More 6 Adis Road Pictures and Memories

My maternal grandfather P.C. Wen with my brother (3 years old) 

This picture above shows my maternal grandfather PC Wen, sitting out at the driveway with my younger brother. The Simca is in the background and the main hallway of the house is also in view. The room to the extreme right in the picture was never occupied for some unknown reason, and the entry to the house was to the left up the step from where the car is parked. The house and the entire plot of land was easily 200,000 ft2. 

To the left of the house was where my mother's car was parked and behind it was some shed structure where the workmen would leave their tools and stuff, as well as the dog kennel and lots of overgrown bushes leading to a 6 foot fence. We had lots and lots of play time fighting with the neighbourhood kids, catching spiders, climbing the rambutan and papaya trees, riding our Chopper Bikes and general carefree mayhem of early childhood.

There was a Malay neighbourhood Kampung nearby up the road, and the houses lining up Sophia Road had plenty of colorful facades. The main road which was about 10 minutes walk was Selegie Road, and I would take the 111 bus to my school, St Andrew's at Woodsville when I was about 11 years old (Primary 6). The return journey would be from Woodsville back by Jalan Besar and I would drop off at Bencoolen Street. I would pass the 'mamak' (Indian Muslim) shop on the way back to the house and every week without fail I would save up my pocket money to buy the "Shoot !" magazine from the UK which would be full of colour pictures of my boyhood football team Wolves.   

I recall, in the early days, my father drove the Simca, then had a Mercedes E230 for quite a while whereas my mother drove first a Datsun 323, then a red Mini Cooper, a Mazda 626 and then an old E200 in her later years as I recall.

My father's love for the E230 (which happened to be my mother's ex-boss'es car Dr Eddy Ho) has indeed rubbed off on me. I used to drive the E230 from 2012 till 2017 and am full of praise for its roadworthiness and safety. His car was silver grey in colour which is just the way I like my cars too. 

2 Monkeys and a Simca

Life in the late '60s and early '70s were really carefree. We did not study very much, if at all as I recall. As expected, our Mandarin was atrocious and I recall always failing the 'ting xie' test or listening comprehension test (because I did not study at all) and would end up going to the front of the class and getting my ears twisted till they hurt and turned red (well, for a dark brown skinned boy, it still turned red). Our Chinese teacher was a rather overweight Mrs. Pang. That was in Primary 3.

Speaking of Primary 3, our class teacher was a Miss Ang who had a rather catty personality and dressed very much the sophisticated single lady. She made an arrangement with the taxi driver who (then) drove me to and from school to pick and drop her off from her house - as I recall. So she caught a lift from the driver who was all too happy to drive a pretty lady home. 

Our family when John was barely 1 and I was approaching 4

I had a rather large head as a kid, the front was protruding and my Mum used to call it 'mango head'. So while my head was large, my then puny body made me look a little weird.

I recall my parents taking me to a peaditrician, to get some sort of injection - I think it was 'placebo' actually on their part !

Only later when I started to stretch out (in terms of length), did my head seem more in proportion to the rest of my body. 

Work from Home Staying Connected

With Primary School Classmates on WhatsApp last week

Work, that ubiquitous 4 letter word, is one of the primary reasons for Raison D'ete. Or the Purpose of Life for perhaps 2 - 3 billions of people the world over. So when the COVID -19 took over the stage and Governments around the world made their respective countries go into lockdown where people old, young, rich,poor had to stay at home for durations of 2 weeks to 3 months, it caused alot of major upheavals in all of our daily lives.

Singapore has been in Code Orange with Circuit Breaker restrictions and 80% of the population who were in work, had to work from home.In addition, schools were shut, the National Service conscripts were asked to stay at home, places of worship had their services moved online, and all dining, drink, hawkers, retail, entertainment, clubs, all were shut with effect from 7 April 2020. Now we are in the 6th week of lockdown and if everything goes according to plan, we should see some easing of restrictions early June 2020.

Last Tuesday week, we had a 'meeting' amongst old schoolmates and I had a great time connecting with 3 other 'boys' from Primary and Secondary school. 

Sunil, Kent, Marc and I spent the better part of 2 hours and 2 beers each reminiscing about the 'good old days' and promised each other to get together once this 'thing' is over to meet in person and have a memorable 'do' once this once in a lifetime plague is under control.

We live in positive hope and expectations for a better healthier tomorrow.     

Hokkaido Japan Dec 2 - 14 2012 ; Rusutsu Resort ; Powder Snow.

Throwback 9 years ago at Hokkaido, Rusutsu Resort. The powder snow was really cold and we had just finished dinner.The elder boy Noel was 17 and the younger son Andrew was 14.

We had 5 nights of stay at the Resort, then followed by another 2 - 3 nights at Noburibetsu, an historic town famous for its hot spa and hot sulphur springs. It was a great time for bonding, and our skiing competancy was Intermdiate.

I pledge to go back to skiing for one last hurrah before I get to old or my knees get too weak to take the twists and turns of the pistes.    

Once Time has elapsed you can never get it back. So all we have are these faded memories and videos like these of the past.

  

George Yeo ex- PAP Minister's speech at Beijing Forum 2013 ; an eerie prediction come true today

Some recollections of my childhood days at Adis Road.

Me at 12 

I was born on 27th November (no year) I believe it was 6.42 pm in the evening. The day was a Wednesday.  Strange with all these new smart phones, you can determine the exact day of your birth from the Calendar function on your Andriod phone.

I was born in Kandang Kerbau Hospital (at Middle Road), I believe Prof. Salmon (Yvonne Salmon's father) delivered me. Nothing special to mark the occasion but I do know my early years (since cognizance or mindful recollection) started around 5 to 6 years of age.

My parents owned a bungalow house at 6 Adis Road, Singapore 9 (those days the postcode was only a single digit). I was the elder of 2 boys by 3 years. John's birth month is September. My father told me that the bungalow house was the family house and he bought it. During the second world war, the Japanese occupiers used the house as a command post as it was midway up the Mt Sophia Hill and overlooked all the smaller houses and Malay kampung. If you followed the road to the end at Adis Road, it was the mansion of Lee Kong Chian, the renowned businessman of the early 20th century Singapore. Flanking our house were 2 schools for young girls, namely Nan Hua Primary and Secondary and Methodist Girls School. Our house was right smack in the middle of both these fine girls schools.   

The first floor of the house had a driveway for the car (Simca was the first car I recall) and the porch area was brick stone with both sides leading to a rather run-down drab garden.

All the memories come flooding back at the sight of our old house. It had long been sold in 1976, and currently. the plot is part of a condominium estate

Our house did not have the nicely kept lawns of the US in those days (60s to early 70s). When you reached the top of the driveway and upon entry to the left side of the first floor, you would come into the the main outer hall (where we played our football) and then enter into the ante room leading to the upstairs living and dining rooms. The entire bungalow had10 rooms and a huge hall both upstairs and downstair. For the downstairs area, the darkened hall kept my father's law files, and there was a line phone with poor electrical connectivity. I remember getting electric shocks whenever my ears touched the phone headset ! 

Those days (60s till early 70s) people were dirt poor. The average salary of a common secretary or teacher would be approximately $200 - 300 per month. People had no proper acess to running water, sewage, housing and medical facilities. Poverty and crime was rife in those days, so I was indeed extremely fortunate as a child, living with my brother, kakak (malay name for sister, she was infact our family maid),my parents and the tenants living in the back shacks.

London June 1974 

My father Geoffrey was a top lawyer in the late 60s and 70s and we recall the many nights when he had very tough criminal cases in the day he would come home to our family and at night had pretty nightmarish 'screaming matches' as if he were in high court !  We dared not to wake him during those stressful periods.

My kindergarten (nursery) years were delightful and full of play. I was the 'king of the playgorund' as I recall. (I will leave it at that). The church and kindergarten are still there at Prinsep Street (Presbytarian Church and Kindergarten) and they do indeed hold fond memories for me. I was quite the tough guy in those days, as I recall. My father once dropped by and saw me wrestling or thumping 3 boys in the sandpit. I even had all the kids pushing my go - kart in the palyground !  

Bully me ? Maybe or maybe not.  

One of my earliest recollections happened when I was just 6 years of age. I was barely in Primary 1. We used to watch this series every week called the Flying Nun starring Sally Field. So one day while I was at the back of the house on the steps, I saw the pipe which was extending from one wall to the next and decided that I could 'fly'. So at the top of the steps, I decided to 'have a go' and leapt (totally brainless thing to do) from the top of the steps and try to catch the pipe some good 6 feet away and perhaps 10 feet from the ground.

I failed miseralbly and tumbled down the steps with multiple knocks going down. I could have been on the main selection list for the Darwin Awards (ultimate stupidity) for that year.

I tumbled hit, bashed, and thrashed myself all the 10 or so steps down. I cried like a baby and I blacked out.

The story (from what I heard from my Dad) was that, fortunately we had a Japanese tenant called Ken Omemuri and he heard my cries and came rushing out. He brought me straight into a taxi and called my Dad at work.

I woke up in my Dad's car on the way to the hospital. I had blacked out and my head was a bloody mess. The legend then went on like this. Upon arriving at the Singapore General Hospital, my father called (more like bellowed) the nurse to call Dr. Yayha Cohen the top surgeon in Singapore then. The nurse gave him the sarcastic response that even the President of Singapore could not get that kind of attention from Dr. Cohen.

My father and Dr Cohen were best friends and my Dad told her off to metion his name and she quickly obliged. Dr. Cohen came running and I was immediately put into the operating theatre and given general anaesthesia and I saw the entire operation while being fully lucid but in no pain ! It was surreal watching the needle going through the top of my head and coming out. 

It took 6 stitches on my left forehead and in about 2 hours, I was back at home sitting at the top of the steps and all the neighbourhood boys, girls, uncles, aunties came to visit me, and marvel at the brown patch above my left eye.

at Swimming Club with my brother and cousins 

I am so grateful to my father, Dr. Cohen, Ken Omemuri and the numerous others who came to my aid. A stupid young kid who was so full of himself and thought that he could 'fly' like the Flying Nun at 6 years of age.

The folly of youth ! 

Remembering Anna Abisheganaden nee Wen my Mum this Mother's Day

My Mum  (extreme Left) Anna with Dr Kwa Soon Bee (2nd Right) 

My Mum Anna was an amazing woman. She was born 30th Novmeber 1930 and first lived in Guangzhou China, before moving to Hong Kong, then Penang and finally Singapore. The eldest of 4 sisters and 1 youngest brother, she was a very loving and strong mother to me and my brother John.

She met my father in the 50s and while she was married once before, she took care of both John and I with her usual dominant matriachial style. Stern, yet loving. I don't think we turned out too badly in life. Though I still need to aspire to greater achievements in the business front, John is very established in the medical fraternity.

Visit by K.M. Byrne, Mum was the Girl Guide Troop Leader (extreme Left in White)

As a young woman, she showed tremendous leadership and was the Troop Leader for the Singapore Girl Guides in the 1950s and had the privilege of meeting Prince Philip during one of the National Days and K.M. Byrne in the photo above.  

When I was cognizant enough, I realised that she was a very gregarious person and loved to meet with plenty of people in her line of work and play. She joined the Singapore Swimming Club together with my father in 1973 (I was 11 then) and made us 2 'monkeys' take up swimming under the late Mr. Neo Chwee Kok (aka Flying Fish). Mr. Neo was one of the first Olympians to swim for Singapore way back in the 1950s. 

Alas he passed away in the late 1980s - still a youngish man in his early 50s.  

Mum took part in many activities first with the Swimming Club, then with her workplace and was active in Badminton, Swimming, Kong Qian (martial art), tennis and squash to name a few. 

We as young tweens went to the club most days after school, Monday to Friday with the exception of Wednesday (pool cleaning) most times in the afternoon. The swimming times were from 5.30 to 7.15 pm. 

I really look back to those days with absolute joy and longing as they were so carefree !

Mum at the SBTS 50th Anniversary dinner on 1st September 1996, 
York Hotel, Carlton Room

She always could make 'arrangements' for John and myself if we happened to be sick, to visit the best specialists back in those days. Her forte was her people skills and she relished meeting many people from most humble to the most privileged backgrounds.

With her 'team' (she is in the colourful dress.) 

Mum made it a point to have 2 events each year at our house from the late 1980s till the time of her demise in 2011 so thats over 25 years. Each year, she would host 1 party during Chinese New Year and 1 party during Christmas and there would be up to 50 people coming and celebrating the occasions with us.

Those were truly memorable days and certainly happy memories for me.

Carpe Diem  

Geoffrey Abisheganaden 19th August 2003 St Andrew's Cathedral Performance

My late father Geoffrey Abisheganaden's performance at St Andrew's Cathedral 19th August 2003.

He was 83 years of age, still sprightly and had all his faculties intact, especially his voice. 

Here he sings a German song 

For those who remembered him well, he was a perfect gentleman and excellent father to both John, myself and our families.