Mrs Lee Kuan Yew dies at age 89

Fyi, reproducing below article from Channel NewsAsia on the passing of Mrs Lee Kuan Yew, wife of Singapore's Minister Mentor, Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

Singapore
By Channel NewsAsia, Updated: 02/10/2010
Mrs Lee Kuan Yew dies at age 89

SINGAPORE : Madam Kwa Geok Choo — the wife of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, and mother of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has died on Saturday.

Mrs Lee Kuan Yew, age 89, passed away peacefully at home at 5.40 pm.

A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said the wake is held at Sri Temasek, official residence of the Prime Minister located within the Istana grounds, from October 4—5.

Visitors who wish to pay their last respects may do so on October 4—5 from 10am to 5pm.

Members of the public may call 6835 6614 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              6835 6614      end_of_the_skype_highlighting for any queries.

A private funeral will take place on October 6 at Mandai Crematorium.

The family requests that no obituaries and no wreaths or flowers to be sent.

All donations will go to the National Neuroscience Institute (NNI) Health Research Endowment Fund.

Madam Kwa was one of 8 children.

An outstanding student at Methodist Girls’ School, she also topped the 1936 Senior Cambridge Examination for the whole of Malaya and Singapore.

At Raffles Institution, she caught the attention of a young Lee Kuan Yew when she gave him unexpectedly stiff competition for a Queen’s Scholarship.

But academic rivalry aside, he knew he had found his equal, and his soul mate.

Their relationship grew through the years of Japanese Occupation, and by September 1944, love had blossomed.

When World War II ended, Mr Lee left to study law in England in 1946. But he was miserable until she joined him at Cambridge University a year later.

The two married secretly on 23 December 1947.

She had just turned 27, and he was 24.

Mrs Lee said: "You can’t explain these things ... He had tremendous aplomb, self—confidence, very jaunty, he was a handsome young man."

When they returned to Singapore in 1950, they tied the knot again, this time with their parents’ full knowledge.

When Mr Lee got more involved in politics and became Singapore’s Prime Minister in 1959, it was Mrs Lee and his younger brother, Lee Kim Yew, who built up and expanded Lee & Lee — the law firm all 3 had set up in 1955.

Mr Lee once said his great advantage was that he had a wife who could be a sole breadwinner and bring the children up.

That was his, quote, "insurance policy," which allowed him to play the role he did in Singapore’s history.

In October 2003 — Mrs Lee suffered a stroke while on a visit to London.

Fortunately, she made a swift recovery and was again seen in public at her husband’s side at community events, and on official trips overseas.

And she was there when Lee Hsien Loong was sworn in as Singapore’s third Prime Minister.

Although she had shied away from a high profile, her contributions to Singapore had been most significant, and pivotal to its history.

"If she weren’t an influence, supposing I had married somebody else, I might have become a different person, not that I would be a different person, but the things that I would have been able to do, the kind of backdrop I would have had, family, support, would have been different," said MM Lee. — CNA /ls

Cigarette prices to go up tomorrow

If you are a smoker, expect to pay more for your ciggies as cigarette prices are expected to go up tomorrow by 70 sen for a pack of 20 sticks making the increase one of the highest in recent history, previous hikes being between 10 and 30 sen.

Most 20-stick packs, which is currently sold at RM9.30, will cost RM10. Packs of high-grade cigarettes are expected to cost as much as RM14. Price hikes could be one of the reasons people quit smoking and it has been predicted that the price hike would cause cigarette sales to drop by 10%.

Physiic brings the Gym back home

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Fun and Stylish Prom Dresses

October is upon us and the school year is fast coming to an end. Year-end finals are also fast approaching and soon, it'll be the end of another school year. Schools here finish the school year late November and the year-end break will be for a good seven weeks before the new school year begins again early January.

The year-end schedule for schools is usually filled with some fun activities including a concert, prize-giving ceremony, school fair, excursions and for the graduating classes, Prom night. Around this time, each graduating student especially girls would be busy scouting around for their prom dress. Ahh...memories..

Farewell to the "Eye on Malaysia"

If you haven't taken the ride up on the Eye on Malaysia*, don't bother going to Malacca now where it's located. Just as we speak, the structure is being dismantled making way for a permanent Ferris wheel in the future. Nothing firm on that yet though but there is a plan for it. Watch this space for updates.

So, the next time you visit Malacca, there will be one less attraction to visit though there's still the many varieties of local food one can savour and shopping to be done along the famous Jonker Street. Popular items include trinkets and other local fare as well as traditional women's dresses. Malacca is the place to visit for Malaysia's colonial history.

* The Eye on Malaysia was first located at Taman Tasik Titiwangsa in Kuala Lumpur in conjunction with Visit Malaysia Year 2007. It was later moved to Kota Laksamana next to the Malacca River in September 2008.


Image source: The Star

Gold hits a new high - US$1316 an ounce and rising

Just as I'm writing this, gold price has hit US$1316 an ounce! And no doubt, it is still moving up. Gold has been for centuries been valued as a means of trade and as a hedge against inflation and/or a financial crisis. Gold protects wealth and preserves purchasing power.

If you look at the 5-year chart below, you would see that gold was at less than US$500 an ounce in 2005 and today gold is at US$1316, approaching 300% increase!

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Friday Frolics - The Three Dimension Luck and Power Test

Oops! I'm late on this week's quiz! It was almost ready for print this morning and one thing led to another and it went unfinished. So here it is - later but still a good one. Go for it! - the Three dimension Luck and Power Test.

By the way, happy October! And if it's your birthday today, Happy Birthday!

You Are Internal - Realist - Powerful

You feel your life is controlled internally. If you want something, you make it happen. You don't wait around for things to go your way. You value your independence and don't like others to have control. You are a realist when it comes to luck. You don't attribute everything to luck, but you do know some things are random. You don't beat yourself up when bad things happen to you... But you do your best to try to make your own luck. When it comes to who's in charge, it's you. Life is a kingdom, and you're the grand ruler. You don't care much about what others think. But they better care what you think!

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Take a Quiz. Annoy Your Friends. :p

Malaysian Ringgit appreciating

The Star reported that

The ringgit rose to a fresh 13-year high against the ailing US dollar yesterday, tracking gains by other regional currencies, as the prospect of stronger economic growth fuelled speculation of further inflows from overseas funds.

At 5pm yesterday, the ringgit was traded at 3.0846 against the greenback – the strongest level since October 1997.

This may be good news for the country but for Malaysian bloggers who earn US dollars, this trend spells less income in Ringgit after conversion. I'm holding some company stocks and I'm seeing my profits/dividends eroding due to the appreciating Ringgit.