The Tibetan Empire was bigger than you thought! Come visit Western Tibet.

The Tibetan Empire was bigger than you thought! Come visit Western Tibet.

Dr Seow Onn Choong

Recently an old classmate traveled to Tibet. He sent his itinerary to me with photos of the places he had visited. I have not been to Tibet before but there is a placed I visited that look very similar.

Have You Heard of Western Tibet?.

All of us know Tibet also known as the "roof of the world". Many tourists have visited Tibet  Very few people would have heard of Western Tibet. Actually there is a place west of the present Tibet that was known by this name. It is now a part of North West India known as Jammu Kashmir region. Coincidentally the Dalai Lama lives near this region.

At one stage of history this was actually a part of the Tibetan Empire. Being very far from Lhasa, it had broken away and formed its own kingdom with its own king. The more famous name for this region is Ladakh, thus the Kingdom of Ladakh.   

I visited this place about 2 years ago. The main city is Leh. This town is situated in a valley at the height of 12000 feet above sea level. The best way to reach Leh is by plane. You can reach this town by road but it is a very long and arduous journey. As you can see Jammu Kashmir region is situated in the western part of the Himalaya mountain range with the most famous mountain being Mount Everest that reaches a height of 28000 feet.  This region is very dry and there are few trees in sight. Probably all the trees had been chopped down for firewood as winters here are freezing. This area looks like a desert. As the water laden clouds rise to pass this mountain range it is force to shed its load before it pass the high points of the mountain range. Thus by the time the winds reaches the valley, there is no more water to fall as rain. In this situation the only source of water is from the streams that are created by the melting snow on the mountains when summer comes. The streams of water are the lifeline for all the villages that sprout out on the flatland adjacent to the water supply.

Very fertile fields

Over the centuries a series of irrigation drains have been created. This has resulted in fertile fields where a variety of crops is grown. There are few trees even in these fertile patches as most of them have chopped down for firewood. Winters can be very harsh and for that period this place is literally cut off from the rest of the world. Fortunately as this is a strategic region for India, the government subsidise the cost of fuel, thus life is no longer as bleak. With the opening of the region to tourism , the town of Leh  is full of tourists from Europe. They either come to see Leh or take part in treks up the mountains.

Trekking up the mountain trails.The streams are from melting snow.

Even though this area is so isolated, it has been the scene of many wars. Due to its harsh environment only the people who remained are those who can adapt to the climate. Up until recently this place even had a king and a palace to live in. With India’s independence and the British (being the last colonial master) handing the region to the Indians, the king lost his kingdom. The palace now has become a museum.  This palace is situated not far from Leh in a place called Stok.

The King's palace at STOK

The reason for this moved was  Leh had been invaded by others. There is a grand palace in Leh. It looks very much like the Potala Palace in Lhasa. This palace was built at the same time as the one in Lhasa. I was told that the famous one in Lhasa is a copy of the one in LEH. Since it had been occupied by invading forces it has lost much of its grandeur.

The Palace at Leh. You can see the similarity

This is the Highway

One slip and you roll down a thousand feet

From Leh we drove on what is labelled as one of the most treacherous roads in the world, crossing one of the highest motorable pass in the world. The road is extremely narrow with vehicles nearly scrapping each other as they pass. Although the road is asphalt covered , the quality is extremely poor due to the extremes of weather. In fact there are many road repair gangs all over the course not only to repair the road but also to clear the many stone falls that frequently occurs.

Traffic jam at the roof of the world

Celebrating at the highest point of the road

Road repair gangs. Don't know how
they can live here.

Our destination was a town known as Diskit in the Nubra valley. Here you will see most of the residents are Tibetans wearing exactly the same dresses. Unlike in Leh few Indians live or do business here. In the surrounding areas there are many monasteries. It was at one of it that we had the good fortune of meeting the Dalai Lama’s brother. A great many people had come to this monastery where the Dalai Lama was having an audience and sharing his wisdom.

His Excellency the Dalai Lama's Brother

Outside Diskit we climbed up the hills to visit a monastery that had been in existence for hundreds of years. To our amazement they had built a huge statue of Buddha. It was a great sight overlooking the Numbra valley. We were really fortunate to be there at that time as it had taken them many years to build and that the Dalai Lama had come to consecrate the statue.

Worth the climb to see the stature

The very beautiful Stature

The Stature overlooks the beautiful Nubra Valley

Nubra valley is one of the series of valleys were settled by people and made up of villagers string along the old trading route.   In the old days yak caravans will travel across the passes carrying goods passing from one valley to another. We visited one of the village at the invitation of one of the doctor. His family have settled here for hundreds of years. We were shown his farm which had an impressive array of vegetables. This land is very fertile and the land is really an oasis in the desert. No kidding just as in the Arabian desert, there are camels here. Fancy having a camel ride in this highland.

The camel train

real camels, where did they come from?

So now you know Tibet originally had a bigger footprint.    

Silly ideas in Singapore: Bomb Shelters

Singapore’s bomb shelters, are they really necessary?

Dr Seow Onn Choong

Singapore has a very good reputation for efficiency and high standards of governance. It has come a long way moving from a third world country to first world status in a very short time. However maybe because of this rapid development some policies doesn't make sense and in my opinion turn out to be silly policies. With the new wave of thinking post election 2011, we should now take time to discuss such policies and see if they really are needed. Most of these policies were never  opened to the public for discussion. I am sure all the government think tanks would have gone through thyem but knowing how decisions are made in commiittees it may not have all the information to make a very good decision.

Bomb shelters in every home.

When one enters a new home either a landed property or a private condominium very often your host will show you a room tuck somewhere near the kitchen. This room has thick concrete slabs and a thick metal door. In it there are no windows except for a small ventilation hole. Welcome to the bomb shelter. I was told you can find such rooms in public housing too.

This contraption is very much a secret in Singapore. It is hardly publicised but when you want to build a new house your architect will tell you that this is a requirement. Nobody can tell you why there is such a policy in place. There seems to be no avenue for you to appeal.

When you dig it up you will find the reason for a bomb shelter in the SCDF (Singapore Civil Defence Force) website. Here are some excerpts from the web page.

Household Shelters

Description of Household Shelters

The Household Shelter (HS) in a dwelling unit is typically the store cum pantry with its walls, floor and ceiling strengthened with increased thickness. The walls are set back by specified distances from the building exterior and the entrance to the HS is installed with an SCDF-approved light protective steel door. The HS gives protection to the shelterees against weapon effects such as blast and fragments during an emergency

Under the CD Shelter Act 1997, new dwelling units (both houses and flats) are required to have household / storey shelters incorporated in the developments.

With effect from 1 May 1998, applications for planning permissions for new flats or houses submitted to or lodged with Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) are required to incorporate household or storey shelters.

Advantages of Household Shelters

The household / storey shelter has the advantage of being easily accessible to residents of the house or flat and apartment occupants when the need arises. Life during an emergency can thus be close to normalcy. In the case of a residential block of flats, it It is also economical because the void deck space otherwise occupied by a public shelter can be freed for other recreational and social uses, and maintenance cost is minimal.

Procedures for Shelter Occupation

When the need arises (eg. before the onset of a war emergency), the SCDF would increase the public education programmes to prepare the population on precautionary and protective measures. Residents will be advised to prepare the HS for occupation and adopt the appropriate procedures for shelter occupation. Upon the sounding of the "Alarm" signal from the Public Warning System (PWS)., the occupants are to move into the HS. During their stay in the HS, they are advised to tune in their TV or radio for important messages issued by the authorities. Once the "All Clear" signal is sounded, the occupants can leave the HS and resume their daily routine.

National Defence in Singapore

Singapore is a very small country surrounded by neighbours many times larger. Singapore was created through its colonial masters thus there is some sort of underlying resentment as to its existence. Furthermore the majority population of Singapore are made up of Chinese who are considered as migrants to South East Asia. From time to time when elections are being held in the neighbouring countries, inevitably inflammatory speeches are uttered. Thus there is always this fear that the neighbouring countries will invade Singapore and destroy the country when political differences arise.. National defence is taken very seriously. All male citizens must take part in national service i.e. become a soldier boy for 2 years. Then there is the regular armed forces. They are equipped with the latest gadgetry and boast some of the most advanced weaponry that money can buy. The armed forces are the active force and SCDF ( Singapore Civil Defence Force) is the passive force. SCDF organises the general public to be able to take care of the country in war times. SCDF are involved fire fighting, rescue operations, ambulance services etc.

  When in comes to National defence there is very little debate on the subject. Most people until recently do not even know how much money is spent on defence. It can amount to 20% of the country’s budget. I am not sure if there was any public debate about this bomb shelter act.

Is there a need for bomb shelters in the house?.

There are very few countries in the world that has such an Act that makes it compulsory for such a contraption at home. Israel and Switzerland are probably the only countries that make it compulsory. In the cold war of the 50’s it was popular to build nuclear shelters in USA. However nuclear shelters were fairly big underground rooms and equipped with all the necessities for a much extended stay. It was like a replica of a small house so much so the whole family can live in it for weeks.

Singapore’s bomb shelters are different. As can be seen from the SCDF write up they are very temporary in nature. They are very small because as it is the apartments in Singapore are already very small. It is also without ventilation mechanisms or any form energy supply. Thus they are meant for very short occupation.

Now come the crux of the matter.

 Cost.

As the guideline for the construction of the shelter imposes a necessary thickness and strength of the structure, the cost of building it is not cheap. To my knowledge the cost of such a room ranges from $25,000 (twenty five thousand) to $40,000. This may cost even much more so in a tall building as the additional weight has to be taken into account. No doubt property prices in Singapore are very high and the additional cost is not a deterrent. However as a national cost if one totals up the all the cost of each household past, present and future then it is really substantial sum of money. If Singapore built 100000 homes over the last 15 years the total cost for all the bomb shelters will be a whopping $3billion to $4 billion. That is really a lot of money to waste and can be better spend on buying equipment for our armed forces. Furthermore most properties in Singapore don’t last more than 20 years as there is great incentive to tear it down to build newer buildings. These newer developments come ever smaller as the price per square foot is ever rising due to the Singapore phenomenal of enbloc sale. What a terrible waste of resources and time. As we want to be a greener society our guardians insist on adding more rubbish.

Are this shelters really effective?.

It is effective as the SCDF states against shrapnels especially flying glass or other objects. However when a building is bombed, it usually catches fire. Thus the resident of the house or building will be trapped in a burning building. This is made worst in a high rise as the occupants may not even know the building is on fire as they cannot hear the shouts of neighbours. When they feel the heat through the walls obviously it is too late, every occupant will be roasted inside. When the heat rises there will be frantic phone calls from the occupants.

Well if our enemies know this achille’s heel then they will target to set fire to buildings instead of destroying it. SCDF and our army will then be overwhelmed by calls to rescue them. The authorities have created a false sense of security.

Other countries experience in times of war.    

Inevitably as an entrepreneur I would have run into the SCDF when I need to renovate a business premise. Singapore’s style of doing things is fairly unique. The government sets up an agency to draw up the rules and regulation. This agency then police the rules and regulations they have drawn up. However your contractors are not necessarily qualified to understand the requirements. Thus when you want to apply for permission to do things you need to appoint a QP or qualified person who is supposedly knowledgeable to all the rules and regulation. This QP will advise your contractor on how all the requirements. SCDF will not talk to you or your contractor.

Thus in one event I was so frustrated by the outcome that I had personally had go down to see the FSB( Fire safety bureau which is an unit of SCDF).  After trashing out the issue to my satisfaction I posed this question to the officer.

During the Vietnam war, Hanoi was bombed endlessly by the Americans. Did he know whether the residents of Hanoi had any bomb shelters and if not how did they survive the bombings. Well he had no clue. When I told him how the North Vietnamese survive the bombings by running into culverts and just cover the opening with a zinc sheet (which they had build near their place of work or residence) he was flabbergasted. I had emphasised to him how destructive the B52’s were during their bomb runs. There are many names to such bomb runs, the most famous being carpet bombing. Those people who live through it would not forget the name “Operation Rolling Thunder” in which more bombs were dropped in North Vietnam than the combined numbers during WW II.

So learning from the North Vietnamese, we should be building culverts and not bomb shelters.

The maid’s torture chamber.

Nobody wants to talk about this issue except if you search the expat forum you will find foreigners very amused. To make matters worse most of these rooms are used for maid quarters. Imagine sleeping in a room where there is little ventilation. If they close the door for privacy, the room becomes very stuffy. I don’t think the authorities allow aircons in these rooms. If they open the door then there is no privacy. I wonder why the governments of countries who send us maids have never brought up this issue.

I remembered the prime minister’s wife bringing this subject up once in the papers. She is an engineer by training. Nothing has come out of it.

The Swiss experience.

It seems like very soon Singapore is the only country in the world that builds bomb shelters in homes. Switzerland had one of the most elaborate self defence force and inevitably made construction of bomb shelters in homes compulsory. However times have changed for the Swiss. They have found these shelters becoming redundant. Now they are usually used only as storerooms and some even completely locked away. As usual with a historical baggage it is not easy for the Swiss to completely throw away the idea. They have allowed the locals to pay a fee. They called it a fee to pay for a space in a public bomb shelter which the government builds.

We are not so lucky in Singapore. There is no such option. However if you are building a house and can retain some structures of the old house then you may be exempted. Hmm if bombs drop from the skies how can they differenciate an old house from a newly built one?

We are an inclusive society.

Recently we have been told our society is moving towards an inclusive society. I find it a bit difficult to understand the term. I have been checking with many people and asking them what they know about the policy of bomb shelters. To my surprise literally none can come forward and tell me the rationale behind this policy. As far as I can remember there was no public discussion on this issue, thus nobody really knows why it was needed. So how can the authorities implement a policy that affects every house owner without prior consultation.

Soon we will be celebrating our 50 years of independence. Through these years Singapore has become a very developed country. We have a population over 50 years of age highly educated and with very good experience of every aspect of life. If we tap into the knowledge by harnessing the power of forum groups, the country can do very much more for our citizens without making such mistakes that can incur a lot of money. I am sure there are better ways to do things.

Singapore Airlines (SQ) may not be a great way to fly afterall.

Singapore Airlines (SQ) may not be a great way to fly afterall.

As a dentist I work within four walls of my clinic. Many of my successful friends and patients tells me of their enjoyment when they fly all over the world for work. They usually do so flying business class and more often than not Singapore Airlines superior service is mentioned.

As for me flying on Singapore Airlines is akin to doing national service. I am proud of our national carrier but I always feel they don’t treat me with reciprocal respect. Why do I say so?. When you buy a SQ ticket, it is always more expensive than any other airlines available on the Singapore market. Many of my foreign patients fly on SQ because of the service and reliability but they also mentioned a price that is a huge discount to what we can get here. From my patients who are staff of SQ they say this is due to their business strategy as they can maximise their profit. Erh, at the expense of Singapore residents? Do you mean all airlines in the world milk their own countryman?. As I dentist there is no need for me to fly unless I am going on a holiday.  Usually those destinations for holidays are not too far away, thus the differential cost of the ticket in economy class is not that high and I really don’t expect much of the service.

Recently things have changed. I am much older now and no longer need to worry about my finances. Like the wise sage taught, if I don’t spend the money I have earned it is not mine. Now I have the opportunity and time to travel to far of places. Why not fly business class? The internet has enabled us to check for prices of air tickets and also booked it directly. Thus in the comfort of our home environment I can compare the prices of the fares available. To reinforce what I have said earlier SQ charges are usually significantly higher as much as 30%. With the significant savings flying on other airlines both me and my wife can take off together.

SIA has many challengers on the market. The most notable is Emirates follow by Qatar and Cathay Pacific. The middle eastern airlines have been marketing themselves very aggressively. As they have grown in fleet size they are also flying to many destinations. There is one inconvenience. On all flights to Europe there is a stopover in one of the middle east country. However since I am flying on business class and on a holiday, it gives me ample time to enjoy the service provided.

Every year I need to fly to Australia once. This time I decided on Brisbane because I have not been there for some time and as June is a winter month, sunny Queensland should be ideal. Of my usual favourite airlines only Emirates and Singapore Airlines fly to Brisbane. Unfortunately Emirates fly on an unearthly hour i.e they depart Brisbane at 2.30am in the morning. On my last trip to New Zealand flying Emirates, there was a stopover in Brisbane which lasted for 6 hours. Yes it departed at 2.30am from Brisbane making it a bit difficult to sleep. So that leaves me with SQ. A check on the ticket shows it is 30% more expensive. Well just before I made the decision to buy the tickets a former Silkair staff came for her check up. As the conversation went, she being a very loyal staff was defending her company. So i need to check it out as I have not flown on SQ business class before. Well as it went SQ flights to Brisbane had the right timing.

So I went to SQ’s website to book my tickets. Easy enough but then I realise they were using the older Airbus on this route. On these older planes the business class seats are of the older vintage and not as luxurious as the new seats they had advertised. Too late I have already booked the tickets. SQ has one extra option. They have a button for meal selection and to my surprise there was an offer to choose your cook. Well when you select this option, it highlighted 2 offers on the outbound trip. A choice of either steak or prawns. OK so I selected steak for myself and prawns for my wife. For the return trip the offer was different. So I selected seafood meals for both.

A day before the trip I was notified by email and a sms message requesting to check in online. So I went online to check in but due to some issue I cannot understand, I could not do so. Thus I had to check in at the airport. What amazed me was the email and sms they sent to me did not highlight which terminal I had to go to board the flight. SQ flights take off from both Terminal 2 & 3 of Changi airport. I had to google the flight to find out. Check in was easy as we were early. So we made our way to the Kris flyer lounge. It was pretty crowded but we found our seats. The food selection was quite small granted they had such a big lounge and with so many people inside. Not really appetising for me and my wife. I was looking forward to my steak. The flight was to depart at 20 minutes pass midnight and as we were told that there were no boarding announcement we had to look after it ourselves. So just 20minutes before the closure of gates we walked towards our flight gates. To my horror we realised that the gate was on the other side of the Terminal 3 and we need 18 minutes to reach it. A quick step walked became a bit of run.

We were welcome on board in good time because there were other passengers still strolling in. Obviously SIA may be phasing out the plane as the cabin looks a bit dated. After the usual drinks the stewardess asked if we wanted our meals after takeoff or before it landed. As for me I would like my steak fresh. My wife chose the option before landing. My steak came in due time. As they say airline food is not too appetising. This steak was no different and really did not live up to my expectation. Never mind I made up for it by watching the movies and had some wine. I cannot fault SQ as they have a good selection of Asian movies. Before I went to sleep I went to brush my teeth. I took one of the toothbrush from the amenities cabinet. To my horror after a few strokes I can feel the bristles coming out in my mouth. Shocking that SIA can offer products of such quality.

When I woke up in the morning my wife was just served her big prawns. She was not too keen to eat big prawns at that time of the day. The steward asked me if I wanted a drink. So I told him that I wanted a glass of orange juice. Then I waited. Nothing else came. There was no breakfast for me but I did not know that. I had to ask for my coffee. Whoa this is the first time that nobody asked if I wanted breakfast on a night flight.

Time passed quickly especially with the wintry climate Brisbane was having. It was time for our return trip. It was an afternoon flight. So off we went to Brisbane airport. We had 2 carryon bags. We were very surprise when the counter staff asked us to weigh out carryon bags which were quite small. One of them weighed in at 8 kilos. She told us the weight limit was only 7 kilos and this was due to safety requirements. Again this is first time we have heard of it. All other airlines we had travelled on allowed 10 kilos. Don’t tell be the cabins on SQ planes are not designed for bigger luggage?        

Once again mealtime came. The stewardess came to inform us that we had ordered seafood meal. Since my wife had a stomach upset she checked with the staff to see if there was cream in the seafood meal. As the reply was positive she asked for Chinese meal. What do you think the reply was?. The stewardess said as she had ordered a sea food meal there was no other meals available for her. However if other passengers do not choose the Chinese meal then she can have it. Wow? Fortunately there were only 4 chinese in the cabin and she got her meal. I had my seafood meal. The starters were 4 prawns on a bed of salad. When the main course came it was really disappointing. There were prawns and pieces of salmon on pasta. The food cannot even compare to the pasta at Pastamania, a popular fast food chain. How can it be on a special menu? Better to send the chef to the fast food chain for some lessons.

One matter of interest. On all the other airlines we were provided with a toiletry bag. Some airlines have very elaborate bag designs. No doubt in this green world and especially for those who fly very often, there is no necessity. For those who are irregular flyers, it is a good token. The bags are very suitable as giveaways to friends or relatives. It is a very convenient toiletry bag. Isn’t it a good marketing giveaway?. At least give the passengers a choice if they want to receive it.

Let me share with all SQ or SQ related staff my experiences on other airlines.

Let me start with Cathay Pacific as this was the first airline I flew on business class. The seats are Ok just a bit tight but can recline fully i.e lie flat bed. They have all the seats arranged at an angle to maximise the numbers, a bit awkward for the ladies when other passengers move up and down the aisle. The meals came all together for every passenger i.e they still have mealtimes. However if you miss your meal you will have to make do as they will cook you a wanton noodle. No, you need not go hungry as they have a selection of sandwiches. When you go to sleep they will offer you a very comfortable duvet. The crew were always ready to serve. Breakfast is a given. Their business class lounge at HK airport is pretty large. They have a variety of food. The one I like best is the wanton noodles made on request. Well HK is famous for wanton noodles isn’t it? On my next trip to HK they upgraded my return leg to business class.

The next time I flew was on ANA. It was a trip to New York with a stopover in Tokyo. The plane for the Tokyo bound leg unfortunately had old fashion seats and thus not a big deal. However they had just introduced the new seats on the Tokyo to New York sector. They were very spacious and very comfortable with more privacy. The business class lounge in Narita was not much to talk about. They have a udon stall. Not my favourite Japanese food. The only setback flying on ANA is the air crew cannot converse well in English and thus I had difficulty in asking for any variety of food offered on board. To make things worse the movie selections were in Japanese or in the original language.

 Emirates came into my mind when I had to go to New Zealand and Australia on a business trip. I was surprised they have flights that cover so many cities of Australia. On their website I could book the different sectors, something new and called open jaw booking. The only problem was there will be a long wait in Brisbane on the return leg. On departure day a limousine came to our house to deliver us to the airport. This is a complimentary service. You should have seen their business class lounge at Changi airport. It was very large and not crowded at all. They had a very good selection of food and to top it all, the staff even came to serve you as if you are in a restaurant. When it was time to board the plane the staff walk by to announce it. There was a special gate that led directly to the plane. Literally we were boarding the plane as the gate closed. Service on board was very good and we had all our meals including breakfast. When we landed in Melbourne there was another limousine to send us to our hotel.

Our next leg was from Melbourne to Auckland. To our surprise the Emirates business class lounge at Melbourne is an exact copy of that at Changi airport. This is true for the lounges at the airports of Auckland and Brisbane.  Since they are very large lounges they do not feel crowded at all. Well the best part of my flight was we were upgraded to first class seats from Brisbane to Singapore. Wow this is the first time we are flying on Emirates and we were upgraded. Needless to say service in the first class cabin is overwhelming. Again there was a limousine to pick us at Changi airport.

Most recently we had to go to London on a urgent trip. A check with the websites gave us an idea of  the prices. Needless to say SIA’s fares were much more expensive. There was a technical difficulty on Emirates’s website. You see my son was travelling with us on this trip. Being a young person he wants to travel on economy. No matter how I tried it was not possible to put us on the same plane. So I went to Qatar Airways website. The fares they quoted were not much more than SQ’s economy fare. So we were booked as a family.

Qatar Airways do not have their own dedicated lounge at Changi airport. They do not provide the limousine service as Emirates. Their business class cabin must be one of the latest and most spacious with very large seats. It is their onboard service that is very impressive. There seems to be many air crew on board and they are always around to serve you. When it came to mealtimes we were offered the menu. There were many options available. To our surprise the stewardess told me I can have everything item on the menu if I wanted. Not only that, if I do not feel like eating now they can serve me when I choose. You should see how they serve you on board. It is like eating in a fine dining restaurant with many courses. Service on board was probably the best I ever had.

It is easy to converse with the crew on these middle eastern airlines. They all can converse in English fluently. The reason is at least one of the crew would have a connection with SIA. Inevitably one of them on board would have worked for SIA and joined these airlines. So you can see they have learned all the service qualities from SIA and improved on it.

Sadly SIA may have sat on the high pedestal far too long. As I exchange notes with my contemporaries who no longer fly on company trips but their own private trips, they all share the same conclusion with me. That is it is not worth paying the price of air tickets SIA charges as they can get very much better value on other airlines. Yes one can say we are still the minority but as you can see the numbers are growing. Bear in mind in all the wealth surveys recently Singapore is a very rich country. There is a big pool of silver hair folks who would like to enjoy a bit of life before we move on to the next world. Instead of taking advantage of the situation SIA is antagonising its largest pool of potential customers. If SIA’s countrymen refuse to fly on its national airline, what would entice others to fly on SQ?

Dr Seow Onn Choong is reinventing himself.

When I was a young dentist the retirement age of people then was 55. I supposed my target then was also to retire at 55 as some believe a dentist's hands will be  shaking by then.
I have tried many times to retire but doesn't seem to be very successful in doing just that. 5 years ago I decided to sell my practice consisting of 4 clinics away. What triggered the move was the death of my eldest brother. That was a good opportunity for me to fade away as the sale requires me to work for the new company for 3 years. Well I went on to work part time for another 2 years until a change in management triggered another retirement.
Well I thought this is it. I was wrong. A flood of phone calls , sms messages and emails came. To make matters more exciting I started running into all my former patients and once again the questions are the same.

So at last I am reinventing myself by staring another  clinic now known as Dr Seow Dental Centre. It is jsut right next door to my old clinic in Holland Drive.
Thus the address is Block 43 Holland Drive #01-51 Singapore 270043 Tel. 67770113.

I have been a rolling stone all my life. I started work as a government dental officer but concurrently I was given 2 other jobs. One was as a part time lecturer in then the University of Singapore. The other was as dental officer in charge of Woodbridge Hospital and Tralfagar Home. THose days there was no handphones, thus none of my colleagues knew my absence.
Government  service was alike a stone wall. I kept knocking my head into the wall as the people involved were most resistance to change. Finally over  $50 dollar call allowance I resigned.
I joined Tay and Partners. It was a young group back then but was very advanced in its ideology. It was the place where I picked up most of my dental skills especially four handed dentistry.The training was good enough for me to sit for the Master Degree in Dental Surgery from the National University of Singapore. I am probably the only MDS degree holder from NUS that was not a government or University trainee.

Soon I felt it was time to set up on my own. My first clinic in Plaza Singapura was known as AARON DENTAL SURGERY. Aaron because it appears as the first name in the yellow pages. That was the most the most important lesson from my  former boss. Little did I realise that it was not to be so easy. As a Malaysian, I had very few friends in Singapore. Also most people did not trust a young dentist.

Fortunately fate is kind to me . One of my medical doctor friend who was the working in Brunei suggested I go to Brunei to start a practice.It was a easy decision but had to convince my girl friend to marry me and follow me to" that god forsaken place"

So I started AARON DENTAL SURGERY in Brunei. However one day a Malay man came into my clinic asking for Dr AARON. As far as he was concern I could not be Dr Aaron as I was not an englishman.
That triggered me to think. Thus AARON SEOW DENTAL SURGERY was born.
Brunei was the best thing that  can happen to me. Within one month my clinic was very busy so much so there was period of 3 days I worked from morning to night none stop. On the fourth day I told my newly wedded wife I had enough and I closed the clinic for the day.

Brunei was a really unique and most important milestone in my life.The people of Brunei is very friendly. There was only 2 dentists in private practice then , one charge the sky and the other cause a lot of pain. Even thought he government provided free dental care, the service there was atrocious. Everyone gave me a try. The best part was whatever I did for them, if the results did not turn out well they will comeback to give me feedback and ask me for a better solution. This was how I could hone my skills so much so my patients called me The Best Dentist in the World.  I am not bragging cos recently when I went back for a holiday after 14 years many people still remember me and then they poured out their dental woes.

AS events went, I came back to Singapore to facilitate my children's education. That was supposed to be my first retirement , but as a Malaysian I had to be gainfully employed to stay in Singapore. I worked for a friend but every alternate week I flew back to Brunei to take care of my patients.After 5 years i had to stop because it was just too tiring and thus AARON SEOW DENTAL SURGERY was born again.

Is  DR SEOW DENTAL CENTRE the last of seow onn choong's revival?. Time will tell.