Happy New Year!
Ajeet January 2nd, 2010
2009 was an eventful year, like every other! We moved back to Singapore from Shanghai, celebrated an Egyptian-Singaporean wedding in the family (my sis-in-law), travelled to Guilin, Yanghshuo, India, South West Australia and Bali. Work-wise, I got trained onto a new aircraft type – the Airbus 330, and Ping has been teaching part-time. I will miss the freighter-runs out of Shanghai, and especially miss flying the B747(the queen of the skies!). Some good friends got married, some added to their families, and a few good souls made the transition into the Great Unkown.
The world witnessed the passing of a legend – Michael Jackson, and the Nobel crowning of another. Descending from his almost perfect pedestal, Tiger Woods proved that he was human afterall. Roger Federer and Kim Cloisters showed what true Champions are made of – with truly amazing comebacks. An AirFrance A330 disappeared over the high seas, while the skill and good fortune of the Hudson river crew ensured a happy ending for a bunch of A320 passengers. Earthquake in Sumatra & Snowstorms in europe and the US, wrapped up another year of natural disasters – although none were equal in magnitude to the tragic 2008 sichuan earthquake. H1N1 almost brought the panic to SARS levels, before making a quiet exit – at least for now. World economies and stock markets which were tumbling down a seemingly bottomless crevasse, hit the brakes and pleasantly surprised with a sharp turn-around.
Back home in Singapore, the AWARE saga, SPUR schemes, recession heroes, the Mas Selamat re-capture, foreigner-influx debates, citizenship privilege upgrades and the SEA games took most of the headlines.
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2010, the end of a decade & the year of the tiger, promises new adventures, hopes, dreams and the occasional setbacks. Both my sisters-in-law(my brother’s wife in India & Ming in singapore) are due to deliver their bundles of joy sometime this year. We have a few trips lined up to explore the world and make the best of our annual leave. Big sporting event of the year - the FIFA world cup. More A330s in the pipeline means more new destinations for me. Although we hear of green shoots everywhere, not all is well with the world economy, and i expect a few more shocks to the downside for the western world, and thus – to a limited extent – for asia as well.
As we mark yet another milestone, build on our past and stride into the future, we wish you safe takeoffs and landings on your personal journeys towards your date with destiny.
Keep in touch, thank you very much!
Here’s wishing everyone a Happy, Healthy and Meaningful 2010!
Au Revoir B747-400, Great Wall Airlines and 2009!