Farewell, the Brave

In Memoriam To Sylvester Ang. It is exactly one year ago, today, that you left, and your life passed on like grey ships on the far horizon to the great beyond. It's another adventure and surely, you will be joined by more worthy companions. Many memories of our sitting and chatting linger on fresh, and though at that time, what matter we discuss might have been trivial, today is recalled with freshness and ardour. In sport you have inspired and often encouraged me; and in your work and friendship, afforded me only the best of yourself. Unfortunately, time and space separates our friendship now. But the part of yourself, which remains true, in great humour, and simplicity, and honesty, is luminously alive in the humble urn of my memory. How often now you accompany me in spirit as I go my way, you know! That is cherished and treasured. May your spirit and memory endure. In peace, and love. d. 24 December 2004

The Easy Route

Had a great run this morning, and it was made easier because I decided to run the reverse route, from the exit to the entrance of the MacRitchie trails. You see, when you reverse the profile, the factors of resistance are also changed with the gradient working the other way. I felt a great deal more engerised and empowered, but while my strength and endurance has improved since quitting my job end-October and after that bout of illness in November, it has also whetted my appetite for food. All that carbohydrate and mucous-producing foods over Christmas will not help for sure. Meats, diary, sugar, etc. will all add to what will kill me eventually, for sure! If I were to follow my instinct when I eat, I will definitely be done for. In the freezer, the passionfruit/peach-mango ice cream is already at half tub (2 Litre, mind you!). But at the same time, as I run these few days, my thoughts fleetingly go back to Sylvester and many of the other dearest friends who have been such great inspiration the past year, including Halil and Philip of ClimbAsia who survived the surprise tsunami at Krabi on 26 December 2004 morning. I remember SMSing them frenetically. I think of the people who have kept in touch with me despite the doldrums I have been experiencing and their incredible empathy and support. For these few, they are the most precious souls in the world, for making time and caring to extend all that support to me, and not forgetting me. So, back into those wispy dirt tracks, and creating those lispy swim trails... Next, it will be back on the bike with my new attachments and get pedalling around the island. It will be a ride to look forward to... Love and peace to all this Christmas, and may all your sporting new year resolutions come true, too!

Out Back Among The Trails, Hills

It rains every third or fourth day, and with each day alone and home, I feel the awful sense of isolation and exile. It's like being in a hermitage. Someone asked me why not take a flight out of Singapore and get out in the open and the wild. Little do people know that the open and the wild is not "out there", as it's all a condition of the mind. While I may not have been urgently back in my running and swimming and diet regimes of earlier this year, there being no objective or drive to do so... I am already in the sort of self-imposed exile and isolation, where being forgotten and among the peripheral life of urban society leaves one to live with the mental and emotional gymnastics required to sustain a healthy perception and sensibility. You don't need to be in perpetual state of zensumi or nirvana to understand what Kerouac meant to describe being a beatnik. If I have not jumped the trails or conquered laps, there is also my need to work the mind's muscles and lever the world around my life with the fulcrum of consciousness. I mean, every day, I can imaginatively place myself out of this flat in the middle of Singapore, to the furthest reaches of space and geography and imagine myself isolated and in self-imposed exile. Of course the comforts of life follow me (I have cable and electricity!), but every time I am out in the open, in the long bright hours of the afternoon, I can see myself free from the incumbences of this location. Just breathing the air, looking at the bright blue above, noticing every little expanse of nature in its fullness around, from leaf to twig, from dirt trail to mud pool and glare of sun, I know I am connected to the whole earth in an odd and inexplicable way. Again, the imagination is the playground, and as I run or swim, stroll or slumber, there is the great expanse which the verdant mind is a willing canvas for the happy mental athlete to cavort and frolick all the way.

Amos Tirop Matui

Sunday, 4 December 2005 Kenyan Amos Tirop Matui wins the 2005 Standard Chartered marathon in Singapore this morning with his personal best time of 2 hours 15 mins 55 seconds! Congratulations to all my friends who completed the full and half marathons: I am inspired! The amazing fact is that there were 30% more participants, swelling numbers up from 14,000 last year to 21,000, with many more disappointed (like myself) for not being among the "first" to sign up. There is a real market for sneakers in Singapore, for sure. But as I strolled around the Civic District and noted the "runners" streaming around after their race, it is still amazing to see so many avivd enthusiasts with apparel and footwear which certainly could be a lot better, given there being so many brands with new technologies to offer. Perhaps, the message has not got to the ground and grassroots, and there weren't the right incentives for enthusiasts to make that leap out of their "comfort zone". The idea that consumers do marry brands for life does mean we aren't always looking for the best that works, but most usually what we think we would like to associated with that makes us look among the best. Perhaps, then the sports brand with the real technologies apply PR more than advertising, as I would suppose that getting the technical benefits outweigh the whole hype that marketing tends to exploit to get the most out of the consumer. Great news also at the SEA Games on Friday, 2 December with Cheng Jing Hean winning the inaugural Triathlon in Manila, Philippines, with the fantastic time of 1:58:41:14. Well, perhaps, after all these years, building the infrastruture of trails, sidewalks, and a national corps of servicemen who run, run, and run, is paying off. And paying off better than those politically contrived programmes intended to take Singapore to the World Cup, for instance. The formula therefore is clear: give us the facilities and infrastructure and as long as the grassroots and retail brands support the sport, there will be an avivd market and strong potential contenders for the crown. Until then, the Kenyans and other international sportsmen will dominate and set the standards. We should welcome that. But all that money that is put into the Singapore Marathon this year suggests that we need more supporting events to culminate in one such as this, so as not to deprive the many more thousands who would have signed up and stomped their way through the 42km. That's alot, when you realise that Singapore is just 660 square kilometres large!