This week started off quite sad when I received a call from my mum informing me about the demise of my uncle. Even though he was on kidney dialysis, I thought he should still healthy enough to live for another few good years. Through the 3 days’ of wake, I saw many relatives whom I never saw for so many years. Age had caught up with most of them and time really flew. I thought my smallest cousin was only in pri three as eating my 2nd uncle’s wedding dinner seem like it happened only a few years ago. I pieced many information on my uncle and came to realise that he was hardworking, fillal and man w/o any bad habits, even though he was not married. It was only the later years when the kidney disease came and turn him into a man who lashed out harsh words for everyone at every time possible. Irene’s blog struck a chord in my heart when I read the line on "limited knowledge of the person". Maybe I shall start keeping an open mind and not judge people to be good or bad. Every action had a cause, so i guess things happen for a reason.The temper should be a result of him really suffering and we all came to a conclusion that the demise was indeed better off for him. Death affects people and even though I wasn’t really close to him, but I can feel the loss created. Can you imagine feeling lost in the middle of work? I had a short 5mins attack on the 2nd day as the thing didn’t really sink in with me. I pray that Grandma will take it well and continue to lead the active life she leads by visiting temples all over S’pore alone. When the whole thing ended, I had to carry on with my life and resume the initial promise to help facilitate focus group discussions(It was a whole week affair). My lead facilitator on thurs was called in last min to do the lead as the selected one freaked out after a chaotic session the day before. I applaud his courage. things didn’t go very smooth that evening as the stakeholders came down to sit in and the participants odd combo ( 3 were picked off the street) made it quite bad. The instructions and expectations of the various customers were blur and the injection of a ref question form made it worse. The purpose of the form was to be used as a guide rather than for the participants to fill in. The customers’ staff didn’t seem to know and distributed out for filling it. Really stiffed the group energy level. During the debrief, the hosts told us they were disappointed today. The good thing that came out of the comments was that we then were very clear on what their agenda was. I was the next lead facilitator in the queue and seriously I was tramuatised by this experience on thurs. How??? What if I get the same crowd ?? Even though the pointers shared during this session were helpful for me , still I was very worried. When I was sleeping that night, it was lucky that I dreamt of how I would like to do it. Next day, I crafted out a plan and the detailed excution process. I arrived early and waited for my co-facilitators. Only two arrived at a time where I could brief them on the plan. The other two came in late and I only managed to brief one of them. After talking to the participants, I was a bit more reassured that the happenings of the day before won’t happen again today. It was funny when the flow of the discussions were so smooth till I decided to just let things flow naturally and come in only as and when needed. I guess the pairing up of one experienced and one newbie facilitator helped. I’m really thankful things turned out well and as my mentor commented all the things were in a favorable situation. I think even though I didn’t execute the plan, the results needed were met at the end of the day. I was a bit disappointed when I didn’t get to use the plan and also about the guy not briefed on the proceedings did my part for me for the closing portion. Anyway, It was really a good end to the week where I had surprises after surprises. So what else could I ask for? May the future discussions groups be as smooth.
