"May You Live a Life that is Interesting""

Yesterday, 11 February 2009, the whole of NETs Singapore had a staff forum in Hort Park, Singapore from 12:00nn to 6:00pm. My impression of this activity at first was blank. I didn't know what the hell is this forum all about. I was confused if I was included in this forum also because I'm just a contractual here. So, I just allowed myself to be swayed by my other officemates and I came along in the staff forum.

The afternoon started OK. Hort Park is an amazing place! It's like an oversized garden full of plants and colorful flowers. It was my first time to visit that place and I honestly, I regret that I didn't bring a camera for the event. While waiting for the buffet lunch queue to end, I can't help but imagine myself having my wedding reception there. I was just a serene place. The place I always imageined where Doms and I will get married. Hort Park was nothing compared to Oasis, or Glass Garden or Ferwoods in Manila, Hort Park was "the" park, or "the ultimate" garden wedding venue.

Anyway going back to the event...

Lunch was wonderful. I had chicken with green leafy vegatables and cream stuffed in it, salmon with melted cheese on top, spring rolls that reminded of spring, (hehehe, as if I experienced spring already!) and spicy squid that didn't allow me to have allergies because it was fresh. Dessert was nice also. I had fresh fruits: Watermelon, dragon fruit, grapes and strawberries. Sosyal talaga, in short.

After the wonderful lunch, they asked us to gather in the hall room. This was when the staff forum started. The management team spent gallons and gallons of spit talking about the financial crisis, the stability of NETs, the products they will launch to make NETs a monopoly in cashless payment here in Singapore and all other stuff. It was educational actually. At least I know I am a contractual in a stable company. Still, I'm just a contractual. When they were talking about Mobile NETs, this was the time when I was really drifting. So, slowly I took out my ipod and finished the "My Sassy Girl" movie I started the other day. Around 4pm, yes we were sitting there up to that time, they told us that snacks will be served. Low and behold, snacks was amazing also. There were tuna and egg and butter sandwiches, pancakes in maple sauce, shrimp dumpling and pudding. I got first hand of the small mud cake brownie and stuffed everything in my mouth right away.

After the heartwarming snack, I was wondering what will happened next in the forum. That's when I saw Hedy and Yumi Schliefer standing in the stage. I didn't nkow who they were really until Hedy started her talk. She was so lively and she was full of energy. She shared with us a lot of things and I got a lot from it. The whole time we were laughing and interacting, well in my case I was writing.

Hedy started of with the phrase "May you live a life that is interesting". She said this phrase in Ireland means a blessing and in China means a curse. Then she told us that there are 2 types of Communication namely Verbal Communication and Kinesthetic Communication. The former being the organized and structured type of communication while the latter the action or moving or body communication. She pointed out that actions communicate more that talking. She asked us to do a standing ovation to the other side of the room. She said that those people deserve not only a verbal congratulations but also an action congratulations. After this activity, she shared with us 5 tips on how to have a happy and interesting life amidst all the troubles and problems in life. I kinda think it's hard to follow these steps especially now that Doms and I are swamped with problems startinf with Doms job hunting and our finances.

The first tip is "Hello". She said to greet people you work with and the people you are with at home with a warm "Hello" because there is nothing more than seeing and feeling the warmth of each other eyes at the start of the day. Then, the second tip is "Bravo". If I need to be appreciated as a human being, people around me needs to be appreciated as a human being also. Then came the third tip which is "Yes!" She followed this up with the catchy phrase, "Life is not a problem to be solved, but an adventure to live". I kinda want to cry at this part. I always wanted to make my life a great adventure but I there is always something holding me back and the main reason is MONEY.

Just the other day I was crying my heart out before sleeping because I want to buy Doms a Valentines gift. It's worth 63sgd only but I didn't buy because I'm trying to make ends meet and it's hard because we are far away from our families and we only depend on the money that we have. Also, we fought because I was having 2nd thoughts of going to Sentosa for the Valentines Day because we will be spending at least 100sgd in that day and that is a lot. Doms still doesn't have a job and I'm going home on March. When she said this, I eralized taht money is just money. Spending my valentines day with the love of my life is priceless. That's why we're spending that day in Sentosa.

Next tips are "Thank you" and "Wow" which only drives to the point that we need to be the change that we want to be.

In the coming blogs, I will be posting more on the things that I realized about this talk.