Goodbye 2010 and Hello 2011.

2010 is definitely a great year for me both in work and family. A lot of self discovery and a lot more fulfilling moment in life, though not necessary a good work-life balance. I confess that I am a workaholic and spent long hour at work. But weekend is exclusively for family. On weekday, I started work 1 hour earlier. I will prepare simple breakfast for my kids and send them to School before heading to TECH. I love doing it. It's my pleasure. If there is no night conferences (with other Micron sites), I will normally be home by 7pm before the kids retire for the day at 8pm. I will rest past midnight after spending another 2 hours working from home. I still enjoy my work with 100% commitment. This is only possible with my supportive wife. She does a good job to take good care of all the domestic stuffs, including the kid education and development. I cannot imagine one day without her. Many people 'sympathize' me with a single income household. I do agree that I am not financially strong but we are happy with an above average life-style. It all boil down to our life expectation and priority. We're happy with our HDB flat (public housing) and my 6 years old Toyota Corolla. It's still within my mean to give my kids the best education and the essential in life. But what the school and money cannot provide is the character building for my kids. We believe that this must start at home and at the very early stage of our children's life. And I am very glad that my wife has volunteered to take up this less popular disciplinary master role. We hope our kids grow up with a strong character and high integrity. And hopefully, make this world a better place for everyone. For now, I hope my kids learnt to appreciate life and not take thing for granted. Be contended and treasured what they have. I also wish them good health and happiness for many years to come. Cordelia will start her primary 1 while Filomena will progress to primary 3 next year. It'll be a challenging year for both. For Cordelia, a switch from her carefree life in Greentree Montessori to a more systematic and structural education in Endeavor Primary school. Filomena did very well in her Primary 2, coming in 2nd in class (1 point behind the 1st in class) and 8th in school position. We're glad that she will be in the best class next year under the good care of Mr. Chia (School Principal and a well respected educator). Starting next year, she will have additional Science subject. Together with the CCA (Gu Zheng), it'll be a lot more demanding and maybe tough. But a more well rounded education with character building. Endeavor eleven claps.

Reflecting 2010, Nanda promotion to senior engineer this year was a pleasant surprise for me. Just 4 months in CMP. It's a mission almost impossible. And it taught me two things. One person success depends largely on the blessing of other well-wisher . We can only be good when our boss think so. Secondly, try your best. Do your best. Hope for the best. As long as we don't give up, there is always hope. Believe in miracle. It do happen.

I was given the chance to organize the team building for FAB management under Ming Su group. It took 2 months of careful planning; and a lot of hard work and time to bring together a team to work toward a common goal. It was a full day event, started with BEST (Buy, Eat, See That). It's something similar to the 'Amazing race' but we incorporate the food hunt around the island. Followed by beach games in Sentosa and then 2 exciting hours of simulated surfing in Wavehouse. We ended with a sumptuous dinner cum night entertainment by the beach. It's a big success. It's amazing how much more we can achieve when we put together a team with a common goal and desire. The result. We delivered a lot more than we're expected. And it still within our tight budget. Most important, everyone has lot and lot of fun. For me, organizing the team building has spice up my otherwise routine work. And a self discovery of how much capacity I have and how much more I can offer. I like to make thing happen. If there is a will, there is a wave. Three cheers!

Besides the management team building. I also take care of ADT department team building. I was also actively involved in TECH Safety promotion program. Additional responsibility to manage the Implant team and also championing the wafer's edge yield improvement QIT. It's a very busy and eventful year. Looking back, I am amazed how much and how far I can be stretched. It's never easy and there is tremendous stress. But I have a lot of fun.

One regret I have for 2010 was missing out the Standard Chartered Marathon run in this December. I registered and paid for it. Trained consistently to build up my stamina. Cutting down my weigh from 76 to current 68kg so that I can ran faster. I am all ready to complete the race and achieve my goal of sub 5 hours. My previous year was 5 hrs and 50mins. But for some reason, I screwed up and forgot to collect my race pack before the race day. It's a silly mistake. One consolation was my success to bring down my weigh. I'm much healthy. For next year, I need to bring down my weigh to 65kg and to complete my race in 4hrs and 30mins. And the preparation will start right now.

For 2011, I look forward to my 2nd year Buddhist study class. It's not a religious class as what other perceived. It's a life lesson. It taught me how to behave and live like a human being. It's strange that with people getting more education and exposure to the internet for tons of information, somehow the graciousness of people is missing. We focus of what I want. How I feel. It's only about I, me and mine. Looking around, many are self centered and selfish. If we could just spare a little thought for everyone, this world will be a little better place for us. The danger of ' I '...

Last but not least, I wish happiness and good health for everyone. My wife Sarah, my daughters, Filomena and Cordelia and my two elderly parents. I always feel very bad that I didn't spend more time with them, especially my lovely and wonderful mother. I'm what I am because of her. I love you ma ma.

Stay hungry. Stay foolish. For 2011, the theme will be 'self enrichment'.