A QUIET SPOT IN SINGAPORE

Before anything else I want to apologize to the many of you who have written me emails in the last weeks, without getting a reply. I always thought that the very next day I could inform you of this new entry into my blog. Unfortunately it just never until today. The reason for this was my stubbornness in trying to share my slideshows of the trip to Vietnam. It just turned out more difficult than I thought. As it turned out, the reason for this was mostly because of the very poor Internet connection at the marina. I wont bore you with the details but I can only say it is not easy to teach on old horse new tricks!

In April I went on a land trip with my marina friend, Vickie, another sailor and wife of an expat here in Singapore. The following blog entries are the reports on this experience.

We returned at the end of April and since then I have been involved with the slideshows and this blog, have been involved with the Singapore Ministry of Health and Hua Mei, a health care organization for the elderly interested in Pace. I have also visited a good number of other similar organizations, potentially interested in PACE. In regard to these activities I am only sorry that many of the people who in1971 were involved with the start of On Lok cannot see what all these efforts have led to.

I love my stay in Singapore. It is well organized, clean, friendly with a very multiethnic population living together quite peacefully. Never mind the so called "oppression" by the government. Though there is some truth to that, the average person feels little of it. The positives are: little crime and no corruption. So.... I am not allowed to chew gum (which I don't like anyway) or punishes me if I pie publicly or smear graffiti on walls or indulge or trade in drugs or heaven forbid criticize the government publicly...

In addition to that it is quite livable with its many, many green spaces, parks and cultural entertainments. I live on my boat in a marina on Sentosa island with ready accessibility to the city with all its public transportation. That allows me to be quite active. I even take some very nice water color classes and have made lots of friends. So what else do you want at 82?

My plans are now to stay till the end of October. Then I plan to sail to Phuket, Thailand to haul the boat and do the necessary maintenance work. After that... who know. I will probably return to Singapore depending on the Pace progress!