A review of my most dramatic marathon finish in 2005 when my body gave out !

The date was 5 December 2005 morning, I can still remember the incident as clear as yesterday. This was the 3rd full marathon I was attempting and it was HOT and humid.

I had my arranged supporter, N. Kannan, from Malaysia who had come all the way from Malacca to help supply me the Gatorade drinks and Powergels. We had arranged that he meet me at specially designated locations to hand me the "life savers" (Powergels) as I estimated there would be a thousand runners in front of me, and probably many thousands behind me. This was the most dramatic ending to my marathon runs which I am not going to forget soon.

The race started at 6.00 am, it was smooth sailing for me for the first 10km or so, I was near the faster runners - not the elites, nor the chasing bunch, but somewhere in the first 25% or so. I had been pacing myself and had trained religiously for this run which I thought would be a managable distance,as I had run it 2 times previously, once in Penang (2003) and once in Singapore 2004.

I WAS SO WRONG.

The first 10 to 14km was the stretch from the Esplanade Bridge right down Shenton Way to all around Marina Bay area and back before looping back to Robinson Road and head towards the Padang and the Esplanade Drive and down to Raffles Avenue.

The race was carried out on a hot morning, and by the 23km mark, I had a cramp on my right calf. This occured somewhere around the 6 km mark at East Coast Park. "Oh Oh",  I thought, "Not Good and so early into the run." 

By this time, at 8.20am or so, the first Kenyan runner had finished the race. This fact starkly differentiates the best in the world from the rest of the pack, and I am considered to be in the mid pack. 

I was only half-way through !!

I managed to squeeze some Counter Pain Gel on my leg and carried on. At around the 30km mark, I had a another muscle strain, this time on my left calf. Again I stopped and applied some stretching and some muscle cream. The time was about 9.30 am and I had met Kannan once but had missed seeing him on the 20 km segment, as there were just too many runners passing by for him to spot me and I was probably bunched up with my eye on my leg rather than people or supporters.

By the 32km, I was pouring water down my head to douse myself and try to ignore the ache. BAD MOVE. The water trickled down to my legs and seeped into my running shoes. As I was hot, I intitally felt relieved with the water energising me.So I started drinking a bit more and pouring plain water down my head. My shoes by this time were squishing in water and I was literally running in SQUISHY SHOES.  

It was awful and so uncomfortable but I willed myself to press on. 

Finally, the end point could be seen, 40km, just 2km more to go. I was preparing myself for the photo opportunity and with the thousands of spectators cheering us on, it was a massive boost to my very tired limbs. With 100m left to go, I thought to myself "Go for it buddy, break the 5 hour mark !". So I started to accelerate with about 80m left to go.

The exhilaration was with me, I was taking the cheering and shouting and started to move faster.60m, 50m,40m, ..... then WHAM !

My left hamstring tightened so very tightly that I pulled up and stopped totally. I was in extreme pain and lost my balance, and fell flat in front of thousands of cheering spectators !! The announcer who was announcing the numbers started shouting my Bib number and by sheer willpower, I tried to get up. I was blocking the other runners who were making their way to the 'chute'.

Another runner stopped by to help me back to my feet, but he let go of me after 10 seconds and I was practically 'legless', my legs were all rubbery and I could not even stand let alone run.

I fell back again on the road, and the announcer and the people were going crazy. I was doing a crazy stand up and fall down routine and runners were passing me and I almost knocked one down. Finally, a quick thinking medic ran to me and together we ran across the finish line which was probably 20m away.

I had slaps on my back and strangers coming up to shake my hand, all I wanted to do was sit down and I sat down with my aching body for 45 minutes and drank about 2 bottles of 100+. I had never felt so awful and relieved after a run in my whole life !

The experience left me so drained and contemplative of my life. I realised that to push beyond one's limits may mean me crossing the divide between life and death. It is a very real scenario, decisions dictate and eventually shape our immediate and future lives. 

Finally when my body recovered, I was able to pull myself up, get my medal and find a taxi home. 

REAL DRAMA. RESPECT THE DISTANCE.

Happy Birthday Papa Geoffrey Abisheganaden.

Geoffrey (London circa 1979) 

Today, 23rd November happens to be my late father, Geoffrey Abisheganaden, birthday. He passed on 15 years ago on 20th Sept 2010, through old age. He lived 91 years, many of these years were very fruitful serving both God and his ministry as well as many organizations in Singapore's nascent years of independence since 1965.

Geoffrey was a devout Anglican and he regularly sang at the St Andrew's Cathedral church choir every Sunday. He was blessed with a deep baritone voice and during his early years, I was told and shown certificates of his oral singing excellence from the UK. He won many a singing competition in the early to mid 50s, where he started studying as a lawyer at the Grays Inn in London.

I believe he was called to the Bar around 1950 or 51, and he had many English friends. An Anglophile, he fondly remembered the UK as his adopted 'motherland' and I always wondered why that country had such a hold on him.

The UK I know now, is a sad reflection of what it was even just 60 to 70 years ago, a pale shadow of its former imperialist ambitions and empire.  

                                                         With an unamed friend. 

During his salad days, I have pictures of him as a young man, (maybe the late 1930s) dressed to the nines (I will post pictures of his 'salad days' soon). My father had many friends, who were very successful, but he also remained loyal to those who did not make it in life, as he treasured friendship without judgement.

As I recall and have data from current and past records, my Papa sat on the board or was President of numerous clubs and societies in Malaya and Singapore, most notably :

1. National University of Singapore Society (1967 - 1970) - President

2. Singapore Bible Society

3. YMCA

4. St Andrew's School and St Andrew's Junior College 

5. St Andrew's Cathedral

6. Singapore Swimming Club (legal advisor)

7. Singapore Cricket Club

His selfless nature, while apparent, did not let him lose sight that the focus of his work was to serve God and give of his talents. This is one trait which I wish to follow soon, as time is of the essence.

                                                A much treasured  1969 family picture 

Happy Birthday to my Papa Geoffrey Abisheganaden !  Forever remembered by your children and grandchildren Noel, Andrew and Hannah. 

May you be blessed in heaven.

You would have been 106 years old today. 

Love, your beloved son. 

  

Goodbye Mr. Liew we had good times and you were a great colleague

 

Liew Hon Nyen and his wife Eileen 

Dinner at End of the World Seafood Restaurant (Telok Bahang, Penang)

Today I say a sad yet respectful farewell to an ex colleague of mine who passed on in Penang on Friday 14th November 2025. 

Liew Hon Nyen was a staff in my previous company called Upstar International back when we did business in the mid 1990s till 2003. When I left the company, and started my current business QRA International, we still maintained contact, and he was instrumental in providing key services support to several companies such as Flextronics Penang and Nidec Penang.

A no nonsense straight shooter, Liew never shirked hard work and always did his level best to support me, through the good times and the bad times. I could not have asked for anything more and he would give no less. A true professional whom I would be happy to recommend his company and services to. The company in Penang the last I know of it is called Upstar  Instruments Sdn Berhad.

He leaves behind his lovely wife Eileen (above) and 2 children. 

                                                  2007 Ingolf's Knipe Pub - Happy Times 

May God grant you Peace, Liew. 

 

Face your greatest fear. Overcome it and Be Free

 

I wrote about this slightly more than 1 year ago. Jim Morrison, of the Doors fame, had so many personal demons with his drugs, sex and rock and roll life had this to say about fear. Such wisdom and at such a young age. He died tragically at 29 from a drug overdose.

Face your ultimate fear. Be it, failure in business, in health, in marital relationships, in humiliation from doing something wrong and getting punished (jail or something equivalent).It is a bitter pill to swallow and understand that at the end of the day, no one cares enough about you to walk in your shoes, with you. You face up to your failures by your own self. 

When you face your fear, accept your fate, and still rise up after each episode. You will have a certain feeling of being free from everything, of everyone's expectations about you.

I am free. Free to think independently of my life, my health and my goals.

I am blessed that I do not have the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO). Not a single bit. 

There are a number of friends who seemingly seem to be on an endless soujourn of holidays visiting here and there and posting their holiday pictures on Facebook, Instagram. Well good for them. Are they free from their supposed 'golden life' if they can't even put down their phones for more than 5 minutes without taking a selfie about the 'beautiful' cherry blossoms and sushi / sashimi ? 

Like my long runs in the heat of the day at East Coast Park, I play my deepest fears in my head again and again like a record. Then I collect my senses and say to myself. Why the hell do I worry about the What If ?

If the "What If" happens, then I will face it. And overcome, else I face the consequences. 

I will be truly Free.  

Buying an Environmental Chamber ? Look for QRA International and watch this video.

 

                                   This video has hit a cool 50,000 views in a span of 7 days. 

We are by no means Youtube stars, but my son was the brianchild behind this homemade video. We did 2 takes, I put up the Youtube video on short,  and 'Bingo' the views started slowly. 

After one day, the views climbed like 5,000 to 10,000 each day. I couldn't be;ieve it, I still can't believe it today. 

So if you are looking to buy a new or used environmental chamber. Contact below : 

QRA INTERNATIONAL PTE LTD. (23 years and counting).

1. Leading Environmental Chamber provider for S.E. Asia.

2. Leading Testing Laboratory for Biomedical Industry since 2015 

3. 1 of only 4 Athletic Chamber manufacturers WORLDWIDE.

For more information, please email :

E : mark@qra.com.sg

W : https://www.qra.com.sg

Quality is in our DNA. 

A wonderful day in the bright sunshine 01 Nov 2025.

I have just had a great time out riding in the sun today. No I have not lost my marbles. I am just penning this post to reflect on how even just one day of strenuous exercise can change one's state of mind.

Me with my SPF 50 sunscreen, helmet and gloves 

The last few weeks has been strenuous both mentally and physically. As I approach the 6()_ year of life in a months time, I have noticed certain ostensible changes in my health, and am taking many steps to arrest the decline in physical health.

1. Tiredness - I force myself to walk (up to one hour) every evening for digestion as well as to boost cardio vascular circulation.

2. Flexibility - I had a bad LCL pull just 2 weeks ago and had to go for Chinese Tui Na or physiotherapy which entailed using moxibustion (burning of dried moxa) to deliver heat and stimulate energy flow. In addition, I went to see a Chinese sinseh who did some massive pulls on my leg to alingn them. Yes.  

One key takeaway for me. I need to exercise, or run. This is like breathing well to me. I know there will be a time when I can't run and I am looking at alternatives to this exercise which I have been participating these last 30 odd years and not a single one comes close to giving me the endorphin 'high' which running has done for me.

Back to today, I started my bicycle ride at roughly 10.30 am. I went at a rather fast pace and made it almost 3 / 4 to Changi Village. The sun was shining in the sky, the sky was blue with some cirrus clouds, the sea was a gorgeous greenish blue and there were birds chirping in the distance. 

The ride up to near Changi village was near perfect. There were only a few bicycles I overtook and a couple on road bikes who overtook me. I'm chill to the fact that at this age, being alive is more important than being fast. Enjoying the beautiful sunny environment with nice cool sea breeze is such a privilege. 

I recall a run similar on my birthday last year. I did 8 km at East Coast Park, starting at around 10 am and ran 4 km up and 4 km back from B1 carpark. As I was making my way back at the 7km mark, I recall just wondering, why am I running and baking in the hot blazing sun ? The sheer absurdity of it all, but I needed to be alone with my thoughts, and not to be inundated with the numerous well wishes from all the social media,LinkedIn, whatsapp, phone calls, FB and Wechat. 

My birthday belongs to me. Just as when I was born and when I do leave this earth, it is a solo trip and all my cognizant thoughts about my ride here on earth will go with me.

So last year, at the 7 km mark, in the bright sunshine I stopped. And walked to a stone table and bench facing the sea and just lay down, in all my sweat. I was so happy - alone - and in my own endorphin charged state, I lay down, closed my eyes and thanked God for my life.

I meditated for a good 15 minutes, being still and listening to the crashing waves just less than 100 feet from me. A small squirrel saw me, and made some grunting noise. He was obviously hungry. I picked up some nut which fell from the tree and threw it to him. He came down close by, gave the nut a smell and attempted to gnaw at it. I felt a sense of calm that on my birthday my time truly belongs to me and to no one else. 

That interaction with the squirrel and nature on that bright sunny day comes back to me today.

I feel the same sense of calm.

I finished by near 3 hours ride up to the 3 / 4 mark to Changi Village and back. I stopped several times by the picture perfect seascape, rested, and sat with my knees in lotus position.And meditated. 

I listened to the waves, the birds chirping and the sea breeze. Occasionally I would hear the roar of the aircraft flying overhead every 10 minutes. There were ships in the azure blue sea in the distant horizon, and something like 3 to 4 windsurfers doing their thing. I was where I wanted to be. 

It was indeed a perfect day.

And I Seized It.

Change your habits for the Good

 

6 Rules for Success - Daily Improvement 5% daily.

    Clarity of My Goals

   Have clear goals. Set the goals early, start small and work at it every day.

   Discipline to Take Action 

   Show Up. Do the work day in day out. Do not shirk.

   Communication to Connect with People

   Do more

   Talk Less

   Listen More

   Connect 

   Emotional Control to Stay Balanced

   Improve this. Keep your tongue and ego in check 

   Never let your emotions get the better of you.  Keep your emotions  in  check

   Many things are meaningless 5 days, let alone 5 months from now.

   Practice Mindfulness

   Practice Gratitude

   Ability to Learn and Adapt with Circumstances and People. 

    Never stop learning. Every single day.

a) Go for classes. Read Listen Observe. Ask Questions. 

b) Learn to swim in new waters.

    Be like bamboo.

    Learn from mistakes.

     Have a Sense of Urgency to finish day to day week by week month by month goals 

    This is self explainatory. Go for it my readers and friends. 

  

When we were born, we came with our body and our brain - and no user manual

 

I realised something just the other day. Our bodies and brain, when we were born, we did not know the first thing we had with us. 

Our cognitive awareness was around the age of 5, where we knew we existed - this is as postulated by Carl Jung.

And from that day onwards, we knew like we know now that we have a brain, and the cognitive functions which go along with it. We know we have something called memory, logic, and sensory awareness, which for a large part cant be controlled,  the 5 senses, sight sound taste smell and hearing and as we aged, we knew things like emotions which are human and can be muted or amplified. 

The amazing thing is that for our brain, each of us has one which is totally hardwired to who we are, and we take a lifetime to first understand what our brain is like, how powerful or weak it is, how adaptable it is, whether it has capability to learn new things - for 99% of us we can learn new things - its whether we want to learn new things.

I am still learning how best to maximise my brain, that is the wonderful thing. Coupled that with the years of earned or lived experience and I put than earned or lived experience in my data bank, called wisdom, it is indeed a wonderful thing.

So we create each and every one of us, a personalised user manual of our brain and our body which is only best operated by ONE person. YOU.

If your brain and your body is put to optimal use, feed it the best nutrients, put in the best servicing (exercise), give it enough rest, in theory your brain and your body - like a machine will last a lifetime.

Sounds so simple and rudimentary isn't it ? 

So why oh why do we abuse our body and brain ? 

 

Sales Manager Makes the 1st order, the Service Engineer helps ensure the 2nd 3rd 4th and 5th order

 

Here is a video of Jason, our Service Engineer onsite at a client's location providing service support to an equipment. We offer the following services at very competitive prices :

1. Warranty - warranty for both parts and labour is offered up to 3 years for every new equipment we QRA sell to clients in Singapore and overseas. The client has complete peace of mind knowing that his machine will function in tip top condition for as long as he requires, and sometimes as long as 10 years.

2. Preventive Maintenance  (PM) - We offer PM for the equipment we sell after the 1 year warranty is over. It is very competitive and one of a kind in the markets which we serve.  

3. Calibration - Calibration is recording the readings of the client's equipment and benchmarked with sensors and recorded down for auditing purposes. This means that the reading set at (say) 50 C is actually within an acceptable temperature (normally +/- 1 C) when measured with an audited thermocouple instrument certified according to ISO 17025 or Singlas Good Certification Standard. 

Therefore, when you purchase your equipment, no matter how good the brand of equipment you purchase, do remember, it is the quality of the after sales service which matters so importantly at the end of the day. 

For more information ; visit 

https://www.qra.com.sg/our-services.

or Email : mark@qra.com.sg

Why do Environmental Testing for your Products ? Watch this Video.

 

Why do Environmental Testing for your Products ?  3 Reasons.

1. To enhance your product's quality.

2. To lengthen your product's reliability.

3. As a result your Brand will be boosted through good customer reviews and word of mouth engagement. 

Sudoku End Game Tactic 1 - Gwendolin's Thread

 

Here is one end game tactic which I use pretty successfully after correctly filling in 80% of the blank spaces in the 9 x 9 sudoku game. Its called Gwendolin's thread. Gwendolin was a little girl who went into the forest to pick some flowers. As she went deeper and deeper, she realised she was lost. 

Rather than panic, she used this tactic whereby she pulled out a spool of thread (OK, I know its far fetched, who goes into the forest with a string of thread, but you get my point right ? Its just a fairy tale !).

So she walks with the thread, ties one end at a random tree, and walks in the direction where she thought she came from. The moral of the story, if she came to another junction and there was a thread, she would quickly realise that she was walking in circles ! So she would backtrack and where there was no thread, she would then continue in the opposite direction until she made her way out of the forest. OK its just a fictional fairy tale but the concept is to use markers, and thread so that you know if you had made a wrong choice, you can BACKTRACK your move and try the opposite direction or use the alternate number.

For the Sudoku game, if the square is a 50 / 50 (50% either a certain number or the other), then I will use shortform LETTERS in place of numbers and play along.

So in the game above, I have about 18 unfilled squares, an then I can choose ar an unfilled square to use either (for example) a 9 or a 7. I would proceed with 9 and then write in that box the number N. This is the arbitrary number which I have taken as a 50 : 50. Each Uncertain Number I will put in the 50% chance of that number (a guess)  in LETTER format. 

Therefore 

1 : O

2 : D

3 : T

4 : F

5 : V

6 : X

7 : S

8 : E

9 : N.

Try it. If there happens to be to of the same letters on the same line or column you realise you have the wrong path (say 2 Os)  So I will backtrack and change ONLY THE LETTERS from when you started. The key is note down which square when you put in the first letter, and once you encounter a wrong path, backtrack and replace the letter with the other possible letter.

So, the rule of thumb should be, for me anyway, is when I have a 50 % chance it could either be the number One or 50% of the number Nine. 

I will start with using One, or O and play on. If I reach the end of the game with no duplicate, essentially I have WON the game. I will then replace the letters with the number and that is the end game.

if I reach a line where there is 2 of the same letters, I will backtrack to the first square where I put the O, and delete that, and add in the other possible number, say Nine or N.

If my earlier steps were all correct, that should lead me to the path of winning. 

This is called Gwendolin's Thread.

Enjoy your Sudoku readers ! 

Life is like a Sudoku Game

 

I have been playing Sudoko for close to 20 years now. In the blink of an eye, 20 years has elapsed and I still enjoy the stimulating challenge of a diabolical Sudoku, sometimes every day. 

First developed in Japan I believe in the mid 80s to help the bored salarymen and women who take the train rides from their hometown into Tokyo or another major city, this game helps develop and maintain cognitive abilities such as :

a) logic

b) deduction

c) good guesswork

d) Charlotte's thread

e) elimination

f) perseverance

In many ways, like today's game which I have just finished, Sudoku reminds me of life. Yours and Mine.

1. In many ways it can and does get complicated

2. You make mistakes and you mess up the game

3. You make mistakes, check back where you went wrong and continue

4. It gets too hard to finish and you abandon it

5. You fly through it

6. You muddle through it with a lot of perseverance, grit and bloody stuborness.

7. It gets messy (like above).

At the end you either 'win' and finish all the 81 squares with all the numbers represented in each box and every single row and column.

Or you lose, when you a) run out of time b) make some error and there are duplicate numbers along the same row or column.

Do play it ; I play this, mental maths, wordle (NY Times) and Spelling Bee. I am now learning 

a) Mahjong.

Life's learnings never ever stops. 

Why Test your Biomed and Biotech Products ? And Why send them to QRA International ?

 

Why QRA ?  

Let me state the reasons :

QUALITY 

The "Q" states Quality. Quality in our mission, our ethics, our people, our products, our services, our procedures and our prices. 

Customers come to QRA for Quality. High Quality. For our :

a) Consultancy - we have over 30 years of testing and equipment distribution expertise and know how to advise most of your issues regarding reliability testing, accelerated aging, shelf life testing. We offer them with respect, and with humility so that both parties, you the client and we the vendor can get maximum leverage on cooperating with each other. 

b) Services - we provide prompt, cost competitive, and reliable service to every client big or small. Yes, we do have limitations in our resources, but we are nimble and try our very hardest to accommodate to each and every enquiry from all everywhere in the world. No client is too small for us to ignore. Our commitment to serve you is in our corporate DNA.

c) Products - we source the world over and select only the best, based on our 30 odd years of seeking, auditing and providing quality, assured. 

d) Reliability -  a quality of the products over their entire lifespan. That is normally a 10 year commitment. 

RELIABLE 

"R" stands for Reliability. Customers can rely on us to provide the stated test services, our repair services, our products and our people can stand up and be counted upon. We show up when the chips are down, on the table and up. 

ASSURANCE

We assure you of nothing but the best from us. Our products, our services, our people and our pride in giving you the assurance that you can count on us every time and at any time. 

That is the WHY QRA answered. 

Goodbye to a Friend.

                                                   Real Heroes never wear capes, RIP Michael

                                                                  1962 - 2025

Today, I received sad news that a school aquaintence, Michael Poore, passed away. It was sad sad news, and it set many of my school mates reflecting on the happy times each of us had with him.

I wasn't close to him, but I had heard many good things about him, especially his care and love for the disenfranchised youngsters at Northlight School. He was a teacher there for the last 15 years or so, and through my close friends, I heard how he had to relearn and review his outlook on his teaching methods, as his charges all had major issues. He had previously worked some 20 years in the Food and Entertainment industry so moving to teaching at 45 years of age, was a major shift, a paradigm shift in mindset.

The students have troubled backgrounds, many come from broken homes, abusive family environment, or have one or both parents in jail.  The students may also be involved in gang activities, take opiods and have run afoul of the law.   As they are juveniles, the system normally tries to reintegrate them into society and one of the institutions which is offered is this school, Northlight School.

Michael taught in this school and he posted on one of the school's websites the challenges he had as a teacher, a mentor, and also as a friend. I read and reread his Magnus Opus or life's story encapsulated in 5 pages. I was very touched. Police were almost always sent to the school for major disciplinary issues and external serious cases. The kids were not your traditional neighbourhood ones, nor even the usual bullies.  

Michael never gave up on them, and continued to motivate them, even as he sought to provide leadership and instill values to their broken young lives.  

My good friend Ajit told me, that Michael when they were both in Primary school, whenever Ajit forgot to bring his lunchbox or hadn't been given pocket money, Michael would generously share half his lunch sandwiches with Ajit.

This is the measure of a man. A measure of a man, is valued  not by what he created, an empire, a huge pile of money, many assets etc. 

A measure of a man, is how many lives he touched, helped and influenced for the better.

Rest in Peace, Michael Poore. 

A true hero.

A Saint whom I am proud to be associated with.

Carpe Diem.

What will my (or yours) mindset be when I am 85 (and hopefully still alive) ?

Pause if you will this Sunday 21st Sept 2025. Think about where you are. Now you may be in the prime of your life, your earning capacity is the maximum, your health is well and under control, you have ample reserves in your bank account and assets. If you are in this place, well and good, but think what or where you will be physically and mentally say 20 to 25 years on. 

What would you need to do, to think that you have had a good life at 83 or 85 years of age ?

This set me thinking when I watched a Youtube video about a Brit who has lived in Singapore these last 20 years, his first Japanese wife passed on just 3 years into their marriage when they were both living in Singapore and he decided to stay on, even though he was burdened financially and emotionally with 2 young toddlers. Very tough on him and crucial decisions which he made and he is now on Youtube telling his life story and what would make his life meaningful.

I strongly believe that if I use my dilligence, talents, and relationships I can and will make a difference to the lives of people that matter to me. 

My immediate family, my extended family, my company, my close friends and then on further afield to my alma mater, my school and business associated friends and then so on and so forth.

If I have made an impact, then when I am  85, I will be relatively satisfied to myself that I mattered to some people who meant so much to me.

My mindset would then be preparing for my next stage, death. I am not very religious, but I believe that God exists and He should be guiding me as I move on in life.

My ties with my Alma Mater remain ever strong

 

L to R : Chew Ping Nan, Andrew Lee, Fong Kai Yew (front), S Thedasidas (back),Gurdeep Singh (Glasses), Yours Truly, Charles Tay (with Mahjong tile), M Chandrakanth, Yap Tzin Haen (Hat with  7  Glasses), Hong Heng Chow (Blue Hat) 

Yesterday I attended the St Andrew's Alumni Annual Dinner held at the School Hall. I graduated from secondary school many decades ago, yet when I meet my school and classmates, I am talking with them like we were still in Secondary 4 !

We swapped stories about who got into trouble with the principal and got caned, who was the top boy of the school (Dux), and who recently became gradfathers. The lovely flow of life.

No airs, no expectations and best of all no comparisons. Just being in the present and talking about the past. 

It was such a lovely and august dinner, many thanks to the managing committee and the Alumni President Terence Han and his team for making this a dinner and a get together to remember.

Up and On !! 

Temperature Shock Tests

 

2 Zone Temperature Shock Tests from QRA International Pte Ltd.

QRA International offers very competitive prices with reports for 2 zone temperature shock tests at our Labs in Singapore. Temperature Ranges :

Typical Test Range from :

- 65 C to 150 C

Cold Zone : from - 80 to - 40 C

Hot Zone   : from + 70 to 200 C

Transition Time : approx. 10 seconds

Number of Cycles (settable) : 100, 500, 1000 

Cycle Duration (typical) : 30 minutes

For more information please contact : 

QRA INTERNATIONAL PTE LTD.

Website : www.qra.com.sg

Email    : mark@qra.com.sg

Why Use Test Laboratory Services ?

 

When your company is a small start up and it is time for Quality Assurance, there will be an internal management meeting, several key questions will come up :

a) Do we test in house of send them to outsource testing ? 

What are the Pros and Cons for outsource testing ?

Pro (For points) 

Outsource testing is very convenient, PROVIDED the Lab service provider is familiar with the types of testing.

+ On call (or social media)

+ On short notice (upon PO and availability of test equipment)

+ No service issues (they take care of the equipment)

+ (BIG) No rental of factory space (the equipment is in their Lab)

+ Reports provided (upon request and additional costs)

+ No big ticket CAPEX purchase (test chambers new costs USD 40K and above each) 

+ No need for trained staff or expertise to hire to ensure machine runs smoothly during duration of test.

+ (BIG) No need to pay increasing electricity bills.

Cons

-  Proprietary data is not exclusive

-  Machines may be booked till a long time later

-  No impressive machines on show to your clients.

Well these are the Pros and Cons as far as I can think for Laboratory Services

Dunning Kreuger - Height of Ignorance and Stupidity - My Own Experience.

 

Many of you would have heard of the Dunning Kreuger effect, or the height of stupidity. Essentially this is the peak of Mount Stupid. You do not even know what you don't know.

I know personally of people who are so ignorant and stupid, yet overstate their abilities until they fall flat on their face, that is when they receive a 'wake up' call that they are out of their league, and maybe then, they will learn from their mistakes.

I had a period where I thought, I knew everything there was to know in the environmental simulation industry and ventured in project management without the proper tools to weather

a) delayed deadlines

b) unfulfilled deliverables

c) very unreasonable customers

d) arrogant procurement 

e) rude top management.

In short, I was ignorant and rather stupid to believe that with a little knowledge and many years of experience, my team and I would be able to weather all the storms of project delivery and compliance.

I also trusted too much on outsource equipment suppliers without proper audit of their full facilities, so the result of the 2 projects which my company secured (each project worth was over S$ 1.2 million at the time of order) was :

> 1 delivered on time, specifications met and slight delay in payment

> 1 delivered on time, specifications not fulfilled, numerous redesigns, numerous meetings and thrash outs, many sleepless nights and liquidated damages, resulting in lower profit margins, weight loss and some mental distress for several months.

That was my Mt. Stupid period (2015-2016). I went to the valley of despair ( end 2015-mid 2016), my other business units were all shut to focus on settling the major project, else, the result would have been catastrophic and business closure, possibly company bankrupcy. 

We made out of it scarred but unbowed. The experience was put to great use, and we went on as a company to deliver many more such systems worldwide.

The slow climb up was arduous, but it was necessary - for me as a person and also for the company.

The lessons learnt ?

Never ever think you are invincible and know more than everyone. Now, I use these strategic steps ever so often in my daily work :

>Under Commit 

- Never give the whole performance away, if its at the edge of the technology spectrum, always talk through the expectations with the customer and try to lower them. It sounds counterproductive as technology always is pushed to the boundaries thats where the legends in tech are made. 

- Can I as the business owner afford to take this risk ? Well the decision above is my answer.

>Over Deliver

- Deliver better than what you promise. Then everything will be 'hunky dory' 

The other way around where 90% of suppliers do is a sure fire way to failure ;

- Over commit on their specifications 

- Under deliver on their deliverables.

It is a sure fire way of failure and the subsequent consequences of that failure will follow. 

>Do multiple Risk Assessments of the Potential paths to take, playing out possible end game  scenarios with realistic expectations of each and every outcome.

Slowly and surely ; 

Up and On. 

    

Can I get 300,000 views by October ?

 

                                               Dear Readers. 

                                   

                                               Make my day. 

28 Sept 2025. - Update 

We have close to 280,000 views. Average daily views of almost 1000. At this rate, hitting 300,000 views by October is definitely achievable and worth celebrating !

 

What a typical PCB experiences day in day out as far as temperature changes go.

 

Imagine this  modern day PCB motherboard, this is a multi-layer one which has numerous materials layered over each other, for example :

1. FR4 ( polyimide substrate)

2. copper foil laminate

3. solder masks

4. silk screen

5. ceramic substrate.

If this is your handphone or laptop PCs, there is daily temperature cycles going on when you power up your PC from sleep, or 'off' more. The temperature will go from (say) 23 C (inside the casing of your laptop) to maybe as much as 40 C in the course of the day.

When it is powered off, the temperature inside the laptop (PCB) will then slowly go back to 23 C in the evening.

Now, the key to this post is this. In the event, during the heatup phase, the temperature of the board rises. The  COEFFICIENTS OF THERMAL EXPANSION is different for all of the 5 different materials above, and hence some would expand faster than others, thereby pulling the neighbouring material.

When cooling down, the reverse effect is there, and hence there will be faster cooling of some materials than others.

When repeated hundreds of times a year (there are 365 days per year) then there is a chance than the incessant heat cool heat cool will result in BREAKAGES in the connection between the materials of the PCB motherboard, resulting in an open circuit and hence non functioning of the PCB motherboard.

Material selection is key and the QA and QC tests of temperature cycles is necessary to ensure that there are no catastrophic failures due to this repeated temperature cycles for at least 10,000 cycles or the expected lifespan of the laptop (say 5 years).

It is advised to do selective temperature cycling of PCB motherboard (powered up no less) in Test Labs or in house BEFORE the boards are shipped out to the next partner in the electronic supply chain to ensure 

> Quality

> Reliability

of the product is upheld.

What do I think of when I run ? A Repost from Nov 2022

This is an very interesting question which I do ask myself from time to time. Do I go into a 'robot mode' and just switch off everything or do I let some thoughts invade into the zonal spaced out state of mind which sometimes freaks me out at the sheer clarity of thought ? The 'Aha moment' which only comes when I am is truly at peace with myself and shut out everything ?

                                               My 8 K run last year on my birthday 

The answer is a bit of both. To be frank, when I set out, I actually zone out and focus on 3 aspects of my self. This is the intial part of my run until I find a rhythm to run at a pace which I am comfortable. 

a) My focus on the road ahead

I am super focussed and just stare straight ahead through my Oakley sunglasses (I have over 20 pairs) and subconsciously avoid the strollers, prams, small children, elderly people and slower runners either going in my direction of coming at me. 

My recent familiar runs are either at East Coast Park (B1 carpark vicinity start) or Pandan Reservoir and the runs are 6 K to 8K in length. 

There were numerous close calls and even one where I caused an aspiring rollerblader to fall flat on his face, much to his girlfriend's angst !

While my pace has slowed down a lot, I am still hopeful of bumping up the velocity or pace to something like 6: 00 mins per km or 10 km / hr. 

b) My breathing.

I usually start out the run by concentrating on my breathing ensuring that each breath is measured and I am amazed by the fresh air I can actually intake. I breathe deeply to the extent that my lungs ache. Which is a good thing, in my opinion. We, so often, take for granted our ability to do the simple task of breathing that when you focus on it, you actually appreciate the one of 3 organs which fundamentally keeps us alive (the other 2 being the heart and brain). 

c) My legs.

I have always had strong and stiff legs. They have been both my boon and my bane. They were and still are very strong. I always thought I had iron legs. In my teenage years, my swim club mates called be "Stiff Austin" (a joke about the 6 Million Dollar Man Steve Austin who had bionic lags haha) because well my legs were really stiff and hard. I recall playing football in the courtyard of the Club way back in the mid 70s and I didn't wear shoes.

So one time, I recall, I kicked hard at the rubber ball at the goal, and MISSED. Instead, my leg kicked the huge exposed root of the 160 year old tree. The bark of the tree actually came off and my leg though sore, was still intact.

Thats how strong my legs were !

After the first 2 things are settled, I will just go into a Zen Like Zone and run without paying much attention to my surroundings. However, as the kms go by my mind will start to wander and normally things so random will just pop into the mindfulness zone.

Here is one such thought. I dreamt up a decision tree process while I was running. Only today 10th July have I had the courage to write it down.

Please take a look at my innermost thoughts when I run.

In a nutshell, running on a Saturday leaves me happy, and ecstatic. So I will run based on my decision tree logic as shown above.  

Multilateralism

9 months into the Trump presidency, and the world is still reeling from the come and go up and down tariff rates emnating from the White House. It upends global businesses who depend on :

- stability of trade relations between blocs or countries

- a free world with as little conflict as possible

- trust between long established partners who have had successful win - win trade arrangements for multiple decades since WW2.

All 3 of the above factors are thrown out the window. The case is now for multilateralism and small countries like Singapore as especially vulnerable to the 'changes in the wind'. 

Chamber Repair Services, we provide in 10 countries in Asia and 12 in Europe

What we can and should do ? Embrace Multilateralism and Run with the Ball

1. Companies (small in particular) - to come together, network and work together to form strategic alliances across continents for the mutual advancement of their goals.

We currently are signing 2 MOUs and agreements with some players in the more established part of the world in our field of biomedical testing to promote shared goods and services. 

2. Adoption of :

Digitization in Company Systems 

My company is embarking on this now, to put into place a document management system on the cloud as well as digitization of reports and data for data retrieval in the long run.

AI for marketing for social media maximization

The world needs access to the best and most competitive goods and services. If your company is a major player in a small niche, advertise the fact regionally and globally. 

Scale up the business to capture global demand. 

We secure business from Europe, US and Australia apart from Asia nowadays quite regularly. This is unheard of for us 10 years ago.

Connect with Big Players for funds, experience and opportunities.

There is no time better than now to do this. Reach out the big players who have decades more experience and reach in the industry you specialise, and connect.

You will be surprised at what may turn out. 

  

ASTM F 1980 - 16 video ; your questions answered right here

 

Here is a short video of how the ASTM F 1980 - 16 functions, the key takeaways, the effectiveness and how clients in biomedical industries perform these tests, the durations, the typical temperatures set, the humidities set, all the key questions are answered by me. 

My experience in serving more than 15 years in this very rigid and demanding industry is here for sharing.

Carpe Diem.

 

Temperature Pressure and Humidity Changes for Aircraft Components

Parts manufacturers around the world, if they are serious about their quality and reliability testing. They MUST do Transport Simulation testing - and very rigorously too. Let me run through the temperature, humidity and pressure changes. 

Say the aircraft A320 is sitting on the tarmac, and the engine is started, everything is ready to go. The tarmac is in the hot Doha desert, and the temperature is a sweltering 60 C. Humidity is in the mid 70%. Air pressure is at sea level or 1000 mbar (1 bar). 

Once the control tower gives the signal, the plane does a few turns to proceed to the correct runway, the temperature is still the same as above. 

In the space of 15 minutes, when the plane takes off from the runway to the cruising altitude of say 35,000 feet (11100 m), the temperature drops drastically to -40 C, there is almost no humidity and the air pressure is dropped down to say 300 mbar. The plane is at 35000 feet.

That means to simulate this condition in the Lab, the settings on the chamber to test component parts of the plane engine or exterior (such as rudder, fluid manifolds etc) must resemble something like this.

Time 0 

Temp  : 60 C

RH      : 70%

Press  : 1000 mbar (1 atm)

Time 15 

Temp  : -40

RH     : 10%

Pressure : 235 mbar (0.235 atm)

 

Hence the chamber MUST replicate the change rate of +60 + 40 or 100 C in 15 minutes, that is approx. 6.67 C / min change rate

Pressure needs to also get down pretty quickly to 235 mbar.

The chamber required just to follow the environmental changes is what we call the Environmental Stress Screening Chamber or ESS chamber which QRA can provide for a competitive price.

We occasionally also offer ESS services to customers although the costs of running these tests are not inexpensive, owing to the high electricity usage, the machine maintenance costs and the number of cycles and total test time.

For more information, consult the experts, 

https://www.qra.com.sg/our-services

https://www.qra.com.sg/our-products

 

Key Parameters to Control for Environmental Testing of Products for Quality and Reliabillity

There are 4 Key Parameters which manufacturers must bear in mind when designing a robust product - this is based on decades of experience working with the best in class and industry for electronics, aerospace and defence and automotive.

1. Temperature Extremes.

2. Dwell Times at the Extreme Temperatures

3. Rates of Change in deg C / min from Hot Extreme to Cold Extreme

4. Duration of One Cycle and Number of Cycles Run in total.

Temperature Extremes. 

Typically if a manufacturer wishes to do environmental simulation, they must simulate the condition which the product is being subjected to, plus add further extremes just to ensure that the product can perform wider than the expected range of usage.

Dwell Times at Extreme Temperatures.

How long the products are kept at the temperature extremes is dependent on the product itself. From experience, the dwell times at the extreme temperature zones do not go beyond 6 hours, before, moving up or down to the next extremes.

A simple analogy of a robust product you (as a person) can try for yourself. If you have strong immunity, and you are daily subjected to temperature cycling, from airconditioned room at 23 C to cold bath, to hot morning of 30 to 35 C, enter the car at 25 C and then down to 20 C (air cond takes effect), to the office and so on and so forth. 

Your body is subjected to temperature cycling though not as extreme as some products, so if your immune system is strong, then nothing happens.

If you are weak, you will fall sick.

Its as simple as that.

Robust products will need to be subjected to temperature cycling to ensure their 

a) useability and functionality 

b) robustness 

during the most strenuous of times, and temperature cycling does that. 

Rates of Change in C / min. 

Typically a gentle temperature cycles is from 1 C / min to 3 C / min. 

More severe change rates can range from 5 C / min to 20 C / min.

The change rate of Temp / min is to stimulate FAILURES in the product (for QA), these failures are attributed to the different Coefficient of Thermal Expansions of the materials used for the product such as 

- polyimide base (PCB)

- nickel/gold underfill solder bumps

- gold wire connections

- epoxy substrate for ICs.

Number of Cycles Run 

500 to 1000 cycles run are common numbers for manufacturers who want to test run their products resilience and robustness.

QA Sampling (What Percentage ?) 

5 to 10 % of the first batch should be sufficient to qualify the reliability - provided that the yield of 95% is attained.

So for a first batch of 1000 product run.

50 to 100 samples are chosen and tested under QA set conditions.

Of the (say) 100, 95% must PASS the QA test for the rest of the production run to continue and then ship out.

This is only a rule of thumb. 

It is by no means reflective of any one industry which MAY be much more stringent or less stringent depending on which industry.

CARPE DIEM. 

https://www.qra.com.sg/

Email : mark@qra.com.sg