teh tarik satu: August 2005

31 August 2005

A Merdeka Dedication

The day is almost over, but hope I'm not to late too late to blog about Merdeka Day. No, I'm not doing this because every other breathing M'sian blogger has already posted blogs (in Malay mostly) to rant about all things Malaysian and to wish 'Selamat Merdeka' to all their readers. Seriously, I believe all Malaysians(whether living in or out of the country) have some sense of patriotism in them. And sometimes you feel more 'Malaysian' when you're away.

Anyway here's my lame attempt on some National Day Poetry :

From Parameswara to Tun Perak,
We entertained Cheng Ho and wedded Hang li Poh,
Invaded by both Portugese and Dutch,
We built new kingdoms in Pahang, Perak and Johor,

Then the mighty English came a knocking,
With their weird ideas and english tea culture,
Ruffled a few feathers, angered a few royals,
As their governors promised a better future,

From J.W.W.Birch to James Brooke,
They felt the wrath of Mat Kilau and Tok Janggut,
As we silently worshipped our new heroes,
But their defiance failed to take root,

Next came the Japanese and then the Communist,
Made us realised that we needed no masters,
So to Britain we forwarded our plea,
For our own nation to rule and administer.

So came 31st August Nineteen Fifty Seven,
At the old Merdeka Stadium we gathered,
Then the Tunku shouted 'Merdeka ! Merdeka ! Merdeka!'
As our new nation cheered and celebrated.

SELAMAT HARI MERDEKA !

29 August 2005

Birthday Rant

I woke up on Sunday and it hits me ... I'm 29 today. The sudden realisation that you're at the end of your 20s. Never thought that I would get so close to 30, not that fast anyway. It looked like at least a 100 years away when I first left my teenagehood.

Oh the 20s, what glorious years. Almost half of it as a student (one third if you minus the tutorials I've missed and the lectures which I had day-dreamed away.) and the other half as a participant of the amazing rat race. The years where I first flirted with freedom as a student in the Uni, introduced to the dog-eat-dog world of office politics, unlearnt the lessons of youth and quickly discovered the burdens and responsiblities of adulthood.

'I am Sixteen going on Seventeen'. So sang the poor disillusioned Liesl Von Trapp in desperation to grow up. Oh well, she had her time under the alpine sun, and soon was loathing that she was sixty going on seventy. Truthfully, I've never thought about life after 30 as I was pretty much enjoying the joyride of the young and vibrant twenties.

Now I'm here at 29. The bell is ringing, signalling the final lap before I reach 30. Should I sprint, take the outside lane, maintain my stride or just finish the race with the rest of the stragglers ?

*******************************************

How I celebrated my Birthday ?

Celebrations started on Saturday night, 27th Aug, thanks to my thoughtful friends. We had dinner at a small Korean restaurant off Boat Quay. Dinner included 'spicy' seafood steamboat and a few ala-carte dishes. Following dinner we moved over to Coffee Bean for coffee and birthday cake.

Colour corrdinated. From front(L-R)- Hui Shan, Ching Poh, Wei Wee, Wee Loong, Vicky, Me, Beng Soon & Bae Yong Jun

It gets harder to blow off the flame in one breath

Sunday, 28th August, began just before noon. Attended church with Vicky. Then went to Cineleisure Orchard and had a quick lunch at Pastamania. Decided to spent the afternoon watching 'suit-ed' artic birds slide and waddle their way across the icy plains in 'The March of the Penguins'. Found a new respect for Emperor Penguins.

The Emperor and its young

At night, had a date with Vicky at Athens Restaurant, a quaint restaurant serving Greek fare. We had Hummus(Chickpea dip), Moussaka( Lagsana like dish with minced lamb, patato and eggplant), and Kalamari (deep fried juicy squid). After the hearty meal, we headed home.

Well, that was my welcome to 29.

Hot Rod opening his present on his 29th Birthday. Little did he know that the gift contained banned growth substance (rumoured from the infamous BALCO labs).

24 August 2005

Training Day

Hey ! Was at a camp last weekend. Got holed up at the seminar room in Costa Sands, East Coast Park, for two whole days for the PromiseWorks Discovery Camp. Didn’t see much of the sand and sea (or BBQ pits) as the organisers decided to keep the programme within the four walls; didn’t see much of my bed either as we got only 4 hours sleeping time on Sat night.

I've been through a few of these "self-discovery" or "brain workshop" kind-of training camps. The first was when I joined a local MLM (multi-level marketing) company which had a couple hundred of us new startlets (members) join a weekend long motivational camp. Then later on when I ventured into real estate, we fledgling estate agents were put through a 2-day training camp. The latest as you know is the camp organised by PromiseWorks for new and old mentors alike. Why I put myself through all these camps with slightly different agendas but with very similar themes (be it selling vitamins or HDB flats, you're still selling yourself), well it never hurts to send your car or brain in this instance for servicing once a while; as long as it is no shoddy repair shop.

Well, here is a list of 10 important ingredients that I figured a training camp should have :

No 1. ~ Rah-rah cheerleaders (or facilitators as they are officially known) who go around like hamsters high on caffeine. Their purpose is to infuse energy and enthusiasm.

No.2 ~ Games that require you to question why the ladder doesn't lead downwards and why you always end up at the tail and not the belly of the snake. Such games are designed to question conventional wisdom and to reinforce some success principle which the organisers will later talk about.

No.3 ~ The odd 'Disney' type movie that contains some 'against-the-odds' tale with a heart warming plot and many teary-eye moments. I've watched 'Pay it Forward' and 'Iron Will' so far, confirm got someone sure cry one.

No.4 ~ Less Time , More Haste. Less time as in for rest, idling, sleeping or for other worldly distractions. Programmes should be packed tightly to help create an intense experience.

No.5 ~ The right speakers(no not audio equipment, duh ...though they are important of course.). Not just anyone you can pick out of Hong Lim Speakers Corner, people will only listen to confident, 'believable', and successful speakers. Someone who has sold 1,000,000 motivational books (and cassettes) certainly qualifies as one !

No.6 ~ Content. You don't need a rocket science degree for this, you just need to 'borrow' ideas from bestselling motivational books (and talks). Poeple love to be told what's wrong with themselves or what they are not doing (as long as they are addressed collectively) and be pointed in the right direction (most often they already know the correct way, but choose to do nothing eventhough they've been through a dozen camps and have a library of those self-help books!).

No.7 ~ Sing-a-long sessions. Everybody wants to break into song sometime, and what better time then during a camp with everybody is in-tune and in one mind, and dying to link hands with the cute girl standing next to them. Just in case, have the music played louder to drown the poor harmonisation and those off-key singers.

No.8 ~ Strict Ground Rules. The tone of the camp must be set at the very start. Laying the ground rules at the very first introductry session will certainly ensure that everyone has a chance to gain the most from the camp and also serves as a disclaimer if anything goes wrong when campers go wild or if the oversleeping camper feels wronged when he is heavily fined for turning up 40 mins late for a session.

No.9 ~ Sharing sessions. Time to dig deep into the hidden recesses of your mind to uncover your true emotions and that sob story that you have been dying to tell (except now you have a ready audience). Piped sentimental tunes will certainly help add a soundtrack quality to the touching 'sharing' scenes that follows.

No.10 ~ Fear Factor styled challenges. Challenges like Firewalk (a Anthony Robbins favourite), Breaking the Arrow (with the throat), and Breaking wooden planks(no, not with the head) are favourites in training camps. Such challenges serve as a fitting finale event as they symbolise 'breakthrough' and the overcoming of fears. Just make sure there is a first aid kit available and a 'responsibility disclaimer' clause in the camp registration form.

Before I leave you, here are some words from mr.bon jovi himself ...

'It's my life

It's now or never

I ain't gonna live forever

I just want to live while I'm alive

(It's my life) My heart is like an open highway

Like Frankie said I did it my way

I just wanna live while I'm alive

It's my life'

15 August 2005

Sunday with Josh

Joshua is 4 1/2 months old.

It was a sunny Sunday morning, Josh was still sleeping snugly in his 'sarong' rocker (the type which hangs on twin springs from a mobile steel frame), with his favourite thumb stuck into his lil' mouth . Then out of the blue, his big round eyes peek open, and he stares at the sight that greets him - giant adult eyes staring back at him.

As he slowly gains full awareness of his surroundings, he is being passed from uncle to grandma to mother until his sleepiness wears off completely. His neck muscles has improved tremendously since the last time I saw him. He can now arch his neck back and turn to look at you while you carry him (it's important for him to identify the person carrying - strictly for security reasons).

Then moving on to his next trick, Josh demonstrates how he is able to flip himself from a lying down position over to a crawl-like position. The only problem being he is unable to do a reverse flip. So he stays in the crawl-like position, enjoying his new vantage point (it's definitely better than staring at the empty ceiling), until his hands grow tired and he promptly lies down on his head. We flip him over after that.

Before : On his back; Drum roll please ....

Ta daa .... after the flip, a little dazed from the effort

And he remembers to smile at the appreciative audience

Next, we bring Josh out to the living room to be carried by his grandpa. His eyes sweeps around the room while the adults talk around him. As if his 'in-built sensors' are registering all the little bits of sound, sights and touch, and inputing all the 'raw data' into the 'master CPU' that is trying to make sense of this whole new confusing world. At times he smiles, almost like a chuckle, when his gaze falls on his other grandpa sitting opposite him. Clearly he remembers faces, and he remembers what is that makes him smile.

Soon it was time to go. In a months time, I believe Josh will grow even more stronger and 'bouncier' (some baby fat does help). See you in a few more weeks mate!

09 August 2005

Life begins at 40

9th August 2005.

Singapore turns forty today. Mid-life in human years but to a budding nation like Singapore, life starts at 40.

Just as well, we got a holiday to help us get into the celebration mood. However unlike holidays like labour day, where you have the entire day ahead of you with nothing to look forward to, National Day brings out a kind of celebratory spirit among Singaporeans that you don't often find on regular days.

Here's how I celebrated National Day.