Monday, February 27, 2006

One of those days, probably after the many days of reading from almanacs, encyclopedias, picturepedias etc ... I am feeling philosophical yet again.

And being the nerd I really am these days, I watched discovery channels and found a documentary on Olivia Lum, the brains behind Newater.

I find her interview inspiring, given that she was mostly an orphan, I said mostly because, she was later adopted from by her maternal grandmother, who took good care of her.

her struggle to make it big in life was definitely an uphill task and yet she has managed to attain it, fulfilling her personal oath to her late material grandmother, who was also in many ways her mother, her mentor and firm supporter.

I find it mind boggling that she managed to survive with RM $10 to become what she is today. Perhaps it is because she was living in such adverse environment, it gave her the drive to achieve something out in the end.

A woman, with no close kins, yet determinedly uprooted herself from her hometown to another foreign land and went on to find a niche market not only in Singapore, but in China when no one else dared to venture.

This is what made her so admirable and inspiring... at least in my humble opinion.

Could us Singaporeans do what she did?

How many of us could give up our cushy life to venture outwards, live in harsh conditions with nothing to warm you up, except the dream of being close to achieve what you set forth to do?

Do we possess such drive? Such determination to succeed?

I know, at least for me, I couldn't do it.