#5a Red Sky

Flickr picture by JulioC.

Thing 5a: Write a blog post about an image in Flickr. Include the image in your post.
I liked this picture as it reminded me of my times in England. It was the first time I saw a sky that red. I was washing the dishes when I noticed everything around me was red in color. I stopped whatever I was doing and walked out of the house to soak in the atmosphere.
I tried in vain to capture what I saw so that I can share my experience but my poor photography skill failed me. I kept thinking of what I read in the "Journey to the West" where the monk and his disciples came across a land with scorching volcanoes. He described scene as he lifted up his head: miles and miles of crimson red sky. On that day, I saw what he must have seen.

How I deal with my anger?

What if someone upset you? We certainly don’t want to play this negative happening over and over again in our mind. We all want to be in positive mindset so that we can be at our best. What can we do? Today, I am going to share with you a little trick that I learnt. Way before you get angry, you must build a reservoir of goodwill.

Whenever my wife gets onto my nerves, I’ll mentally switch to a scene in Bras Basah road. It was drizzling; my then girl friend and I were on the fort canning side of Bras Basah. We ran across the road holding hands. As we step into the building, something like a bucket of water fell on her head. I was stunned momentarily and I had expected her to curse … She brushed the water off her head and said, “Blessing from the sky.”
I will remember the moment for the rest of my life. The world around me literally disappeared and all I saw was her face. Time stood still for me in that eternal moment. For the first time in my life, I know I am in love with this woman. How can I ever get angry with her? No way.

My eldest son is very unlike me. I am studious and serious. He is the opposite. I brought him to a toastmaster speech competition but he is more interest in reading his book. But for all his shortcomings, I will always remember the day he made me so happy and proud. I came back to my office and notice that the phone message indicator was turned on. I checked it out and I could hear a high pitch cheery voice. It said, “ Hi papa, I got into the GEP program. OK. OK. OK. I’ll see you.” I was so thrilled I remembered walking down the corridor, a sudden surge of energy went through me and I jumped up like Charlie Chaplin.

My two younger one are dyslexia, their moments are not academic. Many years ago, I was at the West Coast market and my 3 children were very young then, I lugged them with me at a yang-tao-fu store. I gave the storekeeper a 10 dollar note but she returned me with change as if I have given her only 5 dollar. An argument ensued, the seller obviously thought that she could pull a fast one on me as I looked distracted by my children. When I also started to have doubt about the actual amount that I have given to her, my daughter looked straight in my eyes and said, “I saw you giving her 10 dollars.” And that settled the argument.

My youngest boy was struggling academically all along. It was so bad that he was always trying to find excuses for not going to school. So it was a real surprise when he came in fourth in class when he was in primary 4, albeit a weak class. He was awarded a book prize. That morning, I was beaming with pride. It so happen that I bumped into every conceivable neighbor. They would ask why I wasn’t at work. It was my pleasure to explain.

How about your colleague? Like Elizabeth, she made me mad by making me the President of the club when all I wanted was to quit. But I choose to remember her finest moment in my life. There was once she invited me to be a judge at a speech contest. After listening to more than 10 speakers on the same topic, I began to get confused, even to the extent of who is who. I was mesmerized by Lisa’s evaluation. She was able to quote so and so, saying such and such and then gave some pointers on how to improve on certain construct. I have no doubt she will do likewise to me soon. How can you get angry with a woman of such intellectual superiority?

What about others whom you don’t like and can think of nothing positive. This is where your belief comes in. Whenever you think of the nasty event, switch over to your God, surely He can pacify you.

Choose to switch to the positive mental image and be at your best.
I learnt this from a Yoga master: "When you are right, no need to be angry. When you are wrong, you have no rights to be angry."

Project Nutz 2008

Flickr Link
On 25th July 2008, we ran our hearts out for Project Nutz 2008. Before the race, Wing Hoe asked me how it would be. I said, “We will win because of Auyong.” The truth, of course, is it takes everybody.

Our strength is deep; we have 2 teams that support each other. One seasoned runner even stepped aside so that a younger one might have a chance to experience the thrill of the race.

Auyong was our last recruit. After we saw how fast she could run, we knew we have had an ace in our hands. The rest was up to the guys. We put our best runner, Sze KL, as the first runner. He ran the 1.5km with a timing that is even faster than most of us running 1.2km. We were in third position after the first leg.

Peng Guan was next in line; he sped off like a charging bull. He bought each runner a can of Red Bull and a carton of 100+ isotonic drinks for all to share. He maintained our position.

I took over next. I had wanted to run in team 2 but I was not able to persuade better runners to run. I psyched myself up despite some misgivings. After taking over from Peng Guan, I knew we were third. But after some running, the other two staff runners who were ahead of me were nowhere in sight. To make matter worse, I was surrounded by secondary school boys. They were running as if they have springs in their legs while mine were already long gone. The only consolation was I did not let any other staff runner overtake me.

Khee Peng was next and he again maintained our position. I cannot comment much as I was busy catching my breath then. Next come Meng Tiong, He usually starts off slowly but on that day, he was a completely different persona. He was a speed demon all the way, right from the start. He powered pass a BA staff and we went one up.

Auyong was the sixth runner. True to her form, she overtook a staff from ICT. She passed to Kee Wan with 10m to spare. We were in the lead for the first time. The ICT anchor man was known to be a very fast runner. He gave chase on all cylinders. Auyong, as a senior is good at motivating her fellow staff but this time, she motivated the wrong person. As the two runners sped out of the Sport Complex, we kept our fingers crossed.

It was not that we have no faith in Kee Wan but it is very motivating for the hunter to have a target in sight. After what appeared an exaggerated wait, both runners re-entered in the Sports Complex. Towards the final stretch, Kee Wan pulled ahead even farther and hit the tape for us. We are champion!

I am very proud of this race because we won despite not having runners from the A-list. We won because everyone gave his all and did his part. My sincere thanks to members of team 2: Daniel, Hee JJ, Yong Poo, Beng Kiat, Wei Lian, Wee Khoon and Chee Yun. Our die hard supporters: Wong SS, Han KY, Nancy, Dr Chong, Annie and Janet.