You know, once in a while, you do strange thing in your life, like getting up early, buying Chinese newspaper even if you do not understand most of the words, and flipping through the pages eagerly to look for just one page to be immortalised (click image to view the entire article).

Ah…and I did that this morning, I stopped at a page with a word I could finally understand ‘BookJetty‘ and a face I am very familiar with.

My wife was on her way to work, we bought the newspaper together, and I showed her with a little pride that I have to unshamedly carry (We don’t get many chances to be featured in newspaper in our life, do we?) and a smile like this. :D.

Interview like this is invaluable for a small development house like Pluit, it is a sweet encouragement, and this kind of stuff keeps us going.

Wei, if you happen to read this, big thanks for the interview, and please help me to give a pat on your photographer’s back ehm… for such a great shot :).

Warning: This is a very long blog post, if you are reading this at office, please get someone to watch out for your boss.

I have a very good client, about two weeks ago, he messaged me using MSN Messenger:

[nickname]: http://www.jamboree-invite.com/
[nickname]: time 2 get funding!

When I read his first message, I thought he must have sent to the wrong person. ‘Jamboree’, is the word I last heard in high school, it is some kind of gathering held once in a while for the scouts nationwide (or it can be an international gathering, I’ve just checked the dictionary), and I was not even a scout during those time.

When I read the following message, I knew it was for me.

It was not a scout gathering. I looked at the programme highlights, Dr. Vivian Balakrishna is speaking, I guessed it must be a big event. Further reading, it showed ‘funds’ and ‘Interactive Digital Media (IDM)’ somewhere. So why not check it out?

Two days ago, I went for the half-a-day event, given a nice file folder with IDM R&D Programme information printed on it along with 37 pages of partners’ notes. If you are not there, you have thank me for this. Let me tell you what it is all about in one paragraph.

What is IDM Research and Development Programme?

Now, there is a new office within Media Development Authority (MDA), called Interactive Digital Media Research and Development Programme office. If you have creative ideas in digital media, they want you. There are half a billion Singapore dollars to be given to you and the education sector in five years. If you are not sure what digital media is, they can tagged with animation, games, movie, web, software, security, cellphone, gadgets and any X related to digital format. X is to-be-invented by you. You got it? Great.

Will I be funded?

Yes, if you have a great idea, are passionate about it, and they believe that you are able to execute it.

But, you may have a second question, is it going to be easy? Then you start doing your Math, half a billion dollars may sound like a lot of money, but if you divided it into 5 years, and considering the different sectors that are getting a slice of the pie and the number of applications (which we do not know yet), plus how well you write and present yourself, your chances can be slim, yet, it depends.

If you are not funded, please do not stop.

It was about half a year ago, when BookJetty was hosted in a shared server in the U.S.; I knew there was no way an application like this would ever run smoothly in this environment.

At that time, a friend invited me to his talk about Web 2.0 in his organisation. Having been living in here for the past seven years, I asked a typical question, “Is there some kind of government funding available for Web 2.0 application?”. Life was tough then, Pluit Solutions was still new, there were not many projects going on, buying a server and hosting it in a data centre would be a stretch. I knew there was none, but I still asked that question hoping he would say, “I know one, it’s coming up soon.” But he was good enough to smile first and said, “No”.

A gentleman from the audience looked at me and quipped, “You should not always wait for the government.” I nodded gently, he was right, if I was serious enough, I should not wait. Soon, I bought a Dell server and hosting it in Singapore. Thanks to DBS credit-card 24 months 0%-interest installment plan.

Now that I looked back, if I would have waited 6 months, I would not have developed BookJetty up to its stage right now, and I would not have learned so much from the process of developing it. I would not have clinched indirect sales leads from BookJetty. That gentleman was right, I should not wait , and I am glad that I did not.

Are we ready?

I am not sure about the other industries, speaking from the web industry, I think we need to work a lot harder.

About a year ago, having been developing web applications for some years, like you, I spent most of my time building what people call the enterprise applications, a committed developer, I usually worked up to the wee hours on my clients’ projects, leaving me with no time to explore what was going on out there.

When I just started Pluit Solutions, I sat down and did some research on what was going on in the web industry, what was hot, and what was upcoming.

And I was taken back that I was already left far behind. People have been blogging for a year or more, and I was still not very sure what RSS feed is. While I was still using tables and blank.gif image to design HTML layout, people have been talking about web standards, accessibility and usability. While I used Javascript often to create confirmation and alert box, people have used it to create drag and drop effect. While I still believed in one programming language is good enough to solve all problems, people have used others to solve their problems faster and cheaper.

Disheartened but not beaten, I took a sabbatical leave, started learning from basics again, learning CSS, Javascript, Ajax, Ruby On Rails, Linux and learn from other open source applications. And now, each day I am learning from other developers, designers, enterpreneurs and great people around the world through their blogs.

I am happy that I have made some progress, but I believe many of us are hanging at where I was a year ago. Living under the umbrella of our organisation, comparing with the other developers in the company, we stand high; while when we start to fold up that umbrella and look outside, there are hundreds more hills and mountains to be climbed.

Is it too late?

Looking at how fast the lansdcape of the web industry is being reshaped each day. Some of you may have changed to a non-IT related job, swearing that you will never come back to this industry again; some, like me, moving on, but many are left behind.

But is it too late to get up again? I have to say no. Many of you are really smart, but bogged down with your work, you have no time to upgrade yourself and explore your creativity, and it probably is you. If you are really serious, get a sabbatical leave from your company, grab at least 5 books, re-learn again from basics. Web standards, CSS, Javascripts, AJAX, MySQL, Linux, learn from other open source applications, really polish up your native programming language, and don’t be brainwashed, I was, learn other programming languages too.

Get really serious this time, get your hands really dirty. Code something as you learn, think outside the box, create something you have never done before, learn from other great developers’ codes, push beyond your comfort zone. Learn and have fun as well. BookJetty was my try out when I learned AJAX. I was having fun; please do not think about money at this stage.

Let’s make a difference

In two months time, start making a difference in the web industry here in Singapore, start a blog if you do not have one, share what you have learned, what you have created, let us meet often, help each other out, be proud of your title, a web developer, this time a good one, if not, like me, learning to be a good one.

If you are a web developer, I challenge you to develop a web application this year, please do not start another forum, create something unique, creative, simple, yet useful. Code fast and release early. It is the beginning of the year 2007, make it your new year’s resolution, whether or not you get funding from IDM R&D Programme, whether or not you are a small start-up or working in a large organisation, and whether or not you have a credit card installment plan. If I can build BookJetty.com, I know you can build something better than this, and I want be your BETA tester.

It is about time we make a difference to the web industry here, there is no better time than now. And what that gentleman said to me was right, I should NOT wait, and I did not. But… will you?

UPDATE:

An interesting article related to IDM, Money No Enough by Victoria Ho, from ComputerWorld. Bjorn, Ian and myself were interviewed.

People who are making a difference in the web industry here (will be continously updated). I hope this list will grow really long by end of this year:

Groups

Barcamp Singapore

The Digital Movement

Singapore Entrepreneur 27

Singapore Ruby Brigade

Singapore Web Standard Group

SG Entrepreneurs

Web Applications

Blurbme.com

BookJetty.com

Hungrygowhere.com

Ping.sg

Petrolwatch.com.sg

RSS Forward

Tomorrow.sg

TylerProject

Wisheus.com

Wanttotrade.sg

SharedCopy (This was techcrunched!)

Hitchoo

Now we can talk in BookJetty through Shoutboxes and Send Message features.

Shoutbox, I wanted an easy way where we all can talk, maybe not just talk, but more like chatting about a book.

I was considering between Comment and Shoutbox features. Both are pretty much the same, but since comments can get really long and clutter the page, I turned to shoutbox. With shoutbox, it also feels more intuitive to just shout and it takes only a small section of a page.

A shoutbox displays only the last 25 shouts. For more shouts, you can either click on All on the top right corner or click on More… at the bottom of a shout list. Would love follow up on a shoutbox? No problem, get a RSS reader, and click on RSS link for the feed URL. New shouts will be fed to your reader.

You can shout about anything, whether you love or hate this book, the book inspires you to quit your job, it’s a gift from your boyfriend, or even if you have a copy that you would like to give it for free; if someone finds it, they are lucky. Anyway, be creative and explore the shoutboxes.

Send Message, so someone is giving his book for free in a shoutbox, how do you contact him?

Easy, if you are a lady, just click his cute icon, click on Send Message link. Drop him a thank you note, say something like, ‘Hi, thanks so much for [the book], can I meet you at [MRT station] to collect the book.’ After that, lunch on you. Lovely, isn’t it?

Tip: If you have to much free time at work, click here for all shoutboxes feed URL.

UPDATE:

• Recently BookJetty was mentioned by LibraryStuff.net. The site is maintained by Steven M. Cohen, the author of Keeping Current: Advanced Internet Strategies to Meet Librarian and Patron Needs.
• Isaak Kwok, a librarian, wrote an encouraging review on BookJetty.
• Cobalt Paladin reviewed BookJetty, and suggested Chicklet, a small little icon that you can put in your blog that links to your BookJetty profile, would be nice. Coming soon CP.
• tstar, a bookaholic, wrote a short review on BookJetty.
• BookJetty was also mentioned as a mashup example in Making mashups work in the enterprise, ZDNet Asia Mobile, written by Vivan Yeo.

Thanks guys!