I Love Taiwan!

I Love Taiwan!

Taiwan holds a special place in my heart.

That’s why I took a special interest in It’s recent political election.

It was the country where I completed the grand finale of my officers cadet course.

It was up in the Taiwanese mountains that I spent some of the most gruelling moments of my life.

As a result of going through life in the wild and some of the toughest challenges that nature and humans could offer, I realised the vast potential within me.

It proved that infinite possibilities could be achieved when you develop a close partnership with our Creator and pursue the best of life.

A key to opening the door to sustainable success is tenacity.

Tenacity is the discipline of pressing on with passion and excellence over a protracted period of time and to finish the race despite facing failures, obstacles and challenges.

Years after my military stint, I almost relocated to work in Taiwan.

I was offered a global marketing manager’s job after being recommended by a headhunter and after going through a series of job interviews and an onsite visit to my potential employer’s company.

The offer on the table was very tempting to a young man – a chance to see the world and at the same time, be paid a princely sum of money.

In the end, I listened to a loving and gentle voice in my heart and knew it was not our Creator’s calling for me.

In the end, the choice was to choose Him instead of power, fame, glory, and materialism, including potentially lots of money.

It was hard to finally decide to stay back in Singapore to make something good out of my career and future.

It never crossed my mind how my life would turn out if I had taken a different path.

It would have been an exercise in futility because life should be lived forward and not to carry burdens and blockages of the past.

Deep within me, I held on to the belief that our Creator would watch over me just as He did when I went through many crises and near-death experiences.

All problems would come to pass and something wonderful would come out of it.

After joining the dots, I can testify that He has woven my experiences, including broken dreams into a beautiful tapestry of design, colour and texture.

A life that is truly worth more than living.

After marriage, my newly-minted wife and I decided to go to a few countries for our honeymoon.

Taiwan was chosen as our first stop.

During our holiday in Taiwan, we also took time off to visit a few real estate companies.

We wanted to study their operations and establish a business relationship with them.

Many people, including good friends would irk at the prospect of spending a vacation let alone honeymoon doing “work.”

My explanation was simple.

Enjoy your work and life will be a lifelong vacation and you get paid to have fun too.

Throughout my life, I have never dichotomised work and other areas of my life.

Work is not everything about my life but it is an important extension of my being.

It is a vital part of the learning process to live a meaningful, exciting and fulfilling life.

Through unconditional love and grace, Our Creator has appointed me to be His ambassador at the workplace.

I know that I don’t deserve it, and I may not be in the best position to represent Him.

Work is an honour given by Him to manage our Creator’s handiwork.

It is a privilege to help Him develop the best talents, values, environment and lifestyles for humankind.

With His help, I believe I can do and achieve far more than I can ever dream or imagine.

It is a high calling to be a part of His team and to turn the world into a better home.

How then can I not enjoy my work and give it my best shot?

How can I grumble, gripe and grouse about life?

In 1990, after stepping up to be an entrepreneur, one of the first few markets that I tried to open up was Taiwan.

In fact, I stayed there for more than a month to immerse myself in the culture and develop my business.

It was during that trip that I really appreciated the value of Singapore’s bilingual educational system.

Most of the time there, I had to converse and even conduct training in Mandarin.

Learning to communicate in Mandarin has also opened the gateway for me to do business in other countries.

It has helped me appreciate and learn from the Chinese culture which has a history of more than 5000 years.

While I am deeply rooted in the Singapore way and am proud of our values, aspirations and achievements, that Taiwanese trip was the first few steps that I took to become a global citizen.

The only way forward in the new economy is to learn how to improve cultural intelligence and operate as a global leader, entrepreneur and investor.

I have only one regret when I visited Taiwan.

For years, I wanted to take the relatively-slow train that I once took as a young soldier, sit by the window, and reflect about life.

That’s what I told a taxi driver when I arrived in Taichung on Wednesday, 4 September 2013.

He replied, “I’m afraid you are late by more than 6 years. We are using a High Speed Rail now.”

I’m reminded that today could be the last day of life.

Therefore, experience fully everything in your life and cherish them.

Learn how to live life at its best – moment by moment.

Every moment should be the best moment.

Live every moment as if it is the first and last moment.

Be mindful of every moment and do everything to live it out as the best moment.

If the experience of time as Albert Einstein might put it is relative, learn how to stretch time by maximizing its enjoyment and fulfillment.

Live every moment to the fullest and enjoy it while it lasts.

If you are not enjoying a moment, it is a wasted moment.

Inject life into living.

Do not just exist or go through the motion of a “typical” day.

Even if there are challenges, go and grow through them.

Prolong the pleasure of every moment and savour it with the strongest passion and the greatest intensity.

Accentuate and sustain the learning experience by anchoring them in your memory and recording them in your journal.

It is sad that many have allowed many valuable moments to pass them by.

They have not lived through every moment very often because they have consciously or unconsciously lived in the “yesterday”s or “tomorrow”s of life.

They have been too preoccupied with the baggages of the past and burdens of the future.

To borrow the words of a famous Chinese song, they wish that “明天会更好” – tomorrow will be better.

Unfortunately, they let today go to waste.

Be mindful that life can end at any point.

Therefore, manage life, and not just time.

Aim to do well and do good at the same time, all the time.

As long as you live for another day, craft a “fairy-tale” ending for life.

Remind yourself, Whatever is important and needs to be done – do it NOW.

Taiwan will always have a special place in my heart.

Thank you.

Go4It!

I hope this message will find a place in your heart.

By the way, I have also recorded other reflections.

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Life is FUNtastic!