Nearing the finish line of my 9th full marathon in 2014.
This is the words of Napolean Bonaparte to motivate myself when all around me are flailing and falling.
"Courage isn't having the strength to go on. It is that you have to go on even when you don't have strength"
Take heart, there are countless people who have gone through the limits of pain both mentally and physically and overcome their greatest obstacles.
And when they do, they are so much more grateful that they went through the fire.
Description : Spanish Restaurant in a Shophouse setting.
SGP 069906
QRA is proud to announce the launch of HBOT chambers for :
> Wellness and Longevity
> Sports Recovery
in the Asia Pacific region.
Price from : $ 9000 onwards
Soft Skin HBOT chamber for muscle recovery and wellness.
What does Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy which is offered in Soft Skin Hyperbaric Chambers do for you and me ?
Theory
There are 2 basic theories which are in the realm of physics :
a) Boyle's Law
b) Henry's Law.
Essentially the application of these 2 laws 2 are these. For a fixed temperature, the higher the pressure, the lower the volume of the gas at constant temperature (Boyle's Law) and Henry's Law states that for a fixed volume, the higher the pressure applied, the more molecules of gas will be in the liquid at equilibrium.
Henry's Law
The amount of gas that will dissolve in a liquid is directly proportional to the partial pressure of that gas above the liquid. Breathing oxygen inside the pressure chamber increases the total amount of oxygen delivered to the cells by the bloodstream (Henry’s law).
In addition, the increases in pressure result in a decrease in the size of bubbles (Boyle’s Law).An increase in ambient pressure (and thus partial pressure) results in more gas dissolving into the liquid portion of blood and tissues.
The definition of Henry’s Law (named after William Henry) explains that pressure is necessary for a gas (oxygen) to dissolve effectively in a liquid (blood plasma).
Gas will go from a higher density (lungs) to a lower density (tissues) to achieve equilibrium.
Boyle's Law
If the temperature remains constant, the volume of a gas is inversely proportional to the absolute pressure.
Studies have shown over the last 3 decades that for mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment, which is providing the atmospheres and O2 levels as such :
a) 1.4 ATA or 1.4 bars
b) O2 at 24 - 28%
there are many health benefits to this treatment, if the person can stay in a Hyperbaric chamber for up to 1.5 hours at a stretch. The total amount of these 'treatments' to optimise the results and not cause harm is less than 50 times per year. In short, one 'treatment' per week.
Our body has 25 trillion cells, and with mHBOT treatment, nutrients and O2 can be input at a far higher rate than at normal atmospheric levels.
Increasing the atmospheric pressure while breathing in enriched O2 atmosphere creates an environment where O2 is dissolved more efficiently into the surrounding liquids, such as blood plasma and cerebospinal fluids.
During mHBOT we breathe O2 under higher than normal atmospheric pressures inside a soft hyperbaric chamber (much like a soft cocoon with windows).
There will be many amazing good effects on health or results from treatment using mHBOT.
Therein is the magic of HBOT. (Henry and Boyle Law in action).
Contact :
Email : mark@qra.com.sg
reypereira@qra.com.sg
Website : https:\\ www.qra.com.sg
QRA's latest offerings - Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Chambers
Wishing One and All a Happy Chinese New Year !
This is one for the history books. My 4th marathon when I was a sprightly 45 years young gent.
I can say that at the start of this Horse Year, I plan to run another 3 -5 marathons before I call it a day.
If people can run ultramarathons when they are in their late 80s why can't I push for another 3 - 5 in my mid ______s ?
You are only as old as you think
Seize the Day !!!!
QRA International makes high quality test chambers for the world. We have the following for sale
> Temperature Chambers
> High Temperature Ovens
> Temperature and Humidity Chambers
> Temperature Shock Test Chambers
> Walk In Chambers
Walk In Chambers
8 m3 to 120 m3.
Humidity : 20 - 98%
Stability Chambers
80 litres to 1500 litres
For more information please email :
Asia
mark@qra.com.sg
Europe
reypereira@qra.com.sg
Australia
clifford@qra.com.sg
For more information.
Website : www.qra.com.sg
A full house this year ; How lucky
This year is the year of the Fire Horse. So I am hoping I get all the good fortune in terms of good health (I must never take anything for granted), good relationships (with my closest and dearest - my family, my close friends, friends, business associates and my colleagues) and good fortune.
Fortune favours the brave ; and the brave always have discipline, do things no one else would have thought possible and have a lot of courage to stand up to his convictions.
Beyond all the nice sayings and glad tidings, I must be hardworking rise from the sting of defeats, and keep to my strong habits. Only then will I be able to one day say "I have made it !".
Huat Arh !!
This past few weeks have been turbulent ones, for me. My very good, practically best friend, of late, Roland Teo passed away on Sat 31st Jan 2026 at 11.20 am.
While I am very sad of his passing and as a friend, I tried my very best to be there when he was literally breathing his last breaths, I am happy that we had a good 16 years of great friendship bonded over bouts of training (first) at the Ken Shin Kai karate club where he was a member then the club President from 2009 till about the time he left at 2019 - a span of 10 years.
During those times, we had numerous lunches and the occasional dinners at his best in the world dining place, the Crystal Cafe at Killiney Grand Court Residences. The staff there all knew him almost like a member on an extended family.
He was blessed with decades of widsom, honed from his working at the various top multinational companies of Pepsi Cola, Citibank (Taiwan) and Standard Chartered (Taiwan) where he was the CEO of the entire Standard Chartered operations (I believe) from the late 1990s till the early 2008 when he decided to retire at the age of 54.
He had tremendous big picture vision, a global understanding of money markets and most importantly, the ability to understand human behavior, and how to bring out the best of his team of people.
He was generally revered and seen as a great mentor to many (easily close to 50) people who looked up to his razor sharp financial acumen, his managerial skills, and understanding of how to manage upwards (his bosses) from over 50 years of working for top level corporations.
He was on the board of my SME and I seeked his assistance in many strategic decisions.
I am so grateful for his friendship, his willingness to share his experience and his foresight in handling many things in life which have led me to take him as the ultimate mentor for me these last 16 years.
Rest Well, Play the Music you so loved in heaven Roland.
I will always remember you with much fondness and gratitude.
Carpe Diem.
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, but make allowances for their doubt too.
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting or being lied about, don't deal in lies or being hated, don't give way to hating and yet, don't look too good or look too wise.
If you can dream and not make dreams your master
If you can think and not make thoughts your aim
If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same
If you can hear the truth being spoken twisted by the knaves to make a trap for fools or watch the things you made your life for, broken.
and stood up and built them up with worn out tools
If you can make one heap of all your winnings and risk it on one turn of pitch and toss,and start again at your beginnings, and never breathe a word about your loss
If you could force your heart, nerve and sinew. To serve your turn long after they are gone and so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the will which says to them 'hold on'
If you can talk with crowds,and keep your virtue or walk with kings nor lose the common touch
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you
If all men count with you but not too much
If you can fill the unforgiving minute with 40 seconds of distance run
Yours is the earth and everything that is in it !
and which is more, "You'll be a Man, my Son".
My company has proudly delivered and commissioned the Walk In Cold Storage Chamber to a global MNC in Singapore. The above Cold Room Walk In Chamber can control temperatures from 5 - 10 C for extremely long durations of times (months) without any issues.
There is internal lighting for easy access of the technical specialists and the chamber is cooled using a recirculating chiller from the outside. We can provide accessories like ramp and stainless steel racks inside for the proper sorting and moving of their samples seamlessly.
Safety wise, there is an urgent call out button linked to audio and blinking light to alert for any issue. Additionally, there is an door override function from inside so that there is no possibility that anyone will be trapped inside the cold chamber for any time longer than necessary.
For further information, please contact
E : mark@qra.com.sg
or visit :
https://www.qra.com.sg
for more details.
Last year, QRA started providing Ovens from Bench Top sized to Stand Alone sizes for the purposes of drying all kinds of products from food additives, to pharmaceuticals and biotech products.
QRA's name is getting more renowned with each passing year.
With Darian, a very good friend of our son Andrew.
This is the first day of 2026. As a young elder person (elder I would categorise at 70), so I have only few more meaningful years left.
My parents left in me a spirit to contribute to society at large, and apart from the usual one off small donations here and there, I feel this year will be a very significant year for me both professionally and personally.
I must make use of the little precious time to be the best version of myself to my loved pnes and friends.
Have a meaningful and successful 2026 readers !
Lets get to 500, 000 views by end 2026 beginning 2027 !
I am filled with much humility and joy to announce that we have garnered over 300, 000 views in the 17 years since I started writing my blog. I wish to humbly say thank you to all who visited this blog and penned their comments, I am just a small business owner and this is one way to express my ongoing feelings about life, some current events (non political and religious) as a means to documents my views and thinking in the various life stages.
I may have some earlier views which may reflect how I felt about certain things at that point in time, but over the decades (1 decade and 7 years later), my thinking has matured a lot, as well as my assumption of the certainty of many things has also been weakened. Sometimes, it is best not to make predictions without proper analysis. If I get the outcome right, its most times due to sheer luck and after some deeper analysis with experts. If I get the outcome wrong, well then I put the result to user experience, which can be called upon in the future when similar scenarios crop up.
When I first started, I recall we had about 200 views a month. Today, we easily get over 1000 views per day on certain weekends. I aspire to get around 30, 000 views per month in the near future,so that means 1000 views per day. Which is not so difficult nowadays.
I never knew my little blog could be of interest to other people, many of whom are linked purely by wanting to know how the other half of the world lives.
This is the proudest moment for us parents. Our younger son, Andrew, graduated from the Queensland University of Technology recently on 9th Dec 2025 with a Bachelor of Information Technology.
Andrew is a hardworking young man of 28 and he is at present looking for an IT or Computer CyberSecurity job in Singapore or Thailand.
If you are looking for a hungry, hardworking young IT executive with a decent CV and 3 previous internships, please drop me an email.
Email : (a) r1828mark@gmail.com
(b) mark@qra.com.sg
Yesterday 9th Dec 2025 was a proud day for our son Andrew Hao Jie. He graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Information Technology from the Queensland University of Technology or QUT. We are very proud and honored to tell all our readers and followers this represents a milestone for us.
My wife and I flew in specially for his graduation and we then had a slap up lunch and dinner together with a good friend from Korea (thanks Quon for coming !).
Life is made for these special unforgettable moments, which mould us. As a proud parent my wish for him now is to land a job, find a nice person and settle down, either in Australia or Singapore.
Our part in supporting him will always be here, that is our promise.
One life one path one vision many goals.
Carpe Diem
Kangaroo Point Bridge off Charlotte Street
In a couple of days, we will witness a very happy occasion, Andrew getting his degree in front of all of his Uni mates.
We as parents wish him the best for his current job hunt (Any one looking for an IT Security analyst or executive in Australia or Singapore ? Please email me).
I can truly vouch that Andrew is of good heart and posesses a strong and intelligent mind. When he puts his mind to it, he can truly pull off top quality for his employers.
E : mark@qra.com.sg
The date was 5 December 2005 morning, I can still remember the incident as clear as yesterday. This was the 3rd full marathon I was attempting and it was HOT and humid.
I had my arranged supporter, N. Kannan, from Malaysia who had come all the way from Malacca to help supply me the Gatorade drinks and Powergels. We had arranged that he meet me at specially designated locations to hand me the "life savers" (Powergels) as I estimated there would be a thousand runners in front of me, and probably many thousands behind me. This was the most dramatic ending to my marathon runs which I am not going to forget soon.
During his salad days, I have pictures of him as a young man, (maybe the late 1930s) dressed to the nines (I will post pictures of his 'salad days' soon). My father had many friends, who were very successful, but he also remained loyal to those who did not make it in life, as he treasured friendship without judgement.
As I recall and have data from current and past records, my Papa sat on the board or was President of numerous clubs and societies in Malaya and Singapore, most notably :
1. National University of Singapore Society (1967 - 1970) - President
2. Singapore Bible Society
3. YMCA
4. St Andrew's School and St Andrew's Junior College
5. St Andrew's Cathedral
6. Singapore Swimming Club (legal advisor)
7. Singapore Cricket Club
His selfless nature, while apparent, did not let him lose sight that the focus of his work was to serve God and give of his talents. This is one trait which I wish to follow soon, as time is of the essence.
A much treasured 1969 family picture
Happy Birthday to my Papa Geoffrey Abisheganaden ! Forever remembered by your children and grandchildren Noel, Andrew and Hannah.
May you be blessed in heaven.
You would have been 106 years old today.
Love, your beloved son.
Nearing the finish line of my 9th full marathon in 2014. This is the words of Napolean Bonaparte to motivate myself when all around me ar...
