A Paradigm Shift 7th Dec 2018

Main Entrance to Casino 

I first went to Europe with my father in June 1974, I was just 11 years of age, and was very privileged to fly with him to his 'Fatherland' (England) or where he studied for 5 years in the late 1940s till early 1950s. Our Europe trip covered as I recall Italy, Greece and England and we had a great time together staying in his good friend's houses, eating their home cooked curries and visiting the ruins of Athens. 

I have not had the opportunity to visit Greece again, sad to say. I've back to the UK I believe 5 times or so, once in the 1980's during my Undergraduate days (we stayed for 7 days), twice in the 1990s (the tail end of our honeymoon was in England) and once for work. In 2016, I then visited London for several days for holidays.  

Monaco, and Nice I first visited these places as a poor student undergraduate in the late 1980s or 1987 to be exact. We had a bus tour and spent a total of half a day and 1 evening being awed at the splendour of the Cote D'Azur (Blue Coast) and the cramped Monaco where the rich and wealthy park their monies and citizenship in the banks and properties.

Entrance to the Casino 

I last went back in December 2018, on 7th December to be exact and I must say that I experienced a paradigm shift. Something in my mind had me thinking with a frame of reference that Singapore the island state was still economically and socially behind that of Monaco. There and then I had a shift in mindset. 

When we stayed those 5 days in Nice and visited Canne, Monaco and Monte Carlo, I realised that in fact, Singapore had moved by leaps and bounds economically, had raised its standard of living and the so called finer things in life like good French food, casinos and the flashy cars are all in abundance in our island state.

Singapore had indeed arrived on the world stage. We are no longer a place for cheap manufactured goods (20 years or more they have been long gone) or a stopover to Australia.

We are a destination in itself. People all over the world look forward to come to our island state to play in the casinos, swim in the infinity pool on the 58th floor of Marina Bay Sands and experience the Night Safari, Jurong Bird Park and Underwater World. We even have Universal Studios in our Sentosa Island.

  

Throwback from the Past ; Anna and Geoffrey Abisheganaden 1978

with Aunt Alice, and friends from 196 East Coast Road.

My Mum and Dad led very active lives, both in work and also in social and volunteering activities. These are the memories which I would choose to remember them by, at their prime (Mum in her early to mid 50s and Papa in his Mid 60s). 

Mum as the personal assistant to 4 Permanent Secretary of Health since the late 60s till the late 90s. Papa was a lawyer who had his own law firm and then helped out many organizations as legal adviser and school such as the Bible Society, YMCA, Anglican Council of Churches, NUSS Society Alumni (he was President on 2 separate occasions),St Andrew's School (board of governors) and St Andrew's Junior College, Singapore Swimming Club, the list just went on and on.  

What everyone does with his life is purely his decision only. At the end of his or her life, if he gets a chance to reflect on it, he must have as little regrets and rather,  reminisce about all the joyous and satisfying occasions that have dotted his life and experiences.

Living in a huge bungalow, driving the fastest supercars or visiting all the glamorous places the world over just doesn't impress me like when I was younger. I am cognizant of my limitations in life both physically, mentally and spiritually. I do whatever I can with my abilities and small gifts bestowed upon me to traverse through life, raise a family and mingle with friends and people who mean much to me. Helping others out is also an option I am more focussed nowadays.

Robin Williams (the late great comedian) in his standout movie "Dead Poets Society" told his young students to "gather ye rosebuds while ye may.." a sonnet by Robert Herrick.

Gather ye Rosebuds while ye may,

Old Time is still a flying

And this same flower that smiles today

Tomorrow will be dying.

The glorious lamps of heaven, the Sun

The Higher he's a getting

The sooner will his race be run

And nearer he's to setting.

That age is best which is the first

When youth and blood are warmer

But being spent, the worse, and worst

Times still succeed the former.

Then be not coy, but use your time

And while ye may, go marry,

For having lost but once your prime

You may forever tarry.

"To the Virgins, Make Much of Time" 

Robert Herrick - 1591 - 1674.

  

Hardtalk - Steven Saccor interviewing Yuval Noah Harari

Bruschetta ; Simple, Fast to prepare, good to eat and low in calories.

Standard Bruschetta as a starter for the main course, OR just as a simple breakfast meal.

I am a beginner cook, in fact this Circuit Breaker (CB in short) from 7th April till 1st June has given me plenty of opportunities to start on a new hobby, cooking healthy, nutritious food which is tasty too. I have been slow off the mark - just like our Govt has been slow off the mark to stop the spread of the tricky COVID - 19 spread amongst our foreign workers living in cramped dormitories. Hopefully things will be much under control in the coming 1 - 2 weeks. 

Getting back on point, Bruschetta is an Italian dish which is easy to prepare and cook. Look at the picture above. The ingredients for this simple dish are as below :

a) Grated cheese (Parmesan) 

b) Cherry tomatoes (2 per slice of bread)

c) Baguette bread (2 slices)

d) Basil herb leaves.

e) Black pepper seasoning

f) Olive oil.

Calories per slice : 60 ; Total 2 slices : 120 calories.

My own dish is slightly different. I use Multi-grain bread as the base. So here is my version of this much loved dish for this morning 5th May 2020. 

a) Emmenthal cheese (sliced)

b) Cherry tomatoes (2 per slice of bread)

c) Multi grain bread (2 slices)

d) Basil herbs (from bottle)

e) Black Pepper seasoning 

e) Olive oil (1 - 2 teaspoons per slice)

Calories per slice (my estimate) : 100 (due to more cheese :))  Total 2 slices : 200 calories.

Preparation

1.Cut the cherry tomatoes into small slices (I dont have a grinder or mixer)

2. Add olive oil to the bread

3. Place the cheese onto the bread

4. Add a dash of basil grated herbs and black pepper. (can be after the toasting). 

5. Place inside oven for 10 minutes.

6. Watch as the bread slowly browns out and the cheese is slightly melted.

Voila ! What you see above (sans the basil leaves herbs) is the end product.

It was washed down with my morning coffee. Perfect !! 

Just this last weekend, we had the privilege from ordering takeout from Garibaldi (1 michelin star) restaurant and I must say, their bruschetta is really top billing and super tasty.  It is reminiscent of the top picture with super crunchy bread (almost like a rusk).

More pictures of the Garibaldi dinner in another post.

Breathtaking video of the Cote d'Azur or the Blue Coast Dec 5th 2018 Wednesday

Here is another video of the 16 day holiday we took just 2 years ago of the road from Nice (where we were based for 5 days) leading to Monaco (Monte Carlo is just a precinct or suburb in Monaco) and our guide, Carla (from Brazil) was giving us the history of the region, where the Romans used to enjoy the mild winters overlooking the Cote d Azur. 

Below is a photo from 7th December 2018 ; Monaco (Monte Carlo is a suburb of this land locked super rich kingdom). 

View of Monaco from the Hillside

Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) 1986 TV Debates NTI Team

At the appreciation lunch hosted by the then President Cham Tao Soon 

L-R : Yours truly, Richard Pereira, Philip Lim, Sukdeep Singh, Jaspal Singh.

I'm digging up the past I must admit. After I finished my National Service committments from 1981 - 1983, I pursued the undergraduate course at the National University of Singapore from July 1983 - June 1987.

During those salad days, I was fortunate to represent the Nanyang Technological Institute (which was then the Engineering arm of the National University of Singapore) twice, once in 1984 and the second time in 1986 for the TV debates for tertiary institutions. The debates were held in front of live audience of 200 students, undergraduates and members of public and the telecasts were shown 1 week later on the then Channel 12. 

In the 1984 series, we reached the semi-finals before losing to NUS Team 1 the eventual winners. In 1986, we beat 2 teams, firstly the National Institute of Education and then the NUS Team 1 in the semi-finals. We emerged as runners up in the 1986 series of televised debates. 

My father (see below picture) who was then 65 years of age, was a very enthusiastic advisor, as he gave us plenty of debating tips as a successful practising lawyer in criminal, and subsequently corporate law, and was managing his own law firm Abisheganaden and Company, Our chef de mission was a Dr Koh Moy Yin, and we had help from several other lecturers such as Dr Stanley Richardson and Prof Koo Sai Kee.During the course of our preperations for each stage of the competition, we had the privilege of interviewing Dr Chan Heng Chee, and Dr. Paul Koh (Chief Statistician).

Geoffrey Abisheganaden circa 1985 

We prepared very hard and enthusiastically for both sets of debates, reaching the semi-finals for the 1984 series and the finals for the 1986 series. I believe we helped put NTI on the map as engineering undergraduates were then not known to be outspoken and fluent in the cut and thrust of intellectual debates - something which was more the domain of law undergraduates.

The other tertiary institutes which took part were the Singapore Polytechnic 1 and 2, Ngee Ann Polytechnic 1 and 2 , The National Institute of Education (NIE), NUS teams 1 and 2 and NTI. 

I was chosen to be the first speaker, followed by Richard Pereira, Philip Lim and Jaspal Singh.

For the record, for the 1986 series, although we did not win the overall best team title, we (NTI) team won the best speaker for the night (Philip Lim)l, and Best Speaker for the series Jaspal Singh. We beat the NIE team in the preliminaries, the NUS Team 2 in the semi-finals (which was a major shock to the premier university) and finally took on NUS Team 1 in the finals. 

Truly, a tremendous accolade for a then only 3 years old academic institution of higher learning !

Carpe Diem. 

    

El Che - Documentary about the ultimate revolutionary Ernesto 'Che' Guevara

This is the movie about the late Ernesto 'Che' Guevara's life. Known as 'El Commandante' in Fidel Castro's Cuban Communist Party. This movie explores his motives and the experiences which shaped him for his future role as General Castro's right hand man.

Born in Rosario in 1928 to an upper middle class family, Ernesto was a sickly child but made extreme effort to overcome his handicap through sheer will and tireless effort.  He and another good doctor friend Alberto Granada did a cross continent motorcycle ride to seek 'adventure' in their early to late '20s to 'find their calling' so to speak. They left Argentina in 1952 and ended up in Colombia, and even Miami in 1955. Their adventures in Chile, Peru, Colombia included a 3 week internship in a leper colony called Saint Pablo, in the equatorial rainforests of Colombia affected them deeply about the grave social injustice and economic disparity caused by capitalism. 

He led successfully the overthrow of General Baptista's regime in 1958 and then tried unsuccessfully to export the same  model of authoritarian rule in African Congo and then in Bolivia.

Why is he lionised the world over ? I guess because he stood firm to his principles and was the ultimate anti-establishment icon of the 20th century. He wanted in the end to establish a United States of South America with a Marxist Government. In the end, he failed, was captured and killed in Bolivia by Government forces. 

Enjoy this movie showing the first meeting, then the planning, and finally the campaign to oust the regime of Batista from early 1958 till end of that year.