What is Home to You ?

Eating a Good Laksa in the comfort of my house

I would like to pose this question to the people who read this blog regularly. What defines 'home' to you ? For the ordinary English people who have experienced the cold, rainy and dreary weather of London, it is perhaps having some tea and scones, and watching Wimbledon on the telly or standing in the terraces of the Dell supporting Southampton (or any other team for that matter) and after that going to the local Pub for a pint or two to celebrate their team's win or drown their sorrows that defines 'home'.

For our neighbours up north in Malaysia, it is perhaps playing badminton,tennis or futsal with your friends and after that spending some quality time having dinner with the family, and later having a 'teh tarik' with your friends at the local coffeeshop and discussing the latest political news and scandals (there are many in recent years).

For me, home is in Singapore, where it feels like its getting more crowded year by year (our polulation stands
at 4.99 million in 2009 up from 3.9 about 10 years ago), the buses and trains are more packed during weekdays and the expressways are jammed (PIE, AYE and CTE for sure) during the peak morning hours and evening hours from 5.30 to 7.00pm
Even what that feeling, the Government has done a decent job (in my opinion) integrating the new migrants into the various stratas or levels of Singapore.

So, to do a 10 to 15km in East Coast Park on a Saturday morning with the wind whipping behind you, running past the scores of young and senior people, jogging, walking, partying, flying kites, roller blading, cycling and at the end of the run, I'm all sweaty and grimy. I head to the nearby club to shower down, in cold water. I then grab a chicken pie, and head home for a 'best in the world' laksa (or meesiam) made by my wife and drinking ice cool water which tastes like champagne. Nothing beats this feeling.

Home is where the family, friends, social networks, work, play and the heartware are.It is a combination of the familiar sights, sounds of the spoken language peculiar to the people, Singlish for example, fabulous foods which are too numerous to mention, the humid weather which I have grown accustomed to, and the efficiency of the society and government organisations which I am so used to. Many friends of my age have gone abroad when they were in there early 20s and a decent number have returned, mainly for family reasons. Perhaps they have a greater exposure to an international culture which I have missed out, but then again, the last 20 years I have been abroad to more than 20 countires on work and leisure and can be considered a global citizen.

I can go to anyplace in the world, but I choose to live here. This is home.

Casino Story - Another One bites the Dust

View from Marina Boulevard

Last week there was a newspaper article relating how a businessman went to the casino as a high roller and lost a total of S$ 26 million in a matter of 3 days. There is a joke about the casino, "how does one leave the casino with a small fortune (big some of money) ?, enter it with a BIG fortune (huge some of money)."

The issue with legalised gambling at our doorsteps is that it reduces the inconvenience one needs to take in order to gamble, previously Singaporeans had to travel to Genting highlands, a trip which normally takes about 3 hours, our take a cruise ship from our Harbour Front to 'nowhere' or international waters between Singapore and Sumatra and one can then gamble to one's heart or wallet's consent.

This is another story of a scion (son of a wealthy business founder) who gambled away his inheritance in 3 days. He will be making a legal case against the casinos whereby the casinos were supposed to check on his background on his credit limit before extending further credit to him. Apparently according to newspaper reports, he lost up to $ 11 million in one sittint alone. The legal case, in my humble opinion is weak because it is like taking a case against your favourite Mutton Soup hawker who served you Mutton Soup you ordered for say 10 years and you knowingly had high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Is the service / food provider to be blamed for your stroke ?

There should be more safeguards for people, like higher entrance fees ($500 perhaps) to deter all and sundry from entering to 'have a go'. It may and already spells financial disaster or even a slow financial meltdown for many thousands of people who go and play each week losing say hundreds per trip.

Bottom line is this, the casino has many tricks and rules of the gambling game to ensure that it has an 'unfair' advantage, take blackjack for example, if you score 17 and the house scores 17, the house wins. There is no 'draw' game.

Slot machines can be tuned to give better payouts in the starting months to lure bored housewives and once they are 'hooked' the slot machines are one of the biggest money generators for the casino, or many a social, swimming or glof club. I should know, I have seen the annual audited reports of 4 clubs and even was on the Management Committee for one for several years.

 
Perhaps the MBS is a nice venue to have an exhibition but its just not my cup of tea.

Gym with a View - Bangkok

View from the Gym

On the 25th floor of the Ratchatewi Tower in Central Bangkok, there is a gym with a fantastic view of the city. My friend Michael Lim and I were fortunate to gain access to use it. My Thai colleague's friend was able to get us to use the gym and as we had an afternoon free, decided to try it out.



Cycling Machine


There were cycling machines and 2 running machines on and a small range of gym equipment ranging from shoulder press, lateral and deltoid machines and the ubiquitous barbells. To top off the exercise, we also had the free use of the sauna,jacuzzi and steam room. Imagine having the entire gym, sauna and jacuzzi all to ourselves! These pictures were taken around end of March 2010, just before the situation between the red shirt protestors and the Government soldiers got out of hand, and all hell broke loose, leading to fighting at the Ratchaprasong intersection which is very close to this area. The casualties and death toll was almost a hundred with over a thousand wounded.



Michael sweating it out

I'll be heading back to Thailand again next week, this time for a new venture which hopefully will yield results for the investors in the coming months. Keeping my fingers crossed !

Passing the Values from One Generation to Another

Andrew and I

When I was young,I was self centered and egotisitical,expecting to reap the most material benefits from the world. Now that I am in my 40s and with 2 teenage children, I have encountered a paradigm shift whereby material things do not matter as much. This is because I have come to realise that life is fragile and people indeed have spiritual and compassionate sides to their lives which they should accept and discover more.

So what has this got to do with the passing of values to the next generation, well, one can pass one money to the next generation but, far more than that, I think it is my purpose in life to teach the next generation, my children and their children, the values which I have been taught by my father and mother.

1. Honour your parents (one of the 10 commandments in the Bible)
2. Work hard for your place in society. Nothing comes for free or on a silver platter
3. Be true to your word and honest in your dealings
4. Stand up for your country, family and friends
5. Respect for your colleagues, business associates and people you come across everyday.
6. Thrift, Generosity, Tenacity and Resilience are learned and earned

A passage from the Bible is very apt.Proverbs 22:6 "Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will never stray from it".

Farewell to a truly wonderful Lady

Terri (in wheelchair) was 95 this year

My aunty Terri passed away last Friday 13th August 2010, on the day of her 95th birthday. She was a wonderful lady who lived her life first as a teacher and then during her retirement years, enjoyed them doing by singing in the St. Andrew's Cathedral choir (at least for close to 20 years), touring the world, spending alot of quality time with her grandchildren and great grandchildren in Australia. Married for 73 years to my eldest uncle Paul (who is 96 this year), she was his soulmate and confidante.I recall her shrill voice calling me during the old days in her bungalow in Pasir Panjang, and made it a point to remember my wedding anniversary and birthday every year including this year 2010 without fail !

We had some very lovely memories of celebrating my uncle Paul's and her birthdays when I was a young boy and teenager. Although, my cousins Ruth,Shanta and Elizabeth were easily 15 or more years older, we were always welcome to their house and enjoying family and fellowship, singing Christian hymns and songs with prayers and praise. She always gave me advice on family and spousal matters and was truly a special person.

Friends are the 'external family' which we choose

Wing Sun, Andrew, Noel and Yen Sun in Egypt

This post is dedicated to all the friends, long time and new ones, I salute you. As I have experienced in the past 10 days from my mother's hospitalisation, at the end of the day, its the love from your family and close friends that matter. Life is very complex, as we come into this world with nothing and although people want to hoard up the riches on earth, all the riches on this earth will not be able to heal your body or your soul.

The family is one of the institutions which has been around for thousands of years. Unfortunately, divorces are more commonplace and families are being broken apart due to the complexities of modern day life. This is a sad facet of our developed world.

When we are sick and need nourishment, we turn to God, family and friends in that order. Sometimes, unfortunately, our family may not be able to provide the emotional or even the financial support and that is where the friends can come in and keep our spirits up.

True friends stand by you in good times and bad and in times of crisis, that is where we will know who our true friends are. Choose them wisely.

Charity Begins at Home

National Day Run at MacRitchie

My mud soaked Kayanos 16

This year's National Day falls on a Monday and I have been especially challenged this year. The reason is personal with my parents not in good health, so I had for the last 10 days or so been running back and forth to visit my Mum, who had an operation, in hospital. So some of the more pressing work commitments as well as personal time for my running had been set aside for my family.

Today's run at Macritchie was prompted by my almost 3 week layoff from running. I had caught the 'flu virus about 2 weeks ago, recovered after one week, decided to take things easy for another week, and then this last week I had to make all the arrangements for my Mother,checking her in, and then ensuring that after the operation was over, the family could see her as often as possible. I am thankful to supportive company staff and to my wife, who made chicken soups and helped supervise the cooked food for the last 4 days now.

With the Singapore Bay Run about a month away, I need to step up my game and take my training up a notch, clocking about 50 km per week for 1 month to be ready for the 21K half marathon which I have run consecutively (except 2006) for 5 years now. The Singapore Bay Run Half Marathon is 12 September 2010.

2006 was the year when I had my collapse and I was struggling to get back to fitness for the rest of the year. Since 2006 I have run 1 more marathon (in 2007) and done 3 half marathons, a treadmill race (came in 3rd) and a 25K run (in May 2010). A good comeback, to use the term, and I hope to top this by running 1 or maybe 2 marathons before year's end.

The run at Macritchie started at 6.00 pm sharp, it was bright and sunny when I started, on a fast clip and was determined to set a decent time. At the startpoint, the route traverses into the jungle and I overtook the walkers and some slower runners.
My pace was even and I was feeling strong given that I had full rest this long weekend. At the top of the first hill (there are 4), I noticed that the ground was very muddy. So here I was running at a fast pace (to me) and swerving left and right to avoid the other oncoming walkers and runners and also avoiding the muddy portions which covered the entire width of the trail ! Too late,
my 3rd encounter and my left foot plonked deep into the mudbath, due to my strong momentum I managed to pull out the soggy shoe and continued my run with my left leg caked in mud. (See picture).

Coming down the second hill, it was slippery and people were blocking the pathway, instead of calling out "excuse me", which is the norm, I had no time but to clap loudly and the youngish woman jumped (yes jumped) out of my way. I could almost visualise a nasty accident where I was barreling down the hill at a fast pace and slamming straight into the woman. Nasty accident avoided !

The rest of the route was quite refreshing and the reservoir area probably had rained in the late morning judging from the many muddy sections along the route. I was going at about 5 minutes 30 secs per km pace and was only overtaken at the Lornie road section by a couple of young runners in their 20s (I have come to accept that I am no more a spring chicken) who looked like they from some running club judging from their uniform orange T shirts.

Hitting the 3 hills on Lornie Road and back to the start point, I was feeling pretty ecstatic that I was finishing my first 5 K run in 3 weeks in a pretty decent time of 27 minutes 20 seconds.

- Onward Mr. Mark !

- Majulah Singapura !

Ship on top of Tower ?

Marina Bay Sands with Sky Tower in the morning sunlight

For those of us who have seen the latest end of the world movie, '2012' would have surely recalled that there were huge 'arks' which were high technology seaships mounted on top of the Himalayan mountains made by the Chinese (who else could mass produce such high technology in such short a time ?).

Singapore has one such ship looking 'vessel', the sky tower observation deck looks like one of those ark like ships. So Singapore is all ready for the next 'wave' ? Some of my worldwide colleagues who were here recently for training commented on the similarities, but its only the overactive imagination of some people, who have had too much liquor to drink.

The Mayan calendar ends at 2012,its not the end of the world.

Toyota Harrier

Sporty Looking but a little underpowered

I have owned 2 Toyota Harriers (aka Lexus 300) since 2005. The car is an SUV made in Japan unlike many other Japanese models which are made in Thailand and China. The first one from 2005 - 2009 was a revelation to me, it gave me and my family a roomy drive and was able to fit in up to 6 people also for short trips to family dinners on the weekend. Ever reliable, it was easy to handle, though one has to get used to the large capacity of the car chassis and turning radius. I had absolutely no technical problems on the first car, thanks to Toyota's fine reliability program.

The recent brouhaha (news which makes people react with shock and horror) over some models of the Toyota namely Prius and Lexus 300 GL in the USA where the accelerator does not decouple,leading to several horrendous accidents and deaths has somewhat tarnished Toyota's good name but the Harrier has been spared any of this malfunctions, thankfully.


I have owned 2x Harriers for 5 years now

This second Harrier was purchased in June 2009 and I am pleased with the improved sporty looks, metallic and walnut finish drive console and 3 saparate dial diaplys for speed, RPM and fuel / engine heating displays. Acceleration gives me the feeling that it is a little underpowered, but the 3 litre version (RX 300) is too expensive (S$ 200,000 or RM 450,000) and in my opinion a waste of fuel. Also the carbon footprint of that car is probably 30% more than this car. This car gives me a 9.5 km per litre consumption, not bad for an SUV.

I know the environmentalists will be aghast at my purchase, as the carbon footrpint of this car is frankly, quite horrendous. More and more new car sales in the West are normally Smart cars, or battery powered hybrid cars. So somewhere down the line, I have to contend myself with either walking or running to the supermarket. The recent weather changes have made me sit up and speculate that all our attempts at urban 'development' will ultimately spell the end of the mother Earth as we know it. We are creating our own 'and of the world' scenario by time and again ignoring the warning signs of our sick Earth. The solution is out there but people like me and other urbanites with more than 1 car are part of the problem.

The car was inexpensive to purchase in August 2009 - as the local economy was coming out of the World's worst financial crisis. This for the world's top selling car marque, but the spiralling COE prices have made the new car selling price over S$ 130,000 now (RM 300,000). I am glad that I purchased it at that time last year and will hope to continue driving this car but only for must travel reasons.

45th National Day ; My wishes and concerns

Live our Dreams, Fly our Flag

This year, 2010, marks the 45th year of Independance for Singapore from its neighbour Malaysia. Formerly a part of the Malayan peninsula, Singapore's early history was fraught with tensions due to political, racial and economic reasons. But with the strong leadership of the PAP government and a supportive electorate, it has weathered the many uncertain times over the last 45 years and recently ridden out 3 major crises (1997-99 Asian Financial), 2003 SARS and 2008-ongoing with amazing speed and resoluteness.

As a Singaporean, I am grateful for many things, racial and religious harmony for one. A united people based on a meritocratic society offering each and every able citizen equal oportunities in work, business and play. A fast paced, shopping and food paradise which is the envy of many countries world-wide. Recently, an article which stood out was this, the Macau casino boss Stanley Ho sent his private jet to Singapore to buy durians and gave some to his pal, Li Kar Shing. Even tycoons favour the flavours of the hoi polloi (ordinary people). How fortunate.

My 5 wishes this National Day is this ;

1. let us all move towards being a more gracious and caring society.

2. Lets not judge people in materialistic terms (that is how much people are worth) ; rather how much good a certain person has done on a weekly,monthly and yearly basis. That should be the benchmark rather than where one lives,how much is his net worth and what car he / she drives.

3. let us all be good parents and role models for the next generation, transmitting the best values for them and inculcating in their minds the values of hard work, thrift and compassion for their fellow citizens or new migrants.

4. Lets accept the foreign migrants into our society and teach them our 'Singapore way' of striving for the best with total transparency and accountability of our actions.

5. Lets face our ageing society head on and be prepared to work as long as necessary to enjoy the excellent quality of life which can be offered here provided we have the means.

My 6 worries for this National Day is this :

1. The casinos are likely to undermine our social fabric as they will lead more people downward the debt spiral and hence only reinforce the gambling culture. The 'get rich quick' mentality will only prevail leading to higher expectations of quick returns for less effort. This attitude is quite worrisome.

2. The rising costs of housing,cars and general foodstuff will continue unabated. That means a hyperinflation worry

3. Structural unemployment means that more and more of our PMETs will be facing new challenges in either lowering their job expectations downwards and move to another field but in a lower capacity or moving overseas to continue pursuing their careers in their fields but in foreign country.This is especially true for people who are 40 years of age and above.

4. Housing costs are pushing people out of the inner city, and ordinary Singaporeans are being priced out of the private property market.

5. Global warming, leading to massive weather changes, as a result flooding in Singapore and other parts of Asia, as well. This may be only the start of other natural disasters to come.

6. SARS has hit, a H1N1 virus mutation has happened and our medical defences have been up to the mark, but for how long ?

Happy 45th Birthday Singapore.

Flo Rida featuring Dave Guetta - Club cant handle me Right Now

Awesome Song and Killer Dancing

Great Teochew Food at Decent Price - Quan Le Yuan

Cold Crab - Signature Teochew Dish

Tucked away on Henderson road, are several top class Teochew coffeeshops converted to Restaurants. I have been to 1 such restaurant, called Quan Le Yuan, it is as 21 Henderson Road and it is next to the famous neighbour at 19 Henderson Road, called Mu Liang Zai Liang Kee. According to my friend and lunch buddy, Stanley Wong, these restaurants have been around for more than 25 years (!) since he was a young teenager. Although the estate has changed tremendously, what with new condominiums sprouting up every year around the Bukit Ho Swee and Bukit Merah neighbourhood, these restaurants cum coffeshops are still doing a roaring business.


Great lunch for 2 at decent price

3 weeks ago I had lunch with Betty, a friend from Hong Kong,and although I wanted to try the No. 19, , it was closed on a Monday so popped over to No. 21 and it was a serendipitous (pleasant surprise) occasion. The signature dish of Teochew Cold Crab, was sweet and went well will the red chilli padi sauce. In Hong Kong, they serve it with Worchestire sauce from Lea and Perrins. Ever mindful of my cholesterol level, I limited my intake to 2 pieces of the small but excellent tasting crab.


Briased Goose - as good as the one we had in Hong Kong last year

Next, the braised goose.Soft and easily digestible, it was also very tasty and the side of tau kwa (bean curd cake) made it all the more a complete nutritious dish with tau yoo sauce. It was a personal favourite of mine.



Sambal Kang Kong - Yummy

The sambal kangkong was a very nice surprise too. Fresh and crunchy, it had an aromatic smell to it and just the right amount of sambal not burning one's lips and making one eat it like a healthy snack. I almost ordered a second plate - it was that tasty.

The restaurant name is also very unique, Quan Le Yuan which means, 'Every One is Happy Garden'. So for the price of $49.00 and the quality of the food, I must say we both left the coffeshop restaurant happy :).