5 Seconds Singapore

The first Product Conference I had this year was, unfortunately, held in Singapore. I mean, as Product Managers, we would love to have the annual Product Conferences held in some places out of our own country (so that we'll get to travel). I've been to Phuket, Ho Chi Minh City, San Francisco (and supposedly Macau) on business. Then for other fun work-related stuff, Malacca, Port Dickson and Bangkok.

For a while, I was hoping to get to Penang for this 3 day conference. But the final announcement was that it would be held in Singapore, meaning that the locals will not have hotel accomodations and have to travel to and fro from home everyday.

So it was on one of the afternoons during this conference where it was meant to be a "fun" and networking session with the rest of the folks in the industry from the rest of APJ.

The activity was somewhat like treasure hunt and amazing race. We were given an activity book, a polaroid camera, and 3 hours. Going through the pages of the activity book, we were to make our own decision on where to go and what task to accomplish in order to chalk up the most points.
A glimpse of the activities are as follows:
1) Go to the Padang grounds and have everyone on the team pose a rugby scrunch on the grounds, with the Marina Bay Sands building in the background.
2) Have all but 1 team member pose beside Sir Stamford Raffles with 2 tourists admiring at all the posers, and the Singapore River with a Riverboat passing by as the background.
3) Take a photo of a coffee shop owner doing Teh Tarik and the rest of the team members looking in awe beside a Sugarcane drinks stall that has the Sugarcane compressing machine in the background.

If the activity is incomplete, say we couldn't get 2 tourists to admire at the posers, then lesser points will be given.

So the story goes that having my boss and I (both Singaporeans on the team of 8), we had better not be the last team (compared to other teams made of completely non-Singaporeans). So we looked through all the activities, drafted out the plan from Chinatown, Tanjong Pagar, Raffles Place, Clarke Quay and off we ran.. (while some other teams took the cultural route of Youth Park, Little India, Geylang)

I think we were mad.. running around Singapore in the as-usual-swelteringly hot weather.. but that's what we did. We ran to the venue, got everything in place, took the photo and ran to the next venue.

I didn't realise this until one of the team members, a Taiwanese, commented this on the way back.
"This is like 5 seconds Singapore. We run to a place, do what we need to, linger for barely 5 seconds, snap a photo, and off we go. 5 seconds Singapore." I was rather amused by the statement.

Then as we headed back to our hotel, we passed by the Singapore Art Museum.Interestingly, there was an art installation titled "Flirting Point". The artist explains that a flirting point is a place where people meet for a short while, interact and then leave. Well, the english language does describe the insects as flirting here and there. How apt a final destination for the afternoon's activity!

The Book of Acts related an occasion when Paul was in the middle of a trial, sharing his testimony to Agrippa.

Acts26: 28-29a

Then Agrippa said to Paul, "Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?" Paul replied, "Short time or long—I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am."

Life passes so quickly that we ought to grab every fleeting moment and flirting point to share the Truth. It matters not whether others believe at the instant or much later, but rather, when they look back at the snapshot in time, they may realise that we have shared the Truth in love and sincerity.

Short time of long, I pray that all who are reading this blog today may know the Lord Jesus Christ whom I know.