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He could have been in the tower when the plane crashed
but his good karma probably saved him. He forgot to
take out his camera from his hotel room and went back
to get it. This camera could have saved Thorpe!
This close brush with death convinced him that his
relentless pursuit of Olympic immortality was futile
and there were more important things in life. The hallowing
experience made him reassess his priorities and he vowed
not to waste another day, abandoning his quest to replicate
Mark Spitz and splitting with his long time coach Doug
Frost to train under Tracey Menzies, his former high
school art teacher, who encouraged him to explore life
outside the pool. Thorpe took her advice, traveling
the world to mix with the rich and famous and indulging
in his passion for fashion, but his performance began
to suffer. His final appearance was in the Athens Olympic
in which he successfully defended his 400m freestyle
gold, winning the 200m and a bronze in the 100m. He
took a year off to recharge his batteries for a long
road to the Beijing Olympics in 2008 but a combination
of illness and the realization that swimming was no
longer his main priority let him to early retirement
at 24. (Reuters)
On the day after Thorpe’s announcement of his retirement,
ABC Radio’s poll on its website asking listeners whether
they agreed with Thorpe’s decision to retire. They did
– overwhelmingly – with 83% of the 1,184 respondents
saying that they thought Thorpe made the right decision
(AP). The moral of the story is that we need to explore
life outside our main activity, be it a job, business
or profession. In the case of Thorpe, he is a professional
swimmer; swimming is his business, job or profession.
Most of us who are not professional athletes, our job
or business is our main activity. I am a banker, a risk
manager in a bank and work 5 days a week like any other
professionals in their respective jobs. The test of
whether a person has a life outside his / her work or
business is that whether he / she can strike up a casual
conversation without talking shop! Just try to make
this observation the next time you meet someone and
see if they can talk beyond their jobs or business.
To most of us reading this column, chances are running
is already one of your activities outside work. I run
on average 5 mornings a week, 51 weeks in a year covering
about 1,500km and wear out 2 to 3 pairs of shoes in
the process. I do consider running as my core activity
outside my work. It is extremely important to me as
it gives me a balanced life.
Christmas Carols
Last month, my neighborhood Catholic Group initiated
a Christmas Carols singing program for the Christmas
season. The concept and objective was to get the Catholic
families in Subang Jaya SS19 to join the Christmas Carols
and in the process foster better goodwill and also get
to know one another. I must admit that other than my
few immediate neighbors, I hardly know anyone else in
my vicinity, I leave the house before dawn and return
after the sun sets, almost daily. On the first night
of the practice, I stayed out, opting to read newspaper
and watching TV while my family went over to the neighbor’s
house for the practice. Shortly, I got a call from my
wife Clara, told me that they will be happy to have
a harmonica player in the group, in addition to a keyboard,
2 guitars and a violin player. Oh! A great reason for
me to play harmonica again I thought. The bigger benefit
is that this is a wholesome family activity that I can
do with my family and the neighbors. Twice a week we
practiced and we gathered a consistent group of more
than 30 individuals; from the young to the old. While
I am familiar with the more popular Christmas songs,
the commercial ones as I call them, I was quite lost
with the conventional, religious Christmas songs such
as O Holy Night. I equip myself with the C, G and A
key tremello harmonica and manage to play most of the
songs. Those I can’t play, I just sing along.
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| Our group was scheduled
to perform at the Little Sisters of the Poor on
10th December 2006. I was all excited and nostalgic
about the trip as I last visited the place in 2000
before the home was rebuilt in 2003. In 2000 when
I was the newly elected president of PACM, I initiated
a charity run fund raising exercise without organizing
a run. We rode on the Kuala Lumpur International
Marathon 2000. We mobilized 187 PACM members taking
part in the KLIM 2000 plus several members and friends
to help raise funds through a combination of appeal
letters and cash collection cards. The three beneficiaries
were Rumah Ozanam, Little Sisters of the Poor and
National Autistic Society of Malaysia. |
The campaign went for 3 months and it was a great success
for us. We grossed a total of RM106,348.05 and net RM103,822.76
after deducting RM2,525.29 expenses, mainly printing
and postages. Little Sisters of the Poor was given RM30,693.50
while Rumah Ozanam and NASOM got RM34,642.55 and RM28,475.50
respectively. While this amount was small compared to
what the Little Sisters themselves have raised to build
such an impressive home for the aged. Nevertheless,
I felt that I have contributed in some ways. (Reference
– Footloose July/Sept 2000).
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We met at the shops of SS19, Subang Jaya under
the guidance of Joseph, one of the leaders of
the group. Despite the rain, all the 10 cars were
punctual and at 4.05pm, we set of in a convoy
to the Little Sisters of the Poor in Cheras. We
reached there before 5.00pm, still drizzling and
started to set up our equipment which included
a key board, a guitar, a violin and a harmonica.
Of course we have the choir of 35 strong, made
up of adults and children. Shortly before 5.30pm,
the old folks started trotting him, some in wheel
chairs assisted by the sisters. We sang a medley
of songs till we broke off at 6.00pm to allow
the old folks to have their dinner. We joined
them for dinner as well. After the dinner we sang
a few more songs and end the night with some presents
given to the old folks by our in-house Santa Claus.
We went home happy and satisfied that we have
brought cheers to these old folks. We are happy
they are well taken care of by the sisters. This
performance also gave the confidence to the group
that we are ready for the neighborhood session
that we are going to perform on 20th, 21st and
22nd December 2006.
Wan
with the harmonica at ready>>
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The neighborhood sessions for the 3 nights were even
better participated as the group swelled to over 40.
We sang at 18 houses over the 3 nights with each night
ended with a small party at the last house of the night.
The final night was a big party at Richard Lee’s house.
I must compliment the various individuals such as Richard,
Grace, Joseph and a few others who put in lots of effort
to co-ordinate the carolers as well as the families
to allow us to sing at their houses. As SS19 is quite
a large area, the logistics and routing of the houses
is almost like charting a running route with drinks
stations, given the challenge that we have several senior
citizens with us. This Saturday, we are going to have
a pot luck dinner at Richard and Grace’s house to promote
fellowship. I must say as a first time caroler, I enjoyed
myself. I discovered that my second daughter, Rachel
can sing and dance. It was great family time during
the practice sessions and we get to meet several families
in the neighborhood. This is a great example on how
I managed to explore life outside my banking career.
I look forward to the new year adopting a more open
mind on things I may not have done or experience before.
In the meantime, I get back to office for 5 weeks of
work before the Chinese New Year break.
I wish all readers a happy and healthy new year. May
you explore your life outside your mainstream activity
and have lots of fun doing it.
Wan Yew Leong
2 January 2007
wanyewleong@gmail.com
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