SimonSimple

Hi People

Saturday evening I was at FairPrice’s first 24-hour hypermarket at Jurong Point. Before that I caught a movie with my 2nd daughter while the wife went window shopping in the newly upgraded mall. It is a huge place, with lots to do and eat. Nearby, the ‘Lake District’ around Jurong Lake will soon rise up. The MRT now extends to the far West at Joo Koon station. The West is a happening!

Back to the movie. It was a Japanese movie titled ‘Departures’. My wife caught the show a few days earlier with a friend and thought I should see it too. So since the daughter was not busy throwing frisbees around, it was a great excuse to bond with her.

I shed a few tears. The movie is tastefully done even though its primary theme appears to be about the dead and the Japanese ritual surrounding the proper send off of their bodies once they have expired. I came away having a healthy respect for the old gentleman (the boss in the company that does ‘casketting’) - highly skilled in his vocation, a real pro and enjoying his work. He took great pride in doing his job well. There is dignity in old people and the things they know and do. As a mentor he showed great class. He had the ability to know the strength and character of a candidate just by having a conversation and a first impression. Great interviewing skill! And then the way he motivated the young man into loving the job. Great motivational skill. And then talking the young man against quitting. Great leadership skill. In all he treated his staff like a father would his son. Great wisdom!

Then there is the old lady who ran the public bathhouse, shunning a quick buck (if she caved in to her son’s plea to sell off the business and property to make way for condo development) but instead chose to continue a family business that provided a real need to the community (money isn’t everything). How precious are our mothers. When we become adults we think we know more than our mothers. We seem to miss their wisdom only when they are no more.

Then there is the young intern with zero work experience in this line of preparing the dead for departure, having had his dreams of being an accomplished cellist playing the cello to great audiences quashed when the orchestra had to close down. He displayed a willingness to overcome his initial apprehension about taking on such an unusual job. He showed the practical side of him. He had some bitter sweet memories of his father who had left the family when he was a little boy. Now as an adult he finally knew he had to forgive his father in order to free himself of the trap of bitterness and that sweet memories was better even if it was at the very last moment.

Then there is the young wife who at first thought his new job was demeaning and embarrassing to say the least but later became totally convinced that there is dignity in whatever we do no matter how lowly the job may seem.

Then you have to see the movie. You will come away having a healthy respect for our elderly folks and the jobs they do. Take away point? DO NOT take away a man’s dignity. Young or old, let him work for a living, don’t give him a free handout.

God bless you all.

Hi People

If you think GIC = Gone, Investments Crashed, then you have every reason to feel depressed (33% down). If you think GIC = God In Control, then you have every reason to feel upbeat (100% up).

This morning the preacher was saying that if you know God is in control, then we should not die before we actually die. A corollary to this would then be we should live before we actually die! How true.

Another preacher said we must first encounter the truth, then embrace it and finally exercise it. It is always the final step that is the hardest to follow through. Just like in the game of tennis, we may have a power serve but if there is no follow through, it comes to naught. How about the idea that we must do something about our health? We know a proper diet and exercise are important but if we do not take the necessary steps then it is just that: a great idea.

Entertain a (negative) thought, then it becomes a pretension, then it gives rise to argument and finally it takes root and becomes a stronghold. A corollary would be know the truth, and the truth shall set you free. Find out for yourself this day if God is real in your life, if you say Yes, then you should live……until you die and not die a thousand times before you actually die.

And so people, keep on living till the day you die. God bless.

Hi People

There is an oft-repeated line “Walk Your Talk”. This is taken to mean please practise what you preach. People can see through us over a period of time. Someone wisely said “You can fool some of the people some of the time; You can fool some of the people all the time; You can fool all the people some of the time BUT you cannot fool all the people all the time”.

I just did one workshop for a uniformed service about work-life balance. Coming from different ranks they had one thing in common. In their sharing I could conclude that they put family first before work.

Although work-life harmony is really about choices i.e. one can have lots of work and little family life and deem it a happy equilibrium and yet another needs more family life and less work before there is harmony.

But one thing is clear - we need new heroes in this ‘crazy’ fast-paced world. And we need them to talk their walk. We need to promote good family values because people are watching us all the time. More importantly, our children are watching us all the time. What they see in us now, we will see in them later.

Whether it is “Walk Your Talk” or “Talk Your Walk” remember this, “When words & actions agree, the message is clear!”

Be good, be consistently good. Bless you all.