Only XL

I was presented with a scenario of deja-vu at this morning's training session for an upcoming mega event over next week.

The training started well, with an overall briefing and walk-through conducted by the main officer-in-charge. But it went wrong at the outset of the distribution of passes and gear.

'Your names are not in the list? Oh, just write down your particulars after the last row.'

'Sorry, your passes are not with me yet. They are sent here in batches.' (Sorry, but where's the logic?)

'You need a M or S sized shirt? Oh, I only have XL ones!'

I could only observe from a distance and smile wryly. I have been through this before.

During another mega event in 2006, my fellow workers and I were promised early on individually tailored suits and this got everyone substantially excited.

On the day of the fitting (for the suits), it started to go sour.

The vendor asked us to pick up, from a clothes hangar, the off-the-shelf jacket and pants that best suit our build. I can see in the others' eyes the disbelief: Is this considered tailor made?

After one picks out the best fitting but not quite fitting jacket or pants, the vendor will gauge and take down the adjustments that needs to be made, lengthen an inch on the sleeves, reduce an inch on the waist and etc, which I thought was totally nuts. I mean, you take down these number of measurements, you might as well measure our build properly, which isn't much more additional work. By using add-on measurements, it becomes a dynamic process because whatever you plus or minus on one end may affect the other.

True enough, the vendor confused themselves and everybody else. The very week before the event starts, most of us have not received our suits and for those we did, the measurements were wrong and most of these suits were returned to the vendor for alterations, for which they had no time for.

The situation was tense and got so bad that that the big bosses of the event had to appear and apologise to every one. Just to ensure that the event could go on, the instruction became 'you wear your own suit or you make your own alterations to the official ones'.

The show went on quite successfully but the taste in everyone's mouths was sour.

Who now to Heal The World

Michael Jackson was one of the foremost artistes to pay attention to causes of humanity, exemplified by his songs 'We Are the World' and more recently 'Heal The World'.

My own Michael Jackson journey went all the way back to primary school. My elder brother, I think he had to perform for a school function, practised the iconic MJ song 'Beat It' at home all day. Due to the lack of information then, I had no idea how MJ looked like but the chorus of 'Beat it! Beat it!' remained till today. However, I did not get in touch with his songs for many more years (I was a Mandarin song lover and still am)but news of his ever changing appearance and colour was so ubiquitous that it was hard not to notice.

My first MJ album was the equally iconic 'Black or White'. I had bought, using the pay from my temp job at OCBC Securities then, a new AIWA 3-disc changer mini hifi and I thought that only the sounds, songs and arrangement of a top act like MJ would do my hifi justice. The cover design of the album was also unforgettable.

Honestly, I never did like the heavier MJ songs from 'Beat It' to 'Jam'. My loves were his softer and tender ballads and the best of them all has to be 'Heal the World', from the Black or White album.

My thoughts soared with him when he sang about love having a place in all our hearts, that we can turn swords into ploughshares. Though world peace is a much talked about but far away notion, the potential is not unattainable because of the love that do exist but may be forgotten in hearts, and it is this love that will 'make this a better place, for you and for me'.

Importance of summarising

I remember as a student in secondary school, we spent quite a bit of classroom time practising writing summaries. Summaries were also tested in examinations. I could not understand the rationale of summaries then.

I do now, after seeing how Prof Tommy did a magnificent job of summing up two days of high-level discussions. There are three main reasons why summarising is difficult.

First, you have understand the material at hand. Sometimes, the sheer amount of information to digest makes the task seem impossible.

Second, to distill or synthesize the material, i.e. to extract the essence of the discussions.

Third, offer insight which is of value and a perspective that is fresh.

Water Prize for a noble man and photos

In a world obsessed with wealth and personal glory, it is refreshing and inspiring to hear of an inventor who chose not to patent his invention for the benefit of mankind, an invention which accounts for 75% of similar methods used in treating wastewater; some 3000 examples are in use today. I have heard Prof Lettinga from the Netherlands speak over these two days and this personality of his came through, that he is no businessman and not media-savvy, he is interested only in innovation for society and humanity. I salute him and he is a worthy winner of the Prize.


Prof Tommy exchanging ties on the spot with a French delegate.
Taking time to pose in front of the Istana.

With badminton buddy Yap.

The year in 1989

I received this week's Times magazine, a double issue featuring the extraordinary year that 1989 was. Among others, it was the year of:

1. The Fall of the Berlin Wall
2. Russia's Revolution
3. The World Wide Web
4. In Tiananmen Square
5. Mandela meets De Klerk
6. Vietnam Exits Cambodia
7. The Dalai Lama's Nobel
8. The Hillsborough Tragedy
9. The Satanic Verses
10. Gay Marriages

Darn, I was only aware of The Simpsons then!

I was like that too

I had a wise friend GM in my undergraduate days. He is still my friend now and I have known him since Sec 1. But it was during our four years in the same society (i.e. ECA) that we interacted more and were closer. He was well read and could often quote meaningful verses, some of them which I still remember today.

He was the person I first heard the phrase ' 将心比心', 'even our fingers are not of the same length, so do not have overly high expectations of people to treat every one equally', '一个人的快乐，不是因为他拥有得多，而是因为他计较得少' and many more.

As I mentioned in one of my previous post, sometimes it could be many years past before one really understand some things.

Now that I am not so young, when I encounter young people, I am reminded of the same things I once did.

In my weekly badminton group, there is a person who is not very popular because he is simply not a good sport. He wants to win every match and will show his displeasure at his partner for almost every point lost, and he himself is not a terribly good player and almost as liable for the lost points as his partner. In the beginning, I try to avoid partnering him and even to the extent of avoiding playing against him.

But after I ' 将心比心 ', I know that I am also guilty of such unsporting behaviour too. During my JC days, I normally play basketball, but there was an opportunity to play badminton and I was very excited because I used to be from my primary school team and thought I could show off. But I was paired to play with one of my classmates who played very badly. I sulked and finally stomped off from the court. Thankfully, I had another wise friend then, who followed me off the court and sternly rebuked me and ordered me not to display my tantrums and return to the badminton court. I am forever indebted to this friend for teaching me this important lesson of life.

In my work in recent years, I supervise younger or lesser experienced officers and often have to vett their work. Sometimes, I get frustrated that they are not able to meet a certain level of proficiency but then I will remember I was like them too as a young officer. I was fortunate to have good bosses who patiently go through my work and point out where improvements need to be made. Come to think of it, even now with some seniority, I know that my level of work, when viewed by my supervisor is probably not up to his mark as well. haha

Three wishes for Jet Li, my fellow Singaporean

If today's reports in the newspapers are true, Jet Li has become a Singaporean and a proud owner of a Good Class Bungalow. This is a happy piece of news. Although there are critics (there always are people who just cannot see the positive side of anything), my sentiments are that a talent hungry city state like Singapore need world class personalities and the addition of Jet Li will hopefully set off a virtous cycle.

I have three wishes for Jet Li.

First, I wish that he will enjoy Singapore, spend a considerable amount of time exploring our little state and hawker centres and gradually become a real Singaporean, complete with lahs and lors.

Second, I wish that despite his fame he will be left alone in Singapore, free from parapazzi, his privacy respected by the local media, so he can concentrate on his One-Foundation, bringing hope to the needy people of the world.

Third, I wish that with his considerable influence bring the world closer to Singapore, win more friends for Singapore and to spark interest in our island. I mean, Jet Li gave up US citizenship for Singapore, there must be something good right?

Wait nong nong to know

It is not only true that time teaches us to forget, time also validates.

When I started working some 9 years ago, my first boss Mr C who is a very kind person, loves to walk around the office and talk to his staff, especially the younger ones. I enjoy talking and listening to him, but often could not understand some of the more cryptic things he said.

For example, he would say, don't work for the company, work for yourself or just do one thing a year or ask me 'who's your boss'? He would sometimes chastise me for being naive. I remember once when I went to his room trying to stand tall and act confident, he glanced at me and said,"Wah, want to fight ah."

Nine years on, I begin to understand some of the things that he and other more senior people have said then.

So I guess the message is that you have to give people (and possibly yourself) a chance because what may appear to be obvious may turn out not to be. What may appear to be senseless may eventually become valuable.

No more YONEX, welcome LI NING

A sea change has taken place in the world of badminton. The incumbant Yonex, official equipment sponsor of almost all major badminton tournaments is giving way to Chinese Brand Li Ning.

If you have thought that Yonex was expensive, think again. Li Ning is almost twice as expensive. The retail prize of their top of the line racket costs $449! A pair of badminton shorts cost $89!

Li Ning's strategy is obviously not to become the badminton equivalent of Air Asia or Ryanair. It is setting its sights high on the top tier range, where the margins are higher. And it is doing so by sponsoring none other than the Chinese badminton team, the top dogs of the game.

As a consumer, if this forces Yonex to lower its prices, I am all for it. Cos I am sticking to my Yonex Armotec 900-Power!

Bao Chunlai Vs Boonsak Ponsana

Today's mens singles finals has to be one of the best badminton matches I have watched. Perhaps it was because both players have not won much in their careers and therefore gave their best, salvaging every point lunging, leaping, back-paddling and even resorting to diving. In the current 21-point game, there is no time for pretty strokes, every point is rewarded or punished.

Boonsak is clearly showing his age although his overall play and reading of the game has improved since his win in 2007. He is also more agressive and has adopted a more smashing game to suit the times. In contrast, Peter Gade's severe lack of speed and aggression and without a killer stroke cost him dearly and lost to an unknown Anup Sridhar.

I have always admired Bao Chunlai's technical game since I first saw him many years ago at the Singapore Open. However, despite his excellent stroke play, the reason why he has not matched his compatriot Lin Dan's achievement is that he cannot kill the game. Lin Dan can by smashing hard, and pouncing on the weak return to win the point.

The crowd was into the game today, lustily cheering and banging the clappers. But the Singapore kiasu streak showed itself again. When the score reached 19 in Bao's favour, some people can be seen rising and walking away from the stands. When Bao finally won, almost three quarters of the crowd stood up to leave even though there was still a prize presentation. This prompted the emcee to request the audience to stay, but this is Singapore, we must all go early in case our cars get stuck in a jam!

Wisdom from an intern

We have interns in office from time to time. Seeing them, I am reminded of my attachment when I was in Year 3, being bored (sometimes) to death, but being very carefree.

I normally make the effort to talk to them unless they look so unfriendly that it really is difficult to try to do anything. But actually most of them are just shy.

So today I was waiting for the lift to go home and two of the interns were already there. One of them was carrying a fencer's 'sword', possibly going for training later. Being kind of keen in martial arts, I engaged in some small talk with him about how long he has practised and whether he was any good.

Then I asked him," If you were in a fight, would you be able to use your fencing skills, pick up a stick or something and fight?"

Guess what he said?

"I think I will run away!"

Wise indeed =) In fact, I recall Jet Li saying the same thing.

First on the list

Was on the MRT last Saturday travelling with S to visit our favourite prawn noodle stall. On the way back, saw this classmate of mine and I could immediately remember his name, Ang K K, and I called him. He turned, looked at me, recognised me but he said he could not remember my name.

After telling him my name, I told him that the reason why I could remember his name after 12 years (we were in the same 1st year class) was his name was first on the class list and during tutorials when the tutor marked attendance, his name rang out and it stuck in my mind ever since.

Office running group - best turnout so far

Very heartened to have 12 runners (including me) today. We attempted a new route which minimises running along the main road, which during eveing peak hours is quite hazardous to health due to the vehicle fumes.
Waiting for the rest of the runners to arrive before heading for the post-run drink.

Enjoying a well deserved cold isotonic drink.