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Given your accomplishments over the years, how did you elevate yourself and how was running instrumental on this journey?
Publicly, most people would know that before the age of 30, I had to take over the practice. At that time, I already lost both my parents and that set me up to sink or swim. So I spent 10 years just figuring out to swim.
When I’m asked how I figured it out, my answer is I don’t know. I hit crossroads as you do in life and had to make certain decisions. But instincts kick in and you say, “Okay, I’ll go left.” Have I always been right with my decisions? No. Fortunately, the number of rights outweigh the wrongs, so I’m ahead of the curve. This went on for 10 years while redefining Ong & Ong.
There was a funny instance when I hit 42 years old. One time, when I walked into the office, I loudly exclaimed, “Is the air-con not working?” I took a look around and saw people wearing jackets and cardigans, but I was feeling warm. Then I realized why. I was 90kg. So I told myself, “It can’t be that everyone’s cold, but me.” At that point, I decided that I needed to get my priorities right. It made me realize that we all have the same value system, but we don’t quite prioritize things that have to be at the forefront. I decided that health was paramount and I started exercising, which started with a one kilometer run. Once I could do that comfortably, I scaled up. Right now, I run a minimum of 10km, seven days a week before the sun rises, because like everyone else, I also have work to do.
What does running mean to you now?
It’s now a habit for me, like brushing your teeth. It feels weird if I don’t do it. At the start, it was difficult because when it wasn’t a regular part of my life, I needed someone to push me. Thankfully, I had a friend who would encourage me and ran with me for a few months.
At one point in 2014, around the second year of running, someone told me to join a marathon. I wasn’t too keen on it because of the crowds; too many bottlenecks. But this friend said to me, “What if you could run a marathon without the crowd?” Then that got my attention. So the next thing you know, I joined the Marathon des Sables. So I went from running 10km to running 250km across the Sahara Desert. After that, nothing fazes you!
In 2016, I went to Antarctica and ran across a cold, snowy landscape. After that, I did seven marathons in seven continents in seven days. On these runs, I’ve learned many lessons along the way and I wish I understood all of those lessons earlier in life.
(Related: Tom Dixon Gets Personal)
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