Collin Ng's Blog

When Neil Armstrong became the first man to land on moon on 20 th July 1969, he did not manage to make a date with “Chang Er”.  When he took the first step on moon, he famously says, “ This is one step for a man, one giant leap for mankind ”.   This may have dispelled the “Chang Er” myth but to the Chinese, the legendary story of “Chang Er” which is very much connected to Mid-Autumn Festival is still very much celebrated in any Chinese community all over the world.  Some say her husband was a tyrant, some say he was a great hero but “Chang Er” remains a perfect wife to a fault.                 Legend says “Chang Er” had sacrificed herself by swallowing an elixir given to her husband, Hou Yi who apparently shot down nine out of ten suns to relieve people’s suffering from the extreme heat .  She then flew to Moon and became a Goddess.  Eventually, people offered sacrifices to “Chang ...

Me after the race It was the inaugural event organised by Infinitus and admittedly, it was not cheap either.  It came with two race categories, 30 km (run 5 km, bike 20 km and run 5 km) and 60 km (run 10 km, bike 40 km and run 10 km) respectively.  I decided to sign up for the 60 km event to test my own endurance.  This race could have cost me more than S$200.  My club, Aranda Country Club agreed to absorb half the cost and coupled with early bird discount, I only paid less than S$80.     Start of our 10 km first leg run  The race happened this morning at the Changi Exhibition Centre.  For 60 km participants, we had to run 2 laps inside the exhibition centre in our first leg, cycle 4 U-turn laps along the Coastal Road and finally run 2 laps to the finish.     The night before I hit the bed early.  Though I set my alarm at 0415 hrs, I actually got up at 0130 hrs...haiz, I was too excited, probably.  Anyway, I...

Eid al-Fitr is known as the “Festival of Fast-Breaking”.  In Singapore we call it Hari Raya Aidilfitri or Hari Raya Puasa.   Muslims have to observe a month of fasting, which is known as Ramadan and when it ends, Hari Raya Puasa celebration will begin.   In Malay, the words “Hari Raya” is called the “grand day of rejoicing” which falls on the first day of Syawal, the 10 th month of the Islamic calendar.     During Ramadan, Muslims have to abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and indulging in any form of behaviour that serves to nullify the fast from dawn to dusk.  They are also required to perform religious duties such as reading the Quran.     Days before Hari Raya Puasa, there will be a “Hari Raya Light Up & Celebration” along the stretch of road at Geylang Seria which showcases our proud Malay culture and other inter cultural events.  It is usually run for a month until the last day of Ramadan.  The light up is ...

The idea of having an International Youth Day was proposed in 1991 by a group of young people in Vienna, Austria during the first session of the UN’s World Youth Forum.  The primary aim of declaring Youth Day is in concert with fundraising and promotion purposes, among others and to support the United Nations Youth Fund in partnership with various youth organisations. While ours is not for charity purpose of sorts and have been observed for more than three decades, it is a festival celebration for the youths here.  It was first celebrated on 18 July 1967 at Jalan Besar Stadium when Singapore Youth Festival (SYF) was launched by our first President, Yusof Ishak.  It involved some 24,000 from primary and secondary school in a two-week celebration then.   This has since metamorphosed into an annual event showcasing youth talents and involving more than 40,000 students typically in the month of July. Whatever its purpose or aim, it is therefore safe to say tha...

I met up a secondary schoolmate for lunch recently and we started reminiscing the good old days when we were running in marathon events as students.  If I can recall, there were not many run or walk events in the 70s.  There was this New Nation Walk that I can still remember.  I think the walk distance was 5 km and when we finished, we were given a completion certificate without our name - we just have to write our name on it. Mobile Marathon was the most prominent run event, perhaps the equivalent of Standard Chartered Marathon of present time.  The event came in 4 stages - first quarter run for 10 km in early part of the year, second quarter run for 20 km in second part of the year, third quarter run for 30 km in the third quarter of the year and finally, the full marathon distance of 42km in the last quarter of the year.  I ran that event with my classmates and we were just 15-year old jackasses.  That year was 1977.  We had no idea what carbo l...

Group picture taken with the children   Sometime in March last year, I made my first trip to Baan Dada Children's Home in Thailand.  It was a cycling tour organised by Nick where some of us flew to Bangkok from Singapore and together with an enthusiastic group of cyclists from Thailand, we cycled some 360 km over 3 days to the rugged western region that borders between Thailand and Myanmar.  It was a personal fund raising project for the purpose of setting up a vocation training centre at the home.  I met both Dada Rama who hails from the Philippines and his assistant, Dada Prashanta who hails from Indonesia in person for the first time.  Both "Dadas" (brothers in Sanskrit) have pledged their entire lives to help a worthy cause and they do not draw any salary at all.  Their worldly mission is to give love to the less fortunate ones - the kind of sacrifice not many can do it.   The muddy path just outside the home Dada Rama has been involve...

Since young, I know I can run but not the podium finisher type though.  In my school days, I liked to compete in the 1,500 metres and as far I could remember, I was among the top 10 finishers in one school competition.  The venue then was the National Stadium but too bad, there were no nice pictures of me running then.  We were too poor to own cameras. During my NS days, I remember I was always third in IPPT at company level.  My nemesis is an Indian army mate whom I have never beaten and without doubt, he had no match in his hey days.  If I happen to meet him today, I am not sure if I can still outrun him or not.  Anyway, we have lost contact for many years. I was in my early 20s, just completed NS and already started working at Changi Airport.  That year was 1983 when our company organised their first 5 km cross country run at Macritchie Reservoir.  I didn't train much for the run but still managed a creditable 5th position.  I have alw...

Sheepishly, I admit I packed a belly of fire in me when I was much younger, for the slightest provocation could ignite me.  It was my first job at Changi Airport after completing the army stint and I was probably 21 or maybe younger.  That year was either late 82 or early 83. We were the ground handling agent for Alitalia, a national carrier of Italy and I was tasked to assist with the check-in.  The flight was bounded for Rome with a stopover in Bombay.  That particular flight was delayed for some few hours and therefore, we were told by our superior to open the counters later.  However, an irate passenger called the airline office to insist that the check-in counters be opened as scheduled.  Rendered no choice, we then proceeded to prepare the check-in.  During our times, it was not computerised like the present days.  We had to do everything manually and therefore, some time is needed to get ready.  For each counter, we need to scroll t...

When I read the news on the recent sinking of a Korean ferry boat, it inevitably jostled my memory back to Royal Pacific which sank on 23 August 1992 near Port Dickson and I was one of the survivors too.  Sadly, there are some similarities between the two ill-fated vessels.  It happened more than two decades ago but nobody seems to have remembered that fateful incident now. I was the operations manager of Starlight Cruises which was the owner and ship manager of Royal Pacific, a 13,000 gross tonnage passenger vessel which can carry up to 600 passengers.  It was a Greek-owned vessel and flying on Bahamas flag.  It was a ferry which was just converted to a full passenger vessel slated to ply in the Straits of Malacca and home-ported in Singapore.  Cruising was at its infancy stage in the late 80s going into the early 90s in Singapore and the region.   It was our maiden voyage where we were supposed to do a 2-night "cruise-to-nowhere" along Straits of Mal...

Growing up in the 60s and 70s, it was considered a luxury to watch television, let alone owning one.  Going back sometime in the mid to late 60s in MacPherson estate where we used to live, I still remember only one household owned a precious black & white television then.  Ours was a typical one-roomer type of flat that faced each other along the common corridor.  Life was tough for all but it was a close community. Our neighbour was kind to let us watch the TV program together.  Most of our doors were never closed and as kids, we used to play and run along the common corridor.  It was noisy but nobody complained.  When it was time to watch, our neighbour would open their door and welcomed us all in.  The whole hall would be filled with children and adults and everyone was so glued to the television set.  One of the most popular TV programs was the Cantonese show from Hong Kong.  I can still fondly remember characters like Chan Poh Cho...

It happened more than three years ago.  It was a sponsored trip to run a marathon in Medoc in France by the French Tourism Singapore Office.  I truly enjoyed the marathon.  After the marathon in Medoc, I planned to visit Paris for few days before returning home.  Anyway, it was my first trip to France and I was all excited about it. I took a domestic flight from Bordeaux to Paris and I remember I arrived at about 1500 hrs.  I have heard too much about Paris and I was very wary of strangers.  There were few who tried to come near me on the pretext of helping me at the airport arrival hall and I ignored them completely.  One of my mistakes was to put almost everything in my haversack.  My laptop, my passport, my wallet comprising my cash and credit cards and handphone were among those important items squeezed into my haversack.  I had a large suitcase with me too.  I thought I will immediately re-organise my things once I have reached h...

Group picture before the ride in Penang The idea of combining cruise vacation with cycling was first mooted by Sandy of Star Cruises sometime last year. Indeed I was honoured to be invited by her to help organise this unique cruise program - a first by any cruise operator in this part of the world.  Our maiden voyage took place in October last year where we cruised to Phuket and Langkawi onboard Superstar Virgo for our cycling tour.  It was an enjoyable experience for all, we had load of fun & laughter and very soon, we were already planning the second departure with Xuejin and her team from Star Cruises.   Check-in of bikes at Singapore Cruise Centre Our second edition was scheduled on 16 to 19 Mar this year and this time we will be heading to Penang and Phuket onboard Star Cruises' largest vessel, Superstar Virgo.  For good measure, it is a 75,338 gross tonnage vessel that can carry more than 1,800 passengers.  We were better prepared for our ...

It happened in the 80s when I was working at the airport.  It was another typical flight departure where our flight was bounded for Amsterdam which left on time.  After the flight had touched down, we were informed by the Dutch immigration that there were some Middle Eastern passengers on the flight who were travelling on forged passports.  As an international accepted practise, they had to be deported back to the port of origin since their nationality could not be ascertained and in this instance, it was Singapore.  They were then immediately put back on the same flight to Singapore which had a stopover in Delhi on either way. I was not on duty when the return flight landed at Changi Airport.  There was no need to call for enhanced security as it was a normal case of deportee where the arrival staff would escort them to the immigration.  There were about five men if I remember correctly.  When they arrived at the arrival hall, two suddenly dashed ...

When I was a young boy, I used to sport a head full of thick hair.  It was so thick and coarse that the Indian barber I used to patronise as a boy had to exert little more pressure to comb my hair.  My late father had thick hair, my late uncle too.  Even on my maternal side, none is bald to the best of my knowledge.  Why am I bald?  Beats me, I have no answer either.  If there is any solace, my two younger brothers have also started to bald albeit at an older age. I started to notice receding hairline when I was in my mid 20s.  Did I panic?  Of course I was hell panicky.  The first thought that came to mind then was how to get a girlfriend if I am bald.  I was in the customer service industry and impression counts most too.  Svenson was the answer to my plight.  I was recommended a 10-course treatment that cost me a cool 4-figure sum and that did not include the special shampoo and condition which were charged separately. ...

As frontliner in the service line, we are likely to encounter nasty customers which is part and parcel of our job - like it or not.  Still on my good old days with KLM in the swinging 80s, such encounter was a norm to us and it remains so till today whoever that duty personnel is.  Suffice to say, our job was quite mundane but the different encounters at the check-in, arrival hall and boarding gate made our job interesting. During flight preparation for each departure, we used to assign seats requested by our passengers.  Some wanted buck-head seats for more leg space or to install bassinet for their infants, some wanted aisle, some window, some smoking and some non-smoking, so on and so forth.  In a full flight situation, it is definitely not possible to meet all requests and most passengers would understand.  It can't be helped when the first station and in our case, Jakarta took up most of the the popular seats and that left us with limited choices. ...

Note from me: This article was taken from the blog of the 4th PM of Malaysia (http://chedet.cc/?p=1210) who penned his views on multiracialism in Malaysia.  I wish to state that I am not his supporter as most of his views are draconian to say the least.   Quote 1. Malaysia is a multiracial country. It is multiracial in the true sense of the word. This is because Malaysian nationals retain their identification with their countries of origin or where their forebears came from. In no other country with a large number of citizens of foreign origin do we see this retention of previous identities. 2. Initially, during the time of negotiation between the communities for independence, there was some expectation of assimilation into a single Malayan identity. But the resistance was too strong and the leaders gave in so as to get every race to support the quest for independence. Not only should the original identity be maintained but the language, culture and media of instructi...