Running after God

2016 Decision(s) of the year

2016-06-05T20:34:00.003-07:00

Since the beginning of the year (or even a couple of months prior), I have been struggling at work. It's not that I can't do my job or that there is too much work. It's more that my job scope had become less and less interesting/challenging/motivating. The original intention of my role (from 2 years ago) was to do research and development (r&d), building novel sensors and making them work in a gym environment, analysing data, and developing software or algorithms to track gym users or even athletes. Inevitably, it involved doing work that relates closely to my main focus; and that included designing (and prototyping) simple electronics to acquire sensor data, designing (and 3D printing) enclosures for the sensors and electronics, sewing and fabricating a number of smart exercise mats, and sourcing components and materials for product development. Those are all great. But over time, the focus had shifted to more of supporting production, maintenance, and sometimes testing and creating user friendly features. There's definitely a huge reduction in r&d related work. I understand that those jobs are necessary for the business and I would dutifully do whatever I have been assigned. But after a while, it does dampen my motivation.

Earlier this year in church, our senior pastor shared about the vision he received from God for our church this year. The vision is to push forward, to stretch, to persist, to Breakout of containment and limitations, into everything that God has for us. 2 Corinthians 6:11-13 (MSG). Just the week before that, a guest speaker (Ps Steve Wyndham) shared about the door of opportunity, how sometimes when a door of opportunity is opened for us, we need to step through it and trust the Lord. As I heard those two sermons from 2 different pastors in 2 consecutive weeks, I can't help but feel that God is telling me something about my life, about my situation, and that I need to move forward in faith. Which then leads to a couple of questions:

Should I leave my job?
If yes, what do I do next?

I decided to commit myself to a period of prayer and fasting together with our church. I wanted to seek God about what I should do in terms of my work (and even ministry). Less than a week into that, I received an email from an individual asking me about a previous project I did and if I could make that into a product for him. This was like a second hint from God and answers question 2 above - He will give me work to do.

After the period of prayer and fasting, I was more certain that I should move on from my work at the gym. But being unconfident about the "what to do next?", I was still weighing between resigning altogether or requesting to work a day less. Since I was going away for a 3 week break to visit family in S'pore, I decided to pray and ponder about that more while I was away. On the first day that I reached S'pore, I received another message via Linkedin from another individual about an article I wrote in the sports technology blog. It was basically a potential opportunity to work in another sports technology project. Bam. This was like a third hint from God.

So with that, I made up my mind. I was going to resign. Even though there is nothing concrete on the other side (what I was going to do next), I decided to take a step of faith and believe God for my next season.

When I spoke to my boss, I explained my motivation (or lack of it) for resigning and told him I just needed to take some more time off to think about "what to do next". He was very understanding and he fully agreed that there wasn't much r&d in the last 6 months and likely going forward. He wished me all the best and he also revealed a shocking bit of information - which was his other business closing down. I was a bit shocked and also thought my resignation was very timely because it meant he has one less headcount and less expenses. Then four weeks after I left the company, I found out from an ex-colleague that my boss has shut down the gym business as well! I was very surprised with that outcome but subsequently when I had a chat with my ex-colleagues, I understood where my boss was coming from. There's probably many many factors and I wouldn't go into the details. In a way, I think he was losing the motivation to push forward with his enterprise while making little headway, so he probably needed a break too.

What to do next?

I officially stopped work end of April. My mum was with us till end of May, so I got to hang out with her for a bit. She really enjoyed her stay in Melbourne this time, especially her fellowship with this Chinese church not far from our house. We spent a lot of time talking (her talking and me listening), sometimes reminiscing about dad and stories of different family members, sometimes about faith and church, and sometimes about raising kids and life in general. It was good.

During that time, I also followed up with that sports technology project opportunity. We had a few meetings/discussions online and we managed to work something out. It was a part-time/freelance arrangement where I would work on the project and deliver a prototype by end of the year. What this meant was that I could work from home 2-3 days a week (or depending on the requirement of the project), at hours that suit the family; so basically I could have more time for the kids (and some chores) and I could potentially serve in a church ministry that runs on a weekday!

Now on hindsight, God has been really patient and gentle with me even though I was being hesitant/doubtful. He dropped me hint after hint after hint and He led me to this new role/opportunity. Although it is still very uncertain how the future will pan out, I now know that I just need to push forward, stretch, persist and breakout of containment and limitations into everything that God has for me and my family! (Encompass Vision Sunday fb post)

Dear, dear Corinthians, I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn’t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way. I’m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!

2 Corinthians 6:11-13The Message (MSG)

The super compressed version on a story card

Our Short Sydney Getaway

2015-08-06T06:09:00.001-07:00

This was the first time we took a family trip together (all four of us). We flew to Sydney for a short weekend getaway and we picked flying instead of driving because I didn't think I could handle 9 hours of driving with our 2 ~~monsters~~ kids. It was actually a last minute decision (which I will explain later) but it turned out to be a good decision because the weather in Sydney was great, we did some fun stuff and we hanged out with good friends. There were some not so nice things that happened but it kinda worked out in the end and I took away some important lessons which I will also get to later.

So what or who led us to do this trip was Mabel's really good mate Li. Li moved to the States after high school and it has been a while since they both caught up. As she was kinda due to take her work sabbatical leave, she decided to take the opportunity to travel around Asia, visit family in Singapore and also visit a couple of good friends in Melbourne - namely Mabel and another friend Em. Since it was her first time visiting Australia, she thought she should check out Sydney as well; and that's when Li suggested Mabel and Em join her for that trip. Initially it was supposed to be an old gal friends get together trip. Then Mabel threw the idea of making it a family trip which would then involve me and the kiddos. I actually really liked the idea mainly because it has been quite long since we had any sort of a holiday. My only concern was that it's still winter, and the chances of our 2 kids falling sick just before that supposed weekend is quite high.

With that in mind, Mabel told Li that we may or may not join them in Sydney and we will only confirm a few days before hand. At that point, it was about one and a half months before the travel date. Fast forward to a week before the date, we felt more confident and decided to book our flights. Unfortunately, I suddenly felt the onset of a flu just a day after we booked the flights! It got worse the next day where my body was aching and I felt like crap. I even took 2 days sick leave. So we held back on booking anything else and the plan was, if I haven't recovered by Friday morning, we will reschedule our flights and visit Sydney at a later date on our own. Thankfully I actually felt better by Thursday, and so on Friday morning (a day before the trip), we took the plunge. Accommodation was booked and we even managed to still book a spot on the same Day Tour that Li and Em booked in advanced.

So Sydney here we come!

The first Boo Boo

Our flight to Sydney was a 9am flight. We did an online check-in the night before and thought that would save us some time at the airport. We planned to leave home by 7:30am but as always, things happen and by the time we drove off to the airport, it was 7:50am. Arriving there at ~8:20am, we quickly got to where Qantas was to drop our luggage. It was 8:25am. By the time we figured out those self check-in and luggage tag kiosks, it was 8:31am and we were informed that we were too late. We quickly went to the service counter (where we had to wait 10 minutes in line while watching 3 service counter staff closing their counters and walking off) and was told luggage drop off had to be done 30 minutes before flight departure. So we basically missed the flight and had to take the next one. Great... The good news was, we didn't have to pay any extra plus the next flight was just in 30 minutes. The extra time turned out to be really useful because we brought our double pram, that had to be dropped at the oversize luggage counter and that was at the other end of the domestic terminal. Also, that gave us time to grab a bite at Hungry Jacks.

Before the plane took off

Arriving in Sydney, the weather was great. We actually took off our outer jackets when we went out to meet Li and Em for lunch because it was nice and sunny and the temperature was something like 15 degrees. Such a nice change from rainy (and gloomy) Melbourne that had a low of 3 degrees that weekend. We strolled around Paddington Markets for a while before settling for lunch at a Thai place called Chat Thai. I was pleasantly surprised to find Guay Jupd in the menu. Yes that's how its spelled in the menu. It's usually spelled Kway Chap in Singapore. It wasn't exactly the same as how its made in Singapore but it was close enough. Too bad I forgot to take a picture of it. After lunch, we proceeded to walk through China Town and towards Darling Harbour.

Boo boo #2

Darling Harbour was bustling with activity because there was this event called the Cool Yule where there was a fake frozen forest which had fake snow blowing out periodically, and there was an open-air ice rink and a snow pit which apparently had real snow. So we were out there walking about, taking photos and just enjoying the nice weather and harbour scenery. Half the time, because the place was quite crowded (and our 2 ~~monsters~~ kids just cannot stay still), we had to hold on to them to make sure they don't run too far. But there was a point when we strolling along that we decided to turn around and go back to get Gelato from this shop that we walked past. On hearing that we were going to get Gelato, Gideon got excited and ran ahead of us even though I kept calling him (or shouting at him) reminding him to stay close to us, if not he might lose us. 30 secs after I said that, he lost sight of us. Although he was just 3 metres away from me (I know because I could hear him clearly), he could not see me because there were many (taller) people walking around. I called for him but he somehow got disoriented and started running away from us. I felt a bit annoyed at that point and walked in his direction while calling out for him. After walking for 5-10 metres and still not seeing him, I panicked and started to jog ahead. It was possibly another 30 metres ahead where I found him, in tears and surrounded by a group of parents with little kids. I was half annoyed (that he didn't listen to us) and half relieved that we didn't lose him. I carried him back as he was still crying and a bit traumatised. Then while calming him down, I told him in a firm voice - you must always stay close to dad & mum! At the same time, I told myself - I had better keep sight of him and make sure he's not more than a metre away, because I just can't trust a 4 year old to remember instructions. Anyway, no matter how upset Gideon got, after some cuddles and Gelato, it was all good.

Gideon and his Strawberry Gelato

Boo boo #3

After dinner and washing up the kids, I actually went out on my own to meet up with an ex-colleague who moved to Sydney over a year ago. I wasn't expecting to meet him initially because the decision to go to Sydney was so last minute. But we managed to organise a quick catch up. I recall that when he first moved from Melbourne to Sydney, he wasn't very keen but he had to since that was where there was a job for him. Fast forward to today, he has actually taken a liking to Sydney, and to the extent that he thinks Sydney is more exciting than Melbourne. Unbelievable. Oh well. Personally, I find Sydney a tiny bit too chaotic for my liking. Anyway just as I was going to head back, I got a call from Mabel saying that the hotel's fire alarm went off and everyone was evacuated! She had to lug both the kids out of the hotel room while they were half-asleep and take the stairs down the lobby (good thing we were on the second floor) and wait outside the hotel. Fortunately a kind lady who saw that Mabel had her hands full, offered to help her carry Gracie while walking down the stairs. By the time I got back to the hotel, everything had subsided. Apparently the fire brigade came and reset the alarm within 10 minutes. But all the commotion got the kids awake and we then had a hard time trying to get them back to sleep. By the time I settled Gracie, it was almost 2am and we had to get up before 6am for our day trip the next day!

The touristy day tour

The good thing about touristy day tours is that all the activities are organised for us, and all we have to be concerned about are the timings for getting on and off the tour bus, and taking great photos/selfies at the various touristy sites. This particular one that we signed up for was the Blue Mountains tours. Even though it was pretty pricey, it was quite worth the money and we enjoyed every part of it - from the breakfast scones, to the actual blue mountains tour at Scenic world, and the Featherdale Wildlife Park and finally the ferry ride back to Sydney harbour.

I have actually done the blue mountains tour quite some years ago with Mabel and for some reason the first trip wasn't half as fun as it was this time round. Maybe its just more fun travelling as a bigger group or maybe travelling with kids made it more interesting. For one, we took the inclined railway twice simply because Gideon wanted to ride on it again. Also, because Gideon was wearing his Minions beanie, it became the trigger of many funny exchanges. For example, when we were taking the cableway, one of the staff quipped that if anything goes wrong, he will have one of the Minions assist him in fixing the problem. Gideon didn't get the joke though. We also discovered Gideon is quite afraid of heights

The Inclined railway ride

Echo point & 3 sisters

The next highlight was Featherdale Wildlife Park. I have to say that this wildlife park is fantastic. Having been to a number of wildlife parks and zoos in Victoria, I would rank this in the top 3 among all that we have been to. There is just so much to do in there - get up close with a koala, feed the roos, interact with farm animals, see almost all of the local bird life and bush animals. I also like this "passport" thingy where you can collect stamps at various stations in the park. Its probably catered more for kids but I see lots of adults happily getting their wildlife park passport stamped (including Mabel). I think the only downside to this visit was that we had limited time there and because it was the weekend, the park was filled with people. That probably also meant the roos were fed by visitors since morning, so by the time we were there, they weren't that interested in the food anymore.

The trip ended with a ferry ride along the Parramatta river from Cabarita Wharf back to Sydney harbour (or Circular Quay) where we decided that we should also go check out the Sydney Opera House. While we were inside the Opera House, we came across this interesting interactive game where the game controls are huge arrows on the floor, and by stepping on the arrows you control the movements of your game character. The interesting part is that you are playing against another person with the exact same setup on the other end of the room. Gideon had a ball jumping on the arrows and seeing his character move.

Inside the Sydney Opera house: an interesting game with a huge floor controller

I thought that this marked the end of the day's travelling/walking but I was wrong because we still had to go get dinner and there was nothing around the opera house/circular quay area that we were interested in (most of the food places there were too fancy and not child friendly and we were too cheap). So our adventure continued as we walked towards places where the Zomato app recommended while digging out snacks to appease our hungry and grouchy kids. After 2 failed recommendations (1 was closed and the other was not where the app said it is), we ended up at Westfield Sydney which has a huge food court inside. We got in only to find all the stores have closed except one which had a long queue. Not wanting to go anywhere else, we joined the queue which was fortunately just a 15 or 20 minute wait (I can't remember). It was the last meal we had together with Li and Em in Sydney because the next day we would head back to Melbourne while they had other plans. At some point Li suggested that we should visit her in Seattle next time with the kids and we could stay with her and she will play host. How can anyone not take up such an offer?? So we pretty much decided that 5 years later (2020), we will make a trip to the US (maybe for a month or two?) and visit Li.

Leaving Sydney

On our last day in Sydney, we initially hoped to go to the Sydney Fish Market, but we were pretty knackered from the previous day, plus the weather forecast said it would be cloudy/rainy, so we canned the idea. Instead we just went to chinatown (after checking out from the hotel) to grab brekkie at this taiwanese cafe. Then after brekkie, since there was a bit more time before we need to head to the airport, we took a walk to darling harbour again. There, the kiddos had a play at this nice sandy playground while their daddy went to get Starbucks coffee for himself and the mummy. Its a pity I didn't take more pictures of the playground because the designs of the various equipment are really quite innovative. But here's the website of that place: Darling Quarter.

At Darling Quarter

Although it was only a 2 and a half day getaway, LOTS of things happened. It was quite an adventure and the company definitely made a difference. Mabel caught up with her high school mates and they even had a moment of singing old high school songs on the bus during the day trip. Gideon actually got annoyed by their singing and started shushing them! I also got to know Mabel's good friend, Li a bit more when she shared a bit about her experience studying, living and working in US, and how she found support in the church during a difficult time. I am not sure if she still has faith in God now but we will definitely be praying for her and hopefully we will meet again (in 5 years time) and continue that conversation about faith. Until then, I need to start planning for our next getaway!

At Central Station catching the train to the airport

The 'broken' wrist

2015-05-15T05:27:00.003-07:00

Sometime last December, I suddenly noticed a nagging ache on my right wrist. It was during a weekend drive to the Geelong adventure park when I felt it. I thought it might have been caused by me driving (holding the steering) with one hand, while keeping the wrist at an awkward angle for over 2 hours. After that, I didn't think much of it and just drove with both hands instead, so there's less strain on my right wrist.

That same week, I also decided not to join in the morning workouts at work and let my wrist have a bit more rest. But the following week, I felt that it (the right wrist) was much better and did a couple of workout sessions. Unfortunately, it got worse, to the extent that I get sharp pains when I rotate my wrist in a certain way; and I noticed that having to carry Gracie everyday didn't help.

I decided to go see the doctor and get some professional advice. [Actually I did do a google search on wrist injuries and even considered doing some of the recommended wrist stretching and strengthening exercises; but decided not to risk it] Our family GP had a look at my wrist, asked me some questions, and did some poking and twisting while getting my feedback on pain. Finally, her prognosis was that its mostly likely soft tissue injuries. But to be sure, she sent me to get an x-ray. I went to get that done and went back to her for a follow up a few days later. The good news was, there's no fracture. So its most likely soft tissue injuries. She recommended I go to a hand rehab specialist where they can give me a better diagnosis and suitable treatment. I managed to get an appointment just before the Christmas break which is good because in my mind, the sooner I start treatment, the sooner my wrist will get better.

On my first consultation, my right wrist was subjected to a lot more prodding, nudging, turning and twisting together with measurements of range of movements and strength tests. The final diagnosis by the physiotherapist was de Quervain Tenosynovitis. I won't go into the details but its basically a tendon injury that affects thumb movements and it's usually caused by a combination of overuse and poor hand on wrist posture. Apparently it can be caused by too much baby lifting.

So the treatment was: I had to wear this splint almost full-time for at least 2-3 weeks. I could take off the splint when I shower or when I need to ice the wrist. The point is to restrict movement of my thumb and let the affected tendon rest so that the inflammation will reduce or even go away.

Splint

I wore that for about a day and thought it was really uncomfortable. When I tried to take it out (so that I can ice the affected area), my thumb got stuck and it took a lot of twisting, squeezing and negotiating the splint to get it out. The process was too painful and cumbersome and I decided not to wear it anymore. Fast forward 2 weeks, I saw the therapist again for my first follow up appointment. There wasn't any improvements because I didn't wear the splint very much. She advised me that if I wanted to get any better, the splint was my best bet and I have to keep it on 90% of the time. She did make some adjustments to the splint by remoulding it so that the thumb area was less tight.

So for the second fortnight, I kept the splint on. It was still uncomfortable. But I persevered this time and after a few days, I got used to it. By the second follow up consultation, there was a lot more improvements and I could feel that there was less pain in the wrist. I was given some simple stretching exercises but I still had to keep the splint on most of the time. Then the fortnightly consultations continued for another month where I moved on to stretching and simple strengthening exercises with a Thera Band. By then, I only had to wear the splint when I sleep or when I need to do any heavy lifting (aka carrying Gracie). This was around early March.

The consultations then became monthly and after one in April and another one just last week, I was finally told I don't have to go back anymore. That doesn't mean I am fully recovered; I still have to continue with strengthening exercises using light weights and a bit of stretching. But I guess there is no other help/advise the therapist could give me.

My personal evaluation: it has recovered heaps but it's definitely not 100% and I still feel a bit of stretch or slight aching occasionally. I have a feeling it will never go away - this wrist injury. I will always be a bit more careful especially when I detect any hint of discomfort. Either that or I might temporary forget I have that injury, do something gung-ho with my right hand and cop a little strain. Anyway I reckon for the rest of my existence on earth, I will probably have to continue doing those strengthening exercises for my wrist (on top of the strengthening exercises I do for my left shoulder which suffered a collar bone dislocation more than 10 years ago).

It kinda reminded me of what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:9. About how he will boast all the more gladly of his weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on him. When I feel weak and helpless, I know I will turn to Christ and rely on Him. But when things seem to be going well, I will think I am fully capable to take on challenges by myself until something bad happens.

That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:10

How easy is it to fake a push-up?

2014-08-10T04:54:00.002-07:00

Push-ups is one of the most common exercise ever. I reckon anyone who has done any physical exercise would have tried doing the push-up. It's simple and straightforward, and the only 'equipment' you need other than yourself is the floor.

One of the new sensor technology I am working on is designed to be able to assess floor exercises such as push-ups and sit-ups. It is a floor mat sensor and it acts a little bit like a force plate, as in it measures force changes. So when a person is on the mat, in the push-up position, it can detect the force or pressure the person's hands place on the mat. As that person does a push-up, it measures the force changes during the push-up and that creates a signal. By recognising the signals of push-ups (through some algorithm), the sensor can then act as a push-up assessment device.

Now it all works well when I perform a standard push-up. A certain waveform is created that represents the standard push-up. Doing the push-up faster or slower basically changes that particular waveform in terms of its width or height.

But I soon realise that there are certain non push-up movements that can create a somewhat similar waveform. I could be shifting my weight forward and backwards while in the push-up position, or I could be adjusting my hand positions in a certain way, or I could be doing an improper push-up (e.g. arched back, knees down, elbows not bent till ninety degrees, etc). So once I figure out what movements (other than a standard push-up) can generate the same waveform, I can cheat the system into thinking I am doing push-ups when I am not. It's a bit like those activity trackers built with inertia sensors (accelerometers and gyros) that tries to identify sports activities but often fall short (there's an interesting article with video illustrations here: link).

This reminds me of being 'christian'. There are certain behaviours that I can have that reflects that I am a christian - I can attend church service regularly, participate in different church activities, be helpful and kind in my community etc etc. But what makes me truly a christian is when I have given my life to Jesus, fully surrendered and putting him first in my life. Then those outward behaviours that flow out of my surrendered life would be directed by God and be fruitful. God is interested in what's inside of me not what is outward.

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

Matthew 23:25-26

Having a real understanding (code and faith)

2014-07-18T05:42:00.001-07:00

For the last 7 months or so, I started on a new job. It's somewhat related to what I have done (for my PhD) in the last 4-5 years. The new company that I work for can be considered a start-up. It's a new concept gym that aims to measure a group circuit training in an automated way. There's the usual cardio stuff (stationary bike, rowers etc), there's strength training (dumbbells, kettlebells, barbells), there's plyometric stuff (pushups, ball slams etc) and then there's a bunch of sensors in the gym that measures a person's performance doing all that stuff. So my role in this gym is to use those sensors, get a bunch of measured data and make sense of it - track what kind of movements a gym-user is doing, analyse them to see if they are done properly, score them and give them feedback for every repetition. If you have heard or seen the Nike+ Kinect personal training 'game', this new gym is a little bit similar to that concept but the main differences are:

1. It uses the Kinect sensor PLUS additional sensors and equipment

2. It tracks a whole group of people doing a circuit training and there's a bit of competition going on.

That's the gist of what I do. But what I actually do involves a lot of coding. Coding or programming or software development has never been my forte. In fact I don't really know what is my forte (but let's not start on that). So having the sensors alone, tracking and measuring stuff (position, acceleration, forces etc) only does half the job, the real value is in deciphering them, and that's where algorithms come in. Algorithms work when they are written and executed in software. I could probably say that the sensors are the eyes and the ears while the algorithms/code is the brain. Since coding is not my strength, why am I doing it? Well, it's inevitable because I am fairly competent in analysing stuff, and to bring that analysis into real-life, I need to code. I do know the basics (really basic) and unfortunately that's not enough. So I have to learn on the job. Thank God my boss is kind enough to take me on and is even willing to coach me (when he has the time).

But it has still been a struggle. On a good day, I will code some stuff, it crashes half the time or doesn't work the way I wanted it, then after hours of debugging, it works. On a bad day, in fact, on a bad week, I will code some stuff and nothing works even after days of debugging. I will then get my boss to look at it and he will solve it in 2 minutes! Usually it's because I misunderstood certain 'functions' or 'methods' or how a 'class' works. Each function has a specific task and it uses certain parameters and it returns something. The function can be part of a class and if I want to use it in another class, I need to reference it back to the originating class (I am confusing myself as I am writing this). But my point is some things work in a set way or has a set definition; when I use it in a different way thinking it could work, it simply wouldn't work because I am using it wrongly.

As I thought about it, I realised this happens in many many areas of life. How often have we bought a new equipment, and without reading the manual and understanding how it actually works, we start using it. Somehow there's always a particular feature or extra button that we think is useless and makes no sense. Then when the equipment stops working and no amounts of tinkering or restarting helps, we look to the manual, and everything starts to make sense! We go " uh-huh!" as we turn every page of the manual, then wonder why we didn't read the manual in the first place. We would have been able to use every feature and function and button the way it was designed/intended.

Our relationship with God is somewhat like that too. God has given us His Word to tell us everything we need to know about Him. But we often don't try to fully understand it, let alone follow it. We read certain bits that we like and assume that's how God works - for example we may know that God is love and God loves the world, but we may ignore the bits about God being holy and righteous and demands a high standard, and therefore it's only through Jesus that we can be saved. Some may take it further and assume that because God is for us (Christians) and God will 'prosper' us, that means a follower's life should be a bed of roses, and when it is not, God is not 'blessing' us (that is obviously a lie). Even though I have been a Christian for some years, sadly, I have made the mistake of making wrong assumptions too. But I am thankful that I have the opportunity to learn and correct my understanding, and I know that as I continue to read the Bible and seek Him, I will have more "uh-huh" moments.

We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says, “I know him,”but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

1 John 2:3-6

...

Baby Grace

2014-05-12T05:16:00.000-07:00

How time flies... Grace was born on Christmas day of 2013 and ever since then it has been madness in the household. Did I mention that Grace was born on Christmas day? I think that is probably one of the coolest things that has ever happened in my life. I doubt there is anything else that will top that for now. Unless Mabel decides that she will go to Macchu Picchu with me. :) But I digress...

Here are some pictures of our little princess from new born to four months of age, cos I figured some cute baby photos will paint more than a thousand words:

Day 2 in this world!

I am wonder woman! I will take over the world! yawn...

Sticker attack from the big brother!

"I like to dance!"

and Gideon keeps 'awarding' his little sister with more stickers...

Favourite sleeping pose at 3 months

And I'm 4 months old!!

I decided not to put any photos of the parents because the lack of sleep has made us not very photogenic. Plus everyone just loves baby photos. Oh and in case I forgot to mention, we were blessed with Grace on Christmas day. :)

Early warning systems

2013-12-15T03:40:00.001-08:00

We are expecting our second baby in a couple of weeks time, and in the last month or two, we have been physically preparing for her arrival. That includes packing away things we don't need, selling away some stuff on gumtree, so that we can have space for the new baby's stuff. We have also been receiving bags of used baby clothes and equipment (like baby bottles and breast feeding stuff) and furniture and toys. We were even given a toddler bed which we could transit Gideon into, from the cot; and then subsequently our new baby could use the cot.

I realised that even with all that physical preparation, I was still not mentally ready for baby 2. See, it was two weeks ago when Mabel had some sort of regular contractions. It started with a terrible back-ache throughout the day and she had to stay in bed to rest. She stayed in bed for almost 6 hours, and after dinner she felt some pain in her pelvis. In a short while, she started feeling contractions! Then after monitoring it for an hour, we called the hospital to speak to a midwife, confirmed all the symptoms and within the next ten to fifteen minutes, we packed some necessities and we were off. As we got to the hospital and were lead into the birthing suite, it then dawned on me that we were having our second baby! It was only at that moment that I started to imagine what it will be like when the baby is here and what we will be doing (sterilising bottles and night feedings) and the changes that will be happening in the house. Somehow I have been avoiding all those thoughts until then (when the penny dropped) and it seemed a bit too late to prepare myself mentally for it.

Thank God those sudden contractions turned out to be a false alarm. The contractions were likely caused by Mabel being too dehydrated and it went away after she was put on a drip with half a litre of fluids. This little shock was a good mental nudge for me, reminding me that we are going to have baby 2 and I had to spend more time praying for the family and preparing myself mentally and spiritually to be upgraded to "Dad 2.0".

Just a week ago, our church had Pastor Kameel Majdali share with us about the end times. He reminded us that we have to be prudent and wise as we are living in the end times. God has given us an early warning system through His Word and the Holy Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5:1-9 reminds us to "not be like others, who are asleep, but lets us be awake and sober". Being asleep doesn't mean physically sleeping, but spiritually 'asleep'. People who are spiritually asleep live only for themselves and for the world. They think that everything in life is nice and wonderful, that there is peace and nothing disastrous is going to happen, and they do not need God. Sadly that is so far from the truth. The last days may not happen in our current generation (for we do not know the exact times and dates), but we know it is going to happen and Christ is coming again. So we have to be watchful, be sensitive to the warning system that God has in place for us, walk close to Him and wake as many who are asleep as we can.

Going back to our pregnancy, we are 'safe' for now, but baby 2 is still going to arrive between now and the next two weeks (whether we are ready or not).

At Healesville Sanctuary - Gideon on the stroller and Baby 2 in Mummy's tummy

Remembering Dad

2013-10-09T03:17:00.002-07:00

It's been just over a month since dad passed away. I can't say I miss him very much. Maybe because I have been living away in another country for the past 6 years and I still am; plus I have (many) other things on my mind - finishing up with my work in Uni, preparing for the second baby, and figuring out what to do next with my life. Or maybe it hasn't really sunk in yet. Anyway I decided to take some time to note down some things I miss about him.

His lame (or corny) jokes - it was usually a play with words (mostly in Chinese). One of his favorite was saying steamed fish (which also sounds like real fish in Chinese is good, because it is better than a fake fish. He has even cornier jokes, but I can't really recall much of it at the moment. Actually he is only humorous when he is with his family and close friends. He doesn't joke much when he meets people for the first time, although there is an exception for nice old folks or friendly service providers (such as nurses, cleaning ladies and waiters/waitresses). Sometimes Mabel says my jokes are starting to sound like my dad's. I used to sigh and roll my eyes when dad comes up with lame one-liners (occasionally I laugh a little to support him). I think Gideon will be doing that to me when he grows up...

His patience. He has always been a very patient (and gentle) person. I don't recall him ever scolding me and punishing me as a child or teenager. I only recall once when he told me that he was unhappy with a decision I made, and even then, within five minutes of him saying that, he felt bad and apologised. He seldom got angry with people, although he did bear a grudge against someone because he was falsely accused of something and was never officially vindicated. He gave me an advice once - don't invest too much into relationships with people (other than your own family), it's not worth it and you will only get hurt. I think he must have been deeply hurt previously. Towards the last couple of years, he did get a bit more grumpy at times, but I think it boils down to frustration - mainly with his health and the inability to visit us in Melbourne as often as he liked.

His stinginess, well to be more accurate, he was thrifty. He grew up in a poor family, and with granddad always travelling for work and grandma also having to work as a cleaner, he had to take care of his younger siblings and made sure that they were well fed. He even taught them to save money (this I found out from my aunts). He grew up finding it hard to make a decent living and had to work multiple jobs to support the family. I guess because of that, he understands the importance of being thrifty. He doesn't spend money unless it is really necessary. So any sales persons who tried to sell him something, had to go through a hard time convincing him; and even if they managed to sell him something, they probably had to give him the best possible deal and settle with minimal sales commission.

His generosity. Yes he was thrifty but yet generous. He was always generous to his family, people he loved, people who were less privileged, churches, pastors and ministers. He was always cheerful when he was buying others a meal or helping others in some way. One other advice that he gave me was - if you want to give help (financially or otherwise) to others, do it and don't ever expect people to return the favour; that's true giving. The bible does say: "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Dad has definitely been blessed (materially/financially) in the later part of his life but I believe he has also been blessed in other ways - knowing God, receiving salvation through the blood of Christ and being miraculously healed of his 'unknown' ailments that doctors labelled as terminal over the last 16 years.

Other things that I admire about him include his persistence, his sharp and inquisitive mind. There might be more but these are what's on the top of my head. The rest is probably somewhere in the recess of my mind. But to really sum it all up, what impresses me most about my dad is his love for his family. Everything that he did, he did with his family in mind, never just for himself. He was a loving son, a loving brother, a loving husband, a loving father, a loving guardian and also a loving grandfather.

I love you dad. I will miss you but we will meet again someday. Till then.

My eighth birthday and his 42nd birthday celebration.

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:14

Buying Time

2013-09-25T05:15:00.004-07:00

A Mechanical Ventilator

This post has been much delayed because too many things have happened since my last post and I didn't have much of a quiet moment.

So I was back in Singapore for a second time this year and it has only less than 3 months since my last visit. It was a last minute, emergency type of visit, not a particularly joyful one. My mum had called to say that my dad was warded into the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the hospital. His condition didn’t look good and we should make a trip back. It was the first time I booked flights to fly on the same day together, with Mabel and Gideon. It was a bit of a mad rush but we made it.

The first night I went into the ICU to see my dad, it was extremely disheartening. He was in a very bad shape. He was hooked up to a ventilator – a tube was inserted into his mouth down his throat and airway to basically supply oxygen to his body. His lungs were not functioning well anymore. His left lung had only 20% functionality due to scarring caused by lymphoma and chemotherapy. His right lung has a new growth that could be due to infection or some other reason.

Before he went into the ICU, the doctors explained to him (and my mum) the situation with his lungs. They then told him he had two options: 1) do nothing about it and his lungs will slowly not supply enough oxygen to his body and his organs will shut down one by one due to hypoxia; 2) let the doctors use a mechanical ventilator on him so that it can deliver oxygen into his body, prevent hypoxia and at the same time, treat the possible infection in his right lung with antibiotics. Even then, option 2 may not be effective. In fact the doctors said there was a high chance that he will not recover. So basically the doctors are saying that the second option was for buying time.

I mean our time on earth does have a deadline. We just don’t know when it is. We do many things with the hope of maximizing our time or to extend that deadline. It could be eating healthily, taking health supplements, exercising or avoiding alcohol and cigarettes etc. One could probably say these are things we do to buy ‘extra’ time. The only question in my mind is (assuming we do manage to have ‘extra’ time), what would we do with that time? Would we do the good works that God has called us to do (Ephesians 2:10) or would we do nothing like the servant who was given the one talent (Matt 25:24-25)? For that matter, this could apply to any time of our lives. Just something to think about for myself…

Going back to my dad’s situation. The ventilator was pumping into his lungs, huge amounts of oxygen – 80-100% O2 at high flow rates. The doctors said that was extremely uncomfortable for my dad, although he shook his head numerous times when we asked him if it was uncomfortable. The doctors were not optimistic about a recovery and even suggested after day one of using the ventilator that we should consider letting him go in peace instead of suffer the pain and discomfort, which could possibly increase if his other organs start failing. But seeing our determination (mainly my dad’s) and a miraculous improvement on day two, where x-rays showed a reduction in the right lung infection, the doctors were a bit inspired to push on with the treatment. But sadly after that minor victory, things became stagnant for the next 2 days and even worsened with a possible second infection. It went downhill from there and on the 6th of September 2013, he went home with our Lord.

I was glad I made it back to Singapore to see my dad and got to talk to him for a bit while he was conscious and could respond. That was probably the 3rd day he was in the ICU and he could still communicate by writing. His mind was clearly very sharp and he knew what was going on around him because he actually complained about the nurses being unprofessional. He also wrote (at least twice, in chinese and english) that he will recover and live his life happily.

Complaining about nurses

Showing determination

Well, we know that right now, he is definitely living happily in the kingdom of God. He is also at a place without sickness or pain. Like what one of our pastors shared at the wake service, my dad has graduated from life and entered paradise. But for those of us who are still alive, there is still work to be done.

For me to live is Christ, to die is gain. Philippians 1:21

Best Laid Schemes (Plans)

2013-09-01T23:20:00.000-07:00

"The best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry"

This is from a poem by Robert Burns but I first heard of this in my secondary school days from reading Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. It was one of the books we had to study for english literature. Very unlikely that I would read it on my own will.

Anyway, what I meant to say is that things in life don't always go according to how I plan it or how I would like it to be. For example, during the beginning of the year, my plan was to submit my PhD thesis by end of March, get it examined and submit a final archival version by June; but in reality I only managed to submit my thesis for external examination in June and I only recently received the examiners’ reviews. So it will probably be mid or end of September that I will submit a final archival copy. Also, I thought I would be able to land myself a job in June/July and of course that didn’t happen.

On the other hand, something else did happen that I was not fully expecting – a second baby that will be arriving end of the year. We were planning to have a second baby but we just did not expect it to happen so soon. A little unprepared but still, it is all good.

Anyway, to be honest, I am not one who makes very detailed plans in life and I usually like to go with the flow. It is probably a personality thing.... Alright I am lazy. Which makes it a bit easier for me to accept changes in life and adapting when I really have to.

However something that is a bit of a shock and sudden is my dad’s health condition. It is in such a bad state that he has to be in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU); and when my mum called me, I could sense that she feared the worst. Actually it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise because my dad has battled with Lymphoma for over a decade and the whole family is well aware of his condition. He has been in (warded) and out of the hospital many times this year and the gap between each stay has become shorter. But I still wasn't expecting it. Or maybe I was not ready to expect it. We had a different plan in mind, one where my dad will be able to visit us in Melbourne and see the arrival of his second grandchild and to do so much more things for the glory of God. Now that this has happened, I am not sure if that plan is still possible.

I know that God has a better plan for my dad and for my mum, His ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:9). But I still pray that He will extend His grace and mercy and grant us a miracle healing, if not the ability to submit to His will.

Choking

2013-04-18T18:55:00.000-07:00

I am quite pleased to announce that I am going to submit my PhD thesis for external examination very soon. How soon? I don't know because it (the thesis) is currently with my supervisor now and he is having a final look at it. But I believe soon. Definitely within the month or next. I have done my completion seminar and that went well; all that's left to do is to submit the thesis (and maybe write a couple more papers or journal articles).

So with all that (submission) happening (soon), I am planning on what to do next. In fact late last year I went for a couple of job interviews. I got offered a project engineer position early this year (as opposed to a mechanical design position) and they wanted me to start almost immediately (which I did not mind that much), but what they were offering me was a rather junior role. I wasn't too happy with it. They were basically discounting a lot of my previous experience working as a mechanical engineer and as I looked at the roles and responsibilities carefully, the job itself wasn't too exciting as well. There was another product development company that I interviewed for that seemed to be keen in offering me a position but due to some hiccups - a project put on hold and another project not coming through, that offer was put on hold.

Anyway, last month I applied for a very interesting job. Interesting because it involves sports engineering and there's product development and project management all thrown into it. To me, it was the best thing to do. I thought I had a chance and I was optimistic that I would get a meeting and I did. I was very excited about it. I spent at least 2 days preparing for the interview, thinking about what they might ask me and what are the things I should say etc. But at the actual meeting, I choked. I had moments when my mind froze and I did not give them a satisfying response, at least not my best answer to their questions. After I left that meeting and when I was on my way home, I realised there were so many things that I didn't say - things that I usually knew, things that I would do and could do. Sigh. But I choked. Very frustrating. Frankly I wouldn't mind if I went for an interview and gave it my best shot and didn't get offered the position because they interviewed someone better. But I didn't even gave it my best shot.

Oh well. It's over. Mabel was kind. She told me that's how interviews are, it's a stressful situation and people do choke. Maybe I got too excited over it, over the sports related part of things that I forgot to bring out the engineering and project management side of me. On a positive note, I did meet some nice people in my overall "interview experience". At least I got to know a few more people in the sports industry and even if I don't get this job, they could still be contacts for possible collaborations in the future. God willing. You never know. Time to apply for more jobs.

Stuff I like about being in Melbourne

2013-01-24T17:51:00.001-08:00

So its been more than five years since we moved over to Melbourne from Singapore. What was initially a short stint of a couple of years became a couple more, and after having an addition to our family, we kinda decided Melbourne will be our home for while more. How long more? I can't really say for sure but just like what James 4:15 says, if it's the Lord's will, we will be in Melbourne for a long while.

Anyway, occasionally when I chat with some old friends via social media or email, I tend to get the question: what do I like about being in Melbourne? Or a somewhat similar question. So here's a list of what I like (not in any order of preference):

1. The suburb we live in is nice and quiet; especially at night after dark. I remember there was one time when my bro-in-law came for a holiday and he was in our backyard having a smoke at night and it freaked him that the neighbourhood was so quiet and he could actually see the stars.

2. Lots of parklands everywhere. Just around our house, there are at least 3 parklands that are within walking distance, each with a playground for kids. I think that is a fantastic thing to have especially having a 19 month old boy who has lots of energy to expend.

Gideon roaming around a park

3. Many interesting places to drive around. I can't say we are very adventurous in our five years here but we do drive out to the country area at least once a year for a break. Either on our own, with family visiting us or with our church going for church camps. Some of the places we enjoyed include Daylesford (spa region), Grampians (national park), Phillip Island, Merricks (had a church camp there) and Lakes Entrance.

4. Work is flexible. At least the employers that I have had so far. I have changed my job from full-time to contract with the option to work from home, and having a part-time job that allowed me to switch days once in while. Taking time off for family emergencies or family matters is usually OK. It is also awesome that Mabel could get a part-time managerial position, so she can spend more time with the little man. To top it off, the work environment that me and Mabel have are awesome.

5. Awesome asian food. We don't eat out very often, but when we do, we often stick to our favourite malaysian or asian restaurants where they dish out our favourite stir fries - char kway teow, char hor fun etc. The other asian stuff we like are the vietnamese food, thai food, jap food and yum cha. I have to add we don't have very high expectations of food generally.

6. Sports engineering. This is one of the reasons I came to Melbourne, to pursue this interest and I have to say, I have been very blessed to have been able to do it for the past 4 years. There's probably going to be more opportunities going forward as a new industry network has been established last year to further this area.

7. Sports as a spectator. There are lots of interesting sports events in Melbourne that makes the weekends a bit more interesting like the Australian Open and the AFL. Cricket is also huge here but I haven't quite figured that out. My research in sports engineering also brought me to the local wheelchair rugby league a couple of times. One other event that I would be keen to go to (and obvious haven't) is the Motogp at Phillip Island. This year maybe?

Australian Open 2013

A Hawks game in 2012

8. Sports. Expanding a little bit on point 2, the many parklands also mean more places to run, not just on the roads but also on trails. There's the Yarra River which is a great place to paddle. There are also bicycle trails everywhere for riding - something I look forward to doing this year too (when I do get a bike); and if I feel 'strong', I may sign up for an adventure race like the Marysville to Melbourne which includes a total of 155km of paddling, cycling and trail running. Yeah, should be fun.

9. My walk with God. I have been challenged a lot more since I came to Melbourne. It might be the peace and quiet (and thus less distractions), or it might be being part of a smaller church (more opportunities to serve), or it might be age, or maybe a combination of everything. But basically I just feel the need to live my life more purposefully for the glory of God and somehow being in Melbourne brought that out.

10. Great friends. Although we don't have any immediate family here, but we do have great friends, friends who are like family to us. Enough said.

Of course there are stuff that I don't like about being in Melbourne but somehow I can't think of any right now. Might be the erratic weather that's messing with my brain...

Make it Count

2013-01-01T02:18:00.000-08:00

"Make it Count" is the slogan of the Nike+ Fuel Band that aimed to encourage people (specifically the Gen Y) to live life to the fullest. Another popularly used term is Carpe diem or seize the day. Nike hired this guy to film an ad for the campaign but instead of following the original plan, him and the film editor spent the entire budget travelling around the world. It took them 10 days to use up the money, travelling 34,000 miles, visiting 16 cities in 13 countries on three continents. The result was a four-and-a-half-minute film. It wasn't quite what Nike had expected, but it still featured Nike's "Make It Count" branding and there were quotes from famous people such as:

Helen Keller ~ Life is either daring adventure or nothing at all
Franklin Roosevelt ~ Above all try something
Albert Einstein ~ I never worry about the future it comes soon enough
Giacomo Casanova ~ One who makes no mistakes makes nothing at all
Abraham Lincoln ~ In the end it's not the years in your life that counts it's the life in your years

In the video, the guy was running through the cities, doing handstands at renown landmarks or backflips and jumping off high places. Singapore was also one of the visited countries! The Marina Bay Sands infinity pool was featured in the video at around 4:09. Although I noticed that other than the scene where he runs off from his apartment and him coming back, he was not wearing the band in most of the other scenes. I am guessing the battery died during the trip and it was pointless to wear it. Nevertheless, he did make a point with his video, which was to live life to the fullest.

It's a very positive notion to live life to the fullest, except it places too much emphasis on the now and now. If life is just about this life then that will be fine. But the truth is, there is life after this life. My church pastor has a favourite illustration in his preaching. He uses a short piece of rope that's red and maybe about 30cm long, and one end of that red rope is tied to another rope green in colour and is many many times longer. The shorter red rope represents our life here on earth which is very short compared to the much longer green rope which represents eternity. Our life, from the day we are born will end after 30,000 days (assuming an average lifespan of approximately 82 years) and then comes eternity which lasts... forever.

Although there isn't much details in the bible about what happens in eternity or in heaven when we die, we do know a few things for sure. Firstly, if we believe in Jesus, we will have eternal life even after the physical death (John 11:25-26). Secondly, when we go to heaven, we receive an eternal inheritance (1 Peter 1:3-5) and would also be awarded a crown if we fought the good fight and finished the race (2 Timothy 4:7-8). The good fight of faith is to live a life holy and pleasing to God and also to be mindful of God's 'business'. This world can be full of temptations to lure us away from fighting the good fight of faith, but we need to press on to make our life count for eternity.

So this is my goal for the new year.

"But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses."

1 Timothy 6:11-12

Tracking vs Reflecting

2012-12-30T03:35:00.000-08:00

It came to my attention recently that there are quite a number of wearable activity tracking devices these days. From wrist bands for the sporty (Nike+ fuel band), and products for well-being (Fitbit Ultra, Jawbone Up, Lark Life), to the devices that monitor physiology (BodyMedia Fit & Basis), there's something for everyone. The idea is that you can wear those devices all the time, and it would track your daily activities, see if you are meeting the 10,000 steps a day recommended for healthy/active living (or whatever goal you set for yourself), and so motivate you to stay active and maybe even save you from a health condition such as diabetes.

I did a post about how these devices generally work and basically they have sensors to measure movement, heart rate, skin temperature and even sweat. Short of a mind reader that could document your thoughts and emotions (something this aims to do), and a video cam to record what you see (like the Google glass project), they function almost like an old fashioned diary.

Actually, I wonder if many people still journal, whether physically on a diary or electronically on their computers or tablets. I think the diary works very differently from tracking your life with whatever wearable equipment. That's because when I want to pen a journal, I am often in a reflective mode - thinking about stuff, like why something happened, what went wrong or right, what was the significance, how things could be improved etc. It takes a bit of time; quiet, uninterrupted time, not doing anything else, just reflecting.

Those wearable activity trackers on the other hand aims to keep people moving and doing stuff - go set a goal, try and achieve it, don't stop till you do, then repeat the next day. The positive outcome would be to have developed a healthy and active routine; and sure, its good to have a routine and stick to it, but if I don't have a think about the specifics and keep doing things the same way over and over, I might not realise that something was not right while getting injuries or not getting enough rest and getting burnt out.

Anyway, the past couple of months for me was extremely mundane. I was occupied with 3 things: 1) writing the research thesis, 2) taking care of Gideon and 3) thinking about what I am going to do after I submit my thesis. On a typical day when Gideon goes to childcare, I would drop him off in the morning, head to Uni to spend the next 6-7 hours working on my thesis, followed by going home to make dinner, then pick up Gideon from childcare, and finally feeding, bathing and settling him. About once a week (or fortnight), I try to squeeze in a run around the neighbourhood. So activity wise, there's really not much to track since I am obviously not that active these days. In the evenings or in between thesis writing, I 'ponder' about stuff like what to do next and how to take over the world.

At some point, I contemplated becoming a house husband to take care of Gideon and our home because as far as I could see there aren't any opportunities to do what I would like to do (and get paid to do it), not in the private companies or in the university (Well there might be contract research work to do but nothing is confirmed). Since we have decided to stay put in Melbourne, applying for overseas positions was ruled out. The other 'option' was to start my own business: research and product development of sports and health related products. I had that thought for a while and its one of those things that gets me excited but I think I still lack certain experience and certain level of drive, so I will hold that thought for a later day. So with no known opportunities in sight, I decided to send out emails to a few companies that (in my opinion) might explore product development in sports and wellness. The emails were of course expressions of interest to work for them if there are possible openings in the near future. After 2 weeks, there was actually a positive reply, that led to a casual meeting the week before Christmas, and I think the outcome of the meeting was rather positive. We shall see.

During the whole time of 'pondering' and exploring opportunities, there were two proper job applications that sort of didn't go through. In fact they happened before that 'good outcome' meeting. The first one was a product design job which I applied after I was approached by a recruiter. Not having much design experience (specifically industrial design), it was obvious why I did not get a reply. The second one was a mechanical design job that wasn't so much industrial design but more engineering design specifically in medical devices. I did get interviewed for the role but at the end of the discussion, the interviewer made a very keen observation - based on my resume and our discussion, I had very diverse experience but it was not focused on mechanical design. He used the term 'generalist'. The proper term would be 'project engineer'. True enough, I have dabbled with electronics, programming, mechanical design, data analysis, manufacturing, blah blah blah... but I can't say I am specialised in any. So there, I am a generalist. Jack of ~~all~~ some trades but master of none. I have to say its good to come to that realisation/conclusion/acceptance.

In case of emergency...

2012-09-28T15:23:00.001-07:00

Well a little 'emergency' happened last night. I was doing the dishes, putting them on the dish rack when a plate fell out and for some reason (maybe its reflex) I reached out with my right hand to catch it. I wasn't sure what exactly happened but the plate broke into a few pieces in the process and cut the back of my hand. Stupid reflex. It was quite a nasty gash and I sort of freaked out. At that point, Gideon was already sleeping and Mabel was resting in the room. I looked at the cut and didn't think it looked good, so I called for Mabel, she had a look at it and started to panic a bit.

We both agreed that the cut needed stitches but obviously I couldn't drive myself to the hospital and she couldn't do it without dragging a sound asleep Gideon along. Then we started to think who we could call to send me to the hospital. None of our closer friends lived near us (they were at least 30 minutes drive away) so our quickest option was our neighbours. Mabel ran to the first unit directly next to us but they weren't in. Fortunately the family in the next unit were home and in fact the guy of the house is a doctor! I guess some part of our brain knew that, just that it didn't occur to us that they might be home or I could say they weren't programmed in my head as one of the "in case of emergency" contacts.

Anyway neighbour doctor kindly came over to have a look at my hand. He sort of spread the wound to have a better look at the cut, made me move my fingers to make sure it was not affecting movement and also made sure they had strength and sensation. His conclusion: the wound is superficial and doesn't need stitches. Phew. That was a relieve and (I have to admit) a little bit silly that I over-reacted and thought it was very serious. But hey, how would I know? This also got me thinking: thank God it's not a real emergency but what if it was and I had a few young kids at home? To be honest, I cannot imagine and I hope that never happens.

I have to add, even though its a superficial wound, it hurt pretty bad (by my standard) and I bet there's some sort of injury to the nerves or tendon because there's a fair bit of pain in my first two fingers when they move in a certain way. So I am guessing I will have problems doing things with my right hand for the next few days - like cooking, washing and carrying Gideon and maybe driving. Now wouldn't it be great if one of our neighbours is a baby sitter and/or a house caretaker who could help with cooking and cleaning; although we probably couldn't afford it.

The Paralympic heroes/champs

2012-09-13T22:22:00.000-07:00

The London Paralympics was a huge success. The coverage on television was good (well, better than the Olympics coverage here in Australia). There has been good highlights and also great stories of the athletes; like this video from CNN about war heroes and how sports has given them a new lease of life:

For some reason, I thought the opening and closing ceremonies of the Paralympics were brilliant too, more so than the Olympics. I mean the Olympics was good, but kinda ordinary. But the Paralympics was just so much more interesting. Not to mention the opening ceremony had Stephen Hawking! Just look at some of the photos from the closing ceremony. It's awesome. Alright, maybe I am just a little bit biased towards the Paralympics because my PhD stuff has been quite focused towards wheelchair sports and I got the chance to meet with and do some testing with the Australian athletes. But I am sure that is the case for anyone who has worked with or been involved in Paralympic sports one way or another. Anyway, the Australian team has done extremely well this year and especially the sports I was gunning for: the track events and wheelchair rugby. I like this nice little clip that explains the game of wheelchair rugby complete with some mind-blowing moves, definitely not for the faint hearted:

The Aussie wheelchair rugby team or the Steelers totally dominated the games from day 1. They played 5 games in total and won every game by at least 12 points. The most impressive thing is that even in the last quarter of each match, when they were already leading by more than 10 points, they were still going all out and making every effort to score the next point/block the opponents score attempts. No complacency. No holding back.

The Oz Steelers (photos from the london2012 website)

Some highlights from the gold medal match:

In the track event, Richard Colman, did an amazing race in the T53 800m. He had a great tactic - drafting for the first one and a half laps, conserving his energy for the final 200m burst. If you pay attention, you could kinda tell that he was staying behind intentionally, braking a little bit at several occasions in the first lap and checking back to see if the rest were catching up. Then he just surges forward at the last 150m and leads for the final 100m. Here's the youtube video of the race and Richard Colman is in lane 3 wearing yellow:

London T53 800m finals

I must say, this Paralympics has been quite phenomenal. The standard of the various sports have increased so much, with so many new world records, sometimes happening even in the heats, and then having another new one set again in the finals. There is a also lot more support and technology invested in the sports; and there is the explanation of classifications during different events which sheds so much light to home viewers and just makes the whole viewing experience so much better. So I think slowly people are becoming more aware of Paralympic sports and more are beginning to see that these Paralympians are not just disabled athletes, but elite athletes serious about doing well in their sport and even in life. They may not have been dealt with the best cards earlier in life but they sure are playing it to the best of their abilities and are all heroes and champs in their own right. Well, that's it for London, until the next time in Rio 2016!

The Olympics (Paralympics) post

2012-07-19T05:55:00.001-07:00

With the Olympics happening in another 8 days, the excitement is really building up. Some call it the world's biggest reality TV show because there is so much drama about it, on and off the court. The anxiety just before a race, the adrenalin shooting up during the finals, the disappointment of not making it onto the podium etc. In fact, even before the games has started, there are already tonnes of drama that has happened: There are the athletes who have been to the Olympics previously, won medals, broke records but couldn't make it this time round for various reasons; then there are the athletes who thinks they should be in the Olympics team but their governing sports bodies thinks otherwise possibly for strategic reasons; there is the athlete who would and should make the Olympics team until she got banned due to an absolutely honest mistake with drugs; there are of course the regular heart-warming stories of athletes who do make it to the team after much effort and struggles; and this is just in Australia!

Whatever the case, I applaud the athletes for getting so far, whether they made it to the team or not. These people have worked hard with their God given abilities, and made their fair share of sacrifices to get to that elite level in their sport. Plus most of these athletes are either self-funded or they get an allowance from the Australian Sports Commission which is usually just enough for daily expenses. Come to think of it, these elite athletes remind me of what PhD candidates go through. There are definitely some striking similarities:

Elite Athletes	PhD folks
Train really hard hoping that one day they become the best in their sport.	Study and research (till their brains are fried) hoping to be the top expert in their field
They eat, drink and live their sport.	They are bogged down by their research problems 24/7
They are not really paid to train so they either work part-time or try to get sponsors or do both.	They are not really paid to do the research so they either work part-time or try to get sponsors or constantly apply for funding
When they do get to the Olympics and get a spot on the podium, they do get a moment of glory but after that it’s back to the grind of life.	When they do submit and pass their thesis, they do get a moment of euphoria but it’s quickly back to the daily grind as well.
After their peak, it seems natural for them to become coaches, motivational speakers (entrepreneurs) or stay on in sports institutes working in other areas	After their PhD, most go on to teach, do more research (the horrors!), start-up a company, or join a government agency.

Shockingly similar I say.

On a separate note, the application of engineering and technology in sports have gained much more attention this Olympics year. From technology being used to help the officials and judges do their job better, to technology that enables enhanced viewing experience all over the world; and then of course there is the (controversial) engineering and technology used to enhance performance of the athletes by reducing drag or energy loss. The latter has actually brought about a report from the Institute of Mechanical Engineers that addresses the topic of sports technology 'doping'. At the end, they recommend that engineers, sports regulators and sports institutes and governing bodies should work together to set new policies and boundaries going forward, and come to an agreement to what is misuse of technology and what is acceptable. Yup, whatever. I think there is too much hype about this issue. Engineering does a lot more things other than just 'enhance' performance of athletes' equipment. I for one am doing sports engineering research that will do nothing to enhance the performance of wheelchair rugby athletes; but my brains are almost fried trying to sort out things like Renyi's entropy, capacity dimension, fractals and how all that is linked to performance and activity classification...

Anyway, back to the games; so other than the usual Olympic events (sprint kayaking, swimming, basketball, athletics) I would watch, I would also be looking forward to some of the Paralympic events like athletics, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair racing, especially since I have worked with some of them before and seen how hard they train. It would be awesome to see them get out there and win some gold medals!

I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified. 1 Corinthians 9:27 (NLT)

Little setbacks

2012-06-06T05:57:00.001-07:00

Working on a PhD while having a little one is definitely challenging.

Fortunately, two things happened that promised to make life easier at home both for me and Mabel. Firstly, my Mum-in-law (MIL) was kind enough to fly over here to help take care of the little guy while Mabel goes back to work and I work on the PhD. Well she is more than happy to do it because she absolutely loves Gideon. Oh, on top of that MIL would also make us delicious meals which means one less thing to think about. Secondly, by the grace of God, we managed to get a spot for Gideon in a nearby childcare for the days that Mabel worked! The same childcare initially told us we might have to wait till end of the year before a spot might be available, so this is a pleasant surprise.

Anyway, all these (help with Gideon, help with cooking and possibly help with housework) mean I would have more time to work on the Phd and possibly find time to kayak! Well, at least during the 3 months that MIL is here.

Unfortunately, things happen. A little toe accident here, a little foot accident there, throw in the cold (and random) melbourne weather, add in a terrible sore throat that lasts for a couple of weeks, plus lack of comfort (Singaporean) food and activity, makes the MIL not a happy camper. Although the little guy cheers her up heaps, the bad sore throat (with viral infection) was killing her and it was the final straw that 'broke' her and made her decide to shorten her stay. She blames it on the cold weather (that is getting colder as winter beckons) and she figured it will take 2-3 weeks for her to recover. In the meantime, she will only be a burden to us (not to mention her virus could possibly infect her precious grandson). So, she left 5 weeks ahead of the original plan. Sigh.

But wait, don't we already have a spot for Gideon at childcare? Yes, except that we can't take him to childcare if he is sick; and for the first 4-5 weeks, he was sick for almost half the time, probably because he is exposed to a lot more viruses common in the childcare centre (yes its ironic). Since Mabel has just started her new job, she can't really take leave, which means the Papa has to stay home to take care of the little guy when he is sick, instead of working at the Uni.

Then again, the optimist in me thinks:"I could work from home! This will not stop me from progressing in my Phd!". Yes, somehow I still haven't fully given up that thought - the possibility that I could do work at home while taking care of the bub. Tried it time and again and it does not work.

On the bright side, the last discussion I had with my Phd supervisor ended on a rather positive note: I have finished most of the work and I only require a final verification test and a bit more data analysis. No problems at all. Verification test needs an inertial sensor that belongs to another department in RMIT. All I need to do is contact them, loan the sensor, run the test, and I am good. It should take maybe 3-4 days. Easy. Until I contact them and find out the sensor is missing. Turns out the last guy that used it was a Phd candidate that graduated and left. So effectively, no one knows where it is. Dang. I was told they will try to contact him and find out the whereabouts of the sensor, but this time I am not that optimistic about that happening. Still, all is not lost; this inertial sensor that i need is manufactured by Catapult Sports and I know them. I will just approach them and request to loan one unit. Thankfully the boss was happy to do that. It's just that something that could be done originally in 3-4 days would now take much longer, maybe 2-3 weeks because Catapult usually has lots of work and service orders (based on my experience working there) and my case would probably not be considered a priority.

Anyway, as I am writing this, I am taking care of the little man who is down with a chest infection this time, with a sore throat and fever. He is a lot more clingy than usual and he wants to be carried (almost) all the time. This means I am almost 24/7 with him this past few days and nowhere near doing any work.

Honestly its pretty frustrating, having things happen that keep me
from moving forward. At some point, I felt like giving up on the Phd, again. But as I think about it, it's all good. At least I get to spend a lot more time with my little man - something not every dad can have. Also, during the moments when Gideon is quietly sleeping in my arms, I actually got to think about many things and pray about many things that otherwise wouldn't cross my mind when I am simply busy working. Setbacks are sometimes good reminders that I need to rely on Him, and not on my own strength; they also give me the opportunity to refocus on what is important, not just what can be done.

On a side note, its amazing that I actually managed to write this post all using the iPhone and the Blogger App. It is the one thing I could still use while Gideon is sleeping in my arms. Its good for taking photos of him sleeping too. It's just too bad that I cannot do my data analysis with it. Although coincidentally (or ironically) my Phd research is about using the iPhone or iPod to measure wheelchair sports performance on the field.

Running shoes evaluation

2012-05-08T23:57:00.002-07:00

So RMIT started a research contract with Mizuno a couple of years ago to basically look at how Mizuno running shoes perform as compared to other popular running shoes in the market. The definition of performance in this study was not purely from a technical point of view but it was also about how users (your average everyday runner) feel about wearing the shoes. This is what is known as Kansei engineering and as defined in Wikipedia, it is the development or improvement of products and services by translating customer's psychological feelings and needs into a product's design parameters.

Here's a video that encapsulates the idea of the project:

Recently, Pat (one of the guys in the video) who is in charge of the project needed a bunch of people to do some actual running shoes evaluation and I was approached to be one of the participants. The tests involved include: 1. Running on a treadmill and giving initial thoughts and feel about the pair of shoe I was running in; 2. Force plate measurements of foot strike and traction; 3. A user survey about how my overall feel of each pair of shoes. The easiest test to do was actually the force plate measurements because it didn't require me to think, I only had to go through the motion. It was the survey and giving of my feedback about how each pair of shoes felt when I was running on the treadmill that kinda had me stumped. But thankfully I got the hang of it by the third pair of shoes, which is pretty much halfway through the tests because each tester only tested 5 pairs of shoes.

The boxes of shoes in the Sports Eng Lab

Those 5 different shoe models included 2 pairs of Mizuno, 1 Asics, 1 Brooks and 1 Nike. Other than Mizuno which is the reason for this tests, the rest were considered the more popular running shoe brands based on surveys that were done earlier on. Personally, I have owned two of the popular brands, namely Asics and Nike (not the same models as these ones of course). Anyway, before I did this test, my opinion was that Asics made better running shoes - they were not only durable, they ran well. On the other hand, Nike ran pretty well too and they usually look good but they were definitely not as durable. As for the other running shoe brands, I never really bothered to try them for whatever reason.

By the end of the testing session, I was quite surprised to come to a conclusion that my favorite pair (among the 5) was the Brooks. This is in terms of the level of cushioning, traction, the fit of the shoe on my feet, how it feels when I run in them and other psychological factors. The next in line of my preference would be one of the Mizunos, followed by the Nike, then the other Mizuno design and finally the Asics. I never thought I would rank Asics last but I did, and this was mainly possible because I could try 5 different pairs of shoes within a short period, actually run in them on a treadmill (for a couple of minutes) and had to be objective about them.

Which means, the only reason I had stuck to Asics and Nike was purely due to the perception I had of their shoes; and this is probably the effect of marketing. I mean, I am not saying Asics & Nike shoes are not good but its just that based on my running style and preferences, the Brooks actually feels better. So this evaluation is mostly about personal preferences.

Very enlightening. Don't trust marketing all the time. They lies!

The sweet thing about participating in this evaluation (other than finding out what's my preferred shoe) was that I scored myself a pair of Brooks! Yeah, Pat was kind enough to give away the shoes since he was done with testing them. So now I can really try running in them. It should be good since I tested them.

New shoes!

Paddling across a mini fall

2012-04-02T06:40:00.000-07:00

The weather has been fantastic recently, not too cold and not too hot. So I thought I should take the opportunity to get into the kayak and do as much paddling as possible before it gets too cold and I get too wimpy. Today was one of those nice weather days and its such a relief to be able to go to the canoe club after a day of insane data crunching at uni.

Now the water level has been a bit low which makes it difficult to paddle down stream because there are certain parts of the river where the paddle almost hits the ground (or river bed). Also, there is this part of the river in front of the Fairfield Park Boathouse and under the Fairfield Pipe Bridge, where the river bed has a slight drop and it is only becomes obvious when water levels are low and the rocks become exposed creating sort of a mini fall (its hard to describe how small it is but its small).

View of the Pipe Bridge from the Boathouse (photo from here)

View from Google maps

Anyway I would usually go upstream instead to avoid that mini fall because I run the risk of running the club's kayak over the rocks, but for some reason I decided to go ahead this time. The trip downstream was actually fine and I managed to avoid hitting any rocks as I simply allowed the flow of the river to carry me across that mini fall. After that I continued to paddle happily till I reached the 3.5km mark where I turned back.

My 7km paddle route

It was all good until I came back to the mini fall and this time I had to go against the flow of the river and up the mini fall. Coincidentally, there was another guy on a kayak in front of me. He looked like an older and more experienced paddler. What he did was he decided not to go against the mini fall and instead he just got off his kayak at the side of the river and did a portage. In my mind I was thinking: "it can't be that hard to paddle up that tiny little fall". I went ahead and attempted to go across. I failed. My paddle was hitting the rocks and I couldn't get enough momentum to overcome the faster flow across that mini fall. But I was really not keen on doing a portage as I would have to jump into the river and who knows what slimy creepy stuff lies on the bed of the river. So I made a second attempt to cross the mini fall and this time I didn't even come close to it. As the sky slowly turned darker, I knew I had to do the portage or I would be stuck there. I went to the exact same spot where the guy got off his kayak and thank God there were some rocks that I could stand on and managed to get off my kayak without having to step into the river bed. It took me a while to get back into the river because I could not find a easy spot to launch the kayak. If only I had followed that guy (who is obviously more experienced) when he did his portage, it would have saved me some grieve. Oh well, guess sometimes I just learn things the hard way.

Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18 (NIV)

Going on with the Phd

2012-03-28T05:21:00.000-07:00

It has been a month since I came back to Melbourne from the two months 'break' in Singapore, and I have pretty much gotten back into the swing of things and more or less picked up from where I left off last December. Well almost. The difference is that I have decided to focus more time and energy on the Phd - which means I dropped the part-time work (quite reluctantly because its good fun) and for the sports science traineeship at VIS, I simply didn't put my hand up for anymore projects.

As I made the decision to focus more on the Phd, somehow I was filled with many doubts - like why am I doing this Phd, what good is it going to be, is it worth all the effort? Reading this article from the Economist doesn't really help. It was basically explaining why doing a Phd is a waste of time. Firstly, most people get paid very little to do the Phd and very often the research done is not very relevant to the industry yet, which makes it hard for the graduate to find relevant work in the industry. Then for those who do find work in the industry, they would probably not be paid much higher (if at all) than their colleagues with bachelor or masters degrees. Also, the option to stay on in the university as an academic, or to work in some research facility is only for the lucky few because there are so many Phd graduates and so little openings in universities or research institutes. So based on that article, not only is doing the Phd a tough journey, the career outlook isn't very promising which makes it a waste of the individual's time. By the look of my current situation, it seems so true. That's because even if I finished this Phd (assuming I do finish and not crash and burn because it is bloody difficult) in sports engineering, I may not find a job opportunity in that field because it is a very niche field. Although on the bright side, my chances of finding opportunities here in Melbourne is much higher than in Singapore.

But even before I think about landing myself a job, I still need to cross the hurdle of actually finishing the research and writing up a thesis, which as I said before is taking the life out of me. I have gotten a fair bit of data from my tests; but going through the data and trying to make sense of it and wondering about the accuracy of my methods and contemplating if I should collect more data plus a million other things are all making me go nuts.

Here's a clip of what a typical Phd student would say; it is pretty hilarious but sadly true:

On a more positive note, I have a lot of support to do this Phd - mentally, financially, physically and spiritually. Mabel plays a big role in that and I thank God for her everyday. I know that God has allowed me to do this Phd, and whatever happens after that, I am going to leave it to Him. Although I have just said that, I am pretty sure that from now till I finally finish the Phd, I am still going to get doubtful now and then, and I am just going to keep reminding myself of this couple of things:

I did ditch my previous job and a couple of other opportunities to pursue this Phd in sports engineering, so I jolly well suck it up and just finish it.

Or as Ralph Waldo Emerson said: Don't waste your life in doubts and fears: spend yourself on the work before you, well assured that the right performance of this hour's duties will be the best preparation for the hours or ages that follow it.

Last and most importantly, as written in Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV): For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Parents have no holidays

2012-01-22T23:00:00.000-08:00

Mabel and me decided to take a long (10 week) holiday with the baby to Singapore. The rational is: it has been quite a while since both of us visited the sunny (and humid) island, plus my folks have yet seen their first and only grandson, it will give us the opportunity to celebrate Christmas and Chinese New Year with the family; and my dad's health isn't that great and he's feeling a bit down, so hopefully letting him spend some time with his grandson will cheer him up. We were also secretly hoping (prior to the trip) that we could leave Gideon with the grandparents for a couple of days while we go for a short escapade on our own. But after spending 6 weeks here in Singapore and with 4 more weeks to go, I don't think that short escapade will eventuate. Here's what happened in our first 6 weeks in Singapore:

1st week: arrived in Singapore and on the same day, my dad got warded to the hospital because his limbs were swollen. So we spent quite a bit of time visiting him at the hospital.
2nd week: my dad got discharged (Yay!), but Mabel got a cold, my mum has to work, which leaves me to take care of Gideon and Mabel. By the end of the week, Gideon gets diarrhoea (maybe it was a result of me taking care of him?). Brought Gideon to a GP and got some diarrhoea medication but there was no improvement after 2 days of diarrhoea medication - I went online to find out about the drug and found out the dosage as advised by the clinic was wrong! After giving Gideon the proper dosage, his condition improved slightly but he was still having diarrhoea for the next 3 days.
3rd week: We decided to go to a paediatrician. This time, the paediatrician advised us to send Gideon to the hospital and put him on a drip so as to rest his gut. Gideon was also put on a course of antibiotics because the doctor suspects a viral infection. I felt really terrible that Gideon had to have a needle stuck on his hand for the IV drip, but he was a real trooper - only cried for 2 seconds when the doctor inserted the needle! Anyway, at least his diarrhoea got much better after 2 days and got discharged just before Christmas!

Gideon with the IV drip at the hospital

The little Christmas elf!

4th week: Mabel has fully recovered from the cold. But all of a sudden Gideon started rejecting food during the week. He was rejecting milk from a bottle and fussing when fed rice cereal or mashed veggies. He had his usual "I'm hungry" type of cry, but once we put food into his mouth, he would cry even louder and throw a tantrum. We were clueless and decided to go to another child clinic. This time, we found out that one of the side effects of babies finishing a course of antibiotics, is that they might lose appetite for a couple of days. Thankfully the symptoms did go away after 2 days and he did go back to his normal appetite.
5th week: Now that Mabel and Gideon were both well, it was my turn to fall sick. Not sure what I got, but I had these typical flu symptoms of fever and body aches. The body aches were pretty bad such that my calves would cramp up when I wake up in the morning. For some reason, I didn't think it was so serious that I had to see a doctor (I think I was resenting the fact that I had to go a doctor every week for the past 4 weeks), so all I did was take some Nurofen (ibuprofen), took plenty of fluids and rest as much as I could; and thankfully Mabel and my mum-in-law (MIL) took turns to take care of Gideon.
6th week: The best week so far and it's the week before Chinese New Year. Mabel and I actually managed to leave Gideon with my MIL and took an afternoon off to catch a movie!

So as I was saying, parents have no holidays. Although we managed to have our time-offs from the baby (courtesy of the grandparents) and we do enjoy our time with family in Singapore, but it's just not the same. My idea of a holiday (and what we used to do before parenthood) includes - doing stuff at the spur of the moment, having late nights (not because the baby is crying), sleeping in during the day, having long meals and doing absolutely nothing as a couple. Parenthood makes these almost an impossibility. So far, about 70% of our energy is spent doing things related to the baby and about 25% thinking about the baby. Going out shopping is usually for getting baby stuff - either his food, or what he wears, or what he needs to use; and because we are away from home, and we can't possibly pack everything that Gideon uses into the suitcase while travelling, so not everything is as convenient (as home), and we have to make do with make-shift alternatives that takes up twice the usual efforts or resources. For example, without a change table, changing Gideon's nappy on the bed or floor now requires 2 persons instead of 1. Then for some reason, Gideon's sleep patterns have been insanely irregular, which means our sleep is irregular as well. Sigh. 'Holidaying' with a baby is tiring, either that or we are just noob parents and haven't gotten the hang of travelling with a baby yet. There is a silver lining to all these - that Gideon has brought great joy to the grandparents. :)

Gideon cheering up my dad with his
raspberry blowing

My MIL - the beaming grandma

Anyway, I just read this interesting book recently: The Road Less Travelled by Morgan Scott Peck. It is an interesting read about growing (mentally, emotionally and spiritually) as a person and finding one's purpose and meaning in life. The author wrote a couple of chapters about love - how true love requires work and effort and how it requires us to overcome the laziness that is so inherent in everybody. For parents, loving a child means we need to put in humongous efforts to raise him up, to nurture him, to provide security, to really listen and to ensure that he is well developed as a person. This can only be done with a love that is sacrificial, one that overcomes any fear of stepping into unfamiliar territory, and one that is disciplined enough to take the right action at the right time. It is hard work and I know there is no other way to do it but to live by the Spirit as written in Galatians 5:13-26 and the fruit of the Spirit is love.

No wasted efforts

2011-11-25T18:16:00.000-08:00

Its amazing how October has gone so quickly and November is almost gone. As I look back at the past 6-7 weeks, it has been pretty hectic although I am not sure what I have actually accomplished.

Some of the activities that took my time include:
1. volunteered for a Talent ID testing session for Canoeing Victoria (VIS attachment)
2. got a bit involved in a cycling crank angle measurement project (VIS attachment)
3. analysed wheelchair rugby match data (PhD)
4. trying to develop a sensor for a cricket project (PhD related)
5. wheelchair racing testing (PhD)
6. figuring out application of the ANT+ protocol (PhD)
7. part-time work stuff at Catapult (work)
8. write & submit abstract for 2012 ISEA conference (PhD related)

Only one of those things listed above can be considered done and closed (at least for me), and that's the Talent ID testing. The rest of the stuff are either on-going, in progress, or requires follow up or more work. It sounds like I am saying the same thing but it is actually different.

Firstly, on-going stuff is like my part-time job - as long as the company is still running and has work for me, it is on-going and the scope isn't going to change much.

Secondly, stuff that is in progress would be me analysing wheelchair rugby match data and getting the ANT+ thing to work the way I need it to. They are in progress because I haven't reached any sort of milestone or goal yet and I know more or less how I am going to get there.

Thirdly, stuff that requires follow up would be the cycling project. I have done my part and now the ball is in someone else's court. I may or may not have to do more work on that but that is what I need to follow up and find out. To be honest, I have a feeling that my bit of contribution would not be used in the end, which would be slightly disappointing. [The up side is that I did learn something useful during my involvement that I could apply in the cricket project]

The last category is stuff that requires more work; this includes the cricket project, wheelchair racing testing and the 2012 ISEA conference paper submission. The cricket project was a bit of a bummer initially because I spent a couple of weeks trying to troubleshoot an issue with a micro-controller that turned out to be simply a wrong boot loader burned onto it. But as I mentioned briefly earlier, I transferred what I picked up from the cycling project and ended up with a simpler solution of using a simple data logger board instead of programming a micro-controller. If only I came to that solution earlier (pfft). Anyway there is more work to be done in this project like testing and other stuff. The wheelchair racing testing and the conference paper submission are inter-related. The plan was to run some lab tests (which I had done); from the lab test results, work out a field test protocol, run the field tests and publish all those results in the conference paper (since the abstract I submitted was accepted). Unfortunately, the results from the lab test was not exactly what I had expected and it would take some brainstorming before I could go ahead with the field test. Plus the fact that I am planning to go for a extended holiday beginning of December, this means I would not be able to finish all the work and meet the paper submission deadline which is 21st Dec. Sigh. So actually there is no more work to do for the ISEA conference because I will not make it!

Nevertheless, the work of the wheelchair racing project still has to go on. Hopefully at the end of the day, I get some results or analysis that can give the athlete some insight into how he could improve his performance and win some (more) gold medals!

The racing wheelchair

So for all the effort that I put into doing stuff the past weeks, some worked out according to plan, some efforts were kinda wasted (submitting the abstract only to realise I can't submit the full paper) and some worked out in an unexpected way.

Going back to the first activity on the list: the Talent ID testing. There was actually something interesting that I learned from that experience. I realised on that day that none of the young people (13 - 22 year olds) who turned up for that testing had any experience in canoeing prior to that. Most of them were either in life-saving or triathlon or some other sport. I had expected them to have a certain level of physical fitness but I was wrong. I guess the whole point of that exercise was to find talent outside of the sport of canoeing; and if it was detected that there was some potential in a particular person, he/she would be put under a canoeing program and monitored for the next year. From there, the VIS would then decide if it was worth training and mentoring that athlete, and also for the athlete to decide if it was worth pursuing the sport of canoeing competitively. Looking at the selected squad, it seems more than half the people who turned up for the testing did not make it through. But I can't say they have wasted their time or effort in going through the testing because they probably found out a bit more about themselves that day, and this might just lead them to understanding where their strengths really lies.

Working intentionally

2011-10-16T06:13:00.000-07:00

I do work everyday, whether it is paid work or volunteer work. For me, volunteer work includes doing my PhD (because I chose to do it on my own free will & I am not getting paid to do it), helping out in church stuff and doing housework (if that counts). Paid work is of course just work that pays (monetarily). For a good part of my life, I worked on a reactive kind of mode: something happens and I react to it, or somebody tells me I should do something and I do it. It is probably the way that I was brought up - to follow a certain pattern of doing things, to follow instructions and 'protocol', and take on whatever comes my way. But over the years I have began to feel tired of working that way; and at some point I decided to make some changes - to pursue the things that I have a passion for and try to avoid doing things that doesn't interest me (at all). So I came to Melbourne... and I am still on that journey... trying to work out some way to do the things I like and hopefully get paid (enough) doing it.

Recently I had this meeting with the boss (of my part-time job) to get some review of my performance in the past four months and to find out if I met the expectations of the role. I was given some positive feedback and also some suggestions of areas where I could improve on. Overall it was quite a standard type of review meeting and in my opinion, the outcome was positive. But there was something else that I took out of the meeting.

The boss was explaining to me during one part of the conversation about spending time and resources on a project and how every bit of effort put in could have some outcome. However, some input could have a slightly worse outcome and some could have a much better outcome. But what really counts is when the outcome goes past a threshold and becomes profitable or successful. That could be like: developing a consumer product that goes through a few prototypes and finally becomes mass produced and sold to the customers; or a new software update that has gone through a few rounds of testing, then it is finally published and it benefits the end-users. But then, not all developments become a final product or something deliverable and useful. Some just stop at a certain prototype stage and 'die' off. So the goal is to have as many 'deliverables' as possible with the amount of resources spent. I imagine this would require having some form of vision of the outcome, proper planning, and working intentionally - spending adequate resources (time, effort & money), not getting distracted by other things and making sure that every effort spent is intended to reach the goal.

I am not 100% sure if that was exactly what I heard but that was what stuck in my head. It made sense to me, and I think I could definitely apply that while working on my PhD because I really need to work more intentionally, to have outcomes that count - like doing testing and analyses that will complete certain chapters in my thesis or even publishing journal articles & conference papers from my research. There are many interesting ideas and 'projects' that distract me every now and then, but I really need to start intentionally filtering them and just stay on track to finish this PhD and finish it well.

APCST 2011

2011-09-11T04:28:00.000-07:00

The 5th Asia-Pacific Congress on Sports Technology was recently held in Melbourne (for a second time). Almost 100 people from around the world turned up for the congress which took place in the Storey Hall - RMIT's premium exhibition and auditorium facility. The attendees include academics from various universities, scientists and researchers from sport institutes, engineers of various disciplines from organisations of technology and innovations, and representatives of sporting goods companies.

Keynote speakers

The first two days of the congress was packed with keynote speeches and presentations discussing the impact of technology on sports. Sessions were organised either according to the type of sport (winter sports, swimming, ball sports, cycling, track & field), engineering methods (design & analysis, modelling & simulation, aerodynamics), sports wear (garments & footwear) and the most popular topic in this congress which is sensors & measurement methods. Use of inertial sensors and the application of smart phones in various sports covered more than half the presentations under the category of sensors & measurement methods. I too, had the opportunity to present a paper on the use of inertial sensors and smart phones in wheelchair sports.

Obviously the potential of wearable technologies or wireless technologies in sports is huge, which is why more and more people are getting into the research and development of this area. One of the reasons for this is it's increase in demand. It probably started with the sports institutes where coaches and sports scientists recognised the advantage & benefits of tracking and measuring their athletes' movement and performance not just in the lab, but in the field during training or during actual competitions. It then trickled down to the professional team sports that has the funding to use inertial sensor technologies. Then what more, with smart phones such as iPhones and Android phones that are built with inertial sensors and a-GPS, and SDKs that allow almost anyone (with the interest and programming knowledge) to develop customised Apps for sports applications. There are Apps that simply use location data to track running or cycling routes, giving the user information on their speed, distance and elevation. There is an iPhone App for rowing and there are iPhone Apps that simply gives you access to the accelerometer and gyroscope data (which I used extensively for my research). Anyway, my point is that more people can have access to wearable technologies with the development of smart phones, and thus the growing interest.

I actually came across this blogpost that criticised the conference and the purpose of research in sports technology. The writer had the mindset that research in sports garments for improved performance (reduced drag) or analysing the aerodynamics of balls (golf & soccer) or instrumenting sports equipment for performance analysis is a total waste of time. That seems to be a very narrow-minded view of sports engineering. Objectively speaking, many new technologies that are developed from sports engineering research, whether in universities or research institutes are often adopted later on by other industries either in healthcare, manufacturing, construction and even aerospace engineering; and vice versa. The innovations developed may not have an immediate impact but it often brings people to a new level of understanding of the possibilities of such innovations. Also, who can deny that controversies in sports science and technologies make interesting discussion topics? Here's one for example.

Louise Sauvage showing us one of her racing chairs

But back to the conference itself; other than the many thought provoking discussions related to sports technologies, a highlight of the conference is the social events. On the second night, there was the dinner at the Melbourne Cricket Ground that was combined with a tour of the National Sports Museum. Louise Sauvage was a special guest for the dinner and she gave a special closing speech to mark the end of the conference. She shared about her journey as a disabled athlete, the different struggles she went through and some of the experiences she had that were truly epic. It was the perfect closing speech for a sports technology conference; because not only is she an Australian Paralympic wheelchair racer who has won numerous gold medals (Paralympic games, Olympic games and international athletic championships), she experienced first hand the impact of technology in the improvements of her racing wheelchairs. But even though technology had a bit to play in her success, I would say the major contributing factor is her discipline in training and determination to succeed. A truly charismatic and inspiring person; I am sure she has been a huge inspiration to many Paralympians in Australia and I am pretty sure she inspired many engineers and scientists that night during the dinner.

Industry tours: There were some industry tours on the third day at different locations including the Kookaburra Sport manufacturing facility, Sports Technology International - a sports surface manufacturer, and the Victorian Institute of Sport combined with a sports science presentation from Catapult Sports. There are several more sports technology companies based in Melbourne that I have come to know since I started my post-graduate studies in sports engineering. Then there are at least 2 universities with sports engineering programs (Victoria Uni & RMIT); which really makes Melbourne a sort of hub for sports technology developments, and I am pretty glad to be a part of it. :)

The APCST is a biennial conference, so the next one is going to be in 2013 and if I'm not wrong I think its going to be at Hong Kong. Two years might seem like a gap but there is still the 9th ISEA conference that takes place next year! In the meantime I better get some more work done so that I can publish more ground breaking stuff!!