PDC-

Hey all!

I just realised how dangerous a blog can be...I mean if TK can find it with just a little probing and connecting. Not that I am against anyone reading my blog or anything, I mean, read it if it doesn't bore you to death, but it does make you think of entire thing about privacy and all. (*hey tk give me your blog too!)

There are just so many things to blog about that I do not even know where to start. Let's start with the PDC. Frankly I think I am really privilleged beyond anything I could dream of to be in this prog. All v interesting talks, excursions, projects, and most of all, people. Frankly, I thought I was rather out-of-sorts at the beginning of the prog, esp during OBS. Everyone knew what to do, and for once in this kind of team activity, I did not have to think of what to do, or how to assign work. Once you think of something to be done, even before the words, "I think.." escape from your mouth, these things have been already done. Not that I subscribe to the "ruo4 nü2 zi3 zhu3 yi4", but it was mostly the guys... Anyway, it could have been jet lag or any other weird thing, but I was extraordinarily quiet/subdued during OBS I think. Didn't like the 'me' then. Perhaps it is the entire awkward process of finding out where exactly you 'fit' in a group, what is your role and niche, etc.

However, it got much better, as we got to know one another through smaller chats and all. We had a great instructor called Mario/Muchsin/Handsome (?!), who kept making fun of John and tchs boys' smelly tshirts (?!). Frankly I think this PDC is really a great way to build bonds. Just dump a group of like-minded people together, and they would bond. We have so many mutual friends (hear and laugh about their teasing of your old friends), and common interests (Never thought I would see so many pple crazy about singing).

Some highlights: visit to navy base, talks by people who really know about the topic they talk about (less smoke around here), and I was really impressed by a particular speaker who came to talk to us about leadership. We all expected a really dry talk about how to lead, but this guy, David Lim, was simply inspirational. He truly embodies toughness and the wonders of the Human Spirit. Let me give you a short summary of what happened in his life: He LED the first Singaporean Team to conquer Mount Everest; he had to suffer the disappointment of being unable to scale the summit due to some health probs; he had to make some tough decisions on the way; survived Guillian-Barres disease when he came back-a disease that attacks the peripheral nerve system so you are paralysed but you know exactly what is happening to you, it was not due to the expedition. He later went on to scale even more mountains, both literally and figuratively, overcoming his disability and climbing higher than what most of us have even dreamed of:Kilimanjaro, and even doing it alone. Let me quote him on a few things which meant much to me:

"Success isn't an event! It is about changing your mindsets from what is impossible to what IS possible. If you are successful unintentionally, you probably would not be successful again. ONLY WHEN you are successful purposefully can you be successful can you be successful again."

"The most important question to ask when you face an impossible task is: Is that a FACT or a BELIEF?"

"A stretched goal will motivate you."

(From Henry Ford) "Obstacles are those horrible things you see when you take your eyes off the goal."

Lovely, aren't they? Shall make them my life's Maxims.


I enjoyed the talk by Encik Othman Wok too. He was just so...candid and grandpa-ish. Really funny, and it really got me thinking about those turbulent times. I mean, most students think that everything about NE is propaganda and all, but imagine if you were there, changing the course of history, and everything could have gone either way. What if we were still in? What kinds of life would we be having now? (Such SS questions were posed to me as a Pri 5 kid, and I think I gave really stupid ans like, erm...I would be having Tau Sar Piah everyday! (?!) )

I was impressed with Encik. I wish I could travel back in time to live in those times.


Finally, attachment to the CDC. Jobs assistance, Social Assistance, Comcare fund, somehow all these have sounded academic when you read them in the papers, BUT when you see how much they are really needed by Our people on the ground, you get an idea of how important policies are, and it is really NO simple matter...every little detail in how it is all implemented, or how it is planned, can make or break lives. Many lives. Lives of children who have to sacrifice school to support their families. Lives of people over 40 who have mountains of bills to pay and living mouths to feed. Lives of families which can count to the exact cent how much money they have left in the house, of elderly who allow their wounds to fester because they do not have the means to go to the doc's.

How do you teach someone to walk, yet not carry him all the time?

Noblesse Oblige? This term sounds condescending to some. I like the spirit of the term, but it must be coupled with this:
"...For I say...to..you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think SOBERLY, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith."

ting