BEE CHOO Strange (born 1965 as ng bee choo)

This is Bee Choo's parents at their wedding in 1960, before the Singapore independence, surrounded by some friends and family. 

They were young 2nd generation Chinese immigrants; he worked as an auto mechanic, she was a housewife and did odd jobs for others cleaning and sewing.  

I only met Bee Choo's father briefly, this photograph was taken 3 April 1994 and he passed away much too young from cancer later that year. Bee Choo thought a lot of him, he worked hard every day to take care of five kids, weekends included - only at Chinese New Year would he take 10 days off.   

When Bee Choo and her siblings went through the family estate in 2016, this gold ring turned up, it was Bee Choo's father's, it is 24 carats. I got to have it, and I wear it with joy every day on my right-hand ring finger, my white gold wedding ring is on my left.  

But I did get to know my mother-in-law, although we didn't speak much - my Chinese is a bit weak (that was a joke, I don't speak any!) and my mother-in-law's English was not that much better. But the old lady was head of the Ng clan, and we saw her often while Mark grew up. Here 29 August 2015; we celebrated Mark's 13-year birthday a few days early with a family pick-nick at Bishan Park. Bee Yean 

The atmosphere on that occasion (Aug 2015) was a bit subdued. Bee Choo's mother, we called her Amah, had just been diagnosed with cancer. Here she is left of Bee Choo and Mark with all her family tossing Lohei 6 Feb 2016, the highlight of Chinese New Year. It would be her last CNY; my mother-in-law died later that year. 

The section above contains 122 images from Bee Choo's childhood, youth and life with me. If you are mainly interested in what Bee Choo is doing now, currently, you just cut to the chase and check this new section that I started in 2023. This is from a hornbill conference in March 2023 in Sabah, East Malaysia. Bee Choo is in light blouse 3rd right of the middle.   

While in Sabah, Bee Choo looked up old friend and fellow book enthusiast, Chan Chew Lun (in flowery shirt), here outside his shop in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. 10 March 2023. Bee Choo also did a field trip into the Borneo rainforest after the conference, but I don't have visuals from that one. 

But hey, before we go any further ... here is another historic image of Bee Choo: Behind her younger sister Bee Yean, I believe sometime in the early 1970s; cute, right? The photo turned up during Chinese New Year in 2024, during a family clean-up of old stuff. 

Anyway, fast forward to 1 April 2023; that day was our 21 year anniversary. But as it happened we were invited to a Nature Society meeting/cum social gathering at NSS Secretary Natasha Raina's lovely house off Holland Road. Natasha (right behind Bee Choo) didn't forget though and arranged for this cake for Bee Choo and me to celebrate. Thank you Natasha! 

Talking about the Nature Society: 13 May was the NSS AGM and here Bee Choo gives the Vertebrate Study Group annual report to the meeting held at the Dutch Club. 

We all get older, and once in a while a service and maintenance check is required. Here Bee Choo has one of those 27 April 2023. In our family, we don't use private healthcare insurance; we pay for medical expenses at cost out of pocket. But with a consultation costing less than a US$, that is mostly fairly manageable. Thank you Singapore: You have the best and the most affordable health care syst

So let me start this new section where I left off above: Bee Choo's new hobby, Zentangle artwork. Here the young ladies all gather together after class to show off their skills, it is Bee Choo behind second from right. 

Barely a sexagenarian, Bee Choo was on her first trip out, to her beloved Thailand no less. Here meeting friends in Bangkok 19 November 2025. It is her esteemed friend Saranarat Oy Kanjanavanit taking the selfie. 

A few hours' drive south-west of Bangkok is Kaeng Krachan National Park and Bee Choo has friends who live nearby, here she is overlooking Kaeng Kra Chan Reservoir near their place.  

In the forest, the rangers were feeding these two Sun Bears, if you Google the species you will find a similar photo from the same place! Bee Choo said the individual on the right was dominant and didn't let the smaller one on the left eat! 

Also from Kaeng Krachan, a Grey-bellied Squirrel. 

And an interesting reptile, a Draco lizard that we needed help to ID to species: It turned out to be a Draco taeniopterus or Barred Gliding Lizard, but we prefer the more dramatic vernacular name: Thai Flying Dragon.