2007 Nearing the Finish Line - The Good Old Days of Running sub 5 Hour Marathons.

2007 was the year of my 4th full marathon ; I had run my first in Penang Malaysia in 2003, and I had taken up this sport with full enthusiasm and gusto. I was a very enthusiastic runner, and subscribed to Runners World for a number of years to achieve the motivation of running. Runners World had plenty of articles to guide newbie runners like myself to eating correctly, gait analysis, shoe selection, training schedules and lead times, motivational quotes, tips from the pros and seasoned runners, best runs on this planet and so on and so forth.

I can say I am one of those crazy ones who gave up golf (at the tender age of 38) to take up running, when many people would take the opposite route ! They would run till about their mid 30s and then take up golf which is much more leisurely and a social game. I think I am a social person but up to a certain extent. 

By the time 2005 came, I was running easily 10 K most mornings with the exception of Sunday and 1 other weekday. I managed to stretch the runs to 14K on Saturdays and in the leadup to the marathons, say 1 month before the race, I would be running easily 20 K to 32 K on the Saturday morning, and this would be my tune up to the actual marathon. So, setting the alarm clock at say 5am to rise and aim to hit the road by 5.30 am was a very common routine for me.

In addition, for the longer runs, I would stash my Gatorades at certain places along my route and so on and so forth. I would be out each morning for 1 and a half hours before coming back to the house and then proceeding to wash up and get ready to leave for work by 8.45 to 9 am. 

Running to me is the essence of life. I believe my passion to run stems from genetics. My father was Indian Tamil, so that side of me somehow made me so fond of running. I am by no means a fast sprinter or even a middle distance guy, but come 5 K and beyond, I would say I could beat most recreational runners and can easily (in my prime) do 5 min per km for 5K to 10K distances. 

 

                                                  2 Dec 2007 Marathon Video 

During my pre-teen and teen years, I recall running from the bus stop at Victoria street some 1-2 km away and I would attempt to beat the lights and run non-stop from the bus stop through the old shop houses along Middle Road, up towards Sophia Road and then to Adis Road.

Somehow during the teen years, my Mum brought us to swim at the swimming club and hence my running was overlooked due to much more emphasis given to swimming as an extra-curricular activity in school and junior college. 

Don't ask me why, but I was and am still an avid runner. Of course, now 13 years older and perhaps 5 kg heavier, I do not run as much. Time has made me a young old man. So I still do the odd 10 K and 5Ks are perhaps done once or twice a week. Speed is no longer there, so I am happy to run at a pace below 7 min / km.   

Running buddies, I've had guys and the odd lady who accompanied me on my runs. My current running khaki (partner) is a Portuguese pal based in Singapore for a number of years. 

The day I stop running because of injury, or old age, I better think of another hobby as fulfilling as this one to keep me wanting to wake up in the morning with a smile and jump out of bed.  

My Hopes for Singapore Post GE 2020

Sunday afternoon 19th July 2020 Sunny Blue Skies 

We had our watershed election on 10th July 2020. It was a unique one, as it was called for by the incumbent party forming the Government in the midst of the SARS Cov 2 crisis where Singapore is still recording hundreds of new infections everyday, albeit mostly (95%) from the foreign worker contingent.

The pandemic is far from over, and our 2nd quarter GDP estimates showed a contraction of over 12% from the previous quarter - the worst ever since I started my working life way back in the late 80s, or more than 30 years.

Now that the dust is (barely) settling, My hope for Singapore and the new Parliament is to have or focus on these structural issues hitting us now and in the future :

a) more checks and balances in the Executive - debating and airing all views before casting a vote to move forward or roll back bills.

b) a relook at job opportunities for Singaporeans, especially PMETs (professional, managers, engineers and technicians), giving them more than ample opportunities and financial credits (SkillsFuture etc) to learn and the rest is up to them. It will be tough to adapt, but adapt we must. People in my age group are especially vulnerable having gone past the ideal hiring age and unless we have the right skillsets such as computing C++ or Python experience, we will be overlooked time and again. 

We only have Grab, Security guard, service personnel jobs in the moribund retail and banking setor at this stage in life. The prospects will not get any better nor the pay package any better, so train our minds to take on the next challenge of it will be a very meagre existence going forward. Adopt a kiasi or paranoid (afraid to die) attitude.

This is very strange coming from me, but even I need to face the harsh realities of the 'new normal'. One that eschews personal relationships, getting too comfortable and whiling away precious time with friendly meetups. The COVID-19 is all upon us and we need to fight it for a long time, first with less meetups, secondly with masks in place ever so often. It is not nice but the risk of getting infected outweighs the need for camaderie for the sake of bonding.     

c) Poor : Give the chronic sick and elderly a greater financial stipend. Whatever mistakes they did with their lives or misspent, people need a sense of dignity in their golden years. 

d) Unemployment benefits : true this will impact everybody's tax bill (being raised) but do it with the social good for everybody in mind.

f) More help for Small and Medium Sized Companies ; be it tax reliefs, jobs support and rental deferrments. Nothing beats cash on hand, such as grants based on (for example) the last 3 years Balance Sheets and Profit and Loss management reports. Yes, many of these same SMEs will go bust, but cashflow is the lifeblood of any company large or small, so balance sheets are critical to attract further investment in form of cash grants to keep the SMEs alive while the industry re-invents itself.  

I think the rash of many funds available for the SMEs from Enterprise Singapore, and Astar to name 2 are still in my opinion, too high hanging fruit. The effort insofar as time, resources and presentations are at best, a token. 

We practically have to explian in detail the entire process flow to an 3rd party to assess the project's feasibility and if we are onto a 'winner', I think I would go for private funding rather than applying for the onerous productivity or even business development grant.

What do I see in my 'crystal ball' economically for Singapore ?  It is a matter of survival and that means re-adapt into the new cloud based marketing model of product innovation, user convenience and keeping ahead of the competitiveness with new ways of doing the same old work.

Adapt or face the end of life of traditional business models, for many companies. 

  

My Next Race will be in 2021

My trim and fit picture in Dec 2010 

This year has been a really traumatic and very distressing year for everyone. SARs COV - 2 is in full swing all over the world, there are currently 14 million cases and 400,000 deaths, there are massive floods in China, the the 2 superpowers are facing off on many fronts. 

Singapore is facing an unprecendented -12.4 % negative contraction (2Q) from the previous  1Q GDP numbers and everywhere people are tightening their belts and travel between countries have dropped to 10% at best. Closures of restaurants, high end and mom and pop stores, travel, hotels, ticketing, airlines, tourist packages, everything is down almost to 0 this last 4 months.

So I brought up a little distraction for myself. A goal if you like. My last race was in June 2018 where I ran the SAFRA 2018 21km with several friends Ricky Ng and Timothy Lee. My time was a not too shambolic 2 hours 34 minutes .This year is a washout in terms of any sporting or entertainment activities (no Olympics, no football with fans, lots of cancellations of major sporting events from NBA to Wimbledon and to F1 races). 

So next year is my goal, at 58 years young, I want to register below 2 hours 15 minutes time fo a 21 km. 

Back of the Bib 

Front of the Bib of my last race 

So here is my  2 big hairy audacious goal for 2021.

a) Run the 21 km in 2 hour 15 minutes and below

b) Run one European marathon ! 

I can still dream and plan can't I ?  

The next step is to execute the plan. That is the HARD PART. 

Goodbye Hans ; Till we meet again. Keep the flame burning brightly ever

At Il Fiore Bar in May 2015 

I first met Hans Brys through a mutual friend Kim Soon Fang. I had just finished the toughest project of my working life (selling specialised human performance chambers) and was thinking broadly about diversifying into new fast moving consumer goods business (FMCB) using online marketing and sales.

To cut a long story short, I was introduced to Hans as he had a similar type of business model and concept selling his arthritic Belgian products into Asia while I had my probiotic products made in Singapore and targetting to a wider audience worldwide.

Hans came to Singapore in the early 2000s, met and married his Singapore born wife soon after and had been living here for almost 20 years. He had another daughter from his first marriage in Belgium. 

He had seen the ups and downs of life and I was struck by how hardworking and humble he was. Always with a ready smile, and his Yul Brynner (bald) haircut, he stood out amongst the unit holders in the basement of Chevron House  where he and his wife Marilyn persued their food business called "Pasta 101." The hours were long but they were a good match to this very tough industry.  

Those were the good times.

We met up I would say close to 20 times, and always he was there with support, a kind word and an easy smile. He first started his food venture from his mobile  stall in East Coast Park, I recall running over after an 8 km run to partake in a meal of pasta in the evening, and his wife Marilyn and precocious daughter Delphine would be there after nursery class to rollerblade and keep him company. His Mum in law would also be there to mind the stall when he needed a break from the backbreaking work. It was just near the beach at Carpark D as I recall.

The prices were very reasonable, something like $7 for a box of pasta with the secret sauce and topping. A picture of his mobile stall is shown below. Lovely balmy days in the hot and humid weather were not a big deal for this hardworking man and his family. 

After his 6 month stint at East Coast Park came to an end, he bid, tendered and was successful to run his outlet at Chevron House. So he started his Pasta 101 at the Basement of Chevron House at the Foodcourt. Those days lasted about 1 and a half years. When he ran into issues with the management of the building, he decided to help out with another of his countrymen who was a top chef and has many top quality restaurants all over Singapore. It was a great comeback for Hans.  

A dedicated family man, with no airs, hardworking and humble. He gave his all to his family and to his friends. Last year he told me that he came down with a serious cancer of the lungs and which had affected the kidney and even the bone. I was totally shocked at this revelation, because he had seemed like the perfect picture of health. 

I will miss you Hans, 11th July 2020 was your last day. Only 52. Till we meet again, I will keep all the memories of you and remember the constant hint of a  smile on your face.

Carpe Diem.  

  

11th July My East Coast Plan

Day 21 or 11th July of PTSD Challenge 

I accepted 21 days (3 weeks) ago the 25 pushups over 25 days to raise awareness for the neurological disorder called PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Symptoms include the following :

a) Insomnia

b) Mood Swings

c) Anxiety attacks

d) Flashbacks

e) Depression (can lead to suicide if not checked)

So, yesterday, Saturday 11th 2020, I headed down to East Coast Parkway to carry out my 2 pronged East Coast Plan :

a) Do the pushups and post them on Facebook (as per the challenge)

b) Run 10 K

I completed both in a combined time of 1 hour 30 minutes or so and I am glad to do my part to raise the awareness of this very serious affliction where the age groups do not matter.

What is Trauma ?

Its something which causes you to lose your 'mojo'. Your ability to think rationally and logically. It is normally a very stress inducing event such as :

a) Losing one's spouse, sibling, parents or child(ren)

b) Experiencing War and its horrors  

c) Held captive or exploited
d) Loss of a job
e) An accident severe enough to shake one's beliefs
f) Loss of a limb or a body function.

Seek help or if your close ones know you are suffering, they can call the following :

1. SOS Singapore ;               Tel 1800 221 4444
2. Institute of Mental Health : Tel;  6389 2000

I consider myself to be a very blessed man. So it is time to return the blessings and be a force for good to others, in my own limited capacity.

CARPE DIEM. 

My Kindergarten (happiest ) years were in this church.

   

Prinsep Street Prebytarian Church and Kindergarten 

During 1966 and 67, my parents sent me to this Presbytarian Church and Kinderdarten. I have strong recollections of this and I am amazed that with so much urban development of the city, the Church and Kindergarten are still around!

I remember having a lot of joy and fun playing with the kids and I was like the 'prince' of the playground (see below behind the shutter gates). There was a sandpit to the right of the picture below, and I recall wrestling some 3 other kids in the pit and my Dad was watching and gently admonishing me.Sadly, my behaviour was tantamount to some small time bully - which I will put to my young, thoughtless and carefree nature, having been brought up in the streets  (Sophia Road, Adis Road and Mackenzie Road were the neighbourhood which I grew up in) with the neighbourhood boys and had a thoroughly rough and tumble early life full of scrapes, near misses ( I almost got blind in one eye and almost fell off the 2nd floor another time), catching spiders, getting bitten by our dogs, fights, generally being the scrappy slightly plump boy with the thick glasses. 

It was so fun and carefree. Today's children have it totally different but I would NEVER trade my childhood with anybody else in the world !   

 

Courtyard of Prinsep Street Presbytarian Church and Kindergarten - still the same look 50 odd years on ! 

The kindergarten was where I had my push racing car, and I recall fondly having wrestling matches with the other boys, having the racing car being pushed by the young Caucasian kids sitting in there for the longest time and feeling like this would go on forever. A little prince or thug who 'controlled' the playground ! 

But then again, what did I know ? I was only 4 or 5 years old and life was just one big party. No stress,In the morning only play, fights, catching spiders, flying kites, eating lunch and  going out and doing the same in the afternoon till our parents came home.

The mid to late 60s were really such carefree and happy days.  I truly enjoyed them. 

3rd July 13th Day into the PTSD Challenge

The going is getting tough and I am looking at ways and means to make the videos creative and attractive. The challenge was thrown up to me by Peter Tan, a friend from way back when we were in our teens from the Saint Andrew's Secondary school. Peter is now a successful resteraunteer based in Perth. 

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD is a neurological disorder affecting anybody at all ages, and a very stressful situation is normally the trigger for it. War veterans would have a higher chance of getting affected, but people who have had a traumatic experience in their lives, that would apply to practically anybody in society, can potentially succumb to it. 

All of us would have faced a traumatic experience in our lives, most of us would be able to shake it off and put it down to a life experience but there are some who cannot easily put the past behind. Examples of trauma (this is definitely NOT exhaustive) are :

a) Loss of a parent or parents

b) Loss of a child or loved one

c) Loss of a partner or pet

d) Job retrenchment or retirement

e) Extreme humiliation or imprisonment.

f)  War

g) Accident causing impairment of limbs or senses 

The list goes on and on... 

Back to the challenge. I accepted it over 1 week ago, and I need to do 25 pushups over 25 days and post them on social media. And so I did and I am still doing so. My perseverance and commitment to a noble cause is plain to see. I do not back out so easily.   

This one is me doing at the timber decking outside my house.

The cause is a real and noble one. My 25 pushups are nothing compared to the anguish of the afflicted which is essentially a mental disorder.

It can be cured and there are 2 Government institutions which have trained professionals dedicated to help the afflicted. They are :

1. Samaritans of Singapore  (SOS) ; Tel : 1800 221 4444

2. Institute of Mental Health ;              Tel : 6389 2000