Running another Half-Marathon

I participated in the Sundown Half-Marathon 2010 yesterday.

The experience of getting to the Sundown half-marathon start point (near Changi exhibition Centre) was quite an uphill one. The reason was alongside with many other participants, we went to Pasir Ris MRT to wait for the 5 – 10 minutes interval $1 per trip shuttle bus to start point. Despite being at the Pasir Ris MRT Shuttle Bus queue at about 7.30pm, many of us in the queue waited till 9.30pm (past the 9pm half marathon start time) only to be told that the next shuttle bus service would only commence at 10pm.

At 9.30pm the mood in the queue was tense and several participants displayed their displeasure and complained to the Sundown volunteers donning bright red shirts, with the way how the organizers failed in their lack of adequate planning by chartering more buses. After all, participants were advised as per the Sundown participants’ information booklet to make use of the paid shuttle buses between Pasir Ris MRT station and the race site.

The rather helpless Sundown volunteers explained that the Shuttle buses’ drivers have been driving non-stop since 4.30pm and hence had to have their break. At that moment (at approximately 9.35pm), a shuttle bus appeared and we were told that we can all board up the shuttle bus. A friendly but obviously tired looking shuttle bus driver greeted us as we boarded (Many of us thanked the bus driver).

Subsequently we were told by the Sundown volunteers that that bus will take us up to a certain point, approximately 4.5 km away from the race site, instead of all the way, as the half marathon has started and the road to the race site had been blocked. However the relatively more positive news was that half marathon participants will be allowed to commence their run at 12 midnight alongside the full marathon participants. More grumblings were overheard at that moment…

Upon reaching the drop off point (at approximately 10pm), a Sundown volunteer explained that there were two means to reach the race site: Either to walk the 4.5 km or to wait for the road blockage to be lifted and another bus will ferry us there. I opted for the later, given the fact that I will have another 2 hours to burn prior to the start of the run. The wait in that bus took us another 30 minutes, murmurings of refund, future boycott and complaints were overheard.

Finally the bus started moving and the participants on board the bus reached race at approximately 10.45pm. To my pleasant surprise, the Sundown volunteers at the start off point allowed us to start the run instead of waiting for the 12 midnight Gun-off time alongside the 42km participants. I quickly did my warm up exercises (actually I had been rather warmed up because I have been on my feet since 7.45pm!) and commenced the jog.

Night jogging at can be a very good experience, this is especially so when the night sky was relatively clear and an almost full moon in sight. Also due to my late start off time, my jogging lane was relatively clear. Coupled with the stillness of the night, only broken by the occasional rumblings of engines of airplanes about to take off from the Changi Aviation Centre’s runways, night running can be quite a joy!

I jogged steadily, enjoying each pace and breathing each lungful of air with pure gee. Occasionally I will display a thumb up sign to encourage some participant I chanced along the way. To keep my pace, I hymned a Sunday school hyme (Jesus loves me this I know) and look forward to each hydration station, approximately 2km apart.

Unlike the Standardchartered half marathon I ran in December 2010, this time round, I did not experience any cramps in my calves’ muscles. However I started to experience fatigue starting from the 17km mark onwards. Due to both psychological and physical fatigue, my jog turned into walks at certain parts of the 18 and 19km sketches. It seemed that final sketches will always be the toughest! After crossing the 20km mark, I resolved to press on but maintained a much slower jogging pace.

However my jogging pace for the final 700 meters picked up (especially when I could see for myself that the end was near) As such it was a indeed a great sense of mind-over-body type of feeling as I crossed the finishing line. I glanced at my stop watch which read *#2 hours 2 minutes (not too sure of its accuracy) Despite my jog’s timing being an average timing, however to me it was already a very good jog. After all, isn’t it that the entire process (run) is equally important, if not more important than the final destination (end point) isn’t it? - Of course this should not be applicable during IPPTs’ 2.4km runs ;)

Organized runs can be meaningful, fun and relatively affordable. As such I encourage each of us to consider putting on your running shoes, start your self training, so that you can be a part of future organized runs. The next stop for mass organized marathon runs would be 5th December 2010, personally I am contemplating about registering for the 42km full marathon...Care to join me?

*Official Net Time will be available electronically for download - 12 hours after the cut off time for the 84km ultra marathon.

#It was brought to my attention that the route which I ran was actually not 21km but 18km instead. I wrote to the organizers to clarify this. The organizers replied me on the 7th June 2010 and gave me a satisfactory explanation regarding the reasons which resulted in the reduced distance of 17.8km instead of 21km. The net timing on my to-be-issued official certificate will reflect these accordingly.

Was it Our Wrong Impression or Their Strategic Retreat?

I refer CNA report’ Mother Tongue Weighting for PSLE to Remain’ (11th May 2010)

In a press conference earlier today, PM Lee clarified that Mother Tongue Weighting will not be reduced at the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE). Instead it will be taught in a new way to cater to differing abilities and to meet the dynamic needs of the student population.

Minister Ng Education Minister Ng Eng Hen explained: "In my interview, I said MOE was looking at options to address the overemphasis on exams, where 'MTL counts for so much in the PSLE. Singaporeans became concerned that MOE was proposing to reduce the weighting of MTL in PSLE. This is not the case. I think I should have chosen my words more carefully and apologise for creating the wrong impression."

Singaporeans will find it hard to comprehend Minister Ng’s explanation that he should have chosen his words more carefully. Was Minister Ng suggesting that all 2500 Singaporeans (including myself) who went down to Hong Lim Park last Sunday to sign the petition had misunderstood his original comments?

Singaporeans may wish to refer to the below extract dated 22nd April 2010 posted by REACH’s official Administrator titled ‘Review of weighting given to Mother Tongue in PSLE’:

“At a recent interview with the media, Education Minister Ng Eng Hen shared that his Ministry is studying the possibility of reducing the weighting given to mother tongue languages in the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE). Currently, mother tongue languages carry equal weightage of 25 per cent as the other three examinable subjects, English, Mathematics and Science. The combined aggregate score is used for admission into secondary school.”

It seems that the choice of Minister Ng’s original words were so confusing that even its fellow governmental run feedback mechanism perpetuated a wrong impression to fellow Singaporeans. For a fuller extract of Minister Ng’s original comments, please click here.

Then again perhaps it was just case of confusion & misreporting by ALL reporters from our major dailies. Or perhaps it is a case of their political retreat, in the hope that the wrath of Singaporeans will not be incurred upon themselves come this General Elections?

At the end of the day, whether was it our wrong impression or their strategic retreat, I am truly relieved that the weightage for Mother Tongue PSLE score is to remain after all. This rare strategic retreat by them is a political victory for all Singaporeans.

News Link:
Mother Tongue Weighting for PSLE to Remain (CNA Report, 11th May 2010)

Petition: Not to Reduce Weightage of Mother Tongue Score in PSLE (II)

I oppose the lowering of the weightage of mother tongue score in PSLE Exam.

Personally I was a 2 A's' (English & Chinese) & 2 'A*' (Maths & Science) PSLE student. In other words both my languages supposedly were of the same base.

However due to the relative importance placed on English language for subsequent Secondary/ JC/ University levels (all modules were taught via English - except CL2), my mother tongue ability has been severely eroded since PSLE.

As such I am really concerned, I being a product of bilingualism in Singapore's educational progress - my mother tongue is already so 'cannot make it' (This is especially true in the case for higher level articulation).

Therefore I cannot imagine what will happen if we are to reduce the weightage of mother tongue? Two 'wrongs' cannot make One 'right'. Furthermore what are the signals we are sending to our next generation?

For this concern alone - it was sufficient for me to sign the petition against the lowering of weightage of mother tongue score in PSLE.

On the Early Announcement of Electoral Candidates

联合晚报 (Lian He Wan Bao) interviewed me yesterday regarding Reform Party’s decision to announce its electoral candidates over this weekend.

I responded that there is nothing for me to comment about as each political party has its own organizational practices and hence different strategic approaches.

The reporter asked me if WP will be announcing WP would-be candidates anytime soon. I responded that the public will know the full slate of WP candidates come nomination day. At the same time, I added that WP does not rule out the possibility of earlier announcement if the need arises.

I revealed that the more important issue is, the day-to-day organizational preparations, regardless of GE or not.

Petition: Not to Reduce Weightage of Mother Tongue Score in PSLE

The below twitter message is from the twitter account of a ZaoBao journalist.

RT @yapphenghui: 刚收到短信：亲爱的朋友，为了呼吁教育部不要减低小六会考母语分数的比重，敬请大家于本星期天5月9日傍晚5至7点在芳林公园聚会签名。同时盼望大家代为传发本简讯。谢谢。

Translation: Just received SMS: Dear Friends, in order to persuade the MOE not to reduce weightage of the score for Mother Tongue in PSLE, please gather at Hong Lim Park on this Sunday (9 May) between 5pm to 7pm to sign a petition. At the same time, hope you will help to resend this SMS. Thanks.

This issue is a major concern for Singaporeans who grew up before and those under the bi-lingual education system. As such it certainly concerns not just the present but more importantly that of our society's future.

Let’s do something about it. Do circulate this message amongst your friends and encourage them to sign the petition.

Do Your Part For Singapore

Are things really improving? This is a question that fellow Singaporeans ask almost every day. To give a precise response to it, it is crucial for Singaporeans to remind ourselves of where Singapore was merely 12 months ago and the situation that Singaporeans are facing now.

This time last year Singaporeans were facing the depths of the recession with many manufacturers slowing down their output, businesses justifying redundancies and in some cases, ceasing to exist at all. The environment then made it a hugely difficult landscape for all those looking to move forward in their career.

Optimistic Indicators

How far have Singaporeans come since then? Well there are certainly a number of signs that seemingly point to a greater degree of optimism ahead. For instance:

[1] The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey results for the second quarter of 2010 released by Manpower Staffing Services (Singapore), employers in Singapore report healthy hiring intentions in 2nd Quarter 2010. With 28% of employers forecasting an increase in headcount, 4% predicting a decrease and 67% expecting no change, the Net Employment Outlook is an optimistic +24%.

[2] The Ministry of Education website figures posted on 5th April 2010 showed that 92.2% of students who graduated from the three local universities last year found jobs within six months of graduation.

[3] The Ministry of Manpower revealed on 26th April 2010 that CPF records showed that 52% of residents laid off in the third quarter of 2009 were re-employed as at December of the year. This re-employment rate (within six months after redundancy) was up slightly from 51% in September 2009, after improving from the low of 43% in June 2009.

Given such relative optimism, it is not surprising that the National Trades Union Congress secretary-general, who also sits in the Cabinet as a Minister without Portfolio Lim Swee Say called for the partial restoration of the employers' Central Provident Fund (CPF) contribution rate.

Supporting Continuous Innovation

Despite the above, fellow Singaporeans ought to remain vigilant. This is because injecting resources into the system – whether through the financing of job credit scheme or stimulus funds – is a short-term fix to keep the economic engines moving. Of course that’s a crucial part of economic recovery. However keeping engines moving isn’t quite the same as keeping them moving most optimally.

In the long term, the only way to keep creating enough jobs for the economy is not just about enhancing productivity, but that of supporting continuous innovation. [4] For instance over in the USA, at the University of Texas, the nonprofit Austin Technology Incubator houses fledging firms, plying them with business-plan advise, contact with financiers and lots of coffee over which to share ideas and lots of coffee over which to share ideas and solve problems. The incubator’s 20-year record: more than 200 companies and thousands of jobs created.

In short, new companies are the key to job growth. As Singapore’s economy moves, continuous innovation must be supported. This dire need for innovation and business incubators isn’t just good for Small & Medium Enterprises to desire upon but more strategically for the incumbent ruling party to take concrete steps to facilitate upon.

Systematically Re-equipping Singaporeans

[5] In Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong’s May Day message, he called upon workers to take personal responsibility of their own performance and productivity, such that workers have to continue to go for training and upgrading so that they will be able to seize the new opportunities that emerge.

On the other hand, the issue here is not merely about taking personal responsibility and providing platforms for people to upgrade their skills and earn certifications via a variety of schemes, such as Workfare Income Supplement (WIS), Workfare Training Scheme (WTS) Continuing Education and Training (CET) to train and upgrade current skills.

More importantly, the incumbent ruling party must take governmental responsibilities to ensure that these training and upgrading schemes include the elements and benefits of a systematic approach to make sure that Singaporeans indeed have the right skills to match what companies need and vice-versa.

Tripartite Isn’t a Magic Pill

[6] According to John De Payva, President of the National Trades Union Congress, 'We were able to upturn the downturn by cutting cost and saving jobs. And because of our strong tripartite efforts, we managed to avoid record retrenchment and help workers who lost their jobs to find employment.'

It is certainly understandable for the NTUC to adopt such self-justifying and congratulatory posturing. Yet it is prudent for the incumbent ruling party and the NTUC to be reminded of the multi-fold sacrifices made by Singaporean workers during this period, with laid-offs, pay-cuts and many Singaporeans are still finding difficulties to be reintegrated back into the workforce.

Given the inherent contradictions of objectives of a top down tripartite collaboration amongst the Government, employers and a pro-government labour union, this is sure to be a long term recipe for potential compromises for the Singaporean worker.

Therefore Singaporeans must continue to do our part to build up a credible political alternative – specifically by voting in more Workers’ Party candidates into Parliament to keep pressuring the incumbent party so that Singaporeans’ privileges and opportunities will not be compromised in the midst of a top down tripartite collaboration amongst the government, employers and a pro-government labour union.

As such, why not do your part for Singapore? If you are not sure how to go about doing so, please email me at yawsl@wp.sg :)

Links:

[1] Manpower Employment Outlook Survey
[2] CNA report on Ministry of Education website figures
[3] Ministry of Manpower Report
[4]Article on the nonprofit Austin Technology Incubator
[5] ST report on Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong’s May Day 2010 message
[6]BT News Report