a series of meals and conversations

 5 february 2024

Early morning yoga on the terrace off the second floor. 

Just before dawn, muffled roard of air conditioning compressors

already a little buzz of traffic. 

 

Gently wafting up from below in the street 

the smell of incense from one of the food stalls.

I’m imagining a vendor doing his morning offering before beginning work.

Then a few minutes later the smell of grease on the skillet 

and the slapping sound, shaping of some chappati or pratas to be fried.

Then the faint smell of cardamom as the chai is prepared.

 

It has been such an unusual trip to Singapore for me this time. First of all because I have had no “work” to do, no retreat to lead or concert to perform or interreligious dialogue event to attend. And secondly because I am staying in a hotel in a part of town I have never stayed in before. I have always stayed with the friars at St. Mary of the Angels, except for one quick trip when I stayed with Leonard Ong. This time, as I mentioned, I am staying smack dab in the middle of a neighborhood proudly known as Little India, and it could for all the world be India except for the fact that there are Chinese and Malay Muslim (as well as Vietnamese and Japanese) shops scattered throughout the neighborhood as well.

I have pretty much had the mornings to myself. And the rest of the day I have spent doing what the main purpose of this stopover was from the beginning, not just an acclimatization to Asia but some time to visit with a number of folks in this area and a chance to be in a place that I had grown quite fond of in the years of intense traveling and have genuinely missed. One time in the middle of the traveling years I said to John Wong, OFM, I feel like I should get a room here I’m here so much. And he said to me, without missing a beat, “Cyprian, you have a room here,” meaning there with the friars.

My main contact here from the very beginning, 2006, was first of all the above mentioned Leonard Ong, who at the time was the representative for the World Community for Christian Meditation. I had had a layover at Changi Airport in 2005. I was exhausted from the flight and thought that it was the most beautiful comfortable airport I had ever seen. And as we were flying out over the island a few hours later I also thought that Singapore was the most luscious place I had ever seen. I wrote to Laurence Freeman, asking him if we knew anyone in Singapore. I admit I was just looking for somewhere to crash for a few nights. The next thing I knew I got an email asking me if I would give a concert next time through. And the rest is history. I did a lot of work for the WCCM here, and also in Malaysia mainly with Dr. Pat Por, and then into Indonesia and East Malaysia. Leonard and I also hung out a lot with John Wong, OFM, to the extent that they would at times kidnap me and whisk me off for a few days holiday somewhere. (John is now stationed in Rome for the Order. As a matter of fact, I had lunch with him when I was there in October.)

Now, besides Leonard, I have also had a long friendship with Aaron Maniam, with whom I did several interreligious events back in the day, who consequently fell in love with the Hermitage, became a regular retreatant (and a super spreader, always bringing new folks to experience the place), then an oblate (our first Muslim oblate; I received his oblation at the Harmony Center/mosque here in 2016), and a facilitator of future planning sessions for the community. The guys loved him, by the way. He in turn introduced me to Keith Toh, entrepreneur and all-around genius, who has become a good friend. At the time Keith was living in San Francisco. James, our former monk, and I sang for his wedding in Sausalito, which was quite a memorable occasion. There is a photo of the four of us––Keith, Aaron, James, and I––dressed to the nines that is one of my favorite photos of all time. Keith has served for a few years now on the Financial Advisory Board for the Hermitage and is getting me involved in something with the Tanglin Institute, which I will be able to inform more about later. 

There is also here Mark Hansen, who has been the one mostly responsible for taking care of me on this trip. Mark is a long-time friend the Camaldolese, first of all close to Sr. Donald and the nuns in Windsor, New York, then the monks at Incarnation in Berkeley, and last but not least of us as well, and also has served faithful on the Financial Advisory Board. I can honestly say that I received some of the best supportive advice from him during my term as prior. It is he who arranged for me to stay here at the Wanderlust and has been arranging/organizing us all to get together. Actually tonight is the first time we will most of us be together. Keith was in India and just got back yesterday but he hurt his back and will not be able to attend. But Aaron, who is now teaching at Oxford, happened to have an engagement back here this week, so he arrived just yesterday morning. We will be celebrating his birthday tonight, two days belated, at Leonard’s. 

What is wonderful is that all of them have become pretty good friends to each other as well. In addition, we have another young man who became a Camaldolese oblate, Brian. He and his wife are becoming part of the circle as well.

Mark, Dianne, me, Brian, Cynthia, Leonard

Pat Por introduced me to her son Geoff, a journalist for the Straits Times, who used to take me running back in the day. I met him and his wife and children for lunch yesterday. And Pat and her husband Joe, with whom I drove up and down the Malaysia peninsula several times, are coming in tomorrow for Chinese New Year. We are meeting for dinner tomorrow.

The other connection here in Singapore is Jeff Plein and his son Luke. Young Luke wanted to have a monastic experience as part of his school curriculum but he was a bit young for us to accept for an extended stay. So his Dad, Jeff, came with him. They pitched camp in the Ranch House, Jeff burned the midnight oil online as manager of several branches of Citibank here in southeast Asia (he is now Chief Operating Officer for the Asia-Pacific Region of a leading global professional services firm called Aon), while Luke immersed himself in our “daily round and common task.” They both had a great experience and Luke especially, now a freshman at Yale, has kept up a frequent correspondence with several of the monks. Jeff wanted to get together and introduce me to his wife and daughter, so that will probably happen Wednesday morning before I fly to Delhi that afternoon.

So, as you see, this is really a social visit––yes, a bit of time to acclimatize to Asia and get ready for India, but even more to spend time with wonderful people that I am so blessed to have  in my life, “here, there, and everywhere.” I can be nothing but grateful for the way I have been surrounded by such care and fine company.

 

Wednesday 7 Feb

 

Yesterday was my fullest day but it turned out not to be as crowded as I feared. I started out meeting Keith for breakfast at a fabulous restaurant overlooking the city. We had a half an hour or so to catch up and then we were joined by a gentleman named Abhra Bhattachearjee who is the Development Director and Head of Foundation for the Tanglin Trust School, the main activity of the day. The Tanglin Trust School is is an international school in Singapore that also runs as a non-profit organization. It was established in 1925, to provide British-based learning with an international perspective for students aged 3–18, almost exclusively ex-pats. They have about 3,500 students. (https://www.tts.edu.sg.) Keith’s own sons go there and he really wanted me to do something for them and also somehow get involved in a retreat center they are establishing in Gipsland, Australia.

Abhra and I had met already over Zoom with Keith from Big Sur, planning this meeting. He’s a jolly guy with a broad background already in education in Australia, India, and Kenya. We immediately gave us each other permission to nerd out and began a wonderful stimulating conversation that carried on from breakfast to the taxi to the school and really for the rest of the morning meeting with several other members of the faculty and staff. We met with a religion teacher and a philosophy teacher as well as the director of programs. Keith and Abhra both wanted me to do something for the school when I comeback through, but our mission was to figure out what. I got a full tour of the incredible facility––not a huge footprint but 11 stories high, typical of Singapore, the music building the athletic facilities as well as the classrooms, and it is very impressive. You can just feel the energy and creativity of the place. Can you imagine a 16 year-old girl who wants to go into music as a career deciding to do, as her year-end project, a piece of music inspired by Kierkegaard’s existentialism? That’s what we’re talking about there. If I understand it correctly the school also now wants to have more and more dialogue with surrounding culture and society, interacting both to learn and to contribute, and of course encourage social involvement on the part of the students. I felt a little out of my depth surrounded by all that competence, I must say, but they seem really excited for me to interact with the community there. It was decided that I will spend on hour with the combined world religions and philosophy classes at midday on March 18, and in the late afternoon offer a program open to students, faculty and parents, part of a series that they do, entitled “Universal Wisdom: the Words That We Share.” Basically sitting on a chair, telling stories and singing songs. I think it will be fun. That will be the day before I fly back to CA in March. 

I then had lunch with Claire Tan, who was formerly married to Leonard and is a very successful lawyer in for an international software company, and as always sparkling with positive energy and life. And then that evening I met Pat and Joe Por for dinner along with the son Geoff again, and their daughter Lisa. We ate at a little Malay restaurant around the corner from the hotel and then went for dessert at a place that specialized in the typically Chinese style sweets, with bean soups and all kinds of fruits I do not recognize and one I do––durian, whose smell gently filled the place. I stuck with something that had a lot of mangoes instead. 

With Keith and Claire.

This stay feels as if it has been mostly like a series of meals and conversations––and what fun is that! Such wonderful company. I was right: I did miss this place but most of all I am very fond of this little group of friends here and I have felt more at home than ever, especially given that staying at this hotel I have had the opportunity to explore more of the city on my own on foot.

This hotel offers a free washing machine (with automatic soap!) and dryer, right across the hall from my room. So that’s all done. I will be leaving a few things behind already. And I fly to Delhi this afternoon. Another phase of the journey begins, and I am ready!

(with apologies for the formatting issues... dunno what to do...)