Research Connection

Here we are, at the end of another year. Workwise, it is a time for relaxation and rejuvenation, and we are thoroughly grateful for the blessings of our home in Singapore. For a year and a half, we have been living in a condominium complex called the Cascadia, along Bukit Timah Road. Apart from the amenities in the condo compound itself, its location is excellent. It takes just a little over half an hour for me to get to my workplace by bus, which plies the residential areas along Bukit Timah Road, Sixth Avenue and Holland Road. We're connected to downtown Singapore via the nearby KAP and Sixth Ave MRT stations. But most of all, I am grateful for the leisure and serenity offered by the nearby park just a short walk away from the bustle of Bukit Timah Road. To keep the description short, the park is basically a large rectangular field (Holland Field), bordered on all sides by roads. A park connector runs along one side of the rectangle, in parallel with a monsoon drain that runs jus...

Having been fully gratified from writing the blog on my experience on the sculpture trail at the Botanic Gardens, where I explored the rich connection between Art and Nature, I thought that 2024 should be the year when I explored the equally rich links between Art, Society, Culture and Industry in Singapore. And just as I was fortunate to stumble upon the well-curated trail at the Gardens, another programme, this time by the folks at Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), called Art in Transit, formed the basis of my exploration. It all started on the Hari Raya holiday in the month of April. when I accompanied Audrey and Ethan to the King Albert Park (KAP) MRT Station. They were going to Bugis to study with their friends, while I was headed to the Botanic Gardens. Since both MRT stations were on the Downtown Line and we were travelling in the same Eastward direction, we went off together to KAP, our common starting point. It was just one stop down from the Cascadia, our home along B...

My mother-in-law, Kuo A Hsin, was married to my father-in-law when she was just about 18 years of age, moving with him and her young family from Taiwan to Singapore shortly after. Having rarely travelled outside the rural township of Chiayi in central Taiwan where she was born and raised, she was therefore unacquainted to the sights and sounds in other parts of Taiwan (save perhaps the southern city of Kaohsiung where she met her life partner). She had always yearned to enjoy the beauty of Taiwan island as a tourist. After 53 years or so of life in Singapore, she would finally realise that dream. In 2023, my mom-in-law, affectionately known to her grandchildren as A Bi, would undertake a 2-week whirlwind tour of Taiwan with them- Audrey and Ethan, and me. The following is a photo essay of that trip. 2nd Dec (Day 1): Changi, Singapore to Taoyuan, Taiwan Flying first class on Singapore Airlines! Audrey and A Bi fly in style and making the most of it. Sampling a pre-selected meal on board...