Motiv8.asia

"Hello, World!" was my 1st computer program, 10 months ago as I began my journey in data science. Learning from online & offline resources, I grew exponentially as a professional to face digitalisation.

For your benefit, I’ve written 10 key-takeaways on insights I gained from being a data scientist:

1. Never too old to code, never too smart to code

Coding (a.k.a. programming) is prerequisite to be a data scientist. The good news is, learning to code is easier now than it was 1 nor 10 years ago. There’s plenty of programming languages to choose from, plus the newer ones are simpler yet feature the powerful capabilities of older complex languages. Python (most popular language) would take you just a couple of hours to grasp the basics. Heck you don’t even need a computer - I learnt Python on the SoloLearn App on my iPhone during my commutes to work. If you can afford classes to learn programming, by all means go ahead. Only ignorance is bliss, which will result in you blami…

All of us spend a significant amount of time working, yet strive to balance our personal lives. What if there are ways we could optimise the way we work and make our lives easier?

Reflecting on the choices I've made, a significant amount of my personal change was exemplified by actively soliciting feedback from my bosses, peers and subordinates.

In particular, having a structured approach in seeking feedback will promote clear, concise and effective observations which can help the recipient consider to improve him/herself. A structured feedback session should also include mandatory and proposed action points including next steps so their self-improvement journey continues post-feedback. A structured feedback session should optimally be performed at least on a monthly basis to foster a high-performance culture with continuous improvement (a.k.a "Kaizen").

All of us constantly provide feedback to our bosses, peers and subordinates, distinctly in each case... either direct…

Let's take a moment to stroll through your thoughts, the very first ones you had today... the particular thoughts you had when you woke up from your deep slumbering state of sleep.

Now, why did you wake up today? What is this urge that drove you out of bed?

The Japanese call this "Ikigai" which translates to a reason for being or more specifically, a reason for getting up in the morning. The French have a similar word, your "raison d’être".


This fundamental question to answer will set you on a journey for a life of meaning. The journey itself is the point, in the same way, you don't go to a musical concert or a play just to see the ending.

Ask yourself: What do you expect from life? Feel your innermost desires and compulsion for being, and why does this matter to you.

Then ponder upon this: What does life expect of you? Your ups and downs, trials and tribulations, successes and failures have led you to this unique moment in your life.

Was it only your expe…

The only constant in life is change, and the rate of change is increasing. With today's pace of change, there is an increasing need and demand for us to embrace agility, flexibility and adaptiveness in our professional lives. What are these characteristics in actuality?
Agility Ability to move quickly and easily.Ability to think and understand quickly. Flexibility Ability to be easily modified.Ability and willingness to change or compromise. Adaptiveness Ability to adjust to new conditions.Ability to be modified for a new use or purpose. When I turned 13, I enrolled in the Royal Military College. Being an innocent young boy, I had zero expectations of the reality I was about to face for the next 4 years. Little did I know, this was a key tipping point in my life. Nevertheless, I distinctly remember my first day as a Putera or "New Boy" as we were fondly called. It was the day when the pace of change in my life accelerated evidently in contrast to everything I've experienc…

As I'm writing this, 2017 is coming to an end and soon we'll be ushering in the New Year 2018. A New Year for new beginnings and of course - New Year's resolutions.

Reflecting on the past year, I grew as an individual - physically, mentally and spiritually.

And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got habits?

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit"
With the digital revolution, I'd like to share on my personal journey of making and breaking habits - with lifehacks and tools which you may use to your advantage too!

Firstly, start with asking the right questions to prime your mind in looking at the world in a different way, in a different future, in a different life. Josh Kaufman, the #1 bestselling business author of the Personal MBA has laid out 49 Questions to Improve Your Results:

Do I use my body optimally?
What is the quality of my current diet?Do I get enough sleep?Am I managing my en…

You've probably read an article or heard someone voicing out their opinion on the performance of Millennials (a.k.a. Gen-Y) in the workforce. Most of them share a common message, about how Millennials need soft-skills which are necessary to progress and climb the corporate ladder or survive in the world of business. Yet, year-on-year we also hear of a different theme of "Top Skills for the Year" and we flock to learn more about them... when history has again-and-again proved to all of us that the only constant in the world is change.

I was inspired to do a write-up based on my final slide shared during my "Why Corporate Finance?" presentation at Sunway University and Brickfields Asia College (pic related). In my final slide, I had coincidentally shared on 4 traits necessary for Millennials drawn from my experience of being a Millennial myself exposed to professional working environments in Malaysia since 2008 (when I was barely 18 years of age). Experience as …

A couple of months back, I had attended a talk organised by Young Corporate Malaysians (YCM). I was particularly fascinated about attending this particular talk, as it features Tan Sri Wahid Omar, who is an ICAEW Chartered Accountant.

economia May 2017 cover featuring Tan Sri Wahid Omar, Group Chairman of Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB)

The #1 advice that Tan Sri Wahid Omar had shared during his final slide (pic related), was in the pursuit of professional qualifications. Hence, it occurred to me that I could share on the subject and available pathways towards the attainment of professional qualifications - and decided that I would.

In particular, I'll be sharing on the route of attaining the Associate Chartered Accountant (ACA) of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW).

Firstly, let's get over why should we even consider professional qualifications?


International recognition & prestige - professional qualifications are generally considered to…

I fully embraced diversity and cultural differences by choice and by chance in weathering through 4 years in the Royal Military College, where about 90% of student demographics are Muslim, whereas I am a Hindu.
A choice was made when I decided to enrol at the Royal Military College. Barely a teenager at the time, I survived and did my best in the 7-day interview of which we were told that only 150 students will be enrolled from around 20,000 candidates from all around Malaysia.
By chance, I received an acceptance letter to be enrolled. Given the odds, chance had definitely favoured me in making the cut. Again by chance, I was born a Hindu – allowing me to embrace life as a non-Muslim in a Muslim majority environment.
4 years of strict upbringing, discipline and being ragged with other Malaysians is a mix of choice and chance. The different upbringing and genetics of friends exposed me to different personalities and traits. I met them by chance but made a choice to befriend them.
When…

You've probably heard this a million times... Big Data is a movement which aims to employ a significant portion of the future talent market.
You've probably heard of this about the Internet too: The Internet Never Forgets!
The Internet of Things is basically just the entire Internet and everything connected to it, working together in the Cloud... just like how you use your phone's camera to take your pictures and share them on social media or use your GPS to drive to work with the help of a space-based radio-navigation system, the Internet never really forgets.
What that means is basically every single thing which you have said on every phone call, SMS, MMS, WhatsApp, Facebook (feel free to propose additions) or uploaded - is still on the Internet.
Hmmm, so there's a potential in this data... but I'm too tired to read the whole thing.
Can someone summarise it for me (by using AI to analyse)?
Head to your local and international banks, who are keen on a summary (in…

Where did democracy originate from? Is it America or the UK? Sorry for the rhetorical question... it came from the Athens in Greece, home to Aristotle. Aristotle is famously known for his masterpiece... rhetoric! Democracy is how we see it in school clubs, work associations and such... a popularity contest - where people vote with a show of hands. Just like fashion comes and goes, the show of hands was out of fashion. Fashion designers do what they do best... design fashion - which comes and goes as we all know. Show of hands became out of fashion, but it's still used in smaller scale activities because it works. The latest fashion in the world of democracy: The Secret ballot! Check out other methods employed throughout history too. P.s. The Secret is the law of attraction. It appeared on TV, so it must be true!

Have you tried meditating to control your inner voice? 
Ask it to shut up and just focus on shutting it up by breathing!
Do not stop focusing your inner eye (closing your eyes) at the point of breath (nose, stomach or chest depending on preference), and just do that.
Your mind will screw you to say this is all bullshit, but the US Army has funded research into meditating... there is something to be found and you have to find it!
Imagine your mind as Youtube, and watch your thoughts... Just like you would skip a Youtube video if it's crap... or probably watch it to the end. That's what you want your inner self to be able to command, listen to it... And ask it to shut up! In all parts of your life (being mindful) and just live like when you were a child (you are just experiencing life from birth and don't know life at all - so you're attentive to your surroundings and just listen without even debating the thought in your mind - mindfulness). Just like Youtube, you have …

Uber/GrabCar effectively transfer "customer risk" to drivers (quality control is entirely up to the drivers and the driver alone can make and break your experience).
And also vice-versa, transfer "driver risk" to customers (they don't train drivers, do full police checks nor even consider them employees - the word contractor is used for legal reasons, that being the exemption from paying retirement benefits, social security, other "employee only" costs like health and dental benefits and also for easier termination of services).
It's a joke, the "real" Uber is about lawyers choosing the right word (in this case "contractor" instead of "employee" and "ride-sharing app" instead of "taxi company").
The "real" Uber is a myth, loss-making... I don't buy it.
A taxi company has assets being motor vehicles.
Uber does not have motor vehicles as they boldly claim (i.e. the biggest taxi company …