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Our Teachers Deserve Our Honour

To many people, the teacher is a natural person to honour because he or she has been such an important part of the growing years of our life. The following is a description of the teacher written more than 15 years ago, which can only evoke our sense of how much our teachers deserve our honour: A Teacher inspires love for Singapore keeps the sense of wonder alive cares deeply about morals and character urges enterprise, innovation, curiosity and creativity seeks to learn continuously, knowing that life never stands still challenges students and helps them find the potential within themselves believes there…
Honour Singapore
December 4, 2014
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How can we lubricate our social interactions and make city life more agreeable?

Observation in a Japanese airport:  A limousine driver met a visitor in the Arrival Hall, carried his luggage, brought him to the car park, and asked him to wait while he went to get the car. Amazingly, the driver began to run to the limousine, not walk, or even just walk fast. This is the driver honouring the customer so that the visitor does not have to wait a minute longer than he needs to! Observation on a Japanese road:  Two men were cutting grass - one with a rotary grass cutter, and the other holding a screen that he moved along…
Honour Singapore
November 24, 2014
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REFLECT, REMEMBER, HOPE, AND HONOUR

I visited the 9/11 Memorial, officially called the National September 11 Memorial, in New York City last week. The Memorial commemorates the attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington D.C. by way of three hijacked commercial airplanes, plus a fourth hijacked plane which crashed in Pennsylvania, all of which happened on 11 September 2001. The attacks on the World Trade Centre resulted in the total collapse of both the Twin Towers, the burning upper floors simply falling one on the other all the down to "Ground Zero", a frightening, unbelievable event.  The…
Honour Singapore
October 31, 2014
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Honour at the Singapore Art Museum

I visited the Singapore Art Museum last week. The exhibits were wonderfully interesting, an experience not just for the eye but for all the senses, although I did need the stories and explanations of the guides (the docents) to understand and appreciate many of the exhibits. I am certainly not an art person myself, but in life all new experiences add up. The Singapore Art Museum was previously Saint Joseph's Institution (SJI), a well-known school for boys with a clear tradition for producing leaders, people with heart. One docent recalled the beautiful story of an SJI staff member who was…
Honour Singapore
October 24, 2014
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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