Collin Ng's Blog

In the past few years, it has become a ritual of sorts for me to take a deep thought and to reflect on some eventful moments that happened in 2012 and before the clock strikes past midnight into the new year, I will upload my last posting of the year. In August, I left my job at New Century Tours though I have been planning to leave for quite a while.  Before I slipped into comfort zone  and losing passion, I decided to to take the plunge - quit.  Of course, some disagreement in opinions with someone above me did hasten my decision to move out.  Do I regret?  Some concerned friends did advise me to seriously consider my decision, given my half century age, stable job won't come easy.  I have had experienced many failures before and by now, I should know better to pre-empt what lies ahead if things do not go as planned.  I have learnt that one has to manage one'...

I have never felt so charged up on any given weekend for the longest time, not even when I have to cycle more than 100km on a typical Saturday morning with some friends or completed a full marathon run.  There were few back-to-back events on this Saturday and Sunday and I finally can heave a sigh of relief when everything ended up smoothly.  I decided I should post out this article once I am home, well this is exactly what I am doing now. First thing first, I have to make sure my work comes first.  I have to get up very early on Saturday, met up my coach captain who is handling his first transfer for our Legoland bound passengers.  It is peak season, we can't afford any screw-up and I don't like to receive any negative feedback from our passengers either.  The first morning task was completed, no sweat and with one down, I can then proceed to handle my personal stuff.  Because of the...

I clocked my slowest  21km run in this year's edition but I am not disappointed at all.  On the contrary, I am pleased.  Pleased because Winnie who has never thought she will finish her half marathon race and putting paid to her confidence, she skipped two half marathon events last year despite already registered for these.  Her mental stage of mind had already defeated her, not once but twice before. Very frankly, I was not that hopeful that she will attempt to run in this year event.  She did not prepare for this half marathon event.  Her last run was the 10km Shape Run in July but she managed to pull through.  Since that last run, she did one practise run on treadmill but ended up injuring herself - what bad luck.  Judging from her two previous experiences, I kind of know she will give up this run at the last moment.  How wrong I was when she said she will...

We are now two days away from the year end Stanchart Marathon.  Last year, I did the full marathon but this year I will run the half marathon instead.  In the last four years, I have had completed five full marathons with a PB of 4 hrs 26 mins in Sundown earlier this year.  I chose to run only half marathon for Stanchart this year not because I am fearful of the distance, I did not enjoy the same event last year.  There were far too many runners in all three events, 10km, 21km and 42km and it was total madness when all runners in the three categories merged in the final 5km or so stretch to the finishing.  Those in the full marathon category were already stretched to their limits but found themselves blocked by the slower runners in the shorter distance category.  Many were practically taking a stroll along the highway, as if it was a walk in the park when they were supposed to run.  I then...

We need friends but do we need friends when one does not see him or her in any occasion one can remember, have never bothered to catch up or not even a hello call but when he or she is in desperate need, you are suddenly remembered for obvious reason - a loan.  I have this very old friend whom I know since I was 15-year-old and I am 50 now, we actually know each other for 35 years.  I will call him D.  Though we have known each other for so many years but we have never been close.  Many years ago, among some old friends, we chipped in to set up a small eatery business to be solely managed by D whom we have trusted based on our old friendship.  When business was not profitable, D simply dropped everything and walked out leaving us to handle the mess he left behind.  When the business finally folded up, we moved on.  When another old friend's wife was suffering from cancer, we paid her a visit, gave her ...

    adidas King of the Road (KOTR) is a championship run event held in five countries in Southeast East and Singapore is among the five.  The total distance is 16.8km for this morning run which will be flagged off at Gardens By The Bay.  Admittedly after the last Sundown Marathon, I was not keen to run but Winnie managed to convince me to participate as she was hoping to use this event to prepare for her year end 21km Stanchart Half Marathon.  She has not been doing any form of serious run in preparation for it and the leg injury from a recent fall put paid to her on-off training schedule.  Owing to all these factors, she decided to opt out at the last moment - what a pity!  Stanchart event is inching close and I am not sure whether she will be ready by then.  "Can't run, walk lah...don't have to give yourself too much pressure lah, Winnie".  I really hope she just go for...

I am not a perfect being, I have many flaws but when it comes to 'play act', I will fare badly.  As an imperfect being I am and who am I to comment on somebody's flaw, really?  But I can't help posting my thought on my blog as it has been bothering me for quite a while.  Tell you all already, I am not perfect lor.      I know this person for good many years but I will not name her (opp, she is a lady...well, what the heck) - for obvious reasons.  To get my story going, let me give her an initial instead.  Okay, I will call her AS (not ASS but AS, the initial).  Why I say AS is a great pretender?  This is the story...  By the way, we were friends once but not anymore for quite few years.  Admittedly, in my 50 years in life, I have not met anyone who will (without shame) announce to the world that he or she has worked his or her butt out whe...

  It was another HTTB event, titled "Hike and Historical Trip Day Trip (Sunrise at Broga Hill + Malacca) organised by Hiker Lillian and SP, the elder of the group.  The response was so hot that the initial 12 slots were taken up within minutes when it went 'LIVE' on HTTB meetup site and finally, it was increased to 26.  Either Lillian is hot or the trip to Broga Hill is hot, or maybe both are equally hot.  Dora was the one who prompted me about this trip and thanks to her, she did all the follow up for me.  She worked fast (her fingers worked even faster) and she managed to confirm one slot for me without me breaking a sweat - what a lucky fella I am (sweat)! For S$60 per person, which included coach transfer and a decent peranakan lunch in Malacca (the climb is free though), it is definitely worth everthing I must say.  This was also my first trip organised by Hiker Lillian and I was looking forw...

My first trip to Batam was sometime in the mid 80s with some of my airport colleagues and I vividly remember we stayed at Turi Beach in Nongsa, then a very much sought after 5-star resort and of course, its rate was also rather stiff.  Batam then boosted of these two popular resorts, Turi Beach and Batam View.  The sleepy island, two third the size of Singapore was abruptly made popular when its radio station, Zoo 101.6 went 24/7 where many listeners from Singapore started to tune to its non-stop airing of music.  Then, the radio stations in Singapore did not run 24 hours but rendered no option when they realised many of their advertisers were turning to Zoo 101.6, they countered with their 24-hour radio programs to re-capture audience.  Much to their relief, they recovered quickly and now, nobody in Singapore talks about Zoo 101.6, let alone remember they wer...

We did not qualify for the second round, no sweat.  On whole, we were not in good form somehow, but we offered no excuses.  Did we play our heart out?  Yes, we did and in the most gentleman way we could for we did not earn any warning, yellow or red from the referee in the entire tournament.  If there is an award for fair play, I truly believe we should be the winner (the part is meant as 'self consolation').  I am proud to present our team, Leisure Warriors comprising Derek (team captain), Keith (playing goalie), Winston, Chong Meng, Tommy, Ming Wei, Tommy and yours truly.    NATAS 'five-a-side' Soccer Challenge was scheduled for today at East Coast Park and kick-off at 1300 hours.  Six teams from each group and there are two groups and the top four in each group will compete in the quarter-final, semi-final and the final.  Each game lasted 5 mins only but it can test...

  It's my second consecutive Yellow Ribbon Prison Run 2012 which was flagged off this morning.  Prior to the run event, I have created an event on HTTB site which garnered some 20 members signing up.  Separately, Aranda Country Club also managed to get some 20 of us to sign up for this meaningful run.  On Saturday morning, I had a futsal practise match with some of my former colleagues as we were making preparation to compete in the coming weekend NATAS Futsal Tournament for this first time.  We have been preparing well and this will be out last practise before the tournament.  During play, I felt pain on my left thigh and I realised I had pulled my muscle while kicking the ball.  I could not carry on play with the guys, preferring to give my left thigh a rest as I remembered I still have the Yellow Ribbon run the following morning.  I still feel the pain on the left thigh this morning. ...

A jovial chap, liked the outdoor and always there to listen to my grouses and every little thing I poured out. He will be missed dearly.     Farewell and rest in peace, George - my buddy (1961 to 2012).

Note from me: This article, titled "The Race Factor' is written by Dr M which is taken from his blog, http://chedet.cc/blog/?p=813 .  Despite his best attempt to explain the need to adopt race-based approach in Malaysia political scene to the Malaysians before the election, I do not buy his explanation as I believe a meritocracy society should be the way forward.  Quote         1. Many have asked me why we cannot do without race-based politics in Malaysia. 2. The short answer is that we all want to remember and be recognised according to our racial origins, the countries of our ancestors came from, the languages we speak, the cultures we belong to. 3. We really don’t want to say we are just Malaysian and nothing else. 4. If it is pointed out to us that in many countries where people of different racial origins live, there is no racial politics, no identification of the citizens with the countries of t...

Note from me:  I sought my friend, Kiat Sing's permission to post her National Day message on my blog and she readily agreed.  Like her, I am proud to be a Singaporean for we are unique in our own way and certainly, we have come a long way.  Almost like her, we used to live in a small house without room, just a hall and all seven of us including our parents squeezed in this small house.  To give myself a little more space and to avoid getting kick from my brothers in the middle of the night when they were soundly asleep, I had to sleep in the kitchen.  I lived in that small house till I reached 16.  My National Day message to our country -  Continue to innovate, continue to progress and more good years ahead.   Quote Many friends of mine have claimed that I’m not a typical Singaporean because I’m calm and patient. I’m an artist not a banker, lawyer or engineer running the rat race like the usual people they meet....

It's 'Race Against Cancer' run event at East Coast Park this morning (22 July) by Singapore Cancer Society.  I am the charity athlete for the second time (didn't participate in last year though).  This one aside, I also have few fund raising campaigns and therefore I set a modest target of S$1,000 chiefly with colleagues and friends in mind.  In my own capacity, I am pleased that I have garnered S$1,170 for this cause. In RACE, I have registered for the 15 km run.  Despite having participated in many run events, I can't help feeling some adrenalin rush of sorts the night before.  We had a dinner gathering for participants in our last 'Ride for Rations' event on Saturday evening and the organisers happily announced some S$150k was raised for the 'Sunlove Home'.  Kudos to all.  After dinner, I left slightly early to prepare for this morning run. I got up at 6.00am...

This charity ride, themed 'Ride For Rations 2012 which is organised by Bike Aid for Sunlove Home's Neighbourhood Links is into its second year and also, my second consecutive ride with them.  I was inspired by the warm and enthusiastic spirit of the organisers who volunteered their own time to put together such a well organised event.  I must compliment the people behind it, Manjit Singh, Shoeb, Jennifer and the rest in the organising team for their hard works. I got to know my current cycling kakis, GP Riders exactly one year ago when I first joined 'Ride for Rations 2011'.  I was then a novice rider and the two brothers whom I just got to know, Tomas and Pete were then rooting me all the way.  After that event, I become one of GP Riders members and the rest is history.   This year, GP Riders and friends sent in a team of 20.  From my side, I managed to rope in some of my outdoor kakis ...

Note from me:  Most times I don't agree with Dr M's views which I find to be too ultra-thinking and draconian but this particular article, I cannot disagree with him.  It is a lesson we must learn from the West, where too many benefits are given out to win votes but in the end, some nations are paying a big price for it.  You can find his article, titled 'Government' on his blog,  http://chedet.cc/blog/?p=786  and it is my pleasure to copy it on mine. Quote 1. We are seeing some strange things happening in Europe. This continent of rich developed countries is going through afinancial and economic crisis that resists attempts to turn it around and recover. 2. Several countries of Europe are actually going bankrupt. Greece is bankrupt. Now Spain is practically in recession. Reports indicate that Portugal and Italy are also in deep financial trouble. Even the UK and France are in trouble. 3. Where did they go wrong? It is impor...