POTUS’s plans

Not sure if it’s true but I just saw a Fox News saying something to the tune of “Singapore basically took Trump’s Covid plans and implement it and that’s why we in Singapore have such a low an infection rate”... is this fake news to the highest degree? The lady who said it did so without bating an eyelid even!

“How can I help?”

I hear this a lot "Be strong" "Be resilient" "Be responsible"... etc. Right message but to me, not too useful. It's almost like telling someone who's loved ones had just passed on and you went up to say "Be Strong"... duh! What else can the person do? And you are certainly not helping cos you are not suggesting any ways to help. No?

I prefer:

• "How can I help?"
• "I'll be there if you need me"
• "Just wanna check in to know all's ok"...

You get the drift. These words sound a lot better to me. And the effect is all so much greater! But yeah, provided it comes from the heart. In times of crisis, empathy is most critical. So go on, reach out. Be supportive and empathetic. This is the time about "us" and not about "you" or "me" doing things alone.

Exposé

2020 is gonna go down history as the year the virus won.

Or wait, not so much won, perhaps gave human a stern warning. I have every reason to believe human will prevail. But certainly, human kind has, over the recent months, realised how closely knitted we are as a planet and how irresponsible we humans have been to nature and the environment. It also showed how we have, narrow-mindedly and in a whole lot of self-delusion, nominated and voted for stupid politicians to occupy high political offices. Politicians who are self-centred and highly egoistic. We saw how some suggested chloroquine as potentially a cure, and a day later, the news reported a couple died after consuming chloroquine.

And today, we see yet another politician from the same office blaming China for holding back information. And I was like - wtf, the epicenter today is not even in China! Perhaps it’s an excuse to draw people’s attention away from their own inadequacies. Then again, in the world of politics, things can be illogical and often populist in nature. Sighs... there are plenty of examples I can cite but I shall not. I certainly believe Mother Earth, and the world would be a better place today, and for our future generations, if these politicians did not exist.

Let’s not stress myself over such matters that is beyond me. Let’s have a laugh instead:

XYZ: it’s a China virus! (roll eyes... especially when I read how this politician corrected the script for him and cancelled out Covid-2019 and instead inserted China virus instead)...

ABC: it’s NOT a China virus! 

DEF: Yes it is! It comes from China right?

QRS: well you come from your mothers vagina, so why do we call you DEF?

How’s your health?

Now this is the question I get often from friends and colleagues alike. And frankly, I have to take a pause and ponder how to respond whenever I get this question.

You see, as a person with heart disease, I often have this chest discomfort or feelings of irregular heartbeat. I'm not sure if it's psychological but I do think there are many occasions where I feel my heart beating so strong I can almost hear it. Also, I frequently get this feeling of tightness across my chest or jabbing pains in my heart. But for some reasons, whenever I go for my regular check ups, the blood pressure would be perfect, the heart rate normal (or at most slightly elevated). There were no significant weird readings when I took the Holters test too...

I told the doctor about these episodes but he simply told me that there shouldn't be any cause for worries. So... I still think there's something no right, and perhaps I might just collapse from stroke suddenly sometime. It's quite unsettling I must say.

Am I paranoid?

Sinus amidst COVID-2019

I want to use this post to share some challenges that people with sinus face, especially during this period. And I will share my own story.

I have sinus. Every morning, I will sniffle quite a bit. The sinus usually clears off by the time I arrive at my workplace. These days, I get awkward stares from many people when I sniffle while having breakfast.

This morning, my sinus didn’t stop even after I arrived at work. By 9.30am, I started coughing. I went to see my family doctor and he said it was likely due to the sinus that refused to subside. He also explained that the constant back flow could have created the throat discomfort and resulted in incessant coughing. To be safe, I was given a days’ MC to monitor. I will have to head back for a reassessment if it doesn’t improve in the next couple of days.

So yeah, people with sinus face the challenges of physical discomfort every morning. And during this period, apart from the awkward stares, we also wonder if our sniffling is due to other reasons, including the virus. It can be quite unsettling psychologically.

So if you know anyone with sinus issues, reach out and say hi when you meet them. We can do with that little extra sunshine in the morning!

😊

PS: Pse see the doctor if you are unwell or feel unwell.

Opportunities amidst crisis

Crisis moments often translate into times of opportunities. Here’s a few that I can think of/ have manifested itself strongly:

• For companies to review their BCP, identify gaps, strengthen & execute it. It’s been in the drawer for too long! My company Singtel did so, and the machinery that came out of it is as great as it can be!

• For leaders in functions that are often perceived to be backend to stand out. This include HR leaders, Facility Managers, Crisis Managers, Security personnel, etc. And from what I can see of my colleagues in this functions, I want to shout out to all that you are all doing a fabulous job! jiayou!

• For all departments to review how BAU things can be done differently - to be creative and to ask very fundamental questions over why things were done the way it was. This may be from how we convene meetings to how we look at organising major events. Gonna be an interesting year ahead for me.

• And above all, this medical crisis is a perfect time for Leaders to reach out, to engage, to motivate and to inspire. Perfect conditions for engagement efforts to be done.

Everybody chin-up!

吃下面

We've always joked about the similarity in the sounds of 下面 and 虾糆 but today I actually heard a lady ordered prawn noodles by saying:

"Uncle, 我要吃你的下面..."

Lol!

Do, yet regret

Often a times we do things that are so boliao or useless but we still do despite knowing that at the end of the day we will regret doing... e.g. nuaing (lazing) in bed...

And then, we do again...

Aches & Pains

I am beginning to deeply appreciate what my mum meant when she complained of aches & pains years ago... and at that time, she used to say - you will know what I mean when you are old... I supposed I am old enough now.

Bad Rat!

On all account, this Rat year didn't start off too well for everyone. We have had the non-stop escalation of the Covid-2019 virus, first within China, then across Asia and now, worldwide.

As of today, I must say things have calmed down and this was after a short hiatus of hoarding and inconsiderate behaviour by many out of fear when the government decided to raise the alert status to DORSCON Orange. We went through something similar back in 2003 when we had SARS and again when we had swine flu and Ebola etc... but this time round, the presence of social media was really a killer as there was just too much fake news. It's good that we are finally able to control this and sustain a certain level of calm and objectivity in the country.

At work, we've gone into alternate workplace arrangements where we organise ourselves into two teams and work at different locations. This is part of our BCP arrangement to ensure business is not disrupted, even as we prepare for the worst. It's really crazy to have to set things up within a short period of time, brief people, update processes, etc. Thankfully, everyone cooperated and we have finally reached a point of balance where we are able to continue our daily work and tasks remotely. There seemed to be a certain level of acceptance that this arrangements will be the order of the day for sometime to come.

And these craziness doesn't include the many challenges at work - preparing for the closing of the FY, approval of the new FY initiatives, articulation of vision and strategic plans for next couple of years, busyness of Lunar New Year, etc. So yeah, this last 2 months was crazy and things simply seemed to go downhill as we transition from the Year of the Pig to the Year of the Rat. And much as I am not a superstitious person, I do want to say the new Rat year didn't start of well... let's hope things improve soon.