Dear Everyone,


Hi! And how are you all? It was a busy month of May with a trip to Brunei, Johor Baru and Taman Negara all thrown in. I also carried out my responsibility as a good citizen by voting in the elections on 5 May. I also had some anxious moments at the tail end of the British Premier League in relation to whether Arsenal would qualify for the Europeans Champions League. It was a relief when they finally did so by ‘the skin of their teeth’. I also watched the finale of American Idol, which is the topic of this newsletter.

As most of you would know by now, the winner of American Idol, season 12 was Candice Glover. Unknown to many though was the fact that she didn’t make it past the top 60 in seasons 10 and 11. With each defeat she returned home even more determined that she would try again the next year. She refused to give up on her dreams and proved once again that perseverance is an integral factor in the achievement of success in life. Her winning the American Idol season 12 made all the past failures worth it and made the ‘Idol’ crown that much sweeter. Today she is a celebrity and is presently in the process of cutting her first album. And all because of this X factor called perseverance.

Perseverance can be defined as determination and maintenance in a course of action, in spite of constant difficulties and obstacles. In that context, perseverance is hard work! It’s always easy to quit, it’s always easy to make excuses, it’s always easy to justify why you shouldn’t go on. The reality is however that no one succeeds without perseverance, it’s perseverance that guides you through the dark nights, and it’s perseverance that gets you through all those difficult days. Yes, the journey to success will always be difficult, there will be obstacles and there will always be the naysayers, but winners are clear about their goals; they persevere and carry on the journey in spite of the difficulties. Every success story I know of is a story of perseverance, from Steve Jobs setting up his company in his parent’s garage, to Tony Fernandez starting Air Asia in 2004.

In that context achieving success in life is like running in a marathon; it is a long race and requires long-term commitment, with lots of obstacles and challenges along the way. Very importantly, it requires persistence and perseverance. Robert Schuler, the renowned motivator said, “Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go”.

So my little advice to all of you today is “Hang on to whatever you believe in, take those difficult first steps and never, ever allow the inevitable obstacles that will come, to stop you.” You will be pleasantly surprised where perseverance and persistence can take you!!

Thank you so much for reading this newsletter. I do hope that all of you will have a great month in June. I know I will.