Someone recently asked me if I became an entrepreneur because my parents were entrepreneurs themselves? Were they the source of my determination because they nurtured me to be an entrepreneur from young? It’s pretty shocking to tell people my parents never had the chance to go to school. They grew up in a time when Singapore was still a third world country and don’t even have easy access to clean water. Going to school then was a privilege.
My mom is a homemaker and my dad is a car mechanic. In fact, I grew up most of the time without my dad. I think because of that, my mom was an ULTRA tiger mom. By the age of 4, she would send us to music, ballet and swimming lessons. For someone who can’t sit still, music and ballet is just not for me. Obviously I disappointed my mom quitting only after a week in tutu. Swimming was my love, I’m happy when I’m in the water. I spent the next 18 years training and competing as a swimmer, runner and also became the school captain of the netball team.
I’m neither an Olympic athlete nor swimmer but I love this P&G commercial honoring moms of athletes.
As a web developer, I can easily write code and whip up new features. But are they usable? Would my users understand how to use them? I’ve built features that none of my users like or use and I have to painfully demolish my code to remove them! Yes, I have separation issues!
I’ve been coding less now and reading more about design and usability. I’ve come to realize that I can build new features but that doesn’t mean I should. I’ve heard so much about this book “Don’t Make Me Think” by Steve Krug and indeed, he shares so many great insights and helpful tips on usability. I highly recommend anyone doing business on the web to read it! Here are the 10 best takeaways for me:
In less than 24 hours, I’ll be casting my first vote. I’ll be voting to elect the future leaders of Singapore in the Singapore election 2011. I’ve never voted in any election. It’s a sad fact that many of my American friends find it hard to believe. Being an overseas Singaporean, I’m not allowed to vote until recently. I’m glad to see the change, but it took 12 bloody years for this to happen!
To the rest of the world, Singapore election is a very boring event. In history, the ruling party always wins majority of the seats in Parliament due to lack of contest from any opposition parties. In 2001, the ruling party won 82 out of 84 seats. The same in 2006. It makes one question, are we that happy with the ruling party that they should remain in power, or do we not love our country’s future enough to stand up against the ruling party?
To me, a progressive country requires 2 key ingredients, astute leaders and passionate voters. A country will not grow and progress without these 2. Why run a country if there are no passionate voters, it’s like operating Frankenstein, a country with no heart. After all, it’s the people who defines the country, not her leaders.
