The idea of having my own blog had never crossed my mind. How then did I end up being a blogger, and an increasingly enthusiastic one too? Both my wife and my youngest son, who is a computer professional, thought that it would be a novel and perfect birthday gift for me to have one and proceeded to spring a loving surprise on me. Towards end 2006 at a regular Sunday family luncheon, my son casually mentioned that I had just become the proud owner of a blog with the domain name LamPinFoo.com, which he had already registered. Whatever articles or other materials that I feed into the blog would reach readers not only in Singapore, but also internationally, if they logged on to it. He designed the tasteful and professional format of this blog, and even penned a profile of me!  He and his mother believed that this would be a good way for me to share my interest in writing and my reflections on life with my family, relatives, friends and others.

I first started to contribute articles to the local newspapers, and a couple of magazines, periodically from 1995 onwards. This became more frequent after my retirement. Between 1995 and 2006 close to 100 of these had been published. My writings on a variety of subjects, including current affairs, history, culture, the arts and travel, have greatly enriched my life, widened my knowledge and horizon and made me more conscious of my own limitations as there is no end to learning. Of even greater importance, they have stimulated my mind and helped to delay or prevent it from becoming too sluggish and dull in old age, which can easily happen if one leads a sedentary retirement life.

I have derived tremendous satisfaction and pleasure from posting articles in my blog and sharing them with others. From the various encouraging comments and feedback from readers from different countries and cultural backgrounds, and seeing a steady increase in its viewership, I am gratified that my efforts have not been in vain. For that, I am most grateful to my wife and son for making my blog a reality. I am determined to soldier on for as long as I am mentally and physically capable of carrying out the task.

So far, I have posted 45 articles, under nine categories of subjects, in my blog. I believe that it’s time I took a temporary break from my monthly input as some of my regular readers might be a bit bored having read so many of my pieces. As change is the essence of life, I have invited six guest writers to each contribute one article every month commencing this month. I am honoured that they have agreed to do so. They all share a common love for writing and I am confident that their rich life experiences as reflected in their articles will be good reads and will enhance my blog. I hope to invite other guest writers from time to time as a feature of my blog.

To start off this guest writers’ series, Dr Ong Siew Chey’s article is posted immediately below my introduction.

Lam Pin Foo