Sunday November 11, 2012

Preparatory works are the foundation with which our goals rest

SUNDAY STARTERS By SOO EWE JIN

THERE is an MRT station coming up near my office. The barriers lining the main road remind me that traffic congestion will build up as the work progresses.

As with all construction projects, there is a lot of preparatory work involved.

Daily, I see the first wave of workers going about what appears to be rather unsynchronised work.

The land has been cleared and the slopes strengthened. It looks like piling works have already begun.

In the months to come, things will begin to take shape. And, like a jigsaw puzzle, everything will start to connect.

The MRT station, when it is fully operational, will primarily be judged by its functional and aesthetic value. I will be very happy to escape the traffic gridlock at my workplace.

But images of the cranes, bulldozers, cement trucks and raw structures will pale into insignificance, even for those of us who watched the station evolve day by day.

Looking at the workers at the MRT site, I certainly hope that they are dedicated people who take great pride in their work.

After all, construction imperfections can be easily covered up, and even substandard material can make their way into any project if the supervisors are not vigilant enough.

The importance of preparatory work cannot be understated.

Like in farming, another example.

We were once an agrarian economy and for many of us, we were fully aware that our rice came from the padi fields and that chicken did not come from supermarkets.

I once took my boys, then very young, to a padi farm in Sekinchan, during the harvest season to explain to them how padi was grown.

I am not sure if they fully absorbed what I shared but the point I wanted to get through to them was that good preparatory work was essential if one desired to reap good results.

Every farmer, anywhere in the world, knows that clearing the land, digging out the stones, ploughing, etc, is difficult, even with the machines taking over from the usual beasts of burden.

And there is no guarantee that even if the seeds are planted, they will take root and grow well.

A much hoped-for golden harvest may come up to nothing if the weather takes a turn for the worse.

But in the long run, the lean years even out with the years of plenty.

In parenting, too, we are really in it for the long haul. Everyone congratulated me last week after the end note in my column mentioned my second son’s convocation.

“Why me?” I asked. “Congratulate my son, he’s the one who got the degree.”

But I knew why my wife and I also got a pat on the back that day.

Our friends, as parents themselves, were fully aware of all the work that went on behind the scenes that culminated in that one public moment when a young man, resplendent in his graduation robe, walked up to the stage to get that piece of paper.

When I looked back at the preparatory work, I realised that it was not only about providing all the educational tools for our children, but more importantly the time and the love that made their journey complete.

Was that journey all about the As they could possibly harvest? Or was it about the correct values that would last them a lifetime?

Like the farmer who looks forward in hope to the harvest, we will definitely reap what we sow.

> Deputy executive editor Soo Ewe Jin believes that we are all sowers in every area of life, from the home to the workplace and to the community at large. Even if we do not see the harvest, or participate in the reaping, we are all playing a small part that will translate into a big picture one day.

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Sunday November 11, 2012

Preparatory works are the foundation with which our goals rest

SUNDAY STARTERS By SOO EWE JIN