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Woke up this morning to the news that the Pope is in critical condition. He had been unwell for about a week with respiratory illness.  Although just 2 days ago the news was that he was getting better.

I am not Catholic. I am not sure I now believe much in organized religion. Religion is something between you and whatever God or power you believe in. Being part of an organized religious group doesn’t help you become a better person. Religion has been the source of so much conflict, suffering and pain in this world over the years. There is conflict within religious groups and between the religious groups. So many people, over the centuries, have died in the name of religion. So I can understand why John Lennon in 1973 used the phrase “imagine no religion” in his most memorable song. I wonder how much better the human race would have been if we didn’t have the various religions separating us. Well anyway that’s not going to happen anytime soon…

Still Pope Francis was the first Argentinian, in fact the first South American, to become Pope. As an institution the papacy has lasted some 2000 years. Of course not all the Popes over the years were good or did anything meaningful and in fact some were very controversial. Nevertheless the papacy must be the only institution that can claim such a long traceable lineage.

The Pope visited Singapore in September last year. I am grateful that I was invited to attend the Mass he conducted at the National Stadium. I went and it was a lovely occasion and I was happy to have been there.

I decided to visit this place this morning as it was recommended. They are supposed to do fresh seafood at reasonable prices.

It’s a fresh seafood market together with fresh vegetables and fruits and a small supermarket. They do have lots of sushi, different types of sashimi including whale meat and cooked seafood. The only setback is that for some unfathomable reason, they only take cash and there is no sitting area. You have to stand and eat whatever you purchase in the cold weather. That doesn’t allow for a pleasant eating experience or a high class dining feel. Not sure I will go there again. The restaurant prices are just slightly more expensive but more pleasurable!

The PM and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong read out the budget on 18 February.

I had to give via WhatsApp and email my comments and views on the budget.

I also sent an email to the PM re the budget and this afternoon he replied to me.

It’s a budget that provides lots of handouts to citizens. The giving of handouts started sometime ago but this being an election year, the handouts appeared more generous.

Sometimes I wonder where this will end. Once you start giving, there is an expectation on the part of the recipients that there will be handouts every year and each year would be more than the last year. If that is no longer possible, I wonder what the consequences will be.

Already some people are commenting that the handouts were not generous enough and they expected more.

It is indeed sad that hard earned tax revenue is given out this way by way of rebates and vouchers. Do these cash vouchers across the board to everyone really help anyone? Are we helping the needy in a meaningful manner by giving out cash? Do payments across the board to everyone achieve any fiscal objectives? Are we becoming a socialist state? In any case, would giving out money to all indiscriminately constitute a socialist state?

I also think our people are starting to become entitled. In the past, such cash handouts were never given. Somehow I wonder if we have started to pander to our people too much. Once pandering starts, it will never end and woe betide the government if the people think they didn’t get enough.

Unfortunately I feel MPs started to pander to their residents some 15 years back. House visits, meet the people sessions and bending over backwards to cater to each and every need. Now the way they treat MPs is transactional. They view MPs as being there to do things for them and if they do not get what they want, they get upset.

I am not at all sure this is a healthy state of affairs for the long term especially with the myriad of long term issues facing the country. The list I sent to the PM included the high cost of living here, high public property prices (private property prices are out of reach for most of our people now and landed property prices are completely out of hand), ensuring good employment prospects for our young people, ensuring social mobility for our people, ensuring constant upgrading of skills of our people to keep up with the latest technology changes, healthcare costs and its implications for an ageing society and in what areas will Singapore excel long term and what our position will be in this new world.

Had afternoon tea at this place today. I have seen this place and their menu before but I  have never been here.

I must say, after trying it today, that it is a superb afternoon tea at very reasonable prices.

The eggs tarts were superb and the afternoon tea set was wonderful.

Highly recommended!!

I first saw cherry blossoms in 1986 in Washington DC USA. I went there for a moot competition in April 1986 and the streets were lined with these beautiful cherry blossoms. Then I didn’t know what they were and didn’t have a camera to take pictures although I remember thinking they were beautiful.

Seeing cherry blossoms are a big thing in Japan and people spend lots of  time trying to predict the exact dates of their bloom and book accommodations. Hotel rates soar during the period.

Surprisingly I found out that they have cherry blossoms in Taiwan but they bloom from January to March. Lucky to catch a few this time!

This is the 3rd time I have come to Beitou.

Lovely mountainous area with white sulphur hot springs about 45 minutes from Taipei city.

There are a number of resorts here with their own hot spring baths in the room and they are very popular in the winter months. These white sulphur hot springs are only found here in Beitou and in parts of Japan.

I try and visit Beitou  once a year for the hot springs. Whilst here, I discovered a very good Michelin starred Chinese restaurant. Simple and good and they don’t over stuff you with their set meals. This time I noticed they have also added a la carte menu items.

Beitou used to be a popular place for the Japanese before the Second World War. They used to live here in large numbers, built japanese style houses and operated hot springs. So they have many well preserved houses and gardens here.

Even now there are many japanese style houses they have preserved well and operate as museums.

Also saw more cherry blossoms!

This morning I found out that Glenn Knight had passed away aged 80.

This man was the first director of CAD, one of the most feared organisations in Singapore when I was studying law. Every one had heard of him and he was acknowledged as a top lawyer. He was even handpicked by LKY to act as counsel in a few matters. He was a larger than life character during his time.

I had the chance to interact with him once in 1986. I was on a PSC scholarship tied to the Police Force and I wanted so much to be able to transfer it to the CAD. I spoke to a few people about it and eventually Eleanor Wong, who was then working at the CAD, arranged for me to meet up with him. I cannot recall where it was but it was at a function. I was introduced to him and had a brief chat with him. He was friendly and he readily agreed to my transfer but PSC refused to release me and so I never went to CAD to work under him.

He then got into trouble in 1991. Some speculated that it was because he started an investigation into LKY’s brother Dennis Lee Kim Yew and Oei Hong Leong in regards to the shares of UIC. That was his downfall. The case against him appeared to be a totally contrived one. Later that year Richard Hu as Finance Minister made a statement in Parliament that the SES had investigated and determined that there was no insider dealing in UIC shares.

At that time this happened, he was the President of the ACSOBA. He decided to step down and his VP David Wong Chin Huat asked me to be on standby in case there was any trouble at that upcoming AGM. That was the year I joined the OBA. Fortunately nothing happened that year and the next year I was co-opted by David Wong into the MC. That started my involvement in ACS.

He was a pale shadow of his former self after that. He suffered both physically and financially. I know Tan Sri Tan Chin Tuan helped him out quite a bit during that difficult period. Many of his friends who used to hang around him in large numbers also disappeared when he was facing difficulties.

Even when I bumped into him in the later years, he looked weak. We exchanged greetings but didn’t say much as I didn’t have much in common with him but it was always a pleasure for me to see him and greet him.

I last saw him at the 2024 ACS Founders Day dinner, one which he made a point to always turn up for.

Rest in Peace Glenn.

I arrived in Taipei last evening. Always a lovely city to visit. Nice people, clean streets and very good food. Not just good but very reasonably priced.

It was cool/ cold when I arrived but since I haven’t been able anywhere cold for sometime, it was a refreshing change from the hot and humid Singapore weather!

They have great cafes,  vegetarian food and now Korean food and am looking forward to that today!

Everyone tells me about their great street food. I have till now not visited a single night market. Let’s see if that changes…ps nope… Didn’t go

Cherry blossoms are slowly coming out….

I was on the plane en route to Taiwan and waiting for my lunch when I came across a documentary ABBA: Against the Odds on Kris World.

It’s an examination of their years between 1974 with their winning song Waterloo at the Eurovision Song Contest and ending with their final album Super Trooper. It focused on their rise to fame despite the fact that many people initially put them down for being a cheesey pop band, especially in their own home country Sweden. Their various albums and tours were covered showcasing their successful Australia tours and the final Wembley stadium sold out concerts.

ABBA was a group comprising 2 sets of young talented couples very much in love who produced great songs for the world to enjoy. The music was amazing and the lyrics, especially those of their later songs were thought provoking reflecting on what was happening in their own lives during that period. The 2 female voices were beautiful.

It is also a study of how their marriages came apart as a result of the stresses of fame, success and traveling. Since their split neither the 2 guys as songwriters or the 2 girls as singers achieved the same or any level of success. The 2 guys wrote a musical called Chess. It had some good songs but it was totally confusing as a musical and it didn’t do well at all. I cannot recall anything else they have done.

Even now,  after all these years,  the songs sound great. Truly evergreen and they have stood the test of time.

I never had the opportunity to see them perform live since they had disbanded in 1980. Fortunately someone put together the musical Mamma Mia which features many of their songs. I have seen this musical a few times and have always enjoyed the live show. It was subsequently made into a movie. The  movie was also good though the singing in the movie could have been better.

I will always remember listening to ABBA songs in the car which were on a cassette tape when my father used to drive me back to my army camp on Sunday night in 1981. There were very few English songs my father knew and liked. ABBA was one of the very few.

Wonderful memories!

Pritam Singh, the Leader of the Opposition was convicted of 2 charges of lying under oath.

Everyone I know so far is of the view that this prosecution appears to be politically motivated and the verdict was timed to come out just before the GE to discredit the opposition. They ask how the court can convict someone on the basis of the evidence of a  woman who has admitted that she is a liar without any independent evidence.

Unfortunately I think this verdict is only going to anger many people and make the WP even more popular.

We shall see…