Many thanks to Paddy Tan for introducing me to the writer. Thanks Soo May for writing such an exceptional article.

You can read more about my journey as an entrepreneur here and here.

Meanwhile, enjoy the article!

Bloggers from Singapore gathered for an exclusive event at Mezza9 (Hyatt Singapore) on 10 April 2008 to preview and get a first look at HP’s new Mini-Note PC - the ultralight and small form factor notebook.

Check out more about the HP 2133 Mini-Note PC.

Produced by the Tech65.org team.

View more at my Flickr photo gallery

Coming Soon: Videos of the Blogger’s Preview Event!

I’m owning on Battle Stations!

Here’s the specs in brief from Engadget’s website:

2.6 pounds, Via C7-M processor, 1280×768 8.9-inch screen, full QWERTY keyboard that’s just 8 percent smaller than normal, and a variety of configurations ranging from a $499 1.0GHz Linux-powered unit with 4GB of flash and 512MB of RAM to a maxed-out $749 config with a 1.6GHz processor, 120GB drive and Vista Business.

(Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/08/hp-mini-note-2133-officially-official)

Will upload photos and (hopefully) videos from the event.

Also added a new “In Series” plugin - so you can read my posts that are in a series.

Here’s my current series of posts:

• Why i became an entrepreneur?
• Childhood Dreaming
• Entrepreneurs: Plan to Fail. Fail early. Fail responsibly.

Enjoy!

Taken from: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6318313

Tips: Once the Modem is shown on the menu bar, you can click on “Connect HUAWEI Mobile” to connection in future.

And it works! w00t!

Ha ha… we were working late one night and we found a small colony (ok, 3 lah) of Huntsman spiders crawling outside our apartment - at the balcony.

Last week we had iguanas and tonight we have huntsman spiders! Checkout the biggest one man!

One of the smaller ones.

The biggest one is the size of my palm (with legs extended)

A close-up shot.

Fortunately they kept outside… we had the glass doors closed tightly for the rest of the evening.

** Sadly, I did eventually killed 3 of them the following week cos they ended up inside the apartment. **

I enjoy good food… good company and good wine.

Here’s an example of the good food found at my boss’s restaurant down at Broadbeach, Gold Coast, Australia.

Here’s the menu at the Aubon Gateau.

We had the Barramundi.

The good company and good wine!

The guy in the middle is the young chef who prepared the food for us.

At 4pm, i went out to the nearby super market and bought the ingredients.

- Chicken Breast
- Canned stir fry vegetables
- A can of button mushrooms
- Sesame oil
- 1 ginger

I wanted to try and make the stewed chicken with ginger and button mushrooms dish that my Grandma used to make.

Now this is significant cos i have never cooked at home before (other than rice and fried eggs that is).

First thing i did was scrap off the skin of the ginger. Boiled water and soaked the ginger in the water to make a broth.

Next i cut up the chicken. I was a little worried that the pieces were too big, which later turned out all right. I marinated the chicken in sesame oil and pepper. Then i threw the whole lot into the broth. (Nicole tells me i should have added flour to the marination process to  ensure the chickens remain tender. Thanks, Nicole)

I opened the canned mushrooms and vegetables and drained the fluids, washed the vegs and dumped the whole lot into the pot.

I added sesame oil into the broth… some milk to thicken it… and finally some oyster sauce when i felt the broth wasn’t thick enough.

It simmered for a long time. I suspect i don’t have the patience for cooking… ha ha…

I then steamed some rice.

Contemplated frying eggs… but decided against it. Needed black soy sauce for that. *adds to shopping list*

Here’s the final product:

With rice.

My apartment mate seems to love it.

Verdict: I love it. Its not salty at all. Just nice. The meat was a little tough… but its fine. The mushrooms and vegs were excellent and still retains its crunchiness.

Well, i couldn’t quite get the colour of the broth right - not brown enough.

Spoke to my dad on Skype just now and he recommended more oyster sauce. Ha ha… that was the secret ingredient… should have added more of that.

Hmm… what to cook tomorrow?

Got this is the email:

:: Schmap London Fourth Edition: Photo Inclusion

Hi Miccheng,

I am delighted to let you know that your two submitted
photos have been selected for inclusion in the newly
released fourth edition of our Schmap London Guide:

Hereford Arms
http://www.schmap.com/london/nightlife_kensingtonandchelsea/p=103618/i=103618.jpg

Baden-Powell House
http://www.schmap.com/london/sights_kensingtonandchelsea/p=62832/i=62832_3.jpg

If you like the guide and have a website, blog or personal
page, then please also check out the customizable
widgetized versions of our Schmap London Guide, complete
with your published photos:

http://www.schmap.com/guidewidgets/p=93336700N00/c=SF10012086

Thanks so much for letting us include your photos - please
enjoy the guide!

Best regards,

Emma Williams,
Managing Editor, Schmap Guides

Here’s the 2 photos:

Baden-Powell House

Hereford Arms

My first meal back in Gold Coast - Spudzley & Snitchzel.

My colleague from New Zealand.

Home cooked meal - pork chop + instant soup (bacon & peas)

The cook

Went to Toowoomba for a meeting at University South Queensland. Stopped for lunch.

The Rendezvous - Lebanese Cuisine

The kitchen

They make good wraps.

Tony the chef (moonlights as a Radio DJ) with my Boss.

After the meeting, we visited the Japanese garden within the campus ground.

Me with Mr Elms.

Back at the apartment - i woke up one morning to find a surprise visitor…

Mr Iguana

Sunning himself on our veranda.

That got me thinking about my family. It seems that people in my household are prone to addictive behaviour. My grandfather was addicted to opium, he was a brilliant engineer who worked in the Singapore Bus Company, who smoked his inheritance and future away.

My father smokes (cigarettes) and drinks - oftentimes too much for his own good. He’ll come home drunk and slump asleep in the toilet seat - depriving us the use of our only toilet. I still can’t stand his smoking… but he’s my dad and i love him.

Myself? I have many vices - gambling, stealing, internet and work.

I remember as a secondary school kid (sec 1 or sec 2), i got into a little gambling game. We’ll each held a coin or dollar note in our clasped palms and guess how much is in the other person’s hand. The one who guessed correctly is the winner. And winner takes all.

I suspect the root of my additive behaviour was a desire to win at all cost. Winning is a very additive feeling - no one likes to lose. The prospect of winning at a guessing game drove me - staking my lunch money to pursue that feeling.

Eventually i started losing quite a lot. I remember one experience quite vividly.

I had lost quite a bit on a bout of betting. The kid i was playing against was winning all my money. I had to get it back. I staked my last 1 dollar note on the last bet. All our previous bets were in 10 cents and 20 cents denominations - never higher. So i was taking a big risk with my $1 bet.

I guessed that he was holding 50 cents in his hands. I looked straight into his eyes, anticipating a big win… he had frowned his brow in deep concentration…

“I guess…. $1 dollar!”

I couldn’t believe my ears! He won! (he only had 20 cents in his palm).

I remembered that i was close to tears. And i chased him down a corridor trying to get my dollar back. He wasn’t gonna give it back.

Life’s not like a game where we can press the “reset” button. What’s done can’t be undone.

I stopped gambling for money from that day forth.

I’ve seen entrepreneurs - men and women alike - reach the pinnacle of industry because of their supportive spouses. My heros - Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Zig Ziglar, Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki comes to mind (although in Trump’s case, he got pretty screwed by Ivanka). My mentors, GH, CL and JG, are married and successful in their own ways.

Yet, I have also seen entrepreneurs who feel bachelorhood is better by far. It leaves them with time and energy to pursue what they desire. It is true that being single means no emotional baggage and “one less person” to consult on all matters pertaining to one’s career and life.

Women seem to get the short end of the stick. Marriage and pregnancy always means re-prioritizing their lives - more so than men. It also means they can’t be as ambitious as before - like a road bump appeared and derailed your train of success.

I have to believe that there can be a middle-ground. I’ve seen it happen with all my heros.

I think getting your soulmate early in life means one big “To Do List” out of the way - affording one more time to focus on the knucklehead stuff like that next business deal or company buy-out.

Having one’s soulmate onboard also means we get a different perspective to life from time to time. That its not just about the rat race or winning the game. It also means you have someone to celebrate your victories and comfort you in your trials and failures.

Sadly, of late i am having trouble believing in that.

My new year resolution for 2007 was to find my soulmate. Suffice to say, i haven’t been too successful in the dating game. I had made quite a fair bit of adjustments in my life:

• Slowing things down to create space for a significant other in my life
• Down-pacing some development projects to give time for relationships to grow.
• Accommodate with schedule of whomever i am dating - even to the extent of giving up time with my family.
• Abundant giving of my time and resources (sometimes monetary).

I guess you get the picture. I guess i discovered the high opportunity cost associated with my attempt to find a soulmate. Several business opportunities are coming up that requires my unbridled time and effort for it to succeed.

I had to make a choice. Something’s gotta give.

Eventually, I made a decision over the Christmas holiday to say farewell to the dating game for a while - at least till i’m 35 (don’t ask me how i came to that figure - i just know). Yes, no more one-on-one dates with members of the opposite sex.

I guess there are 3 goals that have come to the forefront:

• Financial security.
• Financial freedom.
• Retirement planning for my parents.

I hope i can find someone someday… who can be compatible with my goals.

Meanwhile, that probably means more time to blog too…

When I’m feeling lazy, at school or when I work
I sneak to my computer, and then I like to shirk
I don’t go online shopping, I don’t email with my mom
I open up my browser, and go to digg-dot-com

Chorus: Gotta digg, gotta digg, gotta digg
Gotta make this story big!
Did you hear that awful sound?
Another server’s down!

I always dig up Apple, and I bury Microsoft
But when I said I was a girl, all the diggers scoffed
And when I see those stories about Senator Ron Paul
I don’t even RTFA; I just digg them all!

Chorus: Gotta digg, gotta digg, gotta digg
Gotta make this story big!
Did you hear that awful sound?
Another server’s down!

The fanboys can be tiresome, they always are outspoken
And if you’re listening Kevin Rose, the comment system’s broken!
I know digg isn’t perfect, but be thankful for what we’ve got
It’s just like daddy always says: “At least it’s not Slashdot!!!”

Chorus: Gotta digg, gotta digg, gotta digg
Gotta make this story big!
Did you hear that awful sound?
Another server’s down!

(PS: I found this on Techcrunch!)

Its official! w00t is the word of the year!

http://miriamwebster.com/info/07words.htm

Check out the rest of the words in the list:

1. w00t (interjection)

expressing joy (it could be after a triumph, or for no reason at all); similar in use to the word “yay”

w00t! I won the contest!

Submitted by: Kat from Massachusetts on Nov. 30, 2005 23:18

Click on each of the other words in the Top Ten List for their definitions in either Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary or Merriam-Webster’s Open Dictionary:

2. facebook
3. conundrum
4. quixotic
5. blamestorm
6. sardoodledom
7. apathetic
8. Pecksniffian
9. hypocrite
10. charlatan

Check out previous year’s word of the year - http://miriamwebster.com/info/07words_prev.htm

(* The long hair lady’s kinda hot though…)

Still… props to the folks at MDA who were willing to give it a try. Kudos…

He’ll smile at me and with a twinkle in his eye ask me the same question that i always dread

“Eh, so how? Still a virgin ah?”

I had the misfortune of telling him that i was a virgin - i never had sexual relations with a girl before. He found out about this when i started working for him.

My answer everytime would be - “Yes, i’m still a virgin”.

GH will get a good 5 minutes of laughter - double that if we are with some close friends.

Well, i’m straight. I ain’t embarrassed to say that i am a virgin. Ok, maybe at the age of 31… it should be about time i got some. But i’m a Christian and i don’t believe in pre-martial sex. Guess i’ll join the Facebook Group for “I’m Going To Have Awkward, Clumsy Sex When I’m Married”.

*heh* Guess i’ll have to wait some more.

GH will probably pile on the jokes when we meet up again for prawn noodles. *sigh*

(PS: GH is a father of 2 beautiful baby girls… and a staunch Catholic… so his jokes are all in good fun)

View the Show Notes here!

Cheers!

Singapore PHP User Group

Finally got some positive news on the Singapore PHP User Group that i started last year.

Here’s the site (http://www.php.com.sg) and the Facebook Group (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=14934950373).

The last meetup was on 14 Nov and we have a massive turn up of 50+ people.

Here are the videos of 2 of the sessions.

Introduction to the Singapore PHP User Group & PHP101: Language Fundamentals
Presented by Michael Cheng, Convener, Singapore PHP User Group

Security in PHP
Presented by Chua U-zyn, Founder, Ping.sg & CTO, Wigeo.us

Relationship

Well… spent a month pursuing a girl. Guess it didn’t quite work out. I still like her… but its just not the right fit. And she’s too young. *sigh*

Business Lesson: Fail Responsibly

Business start-ups seldom happen in a vacuum. It involves clients, employees, suppliers and investors. So when your business does fail, it will affect all these people at the same time:

• Clients won’t have anyone to service / supply them
• Employees will be jobless
• Suppliers will lose a source of income
• Investors may lose money (or get less than their desired ROI)

Part of your business continuity planning should address all these stakeholders in your business. Treat them well and settling the affairs appropriately will have many benefits.

• Ensures continued goodwill for all parties
• Friends will still be your friends
• Suppliers will still work with you on your next project

The financial future of our families and loved ones (including your own) could also be at stake when we fail. Always take steps to limit your family’s exposure and your own debt liabilities in the business. My personal belief is that we should never gamble with our family’s financial well-being.

As a rule of thumb, never sign anything that could expose yourself to mountainous liabilities - have a buffer somewhere. You should probably talk to a lawyer or financial advisor on this matter - ways to mitigate damages in the case of bankruptcy or personal injury.

Your legal protection is also vital. Don’t procrastinate - in our flurry of busy-ness in starting up, we have a tendency to overlook the small stuff - like the legal paper work of partnership and contracts. I probably lost a lot of money in my partnership in SprintServe and Comwerks due to the absence of proper paperwork. When shit hits the fan, you have only yourself to blame for being shabby with your legal legwork.

In the end, be true to your conscience and do what’s right to those around you.

Conclusion

Failing is like a baby taking its first tenuous steps in walking upright - failing the first few times doesn’t mean we’re a failure forever. As humans, we have the capacity to learn from our past mistakes - and to try again. Failing to try - learning from the lessons before - and walking again, is the real failure. What doesn’t kills you - makes you stronger.

Learning how to manage the lows as well as the highs are the hallmark of effective & responsible entrepreneurship. More importantly, never be afraid to fall down, never give up, never be afraid to try again. The success you desire could be just one start-up away!

To put it simply, failing early means learning to let go when its time to. This is really more an emotional issue than anything else.

I am reminded of the “Serenity Prayer”:

“Lord, give me the serenity to accept the things i cannot change.
The strength to change the things i can.
And the wisdom to know the difference.”

The step of failing early (letting go) takes a lot more wisdom and emotional strength than what we humanly possess.

I am certainly not asking you to bail out at the first sign of trouble. What i am advocating is emotional detachment from the business entity - to wear the hat of “Investor” - when analyzing your business at all stages of its development.

For entrepreneurs, start-ups are like our babies. We hatched the brilliant, earth shaking idea and we want it to succeed beyond our wildest dreams. Unfortunately, things don’t always happen the way we planned it to.

When a company is doing well, continuing the business is a no-brainer. However, when the business is not doing well… its a little bit more sticky. Do i persevere in the failing business hoping for a light at the end of the tunnel? Or do i cut my losses and move on? Here’s where your EQ (emotional quotient) and emotional detachment comes in.

I developed many new business ideas that i eventually had to let go of. One of them was for an events company that specializes in conferences targeted at women in the work place. We went as far as contacting Amelia Henry (last woman standing in the first season of “The Apprentice”) to be the keynote speaker for our inaugural conference. We planned for financing schemes, publicity & marketing strategies and even spent money for a corporate retreat at Kota Tinggi.

Although we were sure of the market potential for this venture, other factors - quality of speakers, commitment level of the business partners, availability of good conference venues - came into play. I concluded that it was a good project but the timing wasn’t right and we don’t have the right team for the job. So even though it was my idea, i decided to give it up (or at least put it in the back burner for the time being).

By far, the biggest benefit of failing early is that it will give you a chance to regroup and refocus on your mission. To start work on your next start-up idea.

But please, no quitters here.

Next: Part 3 - Fail Responsibly

Most entrepreneurs know the sweetness of success - more so when all their previous start-ups had failed before. All too often, we celebrate the successes of spectacular entrepreneurs, ignoring the fact that they may have failed many more times before.

Our society frowns on failure - from young, our parents had drilled into young Singaporeans that to fail in school is to fail in life. Our future seemed to hinged on us passing every single exams with flying colours. Unfortunately, we discover later in life that academic excellence doesn’t necessarily translate into real success professionally.

I beg to differ - in failing we:

• Know what not to do (business wise)
• Know who to trust (and who not to)
• Learn who our friends are (and who are not)
• Test the resilience of our mission

Here are some tips to on failing:-

Business Lesson: Plan to Fail

Business gurus call this contingency or business continuity planning. The best laid plans of mice and men will still fail. No matter what happens, as entrepreneurs, we have to plan for the worse case scenario.

When i got Genie in as an investor, i made it a point to tell her what to do in the unlikely case that anything happens to me. I told her where the customers info are kept (soft and hard copy), where the project files are stored, where the backup tapes are, where to dig out access codes to all our server info and how to carry on the business without me.

At that time, Uzyn was still employed under my company - and was the most capable of all 3 programmers - and in a way, i bequeathed the responsibility of carrying on the business (programming and web design) to him. If i should die, the customers and outstanding projects can be carried to completion.

Other strategies we could use to buffer the negative impact of loss of key personnel are:

• Financial strategies such as a key-man insurance policy to counter possible loss of income
• Business automation as much as possible to ensures that operations carry on under minimal supervision
• Customer care - who would take over the client base should the company closes down.

There’s no one magic pill strategy for planning to fail. Your combination will depend on the type of business (service oriented or retail or manufacturing), the financial strength and the resources available to you. One suggestion would be to critically examine the possible failure points & fault lines that could fatally damage your business AND plan to mitigate / lessen its impact.

Next: Part 2 - Fail early

And a goofy shot with SimplyJean.

BQ’s really sweet and all that… and probably that was why she had me under her “spell”. She’s not really pretty, just a “plain jane”. But when she puts on make-up, she’s a whole different person.

My pals often tease me about it, but somehow i never got to tell her about the feelings i had for her. I guess i was fearful of rejection… plus i had really low self-esteem back then (heh… still do to some extent, but my confidence is in Christ! Amen?). We both took History. I was pretty good in my History… I did top my cohort for the “N”-Levels. So naturally, many people come to me for advice. BQ was no different. But i think she did take advantage of the fact that i had a crush on her to fish for more info…

We all love to “spot” questions back in Sec. Sch. We’ll draw flow charts and try to predict what questions will be set for the exams… especially for the upcoming “O”-Levels. I think i did a pretty good job spotting my questions for the “N’-Levels and i believe my questions for the “O”-Levels will be SPOT ON! This is something, however, i keep to myself. I don’t reveal it to anyone (selfish mah!).

BQ approached me during one of the study sessions…

“Hi, have you prepared for the History paper?”

I literally broke into cold-sweat when she spoke to me. That was how much i liked her.

“Er.. yeah… I’ve even spotted the questions. I’m sure it’ll be very accurate.”

“Can i borrow your list then?”

I was struggling within myself… should i let her have my list? Its my prized possession. My precious…

“Sure, here you go.”

I gave her the list. In my heart, i was just so happy that she’s looking to me for help. I was just delighted to have an excuse to talk to her. That was reward in itself…

*Fast forward*… we compared notes after the History paper… Not all the questions i spotted came out. BQ showed me her spotted list. She got more spot-on questions than me!!!

I congratulated her, but somehow i was very angry inside… She had used me - she got my list to help fine-tune her own list of spotted questions.

How gullible was i to hand her an A1 like this?

I now realise that i have a habit of going beyond the extra-mile for girls that i like. Call it favoritism, call it thinking with the wrong head, call it what you want… But i think i’m just gullible to think that my kindness will be repaid with the affection that i had secretly sought. Its so unfair… then again, life’s unfair.

Ah shucks… Pappy had this advice for me once, “You only listen, obey and give your all to 3 women in your life - your mother, your wife and your daughter (if any) - not even girlfriends. No woman is worth sacrificing your all other than these 3.”

Gullible Mike is beginning to realise the value of this advice…

Note: This post concludes the series of recycled posts from my old Blog. They are primarily about my childhood and adolescence times. Hope you’ve enjoyed them!

My aunt and cousins had come over for the weekend. Its one of those family gatherings that i look forward to as a kid. I always love visiting my cousin’s place or my maternal grandma’s house… we would just hang out with my cousins - we’d play games or i’ll just follow my cousin on errands (roadtrips - that’s another story altogether).

Anyways, this week was their turn to come over to my place. We were debating on what to eat for dinner. Grandma didn’t prepare dinner so we all decided to eat out.“How about KFC?”, suggested one of my cousins.It was a unanimous “YES”. So we packed into our cars and went off. I was really excited - i’m always excited when we go on road trips. So this was no exception. Oh how wrong i was…

When we reached Taman Jurong KFC, we got out of the car and filed into the outlet. My cousins were pointing at the menu above the counter and shouting for the KFC meals.

“I want Colonel Burger!”

“I want 2 piece meal!”

My mum had me in tow. I was pretty short then, i could hardly see the top of the counter. As i looked on in amazement, i felt a sharp prick on my index finger. It was so painful that i immediately started crying. I couldn’t make out what stung me, but it sure hurt like hell on earth!

My mum was very concerned. I rarely have such a public and loud outburst like this (i was a quiet kid, my Grandma told me that after i was born, i slept all the way home from KK Hospital whereas my brother cried all the way home). She kept rubbing the index finger and even tried to rub some ointment on it… alas to no avail.The whole family was so worried with my outburst that they decided to leave… and to take our dinner elsewhere.My cousins speculate that a speck of hot cooking oil (that they used for frying the fries or chicken) had caused the pain. Till today, i still have no idea what caused the pain… but i kept away from KFC for a very long time.

If i remember correctly, i managed to overcome the fear sometime in Primary School… as you can see from this pic of me and my bro at Taman Jurong KFC…

Note: This post is part of a series of recycled posts from my old Blog. They are primarily about my childhood and adolescence times. 11 Parts in all. Enjoy!

As our front doors were facing each other, we would sit for hours on end behind our iron grille front gates and just chat. I remember my grandma would feed me lunch or dinner at the gates while i talked to Shui Mu. We would exchange ideas and even play RPG games!

We used action figures and lay them out on the floor and we would play “Mask - Mobile Armoured Strike Kommand” (remember the cartoon with transformable vehicles?) I would play Matt Trakker (the hero) and he would play Max Mayhem (the villian). We invested in quite alot of toys back then. We would pretend that the area infront of our metal grille gate is the base of operation. We would plan and go on missions - Shui Mu will constantly try to foil our plans by making it hard for us. Or we would foil his plans to conquer the world. Its not easy being the villian all the time. Shui Mu is a real pal.

As we grew older, we kinda grew apart. He was struck with a bout of epilepsy after a playground accident many years back - he fell from the slide and landed on his head. He was never really the same after that. We no longer sit in front of our gates talking for hours.

We moved out of Teban Gardens in 1997 - and we kinda lost contact after that. He’s probably still staying in Teban Gardens - at the same old block of flats, at the same unit and still have the same iron grille gates where we used to play our RPGs.

Note: This post is part of a series of recycled posts from my old Blog. They are primarily about my childhood and adolescence times. 11 Parts in all. Enjoy!

I was thinking, “Wow, Kung Fu masters those days are really powerful… i wonder if i can develop that “Qi” too?”

In my previous blog, i talked about playing RPGs back in school… i was doing it even when i was in kindergarten. I remember having 2 guys and a gal whom i see as my mortal enemies - cos they seem to bully or look down on me. (For the life of me, i can’t remember their names.) I was always looking for ways to get back at them.

So one night, not able to get any sleep, i got up and thought of some neat kung fu move to impress them with tomorrow. I thought of a spinning top or cyclone so i invented the “Cyclone Move” - where i stretched out both my arms and spin around on one foot - much like a cyclone.

I was really pleased with my own brilliance and i got back to bed, excited about what i would conjure up tomorrow.

Well to put a long story short, i confronted them and decided to show them who’s boss. I got one one feet and started spinning around like a top. After i was done, dizzy as i was, i looked up to see 3 pairs of widely-opened eyes, with mouths agap. They were impressed - NOT!

I was the laughing stock of my kindergarten class for a while.

*sigh*

Note: This post is part of a series of recycled posts from my old Blog. They are primarily about my childhood and adolescence times. 11 Parts in all. Enjoy!

I walked out to the airport arrival hall to be greeted by a warm breeze. The wind hugged my face - ah… how nice it is walk down the streets without moisturizer lotion on my face. But then the droplets of sweat trickling down my spine and wetting my shirt snapped me back to reality - i was back in hot and humid Singapore!

I hopped onto my Dad’s 7-seater cab (he’s a taxi driver) and we were on our way home. I had been travelling out of Singapore quite often since i took on the new job - i had been to the UK, Austria, Australia, Hong Kong and Macau.

I was never one to miss home or the Singapore food when i’m out of town. But this time was different for 2 reasons - it was the longest i’ve ever stayed at one location (14 days at Gold Coast, Australia) and it came at a time where i really wanted to be home.

I really wanted to be in Singapore to attend the Ping.sg 1st Anniversary Party. Although i wasn’t nominated for the Blog Awards, i was contented to just cheer my friends on and meet new Blogger friends (and to kiss a few babes along the way). However, work came first - i was called away the Wednesday before the party.

The guys were quite sad to see me go. And from the live blogs and blog reports (plus the scandal that came after) i think i really missed a lot. I Twittered my congratulations and even called a dear friend to congratulate her on her big win.

I never missed home as much as i did that day. I really missed Singapore. I really want to come home. For where my heart is, there my home will be. And its beaconing me to come back to Singapore…

As my Dad’s cab turned into Toa Payoh… a sudden pang of loss came over me. I looked at the cramped housing blocks, busy roads and hot and humid weather - and i found myself missing the Gold Coast! What irony! I was hardly back for an hour and i was missing the place i came from.

I wondered to myself - what did i really miss then? It wasn’t Singapore (the geographic location) for i prefer a colder and more spacious climate.

For all the infrastructural developments that the Singapore Government has put into our arts and economic sphere - nothing physical could hold me here. The more you destroy and rebuild symbols of national memories - the national library, the Esplanade, the Merlion, Chinatown, my army camp, my secondary school or my HDB flat - the less significance we put on them as markers of our national identity (ie. the less we’ll miss them).

What was it then that i miss?

It was the PEOPLE - the significant relationships that i really miss. I didn’t miss Singapore. I miss my friends. I miss my loved ones. I miss my family. I miss the Pingsters. Although we were in constant contact via phone, email or Twitter, nothing beats seeing that person eye to eye and saying “Hi”.

What gave us rootedness to Singapore was the relationships that we have here. Its not some cultural centre or business hub. Its the people - and the shared memories we have of our lives here.

Being Singaporean has its unique characteristics - Singlish, great food, weather of varying degrees of hot or wet, National Service - but it only serves to build the connections we have with our fellow Singaporeans. No matter where i am, being Singaporean means being close to my Singapore friends (in and out of the country).

So what if we speak funny English - we are Singapore after all.

Happy Birthday Singapore, i never really missed ya.
But i miss the people i love — yeah, you too Mr Lee.