Showing posts with label Home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Home. Show all posts
Hello, June :)
This is such a late hello! Has it been 6 months since my last post?! 
So much has happened in the last 179 days that I have no idea where to start. The boy and I became official owners to our place (after granting 2.5 months extension to the sellers), kick-started and wrapped up our home renovation and threw the biggest wedding party (just 5 days ago!) to celebrate the start of our journey as Mr and Mrs 
It has been a beautiful 2018 thus far and I can't wait for the rest of the year to unfold.
Will be back to write about the home renovation and wedding journey!
Meanwhile, please put up with the little hiatus while we get down to furnishing the place! 
Rest in Peace, Mr Lee.
My country woke up to a heartbreaking piece of news today, our founding father, Mr Lee Kuan Yew has passed away at 3.18am this morning. He was 91.
I'm looking at The Straits Times and PMO website done up in black. I feel horrible. While he has been away from the political stage for a long time, it always felt like he never left. This time round, it's for real. The void certainly is real.
Waking up at 6am in the cold hotel room to this news makes me miss home even more.
I've been stuck in my hotel for the last 2 weeks, having not ventured anywhere further than the eateries just across the property. Work schedules are tight, my colleague and I often find ourselves working late into the night and over the weekends here.
Since we will be leaving the city in 2 days' time, we decided yesterday that we will venture out to Pavilion, Lot 10 and Sungei Wang plaza. It was post late lunch/early dinner at 4pm, we figured it would be safe to stroll our way there. Hotel staff warned us it is not safe even if it's just a 15 minutes walk away. "We have many guests with us who came back with their bags snatched. Maybe you want to take a car?" they offered.
We shrugged our shoulders, it's broad day light and 15 minutes away. Our cash and phones are stuffed in our pockets, we will be fine, we replied. And off we went.
Just 5 minutes out of the Hotel, as we made a turn to the main road, I sensed someone was following us. Twice, I turned my head and both times I caught the eyes of the man behind us. He was clearly looking and following us. As we walked into the shade just outside a HSBC bank branch, I murmured to my colleague in Mandarin, "I think someone is following us". "Let's stop here and look at the banner", she responded and we stopped slowly.
"Hey now he's in front of us, let's continue walking", I initiated. Just as started walking again, the man has past the bus stop in front and u-turned back to the newspapers stand just before the bus stop. If he had wanted to get the papers, he would have went straight for the stand. We stopped at the bus stop and exchanged looks. "Let's go back, I don't feel safe." and so we made our way back. I made the effort to check behind me every now and then until we reached our hotel lobby.
Called my boyfriend when I got back to my room, narrated to him what just happened to me on the streets of KL. "I miss the safe and secure environment in Singapore. I miss home." I lamented. He laughed, "You only left home for 2 weeks!".
Indeed, we Singaporeans are a lucky bunch, and mostly because of him. We walk on the roads late into the night without fear because our country is safe and secure. Many of our friends and family members have good jobs in large foreign and local companies because of our comprehensive infrastructure and stable investment and economic climate. When we travel around the world, we hear praises about this little red dot because we punch above our weight internationally. We stand tall on the international platform, as folks from this little island state, because of him and his team of Old Guards.
I've spent a good part of the first 5 years of my job travelling around Asia. Whenever I mention I'm a Singaporean, the first response will always be "Lee Kuan Yew!". Sure, we Singaporeans complain about everything in this place, the never-ending work, the overwhelming pressure, the exploding influx of immigrants, how we are overpaying our government blah blah blah, but you got to understand who we are. As Mr. Lee once put it "You know the Singaporean. He is a hardworking, industrious, rugged individual. Or we would not have made the grade. But let us also recognize that he is champion grumbler." At the end of the day, only we can grumble about our own country, no one else can. Because deep down, we love her very much.
We can love and/or hate him for the things he did or did not do, but there is no doubt he has spent his entire life devoted to building this country, gave us a chance on the global platform and started the Singapore Story for us.
Thank you for your dedication, thank you for not being afraid to make the hard and unpopular decisions and thank you for setting for us such a solid foundation which allow us to come so far. We as a nation, has benefited so much from his foresight and intelligence.
Thank you for everything Mr. Lee, and may you rest in peace.
To pen a tribute for the man, click here.
And if you have nothing good to say, don't say it. Give the man and his family a break for the week of mourning.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
