Why are we here and not there ?

My father Geoffrey (extreme right) with my grandparents, Aruputhan Abisheganaden (grandfather) and the missionary Pastor who converted the family to Christianity 

                                                
                                                             My father's niche

Some 14 years ago, my then business partner and myself went on a business trip to Penang. That was in 1997 when the Asian economies were booming and we had never experienced a financial crisis on a regional scale for something like 15 years. Venturing to find some breakfast, we walked past some very run down shophouses where the owners were involved in some trading business selling car accessories. Nothing unusual except that the family occupying the shophouse was Chinese. Now, I am not insinuating any racial prejudices but since my partner was Chinese and I am half- Chinese, I had an
epiphany (awakening of the senses). I questioned aloud :

" Now why did our forefathers choose to come to Singapore, and not to Penang, or Batam or Jakarta ?"
 (most of the Singaporeans and Malaysians Indian and Chinese were from the mainland, and arrived in S.E.Asia some 100+ years ago or shorter and many were working as traders, coolees (labourers), seamstresses,  dockhands, clerks, peons (office boys) and other menial workers). Their descendents just over 100 years later, are enjoying the fruits of their decision to come to Singapore, many are bankers, doctors, businessmen, teachers, civil servants,lawyers, accountants, all professionals - all from very humble forefathers.  Strange to think that just 100 years down the road, the fortunes of the people
who were downtrodden on their luck in their home country, are doing well enough to invest sizeable fortunes and visit the mother country, where the descendents of the children of the emperors and other nobles reside. Sure China and India are emerging as economic superpowers but the opportunities for the overseas diaspora (people of similar ethnic origin) came much earlier, some 20 years in Singapore's case.
  
Was it pure luck, or a good decision or God's will that their decendents will be

a) flourishing and doing well (and investing in other countries like many Singapore and 

    Malaysian coys)

b) struggling, due to ethnic strife or misfortune due to natural or man made disasters in that          country

I thought again and said : " If my grandfather had not come and settled down in Singapore, but perhaps in Penang, I might be a rubbertapper, or running a murtabak stall, or a lawyer, or worse." I might have been working in the dingy shophouse in Penang and looking up at the suit and ties walking past them.  

Think about your own forefathers for a minute, are you here in your country because of them ? Or did some higher being like God set a plan for you ?

Cover of Journey's Don't Stop Believing - Sam Tsui

Great cover of Journey's 70s classic Don't Stop Believing. They have great talents in the US of A, and this guy is one of them. Keep rocking Sam Tsui !

No One is here by Chance

       Recently I visited my old Junior College, St Andrew's Junior College which is situated at Potong Pasir Ave 1 and I was impressed by the strides it has taken to improve itself over the last 30 years to be one of the top 10 colleges in Singapore. Yes, its been 31 years since I left the college and I do feel somewhat 'past it' physically but emotionally, the bonds with my alma mater are still strong. The previous campus at Malan Road (off Alexandra Road) had its share of criticisms ; it was too colourful to reflect a place of higher learning, too open (all classrooms in 1 block had only 3 walls so during the rains, we had rainwater beating in),and it had a design of a kindergarten or playschool. I enjoyed my time as a teenage student then and I hope my son Noel, now that he is enrolled in SAJC, does too.

     Our principal, Bishop John Tan has long since retired,but he was an excellent leader and an upright Christian then and now. He was a no nonsense person in college and my wife and I were honored to have him officiate our wedding in St. Andrew's Cathedral on 22nd May 1993 - some 18 years ago. The vice-principal, Mr. Raymond Ong was strict too though I remember he had a very playful sense of humour with the students. Sadly, he passed on about 9 years ago at a relatively early age of 52.

At the entrance of the foyer of the college

     I was in the second batch of  SAJC students, way back then 1979- 80 and we had the entire brand new campus to ourselves. The teachers were very dedicated, and wanting to make a name for the college, the student cohort worked and played hard to establish it right from the very beginning. The motto then was "Up and On' but now, the college has its own called " No One is Here by Chance", reflecting the hard efforts every student has to put in to be accepted into the college. There are many past 'Saints' who have contributed tremendously to the school and college, putting in their valuable time, expertise and money to further build up the school and college's legacy.

The School and College's Track and Field

    My late father, Geoffrey Abisheganaden, was the Chairman of the Board of Governors of St. Andrew's Junior College for 13 years and his love and dedication was repaid when the college sent a Guard of Honour made up of prefects to my father's funeral at the St. Andrew's Cathedral on 22nd Sept 2010.

    May the college move from strength to strength in the years to come.  

Siam Square - a bit of Roppongi in Bangkok

Interesting Graffiti Art outside Siam Square

Choose from hundreds of small shops selling young people's fashion and eateries 

I made some time to visit Siam Square for an hour or so, and was pleasantly suprised to find that it reminded me of Ropopongi in Japan, where there are many small shops and eateries catering to the young set crowd. Many high school students, young working adults and tourists alike mingled along the walkways giving it a very cosmopolitan feel. Not like your sleazy typical Bangkok alley where the lecherous (Western normally) farang (foreigner) gathers to have his beer and ogle at the pole dancers or worse. This is a false stereotype perpetuated in all those Western books typifying Bangkok as a place for sleaze with massage parlours and brothels at every street corner. Not true.

The cool temperature of about 20 deg C also led me to momentarily think that I was in Japan, at the time I was there, Bangkok was hit with a cold snap (something which was a very pleasant surprise to me) and moving around the city was literally a breeze. I did not feel that I was in a tropical third world country but rather something more akin to the North Eastern Asian country like Taiwan, Korea or even Japan.

Do visit Siam Square, its representative of the youth culture of the modern Thais, just as I suppose, Bugis Square and Junction represents the youth culture of Singaporeans.    

Use Agoda for best hotel deals - President Solitaire Hotel in Sukhumvit Soi 11

The sofa overlooking the pool

The hallway of the Solitaire Suite

                                                                      The 4 poster bed

Fresh from a recent trip to Bangkok, I managed to book a very good 4 star hotel from the internet using the portal Agoda. This was my second foray into Internet hotel bookings using Agoda this year and both times the hotels selected were within my expectations - and budget. The beauty of the portal is that it gives alot of past guests comments on everything from cleanliness of hotel room, services, facilities, accessibility to the MTRs or underground trains,breakfast spread etc. etc. so its like I am prepared mentally for what to expect.

This hotel called President Solitaire is located in Sukhumvit Soi 11, and it is very close to Na Na  BTS station (Sky train). Outside the main road of Sukhumvit are the multitude of street vendors,bars, restaurants catering to every kind of entertainment, if you know what I mean. In the small road off Sukhumvit (called Soi) there are many spas, foot massage joints, restaurants and smallish hotels so the locale is very international.

This hotel deal which I booked was for roughly S$ 100 per  (RM 243) night for a suite. Upon arrival, I was promoted to the 'President Suite' with a huge ensuite jacuzzi. This was definately a plus point for me. Service check-in was a breeze, the breakfast spread was very decent and there was plenty of solitude because there are not many rooms per floor as in other major hotel chains, so its very quiet, and in the heart of Bangkok too. The adjoining Amana Spa provides excellent service, and the Hot Stones 2 hour package (at S$ 150) is highly recommended.

Will I stay here in the future ? Most definately.

 

LMFAO - Shuffle Dance

Teenagers and youngsters are shufflin' to this latest dance, called the Shuffle Dance. Can you shuffle ??

Space - the final frontier

Everyone needs his 'space'

As I was doing my katas (karate patterns) in the area leading to the small garden in my house, I was struck by how premium 'space' has become in land scarce Singapore. At the moment there are 5 million inhabitants in our 'garden city' and if the Government has their way, they want to increase the population to 6.5 million in our small island of barely 850 square km. Currently, the density is 5,882 per square km.That is almost 6 THOUSAND people in an area about 2 and a half football fields by 2 and a half foot ball fields. Of course, you can build upwards, but people are land based, so thats a lot of people you will meet if you walked (in theory) for  every one km either  one of the 4 ways. In a simple mathematical terms, 850 square km translates to 850 million square metres, and divide that by 6 million, then each one has in theory 141 square meters to do his or her own 'thing'.

Looking at it, that is barely 10 meters by 14 meters each person or 30 feet by 42 feet each person.

Its still not too bad, but it sure feels that there are alot more people in Singapore, and adding to increased competition and stress.