Dear Dr Lee, First of all, allow me to congratulate you on a most valiant attempt to inject life and laughter into a parliamentary session in Singapore after all that sombreness over NS training deaths, leaked HIV data and the default postponement of CPF withdrawal at 65. Like most Singaporeans, I never watch the telecast […]

Story A This happened 30 years ago. A friend of mine was working in a government agency. It was his first job. One evening, as he was about to leave his office after all the counters had closed, he spotted a member of the public loitering on the premises. He immediately confronted her and asked […]

It has been 9 years since I travelled alone to Vietnam and China during Chinese New Year, leaving my family behind. It was a therapeutic trip. My thoughts and feelings back then are still fresh in my mind. It’s as if every Chinese New Year is a reminder. Things are a bit different this year. […]

In the wake of NSman Aloysius Pang’s death, historian and well-known government critic Dr Thum Ping Tjin made a scathing remark that may raise a few eyebrows. Inhumane? Well, yes. But let’s not tar everyone under the system with the same brush. There are many caring and even altruistic people around. Trouble is, these folks […]

Aloysius Pang is gone. He died after sustaining serious injuries to his chest and abdomen during a Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) training exercise in New Zealand. According to the Chief of Army, Aloysius Pang, who held the rank of Corporal First Class, was crushed when a gun barrel in the SSPH howitzer (Singapore Self-propelled Howitzer) […]

Some 6-7 years ago, many people in Singapore envied me for living in Punggol. There was a lot of publicity about Punggol being a place that will bring the kampung back to urban living. After an initial 10 years of neglect, Punggol was suddenly very happening. An ambitious project was launched to link and dam […]

This is a true story with some of the details changed/invented. I first met F when she was a little girl in P5. She was my neighbour’s daughter, a cocky, wilful and mischievous child who was always making fun of the other kids at the playground. Her mother worked long hours as an assistant at […]

It has been a little more than 2 weeks since our return from Incredible India. The kids are back in school and still recovering from the harsh assault on all their senses. Even I can’t help feeling that I’m still in India when I walk past a playground here in Punggol. So why India? Quite […]

It’s finally 2019 and as a custom, I’m writing another installment of Looking Back in Wonder. There is always something to say when we bid farewell to one year and usher in a new year. Some will say that time flies and I’ve always thought that people say that when they don’t have anything memorable […]