Author: CMR.sg

I have always been fascinated by Persian carpets. In the early 1990s, there used to be regular carpet auctions in Singapore on weekends by several dealers. These were held  in hotels and each auction would feature about 80 to 100 pieces. You would view the pieces on a Saturday and the auction would be on the Sunday.

So I used to view the carpets, talk to the dealers and attend these auctions for many years.  I learnt so much about carpets like the manner of weaving these wonderful carpets, the different styles, patterns and motifs of the different regions, the difference between silk and wool carpets and the difference between tribal and modern pieces. Some of them, especially from the Isphahan region were so beautiful.  Some were even signed by the master weavers. I believe these auctions ended about the time of the Asian currency crisis around 1997.

Over the years I have collected a few carpets and they have been in my storage for some years now.

Over the weekend, I came across an auction by a famous Japanese auction house of 2 Persian carpets which are really special.

These 2 Kashan handmade carpets are silk pieces and they were specially commissioned by the then Empresses Farah of Iran. They are signed and inscribed and were presented as a state gift by the Shah and Empress of Iran to the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1976/77. They were presented on the occasion of the changing of the Iranian calendar year by the Shah. He decided that the Iranian year should commence from the time Emperor Cyrus started his rule in 559BCE instead of the then starting point of 622 CE. This was done in 1976 and the Iranian calendar year that year was suddenly changed to 2535. There was an uproar in Iran when this decision was made and it coincided with the general unrest that was happening about this time in Iran. The Government reversed this decision in 1978 and the Iranian year reverted to what it was pre 1976.

Each carpet has 720,000 knots per sqm.

These 2 pieces came up for auction in Japan and I purchased them. I had to pay more than the upper estimate for them but for such provenance I thought it was worth it. Never will I find these again.

For the record, in 1979, soon after this state gift was made, the Shah and the Empress were deposed and they fled to the US.

There was news yesterday that Syed Harun, who was a Nominated Member of Parliament, had resigned before the end of his term. The intense speculation is that he will be running as a PAP candidate in the upcoming elections probably in May.

There is some criticism about this news because it is said the NMP scheme was intended to identify independent and non partisan citizens to be in Parliament and speak their mind. It is said that having appointed them as NMP and immediately fielding them as a PAP candidate without any cooling off period might end up discrediting this scheme.

I do understand this argument. But I can also understand why a new PM would want the best people on his team. He would have observed them as NMPs and then decided that they are capable and that their hearts are in the right place and invited them to stand.  He would want to give them an opportunity to serve in a larger capacity rather than simply disappear after the end of their term as a NMP. Ultimately it is better that the best people are put up to serve. To not tap on them simply on the ground that they were once an NMP is like shooting oneself in the foot.

I must say I had the opportunity to meet up with Harun last November. I was given his name and I invited him to a dinner without knowing him. We messaged each other and he graciously accepted my invite. He then called me and suggested we meet for breakfast. That turned out to be a lovely 2 hour session. We met at a cafe in Kampong Glam. I enjoyed talking to him and found him sound, intelligent and a very likeable person. He comes from a humble background and he has a genuine interest in helping people. We shared similar interests and views on a range of topics. He is a people person, is likeable and would do well as a Member of Parliament and serve his residents.

Last night at our Club 100 dinner, I caught up with Robert Tay who worked with me some 20 years ago. He joined us as a pupil in 2003 and stayed with us for a few years doing good work. He left us after his son was born as he wanted to spend more time with his son. I remember him telling me that when he and his sisters were growing up, his regret was that his father was always so busy that he never spent time at home and with them and he did not want to be like his dad. His father was Dr Tay Eng Soon who was a Minister back in the days of LKY.

Even then Robert was IT savvy and he now works for the Government.

I introduced him to Foong Daw Ching yesterday and Daw Ching immediately remarked that Singapore should be so grateful to Dr Tay because he was instrumental in focussing on adult education and starting VITB, the precursor to our present day ITE.

Robert reminded me that when his son was born, he had brought him to the office and the boy sat on my lap in my office back in the days we were at the Bank of China office. He also sent me 2 photographs of that day! That boy is now in medical school.

How time has flown!

Tonight was our Club 100 dinner. It was at the National Gallery and this was the first time we were having our dinner there.

We have been around since 2008 and this is our 17th year of existence.

We have raised about $20 million and helped close to 200,000 households in the North West district.

Many thanks to all the donors over the years and to everyone in the organizing committee and the team at NWCDC for making this event a huge success!!

This morning was breakfast with a group of good friends I have known since 1979. We met in ACJC and we were a part of a cell group. We were very close then. However after JC we didn’t meet much. Lina Wong left for the US to study there and eventually married there and still lives there. Glacy and Yin Yoke and I were also busy with other things.

We now make it a point to meet at least once a year when  Lina comes here to visit her mum, usually during CNY

Amazing that we have been friends for about 46 years!!

Breakfast was at Sonders. The food was good and we had the whole place to ourselves.

I had a lunch scheduled today and so at 8am I messaged him to confirm the venue. He then informs me that he is feeling unwell and can we reschedule to next week.

I had another lunch scheduled for tomorrow and I found out from his colleagues that he was having stomach flu. I had to message him and he confirmed that he was sick and whether we could reschedule.

Wonder why people aren’t more proactive when they are not feeling well in rescheduling their meal appointments. These were fixed some time ago and I had to turn down other appointments because these had already been scheduled.

Guess sometimes common courtesy and decency cannot always be taken for granted…

I was driving slowly across Serangoon Road at about 630 am this morning and I saw some devotees carrying kavadis walking on the road surrounded by a crowd of people. Today is Thaipusam.

It’s on for a full day and the devotees walk from Perumal temple in Serangoon Road to Murugan temple in Tank Road. It’s actually a very long walk. Some walk carrying pots and others carry kavadis with their bodies and tongues pierced. On top of this, some pull a chariot. It’s quite an amazing sight for an onlooker.

When I was young and staying in Queenstown, my parents would bring me to watch the kavadis and we would walk along the streets and in particular visit a Sivan temple on Orchard road. This temple no longer exists and on it now stands the Dhoby Ghaut MRT station.

It’s always a festive occasion and good weather is important for both the devotees who walk the distance, their families walking with them and the onlookers.

I had a friend who messaged me earlier this morning sending Thaipusam greetings. He was helping out distributing food from 10pm yesterday to 2 am this morning and was going back this evening to walk the entire route again.

So wonderful to have volunteers like him helping to make the event a success!

A colleague and very good friend just informed me this morning as I was having coffee at Joe and Dough that she is expecting identical twins in August!

She already has a daughter now aged two and soon it will become a trio. Good for them. I also know the husband and he’s overjoyed though he is currently skiing in Japan!

We have had many talks in the past about education for her daughter and if Singapore school system is the best. Now she will have to contend with providing education for 3. And the challenge also will be to manage her growing family and the demands of a challenging practice.

Today was the consecration ceremony for the Sri Siva Krishna temple at Marsiling.

I had made a small donation to them to help them complete the construction of the adjoining hall some 2 years back. Pleasantly surprised to receive an invite last week to attend their ceremony today morning.

I had to park by 715 am and walked barefooted for about 200 m to the temple. Although the ceremony was only scheduled at 9am I decided to come early as I was worried about finding car parking.

About 10,000 people were present and since the temple is in Marsiling GRC, the PM came as the guest.

They had so many volunteers helping out and they were on hand to  hand out water to anyone who needed a drink. Well organized!

Tonight was the concert at Singapore expo hall 7.

Lots of cars entering the car park and people waiting to enter the Hall but the crowd was well managed. I managed to park my car fairly quickly and although there was a long queue waiting to enter the hall, the line moved quickly.

Tonight was also the night I had tickets for Sunset Boulevard starring Sarah Brightman at MBS. I had bought those tickets some time ago but I had to give that up cos I really wanted to come for this.

A 4 hour concert. He sang a few songs himself but what was amazing was that he stood on the stage for the full 4 hours. At the age of 82! Sometimes I wonder what I would be doing if I get to the age. Some people do have remarkable lives

I felt that the sound at Star Theater for the 2018 concert was better. The instrumentation then was also better. I think they were better rehearsed then. Also the songs then were more familiar to me. Also the last concert featured some very established singers like Mano and Chitra. This time the quality of the singers was rather average.

Still, apart from the songs I was not familiar with, the other songs were the ones I know and like and they brought back good memories. Good that “machanai parthingala” from Annakili, the song that made him famous from his first movie was performed.

A very memorable evening!