My Life Story. On a page.

  10.64 minutes read

1984 - Hola Mundo! - “I opened my eyes!”

1988 - 1989 - Goodbye Mummy

Thank You… for bringing me into this world - Mummy WW. I think the year was 1989, but since then, we have ben walking different paths. It might have been drilled into me since young not to care about you, or believe that you care. Perhaps a little cynical from my dad, but there’s some truth in that. I turned out fine mostly, in case you are wondering.

To be honest, I don’t really know you, and I don’t really know where you are now either. My memories of my young childhood days is a blur, and we didn’t had much opportunities to meet after the divorce. I think the last time I met you was around Primary 6. I wish you well, and that you are healthy and happy.

1990 - The Start of Formal Education

My primary school was at Red Swastika School, in Bedok. The most striking memory I have was a classmate called Melvin. He was a skinny boy in class that was often bullied because of his clumsy, good natured ways. It wasn’t that nasty, but it was the typical laughing at him and making tasteless jokes. I don’t deny it, I was one of those that bullied him too - typical herd mentality I guess. Yet, one day, I saw him with his grandmother. She was old and frail but I could see that she cared a lot for her grandchild. That affected me.

“Why was I bullying her grandson? Wouldn’t it hurt her to see her grandson being upset?” I took it upon myself to protect him and told my other classmates off. That episode struck a chord with me. I have always lived with my grandparents and they have been an instrumental part of my life.

I am super thankful for my grandparents. I have lived with them my whole life. They provided for me without gripe, cooked for me, didn’t complain when I cancelled dinner if I head out after school, protected me from my dad, gave me a warm and loving environment to grow up in, and I am who I am because of them.

In the earlier days, I recalled meal times would see my grandma chasing after me, as I ran around playing in the garden. I was quite the brat. My grandfather used to pick me up from kindergarten on his bicycle and I would ride pillion home. My dad had to work shift hours and because of that and school hours, it could be an entire week where I don’t see him much. I was also afraid of him and my grandmother was my partner in crime to help me avoid getting scolded.

In primary school, my ECA choice was especially weird. Harmonica. I even performed a couple of pieces on stage but I was usually hidden in the back row, just trying to be as quiet as possible. The funny thing was, I think I picked this ECA because of a girl. No, not what you are thinking of… She was a family friend, and my dad had this arrangement with her mom, whereby he would help send the two of us home when his schedule permits, and on the other weeks, her mom would help out. To make it more convenient for all, I picked the same ECA as her.

1996 - My First Computer

The impact of computers and technology in my life had been immense. Head over to my gadgets page for a full overview on my technolust.

My dad bought for me this first computer as a reward after my PSLE and I made good use of it. The brand was APEX. I still remember I blew the power supply barely a couple of months of use when I switched the power supply from 220V to 110V. Itchy fingers.

Thankfully, I think the warranty covered the repair. Computers back then didn’t had the internet so the next best thing was games. I didn’t know much, and the extent of my dabbling was to change the command prompt message and the colour of the font.

1997 - Drama in Secondary School

Once again, of all the ECAs available, I had no idea why I joined the English Drama Society in Dunman High, my home for the next four years. As it turned out, it turned out to be an interesting, but wise decision. It accorded me a lot of free time to pursue but I don’t think I grew from the experience. I picked up some weird dancing moves, and while I acted on a stage, I don’t think it helped much in terms of my public speaking / presentation skills.

However, as I compared to my other friends in more intensive ECAs, EDS accorded me a bunch of free time that I could dabble with my computers. Especially on weekends. After Saturday ECA ended, I was quite the loner, and would typically head back home early. I looked forward to the weekends with the computers and games, which brings me to …

1999 - Unreal Tournament

Among all the games I have played, and there have been many, Unreal Tournament is undoubtedly the stand out game. It was the game I really deep dived in, and I even participated in the multiplayer action on a serious competitive level.

Clan ngE - It was started by my secondary school friend as we were the only two in the school playing Unreal Tournament. It didn’t grow much. At it’s peak, there were only four of us, my friend’s brother and a rookie who was an endearing 12 year old - Psymasta. We were a small social group and when I started playing more competitively, we disbanded and I joined one of the bigger clans in Singapore - X3M.

Did it affected my studies? Perhaps, but I think I grew from the gaming competition experience. In the first competition I took part in, my team were quarter finalists in the 3v3 inaugural tournament (SiliconHorizon 3v3 CTF) held in Singapore. I grew from that experience and subsequently, we came in second in my next two competitions, one at SAFRA, and the other at Cineleisure. In 2001, with the starting of JC, I started playing less and shortly after, with a change in the game version to a new Unreal Tournament version in 2002 as well as pressures from JC studies, I “retired” from the online gaming arena.

2001 - Junior College - VJC

Life in VJC was fun. Perhaps, too fun, as my studies took a backseat. Living a short 1 km away from school, I cycled / walked to school, and hang out with a bunch of great friends in class. This could have been the moment where I dived deep into computers and programming as I was in the Robotics CCA, but nope, I let the opportunity passed me by. Crazy moments include skipping class, producing a short film as part of a class project, receiving a scholarship award from Dr Tony Tan, and yet, doing quite poorly for my ‘A’ levels. Finally, David Beckham visited our school, and I walked home with a prized soccer ball he kicked out of the field during a freekick showcase.

2003 - Becoming an Air Engineering Officer

20 Jan 2003 was the day I enlisted into the army, Echo company, as a chao recruit alongside plenty others. The army experience was an eye opener. But it did toughened me up. Along the way, with an unknown future ahead of me, I was convinced by one of the career talks to pursue a career as an Air Engineering Officer. On hindsight, at the age of 18, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do and that was honestly a huge decision to make. Concurrently, with that decision, I also started my tertiary education in 2003 at the National University of Singapore.

If you asked me why I signed on, I would bluntly tell you the key factor was about the money. The Air Force seemed like a decent place to work in, the starting pay was attractive, and it was a good opportunity for me at that time in life. However, convenience should never be the answer and I think that lesson only became clearer to me when I was older.

2004 - My first trip overseas without my Dad

For the first time, I didn’t travel with my dad. My first travel trip overseas was with N, as the two of us headed off to explore Southwest Australia - Sydney and Melbourne to be exact. It was a growing up trip. We did the touristy stuff, the seedy stuff, met up with friends studying abroad, bummed out in trashy hostels, rode a midnight train across town, emptied my pockets at a casino, and watched as Greece unexpectedly lifted Euro 2004 with a whole bunch of Australians.

2007 - Convocation to Cadet

I finally graduated, after four years in University. Not too shabby. I made some close friends, snagged a GF, and graduated with honours. The next phase of life soon started, and it was a time for adaptation, as it was back to the SAF and back to a life of regimentation.

2010 - She Said Yes!

Perhaps the grandest and most romantic gesture I had ever planned, it was a surprise visit for me to Shanghai, as I plotted with her colleagues to surprise her at the World Expo Singapore Pavillion. It was a success! Hey, I even made it to the news.

2011 - Mr & Mrs

We walked down the aisle, as husband and wife. It’s been life changing, but it has been the best decision I made my whole life.

2012 - GadgetReactor

Bored in class, Zhaolin and me were trying to buy the Nook Color, a hackable e-book reader, and alongside it, we launched GadgetReactor to talk about our experience. I have always been a big geek.

2012 - Leaving the Force

Leaving the military was a big decision. Where to next? Studies? Work? The 5 years there had undoubtedly been excellent, giving me precious opportunities to grow myself. But, as I look ahead, I felt it was time to hang up my ranks, as I looked towards a new life, beyond the military. Time to remember this quote from Fight Club.

You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your fucking khakis. You're the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world.Tyler Durden

2012 - Start Up Ecosystem

I found myself plonked into the world of SMEs and Start Ups. Life in SPRING Singapore exposed me to a myraid of companies, and the challenges they faced. I made it to the news again, but this time in a less positive manner. The transition to SPRING did aid my journey forward. I wanted a bigger challenge - to be in the eye of the storm.

2014 - O2C

I was inspired by Jason and the visions for the company. We had dreams to make it big, but I also know the journey was fraught with risks. We fought for 2 years, but the industry demand wasn’t as robust as we envisoned. It was an exciting journey, from networking with investors, closing deals, to striking industry partnerships. It was also my first “private-sector” experience, one where I got mired into a sea of operations and did my first full stack software engineering project self-learned and based on Django. It was a highly enriching two years and I think the experience landed me my tech-related job years later.

2014 - Goodbye my love

Goodbye my love. A part of me died with you, and I will always miss you, little cookie.

2015 - The Little Prince (Tyrant)

Nothing changes your life as much as being a parent. I always like to spend time by myself, sometimes just spacing out, thinking about nothing. But ever since I became a dad, well, that time is sorely missed. That said, having little S is a blessing and tough as it is, I just got to embrace fatherhood with all that I can give.

2016 - Koyo

When one door closes, another opens. Another eye opening 6 months.

2017 - Goodbye my love Pt 2

It’s not easy to say Goodbye. I hope you would be in a better place.

2018 - The Little Princess

Two is better than one.

2020 - Passing OSCP!