Pissing English

 The management at Shiok Kopitiam must have had a stinky hard time dealing with male customers who patronise their cafe with a misguided aim. This frank and in-your-face notice says as much : target your discharge inside the toilet bowl, and not on or outside the bowl. Yes, "it will be more grateful". The pronoun "it" appears to be ambiguous: Does it refer to the toilet bowl or the management? We know the toilet bowl is an inanimate object and therefore the expression of gratitude should come from the management. Maybe someone at Shiok Kopitiam has a literary bent and has decided to endow the toilet bowl with human qualities? In other words, the toilet bowl is being personified. However, I think the personification is accidental and the notice should have read: IF YOU CAN TARGET INSIDE THE TOILET BOWL, WE WOULD BE MOST GRATEFUL". The use of "can" here seems to imply that there's a possibility some customers really have a problem with their aim and need to consult a urologist. Furthermore, why "would" and not "should"? The latter carries the weight of obligation that is absent in "would". Hokey, dokey. I'd better get myself out of this stinky business. I would suggest that the notice be worded thus:  IF YOU TARGET INSIDE THE TOILET BOWL, WE SHOULD BE MOST GRATEFUL" This way, there's no ambiguity and no male customers will suffer the ignominy of having their noble aim questioned.

Dateline: Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

Here's a book club meeting with a difference. This young Saigonese lady approached me - propositioned me with a stack of books in a restaurant in the tourist belt of Phang Ngu Lao street. I'm seen here with a Bill Bryson book, but we didn't discuss Bill Bryson. Neither did we discuss any of the other books in the whole stack. So, what's she doing with the stack of books? Flaunting her knowledge to tourists like me?  Click HERE and you'll know why.

Self-Love Can Destroy Your Organization

Corporate guru Poojya Swami Sukhabodhananda warns about the danger of self-love - "the addiction to one's point of view, one's dogma" - which can lead to disorder in an organization. He explains this by way of an analogy:


“Who is flying the kite?”
The egoistic person says, “I am flying the kite”.
The breeze says, “I am flying the kite”.
The tail of the kite says, “I am flying the kite”.
The string says, “I am flying the kite”.
Existence voice says, “Oh child, we are flying the kite”.

The value of the team is very important and that is possible if one’s love is not restricted to the self but to the whole. This ethical mode should be valued and respected in the organization, apart for honouring people who reach their targets. Such a value spontaneously brings in the power to give, the power to contribute, the power to serve.

You can find the whole article in  The Star's Metrobiz, 18 April 2012.

 McDonald's I'm lovin' it
 
NEXT time when you’re spending a blissfully intimate moment with your beloved, you might want to coo into her soft tofu ears: “I’m loving you.” I’m not sure how she would react, but what I do know is that McDonald’s tagline – I’m lovin’ it – sure has a way of getting our attention...

 Read the rest of this article at: http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2012/7/10/lifefocus/11572022&sec=lifefocus

Thirteen-year-old schoolboy and fledgling history buff  Benjamain Lerman Coady will go far.

Will Smith- If You Want Something, Go Get It

A Model for Personal Branding

Enterprising Internet Marketing Entrepreneur Ricky Soo holds an MBA and a B.SC in Computer Science, with a major in software engineering. A voracious reader, Ricky writes on subjects ranging from jokes, ethics, Internet Marketing to technology and Search Engine Optimization(SEO). Here he shares with us a model he has created on personal branding.

In business and entrepreneurship, we often talk about “business models” and “revenue models”. Put simply, a business model describes how a business works and competes.  A revenue model says how the business earns its revenue and profits.

This is the first time I've come up with a formal model on real- life problems. It is not meant to be complete or entirely accurate.  A model is just a representation of the real world.  It is meant to help us make decisions on real- life problems. It has weaknesses and we should not depend entirely on a model.

The model doesn’t try to cover everything about personal branding. Nor does it explain why we should brand ourselves, or how to go about doing it. But it’s more on the elements of personal branding and the kind of questions we should ask ourselves when developing and evaluating our own personal brand.