Happy Birthday Mum, Anna Abisheganaden

       Today, 30th November is my beloved Mum's birthday. She would have been 85 today, but she passed on on Jan 8th 2011. Her passing was very smooth, and painless, and I believe she is in a better place looking down with my father, at the work my brother and I are doing, raising up families and being the best that we can be.

Celebrating my niece Hannah's first birthday in Dec 2005 

       She was a wonderful,loving and caring mother. We always went to her with our problems, and was the real rock in our family. I always seeked her good counsel, as she was an expert in all things financial, from property investment, shares and other investments. A very cool and steady personality, she was always there for me, and although she seldom travelled, she enjoyed her life making sure she was the matriach of our extended family.

At the Cricket Club July 2010

      For over 40 years, she was the Personal Assistant to the Permanent Secretary for Ministry of Health, and had 4 bosses. Mingling with the mandarins in the Health Ministry would not be an easy task but she was certainly up to it, and all her bosses gave her high praise for her professionalism and compassion. Compassion was one of her strongest traits and she has personally helped out many friends and family in times of need, through advice and financial means. She was in my mind, a truly exceptional lady with immense grace and 
class.  

      Mum, on this day, I wish you Happy Birthday,may you be smiling down on me and our families and let us keep you happy and smiling for as long as we live. 

      Blessed Birthday Mum ! 

  

A real upbeat song for midweek !

Happy Birthday to my Papa, Geoffrey

      Today 23rd November is my late father, Geoffrey Abisheganaden's birthday. He would have been 96 years old. I have had the greatest respect for him for the longest time, as he was a good father and husband to my mother.

With my cousin Awee from Perth, Australia

      He passed on 5 years ago on 20th Sept 2010, at the age of almost 91 years. As an upright and honest man, he was one of the finest individuals, a devout Christian and contributed much to the community in terms of volunteerism in various organisations as the St Andrews School, St Andrews Junior College, Bible House, YMCA, Singapore Swimming Club, NUS Guild House and numerous other organisations.

     A humble and magnaminous man, I recently was proud and surprised that he was on the original committee for the Report on the Constitutional Committee of Singapore reviewing the rights of individuals of the Republic of Singapore in 1966. The committee was chaired by the late Chief Justice Wee Chong Jin.

With his then partner Richard Ang 

With then President H.E. S.R. Nathan

     True to form, my father never dwelled on his past achievements, knowing that these were only testimony to his contribution to building the fledgling nation of Singapore.

     Happy Birthday Papa. Remembering you and loving your kind spirit on this day. 

         

My swimming club days

Singapore Swimming Club today ; taken at the height of the haze period in October 2015

My swimming days were from late 1973 till 1979 and I will admit that I am a decent swimmer, but a much better runner than a swimmer. My parents joined the Singapore Swimming Club (SSC) around 1973 with my Mum, Anna being very keen on all the activities there, taking part in swimming, kong chian, badminton (her true sporting love), jogging, tai chi, and even tennis. Her routine was to go after her work around 5.30 pm to the "Club" at Fort Road and stay till about 8ish. My brother and I would make our way there from afternoon school.

I remember taking a lift from my father's chief clerk, in his Nissan Sunny who would drop me at the Club in time for me to do my training in the competition pools from 5.45 to 7.15 pm. I would do this 3 times a week, and on Saturdays, my Mum would fetch us for Sat morning swimming. Sundays was special as we would have "Inter - team" and water-polo after our training.

We all looked forward to Sundays.   

We trained swimming under the head coach of Mr. Neo Chwee Kok, who was Singapore's Flying Fish (aptly nicknamed) as he took part in the 1960 Rome Olympic Games. Sadly, Mr. Neo passed on in the late 90s in his mid 50s. 

L to R : My brother, me, cousin Angela and Wendy at SSC

My speciality was breast-stroke and although did decent timings enough to represent the club, my House in school and even Junior College and University, I would not say I was national material.

My Dad Geoffrey became a Management Committee member, with under the stewardship of Mr. Cheong Boo Hong (President) and Mr. Henry Chan during the 70s and 80s. He was not really active in sports, with the odd squash game and tennis. 

My mother, Anna, Prof Chau Si Ching (chief pathologist at SGH) and my father, Geoffrey

My mother became a household name at the Club and we had the privilege of taking part in numerous swimming competitions in Singapore, and within the region from 1974 - 1978.
In 1974, we went to Penang to compete with the Ikan Billis Swiming Club. In 1975, we went to Thailand for the Sanya Samaki Swimming Meet held in Bangkok, In 1976 it was Manila, (Philippines) and 1977 it was Jakarta, Indonesia.

All these swim meets in Sout East Asian countries opened my then young eyes to the region in the mid to late 70s. 

I will post more of those photos in later posts.    
   

The struggle to finish a Marathon is personal for me

Saturday 21st training run at ECP with running buddy Timothy

It was not easy run   

     Yesterday I made time to run a first 20K this whole year. At age 52 going on 53, the long runs are not getting any easier for me. However, I take inspiration from those middle aged athletes who struggle through their daily lives (like me) and then go on to hit the roads in their pursuit of their hobby or true 'love'

    For me, running presents the most personal challenge to me. The open road, the heat of the day, the ache in my muscles and bones, and the wind blowing in my face. It is a truly emotional and almost spiritual experience when one is in full focus of the run. I have been practising my 'craft' for 15 years and this year will be my 10th Full Marathon.

   I think about the work, my family, friends, anything which makes me happy or unhappy, I reveiw during the run. It is like I am taking a step outside of myself to see things in life in a detached way, I cannot describe it as an 'out of body experience' but its more like in a state of calmness and detachment looking at the events which unfolded or have yet to take place.

   Can I change things ? No, but I can view events calmly and evaluate all solutions. For when there is that calmness of thought, like during my run, I can see things clearly and without much
emotion. That for me, is the most priceless thing to me. 

My First Trip to Japan 18 - 29 Sept 1990 Day 12 Last Day

29 Sept 1990 Sat DAY 12
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TOKYO 

Day 12, last day of a great trip. Wake up at 7.30 am and do the necessary. Pack up and have a hearty ham and eggs. Big breakfast. Call Chester at Pacific Hotel and arrange with Takahashi for 2.00 pm meeting. Go over to Shinagawa station all by myself (!). Yen 190 and meet Chester.

Proceed to Amlux Toyota Showroom at Ikebukura (north of Tokyo) to see the latest Toyota offerings - impressive !

Car process - stamping of sheet metal - (assembly) - Robot spot welding of chasis (oven) - Spray painting (Electrolytically) 5 times - Assembly of main components - Quality Control Checks - Environmental Tests - Final Test

A car is assembled every 25 hours (!) It is probably far faster nowadays 25 years later.

New model - Celsar. Have lunch at Wendy's, say "goodbye" to Chester and wished him all the best in Japan, (he was dating a Japanese girl) and back to Park Hill Hotel. Meet Takahashi for short discussion on KOY Hast Chambers.

Acrobatics at Harajuku 23 Sept 1990 (Sun)

Genda san fetches me at 3pm.

I really appreciate his (Genda's) help. Take a taxi to Ueno station before I board the Skyliner direct train to Narita Yen 1,780.

Last look at Japan in a 1 hour train ride before I board the SQ 11 flight back to Singapore.

Yokohama Bridge 24 Sept 1990

(Monday)

Pay Yen 200 airport tax and then to gate 46 for departure. Beer at Yen 385 was great and a smooth trip back home.

Excellent trip. Objectives 90% achieved (knowledge and sales knowhow). 

Fantastic Hospitality and lots of Good Memories.

So this is the end of my log from my first trip to the Land of the Rising Sun.

I have been back 6 times since 1990. Each trip brings new perspectives and more wonderful experiences of Japan. It is one of my favourite countries ever visited and I have visited close to 30 countries to date. 

Seize the Day !        

My First Trip to Japan 18 - 29 Sept 1990 Day 9 - 11

26 Sept 1990 Wed DAY 9
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OSAKA - TOKYO 

Up at 7.00 am
Have Western style breakfast downstairs with Maru. Yamashita picks us up for morning factory tour. See the Satake ovens and other equipment like YOUCOMP and SC-J series. Also see the manufacturing of these chambers for conveyor systems, (something for the future factory where the dependency is much less on human operators). 

Lunch is Viking style at Friendly Restaurant (ie. Buffet, like Sizzler in the future) with salad, curry sauce, potato hash browns and Teriyaki Chicken. Good stuff. (Like I said, I had not discovered the joys of sushi and sashimi yet, hence the low brow taste buds !).

After lunch, some phototaking, complementary tea drinking and good bye SATAKE.

Book a nice 3 hour ride from Osaka to Tokyo on the Shinkansen (Bullet train).

Bullet Train 

Genda san (Yoshida Seiki) meets us at Tokyo station, have dinner Japanese style restaurant in station, had Tonkatsu. They are so polite, we all have the same type of food ! 

Later proceed via train to Ugaisudani (where ?) where everything is checked out for, room, etc.

Have a drink with Genda san. Norio brings me my luggage and we have an iced coffee at nearby coffee house.

Knock-off by 11.30 pm

27 Sept 1990 Thu DAY 10 
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TOKYO

7.10 am Supposed to wake up....

8.15 am Shock ! supposed to meet Genda san down at lobby. I rush through morning routine in 15 minutes flat ! Go to bus station via jam packed train from Ueguiudani (near Ueno station) to Yunachuko station. Take the Industrial Japan tour (all expenses paid,
Y10,000 including Tempura lunch all expenses paid by Yoshida Seiki). Tour is full of Americans, Dutchm Australians, New Zealanders, Hawaiians and Singaporean (me!).
See JAL maintenance base at Haneda airport, not very impressed though. Have lunch at some typical Japanese restaurant near Isuzu factory (No. 6 car and vehicle automaker in Japan). Factory tour of Isuzu where we saw a very high degree of automation of conveyor, robots welding and factory staff inserting multiple items into slow moving cars on conveyor belts.

4.45pm Back to Imperial Hotel. Genda san supposed to meet me at 7.00 pm ! Frantically rearrange for 5.30pm meeting. He arrives at 6.15 pm apologetic. Back to hotel for 45 minutes and off to nice Chinese dinner. Back in hotel by 9.00 pm. Call home for 3 - 5 minutes via operator assist. (No handphone invented yet !)    

28 Sept 1990 Fri DAY 11
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7.45 am    Down for breakfast

Massive Western style breakfast of eggs, ham, toast, butter,lettuce, the works. Genda san comes early and arranges for my flight back on SQ 11 the next day. Luckily we get the 'last' seat (need to call and prebook as in the past). 

Proceed to YOSHIDA SEIKI (maker of shock and vibration test systems) to see their ASQ and DT-50 systems. Noisy things. Lunch at YS factory in Tokyo with Maru san and Genda san.

Genda, I and Tanaka san at 

Yoshida Seiki factory 

28 Sept 1990

(Friday)

Me with Tanaka san

President of Yoshida Seiki

28 Sept 1990 (Friday)

After lunch training on small impact tester and meet Mr. Toyoda (Director) and Mr. Tokichiro Tanaka (President). Dinner with Genda san but not before visiting Asakusa Temple,got cookies for everyone ar office. Dinner ar small Korean shop with whole chicken stew and rice (I had not eaten ginseng chicken before). After dinner, the games arcade, followed by a cup of Japanese tea and off to bed by 12.00 am.   

Some procession outside Asakusa temple 

28 Sept 1990 (Friday)