Words to Live By

This 'Ah Ha' moment happened to me after a hard 6 km run last Saturday, 13th Oct to be exact. Here are the starkest unadulterated thoughts of mine : 

         
                                                      Family Portrait circa 1963 

1. What Drives Me : Living up to the good name of my parents. They have gone, but not in my mind's eye. They are there watching. 

2. The Sum of All My Fears : I don't fear death as it is the end of life. Everyone dies. I fear that I have been a lazy has - been ; a good for nothing. In my own mind. Nothing 
else or what other people say does not matter.

3. The Sum of My Accomplishments : is not for me to determine. So I don't worry too much about it. My plans in the past, some have made it, many have not. But I continue to plan and strive to be a better person. 

4. Will I be remembered ? : Why did I write this blog then. Ha Ha. It doesn't matter when i am gone. It surely doesn't matter when I am alive. If I want to be remembered I would like to be remembered as a good son, a good father to 2 great kids, husband to a wonderful wife and I did all the things I thought would make a difference to the people I come across. 

Timed Run 8th Dec 2015 - full marathon

It was never about making pots of money, I may have been misled in my youth and early young adulthood, but no my values have changed. Its surely not about being the best leader, or best runner, or karateka.

In the end, it doesn't matter for people will think and decide what they want to think about me and the life I led.

5. Will I 'succeed'  ??  It really depends on my life plans, whatever enigmatic energy I have expended into this life, industriousness,resilience, persistence and leadership of a few good people. 

6. Will I be Happy ? Absolutely. Its all a matter of my outlook in life. I hope I will have numerous bouts of happiness and I am able to handle those times well. 

Parc Guell - Barcelone 2016 

                                                     !!  CARPE DIEM !!

    
     
    

My First trip to Europe II of II - Reflections

feeding the pigeons at Trafalgar Square 

These are among one of the earliest photos I have of myself, apart from the days when I was a brown baby and 'sam man zhai' (street kid in Cantonese as my Por Por or grandmother would fondly say of me). 

We lived in a large 30,000 foot post colonial bungalow at 6 Adis Road, Singapore 9. When the days were long with play, barefoot in the parks, on roads, playing football at the next door cement floored playground belonging to the Methodist Girls School.

My days of childhood, from birth till about 14 or 15 were in 1 word "carefree". The entire era was set in upon a glorious backdrop of emerging Singapore, from the horrors and abject humiiation of the 2nd World War, the Japanese Occupation of British Colony Singapore. Then after the 2nd Wordl War, there was a strong anti-colonialist movement leading to the formation of the Federation of Malaya together with Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore.

All of these historical events went over my infancy and early childhood days. All I worried about was whether I could score goals against the next door boys and playing with our 3 dogs, Jippy, Mickey and Scamper. 

Fast forward to 1974 and as I fondly look back at these times, I am struck at the innocence of my outlook and my face was aglow and I was rather a plump kid. I had a joyous trip, I vaguely remember the Greece trip (most of the sights were ruins ha ha) but London was a fascinating eye opener for a young lad like me. I immediately wanted to be 'English'. Yes I was naive and stupid for a while. This is called finding out oneself 

Several events stood out from that trip, I strongly remember standing at Trafalgar Square and feeding the pigeons, it was a cold day but the sun was shining. The country was less cosmopolitan than today and the red double decker buses and the black beetle looking London Cabs stood out. In addition, I strongly remember we stayed a couple of nights at the Strand - which was considered 5 star in those days. The service was impeccable to my pre teenage mind.

Outside St Paul's Cathedral 

My father was a lovely, brilliant man. Slow to anger at home, he led by quiet example. My trip to Europe was my luck as the first born. Before my 12th birthday, he took me to visit Greece and England, his 'motherland' as I teased him. He was an Anglophile, that of the "Sun never sets on the British Empire" mentaility which was  mercilessly put down by globalization and the rise of mutlipolar societies each trumpeting their strengths. From socialism, to social democrats, Communists, to dictatorships each one was careening into the future.

My father Geoffrey studied in Grays Inn London, was called to the Bar in the early 50s and still had many English friends from his undergraduate days. I recalled we stayed in a couple of his friend's places and ate some very mild curry. Ha ha !  

In those days (early 1970s) the British Empire's influence was but a small number of countries still considered 'colonies', Hong Kong was about the last to go in 1997 and was handed over to the Chinese, who promptly administered the "1 country 2 systems" rule whereby the Chief Executive of the country was someone approved by Beijing. 

Indeed the white man's soft power influence has been greatly diminished. Especially since the start of the 21st Century.  Good riddance. 

The number of congregation goers numbers in the thousands on Sunday 

My first trip to Europe June 1974 I of II

Outside the Pantheon June 1974 with my Papa 

I believe around June of 1974, my Dad took me to visit Greece, the cradle of civilzation and England, his 2nd home so as to indoctrinate me into the fading glories of Western Europe. As a pre teen, I was a precocious chap probably thinking I knew it all when in fact I knew next to nothing ! 

From the dim recesses of my memory, I can recall Greece and Athens at that time being somewhat overcast, and we visited the Pantheon, as well as some of the other relics. I recall trying to look like my Dad but with no success. 

Feeding the Pigeons at Trafalgar Square with a bobby in the background

In England, he was much more at 'home' and I recall us visiting the homes of Brian Grieg, as well as seeing his sons Jamie and another. It was and is a hazy recollection. Sometime in the '80s Jamie came to our house and I still have a photo of his visit. We also had some dinner at some walk-up apartment of my Dad's and we had some pretty bland curry !

The highlight of the trip, was the visit to Trafalgar Square, seeing Nelson's column (he Lord Nelson was credited with winning the sea battle against Napolean and died on the ship during the height of his victory). The pix above shows me feeding some unamed pigeon with the famed British Bobby in the background. Those days, Asians seemed and felt like 2nd class as we were not that numerous in UK and hence the feeling of "not there yet" was apparent. Times sure have changed. 

One More Hurrah - Paris 2019

This was the marathon done in 2014 ; I had the foresight to have the videotape footage for reflection.

I have signed up for next year's Paris marathon and it will take a special determination from me to complete it within 5 hours. 

It is now beginning November and I have barely 5 months to get into shape. I have been on an intermittent fasting diet these past few months with limited success. The food to avoid is carbohydrates, and alcohol. While these are identifiable, they are sure as hell difficult to cut back from an already seasoned carbohydrate junkie.

I must and will do it !!! 

Impressions of my trip to Doha Qatar 2017 and 2018

Its hot in the desert, mainly sand storms and dry arid air. 

I visited Doha in July 2018, this was my 3rd trip there having had some business in the last 2 years and I was there for a followup visit. The last 2 times, I came it was first in winter, and then in early spring. The weather was cool in winter, and in spring it was about the weather we would experience in Singapore, about 30 deg C. 

This year, in July when I went, it was a scorching 50 deg ! The air was dry, arid and even at night, the temperature felt like 40 + degrees, like living in an oven ! The population of Doha is  made up roughly 25 % of locals and 75% foriegners. There is alot of construction going on, in the light of the upcoming 2022 World Cup being held there in 4 short years !

Dining Al Fresco at the Corniche, Smoking Shisha, Downtown Financial Centre. 

During the winter months, like Nov - January, it is pleasant and cool, sometimes going down to mid teens in the evening. When I first  visited Doha, my host was gracious enough to invite me to try the Arabian food, and we also went down to the Corniche (resembling an English fort by its architecture) which was by the waterfront. The waterfront itself was lined with numerous dhows - something from the old days when the only industry of Qatar was from pearl fishing. My driver and I managed to get a tourist visit on a dhow which brought us from the harbour section and we sailed onto the new downtown section, with all the modern buildings aglow in the night.

The Corniche (English fort) houses many shops, eateries, and art galleries for tourists and visitors from the region. It is a nice first stop for the new visitors to the country. Currency is the Qatar Riyal which is converted roughly by USD 1 = QR 2.5.

Janoos and I dining Arabian style ; from the floor 

The country's largest export is Natural Gas, having the world's largest reserves of natural gas under its desert. Thus, the GDP per capita for Qatar is practically the highest in the world. The total population is only 2.5 million, with less than 1 million being Qataris. The rest are expatriates or foriegn workers involved mainly in construction and infrastructure projects. There are many nationalities working in Qatar, and during my 12 days doing some project work there, I met people, mainly specialists from more than 10 different countries. 

Our finished product proudly functioning and providing valuable data for the research scientists. 

For Asians, the 2 most populous citizens are Filipino and the Indians. Filipinos are mainly engaged in the retail and services sector and I saw plenty working in the malls, the hospitals and food establishments. Indians are mainly from the state of Kerala, apparently it is only a 2.5 hour flight from Kerala airport to Doha, and they are mainly engaged in construction projects, such as the upcoming Mass Rapid Transit train lines, the new stadia (for the upcoming 2022 World Cup) and maintenance of their many municipal facilities (water desalination, parks, waterfront and general maintenance).

I view the country as opening up rapidly for foreign investment and the time is ripe for investors to cast their nets for the myriad of opportunities in this rapidly developing region. 

My old house

Circa 1975 the house on the left 

This is the picture of my old house, taken somewhere during the '70s in the central part of Singapore.

We had a manual gate, white in colour, with grilles on the living room area, and a split level between the living and dining room which was in total about 400 ft2. The kitchen and the backyard area was probably another 800 ft2. Outside we had a big garden of perhaps 1000 ft2. Looking back it was  a huge sized house for modern day Singapore. One the second floor, we had my parent's bedroom, with the big balcony, my room which is on the extreme left, with a small balcony, one other mid level room (where my Uncle Leong used during his recuperation from a stroke in the early '80s.) and the back bedroom, where my brother John stayed.

The roof was made of terracotta tiles and kept us cool and was leak free - most of the time. I did not recall we ever had any leak issues on the second floor. 

In the early 2000, my parents and our family redeveloped the house into 2 which was a lasting legacy for the next generation, John and myself. I will never forget and appreciate the work done by David Mitchell who introduced the idea to my parents and we were the first in the entire estate to redevelop the house into 2 semi-detached houses and in the next 20 years many houses followed suit.

My Dad Geoffrey, brother John, Andrew and I at Imperial Treasure in 2007

My Mum and Pa, I salute you for your foresight and knowledge for indeed you gave us, the children a better life and a decent abode for our families. For this we are forever grateful and thankful.

Thinking of you ever so often.

2012 Saint Andrew's Class of 1978 Reunion at Joan Bowen Restaurant St Andrew's School.

In 2012, some 40 odd old boys gathered at St Andrew's School Joan Bowen Cafe to meet, reminisce and share all the good old times we had in our youth, some 40 years  plus ago. We were young, dumb, broke, full of idealism, energy, rebelliousness, and just foolhardy youth. Some 34 years later, we are middle aged fathers, one or two grandfathers, and remember the ones who had gone before us to the Lord.

I was honored to be asked to play the school song and also did some Bee Gees tunes with Paul Ezekiel. We never really get old in our minds. Just the body which is going through the natural aging process. We, the children of the past, the middle aged of today and one day the elderly of tomorrow, need to make our indelidible mark on this world, always in a positive way. 

As in the school song, time is running fast away, life is now today today, Up and On !!!