As I mentioned last posting I had a dinner on Wednesday November 21 for my first Singapore Rotary Club meeting where the club graciously invited me to attend as a fairly new member of the Fox Chapel Area Rotary Club of Pittsburgh. Susan was also busy that night as she invited to an annual meeting of financial services General Counsel representatives at the British Embassy since the normal person who attends was traveling on business to Hong Kong. (This is a fairly long Report so enjoy or read before bed.)
First the preparation:
As you have seen in a few recent photos and in this one in the VS Salon in the mall next to our apartment, my hair (what is left of it) was getting a bit scraggly and I wanted to get it cut before the dinner. So I googled “expat men’s haircuts in Singapore” and yes there were plenty of articles including ones about non-requested buzz cuts, cut ears, etc. so I was a bit apprehensive but found this one close by with good comments.
As you can see by the price chart even with the 80 percent currency conversion rate, the haircuts aren’t cheap and the cost depends on the experience level of the stylist (Leading, Senior and Director) with a 20 dollar spread for each. After some negotiation and being told that even the Leading stylists had 3 years of experience I rolled the dice and went with the 49 dollar cut rather than the 69 Senior or 89 dollar Director level cut.
My stylist “Zen” (who later told me he was actually a “Senior” level spoke good English (or is it “spoke English well”) and listened as I explained that I wanted it kept fairly similar, not too much shorter and nothing “weird” like a “Kim Jong Un” type cut.
He quickly retorted “With your hair I could do a Donald Trump cut!” I said “Whoa, not that either” as perhaps some of the yellowish tint Lisa Donovan noted a few weeks ago was still there?
So Zen started with a nice shampoo and massage and put an Indian headdress like towel on it (see photos) and started trimming away. You can also catch a glimpse of Zen in the mirror as I snapped that photo since I was in a hurry and didn’t think I’d have time for formal before and after photos with the stylist. I thought about asking for a cut like his but would need a few more months to grow it out first.
During our discussions about my daughters coming over to visit in February or March he asked if they were married or if could he meet them when they visit. So Jen and Meg, maybe I can introduce him – ha. (Perhaps what Susan says about me “having no filter” is beginning to resonate?)
Anyway, while I can get it trimmed up in Pittsburgh when we come back December 15-December 29 and go to Chicago December 30 and fly back here January 2, 2019, I think he did a pretty good job! See the after photos and suit ones.
After another quiet day on Tuesday where I did swim 20 laps and slept as Susan worked, the “pampering” continued on Wednesday as again at the mall next door I found a good nail salon, “Plush” where I had a nice mani-pedi (see mani photo).
I pulled out my suit that I crammed into my luggage as it was “business attire” for the Rotary Club meeting at 7 PM and fortunately I picked the one where the pants still buttoned, put on a tie for the first time in a long time and headed via taxi to the Tanglin Club that was founded in 1865. As I mentioned earlier it reminded me of the Duquesne Club it the University Club in Chicago and this “review” comment is typical and of course describes why I was invited:
“Venerable and dignified old club that has managed to stay with the times. Only open to members. A club with prestige and thus available to only the creme of society.”
As I got there it poured rain but the taxi dropped me off under the Porte-cochere (covered porch-like structure) and I stayed dry. (OK-I admit I texted Susan for the word and also looked it up on Wikipedia).
Believe it or not I I was the first to arrive around 6:45 except for the Executive Secretary of the Rotary Club, Bernadette Ng and her associate, Ivy who were getting the materials ready for the meeting. I took a couple of photos as it was truly a beautiful place but didn’t get as many as I wanted as my battery was running low.
Now a brief educational interlude for those of you who are wondering what the Rotary Club is. I had only been a member since around May if this year when my good friend and Longue Vue golf partner Dr. Push Senan asked me to go to a meeting and later join the Fox Chapel Area Rotary Club in Pittsburgh.
I had heard about Rotary before as my co-worker John Dougherty told me that his daughter Melissa Dougherty (who is now a lawyer and my excellent estate planning attorney from Cohen and Grigsby in Pittsburgh (shameless plug but she is good!) had received a Rotary Club scholarship to help her study abroad for a year in Brazil. Now some official history which I knew a little about but had to quickly Google to get ready for the meeting when they told me I might have to say a few words about my club in Pittsburgh.
Rotary International is an international service organization whose stated purpose is to bring together business and professional leaders in order to provide humanitarian service and to advance goodwill and peace around the world. It is a non-political and non-sectarian organization open to all people regardless of race, color, creed, religion, gender, or political preference. There are 34,282 member clubs worldwide, and 1.2 million individuals, known as Rotarians, have joined.
The first Rotary Club was formed when attorney Paul P. Harris called together a meeting of three business acquaintances in downtown Chicago, United States, at Harris’s friend Gustave Loehr‘s office in the Unity Building on Dearborn Street on February 23, 1905.[8] In addition to Harris and Loehr (a mining engineer and freemason[9]), Silvester Schiele (a coal merchant), and Hiram E. Shorey (a tailor) were the other two who attended this first meeting. The members chose the name Rotary because initially they rotated subsequent weekly club meetings to each other’s offices, although within a year, the Chicago club became so large it became necessary to adopt the now-common practice of a regular meeting.
Rotarians usually gather weekly for breakfast, lunch, or dinner to fulfill their first guiding principle to develop friendships as an opportunity for service. “It is the duty of all Rotarians,” states their Manual of Procedure, outside their clubs, to be active as individuals in as many legally constituted groups and organizations as possible to promote, not only in words but through exemplary dedication, awareness of the dignity of all people and the respect of the consequent human rights of the individual.” The Rotarian’s primary motto is “Service Above Self”; its secondary motto is “One profits most who serves best.”
OK back to the story.
I was quickly followed at the meeting by two other guests visiting from Sweden and later found out there were visitors from Rotary Clubs in Nepal and India as well as a few spouses so out of 60 or so maybe 8 guests including me. The current Vice President of the club came up to me with a preprinted form asking me for history about the Fox Chapel Area Club such as when it was started, number of members, etc., why was in Singapore, etc. Fortunately their internet was working so I was able to see that the founding date was October 29, 1970 and I looked for a couple of recent projects which came in handy.
I could tell that the Rotary Club of Singapore is very active as the current President Mark Wong (photo below) recapped their price meetings and many projects and then quickly welcomed all the guests including me. I thought oh that was nice and easy and then the Vice President said that she would like to “offer a toast” to one of the guests where she proceeded to read the form where I had told her about the Fox Chapel Area Rotary Club and I was then asked to bring my glass of wine to the podium and say a few words, so I was put on the spot a bit. But, not to worry, Gretchen Haggerty (former CFO from U.S. Steel and my former boss and “twin” (born on the same day same year, same hospital, mothers), I beautifully employed (except for forgetting the brevity tip) the speaking tips you helped me learn by sending me to the Executive Speaking Course in Minneapolis a few years ago. I thanked the Club for their generosity, told them I was a traveling spouse here until April and was enjoying myself except for falling off a bar stool at their most famous bar on top of the Marina Sands Hotel and mentioned a few of the Fox Chapel Area Rotary Club projects (some of which I knew and others I had just googled) and then again shamelessly said that once my ankle healed that my hobbies included golf and deep sea fishing and that I was happy to hear about golf opportunities and would be happy to talk to any anglers about taking a trip to the world famous Tropic Star Lodge in Panama where I had just caught several large Marlins and sailfish. (OK I didn’t disclose that I have a semi-agreement with the Tropic Star for a free trip is I can get enough Singaporeans to go, but what better time and audience to set the hook for follow up discussions?)
I ended up meeting several other interesting people during and after the meeting including two couples from Germany who had lived in Singapore for 20 years and I tried out a couple of Germans phrases including “Ich war geborren in Stuttgart meaning “I was born in Stuttgart” and coincidentally one of the guys was born there also a a friend of his was actually also born in the same US Army hospital at Bad Caanstadt that I was born in. So it’s a very small world!
In addition to the Swede visitors at my table I sat next to a tax lawyer from New Zealand and his wife from Moscow who owned a “Trust” company in Singapore. Turns out he was originally from the Netherlands and had graduated from law school in 1970 and set up Dutch Holding companies and Netherlands Antilles holding companies for companies sin New Zealand and Singapore for holding their foreign investments. (Sound familiar anyone?) I may have to get to know him better as he knew some of the trust companies in Amsterdam that I also knew! I also met a past president of the club from the 1980’s who was born in 1935 and became a field engineer but his most vivid memories were walking with his father in 1942 during the Japanese occupation of Singapore when a Japanese soldier slapped his father several times for “not bowing” to the Japanese soldier. (I’m sure he would share may other stories if I see him at future meetings. He also gave each of the guests from other clubs a good looking writing pen with the Rotary Club of Singapore label and Rotary design on top of it so very nice.)
After my “short” speech the President called up all of the guest members and exchanged Singapore Rotary Club flags for Rotary Club flags from other clubs such as the ones in Sweden and Nepal and yes the one I had remembered to bring from Fox Chapel! See photos below.
Finally the meeting began with two speakers from an insurance company talking about Medical Insurance in Singapore. It was a very interesting presentation focusing on existing government programs and private care noting the likely unsustainable health costs without major changes.
One interesting point was that under a class C hospital bed plan you are placed in a hot room with no fan and under a B plan you get your own fan and air conditioning under an A plan so highly regulated as you imagine. He began the presentation by mentioning “the man with the hurt ankle” so I gave him an intro for his talk…He later came to talk to me and I told him I was very satisfied with my 45 minute visit to Singapore General Hospital which included seeing a doctor getting an x-Ray and medication all for a fixed fee if 121 Singapore dollars which is about 100 USD. He noted that was fine but that if surgery was required that residents are only covered up to 2,000 per surgery so I guess I was lucky.
The food was great at it was a mixture of several stations of sea bass, chicken, Indian curry with vegetables. Chinese rice etc. so I hope to continue to participate and meet more people. They even have a March volunteer trip to parts of remote China but Susan and kids may prefer Bali so I should get working on that. Anyway I’m glad I used my Pittsburgh Rotary connections here so thanks Push! I returned around 10:15 to the apartment but Susan didn’t get back from her British Embassy gig until nearly 11:30 pm but it did start later and was further away.
Unlike my food station menu they had printed menus with different courses including expensive 2009 Barolo wines, beef tenderloin, fish etc. They even had a speaker from London who covered the various wines and trends in business and in the legal profession and discussions among the 24 attendees. More importantly she met some very nice people from other financial service companies include those who gave advice on golf clubs and travel etc. so we hope to meet up with them later. All in all a great night and I look forward to our Indian Vegetarian dinner for Thanksgiving and hope everyone there has a great one as well! Pictures follow. (Oops manicure photo a bit out of place) Jim Hollingsworth
Singapore Travel Blog 