CAPSTONE “THINK & GROW RICH” CHALLENGE 2008

Contributed by:
Mohd Farhan
Hajira Begum
Zubaidah

“Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe it can achieve”

This is a phrase encountered in the second chapter of the book ‘Think and Grow Rich’ (TGR) by Napolean Hill. It sparked the 22km challenge walk from CCPE HQ office in Toa Payoh to Changi Airport

It all began during one of our Capstone MBA Sessions. Michael Ong, CEO of Capstone, proposed to us the challenge of walking the 22km distance, setting it as our goal and believing that it can be achieved.


Despite the lack of preparation and conditioning, the participants proceeded with the walk, in full trust of the planning carried out by the senior management.


Wednesday, 16 July 2008: Ground Zero @ 3.30 pm




The day has come for us to see if we have what it takes to complete this grueling task. Armed with sunglasses, umbrellas, FM on speakers, water bottles, towels around the neck and many more peculiarities, we set out on the journey, not knowing how far our legs will take us. We also had an accompanying safety vehicle (loaded with food & drinks – very important!) to follow us through our route and rescue us if we fell out at any point of time.


The sun was merciless. Although we had plenty of shade, moments in contact with the sun scorched our skins (okay, so we’re exaggerating a bit)… at least made us perspire.


The walk gave us the opportunity to communicate with colleagues whom we seldom spoke to in the office. It certainly was a good bonding platform for all of us. We sang songs to keep our spirits up, took pictures and even learnt to walk backwards! Neon light sticks, made into bangles & necklaces, were useful especially when night came.


Pit Stops 1 and 2


First stop, an unplanned one, was near the school for the hearing-impaired along Mountbatten Road. We took no chance and ate buns and drank isotonic drinks to prevent gastric and dehydration.




The first official rest stop was at East Coast Park (ECP) Car Park B1. Again, we had some bread, croissants and drinks before moving on to our second rest point: ECP Car Park F2, where the last ration of croissant and sugarcane drinks were distributed. Sugarcane juice has never tasted so good!


Finally, we embarked on the last stretch: the ultimate physical and mental test.


The group, which stayed together for most of the time, broke up according to various walking speeds. Apart from the many potholes along the patches of grass that we crossed, the roads posed risky and dangerous eventualities. We were tasked to look out for one another and alerted each other whenever we encountered dangerous situations.


If our feet could talk, they might have told us to stop torturing them!


The Last Stretch

After what seemed like an eternity, we saw the budget terminal; the beginning of the end of the long, weary walk. The looming shadow of the terminal spurred us on. Our spirits skyrocketed and our faces glowed with excitement despite our aching feet. The promised Swensen’s reward also had us counting down the remaining kilometers to our destination. Excited or not, there was still a good 1km to go to reach Changi Airport!

Tired as we were, we constantly reminded ourselves that we had not gone this far to simply quit! So there we were, a bunch of tired (some near death) individuals of all ages and sizes, pushing and fighting our way forward to prove to ourselves that we are capable of achieving this tremendous feat.

We could only stare at un-hired Taxis speeding by and feel the despair of not being able to stretch our arms to flag one down!

Mission Accomplished! @ 10.45 pm



After 7 long hours, our skins made contact with the air-conditioned environment in Terminal 2. The feeling was heavenly (at least we thought it was). After a quick round of photo taking, we marched on to Swensen’s and had a hearty dinner cum supper. The tiredness in our legs were not felt at all, maybe because we were too engrossed in the delicious food!.

We felt proud of ourselves knowing that we had it in us to finish the 22 km walk.

Not only that, the walk brought us closer. The bonding and encouragement gained were priceless: our faith in each other has been renewed. We were also given a day off the next day to recuperate from that long walk that left some of ladies limping their way to the office. Of course the sense of achievement showed on everyone’s faces!

We fought anxieties, crossed obstacles, and sustained the willpower throughout the strenuous 7 hours walk!

The CAPSTONE TGR Challenge was no doubt a significant achievement.

It definitely is a walk to remember for the rest of our lives!