Dad is the eldest son of six children, though he has an elder sister. I've never met my grandpa from dad's side 'coz he died when my dad was in his early twenties (not sure about the year, though). Grandpa came from Singapore (perhaps he was born there or his family may have moved there from mainland China - but I don't know the details), whereas grandma was born in Indo (so again like my mom's mother, she didn't speak Chinese). Grandma came from a family where the daughters were only taught how to sew and how to do house chores. Grandpa was a businessman (not sure what he did, though, but he was pretty successful I suppose 'coz grandma never had to work outside of home).
Grandpa's business went bankrupt at one time so that my dad couldn't even pay for his tuition anymore. That was the reason why he quit going to the uni and I suppose not long after that grandpa died, leaving the older kids struggling to earn some income to support the family. Dad used to tell us how during those tough times, they would be lucky to get some leftover food from a restaurant or factory to eat. Dad told me that sometimes at school a friend of his would treat him stuff because my dad didn't have money to buy anything and I know that he cherished his friend's generosity (this friend sometimes came by our place as well).
My mom used to say that even though her own family wasn't rich, but she had never experienced any trouble with the basic necessities in life such as food. Being the eldest son in a patriarchal community pushed dad to find a steady job as soon as possible. Dad was meticulous and he loves planning and organizing and archiving stuff, so he became an accountant for a bakery. He worked there for a few years, then he became an accountant for a family business for many many years. That was when he met mom, but I'll write about it in another post. :-D
Dad loved soccer. He was proud of the fact that he was a pretty good soccer player (he'd proceed to tell us the tricks he did to confuse his opponents back in the days). I suppose he did play a lot of soccer with his friends or neighbours when he was younger. And yes, my own brother loves soccer, as well. :-D
Dad sometimes pulled some pranks on his sisters. One time his bespectacled younger sister put her glasses on the dining room table and she went to have a shower. Then dad switched the glasses with a pair of bras and he laughed so much when his sister came back and she was so surprised when she found out that her glasses had turned into a pair of bras LOL!!! :-D
Dad also told us many times that grandma kinda favored him for some reason. Back during the days, sometimes grandma would buy dad's favourite snack or food and hide it in the pantry and she'd only give it to him once he got back home - and of course the other siblings would protest! LOL!!!
Anyway, after quitting his job as an accountant in that family business, the lady boss told him that because he was so honest, he wouldn't be "successful" (as in dad's not cunning enough to be able to become a rich businessman). Those words were burnt at the back of his mind, propelling him to prove her wrong. I think after that my parents joined forces with my mom's elder brother to open a printing business. They printed lots of pharmacy labels for different pharmacies (the kind of ziplock little plastic bags to put pills into). I remember those rough days. My parents and my uncle hired two people to help out, but still each of them had to do tough work day in day out. The strong smell of the paint permeated the house so strongly that we got used to it after a while. They used the room in the attic to run the business. For a while it seemed to be doing fine, but afterwards it just didn't work as well, so they closed the business and sold the equipment.
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After that my dad became unemployed for a while (mom went back to selling food at the local market) and then he started buying some fish for pleasure but then turned out that he managed to take care of one type of fish well enough that they started breeding. At that time it was quite a good business to sell fish, so with mom's help my dad went on to breed some fish for a while to help make some extra money. Once the "fish trend" died down, my dad couldn't make extra money from it anymore and as luck would have it, a relative introduced him to the world of insurance. Yep, he recruited dad to be an insurance agent.
When he started training, he was the oldest of the bunch and back then insurance was still considered something new in Indo. Being the oldest of the bunch who wore untrendy clothes meant that some people mocked him and undermined him. You see, in Indo even until today I still feel that "appearance" is more important than here in Sodankylä. After all, "status" is more important there 'coz of the social system and the huge gap between the rich and the poor.
So anyway, those mockery propelled dad to prove them wrong. He worked hard despite his shyness and with mom's help and encouragement, he blossomed there. You see, mom used to tell me that in the beginning of their marriage, whenever a guest came over for a visit, dad would hide himself in the bedroom he he he he...He used to be so quiet, but after joining the insurance world, he gained more and more confidence to talk to strangers. In the beginning, though, my dad would always want to be accompanied by mom and he started to sell insurance policies to relatives and friends first and only after that he started widening his net and he grew bold enough to ask for references from his clients as to who else they could refer to him. That was dad's last job. He worked there until he retired. In between selling insurance policies he also tried different types of MLM (multi-level marketing) programs, but they never really worked too well for him.
Rest in peace, dad...in my mind, you're a VERY successful person 'coz you were honest, you never cheated on people or your wife and you put your priorities straight and I never doubted that you loved us with everything you've got. :-)
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As you've probably known already, my Dad used to be a life insurance agent and of course the competition in the life insurance business is fierce. Every company needs to develop their own special life insurance packages as interesting as possible so that customers would want to be interested in buying them. Whether the company offers lowest life insurance rates, a combination of life insurance and scholarship program, a combination of life insurance and investment program, and many more attractive programs with different pros and cons.
Here in Finland when someone loans some money from the bank to buy some property, the bank immediately offers life insurance, house insurance, and even car insurance at special rates. In Indonesia, the combination of life insurance and scholarship program is popular. Why? Because sending your kids to good schools there costs a fortune, so it's very profitable to buy this kind of insurance program so that when it's time for your kids to go to school, you don't have to pay the full amount of money needed to send your kids to school.
Before buying an insurance program, you've gotta make sure how reliable the company is. Secondly, you need to figure out what kind of program suits you best and what you need most from an insurance program. After all, everybody wants to pay less to get the highest amount of profit available. However, if something sounds too good to be true, you should beware that you don't fall into a trap. Take time to do some research before you decide on buying any insurance program so that you won't regret anything in the end.
Reading about nursing history is definitely interesting. I'm sure all of you know that Florence Nightingale is considered as the founder of nursing. However, do you know that in the first nursing school in India, women weren't allowed to be nurses since men were considered more pure? Gee, I was shocked when I read that! Then as I kept on reading, I came upon the concept of travel nursing. I've never heard about that before, at least not as an accepted "formal" term.
In America, the demand for short-term travel nurses first occurred in the 1980's since in some cities there weren't enough nurses. Since then, lots of travel nursing agencies have mushroomed everywhere. It seems to me that this kind of job is suitable for people who love travelling. They can visit other cities plus they get lots of benefits by doing this job. The benefits that they can normally receive are these:
1. Free housing (usually furnished housing) .
2. Relocation assistance.
3. 401k plans.
4. Medical insurance (dental, vision, etc.)
5. A better salary than regular nuses, especially if they have plenty of experiences already in the medical world.
6. Bonuses.
Hmmm...sounds very rewarding, don't you think so? This type of job usually lasts for four until thirteen weeks, except if they get to work outside of America, then the job usually lasts for one or two years. However, nurses have to have at least one year working experience (the longer, the better) before they can apply for this kind of job.
Anyway, in one website that I read, I found out that Hawaii is on top of the list of "hot spots" for travel nurses. I bet you can understand why, can't you? ;-D
I know a guy who should've been VERY successful in life. He had everything he needed to succeed. He is a good marketing agent, smart, outgoing, and he can approach people easily with his confidence and positive aura. Too bad he let his ambition ruin everything he had.
He used to be one of my Dad's agent when Dad became an insurance leader. This guy had a decent house, a decent car, a beautiful wife who was a wonderful seamstress, and two kids. He was pretty tall for an Asian and he had broad shoulders. His voice was so pleasant on the ears and it seemed as if he had the future in his hand.
He moved to a different insurance company and became a leader there, then Dad lost contact with him for a few years. I once had a dress made by his wife (she works from home). She was such a gifted seamstress. Everything was SO neat and tidy and she used the best buttons and everything. Of course that meant that her service cost a lot he he he he he...
Anyway, a few years back he met Dad again. He said that he had resigned from that insurance company because of some problems and they didn't pay him his last salary. Naturally Dad felt sorry for him. He said that he had just started his MLM business, so he asked if my Dad was interested in becoming his downline. Dad said that he wanted to hear more about it. They met and he was hooked right away by his glowing explanation, so he joined him as his downline. After all, he was SO convincing and he had a brand new car as if to testify that he had done well in this MLM business.
Since the MLM paid people in US dollars and Dad didn't have a US dollar bank account, this guy promised Dad that he'd transfer the money to his bank account and then he'd cash it for Dad. Dad agreed.
The first time Dad got payment, he delivered it right to our doorstep. However, the second time around, he was no longer able to be contacted. In fact, he had promised Dad that he would help him find other downlines, but Dad hadn't been able to contact him for some time. It was as if he had vanished from the face of the earth.
Then Dad found out from another person that the guy had actually twisted the story about the insurance company. He had actually been fired by the company due to something and he OWED the company some money! Dad contacted his wife to ask about his whereabouts, and his wife said that he didn't know where he was and everything was ruined 'coz of his ambition. He had sold their house and rented a bigger house. And since he couldn't pay for his new car (he bought the car on credit), he had to return it. And now everybody kept on calling his wife while he went MIA to ask for their money. She said that she didn't know anymore what to do and she was so confused. And what about his teenage kids who need A LOT of money for their education?
I don't know how his life is like nowadays or where he is, but his story provides a HUGE lesson for me. Ambition is necessary in life and sometimes it's important enough to propel us to "greatness", but beware of it!!! Don't let ambition devour you! Besides, there are far more important things in life than getting a bigger house or buying a more expensive car. I feel so sorry for him and his family. I hope he can get back on the right track and start his life afresh.
Since my Dad used to work as an insurance agent, everybody in my family understands the importance of insurance. Insurance is particularly important for people in Indonesia, as most of them aren't covered well by the insurance they have to pay at work, unless they work in a VERY generous company.
When Dad first started becoming an insurance agent, he had a difficult time making people understand the importance of Family Insurance as back then insurance companies had just started opening up. However, with some persistence, he managed to sell some insurance programs. First of all, he had to explain Insurance Plans Pros and Cons so that he could find out which program would be the most suitable for his clients.I just found out that these days there's a new form of insurance program called Cash Back Life Insurance. Basically it means that you'll get every cent you've been paying to the insurance company at the end of your policy period. Quite an interesting offer, don't you think so? So, are you covered by a good insurance company?
