OFA coffee table book, part 22

Today is D-19 days till the launch of Fidelis, the commemorative book of The Old Frees' Association. I should be excited but I am more anxious than excited. Ylou see, I've been in incommunicado mode with the rest of the editorial team. They are in Penang whilst I am in Singapore.

I've been in Singapore since Saturday and shall not be back to Penang until Wednesday evening. My wife and I had been planning this trip for more than a year now. Ever since we were told that her brother would be buying a new HDB apartment in Singapore, we knew that we had to come visit him and bring the old folks along.

The trip had been postponed so many times because of delays to the renovation of his place but finally, word came through that he would be moving in last December. Still, the only time to arrange a trip and bring my in-laws to visit Singapore was during the Malaysian school holidays. That's how I am in Singapore right now.

But that aside, I found out on Saturday that my brother-in-law's Internet wireless connectivity is limited. There is no wireless hotspot in the apartment. I'm reduced to sharing the one modem on the laptop with so many people here. As a result, I am unable to use the ipad to connect to the Internet for my emails.

Luckily, though, I still have some mobile connections, thanks to my friend Jeff who lent me his Singapore mobile SIM card. Jeff is a wonderful guy; he has really gone out of his way to ensure that I can keep in touch with the world while in Singapore. Strange comment about Singapore but it's true... Ha ha.

So what about the coffee table book? I'm feeling rather helpless right now because there has been no text message from the layout people. In my absence, the OFA president has taken it upon himself to be in full charge of decisions. He has free rein as the OFA president, anyway, to over-ride the editorial team.

The only message I've received from him through the mobile phone is short but I've learnt enough that he has asked the layout people to do this and to do that, combine this story and that story together, remove and replace this picture and that picture. Gosh, the way events are developing, I hope to be able to recognise its altered state by the time I get home!

But despite the free rein and the alterations, I shall still have to do the very last part of the book which is to give page numbers to all the image  credits. And I jolly well can't do it without the book's layout completed. So with me here in Singapore and the book there in Penang, with no idea when I can see the final draft, it's been a very frustrating wait....