The Craftsman’s Forge

The upkeep of a domain name can be fairly expensive.

My new site is now at

http://paulcbc.wordpress.com/

You know… its strange. 5 years ago, I was a fearless young man, all geared up for the challenges of a regional role. I joined a joint venture start-up pharmaceutical distribution company, and pulled together an impossible implementation of a completely new IT infrastructure, which was set up within 9 months. The blokes in one of the Joint venture partners didn’t believe it was possible, and was waiting for me to fail. I didn’t know what was the word “fear”, and I was extremely gung-ho. I knew exactly what I wanted, and was extremely driven. I was taking care of 14 countries in the Asia Pacific region.

Then, 2 years later, I was caught in a political cross-fire, and had to leave the company. My world shattered, and everything came crashing down. My confidence was all but destroyed, and of course, in times like those, I turned humbly to God, the author and finisher of my faith. Jehovah Jireh, my Provider. I placed my trust in the Lord, felt convicted to give back to God a month of the 3 months severance pay as tithe for the church building fund. I did this before I had found another job. It was scary.

In the days that followed (and all within 3 months! I didn’t encounter a single day without pay!), God opened the door to a huge apparel sourcing company (lets call it TFL), taking care of 8 countries, largely in South Asia and a spattering of outlying areas like South Africa, Mauritius, etc. Life returned largely back to normal, but I had no idea that I would transfer back to the pharmaceutical distribution space in a sister company (lets call it TOUGH). This, I did in March 2009. The role was a country role in the Logistics and Distribution space. In terms of workload, this move quadrupled my workload several times over, even though it was only a country role. On top of the additional workload, I had to learn a completely new business from scratch, and boy… was it tough. It still is tough, and there is still so much to learn. But I learned most of all that I really don’t like the 3rd Party Logistics business. I hate it.

As things would have it, TFL decided in August to privatize TOUGH! In a swift move, I’ve come back under the TFL fold. And, as part of the integration, I go back to a regional role. This time, overseeing IT for a completely “new” business structure in TFL, taking care of the explosive growth opportunities in Asia.

But this time around, I find myself a bundle of nerves. I’m like an incoherent and incompetent vessel void of confidence. Why? I don’t know really. Perhaps it was the company culture in TOUGH where confrontation is the order of the day. Would you believe, the company looked for the ability to push-back and challenge as qualities it would want its managers’ to have. It went completely against what I believed in and what I am. The bible teaches us to be meek and humble; to turn the other cheek. But when I do that, I get pushed around. So, I had to make do. My bosses say I am too soft. Softness equated to weakness.

Anyways, the more i learnt about the business in the last 2 years, the more I realised I didn’t know. But, the interesting thing was, my bosses continue to feel that I was doing well even though I don’t feel the same. I was most at ease with the IT infrastructure discipline, but the role has always escaped me. So, I remain embedded in the business, managing all of IT in the country.

Come January, on top of Singapore, I will also oversee Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and The Philippines. 5 countries. There is much to learn still, and I am hopeful. I will continue to trust in the Lord for his provision and grace. As I journey in this, I have really learnt that I am truly dependent on Him alone. The business is huge, and the essence of leadership is responsibility. I feel the weight of responsibility, and I am a reluctant leader. But, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this is where God has placed me, and I need to wait upon Him for his direction.

Thank you Lord.

My tank has been running for 1 year now. Yup! One whole year!

Have not been really doing much on it except the regular maintenance, emptying the protein skimmer, cleaning the glass, etc. But.. no water change!

Heres the front tank shot…

LHS

RHS

Heres to many more good years!!!

I had to fly up to Hong Kong last week for a business trip, and I decided to extend my stay in Hong Kong by a day to try out cycling in Hong Kong. I had read about cycling from the Shatin area to the Tai Po-Tai Mei Tuk area in the Northern Territories, and thought that I should try it out.

So, I decided to try it out. The map below shows exactly where I would be cycling…. It starts from the Shatin area, up northeast to Tai Po and then the Plover Cover Dam area. It should be fun!

This is the Shing Mun River along Shatin. It extends about 8 to 10 km all the way to the sea.

Here you can see the extend of the length of the river… This is by far the straightest and most beautiful river in Hong Kong… At least what I know of!

So, I removed the Brompton from my Lojel luggage, and set to work unfolding it. Yes… this 16″ wheel folding bike can really get into a 26″ luggage. Its amazing!

Heres the Brompton unfolded and in a “prone-d” position ready to head off!

While I had originally planned on cycling on Sunday morning to avoid the crowd, Eddie, my good friend and ex-colleague said he wanted to join me cycling, and so, after lunch on Saturday, we decided to go cycling on Saturday afternoon instead. Heres Eddie getting his rented bike on one of the bicycle kiosks along the river.

It was a beautiful and cold (16 degrees) afternoon in Shatin. Heres Eddie cycling in front of me…

The cycling path is just next to the river, and for the most parts is pretty ok. The beginning of the cycling path was a little too narrow though, and with the number of cyclists on the Saturday afternoon, it was a tight squeeze.

Look at the crowd at some intersections!

The path has good signages, so for the most parts, you know the directions to head towards. I got mis-directed a couple of times, but not major issues.

The other good thing is the existence of subways which allows cyclists to go under a road. Its fabulous!

I finally reached Tai Mei Tuk Village near the Plover Cove Dam. It’s about 19km from Shatin.

At Tai Mei Tuk Village, you can rent bicycles as well, and I heard, you can rent it here, and return it at Shatin, and vice versa! Well Done!

Finally, a shot of the Brompton in front of the Science Park area just at the mouth of the Shing Mun River to end the day. It was a wonderful experience!

Will be heading up to Hong Kong tomorrow through Sunday, and will be staying at the Disneyland Hotel for the conference, but will transfer to Park Royal Hotel in Shatin on Saturday through Sunday for my cycling…

Bought a 26″ Lojel luggage to pack my Brompton… Lined it with bubble wrap to protect the bike….

Heres the Brompton in the luggage… snug fit.

Finally packed and ready to roll…

Will be going to Hong Kong this week for business, and will be taking the opportunity to bring my Brompton along so that I can cycle in Hong Kong on Saturday. Heres the route I’ll be taking. A round loop would likely be about 40 km or so…

Took a relatively easy route to Potong Pasir, Bishan, Thomson Road, Yio Chu kang Road, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5 and back to Hougang. Took all of 24.57km, and completed it in 1hr 35 mins at a pace of 15.3km/hr. Its my last cycling outing for a week until Christine comes back from Hong Kong.

Have been keeping to a rhythm for the last few weeks, and at the mid point of this month, I’ve completed 317 km to date. But I’m looking forward to my own Hong Kong trip the week after next, where I’ll be bringing my newly acquired Bromptom with me to Hong Kong for a ride in the Northern Territories on a Saturday! That would be fun!

I just signed up for 2011′s OCBC Cycle!

Over 40km ….

You can sign up too!

Over the last 3 days, have been largely cooped up at home with the children as they were down with HFMD. Strangely, I didn’t feel very well on Friday afternoon, and Saturday morning, and Sunday morning. But by Sunday afternoon, I felt fine. I did have some small breakout of blisters on my hands and feet, but Chris wasn’t convinced. My throat and nose also hurt. apart form those, I felt ok. Hmmm….

So… anyway, on Sunday afternoon, I went to pick Elkan up from his Berries Chinese lessons. After that, I decided to go for a short exercise to Seletar and back. I’m determined to get some exercise done before dinner. The afternoon was scorching HOT! According to the Flying Dutchman on radio this morning, his car temperature thermometer registered 35.5 degrees on Sunday afternoon at 5:30pm! Wow!

This is the usual favorite route I take. Traffic is light, and the route through Pulau Punggol Barat is still unopened and very quiet! It brings me past the Seletar airport/camp area, and I loop back through Jalan Kayu back to Seng Kang and then Hougang. Very pleasant and scenic route.

At the corner of Punggol Drive and Punggol Place, I came across this really nice zen-ny Buddhist building.

I think its a Buddhist association of some sort. The landscaping is very nicely done, I have to say….

I got onto Seletar North Link Road. Its not opened yet, and affords a very nice and straight road to cycle on. Just got to be careful of the trucks that roll by occasionally.

On the left of the road (going towards Seletar Camp), there is a HUGE secured compound where ALOT of sand is stored. Is this where the gahmen stock-piles its sand?

On the right, the entire sea front area is fenced up. You can see in the distance, you can see the Pasir Gudang Port area. Looks like this is a favorite spot with illegal immigrants. Its one of the narrowest parts of the Johor Straits between Singapore and Malaysia.

Cycling further on, I came to the Seletar Airport area.

ok la.. the rest of the ride back home not so scenic leow….

The girls came down with Hand Foot & Mouth Disease, but Elkan seems to be alright. So, he had to go for his English class. Tasked to bring him, I thought that it would be a great idea to explore the Punggol PCN (which I knew was in the process of being built, as I kept seeing it everytime I passed by from the TPE).

Elkan’s class started from 1:30pm, and I didn’t have to pick him up until 3pm. I had a good hour and a half to do my thing. So… what better thing to do than to cycle, explore the PCN and get some exercise at the same time?

So… I packed up the bike and got ready to bring it with me in the car.

After I dropped off Elkan, whose english class was in Seng Kang, and very near the Serangoon River, I unfolded the bike, and headed out to the River. The PCN is still being built, but I knew that at least some parts of it was already ready, as I kept seeing it from the Tampines Expressway as I drive past. The PCN was boarded up, but had a tiny area where I could get through…

From the looks of it, the PCN bike path appears to be completed! Woo Hoo!

The scenery from the PCN overlooking the Serangoon River was very soothing.. It was nice!

Ride the PCN Experience!

This PCN went under and across the TPE. Well done NParks! No more crossing overhead bridges.

Can’t really see it in this photo, but far ahead, they were building a bridge connecting this PCN to the Lorong Halus area. Which means, I can cycle on the PCN all the way to Pasir Ris Park, Changi Village and ECP from my place!!! Wah!!! Solid dah!

Finally came to an abrupt end! The rest of the PCN, particularly the portion linking Punggol to Lorong Halus was still being built. I hope this gets done by years end. Can hope?

After getting out of the PCN, finally arrived at my pit stop for the day. Seng Kang Community Club. This is where the kids come for their weekly swimming lessons. Houses a McDonalds and a 7-11.

Just opposite was the tempting Seng Kang Riverside Park! But I got time leow…. have to pick up Elkan, so will give this a miss and come back another time.