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!

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 .

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.

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

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 .