Musings of Eric Chong

Women of today are busy people. In fact, many are extremely so. It used to be that the sole role women played for hundreds, if not thousands, of years was that of the homemaker. They were humbly known as housewives. 'Housewife' is a demeaning term. If you are a 'housewife' it means you: (1) belong only to the house, and (2) are someone else's property (a wife). To make things worse, housewives were usually deemed the least productive members of the labour hierarchy. Because it was not easy to quantify productivity of something so non-monetary in economic terms, housewives had always been a deprived and under-recognised segment of society. Having said all that, however, these housewives decades ago were the lucky ones as they were only required to stay home and fulfil the 3C's - Cooking, Cleaning and Caring for the husband and children. However, today, the world is changing and women are now playing a much more significant role in the productive labour force. It ...

We are all beings of habits. How we live and what we do everyday are shaped by certain habits that are formed over the years. Most successful people are successful not because they have extraordinary luck or work extraordinarily hard, but because they have extraordinary success habits. On the other hand, many of those who have failed did so, not because they did not try hard enough, but because they had not developed a 'way of life' that would constantly steer them towards the direction of success, i.e. they were not equipped with 'success habits'. Success Habits is an important concept for serious pursuers of success. It is important because without it, it is extremely difficult to go far in life. 'Why is it so?' You may ask. The answer is that your ultimate success is usually a result of your consistency in life. Success is not likely to happen overnight unless, of course, one strikes the lottery or receives a surprise inheritance from a long-lost millionaire ...

One of the biggest evils that often results in either personal or organisational failure is procrastination. So many people lead a life deprived of achievements and recognition that they might have had if only they had not been haunted by the ghost of procrastination. If you observe highly successful people in action, you will notice one thing - these guys are action packed and they achieve amazing accomplishments at lightning speed. The one thing which is unlikely to be detected in these guys is procrastination. Indeed, no procrastinators can ever achieve phenomenal success. They never will be, and nor are they ever meant to. If any of them ever should become successful, then it is likely to be by accident – that is, an act of God, rather than the act of man. "But Erican Chong,” you may argue, “some people are slow moving and slow talking, but yet they are successful!" Hark! Let us not be confused by 'slow moving' and 'slow acting'. Some guys seem slow alri...

'Friends' is actually a generic term; it refers to 'all the people one knows'. This is, of course, an overly simplified definition. There are actually different levels of friendship. The people that you know can be categorised into three different groups: 1. Acquaintances 2. Friends 3. Buddies This is the natural progression of friendship development. Since nobody has unlimited amount of time for socialising, it is highly unlikely that anyone can develop friendships indiscriminately. When you’re just starting out and your circle is still small, you are likely to want to make friends with anybody and everybody that you chance into. Your sole objective at this time would be to simply expand your social contacts. However, as you grow and become more established, you realise that you need to be more selective about your friends and friendships. You must first decide what type of social circle you want to build, as this determines the kinds of friends you should have. A frie...

The most Earth shaking news in Malaysia after the World Cup this year was not Anwar's sodomy trial, nor was it the withdrawal of subsidies on sugar and fuel. Rather, the whole country zoomed in on one 28 year old Chinese Malaysian extraordinaire, Taek Jho Low, who was spotted partying with the world's most famous and fun-loving girls, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, and the like. When the photos of Taek Jho and his elite friends got out, international media hyped up the news and paparazzi chased after these people like crazy. Taek Jho became an instant celebrity. His boyish charm enchanted and captured the imagination of millions, especially those of Malaysians, both young and old. Let's not discuss the morality of the extravagant lifestyle of the rich and famous, or whether partying on private yachts and drinking expensive wine is right. What I want to do is to talk about is the importance of friends and friendships in the journey of our quest for success. There is a popular ...

Do you know what the most important moment in your life is? Was it when you obtained those straight A's in your public exam a few years ago? Or when you got that unexpected promotion or won the Best Achievement Award? Or will it be when you finally walk down the aisle and marry that special person that you have always loved? Or could it be something memorable, like buying your first car, your first house or your first boat? If you answered 'yes' to any of these, I would humbly beg to differ. To be honest, the most important moment in your entire life is actually happening right now - with you reading this "Musings with Erican Chong" blog article entitled "The Most Important Moment". Yes, this very moment is the most important one of your entire life. For no matter what happened yesterday or last year, it has already happened and it will never come back. These past incidents, no matter how glorious, indignified, joyous or sorrowful they may have been, the...

Curiosity is a very important part of human nature. The modern lifestyle that we enjoy today is as a result of the countless questions that our ancestors asked and were answered over the centuries. If there was no curiosity, there would be no questions. Curiosity is indeed the mother of innovation. And, questions manifest curiosity. If you ever feel embarrassed because you always seem to have a lot of questions in your head or worry about bothering people by asking too many questions, stop feeling so. On the contrary, you are doing exactly the right thing. A person not ashamed to ask questions is a person who will grow, rather than one who stagnates. This world is a quickly changing one. If anyone out there believes he has already understood everything there is to understand, then he is either a rare genius or a complete fool. If you never engage in thinking, of course, you will never have any questions. The more you think, the more you will find things that you do not understand, an...

. Alan Lim and I share a few laughs and thoughts together. I have been fortunate to be involved in a very meaningful industry - education and training. The kind of work we do is of tremendous value to society and transforms lives. This belief keeps me going strong after having been an educator for twenty years. A few days ago I attended a dinner function, the CEO’s Night, organised by the Malaysian Retail Chain Association, of which Erican has been a member of for many years. The special guest speaker for that night was none other than the incredible and charismatic founder of Air Asia, Dato Seri Tony Fernandes. But it is not he that I want to talk about here. Rather, I wish to write about someone else; someone who touched me deeply that night with his success story. I had arrived at One World Hotel early that evening so that I could catch up with old friends and meet some new acquaintances. While I was busily mingling with friends, I was introduced to a man from Termeloh, a man who w...

. Erican Chong receives National Mark from HRH Raja Nazrin Shah Since the founding of the first Erican Language Centre 20 years ago, Erican has been at the forefront of the promotion of English language learning, whilst faithfully serving the needs of the local community. I have been very fortunate indeed to have been blessed with a team of great people - loyal and dedicated colleagues whom I passionately call "Ericanites". They have stuck with me through thick and thin, ups and downs, over the last two decades. The oldest serving Centre Manager of Erican, Sally Teh, has been with me for the past 18 years, while the more 'junior' Mr Tan Ban King is at least 10 years into his service. These Erican champions ensure that we stay on top of our game – they ensure that all language programmes offered meet the stringent international standards of the University of Cambridge ESOL and that effective learning experiences and promised academic outcomes are always delivered. The ...