JBJ

My condolence to the family of the late JBJ.
He has always championed for the workers and their rights.
He came across as a humble, simple and sincere man who truly believe in his conviction.
How many times has he fallen and bounced back and continued with dogged determination.
I have seen him on some occasions during lunch selling The Hammer and on even more occasions during election rallies.
I am sure many of us admired him for his courage, determination, selflessness and conviction.
The very fact that he was awesome to me was that no matter what, he has never ran away from Singapore. He stood his ground. A true son of Singapore! But Singaporeans lead a charmed life for his style to make an impact especially on rights and the freedom of speech in particular his more confrontational style but history will remember him for his contribution.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Kallang Roar! (Part Three)

Image
Back in the good old days, we have four other national teams. Besides the National Team (The Lions), we also have a B team (The Cubs). Then we also competed in the Sultan's Gold Cup fielding a team called Singapore Malays. We have the Singapore Indians playing in the Bardhan Cup and the other being the Singapore Chinese team also competing aga inst Malaysian state teams in the same format and also the Ho Ho Cup triangular among Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. In 1976, Englishman Trevor Hartley became responsible for the Singapore team at age 28. I can't remember which year Singapore beat Malacca 6-2 and Lee Bee Seng was sent off for punching an opponent who must have trampled on him. Here is Bee Seng with Brian Rozario. In the same match Quah Kim Song was sent off too for fighting. And I said wow! Malaysia Cup is like that? I like! (Pix - Lee Bee Seng with Brian Rozario). And can you believe this? Before all these we have Mike Walker who played Kim Song a
Read more

The Hainanese

The Hainanese are people from Hainan who originated from Hainan Island - the smallest province of China at the Southern most tip. They were originally fishermen from Fujian and Guandong and later settled over there. The Hainanese, part of the Chinese dispora migrated to different South East Asian countries including late comers to Singapore worked in ships as sailors, opened their own coffee shops or restaurants, bakeries or bars and worked as cooks and chefs and others at local hotels.  Hainanese in Singapore made up 7% of the Chinese population. The Hainanese came to Singapore much later than the Hokkiens and Teochews who are already well entrenched in trade and commerce. Originally they also have problems communicating with other dialect groups as their language seems unintelligible to the others but they began to carve out a name for themselves working for wealthy Europeans including as canteen operators for military bases.  Hainanese are especially with food and beverage.
Read more

Singapore Soccer Legends

Image
Legends What are legends? A legend is a traditional story or myth, traditional literature or inscription. Lee Kuan Yew is a legend. So was Bruce Lee. You can find legends in business, politics, leaders, music, movies and sports. Legends are heroes of the time, at that time, a moment in history and usually you will find it hard to replicate or reproduce like Jack Nicklaus in golf, England's 1966 World Cup soccer winning team, Brazil's World Cup team of 1970 and 1982. Maradona and Messi are soccer legends of Argentina, Platini and Zidane are legends of France, Beckanbauer and Muller from Germany and Cruyff, Neeskens, Marco van Basten of Holland.  Eventhough Holland did not win the World Cup, the whole team in 1974 were legends. So was Denmark when they won the European Nations Championship. Legends defy logic. They inspire. They make you want to be like them. They start a revolution. They can transform a nation. They can bring joy and give a common platform for
Read more