The 25 Year-Old Kid that Took the AI World by Storm, Annabelle Kwok

Annabelle Kwok, 25 is the founder of NeuralBay, an Artificial Intelligence company that specialises in vision analytics.

She consults for companies on A.I. driven solutions and was previously the founding CEO of SmartCow.

At 20, she travelled alone for 6 weeks in Togo, West Africa. She has witnessed people fainting from malaria, got robbed at knife-point, and balanced buckets of water on her head.

At 22, she met U.S. President Barack Obama under a youth programme representing Singapore.

Annabelle is a black-belt in Taekwondo, a licensed windsurfer, and an avid runner.

In this conversation, we spoke about

Why did Annabelle join the 10-day silent retreat, twice
Why she decided to run a marathon in North Korea
Her experiences travelling alone in Togo, West Africa
and much more!

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

Listen to the full interview on iTunes.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

In 2018, I am getting my health in order. I have already lost 5kg in one month. If you have similar goals, and tried a bunch of diet and regime that didn’t help. I want to work with you. I have enough time for 3 people at the moment to help achieve their health goals. The session would be free of charge, as I learning and testing things out.

I also ask that you only sign up if you are really ready to make some changes. I will motivate you and keep you accountable, but you’ll get the most out of my time if we can spend the bulk of our time analysing what you’ve done and implementing changes.

If you are interested, please email me a little introduction of yourself and your goals. Amongst potential candidate who I think we are a good fit, I’ll accept people first come first serve. Get in touch by emailing to ask [at] bryanvictor.com.

Click “continue reading” for the link and show notes…

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favourite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Show Notes

Annabelle shares her experience of sleep hacking [00:00]
Why did Annabelle decide to go to North Korea? [12:02]
The weirdest thing Annabelle bought on Fiverr [16:46]
Annabelle Kwok shares her holy trifecta of learning [18:36]
How does Annabelle Kwok define success? [31:26]
What made Annabelle decide to travel alone to Togo, Africa [37:39]
Annabelle Kwok on the joy of helping people [54:46]
Why did Annabelle decide to go on a 10-day silent retreat TWICE? [56:59]
Annabelle Kwok on friendship [01:16:59]
Annabelle Kwok shares her favourite failure [01:22:42]
Annabelle Kwok shares stories on her terrible Math’s grades [01:35:16]
Annabelle Kwok on competitiveness in her life [01:40:23]
What is Annabelle afraid of? [01:41:35]
What has Annabelle Kwok got better at saying ‘No’ to? [01:55:57]
What are the new jobs that would emerge in AI? [02:01:07]
How much storage space does “AI” require? [02:16:01]
Annabelle shares resources on how can one learn more about AI? [02:24:02]
Annabelle Kwok on how to building a hardware business [02:26:52]

Links Mentioned

Connect with Annabelle Kwok:
Website | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

Why do we buy roses on Valentines day
A rose on any other day by NPR
Pyongyang Marathon
The Reductive Seduction of Other People’s Problems by Courtney Martin
Introduction to Artificial Intelligence and How To Get Started – Creative Crew Singapore
Google Vision API
TensorFlow

Thanks for listening!

And if you have any experience with anything we talked about, I’d love for you to open up in the comments.

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post.

Share your story in the comments.

Also, please leave an honest review of Misfits Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.

Special thanks to Annabelle for the candid conversation. Until next time!

March 2, 2018

Gratitude 2018

It’s easy to forget about things to be grateful. I used to go on a morning walk, like an old man, and go through a list that I’m grateful about in my life. Life goes on and I forgot all about it.

Last week, I met with my primary school teacher, Mr Au. Over the years, he had a couple of bad accidents. He is now in the midst of recovering from a surgery. He mentioned that every time that he moves his arms – pins and needles will be sent down his entire arm.

I asked him: “How do you feel now?”. He answered: “Much better”.

I replied: “Well, that’s great!”. He responded: “but I still feeling a little pain and I have to stretch every now and then”.

I noticed how he kept focusing on the pain. Why isn’t he happy with his progress? Wouldn’t he be healed with time?

It got me thinking that it is easy to forget about the good things that happened. My health, my relationship, having no debt, air to breath and so much more.

The easiest way to gain happiness is to want the things I already have. Yet, how easily I get used to the good things that happened and feel annoyed by the constant challenges that life has thrown at me.

My solution is a new habit: A Gratitude Practice. (For now, I go through a list of things that I’m grateful for and write them in the morning pages.)

I also feel that gratitude allows me to stop the hedonistic treadmill. I’m not saying to not to grow at all because I believe that growth is closely tied to happiness. The gratitude practice gives me space to think about what will truly make me happy and if that is sustainable.

One example is good food. I love to eat sweets. I can eat an entire tub of Ben and Jerry in an evening along with drinking all sorts of alcohol. If this continues in long run, I would fat ass. Hence, this way of living would be unsustainable.

Thank you for taking your time to read what I write. If I know you in real life, thank you for being part of my life. Let’s remember to be grateful every day. Thank you for the challenges I’m facing, and the lessons I will learn from it.

Thank you, Tynan for inspiring this post.

####

Let this post be the start of my gratitude experiment. I will check back in a year time.

The photo is the van I’ve bought for USD$1,500 and spend a month converting it into a camper.

February 22, 2018

Dreams and Reality

I had an idea to live and work in a van.

I imagined all the nature that I would enjoy.

I gave my wedding studio away and spent the year building Sage Animation so that I could work from anywhere in the world.

In Oct, I flew to Las Vegas and bought a cargo van. I spent the next month building my own travelling home.

Randy lent me his tools. I found Nick and Alisa, who had just finished converting their van and they gave me great advice.

Every day, I would tell myself: “I can’t wait to finish this and finally be able to live my dreams.”

Finally, after a month, I drove out of Nevada and the adventures began.

I slept over at 24 Hours Fitness and went to the gym in the morning.

After, I would go to Starbucks and start working. After 2 hours, I was done working. I surfed the web, read inspiring articles and listened to podcasts.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

Days passed. I felt depressed.

I never made it to the beach. I never felt compelled to visit nature.

So, I stayed with some old friends up in Oakland. I felt better.

I realised that I enjoy hanging with people and the van does not facilitate that.

Some people think that getting that new job will make them happy. But when they finally get it, they feel miserable. They don’t want to let it go because of the efforts they spent getting it.

We often forget why did we want it in the first place. Was it because it might make us feel good?

And this isn’t just about a new job. It could be a relationship, your new phone, a new hobby, certain clothes, places we live at.

It’s important to review our achieved dreams with our emotional state. We have a vision that we want to re-create. They’re hard to untangle from the result we really want. They become useless, and reasons to move on.

Do you have any old goals that weren’t as exciting as you thought it would be?

December 16, 2017

The Psychiatrist Who Started the Addiction Management Department at IMH | Dr Munidasa Winslow

“No one says that they decided to start drinking because my ambition in life is to be an alcoholic. It’s rubbish.”
– Dr Munidasa Winslow

Munidasa Winslow is a psychiatrist and the executive director of Promises Healthcare. He has been practising psychiatry since 1988 and is known for his work in addiction medicine and impulse control disorders.

He was also responsible for the setting up the Addiction Management Department at the Institute of Mental Health. His last appointment at IMH was the Chief of the Department of Addiction Medicine Department at IMH Singapore.

Dr Winslow is accredited as a master addiction counsellor and a clinical supervisor.

In this conversation, we spoke about

Simple yardstick to test if one has an addiction
The framework recovery process for addictions
Dr Winslow’s views on ADHD
and much more!

If you’ve only got 2 minutes, here’s a short video on (Can ADHD Be a Superpower?)

Listen to the full interview on iTunes.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

Click “continue reading” for the link and show notes…

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favourite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Show Notes

Why did Dr Winslow choose to study Psychology in NUS? [00:59]
The difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist? [11:49]
In what cases are drugs used to treat mental wellness? [22:09]
What are some simple and effective solutions for depression? [33:01]
Dr Winslow shares his experience at St Vincent Hospital, Melbourne [36:37]
Why does Dr Winslow think that the Australians are more open about their mistakes? [42:55]
What has Singapore done well in the mental wellness? [45:16]
Dr Winslow shares the best treatment in the industry for addiction? [48:19]
Dr Winslow shares application of human behaviour modification models [54:44]
What was the series of events that made Dr Winslow start the addiction management department at Institue of Mental Health [58:10]
How would one know that one is having an addiction? [01:02:42]
Dr Winslow shares the framework of the recovery process for addictions [01:06:55]
Dr Winslow shares the most common pitfalls when people relapse into an addiction? [01:10:18]
Dr Winslow’s views on the legal mandate for psychiatrists to report illegal addictions [01:12:54]
Why did Dr Winslow decide to start his own practice? [01:18:31]

Links Mentioned

Connect with Dr Munidasa Winslow (Promise Clinic):
Website | Facebook
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
Narcotics Anonymous Singapore
Alcoholics Anonymous Singapore
Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous
The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous by Bob Smith & Bill Wilson
Flight (2012)
WeCare Community Services

Thanks for listening!

And if you have any experience with anything we talked about, I’d love for you to open up in the comments.

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post.

Share your story in the comments.

Also, please leave an honest review for Misfits Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.

Special thanks to Dr Winslow. Until next time!

October 11, 2017

The Couple that Built JobsCentral and Cashed Out, Lim Der Shing and Huang Shao-Ning

Lim Der Shing is currently a private investor, Venture Advisor with Jungle Seedplus and board member with several organizations. Huang Shao-Ning is the Managing Partner of Hub Ventures Fund and a Partner at Entrepreneur First, the world’s leading company builder.

Together, they are the co-founders of JobsCentral Group and manage a regional portfolio of over 17 angel investments in startups.

JobsCentral grew from a 2-man startup into an organization with 150 employees over a period of 14 years. In 2011, JobsCentral was acquired by CareerBuilder, making it one of Singapore’s largest tech exits at the time.

They did all of that while raising a family of 4 kids.

In this conversation, we spoke about

How to discern good advice from noise
Strategies for hiring and managing talents
Effective communication between a couple
and much more!

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did!

Show Notes

Huang Shao-Ning shares about her childhood [01:04]
Lim Der Shing shares about his childhood [04:18]
How did Der Shing and Shao-Ning end up at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor [08:17]
How did Der Shing first meet Shao Ning? [12:10]
Shao-Ning and Der Shing shares views about taking advice from the elderly [17:14]
How do Der Shing and Shao Ning discern good advice from noise? [26:01]
Why did Shao-Ning and Der Shing quit their jobs to start JobsCentral? [37:10]
What are the different stages of JobsCentral’s growth? [46:13]
Shao Ning and Der Shing shares insights on hiring [51:52]
How do you develop a “bullshit” meter for sussing out candidates? [56:12]
How do Shao Ning and Der Shing define and view entrepreneurship? [59:14]
What did Shao Ning learn from Der Shing? [01:06:23]

Links Mentioned

Connect with Lim Der Shing and Huang Shao-Ning:
Website (Der Shing) | LinkedIn (Shao-Ning)

Special thanks to Shao-Ning and Der Shing. Until next time!

September 24, 2017

From Building the Red Rhino to Creating an Iron-Man, Peter Ho

Peter Ho is the CEO of HOPE Technik, an engineering company specializing in Unmanned systems, Defence, Bio-medical, Smart Logistics and Special Vehicles.

The company has delivered over 400 projects across 18 countries to date and projects included (but not limited to) the last 4 versions of Red Rhino for the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).

HOPE Technik was awarded the Most Technologically Disruptive Collaboration (Collaboration Towards Smart Factory Using Autonomous Guided Vehicles) from SICC in 2017.

Peter is an adjunct professor at National University of Singapore (NUS) and Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD).

Peter is also a board member of Composite Cluster Singapore and Airgo Design.

In this conversation, we spoke about

The story of how Peter brought the rarest vintage car in Singapore
How did Hope Technik clinch the Red Rhino project?
Why did Peter leave his job as a Chief Engineer at Petronas?

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did!

If you’ve only got 2 minutes, here’s a short video on (How Peter Ho lost a MILLION dollar on Skate Scooter?)

Listen to the full interview on iTunes.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

Click “continue reading” for the link and show notes…

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favourite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Show Notes

Peter Ho shares his love of vintage cars [01:57]
Peter Ho on his ACJC days as a national debater [06:55]
How did Peter get promoted to Chief Engineer at Petronas [10:37]
Why did Peter leave his job as a Chief Engineer at Petronas [15:26]
Peter shares story on how Hope Technik was when it first got started [23:16
The first product that Hope Technik designed [26:35]
Peter Ho shares his struggles during the start of Hope Technik [33:09]
How did Hope Technik get into a $40,000 debt? [37:14]
How did Hope Technik clinch the Red Rhino project? [40:44]
Peter Ho shares the inner workings of an engineering company [49:26]
How does Peter Ho define an engineering company [01:04:09]
What did Peter learn from the failures of the “Skate Scooter” and “Bed Mover” projects? [01:05:18]
Peter’s decision-making process on deciding which project to take up [04:14:07]
How did Hope Technik clinch the deal with AirBus [01:19:07]
Peter Ho shares the inspiration for the 10 company commandments [01:22:55]
How does Hope Technik uphold its company culture of “No finger pointing” [01:30:16]
What is the ONE lecture Peter would give to Year 3 engineering student? [01:32:25]
Peter Ho on innovation and disruptive technology [01:35:10]
What does Hope Technik mean to Peter in the current season of life? [01:40:07]

Links Mentioned

Connect with Peter Ho:
Website | Facebook

https://racecarsdirect.com/
Skunk work by Ben R. Rich
IBM Watson
OverDrive
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
The Dark Knight (2008)
Torx keys

Thanks for listening!

And if you have any experience with anything we talked about, I’d love for you to open up in the comments.

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post.

Share your story in the comments.

Special thanks to Peter Ho. Until next time!

September 10, 2017

The Singaporean Toymaker Who Kickstarted to the Global TED Conference, Michael Sng

Michael Sng is the principal designer of Machination Studio.

He is the creator of the Codename Colossus – a Walking War Machine with 435 individually 3D-printed parts.

Michael is the first Singaporean who spoke on the main stage at the TED Conference (2016) in Vancouver.

He holds a Bachelor of Graphic Design (Advertising) from the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design (2000).

In this conversation, we spoke about:

Tools and skills to design and build a 3D printed & moving toy
Hacking Kickstarter to conclude a 442% funded Campaign
Michael’s experience preparing for TED
and much more!

If you’ve only got 2 minutes, here’s a short video on (The Designer Snobs From Central Saint Martins)

Listen to the full interview on iTunes.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

Click “continue reading” for the link and show notes…

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favourite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Show Notes

How does Michael Sng introduce himself to a stranger? [0:01:49]
Michael Sng on his childhood [0:12:48]
What is Michael Sng’s superpower when he was younger? [0:1858]
What are the lessons Michael learnt from his time in design school? [0:24:13]
What is the value of an education at a design school when we can learn design from Youtube? [0:30:51]
How did Michael get started with building the ultimate toy “Colosuss”? [0:36:47]
What are the software and skills required to design a toy? [0:4956]
Why did Michael decide to go to Comic Con? [01:02:44]
Did Michael achieve what he wanted at Comic Con? [01:05:09]
How did Michael get invited to TED? [01:09:07]
Michael Sng shares his experience preparing for his TED talk [01:11:41]
Michael Sng shares common mistakes people make with their Kickstarter campaigns [01:24:30]
Why did Michael set a low Kickstarter budget? [01:28:46]
What would Michael do differently for his Kickstarter campaign? [01:30:43]
How did Michael’s Kickstarter project get funded within 6 hours of its launch? [01:34:08]
Michael Sng shares the economics behind his Kickstarter campaign [01:39:49]

Links Mentioned

Connect with Michael Sng:
Website | YouTube | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Photo Credit: Marla Aufmuth (TED)
Arduino
Fusion 360
SolidWorks
Ultimaker (3D printer)
Wanhao (3D printer)
Comic Con (New York)
Introducing Codename Colossus (Viral Video)
Singapore Toy and Games Comic Convention

Thanks for listening!

And if you have any experience with anything we talked about, I’d love for you to open up in the comments.

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post.

Share your story in the comments.

Special thanks to Michael Sng. Until next time!

July 23, 2017

Claire Chiang – The Woman Behind the Banyan Tree Resort Group

“If you allow all these barriers and challenges around you to impact you, you’ll never walk out of the house and have terrible mental health. So, get over it.” – Claire Chiang

Claire Chiang is the co-founder of Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts. She is also first of two women who to break the long-standing tradition of an all-male member of Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCI).

On top of that, Claire is also the chairperson of the Wildlife Reserves Singapore Conservation Fund, the Shirin Fozdar Program and the National Book Development Council of Singapore (NBDCS).

She occasionally contributes to and leads various committees in the Ministry of Manpower, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Home Affairs, National Arts Council and Raffles Girls’ Secondary School.

She was named Singapore’s Woman of the Year (1999).

In this conversation, we spoke about

How to deal with the “glass ceiling”
How to be a mum while running a business
What Claire learnt from the study of Sociology
and much more!

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I do.

If you’ve only got 2 minutes, here’s a short video on (The Truth About Shattering The “Glass Ceiling”)

Show Notes

Claire Chiang on her childhood [0:07:30]
Why did Claire choose to study Sociology? [0:14:11]
Claire Chiang on her parents’ reaction to her studying oversea [0:18:43]
How does Claire define the study of Sociology? [0:21:37]
What lesson has Claire learnt from Sociology that she still carries today? [0:23:29]
Claire Chiang shares about the people she surrounds herself with [0:29:57]
Claire Chiang shares advice on imparting self-agency [0:38:30]
What are the characteristics of Claire’s best mentee [0:54:56]
Claire Chiang shares advice on eliminating negative relationship [1:03:53]
Claire Chiang shares stories about her early travels [1:09:01]
Claire Chiang shares advice on raising a children while running a business [1:14:39]
How does Claire balance instilling discipline and creativity while raising a child [1:22:19]
What are the rules or habits that Claire has learned to build a successful marriage? [1:31:55]
Claire Chiang shares advice on juggling work and family duties [1:41:54]
Claire Chiang on “being water” [1:47:25]
What book would Claire give a class of year 3 Sociology students to read [1:56:05]
The first 90 minutes of Claire’s day [1:56:35]
What areas of Claire Chiang’s current life is she seeking to improve [2:04:34]

Links Mentioned

Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
Wu Tang Association
Shrines and Streetlights by Ho Ren Chun
Water by Christopher Chang & Susan Ho Quek
The Qing Empire (TV Show)

July 9, 2017