As I attempted to get the cream from my birthday cake out of my ear in the bathroom, I suddenly realized something. JeZeus Christ – how much exactly did my boss blow tonight to celebrate my birthday? The liquor alone would place the tab in the 5 digit range immediately. And we had already drank a dozen bottles of the best bubbly.
Birthday’s are a pretty big thing in my professional network. Most are closed door affairs with only the innermost sanctum of associates invited. Whatever happens behind these closed doors stay within those four walls. Just as the Japanese do not permit you do pour yourself a drink (somebody has to do it for you, otherwise it signifies you have no friends), you cannot throw yourself a party – your clique does it for you.
China has kicked out its idols like Mao Zedong and Confucius and replaced them with new deities like Mammon and Babulon.
I think the price of my soul doesn’t amount to much anymore.
If you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to the party.
Timothy Tay Kai Cheng represents Team Singapore in Gymnastics. This young hunk of incredible lean muscular development specializes in the individual artistic and all round events. His resume reads like a interstellar report, with gold, silver and bronze at multiple championship events.
When not training, Timothy enjoys playing the piano & violin, collecting coins and watching movies.
(Pic above) One would imagine this was probably how Timothy spent his infancy. You would be wrong. Timothy was already able to do this with just 1 hand at this age.
I had the chance to interview Timothy. Of course, I asked several questions regarding muscles, leotards & tights and from the female species to him having gymnastics as a sport. but of course Nuffnang did not let me publish them. This is supposed to be a SFW interview.
Cowboy Caleb Sneakily Interviews Timothy Tay While Pretending It Is A Job Interview For The Position of National Athlete (Permanent Grade 1)
What are your career aspirations, and where do you see yourself in 5 years? I am hoping to represent Singapore in all major games such as the SEA Games, Commonwealth & Asian Games. I also hope to have more opportunities to promote the sport as gymnastics is still not a well known sport in Singapore. For the YOG, I am hoping to be able to perform to the best of my abilities and do Singapore proud.
You mentioned that you are a hard-working individual. Can you give me some examples of you working, like really hard? Currently, I am training 6 times a week 4-5 hrs a day. In preparation for the games, I recently took part in the 8th SEAGCON Junior Gymnastics Championships, which was also the YOG validation exercise.
Tell me what motivated you to apply for this job.
As a a kid, I was hyper active and hence my mother placed me in gymnastics to burn off some of my excess energy. However, what inspired me to continue in gymnastics was seeing my twin sisters excel in the sport and doing the country proud. Theres nothing like sibling rivalry to drive you forward, or go insane from jealousy.
Tell me about a recent major accomplishment that you are proud of, and how it links to this job you are applying for. Being the first Youth Olympic Games, I am ecstatic and honoured to have been chosen to represent Singapore in the games. It is like a dream come true to me as I have been training extremely hard for it. The YOG is also my first major games and I am excited to be able to compete with all the other top ranked gymnasts from around the world.
As you know, we are very family-oriented. Would you describe yourself as a family man? Give me some examples of your family life. My parents have been very supportive through the years. They are constantly fetching and sending me from school to training to physiotherapy. In addition, my friends also help me with whatever school work I miss due to competitions. With so many people supporting and encouraging me, it motivates me to train even harder so as to not let all these people down.
What advice do you have for other people aspiring to join you as a colleague? I would tell aspiring youths that dreams can come true as long as they work towards them. Moreover, they should never give up no matter how tough the process gets.
This is a very tough job. Why do you think you deserve to get it? When the going gets tough, the tough gets going. It is the passion for gymnastics that has pushed me to persevere when training gets exhaustive. It is this passion that drives me to train harder at every training session so that I am able to improve on my skills and technique. It is this passion that allows me to strive for perfection.
Hypothetically, if we were to offer you this position , what would be your immediate goals to help us? I hope to be able to enter the finals and hence am training hard to do the country proud. However, I also do hope to be able to make friends with other athletes from the various countries.
What kind of salary are you expecting? Peanuts. Haha.
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After having interviewed Timothy, I walked away with the impression that Team Singapore is going to do us proud. Its not so much about winning medals and glory but rather that Timothy is such a nice young man.
Also, I have been inspired to lose weight to look good in tights.
A gentle sea breeze nudged my hair across my forehead as I sat on the grass admiring the sunset on XiChong beach. Behind me, laughter came from my several of my staff as they barbecued more chicken wings.
“Do you want another chicken wing, boss?” asked one of them, a recent graduate of the prestigious WuHan university who had joined my company despite being born far far away in the mountains of HuBei.
“I’ve got my beer, and that’s all I want for the moment” I replied. It was good to be the boss during a barbecue because you didn’t need to do any actual work apart from showing up and getting fed.
When one of my trusted subordinates approached me to organize an outing to the beach, I hesitated. After all, I was born on a hospital on a beach, could swim by the time I was 3 years old and thought beaches in China were nasty places compared to the pristine beaches of Thailand. But she was adamant that we go because “it will be great for teamwork building”. A typhoon came, but changed its direction to my dismay.
When we arrived at the beach, I was amazed. We had gone up a winding mountain range road and suddenly amidst pine tress (PINE NOT COCONUT OR PALMS, PINE!!!) there was a beach surrounded by beautiful mountains. And the best part of all was that we were going to stay in a charming chalet that was better than anything I had ever seen in Singapore.
Watching them pour out of the buses, into the rooms and then off to the sea to swim was a pleasure. Some of them had brought their husbands, wives and children. One of them even brought their mother. Every single one of them was grateful to be here. It was the chance of a lifetime. The everyday working China citizen only has 5 days of annual leave. Each day of leave is precious had to be spent carefully. I had made it possible for them to have the holiday of their lifetime by sponsoring the bulk of the costs, knowing fully well it was a great investment because they would repay me with loyalty and hard work.
I sip my beer again and watch the games begin. With everybody having filled their bellies with 3 chicken wings, 1 corncob, 5 meatballs and a can of pineapple juice, they were ready to party. The 5 latest additions to our department are being teased and are staging a performance as part of their initiation.
My mind drifted away. How amazing that all these people report to me, depend on me for their livelihood and look to me for leadership. I never really kept track of how many people I had. There must be at least 50 people here singing and dancing. And there are more that didn’t manage to make the trip. When I first arrived in China, I only had 1 person.
I wonder how that guy’s wife feels because I didn’t give her husband a raise last month due to poor performance. Did that child get to wear those Croc shoes because I promoted his mother recently? How heavy that makes my heart feel, with all their fates in my hands. Every decision I make affects them. And not just them, but their families as well.
Feeling happy that they are having fun, I finish the last of my beer. Even if I can never really be ‘one’ of them – I will try to fit in and pretend I’m not the Man In Charge tonight.
We’re also going to catch crabs at midnight later on the shore!
From July – November 2010, residents in Singapore stand a chance to win attractive prizes when they snap a photo of the Electrolux bus (bus featuring the latest Electrolux ads) and post it on our wall – so be sure to keep your eyes open! Click here for more details about the contest.
Have you heard about a phenomenon called i-dosing, which involves finding an online dealer who can hook you up with digital drugs that get you high through your headphones. Kids around the country are getting high on the internet, thanks to MP3s that induce a state of ecstasy. And it could be a gateway drug leading teens to real-world narcotics.
So I called up one of my peers in another region of China to ask a question.
She begins to cough, interrupting my question. And then she claims that my line has a lot of static. So I say I will call her back. When I call her back, she doesn’t pick up. When she finally answers the phone, she informs me that she is on another call and that she will call me back.
