The Answer to Racism: Kill everyone!

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Welcome to My Standpoint...

I am a Civil/Structural Engineer by education, a Quality Professional by profession, a wannabe-but-chose-not-to-be doctor, a frustrated programmer, a tech enthusiast, an avid sportsman, a hater, a lover, a friend, a son, a brother, a husband and a father. I love music, but music never really liked me -- and so does dancing. I love to write (at least I'd like to think so) but never found the time. I love to draw/paint, but again the busy everyday life took that away from me. The only things that stuck with me throughout the busy-ness of life would be my passion for Tennis, Judo, computers and just about anything that gets plugged in to an electric socket or gets powered by batteries (conventional or solar) -- children's toys included. :) Having said that, I guess I can summarily describe myself as a "Jack of trades, (and hopefully) master of some". I have always believed that knowing a little bit of everything is better than knowing everything about just one thi...

What Really Matters in Life?

Mexican Fisherman Meets Harvard MBA A vacationing American businessman standing on the pier of a quaint coastal fishing village in southern Mexico watched as a small boat with just one young Mexican fisherman pulled into the dock. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. Enjoying the warmth of the early afternoon sun, the American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish. "How long did it take you to catch them?" the American casually asked. "Oh, a few hours," the Mexican fisherman replied. "Why don't you stay out longer and catch more fish?" the American businessman then asked. The Mexican warmly replied, "With this I have more than enough to support my family's needs." The businessman then became serious, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?" Responding with a smile, the Mexican fisherman answered, "I sleep late, play with my children, watch ballgames, and take sies...

Acts of Kindness

He was driving home one evening, on a two-lane country road. Work, in this small mid-western community, was almost as slow as his beat-up Pontiac. But he never quit looking. Ever since the Levis factory closed, he'd been unemployed, and with winter raging on, the chill had finally hit home. It was a lonely road. Not very many people had a reason to be on it, unless they were leaving. Most of his friends had already left. They had families to feed and dreams to fulfill. But he stayed on. After all, this was where he buried his mother and father. He was born here and knew the country. He could go down this road blind, and tell you what was on either side, and with his headlights not working, that came in handy. It was starting to get dark and light snow flurries were coming down. He'd better get a move on. You know, he almost didn't see the old lady, stranded on the side of the road. But even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front...

#WeArePhilippines

Recently, we have seen a lot of political disorder in the Philippines that has literally divided, and continue to divide, our nation. Majority of the government officials, who the Filipino people have chosen to represent their best interests, have misused the trust and the authority that the people have given them to further their individual (and that of their party’s) political interest. This observation is not only directed at one person or one political party. Parties and individuals have been hell-bent on criticizing anyone who sits on the other side of the fence. Privilege speeches and press conferences, under the guise of “at the interest of the Filipino people” have been used to either discredit another official or to defend a “personal attack” directed at them by a member of the opposition. This has fueled the nation’s divide and has distracted the Filipino people’s sight away from the positive things that currently unfolds right in front of us. O...

How the Poor Live

One day, a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, “How was the trip?” “It was great, Dad.” “Did you see how poor people live?” the father asked. “Oh yeah,” said the son. “So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father. The son answered, “I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden, and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden, and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard, and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on, and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have wall...

The World is a Wonderful Place

A true story, happened in 1892 at Stanford University: An 18-year-old student was struggling to pay his fees. He was an orphan, and not knowing where to turn for money, he came up with a bright idea. He and a friend decided to host a musical concert on campus to raise money for their education. They reached out to the great pianist Ignacy J. Paderewski. His manager demanded a guaranteed fee of $2000 for the piano recital. A deal was struck and the boys began to work to make the concert a success. The big day arrived. But unfortunately, they had not managed to sell enough tickets. The total collection was only $1600. Disappointed, they went to Paderewski and explained their plight. They gave him the entire $1600, plus a cheque for the balance $400. They promised to honour the cheque at the soonest possible. “No,” said Paderewski. “This is not acceptable.” He tore up the cheque, returned the $1600 and told the two boys: “Here’s the $1600. Please deduct whatever expenses you have...

Never Judge

This is an old but very touching story that has been on the internet and chain e-mails for a while. I am not sure how many of you have read the story, but here it goes: A doctor entered the hospital in hurry after being called in for an urgent surgery. He answered the call ASAP, changed his clothes & went directly to the surgery block. He found the boy's father pacing in the hall waiting for the doctor. On seeing him, the dad yelled: "Why did you take all this time to come? Don't you know that my son's life is in danger? Don't you have any sense of responsibility?" The doctor smiled & said: "I am sorry, I wasn't in the hospital & I came as fast as I could after receiving the call...... And now, I wish you'd calm down so that I can do my work" "Calm down?! What if your son was in this room right now, would you calm down? If your own son dies now what will you do??" said the father angrily The doctor smiled ...

Quote of the Day

"Never ask for what you cannot give" This is my very own version of the golden rule. In this time and age where material possesions have become the measure of a man's success, greed, selfishness and envy have become the main driver of every human dealings and decisions. "Never ask for what you cannot give" does not focus on material things. I will not ask for money if I have money to give in the first place. Look beyond the material world and focus into what matters most -- the abstract, intangible things that make us human. I am talking about respect, love, faith, kindness, passion, dedication, tolerance, and the list goes on. So the next time you ask a friend for kindness, or an enemy for forgiveness, pause and ask yourself first before letting those words out... "Have I given enough of what I am about to ask for?" Never ask for what you cannot give and you will never go wrong.

Philippine Election 2019: A Case for Migration

There has been a number of story runs on the media the past couple of days regarding the search keywords ‘migrate’ and ‘migrating’ trending HARD soon after the election. Seeing that it involved data analytics and number crunching, which is a passion of mine and is a good part of my day job for the past 17 years, it immediately struck a chord. I first saw it on Rappler. I read through the article and, as soon as I was done, searched online to see what other agencies ran the story and how they presented it. Using google search tools, I saw the first run of the story is by Davinci Maru of ABS-CBN at 11:47pm on May 13, 2019, entitled “Dismayed at initial poll results, Filipinos search for ‘migrate’ online. Then the Philippine Star soon followed, with a more detailed account of the interview. To give credit where credit is due, of all the story runs, only the Philippine Star article actually provided more useable content, rather than the usual strategy emp...

The Pretty One

By Roger Dean Kiser It had been a very long night. Our black cocker spaniel ‘Precious’ was having a difficult delivery. I lay on the floor beside her large four-foot square cage, watching her every movement. Watching and waiting, just in case I had to rush her to the veterinarian. After six hours the puppies started to appear. The first-born was black and white. The second and third puppies were tan and brown in color. The fourth and fifth were also spotted black and white. “One, two, three, four, five,” I counted to myself as I walked down the hallway to wake my wife, Judy, and tell her that everything was fine. As we walked back down the hallway and into the spare bedroom, I noticed a sixth puppy had been born and was now laying all by itself over to the side of the cage. I picked up the small puppy and laid it on top of the large pile of puppies, who were whining and trying to nurse on the mother. Precious immediately pushed the small puppy away from rest of the group. She r...

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