Above all else

With 2463 new Covid cases reported yesterday, it looks like Chinese New Year 2022 is going to be quiet one.  Like most of us, I associate Chinese New Year with family. Growing up, besides my dad, mum and brother, I spent a lot of time with my maternal grandmother and my aunts, uncles and cousins, a number of whom I lived with, from the first home I remember - the 2nd floor of a little shophouse in Rangoon Road - to the wonder of high-rise living when we moved into what was then known as Bedok *New* Town. Visits to cousins and aunties' homes as a kid were also regular, but still adventures that were very much looked forward to. Even after my family got our own home, the extended family continued to meet regularly, not just Chinese New Year, but also, like, generally celebrating June, because a lot of us happen to have our birthdays in that month! We'd sit and talk, share old stories and new ones. I don't know if I'm going to get to see my big extended family this year - ...

Happy 2022! Not a very popular thing these days, but I'm a big believer in resolutions :) I understand why people don't like resolutions. When you fail to keep the resolution, you end up feeling bad. Which is a fair point.  I just happen to look at it a little differently. When I make resolutions, and I succeed, I'm happy of course. But if I don't succeed (which is often), at least I know that I haven't done it. And then I can do something about it. It's an aspirational tool, whether I succeed or don't. In fact, most of my new year resolutions persist from year to year. Those that I succeed at, I resolve to do again. Those that I fail at, I keep going. But how do we decide what those resolutions should be in the first place? I volunteer with a mentorship programme for polytechnic and university students. The opening session is always about - what is your mission? In this year's batch, I asked the students to consider, in this day and age of "you do ...