The Longest Training Period Yet

When my schedule started on 14th May, boy - was I looking forward to today - the 29th of May! Once 14th May was kicked-off, it was just one event after another that I hardly event had time to reflect and catch up with my spirit. Well today, I am at my favorite spot in the house as I recollect God's faithfulness (and mercy over the past two weeks.

Here's a chronological recounting of the past two weeks as I bring to mind the events which took place:

1. May 14 (Mon) - Day 1 of Leading with Culture workshop with Medi-Life held at Saujana Hotel. Thoroughly enjoyed the hotel as it was surrounded by well-kept landscape plus there was coffee/tea refreshments in the room itself. Ended the day by going for a "dealing with depression" talk at Luther Centre with Wai Bing. The talk was a real disappointment - so much technical jargon and almost no Biblical perspectives.
2. May 15 (Tue) - Day 2 of Leading with Culture. It was the first time that the strengths portion of the program was incorporated into the workshop and it went well. The workshop ended with alignment and clarity for the team.
3. May 16 (Wed) - Ah, this is a lull period before the storm starts. Had a call with Ryan of Baker Tilly International on the upcoming two-hour talk at Colombo, Sri Lanka. Hmm...the topic is on "Collaboration - Now, for tomorrow". Have not done a talk with this angle before. Quite a challenge. The family had lunch with my mom at MediFood Subang - great time of fellowship, plus the fact that my mom is feeling much better now.
4. May 17 (Thu) - The fasting month begins and so is day 1 of Strengths-Based Leadership at Great Eastern Life. Thus far, Great Eastern has been the most loyal strengths client - with this year being the fourth year that the program is running. With 21 participants, it was a lively class - plenty of questions. Had to contend with the "buka puasa" jam on my way back from Jalan Ampang. Requested for an extension to my Haggai presentation submission (which was due mid May) - glad that Prof Arthur agreed for an end of the month submission (which will now occupy me for the next 2-3 days).
5. May 18 (Fri) - Day 2 of Strengths-Based Leadership at Great Eastern. Because of the very many questions asked, had to skip through some content. As a practice, effectively addressing questions is a far better practice than just covering content. Applied for the Sri Lankan visa online - should have applied earlier. Almost did not make it because they require a 24 hour turnaround time. Paid USD35.
6. May 19 (Sat) - Armed with a few AiG magazines, books and DVDs, my wife and I took the 7.35am flight to Miri, Sarawak to conduct a one day Creation Seminar at Fajar International College managed by my former pastor in Glad Tidings PJ - Pastor Tham. Though the turnout was fewer than expected, yet we had a lively interaction. Rushed back to the airport for our 7.35pm flight - only to have it delayed till 8.45pm. No matter, we look forward to home sweet home!
7. May 20 (Sun) - Had to wake up 4.30am so that I can catch my ride back to KLIA2 again - this time it is to Colombo, Sri Lanka. Up till now, the presentation deck for the Baker-Tilly conference had not been prepared yet! So, while on the flight (trying to stay awake - found myself accidentally resting on the shoulder of the guy next to me!), I prepared the "Collaboration" theme deck. Decided to stick to the "Myth-Truth" approach which has worked well in other situations. Completed it before the plane landed :-)
   The Shangri-La at Colombo is a great hotel - facing the seafront. Skipped lunch to internalize the presentation points. When the moment came, thank God for His inspiration and for the insights to link it all back to the Collaboration theme. Had a nice buffet dinner before leaving the hotel at 8pm (local time) for my 10.55pm flight back to KL. Arrived 5.30am KL time on Monday.
8. May 21 (Mon) - Today is another event which I did not have time to prepare for. However, it was the "Goal Setting" module of Haggai - I have done it before but quite a number of years ago. Hence, it was another "trust-the-Holy Spirit-to-provide-the-words-to-say" situation. My task is to deliver two sessions (75 minutes each) starting 4.15pm at the Haggai PJU session at Hotel Armada, PJ. Went there earlier - listened to Stephen Mohan's pluralism talk, and praise God for the connection with the group. In fact, the topic of "Goal Setting" is a precious reminder to how am I doing against my own LPS (Life Purpose Statement).
9. May 22 (Tue) - Session 3 and 4 of "Goal Setting" from 8.30am onwards. Had to leave the home 6.30am in order to beat the traffic jam. It was a connecting experience to have all the participants to post-it their LPS statements next to each other. Rushed for the CDPC Pastors' book study only to discover that the session is cancelled in place of a bowling session! (Did not follow the WhatsApp thread in detail).
10. May 23 (Wed) - Although no training today, it was filled with meetings - 9am (with Victor of Efficient to talk about the Fri-Sat retreat), 11am (with Kennedy at Sunfert), 3pm (with MIDF on the management associate program). Then - the highlight of the day - watching "Avengers - Infinity Wars" at 1U for the 6.10pm show. The family had a sumptuous Egyptian meal at 1U with an informed food tour from Eliza!
11. May 24 (Thu) - Left the house 6.30am for a 8.30am coaching assignment at Coffee Bean, Bangsar Shopping Centre. This was followed by two group coaching sessions at Mercedes-Benz in Puchong from 2.00pm to 4.00pm. This year has been a surge in coaching assignments and I like it. Coaching has a more customized and targeted impact. 
12. May 25 (Fri) - Headed off to Alam Rimba Resort at Janda Baik for the Leading with Culture workshop with the Efficient Group. First time conducted a workshop outside of a room surrounded by nature (and mosquitoes). Am grateful for the open sharing and the commitment of the CEO for alignment to take place. "The problem with leadership is that everyone is a leader, the problem is not the lack of leadership but the lack of alignment".
13. May 26 (Sat)  - Day 2 of Leading with Culture at Alam Rimba. Went well except that squeezing in Strengths portion at the end was quite a haste. With a retreat setting (due to travelling time), strengths should not be included in a future program like this. However, thank God that the session went well and even had an opportunity to pray with the CEO as well. May the Lord guide me to connect beyond just a professional level. Started to rain a bit at the end - got a little bit wet - maybe that was when the sniffle started happening.
    Oh yes, there was the 7.30pm worship team gathering at my place this day as well - so, it wasn't until later in the night when I can catch a breather. Started sneezing profusely.
14. May 27 (Sun) - Ah, day of rest. Not really - had to facilitate the Christianity Explored session (with a toilet roll nearby for my sniffles). After Eliza had her screen protector installed, we rested at home for a while before heading to Sunway Pyramid Shopping Centre for Eliza to meet up with her friends while the three of us went for a hot bowl of Ramen. My nose not improving. Feeling down..yet have a challenging session at KWAP the next day to produce behavioral standards from their core values. Am thankful for my wife who loaded me with plenty of natural supplements - that helped to keep the sickness at bay.
15. May 28 (Mon) - This Leading with Culture one day session (specially customized to link KWAP seven core values to behavioral standards) was an outcome of many meetings held with the HR team but never had a chance to touch base with the CEO. So, in this rare instance, I am actually meeting the C-suite for the first time! (usually, I would have had one on one C interviews before the workshop). Also there was the challenge to end the workshop by 3pm and yet produce 21 behavioral statements! Thankful for Lego Serious Play which kept everyone sufficiently engaged. My sniffles disappeared during the workshop and came back only after the workshop is over. Grateful for the strength that comes from the Lord! Driving home later - I am amazed - this marathon stint is finally over! The Lord is Faithful. Great is Thy Faithfulness! Amen.

First time in Sri Lanka

Touched down - 20 May aro 9.30am local time. This came back to back from a week of conducting 5 days worth of training - so, tired and exciting at the same time. Just finished preparing the deck for the 2-hour "Collaboration" presentation at the client's regional conference. Here's my Shangri-La concierge meet up person.

Moving through the streets of Colombo - you will not miss their 3-wheeler taxis - known as "Tuk Tuk" - similar to what you would find in Thailand. I find it so unique to be seeing majority of Indians who are Buddhists. Signboards are in 3 languages - Singhalese, Tamil & English.

With close to 100 participants at this conference, I was rather nervous as to how my presentation can connect with their Collaborative theme of "Now, for tomorrow". My struggle has always been to ensure that I do not "over-prepare" and over-rely on my notes. Guess this is God's way of keeping me humble and in step with the Holy Spirit so that my confidence and security lies in His wisdom and insight and not mine.

This is the look of relief when it was finally over! Whew! Skipped lunch while preparing for the talk - gobbled down 4 small slices of cheese cake to make up for it after the presentation.

View from my Shangri-La hotel room on the 21st floor. This is a ocean-facing property less than a year old. Most properties here are constructed by Chinese companies. Look similar to what is happening in Iskandar region in Johor.

Our Patriotic Contribution

We woke up at 5.30am today - all eager to vote in Malaysia's 14th General Election (GE14). We are certainly glad that we did that because by the time we reached Bandar Utama by 7.30am, there was already a long queue waiting. This general election is a clash of the titans between caretaker prime minister Najib and our longest serving ex-premier Mahatir. We eagerly await the results (in about 7 hours time..). Despite the obvious obstacle placed by the incumbent in having the polling day on Wednesday this 9th May, looks like people are even more motivated to turn up - both young and old.

We joyfully completed our first ever duty as PACA officials (Polling Agent Counting Agents). Our focus was on the polling part - at a Chinese school in Wangsa Maju. Our shift was from 12pm-2pm - Felt like a school exam invigilator cum ISO auditor as I eye-balled every action of the voters and also the election officials. Felt satisfied that I had the courage to raise an objection plus sought clarification on the nature of certain spoiled votes. Strolling into the school with the tag gave me such an air of authority - even the policeman waved me in :-)

The indelible ink mark from our morning voting - it got darker as the day passed by! It was so much fun doing it together with my wife. It has been a very fruitful day indeed, serving the nation and being with my wife and the simple fact of doing something worthwhile together!

Here we are we our Ketua PACA - Sook Ching. Appreciate her commitment! Certainly, we are encouraged by the contribution of many the unpaid volunteers - compared with the other political parties who actually pay their helpers. We almost did not make it on the PACA list because our earlier sign-up was turned down due to overwhelming response in areas where we wanted to serve in. Grateful to Chee Keong for referring us on to Sook Ching. Though apprehensive in the beginning, we certainly not are truly and fully satisfied! We now eagerly await the outcome.....

Next stop: Shopping for fresh meat from a shop near our home which decided to reward voters for the day! So voting does have its privileges!

                             

Our whole family got involved in the countdown - or rather countup - as we watched with anticipation as the numbers start streaming in over the internet. Although Eunice had class happening at the same time, I regularly ran into the room announcing the numbers of parlimentary seats won between Barisan National (BH) and Pakatan Harapan (PH). As the numbers came trickling in, our hearts rose and fall in hope and disappointment as the lead was taken and lost in a dynamic way. Poor Eunice, she could only last so long :-)

                                             

By around 2.00am or so, although the Elections Commission (EC) was still delaying the announcement of the official results it is clear from the unofficial tallying and also the sentiment on the ground that Pakatan Harapan under Tun Mahatir has crossed the simple majority of 112 seats (out of a total of 222 palimentary seats available). This is indeed a cause for rejoicing!

Epilogue: By the time the morning after (10 May) - it is clear justice has overcame corruption and the voice and the vote of the Rakyat has prevailed. Ini Kali-Lah! The Lord has His timing and His way of working things out for His glory for Malaysia.

May Day, May Day!

It was a wonderful 1st May, Labor Day public holiday today as we took time to celebrate (and learn) from Eliza's recent four month Intercultural Studies in the Middle East covering the countries of Jordan, Egypt and Morocco. Not only did Eliza prepare the special-themed lunch but she also prepared a special presentation to summarize her experiences there. Also learnt a few common Arabic words! 

Eliza even got us involved as a family to do the Cultural Assessment and we discover that even as a family, we have diverse micro-culture in terms of the way we think, feel and behave!