Collection of thoughts on life, of friends and of what we read in the newspaper

Incident at Siloso Beach

The island Sentosa beckons tourists and Singaporeans alike to come and visit. I daily see the IR resort progressive pace of construction and it is nearing completion. Sentosa means the island of tranquillity, calmness and contentment.

On New Year’s Eve, many youngsters had a drink and dance party @ Siloso Beach. Little did people realise that within a few days, the calmness would be shattered by news of beach molest that took place.

A girl (name undisclosed) is said to be surrounded by 4 males. The photos taken suggest ugliness taking place. The website or blogs devoted to this incident is flooding with many reactions.

There are many things left unanswered and many questions raised. One is like why was the girl dressed in a manner overexposing herself? Some says that it was beach wear and a natural attire to wear. Then there are bad remarks against a particular race. I think this is uncalled for. An incident has happened but it has nothing to do with race, culture or religion.

Should we blame the young blood? They love to enjoy and I think that clean fun is better than mass intoxication of alcohol and subsequent problem.

What I fear is that small spark can trigger the disturbance to our national harmony. Already in neighbouring lands, there are ample problems and meeting of minds to solve the arising problems.

How should we prevent such an incident in the future? Should the authority at Sentosa issue paper permit with photo and particulars of people going in to the party (with IC & passport number recorded)? Is this documentation going to spoil the mood of the people wishing to enjoy and let their hair down? Would it deter people from joining the party?

With photo and particulars, it is easier for the authority to trace the person doing wrong. Should we have a permanent police presence in Sentosa? The question of law and order is becoming more important as the numbers of visitors  increases due to the upcoming theme park  & casino and higher entry price being charged. Moreover expectation of visitors is going up for better service and money worth due to higher entry fees.  

Society feels sad and concerned about the unfortunate girl. I say that WOMEN AND CHILDREN MUST ALWAYS BE PROTECTED. THIS SHOULD BE TAUGHT CLEARLY IN ALL SCHOOLS BY THE TEACHERS AT ALL LEAVEL, ESPECIALLY IN HIGHER  PRIMARY, SECONDARY AND TERTIARY EDUCATION.

Let us not spoil the image of our lovely Sentosa.    

Om Nath Panday

9 JAN 2010

LIFE’S A JOURNEY

Although it is a mere fiction, this tale of a man talking about his life offers a lot of insight including how this land progressed over the years through great changes especially in the area of technology and lifestyle. Read on to learn more ...

Mr. Ratnam, now in his seventies, realises that he has more discoveries to make about life than the years gone by. It is now surprising when such a revelation comes to you. “It’s never late until you have arrived to the stage of being bedridden” says Mr. Ratnam.

Do whatever you can or wish to do (but you were unable to do in the past because you were busy with work and your family before retirement). Now Ratnam likes to engage in his favourite hobby photography. Taking photos has never been so easy like the present era. In those days, the cameras were bulky, heavy and you have to focus properly because the autofocus function was not fully developed. There was a camera factory here but it went bankrupt. Ratnam tries hard to remember but he can’t recall the name of the firm.

To own a video camera in those days was a luxury. Then he began to see the growing trend of video camera. The early video cameras were bulky. He used to see some tourists carrying video cameras to take shots of Singapore. A Japanese tourist has ever asked Ratnam to pose for a shot showing his arm muscles so that he could keep it as a memory that he met someone in Singapore. He promised to send a photo to him but in spite of the fact that he gave his mailing address, he did not receive any photo. Mr. Ratnam is of the view that in the moment of emotion a tourist may make a promise but it is seldom carried out once the person arrives home and the popular saying Out of sight, Out of Mind is true. 

Mr. Ratnam has kept some of his letters and he loves to read them. In his secondary years, He befriended a girl named Melorah. She was an attractive and intelligent girl. She gave him a black and white photo of her and Ratnam kept it in his pocket diary. One day his mother Susila saw the photo and she asked him about it. Ratnam told his mother that he loved the girl. Her mother made mental note of Melorah and was glad to make her the daughter in-law. Ratnam had no father because his dad went missing in the Brunei jungle after a plane crash. That was when Ratnam was just four years old.

Ratnam knew his own responsibilities well because he was acquainted with hardship from his early days. They used to stay in the old house of their grandparent who has long ago passed away. Once Ratnam started working, he bought a four room HDB house and gradually paid off the loan sum. Ratnam has seen how some Singaporeans have upgraded themselves from 3 rooms to 4 rooms or even 5 rooms and then downgrade back to 3 room or studio apartment. In Singapore, owning a home is considered to be a big asset. Unlike in other lands, the government has a good policy of providing proper housing to the citizens. 

Melorah still occupies his mind but the love affair was short-lived. She went on a vacation to Philippine and was killed in an auto accident. News of her death brought sorrow to Ratnam. Now he is married with a wife Radha and with three children – Ramesh, Rakesh and Urmila.

The daughter Urmila has been married off. The two sons Ramesh and Rakesh are working. Ramesh is an engineer while Rakesh is a sailor who goes round the world. Once Rakesh gave Ratnam a video camera and he was very pleased. Tears fell from his face because without his dear son, he would never own a video camera in his life.

As Ratnam looks at his display cabinet, he sees some medals he has won in his school days and also on the job. Working in the Maxwell Post Office, he has earned the reputation of being the best postal officer. He retired at the age of 60.

People do not like to read much but prefer to use the PC or laptop to go to the web pages to get news or information. Ratnam recalls how he used to go to the National Library daily and today what are left of the old library are just some preserved red bricks and the old gate. All gone! (including the good reading habit).     

The family photo album is an important asset. It remind you of the good old days – when you were young (as a baby, a teenager or a man in the twenties), when you got engaged and subsequently married, when you were working with your nice colleagues, bosses and supervisors, when you went on a long vacation to faraway places, when you won a medal or a prize, when you were at a party and etc. As the old memories came fast and furious, Ratnam becomes emotional. 

Ratnam’s coat was tailored by an expensive tailor but he didn’t mind it because one doesn’t get married often.   Ratnam says that his wife Susila was very shy with people during the early years and it was much later that she gained confidence in conversation. Now she is a good writer and was a school teacher.

Keeping coins, old records and CDs has been a pursuit of Ratnam. He loves the old songs and old stamps or coins. He felt sad when his gramophone was broken during his house shifting. He took much trouble in getting it repaired by an old company and today the firm does no longer exist.    

School days were considered both fun and painful. If you work hard, then the reward is always sweet.  Ratnam does not believe in cheating. Trying to understand what the teacher has taught and practising over and over, one can gain mastery of his subjects. This is the true essence of success in school. In trying to understand Ratnam better, one feels that his philosophy of education is noble. The journey to school and back home was just too bad – cramped seats and the bus was noisy. The roads in those days were not tarred and some places were too muddy. If one was not careful, then the school uniform would get stained with mud all over the place.           

School now means books, books and books. Then there is assignments to be done at home, practice for coming examinations or assessments papers. In the olden days, education was not that taxing to the mind. There were syllabus to be completed but then knowledge has not expanded so much like today. The websites are expanding knowledge by leaps and bounds, I means exponentially.

You cannot be caught sleeping or talking with your classmates. The teacher could punish you with two tight slaps or even give the sugar cane (administering the cane  in the local lingo). Today the power of corporal punishment have been removed from the teachers. It is the school administration that decides how best to tackle naughty pupils. 

The class was always on the lookout. If the form teacher was angry, early alerts were given to the class by a fellow pupil.  Ratnam ended his conversation with a chuckle.

As I reflect on, I realise that this is Ratnam’s life journey, although partially narrated but well narrated.

Om Nath Panday

3 JAN 2010

A NEW START

The excitement of a New Year reached its peak as people around the world ushered in 20110. People have been indulging all form of merriment and joyful activities like partying, drinking, dancing, chatting away on the phone, going to the movies or even travelling abroad for a short while.  

Yesterday as I looked out of my room, I saw an unusually  large bright  full moon. It means a powerful start to 2010. Many of us feel disappointed when something bad happens as reported in the news. They feel that at least the bad happenings should pause for a while, at least allow 14 days to pass by. 

However, this is wishful thinking. Time is perpetual. The flow of good and happenings cannot be stopped. It is the course of natural events. The calendars invented since ancient time is to measure time; a year is a good measure of human activities and for organisations, it is the start of a cycle of many things – closing of accounts, new funds released, review or proposal of new directions or investments, work plan and etc.

For the individual self, it could be some regrets that last year passed by so quickly and not much has been achieved. However, this year is significant because a new decade has started. When reviewing in terms of past 10 years, surely many achievements – small or big – has been made by individual people. The next start of a decade to come would be in 2020.

As the hangover of the New Year begins to recede, we see things in proper perspective. The world is going round as usual with human activities as normal. The shops and supermarkets are packed with shoppers. The roads are as busy as ever and people are taking the train just like last year. Thus reality strikes and it back to school, college or work. The family has to be cared for and also our health.

How should 2010 be made more significant for ourselves? Already the year has started and it is time to progress for new achievements and happiness.  

MAY GOD BLESS ALL. 

Om Nah Panday

3 Jan 2010           

New Year Resolutions

Two men were busy talking to each other on the NEL train. From travels to food, the topic finally drifted to making resolution. Stranger A said that he wish to prepare a New Year Resolution on a clean note pad on his desk after his lunch. As it was New Year Eve, the resolution made would be timely and could be put into practice from 1 January onwards.

B is a strange man: he was quiet, listening with his eyes closed – concentrating on how to prepare his ammunition to bombard A’s plan. After A has finished talking, B blurted out: “Resolutions are for weak people, people who do not know how to care about themselves. You can see that I don’t need any resolution to support me throughout the year”. A felt offended about B’s bragging. In reality B has many weaknesses but he fails to see himself and is always criticizing others.

To upset his colleagues in the office, B went on to propagate negativity. Some of the colleagues wondered why is he spreading pessimism to spoil the good mood of people happy to usher the New Year. B is cynical by nature; it is deeply rooted in his behaviour; perhaps this mindset was inherited due to bad circumstances in his life in childhood and early adulthood. Could he be a mock convert due to his distrust of others and unhappiness over the way society is progressing. Looking at another perspective I remember what happened in To Kill a Mocking Bird. Some people become victim of society due to many reasons. 

A resolution is a good thing to adopt because it becomes a guide for a person to follow faithfully, follow it with religious flavour in order to achieve a goal which may be quite difficult to achieve. A resolution can be of many aspect of life like weight loss & management, learning to reduce stress, taking up a new skill or course of study, becoming a better person and etc.

Persistence pays in the end. A boy, on an errand to buy for the family some items, was frustrated because he could not find an item (a plastic case of a certain size).  Instead of giving up, he went to another lane of shops where he has never ventured before. Luckily he managed to get his item. In addition to that he discovered that the new shop sells a lot of items to his liking which he used to travel far to purchase them. This surprise discovery was a pleasant one for him. 

He can now save on his travelling expenses. Moreover, the shop sold a lot of items cheaper than he could find elsewhere. Hence if you explore, you would learn more and this year promises to be much better with your good effort.

Om Nath Panday

1 JAN 2010         

Another fresh new year is here . . .

Another year to live!

To banish worry, doubt, and fear,

To love and laugh and give!

This bright new year is given me

To live each day with zest . . .

To daily grow and try to be

My highest and my best!

I have the opportunity

Once more to right some wrongs,

To pray for peace, to plant a tree,

And sing more joyful songs!