RunForFunds - August 2016 Visit

RunForFunds August 2016 Visit Back in May when we were giving out the Maximise Your Potential (MYP) Award to the kids,...
Posted by Run For Funds on Tuesday, 9 August 2016

- Voxeros

MYP Award Ceremony 2016 - Part 2

13 Years.

I was just telling Adrian the other day at the Maximise Your Potential (MYP) ceremony that we have completed a full cycle of the Chinese Horoscope.

The newest batch of P4s were borned under the same Chinese Zodiac animal as that of the very first batch of P4s, thirteen years ago.

Time really flew.

ZhiWei was one of the RunForFunds kids when we first started and we are very very proud that he has returned to be our guest-of-honour along with his mom.

We hope to see more kids making the return to continue to motivate and encourage their juniors.

I hope to see these kids taking over RunForFunds when we are no longer able.

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Dear friends,

The 13th Maximize Your Potential (MYP) award ceremony held on 23rd April 2016 was special.

The guest-of-honour was a recipient of the inaugural Maximize Your Potential award in 2004.

We also have a bumper crop of 25 award recipients!! (6 P4, 9 P5 and 10 P6).

They have been highly recommended by their teachers for good behaviour and grades and more importantly, potential to excel.

Pictures taken at the 2016 MYP award ceremony are posted here:

https://www.facebook.com/RunForFunds
                                                                                                                                             

1. Guest-of-Honour: Tan Zhiwei from the 1st MYP in 2004
Zhiwei, an inaugural MYP award recipient in 2004, is a role model for the MYP students.

Despite very challenging circumstances at home, where he helped his mother (Mdm Kek, who was present) to care for and educate 4 younger siblings, Zhiwei excelled at his studies and CCA. He shared his inspirational testimony:

• His academic history. Zhiwei is a first year undergrad at NTU. From GMSP, he excelled at PSLE to qualify for Hwa Chong's 6-year Integrated Programme. While at school he participated in various CCA's and excelled in Taekwondo, winning national awards.  He shared time management tips with the students.
• His Naval Diving Unit experience. Zhiwei completed his NS at the elite naval diving unit. Yes, he is a frogman!! The students were thrilled to meet one in person. Zhiwei shared how the Navy taught him discipline and teamwork. It also exposed him to different cultures and countries (Japan, US) when he travelled for overseas missions.
• His responsibilities as the eldest child.  Zhiwei is the eldest of 5 siblings. Since young, he has had to share with his mum the burden of educating and raising his younger siblings, who have done well in school.  Zhiwei admitted that circumstances were tough but they persevered. He also took the opportunity to thank his mum for loving and caring for the family.

2. Life lessons
Adrian encouraged the students and parents to embrace 3 enduring values exemplified by Zhiwei.

1. Being sensible: Making wise choices, self-sacrifice and putting benefit of family before self.
2. Being responsible: Being clear about personal accountabilities at school/home and acting on them.
3. Being obedient: Parents want the best for us. We must obey them. "Honour your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you" (Exodus 20:12)

3. Target setting for P6's
2015 P6's did very well in their PSLE and they were posted to the following secondary schools: Victoria, Beatty, Cedar Girls, Punggol, Geylang Methodist and Anglican High.

(For those of you who are familiar, to qualify for Cedar, Victoria and Anglican, students need to score more than 240++, a very good score).

Adrian encouraged the current P6's to aim high and study hard (and smart...focus on weaker subjects) like their predecessors.

He will follow-up with them in July and Aug - pep talks over lunch.


4. Award ceremony
GMSP principal Mrs Rina Liang congratulated the award winners and urged them to keep up their good work.

She also encouraged parents to follow the example set by Mdm Kek (Zhiwei's mum) to guide and support their children, especially when the going gets tough.

Mrs Liang then invited Zhiwei and Mdm Kek to give out the awards.

It was gesture that was heart-warming and inspiring.

Some parents told me they are inspired by Mdm Kek.

They aspired to raise their own "Zhiwei's" and give out awards to MYP students in the future :-)

Mdm Sulis thanked RFF supporters for believing in the MYP students.

She also shared her personal story that demonstrated the importance of hard work and discipline to overcome tough family circumstances.

This was followed by group photo taking and a tea reception


5.  Accounts Update
RFF account as of 4th May 2015 = S$28,666.23

RFF account as at 2nd May 2016 = $17,748.57 (inclusive of $3,831.08 balance from Nepal village rebuilding fund)

The amount you see above is after $2 monthly deductions for account maintenance and addition of interest.

a. Outflows since May 2015

1. $13,543.92 for Nepal village rebuilding in July 2016
2. $21,000 for MYP 2016-2018 in April 2016 (see letter from GMSP.  I will claim tax deductions for this contribution and recycle the income tax benefit back to the RFF)

b. Key contributions since May 2015

1. $17,375 from supporters of Nepal village rebuilding in July 2015
2. $5,799 from Jaywalk from his Dec half marathon.
3. $500 from JQ (Ms morning glory) in Jan'16

6.  Special Thanks
Special thanks go out to the following people:

Mrs Rina Liang, Miss Theresa Tong and Mdm Sulis – Thank you for your labour of love. Through you, we have impacted close to 100 young lives in past 13 years. May we impact 100 more in the next 13 :-)  On behalf of the students, their families and MYP supporters, I extend our heartfelt gratitude.

RFF Supporters -  Thank you for trusting and supporting me when I first reached out to you to start RunForFunds 13 years ago. In our 13-year journey, we've impacted many lives positively. I look forward to your continued support and prayers for RFF.

If you have any queries about RFF, please email or call me.

Blessings,

Adrian

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- Voxeros

MYP Award Ceremony 2016

Hi Folks,

Again, it's the time of the year where we move into yet another year of RunForFunds.

First, it was 10 years. Now, we are embarking on a new milestone.

This year's award winners, correct me if I am wrong on this one, were born under the same Chinese Zodiac animal as that of our first batch of award winners 12 years ago.

Yes, we have come a full cycle.

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Dear friends,

You are invited to the 13th annual Maximise Your Potential (MYP) award ceremony on 23rd April 2016 (Saturday)

Time: 1000h – 1130h
Venue: Geylang Methodist School (Primary), 4th Floor, AVA Room

The guest-of-honour for this year’s MYP is Mr. Tan Zhiwei.

Zhiwei was an award winner at the inaugural MYP in 2004.

Since then, he has excelled in the Integrated Programme at Hwa Chong, served with distinction as a naval diver during his NS and is now doing well in his 1st year studies at NTU Business School.

Zhi Wei will be sharing the “secrets of his success” to inspire the students :-)

Your support for RunForFunds (RFF) has made a difference to more than 90 young lives in the past 13 years.

Visit the RFF facebook to recap those magical MYP moments:

https://www.facebook.com/RunForFunds

Please email, whatsapp or SMS me to RSVP (for catering purposes).

Thanks for your continued support of the RFF movement.

Blessings,

Adrian
Mobile: <Number withheld, Please contact us via the comments or private messaging>

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- Voxeros

If You Don't Play My Song, I'll Tell Auntie Mary

One thing you can count on is whenever it's MistressGrace's birthday bash, it is going to be...


 < wait for it >


.... AWESOME!!!!

• JayWalk Online (01 Apr 2009) - The Adventures Of Little Red
  .
• JayWalk Online (22 Mar 2009) - Happy Birthday MistressGrace

"If you don't play my song, I'll tell Auntie Mary."

"You bring family here, I'll play your song."

Sibeh cute. These two. Haha....


Happy birthday, Grace! #muakz

A blast from the past.

• JayWalk Online (01 Apr 2008) - April Fool's Day 2008

- Voxeros

Tennis Strings II

For someone who has been playing with the same tennis string since 1993, I felt marooned when Gamma Ruff 16 was discontinued.

Despite it being out of production for a number of years, tennis-warehouse.com still have a few pieces of this precious commodity left.

In the interim, I tried the Toalson Rencon Devil Spin but I didn't like it.

Anyway, I went down to TennisHub.sg (nearest tennis pro shop from my place via public transport) and consulted the experts there. They recommended a hybrid combination for me.

Babolat RPM Blast 17 (cross) and Babolat Xcel French Open 17 (main).

Since I am using this hybrid for the first time, it was agreed that we play it safe and try mid tension first at 55 lbs (I normally play high tension at 58 lbs on my Wilson nCode nPro Team and 62 lbs on my Prince Triple Threat Hornet).

I got my racquet back the same day and I can't wait for Sunday to start pounding with the new strings.

Will see how it goes. If this hybrid is suitable, I may opt to move up the tension the next time I restring.

Oh and forget about mail ordering Gamma Ruff 16 from tenniswarehouse.com.

• JayWalk Online (09 Feb 2016) - Tennis Strings

Image Credit: http://www.tennishub.com/

- Voxeros

Tennis Strings

PIAK!

The sound I've been waiting to hear for a long time now. I hated the string that i was trying for the first time. Toalson RENCON Devil Spin125 but I was too cheapo to cut it and restring.

Real glad that I finally snapped it.

So this would be the first and last time I will be playing with poly string?

It has always been multifilament strings for me until Gamma Ruff 16, that I have been using since the 90s, was no longer in production.

I have a love-hate relationship with this poly string. 

On one hand, it produces a very clean snappy feel with every strike but the down side is that I lose a shitload of power (I play with high tension 60-62 lbs) and it felt like I was playing with a wooden plank.

Then again, it forces me to generate my own power and to rely less on technology. I actually felt myself playing stronger over the past couple of months.

Maybe I will end up with poly string again despite all the bitching? #犯贱

Or I probably should ask the tennis shop guy for advice.

Any advice from the floor?

p.s. Click here for a good article on tennis strings -> http://www.slcstringer.com/aboutstrings.html

Image Credit: http://www.toalson.co.jp

- Voxeros

RunForFunds - StanChart Marathon 2015 Update 3

Happy new year everybody as I start off this year's first entry.

This entry is overdue as a result of Adrian needing to settle some personal family matter.

In any case, thank you once again to the RFF supporters who have contributed generously.

• JayWalk Online (17 Nov 2015) - RunForFunds - StanChart Marathon 2015 Update
  .
• JayWalk Online (15 Dec 2015) - RunForFunds - StanChart Marathon 2015 Update 2

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RFF Update January 2016

Hi folks,

Happy New Year!

Trust all of you had a blessed Christmas and a great New Year break.

2015 was a fruitful and eventful year for  the Run For Funds movement (RFF).

• Our P6 Maximise Your Potential (MYP) winners did very well in their PSLEs.
  .
• We raised $17,375 to help Nepal earthquake victims rebuild their homes.
  .
• Superfriend Jaywalk raised $5,799 from his Dec 2015 StanChart marathon run.

1.  MYP Results

We are very proud of the achievements of our P6s.

They worked hard and reaped the rewards of their efforts.

Average score of the 6 students was 221, with the top 3 averaging 247 and top score of 255!

They have been posted to schools of their choice (some closer to their homes): Cedar Girls'' Secondary School, Victoria School, Punggol Secondary School, Geylang Methodist Secondary School, Beatty Secondary School, Anglican High School.

May God continue to watch over them and bless them with good health and wisdom as their embark on their new adventure in their secondary schools.

MYP 2016 MYP ceremony will be held in March/April'16 - watch this space.


2. Aid For Nepal Quake Victims

A total of $17,375 was raised in July 2015 for the victims of the Nepal earthquake.

Thank you so much for your generous contributions.

To date, $13,600 has been deployed to rebuild homes. (see July 2015 email update or repost by Superfriend Jaywalk http://www.jaywalkonline.com/2015/07/runforfunds-for-nepal-update-july-2015.html).

The rebuilding efforts were fraught with difficulties e.g. landslides, petrol shortage (due to border blockage), monsoons, a very cold winter etc.

I'm thankful that my contact, Nepali school principal Bharat, was faithful and resilient in his service to his people.

I'm now waiting for Bharat to activate us for the next phase of the rebuilding efforts.


3. Superfriend Jaywalk Runs For Funds!.
Jaywalk, has been a strong supporter of RFF since its inception.

He's RFF's defacto comms/IT manager because I'm an IT dumb-dumb.

Early in 2015, Jaywalk wanted to raise funds for RFF and a determined year-long effort to train for his StanChart half marathon in Dec 2015.

I'm so proud of my kaki for finishing his run and grateful to him and his supporters for raising $5,799 for RFF.

This contribution will be put to good use.


4.  Account Update

Funds available in RFF's dedicated account, as of 31st Dec 2015: S$42,546.89.

I expect to contribute $21,000 to GMSP this year to continue the MYP for the next 3 years.

The remainder of funds will be set aside for prudent, accountable use to aid those in need.

Again, thank for your continued support for Run For Funds.

God bless you and your loved ones with love, peace and joy for 2016.

Cheers,

Adrian

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- Voxeros