Appreciation Letter from Singapore’s Oldest Marathoner

This letter is from Mr Kor Hong Fatt. I share this with you, to recognize him for his achievement, as well as those who support masters-level athletes.

'Many thanks to Kannan and the Organizing Committee for the Trophy Award! I was the only entrant and finisher in the 3,000m run in the 80-84 category of the 33rd Annual Masters Athletics 2012 with a time of 18:32:39 (subject to race officials' verification).

When the announcer called out my name as a recipient of the Trophy Award, I was extremely surprised. I never would have dreamed of receiving this prize at such an advanced age. It is truly encouraging and it has motivated me to commit more in Track and Field competitive events in the coming years.

This was my first attempt at running in a T&F competitive event and also the very first time in my entire 80 years of life, that I have ever received a trophy. Recently, I had an email interview with the Run Society entitled 'Never Stop Pushing the Limit' which has received an overwhelming response and support from the browsers since it went online on 2nd July 2012 and is still continuously receiving Likes and Comments on Facebook.

I received the highest number of votes of 324 Likes among the interviewers interviewed by the Run Society.

For Your Information, please visit www.runsociety.com and search for "Interviews Category" and scroll down to 'An Interview with Kor Hong Fatt' - You will know why I started running at a relatively age of 71.

Dear Runners and friends, I need continuous Likes and Shares; If you think that I deserve your support, please click on the Like button on my article page. I would be very grateful if you would help me to spread the message to your friends and colleagues for their support. I am Singapore's oldest Boston Marathon finisher at age 79.

Thank You.

Warm Regards,

Kor Hong Fatt'

Expanding Your Thinking Outside the Blogosphere

I have been enjoying my online time with friends via Twitter and Facebook. There is much to be gleaned from the postings, be it links to websites, blogs, music and film trailers. In recent weeks, the amount of humour has also increased and there is certainly room for laughter at every moment.

I also identified leaders within our midst. They have started discussions; focused on safety, care for the environment, fair play and values. If you are willing, you can begin reading and make the connection. Sometimes you agree; other times, you disagree. Sometimes, you just enjoy the arguments and proposals. We have choices. Make good decisions to write, make better decisions to post. Sometimes it would be better to read and lurk, than post and regret.

New media (or Social Media 2.0) can be a powerful tool to educate, eradicate and entertain. However, like a double-edge sword this electronic pen can be mightier than the digital sword. Be upset, and you can upset others with a few deft strokes on your keyboard. Nothing is sacred for discussion. Dirty laundry gets aired, and gets dirtier on a colossal scale; digital imprints are left over this universe of information and infamy.

Think before you hit the ‘return’ key. Make sure you check before you post for inappropriate content and tone. Ensure there is a delete function so that you can make corrections rapidly. Be a responsible Netizen. With great bandwidth (and applications) comes greater responsibility.

Expand your consciousness of thinking and connecting, not your notoriety.

The Next Big Hit

I am not referring to a musical hit, but rather the next physical challenge I will be taking on Sunday. The Newton 30K/18K Run will be held at the Big Splash. It will be my last big hit at the punch-bag of preparatory races before the Big Dance on 4 December in Singapore.

Just two Saturdays ago, I raced in the TNF100 Duo, and am still recovering from it. I am experiencing symptoms of a cough, as my throat has been scratchy after four days of teaching workshops. I managed at last night’s post-rain 10.5K tempo run, to hold a 4:50-4:55 minute per kilometre pace. Hopefully, this was a positive sign of better things to come. My training for IM New Zealand has begun; I rode a moderate 75K in the rain and shine on Wednesday, so am done for the week until Sunday’s burst of mid-foot/forefoot speed. My mobile-phone took a soaking and it is now dead as a door-knob.

Wilson Ang will be one of the posted sentries at the mileage tent at car park C4. Together with a team of our friends, he has offered to release nutritional support aids we would leave him with on Sunday morning. He posted this reminder on Facebook for our team of runners from Monday Tri Swim:

‘We are located at C4 car park after McDonalds. We will pick up special needs bag from the start-point at 6.30-6.45am. Kindly label your special needs bag with your name, and I can be contacted on that day. Cold mist-spray, banana, cold water, deep heat (while stocks last) are provided at the aid station...come smile, take a photo and chill for a break before the second loop or your last final leg!’

With such assurances, how can we runners not do well? Thanks, Angster for your generosity. Fingers crossed for a splendid and safe race!

Photo-credit: Jacky Lee

How Are You Really Connected Beyond Social Media 2.0?

A social network is a social structure made up of individuals (or organizations) called "nodes", which are tied (connected) by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige. ~ Wikipedia

Let’s keep in touch! I’ll call you. Facebook me! How often do we seriously keep in touch with our network of relationships?

Maintaining our relationships (at last count) can be a complex task that consumes much of our waking hours. However, if you want to sustain your personal and professional relationships, then you will need to decide on a system of managing and, subsequently, leading these people-orientated connections. As I have reiterated, we need to go beyond management and into the realm of leading in every relationship.

Lead, or be led. Be led, and misled.

We have a myriad of choices for connection, however we may be confused by which tools/applications are more useful and relevant for us. Too many apps on your iPhone may not be smart if some of these serve no primary function except to grace your glossy screen on your ‘mobile entertainment and communication system’. We may ‘communicate’ but do we actually engage in actual conversations, between our noses rather than between the screens.

Social psychology has led us to study human conversations, which have seemingly shifted from personal conversations to personalised communication. We possess personal computing and the like, and now it has shifted (I would not dare say evolved or progressed) to another platform. Observe the number of zombie-like behaviors in public transport, bereft of eye contact and basic politeness. The useful feature of personal communication is that people tend to slow their walking pace, becoming human obstacles during peak-hour, human traffic. We may be, unconsciously, voyeuristic in studying what people do, or even (if we are ever so lucky) be unaware of being stalked by others. Social media is definitely not for the paranoid and purposefully private, but great for the exhibitionist – if you catch my drift.

I am watching The Social Network (screenplay brilliantly written by West Wing co-writer, Aaron Sorkin), which is essentially the story about the co-founders of Facebook and their tumultuous relationships. Facebook has become a global social phenomenon. In one startling scene where Mark Zuckerberg is checking news on Bosnia, a young female lawyer exclaims: ‘There are no roads in Bosnia, but there is Facebook?’ Tributes poured in from the tribes of Apple users, when it was announced that Steve Jobs passed away. That summarises the impact of social media on us.

If one online medium or portal does not meet your needs, discard it. There are too many applications that may not serve our long-term needs. Instead of managing a stable of such relatively under-utilised resources, restrict your attention to them. Be conservative, and conserve your energies and enthusiasm for the mundane. If you connect with your tribe on one medium actively, then stay steadfast and true to one that delivers the most return on your investment. There is not clout in being cloudy in your thinking. Cloud computing will only channel you towards your confusion.

Now, back to where we were earlier: How do you purposefully connect with others? How do you enhance and value each connection?

Seriously Keeping In Touch With Your Team

I have been reviewing my use of Social Media 2.0 and have made some recent and salient observations. These are:

1)    Twitter is more immediate and forgettable, so unless you repost your tweets somebody has to access your tweets by accessing your homepage. The multiple and enthusiastic postings of friends in your community can be overwhelming, especially if they are Internet marketers. It is so easy to scroll over the many quotations and links.

2)    Facebook reminds us of friend’s birthdays and to connect with them – this is useful, unless you have 1,000 friends that you don’t really know well. It is useful to filter through your ‘fan club’; you may want consider de-listing inactive accounts. I never enjoyed the APPS. Now that Hotmail has integrated Facebook reminders, it has been useful to track your series of feed forward/fedback.

3)    Blogs are useful journal entries until they become a medium of self-indulgence, especially if you are upset by bad service or disappointments. I enjoy reading my friends’ activities and expert thoughts.

4)    Skype is useful as a business and social tool only if you activate it while you are online. It is great for private coaching and business discussions – more face-to-face communication.

5)    Chats and instant messaging functions are akin to ‘real-time’ text-messages; it would be more useful to call the local person if you have to text incessantly over a major discussion.

Regardless of your communication preferences, do make a committed effort to maintain the relationships you have initiated. There is an investment – intellectual and emotional – for each of our human connections. Ensure that your connectivity is current, contemporary and consistent despite the fact that things in life, invariably, crop up at times of inconvenience. Ignoring a request is like calling your own bluff. For a team leader, these tools are essential to staying in close touch with your members. You can acknowledge them, praise them, and reassure them in one fell swoop/technology. Your members are your most precious members of your tribe.

Yesterday, I put a deposit down for my new triathlon bicycle. I elected to have one customized made bike by Elite Bicycles. I interviewed David Greenfield a few months ago, and had my road-bike custom-fitted by him. That positive experience led to my strong recommendation to other cyclists and triathletes and I am glad to report my friends are pleased for it. They are riding comfortably and with strength and purpose after their visit to Elite Bicycles Asia at 3 Duxton Hill, Singapore.

I take my recommendations seriously; people can act on your advice, so I have refrained from giving it. Recommendations are different. Coincidentally, my neighbour who owns a single-gear bike asked me about bike fitting yesterday and I directed him to Elite Bicycles. This reminds us that tribes spread the word through positive word of mouth – one spoke on the marketing wheel that cannot be underestimated even if it takes time.

The process of getting my bike ordered and delivered involved conversations with David via Twitter and Skype. As he is serious about taking care of me, he posted a Twitter message to me to check my colour choice first. I chose the model, a full carbon Elite Razor (as in accompanying photograph)  – a smashing-looking iron horse that is a popular model with pros and elite age-groupers at Elite. My initial choice of colour is maroon, as it was my secondary school colour and that of my corporate logo. I am designing my graffiti on its body, although fellow-riders have suggested a magic wand and a rabbit-in-a-hat - I prefer a Playboy bunny (although that is a trademark/copyright).

I have been supporting charities related to Cystic Fibrosis, and they were my motivating project for Ironman New Zealand this year. Here is a story of a record-breaking 11 marathons over 11 days for fund-raising. Incidentally, Singaporean Marathon Mohan will be doing his 100^th marathon shortly. All the best to this popular Team Fatbird member.

Keep moving everyone!

Partners in Time: Capturing The Moment

Red Sports Singapore is recruiting readers to vote for their favourite sports photograph of the year; you are given 5 votes. Over the last two days, I have flipped through the photo albums of my Facebook friends. There were many candid shots, as well as posed ones. Most of my photos were from my friends, because I was ‘tagged’.

I always imagined what the person was experiencing, mentally and emotionally, from their photographs. If a picture speaks a thousands words, then what we see in it is highly interpretive and subjective. A photograph is like a piece of art. Love it or hate it, it still speaks to us. Editor-at-large of Triathlete magazine, Mitch Thrower recently wrote a tribute to the sports photojournalist [Gifts of an Image, Triathlete magazine, December 2009]. Essentially, it describes how vital these photojournalists are in helping us celebrate the victories and achievements of athletes.

Where would our memories be if we did not complement it with photographic evidence? They would empty canvasses filled with displaced or misplaced imagery unless we archived them in these digital or analog vaults of imagery. What would National Geographic magazine be like, without its brilliant and often compelling photos of nature and its wonders?

Dewitt Jones described on his DVD ‘Everyday Creativity’ that taking good photographs requires the right lens, proper techniques, the right vision, and perspective. He also added that values like patience, persistence and passion matter in getting the right photograph. He quoted ‘Father of photojournalism’ Henri Cartier-Bresson’s ‘decisive moments’ as a key ingredient for taking a good photograph. Bresson helped developed the ‘street photography’ or ‘real life reportage’ style using his preferred 35mm lens format.

A series of photographs is a narrative or commentary about an event or experience. My cousin, Dennis recently sent us e-mails with his keen eye for the unique as well as captivating captions that described his vacation.

Thus, sports photojournalists and photographers are crucial in capturing the celebration. They are part of the celebrations!

8 Ways To Recognise Your Staff

Recognition is a precursor of rapport. Rapport is that set of skills that connects people on an interpersonal way. Too often, staff tend to equate recognition with monetary rewards. Although, on a pragmatic level, employees highly value money (as it is a certain motivator) it is temporal in its effect. After you have blown the whole pile, what happens to your motivation level? Does it wane off?

So, I decided to poll my audience about their thoughts and experience with non-monetary forms of recognition. I thank my Facebook respondents for their recommendations and observations.

1. Public recognition

2. Gen Y would like you to give them an all expense paid Ironman race. Generation X would like you to finish an Ironman race in their name.

3. Give them a simple note of appreciation, done in front of the other staff.

4. On simple praise - it goes a long way!

5. A simple thank you. It’s really appalling that some patients don’t say thank you after seeing their doctors nowadays.

6. Compliments: direct and indirect. Who doesn’t enjoy the occasional compliment?

7. Send them a handwritten note, or e-mail with your appreciation of a job well done.

8. Give publicity of your high-performance team in your corporate newsletter and online newsletter.