For the next week...

Next week will be probably super busy week to meet up with impt people. One of the distinguished people whom I will meet up is MP Dennis Phua and MP Christopher de Souza (MP for Holland Village). MP Christopher, being the youngest PAP member of parliament, has invited me to attend his Meet-the-People session this coming Monday to get the feel of how the heartlanders raise the concern to him and how he tackles various issues. Though, politics is not my cup of tea, I remain open-minded about it, not shying away from it as long as it helps to create a positive impact on the community especially my concern geared towards the disabled community.

As for MP Dennis Phua, i had arranged to meet up with her in TTSH next week on 7th Oct to discuss on the disabled issues. She is a strong advocate for the disabled community and I believe with her strong support, more things can be done quickly in Singapore. So many issues pertaining to the disabled issues are long overdue and we ought to pull up the socks and act on it..rather than letting our empty vessels making the most noises......

And I sms-ed Stefan, my good friend who used to be in my Xixa group and he went on to conquer Mount Everest as the only youngest man from NUS. See the 2 links-First Link, Second Link. He is Malaysian-born Singapore PR and I have known him through my involvement with Xixabangma Expedition (Make-It-Real Expedition). Ultimately I dropped out of this group and remain in good touch with Stefan. His girlfriend is a staunch supporter of his dream and is always there for him whenever he gives his speech to undergraduate students. An amazing couple, isn't it? Currently Stefen told me that he is now in Laos doing the photo shoot before coming back to Singapore this weekend. He is full-time outdoor photographer, specialising in outdoor photography which is very close to my heart and I always wanted to go into this line in future if I decide to work for myself in future. So, curently he is freelancing for different publications and he dreams to be a recognised photographer in his own field. You can visit his official website http://www.stefenchow.com

So anyway, I arrange to meet up with him next week cos I was planning to ask him for the advice on how to approach the magazine. I was thinking of penning my first article on upcoming trip to Cambodia and last night I did some research on how to produce a story from an interesting angle. It could be a subject of human poverty and suffering in Cambodia which I am very interested in exploring on how the people in Cambodia struggle with the poverty and miscarriage of justice and yet they remain upbeat about their lives. What is their main secret of living their simple lives with so few privileges and yet the happiness does not elude them unlike here in Singapore where many Singaporeans keep on lamenting on small things....He used to write a 5 glossy pages in Asian Geographic Magazine that were dedicated to his experiences in his summit bid to Mount Everest. You can see my and Stefen's quotes under the Xixabangma - Make-It-Real programme and his profile from NUS website.

Later on, I need to set up my appt with James Lim who was one of the Singapore Clipper Crew members cos I need to get the photos and video clips of our experiences in Clipper Race as I am planning to profile my experiences in sailing by giving a free talk at deaf schools.

"Life is too short to lament about the small things. Go for the big things
that u dare to dream and venture out!"