In Memory of "The Three Musketeers" at Lazarus Island

The First Bendemeer "Three Musketeers" - Benedict Tan, Malcolm Tan and Oh Tze Ming (2001-2004)

The Second Bendemeer "Three Musketeers" - Daniel Lim, Malcolm Tan and Oh Tze Ming (2005-2007)

I shall always remember your friendships and cherish the good memories we had. It is rare to find friends with such similar interests, values and views.

With the transfer of Mr Daniel Lim to Ministry of Education HQ, the school has lost a great Geography teacher. I wish Daniel well and may he contribute to the positive changes to the Humanities curriculum in Singapore. Though the "Three Musketeers" are going separate ways and will find it hard to meet up in future, may the friendship and spirit leave on!

My namecard as professionally designed by EFFIE HO, my ex-student!

Thanks Effie (4E1, 2005 and former "Battlefield Guide") for such a professional job done! You voluntarily offered to help me design a better namecard even though i did not ask you to! I hope that this will contribute to your portfolio in graphic designing! All the best to your poly course! pursue your passion and talents to the end! It is the pride and joy of every teacher to see their ex-student doing well in what they like!

Malaysia Short Escapade with Jet: 19-21/11

Taiping Lake Gardens, Perak

Taiping Commonwealth War Graves, Perak

Trekking at Maxwell Hill, Perak

Taiping Town from Maxwell Hill, Perak

View from summit of Maxwell Hill, Perak

Chermang Waterfall, Bentong, Pahang

Prayer for the abuser of my cbox tag! I shall follow the example of Jesus!

As some of you may have noticed, someone has been using my name to write inappropriate and uncouth comments on my cbox tag. I do not know who this immature person is nor understand why he has to do this. There is always a risk of such things happening in a public blog like this. I have deleted and banned this person from tagging in my blog. Should this not work I will then consider removing the cbox tag feature. Thanks Chuan Wah for your technical advice!

To whoever who tried to irritate me by abusing my cbox tag feature:

Jesus taught us to love our enemies and pray for them. Jesus lived up to this example by forgiving even his enemies who falsely accused him and cruelly crucified him (nail him to a cross and let him bleed to death). If you think I am going to use harsh words against you like what most people would do, you are wrong! As a disciple of Jesus, I will do what Jesus would do - I shall follow Jesus' example and forgive and pray for you.

My prayer for you:

'Dear Heavenly Father, I do not know who this person is nor know why he dislikes me so much. I know for sure that this person does not have peace in his mind and is so lost in this world that he has no better things to do than to try to irritate people online with his uncouth words. But you, oh God, know all things - you know who he is and his intentions. I pray God that you will give this person peace, true purpose and meaning in life so that he will repent of his sins and be a useful person to the world. I pray that he may truly know who Jesus is and how his life can be transformed for the better through Jesus. As Jesus prayed when he was crucified and I will likewise pray the same prayer for this person, "Father God, forgive him for he knows not what he does." In Jesus' name I pray, Amen."

Making new friends and reconnecting with old friends - life will never be the same again!

My life has become more interesting, enriching and meaningful recently after I made the decision to expand my social life and social circle. For a few decades in my life, I am more of a loner who kept within my small circle of friends. That seemed to suit my independent and individualistic personality. After a personal crisis two months ago, however, I came to the realisation that "no man is an island" and that my life has become mundane and lacking in certain aspects. Recently, however, I have finally found the time and resolve to make new friends and yet reconnect with the old group of NIE friends at the same time. That has in turn, sparked new social activities and interests in my life. Life will never be the same again! Suddenly like a teenager, my life is becoming more eventful and exciting!

Last night, in particular, I had a reunion with my NIE friends, some of whom I have not met since I started teaching! We shared so much about our lives all these years and noticed how we have all changed for the better through the years. A few are even married with kids now. It was impossible to narrate seven years of our lives in such a short time but we all agreed that we should meet more often in the future for meals, jogs and other activities. My old friends, in particular, have noticed the many positive changes in me as a person - a sign that my resolution is working! I am now a "new" and hopefully wiser person. It is time that certain unpleasant episodes in my life be laid to rest and I think judging from the way things have turned out these last two months, the "doors" are beginning to open and I am beginning to see the "light at the end of the tunnel"! It is amazing how far I have come from the broken and depressed person of just two months ago when everything seemed impossible! Thank God for answering my prayers!

Liberation for two months

Yes, finally finished my last assignment which means a break for two months as I have NO exams for my entire course. This is one of the joys of being in the education system - you have busy periods and lull periods, something to look forward to. In the first 8 months of this year when I haven't started term, I had too much time that I did not appreciate the weekends and term breaks. Now I do again. Its good to have a balance in life. Too busy and you will feel overstressed, too free and you will feel aimless. Too much good things in your life and you will not appreciate it. Too little and you will suffer also. Its like what the Bible said in the book of Ecclesiastes, "There is a time for everything and a season for every activity..." Okay must use my time wisely. Get my namecard and brochures done, catch up with old friends, keep myself socially and physically active and of course start working on my thesis and personal research.

First free-lance heritage guiding assignment through Raffles Hotel. Jason is my first assistant.

Today made history as the day when my free-lance guiding enterprise sees its first tourists - two pairs of elderly American couple who came from a cruise ship. Jason was with me as assistant and photographer. Initially things looked bad as the two couples just arrived and were busy checking in their luggage when they were unexpectedly told by their tour package leader that they were supposed to have a free city tour after lunch. Fearing that my tour might end late and make them tired, they wanted me to come tomorrow instead despite the fact that i had already changed to become a British general! Fortunately the hotel staff, Mark, tried to coax them. At one point their conversation went like this:
Tourist: Ask the guide (Malcolm) to come tomorrow instead.

Hotel Staff: The guide (Malcolm) has another assignment tomorrow.

Tourist: Well, then get another guide tomorrow instead.

[I stood there worried at the thought that she actually suggested replacing me!]

Hotel Staff: This guide (Malcolm) is the best for World War II in Singapore! You will still have time to come back for the City Tour. [I was so proud of that statement!]

Tourist: Ok then. [I heaved a sigh of relief]

The tour ended up quite well. I ended up bringing the four tourists to the Changi area as was suggested by them. They were tired on the way back but were quite happy with the trip to give me some good feedback in my guestbook and tipped us real well! Jason was a great help today and he truly deserved his earnings for today too. My only regret was that Jason and I forgot to take a memorial photo on our first assignment. We have made history as the only guiding enterprise consisting of ex-teacher and ex-students working together! More to come hopefully. I sure would like to work with the rest of my assistants whom I have trained and hand-picked!