Day 154 continued - Advice and a quiet St Patrick's Day

I met the girls and found they had already eaten, so I headed to a nearby Indian restaurant. Here I had another wicked meal, Lamb Masala this time. After I had finished an ancient looking Indian gentleman asked if I was British, and when I affirmed this he invited me to sit with him as he wished to tell me a joke. I did so, and he said "The thing about the British, is that they will only fight a war they know they can win!" He then proceeded to chuckle for a while, as did I, out of politeness more than amusement, to be honest. The conversation then took a rather interesting turn, as he started asking questions of me, and told me that my parents should have advised me to do the following: "If you get the chance, always go and talk to an old man." I had my book on the table, and so he decided it was his job to impart wisdom upon me, so he said

"Reading maketh a man,

Troubles maketh a better man,

Conferences maketh a perfect man."

When I misheard the last one as confidences, he suddenly became angry for two or three seconds, as he did every time I misheard him. He told me all about his life (he's 73, his mum is Thai and his dad is Indian, his name is Kandiah, he has 3 kids, the youngest of whom is 32, they are variously graduates in computer science and some other stuff he was very proud of, he spent 40-odd years in the Singapore police force, his pension is S$875 a month I think, and he was talking about spending S$40 a month on his son's tennis coaching when he was young - to express how much this was at the time, he told me that mutton at the time was S$1.35 a pound, I think. Why he thought this would have some meaning for me is beyond me). He gave me a few other tips during our lengthy chat, including:

"It is better for a woman to marry a man who loves her, than to marry the man she loves"

"Fate and confidence joined together rule the universe"

Quite what I was supposed to do with these I don't know, but he seemed very content once he'd passed them on, and made sure I had written them down correctly. He kept talking for a while, and I chipped in wherever I could, although my lack of life experience left me mute on most subjects. He informed me that there are 1000 Gurkhas in the singapore police force, and told me about the extraordinary fighting spirit they have, and how it was no longer as important in modern warfare. he ended up steering the conversation round to his original statement about the British. Here he said "I think you are too young to talk to me, although it seems you are very well informed." I accepted this compliment and departed to find the girls for a few drinks in the hostel and the Prince of Wales - I was expecting some sort of rowdiness, however this was not the case at all - we just had a few jamjars/sangrias and were in bed before 1. Not the most massive of St. Patrick's Days.