Is title or salary more important?

Been thinking a lot about work recently.

It all started when I heard one of my ex colleague, who left my company because she was "poached" to join a newly set-up competitor firm, that within one year, she has been promoted to the post of VP.

Ok, lets set the record straight. I have nothing against her, but when she left my company, she was one level below me. In terms of qualifications, skills, leadership qualities, etc, I definitely edge over her in all aspects. And after one year, she actually had like a double/triple promotion to VP?

Lets face it. We may all say money is more important, as long as I am better paid than her, why bother about her newly minted title? But I guess jealousy or envy has gotten a hold on me, and I am just feeling extremely uncomfortable because I definitely deserve more than her. When I say more, I mean far more!

Corporate titles vary from company to company, and a Senior Manager in Firm A may be designated as Assistant Vice President in Firm B. Likewise, the AVP in Firm B could be drawing a lower salary than the Senior Manager in Firm A. Its all just corporate titles.

Which is more important?

Title or Salary?

This is often a dilemma for most people because some people would even give up their managerial posts and leave a supervising job for, lets say, a sales job? Why? Because some sales people can earn more than managers.

On the other hand, some people in frontline entry level jobs, often crave for a leap in their job titles because they only see the glamour, and the "beautiful" side of that "Manager" title.

Its hard to comprehend, and if I am asked this question again, I would probably give a different answer at different phases of my life.

Back to myself. I have been in this industry for 4 years (full-time) now, and have been in the same job scope for more than 2 years, and I am starting to feel jaded. I guess its partly due to the nature of my job, because my performance is measured month after month, and every month is a fresh new month, so its kind of like going through a performance appraisal every new month.

You may end the month well for January, but you then have to gear yourself up again for February, its never-ending.

I do hope to see the fruits of my labour SOON, now that I have been given more responsibilites, and I am putting in my best effort to do my best for all that is given to me.

I need to move on to better things soon and hopefully I see a brighter light at the end of this murky tunnel.

When? I don't know, let God decide.

Most DRAMA war between 2 bloggers (In my opinion)

Apparently the war between Xiaxue and Dawn is such a drama that Xiaxue now gets more than 50,000 visitors to her blog A DAY, as compared to her average 20,000 visitors before this saga took place.



Well, if you still do not know what I am talking about, you should visit Xiaxue's blog to read her latest posts, her public "apology" to Dawn Yang and the emails exchanged between Xiaxue and Dawn's artiste manager.

I applaude Xiaxue for whatever she is doing, not that I think she is right, but at least she is not afraid to voice out her MOST SINCERE opinions.

I shall leave the details for your reading pleasure and shall not elaborate or express my two cents worth, lest I get myself into trouble, since this drama involves lawyers as well.

I love Xiaxue even more now!

Tired!

I am so tired! Today is only my 2nd lesson and I am already feeling so tired.

I feel like giving up.

Its as if I am not stressed enough at work!

So many things to worry about, so many things to complete, so many deadlines!

So much work, so little time!

I am TIRED!

School! And some little gossips.

Finally I am back to school!

After an 8 years interruption/hiatus/break, I finally went for the first lesson of my 2.5 years part-time course today! Damm excited at first because I would meet new friends, see new faces, and enjoy student life all over again. Only setback is I will be doing this 2-3 times a week after work, and that means a cut in my social life on weekdays. But then again, i don't really have a social life, so its just less drinking and KTV-ing with my bunch of colleagues.

That means save money too!

My first module is "Management and Organization".

First thing that came to my mind when I received the study materials: DRY!

Its all about work, what I am doing on a daily basis. BORING!

The lecturer went on and on for about 1 hour plus, before she gave us a well-deserved break! The moment I heard the word "break", I literally raced to the smoking point, to take a fag.

There I met an ex staff of mine, N! OMG.

The first thing that came out of her mouth,"Hey Marc, have you heard about DT?" I was thinking in my heart "NOT AGAIN"? It seems like the whole industry is talking about him like Hong Kong talks about Edison.

What makes it more interesting is that the subject of the topic, YY, is N's best friend. And I was told the scandalous sexcapade happened when I was still with my ex company, while i was managing the team! That was the most shocking part! How could they have disguised everything and appeared normal right in front of my own eyes?

I mean, how could DT not share this with me then? Haha. Maybe its too scandalous la.

Then N talked about AS, that ex-mediacorp actor. Oh sorry, I mean that ex-mediacorp C-LIST actor. She mentioned something like he should go back to Mediacorp to act because he seems to be acting 24/7. In more obvious terms, AS is FAKE! I totally agree, one of the staffs there even complained to me that he runs the company like he is acting in some MCS drama about the corporate world.

That AS should really just go back and do what he is best at, but then again will MCS take him back, since he is not that popular anymore, and he is OLD, and BIG now.

Then again, maybe not, why would he need to slog again in tele-world, when he has a company where he is "high and mighty" and one in which only he is in command? In army terms, he is the Chief of Defence Force. Even the previous chief has to lick his boots and please him, because this new chief has all the power to kick him out anytime, now that his EX owns the company.

I know this story is getting confusing, and I am not intending to talk about those scums anymore because they will only pollute my blog.

If you want to know more about what I was talking about, which MCS actor I was talking about, ask me in private ok?

Good luck to my new found staus:

Working Adult cum Part-time student.

Oh my, can anyone think of a better term for me?

Malaysia's Anwar accused of sodomy

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was accused Saturday of sodomizing a man, police said, sparking speculation that he might be arrested on the same charge that led to his imprisonment a decade ago.

Anwar, who resurrected his political career after leading the opposition to spectacular gains in the March 8 elections, denied the allegation, calling it a "complete fabrication."

"This is clearly a desperate attempt by the ... regime to arrest the movement of the Malaysian people towards freedom, democracy and justice," the 60-year-old former deputy prime minister said.

Anwar claimed the report was engineered by "interested parties" to prevent him from exposing the national police chief and the attorney general for their alleged role in having him accused of corruption and sodomy in 1998.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi insisted the government was not responsible for the accusation, saying there was no conspiracy "to cause (Anwar) trouble or harass him or raise such issues to undermine him."

Abdullah declined to say whether Anwar would be arrested. Asked about Anwar's denial, Abdullah said it "was common for an accused person" to claim he was innocent.

Anwar was ousted from government 10 years ago amid accusations of corruption and sodomy. He was convicted on both charges, but Malaysia's highest court overturned the sodomy conviction and freed him in 2004.

Anwar said in a statement he "recently obtained" evidence implicating Inspector General of Police Musa Hassan and Attorney General Gani Patail of misconduct and fabricating evidence against him. He said he will release the evidence soon.

"I believe we are witnessing a repeat of the methods used against me in 1998 when false allegations were made under duress," he said.

The developments that began to unfold a little before midnight could have an impact on Malaysian politics, which have been thrown into turmoil since the March 8 elections in which the governing National Front coalition returned its worst ever result.

The Front lost its traditional two-thirds parliamentary majority, returning to power with only a simple majority, and ceded control of five of Malaysia's 13 states to Anwar's three-party opposition alliance.

Kuala Lumpur's police chief for criminal investigations, Ku Chin Wah, said a man filed a police complaint late Saturday claiming that Anwar sodomized him. Ku told The Associated Press that the complaint was being investigated.

Sodomy, even if consensual, is punishable by 15 years' imprisonment in this Muslim-majority country.

Anwar had been attending a weekend party meeting in a hotel near Kuala Lumpur, but he moved to a secret location amid concerns about being arrested, party officials said

"Because he is considered a threat to the government, we are concerned about his safety. He can't afford to be detained again. He's in a safe location now," party deputy president Syed Husin Ali told The Associated Press.

A person close to Anwar, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make public statements, said Anwar was likely in a foreign embassy in Kuala Lumpur after being offered security there.

Ku said police have no immediate plans to arrest Anwar, and declined to identify the accuser. The opposition People's Justice Party said the man was coerced into making the accusation

The man went missing Saturday morning and his whereabouts remain unknown, said Sivarasa Rasiah, a top party official.

Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad fired Anwar from the Cabinet in 1998 amid accusations that he sodomized his family driver and abused his power to cover up the deed.

Anwar insisted he was victimized by a political conspiracy to prevent him from challenging Mahathir for power.

Anwar did not personally run in the March elections because his corruption conviction barred him from holding political office for five years. The ban ended in April, and Anwar has since indicated he wants to re-enter Parliament through a by-election.

(News from Yahoo)

Opposition would ruin Singapore: Lee Kuan Yew

SINGAPORE - The Singapore opposition would ruin the wealthy city-state's achievements in five years if they ever gained power, the country's founding father Lee Kuan Yew said.

Lee, 84, warned Singapore voters against putting the opposition at the helm of government "in a moment of fickleness or just sheer madness" when they get "bored" at some point in the future.

Should this happen, "I think all bets are off because in five years they (opposition) can ruin this place," he told delegates at an international forum late Wednesday.

He stressed that, unlike many other countries, Singapore did not have natural resources such as oil, gas, forests, timber and aluminium.

"When you are Singapore and your existence depends on performance -- extraordinary performance, better than your competitors -- but that performance disappears because the system on which it is based is eroded, then you've lost everything."

Lee, widely credited for shepherding the underdeveloped port into one of Asia's wealthiest nations in one generation, said younger Singaporeans often tell him he is "playing the same old record" when he delivers his message.

Singapore's small opposition has only two seats in a parliament dominated by the People's Action Party which has been elected since 1959.

Despite its economic success, local and international civil rights groups have criticised the government for cracking down hard on dissenters and political activists.

Street protests are rare and public gatherings of five people or more are banned without a police permit.

Lee has maintained that Western-style liberal democracy is not the right model for Singapore.

He said one ingredient for a country's success is putting able leaders in government. This could be difficult under a more freewheeling US-style democracy in which "you are judged in accordance with your persuasive powers," he said.

Lee holds the cabinet rank of Minister Mentor in the government of his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

(News from CNN and Yahoo)

I have nothing!

"I have nothing" by Whitney Houston is an overplayed, oversung song, not that its a bad thing. It seems like every talent contestant will belt this number to impress the judges. "I have nothing" is from the soundtrack of the movie "The Bodyguard" released in 1992.

Below are the different versions of the song by various artistes, do leave a comment and tell me which version you love! I love Charice's!

Leona Lewis in X Factor


Jennifer Hudson in American Idol 3


Vonzell Solomon in American Idol 4


Katharine McPhee in American Idol 5


Lakisha Jones in American Idol 6


My all time favourite Filipino singer! I love her singing!
Charice Pempengco in Oprah!!!


Charice Pempengco in SIPA


And finally, the DIVA, Whitney Houston herself!
Enjoy the MTV of The Bodyguard


So which version do you like? Share your views in the comment box below.

不凋零的花

Sun Ho's new MTV in responses to the Sichuan China earthquake victims.



Touching.