Going it Alone
Sep 7, 2008

After the Olympics, there was quite a bit of controversy here in Singapore about the table-tennis team. One of the biggest issues was that Singapore’s top male player, Gao Ning, who was aiming to make the top 8, lost in the 3rd round without a coach on the court-side.

He blamed his team manager and coach for his loss, saying that they “embarrassed” him.

I, for one, think that it’s a really stupid controversy, and a really stupid thing to be talking about. Gao Ning should have nobody but himself to blame. Yes, it was a mistake and it was unfortunate that he didn’t have a coach. But he’s supposed to be a top-class player, he should have been able to make the step up. After all, he’s the one playing the game, not the coach.

Contrast his story (and reaction) with the story of Taiwanese tennis player Lu Yen-hsun, who made it to the last 16 of the Olympics – beating Andy Murray in the process – also without a coach.

If he could do it, why couldn’t Gao Ning – who’s much more highly regarded in his sport?

At the end of the day, you are the one who’s putting in the performances and doing the task. Sure, it’s always good to have people behind you and supporting you. But when it comes down to it, it’s about you and how well you do.

You’re always going to face controversies. There are times when you’re going to have to go it alone. And that’s the true test – can you step up by yourself?

What I want Social Media Breakfast: Singapore to be
May 26, 2008

On Saturday, 24 May, Daryl, Sheylara, Brad and I hosted the second Social Media Breakfast. I want to thank all who came, and my apologies for not being able to talk to all of you. If you were there but we didn’t manage to talk, feel free to connect with me online – all my contact details are on my blog sidebar.

Daryl posted about the successes and the failures of the event, and it got me thinking. When we first started this, it was more of a “make it up as we go along” kind of thing. We never really firmed up what we wanted from it.

So here’s my opinion on the topic. Disclaimer: this is just my personal opinion of why I wanted to start this. It doesn’t represent the whole group or community. So feel free to disagree.

To me, the Social Media Breakfast is a way to build real, deeper relationships. It’s about making friends (Friends with a capital F), not just about business contacts or networking per se. That’s why I like it with the informal format. I think there are lots of networking sessions out there where you can meet really intelligent people and have good discussions. They are all well and good, and there’s a place for all that.

But I want this to be more than that. I want it to be about building deeper, more personal friendships. I want it to be a place where you can meet and catch up with friends, and build personal relationships and just have fun together.

It’s very easy for us to get caught up with work and with the online social world – our blogs, Twitter, etc. But no matter how personal our blogs or tools like Twitter are, they can’t replicate or replace the personal connections made through real life interactions.

And that’s what I want the Social Media Breakfast to provide. A platform to bring the social back, as CC Chapman put it.

Yes, when you gather intelligent, passionate people (like all who were at the event) together, there are bound to be interesting discussions that get you thinking. But that isn’t what I want the main focus of it to be. I would like the main focus of the Social Media Breakfast to be the relationships built, not the discussions that took place.

Once again, though. That’s just my opinion, and I’m just one person. So from you guys, especially those who have been to one of the first two breakfasts, what do you want from Social Media Breakfast: Singapore?

It’s not all about the money
May 26, 2008

Picture via About a week ago, Digital Life (the tech-focused section of the most widely-read newspaper here in Singapore) had an article about blogging. The online version is only available to paid subscribers, I think, but it basically asked the question of whether people are earning money from their blogs – and as such, whether blogging was worth it.

Reading it kind of got on my nerves. The shortsightedness of it reflects part of why blogging hasn’t picked up in Singapore.

Blogging shouldn’t be about how much you can earn. Some of the best bloggers I know – Chris Brogan, Dan Schawbel, Robert Hruzek (among others mentioned on my recommendations page) – bloggers who provide amazing content consistently, don’t run ads on their blogs, and as such, I don’t think they make an direct income from their blog.

There’s nothing wrong with putting ads on your blog in the hope of earning from your content. But that shouldn’t be the focuus of it. You shouldn’t be blogging to earn money. That isn’t the point of it. The point of it is to let yoru voice be heard.

And the benefits go far further than direct income. The benefits are how it builds your personal brand, the number of relationships you can build, etc. It’s not about how much you make from it. If anything, the money comes indirectly from building your personal brand.

If you’re starting out just because you want to earn money online, it’s not going to work. Blogging should not all about the money.

Picture by monkeyc

Do we really care about safety?
May 19, 2008
Little India, SingaporeImage by nimboo via Flickr

Those of you not in Singapore might not have heard of the Mas Selamat incident. Basically, Mas Selamat was allegedly the head of the Singapore branch of Jemaah Islamiah, and he escaped from the detention center a few months ago.

When the incident first happened, there was a lot of press about it. Everyone was talking about it, it was a huge concern. Someone even started a Facebook account for it, stirring questions about whether people – especially youths – were treating the issue too lightly.

The thing is, there has been no word about the issue for a while now. All the press has died down. The posters are almost completely ignored. Is the threat gone? No, because he’s still out there (as far as we know). But yet nobody seems to bother anymore.

Which leads me to wonder – is it really safety that people are worried about? Or is it a worry about the unexpected? Because if it is really about safety, there’s no reason that the worry has died down. People aren’t really worried about safety breaches. People are worried about unexpected safety breaches. When it comes to public perception, it’s not truly a matter of how serious or important the breach is. It’s how unexpected it is.

The unexpected is what really stirs people up and gets them talking. Once you’re no longer new and fresh – once you’re no longer unexpected – you’ll get ignored, no matter how important you really are.

How do you ensure you don’t become borign and get ignored? How do you stay ‘fresh’?