Cycling New Leaders

"How wonderful to be wise, to understand things, to be able to analyse them and interpret them." - Ecclesiastes 8:1

photo: Chinese scholars (Dec 2006)

Charles Swindoll, in his book Living on the Ragged Edge, shared a couple of overriding and all-important thoughts, which are worth mentioning:

photo: the late Gerald Brown (Auckland 2002)

1. We must never forget the value of being a model – Admittedly, a job must get done, but leaders who models “Get it done – regardless” may build in the minds of those around them that the most important thing is things or activity, motion, movement, or objectives. They forget that the model is what will last and is going to be remembered. It is easy to forget that our example outlives our achievements. We have all had mentors. We can’t remember many of the things they did – but we cannot forget their model.

photo: future leaders (Guild House, Oct 2005)
2. We must never lose the vision of seeing a cycle – we are greatly tempted as leaders to see only the objectives in front of us. We’ve got to get the job done. And that becomes the single drive of our lives, forgetting that around this objective and beyond it are people who will someday take our place in leadership. We are actually cycling ourselves out of leadership each year and cycling new leaders into our places at the same time. It is called “succession” plan in the corporate world. In church, its call “discipleship”. We are all in the cycle of training future leaders!

As for me, I am in the business of cycling new leaders as well. The future of the r.e. industry in my classroom today.

reflection: our example outlives our achievements.

Source: C.R. Swindoll (1985) "Living on the Ragged Edge"

Fried Carrot Cake

"Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf where there is hatred."- Proverbs 15:17

photo: homemade CTK

Chai tao kway (CTK), which is also known as fried carrot cake (not to be mistaken with the western carrot cake), is a popular Chinese dish in Singapore. Used to be eaten for breakfast, it is now eaten at all hours of the day. There are two variants of the dish: the "white" version and the "black" version, with the difference being that in the "black" version, sweet soy sauce is added. Personally, I prefer the "black" version, whilst my wife likes the "white" version.

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There are several stalls selling fried carrot cake at the Bt. Timah Hawker Centre, which is 5 mins drive from our house. We used to patronize a stall which had a reputation for good CTK. But alas, after the hawker center was renovated, the standard has not been the same so much so that we no longer patronize this stall.

During our stay in Happy Valley, my wife had a craving for CTK. Teamwork is required to prepare this dish - she is good at preparing the steamed cake and me, I am in-charge of frying it. The few friends who had tasted our version claimed that it was good.

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Here is the recipe:
Ingredients A: 200g rice flour, 550ml water, 200g radish (shredded), 1 teaspoon of salt.

Mix rice four in 200ml water. Stir in shredded radish, salt and remaining water, mix well into make a batter.

Pour the batter into baking tray or microvable container.

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Microwave for 10 minutes (if steaming, 30 minutes) till the cake is cooked. Allow to cool before cutting into pieces.

Ingredients B cooking oil, chopped garlic, 3 tablespoons fish sauce, 3 beaten eggs.

Heat frying pan till hot then pour in 4 tablespoons oil. Heat oil till hot. Add steamed carrot cake.

Quickly cut carrot cake into small pieces using frying ladle. Pan-fry till both sides are golden-brown. Push carrot cake aside and leave a hole in middle.
Pour in 3 tablespoon oil. Add chopped garlic and chilli sauce. Stir-fry thoroughly while adding fish sauce.

Slowly drizzle beaten eggs over carrot cake. Continue to pan-fry till both sides are golden-brown. Transfer to serving dish. Sprinkle with chopped spring onion, chopped coriander leaves and pepper. Serve hot.

The secret to a good CTK is to be generous with the ingredients, starting with the raddish (see photo below) when steaming the cake and ending with plenty of garlic, dried shrimp and dried turnip when frying the carrot cake.

photo: Asakusa, Japan (Jan 07).

Talipot Palm: A Flourishing End

"I don't want to leave the world in a state of fright. I want to know what's happening, accept it, get to a peaceful place, and let go..."

- Morrie

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Since returning to Singapore, I have not posted any blog on plants in Singapore, except for the one on our visit to the Singapore Garden Festival. This can only mean two things - either I have become, like most Singaporeans, too busy to smell the flowers, or that the flowers in Singapore are not as noteworthy as those in the US.

Photo: A flowering Talipot Palm

As I was plowing through old photos, I came across a rare photo of a flowering Talipot palm. This photo was taken at the Singapore Botanical Gardens in late 2004. You may asked, what is so special about the pictured palm? My answer: Try visualizing 20 million mini flowers on a single plant!

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Cultivated throughout southeast Asia, a Talipot palm flowers only once in its lifetime, producing the biggest inflorescence in the flowering kingdom. The palm grows for 30 to 80 years, storing up energy and strength in its trunk to send out this massive inflorescence. The flowering stalk grows to 6 m tall and may bear over 20 million tiny cream flowers. The golfball-sized dull green fruits will take almost a year to mature. Gradually, all the food reserves accumulated in the trunk over the decades would be used up and the plant dies. In botany, this mode of life is called monocarpic which mean "once fruiting".

The Talipot seeds were introduced from the Calcutta Botanic Gardens, India in August 1920. The seedlings were planted in the Palm Valley in 1925 and after 79 years, two Talipot Palms (Corypha umbraculifera), flowered from October 2004 to January 2005. Source: http://www.bgci.org/worldwide/news/0096/

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A flowering Talipot is truly a rare and impressive sight. Prior to 2004, there were only two previous recorded incidents of Talipot Palm flowering at the Singapore Botanical Gardens; the first in 1984 and the second and last one, in 1996. But between Oct 2004 and Jan 2005, two of Talipots in the Singapore Botanical Gardens flowered at the same time. This prompted a writer to share, "to see two massive palms flowering simultaneously is a once-in-a-lifetime treat."

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I visited the Botanical Gardens then and was very fortunate to have this lifetime opportunity to see the two majestic flowering Talipots. The flowers will only last three months or so, and after the flowers turn into fruits, the plants will die. Not a bad way to exit! Indeed, I called it a "flourishing end".

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scripture: righteousness live in the fertile land. The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence for ever. My people will live in peaceful dwelling-places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest.

- Isaiah 32: 16b-18

When it's All Been Said and Done

In the midst of turmoils surrounding him, a psalmist declares,

"God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way. And the mountains fall into the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam. And the mountains quake with their surging. Be still and know that I am God... The LORD Almighty is with us; The God of Jacob is our fortress (Psalms 36:1-3; 10-11).

Scary, isn't it? The way the financial crisis in the US is unfolding, that is! All through yesterday, my wife was so worried about her insurance savings with AIA. Should she terminate the plan or not? I even received an e-mail from a professor from down under who jested that the way things are developing, he would have to work to 100 to recover his pension fund assets.

photo: scarecrow, Ohio, US (2007)

I am reminded of an e-mail a concerned student sent to us when we were still in the US last year. Attached to the e-mail were links to three video clips on youtube. In each clip, an expert was seen giving his prediction on the future of America. If I recall correctly, in one of the clips, a financial guru made a prediction that the US financial markets will go into a major catastrophy by year end (2007). He went on to say that the downfall will be worst than that experienced immediately after Sep 11. And the only event that could trigger this would be a terrorist attack on the US soil on a very very massive scale! As a result, my student was very concerned for our safety and sent us the e-mail asking us to consider leaving the US.

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The following e-mail from the concerned student came about one month into our sabbatical in the US:

Dear Sir, Is it possible for you to be back? I have a very bad feeling about you being in the States right now!! I am very afraid that these prophecies could turn true. I believe they (terrorists) are striking New York. My eyes kept on twitching like it never did before.

After discussing over the content of e-mail with my wife, we replied:

Dear ...., I would like to thank you for your concern about our safety in US. Yes, I agree with you that the threat of terrorism is ever present. However, after discussing with my wife, we do not feel the necessity to go back. We both feel that dangers and death are undeniable certainties in our earthly life. As Christians, we hold the belief that heaven is a much better place than earth. As we are assured of our place in heaven, death is not really a lost to us as we are just moving on to a better place.

Hence, “if we perish, we perish”... Hope you are doing fine with your studies. Take care and keep in touch.

Well, 2007 came and passed! The timing and the cause may be off, but the US financial market is indeed in a major meltdown now. One by one, the giants are falling down. No one would have ever foresee the demise of Lehman Brothers, AIG, Merrill Lynch, ...
Whilst my wife and I can't say that we are prepared to die, we did discussed some years back, how we would like our funeral to be conducted. We both agree that it would be a celebration of our life and we each selected a song, our so called "funeral song".

Mine is a entitled, "When It's All Been Said and Done," sung by Don Moen. The tune is solemn but nice. But what I like most about the song is that the lyrics are very meaningful. Hence, it is not only my 'death' song, but it has also become my life song!

When it's all been said and done

There is just one thing that matters

Did I do my best to live for truth?

Did I live my life for you?

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When it's all been said and done

All my treasures will mean nothing

Only what I have done

For love's rewards

Will stand the test of time

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Lord, your mercy is so great

That you look beyond our weakness

That you found purest gold in miry clay

Turning sinners into saints

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I will always sing your praise

Here on earth and in heaven after

For you've joined me at my true home

When it's all been said and done

You're my life when life is gone...

There is a recording of this song on Youtube. Be patient, wait for the song.

To play video, please click below but remember to turn off or pause the background IMEEM music first.

.reflection: there is just one thing that matters!

Prepare to Die?

“Everyone knows they’re going to die, but nobody believes it.” – Morrie

photo: Arlington, US (May 08)

A few days ago, it was reported in the local newspaper a Chinese celebrity, who is very popular with the aunties in Singapore, has a leukemia relapse. Dongfang Billy, as the celebrity is known, was quoted that he is prepared to die. He has started to make preparations for his funeral. In particular, he said he would host his own funeral and has made a DVD for this.

The story reminds me of an international bestseller book. Recommended to me some years back by Hsueh Shan, one of my former students, it has since become one of my all time favorite books.

Written by Mitch Albom, it recounts his time spent with an old professor, as he was dying from ALS (also known as Lou Gehrigh’s Disease). The memoir, based entirely on recorded conversations between Albom and Morrie about life’s most important lessons. The conversations usually took place on a Tuesday, hence the title of the book, “Tuesdays with Morrie”. If you have not read this highly inspirational book, I strongly recommend it.

On the fourth tuesday, Morrie and Mitch talked about death!

Mitch: “Did you think much about death before you got sick?”

Morrie: “No, I was like everyone else. I once told a friend of mine, in a moment of exuberance, ‘I’m gonna be the healthiest old man you ever met!’... Actually, everyone knows they’re going to die, but nobody believes it. No one really believes they’re going to die. If we did, we would do things differently.”
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Mitch: “But everyone knows somebody who has died. Why is it so hard to think about dying?”

Morrie: “Because most of us all walk around as if we’re sleepwalking. We really don’t experience the world fully, because we’re half-asleep, doing things we automatically think we have to do.”

Mitch: “And facing death changes all that?”

Morrie: “ Oh yes. You strip away all that stuff and you focus on the essentials. When you realize you are going to die, you see everything much differently… Learn how to die, and you learn how to live…

Mitch: “So, we kid ourselves about death.”

Morrie: “Yes, but there’s a better approach. To know you’re going to die, and to be prepared for it at any time. That’s better. That way you can actually be more involved in your life while you’re living.”

Mitch: “How can you ever be prepared to die?"

Morrie: “Every day, have a little bird on your shoulder that asks, ‘is today the day? Am I ready? Am I doing all I need to do? Am I being the person I want to be?’ Well, the truth is once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.... the truth is if you really listen to that bird on your shoulder, if you accept that you can die at any time – then you might not be as ambitious as you are… The things you spend so much time on – all this work you do – might not seem as important. You might have to make room for some more spiritual things.”

Mitch: “Spiritual things?”

Morrie: “You hate the word, don’t you? ‘Spiritual.’ You think it’s touchy-feely stuff. Mitch, even I don’t know what ‘spiritual development’ really means. But I do know we’re deficient in some way. We are too involved in materialistic things, and they don’t satisfy us. The loving relationships we have, the universe around us, we take these things for granted.”

What kind of counsel is this? Why is this man, Morrie, saying such a thing? Is he in some kind of depression syndrome? No, not at all. Swindoll wrote,

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"One blast of its (death) awful breath transformed all values. Instantaneously, priceless things had become worthless. Worthless things had become priceless.... Death gives you that kind of wisdom. Those who live their lives suffering from a terminal disease usually demonstrate a ramarkable degree of wisdom inthe way they spend their time. It is amazing what happens even to one's conversation!"

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There is a scripture in Eccles. 7 that supports this; "it is better to to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting." In other words, visiting a funeral parlour is better than gorging oneself at a banquet, or a 30-minute stroll through a graveyard is better than an entire afternoon at a carnival..Why? Because we seldom forget a stroll through a graveyard and what we learn there about the great men and women who have shaped lives. Sure, it's frightening, but it's amazing how much perspective is gained when we get a glimpse of life from the back door.

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reflection: "when you realize you are going to die, you see everything very differently"

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source: C.R. Swindoll (1985) "Living on the ragged edge"; Mitch Albom (1997) "tuesdays with Morrie".

Soft Boiled Egg

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY! Life has been pretty hectic the past few months since the new academic year started. But I can't complain as I am happy because the things which I am busy with (i.e. teaching, advising students and doing research) are things which I like to do anyway. Happy is the man who gets paid doing what he likes!

photo: morning has broken (s'pore)
So, what do busy Singaporeans eat for breakfast? In the US, the normal breakfast meal would include a bowl of cereal with milk or what we would call "corn flakes" here. Here, I suppose the norm would be for busy Singaporeans to buy/pack their breakfast.

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A trend I observed in recent years is the resurrection of old coffee-shops, albeit in a more modern "macdonald" like setting. The menu is simple, and consisted of: toast with butter and "kaya" (egg jam/custard made of egg, sugar, and coconut milk) and soft-boiled eggs. The coffee is strong and drunk with sugar and condensed milk. In the past, it was a common sight to see a customer drink his coffee from the saucer into which he had poured it to cool it down.

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Due to my busy schedule, let me share in this blog a quick way to prepare breakfast: soft-boiled eggs. It is an art to get the egg cooked just right! Here goes:

(1) place to eggs, ideally at room temperature, in a container,

(2) pour boiling water into the container - make sure it covers the top of the egg,

(3) cover the container and leave for 7 minutes (slightly longer if the eggs are chilled),

(4) serve with black soya sauce and white pepper.

Got to run! Have a busy day ahead, but the two eggs will sustain me, at least till lunch! But my wife and I are looking forward to having a good dinner with four of my former students this evening. Cheers! this is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it!

There you have it, a typical Singaporean breakfast in 7 mins!

Happy Teachers' Day

Never underestimate the influence of a caring teacher!

John Ruskin, the author and poet, was quoted, "the entire object of true education is to make people not merely do the right thing, but to enjoy right things; not merely industrious, but to love industry; not merely learned, but to love knowlegde."

photo: Copenhagen, Denmark (Jun 2003)

September 1 was Teachers' Day in Singapore. As usual, my wife and I received our fair share of Happy Teacher's Day greetings, through cards, e-mail and sms, from our current and ex-students. As a tradition, her boss presented each teacher in her school with a cake. They also had a buffet lunch at Mandarin Hotel. However, at the university, teachers day passed by without any fanfare. Nevertheless, one of my ex-students brought her 1-yr+ son to greet me in school.

Here is a poem on Why God Created Teachers.

When God created teachers,

He gave us special friends

To help us understand

His world

And truly comprehend

The beauty and the wonder

Of everything we see,

And become a better person

With each discovery.

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When God created teachers,
He gave us special guides

To show us ways

In which to grow

So we can all decide

How to live and how to do

What's right instead of wrong,

To lead us so that we can lead

And learn how to be strong.

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Why God created teachers,

In His wisdom and grace,

Was to help us learn

To make our world

A better, wiser place.

- Jill Wolf

Keeping Promises

"if you cultivate the habit of always keeping the promises you make, you build bridges of trust that span the gaps of understanding."

photo: san francisco (Apr 2004)

My last entry focused on making deposits in your emotional bank account. One way to do this is keeping our promises. According to Stephen Covey, "people tend to build their hopes around promises, particularly promises about their basic livelihood." Hence, he adopted this philosophy, "... never to make a promise I don't keep. I therefore try to make them very carefully, very sparingly, and to be aware of as many variables and contingencies as possible so that something doesn't suddenly come up to keep me from fulfilling it."

However, occasionally, despite all his effort, the unexpected does come up, creating a situation where it would be unwise or impossible for him to keep a promise he has made. Because he valued the promise, Covey either kept it anyway, or explained the situation thoroughly to the person involved and asked to be released from the promise.

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photo: san francisco
Keeping oaths and promises is important; it builds trust and makes committed human relationships possible. In the scripture, God's people are called to keep their word, even if they make promises that are tough to keep.

scripture: Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, "Do not break your oath, but keep the oath you have made to the Lord." But I tell you, Do not swear at all; either by heaven, for it is God's throne or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King... Simply let your "yes" be a "yes" and your "no", "no"

(Matthew 5:33-37).

The Bible condemns making vows and taking oaths casually, giving your word while knowing that you won't keep it, or swearing falsely in God's name.... In the above scripture, Jesus was emphasizing the importance of telling the truth. People were breaking promises and using sacred language casually and carelessly. Nowadays, truthfulness seems so rare that we feel we must end our statements with "I swear". If we feel that we have to strengthen it with an oath, something is wrong with our sincerity. If we tell the truth all the time, we will have less pressure to back up our words with an oath or a promise. Our word should be enough.

reflection: are you known as a person of your word?

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Source: Stephen Covey, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People & LAB (1995)

Emotional Bank Account

"there can be no friendship without confidence, and no confidence without integrity."

- Samuel Johnson

We all know what a financial bank account is. We make deposits into it and build up a reserve from which we can make withdrawals when we need to. An Emotional Bank Account, according to Stephen Covey, is a metaphor that describes the amount of trust that's been built up in a relationship. It's the feeling of safeness you have with another human being. To me, it is another word for "building goodwill" - not only in business relations but also with your friends and particularly, your spouse.
......................................................photo: Melbourne, Australia (2005)

The most important ingredient we put into any relationship is not what we say or what we do, but what we are. If our words and our actions come from superficial human relations techniques rather than our own inner core, others will sense the duplicity. In his best selling book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People", Stephen Covey elaborate, "If I make deposits... with you through courtesy, kindness, honesty, and keeping my commitments to you, I build up a reserve. Your trust towards me becomes higher, and I can call upon that trust... if I need to. I can even make mistakes and that trust level, that emotional reserve, will compensate for it... when the trust account is high, communication is easy, instant, and effective."
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"However, if I have a habit of showing discourtesy, disrespect, cutting you off, overreacting, ignoring you, become arbitrary, betraying your trust, threatening you, ..., eventually, my emotional bank account is overdrawn. The trust level gets very low. Then, I am walking on mine fields. I have to be very careful of everything I say. I measure every word. It's tension city, memo haven. It's protecting my backside, politiking. And many organizations are filled with it. Many families are filled with it. Many marriages are filled with it."

If a large reserve of trust is not sustained by continued deposits, a marriage will deteriorate. Instead of rich, spontaneous understanding and communication, the situation becomes one of accommodation, where two people simple attempt to live independent life-styles in a fairly respectful and tolerant way. The relationship may further deteriorate to one of hostility and defensiveness, which creates verbal battles, slammed doors, refusal to talk, emotional withdrawal and self-pity. It may end up in cold war at home, sustained only by children, sex, social pressure, or image protection. .

reflection: check your emotional bank account?

Make sure it is not overdrawn!

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Source: Stephen R. Covey (1989) "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People"