Farewell to my Father 20 - 22nd Sept 2010

                                             My father with President S.R.Nathan in 2002

       My father, Geoffrey Abisheganaden passed away at 9 :58 am on Monday 20th September 2010. A staunch Christian, he was called to the Lord's House after serving many years in St. Andrew's Cathedral Church Choir, the Synod, Diocese of Singapore, past Chairman of the Board of Governors for St. Andrew's School, past Chairman of the Board of Governors at St. Andrew's Junior College, Past President of National University Society (NUS Alumni) from 1967 - 70, on the board for the Singapore Bible Society, the YMCA, Legal adviser to Singapore Swimming Club and a host of many other clubs and societies which my brother and I are slowly coming to to realise.

     What a legacy my father left behind for my brother and myself to follow and teach our children. At his wake on 20th, and 21st Sept and at the St.Andrew's Church Service at 4pm on 22nd September, there were hundreds of people from all walks of life from the ordinary people he had coffee with in the 1950s and 60s to many prominent lawyers, doctors and business people who came to pay their respects.

      I am indeed very touched and indebted to the outpouring of respect and love to all who turned up at the wake and service of my father's funeral and there were many of John's (my brother) and my friends who spent time with us. Thanking all of you. In particular,  I wish to thank :

a) Saint Andrew's Cathedral, Canon Louis Tay for conducting both the service at the wake, at the
    Church Service and at the Mandai Columbarium

b) St. Andrew's Junior College and School who sent a Prefects Guard of Honour (of boys and girls)
    and Mrs. Belinda Charles (principal of St. Andrew's School) for her touching speech in Church

c)  Ms. Joanna Paul, an accomplished organist based in London who graciously played at both the wake
     service and in the Church

d) Deaconess Judy Teo who so professionally arranged all service matters in the funeral parlor and in
    Church

e) our 'godbrothers' Ramani Muniyandi and David Mitchell who did alot of the legwork in coordinating
    all necessary details like the booking of the Casket Company funeral room, to columbarium time slot
    booking and all transport details.

   I leave with this verse from the Bible which is so applicable to my father's life :

" I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race and I have kept the faith " 2 Timothy 4 : 7.

   Geoffrey Abisheganaden, indeed was a faithful servant of God.  He was truly an inspirational man, my father.

The Opposite House - San Li Tun Village Beijing

                                                   Village Cafe at Lobby of Opposite House

   The Opposite House is named in its unique way because it is supposed to cater to the 'opposite' kind of person, I reckon. This hotel is quite likely to be patronised by the fashion designers, hair stylists and trendy male models, hence its unique sounding name.

                                             Splendid grilled chicken breast with satay sauce

        I had an exquisite lunch on the last day of my visit to Beijing, and for Yuan 88, (S$ 18), had a 3 course Singapore style starter of wanton soup, grilled chicken breast and Creme Brulee with a coffee.
The waitresses and maitre'd were very eager to serve me and took pains to check whether my plate or glass of water was filled. This is something rare in Beijing, there was no level of good service to speak of. Furthermore, I have a suspicion that this hotel is owned by a Singaporean, given that the cafe serves alot of Singapore dishes like Laksa, and Singapore Fried Rice among other dishes.

                                          The unlikely looking hotel called "The Opposite House"

The hotel is located at the end of the San Li Tun Village (something like our Holland Village) whereby one can walk and shop amongst all the sports and some foreign high end design boutiques. There are many eateries, and my Indian colleagues and I went to the Ganges restaurant in the complex to savour some fine Indian vegetarian food. In the evening, the place comes alive with the trendy Beijingers - mainly young 20 something, all parading in their latest fashions and pubbing. Its a little like the Xin Tian Ti in Shanghai if I can make a comparison.

Beijing 13 - 16 September 2010

Atrium of The Opposite House - a Boutique Hotel

         My recent trip to Beijing to attend the Automotive Test Expo show was  not quite an eye -opener. The show reminded me of how these kinds of shows used to be very big in Singapore in the late 80s and early 90s and now that the manufacturing sector has movedabroad to more cost competitive countries like China and Vietnam, we see the same established players in China, plus some new Chinese brands who are trying to go international.

          The 3 days was quite packed for me, as I went to visit the show, plus also had some time off to visit the Forbidden City, this was once the abode of the Chinese emperors and their wives, concubines, eunuchs and their entire armies of troops,palace staff and high officials.

   

The Farm Workers Stadium

Once I was in the forbidden city, it became apparent why China remained so closed for so many centuries. If the 1st Emperor Shi Huang Ti decided to call China Zhong Guo or Centre Country, it meant that it was the centre of the world, and it wanted to remain the global superpower. So instead of going forth to trade, it closed itself to the world preferring to look inwards. The Forbidden City reflected much of that attitude, as the emperor chose to remain sealed off from the rest of the Chinese people, and had 6 levels of inner courtyards. China's attitude was due probably to her  warring over the centuries, and also had major conflicts with its neighbour, the Monglos, so much so that it built the Great Wall, or Chang Cherng about 2 hours drive north of Beijing. It was only in the 15th century that China then decided to trade with the Western world, sending our huge warships and forcing smaller nations to offer 'tributes' to the then Chinese emperor.

   

 The Western nations were at that period, experiencing a very bleak period, and were hit by the Black Plague, killing about 30% of their population. However, due to Marco Polo's efforts in the 16th century, the Western people finally managed to pierce through the 'bamboo curtain' and establish the Silk Route Trade with China. 

To God be the Glory

The last 4 - 5 weeks have been a rollercoaster ride of stressful emotions and day after day of hospital visitations to both my mother and father, first it was my mother who had to be warded for a short while which turned out unexpectedly longer than usual - 3 weeks and then my father fell ill, not once but now for a second  time. I have been blogging about my father's life as an outlet and also to put on record his achievements which he so modestly put aside.

While my father's health is in a fragile state, with nurses monitoring his blood pressure every hour and as he takes on this latest battle in his life, I want to highlight that our family and friends have been praying for both of my parents' well being.  

My experience in recent weeks is that God is indeed merciful and kind to me and my family. God has blessed us with the miracle of my Mother's amazing recovery when she was bedridden after an operation and now 3 weeks later, she is walking although slowly, but the recovery is nothing short of amazing.

"To God be the Glory great things he has done".  

Another Great Acoustic Song - Train Dec 2009

Save me San Francisco - Train Live in Portland USA

Wedding Day Pics No. 2 - More History

Clockwise from left, David Mun,Dr. John,Me, Yuen May,Uncle Phoon,Aunt Susan,Aunt Mona,Anna ,Grandaunt,Geoffrey, Aunt Betty (HK) 

More pictures of our immediate family on my mother's side. Uncle David is the youngest brother of my mother. Aunt Mona is the youngest sister, and Aunt Susan is the wife of David.Uncle Phoon is the husband of Aunt Mona. Aunt Betty and her mum flew from Hong Kong to celebrate our happy days.
My wife looks radiant doesn't she ? My parents also look extremely pleased that they have settled off No. 1 son !  

Wedding Pics 22 May 1993 - Some History

Geoffrey singing "The Lords Prayer" (clockwise) Dr. John, Mark, Yuen May, Anna and Geoffrey Abisheganaden

This is some history which I digged out from my old photos,on the left was my father, Geoffrey singing the Lords Prayer in the church May and I got married,St. Andrew's Cathedral, on 22nd May 1993. Being the elder son, and the first in the family to get married, we had a church wedding on 22nd May, and a rather grand dinner at the Raffles Hotel on 23rd May 1993 attended by about 250 distinguished family and guests.

It was one of the happiest days of ours lives.