Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Blog…………………….

Traditional log cake during Christmas dinner.

Merry Christmas and happy birthday to my blog. I realized I started writing last year today. The year is coming to an end. Looking back at this blog, so many things had happened.

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner at Sek and Mary’s house and they really made us feel so at home. Really a home away from home. In fact come to think of it, I don’t even celebrate Christmas this way when I was back in Singapore.

Christmas is also a day for me to take stock of what I had done and what I had learned so that I can be a better person for the years to come.

Just a few days back, a friend just sent me a email reminding me of the importance to differentiate between “used and loved”. The story goes like this;

While a man was polishing his new car, his 4 yr old son picked up a stone and scratched lines on the side of the car. In his anger, the man took the child’s hand and hit it many times not realizing he was using a wrench. At the hospital, the child lost all his fingers due to multiple fractures. When the child saw his father….. with painful eyes he asked, ‘Dad when will my fingers grow back?’ The man was so hurt and speechless; he went back to his car and kicked it a lot of times. Devastated by his own actions…… sitting in front of that car he looked at the scratches; the child had written ‘LOVE YOU DAD’.

Lincoln, Vasmeet and their beautiful gift from God, Manpreet. Beautiful family.

It’s common nowadays. We had become too materialistic and always wanting to be seen to be better than others in terms of wealth and achievements. So much so that we had forgotten the real meaning of true love. Things are supposed to be used and people are to be loved. The problem in today’s world is that people are used while things are loved instead.

Wonderful Christmas Eve dinner at Sek and Mary's place.

2009 had been a wonderful year with so many people helping me to push my business forward without asking for anything in return. I am really blessed to have so many good friends that wanted to see development in my work. Now that I can say, it’s love. I will try and transfer these love to my farmers so that they are able to feel it too.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all that had helped me one way or another. Have a beautiful Christmas and a fabulous 2010!

A 30 years dream comes true…………………….

Sam Hui's concert ticket - 19th Feb 2010.

AT 17, he was my idol and he still is. 30 years had moved on and I couldn’t believe finally I am able to watch him in his live concert in Singapore this coming February. All this is made possible by my good friend, Melissa. She knew I grew up with his songs and this might be the one and only opportunity that I can attend his concert.

While writing this blog, I dug up all his songs to play. One after another, his songs brought back so much memories. At 17, I was thinking there was so much life could offer. Always having my Sony walkman in my chest pocket, with my ear phone plugged permanently in my ears, I engulfed myself in his world of songs. His lyrics were so real, so close to my heart. It was as if he was preparing me what to expect when I was struggling through this walk of life.

David and me at the then unfinished ECP.

Doing my national service at that time only allowed me to meet up with friends on weekends. Comes Saturday, my friend, David Soh and I would start our evening walk. Our journey would start from his place at Alexandra Road, walking up the unfinished ECP, ending up at East Coast Parkway, sitting at the jetty. We would stopped at hawker centres along the way, buying a can or two, day dreaming (or I should say night dreaming) of owning a car so that we don’t have to walk anymore and becoming somebody someday. David, being a cantonese, would translate the meaning of all the lyrics Sam Hui had written to me. It was these songs that made a big part of my life. I used them as my guide. I did managed to fulfilled some. There are some dreamers that only dreamed while some will turn their dreams into reality. Till now I am still wondering which category did I fit in. Well at least we dare to dream. Anyway, whats there to life if one doesn’t dream.

Sam Hui’s songs did influenced quite a big part in my life.

Thank you Melissa

Thank you and farewell meal for my colleagues……………………

Jonathan and his new found family in Uganda.

Jonathan decided to give my colleagues a treat after all they had helped during his stay here, especially washing his “Big” clothings . All in all, he had a very good experience here and his mindset about Uganda had changed compared when he set foot 3 weeks ago. He had seen things that were misinterpreted about Africa or in this case Uganda. He told me life in Uganda is not as bad as some videos he had seen on youtube from NGO’s showing how pathetic the country is in. There were too much hype in trying to make the country as if it was like the end of the world for them if developed country is not going to inject funds quickly to save them.

Having a feast and enjoying the festive mood early.

As usual, always having his camera near him, he managed to get some snaps of them preparing the meal for us and enjoying the afternoon, breaking off from work early to come together to have a nice lunch. Christmas is round the corner and we celebrated Christmas early .

I believe his trip here is a memorable one where he is able to witness the true lifestyle and progress and not from hearsay about the things happening in Africa.

讓 我 歡 喜 讓 我 憂…………………….

愛 到 盡 頭 覆 水 難 收

愛 悠 悠 恨 悠 悠

為 何 要 到 無 法 挽 留

才 又 想 起 妳 的 溫 柔

給 我 關 懷 為 我 解 憂

為 我 憑 添 許 多 愁

在 深 夜 無 盡 等 候

獨 自 淚 流 獨 自 忍 受

多 想 說 聲 我 真 的 愛 妳

多 想 說 聲 對 不 起 妳

妳 哭 著 說 情 緣 己 盡

難 再 續 難 再 續

就 請 妳 給 我 多 一 點 點 時 間

再 多 一 點 點 問 候

不 要 一 切 都 帶 走

就 請 妳 給 我 多 一 點 點 空 間

再 多 一 點 點 溫 柔

不 要 讓 我 如 此 難 受

妳 這 樣 一 個 女 人

讓 我 歡 喜 也 讓 我 憂

讓 我 甘 心 為 了 妳 付 出 我 所 有.

Tea with Dr. Anne Merriman…………………….

Jovial moment with Dr. Anne.

I felt very honoured to be invited to Dr. Anne Merriman’s house for tea the other day. The moment I sat down and had my tea cup filled, I know I will be embarking on another interesting journey of knowledge from a dynamic lady who had done wonders to humankind.

This is her biography;

Dr. Anne Merriman Biography

Dr. Anne Merriman graduated from UCD Medical School in 1963 and is internationally recognised as one of the leading Hospice Movement pioneers in the world, and the undisputed leader of the Hospice Movement in Africa, a continent to which she has devoted close to a quarter century of her professional life. Anne was born and raised in Liverpool. She enrolled in the UCD Medical School in 1957, was a devoted Mater student and, after qualification in 1963, she did her internship in the International Missionary Training Hospital in Medicine in Drogheda. Then, over the first decade of her post-graduate career, she completed three two-year stints in three Medical Missionaries of Mary hospitals in South East Nigeria. This was interspersed with posts in Drogheda, Dublin and Edinburgh, during which she successfully took her MRCPI and MRCP Edinburgh as well as diplomas in Child Health and Tropical Medicine. She then returned to the UK for almost 10 years in order to look after her incapacitated mother and, during that time, remarkably, she was able to complete her training in Geriatric Medicine and was appointed as Consultant Physician and Clinical Lecturer at the University of Liverpool, and subsequently as Senior Lecturer in Geriatric Medicine and Honorary Consultant in the University of South Manchester. Then she moved back to be nearer to her mother in Merseyside where she became head of the Department of Geriatric Medicine at Whiston Hospital.

After the death of her beloved mother, Anne took a new direction – both career-wise and geographically – first by becoming Associate Professor to USM in Penang in Malaysia and then as Senior Teaching Fellow to the Department of Community, Occupational and Family Medicine in the National University of Singapore. It was during this seven-year period that she developed her interest in Palliative Medicine and the Hospice Movement. She became a Founder Member of the Hospice Care Association of Singapore and made major contributions to that discipline, not only in Singapore, but also in South East Asia generally.

Dr. Anne Merriman receives an Honorary Fellowship of UCD’s Medical School, in recognition of her lifetime’s work.

In 1990, Anne was invited to be the first Medical Director of the Nairobi Hospice in Kenya, which opened in January 1990. During her time in that role, she realised the terrible suffering of terminally-ill patients in a country where oncology treatment was available only for the privileged few, and where patients tragically only presented at a late and often incurable stage of their disease. Dame Cecily Saunders, the legendary foundress of the International Hospice Movement, asked her to publish her views on palliative care in Africa. As a result, Dr. Merriman received numerous invitations from a variety of African countries requesting her to assist in setting up palliative care services along the lines of the model that her team had successfully pioneered in Kenya. This “Merriman Model” was the inspiration that was to drive the development of affordable and locally accessible services for the African subcontinent in the ensuing decade. In 1993, Hospice Africa Uganda was founded. Under Anne Merriman’s leadership, this introduced a model system of terminal care customised to developing countries with limited resources. She founded the Palliative Care Association of Uganda and was its founding Vice President. On a continent-wide basis, she became a founder member of the African Palliative Care Association.

Anne’s academic career and discipline saw to it that she has published extensively – over 90 articles and five books, as well as serving as editor and peer-reviewer on several journals. She still receives multiple speaking invitations to address learned associations and organisations all over the world. The driving motivation behind all of this for Anne Merriman is her passionate commitment to bringing affordable and culturally appropriative palliative care to all of Africa. In 2007, the School was delighted to confer on Dr. Anne Merriman its highest award – Honorary Fellowship of the School, in recognition of her lifetime’s work.

Original site http://www.hospiceafrica.ie/news_annmerriman.htm

I happened to google more and found this site about her written by a Singaporean – http://todayinsingapore.wordpress.com/2009/09/09/doctor-with-a-heart/

Living in Uganda allowed me to meet people from all walks of life who shared a common goal, the betterment for fellow human being.

When Paths Cross, Life Can Change.

Bazaar, Bazaar……………………..

Its that time of the year again where you can see Organizations setting up bazaars to catch the crowd of Christmas shoppers. Some were there to sell their used stuffs while others were there to raise funds for the needy. We were invited to two bazaars this year, one at US Embassy and the other at Hospice. This was the first time we did bazaar sales with our products. I wanted more brand awareness and it is working. People were inquiring about our locations and further discussions were arranged.

We could not capture any moments at the Embassy due to security reasons but still we had an equally productive time there. At Hospice whom we got to know Dr. Anne Merriman, had a more friendly, casual environment. She was also a Founder Member of the Hospice Care Association of Singapore and made major contributions to that discipline, not only in Singapore, but also in South East Asia generally. Nonetheless, we enjoyed both the outings. Jonathan helped out with the photography on this occasion.

Hospice Africa Uganda

Stands and stores of various Uganda's art and craft on display.

"My honey boutique" at the bazaar.

Doing our bit of contributing back to the community.

Sharing of information on our product.

Other products that were on sale.

Jonathan helping out with photo taking at the bazaar.

In the still of the night…………………….

Retro.

Electricity just went off and I could hear the thunder rolling from a distance. Woke up to close the windows before the rain got in. It’s going to be a heavy one. Couldn’t get back to sleep so I decided to pen down some thoughts.

Had my camera close by and it diverted my attention. I began toying around with it for a while. I had not really meddle with most of the function since I bought it beginning of this year.

Wanted my picture to look retro. Took a snap at my beside table using the black and white mode. The burning kerosene lamp brought out the “60’s feeling”. Turned out to be nice and cool.

The stillness of the night, the sound of the rolling thunder from afar, the chilly air that slowly seeped into the room and the warm glow from the lamp reminded me when we used to visit our grand mother when we were young. The house was big with 2 bedrooms during that time for we were staying in a flat that only had a curtain to divide our bedroom from the living room.

Although I don’t really know my granny much, somehow that tough lady kind of impression lingered on my mind. She passed on many years ago and I heard she went while sleeping peacefully without waking up. I think this is one of the best way to leave the world……peacefully without any pain or suffering. I believed she had lived a wonderful life having so many children and grand-children.

I guessed during that time, most women had this heavy responsibility of procreation. More importantly producing male off springs.

I could recalled vividly that I saw a picture of my proud granny holding my eldest brother showing off his precious little “bird”. My brother was the first male grandson for our generation. Can’t imagine it took place nearly 50 years ago. Where did all the time went?

Come to think of it, life just rushed by all these years. I only picked up bits and pieces of memories here and there. Most of it were left behind when I came here.

Tomorrow, it is going be a beautiful day .

Do you find this logical?…………………….

Extra 15% service charge for more than 5 people.

The other night when I was in Masaka, we went to this restaurant to have dinner. I was very surprised to see this clause on the menu. An extra 15% service charge will be imposed if there are 5 guests or more!

I find it very funny and I am still wondering what is the logic behind. I thought they should be happy to have more customers coming in for meals but instead, we are being penalized for bringing more guests to dine there.

When I asked the waitress, she told me it was because there are more work, so they have to charge extra for the work. I cannot imagine this answer she gave. Was this instruction given by the management? Now what if we were to split our group of 5 into two tables coming in at five mins interval. This mean we are having two tables, one with two while the other with three without them knowing we are together. That extra 15% service charge will not be imposed. In fact I think having to serve two tables is more work! Strange right???

I know this restaurant is run by some charity organization but I feel that doing business this way in the name of charity is not right. There must be still some sense of logic in business practice. If people wants to donate, do it with a heart and not forcing it down one’s throat. In fact I would be more willing to donate if it was not imposed this way. Worst of all, I would not even think of going back to the place and will definitely not recommend anyone to dine there. Sorry for me to say this.

Goodbye Ying……………………

It was a sad birthday present for me. I laid Ying to rest yesterday. The vet told me her condition had not improved and all effort to revive her pancreas had failed.

The vet told me that in the morning, she was trying with much effort to move around and once in a while would walked towards the entrance, looking towards the car park, and then walked back to hide under the bench. She was as if looking for my car, to see whether had I arrived. She was holding on for me one last time.

Left for Masaka at 5am and by the time I was back in Kampala in the afternoon. I rushed to see her. When I reached the hospital, she was already in great pain. She had difficulty in breathing. The vet told me that she had developed a chest infection, conjunctivitis and her heart is not strong enough to pump. They did all they could.

The Vet Professor advised me it was time for me to let her go, to end her suffering. Even if they were to inject booster a few more times, the chances were very slim for her to recover. Her body had already broken down.

I got to know about this condition from him and online. German Shepherds are very prone to this condition call Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency. Some can pull thru while others are unable.

The vet performed Euthanasia. I was holding her. Her muscles relaxed. She suffered no more. Within a month, I lost two of my closest friends here

A time for reminiscence…………………….

Yesterday was a good milestone to review my life here. How far had I come and how far more the road will be. I can feel the ripple effect from the economic downturn in Uganda. Things are slowing down while some other countries are already on its way up.

Just last month one of my German shepherd died and today I am bringing another of my dog to the vet to check what is happening to her. She hasn’t been eating and was always hiding in my room sleeping. She had to be put on drip because she was already suffering from dehydration.

Blood samples were extracted and I brought it to the lab to run some tests. Results came back that she was diagnosed with pancreatitis. The doctor told me it could be due to anything, ranging from contaminated food to hereditary. In order to understand more, I goggled and found this site very useful, http://www.vetontheweb.co.uk/pet-clinic-detail.asp?id=213

Ying on drip.

The laboratory was just next to the apartment which I stayed when I first came. Time really flies. It has been a long time that I had not come back to this part of town. I used to eat at a restaurant, (Sam’s Restaurant), just next to it. While waiting for the results of the test report, I decided to celebrate my birthday in my small little way, giving myself a treat at this restaurant once more.

The very first apartment which I stayed.

Sam's restaurant.

My birthday treat - pepper steak.

2001, I came here with a colleague, Sandra Wu. We were supposed to conduct a feasibility study on Uganda’s market on a certain type of self igniting fire extinguisher from Japan. Beekeeping was never our study and this fire extinguisher business never took off.

We were so enthusiastic with the whole project because everything and everybody seem to be in favor with the product. We went to all relevant authorities, business organizations and fire departments. Everybody wants it. We even did a life demonstration at the fire house in Kampala and many people came to watch. It was a big hoo haa event. End of the day, it was only hot air! At that time, Uganda has no buying power at all! Most people are still waiting for hand out from NGOs.

It was indeed a great paradigm shift for me. Being inexperience then and took everything at face value. Culturally it was a 180 degree turn compared to where I came from. Generally the people are mild mannered and they will never give you any opinion other than, “good”, “it’s nice” even when they don’t like it. We only managed to convince a few big Companies to purchase a number of them.

It was on the last few days before my return trip to Singapore for a briefing that Uganda Investment Authority invited me to attend an investment meeting on Apiculture. It was there that I met Professor Horn and we had a very long discussion about this industry. Our direction shifted and we never looked back.

9 years had passed and the experienced gained was priceless. It was bundled with much ups and downs, joy and sorrow, frustrations and satisfactions.

Living in Uganda was and is still not easy. Investing in any business here needs to be very careful. It is true that Uganda had improved in many ways but still it is landlocked. Road transportation is a killer. To make matter worse, most of the roads are very badly maintained with lots of potholes sprouting up whenever the rainy season comes. I believed Uganda could have been mistaken for Mars from afar with all these lookalike craters, (potholes).

Anyway, my birthday wish this year is to stay healthy, stay positive, focus on the training school and to look forward for this new challenge, hopefully becoming one of the most productive and comprehensive beekeeping training and resource centre in East Africa. Happy birthday to me .

They don’t understand the meaning of confidentiality and security…………………….

Last Saturday, I went to my regular bank, Standard Chartered Bank, which I thought to be a world class, high standard bank, where I do all my transactions. I had a shock of my life when I wanted to check on my account to see my balance. I approached one of the customer relation officer at one of the open concept station, sat down in front of her, gave her my bank account number and you know what she did? She simply log onto the computer, search for the account, wrote the balance on a piece of paper and loudly recite the amount to me! Everyone in the bank turned and looked and me, thinking out loud as if saying, “Wow! you have so little money in the bank, might as well keep it under your pillow!”

I went, OH MY GOD! I told her, “Have you ever thought that I might NOT be the account holder? I might have gotten the number somewhere and just handed it to you and there you just simply blurt out the balance without even first asking me for any identifications to make sure I am the rightful owner!”

She simply gave me that “why are you doing this to me” aghast look. She did not even recognized her confidentiality and security lapse and was trying to rebut by saying she was trying to be customer friendly and not to agitate the customers by asking too much questions.

Yes, I know she was being helpful by not asking too much, but as a professional especially in the financial industry, there is no excuse to overlook such things. Definitely I would not mind if she were to ask me all the security and identification issues. I would had felt much better coz at least I know my money is safe with them.

The banking industry still has a long way to go in terms of customers confidentiality. This incident had brought me back to another case where I was making some transaction at DFCU bank. Every teller has a money counting machine to assist the teller to count money. The most intriguing part was that the digital counter which shows the amount being counted was place in such a high position that the whole queue, or I should say, the whole bank can see how much money was being counted! Ha!

No wonder there are so much robberies and snatched thieves. They simply wait inside the bank to see who is going out with loads of money and then hijack them along the way.

I really hope those who are in charge of security in the banking industry see this post and to finetune the system and plug the loophole.

I felt sad or ashamed, not because that now everyone knows I am a poor bloke, but it was that the bank officer did not realized how serious the repercussion would had been but instead thinking that we as customers are making life difficult for them. Wrong attitude.

For you…………………….

Happiness is being able to be what I am, where I am and who I want to be with for no one can hurt my feelings without my permission now.

- Lesster

A Sunday to myself……………………

Uganda weather is really unpredictable now a days. It was so sunny this morning and I wanted to give my dogs a wash down. After cooking breakfast, the next thing I knew. the weather changed and now it is raining cats and dogs. The rain really hit hard on the ground and everything that were not tied down went scattered everywhere.

 

I had decided to tidy up my room. It has been a while that I did not do it . Adjusted the orientation of my bed to make more space. Jonathan is coming next month and I had shifted my work into my room. I kinda like it now coz its so convenient for me to work and to watch all the Cantonese and Korean series Melissa gave me when I was back home beginning of this year.

True enough, the weather in Uganda and life is running on the same line……..unpredictable.

Yesterday, I received another sad news from Melissa. She told me our friend’s husband is diagnosed with brain cancer. It all started when he first experienced spouts of giddiness in July, the docs diagnosed it as vertigo. Next, when he experienced acid reflux, they prescribed him anticid. Then when he experienced pain in the back, they dismissed it as muscle pull. Only upon persistent request for a scan (which was intended for the stomach and colon) did the report finally (accidentally) pick up spots in one of the kidneys. Further tests confirmed it’s cancerous. within a short span of 2 months, the cells have gone into the blood stream and a tumour has finally been detected in the brain.

He’s only 50 and we knew him since our early 20s. He goes for annual thorough check-up yet all the tests couldn’t pick up any signs or symptoms of the deadly cells! yet they say we are very advanced in our medical field! how so?

Sometimes I wondered, is it because technology had advanced so much that it can detect every single problem which had already existed in our bodies. When we are not aware of it, we simply live life with not much worries. But once something wrong is detected, our worries are then amplified, worries and stress takes over and finally one give up fighting.

Life goes on…….

After the rain, went out to the garden to pluck kangkong for lunch. The sweet potatoes, maize and kangkong are growing well with the rain.

Steamed rice and kangkong

A simple joy in life. Steamed rice and fried kangkong for lunch. One can never asked for more.

My approved work permit.

Got my work permit renewed recently. Hopefully this will be my last renewal because Ugandan Investment Authority told me that they are going to recommend me for permanent residency once I cross my 10 years mark. I cannot imagine I have been living in Uganda for 9 years now. Will this be my home? I wondered……..

If you had stayed too long in Uganda…………………….

1. You thought the signs on the toilet are in Luganda – MALE is pronounced as “mar-lay” and FEMALE is pronouced as “fee-mar-lay”

2. You read the road work sign as “GO, SLOW MEN AT WORK”

3. When you wanted your staff to work on something immediately, you tell them to do it, “NOW NOW” instead of a single, “Now”

4. You drink beer with a straw

5. You keep your money in your socks

6. 7 o’clock in the morning is 1 o’clock to you

7. You become an expert in avoiding potholes on the road

8. You pronounce ginger as “geen-gir”

9. You only lift your eyebrows as a sign to agree on something

10. Found ants in your soup – your reaction according to the number of years in Uganda,

a) Scream, complain, demand to see the manager and want to sue the restaurant. Have the soup changed and ask for free meal (stayed less than 2 years).

b) Simply pick the ants up and continue to slurp the soup (stayed 2 years to 5 years).

c) Gobble down the soup together with the ants (stayed 5 years and above).

A friendship that lasted 63 years…………………….

Rest well, dear friend!

Tricia passed on this morning. She was one of my first 4 dogs that I brought home when I first came to Uganda. It was just like yesterday when I answered to an advert on the supermarket wall, saying that they had young German shepherd puppies for sale.

When I went there the following morning, I saw 8 puppies running around. 4 caught my eyes and Tricia was one of them. Paid my deposit and collected them 3 weeks later because the owner wanted to make sure they had reached 12 weeks before they were separated from their mother. Imagine if they were to know their destiny, how sad it will be for them

According to the calculation, Tricia should be 63 years old when she left. The doctor did a postmortem on her and she was diagnosed with liver cancer. She had been very strong last few months for I did not noticed anything peculiar in her daily activities. It was only 1 week ago that I saw her struggling to walk on her hinds. This had happened to her other siblings and they recovered. She did not make it.

Just 2 days back, she lost her appetite and show signs of giving up. Initially I thought she had indigestion or worms. So I contacted my vet and he came and gave her vitamins and antibiotics jabs. Nothing changed.

By evening time, she was already lying sideways and had difficulty in breathing. I carried her to the verandah and gave her milk which she did not responded well. It was getting cold outside and I brought her into the house. At least she will stay warm.

Come this morning when I went to see her, she had already passed on.

Looking back, I can say Tricia is really a fine guard dog. She was obedient and intelligent. She gave me many happy memories and puppies too. Most of them were given away to friends.

Writing this passage had also made me realized that I could had given them more love and tender care. They are really man’s best friend.

Uganda 47th Independence day…………………….

Uganda 47th Independence Day - News article by Cyprian Musoke and Steven Candia (New Vision)

UGANDA marks 47 years of independence from British rule today with celebrations at Kololo airstrip.

An array of VIPs is expected to attend.
Among them Southern Sudan President Salva Kiir and Liberian President Sirleaf Johnson as well as ministers, MPs, civil servants, religious and traditional leaders and diplomats.

As in previous years, the opposition parties said they would not attend the celebrations, arguing that the event has become an “NRM affair”.

The theme for this year’s Independence Day celebrations is: “Unity, a key factor in protecting Uganda’s destiny and independence.”

The theme was chosen because of the recent divisions in the country, said the Minister for the Presidency, Beatrice Wabudeya.

Uganda has known eight presidents since the British Union Jack was lowered and the Ugandan flag hoisted, some of them lasting for only a couple of months.

The first post-colonial president was the Kabaka of Buganda, Sir Edward Muteesa II. He was ousted by Milton Obote, who in turn was overthrown by his army commander, Idi Amin, in 1971.

When Amin’s brutal dictatorship fell in 1979, Prof. Yusuf Lule and Godfrey Lukongwa Binaisa had brief tenures.
Disputed elections were held in 1980 that made Obote bounce back. His second term lasted for five years. He was toppled by Gen. Tito Okello Lutwa in July 1985.

Lutwa’s junta was shortlived. It was swept away in January 1986 by Yoweri Museveni after his National Resistance Army waged a five-year guerrilla war.
For the last two decades, Uganda has seen relative stability and development, characterised by economic growth, increased revenues from taxes and a growing GDP.

Real GDP per capita has tripled in the last 20 years, according the UN Human Development Report, from $515 in 1987 to $1,454 in 2005.

Social indicators have also improved, although not fast enough for Uganda to reach its targets under the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Adult literacy has increased from 43% of the population in 1970 to 58% at the time the NRM took power and 74% today.

Under-five mortality went down from 224 per 1,000 births at independence to 195 in 1986. It has stagnated at around 135 since the beginning of this decade, below the 56 per 1,000 births target. The number of people living below the poverty line stood at 55% by the time Museveni took power. It went down to 31% in 2005 but has since gone up again to 37%. More efforts towards poverty alleviation are needed to reach the 2015 target of 28%.

Access to safe water saw the biggest jump. Only one-fifth of the population had access to a safe water source at the time of both independence and the NRM take-over. This went up 46% at the end of the 1990s to reach 64% this year, according to the 2009 World Health Report.

Life expectancy has improved from 43 years at independence to 52 years today. In the 1990s, however, it saw a sharp drop – to 41 years – as a result of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Uganda’s population has grown five-fold in the last 47 years, and its urban population more than 10-fold.
There were only 6.5 million Ugandans at the time of independence, 341,000 of whom lived in urban centres.

Today, Uganda’s population is about 31 million, while people living in urban centres have reached almost four million. About half of Uganda’s population is under the age of 15.
The Police yesterday issued guidelines to ensure smooth traffic flow around the venue of the celebrations. Upper Kololo Terrace will be closed to traffic from 6:00am till the end of the function.

Guests with vehicles bearing red stickers will access the airstrip via Elgon Terrace and will park before the Heroes’ Corner. Invited guests with blue stickers will access the venue through Wampewo Avenue and park near the main entrance.

The public can access Kololo via Wampewo Avenue and park near the main entrance, while Wampewo Avenue will remain one-way from the roundabout to the airstrip.

Meanwhile, several party leaders have indicated that they would not attend. DP president Ssebaana Kizito said the celebrations had become an NRM affair.
“I will not attend because the aspirations we fought for at independence to get our own government have not been realised. Like Jomo Kenyatta used say: ‘It’s not yet Uhuru.”

FDC spokesman Wafula Oguttu said his boss was out of the country. “But whenever we attend such functions, the President begins abusing us, yet he is the one who invited us.” Miria Obote said she would travel to Arua to celebrate the life of her late husband, Milton Obote.

Memorable pictures captured during filming…………………….

During the 10 days filming, the production team and I really had a great time! All of us were chatting non stop during our waking hours which started from 6am till 11pm everyday. I remember when we were back from the west, we reached Kampala around midnight. We could hardly open our eyes while having our dinner at Nandos.

What had happened were beautiful memories that we will cherished for the rest of our lives. Below are some of the memorable photos captured ad hoc while the filming was going on and during breaks. Only recently I managed to extract some time to have them posted up. Priceless.

Belinda trying out some glasses at the airport transiting from Dubai.

Entebbe Airport. Somehow it resembles Paya Lebar Airport in the early 70's

Nas was trying to capture as many scene as possible. Traveling from the airport to my place.

Cows are a status symbol in Uganda. The more one has, the richer he is being recognized. This is an Ankole cow.

Children in Northern Uganda gathering around to watch the filming.

Children in Northern Uganda gathering around to watch the filming.

A quiet little girl sitting and waiting to see what is going on.

Toddlers are excited and curious because deep in the villages, it is rare to see "Muzungus".

A bicycle is a luxurious item in the village.

A child enjoying the photo session.

Nas and curious onlookers.

Sheau Huei getting into the picture business.

Nas getting help from the village kids.

Beautiful sun setting in the West. Timeless.

Capturing moments.

Its a long road.

This crater lake shaped like the Africa Continent from afar.

Fresh fish from the lake.

A walk in the Queen Elizabeth National Safari Park.

Belinda and I at my apiary.

Sheau Huei in front of the salt lake.

This german guy's name is "diesel". He has been cycling all over Africa for the last 20 years.

Diesel was passing Uganda at that time. He was on his way to Congo.

Stopping at the Equator for a break.

A nice surprise visit and to dine with him…………………….

Having a short chat with Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng before dinner during his visit in Uganda.

Mid autumn night…………………….

Was letting the dogs out last night. Took a shot at the moon since it was mid autumn. Had not had this festive feeling for a long long time.

Full moon on mid autumn.

Giant mushrooms…………………….

It’s that time of the year again where giant mushrooms are beginning to sprout in the North. You can see the villagers lining up their mushrooms along the highway. Each one cost about Ush4000 (S$3). They are tasty and rich in vitamin A as I was told.

These giant mushrooms are wild. They can only be found in the North during the last quarter of the year.

They come in different sizes. I got this having a diameter around 28cm.

According to some findings, these mushrooms are rich in vitamin A.