浮生一日闲 / A timeless afternoon : a precise moment

浮生一日闲！
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A timeless afternoon : a precise moment
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回到新加坡河口，感觉似熟习，又有些陌生！

以前鱼尾狮在我的前方 ，现在移到我的身后数十米外。

过去这里是河的尽头，如今却是滨海湾的起点！

多年前一眼望过去，这里是浪花飞千的海墘，是河与海的交汇点！

当下却是风平浪静，坐在堤上，上面是高速公路，下面是可蔽蔭的长廊！也是一道新的景观！

一物有三用！是意外的收获，还是有心思的工程师尽心尽力的创建！

石头做的长堤将海岸线移到遥远的南滨。沦海桑田，从无到有，是许多前人的功劳！

享受当下，也记得这是一种恩典！

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Being bare footed once in a while, to relax and recharge!

Taking a afternoon break and have a good look at the "Mouth of Singapore River" on the eve of April fool day!

Photo taken under the High way next to One Fullerton.

Today is 31st March 2015 and many people working in the office are busy closing accounts before the end of Financial Year.

Enjoy the timeless walk along this path! It is a PRECISE moment hard to come by!

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难得有这样的一个下午，办好公事！

顺道想喝咖啡，走着、走着，一口一口地喝，放慢脚步，看着旅客，以作客的心情，看自己成长的新加坡河！

难得浮生一日闲，却也得来全不费功夫！

Through our connections with unique people ...

Learning is all about connections, and through our connections with unique people we are able to gain a true understanding of the world around us.

--- Peter Senge, MIT-based author, researcher & educator

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This year, I find the connections I have via my blog, LAS networks, painting groups, and other connections at home and other links established over the years have made me understand the world better.

I am able to gain a true understanding of the world around me, be it interesting life experience, misgivings or unfortunate encounters that I had to endure for months/years.

Some are positive and great learning experience!  Others, may be classified as negative and miserable, yet, the worst outcome to me, was the best teacher in life journey!

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I train myself to be less emotional.  I learn to solve problems created by others and move on ...

I never knew that I can be so calm, resourceful, and am able to control my emotion so well and make the most out of adversities.

I just hope that those who have experiences which are not desirable in life, can start to ponder what can be the best route under the worst circumstances.

No one live an eternal life, and within a short span of our time on earth, what is best for us to do is ...

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If we can take care of ourselves, we will create less trouble for others. 

When we are facing trouble, there are still ways to make the rest of life journey great for others to remember us when we pass on...

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At my dental treatment at NUH on 12 Feb, with all the pains that I had to endure while on dental chair, a thought flashed in my mind. 

I thought of my dad's last wish, i.e., organ donation before he was diagnosed with critical disease. 

Now, I would like to explore one step further, i.e., body donation for medical studies.

The student dentist helped me to find the link for the form within second:
http://medicine.nus.edu.sg/ant/body-donation/ 

I am now looking at it and printed it for my reference. 

I think it is good to look at your funeral ceremony and be positive about it. 

To me, body donation is not only a green idea for the environment, it is a good deed too if the body can be used for medical advancement. 

I think it is great too if whatever we can not use can be up-cycled by others physically.  I find it meaningful to do it at the last phrase of my life, and have my future planned that way.

When I look at the journey of life with death as the end point, I see it as an inevitable and irreversible process! This inevitable used to make me fearful.  Even now, at this very moment, I am still uncertain and sceptical about how I could possibly get through the fear...

*fearful about death
*fearful about uncertainty in life
*fearful about the suffering from illness in the journey towards death
 
Nevertheless, whether I fear the process, or fearful about the journey itself, it is there for me to pass through or experience. 

We have life, hence we have death. 

It is like the fact that a coin has two sides. If you are able to live and spin the coin well, life seem to carry on forever, ever though we know the coin may stop spinning and death may come at any moment.

In life journey, we keep our life goes on like the way we toss a coin, we try to strike well, create a balanced movement, and hope the coin will keep dancing in front of our own eyes.

We also admired those who can toss a coin well and make it dances glacially. Yet, we know we will see the dancing coin will come to a stop ultimately.

Despite all these thoughts that haunted me for years, I think I have to plan for it and make my plan known to anyone who can help me fulfil my last wishes!

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Every cloud has its silver lining!

Life is not all the time so negative, thankfully!

There are good encounters too in my journey in life, especially in the beginning of this lunar new year!

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I meet my new "soul-mate-like" friend who travelled from Taiwan to JB and Singapore.  She is an academic staff member in a university in Taipei, married to a Taiwanese and has one 14 years old daughter.

She contacted me after reading my blog on my "Teochew" story and other related postings.  When she sent me an email suggesting the first meeting on the 5th day of Lunar New Year, I was a bit skeptical, yet found it a new experience and liked to see how things develop.

She flew from Taipei, and took one day out of her one week holiday in JB to have a meeting and discussion with me. I felt both weird and honored, and tried to read between the lines ...

To kill my curiosity, I decided to give it a go ...

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Before we fixed our first meeting, we had multiple email exchanges and I could see that she is sincere and was a "real" being!

From the Google search results and information I could gather via the net, I knew I was dealing with an academic from overseas.

With the photo sent before our meeting, and other family details she shared, I am certain that she is a real and sincere lecturer for business course in a university in Taipei. 

We met on 5th day of Lunar New Year. This first full day meeting was a memorable and unforgettable movie like experience.

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Both of us felt that we were like old friends having our re-union meeting.

We shared too many things in common and our life experiences had a lot of similar trials.

The most amazing thing is that we studied at the same UWM in 1990/1991, and we might had met each other in Milwaukee without knowing it!

The way I link with her, her family, i.e., parents, brother, cousin, nephews and nieces, is so similar to that of the links with my long term friends in Singapore and Hong Kong.  We can talk for hours and still continued talking...

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The learning in the beginning of 2014 is all about connections, and I am thankful for all, be it positive or otherwise!

And, I hope, those who have negative experiences, can create positive experience for themselves.

I hope that they are able to walk in their life journey with the right mindset, be it the last lapse, or the first baby step.  We are all capable of making positive imprint when we interact with others, with whatever little means available to us.

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My best wishes to all in my connections!


Dexterine Ho Soo Miang


Notes:
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This post was first published on 11 Feb, and updated on 14 Feb 2014.  In lunar calendar, it is the 15th day of Lunar New Year, the Chinese Valentine day too.

To me, be it Eastern or Western Valentine day, the day is only meaningful if we have great friends to share our joys!

And I am glad, I have a meaningful day today!

For those who are reading this post, I wish you make every day a Valentine day, or a meaningful day worth sharing and living too!
 
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The second revision of this post was uploaded on 4 April.  Thanks to Y C Ko for her hard works this week and spending one hour going through the article on some details with me!


 

8th Feb, Chingay 2014

For a long time, Chingay was just an event I joy with family members in front of  TV at home during dinner time!

This year, with the invitation of my good friend, May Lan, I went for Chingay Parade and be an audience and enjoyed the life performance from 7pm to 10pm on 8th Feb 2014 with her and her family members.  

Our seats were at G5, section 1, and it was quite near to the next section, where Dr Tony Tan, our presidents and other VIP were.  

I enjoyed the 3 hour event with lots of excitement, and if you miss it, there are video clips and great photos from: 

https://chingay.org.sg/event-highlights

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How I feel about Chingay this year?

Nothing beats the numbers, and I see how numbers count in grand event like Chingay 2014:

I withness in person, the 8,000 multi-racial, international and multi-cultural performers, I am sure it is the first-of-its- kind outdoor community drama.
I was told, it is the grandest opening, with the world longest and largest Batik Art of 360m x 10m presented by 1,000 Performers. I like the grand parade of batik fabric which is so colourful and it is simple, elegant, and have its unique spirit when you see them in rolls and move in a wave and tide-like manner. In this ocean of fabric, there are connection that I can make with others, some how!	Exotic Performances from China, Indonesia, Italy, Korea and Philippines
For the first-time, 4m Giant Artistic Puppets, come closed to us! The energetic multi-cultural youth and the young at heart performances, move me and I just cannot sit still!
It was also the first time Ge Tai (歌台) was performed in Chingay! The last high light was the Grand Finale by 3,000 Performers and 720m of Colourful Knitted Tapestries

"Vibrant floats, dancing dragons, prancing lions, stilt walkers, wushu master, performers of different races in their traditional costumes and many, many more..."

https://chingay.org.sg/about-chingay

Here is the information from the above official web page:

"This National Event is also the largest street performance and float parade in Asia. From the main parade site to the heartlands, this street extravaganza epitomises the dynamism of Singapore's vibrant and multicultural society.

The word Chingay is equivalent to the Mandarin zhuang yi (妆艺), which means "the art of costume and masquerade" in the Hokkien dialect. "

What about the history of Chingay?

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"The First Formal Chingay Parade in Singapore was mooted by the then-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew who was also the chairman of the People's Association (PA). Chingay, with all its noise and gaiety, would compensate for the ban on firecrackers, a customary New Year practice to drive away evil spirits.

For its first street parade on 4 February 1973, the PA teamed up with the Singapore National Pugilistic Federation for a grand show in the Year of the Ox, depicting aspects of Chinese culture – dragon and lion dances, martial arts and street opera.

So well received was the first Chingay Parade that the PA made it an annual festival. It celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2012.

Chingay took on a multicultural flavour from 1976.

Today, Chingay has become a uniquely Singaporean Lunar New Year tradition, held during the first weekend of the Lunar New Year. This yearly street parade is now a national festival, celebrated by Chinese, Malays, Indians and Eurasians alike.

In 1987, Chingay featured its first foreign group when the city's main English newspaper, The Straits Times, sponsored four pop singers from Tokyo. Since then, this signature event had extended invitations to international artistes and troupes.

Indeed, for the scores of spectators, the Chingay Parade could well be a treasured glimpse into the different cultures of Singapore and the world. Here age, race, language and creed are no barriers. Here, we celebrate together as one."

Source of information:

https://chingay.org.sg/about-chingay

Class gathering on Lunar New Year

Today, the 4th day of Lunar Chinese New Year, Wen Wen invited all the classmates to her house at Bukit Timah Road for our class gathering.

The following was an email I helped to send on her behalf some days back:

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Dear Classmates,

Happy New Year!  

The History classmates gathering on the 4th day of Chinese New Year is initiated by Wen Wen. It will be held on Monday, 3rd Feb 2014.

All History Classmates are welcome to gather at Wen Wen's house at Bukit Timah Road between 2.00 pm to 4.00 pm. Please let me know if you are able to make it.

Confirmed coming are:

Liew Peck Gan

Goh Geok Kee

Ng Koon Lay

Ho Soo Miang

Tan Sin Week, Tammi

*Yeo Kheng Kwang 

Informed they may not be able to make it:

Wee Lin Mui

Koh Mui Hoon

Lim Ang Kan

*Wong Loy Yoon

*Information was updated today
 

If you have other classmates' contacts, do help to send out this invitation for Wen Wen, as she will be on holiday between 30 Jan to 2 Feb. So if you are able to come, do indicate in your reply to me asap.

I will help her to do emailing and sms invitation and she will be informed 3 days before her departure for CNY tour overseas, on 26 Jan.

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We had a happy three hour gathering and left her house at around 5pm.

A big Cheer to our happy hours!

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Thanks, Wen Wen for hosting this year!

She served us "High Tea!"  

I love the delicious Tarts and Chinese carrot cakes etc... bought from Crystal Jade.  

I had the ice lemon water mixed with some sweet drinks and like the taste of it. I had at least three full cups and felt so contented at the end of the day!

I think it is the joy of meeting old classmates and friends that make all the food and drinks taste extremely nice...

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With the advances in digital technology and Internet,  I received two photos of our happy re-union at 21.20 hour from 新玮 Tammi Tan, our photographer of the day, and here is her message:

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Hi to all,

Happy New Year! Great to see you all at Wen Wen after such a long time.

Wish you all a healthy, peaceful and prosperous year of the Horse!

Here are the photos taken today to share with you all!

新玮

Tammi Tan

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The photo I posted above is one of them, and for those who cannot make it today, they may share our joys the e-way via this blog!

(7 of us out of a class of 15-16, the total turn out is 46.66 %, a great response for a class gathering, if you know that we graduated from University in 1978, about 36 years ago!)

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Notes to history classmates: 

新玮 Sin Week (Tammi Tan) would like to have an up-to-date phone list and contact list of all the classmates.



You may like update your contact and send her your latest email and phone address.  

If you have contacts classmates not listed in this blog, do forward to her too!

Great to learn that we have her to host our next new year gathering in 2015 in Jurong, somewhere in Pioneer Road.  I look forward to visiting her new house in the year of the goat!

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A big thank and cheers to all who can make it this time!



Many thanks to Wen Wen for being a great host and fill our hearts and stomach with joy and contentment today!

When I did the summary of today's event, I would like to have blogged it in Chinese, yet my typing of Chinese words in Hanyu PinYin mode is so slow that it frustrated me. 



I think we can express our joy and gratitude better if we use our Mother tongue!  If you do have something to share in Chinese, just let me post it on my blog on your behalf!

舒敏

Dexterine Ho Soo Miang

Wynn Chan: happy at the deep end

Wynn Chan, my nephew, and his water-polo team from Outram Secondary school, have their photograph shown on first page of Sunday Times last week (7 April 2013). 

It is a great event for him and all the family members!

I just did a google search and here are some of the links:

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Happy at the deep end: Outram Sec traces 1st water-polo B Div title to hard work and parents' support

Notes: Wynn is the third boy from the left standing. See photo from the web link

http://www.stasiareport.com/premium/sports/story/happy-the-deep-end-20130407

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B Div Water Polo: Outram stun 3-time defending champs ACS(I) 6–5 to win historic first title

Wynn Chan (#7) of Outram scored the winning goal to secure his school’s first ever B Division title. The Outram captain scored two goals in the final.

for more details:

http://sglinks.com/pages/12538336-b-div-water-polo-outram-stun-3-time-defending-champs-acs-i-6

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The google search "Wynn Chan" "outram secondary"

returned with about 108 results, and here are the first few:

Search Results

1. Happy at the deep end

   www.stasiareport.com/premium/.../happy-the-deep-end-20130407Cached

   You +1'd this publicly. Undo

   7 days ago – Outram Secondary's captain Wynn Chan (left) in action in the B Division final, watched by Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)'s Luke Chan.
2. B Div Water Polo: Outram stun 3-time defending ... - Red Sports

   www.redsports.sg/2013/04/03/b-div-water-polo-outram-acsi/Cached

   You +1'd this publicly. Undo

   Apr 3, 2013 – Outram Secondary stunned favourites and three-time defending champions ... Wynn Chan (#7) of Outram scored the winning goal to secure his ...
3. Outram new kings of B division

   www.asiaone.com/News/.../Sports/.../A1Story20130404-413592.html

   You +1'd this publicly. Undo

   7 days ago – SINGAPORE - Two years ago, Outram Secondary reached their first ... the thriller 6-5, thanks to a late goal from captain Wynn Chan, 16.
4. Outram win historic water polo gold | TODAYonline

   www.todayonline.com/sports/outram-win-historic-water-polo-goldCached

   You +1'd this publicly. Undo

   Apr 4, 2013 – SINGAPORE — Two years ago, Outram Secondary's water polo ... and took everything too hard,” said Outram captain Wynn Chan, part of their ...
5. Hard of hearing, hard to beat in goal | TODAYonline

   www.todayonline.com/others/hard-hearing-hard-beat-goalCached

   You +1'd this publicly. Undo

   Apr 4, 2013 – Outram Secondary goalkeeper Muhammad Syafiie Muhammad Roslan ... Said team-mate and captain Wynn Chan: “At the start, we all found it ...
6. Red Sports | Facebook

   www.facebook.com/redsports.sgCached

   You +1'd this publicly. Undo

   On Wednesday, April 3, 2013, Outram Secondary made history when they beat ..... Back (L to R): Sean Toh, Wynn Chan, Glen Lim, Tan Jiong Yang, Nicholas ...
7. B Div Water Polo: Outram stun 3-time defending ... - Singapore News

   sglinks.com/.../12538336-b-div-water-polo-outram-stun-3-time-defe...Cached

   You +1'd this publicly. Undo

   Apr 3, 2013 – Wynn Chan (#7) of Outram scored the winning goal to secure his ... April 3, 2013 – Outram Secondary stunned favourites and three-time ...
8. Redsports.Sg Site Info - SgLinks.com

   sglinks.com/sites/redsports.sgCached

   You +1'd this publicly. Undo

   Wynn Chan (#7) of Outram scored the winning goal to secure his school's first ... MOE (Evans Road), Wednesday, April 3, 2013 – Outram Secondary stunned ...
9. Archives - 03 April 2013, Wednesday - SgLinks.com

   sglinks.com/pages/2013-04-03Cached

   You +1'd this publicly. Undo

   Apr 3, 2013 – Wynn Chan (#7) of Outram scored the winning goal to secure his ... April 3, 2013 – Outram Secondary stunned favourites and three-time .

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To Wynn, it is the first memorable event in life that is being recorded in newspaper cover page!

I am sure he and his team will create more memories of this kind in their life journey!

A big cheer to Wynn and the Outram Secondary School Water-polo Team!

Dexterine Ho Soo Miang

White Paper protest 2013 at Hong Lim Park

Many of us may not have a chance to be at Hong Lim Park on 16 Feb 2013.  I was there for 45 mins and find it an experience for Singapore to share our common concerns.  I only have the time to listen to 3-4 speakers between 5pm to 5.45pm, hence catching up the rest in e-way:

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White Paper protest 2013: Ms Jeannette Chong & Vincent Wijeysingha speaks:

White Paper Protest at Hong Lim Park, 16th Feb 2013

Published on Feb 16, 2013

Hong Lim Park, Singapore - 16 Feb 2013.
A film montage of colourful banners and quirky Singaporeans.

NATIONAL CONVERSATION - Hong Lim Park

The full series of the on-site audio recording:

Published on Feb 16, 2013

"A citizen's on-site audio recording organized of a series of 13 speeches (in chronological sequence) made by various segments of Singapore's population during a protest against the white paper on population at Hong Lim Park, 16 February 2013. The protest was organized by Transitioning.org.

This instance of recording contains statements made by the organizer, Mr Gilbert Goh & emcee, Mr Kuan before the speakers came to stage to share their thoughts.

The motivation for this series of online audio recordings is to provide an accessible resource to speeches made at Hong Lim Park that day. This provides listeners another avenue to understand what took place at the park and complement other similar resources on the Net.

Recordings lasted between 7 to 30 minutes, the longest & last segment contains the singing of the national anthem by participants, so patience is urged to obtain a fair assessment of what took place that day.

Kindly forgive missed segments or electronic noise recorded due to nearby cellular phone signals. Recording quality was affected by the rain present most of that afternoon but together with the ambient sound from participants, it is hoped that the audio atmosphere that late afternoon was faithfully captured."

P1 Protest Against White Paper on Population at Hong Lim Park Speech 01/13
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mga5VpXh-ZY

P2 to P13, see links at:
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXw0_xAH2bfpr7tZkqDq-SQ?feature=watch

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Feb 16 2012 is the 7th Day of Chinese New Year and it is called "REN RI" (Every Body's Birthday) in Chinese. What a way to make the day so memorable...

It really was part of Singapore History that "Hong Lim Park" become a true Speakers' Corner on 16 Feb 2013. I could see that there were a few thousand people turned up for the event even in drizzling and soaking wet condition.

I hope the press and media have more coverage and we can see the full picture of the views presented and analyzed by the journalists and media!

她的故事

阿兰娜: 她的故事

 

http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/yongyala/article?mid=1036&next=1035&l=d&fid=16

 

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七十年代末，本地到英国留学的大学生不多见，出身华校的女生，单枪匹马自费到威尔斯大学攻读图书馆管理的更是异类，而我正是那少数的异类。

荣誉班毕业的我最想当个老师；站在黑板前给孩子们讲课是我的理想。可惜那时候华文人才不受重视，我们这批华校生在大学期间面临上课用英语为媒介语教学的挑战，毕业后又面对失业的困境。那时的师资训练学院根本没有开办以华文为教学媒介语的课程，我的理想破灭了，加入图书馆管理员的队伍成

了我那时最好的选择。

走出国门到威尔斯大学留学开阔了我的视野，早我两年修读同个课程的学长让我体会到人间的温情。那时用英语学习的枯燥学科，学长们不吝于分享，离开时都分别把自己的笔记和相关资料代代相传。夜深人静，轻抚那画满了红蓝相间印记的笔记，仿佛听到学长们的心得分享，很快便茅塞顿开，读书、考试多了一些自信和安慰。就连住宿的地方，两个学长都是把最实用的物品像杯盘碗碟、暖气炉、桌椅等都留给下一个初到异乡的客人。这种举动让接棒的人倍感温暖。

人的一生起伏跌宕。有幸遇到的好人好事，让我们在黑暗中看到了曙光，一路走来的艰辛，很快就会被遗忘或者冲淡。我感恩这段美好的人生经历。

http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/yongyala/article?mid=1036&next=1035&l=d&fid=16

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她的故事，她遇到的好人好事，一如我出身华校，八十年代到威尔斯大学，攻读图书馆管理的选择...

 

咖啡山的墳墓 (Bukit Brown Cemetery)

新加坡咖啡山的墳墓: Bukit Brown Cemetery in Singapore

Bukit Brown Municipal Cemetery first started in the early 20th century, some of its old graves were re-interned here. As a government cemetery, it is regretable that nowadays they no longer maintain this cemetery, and let the wild grass and undergrowth swamped this place, making the place difficult to navigate for desecendants to come to pay respect to their ancestors during Qing Ming. Sometimes it is difficult to move in certain parts of the cemetery, as a result many graves have been abandoned.

The relevant department should have taken more care of this government cemetery, and maintain it properly. If they forsake this cemetery, it is as if to let people forget about this place. Forgetting this place is like forgetting the history and heritage of this nation. This time, for the proposed exhumation of the graves, although the authorities have engaged specialists to do docmentation, but these are but photographic and written documentation, the original gravestones would probably be destroyed.

Development is a sign of modernization, but not at the expense of historical culture. The graves at Bukit BRown are the best historical artifacts. It is really hope that the authorities would pay more attention to the preservation of Bukit Brown and not destroy it in the sake of development

- Ah Kew

(Source of information and translation: Raymond Goh posted in Heritage Singapore - Bukit Brown Cemetery, Facebook posting at 11:11pm on Jan 16 2013 )

Original Text in Chinese

新加坡咖啡山的墳墓

文：李永球 星洲日報／文化空間

http://life.sinchew.com.my/node/3388?tid=64 with 2 photos on:

許子根祖父的墳墓多年沒人掃墓祭祀了。

新加坡墳墓田野工作者發現有精美雕刻的古墓之一。

文：李永球 星洲日報／文化空間

http://life.sinchew.com.my/node/3388?tid=64

趁著到新加坡推介新書及喪禮講座之際，受到當地墳墓田野工作者吳安全、林志強二君，以及洪毅翰君的邀約陪同，走了一趟咖啡山公塚之旅。公塚佔地400多依格，共有約20萬個墳墓。2011年6月，新加坡政府為了開闢一條新的公路，徵用這裡的土地，影響到4千多個墳墓必須搬遷。因為這樣，引起墳墓田野工作者到來展開尋墓活動，尤其吳安全，幾乎每個星期天都來到這裡尋墓，精神可嘉！

咖啡山公塚在20世紀初葉才開發為公塚，分為武吉布朗墳場及王氏太原堂墳場，其中一部份古墓是從他處移葬此處，本來屬於華人民間宗鄉會所管理，數十年前歸政府管轄，可是有關當局完全置之不理，任由樹木野草叢生，將墳墓纏繞得密密麻麻，真的苦了孝子賢孫在清明節掃墓，很多地方連進都進不了，根本寸步難行，因此眾多墳墓已經多年沒人來祭拜。

當局不應該如此對待華人公塚，理應清理美化，也方便孝子賢孫掃墓祭拜。將公塚當做棄兒，似乎要人們忘了它，忘了公塚就是忘了國家歷史文化。這次遷墓，當局雖有僱請專家做墳墓調查及收集資料，可是那只是文字及圖片資料，原有文物將被摧毀不存。發展是時代進步的象徵，可是發展不應該忽略歷史文化，墳墓就是最好的歷史文化實物，冀望當局多多關注及保存咖啡山，儘量不要再為了發展而又打這裡的主意！

新加坡地少人多，大自然的山林極少，除了墳墓田野工作者每週到這裡尋墓，自然協會的朋友也來這裡觀鳥及認識植物。於是每週這裡都有專人帶團導覽觀鳥看樹兼訪墳墓的活動，吳安全及其弟為了方便人們訪墓，做了很多記號及指示說明。華人對公塚是萬分避忌，不過洋人卻不忌諱，住在新加坡的洋人當這裡是個運動散步的公園，有全家推著嬰兒車到來散步的，有來遛狗的，有父子或夫妻齊跑步的，甚至年輕洋妹跑步到山裡去，可見新加坡的治安真的好。

吳安全從2011年6月開始每週到這裡尋墓，找到了許多清朝古墓，一些草樹叢生無法進入的，他從導覽團樂捐來的錢，用在請人砍樹除草，使到古墓重見天日，這些清理費用已經花了數千新幣。他在這裡找到以街道命名的新加坡“路名”先賢之墓有30多個，也找到早期首富章芳林家族、顏永成家族、林文慶家族等望族墓群。有一天，一位老人托他尋找一個墳墓，給他逝者名字及死亡日期等資料，說此人乃馬來西亞首相署部長許子根的祖父許永起。他先翻找檔案簿，再到公塚去找，果然給他找到了，卻無法聯絡到那位老人了。至於林志強，他注重的是國民黨、共和黨及小刀會人物的墳墓，也給他找到很多個相關的墳墓。

我跟著他們走，參觀了暹羅領事兼英國甲必丹陳金鐘墓、丘菽園墓（此墓受到築路影響須遷移），還有來自印尼擁有“雷珍蘭”等勳銜人物墓、祖籍南京的大天球馬戲團創辦人之墓、許永起墓（多年沒人掃墓，雜草嚴重覆蓋）、清朝知事、進士等人物墓，以及許多古墓及雕刻精美奇特的墳墓等，真令我獲益良多。

一些墳墓野草樹木密密麻麻覆蓋，他們逕直走進去，不怕野獸蛇蟲，可見勇氣膽識過人，我倒是有點擔心的。這方面我比較差勁，一般上我是選擇在清明節前後公塚除草後才尋墓。實在欣賞敬佩他們的執著及愛心，這個工商社會需要像他們這樣的傻瓜，來做一些沒人願作卻有意義的傻事！

（星洲日報／文化空間‧文：李永球）

Source: http://life.sinchew.com.my/node/3388?tid=64

LAS group visiting Heritage Conservation Centre

Today I followed LAS Programmes and Social Committee to visit Heritage Conservation Centre (HCC).

Address

Heritage Conservation Centre, 32 Jurong Port Road, Singapore 619104

DID: +65 6267 2618 Fax: +65 6267-2628 Email:

nhb_hcc@nhb.gov.sg<mailto:nhb_hcc@nhb.gov.sg>

Website: http://www.hcc.sg/

Date of visit: 9 January 2013 (Wednesday)

Time: 3.00pm to 4.30pm

Meeting point: Main entrance of Heritage Conservation Centre

Program

2:55 - 3:00  Registration

3:00 - 4:30  Tour of Centre (Collections Repositories and Conservation

Laboratories)

4.30            End of visit

Directions

By car/taxi:

Exit 15A from AYE. Keep left till after the Jalan Buroh Junction.

For those who drive, do note that parking is free but limited.

By train/bus:

Alight at Lakeside MRT station if you are taking the train.

Then board SBS bus 98 from bus-stop on same side of the Lakeside MRT

station. Approximate timing of bus ride from Lakeside to HCC is 20-25
minutes.

The bus stop to alight from is located just opposite the Centre.

Alternatively you may view this directional map to HCC, 32 Jurong Port Road.
Refer: http://www.onemap.sg/?SearchVal=32%20Jurong%20Port%20Road&LW:Y&wO5d:qhbRI_Y,IJfcb_R,qffYJ_q,IJRfY_I,c

Other Information:
As all visitors have to place their bags in lockers provided before the start of the tour. No audio-visual equipment/photography within the premises and storage areas.

We are advised to come in good walking shoes and bring along a light sweater as the Centre is cold for human traffic.

Registration
This visit was open to LAS members only.
Maximum no. of participants: 20
Closing date for registration: 28 December 2012, I was glad to be one of them!

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About Heritage Conservation Centre

The Heritage Conservation Centre is a repository and conservation facility for museum artefacts and artworks that belong to the collections of the 3 National Museums in Singapore, under the National Heritage Board.

In other words, it houses and preserves artefacts that are not on display to the public. The roles also include "Provision of Heritage Collections Management Services - Documentation, Inventory, Storage and Preventive Conservation."

I learnt a lot from this second visit to the centre. My first visit was some years back on 5 March 2008 (http://dexterine.blogspot.sg/2008/03/nlb-las-visit-to-heritage-conservation.html) with a bigger group from LAS and NLB:

Photo credit: Courtesy of Ms Belinda Ming-Yi Chan, National Library Board, 2008

This time, we took a group photo standing at the right end where the staircase is, I think I am the only one who repeated the visit.

Photo credit: Courtesy of Library Association of Singapore
 http://www.facebook.com/las.org.sg
uploaded on 21 Feb 2013

As we cannot take any photos in the centre, the rich information is in our mind yet I am unable to recall in details. 

I am glad to have the following printed documents given at the exit point when we end our tour:

* On conservation. Singapore: Heritage Conservation Centre, 2012.

* On conservation: perspectives from the Heritage Conservation Centre. Singapore: Heritage Conservation Centre, 2010.

* Be mused. No. 21. Oct-Dec 2012 Vol.5 Issue 4. Published by the Education and Outreach Division of National Heritage Board.

* Leaflets on various topics from Heritage Conservation Centre:
   -- Integrated Pest Management
   -- Collections Management
   -- Conservation
   -- Agency of Deterioration
   -- Heritage Conservation Centre

With that, all the information we have learnt during our guide tour can be recalled with details and photos given in the printed text.

I am glad I did a second visit to Heritage Conservation Centre.  A lot of things changed and more information is available at the Centre since my last visit about 5 year ago. 

In Singapore, like in Internet era, 5 years is a long time...

Heritage Conservation Centre is currently with only 58 full time staff, and I am amazed that they have done so much with so little manpower!

Well done! Staff at Heritage Conservation Centre!

Dexterine Ho Soo Miang
Updated with new photo from LAS facebook on 21 Feb 2013

=====

Eligibility for Professional Development Scheme (PDS) Points:

This activity attracts 46 points under the Industry Knowledge

Development (ID) category - "Study visit to other libraries (local and

overseas)"

《笨鸟的表白》

黄宏墨《笨鸟的表白》MV

　　聆听与分享这位走遍大山大水、至情至性的民谣歌手, 生命的另一番姿采！

　　1991年出版的《笨鸟的表白》, 由于对民族文化背负了深重的期盼, 内容有别于一般流行歌曲，因此, 深获新、马两地华人听众的热烈回响, 销量创新高！

黄宏墨简介 http://baike.baidu.com/view/1998405.htm

My Christmas Memories

Dad was a staff in Singapore Polytechnic, and all of us kids were invited to a Christmas Eve Party every year.

During my childhood (before I entered secondary school), I like and look forward to Christmas every year. It was a day filled with fun and joy. That was also the only day I can enjoy many cartoons in one run and eat many types of candies, cakes and chocolates at the full day Christmas party organised by the Staff Welfare Club or Association.

Singapore Polytechnic was the only polytechnic I knew when I was in primary school, and we could only follow our Dad there on Christmas Eve. The whole family went together, and enjoyed good food and entertaining programmes all day long. In addition, we were given colourful balloons and wonderful presents to bring home.

The highlight of the day was the present-giving time. Santa Claus in white and red, wearing a warm smile, gave us presents one by one. We lined up and were very obedient in this present-giving parade. Unfortunately, we were not rich enough to own a camera. I do not remember having any personal photos taken on Christmas Eve with Santa Claus at the Poly. Yet the Christmas pictures in my memory are so clear that it could have happened yesterday!

Santa Claus is always a round-faced Westerner with a white beard! I have never seen one Chinese Santa Claus when I was a kid, and it matches what is found in the story book illustration pages. So, I believed Santa Claus is from the West, and it is only white Westerners who are qualified to dress and act like one. I will see this group of Santa Claus as the real ones. The Chinese ones I see in  the later part of my life, cannot be the real one in my mind! I am not kidding, I mean it!

That is perhaps the result of colonisation, or just the fact that the Staff Recreation Club at Singapore Polytechnic make it a point to have the role of Santa Claus acted by overseas senior or teacher staff. 

Many of us take it for granted that a Westerner will be chosen to play Santa Claus. I as a kid, just take what I see as real and undeniable!

Passing the baton at Aberystwyth: 100-word story

On 4 June 2012, Ms Shirley Khew, wrote me an email and told me that she is volunteering at LAS for the IFLA 2013. One of their projects is to publish about "Librarians in Singapore". 

Her job is to contact librarians who are not in the mainstream libraries, but still in the library community providing support in one way or another.

She gave me some ideas on what to contribute, and attached the following template "Your contribution" as a guide:

Personal details -  Name (as you are known in the library community), Contact email. Library related qualification, year, institution.

Duration of service and associated organisations you have worked in or are working in.

Brief overview of career in relation to the library industry.

Most memorable/significant/impactful events – e.g. first big project, first big break, etc.

What would you do again/do differently if you had an opportunity to do so?

Some thoughts on the future of librarians and libraries in Singapore

  

In my write-up, I may provide anything else I think is relevant.  Photographs or news articles about anything related to the write out are also welcome. 

She also suggested interviewing me via Skype and recording the it as a movie clip.  As I thought I did not have anything significant to say about my library career at that moment, I just shelved the invitation for a while.

The first deadline given was end of June, and I had it extended till months later. Yet, nothing happened till the second week of October as I found it too hard to use the template to organise my thoughts.

Perhaps it was too organised and being in Doc format, it is linear, and I find it difficult to view and link my library experience that way...

Now, I finally produced a 500+ word story with the help of Mr Yit Chin Chuan, who initiated the following first "100-word story" on 11 Oct 2012, a few hours after we had tea at the end of the NLB Professional Talk by Director, Library of Alexandria on "The rebirth of the Library of Alexandria & the future of libraries".

I think the professional talk by Dr Ismail Serageldin, Director, Library of Alexandria, was so inspiring that I saw the meaning in recording personal memories of the past decades. This trigger on that spur of moment suddenly kick-started my thoughts on how to create the first few lines of my library memory...

Lin Mui, my former classmate, was there among many librarians who stayed back for tea after the talk and we started to share our common journey in librarianship with Mr Yit. With that 15- 20 mins conversational content, the quick-working Yit produced the following 100 word story in an email at 10.18 am the next morning:

=====

Hi Dexterine,

(I am cc’ing Ngian and Lin Mui as their names were mentioned).

Thanks for your sharing of an interesting aspect of librarians’ development, here’s a rough draft of a 100-word story for your review and consideration (it would be great if you could also provide us a resume of sorts about your personal library career (we are planning to also set up a website that host information about Libraries and Librarians in Singapore – this will ultimately be like a directory of library and librarians of sorts):

 “Passing batons at Aberystwyth” – by Dexterine Ho

We  (Ngian, Lin Mui and myself) did not attend the course at Aberystwyth for our professional certification altogether, but at different times, and I for one found that this "turn-taking" created a beneficial hand-me down effect. 

I remember fondly the marvellous notes left by Ngian that helped me in my studies and the winter clothing Lin Mui passed to me that kept me warm through the winter months.

Passing the baton not only meant the support given unconditionally but the unspoken trust and encouragement that said, “I have done it, so can you!” Likewise, we can only pay forward the benefits that we have received to those who come later – both librarians and users.

Story and librarian context: Dexterine was amongst many who went for overseas training for professional librarianship certification during the 80s. To find out more about Dexterine and her library experiences please visit

http://dexterine.blogspot.sg/search/label/Aberystwyth

Cheers!

yit

=====

After a few rounds of editing and verification of facts and figures, on 23 Oct 2012, the full write-out with 500+ words were produced, and now I just follow Yit's suggestion to publish it on my blog:

====

Hi Dexterine,

Please post your full story on your blog (it’s your content after all!) – for our printing purposes, we will use of the 100-word version (otherwise it would be weird to have different lengths for different stories) – if you could share a permalink to your blog post – we could state that the 100-word version is an abridged form of your original story and link to it.

Regards

yit

 

=====

“Passing the baton at Aberystwyth”

– by Dexterine Ho Soo Miang

=====

 

We (Ms Ngian Lek Choh, Ms Wee Lin Mui and myself) did not attend the Postgraduate Diploma Course in Librarianship at College of Librarianship, University of Wales, Aberystwyth for our professional certification at the same time.  Nevertheless, I was fortunate enough to be in the unofficial loop and took the same course in turn and greatly benefited from the unofficial baton relay. 

 

In 1981, when I attended the PG (postgraduate) course, I was naturally not a librarian yet and did not know Ms Ngian.  As a History degree holder who aspired to be a teacher but was not selected by the Institute of Education, librarianship seemed to be the next best choice.

 

Ngian was the pioneer in this Aberystwyth relay, Lin Mui, my university classmate, the second, and I was the third. Most of us are self-sponsored library science students. I think our aspiration to be a professional librarian connected us through CLW (College of Librarianship, Wales) and the link amongst CLW Alumni is the bridge that spans over three decades.  

This bridging created a hand-me down effect. I fondly remember the marvellous notes left by Ngian that helped me in my studies and the winter clothing Lin Mui passed to me that kept me warm through the freezing winter months.

 

Passing the baton not only meant the support that was freely given but the unspoken trust and encouragement that said, “I have done it, so can you!”

 

Likewise, we can only pay forward the benefits that we have received to those who come after – both librarians and users - sharing with them the wealth of knowledge that enriches our lives. I think they, too, will "pass the baton" in many unknown ways to benefit and warm the hearts of others!

 

Notes: 

 

* I would like to thank Ms Ngian and Lin Mui (now Mrs Law Lin Mui), not only for the help they rendered when I was an "infant" librarian, but also for their continuous support and friendship throughout my library career.

 

Ms Wee Lin Mui, in front of the Padan House, Aberystwyth on 1 Feb 1981

* Amongst all the winter clothing I received, the woollen overcoat from Ms Loi Sai Bay (Studied in Liverpool Polytechnic in 1979, retired in 2009 from NIE Library) was the most appreciated item during the winter months.  (My ex-colleague Ms Yvonne Yin, also from Aberystwyth, would like to add this sentence: When the wild Welsh winter winds whistled and howled down the valley, I was well-wrapped up!)

  Dexterine Ho Soo Miang wearing the woollen overcoat

from Ms Loi Sai Bay, at the hill top, in front of the castle, Aberystwyth in 1981

* Thanks also to Mr Jim Davies and Mr Ng Soo Kwee, two ex-IE/NIE Chief Librarians for their guidance and their support in my being granted the NIE staff development scholarship in 1989/1990 for the Masters Degree in Information Science, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.

* A big thanks to Mr Yit Chin Chuan for initiating the first edition of this 100 word story, and Ms Ngian Lek Choh, Mrs Law Lin Mui and Ms Yvonne Yin for their editing and new input. 

* Many thanks also to other librarians, friends, teachers and people in my life journey who have guided and helped me to grow from an infant librarian to a lecturer/trainer/assessor in library and information studies. My first dream to be a teacher finally realised in my library career.

 

Story and librarian context: Dexterine Ho Soo Miang was amongst the many librarians who went for overseas training for professional certification on her own during the 80s. She has recounted her experience in a heart-warming manner. To find out more about Dexterine and her library experiences please visit: 
   

http://dexterine.blogspot.sg/search/label/Aberystwyth