PGE (3)

The office is eventually undergoing some renovation to have more meeting rooms assigning it to all the standing committees ie building a home base for the committees. At the same time, the 17 Officers will no longer having a table space of their own. In replacement, they will be using the hot-desking space to work when they are back to office and a cubicle to store their own stuff in office. There were a few sharing and discussion sessions before the arrangement is made.

Is the arrangement necessary ?

Giving each standing committee a meeting room is likely to be underutilized. The members are all volunteers and are working in different professions. It has been a great challenge to involve all to attend meetings due to individuals' different busy work schedules. At times, some of these meetings are scheduled out of office to better facilitate the members. I am wondering by assigning each committee a meeting room and naming it after the committee will help in addressing the challenge or making them feel more comfortable as part of the family.

On the other hand, by removing an individual's table space, I feel that it is less about removing a physical space but  more about reducing one's sense of belonging to the organization or being part of the family. It may work against the effort to building a stronger and functional team. On top of the core duty to perform, these 17 Officers have the important role in connecting and facilitating various tasks at the community level, the arrangement may make some feel the disillusion or confusion over their identity and the "real" important per said.

There are positive value in rolling out PGE. In fact, it has been given much hype at different levels. The 17 Officers were also chosen to lead in fulfilling the PGE and defining its success. We have been wondering the reason(s) over the lacking of enthusiasm among the 17 Officers.

Maybe we have overlooked the importance of the psychological aspect of these individuals and collectively their identity as staff of the organization. Maybe there is also a missing delivery to better match the shared message and actual experience of the 17 Officers in the office. The 2nd phase of promoting some of the better performance among the 17 Officers may work against rather than enhancing the spirit of the 17 Officers.

Maybe ...... maybe they just need more time to adjust and adapt to the new role and arrangements, I see faces of unhappiness, no choice but just do it and lost when they enter into the office.

"Where is my table and where do I go now ?"

Cholesterol

I have a high cholesterol level for many years. It was first flagged when I happen to join in a health screening activity organized by one of the RCs in the neighbourhood. The result was kind of a surprise to me as I dun consume much seafood especially the shell type food. Either I have consumed other food that may have contributed to the high level without me realizing or genetically inclined. Either way, I have to face it squarely that I have a high cholesterol level.

I do not go on any medication since then thinking that I can manage it by adjusting my lifestyle and doing more exercise regularly. However, the cholesterol level is still high after so many years. Recently, I was considering a new insurance package and went for a blood test as arranged by the insurance company. My family GP highlighted the risk to me again and suggested strongly that I go for medication treatment. If not, I will have a very high chance of having a heart problem earlier than I could have expected. The medication will likely to delay it and manage the level within a acceptable level.

I decided to be on medication as i dun want a heart problem earlier than I could have expected. I still want to try many nice food and traveling to many more places. Ha...ha...ha...

Most importantly, I dun want to burden my daughter too much when I aged. Being the only kid at home, it will be very stressful for her to manage two elderly. Stressful in terms of having to worry for us, finding and balancing time to take care of the parent/work/study and to manage it financially. To reduce those likely challenges for her, I have to be more responsible now to keep my health as normal as much as possible.

At the moment, I am taking one tablet everyday before I sleep. Accordingly to the GP, I am likely to continue the medication until 1 reach 1,000 years old. Ha...ha...ha...Come to think about it, am i doing it for myself or for my daughter ? Does it matter anymore ? Either way, I have to face it squarely that I have a high cholesterol level. I just have to deal with it and live with it, right ?

Taiwan trip in June 2010

After a few weeks of sourcing and planning, I have drafted out the programme to Taiwan in June 2010.

The focus will still be shopping and eating and not so much on visiting various scenery in Taiwan. Though I use the word Taiwan, we only visiting Taipei and Kaohsiung. Will leave the rest of Taiwan to future package tour.

Added Kaohsiung as I feel that it maybe too long to stay 9 days in Taipei itself. Will be using the Taiwan High Speed Railway from Taipei to Kaohsiung (高铁). Pretty excited over it though it is nothing new. Will reserve the tickets online prior to leaving for Taipei. Will visit a few night markets in both cities and try out as many local food as possible. I have already identified a few books to buy from the trip. Instead of staying in a typical hotel, we have opted for boutique hotel. It comes with a modern and cosy feel, facilities and stay. Another thing that we want to try is to light up and release the 孔明灯 （sky lantern). This is definitely pretty new to us and not available here. :-)

Coincidentally, my colleague PK, is also going back to visit his family and friends during the same period. Will meet up with him in Taipei, properly his 老家 (hometown) in 金山 （Jinshan). :-) Hope that we will not inconvenience him too much.

My daughter requested to have her own luggage for the trip. We are sourcing a practical and nice one for her. She enjoys pulling it along. But I am sure we will be the one taking care of it for her throughout the trip :-( The weather is going to be warm and we will have a lighter luggage. Warm clothing take up much space. Most importantly is not to rush at every point of visit. It can be very tiring and make it less enjoyable.
 

Mr Diana

I am not a hardcore follower of Hong Kong's drama series. Dun mind watching it especially if the story is interesting + good actors/actresses. One of my favorite titles is "Mr Diana" (先生贵性) produced in 1999. Watched it many years ago when I shifted to my present home after marriage. To learn more about the story, you can click here.

Why I enjoy the drama ?
(1) It is a touching love story;
(2) Both the actor and actress had done very well;
(3) Reasonable story line with some unexpected ending and
(4) Very nice song.

I think the drama also brought out an interesting aspect of relationship between any 2 persons, ie most of the time cannot be fully explained or account for. Impossible can end up possible while what it seems possible can turn into impossible. Chinese termed it as fate (缘份). Ha...ha...ha...

I hope to collect the title and have been sourcing for its VCD or DVD version a few years locally and in HK but not successful. It's a bit strange to me as there are many older titles than Mr Diana available in store except this particular one. Not even online. Pretty disappointing. :-(

It's fate (缘份) ba. Ha...ha...ha...