Meeting with friends we left some 40 plus years ago in school.

This post is a no brainer. However, as I am slightly sleep deprived, from a night out with my Primary and Secondary schoolmates, I feel that writing this post is the best that I can do given the limited cognitive and reasoning abilities I have this morning. Meaning, I had too much to drink the night before. 

Last night, I met up with about 30 of my ex-school mates. We are all 55 or 56. The one common interest we all have is wanting to reach out, and connect, to try to relive and laugh about the best times of our lives, oh some 40 odd years ago.

That is the primary motivation which got me going to this gathering. Not about who earned or lost lots of money. Who drives the biggest, car, or has a wonderful house or has the most beautiful wife and family. Nothing of these came up during our small group chats. 

We all were back to 15 or 16 years of age. That playful boy is now a successul architect. The most rebellious guy is now a pastor. The boys hauled up for doing the most naughty things is now a successful businessman.

Me the plump and  geeky guy is now still a geeky guy but way slimmer without his Nana Mouskouri black spectacles.

The trivia and memories we bring up are priceless. Long may we have them and our friends.

Life is Precious because it is transient and fleeting

      
                                 Duomo Saint Marco 5 Dec 2017  (1 year 5 days ago to this day!) 



The transient nature of life, as we know it, is that time, the 4th dimension passes by. We have no way of encapsulating time, like we encapsulate the other 3 dimensions, in form and function like, say a car, or a painting or even doodles on paper. 

We can create form an function, like an art work, a sculpture, or a painting, a picture and that should stand the test of some time. Perhaps Michelangelo, whose fantastic sculpture of David (as in the chap who defeated Goliath) has withstood 5 centuries. 

Time on the other hand, cannot be stopped, or encapsulated as we know it. It moves. Along with it, all of humankind and animals and flora and fauna are caught in this dimension. Hence, when we are in this world, we tend to zone out the dimenion of time and hence, just coast along unthinkingly that this dimension is fast running away.

At Rue Cler in Paris Dec 2016 

Life is precious, and every second, every minute is a second or a minute gone. So use the time we have wisely. You never know when that time runs out. Well to a certain extent, we do know what the life expectancy of a man or a woman,dog, cat. How many of us actually hit that mark is more likely only 50%.

Just some useless musings on this Saturday morning 10th November 2018. 

Da Vinci's Last Supper at Duomo Santa Maria in Milan taken Dec 2nd 2017

Hey Jude, a valiant attempt at a classic song - 2011

Driving from Nice to Monaco - Video shot in 2016

Are we facing tough times ? Yes.

                                       Alley in Chinatown, Ang Ah Tee

For all intents and purposes, Singapore looks and feels like it is 1st World. Shiny new buildings, superb airport, infrastructure, gleaming new cars, multi-cultural and a food paradise. We only have 2 seasons, hot and warm and wet (year end). 

However, the fact of the matter is, it is tougher and tougher times for many of us here, as we who are born as Singaporeans will tell you. Every few years when the elections rounds the corner, we take stock and query. Is life better now than it was 5 years ago ?

I know many people who criticise the Government in private conversations, from the highest salaried ministers in the world, to the ever rising costs of living, from the difficulty of getting our sons and daughters into University places locally against the rising tide of foreign students. From the loss of manufacturing jobs to much cheaper sources now in China and Africa to mid life balancing of having enough savings, being retired or losing one's job in the late 40s to the '50s. I have personally never seen so many balding and greying citizens working as cleaners, security guards, Uber drivers or airport screening and baggage handlers. It is not a pretty sight when our elderly have to do backbreaking work, if it is by choice, well so be it, if not, it is a tragic result of poor life choices made by the individual and his or her lot is seldom supported with handouts, due to an entrenched system based on  self sufficiency. 

The bottom line is this, if we vote for you, then we hope you will take care of our interests and livelihood during good times and bad times.That is a fair social contract isn't it ? 

The issues come fast and furious. Not least will be the health issues which will inevitably come and whether the Government has got us covered when we face these tremendous costs of aging and aging well. Yes, we have Medisave, Medishield and Medishield Plus for seniors but the element of co-payment is now a must, meaning, if you get a debilitating disease, you still need to cough up 10% of the total cost of medical treatment and hospitalization. 

To be honest, I have seen first hand the medical support infrastructure in Singapore, it is good, but the number of doctors to patients in Government clinics is very high, and the wait times runs into the numerous hours or even one full day. That is well and good if you are retired and am not working, but those having full time jobs have to set aside those days mainly to wait for appointments to see a Government specialist. 

The cost structure for the Government hospitals is also very affordable, my mother in law only paid a few dollars each visit for surgery, medication and outpatient treatment for her cataracts as well as other conditions. The main bulk is subsidised by the Government. I am grateful and appreciative of this understated fact.  

We have a decent government, but an exceptional one ? I am doubtful. Men and women of character, yes they are. However, do they really really sweat and toil for the people or at the end of the day, its really pays good money and its all about Key Performance Indices (KPIs) ??

                                           Singapore River, Lim Cheng Hoe


I believe we should have more checks and balances, frankly. Too much from 1 side will only lead to group think and views from the approved feedback groups. Leading from the bully pulpit is not the way to go. Altough there are many dictatorships in the region and further afield who have far far worse human rights records than ours - so in a nutshell, we are still a pretty well managed socio-democracy with most strata groups taken care by social services.Out MPs are there to attend to most citizen's issues.

The only debatable issue is dissent and negative views are always frowned upon even though it is written or spoken with the country's citizens first and foremost in the person's mind and heart.  

It might be messy, and the worst is when you have rampant bipartisanship from what is seen in the US ; the polarisation of the country and the taking down of many institutions which were once held in high regard is truly something many Americans must be appalled and shocked to see how low they have sunk in terms of human to human interaction.

I for one cherish our multiracialism and the fact that many day to day issues between neighbours have been painstakingly negotiated and discussed to find a common resolution.
That remarkable cohesiveness amonsgt the races has been the ruling party's greatest success over these last 50 plus years. 

Lets strive to move forward and have a collective and fair system for Singaporeans first. For too long, we have looked enviously at those who come in and leapfrog and find the good life here before us. That should never be the case. 

Picking up the fishes, Artist : Tay Kok Wee

Old Photos Mum and I

This photo was probably taken in 1963, Mum was 33 and I was 1 plus I guess ! 

I have had a very fortunate life, thus far. I am grateful for many things in this life. As I approach the years where work takes a back seat, I am reminded by a good friend Roland who advised me to treasure friendship as much as I treasure my family.

There will always be work and its problems. Money is a necessity in this society, so I will never kid myself or my readers that money is of no relevance. However, above all, health and good health is the No. 1 blessing you and I can have or say that we are incredibly lucky to be healthy and of sound mind. Nothing else comes close. 

So the important aspects in life are in order of priority as far as I can see :

1. Health (good to excellent would be wonderful) ; both mental and physical - for as long as 

    possible. Taking care of my health by eating right, eat just 70% and exercise with great 

    effort to clear the deadly toxins in my body. Taking health supplements to live well. 

2. Family, who will be there for me. In return I will be there for them. 

3. Friends whom I can count upon in times of need. Same as No.2 I will be there for them ;

    the movie Stand By Me comes to mind. 

4. Life Experiences ; This is very very important. I want to have as many meaningful 

    experiences.

5. Money ; enough to lead a decent purposeful life. 

6. Career or Business. To give some meaning to the times.

7. Giving Back to Society - again, this gains importance as I age. 

I write this blog to pen my life experiences, to keep a record of my life. To share with others who can be bothered to read and see for themselves that everyone walks a different path and only God judges us for our thoughts and actions at the end. 

Old Photos of Mum, Papa

Mum in her prime, at Botanic Gardens 1953 or so

These old pictures always bring a smile of joy to me. When my parents where young and full of life. This is how I would like to remember them, even though I never got to appreciate them until I was in my early tweens, by that time, Mum was probably 40 + to 50 and Papa was 50+ to 60. So this is one aspect of Mum and Papa I never got to know. 

Mum probably had an active social life first in Guangzhou, then Hong Kong and then Singapore.Our Gong Gong, P.C. Wen was a very capable man, but left Mum, Por Por and the family for another woman. It was a very sad and desperate time for them, I can only second guess.

Coming to Singapore, they must have had to eke out a very tough existence, but all the 4 sisters, Mum, Dona, Mina and Mona, all excelled in their jobs and Aunt Mina was a housewife. Mum must have met Papa in the '50s when he was a top lawyer back in the day when Singapore was fighting for independence from the British colonial Government who had lost the authority to rule after they were humiliated by the Japanese during the '42 - 45 Second World War.

How Mum met Papa was never revealed to me, but there are old photos where she was the Girl Guides representative to meet with Prince Philip at the Padang in the '50s when he came for a visit. 

Famous photo of Mum and Papa outside the Tropicana Hotel, off Scotts Road in the '60s.

Papa was a barrister and a pretty good one at that. He was working very hard first with David Marshall and subsequently in his own law firm Abisheganaden and company. So from an early time, my brother John and I were often left to our own in the evenings after they returned home from work, as Papa had an active after work social life, serving in many boards of the NUS University,YMCA, the Bible Society, St Andrew's Catherdal and the Singapore Swimming Club just to name a few. Mum was much more grounded but she accompanied him many times for the Medico Legal dinners, or the social dinner and dances held very often back in the '60s and '70s.

Mum had a full time job as the personal assistant to the Permanent Secretary for Ministry of Health, the top position reporting to the Minister for Health. She served under 4 PS, Dr Eddie Ho and Dr. Kwa Soon Bee to name the 2 more prominent ones. 

Mum had many good doctors as close friends, Prof Chau Shi Ching, Prof Abu Rauff, Prof. Lee Yong Kiat, Prof Moses Yu, Yahya Cohen, Dr Teo Hoon Chow rank amongst her close buddies. They would meet af practically every gathering such as Christmas every year for the last 20 - 25 years before she passed away suddenly in 2011.  

Mum with Prince Philip outside City Hall circa 1956

The days of being a carefree son in a family with numerous friends and parties are long gone. I am now a father of 2 grown men, and managing my own small business. The roles are a lot but I am managing and upholding or trying to uphold their way shone by paths they created during those heady days of parties, merriment and camaderie.

Days of old meant lots of swimming and fun at the Swimming Club at Fort Road off Tanjung Rhu. There was no East Coast Parkway highway back then in the early to late '70s, the way to the east coast was by small roads from where we lived at Adis Road, to Selegie to Middle Road, via Nicholl Highway and then Mountbatten Road before turning off into Fort Road. Roads were not well lit at night, as I recall and Singapore was a lot darker place then. 

There must have been a Fort here maybe 100 years ago. The swimming club was the after school social network for me and John. We swam 4 to 5 days a week, with only Wednesday and perhaps one other day off. Mornings or evenings, they were a routine for us late starters and I have had done enough laps to last a lifetime.

I recall having to swim 2 miles or 3.2 km, 64 laps just to get a special badge, I can barely do 10 laps (500m) continuously now.

On Fridays, we looked forward tremendously to the Movie Night at the far end of the club. There under the night sky, we would watch open air movies with our cousins, Rick and Lorraine. I also recall having a friend called Thomas, whose father worked for the Club in a capacity as General Manager. We did some mischievious things back then which does not warrant an entry in this blog post, but those were really fun days.

On occasions, we would have Club Nights, where all the teens and preteens would dress us and go to the Harbour Grill where we would first eat and then the music, pop and disco would turn the floor into a dance floor.  

Finally, there would always be the New Year's eve at the Club, again my parents would book a table or two and we all would go and enjoy the evening's merriment and music from the local bands.

It was really the fun and carefree '70s !