Reliving the days of our Youth ; Saint Andrews Class of 1978

            Friday 7th September 2012 will be long remembered by me as well as many as 60 of my Primary - Secondary school classmates. Why ?  Well, for one, we all (save for a few chaps who repeated 1 year or 2), 90 percent of us were 1962 babies, born in the Boomer years practically less than 20 years after the 2nd World War. So, yeah, we turn 50 or a half century old this year !

                     



         
          Why celebrate your entrance into full middle age ? Some of you might ask , well why not ? We have had many times to be reflective, many things to be thankful for, and some things which we have some regrets and one important thing, we are ALIVE and for the most part, HEALTHY.

          That in itself is something I thank God for !
     

            

                                        




          Many of us (not all) are married, a number are divorced (some twice), some have been single all this while, but whatever their marital status, and sexual orientation, it was indeed a joyful occasion to meet, catch up - some of us had never even met up since 1978, a grand total of 34 years !! - play football like when we were in Secondary 1 - 3 (ages 13 - 15), without a care in the world except whether we would be caught by the prefects (ons of them is the current Minister in the Prime Minister's Office mind you) because, without fail, all of us would come into class at 1.10pm every weekday smelling like a bunch of dead rats !   Our form teachers, ranging from a Mrs Lim (aka Penguin), Checkgu (Teacher in Malay), Mrs Krempel (May her soul rest in peace), Mrs. Diana Wong (My 2C Form teacher), Mrs. Huang (a real toughie), and of course Mr. Victor Wee (our discipline master for the entire Secondary and Pre -U cohort) had to put up with this bunch of playful,  noisy, smelly, slacking jokers who would not be in the least bit motivated to hand in their homework unless threatened with house calls and caning.

                       



       Many unforgettable stories came thick and fast, who was the most sexy teacher, who had the public caning for having porn magazines, who beat up whom, and sadly, who amongst our cohort had passed away.

                  
                                        Part of the St. Andrew's Village encompassing the Primary, 
                                           Secondary School and Junior College all in one 'village'
                                       The old school field is now an artificial one made of Astroturf.

      Names like Andrew Fok, Raymond Goh and Zulkilfi were names bandied around as those who have left this world. I pray that our bunch of Old Boys stay steadfastly connected through our Old School which had left such indelidible imprints on our lives. I quote from the School Song by John Oxenham :

  "Lives are in the making here,
    Hearts are in the waking here,
    Mighty Undetrtaking here,
    Up and On  !

    We are arming for the fight
    Pressing On with all our might
    Pluming wings for higher flight
    Up and On ! "

   Such poetic wisdom in those words.

   To all my lifelong friends, the Saints, let me say this :

  " Keep the flame burning brightly ever !"

  We have run 1/2 the race, lets run the other half in the true  Saints Spirit and with Grace.

  Up and On !!  

                     

Open Condom Store - Psy's Mishead Lyrics

      To be absolutely honest, I didn't like his viral hit at all when I first viewed it. It was so 'in your face' randomness that I thought, "ah, another of those wannabe attention deficit, talentless people who hog the Social Media like Youtube, FB and Twitter". How wrong I was.

Update (Dec 2012) : His video hit Gangnam Style has hit over 1 billion views ! Making it the most watched video in the history of Youtube.

      His magic is that he does not take any part of his persona seriously, he says " Dress Classy, and Dance Cheesy" which is a real takeaway in this polarised world of Muslim anger at another insult to their religion, growing inequality between the rich and the poor, the rising show of power by the new economic giant, China and the European debt crisis which is threatening to throw the entire world into an economic tailspin.

     Whats a little bit of horseriding 'over the top' mayhem with a catchy tune and eye candy ?  Add to that the misheard lyrics like " Open Condom Store", " Sauna Air" , "Korea not a gnome", "Saddam said Whoa" and you have the next BIG THING.

     What exactly is this music genre I don't know, but its really ENTERTAINING. Thats what matters.

ENJOY YOUR TIME IN THE SUN, PSY.

Can't wait to go ski again

Tomamu Resort Twin Towers facing the slopes

     The cold wintry days are coming, and I am sure looking forward to some time on the slopes. Yes, times are bad, businesses all over the world are reeling from the triple whammy of poor economic outlook in USA, the EURO debt crisis and China's plunging manufacturing sector. However, with some of my savings from the last few years, I plan to take my family for their once a year bonding time.
     

     It is likely to be again in Japan, as we can't afford the time and costs of a USA ski trip (normally its about 14 days, and total costs would be in the region of US$ 20,000), although I hope one day I can ski on the slopes of  Canada, Europe and Australia, with money, age and health related issues coming my way as I age (touch wood - I hope to keep those off for a long time yet).

     Then again, you never know, I might go to the North Asian countries soon, as our partners are located there, and the Dec - Feb months are perfect for a  slide down the pistes  or two ?

The First Rock Song

     This was the first rock song which captured my attention. I was all of 13 or14 at that time, and the year was 1975.  My family, particularly my father had only played the classics, his many operas and some Christian music. His reasoning was that he wanted his children to listen to 'cultured " (read Western classical) music and had no time or interest in the then 60s or early 70s rock and pop music of the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, the Doors, Queen, Beatles and the like. He likened that music to Satanic or people with hedonistic interests.

     As a young and rebellious teenager, I remember my good friend Andrew Lee, telling me that if I paid him 3 or 4 dollars, I could buy a cassette tape of the 70s 'pop' music. So I did, and the first album I proudly owned was Elton John's Rock of the Westies.

    It was glorious, ear candy to me. I was transformed into the '70s music fan. The top song I recall was this one, called Grow some Funk of your Own. It should have been titled (to Elton)
"Grow some Hair of your Own !'

    

Past Prime Minister's Q and A on young of today

        This is a very insightful Question and Answer Session by the former Prime Minister, Mr. Lee. Very candid and brilliant storytelling of the early years of Singapore. If anything, the young people of today should listen to what he has to say. If they do not 'get it', at least understand that there were many patriotic leaders and champions of our independent first generation Singaporeans who stood tall,weathered the major challenges and made Singapore what it is today. I say "bravo" to Mr. Lee and his cohort.
       
       History has shown that Singapore has indeed risen to the occasion and now its up to the 3rd Generation of people to move forward. The challenges are far more complex and the world far more
interconnected, as can be seen by the globalisation of the world.

       Watch the video and see for yourself what a master storyteller and motivator Mr. Lee is.

          

Gangnam Singaporean style

This is a really funny video parodying the hit Youtube Gangnam dance style from Korean rapper, Psy.

Its done in a really tasteless style, but its good to laugh at ourselves every once in a while. Enjoy it if you can understand it.

Happy National Day Singapore !

                                          Happy Children watching the National Day parade

          Today August 9th, Singapore celebrates its 47th year as an independent nation, after separating from the Malayan Federation of States in 1965. Our history is short, but the achievements, many. As a proud and patriotic Singaporean, I would like to highlight one of the core values stated by our PM yesterday which many of us take as a 'given'. Many people who were born in the 60s and beyond, find the going more difficult with each passing year.

         Since 1965, we have had no natural resources save for a deep water harbour and Sentosa island, so practically 90% of our food resources are imported. We suffered from a lack of water, having had to buy water from neighbouring Malaysia and filter it. Our people were poor, lived in abysmal conditions in the kampungs and along the Singapore river. Gangsters and gangs operated in many estates from Redhill to Selegie to Katong. Healthcare was 3rd world standard, as was education and a whole host of basic amenities and infrastructure was lacking. Communist groups were festering and race relations was very fragile.

       Fast forward 47 years, the picture below shows the tremendous change since those tumultous days.With a GDP per capita of US$ 52,000 in 2011, Singapore is among the top 10 countries in the world.Its standard of living is very high, personal safety is practically the world's best, easily beating USA and many European countries, 40% of our water is self processed, through catchment and recycled (yes we drink our own processed 'toilet water' !), our smooth downtown traffic is the envy of many 1st world countries with the  COE , Electronic Road Pricing and the comprehensive Mass Rapid Transit. (OK its had its share of breakdowns and is a 'work in progress'). We have 2 thriving casinos (many would say that this is the root cause of many social problems of late) developing our downtown into a bustling tourist and metropolitan hub, our port is 2nd in the world in terms of tonnage passed, the Singapore Airline is the standard bearer for quality service worldwide, Keppel Corp is the largest oil rig builder in the world, the list just goes on and on.

     Many Singaporeans who have grown up with all these little luxuries, take everything for granted and want more. The complaints about the new foreigners taking jobs, school positions, not adopting to local culture and not integrating are genuine and valid. Having foreign people in our city is an inevitable aspect of globalisation as the flow of opportunities, money, talent, jobs will continue to the most open and adaptable of societies. Thereafter, the country can progress economically. That cannot be changed as this is the groundrules of globalisation.

     Singapore has a unique advantage other than the rest in that it is one of the most multi-cultural and multiracial societies in the world. It was not by chance that we are very tolerant and accepting of interacial friendships, marriages and living together side by side with the same 'kampong spirit' that was with us in the beginning in the 60s. People were much poorer then, and helping out each other regardless of race was, and is, a cherished core value of our great little nation.

     Lets stop and think during this  47th celebratory day of Independence. Racial Harmony is Singapore's key 'takeaway' to the world. The new immigrants who come here, have to work doubly hard at achieving what Singaporeans have obtained in the last 47 years. Granted there are some really rich tycoons who put their multi-millions or billions here (think Severon of Facebook as one example), but  Singaporeans have 'been there and done that'. Europen, Chinese and Indian migrants must adapt to our rojak mix like it or not,  so they eat at our coffee-shops, drink Tiger beer, and their kids attend our schools, we compete for the work opportunities on equal footing (discriminatory practices are 'no no' here).  Its getting a little crowded somedays on the  MRT trains and buses, but adapt we must and we will.

    Happy National Day My Singapore !!