My Teochew grandparents were a great part of my life. They took care of me when both my parents were at work and they spent the most time with me outside of school. I can speak Teochew because of them.

One of the ritual I had to perform at their funeral.. Use a pair of chopsticks and place some rice and tofu on their lips and say in Teochew: 你养我大，我养你老 ..it means something like 'you watched me grow up and I watched you grow old(and pass away)'.

At that very moment, many images of my interactions with them actually flashed by in a split second and I suddenly realised again that they are gone forever. You can never imagine the sense of loss I felt.

The only consolation I had was that we do not have to send them away to a home as we had enough manpower in the extended family to care for them.

Of course, the family structure in our society have changed since then and faced with a rapidly greying population and full time working family, sometimes entrusting the care of senior folks to professional caregivers seem to be the only choice that some families have.

Recent news report I read about 53 out of 60 households from Block 861 in Woodlands St 83 petitioning against the setting up of an eldercare centre at the void deck.. Another report 2 days back regarding residents in Toh Yi objecting  to plans for studio apartments for old folks in their vicinity..It makes me wonder why has our society evolve to this stage? Senior folks used to be the most respectable group in my granparents' era, so where have all these respect gone to? Is this going to happen all over Singapore as more and more elder facilities are required?

I went on a visit to Lions Home for the Elders organized by WPYW ExCo during the Chinese New Year period. We try as much as possible to donate to their wish list with our limited resources. I got the feeling that having such a facility that provides a great service for families with such a need.

While we were giving out oranges, ang pows, and wishing the residents Happy Chinese New Year, one of the bed-ridden resident held on to my team mates' hands and sobbed uncontrollably.. I think he is unable to speak. My heart was in pain to see this and I could not even speak. 

Such eldercare facilities take care of our old folks. I cannot believe that our society today is protesting against such facilities in their vicinity. Everyone of us will grow old one day. Some of us may have people around us that takes good care of us..some of us may have kids who may send us to an old folks' home..some worse off, may not have anyone to take care of them at all.

Singapore is a small country and we definitely have scarce resources in terms of land use..However, the biggest place that you can ever give to our senior folks is right here in your hearts.

 

 

I just received news this morning that P' Aey was hospitalized due to 'narrow blood vessels' and after further clarifications and even giving him a call, I guess he must have gotten a stroke as he cannot speak clearly.

This comes as a shock to me as we are not so far apart in terms of age and also serve as another wake up call for me as we are not so far off in terms of lifestyle too..

I hope he can recover soon while I reconsider my 'quit drinking' new year resolution.

Photosource: Link

Wishing All Hindu Friends and family Happy Deepavali with blessings of...

Lakshmi: Divine Energy
Vishnu: Happiness
Kubera: Wealth 
Indra: Opulence
Gajendra: Carries the wealth

Deepavali ki Shubhkamnayein
(दीपावली की शुभकामनाएं)

Oktoberfest is a 16–18 day beer festival held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, running from late September to the first weekend in October.

Only beer which is brewed within the city limits of Munich is allowed to be served in this festival. Upon passing this criterion, a beer is designated Oktoberfest Beer. Oktoberfest Beer is a registered Trademark by the Club of Munich Brewers.

Well..I attended an 'Oktoberfest' in Singapore yesterday with 2 friends..

One of my main disappointment is that the beer comes in wussy plastic cups of suppossedly 330 & 500ml capacity instead of the Maß (a 1 liter mug) at the actual Oktoberfest..

My opinion that beer served in plastic cups is such a turn-off and rob this particular Oktoberfest of its festive spirits. I see it as another excuse to get it's patrons drunk..Luckily, none of my friends end up as "Bierleichen" (Beer Corpses).

Don't you think that it really feels different drinking beer from a proper mug as compared to a plastic cup? Look at the picture below..it's supposed to be that kind of mugs.

I did not touch a single drop of beer at all yesterday.

I was walking around Aljunied GRC this afternoon and came across a dirty location seemingly not swept for a period of time and weeds were growing out of the cracks in between the bricks on the ground...

I was about to call up Aljunied-Hougang Town Council when I realized that this may be one of the 26 locations taken away from the Town Council in the recent saga..

Well then, I duno who to call now..who is in charge of cleaning up all these places?? 

I was reading Alvinology (blog) and came across these two video clips that gives a clear explanation of what is going on in the world of money right now. It helps me to understand that the situation in Singapore may be applicable in terms of rising prices(because of the need for more debts the people have to undertake to keep the economy going strong) and taxation.

The video clips (by Paul Grignon) are in 2 parts and I took some time to go thru it. I hope you have the time and patience to go thru them too if you wish to understand more about Money$$$!

Part 1:

Part 2:

 

 

 

I attended the event "Paddling in the Cityscape" this morning. I had just recovered from a round of muscle aches and wonder if I will get another round in the coming days. I have not paddled this hard since more than a decade ago and I definitely must admit I must be getting on in age. I am particularly impressed with the fact that they have arranged for an ambulance with 2 medics on standby for the event(I only have a pic of one of them here).

The reason why I signed up for this event is partly because it is a good opportunity for me to see the city from a different angle..usually I am on the shore looking into the water, today I was in the water looking at the shore! It was also good exercise for me..something was wrong with my canoe(or was it just me?)..it kept going zig-zag and there was no way I could make it go straight such that it'll be more energy efficient for me..

Why I am hapering over this fact is because I was a Sea-Pro' canoeist before and I am totally ashamed for my canoe behaving like that of a beginner. I dare not to tell anyone there I ever learnt how to paddle before. Of course, as expected, I was the last few to come back(I should be glad that I could make it back!).

Anyway, I chuck all my belongings in a waterproof bag and do not have much pictures to show. I was told I could go find Kallang CC YEC Facebook page to see the photos when they are uploaded.

What I have are some photos before the commercement of the paddling which is the Kallang CC YEC Biannual GM 2011 which is graced by the GOH Grassroots Adviser Mr Edwin Tong,who is also the MP for M-K GRC. He thanked the outgoing YEC and pledged full support for the incoming YEC(which I think more or less are the same few people). 

I did not know that the YEC election is part of the event and it was quite interesting for me to witness the whole process altough the election was a walkover. Before that, I was wondering why the YEC were already wearing the YEC shirts before the election..the walkover was the reason. They took the PAYM pledge to be sworn into duty.

 

This piece of 1Oz 999 fine silver Aljunied GRC medallion you see in this picture is one of a very limited 300 pieces specially made to celebrate The Workers' Party's victory in the GRC on 7th May 2011 General Election. Every piece have a unique certification number and is definitely an item that guests who attend 7th Month dinner functions in Aljunied GRC would look out for...those that were able to invite the opposition MPs of course!

It is not available for sale, therefore, you cannot buy it from any retailers. It is instead, given as a gift to the organizers of the 7th Month dinner functions that the opposition Aljunied GRC MPs attended,for them to auction off. All the proceeds from the auction goes to the organizer.

This particular piece that I had with me in the picture above was auctioned off earlier this evening for $13,800.00 . This is a new record for this item..the highest bid so far. I wonder if it has got anything to do with the ongoing issue in Aljunied GRC(See Link :Media Release on Use of Public Sites in Aljunied GRC).

I am really glad and appreciative of the fact that there are many people on the ground who are supportive of WP, despite the current unlevel ground situation.

The 46th Birthday of Singapore and many MPs took this opportunity to wish their residents a very happy national day with their very big (duno whose's budget!) budget! In fact, I strongly believe that their budget is bigger and bigger each year in accordance with the size of their billboards.

In fact, the billboards are so big to the extend that it caught the attention of Aljunied GRC MP, Mr Chen Show Mao (See Link Here)...

Well, for me..I can only afford a tiny small column in the Wan Bao & Sin Ming(8/8/2011) and the Zaobao(9/8/2011) using my own limited pocket money..

Happy 46th Birthday Singapore! Of coz, we must not forget the people who made Singapore what it is today..definitely not a single man...the pioneers of Singapore..our parents and grandparents' generation.."This generation embodies the true Singapore spirit—the determination to work hard, overcome the odds and carve out a better life for their children. They serve as an shining example for many future generations to follow."

Majulah Singapura! :)