My lunch today was at the Gordon Grill hosted by Andre Yeap.
I haven’t been there for about 3 years. The last time I was there was with Sitoh during Covid.
The set meal is good and reasonably priced but there were only 2 tables occupied for lunch. Luckily the restaurant belongs to the hotel so they need not worry about paying rental. Otherwise they just will not survive. And the lack of diners is probably because of the location. It is too far from town and too far to walk from any MRT station. And the car park is just too expensive. For a 2 hour lunch, I paid $15. Ridiculous.
There was good conversation with a nice bottle of wine. We have much in common as all 3 of us have been colleagues for many years. Usually I don’t drink but I made an exception for this good bottle of wine and so I had a small glass. During lunch we realized that all 3 of us were from the same secondary school.. different years.
I met an ex offender today who needed help. He managed to find employment and his employer wanted to pay his salary into a bank account. He opened an account but almost immediately, the bank closed it without providing any reasons. Presumably they found out he is an ex offender.
It’s sad that for an ex offender, so many doors are closed to them. Despite all the talk about rehabilitation,they have difficulties finding employment and being accepted by family, friends and society. They are of course cases where if a bank opens an account for them, they are misused accounts and some for criminal purposes. But having a bank account is critical in today’s life? With everything going cashless how are they going to live and pay for things in today’s world?
I do hope that banks take a sympathetic case by case approach to help them on their path to rehabilitation.
Today I received my 4th volume of the Calvin and Hobbes Compendium. This is supposed to be a 7 part series and I am waiting for the last 3 volumes to complete this collection.
Calvin and Hobbes is very special. It was the first comic I read as an adult. Of course when I was younger I read the usual Archie, Beano, Snoopy, Mad magazine etc. I then stopped reading comics, probably from about the time I was in secondary school.
When I was working in the University, a colleague, Mary Wong, recommended Calvin and Hobbes to me. I had never heard of this book before and she urged me to read it and lent me her volume. This must have been around 1991/92.
I was so fascinated by that 1st volume and I remember asking her where I could buy it. She recommended me a comic shop (that no longer exists) somewhere near Centerpoint. Thereafter I followed up and read all the available volumes and all that came thereafter.
It tells a touching story of a 6 year old boy, Calvin, and his toy tiger, Hobbes, who is a toy to everyone except Calvin. It tells in a very funny way how both see the world and their interactions with adults and other kids.
It is difficult to put into words the effect each comic strip will have on you, and like Mary Wong did to me, I will just urge you to try it.
What was so interesting is that the author Bill Watterson was so frustrated by the commercialism in the comic book industry that he stopped writing the comic after 10 years. So this comic ran from Nov 18 1985 to Dec 31 1995. He also did not allow any merchandising of his comic strip. So unlike every other comic, you will not find prints, toys or games for Calvin and Hobbes. He also did not allow his comics to be put into any other media form and so you will not find cartoons or movie versions of this comic.
So I have pieces signed by Charles Schulz and Hanna Barbera of their comic or cartoon characters but nothing by him, except the book itself.
I can imagine the strength and the integrity involved in him giving up these opportunities to make money. One estimate puts it at about 300 to 400 million dollars that he gave up by not allowing commercialisation. He is apparently living a quiet life with his family, content with the work he created. He did not do any more comics after that.
I have collected all of his books, including a limited edition hardcover copy.
Tonight was the golden jubilee celebrations and fund raising dinner of SIFAS. It was a last minute invite by DBS to sit at their table. I didn’t know anyone at the table and no one appeared to be talking at that table. All in all a rather boring table.
I have come across this society when I was growing up. Perhaps my sister took some dancing lessons there when she was very young? Or I attended their concerts?
They conduct Indian classical music and dance lessons and over the years many students have gone through their doors. They arrange performances for their students and teachers and performances by artists from India. One in particular was by the legendary late U Srinivas.
Tonight’s dinner was at Global Indian International School at Punggol. I have not been to that area but it was a huge and impressive campus. The event was graced by President Tharman who gave a short delightful impromptu speech.
The opening performance was so so and a bit too long. Pity. Perhaps it was the sound system? The food was only average. Sounded fancier on paper than how it actually tasted.
Traditionally the arts have always been the domain of the well to do. They had the time and money to indulge in it and they could encourage their children to learn and practice the arts. With their wealth, they have also been the patrons of arts and culture. To a large extent the arts have been kept alive by them, to which we must be grateful.
I do however hope that they can reach out to more Indians in Singapore, especially those who are not well off. I accept it is difficult to indulge in arts and culture when you are trying to earn a living just to make ends meet and feed the family. But it would be a pity if the younger ones don’t get the opportunity to at least learn or even know a bit of the arts and the culture that they belong to.
The video of the history of the society showed that it was started by some well off Indians who wanted their sons and daughters to learn Indian classical music and dance. Their children and grandchildren have continued this tradition. The expat Indian community, which is generally better off, was well represented at the dinner and many of their children are probably the ones who participate in these classes. Not sure how many Indians outside of this group participate in their activities and how welcoming they are of them.
I thought it was a pity that the society, which has lasted 75 years, didn’t acquire premises of their own earlier when properties were affordable so that they have a permanent home. They are still leasing premises from the Government on short term leases.
My neighbor called me and excitedly informed me that she found an old photo which had my father and her father next to each other. I went over to look and indeed my father was in the picture. I later confirmed with my mother that this was a photo probably taken some time in the early 1960s. All of them in the photo were either tamil school principals or teachers together with 2 inspectors for tamil schools. This photo was taken in the bygone era when there were Tamil schools catering to the Tamils in Singapore. There were numerous primary schools all over the island and one secondary school, which was the Umar Pullavar Tamil school.
My parents were both tamil teachers. My father was a teacher at Kalaimagal Tamil school from 1955 to 1960, then a principal at Barathithasan Tamil school from 1960 to 1974, when the school shut down. My mother was initially a student at Sarathadevi Tamil school for a year. She then did her teachers’ training, which in those days was conducted in Johore Bahru on a Saturday and became a teacher at the same school. She then moved to Umur Pullavar Tamil school. Thereafter tamil schools in Singapore ceased to exist and all the tamil teachers became tamil second language teachers in English medium schools.
I remember waiting for my father at his school which was at the Henderson/Alexander area. It was a single storey building with one classroom per level. There used to be a big field next to the school. On the other side was a dispensary/clinic. It was surrounded on all sides by city council houses, which were single level houses.
My mother’s school was at Norris road and I remember waiting with my father for her school to finish to pick her up. Sarathadevi Tamil school was at the end of Norris road. At the front end of Norris road was Vivekananda boys school.
I recognised some others in that picture. Some of them were my Tamil teachers in primary school.
During my primary school days from 1969 to 1974, my school did not have tamil teachers. So those taking Tamil as a second language had to attend classes on Saturday mornings from 8 am to 1 pm. Tamil teachers from other schools would come to my school on that day to teach us. I remember my own father going on Saturdays to Pulau Blakang Mati (now Sentosa) to teach Tamil at a school there
Covid now seems like something that happened a long time ago. People have forgotten the immense impact it had on people, their health and their livelihoods. I remember how badly shut downs affected everyone. People also have forgotten the good social lessons taught during that period such as washing hands, wearing a mask when unwell and covering your nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing.
Anyway on the Sunday I visited the Meenakshi Amman Temple, my driver from the hotel was David Raj.
The extent of his knowledge and the way he spoke gave me the impression that he was well educated. He was well mannered, well dressed, had a smile and spoke with a gentle voice. As we were driving, he pointed out to me the all important sites in Madurai and gave me its historical context. He knew Madurai and its history well.
On the day I was checking out, we spoke briefly in the lobby and it was then that I found out that he used to be an entrepreneur and owned a thriving tour business. He owned several cars and hired drivers to ferry guests to tourist spots.
When Covid stuck in 2020, tourism in Madurai collapsed. With no income, he lost his cars to the finance companies as he couldn’t continue paying the monthly repayments. He and his family had no income during that period.
When the hotel was about to open last year they advertised for drivers. He applied for the job as he needed an income to support his family.
He looked calm and smiling as he spoke. Despite having lost everything he had built up over the years and transported from being the owner of a business employing drivers to now becoming a driver himself, he was sanguine.
I truly admire people like him who pick themselves up, give off their best and smile despite any adversity.
My pick up time for the airport had been arranged for 1130am on the Wednesday morning. I was ready to fall asleep on Tuesday night, the lights were all off and I was comfortably tucked into the blanket when I felt my phone vibrate ( I set my phone to vibration mode before I sleep every night). It was a good friend from Singapore and he wanted me very much to visit this temple before I left Madurai. He rearranged my pick up time to 1030am and so yesterday morning I visited this temple.
This is a local temple well known to the people of Madurai but no one else outside Madurai seems to know about this place. Even on the internet, there is only a brief reference to it. However the local people I spoke to all knew this place and said that it was a very special place. They believe that Pandi Muneeswaran is none other than the Pandian King, called Nedunchezhiyan, who ruled Madurai a long time ago during the time of Kanaki and Kovalan, all of whom are referenced in the epic Silapathikaram.
The temple was only a short distance from my hotel and so after checking out and en route to the airport I visited this place. It’s a small temple off the main street. You cannot see it from the main road. The place around the temple was vibrant. There is no paved road to the temple. On the way in there are many shops selling flowers, fruits and books. The entire area seems to be catered to the temple and the devotees coming there. Even on a Wednesday 11 am the place and the temple was bustling.
I left my shoes in the car. I walked on the unpaved pathway and I was received at the temple entrance. I was brought in to do a very special darshan and I was garlanded.
This clearly is a powerful deity.
Sometimes things happen for a reason. Clearly there was a reason I picked up the call on vibrate mode before I slept and rearranged my timing so I could come here.
As my driver, John David, was driving me to Uthirakosamangai yesterday, he informed me that he was a Sri Lankan Tamil refugee living in a refugee camp in Madurai. I have heard about these refugees before but this is the first time I actually spoke to one.
Fighting between the Tamils, who are concentrated in the North and East of Sri Lanka and the Sinhalese majority started from the late 1950s initially as a result of the language policy which made Sinhalese the national language and it was compulsory to know Sinhalese for any government job. The Sinhalese majority felt that they had been marginalized by the British in their own country and needed to take over. This was followed by other economic policies marginalizing the Tamils.
Many Tamils, some very capable ones, left the country. They went everywhere. Quite a number went to Canada and others to Europe. Norway, I know, has a large Tamil community. During that time, the more well off and educated ones left.
As the war intensified, a number of Tamils fearing the fighting, fled to Tamil Nadu in India. This started in the early 1980s. MGR was the Chief Minister then provided them with refugee status. MGR was sympathetic to the Tamils from Sri Lanka since he himself was born in Sri Lanka. The refugees in the early 1980s managed to get citizenship when he was still Chief Minister. He died in 1987.
My driver told me that his parents fled to Tamil Nadu in 1990. They were initially housed in a main refugee camp and then transferred to one of the many camps throughout Tamil Nadu. He himself was born here in 1992.
They have to live inside their designated camp. There is a roll call twice a month when the government officers will come into the camp to ensure that they are in the camps. They are given a monthly allowance of 1000 rupees by the Government and are allowed to work. Most of them, he told me, are daily rated workers doing manual jobs. Because of their refugee status, there is a limited number of jobs and opportunities available to them. They are no longer given citizenship by the Indian government. They cannot travel anywhere because they have no passport. My driver has been living in the camp since he was born in 1992. He doesn’t want to go back to Sri Lanka as he has nothing there for him anymore. The only work available there is in either agriculture or fishing and he has no experience or expertise in either. His only wish is that his children will get Indian citizenship.
With John David
There are about 132 refugee camps in Tamil Nadu and each camp houses about 300 to 500 families. So there would be about 300,000 to 500,000 Tamil refugees in Tamil Nadu.
It is sad that they have had to flee their own country because of war and politics and live in another country. I was however happy to see that they were housed in a proper home, allowed to work and provided a stipend for their meals by another country. It is also good to see that the Tamils in Tamil Nadu did not push back against their presence by arguing that they were being funded with tax payer monies and taking away their jobs. Good for them!
After the visit to the Uthirakosamangai temple, the driver suggested that we visit Rameswaram. This town is another 80 km away from the temple and it is famous for the Rameswaram Temple. I thought since I have covered more than half the distance already, I might as well visit the town and the temple.
Over the years my grandfather and my mother have often suggested a visit to this temple every time I visit India. Back then, the roads were not so good and I never wanted to travel for about 4 hours to see this or any temple. It was strange that this time I was receptive and actually looking forward to it.
Rameswaram Temple is another famous old temple. It is dedicated to Lord Shiva and it is said that Rama stopped and prayed at this temple on his way to Sri Lanka to rescue Sita.
The drive to Rameswaram was interesting because on the left side you can see waters of the Bay of Bengal and on the right is the Indian Ocean and you can see where they finally meet. Quite fascinating and the waters looked clean and blue!
Strangely Rameswaram temple, which is in the town of Rameswaram, is not on the land mass of India but on another island called Pamban Island. This island is connected to the mainland by the Pamban bridge.
Rameswaram temple is visited by tens of thousands of people every day and mostly by North Indians. My driver noted that there has been a huge increase in the number of North Indians visiting Rameswaram temple after Covid. The road going towards the temple is a single lane road, and typical of Tamil Nadu roads, was congested.
It is a magnificent temple and the queue waiting to go in was so very long. I paid for a special darshan and therefore got to go in front and offer prayers. After walking around the temple a bit I left. I did feel very sorry for the people who did not pay for any special darshans. They were giving about one to two seconds in front of the deity and they were continuously asked to move on. This after waiting for about an hour or so.
Standing in front of temple View of the Gopuram The hallways of the temple The hallways of the temple
I then visited another shrine nearby, which is said to bear the footprints of Rama. It’s a small shrine up on a hill and the view there is nice because you can see all of Rameswaram.
Shrine for Rama’s footprints
Finally I visited the Villondi Theerttam. This is the place where it is said Rama struck his vill into the land to obtain water for Sita. I walked out onto the pier and I could see that the waters of the Bay of Bengal were crystal clear. I tasted the water from the Theerttam and it was slightly salty.
So I can now say that I have finally been to Rameswaram!!
daily musings 