Another year of adventures

I turned a year older over the last weekend.

Another year older; another year of blessings. Well, it’s not all rainbows and sunshine, but I’ve been blessed with many things in my personal and professional life.

Counting blessings in my professional capacity:

1)????Our team

Thankful that most of my teammates in stuck with us through the COVID lock-downs until now. Our company may not have rock-star programmers or marketers or salespersons or project consultants, but they are stars in their commitment to live our values of “i2COOL” (Integrity, Innovation, Courage, Optimism, Openness, Learning continuously). We cannot afford to pay them top dollars. We cannot offer them fancy perks. Yet, my teammates continued to believe in our cause to enhance lives through office automation and contributed in their own ways. We've managed to refine our product in various aspects. We now have a community forum, enhanced our data-extraction capabilities, and updated our looks (product, website, videos, etc). Thank you, team! ?

2)?????Our customers

When the COVID pandemic started, I thought it would be over soon, just like how SARS came and went rather quickly. But when it dragged longer than initially expected, it made me wonder how we could get through this. I knew we would stay afloat but wondered if we had to down-size significantly. Luckily, we had continuous support from our existing customers who stayed with us throughout the year and renewed their subscriptions! Their support helped us keep jobs for our colleagues and we could continue to work hard to refine our products and services. Thank you!

3)?????Our partners, friends and mentors in the industry

"It takes a village to raise a child", according to an African proverb. We are thankful for the “village” that has been helping us to raise our “child” to be 5 years old this year! We are blessed with support from partners who recommended us customers, friends in trade associations who offered us publicity opportunities at webinars and other platforms, seniors and mentors who gave us valuable advice and suggestions on various areas. We now have an officially-registered subsidiary in Shanghai! Thank you! ?

Blessings in my personal capacity:

1)?????My family

Always thankful for my family members’ support throughout the year. And the kids bring lots of colour to my life. The big challenge this year was getting through repeated HBL segments and getting through PSLE! The period near PSLE was quite a cranky one, as anxiety levels ran high and the ongoing COVID-related restrictions didn’t help matters. I was glad the exams for the lower-primary students were cancelled. I think that the teachers work too hard and make the kids work hard too, which in turn make parents more anxious. Haha… I told my kids, "Nobody would ask about your grades from primary school years when you come out to work anyway. But of course, you must at least pass the exams and get promoted. So, just chill, enjoy learning, try to do your best."

?2)?????My friends

I haven’t been able to keep in close touch with old friends and thus was pleasantly surprised to get greetings from some of them on my birthday. Thank you for remembering. I hope to hang out with them again soon, talk about “frivolous” things, laugh at the memories of our school days, or exchange ideas about where to bring our active kids out to. ?

3)?????Nature

I got closer to nature in the past year. Since we could not go anywhere out of the little red dot (except for work reasons), we had to find more things to entertain the kids and ourselves for weekends. We discovered beautiful trails for walking and cycling. We saw things that we never thought would see in Singapore!

Memorable sightings of animals include a mousedeer rummaging through leaves in the forest (Lower Pierce Reservoir), a family of Spotted Wood Owls perched on a tree in bright daylight (Pasir Ris Park), a crocodile catching a monitor lizard and feasting on it (Sungei Buloh), a pair of monkeys amidst their courtship ritual (Coney Island), and various types of bugs mating (multiple places). We covered many parts of Singapore on bicycles or on foot – something we’ve never thought of doing pre-pandemic.

My favourite trails would be the Maju Forest (It is very natural, without paved footpaths or steps. A bit challenging though.); Bukit Brown (the “avatar trees” are magnificent); Coney Island (makes me feel like I’m in Jeju again); McRitchie (beautiful, all-time favourite); and Sentosa (you might think this place is “touristy”, but this little island has many beautiful nature trails too).

Looking forward to another year of new adventures. =)