Merticulous vs Trust

The other day, I tweeted:

Well, think about it... Did I commit the same error as I pointed out what someone else did? Really, need some reflection over this...

I've been 'labelled' being merticulous (actually duno how this impression was created... perhaps it's because of my kiasu nature? when sometimes tend to over prepare certain stuff (ok... it's a strength, but it's also my weakness).

So, did I learn my lesson to overdo less? Yes, I think so... when possible, will try to let go the info - whenever I remember, will ask myself, is the piece of info necesary? Think this is a very good guiding principle, especially for someone kiasu like me - an idiom in Chinese that describes my behaviour well: 宁可杀错，不可放过.

Yes. It's very scary when overwhelmed by lots of information - the info must serve some purpose; else why bother?

On the other hand, I did not realise there's another layer to it till that day's encounter - the kind of information we gather - creates an impression of the info collector! Why so?

Here's an illustration:

John leads the team to improve the environment in the neighbourhood and would like to seek feedback from all the residents. The purpose is really to gather inputs so that something that's feasible and relevant to the community could be worked out. I believe this is also how we could involve the stakeholders in decision making and create ownership. Thumbs-up for the intent!

However, the implementation requires everyone to put down their names alongside with the suggestion and feedback. This is where I thought more thinking and sensitivity the implementator has to take into consideration:

• If the community is small and one could address/clarify the doubts easily, we don't need to know who made the comment.
• If the purpose is to ensure everyone to contribute - and if one has no other comments and felt that what's proposed is already good enough? What do you expect one to write? "No Comments"? If there isn't any response, then will John go after the those who did not respond? Is such chasing necessary?

Is this micro-managing?

But my point is, if the purpose is to ensure everyone contributes, then the move would have defeat another important element that we strive to create within the team - TRUST. Sometimes, presentation is important - we have to be mindful how the reader perceives as he/she receives the things as a package - the Intent & the Implementation. If the Intent is good, but the Implementation did not take into consideration of recipient's reactions, it discounted the sincerity.

Oh... that reminds me... will John will take into consideration all the suggestions? Will John make an attempt to respond to those whose suggestions are not going to be considered at this point of time? Will history repeat? We shall see...

National Day Rally 2009 (coming on 16 August 2009)

• Article @ ChannelNewsAsia: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/447946/1/.html

According to the article, 4 bloggers of different age group will be blogger their perspectives of PM's message. Sounds exciting, when we could see, how different the same message takes different forms from different lenses (here - different generation, experience and background... sure, each individual has a different interpretation).

• microsite: http://ndr09.channelnewsasia.com/ (goes live on 11 August 2009)
• Prime Minister Office Website: http://www.pmo.gov.sg/

To be continued...

Click HERE for last year's post on the National Day Rally.

"Membership" Renewed

Oh... Just wondering... what should I enter as the heading of this post? "Happy Birthday, Singapore"? "National Day Parade"? ... after some thoughts, I chose "Membership Renewed".

It's been many years since I would sit still and watched the entire National Day Parade/Show (since... I think must be more than 5 years ago). Oh, citing the pledge, singing those national/ community songs! Yes, yes... so nostalgic!

• "Singapura, oh Singapura, sunny island set in the sea..." {Remember singing this song in the music room in my primary school days!}
• "Stand up for Singapore... Do the best you can..." {Those good old days when I was still in the secondary school...}
• "You could take a little trip around Singapore town In Singapore city bus, To see Collyer Quay and Raffles Place, The Esplanade and all of us" {This was the one that the 5 of us presented in the farewell dinner in RECSAM...}
• "This is home... Truly... where I know I must be..." {The one that turned my eyes wet, the one that really led me calling "Singapore, my home"}

Have not taken the pledge or sung the national anthem for many many moons... yes, since home, every time I sing the national anthem or cite the pledge, it's never the same again - the emotional bond, the sense of belonging...

http://www.singsingapore.org.sg/songs-content.asp

家

啊！又是那首脍炙人口的歌曲。
昨天，庆祝国庆时，同事特地选了“家”这首歌让大伙合唱。

很自然而然的，想起那一年“自我放逐”的日子。
是的，也许日子久了，而且是独自在外，似乎与世隔绝，不知不觉中，孤单，寂寞找上了门。。。听了这首歌曲，更想家，更把不得立刻飞回家。这种心情，不是亲身去体会，是无法去了解的。

也许，因为它陪伴我走过了那些日子，所以，每回听到它，就会让我想到家的贴切。家，并不单指属于自己家人的“家”，而是新加坡-我的家园。

也许，有人会问，“你，被国民教育‘洗脑’了吗？”
我会回答，“是我在逆境中体会到了！”

~ also see similar post in June 2008

Me & Twitter

不知不觉中，Tweeter，成了心情的堆积站。
所见，所闻，杂想，心情，感受，都一一地给Tweeter “抓住”了！把“无形”变“有形”。
在这两三个月里，它，记录了什么呢？。。。

（一）怀旧的心情。。。
Yes... anyone got the idea what's that A4 green book? Yeap, the Baseline ICT Standards Implementation Guide. Hahah... no, I'm not crazy. Well, this strange feeling came when I pick up this book (seriously) recently. This is the one that we put in lots of sweat and hardwork to "cook" it out. I guess, no one in the PD section in 2006-2007 would ever forget this particular masterpiece! No regrets! It's an honour to be involved in this project.

（二）全神投入的那刻。。。

It's been a long time since I fully get myself (heart and soul) immersed in beautiful music. I started enjoying such musicals since I was introduced to Les Miserable! Well, having indulge all my senses in it... it's a great therapy!

（三）对身边的小事作出感激。。。
Little things around us... which we often forget to appreciate... Yes, we take for granted that we could sleep to "re-charge". Imagine, there are people out there who couldn't sleep well - be it they are unwell or being affected emotionally! or sometimes (like many of us), could not sleep because we have not finished what's on hand... ah! deadlines!!! No, no, no matter what, I need to catch my sleep...

（四）边玩边作出思考。。。

Here's some quick linking between work and play... it's not just play, but educational play. Indeed, while playing farm house, was thinking about the "Games in learning" workshop that I developed (together with Feena). I would consider incorporating this game into theworkshop. Sure participants will like it. And definitely, they could start playing in the first session of the workshop, followed by some kind of reflection. Am quite sure that will bring them to talk about Games Addiction (Cyberwellness!)

（五）自我反省，检讨。。。（I）

Yes, it captures my reaction to little encounters... for instance, this was captured while I sat on the MRT playing the game. The lady standing right in front of me told me that she's also playing this game! Ah! I would never do this! Guess she must be so thrilled that she just wanted to tell someone that she's also doing something similar. Of course, I returned her with a gleeful smile :D

（六）自我反省，检讨。。。（II）

Yes, it's a good place to let out the steam when I encounter difficult moments - when I need to sort things out, iron things out... but not wanting to create any unnecessary ho-ha on others. Yes, it gives me time to think and re-think... and reflect!

（七）享受作现场叙述的滋味。。。

This captures my immediate responses to the musical play.

（八）周围点滴。。。

Here's who I saw the other day, on my way to work... the look ofthe 3 girls (who study in SP, well, they alighted at Dover... won't go wrong). See any potential in developing into an essay? Hahah...

是体谅，还是虎视眈眈？

几天前，“邻居”问我是否有想过我负责的部门范围非常的大，点点滴滴，有关于课程的科技运用，有整体的科技构造的构思与配合，也有与不同机构的合作等等。。。其实需要多一位部门主任来管理。一位负责教学运用，一位负者其它项目。。。

读者听了以上，又怎么反映呢？
是好心的提醒呢？是体谅吗？当然，很多时候，我会用“打杂”来形容我目前的工作性质。是的，科技运用，是无孔不入的，要做得好，更需要不同方面的配合。当然，人手越多越好（表面上，是的), 可是多了“头目”却未必是好事哦！

当然，曾经有友人提醒过，小心周围有“老虎”，原因，是很多时候，在别人眼里，我的职务，十分受到瞩目，跟不少机构打交道，当然，是个非常有机会“出位”的职位。也许，是的，跟外界接触多了，学的也多了。当然，我也不是最佳人选 （也许，不少人也这么想。）但，若是让周围有“老虎”来做，他们又可以做得比我跟好吗？不是我自夸，这也不是一件每个人都可胜任的工作哦！因为，不要忘了，除了与外界的合作，还得服务各个部门，许许多多琐碎的事务，那是整个排山倒海的“配套”！

也许，有一头“老虎”（也就是邻居），至今也许仍不明白（也许是不“服”吧！），大家一起去面试，为什么，这职务落在我身上吧！是个谜吗？客观一点地去分析吧！

The Fear of Listening...

‘Why is it that we do not like to listen, or want to listen, or know how to listen?" (by Palmer Parker)
'We fear hearing something we don’t want to hear, something that might compel us to reflect on ourselves and, in consequence, change our hearts and minds and behaviours.
If we keep talking, not listening, we can define our own reality. Listening too carefully might end up confusing us, and we would rather live with clear falsehood’

These words shared by Johari, during the "EXCO meeting" (22 July 2009) simply hit the chord... Can't agree more than that.

It says, "We fear hearing something we don't want to hear"... Yes, by human nature, our ears are all for sweet words that we are comfortable with. Reality, often come in harsh words, are hard to swallow, sometimes. Similarly, those seemingly harmless words to one could be piercing through painfully to the others. Sometimes, what we tried to escape from just confront us.

Reflection

Really... no time to reflect... yes, day in day out...
Sadly, each time I reflect, it seemingly ties to unhappy encounters.
Unhappy because it's against what I value; I would say, it's against the rule of the game.
Yes... scary... life is not so simple... indeed, I hate the complexity of games.
"Gamers" are the real wolves!

Anger? Disappointment? Realisation!

Angry, angry, angry... no, upset, upset, upset? I think I was overwhelmed wby disappointment rather than anger. It appeared that it started off with anger... got slighted again? No, felt like a tight slap on my face. No, I didn't curse... cursing is not in my dictionary, not in my code of behaviour... definitely, not me! I may scream (yes, in my heart - so loud that it almost bursted!) and scold... but no crude words come out from my mouth (maybe, in my course of becoming a more refined human being, the function has been disabled so long that I couldn't even find the way to re-activate).

Anger was a reaction to exclusion! Ha... yes! It is, especially when it's something that's held dearly and close to my heart. The closer it is, the worst I feel! Had been treated like a fool before (yes, in one of the postings this year), but was never as angry... I would say, had never felt disappointed until this happened! It's the first time I was so angry that I (first time) experienced not even able to utter a sound! Yes, physcially, the sound component has been disabled for more than half an hour! My face must have looked extremely ugly! I guess, I was fuming mad! Terribly mad! I guess my blood pressure in that half an hour must have shot up sky high! But fortunately my physcial self was strong enough to hold it. Yes, that's my strength! Being able to absorb and absorb... of course, it's also my ultimate weakness! Bottoming up... till the day comes... really, dare not to imagine!

Maybe, what CN has anticipated (er... predicted) is coming true! OK, have I been blinded by my good nature? I believe so! Am I'm going to suffer from the seeds I sown? Oh no! But, I think it's also a good wakening call! Yes, am glad! else, I would unknowingly slowly boil myself to death!

Yes... look at me! How I've changed over the months? Hey, had I become a hypocrate? Well, I uphold integrity! Looking back, my emotions had played me out - my judgements, no my misjudgements! my blindness, yes, my total blindness and become so myopic. No, no... I'm not declaring war, but am going through some kind of deep reflection...

Yes, shan't I be glad that I just discovered what went wrong? Alright, back to square one; probably minus my emotions?!

I think I can do that...

O$P$

Well, well, this 4 characters O$P$ appears on the lift's door 2 days ago.

Guess what's my first reaction? Ha! Programming language!? It took me a while to figure out "Owe $ Pay $"... so, it's the work of the loan sharks? Creative use of language! So much abbreviated (er... all professionals progress with time!)