From the iPods, starting from the iPod classic, redesigning, re-innovating and re-generating itself, the growth is phenomenal and huge. Although I didn’t own an iPod and thought of owning one, the arrival of the iPhone 3G revolutionise and expedite my entry into the other side, some calling it a cult, it’s the Apple revolution, culture and belonging.

When Steve Jobs announced his decision to step down and hand over the reins to Tim Cook, it was like the end of an era, yet it also signify the start of another era in Apple technology and innovation. Looking back at Steve’s timeline, from the pioneer days to the remarkable growth days, he’s a great man beyond his peers, ranked among the great entrepreneurs and a master of leadership, innovation, vision and change. While I am taking the step to learn more about his entrepreneurship and vision, how he dealt with competition and leveraging. Steve Jobs will always stand high and above the rest, with the few elites of great innovative visionary leaders.

Here are some personal thoughts

- the iPhone revolutionsing the growth and expansion of social media networking on the move

- the iPad bringing the world of work & leisure into a portable handy powerful tablet with the best of both worlds along with social media connectivity

- iPods ~ brining songs to your daily life in different shapes, sizes and storage spaces, something for everybody from young to old, in different striking attractive colours too!

- MacBook Air ~ a beautiful marriage of a powerful laptop with portability, for work and leisure, all day round.

- Innovating, improving and getting ahead of their competitors

How did the world pay tribute to this great man Steve Jobs ?

Take a look at London Creative Digital Steve Jobs Infographic !

Source : London Creative Digital 

Newsweek’s The Daily Beast shared Steve Jobs 10 Commandments – The Genius and his creative process

Source : Newsweek The Daily Beast

Paying tribute to a genius and his creativity, a role model to learn from, not so much of designing a technology gadget, it’s about bringing it up and high above, a brand that goes beyond the stars, a following that just gets bigger, a vision that not many can dare or for-see into the future, this is Steve Jobs.

Looking back into a short history timeline when social media rides on its boom and wave towards the new era of marketing and public relations, online and offline, digital and traditional. It’s pretty amazing on the exponential growth and expansion in the past 3-5 years especially, moving from internet marketing to a highly active social media engagement society. Through dedicated social media sharing and learning websites, such as Socialnomics, Social Media Today and Flow Town Blog, I chanced upon an intriguing and very helpful infographic to share with my readers on Social Media today

State of the Internet 2011 

Created by: Online Schools

Take a time to watch this infographic, look at how fast the world is “turning” with the social media wave!

Embarking on the social media enthusiast route, expanding my social networks tremendously, locally and worldwide, getting to know more friends online and leading into good friends in real life too! I am moving into more active social media engagement given my time and business commitments. While I am not planning to be a social media leader, I am learning and wanting to be into Specialist in my fields of my expertise via the various social media tools, channels and networks. Check out my Klout profile, currently, I am a Broadcaster!

With the different engagements by PR companies, Digital Marketing companies and organisations, I am still learning on how to be a social media leader eventually, along with specialisation in my fields of photography, blogging, mentoring and social media. This article on “Wanted : Social Media Leaders” would serve as a good reading!

Another interesting infographic for you all readers here who are into Social Media :

 

Flowtown – Social Media Marketing Application

Which do you belong to in this Class of 2011 : If Social Media Were A High School ?

Even though these people have disabilities, it do not make them any less talented or less hardworking than any normal human being. In 2010, I was introduced to the Infocomm Accessibility Centre (IAC) and involved in TweetMeetSG 2010. Visiting IAC was an eye-opener for me, there were courses and training available along with special digital and IT equipment that caters to people with different disabilities. This year 2011, I was very honoured and humbled to be invited back by IAC and Dice Studio, for TweetMeetSG 2011, playing a greater significance and effort to the TweetMeetSG movement, by volunteering to visit a person with disability at his home, along with my partner, good old blogger friend and one of the nicest guy around, Keropokman, delivering gifts and our social media knowledge and guidance, that includes a NetBook and we helped them to setup, hook up and connect them to the internet, the social media community, family, relatives and friends.

The photojournalistic journey of our volunteering and blogging @ TweetMeetSG 2011 can be found here! We had a very enriching and humbling experience, happy that we were able to help out and make a difference in a person’s life and seeing the smile on his face, is simply priceless. The power of social media channels and networking can give a person with disabilities to connect better

From my TweetMeetSG 2011 volunteering and blogging experience, a personal quote that comes from my heart ~

“With IT skills, PWDs are given an opportunity to connect, interact and work with the society like any other people, allowing them to have higher self-esteem and self-confidence, thus helping them to integrate with the society better, contributing to the growth of the society and country.”

Moving forward ahead, while Singapore progresses ahead in prosperity and economic growth, we are in a better position to help people with disabilities in more ways possible. We can Pay-It-Forward and make an impact to their life, by introducing them to the NOTHING LESS project at IAC,  tell them about this wonderful and noble movement, encourage them to step forward and submit a video or write up telling IAC of an IT course from their list, and what they hope to achieve with it, followed by what does “NOTHING LESS” means to them. They would start their training at IAC and given a chance to intern with Tribal DDB, places are limited and the call for submission will end on 12th August 2011.

You, yes, You can make a difference in the life of a person with disabilities!

Personal Quote from my TweetMeetSG experiences and thoughts ~

“We never realize how social media networking can help a person to connect,interact & socialize, opening new doors for them #tweetmeetsg“

Attending the 89th Anniversary Campfire on 9th April 2011, it was back to school, back to Dragon Scouting and returning back to the roots and family where I learned so much from, although the age gap with the young boys and girls in the school does make it a potential generation gap, it’s the spirit, fire and love of Scouting that unites all young and old, that are related to the Dragon Scout Group family. The campfire is also a great time for the old boys and girls to come back and rekindle and reconnect with the extended Dragon Scout Group family networks.

Scouting is not just about fun, games and outdoor activities, it’s also about friendships and relationships that go beyond further than you can ever imagine, personal development in character and leadership growth. It was also an honour for me too, receiving my Centennial Silver Medal from my fellow Dragon Scout Group leader/senior (he was my leader when I was a Boy Scout in Dragon Scout Group), who is also the current Chief Commissioner of Singapore Scouts Association, Mr Tan Cheng Kiong. The Centennial Silver Medal was awarded to some of us folks from Dragon Scout Group and Dragon Chapter who helped out at the Singapore Scout Jamboree in December 2010.

To all the boys and girls in Dragon Scouting family, wishing you all the best and Onward Dragon Scouts! Keep the Dragon Scouting fire and spirit burning strong, proud and bright!

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

During the early days, it was influenced by SEO 2.0 and internet marketing, although essential in the growth and development of a blog today, some blogs were more designed like a internet marketing style. However, with the evolution and revolution of social networking channels and platforms, how has blogging changed in the midst of social media networking and engagements ? Are blogs still relevant ? Or micro-blogs be the next wave of blogging ? How about the debate o the growth electronic magazines style blogs / micro-blogs with the expansion of tablets primed to be one of the growth areas in digital technology for 2010 and 2011, possibly 2012 and beyond too.

Over my journey in blogging for the past 4 years, into my 5^th year since April 2006, it was a very interesting, exciting and enriching journey, in terms of writing, sharing, photography and social networking. I started as a blogger who just wants to share his photography and travel stories, next up was my personal blog in the fields of personal development, enrichment, growth, sports science, digital technology and information technology. Never did it occurred to me over these few years, that blogging can and will extend beyond my blog itself, into social networking and engagements with different brands and companies via PR companies. The networking within and around social media networks, have propelled me into knowing many more wonderful friends locally in Singapore and around the world, having the chance to communicate, chat and meeting them in person too.

I went from a blogger to somehow an in-between media, writer and photojournalist. My blogs went through different templates and theme revamps a few times along the way, starting from borrowed domain and hosting, migrating to own domain name and self-hosted sites. Nowadays, I am sometimes “classified” as media and not as a blogger anymore. It’s a compliment and somehow, it grew by itself over the years without me knowing it, entering into a field that I am not industrially qualified or working in. All these would not have come without opportunities, invitations and engagements by various PR companies and I am very grateful to all of them for everything mentioned above.

How will social media/blogging/micro-blogging scene change ? Some questions / thoughts

• Are we becoming less social and friendly even though we are always engaged on/in social media networks and platforms ?
• Are we becoming more snobbish and arrogant just because we are “highly connected” in social media networks and platforms ?
• Have blogs become less credible and less trusted due to so many blogs around us and the world ?
• Or have we become too lazy to do/own and maintain a full fledged blog and prefer to go into micro-blogging sites, without too much hassles, troubles and maintenance ?
• Will E-Mags on Tablets replace or complement blogs or micro-blogs ?
• Are companies and brands still insist on ROI for every amount of “investment” they put into ? Don’t companies and brands realise the ROI for every amount of “investment” they put into traditional media tools and channels, you can’t really put a figure to it nor a quantitive mathematically proven formula.
• Communication in the real world, is face to face daily; it is a 2 way channel going to an fro between both parties. It’s the same for social media channels and networking platforms. How much are people in the social media scene doing it as a 2 way engagement channel ?
• The blogging and social media scene becoming too business/market like and both sides engaging and fighting for engagements, connections, publicity and businesses ?
• Will you be able to grow your influence as a leader or expert or speciality in your field of knowledge, interest, hobby or career ?

Growing my 2 blogs, are just as much wonderful and influential, learning and developing myself from a nobody to a credible writer and photojournalist, with trust and following among my friends and followers. Looking forward ahead in 2011 and beyond, I do not have a magic ball to see the future of social media networking, blogging, the internet and beyond. In my personal opinion, I for-see some potential trends in

• Tablets, Smart phones and social media connectivity ~ getting bigger in participation and connected, expansion of social media networking
• Greater and wider exchanges between brands/companies via PR companies with the social media channels and blogging community
• The rise of the social media influencers
• More leveraging between inter and intra with social media channels and brands/organisations and PR companies

The thoughts and questions will always give me a reminder that I still have a lot to learn, grow and develop as a writer, photojournalist and social media enthusiast. Reminding myself to be humble and have humility at all times, always learning, always sharing and transforming into a mentor and influencer.

I still have a lot to learn and share and I am very grateful and thankful to everybody who has helped , guided or given me opportunities along my blogging to social media networking journey.

10th January – added 1 year more to my age band and received many well wishes and birthday wishes via Facebook wall, Twitter, SMS and personal greetings. Very grateful for those friends who sent me their birthday well wishes and small little birthday gifts too. On my birthday, always great to remind myself again and again of my blessings, count my blessings and be grateful.

11th January – 11 / 01 / 2011 at 11:11 , a beautiful number structure that will only last once in the lifetime. This is a time for me to write and pen down my planning and goal setting for 2010.

Business Operations & Development

- Structuring and strategising for 2011

- Improve marketing activities and breakthrough in new clients acquisition

- Improve Customer Relationship Management with existing clients

Blogging

- Increasing my posts with quality, diverse and interesting topics to attract more readers and followers

- Revamping my personal blog

- Improving my affiliate marketing for my 2 blogs

Social Media Networking

- Engaging & meeting more new bloggers / twitter

- Understanding more on the psychology and engagements of social media networks and inter networking

- Applying the social media channels and networks to all my businesses

Physical Fitness & Running

- Getting back into my active lifestyle of sports and outdoor activities

- Cycling on a regular basis with my 2nd hand road bike

- Going to gym to build up muscle and strengthening

- Starting to run again, from short distances to middle distances and finally the full marathon

• 10km & 15km Distance Runs
• August 2011 – 21km Army Half Marathon
• December 2011 – 42km Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon

- Sprint Triathlon in the last quarter of 2011 (proposed)

Personal Development

- Consistently and constantly reading books to update and improve my personal self

• Personal Development & Growth
• Leadership
• Mentoring
• Financial Knowledge and Management

Mentoring

- To help my friends via mentoring with my knowledge and experiences from the fields of

• Photography
• Blogging / Social Media Networking
• Financial Management and Planning

Do check out my photography and travel planning for 2011 too !

Goal planning is only the start of my journey in 2011, as I started to embark on my new marathon, my new adventure for 2011, exciting times await ahead for me. Over the next few days, I will work on breaking my goals down into more detailed and smaller components that will build up, just like building the lego bricks together in order to produce the final product – my goals and destinations for 2011 !

The Secret reveals the single most powerful law in the universe, it dawns upon me that …..

It’s not just about your work, business or career, it’s also about your health, relationship and happiness. As I reflect upon myself, my inner self, the invisible barriers that I set up without telling anybody, it’s an omen to myself that I can CHANGE MY LIFE !

Today is the Day that is The Secret to Life !!

I am able to change my life, no matter who you are, no matter where you are

“You were the Chosen One! It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them! Bring balance to the Force, not leave it in darkness!”

Obi-Wan-Kenobi to Darth Vader (a.k.a Anakin Skywalker)

No, don’t worry, this is not digging up Star Wars trilogy. The above segment was in relation to my article today, Mentor and Mentee, Obi-Wan-Kenobi in the Star Wars trilogy was a Mentor to Anakin Skywalker, his protege a.k.a known as the Mentee. In the later part of the trilogy, Obi-Wan-Kenobi continued Mentoring another Skywalker, he is Luke, son of Anakin Skywalker.

Bringing back to reality and real life, what is a Mentor ? what is a Mentee ? Is a Mentor your trusted friend, counsellor, teacher, experienced professionals, personal development coaches ? A Mentee on the other hand is a student of the Mentor, sometimes called a protege.

In today’s fast paced and constantly changing working environment, how are you facing up to the challenges of the current situation and future ? Are you ready for constant changes and new developments ? Are you ready to take them on – the new challenges ahead ? What are the area of concerns for you ? Career ? Personal Development ? Pay -It-Forward ? Professional upgrading education ? Networking ? Mentoring is present across different disciplines, careers, industries, that is how dynamic and wide scope it can reach out, yet it can be just as disciplined and focused in the field you are operating/working in.

~ Are you a professional with a rich wealth of experiences in your field of expertise and life ? Would you like to take on the role of a Mentor ? Are you ready to Pay-It-Forward ?

~ Are you a young professional that is still learning the ropes and gaining the work and life experiences ? Would you like to be a Mentee and learn from the highly experienced/experts who had been through that and done that ?

Welcome to the Rookie, whereby 12 dynamic and energetic people, are given a chance, a shot at competing for internships at 4 high profile companies, going through various levels and types of challenges and obstacles, their performances recorded and viewed by many over the internet. Exciting prizes await the final 4 interns and the champion of the final 4 interns would be The Rookie !

Where do we find out more information about The Rookie ? Would you like to guess who will be the The Rookie ? Look no further, I shall bring you into their WORLD !

There are exciting prizes to be won for viewers too ! Predict the Champion and you might walk away with the awesome Nokia E72 devices (for 2 lucky winners) !!! Observe how the contestants used their E72 to everyday and constant usage in their tasks, activities and planning !! Have a shot at predicting the winner and you might be a proud winner and owner of Nokia E72 !! Look out for Nokia’s E72 email + chat solution, Nokia Messaging that gives a competitive edge and success in your daily work, career and life.

6 Eliminated and we have 6 more challenging towards The Rookie, what have the contestants went through ? What’s the drama scenes like ? Check out their photos and their videos ! As more drama unfolds, the pressure builds up among the contestants and excitement builds up too among the viewers, how is your favourite contestant faring ? Or are you rooting for other contestants ?

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Presenting to you The Rookie, stayed tuned always and watch out for the Grand Finale whereby The Rookie would be revealed and crowned at The Zouk !

This got my attention immediately and I continued to read with great interest about how young people in 6 different global cities around the world would love their dreams  to be. After reading their stories and aspirations, it was enlightening and an eye opener on my generation’s and younger generation’s desires, views and dreams, such as “To make an impact” , “Fulfilment first” and “Not for the money”.

You see things; and you say, “Why?” But I dream things that never were; and I say, “Why not?” – George Bernard Shaw

Taking 1 day back into the papers, how about Singapore ?

“The Great (unreachable?) S’pore Dream” The Straits Times 17th April 2010

The above heading, kind of hit the jackpot, SPOT ON too. Continuing reading, it was started by a freelance photographer Charles Lim who spent the last 10 years recording Singaporeans’ dreams by getting them to pose with the dreams written down in chalk. The 5 Cs as commonly known among Singaporeans

- Car , Condominium , Credit Cards , Cash and a County Club Membership

How many of us are constantly chasing the 5 Cs ?

Question : How much of chasing the above 5 Cs eroded our values and causing us to be less polite, rude, violent, angry, dependent on foreign domestic workers ? Is the quest for materialism causing us more harm instead ?

Therefore, I ask myself again, What is my Dream ? What is your Dream ?

Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens. – Carl Jung

Looking inside my heart, I used to dream having a few of the 5 Cs mentioned, namely Car & Cash and till date, it’s still Car & Cash. With varying life harrowing experiences that could have resulted in me no longer on Mother Earth, things and life experiences had changed over the past 10 years especially, with 2 major accidents that shook myself and my world upside down. There was also an inner voice …

I want to be financially independent with minimum liabilities, generating varying sources of revenues through my entrepreneurship networks. With my assets and wealth, I want to help people in other countries that are less well off and make a difference in their life, helping them to get off the poverty viscous cycle.

I want to take on the role of mentorship to people, from personal development, leadership, scouting skills, life skills and photography skills.

I want to bring my photography and travel writing to the level of National Geographic Magazine, through my photoblog and travel editorial.

Dreams are only Dreams, if you choose to Dream and No Action.

As I write finished this small chapter, the journey had already started a few years ago and it was never easy, every day is challenging, the journey of an entrepreneur and I am still moving in the direction that I undertook.

Dear readers, “What is your Dream ?”

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” – Eleanor Roosevelt