Dedicated Toastmasters

From left the lady in orange blouse (clockwise) : Chin Mei Har (SRC Toastmasters)
Ng Cher Khim (Toastmasters Club of Singapore )
Saint Yi Htet (Toastmasters Club of Singapore )
Magdalene Yew (Bedok Toastmasters)
Ong May Yan
Aziz Mustajab (Civil Service Toastmasters)
Cynthia Zhai (Frontier Toastmasters)
Michael Rodrigues (SRC Toastmasters)
Elizabeth Thorarajoo (Ngee Ann Polytechnic Toastmasters)
Linda Lam (Civil Service Toastmasters)
Rosalind Tan
Christopher Yeow (Bedok Toastmasters)
Anne Marie Gutierrez (SRC Toastmasters)

A good morning to you, my dear readers. Here is Choo Choo wishing all my readers a great Sunday morning at Singapore time 8.00.m. This is the last Sunday of the year, being 30th December 2007. In this reminiscent mood, I want to recall the happenings in 2007, and in a short while, I will be going to church service nearby my apartment to give my thanksgiving to the great Almighty God.

I want to thank God for 2007. Frankly, the highlight for 2007 for me is the toastmasters' movement. It was great fun visiting various clubs in Singapore as well as in Kuching. I thank God for the many learning opportunities. I would go back from every meeting, having learnt something precious. It was sheer delight meeting all the interesting and eloquent toastmasters in various clubs.

I am glad I am able to participate as a volunteer in the Speech Crafts at Changi Prison. I am impressed with all the volunteer toastmasters. They are a compassionate and caring group of people. At the last meeting, I was very touched that Cynthia Zhai from the Frontiers Toastmasters' Club went back all the way to her home in Jurong West because she had forgotten to bring her pass.! She rushed back all the way to be in time for the final meeting and celebration. Cynthia had touched the hearts of the inmates by her committment and dedication. She sang "Yeh Liang Tai Piau Wo Terh Xin" (The Moon Represents My Heart) a Mandarin song made popular by the late Teresa Teng.

After the meeting, we had a sumptuous lunch at the neary SIA Club. Rosalind and May Yan are not yet toastmasters, but they are very dedicated volunteers. It will be a matter of time before they too will join a club. Rosalind baked a tangerine cake to share with everyone. It is the best cake I have eaten. Rosalind shared that she had taken half a day to bake this cake! I always love home cooked food, because it is always the tastiest for it is cooked with love.

2007 has been a fruitful year for me because of my time management. Despite being very active in toastmasters' I have managed to do well in my real estate work. I have also managed to spend time with my siblings and relatives in Malaysia. Somehow my multi-tasking has improved tremendously! I cook or clean the apartment and listen to music at the same time; watch television programs and exercise simultaneously. I still find time to cook, do gardening and help to walk my neighbour's two dogs, etc. Indeed it has been a fruitful year for me.

I hope 2007 has been a good year for all, and I pray that God will bless everyone with another great year in 2008! Cheers!

Depleting the World's Resources

All the current tenants have to move to other premises.

Most of the tenants will move to Tekka Mall

The Concourse , a magnificent building - to be taken down!

I decided to go to Beach Road to book my bus ticket to Penang. It cost me S$61 for a twenty seater bus. However, if I were to book just a day later, ie. 1st February, the ticket would be double in price eg. S$120! Amazing how transport companies try to capitalise on the Chinese New Year Celebration! After purchasing my ticket, I decided to go to the Concourse to buy some gift wrappers. To my surprise, I learnt that all the tenants have to vacate in a few months as the whole building will be taken down! Enbloc!

Enbloc! The word with a double-edged sword. A dreaded word for some but music to the ears for the one who reaps huge profits. For me, where enbloc is concerned I am happy if the building is really old. As an agent, while enbloc implies a higher selling price for my clients, and hence a higher commission for me, yet I still feel sad, especially if the building is still quite new....less than 20 years. Look at my photos. Does not Concourse look quite beautiful and new.? The steel rims and banisters still look bright and shining! The design is quite unique and spectacular, one of its only kind in Singapore!

When I was in Taipeh and Taichung, I was surprised to find many old buildings still intact. Though Taiwan does not have many new buildings, yet the country is quite clean because the people are quite disciplined in their disposal of garbage. Recyling is quite stringently carried out, with everyone happily participating in this drive to conserve and preserve, and by and large, help to save the earth. In Singapore, buildings come down faster than you can sing, "We wish you a merry Christmas!"

Of course, we can understand that Singapore has limited land, and hence buildings must go enbloc to make way for even taller buildings. But surely, some things can be done to preserve some of more unusual architectural designs.

I hope that the demolishers will attempt to recycle the debris of steel, glass, stone, sand, wood, etc.

I am not an authority but somehow, I feel that it is not right to just build and demolish, buy something and make it into a white elephant, and in brief just waste, waste, waste! I remember that in the Bible it was written that after Jesus had fed the crowd, He instructed his 12 disicples to go around to pick up the remnants of food which filled 12 baskets. If Jesus, being the miracle working God who could turn two fish and five loaves to feed a multitude, was so careful about wastage, who are we to think that we could just throw, discard and waste as if there is no tomorrow?

Alas there are many more tomorrows! Let us all do our little part to rethink and recycle and to help save the earth, so that the world will still be beautiful and abundant for our younger generations.

Gan Chau

Christmas in Johore

With my lovely and lively grand-nieces

Home cell cum Christmas party at Dea's home in Johore

Magic show by a clown in church

Christmas celebration at a church member's home. Dea and
youngest daughter, Gloria and my eldest sis on the extreme
right.


This is my first Christmas celebration in Johore. My nephew is now working in Johore, and his mum is visiting. Hence I have been going back and forth to Johore the past few weeks. Thank God that it is only about one hour's ride from my apartment here. Bus 170 will take me directly to Johore and my niece-in-law would pick me up from Kota Raya Bus Station. I would try to go to Johore during the off peak period, but December is one of the busiest months, as schools in Malaysia and Singapore are closed for the year end holidays. Hence, many holiday makers cross over the Causeway.

I like Johoreans. They are cordial, patient and less-hurried than Singaporeans. Sometimes the people in Johore mistake me to be a Malay. It helps to confirm when I too speak with them in Malay.

Of course the best part is shopping as things are somewhat cheaper, especially given our exchange rate. I try to contain my excitement beneath a veneer of calmness. Singaporeans are recognised when they go around sounding like some canaries when they go "cheap, cheap, cheap!"

Though it is somewhat tedious to travel in and out of the Causeway, I enjoy myself, as my four active grandnieces are very lovable and entertaining. They are very bright and their grandma enjoys coaching them. It is interesting to see the youngest Gloria, switching from one language to another as she speaks in English, Mandarin, Malay and Hokkien. At two, she even teaches the maid how to turn on the computer and VCD! Today's kids are so precocious!