La Salle 5 Arts 1, 1989 Class reunion 22nd August 2008

There's just something wonderful and special about reunions, a gathering of people that has common past experiences and memories. This was especially true for my class reunion last Friday at A&W Jalan Timur.

I would have preferred somewhere different to meet, (not a fan of fast food) but I was soon educated on the significance of our place of congregation; Jalan Timur field was where our school had our annual sports day. 

When I arrived (late due to the all round massive jams; excuses, excuses!) at around 8:30pm, it was hard finding my class mates among the crowd of diners, when I finally did spot them, I was unsure as it was 18 years since I’ve seen some of them and I could barely recognize them. After a closer look at a bunch of guys crowded together looking over a photograph, at the back corner of the restaurant (some things haven’t changed), I found my long lost class mates and the faces began to look familiar to the (much) younger, fresh faces I remember from 1989.

Our conversations started with the ‘what are you doing now? Are you married? How many children? How many wives?’ type questions, where I found out what my buddies have been up to and some were incredibly interesting, one has been an air steward for 18 years and saw the world and another had started his career chauffeuring ‘escorts’! Real estate, stationary business, food, IT were the other professions among us, we were all doing alright. 

After the ‘warm-up’ lap, the memories of past began to slowly come back, bits by bits at first and then a mighty rush leading to the 2nd type of rhetorical line of questions like “Do you remember the time when…?”. The conversations just kept going on and on and we covered every subject that we could remember; teachers (our beloved class teacher, Mr. Chin was one of the favorite subjects, more on him later), naughty and sometime illegal things we did, girlfriends (La Salle was an all boys school, with the exception of the sixth formers), female teachers (slightly different slant on the conversation compared to teachers in general!). There was much laughter and joking and it was a great time to say the least. It was funniest when we began to recollect memories of our characters back in school; there was the sensitive one, the unpredictably mental ones (there was a few of those), the stylo ones, the ‘softer’ ones and many others. It was almost as if we were transported in a time machine back in school again and were behaving exactly like 17 year olds (I was 18 then, due to Remove class).

There were 9 of us that made it out of the 21 originally invited and confirmed, sadly we missed the other others that couldn’t make it for one reason or another, it would have been twice the fun, if at all that’s possible. Next phase of conversations centered around those that were not with us and what’s been happening with them, sadly, we spoke of the loss of one of our class mate, Raj Kumar, who perished in a car accident late last year; I had only found out of this much later than the fact and did not attend his funeral. We were told that it was well attended by La Sallians numbering in the hundreds, which was no surprise as Raj was a good friend to many and popular in school. We also spoke of others not in our class and there were some sad stories too, one was in Serenti drug rehabilitation center and some others in trouble with the law.

Our class teacher, Mr. Chin took made up a large portion of our chatter, I’ve not personally met him after school and had to rely on witness’s account of him, apparently, he is quite cool these days, trotting along with Oakleys and ‘quite happening’ as they say. He’s on an overseas teaching assignment and comes back to Malaysia every once in a while, the guys promised that they would arrange for him to attend our next gathering, which would be a blast I think… I’m dying to hear what he has to say about this bunch of misfits! He was strict but fair with us, being the discipline master; he had to be extra strict with us, since he was our class teacher.

Those who atteded: Mohd. Zaini, Shane De Cruz, Imran Hamid, Syed Alam Shah, Shah Jahan, Mohamed Ameen, Loong Kok Leong, Khumararaj & myself (James Valentine). 

To both the Shahs (Syed Alam Shah and Shah Jahan), thanks for organizing this get together, I had a great time and I know the rest did too. To the rest of the gang, thanks for the memories, you were the greatest! I am looking forward to our next meeting, don’t wait another 18 years! OK?

Dessert is served!

I just love dessert, sometimes more than the main course and most times, too much for my own good. So, it made perfect sense that I learned to whip up something myself.

There are just so many recipes and types of desserts out there, which is a little overwhelming for a novice like me, until I saw this episode of a cooking series on Astro (I forget the name and channel) and the chef prepared this banana dessert that looked absolutely delicious.

The original recipe as the chef demonstrated was: heat up some sugar in a hot pan until it melts completely and turns into caramel. Then add butter and some liquid stuff (I can't remember what this is till this day which caused my first blunder). Finally, add in some sliced banana and let it boil for a while, just enough to get the banana half cooked. Then serve and enjoy the sugary delight. It looked mouth watering on TV as the guests were tucking it in; I was convinced it was not possible to fake the look on their faces.

It seemed really easy and quick to prepare. I know most shows give that impression, obviously to keep up the pace and condense everything into an hour, but I was sure, watching the cook in action, that it was really a breeze and even I could do this, and that was what I did.

My first attempt did not turn out as I imagined. It was mother’s day (of all days, I had to choose Mother’s day!) and a very enthusiastic me volunteered to make dessert, to everyone’s pleasant surprise. It did not stay very pleasant for long. I did everything like the cook on TV said, and more, I decided to be “creative” and improvised on the part of the liquid ingredient that I could not remember and used Shandy!! It made such a sizzle on the pan that did not happen on the TV show and a smell that immediately told me that this was not going well. The taste just confirmed what I feared, it was bitter!! You could still taste the sweetness from the sugar, but it had an overpowering bitter aftertaste that lingered. It was just awful. By that time, the smell had invaded the whole house and my family had figured out that my little experiment had gone south. As expected, I didn’t have any takers on my dessert and we had to throw it all out, don’t think that even the pets would have it.

Reeling from defeat, I didn’t give up and tried again after a week, this time the approach was more conservative, no more improvising and I sticking to the original recipe, I tried to at least make it palatable. My first lesson in cooking: don’t start improvising till you at least get the original recipe right! Words to live by. Anyways, this time, with some advise from season veteran friends, I decided to leave out the ingredient that I could not remember, and use just a little bit of water instead, the rest of the recipe and execution were basically the same and this time, at the risk of being a boast, I am pleased to note that it come out wonderfully, my guests and I were enjoying it and I became my own best customer and took 3 servings!

It was a great experience, while I’ve cooked meals, this was my first at desserts and I like it, maybe more than cooking main courses (although my repertoire is limited, to say the least). I’ll be looking at new desserts recipes to try out; hopefully, the family will be more forgiving next time. And to those who have been thinking of trying this, my advise is to go for it, cause if I can do it, then everybody probably can! Just don’t believe everything you watch on TV.

A morning at the Park

It was a cool, overcast morning at the Taman Tun Park on the morning of Labour day, 2008 (that's 1st May for Malaysia, just in case it's different for some other countries). The threat of rain was always looming, but thank goodness it didn't as the Rowlands, Gans and the Singhs decided on a picnic.

We were late as usual, of course, but still pretty early for our liking at 8:30am, when we got there, we were surprised to see that many had already started their jogging, walking, exercising..etc, quite a healthy bunch, these Tmn Tun folks! Attending was the usual suspects, the children, Reuben, Shannon, Maya and Leia and among the adults were Mum (Charlotte Rowland), Daniel and Barbara Gan, Christine and yours truely (that's James, if you've come into this blog by accident).

We started off diving right into the birthday singing for Reuben and then breakfast, the spread was quite elaborate with sausages, sandwiches, milo, coffee, nasi lemak and more, food was good as usual and the people were grateful and satisfied bunch after the feeding frenzie. As soon as that was done, the children got pretty restless and attacked the playground, I followed with a bunch of bubble churning toys, got immediately very popular with a lot of the other children at the play ground, understandably.

The the children got tired of the playgound, we then all went for a walk around the park (partially around the park for some of us older adults!) and that pretty much rounded up the event.

In all, very pleasant outing and enjoyed the time with the family.

Skating Singh, signing off.

New Photo Site

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Have fun!

Water Play

Attended a neighbour's children birthday party and the theme was water play. Was fun to see children play with water, it seems that most children love water, must be all that 9 months of swimming in mummy's tummy..

Sign of the Times

Found this sign in Sentul this morning. When I saw it, I just knew that I've found the picture that I was looking for, not a particularly aesthetically pleasing picture, but one that I feel carries a message.

The sign was obviously old and seems to testify to the stories our parents and grand parents tell of how harmonious Malaysians of various races and religions lived together in "those days".

I believe that this sign truly represent a time when there were genuine mutual respect, equality and love among all Malaysians of different races, religion and creed. I just love the way it represents every major language, demonstrating the desire to communicate and connect with every language group.

What a contrast this is with "signs" of our generation, we have obviously lost something along the way and probably need to learn from our past and carry our personal signs as our fathers did.

Ghost

This has got to be one of, if not the best Malaysian made television series I've ever watched. I'm talking about "Ghost" on 8tv (Sundays, 10:30pm), of course. Admittedly, I've not seen that many Malaysian TV series, but that's not without good reason. Astro offers so many world class series, and advertises it so extensively that it's sometimes difficult to notice the local productions (much like what happened with Malaysian soccer, that’s a story for another time), and I guess I'm also guilty of not supporting the local productions (Sorry!), but after this show, I'm now a born again believer!

In a nut shell, it’s a supernatural, murder mystery series! Zack Imran (Nazrudin Rahman), a promiscuous mega movie star, is murdered, but the murder was covered up as a drunken car accident. Zack’s ghost then continues wondering on earth seeking to reveal the truth with the help of Eza (Cheryl Samad).

The acting is seasoned, very natural and totally believable, despite some of them being fairly new at it. The flow between the 2 leads is so smooth and it just develops so well over each episode (I kinda sense some love interest brewing in there somewhere). Carmen Soo, as Julie is beautiful, talented and carries her 'best friend' role very well. Reefa's mysterious character leaves us guessing.

In the first few episodes, the plot was simplistic and built around the 'who dunnit' plot, but this changed very soon with Eza's love life, Julie's personal struggle and a corrupt, murderous Datuk (sounds familiar!) all thrown into the fray, yet intricately connected. The suspense at the end of each episode keeps the interest high.

I'm don't claim to be a expert in the technical aspects of film making, but just from a layman’s observation, it seems professional and impressive, the angles, panning, lighting and general quality is a class above. I'm told that the director is meticulous in his details and the results really show. The special effects are believable for the most parts and are still commendable in comparison with other series (different story if compared with the local movie scene). My only gripe would be the frequency of the special effects. Because Zack is a lead role and is in most scenes, it's easy to forget that he is actually a ghost without a regular dose of special effects to remind the viewers.

In summary, I love it and highly recommend it, a true example of 'Malaysia Boleh'. I sincerely hope to see a second season.

'Ghost' airs on 8TV (channel 708 on Astro) at 10:30pm every Sunday. You can also catch interesting snippets of information on the show like bloopers on the 8TV web site… http://www.8tv.com.my/

Wind of Change

What can I say that's not already said of the General Election? Simply amazing. The Rakyat has truly spoken loud and clear, unmistakeably that we want change. I'm especially excited since it's my very first time voting and what better induction into this democratic decision process than to see such a turn of events and to know I was part of it, is just "da Bomb"

Despite the seemingly unlimited campaigning budgets and air time on the mainstream communications channels like television and radio, the ruling party performed disastrously against the opposition who had only "the cheap" alternatives like blogging, SMS, Internet..etc, I guess it was the content and not the channel.

I started with watching RTM1 for the latest results on the poll, but was quite disappointed that the results seems to be slow and the topics of discussions uninteresting. Then I got an SMS that Malaysiakini was publishing live reports and I jumped up to my PC and got onto the Internet and was surprised to find out that lots more are happening than what RTM would have us believe, reports were streaming in rapidly, what a contrast to what was being broad casted on RTM1, isn't it obvious that it will be known in due time anyways, what's the point in the delay? (I guess that's why our information minister lost)

It was entertaining though to see some rather senior figures losing their cool on national TV. At one point, one of the guest seemed to have been veering towards some very uncomplimentary remarks about the BN when the channel mysteriously went blank, only to come back on few minutes later without this guest, I guess he very quickly got uninvited..

I believe that the journey has only just began and there are lots of work to be done by the winning parties to now make good of their promises and truly make the changes that will turn our beloved country around, to put aside the differences and move forward.

For those that have left or has plans of leaving Malaysia for perceived greener pastures (I think that they will find that there are problems everywhere, not just in Malaysia), I really hope that this will serve as an eye opener that there is hope yet for our Malaysia and to stay and get involved and contribute to our nation.

God Bless and good night.

My first Ceramah

Yet another first for me, my very first ceramah. Was at the DAP ceramah at SS2 tonight and there was a large crowd there, will not attempt to guess at the numbers, except to say that it caused some serious traffic congestion through out the SS2 area.

The rain did not stop the speakers nor the supporters, who were out in force, umbrella and all. Some even came with their own chairs. It was a cool night with hot speeches. Tony Pua, Haris Ibrahim and Govind spoke and got the crowd going..

Heard a new phrase today and I think it sounded like "Makul Sakti" (hope I got this right), I was told that this meant "People Power" in Tamil, a slogan or rally cry started by the Hindraf. This was often heard during the ceramah, but I only got the meaning of it after. When I first heard it, I was wondering why "makan satay" was being promoted at a political rally! Felt a little cheated by this as I didn't follow the crowd and shouting this as I did not know the meaning then, guess there is always the next time.

Overall a very interesting experience, at short notice, a large crowd could gather just via information via the web and SMSes, access to information is truly power in these days. I can't help feeling that although many people came out in a show of support, but does that really gets converted into votes? I hope so.

I know I'll be voting for change... I'm really looking forward to getting in line, the registration, casting my first vote and the whole experience, I feel included and involved, feels great.. can't wait..

I am a voter!!

Sorry, no photos this time... I've not finished the latest batch of pictures in my camera yet, it's probably be a while before I post any up.. might be a relieve to some I guess..

Ya, this time, it's not going to be about photos at all. After registering as a voter for the first time (lots of first this year) last December, I was not sure that I would be in time to vote for the coming elections, but I was pleasantly surprised, in fact delighted to discover that my name was on the list from the Electorial body's web site http://daftarj.spr.gov.my/daftarbi.asp.

I guess I've had enough of complaining about the state of Malaysia and getting asked "Are you registered to vote?" of course, the answer then would be an embarrasing "NO", then the more embarassing statement will follow "then shut up"... I guess I deserved it..

Well, not any more, I'm now a proud registered voter and all ready to express my opinion through the polls. What I also realised, talking to friends and relatives is that there are many that are like me, first time registered voters, fresh from convictions of what's been happening in our dear country and ready to vote and hope for change.. I do feel change is coming and eagerly await it..

Timeless

From the church of visitation in Seremban. This is a classic picture of beautiful and grand, timeless architecture.

Straight and Narrow

Another shot from "Sarang Murai" (Magpie’s Nest), in Ulu Langat, Selangor.

Celebrating Chinese New Year

Went back to Kuala Pilah to visit my chinese relatives (I'm half chinese by the way, my mum is chinese). Met my newest cousin who was very cute and always smiley, the usual eating and gambling followed.

Getting there was quite an ordeal, which took 3 hours instead of the usual 2 hours due to the heavy traffic, but this was to be expected during this season.

Spin

Another one of a ferris wheel at the fun fare.

Spin #2

I remembered going to fun fares when I was a young boy, so when one came to town (Old Klang Road for me at the time), I decided to drag my wife and daughter along to hopefully re-live and share some of the old experiences.

Somehow, it was just not the same, the place seems so much smaller and just not as much fun as I remembered it to be, it may be that I have become an adult and less fun myself now.

I thought to myself that this form of fun fares will soon become extinct except in memories of people of my time. So, I decided to take some pictures, and this is one of them.

Order

Another shot from "Sarang Murai" (Magpie’s Nest), in Ulu Langat, Selangor.

Pots neatly arranged amidst other chaotic stuff.

On Guard

Shot of a bhuddist temple in Bangkok. I liked the perspective and lines of this shot. The statue just completes the image.

Old Faithful

In Malacca, everything seems old, like this bicycle.

Mortal Combat

Taken from a temple in Tokyo. Reminded me of the logo from the movie Mortal Combat.

It's a bit of a dual image, one embossed and another inverted..depending on how you see it.

Man Within

Took this at a Japanese Temple in Tokyo. Had taken one more almost identical to this, but without the man, and the picture was just not the same.

Perspective shots are quite popular with people, especially one with good symmetry, leads the eye nicely down the middle.

Inspired

Quite and old photo from within a friend's studio where she does her art work.

I find the crawling plants outside natural and seems to grow so randomly but yet forms such intricacy, this is God's art work...

Obedience

Took the LRT today to meet a friend. For someone who drives daily, it's such a pleasant relieve to be driven once in a while and just watch the moving scenery. I always enjoy a LRT ride.

I've taken the train in HK, Tokyo and even Singapore, but when I first sat on an LRT in KL, I had a very strange sense of pride in Malaysia, a "Malaysia Boleh" moment, I guess...

Anyways, I took this photo while waiting for the LRT.

Obedience saves lives...

Inside Out

View from inside a wheel balacing work shop in old klang road I used to go to to get my car done.

Liked the pattern and lines.. should have gone into architecture instead of IT..

Hope

During my holiday break in December 07, I went back to my home town, Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, north of KL.

I visited my old school, St Paul's institution and it brought back old memories, but somethings were new and weren't there before, like these "encouragement" banners, which I found really nice and decided to make word play out of one of them, can you guess what it says?

Font

One of my recent favourites, this is a picture of a "Font" which is a container for holy water usually found at the entraces of Catholic churches. Worshippers will dip their fingers into the font and then make the sign of the Cross across their forehead, chest, left then right shoulder (you get the idea, right?)

This particular one was from the Church of Visitation in Seremban (see earlier posting for more details on the church itself)

Desperate

Office pool of 4D tickets... makes an interesting graphic picture, not my kind of game, but an interesting picture still.

Caught

A close up of the ealier shot. See what I meant about the contrast...

Oh, did I mention that all these pictures are for sale... you may own an editioned copy, nicely framed..

Email me at skatingsingh@gmail.com if interested..

Caught #2

Another installment of my work. Took this at an interesting place called "Sarang Murai" (Magpie’s Nest), in Ulu Langat, Selangor. It's a restaurant surrounded by lots greenery.

Took several pictures here, which you will see in later postings.

This series of pictures surprised me with it's contrast and clarity despite having shot using 3200 ASA film, which is usually very grainy.

Broken

This is one of the more recent photos that I've taken, sometime Dec 07. Went back to where I spent my childhood, in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan. This is one of the many windows of the Church of Visitation, right in the middle of town. Built in 1848, it's a pretty historical church, with lots of great photo opportunities.

Although it's a big church, I remembered it to be much bigger, I guess it was me that has grown bigger (especially in the middle)..

Anways, the broken glass window and the fact that it was at the back of the church where people seldom passby was what got my interest. It's like some hidden brokeness..

9ift

Took this photo at my office's basement car park staircase. The view is from down looking up.. shapes a "9" nicely, I call this "9ift"....