OLDIES BUT GOODIES

As some of you might know, music is a very integral part of my life. I love different genres of music including jazz, R & B, rock, 60's etc. Yet, a very important part of my childhood revolved round some lovely Malaysian/Indonesian tunes by groups such as The Thunderbirds, Naomi and the Boys, Anneke Gronloh so for tonight, I am featuring a couple of my old favorites here...

The first Malay song I learnt how to sing as a four year old kid was Burung Kakatua and this version by Anneke Gronloh is one of my favorites. Some of you might think I am quite mad but this is such a signature tune of the 60's that was a 'must-learn' song in the kindergarten programs of that era. Please CLICK HERE for the original version of Burung Kakatua by Anneke Gronloh.

Anneke Gronloh was born in Celebes (Indonesia). She moved to The Netherlands at an early age. Her first four singles (Brandend Zand, Paradiso, Soerabaja and Cimeroni) all became No. 1 in the Netherlands in 1962 and 1963. She represented and sang the Dutch entry for the 1964 Eurovision Song Contest, Jij Bent Mijn Leven (The Netherlands was the first country to send a singer of non-European ancestry). Anneke toured Indonesia and SE-Asia region regularly and recorded Oh Malaysia! (a remake of Brandend Zand in celebration of the newly formed Federation of Malaysia) and other popular Malay songs like Boeroeng kaka, Nina bobo, O Papa Oja, Bengawan solo and Buka Pintu.

For Anneke Gronloh's powerful rendition of Bengawan Solo, please CLICK HERE.

Another of my childhood favorites is "SUKIYAKI" and here's a very unusual DUTCH version of the song by the Blue Diamonds. The harmony arrangement is most unusual and brings out the essence of the song...Please CLICK HERE to enjoy this beautiful version of Sukiyaki.

Yesterday afternoon, I had a great time karaoking with Angela via Skype - she was belting "HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY" by Naomi and the Boys and MY LONELY HEART (1966) by the Thunderbirds.

This is one of the most popular original local compositions in the history of Singapore Pop Music. Features the vocals of Harvey Fitzgerald, who also co-wrote this song with Gerry Pasqual.

Lead guitarist Derrick Fitzgerald provides the distinctive slide guitar riffs by using a metal bar, the riffs so iconic that all subsequent covers by other recording artistes have duplicated them note for note.

Finally, enjoy Broery's version of WIDURI at THIS LINK. May you have a lovely time listening to these lovely oldies but goodies. Good night!

LOVABLE PANDAS

Many thanks to Angela who sent me these cute pics of pandas which I have uploaded in the following slides. Please wait a while for the file to upload and if it takes too long, kindly click on THIS LINK.

Thanks and have a nice day.

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES

In 2002, I said goodbye to my last cohort of A-level students in college. Amongst them are fourth year medical students Nicholas Aw (PMC), Nisha, Danian (University of Queensland), Selena Cheah (IMU), Wei-Lyn (PMC), a few of them who just graduated including Xinch, Nadia, Nicole, Pin Pin, and a few who are still in university including Wei-Zi (NUS final year engineering), Van (Masters in Journalism) and Huey Sian (final year Deakin microbiology/forensics) who visited me this morning.

Without fail, Sian will always visit me each time she comes back to Penang for her vacation and will bring me chocolates :-). The last time she brought me three boxes of liquer chocolates and today, she gave me handmade chocolates and Whittaker's Roasted Almond Gold. Thanks Sian! :-)







Sian is the most level-headed girl I know and it has been a wonderful seven years to get to know her better and to watch her grow into a mature young woman. She could have graduated this year but chose to extend her course to convert her units into a masters degree. Most diligent, Sian helps out at a pharmacy on weekends to get first-hand experience in her field of study.

Right from day one, Sian and I could get along in our General Paper class. Despite encountering many difficulties, she persevered and got through the A-level exam. I was very touched when she told me that she still has all the essays she wrote for me and the lecture notes for my classes.

Naturally, we discussed various issues from IT to guys and I am so happy that Sian is not the type to lose her head or heart over a guy or to be distracted from her desire to excel academically and to do well in her studies. We had a wonderful time chatting away for hours this morning! Thanks for the memories, Sian, and also for the precious moments we can share..

As I enjoy my retirement, I am also touched by the following gifts....I broke down on Tuesday at the eleventh hour when Eugene was about to leave my house for the last time...Here's the lovely Hilly wallet that he gave me. Thanks, Eugene. I love the color and the design. I will miss you lots and Tuesdays will never be the same again...



Elaine, Hobart's mom, gave me these lovely fine bone China mugs..I do not know how she could guess my taste and instinctively know that I collect fine bone china but I truly love the design.....Thanks a lot. I will surely miss Hobart. I wish him the very best as he begins his IB course in KL.

Through the twenty odd years, I have received many farewell gifts from my former students and I have always told them that the greatest gift they can give me would be their homework or an invitation card to their graduation and also their love, friendship and respect through the years.

William Hazlitt once said, "To be capable of steady friendship or lasting love, are the two greatest proofs, not only of goodness of heart, but of strength of mind." I pray that they will move on to build steady friendships with many other people and to find lasting love in their lives.

How time flies! I cannot believe that many of my former students have become parents themselves and are very successful in their own way be it professionally or as home-makers.

As I enjoy my retirement, I often look back to those times spent and am glad that I had the opportunity to impart knowledge, skills and inspiration into their lives. Some kept in touch consistently while for others, we have grown apart and there are some with whom I have lost contact. Whatever the case, each of them have a special place in my heart.

At the moment, I am trying to find my way around to ensure that I do not waste my time on unproductive activities and I cannot believe that there is so much to do each day. By next week, thanks to Mrs. Fan's encouragement, I am going to start my line dancing again LOL!!! At the gym, I used to have a wonderful time during the line dancing classes because I would move in the wrong direction and must confess I was a major distraction in class as I would burst out laughing when I ended up in the opposite direction :-). I do not know what will happen next week but I know I am going to go out and have LOTS of fun and laughter and move it before I cannot groove any more! :-)

In the mean time, here's wishing you a very lovely weekend with your friends and loved ones! Thanks for dropping by. :-)

IF GOD HAD STARTED ADVERTISING...(ppt)

As usual, please wait a while for the slides to upload and then click the arrow to view.

If it takes too long to upload, please click THIS LINK.

Thanks. Have a nice day...

WHY WASTE YOUR LIFE AWAY...?

If we were to keep a record of all the things we worried about during a given period of time, we would discover--in reviewing them--that the great majority of our anticipated problems or troubles never come to pass. This means that most of the time we devote to worrying, even the constructive kind that prompts us to try to come up with a solution to what is troubling us, is wasted. Thus, we not only caused ourself unnecessary mental anguish, but also took up valuable minutes and hours that could have been spent elsewhere.

To avoid this, it is often necessary to subject potential sources of worry to the coldly objective and analytical light of reason. Once, sortly before a major concert before a standing-room- only audience, a member of Arturo Toscanini's orchestra approached the great Italian conductor with an expression of sheer terror on his face. "Maestro," the musician fretted, "my instrument is not working properly. I cannot reach the note of E-flat. Whatever will I do? We are to begin in a few moments."

Toscanini looked at the man with utter amazement. Then he smiled kindly and placed an arm around his shoulders. "My friend," the maestro replied, "Do not worry about it. The note E-flat does not appear anywhere in the music that you will be playing this evening."

The next time we find ourselves in the middle of worrying about some matter, we might be wise to stop and ask ourselves what the odds are of the problem really coming to pass. We may be able to go on to something more constructive.

-- The Waste in Worry by Brad Stevens