Schooling Races To Capture Olympic Record And Singaporean Hearts

I have been thinking of a couple of things that have given Singaporeans reason for joy and celebration as well as some serious introspection.

The 13 of August 2016 would be forever etched in the minds of Singaporeans. The mood among Singaporeans from all walks of life, has been rather celebratory and for good reason. Our golden boy of the swimming pool, Joseph Schooling, has penned his name firmly into the annals of Singapore’s sporting history with a breathtaking win in the 100 m butterfly event in a new Olympic record of 50.39 seconds at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Photo Credits: MediaCorp okto Channel

Many Singaporeans got up early on the fateful Saturday morning to catch the race “live” on TV and rejoiced with him and his elated parents, May and Colin Schooling, as they witnessed years of strenuous, unforgiving training, sacrifice and unshakeable self-belief pay off in Joseph achieving Singapore’s 1st ever gold medal in the Olympics.

What made this win significant as well was Joseph beat his childhood idol, Michael Phelps of the U.S. into second place by almost a second. Two other world class swimmers, Chad Le Clos of South Africa and Lazslo Cseh of Hungary tied with Phelps in second place which in itself was very unusual.

Photo credit: MediaCorp okto Channel

The welcome home party at Singapore’s Changi Airport was raucous and overwhelming. A special motion was moved in Parliament to recognise Schooling’s achievement, culminating in an open top bus parade which started off from his home neighbourhood at Marine Parade.

Source: Channel News Asia: Joseph Schooling is Singapore’s First Olympic Champion

Singaporeans of all races, religions and backgrounds took pride in Schooling’s amazing achievement and were unabashed in their joy and gushing with praise for their champion. The fact that Schooling is of Eurasian descent and therefore his Olympic feat finding less of an emotional connection with Singaporeans of a certain race was never an issue. Singaporeans, no matter the race – Chinese, Malay, Indian, Eurasian or any other race – were equal in their expression of joy that a fellow homegrown Singaporean was able to achieve Olympic glory.

So you can understand my uneasiness when I read the media reports this past week on the findings of the Channel News Asia-Institute of Policy Studies survey on race and relations in Singapore.

Among the main findings were some that I found personally disconcerting. Some of these are the fact that the majority of Singaporeans are still uncomfortable talking about racial issues which has led to some unanswered questions about religious and cultural practices among the various races in Singapore.

One in three among the minority races in Singapore felt discriminated against. More than half of minority respondents in the survey agreed with statements such as “people have acted as if they are better than you”. About 60 per cent of all respondents had heard racist comments. Under half of the respondents noting that such comments were made by workplace colleagues and friends. [Source: CNA 2nd Report – Racism Still A Problem for Some Singaporeans]

And in the last of the CNA-IPS reports, the survey concluded that most Singaporeans would still prefer a President or Prime Minister of the same race as themselves. [Source: CNA 3rd Report – Most Singaporeans Want Someone of the Same Race As Prime Minister, President] 

However, the majority still supported multi-culturalism in Singapore and that all races should be treated fairly and with respect. The majority still felt that success did not depend on your ethnicity.

While race relations in Singapore is still a work-in-progress (and will always be in my view), it is good to note that the government is acutely aware of this and continues to seek ways to bridge gaps between the races here.

In any multi-ethnic, multi-religious country, the natural sway is for the majority group to exert its influence in the country’s political, social and economic sectors. It may even be argued that the minority groups have to make the effort to fit into these sectoral constructs as best they can so that they do not become irrelevant or marginalised.

However, the Singapore government has so far, not taken this for granted and has deliberately taken steps to ensure the minority groups are engaged and their concerns are heard and inter-ethnic bonds are continually strengthened.

But I sense there is a renewed urgency among the political elite to up the ante where improving race relations here is concerned. There is a new Channel News Asia documentary called Regardless of Race presented by none other than PAP MP, Minister of State, Communications and Information & Education and Chairman of OnePeople.SG, Dr Janil Puthucheary

The documentary featured a social experiment that was carried out which though simple in its aim and logic, turned out to be rather impactful in its revelation to the participants. You can check it out in the video link below:

REGARDLESS OF RACE – SOCIAL EXPERIMENT

What was revealing was that members of the minority races were surprised to find how much they underestimated their own feelings of being undervalued because of their ethnicity and how the majority race (Chinese) have never viewed themselves as being privileged just because of their race even if that is the reality in Singapore. A simple but stark illustration of this is to hear how Chinese Singaporeans felt discriminated or slighted while being in a foreign country either as a tourist or for work purposes, where they are not the majority race. The incidents they experienced are not very different from what minorities in Singapore may face.

I personally believe our Singapore youths can do much more to learn about the various ethnic groups in Singapore and to differentiate race from religion, ethnicity, language and nationality. So an Indian man may not necessarily be of the Hindu faith, may not necessarily have a beef restricted diet, neither does he necessarily have to speak Tamil, nor does he have to be born in India. And yes, he need not necessarily be dark-skinned, even though the majority are.

Perhaps the best illustration of understanding the nuances of race, ethnicity, language and nationality was the recent Olympics. In table tennis, China showcased its dominance in the event in a startling manner, not just because it swept the gold in the men’s, women’s and doubles events. China-born players represented 21 other countries, including France, Luxembourg, Canada, Germany, Austria, Portugal, Congo, Qatar and Singapore, in the event.

Being Chinese meant little to them compared to the flag they represented. They fought hard to win and to represent their country with pride. And their countrymen cheered and supported them whole-heartedly. There are just some things that transcend race, religion and ethnicity. Joseph Schooling showed us all what that was. And that is being Singaporean.

Embracing Diversity In The WorkPlace: A Pipe Dream Or Reality?

With the influx of more foreigners into our small island nation, Singaporeans are often asked by government and community leaders to extend a warm welcome to them. To not just tolerate them but understand and appreciate their cultures and their traditions.

Singapore has always been a land of immigrants and multi-racialism and multiculturalism are not foreign concepts to most Singaporeans. They are part of our national ethos and value system. As such it would seem natural for our workplaces to embrace diversity in all forms as an extension of the national narrative that has been such an integral part of our history.

But I have my doubts. The nature of companies is to stick with the status quo – the prevailing organisational culture. And if the prevailing culture appears to promote uniformity in thought, communication and deeds where management teams are routinely filled with people who think and act in the same way, then organisational change to accommodate diversity is going to be a pipe dream.

Source: Quoteistan.com

The reason for this is the phenomenon called “shadow of the leader” (Senn, Larry E. and John R. Childress, The Secret of a Winning Culture: Building High Performance Teams. Leadership Press, Los Angeles, CA, 1999). Corporate culture is a direct reflection of the senior executives. Employees take their clues on how to behave and how to get ahead by watching the collective and individual behaviour of the senior executives (the principia project, John R. Childress). This is why effecting any organisational change has to come from the top.

Diversity comes in different forms –  gender, cultural, religious and, the one I am concerned with here, personality types. Diversity in personality types in the workplace refers to people who think, process information, communicate and act differently because of how they are hardwired.

Organisational experts are recognising the benefits of having diversity of personality types in the workplace. Diversity can be a strength if it is harnessed properly. Singapore’s umbilical connection with the rapidly changing global environment, makes diversity in management teams a valuable asset in tackling the accompanying challenges and managing in diversity an important skill to have.

But embracing diversity must be a key component of the organisational culture and if it isn’t, then strong leadership is going to be absolutely pivotal in ensuring that it is.

In a 2006 study by Towers Perrin, companies with high culture scores consistently outperformed those with low culture scores on a variety of business metrics (the principia project, John R. Childress).

Jack Welch was quoted as saying, “A negative or resistant culture can derail even the best strategy”.

So if diversity of personality types within a management team is an asset which deserves to be a key component of an organisation’s corporate culture, then it takes a bold and enlightened leadership to ensure that it does.

There are many personality type tests which career coaches and human resource experts use to inform employees of their personality types and hence their preferred way of communicating and getting work done.

Many bosses conduct training sessions for their staff where personality tests are done and the results shared and explained so that employees get to understand themselves and the colleagues they work with. All this in an effort to promote teamwork, cooperation and collaboration and a happier, more congenial work environment.

The commonly used personality tests – Myers Briggs Type Indicator, Gallup’s StrengthsFinder and DISC – typically require respondents (employees) to answer a number of questions, usually in a given amount of time. And usually the results of these tests would reveal strengths or certain signature or dominant personality types which may explain how one communicates or behaves in a work environment.

It must be remembered that the context is important when doing such tests – what role are you assuming when you take the test – for e.g. employee or at a workplace, as a spouse or parent at home, or as a player in a sports team. We all wear many hats in our lives and it is important to understand that personality tests are only relevant for the context that we set ourselves in and the results are not gospel but can change in a different context or over time.

While the time and resources put into training staff to understand and embrace their personality types are admirable and encouraging, I believe the follow-through is much more important. The end objectives of such training are always the organisational benefits of better teamwork and communication and a happier and more productive workplace.

How many organisations find themselves reverting to their old habits, unable to achieve the end objectives by incorporating diversity in their management team? How many management teams give in to the dominant voices within and remain reluctant to change, shying away from embracing the diversity of personality types, leveraging on the different skill sets and perspectives to overcome organisational challenges?

These are questions that leaders in organisations need to seriously ponder on and take decisive action if they are to effect lasting changes in their organisations. Leadership is key.

Source: http://www.unnatiunlimited.com

Effective organisational change can only happen with effective leadership (Deal, Terrence E. and Allan A. Kennedy, Corporate Cultures, Perseus, 2000).

Management teams may eschew diversity as it may cause disharmony if senior executives are uncomfortable with it and fear unwanted delay in forging consensus.

But Mr Peter Ong, Head of the Singapore Civil Service, said recently at the Public Service Leadership Dinner, that “the dramatic pace of strategic ruptures taking place all around the world”, may require senior executives to get used to managing in diversity even if it means there may not be clear solutions, requiring tough decisions and empathy to steer clear of one size fits all type of solutions.

Mr Peter Ong, Head of the Civil Service. Image Credit: Public Service Division

In conclusion, there needs to be a higher level of commitment from management teams to encourage diversity at the workplace not because it is the latest buzzword in management literature but for the organisational benefits it accrues to the department or company and for its more long term positive impact.

What Do We, The Electorate, Really Want After GE2015?

As polling day draws near, I pondered my duty as a citizen and although I had a fairly good idea which party I would be voting for, I felt a need to give myself a chance to hear out the incumbent PAP candidates one more time before going to the ballot box. It would also give me a chance to get a sense of the ground at my constituency (not that this has a bearing on how I will vote but more out of curiosity), the newly formed electoral division of Marsiling-Yew Tee.

So on Saturday, 5 September 2015, after dinner, I headed to the PAP rally at Choa Chu Kang Secondary School with my wife and two sons. A fairly decent crowd gathered with several rows of chairs set up right at the front of the stage all already occupied by the early birds.

Mr Alex Yam addressing the crowd at the PAP Rally at Choa Chu Kang Secondary School on 5 Sept 2015

As I listened to the rousing speeches of the PAP candidates, in particular Mr Alex Yam and Mr Lawrence Wong, my thoughts drifted back to my personal encounters with them. Mr Alex Yam is the MP for my ward, Yew Tee. He has a calm demeanour, his face always wearing a warm, welcoming smile. He has a kind heart and a willingness to listen and help the sick and the disadvantaged in his ward. He always has a warm greeting for my wife and son whenever he meets them at community functions, calling them by their names. Under his leadership, Yew Tee is being slowly transformed into a humane and compassionate community.

Just citing 2 examples of this, which he recounted during his rally speech – The first, about how his grassroots people tried to help a girl, suffering from kidney failure, to get a kidney transplant was especially heart-warming. When a kidney with a right match was finally found, the hospital said that it required a kidney to be donated in return which the girl’s mother readily agreed to. Unfortunately, her mother grew very ill and was not able to donate her kidney, thus scuppering the girl’s hopes of a kidney transplant. Mr Yam went on to state that he will be launching a scholarship under the girl’s name (I assume she has passed on), to be given to 30 students with no bonds to serve other than to commit to 30 hours of community service.

The other example Mr Yam cited was that of a girl who is suffering from a disease, which results in severe fits, bone fragility, anaemia and enlargement of the liver and spleen. She requires a special milk powder which is very expensive and once again Mr Yam went to his constituents for help (see video below).

Video credit: People’s Action Party Facebook

Besides his compassion for the unfortunate, Mr Yam showed courage in 2013 when he spoke about his conviction to flush out loans sharks and runners from his constituency. Then he had posted on his Facebook page, “You threaten my residents, means you threaten me and my 500 volunteers. I don’t like threats and we certainly don’t take them lying down.”

My encounter with Mr Lawrence Wong was a very brief one, during a youth film awards event by SCAPE, last month. However, even in that brief time, he struck me as a friendly, sensible, open man who showed a genuine interest in the people he was speaking to and what they had to say.

Mr Lawrence Wong speaking at the PAP Rally at Choa Chu Kang Secondary School on 5 Sept 2015

Before the skeptics reading this post conclude that I am just another feeble minded voter with an irrational fear of supporting the opposition even if they are responsible and have the heart to serve the people, let me just say this. I do have a lot of empathy for what some opposition party candidates say they want for the people of Singapore. Several members of the Workers Party, SDP and DPP, have put forth some very compelling ideas on how to improve our health, transport, social, immigration and foreign labour policies even if they may lack the financial wherewithal of implementing those policies.

Mdm Halimah Yacob speaking at the rally at Woodlands Stadium on 9 Sept 2015

Nonetheless, these are policy ideas that, I believe, will make even the PAP sit up and take notice. But isn’t that what the elections are about and should be? Political gladiators battling each other in the arena of ideas seeking to outwit their opponents by exercising their art of persuasion and thereby drawing the greatest applause from the spectators (the people). This is one election, where I can say we Singaporeans can be proud of because our country has matured enough to have a system that allows such a contest of ideas with both the PAP and opposition candidates not taking each other for granted but engaging each other on substantive issues.

Mr Lawrence Wong addressing the crowd at Woodlands Stadium Rally on 9 Sept 2015

But besides the core, substantive issues being debated during this elections, we also see several opposition candidates calling for a more humane and compassionate society where we look out for each other, where we seek to progress together. One example of this is SDP’s Dr Chee Soon Juan when he highlighted the collective pursuit of happiness in our society is possible through a story about African children involved in an anthropological study.

And then there is SPP’s Mr Benjamin Pwee (DPP Sec-Gen running under the SPP banner), who said that in the final analysis what people yearn for is to have an MP who will listen, who has empathy and with whom they can connect with.

Video credit: Inconvenient Questions – http://inconvenientquestions.sg

So then I pondered again – isn’t it interesting that when we strip away all the political posturing, loud theatrics of animated speeches at rallies and the colourful use of allegorical language to represent ideas and/or to denounce opponents – when we strip all that away – what people deep down, really want is to connect with their MP in a way that they feel they are being listened to and that their MP possesses compassion and values of humanity that they hope to get comfort from not just individually but as a society. And if you managed to experience that with The Worker’s Party candidate or a Singapore Democratic Party candidate and after much thought you want to vote for him or her, then I say so be it and I trust that you have done right by yourself and your dependents.

The crowd at the PAP rally at Choa Chu Kang Secondary School

Well, there is one more day of electioneering to go and more chances for us all to get a measure of the PAP and all the other opposition parties. Even if that maybe the case, based on my personal experiences with the incumbent MP in my GRC, Mr Alex Yam, I see very little reason for a change in who I want representing me in Parliament. You see, like most people, I sense a connection with my MP and I know that he has the people’s welfare at heart. No prizes for guessing which party I will be voting for come 11 September 2015.

3 +1 Things To Note For SG GE 2015

1 September 2015 was Nomination Day and what a day to kick off the hustings in Singapore Elections 2015. After all nominations papers were filed MediaCorp’s Channel News Asia then aired a “live” telecast of a forum featuring 7 candidates from 6 political parties – 2 from PAP (Ms Denise Phua & Mr Lawrence Wong) and 1 each from the Reform Party (Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam),  National Solidarity Party (Mr Lim Tean), Singapore Democratic Party (Dr Chee Soon Juan), Singaporeans First Party (Mr Tan Jee Say) and  the Workers’ Party (Mr Perera Leon Anil).

There are at least a couple of firsts in this elections. For the first time, all 29 electoral divisions will be contested. This is also the first elections in the post-Lee Kuan Yew era and it does seem a little odd not having him around either at the rallies or on TV giving his assessments of PAP candidates and how he thinks PAP will fare against the opposition.

But viewing the “live” telecast of the forum on Tuesday (1 Sept 15), it soon became apparent to me that 3 main issues could most likely define this elections and possibly how the electorate could vote. 

• 1. Immigration and its attendant challenges 

It became quite clear after the opening statements from the 6 opposition party reps that immigration is THE issue which will get more than its fair share of airing in this elections. The influx of foreigners has been linked, if not directly blamed, for a host of other heartaches – lack of job opportunities, low wages, over-crowded MRT trains, high housing prices, inadequate essential infrastructure to deal with increase in foreigners, higher stress levels, etc. The PAP representatives did their best to explain the need for foreigners but it was met with firm riposte from opposition party reps.

The Marsiling-Yew Tee contest between PAP and SDP

• 2. Track Record vs Policies For The Future

The PAP wants voters to judge them by their track record or what it terms, the report card, detailing all that they have achieved for the people of Singapore on things like health insurance (MediShield Life), wages for lower income and older workers (Workfare Income Supplement), housing (the various policies to increase supply and cap rising prices), securing jobs and being industry ready (SkillsFuture, a national initiative to encourage tertiary students to acquire industry skills through apprenticeships and Earn & Learn programmes), etc. The WP rep questioned if this is really the best way to judge how worthy a party is of the electorate’s vote as a report card is by its very nature, retrospective. The WP would prefer looking at future policies and initiatives which the party wants to implement as more effective in garnering support and votes as they give a glimpse of how lives of people will be affected.

• 3. Local Municipal Matters vs Representing People’s Views In Parliament 

The PAP wants voters to judge them both on how the MPs have run the town councils as well as their performance in parliament, in being the voice of the people. The opposition parties appear to place more importance in the latter, in better representing the people’s concerns and establishing more debate before bills are being passed in parliament. In these aspects, the PAP is the very antithesis of the opposition parties, maintaining that greater opposition numbers in parliament is no guarantee for better policies. The PAP holds that most people are more concerned about municipal issues and how well their townships are run because these issues directly impact on their everyday lives.

SDP Rally at Choa Chu Kang Stadium on 3 Sep 2015

And finally, the character of the candidate especially where it concerns honesty and integrity. While I feel this is not a key election issue, I do acknowledge that it will hover like a fog over the entire duration of this elections. The SDP has called for clean electioneering and for all parties to steer away from name-calling and gutter politics. The PAP, on the other hand, while supporting the call for clean electioneering, has reserved its rights on calling out on any candidate it feels has fallen short of its high standards of integrity – something that it obviously feels all Singaporeans have the right to know before they vote.

About a week to go before the people go to the polls and a truly exciting hustings can be expected over the weekend.

And to end off this post, I chanced upon this website where you can find out details of the schedule of all the rallies and view videos of the rallies if you were unable to attend them personally. Alternatively you can check out Toggle.

Happy Golden Jubilee Singapore!

What a wonderful SG50 celebration culminating in the National Day Parade at the Padang.

Truly a wonderful spectacle of light, sound, video, with cheerful and energetic songs and dances.

The items throughout the NDP Parade had a good mix of nostalgia with references to our past history as well as the contemporary and with glimpses of what is possible in the future.

And in the spirit of remembering our history, I would like to share this video shared by Minister of Culture, Community and Youth Mr Lawrence Wong.

//

And here are some of the pictures of the NDP. Happy Birthday Singapore!

http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js

Seeking Solace in Humanity’s Bounteous Bosom

I do believe that June 2015 will be a month that will be etched in my memory for a very long time. Most of it has to do with what happened in Singapore or to Singaporeans but epoch-making world events also helped to mark this month as a special time that would not be forgotten so easily.

Firstly, Singapore hosted the 28th SEA Games from the 5-16 June 2015. The successful hosting of the Games was a testimony to Singapore’s well known strengths in management and organisation. Our athletes did splendidly and managed 2nd place in the overall medal tally with 84 gold, 73 silver and 102 bronze to emerge as the nation with the most bemedaled athletes.

My most favourite moment of the Games was when Veronica Shanti Pereira took the gold in the 200 metre sprint in track and field, clocking a new National record of 23.6 seconds. Being a runner myself in my school days, I can appreciate that Veronica’s success came on the back of real hard work, sacrifice and a lot of sweat and tears. But winning the way she did, beating pre-race favourite and 100 metre champion, Kayla Richardson from the Philippines, in front of the home crowd at the new National Stadium, must have felt special, not just for Veronica, but for hordes of Singaporeans who have been starved of seeing a home grown talent win a track gold for a long time. Glory Barnabas last won the gold in track, incidentally in the same event, in 1973.

The spirit of the Games, the way the athletes performed and how Singaporeans from all walks of life came together to support the athletes and each other as spectators and volunteers, made this a special SG50 event, very aptly reflected in the songs of the Games, 2 of which caught my fancy – “Unbreakable” and “Greatest”, the latter sung by Daphne Khoo, who is a Mass Comm, alumna from the School of Film & Media, Ngee Ann Polytechnic

The celebratory and upbeat mood was dampened perceptibly early in the Games when tragic news emerged of the loss of lives following the 6.0 magnitude Sabah earthquake on the morning of 5 June 2015. 10 Singaporeans – 7 school children, 2 teachers from Tanjong Katong Primary School and 1 adventure guide, perished as boulders and rocks descended upon them at Mount Kinabalu while on a trekking expedition. Monday, 8 June 2015 was declared a Day of National Remembrance, with all state flags flown at half mast and 1-minute of silence as a mark of respect observed at all venues of the SEA Games.

What was truly remarkable of these 2 events – one evoking joyous celebration and the other infusing grief and melancholy – was that they served to rally Singaporeans of all races, religions and backgrounds, new citizens and born and bred Singaporeans, to come together and support each in a way that members of a close knit family support each other. The warmth of Humanity lifted the spirits of our athletes and soothed the anguish from the loss of fellow Singaporeans. Humanity triumphed wonderfully.

But then a few world events made me question just for how long can Humanity sustain the warmth emanating from its bounteous bosom.

A 21-year old white male from South Carolina, USA, Dylann Roof, shot dead 9 people in an African Methodist Episcopal Church in a racially motivated attack. One of the victims was the church minister Reverend Clementa Pinckney, a long serving South Carolina senator and civil rights leader. We are well into the 21st century, nearly 150 years after the end of slavery in the U.S. and it makes me wonder what made a young man like Dylann commit this heinous hate crime.

More recently, series of coordinated terrorist attacks across 3 continents, purportedly bearing the indelible mark of the militant group, the Islamic State (ISIS), shocked the world.

Scores of people were killed – 37 tourists, mainly Britons and Germans, killed on the beachfront of a hotel resort in Tunisia, a suicide bomber detonated a bomb in a Shite mosque in Kuwait after Friday prayers and the beheading of man, a manager who worked in a factory of a U.S. gas company near Lyon, a city in south-east France and whose decapitated body was found as police arrested a man, believed to be a worker at the factory, for trying to blow it up.

Such attacks, allegedly perpetrated by militants fighting for what they believe is a divine cause to right the perceived wrongs done unto Muslims and their God, represent Islam in a very bad light, especially since we all agree that Islam is, essentially, a religion of peace. By planning and executing these attacks during the sacred month of Ramadan, these militants sought to exact maximum damage and publicity for their twisted and misguided cause, attempting to write a narrative that runs counter to the basic tenets of Islam.

Has the warmth of Humanity’s bosom dissipated quickly, never to return?

As I pondered this question, agonising to comprehend the tragedies unfolding before me, in greater numbers and frequencies, I realised that, alas, Humanity is the net sum of all actions by every single human being on this Earth.

As Mahatma Gandhi once said, “You must not lose faith in Humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty”. As long as the number of good acts outnumber the number of bad acts, Humanity has a chance of surviving and spreading its warmth to all.

Another development that could very well re-define our societal norms and they way we look at the institution of marriage and the traditional family structure is the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to allow same sex marriage in all 50 states of the country. The 5-to-4 Supreme Court decision to legalise same sex marriage was met with thunderous applause from gay rights groups and sparked immediate queues at the registry of marriages at local government offices.

President Obama said the decision “arrived like a thunderbolt” and called it “a victory for America”, obviously delighted that he’s come good on one of his earlier campaign promises to bring dignity and equal status to all same sex couples, even as he laments the embarrassing lack of progress on race issues.

I feel that this development in the U.S. is sure to test the unity and harmony of our largely conservative society in Singapore with a more active and vocal gay rights movement which is growing increasingly confident of pushing through its agenda.

My hope is that Humanity plays her part in calming our senses and giving all of us a chance to think through not so much of what divides us but seeking to accentuate that which unites us. And if this requires us to live and let live, then let us appreciate that there are just some battles we can never win and be prepared to take the losses as long as those who sit in the opposing ideological camps, do not launch missiles into the other camp, destroying their opponent’s right of abode in their own sanctuaries.

As long as Humanity endures, we have a chance to live harmoniously as one. I will like to end by taking heart from with this quote by Nelson Mandela from his book, Long Walk to Freedom: Autobiography of Nelson Mandela,

“I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one’s head pointed toward the sun, one’s feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in Humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.”

Singapore Lions XII Wins Malaysian FA Cup Final

A historic moment in sport achieved by the Lions XII team in the Malaysian Super League’s FA Cup final against Kelantan yesterday, winning 3-1 for first time in the Cup’s 25 year history. All the more meaningful as this SG50 Year. Well done Lions!

What’s telling for me was the Kelantan team had its full complement of foreign players deployed – I believe there were 2 Brazilians and 1 Nigerian. But our Lions XII players stood tall. were up for the challenge and persevered.

Singaporeans are proud of you. 🙂 Here are the highlights.

Remembering Lee Kuan Yew 1923 – 2015

No matter what we may say about him, one cannot doubt his commitment, dedication and loyalty to Singapore and her well-being.

Rest in peace, LKY.

SGBudget 2015 – SkillsFuture: A Perspective

The recent budget announcement in Parliament by DPM and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam was probably one of the better budgets I have personally witnessed in terms of its goals, the clarity of its purpose, the breadth of its impact on the various sectors of society and economy and its boldness in tackling the challenges that Singapore will be facing (or is already facing)  in the future.

Strengthening social security, boosting retirement savings for seniors, enhancing financial support for the lower tier of the aged, building a skills-based meritocracy and supporting and enhancing innovation and internationalisation efforts of Singapore companies – these are the main areas of Budget 2015. Providing financial support for these key areas will go some way into assuaging people’s concerns raised in numerous feedback and meet-the-people sessions over the last few years.

However, for this post I would like to focus on just one area which has drawn probably the most attention and discussion among Singaporeans thus far – building a skills-based meritocracy via the SkillsFuture initiatives.

The Budget 2015 unveiled a slew of incentives to:

a) encourage life long learning so that it does not remain a buzzword but it actually takes hold across the majority of our resident population through the SkillsFuture credit of $500 for each Singaporean above 24 years of age from 2016 onwards. Top-ups will be made at regular intervals thereafter

b) provide students with more assistance in discovering their strengths and interests by providing them access to specially trained Education and Career Guidance Counsellors from MOE and Polytechnics

c) support fresh graduates from polytechnics and ITE through the SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme. Graduates will be matched to companies in a 12-18 month programme with graduates getting a sign on bonus of $5000 and companies, grants of up to $15,000

d) support the aspirations of mid-career Singaporeans and executives through generous educational and training subsidies as well as SkillsFuture Study Awards and Fellowships

These incentives and support schemes look encouraging and I feel they go directly into tackling the wider systemic issues of the mismatch between the labour market and industry demands. Also the issue of the aspirations of an increasingly more educated workforce is being addressed albeit by requiring individuals to scale up in terms of their skills to match industry demands.

It is interesting that the SkillsFuture initiatives try to cover not just younger workers and professionals but older, mid-career ones as well.

But how effective these measures will be in actually producing tangible results on the ground is still left to be seen.

Acknowledging that no amount of grants and financial incentives can bring about a mindset shift, DPM Tharman called for a change in our economic and social culture as we are still very much a society that is ordered by academic results.

And this echoes what was pointed out in my previous blog, “ASPIRE-ring For A Brave New World” where I cautioned that a fundamental change in the way we approach education, work, career and ultimately, life, is needed if we want our society to be a skills-based meritocracy where every individual will have a chance to fullfil his/her potential by continually improving his/her  skills and knowledge.

Lifelong learning is one aspect of the cultural change that is slowly taking shape but has yet to take hold like it has in other first world countries. Budget 2015 cited the example of Senthilnathan Manickam, aged 41.

“He graduated from Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s Film Sound and VIDEO COURSE. After some years of working on corporate videos and TV programmes, he felt he needed to specialise, to differentiate himself from the field. He chose to specialise in high-speed cinematography, and is making a name for himself in the field in Singapore and abroad. As Senthil puts it: “There isn’t one path but many paths to achieve your dreams and be successful. Don’t give up. You always learn something new every day.”” (Source: http://www.singaporebudget.gov.sg/budget_2015/bib_pc.aspx)

Next, the issue of the industry and job market pricing university graduates higher than ITE and Polytechnic graduates. I can understand if its for entry level executive appointments. But for mid-level and higher executive appointments I feel that employers have to start looking at experience, skills attainted and character traits that fit with the job specifications.

DPM Tharman also conceded that ageism is a concern and said “I think we have to tackle ageism in Singapore. There is sort of a quiet, unstated discrimination among the mid-careers and those who are in their 50s. Mid-40s and 50s, it’s usually not so easy for them to get back in,”

We have to start building a job market based on skills and knowledge irrespective of age, gender, social, ethnic and religious background and less on purely academic standards.

But will employers make the mindset change? And will ITE and polytechnic graduates sign up for the much vaunted SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme to gain the skills that will be valued by industry?

While several ITE and polytechnic students have expressed interest in signing up for the programme several others have also voiced concerns that if employers’ fixation with academic qualifications remains, it would deter them from applying for the programme, according to a report from TODAY by Amanda Lee.

So if ITE and polytechnic graduates don’t bite at the Earn and Learn apple and employers become reluctant to invest in employees for fear that they will not stay, we have the makings of a vicious cycle where the stakeholders of SkillsFuture will remain unengaged, making little progress towards the stated goals.

This is where I hope employers will seize the initiative to break this cycle by taking a chance and a leap of faith that SkillsFuture will be effective in the long term. It basically necessitates a commitment by employers to invest in people; a commitment to develop, nurture and mentor their employees to show them that they have a stake in the company and that they are valued for their skills and contributions. I believe this commitment by employers will earn them a reciprocation of equal measure from the beneficiaries of their investment.

DPM Tharman summed it up nicely in this video clip taken from MediaCorp Channel 5’s Budget 2015 show, Ask The Finance Minister, where he coaxed employers to invest in people. I hope employers will take heed.

The greatest challenge Singapore and the world faces right now

Building a more harmonious and inclusive society which balances the diverse needs of its various members with the overarching guiding principle being mutual respect for fellow members and the continuous pursuit of finding more common spaces in the society. This is perhaps the biggest challenge mankind has ever had to deal with and will ever have to in future.

Two events in these past weeks have put the spotlight on this challenge in a striking way.

The first is the Israeli air strikes on Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip following its conflict with Hamas which governs the territory. Hamas is widely seen as a terrorist organisation by many Western countries chiefly because of its failure to outrightly recognise Israel’s right to exist as an independent nation with Jerusalem as its spiritual and religious centre.

This is an age old conflict complicated further by historical territorial claims and the movement of the native peoples due to invasions and wars in the political tinderbox that is the Middle East.

Why would nations want to inflict such pain and suffering on innocent children? – photo courtesy of aljazeerah

Here is a classic case of different groups of people with different religious backgrounds and ethnicities (Israeli Jews and Palestinian Muslims) who are are fighting each other for what they both claim is their homeland. There is no easy solution especially when religious beliefs frame and even define the crux of the conflict.

Innocent children are often the tragic victims of war – photo courtesy of firstpost.com

Faith which is a central foundation of any religious belief does not conform to any rational or logical reasoning or line of argument. In short, faith dictates that followers of any religion, take the leap of faith and do not question the main tenets of their religious beliefs. What’s more – these religious beliefs have been in practice for thousands of years and many thousands of lives have been lost in the defence of these beliefs. It is naive and dare I say, wishful thinking, to dismiss these beliefs with purely intellectual salvoes.

Let’s switch the microscope to Singapore. In the past couple of weeks we have witnessed the country splitting effectively into 2 camps in the aftermath of the National Library Board’s (NLB) decision to “pulp” 3 children’s books which contain narratives pertaining to alternative or non-traditional family structures centred around same sex parents/partners.

After vociferous protests from both the LGBT quarters and people who are not gay or pro-LGBT but just pro-books, the Singapore Minister for Communication and Information, Mr Yaacob Ibrahim, overturned the original NLB decision to pulp the children’s books and directed NLB to place 2 of the children’s titles in the adult’s section.

And Tango Makes Three – photo courtesy of http://www.nydailynews.com

Placing the books (And Tango Makes Three and The Swan Express) in the adults section gives the opportunity for parents to exercise discretion in allowing their children to read the books under their supervision. This was seen as a better solution to directly “pulping” the books which is tantamount to censorship.

This “middle ground” decision, however, did not find favour with some members of the pro-family camp which was quick to express its disappointment that the LGBT movement appeared to have made a small inroad in its quest to being part of Singapore’s mainstream culture.

But where is this pro-family camp’s anger and disappointment coming from? Could it be because this camp believes, as do many Singaporeans, that the traditional family structure is the basic building block of our society and is the cornerstone of Singapore’s growth as a strong and prosperous society? Wasn’t the traditional family structure put forward as part of our national value system which all Singaporeans should strive to uphold? Or have things changed so much that we have to review our national value system?

An inclusive society means one where members are willing to compromise without giving up on their values – photo courtesy of lisabauman.blogspot.com

Whatever it is, I believe Singaporeans have to deal with issues such as this in a calm, sensible and inclusive manner while respecting our fellow Singaporeans, no matter what their beliefs and value systems are.

Noone can change the fact that s/he is of a particular race or religious background. These irrefutable facts about a person do frame how one thinks about issues especially those pertaining to morals, value systems and lifestyles. And no person should have to apologise for the way s/he leads his/her life according to his/her beliefs and value systems.

Happy National Day

My National Day wish for Singapore is for us to arrive at a consensus on how we resolve conflicts, to design a framework to discuss and debate issues and settle competing and diverse needs in a rational and sensible manner. We need to make space for more middle ground. We need to create more room and time for common space. We should be a nation with an insatiable appetite to find things that unite us and are common to all of us and in time, we will be able to create a mountain of commonalities which will dwarf the things that divide us. Majulah Singapura!

New Age Class & Cultural Prejudice Has No Place In Singapore

The Anton Casey saga that raged across Singapore over 6 days ending in the Briton leaving Singapore for Perth with his family, demonstrated the awesome power of the Internet. Not only did Anton leave Singapore, “fearing for his life” citing death threats but he also parted ways with his employer, wealth management company, Crossinvest (Asia).

For the benefit of those unaware of the biggest story both in cyberspace and our print newspapers over the past week, Anton Casey’s descent into self-immolation first began with his offensive Facebook post about public transport users (MRT), referring to them as “poor people” and saying he “needed to wash the stench of public transport off me”.

Enraged netizens slammed him for his remarks and some of them decided to become cyber-vigilantes and exposed details of his wife, former Miss Singapore Universe beauty queen, Bernice Wong and his Gilstead Road home address, mobile phone numbers and place of work.

In less than a week, the resulting firestorm which also attracted comments from a Singapore minister and calls for calm and restraint from an official from the Singapore Kindness Movement, parched Anton Casey’s initial bravado and he finally succumbed to the searing online vitriol and public scorn by fleeing Singapore for the safer clime of Perth.

Given the ongoing debate regarding the burgeoning number of foreigners in Singapore and the resulting keener competition for limited resources in Singapore, the Anton saga would work into the hands of those who have been calling for not only reducing the number of foreigners but also clearer differentiation between Singapore citizens and temporary residents through benefits and privileges.

Its interesting to juxtapose this local saga with what a Time correspondent described as a developing phenomenon in the United States. Suketu Mehta in her article The Superiority Complex, says there is a new strain of racism that  is emerging cloaked in the protective armour of cultural pride.

Mehta cites a book recently published by “Tiger Mom”, Amy Chua and her husband Jed Rubenfeld, entitled The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America.

Chua and Rubenfeld propose 3 factors as to why Chinese, Indians, Jews, Cubans, Nigerians, Mormons, Iranians and Lebanese are superior when it comes to succeeding in America:

a) a superiority complex
b) insecurity
c) impulse control

aka the Triple Package.

Those lacking this Triple Package include African Americans, Appalachians and Wasps.

So the Chinese and Indians in America (new immigrants) are doing well because they think they are superior to others, have a nagging sense of insecurity that forces them never to be satisfied and are able to control their impulses or resist temptation to quit in the face of adversity.

This proposition does not, from the outset, carry the usual racist slurs or diatribe, perhaps because it is presented as an intelligent piece of research work and also because the authors say that it pertains not to race or IQ but to ethnicity.

But Mehta views it otherwise calling it the “new American racism” and a “pernicious line of thought”.

Her chief criticism of the book is that it fails to take into account factors other than ethnicity, like historical, political and social realities.

So the new “racism” is now parading as cultural or class superiority. This seems to be evident from Anton’s ill-willed Facebook posts where he pours scorn on the “poor people” who take public transport. The new age “racists” do not appear to be attacking a particular race anymore but it seems to be targeting a particular class of people or  culture. In Anton’s case, it is even less comprehensible, as he is married to a Chinese Singaporean and the term “racist” will be a misnomer where he is concerned or so it seems.

Singapore has to be vigilant about this new strain of social disease and should stamp it out and not give it room to grow or take root.

Our new immigrants and temporary residents must learn to assimilate into our Singapore culture and respect our diversity of races, religions and cultures. Both Singaporeans and foreigners must acknowledge that there are different perspectives of what we define as success and that different classes of people and indeed different ethnic groups, may have vastly different life goals and expectations of what a good life should afford them.

PolyForum 2013 – Learning Values Through Community Action

It is really interesting how the Education Ministry’s publicity machinery is cranking up the importance of values-based learning in schools.

The wheels have been set in motion and this was none more evident than in the speech given by the Education Minister, Mr Heng Swee Kiat, in the closing ceremony of the PolyForum 2013 at D’Marquee at Downtown East, Singapore.

He urged polytechnic students to continue to serve the community as volunteers in the soon to be set up Volunteer Youth Corp in 2014.

Minister Heng Swee Kiat speaking to our PROS

And through volunteering not only does the community benefits but the students as well as they learn values such as respect, empathy, resilience and integrity.

I was privileged to be a witness of this values-based learning in action at close quarters at the recently concluded PolyForum 2013. Approximately 300 poly students from all the 5 polytechnics in Singapore were mixed up and grouped under 5 sub-themes. I was a facilitator for sub-theme 5, Building Social Resilience, along with 4 other lecturers, one from each of the other polytechnics – Irene (NYP), Chin Ming (RP), Joanne (TP) and Evelyn (SP).

The performance of the students in their community action project (CAP), was nothing short of remarkable, given the very short timeline (2 weeks) to accomplish the task and the ambitious goals set.

The task originally was to conduct a block evacuation exercise but this was later revised to organizing a block party for residents of Block 757 Pasir Ris West and the other neighbouring blocks. The aim: to build social cohesion and bonds among the residents so that they are better able to handle crises and emergencies when they happen.

PROS working together with a common purpose

The students in the sub-theme, calling themselves PROS, set out to achieve the goals set with much vigour and gusto and with a true sense of mission, quite unlike what I have seen in students I have worked with in recent times.

They worked under the broad supervision of the 5 facilitators but never needed to be prodded or coerced. They had great motivation to work together and all of them worked in unison with a singular purpose in mind.

Personal goals and petty issues were set aside in order to achieve the larger group’s mission. What also impressed my fellow facilitators and I was that students had respect for whoever took the lead in the various activities, i.e. CAP, Closing Ceremony Performance or Exhibition. They discussed, debated, finalised ideas and implemented the action plan both expediently and in an expeditious manner.

PROS put up a remarkable performance skit at the closing ceremony

Communication with the facilitators was prompt most of the time and we were fortunate that there were few gaps in communication or miscommunications.

I believe, the main reason for the lack of major hiccups or issues among the PROS, is the unity of the students in this group. Over the course of the PolyForum, they became a close-knit group and they truly lived and worked with each other and for each other. Even the organising committee members commented on their camaraderie and said it was exemplary.

Accomplishing our goals was like Nirvana – Smells Like Team Spirit. The camaraderie was palpable

In all this, I have definitely learnt something myself. These students have helped to rescue, if not reinforce, my wavering belief in the youths of Singapore. Our youths have had many names thrown in their direction, like “soft”, “needy”, “entitled”, “aimless”, “self-centered”, etc., etc.

The PROS have reminded me that these names, as with most broad-brush name-calling, is unfair and not representative of the whole. The PROS have restored my faith in the youths of Singapore.

The PROS have also taught me how to work and achieve team or group goals BECAUSE…

It is amazing what can be accomplished when nobody cares about who gets the credit. – Robert Yates

And for those who would like to view my video montage of the proceedings of PolyForum 2013, please click on the link – POLYFORUM 2013 VIDEO. CHECK IT OUT!!

Pre – PolyForum 2013

Ok, I’ll admit. I had my doubts about becoming a facilitator at the PolyForum 2013, which officially kicks off on 3 Oct 2013 and lasts 5 days until 7 Oct 2013. This annual residential programme which brings together students from all the 5 polytechnics in Singapore to interact and discuss current issues affecting Singapore had an initial attraction for me because of the opportunity to discuss the same issues with students across wide disciplines.

However, Nanyang Polytechnic, the lead organising polytechnic for the PolyForum decided this year to do things a little differently. They decided to add community service into the mix so that all the talk and discussions can actually be backed up with action, thus giving rise to the theme, Power of Youth In Community Action.

The community service portion of the PolyForum does require considerable amount of commitment in terms of time, energy and resources and that was exactly where my doubts lay, keeping in mind my numerous other duties and commitments.

Students taking part in the ice-breakers during Bonding Camp

Who would have thought ice-breakers could be so fun?!

But having spent the equivalent of 2 solid weeks worth of Pre-PolyForum activities, meetings and dialogue sessions with students, I am beginning to feel like its all worth it.

Lead Facilitator Dr Mathew Lau (left) and Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, Mr Lawrence Wong at Pre-PolyForum 2013 Seminar

For this year, the forum has been broken into 5 sub-themes – (1) Inter-Generational Bonding  (2) Caring for the Environment  (3) Healthy Wholesome Lifestyle  (4) Arts – A Way of Life  (5) Building Social Resilience, the last being the sub-theme that I, together with 4 other lecturers from the other polys, are facilitators for.

Forum to discuss Community Action Project with the Building Social Resilience as the theme

The most gratifying thing about the PolyForum is to actually witness young people channelling their energies so enthusiastically into their Community Action Project. At the Pre-PolyForum meetings, I was pleasantly surprised at how students took ownership of the project, exchanged ideas, debated them, asked questions, clarified their doubts with the facilitators and kept track of deadlines as ideas on paper were slowly turned into proposals complete with budgets.

Dr Chew, a former commando officer trained in treating trauma injuries, talks about building resilience in our community

Community Action Project (CAP) details on the board

Student Leader Aaron debriefing students about CAP plan

No cliques forming along poly lines. Everyone working together, respecting those who stepped forward to lead, irrespective of which polytechnic s/he came from. Truly remarkable! I was genuinely wishing that my tutorials could be as vibrant and self-directed as what I was witnessing during these meetings.

Anyway, here are some photos from the Pre-PolyForum 2013 activities and meetings. Now its count-down time to the PolyForum 2013 proper!

Paintball warning signs

Paintball team strategizing before action starts

Paintball action begins

This ain’t no hickie! Just a battle scar after some Paintball fun! 

Before CAP, students did a recce of the Pasir Ris West blocks

Part of the recce involved speaking to residents

Speaking to residents from all walks of life

Front side of flyer for CAP which was a block party for the residents

Back portion of flyer highlighting games for the block party

Students practising for their performance on the last day of PolyForum

Students rehearsing their skit

They rehearsed long and hard

Rehearsing the mass dance – finale of the performance

Key to Singapore’s Success is Character Development of Our Youths

As National Day approaches, I started reading about how we Singaporeans are getting ready to celebrate this important day in our calendar of public holidays.

As I pondered past national day celebrations, I could not help but think back about the newspaper commentaries written by 2 prominent people. These commentators wrote about our Singaporean youths and how they fared in the globally competitive talent market which Singapore is.

First, we had Mr Ngiam Tong Dow, the former Head of the Civil Service, saying in a Straits Times op-ed, dated 27 March 2013, entitled, Let’s Get Our Young Talent Job Ready, in which he said that our young graduates have “acquired gourmet tastes but have no clue how to fry an egg”. He further lamented that “instead of punching above our weight, we performed below our knowledge potential. Today we have thousands of young graduates becoming property agents or relationship managers selling esoteric products.”

Then we have Mr Han Fook Kwang, Managing Editor of the Straits Times, the Singapore daily, who said in a commentary in The Sunday Times dated, 30 June 2013, Do Singaporean Workers Deserve Their Wages, that several foreign-born heads of companies in Singapore were lamenting the lack of  quality workers here. Specifically a head of a German MNC noted the lack of drive in the workers here compared to workers in other countries. In fact he said that Singapore workers were far down the hunger index chart compared to their German and Chinese counterparts.

In addition, Mr Kwang’s friends and colleagues also felt that Singaporean workers did not possess good communications skills and had poor reasoning and critical analytical skills. Mr Kwang further says that schools need “to make students less obsessed with doing well in exams and better at learning how to acquire skills and knowledge relevant in today’s fast changing world are so important.”.

I could not help but agree with these 2 gentlemen’s thoughts on the critical changes that our education system needs in ensuring that we continue to produce graduates who are job ready and possess the necessary skills that would justify every last penny that companies pay  to secure their services in the job market.

However it is not just a responsibility that should fall squarely on the shoulders of the educational institutions. Parents are just as responsible if not more, in ensuring that their children are learning the necessary values important to guide them into successful lives and careers and not just focusing on their children doing well in school.

Below is my original parenting tips piece that I wrote for the July 2013 issue of a bulletin produced by the polytechnic for parents which focuses on character development in our children.

Character development starts at home and should be reinforced in schools and is probably the key to producing the Singaporean core of graduates that we need to ensure Singapore continues to succeed in the foreseeable future.

——————————————————————————————————————-

Character Development In Your Child

Character development is probably one of the most difficult and yet one of the most important responsibilities that parents shoulder in the overall development of our children.

Sometimes as parents we take it for granted that as long as our children stay out of trouble in school, they are on their way to developing good character.

But what is good character?

Good character (in the context of character development) refers to qualities that will enable children to grow up to be happy, well-adjusted and full-functioning members of our community.

Character is defined by values we as a community live by. Most of these values are universal irrespective of our race, religious background or nationality.

Here are 6Rs I believe are important for my children’s overall growth and development:

6 Rs

Respect – to love and respect yourself, your parents, peers, people in general

Rectitude – to have honesty & integrity and to be upright

Relationships – to build bonds with the community and to develop empathy

Resilience – ability to recover from disappointments

Resolute – to be undaunted, determined, steely work ethic

Resourcefulness – to develop the ability to think creatively to solve problems

Communicate With Your Child

It is important that as parents we communicate constantly about developing good character traits with our children.

Share with them your own life experiences and how they shaped your character and helped you to develop one or all of the 6 Rs.

Personally, I share with my children my experiences in school especially the times when I represented my school in the National School Track & Field Championships. The hard, punishing training, the camaraderie of my team-mates, the sense of being one whether in victory or in defeat – all these experiences helped shape my character and the person I am today.

Character Development Opportunities in Our Daily Lives

Be on a lookout for these opportunities everyday. It could be a community call for action to help distribute N95 masks to the elderly and needy.

It could be a run-for-a-cause event to help raise money for the under-privileged.

It could even be an instance when your child asks you to buy an expensive item. These are moments you can use to teach your child about building good character by being involved in the activity yourself.

For the record, I asked my son to start saving for the item by doing chores at home or setting aside some of his daily allowance.

 

Be A Good Role Model

Parents are the best role models for their children and in many cases, the only role models.

Role models are important because children often look up to grown-ups they are close to as extrapolations of themselves.

As parents, we should be mindful of that and strive to manifest the 6Rs in our daily lives if we want our children to develop good character effectively.

Life-Long Process

Character development is an on-going, life-long process. It does not end when someone reaches adulthood because life’s challenges will continue to shape our character.

As parents, it is our responsibility to provide our children with life experiences to help forge their character.

Like 19^th century German writer and poet, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said, “Character develops itself in the stream of life”.

What Defines You?

Early last month, before the new academic year began I received the sad news that one of my students, a petite 18 year old girl, had contracted cancer. She had just completed her 2nd Year and was looking forward to start her 6-month internship in the new semester.

I met her distraught father to help initiate the administrative process needed to defer her studies till she gets better. It is always heart-breaking to hear about people, especially people who are near and dear to you, who are stricken with the scourge of cancer. Recent medical and bio-technological advances have made huge strides in the fight against cancer, improving the survival rates significantly, but often this is still scant consolation for those stricken with the disease and to their loved ones.

This latest reminder of the fragility of life, that everyday is a gift which one should treasure and cherish was especially sobering for me. It made me think of my father and how he worked so hard all his life so much so that when he retired, he seemed to have lost his raison d’etre and appeared displaced and confused about post-retirement life.

It reminded me of a question a management trainer asked of me? “What defines you?” And one of the things I said was my work defines me.

But the critical question, especially after this latest news about my student, is, “Does your work define you solely as a person or a human being?”

I hope the answer is a negative and it should be a resounding negative. Men, especially, feel their self-worth and their standing in society is a function of their achievements and success at work. But it is indeed a very sad day when society uses this as the sole gauge of how good a human being someone is.

A person is still someone’s sister or brother, someone’s mother or father, someone’s spouse and someone’s friend and not just someone’s boss or colleague. And that’s how, I feel, we should all be remembered by those around us, as a whole person who has a life outside of work.

I also began to think about the causes of cancer and it is a well-known fact that stress is one of the chief contributing factors. This brings us back to our jobs and our workplace.

Is all the stress at work really worth it?

Let us first be upfront about one thing. I am not proposing that all workplaces should be stress-free zones. That would not be possible. Stress can be a good thing up to a certain point because it encourages us to push beyond the boundaries, to continually do better and improve.

Media professionals often talk about how the media and communications industry is one of the most stressful in the world today. Well, having spent 14 years in the media industry, I can vouch for that sentiment. But I’ll be quick to add that stress is not the sole preserve of media industry.

Just ask former Lehman Brothers CFO, Ms Erin Callan. She wrote a brutally honest opinion piece in The New York Times entitled, Is There Life After Work?

In the article she lamented not LIVING her life to the fullest and making work the centre of her life. This meant putting all else, including her family, friends, husband and marriage second to her work. Not surprisingly her marriage ended at about the time that the 2008 financial crisis struck U.S. markets causing the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Callan resigned just months before the collapse.

She wrote, “…when I left my job, it devastated me. I couldn’t just rally and move on. I did not know how to value who I was versus what I did. What I did was who I was.”

In Callan’s case, she left her job following financial collapse of the markets decimated her company. But how much worse is it if you are forced out due to an incurable disease like cancer? You see what terminal illnesses like cancer do to you is to strip you of all your worldly possessions and of all the things that are not of any importance to you and re-focuses your mind on the people and things that are truly important and which bring you genuine happiness.

Callan’s thoughts were echoed chillingly by the late Linds Redding, an art director at advertising companies BBDO and Saatchi & Saatchi. Redding died of esophageal cancer at the age of 52 in October 2012 after spending years as a successful advertising executive. Cancer was a wake-up call, a dark epiphany that suddenly put his life into proper perspective. It was an especially heart-wrenching moment when  he learnt that the cancer was inoperable from his doctor .

He wrote a visceral blog entitled “A Short Lesson In Perspective” which became viral in the aftermath of his death especially among creative executives in the advertising industry. In the blog, he lambasted his former colleagues for sacrificing precious times and occasions with family and friends for the sake of work by calling them “f*****g mad”, “Deranged” and “So disengaged from reality it’s not even funny.”

He further labelled the advertising industry a scam and a con; the con being that the industry forces you to believe that there is nothing more important than the client brief and the work involved whether it is a TV commercial or more elaborate ad campaign. That this work somehow gives more meaning to one’s life than anything else.

Of course readers of his blog say that his chilling rant is applicable to other industries and the problem of placing work above all else is something many of us are guilty of.

But it is up to us to recognize that life is not all about work and that having a good work-life balance is actually healthy for optimal work performance.

It is about coming to terms with the realities in the work-place concerning taking on additional work responsibilities, bonuses, promotions and weighing these against being a good spouse, a responsible and loving parent and a filial son or daughter.

In Singapore, we have our own Linds Redding in the late Dr Richard Teo, who gave up a promising career in the public sector as an ophthalmologist to become an aesthetic surgeon. He died of lung cancer at the relatively young age of 40. He gave his own account of the meaning of life and what it means to be successful and happy in a powerful and sobering Youtube video. (Note: video is a little grainy and has poor sound quality).