Yes I can, yes I do and yes I will are three easy phrases that everybody can use. But imagine this, when you are faced with great difficulties, when you see a brick wall in front of you that you are not able to get over. A lot of people, myself included, would have faltered and said no I can’t, no I don’t and no I won’t. We tripped, we fell and we got scared, we are clouded by the difficulties in front of us that we are not able to see the potential benefits behind. Ladies and gentleman, contest chair and fellow esteemed judges. Life is full of opportunities, life is full of inspirations and it all take with a change in your attitude.

Allow me to share one small story about myself, back in 2008, I’ve graduated fresh from Cambridge University, aspiring to become an investment banker. People asked me why, because firstly, I get to look nice in my slick suit, have my hair combed back, with the ladies walking down the street saying “wow” and the gents saying “man, he looks sharp as a razor blade and I respect him”. More importantly, you get to make a lot of money and I mean a lot of money, in a short period of time. But life in 2008 is not simple; it is the midst of the financial crisis.

Ladies and gentlemen, I’m sure you have friends, family members, someone you care and love about having a tough time during that period. I was one of that person, and what made it worse was the fact that I’ve just broke up with my girlfriend and ruptured my knee ligaments playing basketball. I was walking around on crutches, exhausted both mentally and physically. It did not help with my parents saying “Sam, if you can’t get a job in the UK, get your butt back into Taiwan”, BANG! Its like a shot right on my face. And my best friend, he said “ Ah Sam ah, brother, are you blind or your head went KAPUT is it? Don’t you see there is a financial crisis? Tze tze tze……”. BANG! That’s like another shot right on the face. What nearly knocked me out was the burden and pressure building up on my shoulder. I became pessimistic and said NO to nearly everything in life, no I don’t want to go out, no I don’t want to meet new people, no just leave me alone!

No, no, no, no, no…….its like an echo at the back of my head.

Ladies and gentlemen, have you ever find too many excuses when you see a new challenge? Erm….maybe when I have more time, erm…..maybe when my English gets better or erm……maybe when the kids get older. And yet you want to be successful in life, you want to be the leader of your society, you ended up walking around in circle, not making any progress.

Just when I thought all hope is lost, God gave me a glimpse of hope, a new movie called THE YES MAN came out. That title caught my attention immediately and I decided to go and watch it. Like an animal coming out from its hibernation, like a vampire seeing light for the first time. “Argh, its so bright, what have I missed al this time staying in?” I am glad that I made the small step in watching that movie which later on have a huge impact on my life. The movie taught me that life is full of opportunities and be optimistic and think positively! At that moment, I made a promise to myself, “for the next one month, I am going to say yes to everything in life”.

Along came my good friend, “Sam, I heard you got inspired by the movie, why don’t you start with learning guitar?”

“Ya learning guitar is cool!”

“Ok you’ve always been saying you want to get six packs, but all I see is one pack, summer is just around the corner, what are you going to do?”

“I will be committed in going to the gym, I am feeling pretty fit right now don’t you think?”

“Now for the one last test, I’ve signed you up for an Karaoke event”

“O…..k”
　

Karaoke in the UK is very different, you have to go onto the stage and sing to a crowd that you have never met before. So still with my crutches, I grabbed the Mic with my hand still shaking. Of all the songs he can choose, he chose Backstreet Boys – I Want It That Way! “You….are….my fire, the one desired, believe when I say.” Before I realized it, I am actually enjoying singing on the stage and I think I am quite a good singer, well what the audience think is otherwise a different story.

At that moment, I’ve overcame my stage fright and that triggered my determination to continue saying yes to life. And one thing led to another, I went out to social event, I went out to meet new people. Before long, I was given the opportunity to interview with Citigroup. To my surprise, the interviewer was actually someone at the audience listening to me singing. I remembered one thing he said to me “it you have the guts and courage to sing in front of a crowd you do not know, you’d have no problem pitching to the clients” There, I got the job and was back in the financial sector.

I am currently serving the substitute military service at the ministry of foreign affair and I still maintain the Yes Man mentality. When I see a barrier, I will grab a ladder, I will borrow a ladder, I will even build a ladder just to get over it. I don’t see the glass as half empty or half full, it is half with the opportunity to fill it up. I will say go with the flow in life and take inspirations from it. Like the great Gandhi said, “be the change you want to see in this world!” I challenged myself to say Yes to things in life.
　

Ladies and gentlemen, I challenge you and I urge you to try out new activities in life, to go out and meet new friends in life. Life is too short to be miserable. Embrace life and you will never know what it can bring you.

Ladies I need you help here, “when you see a new challenge in your life, what should you say? (YES)”.
　

Gents, “when you see a new opportunity in life, what should you say? Don’t let the ladies beat you! (YES)”
　

Everybody, what should be the word you say in LIFE? (YES)
　

Yes we will, yes we do and together YES WE CAN!