Thank you for joining us at “Lessons from Everest” with David Lim! Here are the questions from the session with our responses:
- Were you very disappointed when you did not reach the Everest Peak? How did you overcome this disappointment?
David: It’s true. Having worked three and a half/four years of my life for this, putting career at the back, I’ve burned weekends and taken unpaid leave to train for this and when I personally can’t get to the top, I was totally bummed by it. But after being depressed by the situation for 6 to 12 hours, I realised that state of mind is not going to help me and anybody else. I then asked myself this question which you can also ask any father of a child or boss of a company: “What do you want now?”
It is a fantastic question because it is a future forwarding question. Can we change the past? No, unless you get a time machine. What can we change? We can change the future.
So I asked myself that question and I wanted the Singapore team to succeed! What do they need to succeed? You then realise that there are so many things you can do to help as the expedition leader to help make that happen.
- How different is climbing Tienshan versus the Everest?
David: Technically, they are not much different. However, Tienshan poses a far less objective risk i.e. dangers that you can’t control. Of course, we still faced extreme altitude with the highest Tien Shan summits we climbed in 2000, 2005 and 2009 under 5,500m in altitude.
- Will you climb Everest again at age of 58?
David: There are a lot more interesting and fun mountains to climb than Everest! And short of actually getting myself to the very top, everything else that I’ve wanted to achieve on Everest as an expedition leader and climber, I’ve considered it done.
- Where is a good mountain to climb for a newbie?
David: Mount Kinabalu is a good option to try to experience the ‘alpine’ mountain environment, unlike a sweaty, forest covered peninsula Malaysian mountain.
- Are there any adventure/expedition clubs for ex-offenders in SG?
David: Not as far as I know.
- It’s very easy to say one should take 2nd chances. How would you advise someone who is an ex offender not to give up, especially with such a strong society stigma against them?
David: Try, as much as possible, to be around people who can be kind to you. It gives you some kind of hope when you’ve had a bad day at work, or while trying to find a job.
- In your own experience, what defines a good leader?
David: A good leader is one with a clear vision of an outcome, who is willing to share the vision and live the journey towards it in a way that attracts and retains like-minded people.
- How did you cultivate the never-die spirit?
David: By asking the right questions. By questioning whether each obstacle was truly a deal breaker or a project-killer. Most of the answers were negative to this, hence giving us hope we would prevail.
- When did you feel that you have become a leader?
David: When you choose to become one.
- For Project Give A Line, Change A Life, how do you decide who to give the smart phones and unlimited data plan?
ISCOS: We want to reach out to those who are newly released within one month from prison and have served more than three years in prison. For this group who have been disconnected from society for some time, it is crucial that we are there to support them in their reintegration and help them navigate their way in today’s fast paced digital society.
- Will ISCOS set up an Adventure Club (or some adventure activities) for ex-offenders?
ISCOS: Thank you for the suggestion! We do not have one yet, but who knows in the future 🙂
Once again, a big thank-you to all of you who came! We hope to see you again at our future events.
“Lessons from Everest” is a collaboration between David Lim and ISCOS & ISCOS ReGen Fund in support of “Project Give A Line, Change A Life”, an initiative that aims to bring digital connectivity to newly-released ex-offenders. Under the Project, eligible recipients will be given basic smart phones with six months’ worth of unlimited data plan to help reconnect them with loved ones and also be familiar with using technology in various aspects of modern day living. To find out more, click here.
Some pages you might find interesting: