May/Jun THE 2021 Ocial Magazine of the British Association of Singapore BEAM STROLL INTO SUMMER House Swap 12 Holiday There's No Place 18 Like Home 22 Zoom Lens Zoo Quiz 25 A Walk in my Hood 30 The Year of the Walk THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION OF SINGAPORE www.britishassociation.org.sg THEBEAM | May/Jun 2021 3 Editorial Team Publisher Dr. Rosalind Lui thefinder.life Editor-in-Chief Carolyn Perkins Helen Woodhall Rosalind Arwas Edith Blyth Sub-Editors Rosalind Arwas Carolyn Perkins Helen Woodhall BEAM Team Stay in the Contributors Rosalind Arwas, Greg Barnes, Rachael Barnes, Siân Brook Gillies, Edith Blyth, Well, that flew by! It was in June 2019Memo that the three of us met for the first know with the Michael Davidson, Ishra Giblett, Sally time in The Providore Raffles Place and went on to form a new BEAM Team. Insider’s Guide to Harris, Susie Harris, Pippa Jackson, Now, Carolyn’s time in Singapore is up and, as she bids us auf Wiedersehen Jane McDermott, Polly Norris, Carolyn and heads back to Hamburg, we are delighted to welcome her successor to Living Well Perkins, Jennie Schmid, Miranda the BEAM Team, Nigel Griffiths. Nigel will take on the role of Editor officially Thomas and Helen Woodhall from the July/August edition of The BEAM so we look forward to more from in Singapore! him next time. The BEAM Permit Number Meanwhile, this edition takes us for a stroll all over Singapore from the new MCI (P) 061/07/2020 extension in the Botanic Gardens via the sprawling Singapore Zoo to the less well known neighbourhood of Novena. We take a look what ‘home’ means and find out about the fun in swapping homes for a mini-break and discovering a new district of the Lion City. Many of us have hosted small groups in our homes so that BA activities can continue within guidelines and we learn how charity begins at home with the launch of handmade May I? kit bags. All of this getting out and about is good for us but we need happy feet to enjoy The British Association of Singapore it and so our wellbeing section encourages us to look after them properly. We 15 Scotts Road continue the health theme when we meet a British epidemiologist en route #04-08 Thong Teck Building who is working in Singapore to fight infectious diseases. Putting their hands Singapore 228218 to good use were some handicrafters who spent a day in an enamelling workshop and went home with bespoke jewellery. Marketing and Circulation Dr. Rosalind Lui Regular readers of The BEAM will be eagerly awaiting the high drama in [email protected] the final episode of ‘Sailing Home’ in this edition. Elsewhere, there are high Office: 6716 9773 spirits at sea as we get an insider’s view of the increasingly popular cruise to nowhere, high temperatures as three generations try out the hot springs Website and high-brow conversation as elegant soirées become a form of guided www.britishassociation.org.sg tour around the dinner table. It is fantastic to see new members already writing for The BEAM and we hope Printer their first features won’t be their last. We are always happy to see regular Win & Win Printer Pte Ltd contributors come back with more adventures, anecdotes and advice, and 629 Aljunied Road #05-19/21 we encourage anyone who enjoys feature-writing (or fancies a go) to contact Cititech Industrial Building us at the address below. You can always have The Finder’s Singapore 389838 www.winwinprinter.co.sg A final word from Carolyn before she goes: ‘It says a lot about Singapore FREE, expat-friendly content Licence No. L012/05/2021 that three-quarters of my time here has been during COVID-19 conditions at the touch of your fingertips. and yet I have had the most wonderful experience getting to know our Little Here's where to find it! Red Dot. I take many happy memories away with me and this is, without question, thanks to the British Association as it has been a vital part of my Singapore life. You have my heartfelt gratitude for being so welcoming, kind, DISCLAIMER CLAUSE: The British Association of Singapore does not endorse or promote any funny, smart and compassionate, and I will always be glad the BA took me product, service or view offered through any under its collective wing. I have had a ball at all of the events and activities advertisement or activities that may appear in the I have attended (too numerous to mention here, as the saying goes) and it magazine. We do not hold any responsibilities, was a privilege to join the Council and, of course, the BEAM Team, where I opinions or claims by the advertisers, writers or loved writing and looked forward each time to seeing our combined creation contributors. The views and opinions expressed in print. It all means more than I can adequately express and so it’s just auf E-Newsletter Facebook Instagram are entirely the owners’. Receive our weekly email updates of “Like” our @TheFinderSingapore page Follow us at @thefindersingapore Wiedersehen for now as we’ll see each other again anon.’ essential things to know, do, eat and buy for daily tips and inspo on SG living, for our team’s personal recos, partner We reserve the right to change copy for reasons of space, style or accuracy. in SG. Go to www.thefinder.life/subscribe. plus dibs on giveaways and events! news and more thumb-stopping stuff. BEAM Editorial Team All copyright reserved. [email protected] THEBEAM | May/Jun 2021 5 01 Cover photo by Carolyn Perkins 12 02 The Finder 05 View from the Chair 06 The BEAM Meets… Claire Naftalin View from the 08 BA Diary 10 Separation While Living Abroad 11 Memories from the Past Chair 12 House Swap Holiday 18 13 Welcoming New Members 13 BA Member Snapshot A very warm welcome from my first ‘View from the Chair’. 14 10 Financial Tips for British Expats I have to sayChair first what a great honour it is for me to have 15 Quantum of the Seas, a Cruise to Nowhere been handed the baton by Edith Blyth for the role that she has so elegantly and effectively occupied for so many years. 16 BEAM Voice Edith has presided over the BA during what must go down 18 There's No Place Like Home as the most turbulent and dystopian era of recent times, and I feel we owe Edith a particular debt of gratitude for her relentless 20 Happy Feet // May - June 2021 // optimism and positivity, which have helped the BA to endure. We 22 Zoom Lens Zoo Quiz can now look forward to the organisation flourishing as 2021 unfolds 27 and normality continues to resume. 24 May I? A Walk in my Hood For those of you that I haven’t met before, my brief bio is that I am Northern Irish by birth, with 25 Scottish grandparents on my father’s side. After working in London for many years, I relocated to 26 Chartwell Associates Singapore in October 2007, became a Singapore PR and now hope to continue living and working 26 Monthly Meanders here for as long as I can, whilst enduring the occasional pang of yearning for home soil and seasons! 27 Getting into Hot Water at Sembawang I would guess that this experience resonates with many of you and this, to me, is the defining value of the BA: our common experience. There is both a beauty and a sadness in the transitoriness of 28 Tête-à-Tête Tourism relationships here, which is a microcosm of life in general, and something to be embraced. So, reach 30 The Year of the Walk out, take part in activities, meet new people, and build relationships with your fellow BA members. You may be surprised at how enduring some of those friendships turn out to be. 32 Enamelling Workshop 33 Sailing Home: Part 3 I thought I’d take this opportunity to suggest a few BA-relevant lockdown literary indulgences I’ve 33 enjoyed recently. I’m a big fan of audio books, so both of these are available in that format, which 36 Out and About is certainly the most effective (and safe) way to ‘read' while walking, or travelling on the bus, MRT 38 BA Benefits etc! The first book I’d recommend is The Forgotten Highlander by Alistair Urquhart. A young soldier in the Gordon Highlanders (my grandfather’s regiment), Alistair found himself posted initially to 40 Sports and Activities Singapore just prior to the Japanese invasion. His gritty account of survival through the harshest 42 Help at your Fingertips of conditions as a POW was truly humbling, and reminded me very much of Viktor Frankl’s classic account of surviving the Nazi death camps (Man’s Search for Meaning). As an antidote to this, 43 British Association Members’ Use of the British Club perhaps, I have also enjoyed rediscovering PG Wodehouse’s extensive Jeeves collection (a firm BA Sponsors favourite of my father), read by Stephen Fry. CONTENTS 43 In lieu of seasons, I believe that it’s particularly important to note milestones throughout the year in Singapore. We’ve recently had both the UK clock change at the end of March (which brings us one hour ‘closer’ to friends and family there), and Easter in early April. Whether you celebrate Easter or not, I would say that the message of renewal, rebirth and moving forward in an imperfect world is BA TEAM a worthy one.