Perspective from the Pinnacle.

Spent half the day at Hyatt for a HR Pinnacle.

**I think Boss' presentation was great, although it was 67 slides long**

Coming from a non-HR background, the talks and panel discussions were quite informative for me.

Albeit the short amount of time, I felt that I learnt quite a bit, especially of the different HR practices in various industries and organisations.

Everyone has constraints in terms of the the program and policies implementations.

The large MNCs have their problems with connecting their staff across the globe and ensuring that whatever benchmarks they have for staff in 1 country is equivalent to those in another.

The public sectors may have more rules and regulations to follow (or red tapes, so to speak), which is inevitable because these regulations allow them to function more systematically.

The SMEs may be less financially loaded to provide as comprehensive a benefits system as the bigger co. and may face problem in talent retention.

There are best practices out there that we can learn, but no one has the perfect HR practice.

I believe the staff will always want more and the organisation will always be finding ways to cut costs.

And no co. can adopt another's HR system wholesale because numerous factors (like staff strength, culture, composition, nature, resources, etc) will come into play.

Made some contacts during the pinnacle as well. Quite interesting because several of them are actually fresh grads like us, and we were sharing with each other abt our work culture and our respective HR practices. You know how networking used to be like a thing for the "adults"? Now I really feel like one :X

As suggested by Julie, we also bought Royce for boss to cheer him up :) and me, Gill and Tholmas went for an early chill session at Toms after that :P

BUSY day at work tmr, looking at the number of things I left unchecked on my To-Do list today :( Gng for a talk tmr morng, lunch club aft dat and interview in the aftnn. ARGH~!

Oh well, at least it's TGIF!!! :P

Jesus loves me

"Jesus loves me, this I know.
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong.
We are weak but He is strong.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
The Bible tells me so."

No matter how difficult ur situation is, this truth will never change.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Coffee for a Rainy Day

I miss those days in London :(

Those coffee-in-hand-at-pret-a-manger-people-watching-lazy-rainy-weekday-afternoons in London.

I wanna go back to the UK for honeymoon or sth. No need for exotic Maldives or fancy Hawaii.

I just wanna go walk the gloomy streets, sit at cozy cafes, sip on freshly brewed coffee, stay in medieval castles and SHOP AT PRIMARKs ALL OVER UK!!

How simple a lady's wish :)

Anw I'm on diet now.

Not to keep my weight down, but to keep my expenditure down. I started by gng to the foodcourt with Gillian today -_-

Keep me motivated and scold me if I itchy hand wanna go shopping k??

On another totally random note, I MISS DANCING LIKE MAD.

TRUST.

T - Talk

R - Read

U - Use

S - Self-reflect

T - Thanks

Whenever we think we can't, trust the Lord, because He can :)

____________________________________________________________

Went for my 1st jog today (since.... that time we jogged tgt in sch during study week)

The most enjoyable part has to be the feeling of temporary disconnection from the world, where I can only hear my breathing, my bossa nova over the earph and my thoughts.

Haven't had time with myself for a very long time (time spent alone surfing FB or watching online vids just dun count).

Bought simple dinner back and is enjoying being home alone for the moment :)

Being alone doesn't necessarily has to be lonely. I think alot of times, we like to surround ourselves with ppl, work, activities and distraction because we are afraid of being lonely, afraid of listening to silence, afraid of experiencing the emptiness we always thot was there in our heart.

I enjoy company from ppl close to my heart, but I also enjoy being alone once in a while. I guess that's y I like taking the bus for a long journey, where I can be there in my own little seat, listening only to what I choose to hear, looking only at what I choose to see.

Was telling Pops we sld try to go on a little poppy-detox one of these weeks, where we'll spend evenings of 1 week away from each other, just to see what it feels like to miss each other over the evenings and cant wait to see each other in the morning :) And to get some decent rest by going home early every day.

Might be a little tough to actualize, considering how much we enjoy each others' co. (esp over dinner) and how convenient it is to meet up..... we'll try :P

A new week is starting. May God grant me all that I need to give my best in what I do and to always TRUST Him :)

Fly me to the moon

Was listening to Fly Me To The Moon while walking home under the stars. How apt and how enjoyable :)

Went Prologue and Borders w pops and bought 2 new books. Already started reading one called Shoo, Jimmy Choo! A very comprehensive and useful read - financial education in the most chic-lit manner. Hope I complete the book and practice what was written religiously :P

Crazy week just past, end Aug will get even crazier.

But I'm still pretty determined to keep my work-life balance so that I can enjoy work as much as possible.

**abrupt stop due to closing eyelids**

Goodnight and enjoy ur weekend!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Martha, Martha...

"You are so worried, bothered, and distracted with the details of living that you miss the joys of life."

So close to death

It's not terrifying, it's just depressing.

At least I know where he's going.

Marvelous Monday

Never been a fan of Mondays, but I must say, today had been a great and eventful one :)

1) New colleague reported for work, and we both stay at AMK! Who knows, we might start bumping into each other on our way to work :D

2) Made a job offer to one of my candidates :) hope she'll be my 1st 'baby' :)

3) Hit rate for Panel was high today :))) and I realise I actually feel nervous for my candidates. And when they perform well for panel, I actually feel proud of them!

4) Was talking to one of the AC and he said he personally felt that psych is extremely relevant to HR and it'll be nice that HR start investing in psych ppl. He is the FIRST person who din ask me why I studied psych but chose to do HR.
And I really appreciate that :) because ppl who ask that qn made me feel like I'm betraying what I studied by doing sth 'not relavant' to psych and that HR is just a substitute. Worse are those who gave me a skeptical face aft I explained to them.
I can only say that psych is extremely versatile and it can be relevant to ANYTHING. So stop doubting my commitments!!

5) Back on a happy note, I had a lovely dinner with pops and spent a long time just sitting at the restaurant chatting. Great way to end a day :)))

Thank God for this beautiful day!!

Looking forward to (another) Daiso trip on Wed and Nat'l Day next Mon!! Not only is it public hol (slp w/o having to set alarm), it's also our 3rd yr anni <3 pops got me a purple Kate Spade wallet online :D
It's not the patent one, coz it turns out the patent one's only left with yellow, so I bought it for s'one else :) the new one is a zip-around long wallet made of goat hide (which he thinks is more suitable for me coz I'm super careless with my stuff and a patent one will turn ugly in my care aft 1wk). Now I spend my free time tracking whr in the US is my little wallet :) it's in TX btw!! Not in a hurry to get it, but will be nice to know that it has reached it's intermediate destination.

Oh and looking forward to payday on the 12th toooooo!!

Ok, this post was supposed to be short :| good nitey ppl!!

The Journey

My favorite graduation song when I was in primary sch, I dedicate it to all my loved ones again some 10 years later:

The Journey

Time waits for no one, sure as the tide pulls the ocean

Sure as, the path that's been chosen, cannot be changed

In my life's destination, I searched for the explaination

For some kind of reason, for my sorrow and pain

But in my isolation I learned to listen

To be thankful for the love that I'd been given

[Chorus]

This is my journey, journey through life

With every twist and turn I've laughed and cried

As the road unwinds

This is my journey, and I've learned to fight

To make me strong enough, to lift me up, to bring my dreams alive

In my desperation I thought that never again

Would I hear all the laughter of my friends and my family

A million tears that I'd cried then began to dry

In the silence of the night time

I had came to realize

A sweet inspiration filled my horizon

Gave me the heart to go on and never would give in

[Chorus]

This is my journey, journey through life

With every twist and turn I've laughed and cried

As the road unwinds

This is my journey, and I've learned to fight

To make me strong enough, to lift me up, to bring my dreams alive

I'm going to love each moment, of every day and night

I'll look back to the past with the sweetest smile

For now I realise, I've been given the key to life

I've been kissed by the angel by my side

[Chorus]

This is my journey, journey through life

With every twist and turn I've laughed and cried

As the road unwinds

This is my journey, and I've learned to fight

To make me strong enough, to lift me up, to bring my dreams alive

To bring my dreams alive

To bring my dreams alive

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIQpS4Z2P1o&feature=related

(it was sang my 911, no idea why they put it with Nemo's movie, but this is the clearest version I cld find, enjoy!!)

So Long School Life!

Pop's commencement happened on the friday b4 mine and I din have time to go down coz it was in the aftnn.

Made him a simple present jotting down some special moments that we shared over the 3 years we spent in sch :)





Met him for dinner and we drove back to sch to for PFM's commencement and Pops don on the gown again just so I can tk photos with him :)



** Me and Grace were wearing the same skirts dat day!!

Went to TCC in town for late night talk with the gang... which was very enjoyable knowing that gatherings are bound to be less frequent when everyone starts working...

My own commencement was in the morning, super rush so I wasn't feeling much excitement until I was sitting at my seat waiting for my turn to be called up the stage.

I dunno whether it's because I was sitting nxt to ppl I noe or was the progress of the whole ceremony really fast, but I felt that it ended really quickly.

Holding the degree in my hands, I felt a jumble of emotions passing thru...
Joy, sadness, pride, relief, anticipation...
But one thing for sure, I know my parents are really happy :) I guess it's like a mark of completion for one of their greatest project in life - to see me grow up and eventually graduate and step into the working world.



Daddy and mummy din go to work dat day so we spend the entire day tgt :)))

Treated them to lunch at Carousel coz I just received my pay dat day :D



Went to Sands aft dat but was a little disappointed coz most of the interesting brands are not opened yet :(



But the scenery was pretty nice and mummy daddy had the chance to take the little sampan boat ard the building :) They seemed to have fun dat day and it's really really nice to be able to spend a whole day with my loved ones on such a significant day :)



2 years of nursery (yes 2 years, coz my mum had no time to take care of me),
2 years of kindergarten,
6 years of primary sch,
4 years of sec school,
2 years of JC and
4 years of uni...

My 20 years of studies has come to an official end.
Every part of it has left important and unique memories in my life, and the wonderful friends I've made along the way is one of the greatest thing that came out of this 20-yr journey.

FS, CHAOS, NINE, MIX, PP, CPG, PS.ILOVEYOU, and everyone of you who are not in these groupies but have known me at a personal level, I thank you for being part of my life and I really hope we all cont to keep in touch and meet up as often as possible :)

And my dear poppy pie...



Who has walked with me for the last 3 years of my uni life, being there for me when I feel stressed, supporting me and comforting me will be starting work tmr :)

I hope we'll cont to walk with each other, supporting each other and building each other up just as we did for the past 3 years.

Thank God for His wonderful blessings and amazing guidance all these years, I've learnt that all I need to do is depend, trust in Him and stay faithful in Him.