A Gentle side of the Kelong.

On the way out, after dinner was completed I chanced upon this cute little baby boy. He was in the arms of his doting mother on the right of the picture. And unk Dicko was trying to test out his baby talk expertise on this cute wee baby.

Along came two even more experienced, proven mums and they took over the "cooing and the baby so cute thing"...which attracted the attention of the babe's grandma.

So, unk Dicko got them all nicely framed for a nice and memorable picture.

Thank You for all the hardwork!

Midway through the seafood dinner, Chairman Mdm Cynthia Phua went to each separate table to raise a toast to them. The loud "Yam Sengs" were as good as any I've ever heard being hollered.

Spirits were high as everyone seemed to be better bonded after the camaderie of the team building sessions and the many hours they spent discussing and planning for the future.

Wah...this one cannot lose ah!

Must yell even louder ok?

Ready, one , two three....!

Have u tried gong-gong ?

For our Farewell Dinner on the 2nd night, we were all driven in a convoy of mpvs and vans to a Kelong Restaurant at Sebong Bay. It is built on stilts over the sea waters. On arrival, we could just about see the beautiful soft glow of the setting sun in the distant horizon. The shadows and inter-play of light between the darkening day and onset of night cast shimmering reflections on the gentle, rolling waves. I saw quite a few excited people whipping out their cameras to capture the picturesque scene.

In no time at all, staff of the kelong served up dish after dish of the most delectable sea food.

One of the first was a big serving of the sea-shell we call "gong-gong".You need either a tiny 2 pronged fork or a long toothpick to pull the edible portion out from the shell casing. Then? Then just dip it in chili sauce and pop it into your mouth lah! ATC Chairman, Cynthia Phua saw some doing that and cautioned that it may be wiser to remove the innards before eating it.
"Aiyoh! Too late lah, already swallowed the whole thing"...I heard someone saying.
No one asked what would happen if the innards are eaten.
I think nobody wanted to know.

Better not know..then can enjoy the food more.

Mr Naidu holding up a "gong-gong" for me to snap a photo.

Remember that song..by..?

Texan doing a wonderful job on the mic. He sang a couple of Hokkien and Mandarin numbers which went down well with our beachcombers.

Jeffrey Chua, the friendly and likeable General Manager of the T C belting out a cool song from the 60's...supported by his staff.

Do you know something?

Staff always support and appreciate a "boss" who can sing or who makes an effort to join in even if he or she can't sing very well.

In this case, no problem...Jeffrey can sing quite well. He told me later, he was a former scout and scout leader.

No wonder!

In red shirt is Mr Seng Joo How, a Consultant with the ATC., another likeable chap.

Bar-B-Q Dinner by the sea, Bintan Style!

All the official Town Councillors and staff of the Aljunied TC including the Chairman Cynthia Phua, had been working very hard throughout the day...almost right to Dinner time. So it was really good planning on the part of the organisers to have the night's dinner right on the beach at the sea front. Better still, it was to be a Bar B Q done by the resort's staff. The tables were laid out in style, with buntings fluttering in the night wind and lighted oil lamps around us.

Everyone soon settled down and dinner was a buffet spread of sea food and the stuff they grilled for us over the Bar B Q . There was a sound system playing loud unimaginable noises ( not music as far as unk Dicko is concerned. This is by the sea man! Music selections should be in sync with our sea setting. Right? Perhaps, some Hawaiian or calypso music would be the better choice.)

Did I say or think too fast?

Not too long after we started on our dinner, I heard my name being announced like this," And now we have the pleasure of inviting unk Dicko, from the Serangoon Gardens group,to entertain us with his baby Ukulele! " Alamak! Instead of relaxing, as I did in the day, now I had to sing for my supper! No choice, as I found the mic being thrusted into my hand. Huh, never mind I thought. At least I can now get the gibberish noises turned off. That's the 1st thing I did. The stillness was magic. I took the Mic and "entertained" the diners with some funny comments...that set the mood for what was to follow. I warmed all up with some catchy numbers.( Thanks Claire for holding the Mic for me! )

Since there were discernible groups of people sitting at different tables, I proposed that I will approach each table and they could request any song they like to sing. But first, I called out for Texan to join me as I knew he would be able to handle some of the Mandarin or Hokkien numbers...just in case! ( unk Dicko very smart huh?There were several such requests! I call this 'good forethought'.)

I went from table to table just like the "lang ting tang" man of days gone by, accompanied by my ever dependable faithful crooner, Texan.

He sang, I played.

I strummed, he sang.

Then we all joined in the merry singing with ever popular songs and all those favourites of yesteryears.

The Bar B Q resort staff, who had been serving us so well and splendidly, were enjoying the music by the sidelines too.

I decided to do a special number for them...Bengawan Solo, playing the ukulele in the kerocong style. I could see they were very happy as I dedicated the song to them. So, they too joined in the singing! What fun we had by the sea, under the stars of the night sky!

OBAMA's Favourite Town is...ALJUNIED !

For all you folks who weren't there, I would not blame you if you are shocked by the title of this post. But it is true! At least from what I had personally seen and heard when all the teams conducted their presentations that day, backed up by their facts, findings and reasonings...all neatly summarised on huge charts and wall paper. One team even used a laptop!
See the photo...OBAMA and his soon to be famous 1st family raising their hands in agreement...YES, Aljunied IS OUR KIND OF TOWN!!! [ Mrs Michelle Obama to little Mallia: "Do you know where on earth this place is honey?"
Mallia: Nope! But I read nice things about them on their Blogsite. They are NICE people, mom!" ]
Photo:
Daisie and her team doing a fantastic job with their presentation masterpiece. Unk Dicko surprised everyone by singing, "What A Wonderful World" while strumming on his Ukulele, as the concluding portion of D2's presentation! You know what .."it was so WONDERFUL to have you singing that most appropriate song by Louis Armstrong!" so said team members. An exchange after that....
[ Next time can do for us again?
Sure, but next time got appearance charge fee, huh, don't forget! ]

Hey ATC folks, Unk Dicko suggests you all send these masterpieces, together with the others, to President- elect OBAMA at the White House...as a proactive friendly gesture.
Why would I suggest that?

Because as a newly elected President of the USA he needs to go on Goodwill visits and make good friends even firmer. And how could he not choose to drop over at Aljunied to see his favourite Town? Especially after learning how we have embraced him even in a far-flung corner of the world called Aljunied but conceived at Bintan. Logical? Por Fa Vor? Comprehende? Ah....ah so deska !

ps: Don't be surprised if Obama chance upon this blog, he just might hire Unk Dicko as a L O
for his SE ASIAN sphere of influence.

Beautiful Bintan

On our arrival, we were ushered to the Orzo Restaurant, a special cosy place, for a late breakfast spread.

The food was really good and sumptious. And once the tummy was taken care of...it was time to get down to the business at hand., the seminar proper.

The Welcome address was held at the Manado Conference Room by Chairman ATC Mdm Cynthia Phua.

That was followed by Ice breaker activities carried out by staff of

aAvantage Consulting, the organisation engaged to do the team building programme. The official seminar programme then followed. Bintan time is 1 hour behind ours. As I was not involved in the seminar proper, I took my camera and went for a stroll around the huge grounds of the resort and ended up on the beach front. The scene before me was most inviting and captivated my heart. These were some of the images I snapped.

There were many deck chairs on the beach front. I dragged one under a shady Casuarina tree and laid down. With a steady breeze blowing gently and in the simmering heat of the early afternoon sun, I closed my eyes to enjoy this free of stress luxury of soaking in the sea, the sun and the sand.

Goodness old me!

I did not realise it. In less than 5 minutes I was sound asleep and when I awoke....3 hours had elapsed!

There were more people at the beach as I looked around.

I walked back to the main lunch area the Kopi O Restaurant. Most of the others had finished their lunch and were on the way back for Part 2 of the seminar. Me? I took a lunch of fruits...very healthy. They had a goodly spread.

Thus fully recharged, I decided to drop in on their seminar at the Manado Room.

I was curious what they were all up to when I went in.

All of them were seated on the floor with papers,scissors, glue , staplers, markers etc.

They were divided into teams for the challenge of doing a 6 minute presentation.

After watching D2's team and what they were doing, an instant idea hit me. I can add some spice for them.

To find out more, do read the next post.

Serangoon Adventure at BINTAN !

The Aljunied Town Council organises a yearly Retreat for all their Town Councillors, staff and spouses at exotic "overseas" venues such as Batam (last year) and Bintan, this year.

10 councillors from Kampong Serangoon, plus yours truly (unk Dicko ) led by Chairman CCC Daisie Yip, joined the other adventures from the other component kampongs...nearly 2 busloads full.

Early that morning, our group met at Hougang street 21 Bus terminal where 2 private buses ferried us to Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal.

I knew quite a few people from the other "kampongs" as I was with them at the Batam Retreat in 2007. Thus, it wasn't surprising that the very first thing that many of them asked me was," Hello unk Dicko ! Did you bring along your little BABY ? "

They were of course referring to my little UKULELE !

If I had said No, the smiles would have vanished.

Instead, I gently pulled out my ukulele and asked, " would you all like some sing a-long?"

Our busload of people were singing from Hougang to Changi, non-stop!

See...what a tiny little baby can do?

For those of you who would like to pick up ukulele playing...let me just say there is hardly any music school that offers such a thing, guitar yes..ukulele no.

So, in the world of the Ukulele...people such as myself are a rarity, especially in Kampong Singapore.

We boarded the ferry at Tanah Merah and settled down for the 1 hour journey to Bintan. Time was about 9 am plus.

Weather was perfect..a little hot.

On arrival, after clearing I and C at the Indonesian side, we arrived at Bintan Lagoon Resort where we were given a local, native WELCOME by this group of performers...with lots of kumpang drumming and other exotic musical items.

SMILE ! You're on Candid Camera !

This is the continuation of the previous post. All photos are from the archives of Unk Dicko. If you like any of the pictures just go ahead to click on it and download it for your own reference. However, if any one wishes to use any photos or documents or any other material on this website for reproduction in any magazines, journals or newsletters, please remember to get permission from this website administrators...first.

Photo: Mr and Mrs Lim settling down for the movie. I was surprised my little, tiny Canon digital camera could work so well in the darkness of the cinema!

Before the movie started, Mrs Daisie Yip, Chairman CCC , went to the stage to address everyone. On behalf of all present, she thanked Mrs Lim Hwee Hua our MP, for her generosity for hosting this movie event for all of us. She had some kind words too for Mr Andy Lim who has always shown great support to many of the events in our constituency.

She added that events such as this will further promote the already close ties and bond among all the GRLs and their families.



Photo:

Our happy cinema-goers exiting the hall after the show.

Photo:

And now for the next event!

An obviously elated Mrs Lim walking towards me as I caught the action.

Sing to the Dawn..a treat by Mrs Lim H Hua !

On 16th November 2008, our MP, Mrs Lim Hwee Hua did something rather special. She booked an entire theatre hall at Golden Village Cinema, Plaza Singapura and treated her Grassroot leaders, their spouses and families to a movie.

The movie was the animated film by Media Corps "Sing To The Dawn"based on the book written by Ho Minfong.
The screening was scheduled for about 3 pm. But our registration counter was already up and being manned by 1 pm.
I was there with Daisie and the others. All photos in this post come from yours truly ( unk Dicko ). I noticed there were a few others also with cameras snapping away.
If you would like to share those pics just send them to me as email attachments or in cd file. I will do the rest.
The better way is for those of you who have pics to learn how to upload the same by posting them here yourself.
I will be able to teach you how to do that as soon as the CCC or other committees invite me to do a short coaching session before your next meeting proper starts.

In that session, I will also teach you how you can be registered as a team blog member of this website and how to post articles and pictures, among other things.
Besides the entry ticket for the show, we were all given free Coke drinks and a large serving of popcorn. Not bad at all...it made me feel like a young kid again, like I was donkey years ago!
Mrs Lim was accompanied by hubby Mr Andy Lim.

WELCOME to the BLOG !

Hi to one and all ! I'm Dick Yip, otherwise known as the Wise Old Owl or Unk Dicko of my by now publicly recognised blogsite..... The Wise Old Owl @
www.uncledicko.blogspot.com
As the winner of this year's Active Ager 1st Infocomm Champion Award, and being a long-time resident of Serangoon Gardens, I have decided to do something constructive for our own community.

Starting this community blog for all the grassroot leaders of " Kampong Serangoon "I feel would be a great way forward.

There's a chance for one and all to chat, contribute by sharing photos and viewpoints on any subject. Through the comments box, we can engage one another thus furthering the inter-personal contact and bond that already exist among the GRLs.

For this site to be effective, I propose some general Guidelines for now. They can be amended at any time when more people come on board.

1. Site Administrator: Myself and 2 others whom I will personally coach.

2. Access to read blog: Anyone can access. It is a public blog on the www or internet.

3. Comments: Anyone can put comments.

4. Posting : Only GRLs who are registered with Admin can post or share.

[ It is easy. I will show you how, asap. All GRLs are eligible to post.]

5. Contents: The owner/author of the post, pictures or comments shall be fully

responsible for whatever is posted. Please be always mindful of this!

6. Rights: The Admin reserves the right to delete any post,picture or comment

deemed inappropriate, without deliberation.

I would love to hear from anyone !

Just go to comments and click away.

Cheers!

Unk Dick