Olivia Live in Singapore !

Last night, I had the chance to watch my long-time musical idol Olivia Newton-John perform at the Esplanade Theatre, Singapore.

One of the best concerts I've experienced in a long time ... she did a wide variety of songs from her repertoire NON-STOP for almost two hours .... the songs from Xanadu .... Physical .... the Country numbers .... the classics from Grease (complete with shoo-bob-sha-wadda-wadda-yippity-boom-de-boom) ..even a great rendition of "Send in the Clowns".... and she ended with her signature "I Honestly Love You" to a standing ovation.

The lady is 63, but looks not a day older than 40 (at least from where I sat :)

Brilliant.

Anthony Tiong back in Kuching

I received these photos from Ben Wong recently. It shows some of the boys (mainly from the Class of 1976) having dinner with Anthony Tiong, our form mate who now lives and works in Canberra, Australia.

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I reckon this is  the 101 makan area.

Condolences to Cyril Moa and family

Deepest condolences to our friend Cyril Moa for the loss of his beloved wife Veronica, loving mother to Alexandra, Amanda and Chloe. Our thoughts and prayers are with you at this difficult time.

May she rest in peace.


Added later
Here are the flowers and card from the boys from St Joe Class of 1976 ...

Thanks to Philip for helping to arrange.

An Old Board Game

I came across an old board game recently. It was a game I played as a child. It was called "CAREERS". Any of you remember this game?

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Looking back at the objectives of the game, it struck me how close to real life it is, and what some of us might have subliminally learnt while playing it. At the beginning of the game, all the players need to decide on their "Success Formula" (or what they envision to be the meaning of success for themselves). The Success Formula is made of three components: money, fame and happiness, and the total should equal 60 points. For instance, a player might decide to have 30 Money points, 20 Fame points and 10 Happiness points (30+20+10=60). Another player might go for 10 Money points, 10 Fame points and 40 Happiness points (10+10+40=60). And so on.

This is what the score sheet looks like ...

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Then the game begins, and the players toss dice and move their counters around the board, picking up or losing points in different ways. There are also Experience and Opportunity cards that the players pick up when they land on certain squares on the board. The winner is the one who first achieves his or her Success Formula.

As a child, I played this game without thinking too deeply about what it meant. Now having gone through five decades of life, I appreciate how close to reality this formula (albeit simple) is. Some people value money above most else, and have focused on accumulating as much wealth as they can. Others want the limelight and strive to achieve fame at all costs.. Fame and fortune ... what more could one ask for? Yet one can't help noticing that some of the richest or most famous people aren't necessarily the happiest.

The basis of the Careers game, and of life in general, is that it's all about maintaining a delicate balance. Over-emphasis on one area at the expense of another can lead to dissatisfaction and misery. How much money does one need? How much fame? And how much happiness?  We may not really write down our Success Formula of our real life, but I'd guess if probed, most of us have some implicit balance that drives us each day.

What do you think? Do share your views.