个富家小姐，父母为她取了个名字叫蛛儿。一晃，蛛儿到了十六岁了，已经成了个婀娜多姿的少女，长的十分漂亮，楚楚动人。
这一日，新科状元郎甘鹿中士，皇帝决定在后花园为他举行庆功宴席。来了许多妙龄少女，包括蛛儿，还有皇帝的小公主长风公主。状元郎在席间表演诗词歌赋，大献才艺，在场的少女无一不被他折倒。但蛛儿一点也不紧张和吃醋，因为她知道，这是佛主赐予她的姻缘。

　　过了些日子，说来很巧，蛛儿陪同母亲上香拜佛的时候，正好甘鹿也陪同母亲而来。上完香拜过佛，二位长者在一边说上了话。蛛儿和甘鹿便来到走廊上聊天，蛛儿很开心，终于可以和喜欢的人在一起了，但是甘鹿并没有表现出对她的喜爱。蛛儿对甘鹿说：”你难道不曾记得十六年前，圆音寺的蜘蛛网上的事情了吗？”甘鹿很诧异，说：”蛛儿姑娘，你漂亮，也很讨人喜欢，但你想象力未免丰富了一点吧。”说罢，和母亲离开了。

　　蛛儿回到家，心想，佛主既然安排了这场姻缘，为何不让他记得那件事，甘鹿为何对我没有一点的感觉？

　　几天后，皇帝下召，命新科状元甘鹿和长风公主完婚；蛛儿和太子芝草完婚。这一消息对蛛儿如同晴空霹雳，她怎么也想不同，佛主竟然这样对她。几日来，她不吃不喝，穷究急思，灵魂就将出壳，生命危在旦夕。太子芝草知道了，急忙赶来，扑倒在床边，对奄奄一息的蛛儿说道：”那日，在后花园众姑娘中，我对你一见钟情，我苦求父皇，他才答应。如果你死了，那么我也就不活了。”说着就拿起了宝剑准备自刎。

　　就在这时，佛主来了，他对快要出壳的蛛儿灵魂说：”蜘蛛，你可曾想过，甘露（甘鹿）是由谁带到你这里来的呢？是风（长风公主）带来的，最后也是风将它带走的。甘鹿是属于长风公主的，他对你不过是生命中的一段插曲。而太子芝草是当年圆音寺门前的一棵小草，他看了你三千年，爱慕了你三千年，但你却从没有低下头看过它。蜘蛛，我再来问你，世间什么才是最珍贵的？”蜘蛛听了这些真相之后，好象一下子大彻大悟了，她对佛主说：”世间最珍贵的不是‘得不到’和‘已失去’，而是现在能把握的幸福。”刚说
完，佛主就离开了，蛛儿的灵魂也回位了，睁开眼睛，看到正要自刎的太子芝草，她马上打落宝剑，和太子深深的抱着……

　　故事结束了，你能领会蛛儿最后一刻的所说的话吗？”世间最珍贵的不是‘得不到’和‘已失去’，而是现在能把握的幸福。”

印度尼西亚的苏门达腊岛上，生长着茂密的咖啡树，几百年以来，岛上的居民都靠采集咖啡豆来谋生。

但是近些年来，每当咖啡将要成熟的时候，岛民们的烦恼也来了。这是因为，有一种叫做棕榈猫的动物开始在岛上生存繁衍。棕榈喜食咖啡果，而且它们比人类更善于爬树，往往在人们还没有开始采摘时，那些最熟最红的咖啡果早已经成了这些棕榈猫的美餐。

由于棕榈猫的争夺，岛民们获得的咖啡资源就少了很多。为此，岛上的居民非常痛恨这个竞争对手，每到咖啡成熟的季节，便开始驱赶棕榈猫，后来又开始大肆攻击和捕杀它们。人们想以灭绝棕榈猫的方式来保证咖啡的收获量。饥饿加之杀戮，使棕榈猫的大量死亡，人们终于达到了独占咖啡的目的。

咖啡果长在高大的咖啡树上的。人们在采集咖啡时必须要爬到树上去，所以，这是一项非常辛苦的工作。一天，一个懒惰不想爬树的人突然发现：踩在自己脚下的那些棕榈猫的排泄物中竟有很多没有消化的咖啡豆。原来，棕榈猫只是喜欢吃甜美的咖啡果实，但果实里的咖啡豆却因无法消化而被排出体外。于是，这个人就偷偷地把棕榈猫排泄出的这些咖啡豆收集起来。拿回去当做采集的咖啡豆卖给了一位经营咖啡的商人。

没想到，这位商人对咖啡有很深的研究，当他闻到这些咖啡的气味时，立刻感觉出这些咖啡非同一般。在品尝这些咖啡时，他更是惊奇万分，因为这种咖啡不但具有糖浆般的粘稠，而且还有巧克力般的浓厚，入口后香醇润滑，妙不可言，他从未喝过如此美妙的咖啡。他放下杯子，马上找到那个卖咖啡的人，问这些咖啡的来源。于是，这个人不得不说出了这些咖啡豆的来历。咖啡商听罢，不觉感叹造化之神奇，人为发酵咖啡的方法，只能发酵出普通的咖啡，而棕榈猫的消化系统对咖啡居然会产生特殊的发酵过程，使得原本很普通的咖啡豆脱胎换骨，成为世界上独一无二的神品。感叹之余，他开始出很高的价钱向岛民收购这种棕榈猫咖啡。

直到这时，岛民们才不再与棕榈猫为敌了。他们背着筐，苦苦寻找着棕榈猫的排泄物，每天，他们最大的希望是能有大量的棕榈猫来吃咖啡果，然后排泄出更多香味诱人的棕榈猫咖啡豆。因为，一磅棕榈猫咖啡可以卖到300美金，其价格远远超过了蓝山、考拿等名牌咖啡，成了名副其实的世界上最昂贵的咖啡。

但可笑的是，正是由于岛民的滥杀，岛上棕榈猫的数量已经不多了，而棕榈猫的数量制约了棕榈猫咖啡豆的产量，这让人们后悔不迭。

棕榈猫咖啡的故事告诉我们，我们永远都要胸怀一种博爱与友善，记着把生命中的每一份”咖啡”都分给别人，当我们给别人留下机会，就是给我们自己种下了希望。

As of 1st July 2006, the Medisave Contribution would increase from $90,000 to $94,600. The new amount will apply to CPF members who turn 55 from 1 July 2006 to 30 June 2007. For existing CPF members who just turned 55, they should have close to S$95,000 in their accounts.

For a person born May 1951, The CPF Minimum Sum applicable to him is $90,000.The projected monthly payout (retirement income) from age 62 is $711 and is estimated to last for 20 years.

This assumes that he has already set aside the Minimum Sum fully in cash when he is of age 55. The current retirement account interest rate is currently 4% pa, and is subject to change.

Assuming if this person spends about $18 for three meals a day, his monthly needs will be about $558, for food alone. This leaves him $153 from the monthly retirement income from CPF payout to handle all the other necessities? There are some necessities to be considered like medical insurance, bills and utilities etc. With the ever increasing GST hikes, it is unlikely to be sufficient for him.

Also, another point to note is that the CPF retirement income amount would be paid up to 20 years only! That is, up to the person’s 82nd birthday. What if this person lives beyond this age? That is why annuities were introduced. However, annuities have its disadvantages.

For the majority of Singaporeans who just meet the minimum sum, retirement is barely easy. As for those who have less than the minimum sum, it would even be harder for then to make ends meet. And this could be why many Singaporeans who reach retirement age of 62 are still working now and in the years to come.

It is therefore imperative for us, while we are able-bodied to work for a living, to learn how to manage our wealth through wise investments in a prudent manner that would ensure our financial security for old age.

The Top 3 Things Every Employee Should Know About Their Money.

(But probably doesn’t!)

1.  Your income is NOT limited and you CAN be richer than your boss.

Remember, your income is not limited until you choose it to be. Don’t just work hard, but work smart. You only have 24 hours in a day. No more, no less. Trading your time for money will not get you far ahead. You will end up burnt out and disillusioned with life. All too often, people are trapped in this race because they never bothered to realize where they are headed. If you work mainly for money, it only makes sense that you learn how to maximize the value of your money wisely! The purpose of getting a job for most people is to earn money, but there are also other productive ways to grow your money which was neglected during the process.  

Through proper financial planning, a sensible employee with a will to win can end up richer than his/her boss. This is particularly true if your boss lacks the money-management skills that make such a massive difference over the long run. Although the boss may earn more money than you right now, by taking advantage of superior financial planning, you can come out richer than your boss at the end of the day. You may not be able to choose your job position or given salary, but you can learn how to grow your money efficiently! It is not about who have the head start, but rather who finishes the race first!

2.  There is RISK if you just leave your money idling in the banks and CPF.

Unless you are comfortable in living with a monthly allowance of 30% of your current income (i.e. $600 if you are earning $2000 per month now) when you retire, you might want to start planning for your financial future. With inflation going at 5% a year and (GST/ERP/fares… and many more) hikes on the way, an interest of 0.25% in your bank means the real value of your dollar is falling each year! You would be incurring high inflation risk that is 100% certain if you do not learn how to diversify your wealth. Unit trusts investment, which offer much higher potential returns, has been the top choice for most CPF and cash investors due to its professional management, the diversification it offers, and how easily it could be withdrawn.

3.  You DON’T NEED cash at all for medical insurance.

A medical crisis can hit us when we least expect it. Almost 75% of death related causes in Singapore are due to illnesses such as heart disease, cancer, stroke and pneumonia. Therefore the majority of us Singaporeans will be hospitalized from an illness at least once in our lifetime.

When a medical crisis is short, medical expenses are usually manageable. But when the illness becomes a long drawn affair, medical expenses are likely to pile up and can become a huge financial and emotional burden to ourselves and our families. Be aware that a medical crisis in some cases can exceed $100,000 a year. Are you prepared for something this catastrophic? It simply does not make sense for us to work so hard for half of our lives and then get our savings all wipe out due to the hospitalization.

And the good news is, you can now get yourself and your family covered in the event of hospitalization, without paying a single cent of cash. Yes! You can make use of the Medisave account (MA) in your CPF for hospitalization plans. Premiums can be as low as a few cents a day.

Article written by Ng Zhi Wei

2 April 2008

A random funny post.

A girl wants a man. A wealthy man, a successful men, a famous man, an interesting man, a macho, a talented man, a loving man, a man she loves, a father for her children, a friend, a sex-machine - details may differ, but the main point stays the same. She wants a man. Some females want just money or a career, but if she denies her willingness to meet a real man - she lies. Moreover, girl’s demands to what she calls a good man vary as she gets older.

A girl of 22 wants a prince on a white horse. A girl may claim she’s realistic and doesn’t look on the world through the pink glasses, but she’ll never confess dreaming of an ideal man. He’s got to be handsome, charming, popular. He’s got to be rich - probably not so rich, but always in funds. Of course, he’s got to be generous to spend money on her. He’s got to be smart, brilliantly smart- to some girls it’s even more important than being very handsome, but of course his mind is never more important than his purse. He’s got to have a great sense of humor, to be athletic, stylish, romantic and a good listener, tender lover and… well, the list of his qualities can be prolonged on and on. A girl wants a man to adore her and to make her the goddess with flowers, gifts and promises of eternal love laid at her feet.

A girl of 32 wants just a good man. She has finally taken off those pink glasses and got rid of romantic fantasies. So her good man mustn’t be a hero - he is good-looking, has good manners, a well-paid job, a good car, a good house, and a good sum of money on a credit card. Also he carries bags from supermarket, likes her home-cooked dinners, laughs at her jokes, remembers the most important dates - like her mom’s birthday, and able to express tenderness not less than one time per week. Such a nice domestic kind of a good man.

A girl of 42 wants just a man. That ordinary kind of man is not a movie star, he even has a belly instead of muscles- good if the shirt covers it all; sometimes a head lacking hair, but still isn’t too disgusting. He shaves by the weekends, is still “athletic” enough to do some housework, remembers where to laugh in the jokes, nods to show he’s listening, takes her out once a month, drives her to the supermarket and back, doesn’t set the car in motion until all women’s parts of body are in, and puts the water-closet pan’s seat down.

A girl of 52 wants… well she just lives with that man. It’s really nice if he remembers her name, shaves during weekends, sometimes gets a haircut, changes underwear and socks regularly, borrows money not too often, tries to behave himself in public. It’s great if he also finds the strength to leave the coach for some weekends, notices delicious dinner while watching TV, doesn’t always fall asleep while listening to a person. By this age a woman doesn’t expect much, in fact she asks for the very minimum.

A girl of 62 wants a man who won’t disturb her too often. She’s a lucky one, if he’s not too scary to make his own grandchildren cry, if he still remembers where the bathroom is, where his teeth are, what month it is, who this woman is, what he is laughing at, and etc. A woman will appreciate his ability to get up, dress properly without much help from her side. The top of all dreams is if it doesn’t cost a lot to keep that man, and if there are some places in the house, where his snore doesn’t reach.

A girl of 72… well, some “girls” do live that long, but what about men? Are you sure he’s still breathing? And he doesn’t leave puddles in the water-closet? Oh, that’s a real treasure for a tired girl of 72.

Source: www.peoplerelationships.syl.com

from www.youtube.com posted with vodpod

Original Drawings     by 哈米饽饽
Videography Effects by 黄智伟

Some have the idea that faith and reason are in conflict with each other. They think that if you have reason, you don’t need faith, and if you go by faith, you cannot go by reasoning. It is this paradox that has caused the biggest problems in all religion and spirituality. The truth is that faith and reason are one and the same. In order to have faith about something, you need to know it as true. You can’t know something as true unless you have a reason for it to be so. Faith is reason and reason is faith.
 
All truths are ideas. If you knew everything there is to know about an idea, you would no longer need to “have faith” in it. You just know it as reality. Faith is knowing. To know a thing is to be aware of it. It is all about awareness, the more you have it, the more faith you have. If you want to fully know something, you have to understand everything there is to understand about it. You have to be able to explain everything about it. The more reasons you discover, the more truth you realize.
 
The way to truth is the way of understanding. Understanding alone will solve all our problems. Understanding the problem dissolves the problem. Once we understand a problem, it is already solved. All that is left is to act out the solution. A problem is never without a solution, otherwise it would not be a problem. Therefore all problems have their corresponding solutions. Understanding is to key to resolving everything. To understand is to reason. You have to reason all the way to all truth.
 
Everything in the universe is consciousness. For something to be realized, it has to be perceived. Until we are able to perceive a thing, it is not real to us. It would be real to the one who perceives it. The more we are able to perceive, the more conscious we become. Consciousness is what we are, and the more we expand our consciousness with perception, the more we expand our being. The more our awareness increases, the greater our reality will be until it matches the reality of the whole.
 
Understanding brings life to those that have it. When you deal with things from a state of awareness, you become a cause because you act with freewill. When you deal with things from a state of ignorance, you become an effect because you act with unconscious choice. Awareness allows you to be calm and free to choose reality whereas ignorance causes you to be unstable and moved by impulses. He that deviates out of the way of understanding ends up in the congregation of the dead.
 
The subconscious mind does not differentiate between an imagined experience and a physically experienced one. To know something is to have an experience of it. The more you experience something whether physically or mentally, the more you know it in consciousness. You can always experience a thing from a place of awareness or a place of ignorance. Learning with awareness brings enjoyment and freedom whereas learning with ignorance brings pain and suffering.
 
The difference between learning with awareness and learning with ignorance depends on the intent. When you go through every experience with the intent to understand, you are resonating with awareness and your consciousness will be open to perceiving as much as you can about it. When you seek to understand, you can arrive at the right reasons, or else you would reason wrongly from lower consciousness and mishandle the situation because you are not seeing what is out of your perception.
 
Incline your ear unto understanding. Seek to know the reason of a thing. Seek to know all the reasons there are to know about it. Open your heart to be understanding so that you may receive the truth of a matter and not block it out of perception. You need understanding in order to do what is right. Understanding gives us strength because it makes us bigger than our situations. Knowing all the explanations and reasons of a thing allows you to see it in a scientific and definite way. Faith is having certainty. The more you know scientifically, the more certainty you have and the more faith you have. Evolution of science, knowledge and consciousness is evolution of faith.
 
When you know everything from a position of science, there are no more doubts. Because everything is understood through universal laws that never change. You know absolute reality to the fullest degree. In any situation where total understanding appears to be unattainable in a scientific way, it means the science is incomplete. True science is perfect in reasoning and operates from a position of total perception. Total faith and total science are one and the same. It is all awareness of truth.
 
Faith comes by hearing which means perception, and perception by the Word of God. The Word is Logos which means Reason. It is reason or awareness that directs your perception and determines your knowing. To know as much of the Word of God is to know as much reason as possible. All wisdom, understanding and knowledge is for you to be convinced about the truth because you are aware of all the reasons that define it. To have absolute faith is to be totally convinced about the truth.
 
Reason or logic is what runs the entire universe. You need as much reasons as possible to do good. Reason is what causes others to act and it determines how they act. It is the programming logic that runs the program. If you want to move yourself or others to take a certain action, give as much reason as possible whether logical or emotional, conscious or subtle to persuade, direct and motivate them. Reason can command an entire army to war or it can compel all nations to peace and harmony.

by Enoch Tan

The Dollar auction is a non-zero sum sequential game designed by economist Martin Shubik^[1] to illustrate a paradox brought about by traditional rational choice theory in which players with perfect information in the game are compelled to make an ultimately irrational decision based completely on a sequence of rational choices made throughout the game.

Setup

The setup involves an auctioneer who volunteers to auction off a dollar bill with the following rule: the dollar goes to the highest bidder, who pays the amount he bids. The second-highest bidder also must pay the highest amount that he bid, but gets nothing in return. Suppose that the game begins with one of the players bidding 1 cent, hoping to make a 99 cent profit. He will quickly be outbid by another player bidding 2 cents, as a 98 cent profit is still desirable. Similarly, another bidder may bid 3 cents, making a 97 cent profit. Alternatively, the first bidder may attempt to convert their loss of 1 cent into a gain of 97 cents by also bidding 3 cents. In this way, a series of bids is maintained. However, a problem becomes evident as soon as the bidding reaches 99 cents. Supposing that the other player had bid 98 cents, they now have the choice of losing the 98 cents or bidding a dollar even, which would make their profit zero. After that, the original player has a choice of either losing 99 cents or bidding $1.01, and only losing one cent. After this point the two players continue to bid the value up well beyond the dollar, and neither stands to profit.

Outcome

The game actually has no equilibrium, as two rational players in this game could theoretically lose all of their money to the auctioneer. Both players stand to lose money, but the winning bidder loses about 99 cents less than the losing bidder.

Refutations

People have proposed cooperative models by which the dollar auction can be profitable for the bidders and detrimental to the auctioneer. If the two parties bidding on the dollar agree to cooperate, they could bid two cents for the dollar together, and each profit 49 cents. However, this ignores the fact that the auction is a public auction. Though the end game only involves two bidders, before the bidding hits 98 cents it is still a “profitable” proposition for any player to enter the bidding.

To end the bidding war a bidder can bid 99 cents more than the previous bid, leaving no bid that offers a potentially higher profit (or smaller loss). (For example, Bidder 1 bids $x, Bidder 2 bids $x + $0.99. If Bidder 1 were to bid $x + $0.99 + $0.01, he would be bidding to pay $x + $0.99 + $0.01 for a prize of $1, or a total loss of $x– the same as if he had not increased his previous bid.) As a special case of this, if the first bidder immediately bids $0.99, he will not be outbid by the other bidder, who has no potential to make a profit. The first bidder will earn $0.01 in profit and the second bidder will pay nothing and win nothing.

Analysis

The dollar auction is often used as a simple illustration of the irrational escalation of commitment. By the end of the game, though both players stand to lose money, they continue bidding the value up well beyond the point that the dollar difference between the winner’s and loser’s loss is negligible; they are fueled to bid further by their past investment.^[2]

The dollar auction is sometimes used as a refutation of Expected value calculations. The typical setup will show that at a bid price of 99 cents and a second bid price of 98 cents, the current bidder’s application of probability calculations will determine to bid again based on his apparent choices of either:

• Losing 98 cents
• Gaining a dollar and paying one dollar.

However, it should be noted that this is an improper formation of an expected value calculation. The actual expected value of bidding again is not zero cents due to the unterminated nature of the game; the value of the bid is actually zero cents multiplied by the possibility of the other player giving up at that point, added to the value of losing two cents multiplied by the probability of the other player NOT giving up at that point, in an infinite series with unbounded loss.