December 2010 Newsletter
The following articles are reproduced from the December 2010 Newsletter to members. Non-members may or may not be able to relate to the contents.
An Excursion to the NEWater Visitor Centre & Changi Museum
About 50 members went on a tour of the NEWater Facility at Bedok and the Changi Museum on 4 September 2010.
The members gathered outside the lodge building at 1.30 p.m., very eager to start the day’s tour, but we had to wait several minutes for one last passenger. Any guesses as to who that might be? Fortunately we arrived in time at NEWater Vistor Centre to begin the scheduled guided tour led by a very lively guide.
The visit to this water treatment plant was a good learning experience for all. We learnt about how waste water is recycled into potable water and its important industrial uses. We now know what our four national taps are; water from local catchment, imported water, NEWater and desalination.
Through the lively explanations by our guide and the use of multimedia presentations, the processes of waste water treatment with advanced membrane technology, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet technology to produce NEWater made lasting impressions on us.
Each was given a bottle sample to drink and all enjoyed it with none having any reservations.
At the Changi Museum, the mood took on a more sombre note.
Viewing the real exhibits and replicas of articles used by the internees and POWs of the Changi Prison from the years of 1942 to 1945, and the skillfully drawn pictures which captured their daily lives, members were empathically reminded of the sufferings and atrocities the internees went through.
Members appreciated the heroic struggles of many locals and soldiers who were captured and imprisoned and it would no doubt inspire them in many ways and to savour the peaceful times we are now enjoying.
A sumptuous eight-course vegetarian dinner at Just Greens Vegetarian Restaurant in Joo Chiat Place concluded the day’s outing.
It was fun, educational and a good social gathering for all.
The grapevine has it that members are asking when the next outing is going to be.
International Visitor
We extend a warm welcome to Mr. Chaganti V.K. Maithreya who is visiting from India.
Bro. Maithreya is a fifth generation Theosophist and has been a member of The Theosophical Society for over 41 years. He is a writer and lectures on Theosophy in different parts of the world. At present he is the President of both the Madras Theosophical Federation and the Theosophical Order of Service, Chennai Region. He is a member of the Indian Section Council of the TS and the National Board of the TOS, India.
Bro. Maithreya is a graduate in English language and literature and has a post-graduate qualification in Personnel Management, besides being a qualified trainer. Professionally, he is a Business Adviser in the area of Human Resource Management and owns a consultancy company that has international clients.
He lives near the Adyar Estate in a joint family with his mother, aunty, wife and two daughters.
Those of us who are going for the International Convention this year are grateful to Bro. Maithreya for arranging our excursion to Pondicherry.
Come and meet Bro. Maithreya who will be visiting the Singapore Lodge on Saturday, 4 December 2010 at 5 p.m. where he will give a talk entitled “The Ultimate in the Here & Now”. He provides a synopsis of his talk as follows.
“What we commonly call life is in fact, living in the past, and the past is dead. Let us investigate this – not with the gloominess of performing a post-mortem, but with the freshness of an enquiring mind. The quality of this mind is as important as the process it will experience and the result it will reach. The answer may be a paradox, which is the result of a paradigm shift in perception. Who perceives and what is perceived is the mystery that lies hidden in this quest. The mind as we know and understand it, at present cannot and will not encounter any answer or experience. Its induced incapabilities prevent and preclude its knowing the truth. To look for the experience of the ‘NOW’ among the labyrinths of the past is a futile experience."