Seeing old friends in Singapore

I am just writing this to record a trip which is not unusual but rather rare for me because it was a trip done a long time since I last visited Singapore other than just transits in the Changi airport. The currency exchange rate is so high and goods sold with GST imposed do not appeal to me and my family that we could find any good reason to visit. Going down south to visit Singapore this time for me was solely to meet up with good old friends, we value friendship that transcends time and distance than anything else.

It was supposed to be a trip to accompany friends who had earlier participated, and to review the recent Gonga mountain trekking in Sichuan China and also the cycling expedition around the Qinghai lake. I did not take part in this trip though I joined them for the previous Jiuzhaigou adventure which I had shared some of the photos in my blog. There were friends gathered around potluck dinner table and later presented their videos and photos taken during this particular trip to China! It was interesting to note how they enjoyed the activities and all the beautiful scenery of the places they visited.

In view of the limited time of the trip, we had arranged to meet in the same everning Chai Lee Fung and Lee Kok Meng both of them are my sixth form classmates from St Michael Institution Ipoh. Kok Meng's family owns the famous "fairy" brand soya sauce Kwong Heng factory in Bidor. He told me about his heart by-pass operation and his wife's ordeal with the much dreaded cancer disease. Thanks to the Singapore compulsory medical care insurance and the competent doctors there, both he and his wife are completely healed now. He had chosen to become Singaporean and I asked him the reasons why? He told me the low crime rate of living in Singapore that gives him the sense of security and also the advanced medical treatment and facility in the island that offer better assurance for him and his family were the main reasons. He sold off his IT business company and takes life easy and told me life now is not just about career and making money! I agree with him on this aspect about life but not entirely on his giving up of his Malaysian citizenship!

The next day I went around the city that reminded me again on some of the familiar street names many years ago such as South Bridge road, Bras Basah, Havelock, Clementi, Thompson etc. My favorite visiting place in the late 70s then was along Orchard road where there were a lot of shopping complexes. I still remember it was spectacular to visit Orchard road during Christmas season where the lighting decoration of shopping malls and carol singing were the main attraction!

In the afternoon, visited another old friend Mr.Wong Peng and family, who was my next door neighbor back in the village. I used to live in his rented home while I first went down to Singapore. We did not see each other for quite a while especially after his dad passed away. Before that he and his brother Wong Kam used to bring their families back to the village for the Chinese New Year. It was a getting together of good old childhood friends at a time that we all had our hairs turned grey over the past decade or so. Time just flies and it was as though our faces and physical bodies simply turned uncles overnight! He mentioned about deteriorating health and I could only advise him nothing more than exercise more frequently. Anyway, aging is an inevitable process and we could only attempt to slow it down and that is all we could do if we choose to exercise and have a healthier life style! It is good to see that all his children have grown up and started working through the years.


Despite my absence of so many years from the island, Singapore is still very much a strange place to me in all aspects and it could hardly stir up much of my interest. I just could not imagine how I could ever get used to the life in Singapore if my son one day ever chooses to work there. My wife would most probably be following him to reside in this neigboring country. It might end up every weekend I have to cross the causeway even just to breathe the Malaysian air!