Where To See Joseph Conrad memorial in Singapore and other statues worldwide

Author Joseph Conrad, 1857-1924, who wrote Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim(1900).

Why would you find a plaque to Joseph Conrad in Singapore? He features Singapore in his short story, The End of the Tether in 1902, as well as using Singapore in other stories. As the plaque says, Singapore was his home port. he would have had to register at the post office which is now the landmark Fullerton Hotel.


Singapore flag.

Singapore was and still is an important port and stopping place for ships to re-load goods and fuel, crew and passengers. Conrad spent a lot of time aboard ships and went from one country to another.

I was visiting the historic hotel in Singapore by the museum and river when I came across a plaque to Joseph Conrad. He was a most remarkable man. He grew up surrounded by the patriotic Polish people and language in places which were under Russian rule, in what is now Poland, in cities such as Krakow (now Poland) and Lvov (now in the west of Ukraine on the border).

He lived in many countries, first France, and finally including England where he became British and managed to extricate himself from Russian citizenship. He later had chosen to avoid countries such as Russia and France where he would have been forced to serve in the military.

He had lost his parents (who both had tuberculosis) when he was a 12 year old child. Later in life he attempted suicide.

He wrote best sellers in English, which was not his first language. It was his third language after Polish and French.

Like many authors, he lad a life more dramatic and incredible than his plots and books. He met other famous authors and was the model for the character in another author's book.

He spent about ten years at sea, working his way up through the ranks.

I took a photo in Singapore at the time I first saw his monument and again, which has unfortunately disappeared into my stored photos on a disc somewhere. Never mind, you can easily find photos of  his monuments including the memorial in Singapore in Wikipedia and on the web.

I had copies of his books but looked up the plots in Wikipedia. I like that about Wikipedia. In review sites you don't get a through analysis of a book because they are to anxious not to reveal the plot twists and ending. Wikipedia gives you plots, characters, films made of the book, enough of the author's life to see what inspired him, and separately the author's life and quotations.


Conrad's grave at Canterbury Cemetery, near Harbledown, Kent.

Conrad's grave in England.
As Jonson famously said, 'Worth seeing but not worth going to see'.

Useful Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Conrad
https://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/Attraction_Review-g294265-d11824838-Reviews-Joseph_Conrad_Korzeniowski-Singapore.html

About The Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please bookmark and share links to your favourite posts.

What It Costs To Promote A Meeting on Meetup

Problem
My two Toastmasters Clubs in London get lots of new members, average 2 or more, sometimes 4-6, each of the two monthly meetings. My Singapore club is considering it. But what toes it cost?

Answer
In September 2018 I looked at the Meetup website and found I was offered:

Basic membership for 6 months cost US $9.00 a month. If you have two meetings a month, that's US$4.50 per month.  If you were to advertise more events, it becomes more profitable.

What does basic mean? A limit of 50 members and 4 organizers.  I presume that's 54 in total. That's plenty for a small club of about 20 members which wants to expand.

Fifty members doesn't mean 50 paid up members of your club. I presume it's 50 people on Meetup who signed up to be notified of your meetings. Some of those are phantom members who will never turn up.

I joined a sewing and crafts group meeting in Wembley in London. I never went. It was too far and inconvenient times and days.

If you have two sister organizations you might be able to link them on a mutual Meetup group and share costs. For example, two Toastmasters clubs of the same name, such as the English speaking club and the Mandarin-speaking club which meet at the same venue on different days.

Another option is for a one-off payment of US$14.99 a month, perhaps for one event such as A Christmas party at a restaurant.

You need a treasurer who is on top of cancellations, because as with any monthly payment, if you are inclined to forget, you might end up paying for years for something you no longer need.

If you find it successful, no such problem. You are assured that they will roll over the payment.

If you want to organize a free meeting, instead or in addition you can use Peatix, a company which started in Asia.

In the UK Toastmasters meetings are often booked through Eventbrite. If you are not charging, why bother to issure tickets?

a) At a large event such as a conference in an auditiorium with a popular sepaker you might be sold out. Because of fire regulations you are not allowed to have people sitting on the stairs and standing in the aisles and in front of the fire exit doors. To avoid early arrivals grabbing the seats and latecomers being turned away, the first ones to book are given tickets. Others go on a waiting list.

b) The organizers may want to know the numbers in order to cater with enough food and drink or cups for water, or chairs, or to switch to a larger or smaller room according to the numbers.

c) At the other extreme, if nobody books for an event, because it is not popular, too last minute, or people are away on holiday, you might wish to postpone your New Year, Easter, Valentine's, or Summer BBQ until a week later, or postpone your so-called Christmas party until after Christmas.

If you want to pay, the Meetup system was accepting WePay.

Useful Websites
https://www.meetup.com
peatix.com

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts with your family and friends and colleagues.

Travel insurance - what to look for

What to look for:

• Cover for missed flights. 
• (Cover for delay (leading to lost connection? I thought recompense for delay over a certain number of hours was now given in UK by law by the airline?)
• Cover for cancellation due to illness of partner or travelling companion.
• Requirement to have items in locked boot, when your own car or potential hire car is a hatchback.
• Cover for items over £500 (such as a laptop).
• Medical insurance. (Or flight back to your country where you may already be covered by eg by NHS or your insurance.)
• Length of trip - if there's a limit on time of any one trip.
• Age and health limit on medical cover.

https://www.ttgmedia.com/news/news/holidaymakers-warned-over-worthless-travel-insurance-5194

Angela Lansbury, travel writer, author, speaker. Author of How To Get Out of The Mess You're In.