I Dare to Dream

Things have moved on for me. I never dream big. I am a realist and always rooted to my own sphere.

But one thing that I wanted to do is to run a marathon at least once in my life. It was 4 months ago on a cool Sunday morning that I wanted to be like Forrest Gump, on a whim for a run and simply decided not to stop. But I did reached my limit. From there I set my target to run a marathon by end year. First was to go for a half marathon - tickets were booked and training programme started.

By the third month of training I have run the half marathon distance twice. But the big test was to run in an official race. There I was with twenty thousands runners crowding at Marina Bay on Saturday.

Runners were released in several waves until the last wave flagged off at 8 in the evening. Running in such a big crowd was really intimidating. I was trying hard to stick to my rhythm, otherwise I won’t be able to finish. It was real torture. Not the best of my time. The Singaporeans were really fit.

Finally, crossing the finishing line nearly 3 hours later was a huge relief. My body was at conflict with my mind. It was the later that has more doubts. The full marathon end of the year now seems to be an impossible feat. Time will tell.

Colourful Arab Street

I have not been to this place for 30 years. Forgotten until last Saturday when my missus brought me there.

It was such a pleasant surprise to see how the place has changed and developed into a unique spot for locals and tourists to buy fabrics or to try out the traditional Malay or Mamak cooking.

Strolling around in the back alley, I found some colourful "shophouses" reminding me of colourful buildings in many Nordic cities.

Took the time to drop by at the mosque, seemed to be vibrant and full of activities.

As always the mosque is organizing iftar for the coming month of Ramadan. Every evening during that month some 500 people are served meal to break the fast. They are mainly made up of the low income and immigrant workers.

The iftar cost $3 per person which means every night would cost about $1500. Institutions or individuals can sponsor or part sponsor. They called it derma rahmat.

What is amazing is that the administration of the mosque is supported by SAP system, pretty impressive for a mosque to have that. But then MUIS or the Islamic organization in this country is well set-up in its operations.