Dear Xander, At the time I write this letter, you have made it known to your mother and I that you have a love-hate relationship with Singapore. At the time I write this letter, though, you associate the word “Singapore” with the National Day Parade. That justifies an explanation to you about what National Day really means. And to simplify the explanation, I’m going to use the human life cycle as an analogy for highlights in Singapore’s history from independence to present day, because the things that happened every decade that this country sees through reminds me of the milestones I see you going through. 1965: Birth The birth of…

Some of you may have heard about this on my Facebook page. I reproduced my post here, with a second part of the incident that I haven’t shared. Dear Xander, Daddy’s going to tell you a story. A blind lady is standing at a crowded bus stop in Clarke Quay. I walk up and ask if anyone is assisting her. She says no. So we introduce ourselves and talk a little while waiting for her bus. Turns out she’s been standing at the same spot every weekday at 6pm for the last 3 months, waiting for a bus she cannot see, and most of the time, too shy to ask…

DO NOT give me a funeral wake - no prayers, no incense, no burning of offerings (if it turns out they have an economy where I'm going I'll e-mail you and let you know). I want a funeral PARTY - with luck, I will have pre-arranged a booking for one night with a restaurant that has a good 8-course menu, a bar, a good collection of beer, liquor and soft drinks and allows us to put a casket with a dead person in it on their premises for one evening.

Dear Xander, At 3 years of age, you have yet to understand the extent of the online presence you may have. 3 days after you were born, I saw fit to provide you with the Holy Trinity of the Web 2.0 world of my time; I decided to register a Google account under your name, create a Facebook profile and even a Twitter account for you. When you turned 3, I decided to register a domain name for your birthday present, and xander.sg was booked in your honour (as is xndr.sg, in case you wanted to be lazy). That is also essentially how Dear Xander came to be. Recently, I…

Dear Xander, I have been told on a number of occasions by a number of people (I count 3 so far; your eldest aunt – my eldest sister – and both your grandparents) what an unfilial son I have become, particularly after I settled down, had my own family and am struggling to keep things afloat financially whilst trying to ensure the happiness of those that matter to me. I know the sacrifices parents make first hand because I see and make very much the same sacrifices with our own son. This isn’t a day to mark up your filial piety a few notches to show your appreciation to your…

Mummy: I think you were too harsh on your last couple of blog posts. Me: Harsh? How? Mummy: For one, you were really harsh on Andre. Also, you sounded like you were asking Xan to give up. Dear Xander, Sometimes, even though a person means well, he or she will inadvertently overstep boundaries, or make mistakes, or push too hard on a piece of advice they think is the only right way to go about doing things. Sometimes, the person will be stubborn and insist his way is the right way. Sometimes, the person will realise what he did and deal with the embarrassment with a quick brush of the…

This is the second of a two-part letter, which began here. It was already a good half hour past your bedtime as we prepared to leave Grandma’s house that night. As we were waiting outside, you climbed up on the wood benches in Grandpa’s garden, plopped your chin on the tabletop and continued to sulk. I came over and sat opposite you, asking if you were all right. You replied me with a question. “Why Andre don’t like me?” Times like this really make me wonder if I had missed out on some milestone whilst I was researching on the mental development of a typical 3-year-old, or you were just…

Dear Xander, Your dad was once an avid comic book collector. In fact, there is a stack of about 200 20-year-old comic books set to be written into your inheritance, the most valuable of which hang across the wall of your playroom, waiting for you to make sense of the imagery contained within their covers. By the time you grow up, printed comic books may no longer be produced, overtaken by their more advanced and many times more interactive digital counterparts. But the stories will no doubt survive, looking at how they are being translated into cinematic experiences such as The Dark Knight, Spider-man, and of course, The Avengers. While…

Your parents have always known that at some point in your education, we will need to help you "unlearn" things that you were taught in school. We never thought that point would come so early in your life.