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24th June 2025. 2 min read

My car, as expected, had started to show signs of aging- putting sounds, failure to pick up speed and jerky starts.

I sent it to the mechanic and expected a hefty bill, as it is with the costs of everything that has gone up in tandem with inflation everywhere.

Which is really no big deal about getting around in Singapore, as our infrastructure is excellent with functional and reliable subways, buses and grab taxis.

I was privileged in a way as there was a spare car that I could use – a very old but functional Mercedes but it had posed a supposedly big problem to me.

I was intimidated by its size, being huge like a tank( at least to me)with a different operating drive system. Fear instilled a sense of helplessness in me – what if I get knocked, being so conspicuous or that I bump others? What if I failed to park? What if I could not manage the car?

I had briefly driven it before in my younger days but getting older could rob one of being bold and brazen.

Then I remembered the article they I had written recently about “Just Do It”. It was about procrastination and fear.

If I had failed to accept this challenge, my article would have lost its teeth to make me more courageous. So, I gathered myself together and went through the drive system one by one – the levers, controls and switches at the steering wheel. My memory did not fail me.

I had done my homework, so “Just Do It!” beckoned in the back of my mind.

I recalled witnessing lady drivers operating trucks and buses and even my pint sized friend had driven her family station wagon. Why was I impeded by my imagination?

Indeed , it was not the size of the dog in a fight but the size of the bite in the dog, they say.

“There is nothing to fear but fear itself” as Franklin D. Roosevelt had said during the Great Depression.

I started the car, and discovered that the steering wheel was light as a feather. Driving it was a breeze, going slower did help me, much to the chagrin of other drivers but soon I was on my way, to run my errands with my choices of taking the subway, buses and grab taxis as other options. And putting a fear to rest.

What a Blessed Life!

2nd June 2025 . 4 min read

Photo by Branden Collin on Unsplash

One slogan applies to me each time I

procrastinate due to uncertainty, fear or laziness.

‘Just Do It’

This catchy and compelling phrase was created by Dan Wieden, co-founder of the advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy, in 1988.

Dan Wieden, known for his innovative advertising campaigns, was inspired by Gary Gilmore’s last words, “Let’s do it,” when he was facing execution in 1977 so Dan had tweaked the words.

A mere three words, they have not only boosted brand awareness, Nike became a coveted sports brand. Together with its distinctive logo, they have been etched into our minds when shopping for sportswear.

‘Just Do It’ has infliltrated into my psyche which has moved me forward in many instances.

Isaac Newton famously noted that an object in motion tends to stay in motion, while an object at rest tends to stay at rest.

A book on the shelf that is unread will remain unread unless one opens it, read and discover its gems.

A skill that one would like to master will remain unmastered unless one gets excited about it, plans and start and persist in it.

A dream remains unfulfilled unless one obsess about it, be positive and works towards it.

There were many instances where my goals did become just goals, left on the back burner for years.

There were instances where I had realized the power of this phrase after I executed it.

For a while, I have made up my mind to improve my Mandarin but the mass of words and the length of the articles on the language app looked too formidable.

To read and stop to check on the pronunciation and meaning of words and idioms did waylay me from my learning goals. It was time consuming and laborious.

I decided to get started. By Choosing a suitable reading ap with contents that interested me was a big help. I discovered that a good read is useful and informative so I had continued to read at least an article a day.

I will not forget how the first wordy article seemed like an obstacle course to me but ‘Just Do It’ rang in the back of my mind.

At my turning point, the mass of words did not deter me anymore. The checking of words was not bothersome anymore but important part of my learning. They have become legible, coherent, and precious words of wisdom that I craved to devour.

Rock Climbing was something that I had considered to do. You have to first overcome obstacles; snide remarks from younger members who do not expect older people to share their game, my fear of height and lack of time.

‘Just Do It’ prompted me again. I engaged a coach who recognised that I am a serious and respectful student, always show up and observe the rules of the sport.

The first time I hit the top, I looked down to survey the height and assured myself that my fear was imagined.

The view was panoramic in a sense, the feeling was exhilarating from the sense of conquest and it was very safe.

After all, one is tethered to the rope. Learning how to respond appropriately to a sudden slip from its footholds or handgrips is a safety tip.

I am glad to have made a start on this sport. Far from a passive looking, mundane, and onerous sport, it has endowed the learner with inner strength, strategy, stillness, and stamina that one can carry into our daily lives to accomplish our tasks.

In addition, I have made friends both young and old and they now want to get their parents off their butts.

What are you waiting for? There are many hobbies to enjoy, skills to master, life to savor.

1 Find something you like to be passionate about

2 Plan ahead to allow progressive steps

3 Get started immediately

4 Commit the time to it

5 Be patient

‘Just Do It’ opens up the possibility of success in your endeavours. Or at least it could bring you closer to your goals with each try and you will finally hit a home run.

24th March 2025. 3 min read

Photo by Bernard Hermant on Unsplash

It’s been two months since sustaining my ligament injury and meniscus tear of my right knee.

A few days ago, I decided to wean myself from the walking stick. At some point, I have to rebuild my self-confidence to resume my daily functions again sans the support.

I replaced the leg brace with my leg sleeve and tried the stairs without the walking stick for the first time. Though it is not perfectly stable, I believe in waking up my muscles and ligaments again to do their job.

Our body has immense propensity to recover because life is an unknown.

The longer one stays supported especially if there is no more major pain, one will become dependent on the crutch. Crutch mentality is real thing and I had it for a long time with my scripts.

Albert Einstein famously said, “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle”.

I like his philosophical approach because I see my injury as a miracle as it had opened up a whole new perspective for me.

I slowed down during this period.

Not being on the move all the time enlightens me in the following ways;

Self improvement wise – I started to re- organise my time – pack my stuff, read more uplifting articles, improve my language learning and getting back to Toastmasters actively.

Business wise – I started scouting for prospective associates who could run my practice and this could help some younger dentist get into business easily with my base already built over the years. Afterall one day, it will be a real goodbye and I want the patients to be in good hands. That would also free more time for my indulgence in living.

3 Personal growth –Well, I have been a bit obsessive. The last three months before my injury I had too much on my travel plate so the injury put a halt to that.

Being limited in my mobility has made me sip my coffee slower, made me more resilient and more observant. I noticed that the creeper plants and the climbers in my garden are so beautiful. The creeper plants have weak stems so they creep along the ground to reach their resources. The climber plants climb up structures and look dignified.

I want to be more than the climber plant – I want to climb and not need support!

It’s like any event in life. You get beaten down but we get up again.

Wasn’t it Confucius who said, “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

I remembered in my younger days, when a taxi rammed into my driver’s seat. It shook me but I went back to driving almost immediately so as not to acquire the fear.

I fell once at the mountain during skiing and nobody came to my rescue. My husband was nowhere to be found as skiing is a lone sport. Hobbling to the nearest cable station, the staff said they could not call for rescue as I was able to stand up.

Somehow, I miraculously skied back on one ski, took a painkiller and went back skiing again. I wouldn’t do it now if it happens again because one can rise up so many times as I am more aware of the current circumstances. I would just act motionless or play dead.

Well, I have started to make the flight of 20 steps in my house up and down gingerly with a grip on the railing. One day, it will be without gripping, another time, I will trot down the stairs like I used to.

…adds fire to my belly

15/3/25. 2 min read

At a subway in NYC— Dec 2011

I have never forgotten this incident. It was December of 2011, my husband and I were in a NYC subway, and I approached this cheerful black gentleman for some information.

To my surprise, he started conversing with me in Mandarin, and for that matter in perfMandarin language.

For a moment, I was not keen on asking about my destination. My questions turned to how and why he had learned mandarin.

Mr A( pardon me , I have forgotten his name as it’s more than 10 years ago) told me he was interested in Mandarin because he wanted to go to China one day and experience her culture. He self- studied by borrowing books from the library starting with the most basic language book.

Assiduously, he looked for opportunities to expose himself to the language, through tapes, watching Chinese movies or dramas with English subtitles and listening keenly.

That was a moment of inspiration for me. It set me thinking about my language learning that was put on the back burner. Having invested many years for weekly lessons in Japanese language studies, I have not reached the level of speaking it comfortably and naturally and it’s due to my lack of diligence.

After asking for the direction and before parting ways, I wished Mr A best of luck in his endeavours. He smiled widely, light twinkled in his eyes as he also gave his best wishes to me.

A meaningful encounter with a person of great potential because he had shown that one can achieve success by exercising passion, persistence and fortitude even without formal studies.

8th March 2025. 2 min read

Author at a walking street in Moscow

Of all my Instagram photos, the above picture taken along a walking street in Moscow back in April 2018 inspired me the most.

I was with my team mates attending a dental seminar.

Our guide brought us to this interesting alley lined by many quaint shops and I spotted several people fixated on this young man.

The lanky young man looks stylish to me with his long physique carrying his casual thick black suitable and a nice scarf draped around his neck. He could be a student going out on a weekend doing some busking work to earn some keeps.

What caught my attention was his speech and delivery. This gentleman was clearly reciting poetry and its likely to be Russian.

He delivered it with so much flair, fluency and fortitude that he held me spellbound for a good twenty minutes. He must have recited a few poems in that interval.

His voice was smooth, clear and resonant so it was not surprising that many were charmed by his voice. In addition, I was impressed by his confident stance, engaging the audience fully. I was. most blown away by his memory prowess that he could deliver his speech without a hitch!

How did he do it? This is of interest to me as I still have my script as my crutch at my public speaking club most times.

I arrived at my own analysis;

He has a great passion for what he does; that is excellent public speaking.

He must have practiced very hard till he has internalized its message.

He is a very driven young man as he has a goal to capture his audience to impress them and earn his deserved tips.

He is a learned man, reading widely and deeply to improve his intellect.

He is using this platform to practise to perfection.

This young man has a bright future.

After tipping in his box, I joined my team again, and wished I could stay longer. He has inspired me in this craft of public speaking skills which I never got very far for the lack of qualities mentioned above.

I suppose I would have to start working on them if I seriously want to give a speech worthy of my members’ attention at our next meeting.

I am grateful for this chance occurrence which enriched my life and will make me progress further, only if I take action.

25/2/25 4 min read

Aomori city is in the northern most prefecture of Japan and is the snowiest city in the world. This January, I wanted to be there to do my basic skiing.

To commit myself, I had signed up several months before with a local ski and snowboarding tour company that would conduct their activities there.

Due to my oversight, I had signed a hosted programme which meant they would bring us to special snow sites and there the action would start. It turned out to be an advanced programme.

The morning after our arrival, I found out that I was the only skier and the rest were experienced snowboarders, mostly young adults.

I was thrusted my skis and poles and boots and we proceeded to the gondola lift.

A gondola lift! It meant that it would bring us to a high vantage point to start. In the lift, I began to feel uncomfortable and unnerved.

I smiled awkwardly at my fellow mates, looking out at the endless ski routes and bawked, aghast at its steep slopes. I. tried to make small talk trying to destress.

There was no turning back.

I fumbled as I got out of the gondola and my fellow mates helped me with what I suspected were skis that were too long and broad for me. Later I found out that they were for faster speed.

Then we trudged out to the snow to the starting point and when I saw the far, far distance, my heart died.

The scenery was breathtaking no doubt with its cotton like clouds against a bright blue sky, the wide and undulating snow slopes lined by snow dusted beech trees.

It’s at least 1 km with no gondola base in sight. The problem was I am only a basic skier and had never gone down this gradient of 45degrees.

All the snowboarders were ready and their eyes were on me out of respect for my seniority. I was too shocked to pray. Oh, go ahead, go ahead, I motioned to all of them as I did not want to create a scene in front of them. Swiftly they sped down the snow like penquins on ice.

I inched forward to the edge. “Oh God help me!” I had to do something before the next batch of gondola riders arrive.

Fortunately, my wits did not leave me. Instinctively, I started to side step carefully with my skis placed perpendicular against the slope and created steps on the snow to bring myself to a lower level.

Then I started to ski. Side stepping was not taught by any coaches but I guessed it arose out of survival instinct. Then I recalled one of my past coaches said that I must cut across a steep slope to slow myself.

They had also said, “Lean forward, stand up, don’t worry and that became my mantra.

So I cut across and remembered to make a large turn to cut across the slope again then make a stop by making the A sign with the skis and dug into the snow. One coach had told me, “ Relax, breathe deeply and enjoy the scenery”. I did that.

After steadying myself and catching my breath, I turned again in this fashion many times until I stopped short of the next steep slope. I started side stepping down again. And repeated for the odyssey.

In my survival mode, all the tips from my past basic coaches had come back to me. I was grateful for that.

It seemed like an eternity to me. I must not die here I told myself or I destroy everyone’s fun. A laughing stock and a disgrace to my senior friends.

I finally made it down to the Gondola base and my host who waited for me gave me a high 5. “Well done!”, she quipped.

Meanwhile my snowboarding mates had already gone up the gondola few rounds and whisked past me few times. They must have witnessed me, the struggling, solitary skier.

I told the host that it was my fault for not looking at the brochure properly and signed an advanced programme. No more gondola course runs for me please.

I requested for gentler slopes but so we went to another course which was slightly less steep for a basic skier but somehow it seemed easier after coming from the gondola course.

I also found that they had given me big and long skis for pros. I changed to shorter and slimmer skis which were easier to manage.

Despite the fiasco, many good things came out of this incident

1 I found that I had kept relatively calm and this enabled me to think better. This is an important skill to keep.

2 I must be more cautious when signing forms and not skim on details.

3 Though I did not integrate much with the younger snowboarders, I made some friends who took wefi with me to encourage their mothers to get active.

On hindsight, I am glad to be given this shocking challenge by my mistake. I would not have signed for it by choice.

All that agony was not in vain.

In conclusion, occasionally things do not turn out the way we expect. By keeping a cool head, solutions may surface to rescue ourselves.

From another perspective, all experiences can enrich and enlighten and bring out the best in you, and not necessarily ruin you.