Sui Generis

Coming Soon to Singapore: GenJuice

Feb 19, 2010 Events View Comments

Thanks for coming back. =). Glad to see you. If there's anything I can do for you, I'd love to hear from you. Drop me an email, or leave a comment, introduce yourself. I'd love to connect with you. Or if you have your own blog, why not let me promote your work?

Earlier this year, Arielle Patrice Scott (an awesome young lady who you should definitely check out) gathered a group of driven young people, fora meetup where they talked about their personal brands. It’s since evolved into a meetup for them to support each other and help each other achieve what they want to do. That meet-up has since become GenJuice, a meetup for young driven people to help each other reach specific professional goals.

Arielle explains more about GenJuice in this video:

When she first told me about it, I was really excited about the idea. Using social media to help young people achieve their dreams – that’s something I really believe in and want to be a part of. That’s what I love the most about social media. For me social media is not really about helping big companies market their products (don’t get me wrong, it’s useful for that, but that’s not where my passion lies). To me, social media is a great platform for individuals to achieve their dreams.

So, I’ve decided to start a GenJuice in Singapore. I think it’s something that could be really great for young people here, and I’m really looking forward to it.

If it sounds like something that you’d be interested in, I’d love to have you come. You can view the event details (and RSVP) on the Facebook event, but basically, it’s on 6 March, 6pm, at Hackerspace Singapore.

Looking forward to seeing you there. =).

Beating A Slump

Feb 17, 2010 Personal Development View Comments

It happens to the best of us, in whatever we’re doing. Sometimes we just hit a dead end and it feels like no matter what we do, it’s not going right. How do you get out of the slump?

To be perfectly honest, I don’t have the answer myself. I’m struggling with that too. But poker has thought me a couple of things about it, though.

Firstly, it’s thought me to go back to basics when things aren’t going my way. More often than not, when things aren’t going well, the best way to get back on track is just to go back to basics. Things that won’t set the world alight, but you know will give you consistent results. Do that for a while, get some confidence back, and you’ll be back on track.

Secondly, while you’re doing that, figure out why exactly it is that you’re not succeeding as much as you think you should. You have to be perfectly honest with yourself. Sometimes, you just aren’t doing the right thing, and you need to re-evaluate your strategy/actions.

Thirdly, I think sometimes, the best thing to do is just take a break. Take a step away from it all – it’ll sometimes give you a fresh perspective on things.

That’s my three tips for getting out of a slump. But again, just my opinion. You guys probably have better ideas than I do, and I would love to hear them. So, yeah, what do you do when you feel you’re in a slump?

Taking Your Chances

Feb 9, 2010 Personal Development, Sports View Comments

Watching the Arsenal vs Chelsea match on Sunday really hurt, as an Arsenal fan. It sucked to see Arsenal lose.

The biggest thing about the loss, though, was the way it happened. Arsenal had most of the possession, they passed it around well. They even created a few chances and all, but in the end they could not score. They couldn’t make the most of having controlled possession.

Chelsea on the other hand, had 3 shots all match. 2 of them went in, and 1 hit the crossbar. That’s pure efficiency. And that’s why we won.

And I think that’s true of anything in life as well. It’s all well and good being elegant and all, but at the end of the day, you need to be aware of whatever opportunities come up.You’ll always have opportunities and chances to achieve what you want. But you need to take your chances, or you’ll never win.

What opportunities around you are missing?

My Thoughts on the Daniel Brusilovsky Situation

Feb 8, 2010 life, People, Technology View Comments

By now, those of you in the social media scene have probably heard of the incident with Daniel Brusilovsky and TechCrunch. For those of you who don’t, here’s a rundown of the situation. Daniel was interning for TechCrunch, and allegedly asked for a Macbook Air in exchange for a post about a startup. TechCrunch found out about it, and fired Daniel, who followed up with a personal statement, admitting that “a line was crossed”, but not quite saying much else.

To be perfectly honest, I’ve been quite intrigued by the whole scenario. I honestly did not know of Daniel before this (though I probably should have), so it was interesting. To see another young blogger do something like this, and the reactions that its received.

Personally, I think what Daniel has done is indefensible. A group of us bloggers in Singapore recently had a meetup where we were just talking about the up-and-coming culture of bloggers asking to be paid. And I’m personally hugely against it. So, that’s where I stand on the whole issue. Daniel was wrong, and deserved to be fired.

The main two things that catch my attention, though, are these.

Firstly, Daniel’s statement. He doesn’t quite admit to anything on this. He says “a line was crossed that should have never been”, but that he “[does] not want to go into details”. He also seems to make excuses, claiming his youth. He then makes a request for privacy. You know what the statement reminds me of? Tiger Woods’ statement after his accident at the end of last year. It feels like a crafted statement, to reveal as little as possible, and try to sweep everything under the rug as quickly as he can.

Dewey Hammond put it perfectly well when he tweeted the following:

Ppl praising @danielbru ask yourself this: After getting caught red-handed what other choice did he have but to apologize?

And that’s what it strikes me as. An apology (not even an apology, but a statement), for the sake of it because he was already busted. Of course, I could be wrong, but personally, reading that, it didn’t seem particularly sincere or remorseful. I’d like for him to come out and be straight about it, and say “I did this. It was wrong, there was no excuse for it.”

Secondly, and more importantly, I think is the fact that lots of people are saying that people should cut him some slack because he is a kid. Yes, he is a kid, but kids can and do take on responsibilities too. (And for what it’s worth, from the way his statement itself is crafted, it seems to me that he’s more than smart enough to have known what he was doing.)

Granted, I’m a couple of years older than him (and am not quite anywhere near his level of fame), but speaking as a kid, I don’t think he should be excused on those grounds. Us “kids” are always asking to be treated and respected as adults, and well, to quote Spiderman, “with great power comes great responsibility”. You can’t have it both ways – you can’t ask to be respected as an adult, but hide behind the image of being a kid if you make a mistake.

If you want to hide behind the label of a kid, stay in the playground. Once you choose to step out, you need to face the responsibilities of being an adult – and own up to your mistakes. It may sound harsh, but that’s my 2 cents.

Using a Hammer Could Get You Fired

Feb 5, 2010 Technology View Comments

It could, if you used it to hit your boss, or a co-worker. Or if you used it to smash your office desk to bits.

My point is, the hammer is just a tool. It’s how you use it that could get you fired (or not). It’s the same for these social networking tools, such as Facebook and Twitter. There’s lots of press lately about how using these tools could ruin your reputation, or get you fired. The latest example being this article on MediaPost.

And yes, what they write is completely valid. Companies are still not fully adjusted to this new world of social media, and if you overstep the bounds that they set, you could get fired. So yes, you probably do have to be careful, to a certain extent.

At the end of the day, though, it’s not about the tool. Twitter, Facebook – these are just tools. How you use it could get you fired, true. But that’s the same of any tool.

The Problem with The Common Application

Jan 31, 2010 education, Personal View Comments

I’m applying to college for Fall this year. Or rather, I have applied, now I’m waiting to see if I get in. But before you dismiss this post as a purely personal one and leave, just give me a minute, there is a larger point I want to make.

Most colleges today use the Common Application. For those of you who do not know, the Common Application is basically an undergraduate application system that allows students to fill up a certain online form, and apply to various schools with that same form. It makes application more effective, as students only need to fill up one form, and can have it sent to a number of different schools.

I appreciate the effectiveness of the application format. The problem, though, in my opinion, is when schools take that as the only way to apply. By doing that, they’re forcing all students to fit into that one template, and in my opinion, it takes away any individuality from the student. A college application, in my opinion, is not much different from a job application. The application (your recommendations, transcripts, etc) are like your resume – it’s a reflection of who you are, an extension of your identity. By forcefitting all applicants into the same format, schools are taking away any option for creative expression.

Imagine if, when you apply for a job, the company requires your resume to be in a fixed format. That doesn’t quite fly, does it? Yes, they might have personal particulars forms which they need you to fill up, but the bulk of your job application – your resume – is your own. It’s up to you to create. That’s why you have so many creative and unique resumes (and a quick search on google will turn up even more).

Why should college applications limit students to that one plain bland format? Sure, give a personal information form for administrative purposes if you need. And yes, definitely, offer the Common Application as an option, because most students will just use it anyway for ease of application. But give students the option of standing out and letting their personality shine through their application, if they are willing to put in the work to create such an application. Don’t limit students and take away any option for remarkableness. Students are unique individuals too.

So, all that said, here’s the personal part which you can skip over if you’re not too interested – my application. While I initially wanted to do something like a box, a 3-dimensional application that was interactive, and could be felt and handled, I realized that I’d be better served doing an application which could be filed away (because that’s what the school is going to do anyway) and still maintain its uniqueness and impact. So here’s what I did.

Basically, I bought a folder, and made 4 A6-sized booklets, which each summarized a different portion of my life. You can download the pdfs to see what I put into the b0oklets, if you wish – about me, activities, academics, appraisals. On the right, I inserted the necessary supporting documents and essays, with a note detailing the different sections. On top of the whole application, I attached a cover letter explaining my application, acknowledging that their website requests for application to be done via the Common App, but stating my objection to that (basically my argument above), and explaining that as such, I had done up my own application.

In essence, I included all the information they required, but in my own format. It’ll be interesting to see which schools accept the application. And yes, I know, it might seem a bit self-indulgent. But I think if I really believe that the Common App falls short, I should be willing to take a stand on it. I’ve always been about being your own person, standing by your beliefs, and being unique. And I figured I needed to really let that show through my application – to really “let my true colors shine through”, if you will.

So yeah, all that said. What do you think? Am I being too stubborn and self-indulgent here? Or is it a good thing that I’m trying to stand out and stand by my beliefs?

It’s Not All About the Money

Jan 30, 2010 People View Comments

It’s quite old news by now, but Simon Cowell is quitting Idol.

Yes, the show will miss him. But what I want to mention here is why he’s leaving. As the article mentions, he’s walking away from one of the highest paid jobs in the world. But he’s leaving because he doesn’t have ownership of the program. He’s leaving because he’s essentially “just talent”.

I’m in full support of that decision, and I think that it’s really good to see. And I think it’s something we need to remember, whenever we’re dealing with (and even more so when we’re managing) others.

It’s not always about the money. Ownership of what you’re doing, knowing that you have a significant role – that’s just as, if not more important. More often than not, as a motivating factor, ownership trumps money.

What motivates you? And how do you motivate those you work with?