Hello friends! Last week, we heard how Jimmy finally surrenders his life to God to become a Christian. He then began the process of restarting his life by implementing changes into his life. In our last episode, we heard about Jimmy’s resolution to start liking himself better and find ways for self-improvement. In this episode, let’s follow the rest of Jimmy’s resolutions in his journey to becoming a new person.

Firstly, through his ‘Mission Impossible’ chart, Jimmy realized that being healthy was a choice. One early morning, he was going for a run at Bukit Batok when he saw a few elderly people taking a stroll and doing some light exercises. Jimmy decided to strike up a conversation with them, asking why they were there so early on a Sunday morning.

“It was the doctor’s advice,” they replied. Visiting their doctors, doing light exercises and taking a stroll were one of the few remaining things they were able to do. This is because most of them were old and were experiencing illnesses in one form or another. In fact, they said they could no longer enjoy many things they liked to do. Jimmy thus resolved to keep a healthy lifestyle to enjoy his golden years in the future. He decided not to wait until he retired before keeping his health in check.

A few months after Shaun passed away, Jimmy went ‘cold turkey’ and never picked up a cigarette again. Unlike all his previous attempts, this time was different. He had a very good reason to quit. In his previous attempts, Jimmy had only focused on ‘how’ to quit, but not ‘why’ to quit.

Shaun loved me so much that he wanted me to stop smoking. That was a strong enough reason for me.

Jimmy then started running which was very tough for him initially. But Jimmy just kept going. He started by only running 500 metres at first, then, slowly increased it to 700, and then more when he became comfortable to do so. Even on bad days, Jimmy would maintain the distance and not go lower than the previous benchmark. Eventually, Jimmy signed up and successfully finished the Standard Chartered Marathons in 2012 and 2013—all from running 500 metres at the start!

As John Bingham said, “The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.”

Secondly, at work, Jimmy started sharing about his past experiences. To his surprise, Jimmy ended up encouraging and inspiring people with his tragic past. Jimmy felt gratified by his actions and realized that he was self-healing while helping others at the same time. For all the help that he had gotten in the past, Jimmy wanted to pay it all forward.

One day, Jimmy became friends with a prominent gynaecologist named Dr Alex Ooi who had lost a son too. This similar experience made him and Jimmy bond instantly. Dr Alex encouraged Jimmy to do more for others, such as by starting a website where he could share his life story and his inspirational quotes. He then connected Jimmy to another doctor friend called Dr Low Lee Yong, CEO of MHC Asia. With the help of both doctors, they set up a website called (*reading material only at www. life-changing-words.org). Though not active on this website any more, Jimmy still has people from over 100 countries visiting it!

Seeing how I can inspire so many people makes me feel good, and in writing this I hope to motivate people and show them that they can overcome any difficulties too.

Way before Life Changing Words was set up, Jimmy collected inspirational quotes and used them to uplift himself whenever he was down. Slowly, he started to worry less about what other people thought of him and worked on his own self-worth and beliefs instead. This helped Jimmy get rid of his negative mindset. Over time, Jimmy started sending these quotes that truly inspired him to his office team, who in turn forwarded them to their own friends. This had a snowball effect, and soon Jimmy’s quotes were read by over 20,000 people!

However, Jimmy wanted to do more than send inspirational quotes. He wanted to live a more meaningful life. His goal was to share his life lessons and use his tragic past such as being bankrupt, Shaun’s death and divorce to help others. Jimmy wanted to change how people think and help solve their problems. Thus, he started to share his life story with people. Word soon spread, and the newspapers, radio and magazines covered his story in the media.

In 2012, with his employer’s blessings, Jimmy set up his own company to give motivational talks. He started giving hope via his pro bono talks to the less fortunate. He had also been engaged by various organisations too.

Through his company, KS Distribution’s Corporate Social Responsibility activities, Jimmy came to know about the Muscular Dystrophy Association of Singapore (or MDAS). Following his continued interactions with MDAS, he had been appointed as its official motivational speaker and coach.

With his friend and fellow trainer Amanda White, Jimmy spent 2013 grooming a team of five young members. Like Jimmy, they aspired to be motivational speakers. He helped them craft their life stories into speeches that can impact and motivate others. After 10 months of fruitful and rigorous training and coaching, Jimmy is proud to say that they have started to give their own speeches at schools and at the MDAS Open House.

Doing good does pay off. Through MDAS, Jimmy was invited to meet with President Tony Tan and his wife Mary for tea at the Istana on the second day of Chinese New Year in 2014. Jimmy felt very encouraged and honoured for the rare opportunity.

Thirdly, Jimmy wished to resolve all the burdens of his conscience. He could not do good things on the outside and be unsettled inside. Hence, the first thing he did was to give Mr. Raymond Koh, his ex-employer, a surprise visit at his office. The man was at first skeptical about what he was up to, but Jimmy simply offered his hand and thanked him for what Mr. Koh had done for him.

Next was Jimmy’s ex-chairman, Mr. Ricky Lau. Jimmy knew he loved Japanese cuisine, so Jimmy treated him to an extravagant $500 Japanese meal at Raffles City. This was Jimmy’s way of showing his appreciation although Mr. Lau could clearly afford it on his own.

Finally, Jimmy extended an olive branch to his ex-wife, Lindy. He made peace with her. Jimmy told her he was grateful for her buying medical insurance for Shaun. That had helped to ease the financial burden from his medical expenses.

Indeed, simple acts of kindness or demonstrating our gratitude can improve our mood, strengthen our health and heal our emotional pain.

Wow! Looks like Jimmy is achieving most of his goals especially in his career! But something is still missing. Where was Jimmy’s life partner?

In 2005, Jimmy was tasked to go to Kuala Lumpur to meet a client for the company. On the plane, he helped a pleasant lady called Tricia with her luggage. To his pleasant surprise, Jimmy discovered upon arrival that they were sharing the same carriage on the express train to town!

Jimmy and Tricia talked throughout the entire train ride. However, even though Jimmy was very attracted to her, he thought it was pointless to pursue her due to all his failures in the past. No one could possibly accept him.

As luck would have it, Jimmy received a text message from her two weeks after their chance meeting. They made plans to have dinner at the East Coast beach. Jimmy spruced himself up for the date. That night, he decided to tell Tricia the truth. He did not want to waste his and her time. Jimmy wanted to come clean and he poured out his life story to her during their dinner date. But Tricia was very quiet throughout. As Jimmy walked her home that night, Jimmy remember thinking that this would be the last he would hear of her.

But would that be the end for them? Don’t worry, God’s plans always surpass the human expectations!

On Jimmy’s way home, he received a text message from Tricia. She said that her heart was heavy after hearing his story. Jimmy reminded her of a bird with a broken wing. Tricia is a Christian, and that day, she told Jimmy that she had knelt down and prayed for him. Jimmy thanked her and thought that he would not hear from her again.

But the next day, she messaged him, and they went out again. That was the first of many dates. Two years later, Jimmy and Tricia were married on January 2008.

However, to have a good family life, Jimmy also had to settle his own unhappiness with his parents.  

When he was younger, Jimmy was resentful because his parents could not provide for him. He also thought that his father treated his mother badly. However, after much reflection, Jimmy realised that his father’s rough ways came from his lack of education and his frustrations over working so hard for the last 40 years.

Jimmy also recalled all the sacrifices that his father had made: letting Jimmy eat his curry rice, giving Jimmy an allowance and being his ’chauffeur’ when Jimmy was in NS. Jimmy realised that he had been ungrateful, and his father was a good father.

After Shaun’s death, Jimmy saw how fleeting life could be. After all, who knows what could happen tomorrow? Jimmy resolved to a better son from then on. It was a privilege for Jimmy to serve his father until the end of his life.

My dear friends, let’s love and serve our parents gratefully; otherwise, after they pass away, you may miss them and regret not treating them better when they were around. Jimmy gave us an important lesson to love our family and be thankful for all that we have. He finally fulfilled his dream to have a happy family life and reached most of goals set at the age of forty. Things were looking good, but will Jimmy be able to maintain a happy family life? And what about Jimmy’s debts? Come and listen to his story next Thursday. Stay tuned and good bye!