Happy 47th birthday, Singapore!

The formal toasting

With Mike Kuek

With Capt David Padman, Dato' Thava and Datuk Sundra Rajoo

Jennifer and Serene Padman

Jennifer and Puan Hendon

Last night (9^th August 2012), Jennifer and I attended the Republic of Singapore’s National Day reception at Shangri La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. We were there rather early and were greeted by His Excellency, The High Commissioner of Singapore Ong Keng Yong. Incidentally, the High Commissioner of Singapore bought a copy of “Mediation Skills and Techniques” and wrote me a very nice personal letter.

The ballroom was beautifully decorated and there were many diplomats and corporate figures mingling with each other. Jennifer and I helped ourselves to endless supply of the famous cocktail known as “Singapore Sling”. They had two versions of “Singapore Sling” – one with alcohol while the other is a “mocktail” (without alcohol). There were also a variety of canapés to choose ranging from spring roll, prawn cocktail to samosa. As we were walking around and checking out the various food stalls, suddenly we heard someone calling my name. It was none other than our very dear friend, Mike Kuek who is a Counsellor from the Singapore High Commission. Mike chatted with us for a while and then excused himself as he was in the greeting committee and needed to be at the front line to greet the guests.

Jennifer and I were moving about to see if we recognized anyone but so far, we did not spot anyone we know. As we were going to the front part of the ballroom, suddenly I heard someone calling me and tapping my shoulder, “Hey bro, what’s happening?” It was my old friend, Dato’ Thavalingam Thavarajah (commonly known as Thava). Thava is a leading Employment lawyer in Malaysia and was also the former secretary of the Malaysian Employers' Federation (MEF). While we were chatting, another familiar person came up and greeted us. It was another old friend, Datuk Sundra Rajoo who is the Director of the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration. I commented that Datuk Sundra Rajoo didn’t seem to age and jokingly asked if he was using botox! I know, I know, I am a mischievous guy! As we were catching up on old times, suddenly who did I see but an old family friend standing behind us – Captain David Padman. Capt David is the current General Manager of Port Klang Authority. I asked Capt David whether his wife Serene is here. Sure enough, Serene showed up with a plate of the famous Singapore chicken rice! Serene and Jennifer had a wonderful time checking and trying out all the different food at the Reception. Jennifer had a great time with Serene chatting and catching up.

They served very good food at the Reception. It is common in this of kind of function for the host to proudly serve the food from their country. We had a lot of similarities here in food such as Char Kway Teow (with prawns and cockles), lamb kurma (which was excellent, I must say), naans, satay, chicken rice (both steam and roasted) amongst others. They even had a stall with a variety of local fruits. As I was ordering a plate of custom fried Char Kway Teow, suddenly I heard another familiar voice behind me saying, “Seumas, are you enjoying the Kway Teow?” Lo and behold, another old friend, Andrew Khoo who was in his batik shirt. Andrew is the Chairman of the Bar Council’s Human Rights Committee and has done fantastic work in defending and preserving human rights.

Suddenly there was a call for silent when the High Commissioner of Singapore and the Malaysian Government’s representative, Dato’ Sri Dr Ng Yen Yen who is also the Minister of Tourism went up to the stage to perform the customary toasting. After that, the national anthems of both countries were played. Serene who is a Singaporean proudly sang “Majulah SIngapura!” when the anthem was played while her husband, Capt David who is an accomplished singer sang “Negaraku” with the rest of the Malaysian guests who attended the reception.

While heading towards the fruit stall, I bumped into the High Commissioner of Australia. Had a chat with him and then went to grab some nice sweet “jambu air”. While enjoying the “jambu air”, suddenly my mobile phone rang. It was Puan Hendon Mohamed (the first woman President of the Malaysian Bar and the first female Malay lawyer). She asked me whether I am at the reception and I informed her in the affirmative. She was outside the ballroom. I went out to accompany her into the ballroom and we went to check out the “ice kacang” stall. I decided to go and look for Jennifer when I saw Lim Chee Wee (the current President of the Malaysian Bar). We spoke for a while and promised to catch up for lunch soon.

All in all, it was a lovely evening and what makes it even more enjoyable was the wonderful food and excellent company. Thank you to the Singapore High Commission for hosting such a great event and finally, happy 47^th birthday, Singapore!