Friends Forever 007

Our so-called "Group of 15 +2" participated in the 18th Asian Conference for Mental Retardation (ACMR) 2007 held in Taipei, from 17-23 Nov. It was a personally, socially, and educationally enriching week. The theme of the conference was Universal Design Environment. The '+ 2' comprise two highly independent workshop trainees.

(The 19th Conference will be re-named "AFID Conference" - Asian Federation on Intellectual Disabilities being more gracious in nomenclature. And it will be held in Singapore from 22-26 Nov 2009, after coming full circle since 1987)

In between presentations and concurrent sessions, the Group of 15 + 2 established camaraderie with a host of activities: study tours, friendship night, cultural night; and nightly excursions to various places, such as, Shilin Nite Market, Si Men Jing, and Danshui.

The official ACMR website is: http://www.afmr73.org/

After the conference, thanks to Dr Lohsnah and Mei Leng - our 'social convenors' - the Group of 15 continued to meet up for get-togethers. The night before was another dinner-gathering. We had lovely Chinese food at Crystal Jade. It was very kind of them to give me a sumptuous treat. On top of it I was overwhelmed by their presence and a present - a farewell gift in view of my forthcoming studies in Europe. Honestly, I hadn't expected all this. To borrow a phrase - "Sometime, someplace, somehow - when I least expect it - smile!!! - the Spirit of the Group of 15 from the ACMR2007 lives on!"

My heartfelt appreciation goes to Mr Jeffrey Tan, Mdm Goh Siam Imm, Mr Daniel Tan, Mr Keh Eng Song, Dr Lohsnah, Ng Mun Wai, Rosalyn Peng, Jessie Thia, Dylan Lim, Chan Mei Leng, Clare Kong, Tan Weiyan, Lin Qiao'er and Quintus Ong. Indeed, long live our Group of 15! Besides the photo of our recent dinner, I'm also posting some shots from Taipei, 2007.

Long Live Our Group of 15!