Life, Travel, GRACE

Effective praise can motivate a person. ...Dweck did (a series of experiments) with four hundred new York fifth graders...It's goal was to see how much a tiny signal - a single sentence of praise - can affect performance and effort, and what kind of signal is most effective. First, Dweck have every child a test that consisted of fairly easy puzzles. Afterward the researcher informed all the children of their scores, adding a single six-word sentence of praise. Half of the kids were praised for their intelligence ("You must be smart at this."), and half were praised for their effort ("You must have worked really hard"). The kids were tested a second time, but this time they were offered a choice between a harder test and an easier test. Ninety percent of the kids who'd been praised for their effort chose the harder test. A majority of the kids who'd been praised for their intelligence...chose the easy test. Why? "When we praise children for their int...

It all started with good opportunity. Next they moved to big city to reach their dreams. God knows how difficult life is in the big city. And the opportunist took advantage on the cheap labor. Workers have been exploited. Somehow these youngsters know how to react. I guess it's due to the flat world. They got the attention. Read here for more. Wonder if our Malaysian youngsters have the gut to rise so. Or think creatively. If you are one of them, what will you do? Will you do the same? The author found the youngsters' action impressive with such maturity of handling the issue by not jeopardizing company's property. Thumbs up.

Heard this message about Matthew 25:14-30 (The Parable of the Talents). We know that it's about stewardship. But this passage is more than that. The Bible says the master gave the talents to three servants. He didn't loan or borrow, but give. So it's a gift. And the master left for a journey. The interesting point is that the Bible doesn't say the master would return to settle the account. The master did return. So the talents that have been given are analogous to the gift that each servant had received. Two of the servants embraced the gift and worked it out for a return. The other servant didn't get any gain from the talent. He might have not appreciated the gift (because he was given one talent while the other two got more?). This could be the same with us. Each of us has gift according to His will. And not all of us use it fully. Be it to bring glory to God or to advance His will. The reason? Sometimes people are reluctant to receive gift. They receive it and pu...

This was my second attempt of shooting in Sekinchan. Previous attempt was in December last year. Went there in the late afternoon. There was thunderstorm. No great photos taken from that last trip. This time a friend and I went there in the morning. The weather was good. We spent two hours in the field. Though not many photos shot, overall it was satisfactory.

There are six seasons altogether and I only watched the last three seasons. The plot is easy. A group of air flight passengers got stuck in an island after a plane crash. They encountered some mysterious events while on the island. There’s an attempt to leave the island. The last three seasons are about this group of people leaving the island and coming back again. It seems like the island has a rule that no one shall leave. As a result, the group who left earlier then realizes something is amiss. And there’s another group who somehow get teleported to different time. They stuck in that era and continue to live on. This same group of people plans to correct the past or specifically to prevent the airplane crash from happening. In the last season, the story splits into two timeline: current time line and alternate time line. One may think the second group has successfully prevented the airplane crash. Thus, creating an alternate universe. This may need a bit of science theory to explain...

Photos around the Borobudur temple....