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(RED) was created by Bono and Bobby Shriver, Chairman of DATA to raise awareness and money for The Global Fund by teaming up with the world’s most iconic brands to produce (PRODUCT)^RED branded products. A percentage of each (PRODUCT)^RED product sold is given to The Global Fund. The money helps women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa. Apple is the latest company to contribute to the catelogue with the introduction of the (PRODUCT)^RED iPod Nano.

I applaud the efforts of people like Bono and his team in helping the poor and the sick. It certainly also helped raised the awareness that while we are enjoying our life in comfort, there are many out there who are not as fortunate as us. And the program has produced good results so far

However, I believe that there are much better ways of doing it. I mean, this whole (RED) initiative is too darn commercialised. Every single item under the (PRODUCT)^RED catelogue is no ordinary brand. They are global brands, worth millions of dollars. They claimed that a percentage of each (PRODUCT)^RED sold will be donated to the needy. But come on.. how much? 50%? There ain’t no free lunch. I’m sure that the company that make those products will profit from the sales. Who knows if they make much more than they actually give to Charity? Out of the US$199 Apple gets for the iPod nano, only US$10 is given away, that’s only 5% of the revenue on each iPod nano.

My point is that, no doubt that the needy would benefit from such programmes, but ultimately, it’s the merchants who benefit most.

Tags: (RED), Bono, RED iPod Nano

A lot of things happened to me recently. And those things made me realised that (or affirmed) the fact:

It’s the people around you that matters most

People around you decides or greatly influences the success of what one does. All we need is one bad worm to spoil the whole show. Successful people like Donald Trump, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates have hordes of brilliant people around them, to help them achieve their goals. You need people with drive, with responsibility, people with are willing to find solutions for their problems and not push them aside (or to someone else). Therefore, we have to weed out those who will stand in your way. Like what Donald Trump always do, “You’re fired”

People around you either make or break your day. When you are feeling like shit one day, having a nice chat with someone, or just spending time with him/her makes you feel a whole lot better. It’s not because he/she can solve your woes, but you find comfort around that person. So sometimes I feel very lucky to have met my group of good friends.

That brings me to another point:

Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies even closer

Friends here is defined a people who will be there in times of need. They are the one who may get you out of trouble one day.

Why keep your enemies closer? So that you can watch their every move, keep them under control, remove their element of surprise, enabling you to strike before he/she does.

What a cruel world I live in…