An extraordinary 2009

Year 2009 is indeed a tough year for many people. It's the worse economy recession since the Great Depression in 1930. Hundreds of company shut-down. Thousands of others downsized or merged. Millions of jobs lost. And trillions of people has pay-cut one form or another. Life is indeed tough and everyone is affected in one way or another. I'm not an exception. But, as the going get tough, the tough get going. End of 2009 has finally shed some hope, with signs of recovery and many countries getting out of the recession.

2009 is indeed tough and challenging for me. For survival, we're driving crazy to improve our production yield, reducing cost, improving capacity. Productivity improvement and excursion prevention also top the priority. Work apart, there is still many break-thru in my personal life. I challenged and stretched myself further. I did attempted many things that I've never thought that I will ever do it in this lifetime. For the very first time, I have the courage to participate the 'three step and a bow' ceremony during Vesak day for Buddhist. Years of delay with the same old excuses of work/family commitment. In fact, it's the INNER fear of the unknown that is so overwhelming that we accept it as fact and be continually intimated by it. Sad but a true fact that haunted many and many of us. Finally, gathered enough courage with lot of encouragement from my dear friend, HongYan. I tried. The inner joy and peace is beyond my imagination. The experience is great. The feeling is good. I will continue to practice it annually till the day I'm physically challenged. For the next coming year, I want to spend more time learning Buddhism. I cannot be lazy.

For 2 years in a row, I achieved a Gold medal for my IPPT. For this year, it was in Khatib camp. Unlike my previous years which was in my ICT camp. Running in a track and field in Khatib camp is mentally challenging. For an unknown reason, the fear is overwhelming. I think physically I am not fit to take up the challenge. More effort and time is spent to build me up physically. My first attempt was a Silver as my 2.4km ran was 11.15 minutes. A big 30 seconds longer than the Gold standard of 10.45 mins for my age group. I didn't give up. Trained harder. On my second attempt, I clocked 10.15 minutes. It was a significant 1 minute difference from my Gold requirement. My sheer hard work and determination paid me handsomely. I've done it again to overcome my inner mental fear.

Third was the 16 KM Mizuro ran and the 42.195 KM Standard Chartered Marathon ran on 6th Dec. The former was a preparation ran for the Marathon ran which I clocked 5 hours and 50 minutes. This was a good start for my first attempt. But I am not happy. I know I can do it in sub 5. I will challenge myself next year. I'll do it again. But first I need to reduce my weigh from current 74 to 65kg. It sound crazy but I know it can be done with discipline and perseverance.

Finally, my family and I drove our way from Singapore to Genting & Kuala Lumpur, together with my good friend, Steven Tiu & family. The total trip was about 1000KM. Again I proved that everything can be done. It's mind over matter.

Now, as I write I think of my comfort zone in my current work. I did fight my way out from Failure Analysis (FA) to CMP. A big change from a support group to the main FAB that required 7X24 support, after 7 good years in FA. Now, 3 years later with 2 years of management skill, I'm thinking if I've sank again into my comfort zone. I love my current job and company. But now, I'm contemplating that should I move on to embrace the world. Right now my heart tells me "Yes" but my brain is not interested. I'm again at this cross road in my life. But I guess, the future lies in those whom seek. I must seriously and actively seeking for any opportunity.

Last but not least, all my achievement cannot be attained without the good support from my lovely wife Sarah Ong. She takes good care of the family. I am glad that my elder daughter Filomena came in first in class and 5th in School level for her primary one examination. Both did a fantastic job. Well done and keep up the good work.

Cheers OKY

Cordelia is 5 years old.

Monday (11/05/2009) was Cordelia's fifth Birthday. She has been counting down and looking forward to this special day. As Monday was a school holiday (Vesak day on Saturday), Filomena was able to join in the celebration at Greentree Montessori. As usual, we bought a 2 kg chocolate cake with printed disneyland princess characters, as instructed by our very own princess. Mummy also packed goodie bags that consisted of of cookies, candy, and stationary. We arrived at 10.30 am, together with the cake and goodie bags. The kids were waiting patiently for the party. After the Birthday songs, the cake parade, the distribution of goodies bags, and we finally sat down for our share of the cake. It was a sweet day for the family, especially Cordelia. ...Papa.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

California 2007

In October 2007, we decided to take a break and had our first overseas trip to USA, California. This was a big decision for us, as the long journey flight from Singapore to Los Angeles would be very challenging for our daughters. Filomena was 5 years old and Cordelia was 3 years old then.  It's also the first time both were boarding a plane, not to mention that both were down with flu two weeks before the trip. It's very worrying for us. To our relief, things went on smoothly though Cordelia was telling mummy to go home when the plane took-off from our Changi international airport. Thanks to SIA, both were occupied with kid's movies and entertainment system throughout the journey. Both have a pleasant trip. It's the parents that had to endure and suffer the 16-18 hours flight, to ensure both our princesses were comfortable and resting well.  

Our vacation started from Disneyland Anaheim in Los Angeles. We travelled along highway1 North. We stopped in Santa Barbara for lunch the next day. And travelled further up North to San Simeon for the Hearst Castle visit in the night. The next day, we stopped along Cabrillo highway for the wild seal watching.  We made a few stop-overs for many photo shots along the beautiful Pacific Ocean. The view was awesome. Our next stop was Monterey Bay where we visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We took half a day before rushing to Santa Clara to meet our friend, Ashutosh for dinner. He was the one that drafted our journey in California. It's already past 10pm when our dinner was done. Then, we headed to San Francisco safely, though it's  almost midnight. Thanks to the modern technology, the GPS guiding system that we trusted wholeheartedly to direct us around in this foreign land. We visited the Fisherman Wharf and Golden bridge for the next two days. After that, we drove further to Napa Valley for the vineyard tour in Robert Mondavi. In the afternoon, we skipped our lunch and drove straight to Yosemite National Park. Along the way, we stopped by a strawberry farm for a tour. The berry was sweet and cheap. We brought six small buckets to our next hotel in Yosemite National Park. We stayed for two days searching for the giant trees and waterfalls, before heading to Las Vegas, Nevada for a night rest. This is the longest single day journey that I've done. It's took us almost 8 hours. We've a few breaks along the dessert highway to refresh ourselves. I remembered having 3-4 tea bags to a single cup just to keep us awake during the drive. Next, we visited the Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon in Arizona. After that, we drove back to L.A. and stopped over at Las Vegas for a night rest. We visited the San Diego Zoo and the Wildlife parks. Our last day was back in Hollywood before heading back home.  It's a wonderful trip and we've a great time.  It's brought the family much closer.

Cheers papa       

My younger daughter, Cordelia OH

Cordelia is the family's baby. She gives us lots of joy and laughter. She loves cheese and ice cream. Her favorite color is pink, blue and red. She is attending her kindergarden 1 in Greentree Montessori and her favorite friend is Daphne. She loves Singapore Birdpark, night Safari and Zoo.    

 

My elder daughter, Filomena Oh

My name is Filomena Oh SiewLian. I am 7 years old and a primary 1 student in Endeavour Primary School. I'm in class 1J and my form teacher is Mrs. Choh. My mother tongue teacher is Ms Phang. I like my principal, Mr. Chia although he is very fierce. 

My best friends are Lindy and Josephine.  I like my younger sister, Cordelia Oh. She will turn 5 on 11th May. She looks forward to her usual school celebration in Greentree Montessori which I attended since my pre-school day. 

Regards,

Filomena 

First post

On 4/26/2009, I've created a blog for myself and family. My name is Kim Yeow and my wife is Sarah Ong.  We're happily married for 10 years since 19th Feb 1999.  She has always  been a great companion to me since we met in Singapore Night Safari in 1995. Our love has withstood the test of my 2.5 years of National Service and 3 years of bachelor study in Nanyang Technological University. I've to confess and still felt apologetic for spending little time with her then. But, she's never complained. It must be very tough for a pretty girl to sacrifice her 6 golden years of youth for me, unconditionally. She's only 18 when we met. I'm very cleared that she's the ones that I'll want to spend the rest of my life with. I proposed to her in 1999 and married on the same year, once I graduated and found a permanently job in a Semiconductor company. Today, we've two beautiful daughters, Filomena and Cordelia. They're 7 and 5 years old respectively.  I'm grateful that my wife choose to be a stay-home mother to raise our next generation and providing them with overwhelming love and care. It's never been easy for her and she's done a great job. I'm so proud of her commitment and sacrifice to our family. I love her and will treasure her now and forever.  Love, papa.