Eight top things I'm thankful for in 2020

Another year has gone by, and a new year has started. Although cliched by now, I still think the word “extraordinary" is still a fitting description for 2020. For me, it was a year that made me realize many things to be thankful for. 

1) Thankful to my #team 

I’m grateful that our team-mates readily agreed to the difficult decision of reducing work hours and corresponding salaries temporarily at the onset of COVID circuit-breaker. It was a time of great uncertainties as we grappled with the changing economic situations to re-orientate ourselves. Luckily, it didn’t last long. We more than managed to restore back salaries and now the team is growing again! Thank you for sticking around with us throughout 2020! 

2) Thankful to our #customers 

Really touched that most of our customers renewed their subscriptions with us, despite COVID. Thank you for your feedback on how to improve further. We are inspired by your support to keep making a better product for you. Thank you for having faith in us! 

3) Thankful to SG government, our #partners, #investors, #trade associations, and other supporters 

Like the proverb "It takes a village to raise a child", we are thankful to so many people in the journey of raising our child, Glee Trees. Thankful to have gotten help from our SG government during these challenging times. Thankful that our resellers continued to spread word about us, our investors gave us room to adjust our business operations, the trade associations we knew gave us opportunities for webminars and other outreach opportunities, and many friends gave us support in one way or another. 

4) Thankful to have gotten closer to my family

Home-based-learning was frustrating for parents at first, as we had to help the kids set up their equipment and check in on them often to ensure they were attending classes. We soon got the hang of things and realized we could all work-from-home and study together with some compromises. Since other adult family members worked from home too, we had meals together more often, spoke more often, and discovered little quirks about our family members we otherwise wouldn’t have known. 

5) Thankful to have (re)discovered many beautiful things in Singapore 

Singapore suddenly seemed to have so many things to discover. I’m awed by the way Singapore still has so much natural beauty around us despite our urbanization. There are always areas to be improved, but I’m grateful to be able to observe animals roaming freely in the lush green forests and parks. To have watched otters play, a kingfisher catching its prey, monitor lizards slither among leaves… these were among the highlights of my year for 2020. 

6) Thankful that we are safe from natural disasters  

Singapore is sheltered from storms, literally. As I read news about floods and typhoons and other natural disasters in other countries, I count our blessings that Singapore does not have the added burden of natural disasters. My prayers go out to people in these countries. 

7) Thankful to have discovered new ways of doing many things 

Humans are creatures of habit. If we didn’t see the need to change, we would have continued doing things the same we always have done. This COVID-19 situation forced us to change many of our habits. And we learnt that we could adapt to new ways. No meetings in person? We can do Zoom calls. Gyms closed? Watch YouTube videos for exercise classes. Long queues at supermarkets? Order online. Well, you get the idea. We are not robots. We can adapt to changes. =) 

8) Thankful for good health 

It is truly a blessing to be alive. The pandemic taught us that life is fragile, and illness could strike any time without warning. Really thankful for good health that I am still able to function well and enjoy life with family, friends and colleagues, albeit in different ways. 

We are not totally out of the woods yet though. Economists predict economic recovery for Singapore as we are starting to get vaccinations. However, I think recovery will be uneven for various industry sectors, especially those that depend on international trade. I believe we can make 2021 a good year with faith, optimism and lots of hard work! Cheers to the year ahead!