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Honour Singapore

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Like. Love. Honour.

It is good that there be criticism of what we do from time to time, as that makes us think of how we can express our ideas better, correct our mistakes, and improve as we go. In this regard we acknowledge the comments that have been made against our last blog, where we shared our thought on how we can honour others in a simple practice of keeping to the left when we use escalators so that those who wish to move faster could freely move on the right.  The comments basically make the point that this is a matter…
Honour Singapore
October 16, 2014
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KEEP TO THE LEFT FOR HONOUR!

A friend told me about his recent experience climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the iconic symbol of Sydney. Climbers have to be led in groups with experienced guides. My friend told me that after the climbers got back to the ground, the guide handed them wet towels that all the climbers were grateful for to wipe off their sweat. But, amazingly, the Japanese who had joined their group began to wipe the equipment they were given to help in the climb – they were cleaning the equipment in consideration of the next group of climbers who would use the equipment. This…
Honour Singapore
October 10, 2014
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How to get your dream job

Someone was thinking of switching jobs to an appointment that he reckoned would be more enjoyable and motivating. As he imagined how much he would enjoy the new job, he was giving little attention to his current job. The effort and attention was not there. He decided that since he did not like his current job, he need not put his effort into it. Fortunately for him, a wise mentor came along his way and remarked, “If you are not giving your all to your current job, you would not succeed in your dream job.” Basically the mentor was saying…
Honour Singapore
October 3, 2014
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How do Expensive Cities Survive?

I had the opportunity to speak at the stars Symposium for Leaders of the Next Generation at Stein am Rhein, a little medieval city in Switzerland, on challenges and choices for future leaders. Before getting to Stein am Rhein, I had the opportunity to walk through "old Zurich" - the older, historic part of the city of Zurich, where there are many narrow, cobblestoned passageways lined with small, exclusive, specialized shops that sell items that are not cheap - certainly not cheap by Singapore standards. How could these shops possibly succeed and survive? The answer is not hard to find.…
Honour Singapore
September 19, 2014
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Honour on the Train

Following the Susan Long interview published in the Sunday Times on 31 August 2014 which included the point that I ride the MRT every day to work, and also that I stop one station away from my office to walk to work as part of my daily exercise, several people have commended me for setting a good example in taking the MRT.  But others have remarked that since I have a car, I should not take the MRT as I am adding to the crowdedness.  What this shows simply is that there is no way to please everyone, no matter…
Honour Singapore
September 11, 2014
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PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILD CHEATS TAXI DRIVER!

  My taxi driver friend was lamenting about passengers cheating taxi drivers. He shared of passengers reaching their destination, saying they did not have enough money to pay the fare, and asking the taxi driver to wait while they went on to get the money to pay, but never returning.He was especially grieved about being cheated by a primary school kid - he grieved for the boy, not for himself.  The boy had hopped into his taxi and asked, so politely: "Uncle, do you take payment by cash card?" as meaning, whether he could accept payment for the fare by use…
Honour Singapore
September 5, 2014
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SWEETS AND MARBLES

There was this boy who had a wonderful collection of marbles, and a girl with an attractive collection of sweets. Each saw the other's collection and wished they had it. One day they decided on an exchange. The boy would pass all his marbles to the girl, and the girl would give the boy all her sweets. That night, the boy began to pack his marbles for the exchange.  He looked at them one by one and put them in a bag.  He held a particularly beautiful marble in his hand, and decided to put it under his pillow instead of into…
Honour Singapore
August 29, 2014
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WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO HONOUR?

Some people have commented that the word “honour” appears somewhat abstract and could therefore mean different things to different people. So they asked why we do not use a simpler word like “trust” or “respect”, which will be easier to understand and has less ambiguity. While we agree this would have been simpler, it would have lost a very important point about “honour”. Let us explain it this way. “Honour” is something we offer someone, whereas “trust” or “respect” is our reaction to someone.  Thus if someone behaves in a way which makes us believe in him or her, we respond with…
Honour Singapore
August 22, 2014
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WHAT THE HELL IS WATER?

 The late author David Foster Wallace began his commencement address to the graduates of Kenyon College in 2005 with:There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, “What the hell is water?”As Wallace explained, the point of the fish story is merely that the most obvious, important realities are often the ones that are hardest…
Honour Singapore
August 15, 2014
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HONOUR GETS THE TURNIP OUT

Honour (Singapore), a non-profit enterprise that seeks the well-being of Singapore by promoting a culture of honour and honouring, was launched by Minister for Education Heng Swee Keat last Tuesday, 5 August 2014.  It seems a fitting lead-in to National Day, which we will celebrate tomorrow, by reminding everyone to honour Singapore. Honour carries the dual message of being a people who honour our word being a people who honour each other despite possibly having widely different views on issues Perhaps a good way to appreciate the message can be found in the well-known Russian folk tale about The Great…
Honour Singapore
August 8, 2014
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