Farewell, CG Jeevan Singh

 

In January 2024, when Consul-General of Singapore in Johor Baru, CG Jeevan Singh and I exchanged New Year greetings, he mentioned that his time in Johor Baru was coming to an end very soon.

 

A sea of guests gathered in front of the
'photo booth' for a photo memento with the CGs

This jolted my memory and made me consider how the years have flown since we bade farewell to his predecessor, Rajpal Singh, and welcomed Jeevan to Johor Baru.

 

Jeevan said that a reception will be held in March to introduce his successor and did not hesitate to tell me that he had given him all my books to read up before coming to Johor. He even emphasized that My Johor Stories were compulsory reading.

 

I believe Jeevan gave that instruction in jest but I still felt much honoured to have had the privilege to get to know one CG after the previous CG, who were based in Johor Baru in the past terms.

 

One for the album: With CG Jeevan at the event to
speak on Across the Straits: Johor's View of Singapore

Then I received the invitation to the reception from the office of the Consulate-General of the Republic of Singapore in Johor Baru and I made a note on my calendar because I was determined not to miss this event.

 

In 2019, not long after his arrival in Johor Baru, Jeevan reminded me that our paths had crossed in 2014 because I covered an event which he and other members of the Consulate-General of the Republic of Singapore in Johor Baru, took part.

 

With CG Jeevan and Gregory
Lui at my book launch event

Then only did I recall that I published a piece on the humanitarian walk by United Sikhs in Streets Johor, the Southern section of The New Straits Times newspapers dated 10 June 2014.

 

Jeevan then invited me to be part of a panel of speakers to meet a delegation of Singapore civil servants who will be in Johor in January 2020 as part of their Specialised Understanding of Malaysia and Indonesia course, organized by the Singapore Civil Service College.

 

He explained that this study visit was a crucial component of the course that will help the participants appreciate first-hand, the history and depth of Singapore’s relationship with Johor.

 

So it was in January – just before the global pandemic reached our shores – when I was among the panel of three speakers in an informal, closed door discussion to speak on the topic, Across the Straits: Johor’s View of Singapore.

 

Then on March 18, 2020, the borders between Singapore and Johor were closed and in the subsequent months, the word, unprecedented, suddenly became widely used.

 

CG Jeevan and his wife, Sima, were among the
participants in my Heritage Walk in April 2023

When the borders between the two nations were closed, I could only imagine how challenging it was for the team at the office of Consulate-General of the Republic of Singapore in Johor Baru who were literally, so near and yet so far away from their families.

 

Two weeks turned into two months and it was some two years later when life slowly returned to near-normal.

 

The global pandemic also delayed my work on the manuscript for Book Three, the final instalment to complete the trilogy of My Johor Stories.

 

CG Jeevan and Sima with participants 
at Johor Baru Kwong Siew Heritage
Gallery to learn more about the
Cantonese Heritage in Johor

I was deeply honoured by the presence of many distinguished guests, with Jeevan among them, on that momentous day in December 2022 when My Johor Stories 3: Proudly Johor, Then and Now, was finally launched in a simple event.

 

Then in 2023, in an effort to bring life back into the city, Think City Johor Baru provided a grant for the My Johor Stories in Downtown Johor Baru project where I hosted Heritage Walks and Book Reading sessions in the first four months of 2023.

 

Jeevan encouraged his team to participate in my Heritage Walks organized in various themes and I was pleased that two members from the office of Consulate-General of the Republic of Singapore in Johor Baru, were among the participants in my Walk in February 2023 that featured the Heritage Traders theme.

 

Then in April 2023, I more than was thrilled when Jeevan and his wife, Sima, registered and joined my Heritage Walk to gain further insight into Johor culture and heritage in the Cantonese Heritage theme.

 

Fast-forward to the eve of the date for the reception, I was at a family dinner to celebrate my niece’s birthday where I met her uncle, Gregory Lui Poh Sek, my brother’s brother-in-law who is Chief Financial Officer with AME Elite Consortium Berhad at Senai Airport City.

 

During our chit-chat, we shared a laugh because Greg finally discovered that the Chief Executive Officer for Senai Airport City and Head of Group Property at MMC Corporation Berhad, Gan Seng Keong, with whom he had a business relationship, was in fact, my cousin.

 

A photo memento with CG Jeevan and Sima,
and CG Kuan Khai and Teresa,
Latha Pillay and Thanam V Suresh

I remembered that I met both, Greg and Gan at the previous reception hosted by the office of the Consulate-General of the Republic of Singapore in Johor Baru so I asked Greg if he will be there for the reception to bid farewell to Jeevan and to welcome his successor.

 

I guessed his reply will be, “Yes!” because I know that Greg and Jeevan were acquainted when they were at my book launch event for My Johor Stories 3: Proudly Johor, Then and Now, in December 2022.

 

When I arrived at the reception that evening, a large crowd of guests was gathered in front of the ‘photo booth’ set up for the photo session with the in-coming CG Ng Kuan Khai and out-going CG Jeevan Singh.

 

As I recognized many friends among the guests, I noted that the crowd there were made up of a veritable Who’s-Who in Johor and beyond.

 

With CG Kuan Khai and his wife, Teresa

While Jeevan was preoccupied with posing for photos, I was warmly welcomed by Sima who graciously introduced me to Teresa, Kuan Khai’s wife.

 

I soon became aware of the queue of guests who were waiting to capture a photo memento with the two CGs and spotted more familiar faces including that of Johor Mejar Cina, Dato’ David Wong Khong Soon, whom I choose to address as, Uncle Dato’.

 

Meanwhile the crowd was swelling by the minute and as soon as I had my group photo snapped with the two CGs and their spouses, I made my way to the ballroom where the event proper will be held.

 

Among other familiar people in the foyer, I also met with Mr & Mrs Yap Yew Peng, parents of the savant artist, Yap Hanzhen, who completed an impressive sketch of the Johor Bahru skyline for the office of the Consulate-General of the Republic of Singapore in Johor Baru.

 

Incidentally, the story of Hanzhen and his gift in drawing was documented under Portraits in my 2017 MPH Non-Fiction Bestseller, My Johor Stories: True Tales, Real People, Rich Heritage.

 

Speech by CG Jeevan Singh

As more guests trickled in, I saw Greg but because I did not see my cousin in the crowd, I checked with him by text and Gan promptly replied saying he had to decline the invitation because he had a prior appointment in Kuala Lumpur.

 

The reception continued in the ballroom with speeches, first presented by Jeevan and then followed by Kuan Khai.

 

Jeevan shared briefly about his term in Johor and expressed his appreciation to all who helped him, his team and family, especially through the lockdown periods.

 

He ended his speech by raising a glass for a toast and invited Johor to extend to his successor, the same support and cooperation as they did to him.

 

In his speech, Kuan Khai quickly established a bond with Johor by sharing that he used to visit his grandfather who lived in Serkat, near Pontian, and went on to say a few words on how he and his team will work together to continue the warm relationship between Johor and Singapore.

 

Speech presented by CG Kuan Khai

Meanwhile I took time to admire the bright backdrop design that clearly featured familiar landmarks in Singapore on the Left and landmarks in Johor on the Right.

 

And in the Centre was an artist’s impression of a train on rails built upon raised tracks, an illustration (my guess!) of the Rapid Transit System or RTS that will link our borders, scheduled to be completed by end 2026.

 

While guests were welcomed to enjoy a dinner buffet spread, the reception continued with more photography sessions with both Jeevan and Kuan Khai.

 

When I had the opportunity for a chit-chat with Kuan Khai and his wife, I felt ridiculously grateful when he expressed his determination to read My Johor Stories to get to know Johor better.

 

I echo the words on the backdrop design which read as, Selamat Jalan to Jeevan, Farewell my friend, and Selamat Datang to Kuan Khai, Welcome to Johor!