I was advised by two reliable sources, experts in their respective fields really, on what I ought to be writing for this blog if I want to attract a larger following. One is a twenty-something I work with, so an expert on Gen Y-ers (or is it Gen Z-ers? I get confused..). The other is a journalist, a cherished friend whom I’ve known forever and an early adopter of this whole internet social media stuff. Me? I’m a dinosaur. Or was. I had never felt the need to share, let alone share with the www – whole wide world. Something has changed obviously in recent times. Probably age. I’ve always taken pride in my memory power. Just ask the above mentioned twenty-something. At times I feel like her secretary, reminding her of what I wrote or said just two weeks prior. But even the best memory weakens with age, no? If I don’t start recording all these stories about the people I love, and the thoughts I have on the most random but nonetheless fascinating things in life, will I still remember them after another decade of relentless assault by Time?

I’d like to think there’s also my love for writing. And words. To some, writing is about the pursuit of the beauty of words. They mull over every choice of word, the beauty of their composition the overriding objective. I don’t pursue beauty in the words themselves. I pursue beauty in what the words convey. A thought, a story. To me, words are the servants and the stories and thoughts, the masters. But it is the servant without whom justice to the master can never be done. Until now though, I’ve not done anything about this love, hiding behind the perfect excuse called “busyness”. As I near the halfway mark of life (assuming it ends at 80, not 100..), it feels the right moment to shake any excuses off, and get started.

So what was the advice? The twenty-something suggested lots of pictures, and a focus on fashion, to cater to the short attention span of her generation. Ok… I can do fashion – that is one of my many loves after all – but pictures…? Really? Can I see myself taking shots of OOTD (that is “outfit of the day” for those of you more dinosaurous than me)? She clarified that it doesn’t have to be pictures of myself, but I do have to credit accordingly if I use the pictures of others. Oh dear…

My friend advised the same thing. She declared categorically that there is no market for intellectual blogging. None. Zero. Nada. She suggested parenting as another “trending” topic that will interest people. Parenting? I can do that too, I suppose. I mean, I do have strong views on this (as I do many other topics!).

These well meant advice got me thinking. Would I like more people to read what I write? Yes, for more reasons than one. Should I then write what will get more people to read what I write? I must say that idea doesn’t appeal to me. It just isn’t very me.. But maybe I ought to be smart about it. As advised by my twenty-something, write what will get people interested first, then “sneak in” what I’m interested in. Such wisdom! So yes, I might try fashion and parenting next. But sorry darling, no pictures.

There are two men I greatly admire. Well, three actually, except the third was as flawed as he was great.

The first is our founding father, Lee Kwan Yew.

“I have no regrets. I have spent my life, so much of it, building up this country. There’s nothing more that I need to do. At the end of the day, what have I got? A successful Singapore. What have I given up? My life.”

My eyes never fail to betray me when I read this. The clarity of purpose, the conviction of calling and the courage of pursuit. Till his very last breath. Can there be a more purposeful way to lead one’s life?

Let me discuss the third before the second. The third is Mao Zedong. He who overcame the KMT despite being vastly outnumbered and almost decimated as the Civil War raged on. He who led the Long March to keep what’s left of the communist hope alive. He who proudly proclaimed that the Chinese people have stood up, only to send millions into abject poverty and untold suffering with The Great Leap Forward and The Cultural Revolution. He who knew how to fight but not how to rule, he who understood how to win, but not when to lose. He who created history but failed to grasp how history would judge him. He, whose mistakes were as colossal as his achievements. Who created as much as he destroyed.

His successor avoided his mistakes. Deng Xiaoping took over a broken country at age 72. Broken economically, politically and spiritually. At that age, he could have called it a day and enjoyed what’s left of his life. But he poured himself, for the third time, into lifting his countrymen out of the ravages of failed policies and regimes. He said all he did during the Long March was to “follow”. But his greatest contribution and strength, beyond his economic reforms that lifted millions out of poverty, was NOT to follow, and ensured his successors would not follow, Mao in creating personality cults.

Deng Xiaoping and Lee Kwan Yew had something in common – they were content to deploy their vast talents and indomitable will to serve. They did not need to be worshipped. For this, I admire them, greatly.

最近重看三国，电视剧的三国。对那些让人魂萦梦绕的人物又重新做了一次评估。

刘备最让我钦佩的地方是他的坚持。屡战屡败、屡败屡战。人生，不就应该如此吗？

刘备没诸葛亮，孙权没周瑜鲁肃，恐怕都不行。但曹操只需他自己。文采武略、他兼备。三雄当中，若只论才能，数他第一吧？

周瑜自认旷世之才，但他的傲，让他屡屡败于诸葛亮。真正聪明的人，能这么傲吗？是不是罗贯中在刻画他时，疏忽了？

众多人物中，我最喜欢的还是鲁肃。因为他集忠义、才能、坚韧及谦卑于一身。某和了我对做人的要求。

Hello everyone,

I’m Puay Ju, and I will be using this blog to pen my thoughts on life, love and anything under the sun, really. In both Chinese and English, the two languages I love dearly. I hope you like what I write, and let me know what you think!