6 years on...

The late Ong Teng Chong passed away on 8th February 2002 and 6 years have passed since then. He has always been someone that I look up to, a role-model of sorts, even though I do not know him personally;but by piecing together the articles written about him, I think I might.

I wrote an article on him back in 2006 (Perhaps it was cut & paste from somewhere cos the article really was quite well written, IMHO. link : http://chroniclesbinks.blogspot.com/2006/05/great-man-to-remember.html ) but that was a long time ago. 6 years to be exact.

6 years on, things have changed. The world have moved on. The environment changed. The people changed. So has the motive.

Yet, this man, unknowingly and very strangely remain etched in my memory, occasionally resurfacing when I delve into the narcosis of things related to Singapore. Despite the fact that I have changed over the course of the years.

I am no longer that vocal, no longer that critical and very much mellowed in my expressions. And in the way I express them. Thoughts that once flowed no longer have the luxury of freedom but exists freely only within the confides of my inner self.

The change is not a resignation to fate, but the realisation of a greater truth, the lesser of two evils, that prompted a change of strategy. In layman terms; to adapt and suit the situation.

The passing of Ong Teng Chong represents the end of an era. And the beginning of another. I remember him not for his legacy, but him as a person. To the me of 6 years ago, he was the epitome of everything fair, impartial yet kind; a people's President. You may not agree but at least a common point can be established when I say that his heart is for his people: the people who had elected him President back in 1993.

Ad honorem.

"Love is a choice, not merely a feeling. It is a journey, not merely a collection of promises made in the heat of passion. Indeed, to experience true love, one must learn to let go of that which is fleeting and transient, and embrace the higher infinite."

Sometimes I wish I can be in the arms of an angel....

A week-point-five in summary

Amazing Race Asia 2 Press event at Forbidden City. Drank ONLY coke. Met Joanna there. Small world.

Behind the scene on the photoshoot for Oneshift.com. 40 mins rush work under the hot setting sun.

The UFO has landed on Istana! Food by Maritus Hotel? So-so.

My poor steakii stayed up with me throughout the night to complete an important presentation (yeah right!) . She was so tired that by 4.30am, she plonked right on the keyboard and zzzz.

Behind the scene in the upcoming compario article "S-MAX vs Previa". We concluded that, well, we liked one more than the other. Just which one? Wait for the article!

A Flower Story

In a garden where various types of flowers bloom, there grew this peculiar little flower. A flower unlike other flowers that grows in the garden. A little flower that will never be seen by others as how flowers ought to be - pretty.

No higher than 5 centimeters, this little 6 petal flower has a different color to each of it's petals. Blue, red, green, yellow, orange and black petal make up this peculiar little flower.

So, amongst the pretty pink, bright yellow and cheerful orange, this little peculiar flower do stand out. In a bad kind of way.

Because it grew in a prejudiced environment, the other flowers feel justified to label this "abomination of a flower" as an ugly looking misfit, like how a dodo bird will never be acknowledged by other flying birds as being part of them, if you get what I meant. And visitors to the garden seem to reinforce that fact. No one admired the peculiar little flower. Not a single soul. In fact, most of them will either walk past the little peculiar flower, or throw a cursory glance at it before turning away with a look of disgust on their face.

But the little peculiar flower never stop believing. And it held on to that belief, no matter how tough the going is - other flowers get extra doses of delicious fertilizers to keep their color fresh. Some get extra douses of water to keep their leaves looking green and healthy. Yet the little peculiar flower only gets water from the morning dew and the occasional treats from passing birds. Life sure is tough for this little peculiar flower.

But it never stopped believing.

It never stop believing that it is the most beautiful flower in the garden. It never stop believing that it is a special flower - Because it is the only flower with 6 different colors for it's petals. It must be special.

Such is the spirit of this 6 petal flower. But how long can 'believe' last? Just how long?

In an environment that constantly erodes that believe - like how waves continuously pound on the rock to break it apart - it is only a matter of time before all that believe breaks away too.

You can never stop the pounding tide. Never.

And so, as the days went by, the little peculiar flower, devoid of proper nutrients, food and support, began to falter, wither and fade into obscurity.

Never to be seen. Never to be missed.

Time has stopped for this poor little peculiar flower that suffered much. But the world still go on...never to notice that another suffering soul has come to pass.