Thank you

Just a quick note to say that I’m now back in Melbourne and to thank one and all who have made my stay in S’pore most fun and pleasant. My apologies to those who couldn’t fit into my schedule – I can only hope that another opportunity will present itself.

To the many SHC members I’ve met, please accept my heartfelt thanks for your kind and generous hospitality. I am not mentioning any names here because I have met so many of you and I fear that I may miss out someone. But you know who you are, so please accept this as my personal “thank you”. I hope to repay your hospitality some day in the not too distant future.

My observation while in S’pore has been that you have a great club in SHC. I have jokingly said that this is a “second childhood club”. And after joining the bike ride last Saturday, I feel the remark is actually quite apt. For example, those of us who didn’t have a chance to learn to ride a bike when we were younger are now able to do so. Members who can ride are helping members who can’t. Learners share their embarrassment and others encourage the learners. It all adds up to a lot of fun and camaraderie. This can only be healthy as our silver hairs get more silver (or in my case, the silver hairs fall off).

The D&D was such great fun. Who would think that people regarded as “over the hill” can enjoy themselves so much. The games at the D&D prove this point. And the members who took part in the games – you have to agree that they are ready to laugh at themselves and not afraid of people laughing at them. Again, this is all healthy.

There is so much more to write about but I’ll leave it at this point for now – holiday over lah, got work to do mah! I’ll share some more of my observations as we exchange and discuss in this thread.

Again, thanks very much everyone.

Trivia Thread

It is oft said that forgetfulness is the first sign of ageing. We cannot stop the process but, perhaps, we can try to slow it. So, after much egging here is a thread to test our mamm – oops, not again (another sign of ageing) – test out memories or otherwise gain that knowledge our parents and teachers told us were unimportant and wouldn’t get us anywhere. Now is a time to find out how sweet that forbidden fruit is and have a good giggle at how little we know because we had allowed the good life to pass us by.

So move that cursor over your hippocampus (the hard disk in your brain, for the technology savvy), click out those trivia questions and put out the challenge: “So, you didn’t know this did you … smart-a***?”

Okay, so you take pride in not wasting your youth with trivia. Well, show us that you are indeed a real smart-a*** and answer the questions posed here!

Please also  participate even if you are genuinely seeking answers.  Example, a tune keeps going through your head and you are dying to know the title of the song. You may want to ask the title for the song with the lyrics:

    "Stepped into a church I passed along the way/I get down on my knees and I pretend to pray"

Also, you may not want to ask the question, but just want to share some trivia information like:

    Cat Stevens, who had a big hit with "Morning Has Broken", has embraced Islam and now goes by the name Yusuf Islam.

But do keep questions as trivial as possible – we’ve all got this far in life because we’ve passed the “other” intelligence tests already. And for starters, we’ll stick with trivia pertaining to music and films.

So, ready … set … let the fun begin!

Ron Choo (Melbourne) – Profile

Pursuant to Rule 705, Section 4b of the SilverHairsClub, I, Ron-Oz (so that other silver-haired Rons may not be subrogated to me), currently domiciled in Melbourne, Australia, having been duly admitted to SHC, do hereby voluntarily submit for the perusal of all and sundry with SHC membership my curriculum vitae.

No, I’m not a legal eagle, just a frustrated writer wannabe. I am in fact a quitter – quit Singapore at the tender age of 19, arrived in The Lucky Country and shortly after decided to call it home. Wow, have I actually lived here for almost 40 years? I do amaze myself sometimes! During that time, I’ve lived and worked in three capital cities (Perth 12 years, Canberra 4 years, Melbourne since 1990), several provincial towns and cities in between including a couple of places that seemed like the end of the world.

Working in the media has given me the opportunity to see the length and breadth of this vast continent and I doubt if I can see it all before I reach my use-by date.

Retirement is not yet in my vocabulary because (a) I love my job, (b) need to finance my daughter at university for another four years, and (c) my son will continue to sponge off the old man until such time as he decides to give up on his dream of becoming a heavy metal rock star and finds himself a real job.

To all the single parents among you, I belong in your ranks because my wife was afflicted with post-natal depression shortly after my son was born. Her illness has deteriorated over the years and she is now certified as schizophrenic.

But hey, the world keeps turning and life must go on. So I try to enjoy as much as I can of the many things that give me pleasure – reading, writing, films, music, swimming, cooking and most sports (as a spectator). I spend much of each winter following my football (Aussie Rules) team around the country.

Don’t know where or when we’ll meet, but meanwhile let’s just enjoy this cyber intercourse that modern technology has afforded us.

 

Ron-Oz 

PS: Vale Benson Koh