About a fantastic 2007 and an even better 2008

Surely, there is much to be grateful and thankful about, as 2007 draws to a close.


As always, I am thankful to God. He has poured His grace onto me, and has been a most present help when I needed Him.

I will always remember my students. To those whom I have taught, I think you have been splendid.

To 4E5 2007, I wish you the best even as you enjoy your extended break. I hope you are meaningfully occupied and maybe now you realise that school is always better than have a holiday that's too long, correct?

I will see you all there, when you come back to collect your O Level results in early 2008. It will be good to have a 4E5 reunion again.

To 4T1 2007, I want to say to you that each and every one of you is brimming with potential. It is my fervent hope that you will excel in your ITE course and pick up useful skills that will help you in your career. I also hope that you will continue to lend a helping hand to others and continue to be a good influence to others around you.




For all of us, 2008 is coming faster than we think. I am very optimistic, because it means we all get to start anew. The past is to be forgotten, and let new aspirations be re-born and dreams re-ignited.


Finally, to my beloved wife, she's been incredible and I am thankful for her. I will continue to do my utmost to be a good husband and best friend to her. 2008 will be a massive year for us both and thinking about it sets my adrenaline on fire.


2007 has been a good year. Yea, of course there have been tough moments, but I am aware that for every challenging situation that had come my way, there are 5, 10, maybe 20 blessings and good moments too, and for that, I can't help but acknowledge that 2007 is indeed good.

So, let the new year come. With purpose (once you know your purpose, you will have power in your life) and self-confidence, there is nothing we cannot do.

About a genuine scare

The power wall socket in my living room didn't seem to be working very well. Apparently, a piece of the plastic 2-pin adapter broke off and lodged itself within one of the holes.



So, I decided to pry open the wall socket, and, as expected, saw a tangle of red, green and black wires.

There were 4 screws I could see and I had to release them in order to gain access to the broken chip.


However, after doing that, the broken chip wasn't dislodged.

I saw a few more screws, and figured that maybe undoing those screws might do the trick.





The red wires came loose even as I loosened a screw.



Next thing, an invisible wave jolted through the sinews of my left arm and I was forced backwards.


I staggered to my feet.

The mad thing was, I knew exactly what had happened, but I told myself that for a big man like me, that jolt should be peanuts.


But when the tingling sensation never ceased, I gave up working on the power socket, which laid dismantled in the living room.

I warned my wife to stay away from the area.





I felt as if my arm lost half its strength. The tingling was incessant.

But worse was to come.


My breathing became laboured, and my heartbeat felt as if it was pumping harder than usual. I could literally feel my heart beat and forcing my lifeforce with every beat.


I put my finger to my neck, where I could feel my pulse. What I felt sent a chill down my spine.


My heartbeats were irregular.





Somehow the electroculation messed up my heart rhythm. It could have burned my nerves in my arm.




I went to the doctor's. I really needed to make sure I'm all right.




The doctor said, "Oh dear," when she took my pulse. She felt the erratic heartbeat too.


An ECG was promptly administered. The readings revealed some irregularities.

But she assured me that my condition was not serious. More importantly, she told me what I really needed to hear.

She told me that I will heal. My heart will sort itself out.


Thank God.





Some medication was prescribed to me, and I am making sure that I take them regularly. Even in my weakened condition, I continued to work as usual. I was still limping around when I went back to school the next day after the marathon, but it's not so bad. Staying at home would have been worse. I'd rather have my students come for training.



Anyway, I called in the electrician to help me to repair the power points. I observed the way he repaired the power socket, so that next time, I will do it on my own again. Though I was severely bitten this time by my inexperience and carelessness, I think I will still do it if my power point ever get damaged in the future.


But if I ever have to do this again, I better shut off the electric supply first. It's a painful lesson I will never forget.

About being reborn

The Marathon has always allowed me to gaze a little bit deeper of my inner self. It takes courage to sign up for this massive run in the first place. But to complete it demands the highest levels of personal character and conviction.

After the race, it became a little clearer about how I see myself now.




My preparations for this race was nothing short of poor. I've certainly learnt a few lessons from my past marathon experiences and one of those was that there was an absolute need to set aside more time in the 3-4 months leading up to the event for runs, up to 4 - 5 times weekly.

But the demands of work and family left me with little appetite and time to run. During good weeks I could afford to run twice a week. In October, I managed a 2-hour run which I felt really comfortable about, and I was very pleased with my progress then.

Unfortunately, the month of November was cluttered with work committments, camps, and other matters which took up plenty of my time.

In the blink of an eye, the marathon weekend hit me, and I berated myself for being unable to fulfil my training requirements.


I tried to compensate by carbo-loading 5-6 days in advance, consuming extra portions of rice and noodles. I even managed to get 7 hours of sleep prior to race day.


When I got up at 3.30am wash up and have breakfast, I told God that I will need His grace and strength to see me through.



After breakfast, my friends and I shared a taxi and headed to the Esplanade Bridge. There was a mass of people, mostly decked in the ubiquitous Adidas race singlets that was given away in the race pack.



The first 12 kilometres brought me through the silent streets of Shenton Way, left into ECP, into the monotonous roads of Marina South, back into the CBD, and past Esplanade Bridge. I felt fantastic and I was enjoying every step I took.



The next 12 kilometres took me past the Esplanade, past Marina Square, past the Singapore Flyer, into Nicoll Highway, Mountbatten Road, and into my favourite jogging ground - East Coast Park.

At the 21km mark, I glanced at my watch: 2hr 22 mins. I was well pleased with that timing (it was faster than my AHM timing!) so I kept going. Physically, though I was feeling slightly worn-out, I still felt good.

At the 24km mark, near the old chalet area, my right calf began to tighten. In my mind, I commanded my calf to be strong. I still wanted to go strong at Bedok Jetty, the U-turn point.

And so I did, though my calf tightened in protest twice more. I pulled over by the side to do a calf stretch. It did wonders, for I was able to resume continuous running.


At the 30km mark (long after the U-turn, then back past the Mac's), my legs grinded to a stop. Stretching no longer became effective. Any attempts to run was met with cramps that caused me to be painfully immobile.



But I could walk. On my clock, I had just hit over 3 hours. I had another 12 kilometres to go. I told myself I was going to finish what I had started.




Kilometre after kilometre went past. I mumbled, scolded, reprimanded, cajoled, crooned and ordered my body not to yield, not to slow down. At the 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39km marks, I was swinging my arms madly, forcing my legs to follow in tandem, as I tried to do the quickest walk I could manage at that time.

The last 3 km was the most arduous. Honestly the strength to walk ebbed away. The last part of this race was my slowest. My target timing of 5hrs 30 mins became out of reach. But I still persevered. I could see the Esplanade and I knew that the end was near.



Once I caught sight of the greens of the Padang, I knew I only had a few hundred metres to the Finish Line. I tried to run!


But there was no grandstand finish for me. Haha. Down the final stretch, under the wretchedly hot sun, I hobbled the best I could and crossed the line at 5:39 on my stop watch. I clenched my fist in victory.

It was my personal best timing.









During the race, I saw a message on a blank tag that a runner had pinned on her back. It read, "Winners don't quit and quitters don't win."

I said to myself, "Aye, that's talking to me," when I was battling against my muscles that were paralysed with cramps.




This race is no piece of cake, and I ain't gonna say that it is. During the run, you will need to resist the temptation to walk; you will need to stick closely to your set goals; you'll need to cope with the weather; and you'll need to battle against your body.


But the most important thing that you need to overcome is yourself, really.

During those insurmountable moments, when I stared into the depths of the abyss of self-doubt and failure, I did not yield. Rather than achieve the same performance as previous years, I made the choice to push hard and surpass any of my previous timings.





Once I reached home, I took a shower and quickly hit the bed, for I was completely drained. Thank God for my lovely wife, who got me dinner. I was so famished but I was in no condition to prepare dinner for myself.


Yea well, the aches and soreness will be gone in a matter of days. I would think that I do not wish to put myself through such torture ever again, but there's something about the marathon that has got an allure to it, that will entice me to sign up for it again, next year.

Maybe it's the allure of that sense of accomplishment.

Maybe next time, I want to better my personal best.

With more training, I know I can do it.