He begins a new chapter and may God be there...

At the time of writing, it is approximately 24 hours to go before my brother steps back into Malaysia again, after having been away in London for more than 10 straight months. I don't usually show it, but I feel a lot of things that he feels and I sometimes wish I can do more...but at times I just don't know how.

He used to go to this Hillsong church, which houses its weekly Sunday service at the Dominion Theatre at Tottenham Court Road. I've been to a service with him once, and it wasn't bad at all. A lot of music and stuff, and it's got a huge following.

I suppose my brother has been attending this church for two years now, and sometimes two years can be a long time. I went online and saw his MSN nickname yesterday. It wrote - "Here I come, one last time, Dominion Theatre."

All of a sudden, a sombre mood swept across me. My own graduation and farewell to the UK has been spoilt by several things, and I never attended much society activities or any church service in Edinburgh. So I wasn't sad at all. Besides, I knew I would be returning to the UK for my brother's graduation this year.

But when I saw what he wrote as the nickname, I subconsciously took his farewell emotion into my own heart. So this is it. This...will be the last time. This...will be where the book closes. This will be where his life in London will close and he will return to KL to start a whole new chapter, where he would enter the working world.

My brother has been much more active than I ever was with university co-curricular activities. He's got a bigger circle of friends, albeit mostly from Malaysia and especially Singapore. But he's been attending this church for, like I said, a better part of two years.

"Here I come, one last time." I wouldn't be surprised if he got emotional at the Dominion Theatre and I wouldn't be surprised if he gets emotional on this particular Sunday. If it were me, I would be too. Heck, I think I could burst out sobbing.

I remember when I left home for the UK in September 2002. There were so many uncertainties on my mind. What if I never see my family again? Highly unlikely, but possible. What if I never get to eat my favourite foods again? And when I got a girlfriend in July the following year, it got even worse. Every time I come back and leave for the UK again, I hugged her tightly and we would just let the tears flow. Too many uncertainties. We cry because there's always going to be uncertainties. But sometimes, it's certain...certain we will never see the place again. I would probably never see Heriot-Watt again. Nor London. Nor take another ride on the Underground.

I'm not a particularly emotional person. The last time I really burst out and wept was June last year, when something happened with the marking on my exams. I kept it all welled up inside, but when I heard my mum's voice over the phone I knew I couldn't take it. As soon as I put the phone down the tear dams opened.

I would understand if my brother were to cry again. It's normal. We all hate farewells. But I hope whatever he's learnt about God and His Son from the great arena that is the Dominion Theatre would stay with him forever, and may God always be with him as he enters the wrking world and its challenges in KL.

From the man who became famous saying "You're fired!"

My own comments in parenthesis.

1. Don't take vacations. What's the point? If you're not enjoying your work, you're in the wrong job. Even when I'm playing golf, I'm doing business. I never stop, and I'm usually having fun... (Mental note taken).

2. Have a short attention span. Most successful people have very short attention spans. It has a lot to do with imagination. Quite often, I'll be talking to someone and I'll know what they're going to say before they say it. After the first three words are out of their mouth, I know what the next forty are going to be, so I try to pick up the pace and move it along. You can get more done faster that way.
(It's hard for me to do this. He's looking at the positive side of it. For me, it's more of a case of knowing how much the person knows or what his character is like once he opens his mouth).

3. Don't sleep any more than you have to. I usually sleep about four hours per night. (As an aside, I've always believed I'll sleep plenty when I'm dead) I'm in bed by 1AM and I'm up to read the newspapers by 5AM. I have friends who are successful and sleep ten hours a night, and I ask them, "How can you compete against people like me if I sleep only four hours. It rarely can be done. No matter how brilliant you are, there's not enough time in the day. You may be wondering: Why do you need a completitive edge? You don't, if you're happy to be an also-ran in life...
(Oh no, I can't. I need at least 6 bloody hours).

4. Don't depend on technology. A lot of it is unneccessary and expensive. I don't have a computer on my desk. I don't use an intercom. When I want someone in my office, I yell. It works a lot better than an intercom, and it's much faster. I don't even have an ATM card-- I've never used one in my life. That's the funny thing about being rich: When I go to restaurants, I rarely have to pay. It's usually on the house. The sad part is that if I needed the money, they would make me pay! ...a lot of other tech devices are completely unnecessary and get in the way of human contact. If you have something important to say, look the person in the eye and say it. And if you can't get there, pick up the phone and make sure they hear the sincereity in your voice. E-mail is for wimps.
(Do you believe that? He doesn't have an ATM card. Then again, I'm not too bad myself with only ONE. I'm a firm believer in the idea that if you can't afford it, put it back! But I disagree with the e-mail thing. I can always pick up the sincerity in a non-corporate e-mail. Sometimes people wanna say something but they're too shy to say it).

5. Think of yourself as a one-man army. You're not only the commander in chief, you're the soldier as well. You must plan and execute your plan alone. People are always comparing business to war and to sports. We do it because these are analogies we immediately understand, not because business is about toughness. It isn't. It's more important to be smart than tough. I know some very bad businessmen who are brutally tough, but they're not smart people...
(Mental note taken. You work for yourself first, then you get people to work you. My dad said one of the reasons he's a boss is because he doesn't wanna be fired, he wants to fire. Another way of looking at it).

6. It's often to your advantage to be underestimated. You never want people to think you're a loser, or a schlepper, but it's not a good idea if they think you're the smartest person in the room, either...One of the reasons President Reagan was such a successful candidate for office was because rival politicians consistently misjudged him. They assumed an actor wouldn't be able to compete. Through the years of insults about his lack of intelligence and political experience, Reagan would smile and remain genial, and in the end, he always exceeded expectations...
(Mental note taken).

7. Success breeds success. The best way to impress people is through results. It's easier for me to do deals now because I've had so many triumphs. You have to create success to impress people in the world of business If you're young and you haven't had any successes yet, then you have to create the impression of success. It doesn't matter whether the success is a small one, or a big one-- you have to start with something and build on it.
(An effective business strategy. Comes with the adage "Fake it till you make it!" Haha...Create the "impression" of success).

8. Friends are good, but family is better. It's better to trust your family than your friends...
(Mental note taken).

9. Treat each decision like a lover. Vast fortunes are accumulated through dozens of decisions a day, thousands a month, and hundreds of thousands in a career. Yet each decision is different in its own way. Sometimes you decide immediately-- love at first sight. Sometimes you go slowly-- the long engagement. Sometimes you gather people in a room and consider various opinions-- the equivilant of asking your friends what they think of the person you've been dating. If you treat each decision like a lover-- faithfully, respectfully, appropreiately-- you won't be locked into a rigid system. You'll adapt to the needs of the particular decision. Sometimes you'll think with your head. Other times you'll think with other parts of your body and that's good. Some of the best business decisions are made out of passion. Sometimes people are surprised by how quickly I make big decisions, but I've learned to trust my instincts and not to overthink things...
(Yet to happen for me. Mental note taken).

10. Be curious. A successful person is always going to be curious...You have to be alive to your surroundings and hungry to understand your immediate world. Otherwise, you'll lack the perspective to see beyond yourself...
(I need to especially improve this aspect).