Happy Birthday Papa Geoffrey Abisheganaden.

Geoffrey (London circa 1979) 

Today, 23rd November happens to be my late father, Geoffrey Abisheganaden, birthday. He passed on 15 years ago on 20th Sept 2010, through old age. He lived 91 years, many of these years were very fruitful serving both God and his ministry as well as many organizations in Singapore's nascent years of independence since 1965.

Geoffrey was a devout Anglican and he regularly sang at the St Andrew's Cathedral church choir every Sunday. He was blessed with a deep baritone voice and during his early years, I was told and shown certificates of his oral singing excellence from the UK. He won many a singing competition in the early to mid 50s, where he started studying as a lawyer at the Grays Inn in London.

I believe he was called to the Bar around 1950 or 51, and he had many English friends. An Anglophile, he fondly remembered the UK as his adopted 'motherland' and I always wondered why that country had such a hold on him.

The UK I know now, is a sad reflection of what it was even just 60 to 70 years ago, a pale shadow of its former imperialist ambitions and empire.  

                                                         With an unamed friend. 

During his salad days, I have pictures of him as a young man, (maybe the late 1930s) dressed to the nines (I will post pictures of his 'salad days' soon). My father had many friends, who were very successful, but he also remained loyal to those who did not make it in life, as he treasured friendship without judgement.

As I recall and have data from current and past records, my Papa sat on the board or was President of numerous clubs and societies in Malaya and Singapore, most notably :

1. National University of Singapore Society (1967 - 1970) - President

2. Singapore Bible Society

3. YMCA

4. St Andrew's School and St Andrew's Junior College 

5. St Andrew's Cathedral

6. Singapore Swimming Club (legal advisor)

7. Singapore Cricket Club

His selfless nature, while apparent, did not let him lose sight that the focus of his work was to serve God and give of his talents. This is one trait which I wish to follow soon, as time is of the essence.

                                                A much treasured  1969 family picture 

Happy Birthday to my Papa Geoffrey Abisheganaden !  Forever remembered by your children and grandchildren Noel, Andrew and Hannah. 

May you be blessed in heaven.

You would have been 106 years old today. 

Love, your beloved son. 

  

Goodbye Mr. Liew we had good times and you were a great colleague

 

Liew Hon Nyen and his wife Eileen 

Dinner at End of the World Seafood Restaurant (Telok Bahang, Penang)

Today I say a sad yet respectful farewell to an ex colleague of mine who passed on in Penang on Friday 14th November 2025. 

Liew Hon Nyen was a staff in my previous company called Upstar International back when we did business in the mid 1990s till 2003. When I left the company, and started my current business QRA International, we still maintained contact, and he was instrumental in providing key services support to several companies such as Flextronics Penang and Nidec Penang.

A no nonsense straight shooter, Liew never shirked hard work and always did his level best to support me, through the good times and the bad times. I could not have asked for anything more and he would give no less. A true professional whom I would be happy to recommend his company and services to. The company in Penang the last I know of it is called Upstar  Instruments Sdn Berhad.

He leaves behind his lovely wife Eileen (above) and 2 children. 

                                                  2007 Ingolf's Knipe Pub - Happy Times 

May God grant you Peace, Liew. 

 

Face your greatest fear. Overcome it and Be Free

 

I wrote about this slightly more than 1 year ago. Jim Morrison, of the Doors fame, had so many personal demons with his drugs, sex and rock and roll life had this to say about fear. Such wisdom and at such a young age. He died tragically at 29 from a drug overdose.

Face your ultimate fear. Be it, failure in business, in health, in marital relationships, in humiliation from doing something wrong and getting punished (jail or something equivalent).It is a bitter pill to swallow and understand that at the end of the day, no one cares enough about you to walk in your shoes, with you. You face up to your failures by your own self. 

When you face your fear, accept your fate, and still rise up after each episode. You will have a certain feeling of being free from everything, of everyone's expectations about you.

I am free. Free to think independently of my life, my health and my goals.

I am blessed that I do not have the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO). Not a single bit. 

There are a number of friends who seemingly seem to be on an endless soujourn of holidays visiting here and there and posting their holiday pictures on Facebook, Instagram. Well good for them. Are they free from their supposed 'golden life' if they can't even put down their phones for more than 5 minutes without taking a selfie about the 'beautiful' cherry blossoms and sushi / sashimi ? 

Like my long runs in the heat of the day at East Coast Park, I play my deepest fears in my head again and again like a record. Then I collect my senses and say to myself. Why the hell do I worry about the What If ?

If the "What If" happens, then I will face it. And overcome, else I face the consequences. 

I will be truly Free.  

Buying an Environmental Chamber ? Look for QRA International and watch this video.

 

                                   This video has hit a cool 50,000 views in a span of 7 days. 

We are by no means Youtube stars, but my son was the brianchild behind this homemade video. We did 2 takes, I put up the Youtube video on short,  and 'Bingo' the views started slowly. 

After one day, the views climbed like 5,000 to 10,000 each day. I couldn't be;ieve it, I still can't believe it today. 

So if you are looking to buy a new or used environmental chamber. Contact below : 

QRA INTERNATIONAL PTE LTD. (23 years and counting).

1. Leading Environmental Chamber provider for S.E. Asia.

2. Leading Testing Laboratory for Biomedical Industry since 2015 

3. 1 of only 4 Athletic Chamber manufacturers WORLDWIDE.

For more information, please email :

E : mark@qra.com.sg

W : https://www.qra.com.sg

Quality is in our DNA. 

A wonderful day in the bright sunshine 01 Nov 2025.

I have just had a great time out riding in the sun today. No I have not lost my marbles. I am just penning this post to reflect on how even just one day of strenuous exercise can change one's state of mind.

Me with my SPF 50 sunscreen, helmet and gloves 

The last few weeks has been strenuous both mentally and physically. As I approach the 6()_ year of life in a months time, I have noticed certain ostensible changes in my health, and am taking many steps to arrest the decline in physical health.

1. Tiredness - I force myself to walk (up to one hour) every evening for digestion as well as to boost cardio vascular circulation.

2. Flexibility - I had a bad LCL pull just 2 weeks ago and had to go for Chinese Tui Na or physiotherapy which entailed using moxibustion (burning of dried moxa) to deliver heat and stimulate energy flow. In addition, I went to see a Chinese sinseh who did some massive pulls on my leg to alingn them. Yes.  

One key takeaway for me. I need to exercise, or run. This is like breathing well to me. I know there will be a time when I can't run and I am looking at alternatives to this exercise which I have been participating these last 30 odd years and not a single one comes close to giving me the endorphin 'high' which running has done for me.

Back to today, I started my bicycle ride at roughly 10.30 am. I went at a rather fast pace and made it almost 3 / 4 to Changi Village. The sun was shining in the sky, the sky was blue with some cirrus clouds, the sea was a gorgeous greenish blue and there were birds chirping in the distance. 

The ride up to near Changi village was near perfect. There were only a few bicycles I overtook and a couple on road bikes who overtook me. I'm chill to the fact that at this age, being alive is more important than being fast. Enjoying the beautiful sunny environment with nice cool sea breeze is such a privilege. 

I recall a run similar on my birthday last year. I did 8 km at East Coast Park, starting at around 10 am and ran 4 km up and 4 km back from B1 carpark. As I was making my way back at the 7km mark, I recall just wondering, why am I running and baking in the hot blazing sun ? The sheer absurdity of it all, but I needed to be alone with my thoughts, and not to be inundated with the numerous well wishes from all the social media,LinkedIn, whatsapp, phone calls, FB and Wechat. 

My birthday belongs to me. Just as when I was born and when I do leave this earth, it is a solo trip and all my cognizant thoughts about my ride here on earth will go with me.

So last year, at the 7 km mark, in the bright sunshine I stopped. And walked to a stone table and bench facing the sea and just lay down, in all my sweat. I was so happy - alone - and in my own endorphin charged state, I lay down, closed my eyes and thanked God for my life.

I meditated for a good 15 minutes, being still and listening to the crashing waves just less than 100 feet from me. A small squirrel saw me, and made some grunting noise. He was obviously hungry. I picked up some nut which fell from the tree and threw it to him. He came down close by, gave the nut a smell and attempted to gnaw at it. I felt a sense of calm that on my birthday my time truly belongs to me and to no one else. 

That interaction with the squirrel and nature on that bright sunny day comes back to me today.

I feel the same sense of calm.

I finished by near 3 hours ride up to the 3 / 4 mark to Changi Village and back. I stopped several times by the picture perfect seascape, rested, and sat with my knees in lotus position.And meditated. 

I listened to the waves, the birds chirping and the sea breeze. Occasionally I would hear the roar of the aircraft flying overhead every 10 minutes. There were ships in the azure blue sea in the distant horizon, and something like 3 to 4 windsurfers doing their thing. I was where I wanted to be. 

It was indeed a perfect day.

And I Seized It.

Change your habits for the Good

 

6 Rules for Success - Daily Improvement 5% daily.

    Clarity of My Goals

   Have clear goals. Set the goals early, start small and work at it every day.

   Discipline to Take Action 

   Show Up. Do the work day in day out. Do not shirk.

   Communication to Connect with People

   Do more

   Talk Less

   Listen More

   Connect 

   Emotional Control to Stay Balanced

   Improve this. Keep your tongue and ego in check 

   Never let your emotions get the better of you.  Keep your emotions  in  check

   Many things are meaningless 5 days, let alone 5 months from now.

   Practice Mindfulness

   Practice Gratitude

   Ability to Learn and Adapt with Circumstances and People. 

    Never stop learning. Every single day.

a) Go for classes. Read Listen Observe. Ask Questions. 

b) Learn to swim in new waters.

    Be like bamboo.

    Learn from mistakes.

     Have a Sense of Urgency to finish day to day week by week month by month goals 

    This is self explainatory. Go for it my readers and friends.