Alex Abisheganaden 85th Birthday Celebration at Ngee Ann Polytechnic Strings

Last Friday, former guitar alumni from Ngee Ann Polytechnic Strings returned to surprise Alex for his 85th birthday celebrations.

I was delighted to  meet old friends like James, Sio, Ah Kuang and Yow Heng. It’s been long time since we’ve seen each other and I’m happy to see how well everyone is doing.

Yow Heng looks exactly the same and Ah Kuang looks thinner than before.

I wonder what Yow Heng does to stay so young. I suspect he owns the largest personal collection of SK II products in the world.

I also briefly sat-in for the beginner class that Alex was teaching. I felt nostalgic to play under his guidance once again.

When I joined NPS I had already received several years of training from Ernest Kwok and Mohammed Zuklifee, so I never sat-in for his beginner class. Despite all the years I spent at NPS with Alex, that night was a first for me!

I’m glad to see Alex is in good health. Unfortunately, I heard that his left hand if giving him trouble nowadays. He says that his 1st finger has the tendency to freeze and lock- up. I told him to see a doctor about it. I hope he takes my advice.

I was also happy to meet Jacob Leong, a former NPS Alumni turned full-time guitar teacher. Jacob now runs Jacobs Music. You can see his excellent performance of Villa Lobos’s Prelude No. 1 on my Kris Barnett guitar below.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVkQWmImXDU[/youtube]

People like Jacob and Andrew Wee (another NPS Alumni turned full-time teacher) serve testament to Alex’s ability to encourage up-and-coming classical guitarists.

Alex also spoke fondly of my former teacher, the renown Ernest Kwok.

When Ernest was a young boy, Alex taught him classical guitar. They even took the ABRSM grade 8 exam together.

“We both got a merit score, but I think I got just a few marks more than him, ” Alex laughed with a glint of nostalgia in his eyes.

Alex is clearly very proud of Ernest and he always has a twinkle in his eye when he speaks of him. Alex paid Ernest one of the highest compliments possible by calling him “the best classical guitar teacher in Singapore.” At the risk of hurting the egos of other classical guitar teachers in Singapore (including myself) , I have to agree.

But I felt compelled to correct him slightly.  “Both of you are the best,” I told him.

I hope Ernest knows how highly Alex regards him.

I like to believe that Alex’s gentleness, encouragement and generosity helped in grooming some of the best classical guitarists in Singapore.

Alex is a great boon to the classical guitar scene. He is one of the warmest persons I have ever known and he sincerely does his best to help his fellow man.

He is a living example of what a good human being should be, and has every quality deserving of a Cultural Medallion Recipient.

Happy birthday Alex Abisheganaden. You make the world a better place.

On a side-note, I want to thanks James for organizing this birthday celebration. I also want to thank everyone (James and Yow Heng thus far) who chipped in to purchase the “Ramirez 125th Year Anniversary” book for Alex.

I had great fun meeting the old gang and I can’t believe we stayed at the King Albert Park Mc Donald’s till 2am playing Bang! (the wild-west themed card game).

Considering how sleep-deprived I’ve been lately, I probably shouldn’t have stayed for so long. But I’m glad that I did. 🙂