If you have ever wondered why traffic lights don’t usually mean as what you would have expected in your country, this image here could help you understand the REAL meaning of these colours when it comes to things in Thailand:
Source: Twitter
January 27, 2014
The tally that did not matter
Category: Corporate Stories
This piece of paper may just contain a bunch of names with number tally that look random and insignificant, but to me, this very piece of paper signifies something much more meaningful than I could or would ever imagine.
You see, there is a little story to this:-
Recently, I ran a team workshop and without being given a heads-up, our CEO not only turned up for our very first team workshop bright and early, he also came armed with a Samsung 10.1 Tablet which he intended to give away to the most deserving individual in the team. Of course, all of the announcements were done in Thai in between little pauses and change-overs of speakers, and I had absolutely no clue – firstly that he actually wanted to give away a tablet, and secondly, I was completely oblivious of how he had intended to give the item away. Then at a certain point of the day and in between group break-out sessions, I was told that I had to anonymously nominate a person in the team whom I thought would be deserving of the tablet, and that I would be more than welcome to nominate myself if I really wanted to.
It didn’t take me to long to think, and within 30 seconds, I had a name in mind (not mine!) and dropped my nominee into the secret pile. My CEO and his assistant then got busy tallying the vote as I continued to facilitate the session.
Slightly before lunch, my CEO approached me and asked if I wanted the tablet. I told him honestly that I really did not care for it. He then revealed that I actually got the most votes and by that virtue, would I take the tablet?
WHAT?!
I was floored. It was something I would not have expected in a million years and there and then, I had thought that taking it would not feel right and most certainly, I was not the “most deserving.” He then asked me what would I do? It was an easy decision; I told him to give it to the 2nd most voted name.
Before we broke for lunch, he then announced the most voted name (me) , spoke a little bit more in Thai followed by a round of applause and then presented the tablet to the 2nd most voted person. She jumped for such joy!
I think that neither he nor me expected such results.I certainly did not feel right to claim rightful ownership to the tablet and I was more shocked than anyone else by the unexpected results. My heart swelled a million times and I feel so honoured to know that even though they have only been working with me for such a short time, they somehow felt that I deserved it more than anyone else. (or maybe they JUST knew that I would not keep it for myself, and so voted for me in the hope that I would give it away! Or maybe it was just a test). The feeling was indescribable.
The final tally did not matter. That piece of paper, however, said a lot. A lot more than I could have ever anticipated in this lifetime. I am more than humbled. That had meant a lot to me and I just had to snap a picture of it to remind myself that it was real.Seeing it still makes me smile.
It was indeed a very good start to the year.
January 26, 2014
Spud going solo
Category: Critter Stories
At the age of 3 years and 6 months, Spud has gone solo as we enrolled her into a no-parent swimming class earlier this month.
Spud usually is very excited when she gets into the pool for her class and in the recent months, we found ourselves being constantly pushed away as she tells us confidently that she can swim by herself, thereby refusing any help or physical contact from us.She has seemed more than ready and, I actually didn’t think that it was a big deal for her to finally swim solo. If anything, I was the one who had felt quite sad on her very last lesson as I was the accompanying parent in her last swimming-with-parent-class.
In fact, Spud has seemed quite excited when we told her that she no longer will need to swim with Mama and Papa as she is a big girl now. She has been all accepting as we prepped her up on that for weeks on end. That being said, I really did not expect much drama at all.
Boy! I could not be more wrong.
She started getting jittery of not wanting to swim on her own when the day came. When we got to the pool, she had a little melt-down and for 10 minutes or so, had refused to get into the pool and do whatever her swimming teacher instructed her to do. It took a lot of patience and cajoling to finally get her into the water and she agreed to get in only when I told her that I would sit on the edge of the pool with my feet dangling in the water. Even then, it took a good 15-20 minute or so before she finally calmed down and broke into a smile.
Of course that just as she started to find joy in swimming on her own, her time was up and she refused to get out of the water. It then took me another 5 minutes to convince her to get out of the water. How typical.
I almost didn’t realize what a big milestone that was for a 3 year old. And really, for a 3.5 year old toddler, swimming on her own for the first time can be just a tad too scary and intimidating! Actually, not only was it a big milestone for her, it also reflected a bigger milestone for us parents in realizing that our first-born is now tip-toeing in the world of independence; one of the initial stage that signifies to us parents that it was time to slowly “let go”.
Thankfully, her second lesson was a breeze. The moment she got into the pool, she jumped around like a monkey high on sugar! It was quite heartening to see my little girl now learning one of the most important life-skills and put her in the hands of a very qualified, quirky but energetic swimming instructor.
Ahh! I am a proud mama indeed.