Ms Linda Locke: Advertising guru turned writer
But, at the age of 64, she found a new passion: books. This was sparked by the fact that her great grandaunt was the eponymous Agnes Joaquim, who, after months of effort by Linda, was officially recognised as the creator of our national flower, the hybrid orchid Vanda Miss Joaquim. So, in 2018, and wanting to ensure the next generation was aware of her great grandaunt’s achievement, Linda wrote the book, “Agnes and Her Amazing Orchid”. This was followed by another book series, “Jack is Curious” based on the challenging questions from her young son and her creative responses. And there are more books on the way. Those of us who know Linda suspect that, fortunately, she will probably never fully retire. Oh, and the name of her book business? Godmother Books, of course.
Mr Joseph Loy: Engineer turned consultant
Mr Kersi Aspar: Corporate executive turned community leader
Mr Kersi Aspar worked for Yokogawa for over 35 years. He was first based in Singapore as Executive V.P. of Southeast Asia, in charge of sales and marketing of Process Control Instrumentation for the region; in 2010 he was promoted to V.P. of Global Sales and was transferred to Tokyo. In this capacity, he travelled extensively to Europe, the U.S., China and many other locales. In 2017, he returned to Singapore, but continued working for Yokogawa, initially on a 4-days-a-week basis, and now two days a week. Interestingly, while he describes this as “winding down”, it seems to be anything but – in addition to conducting virtual workshops for Yokogawa, he is actively involved in many community activities: he is a highly valued member of the Jalan Besar Kitchener Lavender Neighbourhood Committee, he continues his work with the Rotary Club Of Bugis Junction (he’s a charter member), and is very active in the Inter-Religious Organisation (IRO), a non-governmental organisation comprised of leaders of ten faiths who work together for religious harmony in Singapore.
You will see him in this role at the opening ceremonies for many important buildings in Singapore, among many other activities. Mr Aspar is particularly proud of the role the IRO plays in Singapore because, as highlighted in PM Lee’s recent National Day Rally speech, inter-religious harmony and understanding has never been more important. And what are Mr Aspar plans going forward? He is a stronger believer in the benefits of staying mentally and active. This, combined with his indomitable community spirit and indefatigable intellectual curiosity, means that actually “winding down” is still very far down the road for Mr Aspar.
