How quickly the year ends with the coming of Christmas.
In Late November
You can tell Christmas is coming soon when in late November, the shopping malls already have their Christmas decorations up to usher in the shopping spirit of the season! The reindeers are seen outside The Pavilion.
In Mid- December
Then at the Toastmasters Club, right in the middle of the month of December, the meeting has a Christmas theme with members encouraged to wear the Christmas colours of Red, Green and White.
5 days before Christmas
On the Sunday before Christmas, I was in the Church in Penang to take the above photo in a happy reunion of several long time members of the branch in Penang including Lyanne from KL branch on the far left. On my right are Woon Shuan (17) and Woon Ern (12) , my two boys who were personally ordained by me to be a Priest and Deacon in the Church in Singapore.
At the home of my former missionary companion David Soon (behind me) with my oldest brother and wife(right of me). Memories of my mission with David Soon in Malaysia are found here
2 Days before Christmas
Mr Poon Boo Tek, my old physics teacher, and his wife(pictured in the centre sitting down) returned home to KL for a visit from Sydney Australia where they had migrated to in the early 80s. A few teachers and students gathered together for a nice Chinese dinner in SS2 Petaling Jaya
Mr Poon was also my Karate master who not only taught me martial arts but was an exemplary teacher of humility and self discipline that had greatly influenced my life since my days in St Johns Institution. (1971 to 1975)On Christmas Eve
With the maid having just left to return home after 12 years of service in our family and Mom not feeling the strength to handle a large Christmas dinner, we had settled for a simple family dinner on the Eve. Driving to Singapore, I would stop to get dinner rolls and honey baked ham and Mom would prepare the salad. We were prepared to do without the usual Christmas turkey on our table.
We were happy to have Sharon Wong with Derrick from KL who got a ride from me on this trip, to join us for our simple dinner.
On Christmas Day
Our first visitors on Christmas day were none other than our close neighbors Dixon Grant with his wife Chelsea and their new baby Desmond Sheng Grant. They had surprised us by taking the trouble to roast a turkey for us and brought it to our home for lunch.
I was honored to carve up the turkey as I usually do yearly to serve everyone on the table.
How wonderful our Christmas turned out to be, thanks to the Grants who truly brought the spirit of Christmas to our home with their thoughtful minds and kind hearts
Merry Christmas Everyone from all of us in Singapore! 2 Days after Christmas
A surprise photo was emailed to me from Su Min in Utah who went to visit our old friend from the mission times, Ralph Cannon, who turns 95 in April 2010! On the right is her friend Jay Liu. I have been trying to call him while in Singapore before Christmas to talk to him but couldn't get through and little did I know that Su had made that visit soon after Christmas! See a missionary photo of Elder Cannon in Kuala Lumpur in the early 80s by clicking here