The worst just got worster

Exactly 6 years ago, our then Minister for National Development, Mr Mah Bow Tan shocked Singaporeans with the announcement that they were planning to increase our population to an unbelievable 6.5 million. After much protest and complaints, he clarified that the figure 6.5 million was “not a target; but a planning barometer”; giving us the impression that things were unlikely to become that bad.

A few days ago, the government dropped another bombshell on Singaporeans; this time projecting that our population would reach 6.9 million by 2030. And guess what Mr Mah’s successor says. Writing in his blog, Minister Khaw Boon Wan clarified; “The projected 6.9 million figure by 2030 …. is the worst case scenario. We hope we do not reach that figure; we may never reach that figure. But as planners, we have to …. blah blah blah”.

Well, fellow Singaporeans; you know what you should do? You’d better make sure Mr Khaw does not lose in the next election. Otherwise you are going to get another MND minister and the worster might get even worse.

Leave them a blue sky

Some time ago, I wrote a blog piece jokingly suggesting that we change our name from the Lion City to the Crane City. Actually, I was lamenting the ugly fact that everywhere you turn in this country of ours, you find construction works and destruction of greenery. Of course, we all try to bear with it hoping in the back of our heads, that things would settle down. But with the publication of the government’s White Paper on Population, and the dreadful news that Singapore’s population could reach a suffocating 6.9 million, all such hopes have vanished. Crane City will apparently be a permanent label for this beautiful city I grew up in.

I really would like to urge our leaders to consider lowering that figure to, say, 5.3 million. We are already bursting at the seams. Please lah ..…  Just dispel that option of a 6.9m scenario from your plans and go back to the drawing board. I have faith in you.

Frankly, I’d rather retire in some obscure town outside Singapore than to burden my children with another two decades of constant knocking down of perfectly good buildings, scrapping of cars that run perfectly, widening of roads everywhere; and noise and crowds and litter everywhere they turn. I want “leave them a blue sky”.

PS – I fully support the idea to have a referendum on this matter. I want to have a say.

Singapore, the crane city

First time visitors to our country can be forgiven if they thought that they have entered the Crane City and not the famed Lion City.

Everywhere they go, they are likely to see cranes; and not lions. Not this type of crane.

Creative Commons photo of Sandhill Cranes by Flickr member, NDomer73


But this type.

Photo of Orchard Road, courtesy of Peter Chan

This photo taken from the top of a multi-storey car park at Dover Road.

Operation Broomstick

I think many readers were not even born yet when Operation Broomstick was launched in Singapore. So what was this operation about. I thought it would be more appropriate to post my article in my other blog, My 5S Corner.


Share with you another photo of a kampong-stlye home-made dustpan made from re-cycled material. This is in present-day Singapore.

Mas Selamat's Escape - Let's see whose theory was the closest

Last year I blogged about 'The Great Mas Selamat Escape' and speculated on the route he might have taken. Some readers have also put up their theories. Now that Mas Selamat has been caught, we can finally see whose theory was the closest.

1) My theory was that he escaped (with help) to Bukit Brown Cemetery and then to the forests of MacRitchies Reservoir where he hid for some time and survived with help from his friends.

2) YG who also blogged about this here, is of the same opinion.

3) Peter thinks he got onto the PIE and was whizzed off by a waiting car to either East Coast or Malayan Railway.

4) The police probably thought he was hiding in the Malcolm Road areas and concentrated their search there in the initial hours. They got a tip-off from a member of the public who saw someone looking like Mas Selamat there.

5) One reader said he was probably dead and the escape story was just a cover up.

My theory of the Great Escape of Mas Selamat

By now I think even our friends in UK would have heard about Singapore's great embarrassment: the escape of the suspected Jemaah Islamiah terrorist from the Whitley Road detention centre. Having been bombarded by the news I cannot help coming up with my own theory. Heck, just for the fun of it, this is what I think.

I think very likely, he had help. This looks like a very well-planned 'Prison Break'. The people who helped him probably have knowledge of police procedures. So they anticipated what the police would do and that's why he was able to evade capture during the first day.

Any ex-National Service man would know that our uniformed personnel are very good in following SOPs - Standard Operating Procedures. All our contingency and emergency plans are preplanned and laid out in great detail. For example, when I first performed the battalion duty officer function, I had to familiarise myself with various operational plans for various disaster scenarios; such as a plane crash. Even though this was three decades ago, I think the operational style would still be the same. Thus it wouldn’t be difficult for Mas Selamat’s helpers to find out the kind of procedure the police will take once his escape was discovered.

Like YG, I think he would have headed for Bukit Brown cemetery, which is quite deserted. He would have met his accomplice there, changed into jogging gear and cross over Lornie Road and hide in the MacRitchie Nature Reserve which is linked to the Bt Timah nature reserve. Here there are plenty of places to hide, and where food and clothing can be left behind for him.

Hence, I don't understand why during the first few hours, the police concentrated their search in the Malcolm Road and the Dunearn Road areas. Afterall, in order to get to Malcolm Road, he has to cross a very busy Pan Island Expressway, one way or another. Could it be because they were worried that this guy would catch hold of some school kids from St Joseph's Institution or Singapore Chinese Girls School and used them as hostages?

If Mas Selamat had indeed escaped to MacRitchie Reservoir, it would be quite ironical. On the very same afternoon of his escape, I was at MacRitchie Reservoir, and I saw many police personnel and vehicles there for some kind sport event.

Looking out my window

Working from home can be quite boring at times – lonely even. But occasionally some interesting things can be seen outside my window; such as these.

Once there were two Chinese (from China) workers doing some roofing work on my neighbour’s house. Suddenly they were startled by the crowing of our pet rooster. Yes, my children keep an old rooster (subject another blog for sure) in our backyard.

Worker No. 1: Hey, did you hear a rooster crow?

Worker No. 2: How can? In Singapore where to find a rooster?

And then as if to prove him wrong, Mellow (that’s the name my children gave their beloved rooster) started to crow again. The two excited China workers kept peering down to try and see where the crowing came from. But of course they couldn’t because Mellow’s cage was blocked by our guava tree and back wall. Meanwhile, I was worrying that they would fall off the roof.

Another noisy visitor came along recently. This time it was a feathered friend. It perched on my neighbour’s tv antenna and made a racket. I grabbed my camera and took a few shots before it flew away. Unfortunately, the quality of my photos was rather poor. Still, my bird consultant, Dr Y C Wee of Besgroup was able to tell me:

“It's a Yellow-crested Cockatoo, a foreign talent! Quite a noisy foreign talent. Yes, it is a parrot. And together with the Tanimbar Corella, another white parrot but without the yellow crest, they are getting common.”

Chinese New Year Greetings

This year I received many Chinese New Year greetings in the form of Chinese couplets or poems. The cutest one I thing is this one from K C Leong, an ex-colleague from Philips Audio factory in Toa Payoh. I met him when I gave that talk on blogging to Seniors at RSVP last November. We have not met since I left Philips in 1984.

新年快到了。在此祝你。。。
新年好，天天吃到饱。
身体好，胜过马赛跑。
头脑好，快过用电脑。
眼力好，天天捡到宝。
福气好，家和不争吵。
运气好，Toto, 4D 中到 Singapore Pools 倒。

But seriously, if you want Singapore Pools to collapse, the best way is not to patronize them. Hope the day will come when people go to sports stadiums to queue for football tickets not 4D tickets as what was happening here.

To everything there is a season

Recently, I was interviewed by a Reuters reporter who asked if I thought the government should retain Singapore’s last remaining kampong in Buangkok. She was surprised when I said I was not in favour of keeping it just for the sake of nostalgia. If land-scarce Singapore had better use for the land, why keep it?. Anyway, she did not quote me in her article, choosing to quote my friend Victor instead, who apparently held a different view from me … best not to speculate on her reasons.

Old picture scanned from the book, Singapore, An Illustrated History, 1941 ~ 1984, Information Division, Ministry of Culture

It’s nice, and possibly even healthy to indulge occasionally in nostalgia. But at the end of the day, (I hate that cliché) we should remember that nostalgia is not the same as regret; neither is reminiscing equivalent to missing. As wise King Solomon wrote in the book Ecclesiastes, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” (including tired clichés)

There’s time for ice balls, and there’s a time for Haagen Daas,
A time for open air theatres, and a time for air-conditioned cineplexes;
A time for public swimming pools, and a time for water theme parks;
A time for night soil buckets, and a time for modern toilets;
A time for rubber band shooters, and a time for Xboxes;
A time for slide rules, and a time for PDAs.

It’s called Progress, and progress is not something we should regret. Kampongs and ice balls belong to yesterday. They should only be resurrected in history books and nostalgia blogs like Good Morning Yesterday.

Have a Blessed 2008 dear reader.

Two more reasons why seniors should blog

Last Saturday, I gave a talk to a group of about 40 seniors at the Silver Infocomm Day at RSVP at Bishan Central. This event was jointly organized by RSVP, the Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme and IDA as part of the Active Ageing Festival. Entitled, "Blogging today on yesterday.sg", my talk lasted about 40 minutes.

The main aim was to encourage the seniors to take up blogging as a hobby. I shared with them my own experience and thrill in blogging about stuff of yesteryears. I also argued that blogging is good for their health because blogging involved much mental exercise which health experts claim can stave off age-related diseases like Alzeheimer’s disease.



Yesterday I found another two reasons why seniors should blog; but alas the talk was over already.


Reason No. 1: You will have less quarrels with your spouse

According to researchers from Loyola University, reminiscing about the good times can make people more cheerful. Pleasant memories, it seems, are a good antidote for the blues. I read this in an article by Tabitha Wang, the ‘Budget tai tai’ of TODAY. “Reminiscing can motivate you. It can give you a sense of being rooted, of meaning and purpose – instead of being blown around by the whims of everyday life”, she quoted Loyola psychologist Fred Bryant.

And here’s what I found in an article in Psychology Today:

According to studies by psychologist Tim Wildschut and colleagues at the University of Southampton in the U.K, “people who write about a nostalgic event are more cheerful after the exercise compared with people who write about an everyday experience. The studies also show that people who write about good memories report higher self-esteem and feel more positively about friendships and close relationships.”


Reason No. 2: Writing stuff about the good old days can even earn you some cash. I received $400 in the mail yesterday from taking part in the Singapore Heritagefest 2007 MyStory Portal Competition. Apparently my essay about the days of black and white television in Singapore has won first prize in the Memories category!

So guys … what are you waiting for? Go to Yesterday.sg and post your stories, or email them to me and I will put them up here at Good Morning Yesterday.

My thoughts go back to that beautiful country

Lately, I feel sad watching the news and seeing all the trouble in Myanmar. This is because I can recognize some of the places where the violence is being enacted.

As some of you are aware, I spent 2 weeks in that beautiful country in September 2005. The hotel I stayed in was midway between the two pagodas shown so frequently on tv; the Sule and Shwedagon (hope I got the names right).

But I am hopeful that some good will come out of this tragedy. The people of Myanmar need our prayers.

For those who did not read my article about my Myanmar visit, you can read it here.

Chia Par Tan Si

Our main stream newspapers certainly waste no time to drive home the message so clearly broadcast by our Prime Minister in his National Day Rally speech. Since you ‘old fogeys’ refuse to kick the bucket by your expiry date, then you better get off your butts and do some useful work instead of sitting around counting fingers. The Hokkien folks put it more pointedly, Chia Par Tan Si or gorge yourself full and wait to die. Get yourself a job dude! Any job.

Both the Straits Times and Today carried articles painting a dim scenario of a “future ‘old’ Singapore” where many old folks have outlived their usefulness and could not find anything to do. I find the Today article particularly demeaning. Although couched in nice polite language and bearing a politically correct title, Tabitha Wang's article Respect our old fogey warriors... is mostly a reinforcement of the ugly stereotypes of old people.






She began her article by narrating an incident in the MRT train where an old chap felt insulted when she offered him her seat. Then she went home and promptly wrote an article, outwardly praising the old people, but actually insults them, especially the old men, by drafting a list of all the popular stereotypes of old people. They have lousy memories and are complete idiots when it comes to IT. Apparently the only jobs they are capable of doing are cleaning at hawker centres. And at home they drive their wives crazy and are even responsible for the rising divorce rates among older folks. However, she mercifully spared the dirty old men who liked to splurge their CPF savings on young ladies of the night both at home and abroad.

I learned one thing from the article though. Old folks are not the only people who like to do ‘wu liao’ (无聊) things like scrutinizing newspapers for spelling mistakes. Young people it appears, like to scrutinize their heads and panic at the discovery of a couple of grey hairs.

Come on. Let’s look at the bright side. At least, we can look forward to achieving another world number 1 soon. With so many ah peks re-joining the workforce as you know what, we certainly are going to have the cleanest food centres on this planet.

My thoughts on PM’s National Day Rally Speech

Much of his speech centred on the issue of Singapore’s ageing population; in other words, people of my generation. But yet, for the first time in years, I did not listen to the entire speech. When he started to talk about housing, I went to take a shower. It’s not just that I find it difficult to be excited about what else of the old Singapore they are going to tear down. I am actually somewhat disappointed with last night’s speech. On reflection, my disappointment stemmed not from what he spoke about, but rather what he left out. I will just touch on 2 aspects:

a) Longer life expectancy

b) Children’s role


Point No. 1 - Longer Life Expectancy

PM is right. “People are living longer, we have to work longer, and we’ve to start drawing on the reserves later.” And it is good that the government has the foresight to address this problem early. As Confucius - or was that Lao Tze, who said, “If a man takes no thought for what is distant, he will find sorrow close at hand".

Nevertheless, his speech gave the impression that everyone will live till 80 years at least. Thus the entire policy he proposed was geared towards this statistical fact. If you start withdrawing your savings at 62, you will not have enough to last till 85 or 90, and thus you will become a burden to the state. (this last part was not articulated of course)

PM has ignored one other statistical fact: 80 is an average figure! Using powerful visual aids, including one very active 81-year old lady in the audience, he painted a very rosy picture of healthy, active senior citizens. But the plain statistical truth is that a large number of people will still die before 70; and become very sick in their sixties. Exactly what is the percentage will depend on what in statistics is called the standard deviation. But we can make a rough guess that it will be at least nine thousand five hundred. I say this because, he said that there were 9,000 Singaporeans who were aged 90 and above and another 500 who were above 100. Assuming life expectancy is normally distributed with a mean of 80, then, the number below 70 should be equal to the number above 90.

Thus my question is this. Is it right to tweak the entire system to cater to only to those at the healthy end of the normal distribution; i.e. those ones who will live beyond 80? How about those of us who don’t? Let’s consider a dark scenario. You are approaching 62, and have many health problems and you really don’t expect to live beyond 70. You had hoped that you could withdraw the $99,600 in your Retirement Account, to tide you over this difficult period. But now the government says that you cannot touch it for another 3 years. In the mean time, you succumb to your illnesses and that money goes to your children; assuming you have children.

PM quoted a Chinese proverb; 人生七十古来稀. The Old Testament has something similar; "The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away." (Psalm 90:10).

I don’t see any wisdom in ignoring this sombre reminder in the twenty-first century. Take myself as an example. I am 55 and apparently quite healthy. But so was my former classmate from ACS, Ananda Rajah. Yet, some months ago, my classmates and I from ACS68 had the unpleasant experience of attending his funeral; and we realised that 4 of our friends had already departed; and that is a full 10 percent of Sec 4C!

Still not convinced? Then go to the Obituaries page in the Straits Times. In today’s edition I counted no less that 6 people aged 70 and below.


Point No. 2 - Children’s Role

PM practically made no mention of the role of children in taking care of their parents financially. He did briefly mention that it is best that they stayed with their aged parents and take care of them rather than living separately or putting them in old age homes. It looks to me like PM doesn’t have much faith in the filial piety of our children. No wonder this year, he did not try to persuade us to have more children.

Again taking myself as an example. I have three children. Some of my friends have no children. Certainly when we reach the end of our careers, those friends would have much more savings than I. Is it selfish or demeaning to expect that our children will at least help pay some of our bills when they become financially independent; especially when PM paints such a rosy picture about Singapore’s economic future?


Conclusion

Right at the beginning of his speech, PM said that the best strategy is to generate more resources to help those in need – in other words, to grow the economy.

I believe this strategy should apply to individuals as well. Educate your children to the fullest of their potential. Didn’t he say that for every extra year of education your child receives, his salary can increase by 14%?

More importantly, teach them to "fear God and keep His commandments" (Ecclesiates 12:13) including of course Commandment number 5; "Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee."

Nevertheless, like all kiasu Singaporeans, we should not put all our eggs in one basket. So be frugal, spend wisely, keep yourself healthy, save up …. and leave the rest to God.

Unexpected Outcome

Yesterday, this blog was featured in article in the New Paper about older bloggers. I must thank the reporter, Mr Ho Lian Yi for quite accurately reflecting one of the basic goals of my blog, which is to educate and inform young Singaporeans about what their country was like a few short decades ago. He also noted that blogging has helped me to connect with the younger generation. I hope more young people will read the stories I put up here.

I should take this opportunity to thank my guest bloggers; especially those from UK - John Harper, Tom O'brien, Brian Mitchell, Tom Brown and Lynn Copping. My apologies if I missed any name. As for the 'local heroes', as Mr Miyagi puts it, there's my brother Chun Chew, and old friends Chuck Hio, Simon Chu and Adrian Chua, and new friends Peter, Victor, Chris and others who share their stories in the 'comments' section.

Regrettably, there was one unexpected outcome of the above article. I have inadvertently helped to promote gambling in Singapore. I received an email from an old friend this morning, 'complaining' that the number 2867 was sold out, presumably at the the 4D lottery counters.

Day of Records

Yesterday was a day of records, of sorts. The Straits Times reported in its front page that the ST Index hit a record high. Over here in Good Morning Yesterday, we also saw a record in the number of visitors. Thanks to Daryl Sng who posted our (Peter and me) article about A&W to Tomorrow.sg, this blog saw a 6-fold increase in visitors a day.


But sadly, on the same page of the Straits Times, there was a grim reminder that outside the blogosphere, outside our happy world of 'Yesterday Once More', there's another very present world of death and destruction.

Banding Island

I doubt many Singaporeans have heard of this place called Banding Island in Malaysia. Also known as Pulau Banding, it is actually an inland island located right in the heart of Peninsular Malaysia, in Tasik (lake) Temenggor in the state of Perak, and sits squarely on the highway that joins Kota Bahru and Kuala Trengganu in the east, and Gerik and Kuala Kangsar in the west.

I first visited this scenic island in 1997, when I decided to take the long way to get to Ipoh; i.e. via the east coast and stopping in towns like Kuantan and Kuala Trengganu. We stayed overnight at the Banding Island Resort, the only hotel on this tiny island. It was raining much of the time and so we did not get to see much of the attractions. Since, my kids were too young to have any recollections of this place, we decided to visit it again during our recent annual pilgrimage to Ipoh last month and spent Christmas Day on the island.

Compared to 1997, when the highway were not fully completed and much construction was ongoing, the drive this time was much better. I particularly liked the 100 plus km stretch between the North-South Highway exit and the small town of Gerik. The road was new and traffic was light. Even though the speed limit was only about 80 or 90 kph, I must confess that at some stretches, I could not resist going up to 110 even. From Gerik, it’s another 40 km or so eastward to Banding Island. Here the terrain is hilly and the road winding, so of course one has to drive much slower. In total, the distance from Ipoh to Banding Island was slightly less than 200 km.

If you are looking for a change from the hustle and bustle of Orchard Road, I would recommend a short holiday in Banding Island. The road signs are excellent, and if you drive, it should not be a problem getting there. However, be forewarned that there isn’t much to do there except nature walks and fishing. The hotel organizes some excursions for fishing (mostly tomans) and visit to Orang Asli Village and jungle trekking to see the Rafflesia flower. Besides the Banding Island Resort, which charges RM140 per night, there are no other decent accommodation. There are some ‘floating chalets’ but the condition is very run down and I don’t think Singaporeans can take it.

Below are some photos that I took during our trip.


A section of the North-South Highway just north of Ipoh approaching the tunnel.



A view of the lake from our hotel room. The bridge joins the western end of the island to the mainland.



Another view of Tasik Temenggor from our hotel room.

This is another bridge which joins the eastern end of the island to the mainland.

The ‘floating chalets’ I mentioned can be seen at the top of this photo.


“When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.”
(Carl Boberg, 1886)

Link: Banding Island Resort

Disgraceful Singaporeans

I was at the Grand Blue Wave Hotel in Johor Bahru this morning to deliver a paper at the (Malaysian) National Productivity Corporation's Regional 5S Convention. 5S is the Japanese technique of Good Housekeeping and Workplace Organisation.

I spoke about how to utilise 5S as a tool for continuous improvement or 'kaizen' at the workplace. I took the opportunity to share with the delegates about my trainining in Japan.


The photo below was taken in 1985 at a plant called Aisin Seiki in Nishio, a company that manufactures brake pumps for Toyota Motors. I am standing, 3rd from the right. There were altogether 6 of us Singaporeans. The rest are the company's staff and interpreters. We were attached to Aisin Seiki for 2 weeks. This attachment was part of our three-and-a-half months fellowship training at the Japan Productivity Center. Would you believe that we are at a rock garden right in the middle of the factory. The factory was so clean that it was a 'shock' for us Singaporeans.

Anyway, as I was leaving the hotel, I came across a disgusting sight in the car park. Somebody had discarded several used HDB/URA car park coupons on the floor. I presume the culprit was a Singaporean, although there is a slight possibility that he could be a Johorean who works (and drives) in Singapore. I hope none of the delegates at the convention saw this because if they did, I would be their chief suspect. Imagine what they would be saying to themselves. "This hypocritical Singaporean. Dare to come to our country and preach to us about how to keep the workplace neat and clean ......."

Come to think of it, I should have picked up the rubbish. I wish I had.

Cool Speak

The other day, I received an interesting email from an officer with the National Heritage Board asking for permission to quote a line from my earlier article, Blogging For Seniors, for one of their publications. The line in question says … "Blogging is cool. It helps us to connect with the younger generation."

Re-reading my article, I began to see why they should be amused at the unusual language used by this 54-year old. I realize that at the time I wrote the article, the adjective ‘cool’ came naturally to me. I guess it is due to my frequent interaction with my teenage children and their cousins. For example, my 14-year old daughter’s verbal vocabulary of adjectives virtually consists of two words only – cool and lame.

I remember a remark she once made when she heard that I had more than 100 hits a day in blog: “Wah, so cool.”


While on the subject of being 'cool', I think what one of the so-called P65 MP’s, Mr. Hri Kumar said in parliament makes a lot of sense

“We do not need to dress down or dance to a younger beat – younger and older Singaporeans did not elect us because of our fashion sense or the fact that we can party at Zouk. We are and must always be the party with the broader mind, the better argument, the creative solution, the inclusive policies and the bigger heart. Let others pretend they are cool and hip. Let us show the difference between smart and not. Between qualified and not. Between honest and not. We may not be cool in the eyes of the youth, and we should not act like we are. But I believe that if they see us as determined, intelligent and sincere people, little else will matter. “

If that's the case, I hope they, the post65 MP’s are ‘intelligent’ enough not to go ahead with that foolish idea to dance the hip-hop in Chingay 2007.

Photo courtesy of : young grasshopper

Breaking News

I think my friend Chris would love this one.

• He was only 19.


• He shared Clooney's Hollywood Hills home, and sometimes, his bed.


• He died "peacefully" of natural causes.


• Clooney gained custody of the porker 18 years ago, after breaking up with his then live-in girlfriend Kelly Preston, who is now married to actor John Travolta.


• The actor said that Max (the pig) was his longest relationship.


• He said, "I think Max covered all my pig needs."

As for me, my 'pig needs' would include this one.

Picture courtesy of: Geminio

Max, say hello to Mellow, my children's pet rooster. He is coming to 6 and still going strong.

Why Seniors Should Blog

Yesterday, myself and Ivan, another Friend of Yesterday.sg, gave a talk about blogging to a group of more than 100 senior citizens at the Queenstown Community Library. We want to thank the participants for their warm response and we do apologise for any shortcomings in our presentations.

As Ivan and two other 'Friends of Yesterday.sg', Victor and Walter have already blogged about this event (here, here and here) I will not go into the details again. What I would like to do instead, is to report on what I covered in my presentation.



The aim of our talk was basically to encourage the seniors to take up blogging as a means of sharing their stories of Singapore's past. My part was to share my own experience, as one of the oldest bloggers in Singapore in starting Good Morning Yesterday, whilst Ivan gave a demonstration on the basics of blogging.

Essentially I touched on four points.

1) Why I started Good Morning Yesterday
2) The Stuff I blog about
3) The challenges I faced in blogging
4) The satisfaction I derived from blogging.


These 2 senior gentlemen arrived half an hour before the commencement time and sat in the front row.


I also spoke about why seniors should blog.

1) We have more stories to tell.

In his 2006 National Rally Speech, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong exhorted senior members of our society to share their stories with the young. "Keep alive the Singapore story", he said, "Celebrate our heroes and remember the good times and hard times we’ve been through together ... Our young generation need to know the heart of the Singapore story and understand how we got here ... Parents and grandparents play an important role. You provide the links to our past. Pass down the stories, emotions, and values to your children and grandchildren."

I say, what better way to do this than through blogging. As Kenneth Pinto, another Friend of Yesterday.sg, put it so succintly in his blog, "The personal is powerful. The personal is as valid a history as any textbook, perhaps even more so."


2) We, at least some of us, have more time.

3) We can write better. Most of us have decades of experience in expressing ourselves in English. Many have gone through the old fashioned but tested rigours of learning English, and are more disciplined in its proper usage.

4) Blogging is good for our brains. Health experts have found that exercise is the best way to keep our brains healthy and beat back the effects of ageing. Blogging involves the exercise of the brain in 3 ways. Firstly, writing is a strenuous mental exercise. So is digging up all those memories of long ago events. And it involves learning many new things with the computer and internet.

5) Bloggin is "cool". It helps us to connect with the younger generation. It helps to bridge the so called 'digital divide'.

6) Everyone's doing it. So why not we seniors.

7) It's Fun. After more than a year of doing it, I can testify to that.

8) It can even be profitable. It is not unkown for bloggers to make some money through advertisement and sponsorships on their blogs ... well maybe not much in a small country like Singapore, but who can tell.






I concluded my section by asking the participant to do at least one of the following 3 things. If possible, start your own blog and post your stories there. If that is too much of a hassle, then send your articles to Yesterday.sg or Good Morning Yesterday and we will gladly publish it for you on our blogs, as what I have been doing for some of my friends. At the very minimum, visit our blogs and share your short stories and annecdotes in the comments section.