Ten-Thousand Hours

According to the book Outliers, that's how long it takes to practise to be a master, of anything. From music, to programming to sports.

In a study, the star violinists were the ones who practised more than the normal good ones. In football, I recall David Beckham saying he followed the example of Eric Cantona, staying back after the rest have left, to practice his free kicks.

That's why there is a saying the harder you work, the luckier you become, and the more successful you can be.

Talk by Futurist

I listened to a talk by a futurist yesterday.

One of the key takeaways was that recent man-made disasters have all being somewhat predicted/ envisaged. For example, the 9-11 method of ramming a commercial air-plane has been featured in a Tom Clancy novel, Maddof’s Ponzi scheme was whistle-blowed but ignored and of course the ongoing financial crisis where so many hands were involved that it is inconceivable that no one could foresee what was the ultimate consequence.

The trouble however is having a framework/ system to identify such potential occurrences and getting the right people to acknowledge the probable-ness and impact of their happening. Case in point: former FED chief Alan Greenspan dismissing, years ago, the likelihood of another economic crisis because we know the financial system too well for it to fail.

But fail us he and it did.

During the Q&A session, responding to a question on how organizations and specifically top leaders could influence the culture of their organizations to allow for open communication, the futurist said that what was more important was for as many officers as possible to learn new and relevant tools and skills, so they can identify and contribute to minimizing disasters. I agree with another participant with the same question that the answer was not satisfying when the speaker himself acknowledged in the Asian context the culture of deferring to higher authority and not speaking up.

Recollections and Reflections from ICT

Making It Interesting

It was meant to be a peaceful and quiet one week. Unsurprisingly, quite a few disapproving voices could be heard when I informed them one day about a change of program into an inter-platoon competition we were going to have in the afternoon. The competition comprises 3 stations of small arms stripping and assembling, followed by building of a shellscrape (from sandbags), donning of a full set of PRC77 (this relic can be viewed at the Army Museum) and correctly aiming a GPMG mounted on a tripod after running with both appurtenances for a distance of 50m. The key ingredients of competition and group identity transformed sleepy and disinterested men into fleet-footed, aggressive and committed soldiers. It was an immensely enjoyable and satisfying experience for me to have organized the event. It also begs the question,”If men are not engaged, could it be that the system or the structure needs improvement?”

Spotting a Loser

I said to the men (to howls of disapproval),” I thought Platoon 2 will surely come in last.” I meant what I said, although in the end they proved me wrong and deservedly won the competition. I told them about my observations that their platoon was the last to report to the store to draw the spade and sandbags. When the rest of the two platoons had finished filling up and dumping the filled sandbags, Platoon 2 had barely started. With such poor teamwork, is it not a given that such a team is bound to lose?

Reaching NS CEP

With my old friend DW and incumbent CSM completing his 10-year cycle, I was announced as the next CSM. As understudy, I had taken over most of his duties for this and the last ICT, and so I am quite confident of my new role. As an NSmen, that is about as high an appointment a non-commissioned officer could go. I had however never contemplated nor wanted to take on this role when I started my then 13-year ICT cycle in 2002; this was subsequently reduced to 10 years in 2008. In the past 7 years, I had gone through varied appointments starting as section commander, taking over as platoon sergeant when the incumbent went for studies, switching to Company Quartermaster Sergeant after I injured my left knee ACL and the incumbent CQMS deferred. Apparently, I did well enough to be considered as a potential replacement for the post of CSM. Looking back, I must say that the opportunities presented themselves simply because the incumbents had to be somewhere else and a replacement needed to be found.

What I Learnt

Taught me to not accept negative ideas/comments, believe in the motivation and persuasion of men and the potential of a better future with hard work.

Good Time, Not So Good Food

Towards the end of the meal, HS said,"I would rather have paid $10 more to eat better quality food, or we might as well have gone to a hawker centre." I couldn't have agreed more.

I meet this group of NTUBS friends once in a long while, and because of this we normally splurge on a better dinner. The last dinner I had with them was an ala-carte buffet dinner at Suntec's Pearl River Restaurant and I still had good memories of the food.

I arrived early and was seated. Then GM called me and said they are switching the dinner venue to the Congress (I think so) steamboat buffet because MH liked the experience of cooking his own food!

It turned out to be not a clever thing because the quality of the food was poor. The raw seafood, apart from the prawns, were not fresh and had an unpleasant odour. I mostly ate the cooked food and drank my pork bone steamboat stock which was in fact quite good and the only saving grace.

I am defnitely not going back there again, ever.




My pork bone stock with only tang-oh vegetables.
HK had to settle important office matters throughout the dinner. He looked tired.

Adjourning to Mc Cafe for a late night cuppa.

With GM, friends since Sec 1.

K 歌之 Night

同事TW远赴重洋，状元身份衣锦还乡。午餐也多了一份笑声。
近日，谈起和一群好友计划去唱K，细问，方知TW学生时期竟活跃于校园歌唱，TW还自豪地说自己音域广，还曾在 Orchard Rd 献唱，并以歌神张学友的歌最为拿手，令在座的同事都敬佩三分。同事笑他喝了洋水，还没有英文名，便替他取了Dick。我也锦上添花（因该算是画蛇添足多一点），中文翻译为‘迪克。荣’。气派吧！

A Special and Cool Tribute to the King of Pop

I really wish I can do this some time!=)

We Are The World

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9BNoNFKCBI

Of two friends

I have two friends who are very different.

One is extremely inquisitive to a fault and will stop at nothing to satisfy his curiosity, even when the other party is showing his unwillingness to share further, and even if the incremental information he gets is not material in the betterment of his life.

The other one is guarded to a fault, does not offer any information volunteerily especially on his personal life unless asked and pursued.

I also have two other friends who are very different in another manner.

One is extremely generous and will offer to buy drinks or food, or volunteer his services readily.

The other is a silent acceptor of generosity of goodwill (like the example above) but will not offer to offer to buy drinks/ food or offer to foot his share unless requested.

Forget Bottled Water, says Professor Tommy Koh

Prof Tommy gives four reasons why we should not drink bottled water. Read his full article here.

First, you are wasting your money.

Second, tap water in Singapore is safe to drink.

Third, energy is used unnecessarily to produce bottled water.

Fourth, bottled water is bad for the environment.

============
Prof Tommy has provided simple to understand but compelling reasons. But the truth of the matter is Singapore is very far from attaining this preferred state of affairs. Bottled water is still affordable to the masses despite it being many fold more expensive than the humble but equally good tap water. The convenience a bottle of water provides often outweighs other considerations. As for caring for mother earth, while it is a sad and true that most bottles are incinerated and not recycled, environmental sustainability is a thought that most bottled water fans will hardly entertain.

Dumbfounded

My big boss is a very intelligent man. He asks questions that are difficult to answer. I was in such a situation today.

Apart from being a little embarrassed, it is these moments that the greatest learning occurs. The few seconds of silence and the eyes on you seem an eternity. The learning point is driven home and is something I will not be forgetting in a long time.

Tommy Koh's 10 rules

This was a speech Prof Tommy gave to a Freshman Inauguration Ceremony at NUS Law School in Aug 2008. The full text of the speech, which I encourage you to read, can be found here.

His 10 rules are:

1. Learn to work smart
2. Cultivate your thinking skills
3. Learn to write well
4. Learn the skills of presentation, negotiation and advocacy.
5. Develop your emotional intelligence.
6. Develop your cultural intelligence.
7. Develop good values.
8. Form enduring friendships.
9. Be passionate about justice.
10. Have a great time.

I can only lament that no one gave such words of wisdom in my freshman year. We didn't even have an inauguration ceremony!

AYG beach volleyball finals

(Some of my other protocol officers)

My week-long stint at AYG Beach Volleyball has ended with Thailand winning both the Girls and Boys finals; Kazakstan was runner-up in both finals. Apart from receiving and taking care of VIPs, I was made responsible for the national flags during the victory ceremony.

What have I learnt or gained in this week?

First, in organising big events, it is quite impossible to really learn past lessons from similar events simply from paperwork so it is good to include in the team persons with experience.

Second, sufficient effort must be made in 'hygiene' issues to ensure that volunteers have enough to eat, drink and are adequately dressed, e.g. the t-shirt size issue I mentioned in an earlier blog. On the same note, make sure that rehearsals are effective and efficient. Being otherwise will result in a negative perception of the event and may affect the morale of the entire workforce.

Third, I made many new friends. Prof Tommy's way of shaking hands with everyone at first contact helped as the physical contact helped to break the barrier. And always be the first to make contact and I realised that most people are very friendly even their demeanour may not suggest as such.

Me with the beach volleyball Venue Manager (aka Big Boss) Kim Hwee. An extremely friendly, effective and hard working chap.

Met my OC Gary at AYG

Protocol friends

These are my new made friends, all carrying out 'protocol officer' duties. I know the Indian fellow SJ next to me the most, having spent quite some time chatting with him. SJ has a career that most of us dream about. He was a fighter pilot during his national service days and now he is a pilot with our national carrier. I spent many happy minutes grilling him on the details of flying the iconic A4 Skyhawk and now the equally iconic Boeing 747. I learnt a great deal.

For example, the difference in American and European thought is manifested in the air craft they manufacture, i.e. Boeing and Airbus. Airbus is a complete fly-by-wire plane whereas Boeing retains some mechanical flight control features. Therefore a Boeing pilot retains some amount of feedback via the 'joystick'.

I also learnt that as the aircraft accelerates down the runway, once it reaches a certain speed call 'V1' (depending on many factors such as dead weight, payload), aviation rules requires the aircraft to take off, regardless of whatever situations may occur.

New young friend

On my 1st day of duty today, I met a young chap SM who was assigned to the same station as me -- welcoming and arranging shuttle transport for VIPs to the competition venue.

We have (at least) three things in common:

First, our ancestry hails from Hainan Island, China. In fact, our villages may be very near each other's, each around 20-30 mins drive from Wenchang city.

Second, we were both specialists or sergeants in our national service vocations. Being the meat in the sandwich (between the officers and the men), we shared a common resonance in our 'war' stories, from training suffering to ghostly encounters.

Third, he is about to embark on his engineering studies whilst I have completed my engineering studies, so engineering is a common profession for us.