.
How time flies. We've come to the end of 2010. Another year older, another year wiser (hopefully).
At this juncture, it is often useful to review the year that has just passed. We will do this in a variety of ways.
Firstly I have borrowed this videoclip from Google. Hope you find it interesting ...
Next, here's a funny one ... although it is more about US socio-economic and political events ...
If you are interested in our technology-filled world, you'll like this one ...
Another way to review the year is to go chronologically, i.e. take a close look month by month ... enjoy ...
And finally here's one of our favourite music groups to help us usher in the new year of 2011 ...
May the New Year bring you Peace, Prosperity and Passion ! Have a great 2011 !
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Friday, December 31, 2010
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Kolomee Konnection
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I received this photo and note from Richard Lim (5Sc, 1976) who's back in Kuching for a break.
Hi James,
Bob & Mark went lunch with me at Joo Seng, We wanted to try out their specialty - large sized Kolomee.
Unfortunately, they appeared to have changed chefs. Still large but a bit dry.
On the plus side, Mark ordered some soup which turned out to be great though a bit sourish.
I attached a photo for your blog.
Richard
Just a small get-together of friends. If you have a reunion or gathering you'd like to share, just send me the info, preferably with a photo.
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I received this photo and note from Richard Lim (5Sc, 1976) who's back in Kuching for a break.
L to R: Bob Chew, Richard Lim & Mark Chin (all from Form 5, 1976)
Hi James,
Bob & Mark went lunch with me at Joo Seng, We wanted to try out their specialty - large sized Kolomee.
Unfortunately, they appeared to have changed chefs. Still large but a bit dry.
On the plus side, Mark ordered some soup which turned out to be great though a bit sourish.
I attached a photo for your blog.
Richard
Just a small get-together of friends. If you have a reunion or gathering you'd like to share, just send me the info, preferably with a photo.
.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Message from Website Jaga
Dear friends
We have almost come to the end of 2010. It has been an interesting year for me, and I hope it has been good for all of you as well. Festive greetings to you and your loved ones.
This "Josephians of the Seventies" blog has been available for the past three months, and at this juncture, I thought I'd share with you some information on the visitorship of this blog.
First, take a look at this map which reflects where our visitors have been accessing from.
Next we have a chart of the last few weeks data on visitor numbers. The blue bar shows unique visitors, and the orange bar reflects returning visitors.
Well, I hope you have enjoyed the postings so far. Do continue to visit frequently, and make sure you enter your details on the Roll Call (if you haven't already). Please also participate by entering your comments or emailing me with ideas or articles or photos of whatever you want to see covered in the following months.
Cheers for now
--- JY aka WJ
We have almost come to the end of 2010. It has been an interesting year for me, and I hope it has been good for all of you as well. Festive greetings to you and your loved ones.
This "Josephians of the Seventies" blog has been available for the past three months, and at this juncture, I thought I'd share with you some information on the visitorship of this blog.
First, take a look at this map which reflects where our visitors have been accessing from.
Next we have a chart of the last few weeks data on visitor numbers. The blue bar shows unique visitors, and the orange bar reflects returning visitors.
Well, I hope you have enjoyed the postings so far. Do continue to visit frequently, and make sure you enter your details on the Roll Call (if you haven't already). Please also participate by entering your comments or emailing me with ideas or articles or photos of whatever you want to see covered in the following months.
Cheers for now
--- JY aka WJ
Friday, December 24, 2010
Merry Christmas 2010
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Hello boys,
Continuing the Scandinavian theme, I decided to let a local Swedish talent extend to all of you the warmest of Christmas greetings.
Turn up the volume and enjoy.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year !
(Make sure you play this out loud while you have your Christmas dinner or lunch or whatever ... hehehe)
p/s And cool down boys. Don't you all go & book your flights to Sweden now.
.
Continuing the Scandinavian theme, I decided to let a local Swedish talent extend to all of you the warmest of Christmas greetings.
Turn up the volume and enjoy.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year !
(Make sure you play this out loud while you have your Christmas dinner or lunch or whatever ... hehehe)
p/s And cool down boys. Don't you all go & book your flights to Sweden now.
.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
The Nobel Peace Prize Concert 2010
The
The Norwegian Nobel committee decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize 2010 to Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese political activist who is currently serving a 11-year prison sentence in China for trying to push for human rights for the Chinese. There was an angry reaction from the Chinese government when this award was announced.. They went on to boycott the award presentation held on 10th Dec in Oslo and pressured some other countries to do the same. China hinted at souring diplomatic relations with Norway and even launched their own alternative prize to the Nobel. You can see some of the details in the videoclip below.
I for one think it is rather sad how this whole thing unfolded. Being of Chinese origins, I am proud of what China has achieved in the past decades in economic and social development. The rise of China clearly reflects the ascent of the East to balance the dominance of the West. Which is exactly why I think the Chinese leadership needn't have taken such an extreme position. If they had simply stated that they disagreed with the Nobel Peace Prize this year and stayed away, the whole thing would have blown over very quickly. But their reaction actually called more attention to the award.
Of course, I also believe the Norwegian Nobel Committee is fully entitled to choose whichever recipient they like. And I must say they have been rather good at picking controversial candidates ... like in 2009, they chose Barack Obama as the Peace Prize recipient - a thinly veiled rebuke of George W Bush's regime.
But let me hasten to add that this blog is not meant to be a political commentary. What I really wanted to highlight here was the musical extravaganza of the Nobel Peace Prize Concert. Cisco has been a global sponsor to this event for the past decade, and in conjunction with our Public Services Summit, we invite senior level customers to attend this.
The hosts for the 2010 Concert, held on the evening of 11th Dec at the Spektrum arena in Oslo, were Denzel Washington and Anne Hathaway. And the artistes performing included: Sivert Hoyem, Florence + the Machine, Colbie Caillat, India Arie, Jamiroquai, Robyn, A R Rahman, Herbie Hancock and Barry Manilow.
Here I was just before the concert started ...
Other shots of the audience before the concert started ...
Then came the two superstar hosts, Denzel and Anne ... let the show begin !
Here are a few videoclips showing a few of the performances I liked ...
First ROBYN ...
Next came FLORENCE + THE MACHINE ...
Then we had JAMIROQUAI ...
Then A. R. RAHMAN with his "Slumdog Millionaire suite" ... I love the energy of " Jai Ho" !
Finally the highlight by BARRY MANILOW ...
and another one by Barry ...
Well, hope you liked those as much as I did.
.
The Norwegian Nobel committee decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize 2010 to Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese political activist who is currently serving a 11-year prison sentence in China for trying to push for human rights for the Chinese. There was an angry reaction from the Chinese government when this award was announced.. They went on to boycott the award presentation held on 10th Dec in Oslo and pressured some other countries to do the same. China hinted at souring diplomatic relations with Norway and even launched their own alternative prize to the Nobel. You can see some of the details in the videoclip below.
I for one think it is rather sad how this whole thing unfolded. Being of Chinese origins, I am proud of what China has achieved in the past decades in economic and social development. The rise of China clearly reflects the ascent of the East to balance the dominance of the West. Which is exactly why I think the Chinese leadership needn't have taken such an extreme position. If they had simply stated that they disagreed with the Nobel Peace Prize this year and stayed away, the whole thing would have blown over very quickly. But their reaction actually called more attention to the award.
Of course, I also believe the Norwegian Nobel Committee is fully entitled to choose whichever recipient they like. And I must say they have been rather good at picking controversial candidates ... like in 2009, they chose Barack Obama as the Peace Prize recipient - a thinly veiled rebuke of George W Bush's regime.
But let me hasten to add that this blog is not meant to be a political commentary. What I really wanted to highlight here was the musical extravaganza of the Nobel Peace Prize Concert. Cisco has been a global sponsor to this event for the past decade, and in conjunction with our Public Services Summit, we invite senior level customers to attend this.
The hosts for the 2010 Concert, held on the evening of 11th Dec at the Spektrum arena in Oslo, were Denzel Washington and Anne Hathaway. And the artistes performing included: Sivert Hoyem, Florence + the Machine, Colbie Caillat, India Arie, Jamiroquai, Robyn, A R Rahman, Herbie Hancock and Barry Manilow.
Here I was just before the concert started ...
Other shots of the audience before the concert started ...
The Norwegian royalty arrive, together with the Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
Then came the two superstar hosts, Denzel and Anne ... let the show begin !
Here are a few videoclips showing a few of the performances I liked ...
First ROBYN ...
Next came FLORENCE + THE MACHINE ...
Then we had JAMIROQUAI ...
Then A. R. RAHMAN with his "Slumdog Millionaire suite" ... I love the energy of " Jai Ho" !
Finally the highlight by BARRY MANILOW ...
and another one by Barry ...
Well, hope you liked those as much as I did.
.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Musical Interlude: I'm Not in Love
.
Remember the band 10CC ? They were a talented bunch and one of my favorite songs for the seventies was this masterpiece of theirs ...
Turn up the volume and enjoy ...
10CC were an English art rock band who achieved their greatest commercial success in the 1970s. The band initially consisted of four musicians — Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme — who had written and recorded together for some three years, before assuming the "10cc" name in 1972.
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Remember the band 10CC ? They were a talented bunch and one of my favorite songs for the seventies was this masterpiece of theirs ...
Turn up the volume and enjoy ...
10CC were an English art rock band who achieved their greatest commercial success in the 1970s. The band initially consisted of four musicians — Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme — who had written and recorded together for some three years, before assuming the "10cc" name in 1972.
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Saturday, December 18, 2010
The Gang of 76 at Dong Guan food centre
I am posting this up as I receive the photos from Ben ... details are still not complete, but I reckon because of the return of two lads from Form 5Sc (1976) - Kevin "Panjang" Chin and Richard Lim Ngee Hong - the gang gathered for a welcoming makan at 0930 at Dong Guan food centre in Kuching.
Guys, correct me if I'm wrong ....
Anyway here are the photos ...
Standing (L to R): Ben, Mark, Edward, Gerard, Richard, Kevin, Norbert
Seated: Nick, Jensen, Bob, Alfred and Chng
Jensen came later ? But still in time to pay the bill, boss ! LOL
Busy tucking in ... yummmmmm ..... I'm told the breakfast delicacies include laksa, tu kar, chai kueh, nonya kueh, bak chang ... and more ...
Forget the diet, forget the cholesterol level, forget the salt content ... you've just got to try this tu kar !!!
More details later ...
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Friday, December 17, 2010
Travel Tips : Stockholm and Oslo
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Over the past two weeks, I've had the pleasure of visiting Stockholm (Sweden) for a conference, and Oslo (Norway) where I attended the Nobel Peace Prize Concert. In this posting, I'll touch on the two cities and the conference, and then in the next blog entry, I'll go into the Nobel Prizes and the Peace Prize Concert.
Last Tuesday, I landed into Arlanda International Airport (about 40 km from Stockholm city) around midnight. I hopped onto the Arlanda Express train (somewhat like our KLIA Ekspres) down to the Central Station, which was near my hotel.
Yes, Stockholm is snowing at this time of the year. It was minus 7 degrees C the night I got there. There were many winter wonderland scenes, and it certainly looked great but was freezing cold, especially when I didn't come prepared with a hat or something to protect the ears, a situation I was only able to remedy two days later. Brrrrrrr ....
The Public Services Summit 2010
Cisco held a two-day global Public Services Summit in Stockholm and I was the host to a number of senior government officials from ASEAN countries. The Summit provided a platform for insightful presentations by public sector officials and global thought leaders,and allowed for in-depth discussions and sharing sessions. This is the tenth year that Cisco is organizing this conference, and most have been in partnership with the City of Stockholm during the Nobel week.
Most of the conference sessions were held at the Sheraton hotel where the delegates also stayed. Different halls and rooms were allocated for this, although there were two modules which included tours of various government locations in Stockholm.
The Mayor of Stockholm gave the opening address ...
There were many interesting presentations and active panel discussions ...
We had a well-known futurist Juan Enriquez, who gave a very thought-provoking presentation. He wrote the book "As the Future Catches You" ...
Later we also had the author Clay Shirky present his ideas. A very smart and articulate chap. Later that evening I also had a chance to sit next to him at dinner and chat. Pity I didn't have a copy of his book, to get his autograph.
To end the conference, we had a Telepresence session with John Chambers, Cisco's Chairman and CEO. John was sitting in his office in San Jose, California while the MC and members of the audience in Stockholm asked him many questions for over 1.5 hours. Wonderful demonstration of how technology makes distance irrelevant !
Shopping in Stockholm
I must say I didn't do much shopping as conference activities filled up most of the time. However on one of the days, we had two hours free over lunch, and I popped out to the nearby shopping area together with one of my guests ..
AH LENS is one of the major departmental stores in Stockholm.
This is the section where there are many shops located underground ...
Within the GALLERIAN mall ...
Dinner and Entertainment
The dinners and cocktails were always interesting. Some of the dining venues were in very classic halls, like this one ...
The entertainment varied from violin-playing lasses to hits by Abba ...
After Stockholm, we brought all our guests to Oslo in a chartered train. A nice and relaxing six hour ride ...
At the train station platform ...
Some guests relaxing in the train ...
Free food and wine were served ...
When we got to Oslo, we all had a few hours to rest before it was time for dinner followed by the Nobel Peace Prize Concert at the Oslo Spektrum multi-purpose arena. More on this in the next posting.
Well, that's it for now ....
WHAT did you say? You wanna see more Swedish ladies? OK, OK ... how about this shot of our lovely Swedish guides to the whole event?
Geez, you guys are hard to please ...
Over the past two weeks, I've had the pleasure of visiting Stockholm (Sweden) for a conference, and Oslo (Norway) where I attended the Nobel Peace Prize Concert. In this posting, I'll touch on the two cities and the conference, and then in the next blog entry, I'll go into the Nobel Prizes and the Peace Prize Concert.
Last Tuesday, I landed into Arlanda International Airport (about 40 km from Stockholm city) around midnight. I hopped onto the Arlanda Express train (somewhat like our KLIA Ekspres) down to the Central Station, which was near my hotel.
Yes, Stockholm is snowing at this time of the year. It was minus 7 degrees C the night I got there. There were many winter wonderland scenes, and it certainly looked great but was freezing cold, especially when I didn't come prepared with a hat or something to protect the ears, a situation I was only able to remedy two days later. Brrrrrrr ....
The Public Services Summit 2010
Cisco held a two-day global Public Services Summit in Stockholm and I was the host to a number of senior government officials from ASEAN countries. The Summit provided a platform for insightful presentations by public sector officials and global thought leaders,and allowed for in-depth discussions and sharing sessions. This is the tenth year that Cisco is organizing this conference, and most have been in partnership with the City of Stockholm during the Nobel week.
Most of the conference sessions were held at the Sheraton hotel where the delegates also stayed. Different halls and rooms were allocated for this, although there were two modules which included tours of various government locations in Stockholm.
The Mayor of Stockholm gave the opening address ...
There were many interesting presentations and active panel discussions ...
We had a well-known futurist Juan Enriquez, who gave a very thought-provoking presentation. He wrote the book "As the Future Catches You" ...
Later we also had the author Clay Shirky present his ideas. A very smart and articulate chap. Later that evening I also had a chance to sit next to him at dinner and chat. Pity I didn't have a copy of his book, to get his autograph.
To end the conference, we had a Telepresence session with John Chambers, Cisco's Chairman and CEO. John was sitting in his office in San Jose, California while the MC and members of the audience in Stockholm asked him many questions for over 1.5 hours. Wonderful demonstration of how technology makes distance irrelevant !
Shopping in Stockholm
I must say I didn't do much shopping as conference activities filled up most of the time. However on one of the days, we had two hours free over lunch, and I popped out to the nearby shopping area together with one of my guests ..
AH LENS is one of the major departmental stores in Stockholm.
This is the section where there are many shops located underground ...
Within the GALLERIAN mall ...
Dinner and Entertainment
The dinners and cocktails were always interesting. Some of the dining venues were in very classic halls, like this one ...
The entertainment varied from violin-playing lasses to hits by Abba ...
After Stockholm, we brought all our guests to Oslo in a chartered train. A nice and relaxing six hour ride ...
At the train station platform ...
Some guests relaxing in the train ...
Free food and wine were served ...
When we got to Oslo, we all had a few hours to rest before it was time for dinner followed by the Nobel Peace Prize Concert at the Oslo Spektrum multi-purpose arena. More on this in the next posting.
Well, that's it for now ....
WHAT did you say? You wanna see more Swedish ladies? OK, OK ... how about this shot of our lovely Swedish guides to the whole event?
Geez, you guys are hard to please ...
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Mini-Reunion in London
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Four old buddies from Form 5Sc (1976) had a little reunion in London. I was on my way home from a business trip in Europe, and stopped by London. Met up with James Kuo, Ho Boon Chiang and Philip Chin. Kuo is resident in Devon, Boon Chiang is in Cambridge, while Philip came back to UK for a short visit.
The photos below reflects our own version of the recent movie "EAT . PRAY . LOVE" (starring Julia Roberts) except our few hours together in London can more appropriately be captured as "EAT . PLAY . ROVE"
EAT
We had long chats about old times while enjoying various cuisine ...
... followed later by the famous Roast Duck at Four Seasons restaurant in Chinatown. Yummm ...
PLAY
We also re-lived our schoolboy cycling days back at St Joe ...
ROVE
We spent time roving around central London, visiting places familiar and new ...
... starting with the festive atmosphere of Carnaby Street ...
... and then to Gerrard Street, better known as London Chinatown ...
... to the slightly chilly as fresco coffee-drinking in Covent Garden ...
and finally to the shopping areas around Oxford Street.
We had a great time. I for one had not met Boon Chiang for 34 years.
Great to see all happy and healthy.
.
Four old buddies from Form 5Sc (1976) had a little reunion in London. I was on my way home from a business trip in Europe, and stopped by London. Met up with James Kuo, Ho Boon Chiang and Philip Chin. Kuo is resident in Devon, Boon Chiang is in Cambridge, while Philip came back to UK for a short visit.
The photos below reflects our own version of the recent movie "EAT . PRAY . LOVE" (starring Julia Roberts) except our few hours together in London can more appropriately be captured as "EAT . PLAY . ROVE"
EAT
We had long chats about old times while enjoying various cuisine ...
First, it was dim sum ...
... followed later by the famous Roast Duck at Four Seasons restaurant in Chinatown. Yummm ...
PLAY
We also re-lived our schoolboy cycling days back at St Joe ...
ROVE
We spent time roving around central London, visiting places familiar and new ...
... starting with the festive atmosphere of Carnaby Street ...
... and then to Gerrard Street, better known as London Chinatown ...
... to the slightly chilly as fresco coffee-drinking in Covent Garden ...
and finally to the shopping areas around Oxford Street.
We had a great time. I for one had not met Boon Chiang for 34 years.
Great to see all happy and healthy.
.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Bob in Singapura
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Our buddy Bob Chew (Form 5Sc, 1976) was in sunny Singapura for a short visit recently. I caught up with him for drinks. No time to attack those Eng Seng ketam this round ...
The following photos were taken at the Esplanade, overlooking Marina Bay Sands integrated resort (Pic 1) and the Singapore financial district (Pic 2 and 3).
Pic 1: Bob's Lucky Pose as he sits with Marina Bay Sands hotel and casino behind him
Pic 2: Overlooking the city skyline with the Fullerton Hotel in front.
If you squint, you can even see the Merlion landmark.
Pic 3: Bob looking distracted ...
Must be communicating with his stock broker. "Yes, buy this one ... no, sell that one!"
Safe travels, Bob.
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Sunday, December 5, 2010
St Joe Fun Fair circa 1970
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ELAS has located a most interesting set of photographs and sent it to us ... thanks Edmund !
For this posting, I'm going to leave the caption blank initially, and let you suggest what it should say, and then I'll fill it in. How's that for an interactive blog post creation?
Enjoy ...
C'mon guys and gals, show your knowledge and creativity ...
.
ELAS has located a most interesting set of photographs and sent it to us ... thanks Edmund !
For this posting, I'm going to leave the caption blank initially, and let you suggest what it should say, and then I'll fill it in. How's that for an interactive blog post creation?
Enjoy ...
Pic 1: <to be filled>
Pic 2: <to be filled>
Pic 3: <to be filled>
Pic 4: <to be filled>
Pic 5: <to be filled>
Pic 6
"Inspiration for Singapore's Grand Prix F1 Night Races" (WJ)
Pic 7: <to be filled>
Pic 8: <to be filled>
Pic 9: <to be filled>
Pic 10: <to be filled>
C'mon guys and gals, show your knowledge and creativity ...
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