Our Collective 2500 km Walk…One Community Walk

Changi Simei, Singapore, 25 July 2010

 

Sunday is usually a time for me to catch up with my sleep but not on 25 Jul 2010. 

 

I was given a mission to accomplish….to flag off the One Community Walk (OCW) at 8 am. This is an event with three objectives; to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of People’s Association, as a platform to launch the support for Singapore Youth Olympics Games which is scheduled to open on 14 Aug 2010. The third objective is to promote a healthier life style through brisk walking, a suitable activity for people from all walks.

 

At 8 am sharp, all 84 Constituencies each with about 1000 participants turned up at 75 sites to participate in the biggest synchronised flag off mass walk. At the national level, Prime Minister, 17 Cabinet Ministers, 55 Members of Parliament and Grassroots Leaders flagged off the walk. It is now official that the mass walk created a new record for the Singapore Book of Records.

 

In our constituency, the event was organised by the Changi Sports Club led by its secretary Arthur. There were 3 start points, at Blk 106 Basketball Court, on top floor of the Multi Storey Car Park at Blk 166 and at the Community Club. Each start point was flagged off by our key grassroots leaders, Mr Chua Soon Lee, the Chairman of Community Club Management Club at the Community Club.  Mr Tan Kim Hock,  the Vice-chairman of the Changi Simei Citizens’ Consultative Committee and I were at Blk 106 and Blk 166 respectively.   

 

The OCW commenced with a warm up exercise to get everyone ready. At 8 am, the horns at all our 3 start points sounded to signal the beginning of the 30 minutes walk. Safety Marshalls comprising of grassroots leaders and cadets from Changkat Changi Secondary Schools were deployed along the routes to facilitate the safety of participants. Members of our C2E Committee who are qualified first aiders were on bicycles and on ground to provide the safety coverage. For event of such magnitude, we did a risk assessment to cover the various safety aspects.  

 

It was a sunny day although the weatherman had projected a “wet” day earlier. At least the weatherman was wrong for “once”. I guessed mother nature may have realised that the OCW was one event which involved thousands of people thus it held the weather. Our 30 minutes walk ended at the field beside East Point Mall. Like any other walks, there were stragglers but they made it to the end point.

 

It was a refreshing walk and my wife Linda and daughter walked together. I also met an American family and we chatted.  He and his family was relocated to Singapore about 5 weeks ago. Paul was impressed with the organisation of the event. In the short 5 weeks, he had also signed up as members of the PAssion Card.  

 

 

Well, if each participants walked 2.5 km, we would have accumulated a distance of 2500 km. This is about the distance from Singapore to Hongkong. It was an achievement. Brisk walking in Changi Simei is not some thing new. We have brisk walking interests groups and we also walk for charity. Last year, we walked for rice in a charity event to aid needy families in Changi Simei.

 

At the end point, participants were treated to SYOG games, food and drinks and a modern dance by Siglap Secondary School. We also had a strongman demonstration of flipping a tyre weighing 250 kg. The strongman was Singapore champion in 2008 and 2009. Jason, Steve, Said and I also flipped the same tyre used by the strongman. We too were successful flipping the 250 kg tyre but with 4 men.  It is not about strength of individual but the team who does the challenge. Hooray to unity is strength and alone we cannot do much. Nonetheless, my muscles ached the next day not that I was unfit but different set of muscles were used.

 

Together with the key grassroots leaders, we launched the Singapore 2010. I struck the gong while the other key grassroots leaders fired off confetti to unleash colourful streamers. I love to watch streamers as it creates celebratory mood.

 

The OCW was just one of our event to generate interests in SYOG. We are planning another SYOG event on 31 Jul 2010 from 8.30 am to noon. It would be exciting as the two mascots of SYOG would be making their appearances. 

 

The finale is the Cheers the Flame on 8 Aug 2010 at 4 pm. Two of our grassroots leaders would be the touch bearers. 

 

August 2010 would be one of the busy month in my personal calendar and we press on.        

A Peep at Eunos NDP Heartland Celebrations

Changi Simei, Singapore, 24 July 2010

 

As I write this blog, the NDP Official Website’s clock shows that we  are 14 days away from our 45th National Day. Well the time is always right. It is always ticking away without us realising we don’t have much time to spare….so treasure the precious time to contribute to the well beings of others.

 

 This afternoon 24 Jul 2010, the six of us, Ms Jo, Ms Suhani, Ms Bok, Steve Chia, Sukhminder Singh and I gathered at City Hall to watch the full works of NDP  primarily to co-ordinate with mediacorps on the “go live” touch points for our Eunos Celebrations. We want to present the best of South East District to every home in Singapore. Much had to be done to ensure  “perfect” timings.

   

I spoke to the Chairman of the NDP Exco, COL Bennedict Lim that  nothing beats being physically present at the Padang to feel the “heart beats’ of the live NDP. Though we sat in a room watching the live telecast, it was test of using our “eyes to listen” and “ears to see” in our effort to co-ordinate our programmes with the Padang.  

 

Steve was surprised to hear the reversed functions of our eyes and ears as we see with our eyes and hear with our ears. He thought, I might have slip but how effective they are in their traditional roles? In reality, many times our eyes don’t see and we turn a blind eye. We hear but we don’t listen. Therefore, the reverse in traditional roles require mastery at the higher order. A little philosophical but a concept easy to understand but difficult to practise in reality.          

 

Nonetheless, the 5 hrs spent at the City Hall was worth the effort. We reviewed our earlier plans comparing it with the EXCO’s plan. We micro managed the details of our programmes in view of the tight window of in live telecast. We coordinated with one of the emcee present through the “ASK” approach of asking, seeking and knocking. We asked and we received the answers, we sought and we found the answers and we knocked with others opening their doors for us to ask and seek. Nonetheless, it was the team effort that I was impressed with as we harboured one common vision to present the best the residents in South East District.       

 

In the process of ASK, we made changes and fine tuned our original plan to overcome the presence of live telecast challenges. I am now more confidence than earlier on the success of our national day celebrations at South East after the City Hall’s session. From now till 9 Aug 2010, our plan would  continue to evolve for the better especially in perfecting the timings up till the final word “Go” on 9 Aug 2010.  

 

Change is constant and there is nothing to fear. What is more fearful and is a sure formula for failure is the reluctant or resistant to make changes. Fortunately, members of my team are “change adopters”. To be frank, there were apprehensions at the early stage of our planning that we may not have the expertise to “fly”  flag like the Olympic Games.  That’s was a reality but we were determined to ensure that our flag would fly. There were many trials and experiential learning pull us through as each time, we learned some thing new, modified the lessons learned and try again to create the “flying” flag. It is now confirmed that our flag would be the one and only “flying” flag,  true to the theme of this national day of “live our dreams, fly our flag”.

 

Briefly during the short break, I stood on St Andrew Road to feel the heart beats of Singaporeans. The spectators were great as they came in Red and cheers as though the NE show was National Day. Indeed it was like National Day with full complements of military hardware and vehicles from the Home Team. I love to see the Leopard Tanks driving past me for me to reminisce the time when I was in the Armour formation many years ago.   

   

It is now 14 days, 0 hour, 55 minutes and 01 seconds. Soon it will be 13 days to go and so forth. I am excited to celebrate the 45th National Day as a sovereign and free nation.

 

  

 

  

 

Our “World Cup”….won by Changi Simei CSC

Changi Simei, Singapore, 20 July 2010

The norm in our society is to honour the best who has excelled. We honour top athletes, top players, top teams, top coaches, top entrepreneurs, top managers, top students and may more super achievers. It is always the Number 1 who will be glorified and remembered while the Number 2 is consigned to oblivion. At least the Number 2 may have walked up the podium to receive prize. But those behind the scene or work at the backroom are seldom in the lime light or well known to the public. These are the people who have helped to put together a plan to train and nurture these super achievers but are likely to be the forgotten lot. These are the silent champions and without their presence, there will be no champions and top achievers. 

On 17 July 2010, the Changi Simei’s Constituency Sports Club (CSC) and other CSC congregated at Suntec City Convention Hall to honour the champions and also to recognise the works of “backroom” members of the CSC. Members of the CSC may not be at the forefront representing the constituencies in sports but they are backroom heroes and heroines who planned and organised sporting and competitive events with the objectives to bond people together. Therefore, members of the CSC are champions of the sports. I am glad that they are recognised through a formal appreciation event.

For Changi Simei CSC, we may not be the Number 1 in 2009 but we are in the top half out of 84 CSCs at the Number 37 position as compared to the lower half in 2008. We have improved a couple of positions upwards through the hard work and efforts of members of our CSC. There are constraints in our CSC, primarily financial and time constraints but its members are working to sport talents and enthusiasts and to recruit them to represent our constituency. Of the many sports in the inter-constituency competition, our CSC is focusing on a couple of sports which we are good at for development as with limited resources, we have to concentrate and invest our resources where it matters. To be strong everywhere is also to be weak everywhere, therefore we opt to be the master of some instead of being a “Jack and Jill of all trades but master of none”.

Looking at the works done in 2009, it is not about winning titles, accolades or to be the “invincible” Number 1. The more important mission is about what the CSC organising events to develop community bonding, promote healthy lifestyle and promote family values. Nonetheless, the Number 37 trophy presented to our CSC was a testimony that we have done it. Our trophy is like our soccer “World Cup”.  

 

 

The success has always been in its people and their focus on what they want to do for the community. It also reflects the CSC’s unity in its leadership to work as a team and open to new ideas. This award in my mind also binds members together sharing achievements, success and failure. Seated together with our CSC members, I saw the close interaction among the team. It was a fun time to be with them that evening. 

 

Look at the Team CSC interaction during the night, Arthur doing a swing with Molly and Jacqueling supporting him. It created laughters when one of the two ladies helped Arthur to complete the “swinging” game to win a prize.  Well, the first and last contestants all won a prize.    

 

On the way back, the 7 of us huddled in Arthur’s MPV. We continued with our conversations on what’s next for the community. Arthur suggested to work on a sporting calendar involving the RCs on a monthly basis culminating to a Sports Family Day. Not a bad idea where I have requested CSC to include the family values aspect in his plan. The CSC team will be developing the sports calendar for 2011.

 

We are on track to create more sporting events for the community. The challenge is funding for the year round event. The Chinese saying of  “有志者 事竟成”,  well there is will, there is a way.

Live Our Dreams, Fly Our Flag…our aspirations

Changi Simei, Singapore, 18 July 2010

 

Last year 2009, the Changi Simei Citizens’ Consultative Committee organised a National Day Parade Live  @ Changi Simei to bring the National Day Parade closer to our residents. We attracted nearly 2500 residents from all walks of lives decked out in patriotic colours, namely red and while seating in a picnic style joining other fellow residents celebrating our 44th National Day. The celebration climaxed we recited our National Pledge and sang our National Anthem. It was a truly a night where we “Come Together – Reaching Out, Reaching Up” expounded by the National Day 2009 Theme with patriotism filled the air.

 

  

Last year, we also set a new record for the Singapore Book of Record. We created a 8000 birthday cards national flag (photo left) which became a focal point for residents’ to gather and took photographs of them and their families. The flag was our residents’ contributions in coming together to write their well wishes on these 8000 birthday cards for Singapore.        

 

 

On 15 July 2010, as the Chairman of the Programme Sub-committee, NDP Heartlands Celebrations @ South East, I represented the organising committee to release our programmes at South East during the media release. This year, besides the NDP at Padang, there are 5 other districts organising the NDP Heartlands Celebrations. Our celebrations is at the open field at Eunos MRT, a site selected in view of its accessibility. Our Eunos’ site will be ready by 3 pm as we have lined up exciting pre NDP live programmes. 

 

  

The 2010 National Day will see thousands of Singaporeans living in the South East District coming together to celebrate the 45th National day. These thousands of Singaporean will attempt to form the map of Singapore Island to celebrate Singapore’s 45th National Day. Residents will enter the “Singapore Island” which is about half the size of a football field from 6 entrances symbolising the coming together to build a One People, One nation Singapore. This will again set a new Singapore Book of Records for the “Most Number of People Forming the Map of Singapore”. In addition, residents will join voices to sing the “Happy Birthday” song and wave the Singapore flags in unison. The segment will be feedback live to spectators at the Padang and our our national televisions by media corp.   

 

In addition to forming the “Singapore Island”, we would also be creating a “perpetually flying” National Flag at a height of 10 metres to be launched by Mr Raymond Lim, Minister for Transport at about 8 pm. From my understanding, our national flag is the one and only flag in Singapore that will flutter perpetually regardless of wind condition on National Day. We want to bring out this year National Day Theme of “Live our Dreams, Fly our Flag” to capture our hope for a better future and our flying flag symbolises our pride, our sense of identity and belonging…of course a free and sovereign country to live our dreams. Eversince  we conceived the idea of a fluttering flag about 2 months ago, much time have been put in to design the air flow system to ensure that our flag will flutter in the air. After many trials with each trial learning and improving on the original design, we succeeded today (18 July 2010). We hope to fly this flag on National Day during the pledge taking.    

The significant highlight of the evening is the “One Voice 2010”. At 8.10pm, everyone is encouraged to join in to sing the national anthem and recite the pledge in one voice as a symbol of unity. The national pledge was crafted by the late Mr S Rajaratnam in 1965. I have been saying the pledge since 1965.

 

Besides the key highlights, our programmes also include a Pre-NDP performances by well-known local artistes like Mark Lee and Henry Thia, a Jeremy Illusion Show, percussions, performance by motivators (photo left) from Touch Community Services. To engage our residents, instead of one LED screen, we have made provision for another two LED screens to enhance the experience of our 5000 to 6000 residents at our heartlands celebrations. Ms Lim Pei Fen and Mr Suzhairhe from Media Corps radio and TV are the main hosts.

Our many street magicians, balloon sculptors, face painters, jugglers etc will also perform at close range right infront of residents to engage them. Fancying a magician performing his tricks in front of you and you may even learn one or two tricks from them. There will be a carnival with national day theme games with prizes to be given. Free ice creams, cold drinks and a packet of dinner will be provided to residents with tickets (dinner will be provided for ticket holders only in view of the large numbers of residents). Even the 40 strong motivators would be mingling with our residents in a fun-filled afternoon before the NDP Live Telecast in a fun-filled environment celebrating our 45th National Day.  

The national day greetings and messages from our 14 Members of Parliament in SE District would also be beamed at different times on our large LED screens as part of their participation in our NDP at Eunos. The roving cameramen on site would also be capturing candid shots of residents and beaming them live on our local screens as part of our programme. 

To create a celebratory mood on the high, fireworks as high as 50 metres would be fired off in synchronisation  the fireworks at Padang. There will be a second burst of fireworks at the grand finale after the passing of the mobile column which comprises 35% of new vehicles. The mobile column would give a glimpse of the firepower of the SAF (Leopard tank on the left) and also the latest equipment in the Home Team.  The mobile column will rumble along Sims Avenue.

Each constituency is given 300 NDP Heartlands Celebrations tickets to be registered at the community centres in SE District on a first come first serve basis. I would like to clarify that the tickets are for the allocation of the limited NDP Fun Totes (fun bags) and dinner pack. For those without tickets, it does not mean that they cannot join the celebration. They can still join in the celebration with their families.

My programme sub-committee has been working tirelessly to bring out the celebratory mood of residents. Come and support us even if you are not given the NDP heartland celebration tickets. Do join us to create a new record and to showcase the spirit of South East District. We will live our dreams and fly our flag this national day.

As a Commuter in Public Transport

Changi Simei, Singapore, 14 July 2010

 

Have you experience a tornado or hurricane or cyclone? Well, definitely not in Singapore but perhaps strong winds.

 

Many years ago as a student in the United States, I slept through a ravaging strong wind on a Friday night. My American classmates recounted their experienced and sharing their fears with me when class resumed on Monday. I told them that I had no fear perhaps I had not live through such a strong wind condition.  Perhaps my classmates were in the better position to appreciate the destructive power of stong wind. On the contrary, I was ill-equipped and ill prepared for such an emergency. If there was an earthquake, the only thing I knew was to run out of building.

 

On Saturday morning, upon stepping out of the house where I lived, I was greeted with collapsed buildings, many buildings had their roofs torn off, damaged lamp posts, road directional signs, uprooted and down trees, not the small trees but trees with large girths.  “Oh no”, the surroundings looked like a battlefield.  I took a look at the building which I lived, fortunately it was still intact. Forget about going for breakfast. Luckily, I had few packages of instant noddle in my room.

 

Singaporeans are very fortunate as we are shielded from the various natural calamities. At most we experience strong wind and flash flood which would hardly result in the loss of lives unlike tornado, hurricane or cyclone where lives may be lost and millions dollars worth of properties damaged.   

 

Though there are no natural disasters here, but freak accidents do occur like uprooted trees injuring people and damaging properties. Recently, there was a spate of uprooted trees causing damages. On 2 July 2010, I was caught by surprised. A tree with huge girth was uprooted tree and came crashing down.

 

This uprooted tree spanned across 10 car lots and hit my car. Fortunately, no one was injured, but 6 vehicles parked at the car park lots were not that lucky. All the 6 vehicles were damaged. Of the 6 damaged vehicles,  2 vehicles would be scrapped and 1 vehicle was written off while the other was seriously damaged.  If not for that written off vehicle to cushion off the impact, the damage to my vehicle would be more serious. Nonetheless, my repair bills was not small either, a cracked wind screen, dents to the roof, bonnet and at the left doors. 

 

It was an “act of god” and though my insurance covers damage due to fallen objects, a claim will set me back by 20% on No Claim Bonus and it is likely that my premiums when I renew my insurance  may be loaded. Against losing more,  it makes claiming damages from the insurance company not economically viable.  Just imagine that I have an insurance but I can’t make claim. 

 

As I am paying for the damages out of my pocket less the wind screen which is covered by insurance without the load factor, I decided on what is important to be repaired to cut losses. I may not like to see dents, but in the long term, I may not be particular about these dents as I may have grown used to them. That is the flexibility and adaptable behaviours of human beings.

 

For almost 5 days, I commuted by public transports to work. I left my house at about 6.20 am and the journey would take between 60 to 70 minutes to reach my office. Not too bad to revert to the being “car-less” while my car was in “Intensive Care Unit”. After many years of driving, it was very inconvenient as I need to make time allowance to reach my destinations. I got used to it anyway, forced by circumstance to travel in public transport. I also lost the flexibility to fetch my daughter and wife to school and work respectively thus losing time catching up with them.

 

The daily routine was such that I walked from my home to the MRT station which took about 10 minutes at a fast paced. The train was packed as many commuters took the east bound train to Pasir Ris and hopefully to find a seat when the train travelled in the west bound direction. Just imagine standing face to face with a lady about 1 foot away. That was too close for comfort for both of us. Either one would need to move away but she did made the first move after finding a seat. In a crowded train, I learnt to hold the bar with both hands in public to avoid unnecessary “troubles” with the laws.  

 

Another interesting phenomenon which I had observed was almost every one in the train or bus would carry a bag, back pack or otherwise. I travelled with none of these. One disadvantage of back pack bag being carried behind the back in the bus was that no others could bypass the commuter. One characteristic about one Singaporean was he was oblivious to the surrounding despite pleas from the bus captain to move in. He stood as a rock prefering other commuters to squeeze through.

 

The seats of our bus may have shrunk over the years. Somehow, with both commuters seated, the thigh of the commuter seated near the aisle would be extended into the aisle thus reducing walking space. Some commuters even alight from the front door against those boarding the bus. There were many observations being made by me. They were interesting to watch these behaviours.

 

Though the journey was smooth but I felt tired when I reached home. Perhaps, I had saved the few cents from the bus fare to walk home. The few cents don’t make me rich but it was refreshing to live through what is like without a car.

 

I think given the choice, I will still keep my car for convenient more than for luxury. 

 

   

 

 

 

  

The Orange vs the Red…World Cup Final

Changi Simei, Singapore, 12 July 2010

 

After two weeks and 62 matches later, only two teams are still in the contention for the world cup. Who will lift up the coveted trophy? At this point of my writing before the start of the final match, who will prevail and win is a question mark. Though the bet is on Spain as the reigning European Champion to overcome Netherlands, the Dutch team still stands a chance to overcome the odd and be crowned as champion. My son and daughter pick Spain as the new champion while my heart goes to the Dutch. There were in the finals in 1974 and 1978 where to lost to the Germans and Argentinians. This may be their 3rd time lucky.

 

After 62 matches of the 32 teams representing the various contingents, 16 teams were eliminated in the 1st round. It was later down to 8 to 4 and now it is only Netherlands and Spain. Early World Cup favourites like Brazil, Argentina, Germany and many teams of substance fell one after another. They too played well but their opponents were playing better.   

 

 

To win the World Cup, both the finalists will definitely go all out to win through the skills of each player, team work and team spirit and the receptivity of their supporters at the stadium. The presence of these factors may not be good enough to win. Even the best team needs the element of luck to sail through as the ball is ROUND thus making prediction with certainty a challenge. Even beyond the World Cup, we too need a little “luck” to do well in our lives besides preparing well. I reckon that some readers may disagree on the element of luck but we can agree to disagree.

 

Of the 64 matches in the world cup series this year, I have not watch any till this 64th match which is also the final match. Similarly in the 2006 World Cup, I also watched the last match between Italy and France at the community club. Although I do not watch any of the matches but I am only interested in the score lines between teams. I hardly have the time to spend 45 minutes – interval – 45 minutes in front of television to watch any football matches in the wee hours. Perhaps not watching the matches is a matter of making the choice vis-a-vis the opportunity costs. 

 

Unlike me, my son is a keen football fan. He follows the EPL and perhaps other major European Leagues with his friends.  

 

This morning, some 250 residents turned out at the Changi Simei Community Club to watch the “clash of the titans” between Spain and Netherlands. I was one of them to join in the fun but not for long as I had an important presentation to make in the morning. Unlike the 1200 lucky fans who have been invited by the Telcos to watch the Spain-Netherlands clash in 3-D in RWS and MBS. This is the 1st World Cup match to be shown using the new technology. The majority of us are watching in the 2-D format with some at the comfort of their home, while others are expected to congregate at pubs, coffee shops, night spots, community clubs across Singapore. I believe by the next World Cup in 2014 in Brazil, we will be watching the 3-D format as technology moves at a very fast rate than expected. 

 

Looking at the screen, I was unable to see  the sea of orange nor red at the stadium as many spectators put on dark coloured clothes. The colour codes at Changi Simei was similar as the stadium. Nonetheless, whenever each side missed the goal, there was cheers or disappointment. I guessed there were equal numbers of fans for both teams.   

      

For both teams, there are high stakes. It is a “life and death match”. A win will mean that players of the winning team will each received hundreds of thousands of Euros. For the Dutch, I had heard over the news that their home bound flight would be escorted by F15 fighters. Wow, more than the treatment given to Royals.  But that would be once in a life time.

 

 

 

Each every game, a victor would emerge and the world would only remember the Champion. But being the runner up is also an honour as it is not easy to have reached the final. In fact both finalists regardless of win or lose have achieved more than they have thought. I learned that Spain had won by 1 goal at the 116 minutes. That was good news for Spain but the fast paced of the game played by both teams was world class play. For the loser, there is still hope to be the next champion in 2014.

 

I remembered many years ago, our own FAS coined a vision of 2010 where our Singapore Team will be in the World Cup. That has not materialised but with determination, perhaps our other sports may win other World Cups. Our table tennis team is the current World Champion.  

 

The World Cup fever of 2010 is now an event of the past with Spain being crowned the new champion. Till the World Cup meet again and it is time to prepare for work.  

 

 

Hole-in-One, Birdie, Par……

Changi Simei, Singapore, 13 Jun 2010

 

                      

 

Every year, I would pick up my golf clubs lying in neglect in the storeroom for “polishing’ or rather cleaning them to prepare for a golf fellowship. After the game, these clubs are returned to their original position in the storeroom. It was the same for this year, I took the club out on 12 Jun 2010.

 

I took up golf in 1989 some 21 years ago. It was my boss who introduced golf to me. He told us that members of his staff would have  to host golf games for his associates, visitors and to be his golf “kakis”. We could not say no. That was how I started and obtained my provisional certificate to go to the fairway.

 

Realising that time was not on my side, I decided to go slow on golf as I had been spending too much time especially weekends away from my family. By 1992, I decided to focus on other interests and the interests on golf started to wane till finally I stopped unless, I need to be part of the social interaction group like the golf fellowship.    

 

Unlike other sports, to play a game, at least half a day is required. Before that, time is needed to practice at the golf driving range to at least get the act especially the swing correct. I did just as that on the eve of the fellowship. Not too bad after a long laid off. The ball flew straight and more than 100 m away at least meeting my expectation.    

  

On 13 Jun 2010, Alphonsus Pang was my golf “kaki”. We drove buggy no 39 and started at Hole 3 at Vanda Course at Orchid Country Club. It was a short gun start.  (Photo on the right was the team from Changi Simei with Ms Jessica Tan).

 

 

 

I was the first to tee off  to lessen the psychological pressure vis-a-vis the performance of my other members in the flight.  The ball was up and away. Instead of heading straight towards the green, it veered left after about 130 metres into the sea. Never mind, it was one of those off day and had not warmed up. Similarly, at the 4th hole and the 5th hole, I tee off into the sea. A tragedy of sort but I just continued to have fun….yes fun like picking balls along the way.  

 

Half way at the 6th hole, the siren sounded and play was suspended. It was time to return to the clubhouse in view of inclement weather. I was glad on the imposition of the suspension from play to break jink.  At the clubhouse, we ate chicken wings and “teh talek”.

 

Some 45 minutes later, the siren sounded once again and it was time to continue play. This time I made a stand off at the tee box. The ball lifted and flew straight. It was a positive experience. Could this last in subsequent holes?

 

Barely after tee off at the 7th hole, not far from us, there was a bolt of lighting and there came the siren. We made the final putt on the green and rushed back to the clubhouse for safety. Why subject ourselves to unnecessary bodily harms?  We waited and waited and waited till play resumed at about 5 pm. We continue the play till about 7 pm completing less than 9 holes. That also meant that we blew our chance for hole in one, a Camry as the prize. I might be the winner, who knows?

 

As none of the  flights completed the game, therefore, all the golfers were declared winners with a pat on the shoulder less the trophies. We could keep the trophies for next year’s fellowship as declared by me as this year organising chairman during my welcoming address.  There was some disappointments but the weather was unkind to us and there was no refund according to golfing policy.    

 

The final result for me as at the end of the game, I was no where near the birdie or par but many strokes over the standard par. Nonetheless, it was an enjoyable game and meeting new friends. 

 

If you ask me when will I become a serious golfer, the answer is I don’t know. My interests for the past 8 years is about community works. Spending 4 hrs in community works almost evening and the similar amount of time on the golf course are two different value proposition to me. I chose the earlier as a platform to return the goods I have received from the society.

 

To many more good years to come in what I am doing.

 

 

 

 

This Is Where We Belong….Changi Simei, Singapore

Changi Simei, Singapore, 4 July 2010

Last evening (3 July 2010), I attended the Grassroots Convention and Appreciation Dinner as part of the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Peoples’ Association (PA). Our Prime Minister and Chairman of Peoples’ Association  Mr Lee Hsien Loong was the Guest of Honour who graced the convention and appreciation dinner together with Senior Minister Mr Goh Chok Tong and Minister Mr Lim Boon Heng, the current Dy Chairman of Peoples’ Association.

It was not the food or venue that mattered most in the appreciation dinner. It was the kind gesture of Peoples’ Association to have not forgotten about the silent majority of ordinary grassroots leaders who have made their choice to volunteer and work hard to facilitate the fulfilment of PA’s vision of “building and bridging communities together”. Though at times there are individuals with differing views over the implementation of certain policies or careless remarks uttered in jest by a senior staff of its corporation communications in a forumwhich irritate, but by and large the majority of the grassroots leaders can identify with PA for its inspiring vision and leadership.

Two days ago, it was a pleasant surprise for me to have received an email from the new Chief Executive Director (CED) addressing to the chairmen of key local grassroots organisations in Changi Simei and highlighting the new initiatives of PA. This email signifies the CED’s personal attempt to touch base with the volunteers which remain the core of PA’s grassroots movement. I am also appreciative of the full support given to the ground through its constituency office. For Changi Simei, we have a great team led by Director SE CDD, Mr Eng Kee Chye (seated on right of the photograph) and his team and the SCM Ms Jo Soh and her team providing the much needed support to the volunteer grassroots leaders who are competing with time to care for the community and at the same time to manage their careers and spending quality time with their families. Their extra helps do matter to us. 

Coming back to the appreciation dinner, my Member of Parliament and Adviser to the local grassroots organisations, Ms Jessica Tan was seated together with her key grassroots leaders during the dinner (photograph on the left). Her presence recognised the untiring enthusiasm and the selfless contributions of grassroots leaders to build the spirit of the Changi Simei’s community. She always find time to meet grassroots leaders and to join our local grassroots activities to interact bond with residents. What mattered to us was her willingness to listen to the ground and to find common platforms to address community and municipal issues raised by grassroots leaders and residents or friends of Changi Simei.

Anchoring on her vision of “an inclusive and vibrant society”, the local grassroots organisations have re-invented to move in tandem with her vision and time to better engage a better educated and sophisticated residents…..which spell higher demands and expectations. We have organised more activities to appeal to the younger generation. According to national survey commissioned by PA, about a third of residents are involved in PA and grassroots activities which is an increased from the 15% to 20% five years ago. But we are not resting on this result but will continue to work to engage more residents besides continuing ur effort to enhance our infrastructures in the estate. (Photograph on the left was taken during our NDP 2009 Live Telecast which build up to about 3000 residents before the national pledge).

We need to try harder to get residents to engage and interact with each other through common interests and hobbies on their own rather than driven purely from the grassroots’ perspective. How to do it will be through our ingenuity to find new ways of getting around the current challenges on social interactions. One way is to optimise the new media (may be old new media by now) to enhance this outreach efforts for residents to bond with each other. (Photograph was taken during the Fun Bowl 2009 organised by Melville Park NC and Changi Simei Constituency Sports Club).

The new media champions in the East Coast grassroots organisations have also developed a web portal known as “everythingeast.sg” to engage residents on the virtual world and to integrate them to the real world as one. It is challenging but there are successes for the new media champions team led by Mr Jason Ong, the Secretary of Changi Simei CCC.  The power of networking through new media cannot be taken lightly and doing it correctly will create trusts and without any encumbrances,  the probability increase the opportunity for virtual interactions and thus creating a vibrant community in Changi Simei when they come to join our local activities.

Yesterday also saw the launch of the launch of PA 50th Anniversary Commemorative Book. We got Ms Jessica Tan to autograph the book. She wrote “To many more good years with Grassroots works”. It is indeed still many good years for many of us to continue with the works of our pioneer grassroots leaders like Mr Tan Kim Hock. Mr Tan is current my vice chairman who has served the community spanning five decades from the 1960s through the 2010 and he still remains very passionate about contributing to the community. He remains a good resource person to tap on.

In yesterday convention, a song for community leaders entitled “This Is Where We Belong” were sung. I particularly like this part of the lyric which is meaningful at least to me,  “People, with purpose and passion. Having care and concern for all our friends who come to us. And we’re people, giving the best in what we do. Then the memories we treasure will live on. For me and you”.

Perhaps this is where we belong and we are moving on to take responsibility to create and make the difference to our lives and that of other lives too through our involvement in grassroots works.

Cheers to many more good years

                                                                        

Changing Times….employers and job seekers’ markets

Changi Simei, Singapore, 1 Jul 2010

                              

On 20 May 2010, our Ministry of Trade and Industry announced that Singapore economy expanded strongly by 15.5% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2010. Hooray, we are finally out of the economic downturn attribtable to the US financial market. Many may have also lost money in various investment potfolios or financial instruments. (Source: photograph Singapore business district on the left was through yahoo.com)

 

 

Industries grew, tourism landscape looked good as visitor arrivals rose….etc. All these are good indicators that our economy is picking up thus more jobs openings. Given this strong showing, our government is projecting that our GDP for 2010 is between 7% to 9%. Wow, it had been a long time that we had achieved these numbers. I have no complaint on this forecast and if it materialise, it will translate into a stronger economy and higher spending power for many of us. 

 

Those who were affected during the economic downturn can now look forward to more job openings in the labour market. The current situation is in sharp contrast to the global downturn in 2009 where the primary focus of the government was to retain existing jobs. To help employers, our government came out with a resilience package which included the job credit scheme to help companies to cushion the downturn. In my conversations with a couple of businessmen and entrepreneurs during the economic downturn, many appreciated the government’s quick response to help lighten their financial loads but some attrition was expected. I knew of a company who production line was temporarily canned and all employees retrenched. Today, this company is making a comeback and hiring (source: photograph on the left was through yahoo.com)

 

Despite an upbeat and brighter economic outlook than two years ago today. I reckoned that there may be some individuals who may have yet to have recovered, but that is the economic reality of some are doing better than others.  Nonetheless, is there a need to compare with each other as every one of us is different and there will be some who will continue to blame others for taking away their jobs instead of reflecting on the “whys” they are being left out by employers. 

 

Coming back to the jobs market. When job positions are in abundance, it too has its down side. Many job seekers will tend to forget about their predicaments during the economic downturn. They can now pick and choose the jobs and they are also more demanding. In 2008 through 2009,  it was the employers’ market. Within a couple of months, the situation is now reverse, it is now the job seekers’ market. How things have changed?  

 

I read a report on Q2 2010 Global Job/Workforce Market Sentiment Survey, Singapore Report by Berkley Group which indicated that more companies are hirings and the  job market is becoming stronger with the sentiment that the downturn is over or very close to the end.  Many of the economic indicators for Singapore are positive which I think will inject positive energy and optimism into our workforce and employers. Nonetheless, the report also indicated that 37% of the workforce is expecting some sort of a pay increase of 10% which is worrying as what has changed over 2009 to 2010? I see little significant change as we largely keep to what we are doing previously. The spirit of dare to change has not caught up. Reading the Straits Times (June 30, 2010), more job seekeers are snubbing  job offers and to attract “talents” current employers and potential employers are making counter-offer and throwing in more welfare benefits.  

 

The negative aspect of full employment leads to a tighten labour market which may lead to pressure on wages. According to MOM, the average wage before adjustment for inflation rose 3.7% and after adjustment for inflation is 2.2%. There is still a gap of the 10% expectation in wage increase polled earlier by the Berkley Group. Though wage increase is good for the workforce, it will result in stronger consumptions of resources which will ultimately drive up costs and hence inflation. Another pitfall is if wages rise quickly without an corresponding increase in productivity, we may be heading south sooner than expected. This is my fear as I have experienced the ups and downs in the many years in the workforce. Fortunately, I survived.                               

 

The hospitality industry with the opening of the two integrated resorts is now leading the hiring.  The manufacturing sector is also doing pretty well thus it also fuelled employment. According to the media release by the Ministry of Manpower on 15 Jun 2010, 36,500 jobs are added into the job market. Unemployment rate from January to March was 2.2% (about 66,000 jobless residents, The Straits Times Report on 16 Jun 2010) which is full employment in our country. For the jobless, it is not about no job but more about meeting expectations like pay, work environment, distance from home etc. Besides expectations, older workers also find it more challenging to secure jobs which I think boil down to employers’ attitude towards older workers and older workers also need a paradigm shift in their mental models.

 

To help the jobless residents and to bring the jobs to the residents, South East Community Development Council organised 2 job fairs at Changi Simei. One job fair was held at Simei Care Centre and the other was at Blk 248 with 180 positions for logistics, retail, F & B, security, healthcare, administrative and customer service.  There were applications but eventually, how many would accept the jobs offer remain a mystery as residents could now choose and have the power now to even counter offer.

 

I thought South East Community Development Council had done a marvellous job by linking residents with employers and it is up to them to decide.