THE WAHBIANG BLOG

Celebrating Steve Jobs (24 February 1955 – 5 October 2011)

Today is a very sad day for me. I was writing my blog on the new iPhone 4S (by the way, I have many great things to say about the new 4S) when I read about his passing. I have been a great fan of Steve since my poly days. He was the man I cited as my “idol and role-model” in my last job interview 6 years ago.  People around me knows how much I love Apple and their Way. Steve’s innovations have been an important part of my life. He made communications so simple and easy. With a simple touch on the button, his products connect me and my loved ones back home. Apple is more than a product company, it changes the way we communicate and live our lives. Apple improves lives.

Within hours his death, millions of threads flooded the social media. Mourners gathered quietly outside the Apple Stores. It is amazing. There is never a CEO or a brand/product so emotionally linked to the consumers. Steve is unique. He is an idol, an icon, a legend.

When Steve was asked to comment about Bill Gates being the richest man back in 1993 by The Wall Street Journal, Steve said: “Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.”

Steve once said: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

“Picasso had a saying: ‘Good artists copy, great artists steal.’ We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas…I think part of what made the Macintosh great was that the people working on it were musicians, poets, artists, zoologists and historians who also happened to be the best computer scientists in the world.”

“That’s been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”

“The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”

“When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.”

“I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.”

“My job is to not be easy on people. My job is to make them better.”

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

“No one wants to die. Even people who wanna go to heaven don’t wanna die to get there.”

“Death is the destination we all share, no one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be because death is very likely the single best invention of life.”

Rest in peace, Steve. Thanks for Everything. The world will miss you.

First Love

There is a common saying that we will never forget our 1st love. It is true indeed. Yet, we often link our first love with our first boyfriend or girlfriend, husband or wife.

My first love is my dad and mum. It takes me many years later before I realised the depth of their love for me. Now, having a kid of my own, I see things very differently. I began to understand why my mum or late granny would like to call me day after day. I began to understand why simple dinner at home surpass the lavish holidays. Fatherhood does strange things to my life. It opens up my inner memory and shows me my childhood – those days I spent with my parents and those journeys we took as a family.

I have never thanked my dad for those daily rides to school and army camp. I have never thanked my mum for those words-of-wisdom she faithfully whispered to my ears day and night. There were so many things which my dad and mum did for me that nurtured me to the man I am today. My parents didn’t give me expensive toys or holidays but they gave the true gems of life – humanity, compassion, selflessness and love. These are precious gifts that passed from them to me and now to my son. I was given a kind and happy heart to lead my life. And now, a sensible and lovely boy who dotes on me.

Looking back our lives, there have been highs and lows, sad and happy moments. But I am always blessed by all their presence and love. Life can be unexpectedly short. It is the forgotten-yet-not-lost love inside our memory that lit up our hearts. My first love is never complicated or blind. They are my dad and mum. And I want to say “thank you very very much”.

(Enjoy these 2 touching commercials done by Ogilvy Thailand.)