Monthly Archives: November 2010

When Andrew contacted me last month to be a part of his new project, I was very excited.

Andrew is helping an artist who is going to launch a project to paint a number of people who have outstanding social achievement or contribution to the community.

The project is still in the development stage and the best part is the artist (www.OceanTheArtist.com) and Andrew have nominated me to be one of the first ones who is going to be painted with Oil on Canvas. On top of that, the artist, Ocean is generously going to give the painting to me once the project is done.
 

I was so happy and flattered to be chosen. Ocean is someone who is very talented. She appeared in the media a couple of times because of her art work. Look at this amazing work she has.

Beautiful isn't it ??

Never in my imagination that one day someone will paint a picture of me like that. I was extremely excited.

The approach is Conceptual Portrait, and it will capture my finest moment, best mix of personalities and flair. It is a combination of art and photo-journalism.

So I met up with the artist, Ocean. She is simply fantastic. She chatted with me to find out more about my personality and my passion in life. She even came down to one of my seminars to get inspiration and also to get a closer feel on how's life according to Merry Riana is like.

Initially the plan was to have me painted in the huge canvas (1 x 1.6m without the frame) but since I told her that I want to put the painting in my office, I asked her to scale down so that it will fit nicely on my office wall.

Finally, after 30 days of hard work, she finished her painting.

I was soooooo excited to finally see it with my own eyes

2 weeks ago, me and my husband met up with Andrew and Ocean at her place.

And this is it …

Merry Riana on Canvas …

AMAZING !!! Ocean can really translate and summarize my feelings, passions, and purpose in life with just 1 painting.

I was truly amazed and honored at the same time.

There are a lot of meanings behind this painting too.

You can watch this video to find out more …

Also, like people said, picture paints a thousand words, here are some good moments captured that night.

Thank you Andrew and thank you Ocean !

After months of selection and judging, finally, just a couple weeks ago, the winners of The Singapore Women’s Weekly’s Great Women of Our Time Awards 2010 were revealed.

Category winners were selected by three judges: Member of Parliament, Denise Phua, Social Entrepreneur and past winner of the Great Women Of Our Time Awards Norma Sit, and editor-in-chief, The Singapore Women’s Weekly, Tara Barker.

The Gala Dinner was held at the Four Season Hotel. I came together with my husband, Alva. We were so happy to have met many other great and extraordinary women who were also there during the award presentation. (You can see lots of our photos below)

The most memorable moment for me was when I heard my name was announced as the winner.

I’m very fortunate to have won some other awards in the past, most of them to honor successful entrepreneurs. But, I feel extremely blessed to even win this award, because it honors me as a woman, something that I feel especially proud and grateful to be.

Winning this award has also reaffirm my decision about my focus for the next 10 years, i.e. ” To create a positive impact to the lives of 1,000,000 people, especially Women in Asia”

Thank you again, Singapore Women’s Weekly for giving me this prestigous award !

Grab a copy of the latest Singapore Women’s Weekly to read more about this great event !

Here are the “Behind The Scene” Photos:

More Photos …

Luck is when opportunity knocks and you answer

                                                                                                  - Unknown - 

I am going to ask you to something very weird right now. First of all, I want you to listen to your thoughts. Now tell me, what thoughts fill your head? Would you label them as positive, or negative?

Now let's say you are walking down the street with these thoughts. Do you think anyone who would meet you would be able to tell you what’s on your mind?

The answer to number one is up to you. But, the answer number two can be pretty generic. Although people will not be able to tell you exactly what you think, they will more or less have an idea of how you are feeling.

Here's another question. When you enter a party filled with friends, do they all fall silent as if something terrible had happened? Or does everybody there perk up as if waiting for something exciting to happen?

You know what? The answer to all these depends on your frame of mind.

Thoughts are very powerful. They affect your general attitude. The attitude you carry reflects on your appearance, too – unless, of course, you are a great actor.

And it doesn't end there. Your attitude can also affect people around you.

The type of attitude you carry depends on you. It can be either positive or negative.

Positive thoughts have a filling effect. They are admittedly energizing. When you are positive, people around you are usually energized too. It is contagious.

Negative thoughts on the other hand have a sapping effect on other people. Aside from making you look gloomy and sad, negative thoughts can turn a happy gathering into a funeral wake.

A positive attitude attracts people, while a negative attitude repels them. People tend to shy away from those who carry a negative attitude.

We can also define attitude as the way of looking at the world. If you choose to focus on the negative things in the world, more or less you have a negative attitude brewing up. However, if you choose to focus on the positive things, you are more likely carry a positive attitude.

You have much to gain from a very positive attitude. Studies have shown that a positive attitude promotes better health. Those with this kind of attitude also have more friends. projecting a positive attitude also helps one to handle stress and problems better than those who have a negative attitude.

A positive attitude begins with a healthy self-image. If you will love the way you are and are satisfied, confident, and self-assured, you also make others are around feel the same way.

A negative attitude, on the other hand, has, of course, an opposite effect. So, carrying a negative attitude has a twofold drawback. You feel bad about yourself, and you make others feel the same way.

At this point in time, you might be asking, If positive attitude is really great, why do people choose to adopt a negative attitude instead? Well, some times, those  who carry a negative attitude may be actually sending a signal for attention. Don't get me wrong, feeling sad, angry, or gloomy is not wrong itself. But dwelling on these thoughts for far too long is not healthy either. There is a time to mourn.

You do not have much to lose by adopting a healthy, positive attitude. Studies show that such an attitude actually retards aging, makes you healthier, helps you develop a better stress coping mechanism, and has a very positive effect on all the people you meet every day. So, what's not to like about a positive attitude? Adopt one today.

Be Positive, Be Merry !

Continuing from my post last week about 7 things I love about my LG Optimus 7,

Here is my Reason #3: Because it runs on Windows Mobile 7, I can easily access, edit, and create my Microsoft Documents everywhere I go 

Life's Good when I have LG Optimus 7 in my hand

I'm blessed to have many different roles in my life, and I really enjoy every single moment of it.

Since I'm supposed to capture my Life Good Moments over the next 7 weeks, I decided to bring you closer to my life and understand things that are happenings in my life during this period of time.

For this week I wanted to share with you about my role as a motivational speaker.

Here's what I was busy with for the past 2 weeks

I was one of the speaker for the Asia Internet Congress 2010, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

It was a fun experience, since I get to meet my Face Book friends who live in KL. They purposely attend the congress just to see me so sweet !

I was also one of the panelist for the recent PAYM (People Association Youth Movement) Forum.

The topics for that session is "My Dreams Beyond Reach?"

it was an interesting topic since it also mentioned about the concern of the current young generation, in pursuing their goals and aspirations, especially chasing for the 5Cs.

This is the my 2nd time being panelist for PAYM, the previous one I was invited to give my view about "Women's Leadership Role in the New World"

This is one of the way how I can contribute back to the society. Really glad that many youths who attended the forum have been inspired from my sharing

Last week I was also went back to NTU to give talk. I was the keynote speaker for their yearly event: eFEST "Learning is Everywhere". Always love to mingle around with the students there. Remind me of my school days

Lastly, my week ended with a 3 full days event: Asia Internet Congress, Singapore. I was one of the speaker too
 

I've also shared my experiences as LG Life's Good Ambassador

What a fruitful week !

Here's a video created to sum up what I've just shared with you

(Special thanks to my friend, Joanne Loh – www.Joanne-Loh.com who has kindly offer her help to edit the video for me. Thanks Joanne! )

Life's Good when I can touch more hearts and change more lives 

ps: Remember to vote for me ! Read http://tinyurl.com/LGMerryRiana  to find out how