Missing

We watched movies and even read reports of lost children and somehow while we feel sad, it is not real and we can never feel the distress of the parents until it hits home like now.

My nephew, Bryan Tan Ming Ming, 16 who is autistic went missing from school this afternoon and as of now is still missing despite a massive effort by relatives and friends looking all over the east. Ordinarily, a missing 16 years old boy is not really a cause for concern but because of his severe autism, he cannot communicates well and I think does not know how to buy food and drinks, if he has the money in the first place. For the same reason, he will not be able to find his way home even though from Metta School to his house in Tampines is just a short distance away. And by a quirk of fate, his ID tag went missing a few days ago and has yet to be replaced which means there is no way of identifying him.

Just exactly what happened his parents are not sure. Between the teacher and school bus driver, somehow they failed to notice that he didn't board the school bus and I think he thereafter he just walked out of the school without anyone stopping him. But this is not the time for blame. The most important thing is to find him.

It has been more than 10 hours since. He has never spent a single night alone not less sleep in the outdoor and to go without food and water for such a long period! I really hope and pray that somebody had found him and brought him to a police station or hospital by now.

If anybody sees  a fair skinny kid, about 1.62m tall wearing a pale yellow shirt and blue shorts and behaving weirdly (mainly screaming and whining, cos he does that when he is frighten), please call me or call the police. For those of you who have rendered assistance, a very big thank you for your help. It is very much appreciated.

7am latest update:

Ming Ming was found safe and sound at around 3 am in Clementi. Many thanks to all those who have helped and for your wishes and prayers. More updates later after I get my zzzzzzzzzzzz!

Shashlik Restaurant

Maybe it is a sign of old age but it comes as no surprise that my favourite place for steak is a just as old steak house in an even older looking building in bustling Orchard Road. 

Shashlik Restaurant is an old Russian theme Hainanese restaturant. Possibly one of only 2 Russian theme western food restaurant left here (the other one is in Serangoon Garden), it used to have ancient looking Hainanese gentlemen as serving staff. These gruff looking uncles would take your order without a smile and woe behold you if you have the audacity to walk in during dinner without a reservation. Now only 1 old uncle is left and the serving staff are now slightly more cheerful looking aunties. Still no sweet young thing but the people who goes there are not there to ogle at gals but to slurp down the wonderfully prepared and resonably priced food.

Probably the most famous of their Russian theme food is the Borsch soup (centre picture). It is a smorgash of vegetables and beef. Throw in a dollop of sour cream and you get a taste of something that is not found anywhere else in Sg. 

The other house name food is the Shashlik Fillet of Beef which is 3 pieces of beef on a skewer and served with just a strip of vegetable and some onion on a hotplate (bottom left).  

One other unique item that we did not order on our recent visit was the Baked Alaska which is a liquor filled ice cream desert. I loved to see them pour the liquor onto the whipped cream and see the fire light up! But honestly, I don't think it is that great.

What is great though is the soft bun that comes before the main course is served. It is so soft and seriously bread never taste so good. This one die die must try!

Generally, I wouldn't said the food here are the best in Singapore but for its price, it is well worth the money ie if you don't mind the aunties and uncles. Certainly, it is much better than the many sprouting pretenders like Astons, Botak Jones or even established names like Jack's Place or Hans.

Memories - Outram Road

This was a building that I feared going to a lot. Guess what it was?

This photo was taken from the back not the usual front which faces Outram Road. And it used to be the Institute of Dental Health where we students were the guinea pigs for the nurses and trainee dentists! My most vivid memory of this place was one time when I was there for a tooth extraction. The nurse put 3 jabs into me and I could still feel the pain when she tried to extract the teeth. After I protested, she gave me another jab and tried again.  My God, the pain was excruciating and after another unsuccessful attempt, she finally gave up and asked me to come back another day!

Just 2 buildings away is this church, Jubilee Presbyterian Church where I spent many weekends there during my school days. Most of my Christian classmates worshiped here and I follow suit. It was from this church that the now infamous Rony Tan came from. He left Jubilee to start Lighthouse Evangelism and I remembered when they were at Chip Bee, the attendance there was like less than 50 in the early days. Back at Jubilee,  one fine day, there was a sort of divorce between the English and Chinese English service and the English service left to start their own church at Ang Mo Kio. Unfortunately for me, I did not follow and that was the start of the end for me.

Afte church, we used to go to the Tiong Bahru Food Centre and eat the ice kachang. The place was hot and dirty but somehow it was the place that we and I guess majority of Singapore loves to go to for its good food. The sauna like place with the inside market and quaint little stalls outside is now gone and replaced by this monstrous 3 storey building. A number of  the old stalls  are still there but somehow the food there has never seem the same since.

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Talking about food, another favourite hangout of ours when I was studying in the area was the Outram Road food centre. Yes there was such a place and it was right smack in the middle of the block of HDB flat. We used to go there for lunch before/after the ISCF. The favourite? The char kway teow and ice kachang of course! Sadly the food centre was the first place to go before the HDB flats went later. All that is left now is just this empty piece of land.

And finally, this little chapel along New Bridge Road was where my foundation for Christianity was grounded.  We students attended what was known as the Inter-School Christian Fellowship hence ISCF although strangely, it was just our school alone so where did the 'inter-school' part come from?. Organised by Scripture Union, the fellowship was managed by the students with a few teachers guiding them.  Generally, we were left alone to organise the service and each week, we would invite speakers from all over Singapore to give the sermon. My favourite speaker was Mr Charlie Tan, a bald headed guy who would leave us in stitches with his jokes. It was a simple affair in those days with just one or 2 guitarists accompanying the singing. Not like the mega churches of today where a full orchestra seems to be a must. Looking at its current surrounding, it is a foregone conclusion that its physical days are numbered. Which will be a pity as I doubt there are anymore cute little churches left in Singapore?

Christians have no rights?

As I trawled the internet for the latest on the Rony Tan saga, one thing strike me. On blogs and especially forums, the attacks come fast and furious. There are plenty of name calling, hate mail, flame and most of it were 1 way - towards Rony Tan and in many instances, Christianity and the churches. The response by Christians in contrast were more muted. And this remind me of the Aware saga where the takeover of  Aware became an attack on not just the challengers but on Christianity.

Which is interesting. Where are the police reports filed against these people? Or is it alright to bash Christian but not alright for Christian to bash others? Or is it because Christian are perceived to be easy target (turn the other cheek?) and can be bullied? Or is it that Christians have made themselves so unpopular with their 'superior than thou' attitude and 'you sinners, we believers' mentality that they have become the boxing bag for everybody?

But thankfully here in SG, Christians are not so confrontational and should rightly be so otherwise we will end up like certain countries.

Hopefully, the whole thing will blow over soon and peace will return. And hopefully, I won't get invited to coffee by the good people at ISD for writing this.