NEWS FLaSH! RESULTS OF IAFG Squash tournament Ernst & Young vs. PWC

Yesterday at the Jalan Duta squash courts was the semi-finals for the IAFG squash tournament. It was Ernst & Young going up against PWC. How did it go? It was a good challenge and we turned out to win the event. We won 4 to 1, losing one men's event to PWC but winning the rest.

The atmosphere was really good with many of my workmates turning up to cheer us on. Not letting anything distract me, I walked into the court trying to calm myself down and just focus on the game. I shut out all sounds from the outside and only allowed myself to look at the ball, myself, my opponent and the referee. The sound of the squash ball bouncing off the front wall was the closest thing to heaven for me at that point in time.

A more intense period came when our third player was up. The first set showed both players trying to get ahead of each other. When the pressure was starting to build up for both sides, unforced errors were starting to come around and it kept everyone on their toes. Eventually, we came out on top winning all the first three match.

As for the fourth player, the disparity in ability was quite clear as PWC had a stronger player (they placed their players the other way round starting with the weakest as first). He did lose the match but we are still glad since he tried his best during the match.

Leaving the women's event, we took it we a close match between the both of them.

Kudos to team EY!

Next event - FINALS --> EY vs KPMG 3rd September 2007, 6pm Jalan Duta squash centre.

Elucidate - a DJ, a producer

I caught my eye on Elucidate some time around last year during Voices of Trance guest DJs for DJ GT and Project C's anniversary in June. That's when I heard the mix of Elucidate, which I was immediately blown away! Listening to that mix told me two very important things - 1. intelligent track selections, 2. top notch mixing skills. I was so surprised because Elucidate up to that point as far as I know has hardly received any publicity unlike the likes of DJ Pi, DJ Doboy or DJ GT. From that day onwards, I knew I had to look him up.

My search paid off easily with the help of Google. Elucidate can be visited @ http://elucidatemusic.com/intro.html

Elucidate has been around since 1999 until today. His mixes are gaining quite a following and you can listen to his mixes being aired on Digitally Imported Radio and Last FM. I love his mixes and I have downloaded all of his mixes from his official website. Simply stunning!

Mika Nakashima - LIFE

Always into Japanese songs, I got the latest release of Mika Nakashima's LIFE single. Her songs have always been respectable in her own sense - very deep and emotionally driven. Having quit
studies to pursue her passion for song writing and singing at a young age really isn't something easy to go through considering the music industry is an industry that is not easy to penetrate.

What can I comment? This time, the song is unlike her usual jazzy and slow paced style, this one is more upbeat but more fusion. As for her voice, those accustom to her voice will definitely recognise the unique low and captivating voice the moment she starts to sing. The flow to this song makes it easy to grasp and to feel the emotion she has for the song. For me, although the song is quite upbeat, it still gives me a feel of somber to the song. After all, her songs have always sounded matured to me. Don't be fooled by her voice because she's only 24 years old. Not many can write and sing songs like how she does it!

Since the single is really new, there still isn't any translation yet for the song.

More information here - http://www.mikanakashima.com/

Mika Nakashima - LIFE tracklist:

1. LIFE
2. LIFE (Ballad)
3. IT'S TOO LATE
4. LIFE (Instrumental)
5. IT'S TOO LATE (Instrumental)

Inter-Accounting Firm Games - EY beats Delloitte in the first round of squash!

Yesterday evening was the preliminary round for the squash event. Format is like this, 5 players each team comprising of four guys and one girl. Each player playing best of 5 sets. So out of the 5 players, each team has to accumulate at least 3 wins.

First round, my team, EY was up against Delloitte. It was a pretty good game and I had some fun. There were some serious parts too but its all about the competition. We beat Delloitte 5-0 having all our players won their individual matches. It was a really good result for both me and the firm. After the matches, we adjourned for dinner and a post match briefing to talk about how we faired and how we could improve.

Next up - EY vs. PWC this coming Wednesday 29th August 2007 @ Jalan Duta squash courts.

We are coming for you Price! Better watch out! HAHAHAHAHA!

I did it! I did it!

After all the trauma, waiting and suspense the wait was finally over. At about 4:45pm yesterday my email account finally received my results from ACCA. How did I feel when I saw the email? I was worried and I was actually shivering with part excitement and part fear. I didn't know what to expect.

So I took a long and deep breath, and I clicked to access the email. Then I slowly scrolled down the email and slowly read the results. First subject - passed, second subject -passed, third subject - passed and the fourth subject - passed. Which means I CLEARED all the four exam papers I took during the June sitting! The magnificent satisfaction I felt within was simply wonderful, especially when I really didn't expect to pass all the papers I sat for.

For this, I must first thank all the people that made this possible:

1. Alan, for the Law notes and Information Systems notes, and the prayers.

2. Sze Wei, my colleague, my 'tai lo' at work for the kind support and the notes for Information Systems notes.

3. Hamster, for all the prayers, for the Information Systems notes as well.

4. David Tan, my colleague for the kind support.

5. My managers for the kind support.

6. Both my lecturers for Malaysian Tax, Mr. Simon Kok and Audit, Ms. Kiran.

7. Jasmine, now ex-colleague for the Law text book for without the textbooks I would not have made it through the paper.

8. Yin Yin, my colleague for the kind support.

9. Zo and family for the prayers and support.

10. My old friend, close friend, and business-partner-to-be, Max for the prayers and kind support.

11. My parents of course.

However, I am disappointed in some ways. First and foremost, I expected to do the best for the Audit paper considering I am in that line. Sadly, it turned out Audit was the lowest scoring paper out of the four. I scored the best for Information Systems, which I self studied. I am not too surprised since that was the easiest paper considering my familiarity with IT systems and the flow of IT processes (don't ask me how I ended up in accounting). How I passed the Law paper, which I thought I was going fail? Don't ask me either. As for the Tax paper, I have always scored within the bandwidth of the results, so it was no surprise.

One thing's for sure - how I did better for the papers I self-studied will always remain a mystery to me. But I have learned something from this painful but satisfying experience. Determination and hard work can take a person a long way even if you do not have the brains for it. At times, when people think you are in way over your head, that may not be the case but you are merely pushing yourself in hope to reach a higher level. When times get tough, no point giving up, by attempting something is in itself an achievement already. As for now, I need to look ahead and concentrate on my current 2 papers, which are FAR from easy, and my work as well since the auditing peak period will be starting in these few months to come.

Lastly, I want to thank the Heavenly Father that blessed me. I have always believed, and will continue to believe, it was He who gave me this opportunity and blessed me with this results.

It's now or never..........

One day till the release of my results for the four papers I took early June this year. Will I fail, will I pass? God only knows, God only knows. Am I worried? Can't say I am, since what is done is done and no point crying over spilled milk right?

The consolation I get is that at least my career promotion does not get affected yet. So I still have some form of buffer time for me to clear the required papers to get into Senior Associate which is not until at least another year. For those who want to know, here is how the progression works from the position I am into a Senior Associate:

Senior Associate 1 (1 year)

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Senior Associate 2 (1 year)

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Associate 1 (normally 1 year from Associate 2)

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Associate 2 [my position now]

For me to move up into Senior Associate 2, I will need to pass all Level 2 papers of ACCA, which I will find out tomorrow whether I do or not. But as I am supposed to move into Associate 1 this September, I still have 2 sittings to do it (although I really don't intend to retake any papers). I still have a chance for the December 2007 sitting and June 2008 sitting.

Although I do get 2 chances to retake those papers, it is highly unadvisable for one very good reason - as I rise up the ranks I get more responsibilities and more demanding tasks to do. Hence, less time to study; not to mention I am already having trouble trying to work out a proper schedule for work and play.

This then brings about another problem. I once read a statement made by Jack Welch (he is the former CEO of GE, and a very, very successful CEO at that), and he said "what makes successful people successful is their innate ability to manage their time properly". Disappointing part is, I don't seem to be able to manage my time properly, which then makes me feel horrible because here I am trying to be someONE, but I can't even get the fundamentals right. So here I am stuck trying to get myself back together, because demotivation creeps in.

P.S. - the career progression I chart I drew up there? That's assuming I don't make any boo boos along the way.

Art of Greg Martin - a recommendation

I have always been a fan of wallpapers. Wallpapers I am referring to are the background pictures we put on our computers. I surf around looking for different wallpapers to brighten up my Windows desktop. I look into anime wallpapers to abstract wallpapers, I do not in any way restrict my choices of wallpapers.

One site in particular I really admire is called Art of Greg Martin. This site basically showcases the artist's portfolio. From the name of the website I am sure you would already know the artist's name - Greg Martin. Every month he will showcase a new wallpaper for downloads. Visit the website at http://gallery.artofgregmartin.com.com/ .

All his arts are drawn, vectored and coloured digitally. All this is done from scratch, rock bottom. Really impressive is all I can say. He also does photography. So it is a really good mix.

Happy viewing!