Thursday 22 May 2008

My First Singing Competition

My First Singing Competition
These 2 clips' viewing status are already changed from private to public.

Quarterfinals - Wo Ai De Ren


I was really nervous. The thought of singing in front of a group of strangers and some of them are actually learning singing- meaning they can be quite qiang, I was thinking of ways not to become a joke. After seeing my video, I think I had many pitching problems throughout the song, and my body language was lousy! When I saw this video, I was like.... ermmm... ok looks and sound...erm... ya~ The judges commented that my shoulders were stiffed. They mentioned that my chorus[s] have not much differentiation/variation. And my mic control was not ideal, affecting the reception of my voice. The good thing they like was generally my tone techniques used, to bring emotions. I didn't managed to complete the song, but I was eventually given green light to semi-finals based the length/timing of my performance.

Semi Finals - Can Fei


It was a long wait before my turn, by the time my turn came, i was feeling dehydrated and super nervous liao. Actually my eyes were not really opened cos my bloodstream was folding super fast! Anyway, this performance wasn't good enough too. I didn't feel anything while watching the video, and my body language was as bad as the Quarterfinals. I feel its a normal performance lor, maybe it sounds too safe and normal ba. No wonder I didn't go thru' directly. Hmm... I will try to do better in the grand finals. Wish me luck! Supporters are still welcome to contact me regarding ticketing :)

Sunday 18 May 2008

I Don't Want To Be A Cockroach!

I Don't Want To Be A Cockroach!



In any industry/society, there will be the good and bad people. The general impression about the insurance industry probably had a more negative image in the past, which continues to be imprint in many minds and has been passed down the family line.

Sometimes, i just hope people can think of the bigger picture, realising the need and importance of having at least some extent of protection. Insurance - now more known as Financial Services Industry, does not only revolve around death, critical illness, disability, terminal illness, but also retirement planning. investment to enchance wealth, and mid-long term savings planning.

You shouldn't be suprised when you hear someone saying that he/she don't give a damn if he/she departs the world today, because some people i met are that irresponsible about their life and their loved ones.

You shouldn't be surprised when you hear people saying that I don't need to spend out of my own pocket, he/she can always go seek help from government, because i've met people saying this, and it was from a family man- who is a sole breadwinner.

You shouldn't be surprised when you hear people saying that I don't need much money for funeral-final expenses, hence he/she don't need insurance, because i've also heard this before.

You shouldn't be surprised that some people thinks that as long as they marry a rich partner, they don't need any planning for themselves and should invest on their appearances, or other areas to get geared up to meet the golden turtle, again because i've seen and heard it all.

You shouldn't be surprised that people start evaluating me, whether i'll stay long in the career or evaluating whether i'm meeting them for a purpose to sell them some thing, because haha... its true.. I won't be surprised at all.

No matter what reasons these people gave for not accepting the idea of planning, i seriously don't think i should give a damn, because i don't need to talk to people who can't be responsible for themselves. They better let inflation and the miserable interest rate 'eat' their money or let do their own investment if they think they are good at it [at least they lose the money in their own hands] or let them just simply spend their money to their last cent; why should i bother when they can't be bothered?

Back to the topic, there are bad consultants out there doing all sorts of wrong things. I hope you realise you are shity and hope you don't make it and quickly get out of the industry. We need some clean air. I'm witnessing some big agencies doing massive recruitment using all sorts of wrong methods. I'm sad, sad for those who joined, and sad that they are making us in the industry looking like monsters and scaring away alot of people. Be responsible recruiter, and be responsible consutant! argh~

I hope people realise that I'm not a cockroach, but a consultant who wishes to see my clients/friends, to have enough for retirement, don't need to worry if any misfortunate events happens, and can have a good financial status in time to come. Well, it takes alot of hardwork to prove this point, and i hope it won't take too long to let YOU realise this fact.

I Want To Be Your Lifetime Consultant!

Sunday 4 May 2008

A Small Twist of Fate~

2 Twists of Fate

Recently, in fact just within 3 days, i experienced twice-twist of fate....everything seems so damn wrong and negative, but within 3-4 hours in the day, the incidents took a new twist and everything seems so fine...

The first twist happened last Wednesday, i was helping my client with some admin work and was able to secure the deal but i didn't expect that what i've helped resulted in some negative chain reaction on my production and commission. It was like damn sway lah. I was just being helpful and i don't expect any thing in return, but i end up causing myself into more problems. My manager was like ranting and asking me that why i didn't know that my helpful act won't pay off. Then he cited some compliance issues that i would get myself into. I'm already very demoralised, after knowing that the sales might not be counted. I didn't feel like he is providing me any solutions. That adds up to my disappointment. And the worse thing is that i have to attend Kai Cheng's birthday, meaning i cannot sulk my face or feel sad. I tried to hide my disappointment and crapped during the celebration at Turf City. The food was great, all thanks to Mr Ho Kai Cheng~! First time eat, 'Buddha Jump Wall'... During dinner, my senior called, he proposed to me a possible solution and it was like oh... so hopeful... then everything was smooth after that, but i still don't know if there will be any underwriting problem, i seriously hope not...~

The 2nd twist was on Saturday. I went for the Semi-finals of Singout '08 - a singing competition. Guess most of you don't know about it. Anyway, I was sabotaged in a way to join the competition. There were 32 contestants (including me and Jacky). The contestants were relatively strong. But i do want to go into the finals, partly because of the Finals' venue: DBS Auditorium. I was performing at the venue, 18 years ago~ I remember my primary school choir instructor picked me and another friend to perform with her outside students in a combine concert. Ok, back to the semi-finals, I was number 23 and i waited from 12 - 4pm then it was my turn to be perform. Dear and Kelvin were there to support us. I sang 'can fei' and kneeled towards to end of the song, despite my knee injury. I had to add it into my performance to leave an impression. In the end, i received quite a good response/applauds from the crowd, considering that they didn't really clap much for most of the contestants. Quite happy about my performance. But at the announcing of results, i was eliminated. The organiser gave a surprise by allowing 2 more guys and 2 more girls to go into the finals. They picked 8 contestants up stage and i wasn't one of them. At the end of the day, me and jacky didn't go into Finals.

Both of us were joking about what happened after the competition, although we were disappointed but i think we handled it well. I was damn tired, so i decided to go home with dear after the dinner. While taking a nap in bus, my hp rang~ The number seemed like my office number, I was expecting something like "Hi I'm XXX, calling from Prudential..." but it turned out to be "Hi I'm Tommy, calling from Music Story, I would to inform you that you have advanced to the finals." I was like...huh? Is a this a prank? I was exhilarated and surprised. Speechless.... I'm in the finals!


Dear friends, I need your support now. The finals will be on 14 June 2008, 6pm, DBS Auditorium. The tickets are at $10 if you booked from me before this Thursday (08/05). If not it will be the usual price @ $15. You will be entitled to 5 votes during the event and 50% of the result will be from voting, the other 50% by professional judging. If you are interested, call/sms me now! If you're a passerby, and interested, can email me @ theplainwater@hotmail.com

I'll be judged for; Round 1- Duet, Round 2-Fast Song. Then only top 4 contestants will go into round 3 to face-off to be the Champion of 1st Singout.

Round 1: 20% Votes / 80% Professional Judging
Round 2: 50% Votes / 50% Professional Judging
Round 3: 50% Votes / 50% Professional Judging