Author Archives: memoriesandsuch

2022 Week 16 Update

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Today’s quote comes to us from Henry Ford, the American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that middle-class Americans could afford, he converted the automobile from an expensive luxury into an accessible conveyance that profoundly impacted the landscape of the 20th century. Ford tells that obstacles are what we see when we take our eyes off our goals. What this means is that when we are focused on the goal and has blinkers on, then when we take our laser focus off the goal, everywhere we see obstacles around us.

The week otherwise was mundane and slightly boring even. I have been writing a lot and have written blog posts almost every day this month and once I have a bank of posts, I want to focus on writing some fiction.

BB & GG are busy with school and work and we are all looking forward to the long weekend next week. We have a four day weekend because of May Day and Eid and the weekend includes a family function too where we can catch up with extended family. So that’s something to look forward to.

Just as the week came to an end, the Singapore government announced that it was clawing back on pretty much all restrictions from next week. This is such great news that everyone was celebrating. The DOSCORN level which had been Orange since February 2020 has now been dialled back to Yellow and to be honest, I have forgotten how life was pre-pandemic. All employees can return to the workplace and there is now no limit on group sizes. Mask-wearing will however continue to be required indoors, including on public transport, and optional outdoors. And for travellers, there is no need for a pre-departure COVID test if you are fully vaccinated and above 12 years. So travel is going to be more or less back to pre 2020 levels. This is exciting news…

That’s all from me this week. Take care and catch up soon.

In My Hands Today…

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Sovietistan: Travels in Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan – Erika Fatland

Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan became free of the Soviet Union in 1991. But though they are new to modern statehood, this is a region rich in ancient history, culture, and landscapes unlike anywhere else in the world.

Traveling alone, Erika Fatland is a true adventurer in every sense. In Sovietistan, she takes the reader on a compassionate and insightful journey to explore how their Soviet heritage has influenced these countries, with governments experimenting with both democracy and dictatorships.

In Kyrgyzstani villages, she meets victims of the tradition of bride snatching; she visits the huge and desolate Polygon in Kazakhstan where the Soviet Union tested explosions of nuclear bombs; she meets shrimp gatherers on the banks of the dried out Aral Sea; she witnesses the fall of a dictator.

She travels incognito through Turkmenistan, a country that is closed to journalists. She meets exhausted human rights activists in Kazakhstan, survivors from the massacre in Osh in 2010, and German Mennonites that found paradise on the Kyrgyzstani plains 200 years ago. We learn how ancient customs clash with gas production and witness the underlying conflicts between ethnic Russians and the majority in a country that is slowly building its future in nationalist colors.

Once the frontier of the Soviet Union, life follows another pace of time. Amidst the treasures of Samarkand and the brutalist Soviet architecture, Sovietistan is a rare and unforgettable adventure.

World Book and Copyright Day

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Tomorrow is World Book and Copyright Day, a day I enjoy and celebrate because well, books!

Celebrated on 23 April each year, the day is a celebration to promote the enjoyment of books and reading. The idea for celebrating this day originated in Catalonia where on 23 April, St George’s Day, a rose is traditionally given as a gift for each book sold. The date of 23 April is also symbolic for world literature, for on this date and in the same year, 1616, Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died. In the UK and Ireland, World Book Day is celebrated earlier in the year, usually on the first Thursday in March, to ensure it falls outside of school holidays.

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The pandemic and isolation we faced showed us how important books are to maintain mental balance. Books are an individual’s best friend and to those who do not like reading, I always say they haven’t found a book or genre they love yet. Books are amazingly powerful tools to combat isolation, reinforce ties between people, expand horizons and all this while stimulating our minds and creativity.

When one reads, they exercise their comprehension abilities and analytical abilities. Reading fires up the imagination and stimulates the memory centres of the mind, helps recall information as well as stabilise emotions. The importance of a reading habit is that it strengthens mental muscles. Reading is one of the best mental workouts there is and it has been found that regular mental stimulation can slow down and possibly even prevent diseases like Alzheimer’s and Dementia because reading keeps the mind agile and young.

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Each year a city is designated as the World Book Capital that undertakes activities to encourage a culture of reading and diffusing its values in all ages and population groups in and out of their country’s borders and spend the year between one World Book and Copyright Day and the next to promote books and fostering a reading culture. The World Book Capital for 2022 is Guadalajara in Mexico. The city, already a UNESCO Creative City since 2017, was selected for its comprehensive plan for policies around the book to trigger social change, combat violence and build a culture of peace. Guadalajara’s proposed programme focuses on three strategic axes: regaining public spaces through reading activities in parks and other accessible places; social bonding and cohesion especially through reading and writing workshops for children; and strengthening of neighbourhood identity using intergenerational connections, story-telling and street poetry.

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Tomorrow, make sure you take some time to do some reading, be it a physical book or an e-book. Reading fiction can help one be more open-minded and creative, live longer and be successful in life. So grab a book, make time for yourself and discover new worlds.

In My Hands Today…

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Strange Stones: Dispatches from East and West – Peter Hessler

Over the past decade, Peter Hessler has built a reputation as one of the finest journalists working today. The three books he’s published in that time brilliantly explore the wonders, oddities, and paradoxes of life in modern China. In the pages of The New Yorker, he has persistently probed and illuminated worlds both foreign and familiar, ranging from China, where he served as the magazine’s correspondent from 2000 to 2007, to southwestern Colorado, where he lived for four years.

Strange Stones is a far-ranging, thought-provoking collection of Hessler’s best reportage over the past decade. During this time, Hessler lived in Asia and the United States, writing as both native and knowledgeable outsider in these two very different regions. This unusual perspective distinguishes Strange Stones, which showcases Hessler’s unmatched range as a storyteller. “Wild Flavor” invites readers along on a taste test between two rat restaurants in South China. One story profiles Yao Ming, basketball star and China’s most beloved export, another David Spindler, an obsessive and passionate historian of the Great Wall. In “Dr. Don,” Hessler writes movingly about a small-town pharmacist and his relationship with the people he serves. While Hessler’s subjects and locations vary, subtle but deeply important thematic links bind these pieces-the strength of local traditions, the surprising overlap between apparently opposing cultures, the powerful lessons drawn from individuals who straddle different worlds.

World Creativity and Innovation Day

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Commemorated annually on 21 April, the World Creativity and Innovation Day raises awareness around the importance of creativity and innovation in problem-solving with the first World Creativity and Innovation Day celebrated on April 21, 2018. The purpose of the day is to encourage creative multidisciplinary thinking at the individual and group levels which has become the true wealth of nations in the 21st century.

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April 21 is also a week after the birthday of one of the greatest creative minds we know, Leonardo da Vinci who was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor and architect. While his fame initially rested on his achievements as a painter, he also became known for his notebooks, in which he made drawings and notes on a variety of subjects, including anatomy, astronomy, botany, cartography, painting, and palaeontology. Leonardo’s genius epitomised the Renaissance humanist ideal, and his collective works compose a contribution to later generations of artists matched only by that of his younger contemporary, Michelangelo.

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The World Creativity and Innovation Day is celebrated in conjunction with World Creativity and Innovation Week which takes place between 15 – 21 April. The theme of the day and week in 2022 is Collaboration and how creativity and collaboration contribute to sustainable development goals. Creative industries are critical to the sustainable development agenda because they stimulate innovation and diversification, are an important factor in the burgeoning services sector, support entrepreneurship, and contribute to cultural diversity.

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There is no universal understanding of creativity with the concept open to interpretation from artistic expression to problem-solving in the context of economic, social and sustainable development. According to the findings of the special edition of the Creative Economy Report, Widening Local Development Pathways, co-published by UNESCO and UNDP, creativity and innovation, at both the individual and group levels, have become the true wealth of nations in the 21st century. The creative economy including audiovisual products, design, new media, performing arts, publishing and visual arts, is a highly transformative sector of the world economy in terms of income generation, job creation and export earnings. Culture is an essential component of sustainable development and represents a source of identity, innovation and creativity for the individual and community. At the same time, creativity and culture have a significant non-monetary value that contributes to inclusive social development, to dialogue and understanding between peoples. Therefore cultural and creative industries should be a part of the economic growth strategies. These industries are among the most dynamic sectors in the world economy, generating USD 2.25 billion in revenue and 29.5 million jobs worldwide. So countries are harnessing the potential of high-growth areas of the market for economic returns and poverty alleviation.

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Today all of us should embrace the idea that innovation is essential for harnessing the economic potential of nations. And the pandemic has shown us that innovation, creativity and mass entrepreneurship can provide new momentum for economic growth and job creation. It can expand opportunities for everyone, including women and youth, provide solutions to some of the most pressing problems such as poverty eradication and the elimination of hunger.

So to commemorate the day, go ahead and do something creative today. It could be as simple as trying a new recipe or as complicated as finding a solution to a pressing problem. But make sure you do something different, something creative and get out of your comfort zone.