WAIT TILL YOU HEAR GRANDMA MARY - SHE TRULY ROCKS!

If you were into pop songs back in the 1960s, you would remember The Quests and The Blue Diamonds. They were immensely popular then and had a string of hits to their name. It was therefore a double treat for me to catch Vernon Cornelius, former vocalist with The Quests, and Riem de Wolff of The Blue Diamonds performing live at the benefit concert for victims of Typhoon Haiyan on Boxing Day.

During the three-plus hours, Vernon and Riem took the audience on a journey to nostalgia with covers of classics made famous by Johnny Mathis, Cliff Richard and others, while Riem reprised The Blue Diamonds hits including "Ramona", "Sukiyaki", "Little Ship" and "Mona Lisa".

(Left) Vernon with the Quests circa 1960s, and (right) The Blue Diamonds album of hits

50+ years on, and still going strong - at the benefit concert on 26 Dec 2013

In the audience that night unbeknownst to me was a petite middle-aged lady whom Vernon kept referring to as "Grandma Mary". He had singled her out to thank her for her generous support of the concert. It was only a day later through a cousin's Facebook posting, that I found out who Grandma Mary was. She is Singapore's coolest guitar-playing grandma, and an internet sensation!

Mary Ho, 77, started out learning to play the acoustic guitar at the age of 60. That soon developed into a passion for playing the blues on the electric lead guitar. When I heard her video on Youtube for the first time, I was completely blown away. And later when I checked out her website at Grandma Mary Rocks, I was left in jaw-dropping awe by what this remarkable grandma of seven has achieved in a short span of time. Google her and you will agree with me.

If Grandma Mary can learn something new at the ripe age of 60, what excuses do we have? If we had a childhood passion that we were unable to pursue because of circumstances at the time, this could be the right time to do so, with the children all grown and flown the nest, and with more time on our hands. As Grandma Mary has shown us, age should not be an excuse for not learning a new skill.