Hello!
This is my biography chronicling my achievements, aspirations, current projects and hopes for the future
Living Your Dreams
Whenever you read about someone saying that you can and you should live your dreams, do you feel motivated by their story or do you just put it aside?
If you have always pushed aside such stories, then this is not for you to read.
For those who are still reading, you probably feel the same way I feel whenever I read about such stories.
I get inspired and motivated to live my dreams and like me, you probably begin to craft out some master plan of yours and then start sharing it with others, beginning within your loved ones.
And then, what happens?
1 – Your loved ones are the first ones to discourage you.
2 – Your loved ones begin pouring out their support for you.
I often receive the first one and have always received the first one. It’s discouraging but I wouldn’t blame my loved ones. They came from a poor family and lived a different dream (Dad was an orphan and as an adopted boy, had moved to Singapore to work and support his adopted family back home in Indonesia as a 13yr old till he cut ties with them. Mom was raised in a typical traditional Asian Malay family).
The first time my dreams hit a road block was when I was 10 years old when I asked my parents to send me to the Manchester United Youth Academy.
The second time was when I told my parents I wanted to start my own business after National Service.
The third was when I asked my parents if I could take a loan to go to flying school.
But through all these discouragements, thank god for me, I braved myself to ask my dad the one big question, “WHY?”
WHY discourage than to encourage?
I got my answer and it was a very simple answer. And the answer had nothing to do with stability, it had everything to do with ME as a person.
PERSEVERANCE, HUNGER & DETERMINATION.
That’s all he made clear to me and from then on, there was no turning back.
I haven’t looked back since and although I’m nowhere near from my dream of being a Millionaire Philanthropist Businessman, at least I know I’ve moved further away from where I would have still been if I hadn’t taken the big step.
The future is uncertain but something is for certain; Following what God has asked of his subjects and following Prophet Muhammad’s Sunnahs in conducting myself.
I’ll leave you with this quote from Albert Einstein, “Great ideas often receive violent opposition from mediocre minds”
Not saying that everyone who doesn’t have great ideas is mediocre.
Living Your Dreams
Whenever you read about someone saying that you can and you should live your dreams, do you feel motivated by their story or do you just put it aside?
If you have always pushed aside such stories, then this is not for you to read.
For those who are still reading, you probably feel the same way I feel whenever I read about such stories.
I get inspired and motivated to live my dreams and like me, you probably begin to craft out some master plan of yours and then start sharing it with others, beginning within your loved ones.
And then, what happens?
1 – Your loved ones are the first ones to discourage you.
2 – Your loved ones begin pouring out their support for you.
I often receive the first one and have always received the first one. It’s discouraging but I wouldn’t blame my loved ones. They came from a poor family and lived a different dream (Dad was an orphan and as an adopted boy, had moved to Singapore to work and support his adopted family back home in Indonesia as a 13yr old till he cut ties with them. Mom was raised in a typical traditional Asian Malay family).
The first time my dreams hit a road block was when I was 10 years old when I asked my parents to send me to the Manchester United Youth Academy.
The second time was when I told my parents I wanted to start my own business after National Service.
The third was when I asked my parents if I could take a loan to go to flying school.
But through all these discouragements, thank god for me, I braved myself to ask my dad the one big question, “WHY?”
WHY discourage than to encourage?
I got my answer and it was a very simple answer. And the answer had nothing to do with stability, it had everything to do with ME as a person.
PERSEVERANCE, HUNGER & DETERMINATION.
That’s all he made clear to me and from then on, there was no turning back.
I haven’t looked back since and although I’m nowhere near from my dream of being a Millionaire Philanthropist Businessman, at least I know I’ve moved further away from where I would have still been if I hadn’t taken the big step.
The future is uncertain but something is for certain; Following what God has asked of his subjects and following Prophet Muhammad’s Sunnahs in conducting myself.
I’ll leave you with this quote from Albert Einstein, “Great ideas often receive violent opposition from mediocre minds”
Not saying that everyone who doesn’t have great ideas is mediocre.
Mayday! Mayday!
It’s May Day aka Labour Day and all around the world, we hear stories of people using the call sign, “Mayday! Mayday!”, calling out for assistance with regards to so many issues related to their Labour Market or perhaps other social issues affecting their daily lives.
But let’s focus on Singapore.
Singapore’s Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, have his May Day rally speech to Unionists and corporations encouraging them to do several things. One of which is to encourage re-employment of workers beyond 65 years of age as well as trying to convince Singaporeans that in order for wages to go up, the economy has to go up.
Re-employment of 65 years and above
I have absolutely no issues with this. In fact, why even the need to re-employ in the first place IF the employee:
- Hasn’t expressed willingness to leave
- Is happy and competent in performing the job
Any need for re-employment should be looked at the same way when someone is being hired; Job Fit.
I can’t imagine not working beyond 65 years old. I figured that it would be pretty boring. My parents aren’t 65 years old yet but my dad at 60 years old, is now a Property Developer, Construction Worker and Farmer!
Developing his own property by building rental homes on it and farming on land he purchased.
Okay, he’s not Singaporean. So he’s doing all that overseas and he has been working harder and longer, and losing more weight than when he was a full-time employee.
I’m happy that he’s in his entrepreneurial role. At least, he’d understand where I’m coming from better since he used to complain a lot about me running my own business before he started his own.
Higher Wages = Improved Economy
I’m no Economist so if my beliefs are misguided from the theories, then someone can teach me I suppose?
But I don’t agree with this.
The reason why everyone is asking for Higher Wages is because of Higher Standards of Living (increase in Commodities and pretty much everything basic).
Who’s responsible for these Higher Standards of Living?
Is it the Singaporeans of yesteryears aka our Grandparents or is it the Governments?
I would opine that it has to be the wishes of both because it takes two hands to clap but someone had to play a bigger influence to ensure that the other party will clap and I don’t think I need to clarify who did that job pretty darn well.
Our Standards of Living catapulted from 3rd World to 1st World in like 30 short years or lesser but were the citizens ready for it?
Life was great up till the 90′s because everyone had jobs and a home and everything was much more affordable but the moment we hit 2000, it seemed as if we had entered an era whereby our economy had to undergo several redevelopments and bigger ideas had to be implemented.
It really looked like something bad was happening.
I would describe this as a REJUVENATION process that Singapore had to undergo to ensure that the economy would be able to stay on top and remain competitive with not just the rest of the world but with our neighbours who were taking it slow and easy in it’s development (attributed to their larger size as well).
So, the situation I see now:
- High Standards of Living vs Lower Wages
Asking for higher wages, whilst possible, will result in a few things:
- Lower Profits for Local Businesses leading to
- Slower Expansion in a market that’s competing with
- Bigger and More Established Players which may eventually result in
- Closure of Local Businesses because it is unable to perform
- Research & Development with a lack of monetary resources
Well, at least that’s how I see it from my perspective.
This has implications, positive and negative.
Positive – Big and Strong players will remain in the market. (Monopoly)
Negative – When monopoly sets in, they control the pricing because there will no longer be any competition. This also means that monopoly markets will in most cases, set higher prices for bigger profit margins.
This also means that whilst previously, you’d be able to afford something for X, you may soon have to pay XXX and if the Standards of Living is very high, trying to afford for XXX means you will be demanding for higher wages, which can’t progress as quickly as you’d wish unless the company is rolling in a healthy amount of profits.
Which is why rather than push for Higher Wages, Standards of Living, at least in Singapore should be lowered so that the current amount of wages received now can meet the demands of living here.
And this can be (could have been) worked out IF TEMASEK HOLDINGS and GIC hadn’t been making bad investments (Temasek Holdings, GIC).
Because if Temasek Holdings had been making good profits, I HOPE the profits earned can be used to:
- Subsidize Public Housing
- Subsidize Public Transportation
- Subsidize Public Education
- Subsidize Public Energy Facilities
Otherwise, Singaporeans will forever be the Creditors to the Government because our CPFs are held by them for their investments by institutionalized law and for as long as no one is taking it up to the Government to request for the sacking of those responsible for such bad investments, we will forever be at the mercy of the Government’s incompetence (despite boasting of individuals with such superb portfolios) in managing the Singaporean monies.
Eh, usually if you’re the creditor aka Ah Long, you get to knock on their door to demand for payment. Even banks have Debt Collectors. Singaporeans need to hire someone or perhaps, we can all do that and be debt collectors.
We walk to parliament and knock on the glass panel when they are having their sitting ask for our money.
What do you think?
We Are All Running A Business
You might be thinking how is it that you are running a business when you aren’t running any at all.
Do not be alarmed and read on.
We are all running a business, a business in which the business name is OUR NAME, the business ethics is OUR ETHICS and the business operations is in OUR BEHAVIOUR.
Rather than focus on what a Corporate Business runs like, reflect on OURSELVES as the Corporate Business.
OUR NAME
I have a name and my name is Mohamad Abdillah. It has a meaning too. It means The Last Messenger (Mohamad), The Faithful Servant of God (Abdillah).
That simply means that in my business, I seek to be a messenger as the faithful servant of God. And since I’m carrying God’s name, it is my duty to serve him wholeheartedly and to uphold what he has decreed to all man and to continue spread his words to others.
OUR ETHICS
What are your personal ethics?
I believe in the following when I deal with people:
- Being Honest
Anyone likes to deal with someone who’s dishonest? Being honest also means that when something is promised, you need to live up to that promise.
An example of honesty that I strongly believe in is Punctuality because when I promise someone that I will be there in 10 minutes, I have committed myself and I must ensure that I can be there in 10 minutes. And if I am unable to be there in 10 minutes, I have to be honest with whoever I made the promised to by informing the person in advanced before which brings me to my next point….
- Maintaining Good Relationship
Linking this back from the above point on Honesty, informing the other party that I am unable to be there in that 10 minutes that I had initially promised is done out of pure courtesy for the other person.
It’s not appropriate to make the other person wait without any reason for more than 10 minutes. That’s just plain rude and dishonest.
Hence, maintaining a good relationship is also important for me, as a business, as my own business of Mohamad Abdillah.
- Helping Others Find A Solution To Their Problems
Besides Honesty and Maintaining A Good Relationship, this last point is something that I believe in as a business of Mohamad Abdillah.
I find joy in helping others find a solution to their problems because we all need assistance one way or another. And if my business of Mohamad Abdillah means ‘to be a messenger in serving God faithfully’, it also means that I need to help others when approached.
Of course, this assistance must also be in line with God’s teachings.
OUR BEHAVIOUR
Having a good business name in the meaning and ethics doesn’t mean anything if what you believe in doesn’t tally with how the business operates.
The operations of the business is essentially what people talk about, ‘Word of Mouth’.
And ‘Word of Mouth’ is a very powerful tool indeed!
It is a form of advertising and marketing that trumps above any other kind of advertising and marketing.
If someone speaks well of you, you can be assured that there will be a lot of people who will want to be around you.
TO CONCLUDE
That’s why we are all running a business, a personal one.
Don’t ruin your business because you will be ruining your own Opportunities.
If you’re employed in a job and not receiving those promotions, could it be because ‘Word of Mouth’ about your business (YOU) is not good?
And so, you should reflect on yourself should you be out of a job one day on why your business had failed.
(Just in case you’re wondering what business I run professionally, it’s By Definition Pte Ltd and Singa-sports Academy (www.singa-sports.com))
By Definition Kuala Lumpur
I probably just had the best weekend of my business life.
What do I mean by that?
Well, I travelled to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia early Saturday morning to catch the 0550hrs flight for a By Definition business meeting and I was back in Singapore early Monday morning at 0200hrs and then back at work by 0830hrs and I haven’t slept since till now.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
It’s crazy and it’s awesome because I did it with a friend of mine who wanted to tag along and I met up with my business associate in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. AND my business associate is someone whom I’ve NEVER MET before in real life.
In all instances, one could probably call it a Blind Date.
I’ve been on MANY blind dates throughout my life but this one’s even more exciting because I was travelling abroad and suddenly the journey I went on makes it seem that running a business both in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur at the same time IS POSSIBLE!
But I’ll leave you in suspense with the outcome and plans for the future in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
For now, I’ll just tell you that I had a really awesome time skate scooting around in Kuala Lumpur!
Skate Scoot with me?
If you’d like to be kept up to date with what’s happening, do ‘Like’ By Definition Pte Ltd on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @ByDefinitionSG and on Instagram @ByDefinition.
Seems like, I really could have a @ByDefinitionMY account soon!
Touching Lives
Earlier this evening, I received a message from a client (teacher) wanting to provide me some feedback on one of my trainers.
Apparently, there were some words used in class which were deemed to be insensitive and was a cause for concern. Well, I take feedback seriously and when it affects the morale of the students, it’s of even greater concern because I believe in developing others and if my trainers aren’t developing the receipients of this knowledge, I’m very very very worried.
I’ll get back to what happened to this entire feedback situation but allow me to divert away from the situation on hand to the real focus that the client wanted to address – “The students were comparing me to the other trainers”
This comparison couldn’t have been bad because that would mean a few things:
- I’m very good at engaging students in class
- It’s a standard that teachers who have worked with me expect from any other trainer
I wasn’t sure what to make out of it so I told the teacher that where possible, I would love to make 10 duplicates of myself to serve at her school.
She then opened up to say that “I have a very good rapport with the students”.
This then got me reflecting on my training methods and its effectiveness because in the 3 years that I have conducted programmes at that school, I’ve seen students whom I taught in P1 still remember me and calling my name out from across the corridor and when I step into a familiar class, the students start clapping their hands or beam a smile on their face.
AND THAT’S JUST FOR THAT ONE SCHOOL
I have another school where the students will run up to me to give me a hug before and after every single class. I know there’s a rule about no physical contact and all but how can I possibly try to run away from students who come from all directions to express their joy in having me teach them (besides, I might end up causing more hurt and damage if I tried to run and knocked them down).
Of course, these hugging incidents all happen under the full view of the teacher-in-charge who takes a backseat and laugh at me from far.
If that’s not bad enough, I even have students crying because THEY ARE SO HAPPY I’M BACK TO TEACH THEM AGAIN!
I COULDN’T EVEN BELIEVE IT!
I was even invited by the school’s vice-principal to give a talk to the parents during one of their key school events on the topic of “Engage Your Child, Successfully!”
So yes, perhaps, the training methods I employ in class is extremely effective because it not only delivers results but it also ensures that my students and clients are extremely happy and pleased.
Now back to that story.
So, I explained to the teacher that these trainers were my trainees. In fact, before I started By Definition Pte Ltd, I used to train the new trainers at Mini Monsters and these trainers subsequently now train for D’Rama Arts, Funplay Workshop and ACT 3 as well as a few other companies which I don’t even know exist, teaching both Malay and English drama programmes.
But one thing I can’t possibly do, is to make clones of myself, as much as I would love to, to satisfy the needs of the industry.
In the words of one of the bosses that I used to work with, “I want all of you to become like Abdillah. Learn from him, absorb as much as you can from him”
It’s humbling to know that I have such an impact on companies I work for and I honestly hope that I can develop more competent trainers to serve the needs of the industry because there are some companies in the market who hire trainers who have absolutely no experience and provide no training whatsoever and leave them to figure out on their own.
It’s disgusting when such companies only want to make a quick profit out of the misery of the trainer (because the trainer suffers in the classroom having no skills, knowledge nor experience).
Yes, so I clarified the issue with my trainer and resolved it with the teacher but of course, this could only mean one thing – there is an effective way to engage students and teachers whilst at the same time deliver results and I need to ensure I can equip my trainers with it.
And now, I’m thinking that perhaps the best way to go about doing it, is to document it down in a book which I can then share with more than just my trainers, but just about anyone who is interested in what works and how I do it.
So, if you are interested to be a part of my pool of trainers, send me your CV to abdillah@bydefinition.net okie! I’m constantly on the lookout for talents to develop and grow!
Or if you are an organisation looking for a specially customized programme to be delivered, send me an email as well, I look forward to challenging myself in developing new programmes all the time!
Teaching Across the Border
A few days ago (two days ago to be exact), my company, By Definition Pte Ltd had conducted a programme outside of Singapore. It was the first time that we have received such an invitation to run a programme that we normally conduct in Singapore, outside of the country.
Milestone for progress indeed for a company that only just recently turned 2 years old.
I’m not going to talk about how I think we can call ourselves, “Best in Singapore and JB!”, a line made famous by the comedic character, Phua Chu Kang but rather, I want to share the experience of teaching in a school in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.
Having studied and taught in Singapore schools all my life, this was a new experience for me and my company, By Definition Pte Ltd.
We received the request and invitation about a month ago through a fellow batchmate of mine from the Ship for South East Asian Youth Programme (SSEAYP) which I had been a Participating Youth in 2007 (This is why everyone should participate in an exchange programme!).
I didn’t have to think much and definitely would have taken up the invitation. It was an offer not to be missed!
Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Tanjung Datuk Pengerang, Johor
The school was Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Tanjung Datuk Pengerang Johor Bahru (Tanjung Datuk National Secondary School, Johor Bahru).
First thing I did was to research on how to get to that school.
The fastest way to get there is to travel by either:
- Bum Boat from Changi Village or
- Ferry from Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal
BUT the bum boat will only leave if the maximum capacity of 12 passengers if filled up or as and when the boat pilot wants to leave. If there’s less than 12 passengers and you want to go, you’d have to pay for the remaining empty seats.
SO, that’s a NO-NO! Each person will cost you about $11. Cheap when you travel alone, but expensive when you have to pay for another 11 empty seats.
Travel time is about 45mins – 1.5hrs by sea but it takes you directly to the Pengerang harbour, which is just minutes away from the school.
If you decide to take the ferry instead, there’s only TWO timings at which the ferry departs; 10:30hrs and 18:00hrs.
My class is at 16:00hrs and I had a class earlier in the morning before that so there’s absolutely no way I could have gotten on the ferry.
Last thing for me to do is I could either ride my bike in and get myself lost and stranded for hours or call a cab OR if you were from SSEAYP, call your friend to help, which is why I’m ever so thankful I have met so many friends from this exchange programme.
The journey from the Malaysian Customs to the school via the fastest route takes you through 2 tolls and covers a distance of about 120-130km. Total time travelled is about 1.5hrs on a beautiful empty road.
I dare not think about how long it would have taken if there was heavy traffic.
Alternatively, one could also travel by bus to Kota Tinggi before switching to another bus to take you to Pengerang. The whole time travelled would take you about 4-5hrs.
So, let’s skip the journey and get to the class.
I was conducting a session to prepare the Debate team, Drama team and Public Speaker for a competition that they were taking part in, in ENGLISH! I thought I was going to teach them in Malay actually!
Teaching Malaysian Students!
My friend cautioned and told me that I shouldn’t be too strict with them or they will be scared of me. I’m hardly scary and I’m hardly strict. Anyone who has seen me teach would probably say I’m very patient and extremely lenient, but I get the job done, and I get it done with happy faces (this is also probably why I was invited to give a talk on “Engaging Your Child, Successfully!” by a school that I taught at)
The students at this school were VERY DIFFERENT from students I’ve taught and classmates I grew up with in Secondary School.
They were extremely OBEDIENT, COOPERATIVE and PARTICIPATIVE and they were also pretty much very very silent. Didn’t talk that much and for any teacher teaching them, I think you’d probably agree to say that this is YOUR DREAM CLASS compared to the classes you teach in Singapore whereby your students will probably be talking so much, you end up trying to discipline them more than trying to teach. (Of course there are exceptions! Some teachers love noisy classes. I like it somewhat!)
The condition of the school is also very different from the schools we see in Singapore.
Buildings don’t look like it’s been maintained and the facilities would be best described as below-standard and probably wouldn’t pass the mark in Singapore BUT even with such amenities and facilities, this school was awarded ‘Best Secondary School outside of Johor Bahru town’!
It’s not the condition of the school and equipments that matter but the quality of the students that was developed and I would attribute the success of the school to the entire environment.
- Student:Teacher ratio per class (It was definitely less than 30!)
- Relaxed atmosphere (good view facing the sea)
- Natural environment surroundings (loads of trees)
I’m sure there’d be more things to attribute to like the type of occupation the parents are in. Either children of Towkays or Fishermen meaning that the students are able to relate what they learn in school in the textbooks to real life.
What’s not to love?
These are all important towards the development of a student because the personal experiences one is more often than not, the teacher.
At the end of the day, I’m just glad that I was given this opportunity to teach outside of Singapore and I definitely look forward to more of such invitations.
Perhaps friends from Brunei, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos and Japan would like to extend an invitation to By Definition or Singa-sports Academy to conduct a programme in your school?
Let me know!
Live With It!
I just completed a class and this is the second time a student in the same class has cried. Different students, different situations.
Let me first go through the first situation.
FIRST DAY
It was the first session of my Speech & Drama programme and during my first session is where I will make all my students stand and do a little bit of acting as a form of self-introduction.
Simple right?
Not for this one student who bravely raised her hands to volunteer to be the first to introduce herself because when she did stood up, she broke down and cry. It’s uncommon for me because I don’t usually encounter such situations but how would I handle such a situation?
LEAVE THE STUDENT ALONE
Recognizing that the student suffered a stage fright, I just let her cry and go to the toilet accompanied by a friend. She came back and did her self-introduction last and has been very participative ever since!
TODAY
I’m into my last few session and today’s session happened to be CASTING.
I have a very simple strategy for casting with kids, I list down all the characters that I need first and go through the unpopular roles first. Before I start, I always have a disclaimer, “Choose your characters first or be contented with whatever character that I eventually throw you into”. This is something that I will repeat 3 times just to ensure that everyone Listens, Understands and Internalizes.
Of course, for certain characters, I’d get more than what I’m needed and resolution for such issues is always settled using the students method. It’s either through Scissors, Papers, Stones if we’re down to just two candidates or I will start them off with Black or White for me to narrow down my choices.
Yes, some of you probably frown on my choice and strategy on how I do casting but when I’m the type of teacher who lets the students decide which role they want to shine in. Some of them may be vocally unsuitable because of their softer tone of voice but if they happen to be the only one who dares to take up that role, why not? It’s a school and if I don’t give create and give them the opportunity, when else can they have it?
So, this afternoon, one student cried because she didn’t get the role that she wanted. She was the last one I wrote the name on the board to complete my line of casts and here’s what happened.
Her friends had already volunteered for Role 1 and I wrote her name down. She ran to the board and cleaned it because she didn’t want that role. So, when the last role was given, she refused it and wanted the previous role instead BUT that role was already filled up. I could create an extra space to accomodate her but that wouldn’t be fair to the rest of her classmates who were given the same options and opportunity.
When I began rehearsing, she was crying too and this happened all the way till the end of class. So, I eventually went up to her and decided to get her to speak to me.
“Are you angry at me? Are you unhappy with me? If you want to tell me something, then you tell me now. If you want to change roles, you tell me now. The moment I step out of this school, there will be no more changes. You will take on that role and I will see you next week playing that role”
She shook her head and stood one corner wiping her tears refusing to speak to me.
Now, the whole point of sharing this story is actually about the importance of living with the Decision and Choice made and it has to start from young.
Why let the child suffer from young you may ask?
I’m not letting the child suffer, I’m letting the child learn how to deal with sufferings that the child will face as an adult when bad decisions and choices are made.
Far too often, I’m sure, as adults, we have all come across individuals who do the following:
- Sulk
- Cry
- Throw a tantrum
- Blame everyone else for their demise BUT THEMSELVES
I’m not the type of person to entertain sulking or tantrums simply because it doesn’t deserve one to be entertained, it deserves a time for self-reflection for the individual.
Put it simply, we all make Bad Decisions and Bad Choices at some point of time in our lives but how do we deal with it?
Do we ask ourselves these simply questions:
- Why did I make that Decision/Choice?
- How was I forced to make that Decision/Choice?
- Was I given an opportunity to reverse that Decision/Choice? Did I take it? Why didn’t I take it?
If it’s too difficult to REFLECT, how about this then?
When you die and you go to HELL, do you blame God for putting you there or do you blame the decisions/choices made in life you took for sending you to Hell?
Did God give you opportunities to reverse the decisions/choices made?
Why didn’t you take up those opportunities? OR are you going to blame the Devil for implicating you in his plan for Hell?
Did God not tell you to be wary of the Devil?
So, you see, our entire life is full of Decisions and Choices to be made which will eventually send us to our most rightful place in the after-life. So, if you or your child or student doesn’t learn how to manage the Decisions and Choices that they make early on in life, they will never learn how to think through of the consequences and will continue to make bad decisions/choices until the day they eventually die.
Having said that, our job as adults is also to ensure that opportunities are given to explain and warn them of the consequences. For certain activities, their decisions may be allowed to be reversed for them to have a feel of what it will be like should a different decision/choice be made.
Happy Decision Making!
PS: If you want to read about a certain decision making process, read my previous entry on Brannigan’s 6 Steps of Moral Reasoning.
Pursuit of Success
“What is success?”
That was a line taken from a script of a performance I directed a year ago on ‘SUCCESS’ and little would I know that, that very line would be what I’m about to write about.
suc·cess [suh
k-ses]
noun
1. the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors; the accomplishment of one’s goals.
2. the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like.
3. a performance or achievement that is marked by success, as by the attainment of honors: The play was an instant success.
4. a person or thing that has had success, as measured by attainment of goals, wealth, etc.: She was a great success on the talk show.
5. Obsolete , outcome.
This year, I’ve been meeting a few friends, some old and some new and all of them have been discussing on this particular topic but we discuss more than just the definition of it, it usually ends up differently.
For a start, SUCCESS is subjective and relative to each individual.
You set the bar and you work towards it to achieve your own definition of SUCCESS.
Whilst I find it very humbling to know that some of my friends find me very successful having started two businesses (By Definition Pte Ltd and Singa-sports Academy), I find myself very much far from what I would define as being successful. This stems simply because of the bar that I have set for myself.
The level of success for me is simple. It’s the same dream that I set for myself when I was 12 years old – TO BE A MILLIONAIRE. It’s not difficult when you think of it. Most Singaporeans are millionaires. I mean we have the biggest per capita millionaire in the world and that’s a fact! And well, how not to when owning a Condominium itself would already set someone back a million dollars. Even your HDB flat now cost close to a million dollars!
But having said that, when I look back at what I have achieved, the small gains made over the years are indeed success or as what would be termed in By Definition’s ‘Personal Excellence-Applied Knowledge Personal Development Plan (PE-AK PDP)’, milestones.
Without these milestones, I wouldn’t know how else to move forward towards my MILLIONAIRE goal.
But would being a MILLIONAIRE is what it takes to describe myself as being successful?
Definitely not anymore today. It is only a means to an end of what I eventually would really like to do.
With the amount of wealth that I would have, I wouldn’t have to worry about working anymore and can then focus on community work to help others achieve small and huge successes. I find a lot more joy in doing community work as a volunteer which is why that millionaire goal is ever so important for me to ensure that my family can live fairly comfortably whilst I pursue my passion in helping others.
So here’s how I would describe it in simpler terms:
SUCCESSFUL MISSION STATEMENT
To be a millionaire who’s able to actively contribute to the community-at-large through volunteerism
RULES TO SUCCESS
- Practising Stephen Covey’s ‘Habits of Highly Successful People’
- Faith in God
Pele’s Success Quote
Do you have your own Mission Statement and Rules to Success?
I Could Have Been A Professional Footballer
I began my story in sports when I was about 6 or 7 years old.
I started out with the soccer ball with friends from the neighbourhood whom till today, I still have no idea what their names are.
I remember it was fun to play soccer at the void deck every single day. Even if there wasn’t anyone, I would still go down to kick the ball against the wall and then pretend to catch the ball. Eventually, some kids will come down and join me and with no use for formal introductions, it’d change from kicking to the wall to kicking to a leg and then it would grow to a few more legs before the ball would be bouncing off the walls and legs and through the goal posts created by slippers measured by the length of 4-5 footsteps; depending on how many players were playing.
I often ended up playing with boys bigger than my age when I was about 10. These boys were already in secondary school and we’d really enjoy it. The entire day would be spent on playing soccer at the void deck on the weekends. On weekdays, I’d be spending my time kicking the ball with my school soccer team where I played in midfield.
I never knew how good I was until 12 when my coach said that I was picked to join the MILO Soccer Club to train with them. This meant that I was quite good and there were only 2 boys from my school team that were selected to train with the then Centre of Excellence, MILO Soccer Club.
I remember training at Chong Boon Secondary School on Saturdays and very often, the pitch was wet and grass was up to ankle or at some parts, knee level! It was tiring and I’d always make my way down for training on my own. It was something I look forward to and something I knew I could make good on cos eventually, it would lead me to my dream of being a Professional Soccer Player.
BUT things took a turn, it was PSLE and I wasn’t only playing soccer for my school, I was also training with MILO on weekends and was also in the school Track & Field team where I was running the 100m, 200m, 400m, 4 x 100m and Long Jump (I eventually settled for Long Jump instead because it was crazy to do the running events back to back). I was given a scare by my dad when he told me that he’d send me to Indonesia to one of the ‘Pesantren’ to become a religious teacher if I failed my PSLE.
SO, that could only mean one thing, he took away my soccer boots so that I would stop training with MILO. School trainings were over by then, so I had no sports to look forward to and the only thing that I focused on was my studies. It was hard, it wasn’t enjoyable and I hated my dad for it but I passed my PSLE and got into the Express stream.
Then, opportunity came up in Secondary School when I went for a trials with then Sembawang Rangers Football Club. I remember I didn’t have my soccer boots because I couldn’t afford one on my own so I went in a pair of New Balance shoes that I had gotten free for participating in NDP. AND I remember very clearly that during the trials, the coach had commended me and told the rest in that group, “You guys should be passing like him”, referring to me BUT because I didn’t have my boots, he called me up and said, “That’s not soccer boots” and I remember seeing him striking my name off the list.
HEARTBREAK
By this time, I probably realised I should just focus on the house team that I was playing for and the weekend team that I played with. It pains me a lot because most of my school mates and the team I played with were playing for clubs like Sembawang Rangers, Woodlands Wellington and Geylang United. Some were even in the National Team and there were times when they’d ask me, “Why are you not in a club?”
That same question rang again when I was in Polytechnic and although I never made it to the Polytechnic team, I did made it through the trials with Clementi Khalsa and was already in the training with the team when I realised that this was going to be tough.
Tough, because training would increase to every weeknight 530pm-930pm, which meant that I had to stop working and stop being a part of the polytechnic rugby team which I was already playing for as part of the first 15. That also meant that I won’t have time to study at home because classes were usually in the mornings and I was already having trouble staying awake in lectures and tutorials because I was only keeping my energy for training in the evenings.
So, I did the inevitable.
I gave up on my dreams.
On the final day of the selections, I switched positions from playing as a Left-back to that of a Forward. I knew I couldn’t play Forward, so I made that switch. By the end of the final selections, my friend who had went through the trials with me was confused why I had given up because he knew that if I had stuck to my position, I would have made it to the team.
He would know, he was a National goalie at that time.
But it’s not easy when there are so many responsibilities to juggle and when education is just as important.
I wouldn’t say that I have no regrets for what I did but I’m thankful for the opportunities that I’ve had and knowing that I was skilled and talented enough to have perhaps made it big as a professional soccer player.
Although today I no longer play soccer or engage myself in competitive sports because of injuries, together with some friends, I hope that we can inspire the current youths to be champions in both their academics and sports, and be able to spend time with what’s most important – FAMILY.
And we’d like to give a “Sporting Chance for Everyone”, as how we’ve had ours, so that they can create and share their stories.
Singa-sports Academy is our company and we’ll be holding Preview Sessions on our programmes this weekend.
I hope to see you and your child there. Details are available in the poster below.
Singa-sports Academy
I would nevertheless like to thank Cikgu Samad for the opportunity and believe he had in me to have selected me, MILO Soccer School for the opportunity and experience, Muhaimin – the national goalie who believed and suggested I went for Clementi Khalsa trials with him, my Athletics Coach in Primary and Secondary school, my Rugby coach – Jamal (who was a National player), my Rugby teammates in poly, my soccer mates from Primary – Poly, Clementi Khalsa coaches for giving me the opportunity to train professionally and lastly, to Jubilee Sports Association and Marsiling Constituency where I eventually played out the rest of my soccer career as a Left-back.
My Dad and Mom too of course for believing in my sporting and academic abilities.
I just hoped you had told me earlier that taking those boots away was a test of my grit and hunger to be a professional soccer player.
