Dear friends,

How are you? Hope you have had a wonderful Christmas Celebration!

The reason you have not heard from me for so long is because… I am suffering from writer’s block! Yes, you heard me right! And this is the worst time to be hit with this, as I have recently be featured as one of the bloggers on “Notes from Venus“! (Much thanks to Anna & Gerry who believe in my work! You ladies are great!)… Btw, if you got to my blog from Notes from Venus, a very warm welcome to you!

Anyway, I have been extremely busy for the past couple of weeks… I can hear some of my close friends saying, “Yes Violet… what’s new?” Haha!

Just some updates… Christmas was fantastic. My parents were in town and it was good to catch up with them + they spending quality time with babe. Got some great presents, favourite one is from dearest hubby who gave me a mobile phone…! It’s a Nokia Navigator, which means I will never get lost again! Haha! Had the Lunch Actually team, alumni + spouses over at our place for our annual Christmas party. Had a blast playing games… And yes, the girls won AGAIN! Woohoo!

As 2007 draws to a close, it is time to look back at the outgoing year, make New Year resolutions for the incoming year.

2007 has been a year of ups and downs, hits and misses. But looking back, the highlight of my year in terms of my profession is not the media coverage that we are so blessed to have. It is not being the first South East Asian to be a panelist at the first Worldwide Matchmaking Conference. And even though I love Eteract to bits, it is not the official launch of Eteract in October. For me, the greatest sense of accomplishment is to attend the wedding of one of our couples in KL and to see the joy on their face, and to witness the beginning of their journey as husband and wife.

My profession as a modern-day matchmaker is sometimes a thankless one as many couples prefer to keep their relationships and marriages under-wraps. Maybe they are worried that we might publicise it without their consent. Hence, the experience of being thanked over and over again by this couple (until I myself feel paiseh/embarassed) reinforced my commitment to my profession and my desire to bring people together.

2007 is also a very special year for Jamie and I as we watch our babe grow from an infant to a toddler. I believe that parenthood is one of the most amazing journeys that one can take. To witness the first smile, the first crawl, the first tooth sprouting, the first stand, the first step, the first word… so many firsts… And to see the proud and victorious smile on his face when he knows that he has achieved another milestone. And to observe the determination and perseverance to keep going despite falling down.

Our babe actually taught us a lot this year. He reminded us that if you put your heart and soul to it, and if you refuse to take ‘no’ for an answer, and if you just keep trying, you are actually making incremental steps. It might be slow sometimes, but one thing for sure… you WILL get there.

2007 is a year about gratitude. I feel extremely blessed by all that have been given to me this year. I have received so much love and support from my family, my team, my friends, my business associates and my blog readers. And I am truly thankful for your endless encouragement. And most of all, I would not be who I am without the love, support and inspiration from my dearest hubby. Hubby, xie xie ni!

As the clock ticks away, and as I await the monumental fireworks on the 31st Dec 2007 in front of my TV screen, I will be looking forward to yet another year of great learnings, joyous experiences and wonderful friendships.

Dear friends, here’s to a fabulous and exciting 2008!

Love, Violet 

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Last weekend was a hectic rush for me!

Attended a girlfriend’s wedding in KL (Malaysia), left at 10pm (after the 4th course is served), boarded the 11pm coach back to Singapore. I am used to this crazy rush. But this time was slightly different as Jamie and I brought babe with us. Luckily babe was very cooperative and was sleeping most of the time. Was really worried that babe was going to be one of the babies who will scream his head off and keep the whole bus awake… And, we arrived at about 5am!

So why the mad rush? Well… it’s because last Sunday… 30 of our members have volunteered their time to deliver goodies to needy families all around Singapore. So 15 guys, 15 gals in 15 cars were driving around the island delivering goodie bags! They are really heavy by the way!

When I first heard of the event, I was worried that I would not have enough time to gather enough people. We thought even if there were only 5 cars, we would be happy with the turnout. But turned out that we had an overwhelming response! At the end, we had 15 cars!

Here are some photos.

The BB Boys loading the bags into the cars.

 

When the media heard of the event, they decided to cover it. Managed to catch some photos of our members being interviewed.

 

This is a really meaningful charity project. If you would like to do your part, all you have to do is to drive into the Boys Brigade Headquarters at 105 Ganges Avenue, load some goodie bags into your car, and deliver them to the needy families. Their target is to deliver 100,000+ bags to about 50,000 needy families before Christmas. And, they still have a lot more bags waiting to be delivered.

For more information, please visit http://www.bbsgb.org.sg/contact.html

Thank you in advance for your support!

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Was with a group of Malaysians girls and guys the other day, dwelling on the topic of love and dating… and with patriotism running high, the focus inevitably transcends to how Singaporean men are not very good ‘daters’.

It is quite sad really, because not only the Malaysians are complaining. The Singaporean girls themselves are complaining about the Singaporean men.

They are too weak. They are not chivalrous enough. They make poor conversationalists. They are not gentlemanly.

A buzz phrase you hear among single Singaporean women is, “All the good Singaporean men are either attached, married or gay!”

That got me thinking actually. By the way, before I proceed any further, let me just state at this point that I am Malaysian, with a Singaporean PR. And I love my adopted country as much as I love my home country.

Ok… as I was saying, all this talk got me thinking. Is it true that Singaporean men ‘cannot make it’? Or do they have other redeeming factors?

The truth is, when I was at university, many of my guy friends were Singaporeans. And I was actually quite impressed with them. And many of them are people whom I keep in touch till today.

So, here are some endearing qualities that I find in Singaporean men that I have met… :) 

In the event of war, you are rest assured that they know how to use a gun. Yes, with the compulsory national service of 2 years, they undergo combat training. And to make sure their skills do not turn rusty, they go back every year for ‘reservist’.

You can always count on them to have tissue paper with them. I am one of those women who never carry tissue paper on me. I can always count on my Singaporean guy friends to have them. Very useful when you are eating katong laksa, and you need tissue to wipe your mouth.

Many of them can cook. I swear. They are fantastic cooks. My girlfriend and I went on a trip with 3 guys. And we did not need to do any cooking. This Singaporean guy prepared breakfast, lunch and dinner and it was absolutely delicious! I don’t know where they learn how to cook… maybe in the jungle while serving NS?

They are really sweet and chivalrous actually. I had this friend who knew the weakling I am, and offered to accompany me to the supermarket whenever I ran out of groceries. He knew for sure I couldn’t carry so much stuff. So he camealong to help me carry stuff. Yeah, yeah, some of you might say that he probably had a crush on you or something. But, seriously, I don’t think so. Think he was just a very thoughtful and nice friend.

And last but not least, you have to respect the ‘camaraderie’ and comradeship. Every Singaporean man would have a group of friends call their ‘army friends’ or their ‘platoon mates’ or their ‘BMT friends’. Once in a while, they would go out with the boys, and catch up on how they played tricks on each other, or their sergeant or their platoon commander. And when they do that, though I pretend to be bored… it always brings a smile to my face…

Singaporean men might not be as romantic as the French, as passionate as the Spanish, as suave as the Italian, as well-dressed as the Hong Kongers, as good-looking as the Japanese… but they are really quite dateable… once you have taken time to know them better and discover the hidden gems.

After all, I am a trusted authority as I married one.

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