Bumpy Road.

Recently New Biz seems to be taking their own sweet time in processing policies. Memos will take 2 weeks to take effect, underwriting notes take AT LEAST 2 days to be reflected on SFA. 2 days from the day the underwriting decision is made mind you, not 2 days from submission. Like what Raymond said, the back end seems unable to support the sales force.

In other words, we the sales force are simply too AWESOME for them to handle.

However, this AWESOMENESS has its downside. As the back end can't process the proposals fast enough to clear them, it gave me a few hiccups to my A&H challenge. Despite all the buffer I put in, I was short of around 900 due to prushield not being accepted fast enough. No matter. I went on to do even more, 1800 worth of pmcc, to clear the A&H. This puts me way past QC. MUAHAHAA. Now to aim for the next lvl. To be ELITE! PERTH HERE I COME!

Seoul Power

It's been a busy week for me so far. Since Saturday I've been going for appointments after appointments, day in day out, working hard to hit my production and my A&H challenge. Finally it all pays off. Managed to secure enough to clear my A&H challenge by today and even created some buffer too!

I went for an average of 3 appointments a day everyday from Saturday until now. Just running around the island whole day gave me a good workout. Think I became fitter coz of all the running around haha. Yesterday night alone I went for 2 appointments. It lasted until 12am at night. They were referrals from my Dad, colleagues at work who were interested in getting medical coverage. Really glad that I got the help from my Dad for this, otherwise I would probably have to slog for even longer to clear the challenge. Thanks Dad!

All this slogging has also paid off in terms of overall production. Now I'm almost done with my QC. I thought I had cleared but when I checked just now it seems that I'm still 2k short. I must make up for that 2k as soon as possible. OR maybe it's because the paper submissions haven't been reflected yet. Either way bringing more production in doesn't hurt. =)

Random Stranger.

Met a random stranger today while canvassing. I asked him whether he was studying? He shook his head. I asked him whether he was working? He shook his head again. NS? Shook his head. Then jokingly I said then you're just hanging around doing nothing? He actually nodded his head seriously. Then he told me on how he doesn't manage his own savings and how he is able to survive on $1.50 chicken rice everyday. He said it was a choice of life, choosing to lead it this way.

I was thinking to myself, if this guy is telling the truth and he isn't lying, then either he has totally no liabilities or he is just being plain irresponsible. Who doesn't want to lead a carefree life where u don't want to care about finances? But when you have a family to support and parents to take care of, can you afford to do that? If you choose to still to it then I would say that you have let your parents down.

That is the reason why we must all strive and work hard to build up and stabilize our finances before we can think of leading a carefree life. We must be responsible individuals and not simply choose a carefree life because you "don't want to be stuck doing something you don't really want to do".

Join the club

Woohoo... With 68k production in force and another 9k pending this brings my total production to 77k! This means that I'm only 8k away from clearing QC! MUAHAHAHAA~!

According to my calculations, I should clear QC by next week. Which means I will have only 20k more to QCE and 60k more to star club! which would mean that I'm on track as long as I maintain my production for the rest of the year! Whee! Perth and Barcelona here I come!!!!!

You win some, you lose some...

First of all I must say how happy and proud I am of our little project. This is something that everyone in La Famille can work towards together, and I want it to succeed so badly. Really excited about working on this and making it work. After all, it will be a great learning experience and I'm sure it will be a great boost to me in terms of both my personal growth and my career.

The bad news is today I lost my phone. Left it in a cab while hurrying to my appointment. When I realised that my phone was not with me (about 1 min after getting off the cab), I tried calling it using my friend's phone. After about 7 attempts later, the ****er who picked up my phone switched it off. I am so damn pissed at whoever the ***hole is that found my phone. Probably gonna sell it off for a quick buck, not that it's worth much anyway. Just pissed at the amount of inconvenience that retard has put me through. So I'm just gonna say this little prayer:

May the fleas of a thousand desert camels infest the crotch of whoever picked up my phone and may his hands be too short to scratch. Amen.

STEP UP

Today we were on a mission. A mission to save a fellow comrade who needed help. We were supposed to begin our mission at 730am this morning, but due to some minor hiccups we were delayed until around 8 plus. It didn't matter. We got things sorted out and soon we were working our way through the crowd. Then it start raining. It didn't matter. We simply moved out of the open area and into the shelter to carry on with our mission. Next the security guard of the building we were taking shelter under came over and told us off, saying that we weren't allowed to do any surveys or promote any product or services in the premise of the building. It didn't matter. We simply put away our survey forms and had a nice little chat with the passer-bys.

Whatever reasons there were to stop us, it didn't matter at all. What mattered was that we were there on a mission, and we had to complete that mission. We simply did what had to be done. Waking up early was not an obstacle, the weather didn't hinder us, security guards couldn't stop us. Basically, all these things can slow us down, but they will not stop us.

We were faced with a challenge today, a challenge to STEP UP and save our family member. We did it. I just hope that she can see the effort we put in for her.

Troubleshooting.

Danny went down with me for an appointment yesterday at Bukit Pangjang Plaza. I'm really grateful that he did because he managed to point out a lot of things which I need to improve on for my closings. Basically I gave my client too much info and too much choices so much so that he was confused with everything that I was presenting. I should keep the solution presentation as simple as possible. Most importantly, I need to ask questions to guide him towards making a decision and not simply leave the decision up to him. I guess I wasn't aggressive enough in asking him to do the right thing.

Now I know what I need to do. Now I know that I need to hone on my killer instinct and go in for the kill. I think I made the same mistake for Marcus, going into too much detail and not trying to guide him to make the decision. I need to learn to decide for them and help them come to see why that decision is the best for them. I need to be more assertive. This is for their own good. I need to get them protected as soon as possible. Being passive is not gonna help them if anything happens to them. DO YOUR JOB RIGHT!

The Sweet taste of NECTAR

Just completed Bernard Ho's NECTAR training this week. It was a fruitful period spent under the direct tutelage of Mr Bernard Ho. Really learnt a lot of things from him about openings and handling objections. He gave me a systematic way to approach my business, which helps a lot. Woohoo! Now I feel so well equipped that nothing can stop me!

He taught us about his famous FP triangle, which he used to open so many appointments, handling objections, how to get a commitment to take a closer look and a lot of other practical and useful information which comes in handy when meeting up with clients. Now that I'm armed with all these I'm sure that I will hit Star Club by the end of this year!

On track to Bangkok!

The news is in! My production cleared in time for June! Which means I'm going to Bangkok! Woohoo!

Was really kancheong and nervous the night b4 as the policy had not been issued yet. But this morning when I woke up and saw Zinc's sms I was elated! Woohoo!!! All the hard work and effort finally paid off, and I couldn't have done it without having la famille by my side. I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

Checking my production today I found that I have 57k WAPI and 39k API, which works out to be around 54k AIPI. This means I'm on track for star club!!! Only 90k to go!!! BARCELONA HERE I COME.

Roadshow Recap.

Finally had time to sit down and recap my roadshow last week. Been quite a busy week running around so didn't really get to blog.

The roadshow at dhoby ghaut was a BAM! I have never had so many sit downs before. Averaging at about 1 sit down an hour. However I know by our family standards that's not good enough yet. So I will work harder to improve my sit down rates. Still, it is an improvement from my past results and as Bernard says: Celebrate every win. WOOHO!!!! CELEBRATE!!!! Ok celebrate over, now work harder.

Also this is the first roadshow where I had a client sign on the spot. It was damn exciting! I think he was quite impressed with the presentation and really wanted to consider taking up the plan. So with Zinc's help we got him to fill up the medical questionaires and sign the proposal so that underwriting can begin. I was damn elated. But I know that I still have a lot of work to in terms of going for a close. Still it feels damn good.

After working with Bro-Ken for 2 days on the roadshow I've found my style. The serious style. It works great with the crowd there and it makes me very comfortable. It's a style which I could go at for hours and not feel bored or down. Yes, I'm dead serious about this. MUAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!!

Happy day

One of the most tiring days of the week. Got home at only 4am last night and had an appointment in the morning at Plaza Sing. Then after that was roadshow all the way until 9 then I had to go down to old airport road there to collect premium from Mr. Lee. Although it was a long day, there was never a dull moment.

Although I didn't really get much sleep, I felt extraordinarily energetic at the roadshow. I think Bro-Ken has helped me find the 路线 that is most suitable for me and it was quite fun and comfortable. Had lots of fun at the roadshow and kept on fine tuning my techniques. Now I need to work on my closing and objections handling.

I think I can understand how Sam can keep flying and yet stay so full of energy when I meet her.

Get the show on the road.

What a busy week this has been. Roadshows in the day and appointments at night. It's good that I'm busy.

The roadshow at Dhoby Ghaut has been a real enlightening one. I learnt a lot about roadshows and brushed up a lot on my skills. Thanks Bro-Ken for helping me so much. This is the first roadshow that I had someone sign the papers on the spot. Also the first time I had so many sit-downs in a single day. I FEEL GREAT!

Adventures on Ghost Island.

It was one helluva weekend we had at Pulau Hantu. So much fun, thrill, excitement, horror, and laughter.

When we arrived on the first day, it was bright and sunny. Perfect for a tan. After setting everything up I saw my dad in the lagoon setting up the net. I went over to check it out and he told me to swim over to the other side of the lagoon. While doing so I realised that the lagoon was actually quite deep and the currents were quite strong. Still, I managed to reach the other side. Kenneth was holding the net in the middle while my dad was searching for a way to tie the net over to my side. While he was swimming over, he started to struggle and became quite pale. He shouted to me that he was losing his breath and couldn't swim anymore. I quickly got into the water and swam towards him, pulling him towards shallower water where he could sit down. As he was panting away, I was quite worried. He told me that the day before he had a medical checkup and the doctor said that his breath was too shallow. As he was resting, I found a piece of log which he could use as a floatation device on the trip back. We managed to swim back without incident.

Once I got back to the campsite, I was told it was time for the initiation. The initiation was a ceremony that required me to jump off from the highest point on the jetty into the water. The jumping point was quite high actually. It was about 3 storeys high. At first, it doesn't look very menacing when u see it. But once you reach the top, your heart will start pumping and the blood will start racing. As I was about the climb out of the railing, Kenneth shouted to me to jump from the top of the railing. I put my feet on top and the railing and slowly stood up. The view was magnificent. I took a few seconds to take in my breath and lept out. Splash! and I was in the water. But I think I didn't go straight down and landed a bit on my butt. So my butt felt damn painful and sore for the rest of the day.

At night, we wanted to water proof the generator in case it rained. So Ken, Wing, Danny, Ester and I set out to look for a dustbin to fit the generator. As we carried the generator back, we spotted a centipede. Ken was so excited. He got Wing to run back to get a pair of chopsticks and a ziplock bag. With those tools, Ken slowly pinned down the centipede and caught it. We brought it back and showed everybody. Back at camp we spotted another one and it was again quickly subdued by Ken. Zinc told us that there was one in the ladies so we decided to go check it out. We couldn't find any in the toilet so it probably ran away. On the way back we spotted a large one on the path. While trying to catch it, Ken was bitten on his finger. He quickly sucked out the blood and spitted the poison out. Even then, his finger and hand started swelling. We decided to call the coast guard and sent him back to mainland to seek treatment at a hospital.

The next day, we found out that he was warded for 3 days for observation.

The second day was a lazy day. Most of the day was spent swimming and picking shellfish during low tide. At night, we had bbq for dinner. Main dishes were chicken wings, sausages and the fishes Danny caught. After dinner, a few of us went to the jetty to have a chat and enjoyed the sea breeze. As the winds got stronger, Esther saw streaks of lightning in the distance. Fearing rain, we went back to our pavillion and took out the canvas to tie on. As we were tying, Esther suddenly let out a loud scream. She was bitten by something at her waist. I told her to go to Wing for first aid and said that it probably was a flying insect. I continued to tie the canvas down but Roy ran over to ask me to stop and becareful as Esther was bitten by a centipede. Then, they saw the centipede crawl off Esther's pants and run away. I was quite shock that it actually crawled up so high. Again we called the coast guard and sent Esther off to hospital. That night we slept at the jetty, not wanting to go back to where Esther was bitten.

The last day was rather uneventful compared the the first two. We had instant noodle for lunch and I laid in my hammock as we waited for the boat to come. It came quite late at 4 and we ended up back in SG at about 445. That was the end of our Hantu Adventure.

Break in Batam

Woohoo! After a 2 days break in Batam I'm finally back in Singapore. The trip was awesome. 4 of us went down to meet the Indonesian friend of ours who showed us around. At first I tot Kenneth said we were going office first so I wore my shirt and pants to meet them at Bukit Batok, packing my jeans and t-shirt in my bag. Then when I reach there I saw all of them wearing jeans then I thought to myself Nabeh... Kena tua liao.... In the end we headed straight to Habourfront to get our ferry tickets. After clearing the Singapore customs, we boarded our ride called the Wavemaster.

Ken, Esther and I.

And Again.

In case you are wondering if my maths failed me, the fourth person was Wing who was behind the camera. Not long after the boat set off, I took a little nap as I slept quite late the night b4. 45 mins later, we were at HarbourBay. I thought that it was time to start relaxing, but I was abruptly stopped by the customs officer who said that my passport had lesser than 6 months validity and could not enter Indonesia. I was like wth... It expires in Nov so I still have 6 months. But he wanted to be anal about it saying my passport expires on 9th Nov so technically it's 5 months and a few weeks. So I had to tolong him with a little incentive b4 he chopped my passport...

After that was over, Sudi, our Indonesian friend, picked us up and drove us to the hotel to check in. Since the rooms were not ready yet, we left our bags at the hotel and Sudi brought us for lunch at the LEGENDARY nasi padang. Well, I said LEGENDARY coz they said it's nice.


The food was indeed quite nice, with the ayam pok (dunno how to spell) which is a must try. The fragrance itself is enough to make me salivate. After lunch, we went shopping for some cheap groceries and shampoos. We came across this huge ass slab of cheese which probably can last me like a whole year or more...


We finished up our shopping and went back to the hotel to check out our rooms. It turns out that the hotel rooms were actually not bad and we had windows facing the pool. the rooms each had a double bed, tv with dozens of channels including HBO and sg channels, a mini fridge and other stuff. The room only costed us $50++ per room per night, which was quite cheap given the standards of the room. After we dumped our stuff in the rooms, we headed down to the swimming pool for a swim. The water was freezing cold as it had just rained so we didn't swim much. The jacuzzi pool however was heated and it felt like a hot spring. So we spent quite a lot of time in the jacuzzi.

Right after relaxing, it was time for food again! We were brought to some place called Golden Prawn 555 where they sold fresh seafood. And it was REALLY fresh. We ordered 8 dishes in total including flower crabs, prawns, fried calamari and oyster egg. I ordered a coconut drink which I think is bigger than my head.


Dinner was amazing and delicious. Afterwards, Sudi brought us to check out the nightlife in Batam. We ended up in a local disco and saw a lot of foreigners who were on holiday there too. The most interesting one we ran into was a pair of twins from Philippines. They were performers at the disco where they sang and entertained the guests. Wing and I told them that we were twins too but they didn't really believe us at first. But slowly as we talked they bought the idea and really thought we were twins! Haha! We had a fun time chatting with them and we exchanged addresses so that we could stay in touch as penpals. We took a few photos with them as they were the friends we made overseas.

Twins vs Twins!

The second photo was kinda creepy like in those horror movies coz you can see her sister in the mirror. Kinda like those thai horror flick that scares the bejeezus out of you. But it was damn fun that night coz it was the first time that I made friends abroad and they were twins!

The second day was rather relaxed compared to the first. I woke up at around 12 and went down to the swimming pool for a swim and tan. The Sun was out and the weather was great for a swim. The water however was still chilly. Wing and I suspect that the new machine they placed at the side of the pool was used to cool the pool down. We swam until around 4 plus and Sudi swung by to pick us up for lunch. We went to the nasi padang place again to try for the beef tendon that kenneth didn't get the day b4. Still, he was out of luck. But nevertheless the ayam pok was enough to satisfy our taste buds. After the late lunch, we went to the supermart to buy cheap Mie Sedap at around 18cents a packet. We bought 8 boxes full in preparation for our Pulau Hantu trip. Each of us had to lug 2 boxes back through the customs.

At the end of the trip, Sudi seemed quite sad to see us go home. I think we'll miss him just as much until the next time we see him.

I feel refreshed and rejuvenated after the trip. Now I'm ready to continue charging forward in my career. But first, I'm gonna get some sleep. Haha!

KTV!!!!

Met up with the team on friday at cafe iguana for dinner. Quite a nice place with nice ambiance. The margaritas there are quite nice too, definitely worth the happy hour offer of 40% off. The steak there packs a punch. They actually grill it with tequila and serve it with mash potatoes and sauteed vegetables. The steak is done so well that you don't really taste the tequila. It only hits you after you finish 3/4 of the steak. That's what exactly happened to me coz after I finished 3/4 of the steak I felt quite high haha. Although there were only 5 of us there, it was great catching up with the team again after so many months.

After that dinner was todays KTV session! Haven't Ked in so many months. It was great. Hanging out with the team was something that I missed for a long time since feb's ktv session. I guess everyone was busy with either fyp or work throughout these few months. We definitely should do this more often. But with Andrew going to US for NOC for 1 year we will sorely miss him at these outings. No problem, we'll just sing more songs in his place. I hope that our plans to visit him in San Fran at the end of the year comes true. Will definitely look forward to that.

In the mean time, I'm quite looking forward to batam's trip tmr!

This is life.

I just knew a cool Indonesian guy through my "NEW" brothers. He's quite interesting and seems to know a lot of people. He invited us over to Batam to show us around on the 18th. I hope my brothers dun make me go "prostitution" LOL. Quite looking forward to it actually coz the last time I visited another country other than Malaysia was 1 year ago in Bangkok. So I guess this will be a short break from work.

Other than that life is just great man. Work hard and party harder. I'm gonna clear fastrack faster than you can say, well, "fastrack". This is my time to shine!

The List

I think it's time I did this. Haven't done it before but I think now is as good a time to start as any, so here goes.

List of things which I am grateful for. (In no specific order)

• The bunch of great friends I have that have stood by me through the years and will continue to stand by me in the future
• The family I found at work whom I know I can depend on and who can depend on me.
• The nice home that I am living in right now.
• Having lost 6kg and now maintaining at a healthy 66kg
• Finding work in such tough times.
• Finding work which I love and find meaningful.
• Finding a brother at work whom I can strive together with, knowing we can count on each other.
• Being able to finish my FYP despite not knowing how to do programming.
• All the new friends that I have made.
• Something new I learn everyday.

The list could go on and on forever but right now I'll just stop here. Why make such a list? Because it helps me learn to count my blessings and stay positive no matter what the world throws at me.

Life is tough, but I am tougher.

IT'S OVER!

Finally! It's over!!!! No more exams, no more fyp! This is what I've been waiting for these past few months and I'm really glad that it has finally come. All those months of slogging and hard work finally paid off. It's now for a new phase of my life. Work!

Been looking forward to start work and get my things going. I've got so much planned for the coming months that I just can't wait to jump right in. I'm just so excited when I start thinking about it.

I love my new family. Don't get me wrong, I didn't run off from home and found a new place to live. I still love my mum and dad very much. I'm talking about my family at work. These guys really work hard and play harder. I guess I've always yearned for such a family, like my canoeing team back in JC. I love to surround myself with people who can edge me on and bring out the competitiveness in me. I guess that was what I was missing in my NUS days. But now, I'm just really glad that when I'm starting this new chapter of my life, I really, really, really appreciate having this family at work. I LOVE YOU GUYS!