tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-93261632009-10-16T06:51:08.261+08:00David Woonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14470932939686721633me@davidwoon.comBlogger77125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9326163.post-28110805881597847482009-06-25T14:15:00.003+08:002009-06-25T14:27:14.658+08:00

I doodled. I wrote. I typed. I emailed. I ICQed. I MSNed. I SMSed. I blogged. I facebooked. Now I tweet..."It's never too soon to do the right thing but it can be too late."David Woon, Tweeter (http://twitter.com/davidwoon)

David Woonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14470932939686721633me@davidwoon.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9326163.post-47380488172494434492009-04-04T16:47:00.004+08:002009-04-04T17:24:29.874+08:00

Sex, violence, special effects and Hollywood stars: these are key ingredients for a blockbusting movie.Well, the movie that I'm recommending here has none of the above but it reaches the heart, embraces it and transforms it.It is a movie about marriage - the bedrock of every society; a timely relief for our modern society where up to 54.9% of new marriages end in divorce!And though it's a

David Woonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14470932939686721633me@davidwoon.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9326163.post-3822493711221059202009-04-01T09:38:00.003+08:002009-04-01T09:57:06.424+08:00

I realised I've been too serious lately... blogging about big heavy topics - that's not really my style and now with the recession, I think we all need to ease up a little, it's not the end of the world you know... unless my boss walks in now and catches me blogging (but that's not gonna happen since he's on vacation;-)I just had to write something after being inspired by Robin Chan's witty

David Woonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14470932939686721633me@davidwoon.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9326163.post-7680974998529659862009-03-07T08:48:00.008+08:002009-03-07T17:07:21.459+08:00

According to the Guttmacher Institute in Oct 2008, about 1 in 5 pregnancies end in abortion...Not to worry, I am not going to start yet another futile debate on the abortion controversy - I believe we should all focus on the common ground of both pro-life and pro-choice camps: abortion reduction.Due to the complex circumstances surrounding a mother's decision to go for an abortion, I don't think

David Woonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14470932939686721633me@davidwoon.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9326163.post-27161327003890564602008-11-15T16:17:00.009+08:002008-11-18T08:14:20.941+08:00

I am sure you were inspired by President-elect Obama's historic victory and started to wonder if you could also be President one day in your country - well, at least I did:)But if we are honest, we know deep in our hearts that such an ambition is way too farfetched to be of any use in motivating ourselves to be the best we can be.We need something more realistic and pragmatic yet equally

David Woonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14470932939686721633me@davidwoon.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9326163.post-23446135310291351792008-07-28T19:57:00.008+08:002008-07-30T20:44:59.854+08:00

I recently discovered a quantum mechanical characteristic of Friendship which I hereby term ABC - Apart But Connected; like two particles in quantum entanglement, two friends can be apart but connected in a mysterious way by heartstrings.When I met up with my ex-classmate from my secondary school recently, we both exclaimed at the same time, "You haven't changed much after 18 years!"It was a

David Woonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14470932939686721633me@davidwoon.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9326163.post-53031908851519115742008-05-31T23:35:00.004+08:002008-06-01T01:20:47.820+08:00

I like to eat meat... after being a Flexitarian for almost 3 years, I must admit that I still prefer meat to veggies!But that doesn't mean I am "backsliding" - my dietary preferences were never the reasons for my conversion in the first place - the key reason was, is and always will be the welfare of innocent animals. Today, the situation isn't getting better for our fellow earth-dwellers: read

David Woonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14470932939686721633me@davidwoon.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9326163.post-90182081105180473482008-05-09T07:01:00.003+08:002008-05-09T13:49:04.700+08:00

With more than 1 million homeless and about 100,000 dead, we must act fast to prevent more deaths due to lack of food and water as well as spread of diseases. Check out WorldVision's response and the latest news here.Let's all pray, donate and do what we can to help the victims of Cyclone Nargis - perhaps the solidarity and compassion of the international community would also help to bring

David Woonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14470932939686721633me@davidwoon.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9326163.post-86370701660579871952008-04-21T08:36:00.006+08:002008-04-26T18:58:16.157+08:00

I have not read any books on love and marriage since Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus (1992) because I thought I had read most of the important books on the topic and besides, I had a great 7-year marriage so far...Then I chanced upon Gary Chapman's Five Love Languages (1995) - the concepts are not new to me but they are well-explained, practical and most importantly, impactful!Through his

David Woonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14470932939686721633me@davidwoon.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9326163.post-17524218130440339322008-04-12T14:59:00.005+08:002008-04-12T16:28:01.822+08:00

There're countless tips on how to save petrol on the Web but I would like to share just one tip - because it really works and helps me to improve my Vios 1.5 E (Auto) mileage from an average of 11 km/l to 14 km/l!I've tried many tips but this is THE ONE TIP that gives significant petrol savings! And it's very simple to apply and it's even good for health!Here it is: Switch off the

David Woonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14470932939686721633me@davidwoon.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9326163.post-32175325195805164752008-03-21T23:21:00.005+08:002008-08-30T14:20:49.053+08:00

The past 3 months had been an emotionally and physically trying period for me. Death, suffering, despair, betrayal, stress, fatigue – I’ve experienced these extreme states of life in parallel through my loved ones and close friends; a close relative had to make a decision to amputate a leg or die within a week; another had to face up to the inevitability of losing a second leg; a close friend

David Woonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14470932939686721633me@davidwoon.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9326163.post-3252109685426144162007-11-17T15:28:00.000+08:002008-01-17T08:21:00.860+08:00

As World AIDS Day is just round the corner (1 Dec), it is timely for us to reflect on the AIDS pandemic that has claimed more than 25 million lives since it was first recognized in 1981. Currently, about 38.6 million people are living with AIDS worldwide.No cure has been found to date. Despite global preventive campaigns with budgets in the range of billions of dollars, the number of infections

David Woonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14470932939686721633me@davidwoon.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9326163.post-1117980961314950132007-09-30T02:44:00.001+08:002008-05-10T13:30:31.553+08:00

Heard of Quantum Mechanics? You might have heard it but think little of it because it sounds terribly complicated and unrelated to daily life. And you are right: it's so mind-boggling that even Albert Einstein (named as the greatest physicist of all time) had problems with it, and of course, life goes on even if you can't understand its equations.But I think everyone should know a bit more about

David Woonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14470932939686721633me@davidwoon.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9326163.post-8817492571684812412007-09-04T00:10:00.000+08:002008-01-12T16:15:55.225+08:00

Till today, my parents have been telling me to save money for a rainy day - and I have been obedient:-)But in our modern globalised society, we need better financial strategies to sustain and grow the economy, bridge the income gap between the richest and poorest, help the underprivileged and of course, make ourselves happy.There are many interesting online discussions on how best to spend money

David Woonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14470932939686721633me@davidwoon.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9326163.post-56925543701207029962007-07-29T08:41:00.000+08:002008-01-17T08:13:48.136+08:00

I was at the final phase of Operation Romantic Birthday Surprise after accomplishing the virtually impossible objective of obtaining the McDonald's Shrek figurine (not even eBay had it!).It was time to pull in a highly unlikely accomplice for the climactic ending: my then 20-month-old son Xavier. I wasn't even sure if he could cooperate but I had to try. I told him as simply as possible the

David Woonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14470932939686721633me@davidwoon.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9326163.post-82339857132904327692007-07-10T07:32:00.000+08:002008-05-10T13:32:06.580+08:00

On 7 June 2007, Nature, the world's foremost scientific journal, reported the possibility of extracting embryonic stem cells from adult skill cells according to experiments involving mouse cells.This made me sit up and think about the intense Stem Cells Debate that has been going on for a while... Why are there so many arguments on controversial morality issues but so little on practical issues?

David Woonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14470932939686721633me@davidwoon.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9326163.post-26444934774196430322007-06-22T09:45:00.000+08:002008-01-17T08:10:17.209+08:00

In all my years of negotiations with parties from large MNCs, government agencies, and universities to negotiations with my 20-month-old son, I've learnt one thing: for any negotiation to have a high chance of success, the following assumption, which I call "The Golden Assumption" must be made: Everyone is reasonable.This may seem like a trivial point but it opens the door to real communication,

David Woonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14470932939686721633me@davidwoon.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9326163.post-24874912528098614912007-05-31T15:55:00.000+08:002008-01-17T08:07:36.230+08:00

On 1 April 2007, I had the worst "April Fool's joke" of my life: my computer hung and I realised my last backup was more than 6 months ago!This was specially embarrassing for me because as a computer engineer, I constantly remind people of the need to back up data regularly!Though I eventually recovered all data and fixed up my computer, this incident led me to an acutely sobering thought: what

David Woonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14470932939686721633me@davidwoon.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9326163.post-17093039899956450882007-03-18T17:22:00.000+08:002008-01-17T08:16:38.490+08:00

Mr Mooney had a vision: if he could earn enough money to retire before 50, he would have plenty of time for his family, friends and social/religious work - Life would then be fulfilling and joyful. And so, he worked and worked... with absolutely no time for his family, friends and social/religious work.One day, Mr Mooney earned enough money to last him many lifetimes and decided to retire. He

David Woonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14470932939686721633me@davidwoon.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9326163.post-49986048929261231782007-02-22T01:47:00.000+08:002008-01-17T08:10:17.209+08:00

We all want to become a better person and where possible, help others to become better persons - there is no better way to change the world for the better.But how do we know if we are growing in character? How can we assess a person's character? How can we be objective?I propose two measures to gauge one's character:1. Nobody-CentricDon't be overly impressed by spectacular displays of courage,

David Woonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14470932939686721633me@davidwoon.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9326163.post-90601828440745694552007-01-20T01:14:00.001+08:002008-05-10T13:33:50.938+08:00

Can't understand why it's always so difficult to see the block numbers of HDB flats? Can't figure out why ancient parking coupons are still used in the digital age?My fellow Singaporeans, here is your chance to speak up and make a difference in 2007!Simply check out 10TouchPoints, a nation-wide initiative to redesign everyday stuff to make our lives better! You can propose new ideas or vote for

David Woonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14470932939686721633me@davidwoon.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9326163.post-8841836284259491652006-12-22T23:33:00.001+08:002008-05-10T13:36:42.440+08:00

I've always thought that the only green way to drive is to drive a hybrid car... until I experienced a new way of driving: Carsharing.I just obtained my driving license in November and was very eager to drive. But buying a new car is just too costly; renting a car costs a lot too; all my friends advised me against getting a used car; that leaves me with one choice: Carsharing.So I signed up a

David Woonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14470932939686721633me@davidwoon.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9326163.post-86273758936009875132006-11-17T07:00:00.001+08:002008-05-10T13:38:47.652+08:00

I was shocked to discover that my beautiful island country Singapore was ranked 131 (out of 178) in a study called The Happy Planet Index to compare how efficient countries are in making their citizens happy.To understand this study better, let us compare Singapore and Costa Rica:SingaporeCosta Rica Ranking1313 Life Satisfaction6.97.5 Life Expectancy78.778.2 Ecological Footprint6.22.1Ecological

David Woonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14470932939686721633me@davidwoon.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9326163.post-1160795973724241072006-10-14T11:18:00.001+08:002008-05-10T13:42:35.164+08:00

If you find yourself doing many things at one go, e.g. munching food, talking to your spouse, checking your emails on your Blackberry, planning next week's work schedule, thinking about yesterday's soccer game and watching TV, all at the same time, then may I propose to you more fruitful way of life: Now-Oriented Living (NOL).I define NOL as living at the moment for the moment, i.e., if you are

David Woonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14470932939686721633me@davidwoon.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9326163.post-1158327555018164212006-09-15T21:22:00.001+08:002008-08-26T14:21:48.055+08:00

You're invited to participate in the most ambitious Love-Sharing Scheme in Blogosphere: To post one million love messages in a single blog here:Share love with the world with a message from your heart to your loved ones now! Love begets love - so let us make this world a more loving place for everyone:)

David Woonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14470932939686721633me@davidwoon.com1