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December 20, 2022

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Starting out poor and being dumped by a girl because she saw no better life with a cleaner is truly a successful and inspirational story for a man who now makes fortune.

Instead of getting frustrated, Vernon Kwek used his heartbreak and the discrimination he went through from his girlfriend who chose a university guy over him as a motivation of working hard and striving further in life.

The 48-year-old is now Singapore’s Primech Services & Engineering CEO who owns a 10% share in the company.

Simultaneously, Vernon also runs A&P Maintenance Services and Maint-Kleen, two other cleaning companies handling some of the biggest companies in Singapore, including Changi Airport Group, with over 3,000 employees under his power.

Vernon was born to a humble family. When he was barely 13 years old, he helped his father find a new job after losing the latter’s job as a salesman.

After his father was accepted as a cleaning supervisor, Vernon manifested his hard work and family-orientedness by helping his father in cleaning toilets and offices during the weekends.

A year after, he gave up school just to work as a full-time cleaner to help his family. Being a responsible teenager, he was shortly promoted to cleaning supervisor at the age of 14.

“I asked the manager if he was sure. My dad became a supervisor only when he was 40. I was only 14. But he said: ‘Don’t worry. You have your dad’s genes. He has leadership qualities, you should have the same too,’” Vernon shared in Strait Times

Later on, he was again promoted to a higher position as a senior supervisor until he finally became the company’s CEO.

Nevertheless, Vernon experienced many downfalls in his journey but never lost hope as he was determined to have a better life. Now, he is a successful family man with four kids.

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News

Dallas Stars Jason Robertson Carves Name in NHL History As Highest Pointer in Latest Season

Jason Robertson made NHL history by playing the second longest-drawn-out game in franchise record and the most lengthy game in Dallas history.

With 22 goals, the most in the NHL, the 23-year-old Filipino-American left winger for the Dallas Stars, made his season a success.

Robertson extended his point streak to 13 games, tying the Dallas Stars record set by Dave Gagner in the early 90s with a point over their opponent Blackhawks on Wednesday.

On Thursday night, he scored three goals, which were assisted by Joel Kiviranta and Wyatt Johnston, as well as Oettinger’s 31 saves in a shutout victory.

His 39 points ranked second in the league, trailing only Connor McDavid and setting himself as the highest-pointer in the 24 games of the season for Dallas Stars. 

Leading the way for the Stars, the victory was the team’s second straight triumph and was the 10th time Dallas had scored points in the previous 11 games.

Additionally, Miro Heiskanen and Roope Hintz also both enjoyed multi-point outings with three and two assists, respectively.

Stars coach Pete DeBoer reportedly claimed that “Robo is a guy that’s honestly hard to defend because he scores in a bunch of different ways,” according to the Dallas Morning News.

“He can score off the rush, he scores kind of lurking around the quiet areas of the ice waiting for the puck to come to him. It always seems to come to him. Tougher to defend a guy like that isn’t predictable,” the coach continued.

Coach Pete also remarked on how amazed he was to see Robertson play such an exceptional game and how incredible the player was for making it seem simple despite the difficulty of the game.

With his nightly exploits, Robertson is starting to catch the attention of the hockey world, which is quite an achievement in a market like Dallas, far from the hockey capital of Toronto. 

He’s outperforming expectations for his $7.75 million cap charge and propelled himself into the early race for the Hart Trophy.

Furthermore, Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn stated that Robertson is leading the attack with confidence.

  • 2 min read
Image Source: South China Morning Post

Stories

Earthquake Victim With Amputated Legs Masters Dancing With Husband’s Self-Made Prosthetic Limbs

Nothing is impossible to 30-year-old Liao Zhi of Sichuan, China who lost her legs during an earthquake in 2008 but now mastered the art of dancing while wearing high heels with her now husband’s self-made prosthetic legs.

The Chinese former dance teacher caught the online community’s attention with her talent and story being an epitome of hope and faithfulness.

“It’s like she dances with life,” a netizen commented.

During the tragic incident in Sichuan where Zhi was trapped in the ruins of a building for 30 hours, she not only lost her legs but the most important persons in her life, her 10-month-old daughter who died in the disaster and her husband who divorced her seven months after the tragedy.

Being the only one to survive in the devastated building, the brave woman neither shed a tear nor complained of everything she went through including her legs being amputated.

Instead, Zhi said that “The earthquake gave me rebirth.”

After learning to walk with her artificial limbs, Zhi moved on from the nightmare by continuing and staging her passion in different places.

Although the training had been difficult and painful, Zhi was determined in doing what she loves. 

According to the South China Morning Post, she and her husband-dance partner defeated competitors in China and won as first runner-up in the reality show Dance Out My Life in 2013. 

Her husband became her strong support in recovering from her downfall.

Despite having been through a lot, Zhi remained optimistic. “Dance is my ray of sunshine, and while I would also be fine if I didn’t dance, I would not feel the same sense of joy that it gives me when I do,” she said.

Being an inspiration to many, Zhi’s life story was turned into a play entitled Angel’s Psalm that was staged at Kwai Tsing Theatre in 2015.

In an article by CCTGN, it was said that Liao is currently a happy wife as well as a proud mother. However, she is still fighting for a higher ambition – helping more people like her to recover their life value.

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News

‘Raya and the Last Dragon’ Actress and Director Unveils New Production Company To Uplift Marginalized Community’s Emerging Filmmakers

Kelly Marie Tran and Carlos López Estrada, the lead character and co-director of the latest Walt Disney film Raya and the Last Dragon, have created a new production company, Antigravity Academy (AGA) dedicated to developing and producing movies, television, theater, and short-form material from and about individuals from traditionally marginalized communities.

AGA appointed Jared Stern’s “A Stern Talking To” former vice president of cinema and television Winsor Yuan to lead its film and television section.

As for the short form, such as music videos, advertisements, and branded content, Doug Klinger, co-founder of Internet Music Video Database and Reprobates agent and executive producer, will be in charge.

The Antigravity Academy will also serve as a training ground for new filmmakers entering the production industry.

The novice filmmakers’ movies will be chosen, produced, and packaged under the direction of former Sundance Institute head of Artist Community and AGA founding partner Abiram Brizuela.

Tran and Estrada were quoted in the Hollywood Reporter as saying, “We couldn’t be happier about providing a creative home for emerging filmmakers looking for a window into this often insular industry.” 

The two also stated they had learned from their experiences how crucial it is to establish a network that can assist with starting up.

“We are looking forward to partnering up with the most inspiring independent voices coming from communities that have been historically overlooked and helping them usher their stories into the world,” the two added.

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Blogs, Development, Ideas

Son of Restaurant Owners Now CEO of Multi-Million Dollar Company Casetify Imparts Tips To Successful Entrepreneurship

With a feeling of discontent towards the smartphone case designs available in the market, Hongkong native Wesley Ng co-founded Casetify, a multi-million dollar company that manufactures and produces cool smartphone cases.

The 41-year-old CEO takes his business-mindedness from his parents who own a restaurant in their region.

Ng established the business in 2011 together with his friend Ronald Yeung which has now reached over 15 million phone case sales around the world.

As an entrepreneur-grown man, Ng’s mindset is to make profits. According to him, it’s the most important thing to survive, as quoted in CNBC Make It.

“It comes down to one thing — being profitable. Being profitable was super underrated until recently,” he said in a virtual interview. 

Ng proudly shared that Casetify will be attaining $300 million in returns for this year alone.

Furthermore, he advised others to venture into businesses that make fortune and are cost-effective and to learn from other entrepreneurs just like how he learned from his mom and dad.

With his success in the chosen industry, Ng imparts hints to be a self-made millionaire in business:

1.Bootstrapping. Starting with $200,000 capital, Ng shared that he and Ronald always did things and operated out of the interests of the company and not of the stakeholders.

2. Overshare your problems. Business is a give-and-take process, it’s surprising how we can learn from others. Although it may seem a weakness for others to know your struggles as an entrepreneur, it is still fundamental to share and learn from them.

3. Entrepreneurship ‘not for everyone.’ Ng shared that knowing if “it’s for you” is important and to discover if it really is, you should “work closely with a founder” or link with beginners to know how hard it will be.

The successful CEO said that being a producer of a product he is really fond of is what keeps him on the move.

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