Category Archives: Uncategorized

Mountaineering Woes

Posted on by
Reply

Over the weekend, I had organised a good friend’s birthday celebration. Her birthday is significant to her and her two boys because it is also her hubby’s (her boys’ daddy) death anniversary. Death is always hated by the living. I dislike death, though I know no one is immune to death. I am especially sad to know that people die while doing what they enjoyed most. Perhaps I should see it positively that it is so much happier to die while enjoying than to die of suffering or of illness. But ultimately, death is still an end to a living, a pain for the living. The celebration weekend ended with a tragic news. An avalanche had hit Camp 3 of Manaslu, killing 9 climbers, and several are still missing at this time that I am writing.

To the climbers who perished, Rest In Peace. There is still some hope that those missing ones can be found and be rescued. That’s if the weather permits, and making rescue at 7300m is no easy task. It is risky for the rescuers too. Just hope that the snow and ice can be stabilized soon.

There is no way we can avoid such risk in the mountains. The only way to avoid is to not to climb at all. How possible is it for a mountaineer?  Can you not cross a road knowing that you might be knock down by a reckless driver?

Image

About Manaslu

Manaslu (also known as Kutang) is the eighth highest mountain in the world, and is located in the Mansiri Himal,  part of the Nepalese Himalayas, in the west-central part of Nepal. Its name, which means “Mountain of the Spirit”, comes from the Sanskrit word Manasa, meaning “intellect” or “soul”. Manaslu was first climbed on May 9, 1956 by Toshio Imanishi and Gyalzen Norbu, members of a Japanese expedition. It is said that “just as the British consider Mt Everest their mountain, Manaslu has always been a Japanese mountain 

Manaslu at 8,156 metres (26,759 ft) above sea level (m.s.l) is the highest peak in the Lamjung District and is located about forty miles east of Annapurna. The mountain’s long ridges and valley glaciers offer feasible approaches from all directions, and culminate in a peak that towers steeply above its surrounding landscape, and is a dominant feature when viewed from afar.

Sunrise on Manaslu, 8,156m, the world’s 8th highest mountain.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sunrise,_Manaslu.jpg

Inspirational Speaker – Nicholas James Vujicic

Posted on by
Reply

Few days back, I had the opportunity to attend an Inspirational Talk by a very inspirational personality,  Mr. Nick Vujicic. Nick was born without limbs – no arms, no legs. Something that we can never imagine how, and will never ever be able to empathize with, his way of living.

I supposed many of us had some how or rather chanced upon a video about Nick over the Facebook. I have the privileged to hear from him in person. Thanks to SWIBER Holdings.  SWIBER had invited Nick to Singapore to speak to their employees, and had extended this rare opportunity to some schools, Chris Church Secondary School was one of the schools that Nick spoke at.  My team and I (Everest Team) had given a talk to SWIBER, but frankly, our story of perseverance, tenacity & resilience are nothing compared to Nick’s.

Nick’s life story is like a movie, a story that I never thought could have happened in this life time of mine, and I could have only imagine that Nick’s amazing journey will only happen in a movie. If you have not read about Nick, you should spend sometime to find out about his story.

A few quotes that he said make very good sense to me, and these are very basic thoughts that we took for granted. These thoughts are not new to me, but the impact is greater when it came from Nick:

“You don’t know what you don’t know till you know”

“You don’t know what you can achieve till you try”

“What is the point of having arms & legs when you don’t know what to do with them”

“You don’t need arms & legs to love”

Nick’s strong faith in GOD has brought him to be who he is today. I am not a Christian, and in whatever that we each believe in, we are in the same direction. And my take is, when we believe in something or put faith to something, it must be for the good of ourselves or the people around us. If we haven’t have faith in any religion, we should have at least some faith in ourselves.

In Nick’s sharing, he said not to get angry with what we already have instead angry with what we don’t have.  For Nick, I bet he can’t and certainly won’t be angry with what he have. And I wonder what Nick would be like if he had been born with arms and legs like you and I. One thing that I can attest is that, we will have one less person to inspire us and to show us the true meaning of life.

As long as we are alive, we can love everything and anything, and yes, we don’t need our arms and legs to love.