Serge professes himself to be “an old hippy from the time of peace and love” and holds the concepts of unity, love and care at the core of his being. On his Facebook page you can find his personal motto and mantra, “We are One and never Divided”, which neatly encapsulates his belief that every living being is part of himself since everything springs from the same cosmic power. This belief is at the centre of his desire to be a vegan and only consume plant-based nutrients. This makes eating out in Hua Hin a challenge and Serge will admit that sometimes he does have moments of weakness including some grated parmesan cheese on his vegetarian Italian pasta dishes. He has not consumed meat other than seafood since his decision to be vegetarian, and then was only pescatarian at the wishes of his poor mother who was concerned at how she was ever going to be able to feed him. When he left home at 18, he became completely vegetarian, choosing to eat nothing with eyes that see the Life Light.

Born into a francophone family in Montreal, Serge was the eldest child, with two younger brothers born in quick succession. His younger brothers were boisterous and Serge felt indirect pressure to try to keep them in line for his mother who had three sons within five years. Serge had a very strong relationship with his mother, a woman who never denied him anything and lived to 77 years of age, inspiring Serge with her colourful clothing and her zest for life. Yet even he was not privy to her secret when he was just 13. His mother went away for just four days and returned with Diana, his new infant sister in her arms, and Serge was instantly smitten and still refers to her as “his miracle” to this day. His mother had used corsetry and binding to keep her pregnancy secret, even from her sons. It is Serge’s opinion that she did so because of her Catholic shame about enjoying her own sexuality. The man who Serge has become has been profoundly influenced by his relationships with women, both inside and outside his family.

Serge’s relationship with his father was more problematic. His dad worked at the Esso oil refinery and had been a Commando in the army, a special instructor in hand-to-hand combat, in the then well-known Devil’s Brigade, and was a heavy drinker who would now undoubtedly receive a diagnosis of PTSD. Although Serge doesn’t dwell on his interactions with his father, it is clear there were instances where the pair engaged physically. When Serge was 18, he left home after an altercation between his parents in which he defended his mother. She had learnt that her husband was being unfaithful and she confronted him with her knowledge, enraging him. Serge had no intention of watching his father disrespect his mother in this fashion, and the resultant fight meant Serge no longer felt welcome in the family home.

The confrontation with his father meant the end of Serge’s dreams of becoming a lawyer as he had to get a job to support himself after leaving school in the 11th grade. Eventually his mother left her husband and she and Diana moved in with Serge, his mother taking a job in the local shopping mall. Serge’s two brothers remained living with their father. Serge had musical skill he could leverage to make money, so he worked a summer gig as the drummer in a band in a restaurant and bar. He met an Italian girl, Lise, who became his first love. Serge was offered a job in her family’s bakery business which he gratefully accepted and within a relatively short time had learnt the trade and was working as a chef/baker. The job continued for over two years, with Serge living above the bakery until the family announced plans for Serge’s wedding to Lise.  Much as Serge had feelings for Lise, this was a decision which Serge was not prepared to have imposed upon him, so he lost his girlfriend and his job at the same time and moved on.

Chateau was Montreal’s most trendy fashion store in the 1960s and Serge became its best salesman, in a quite unexpected career change. But it was Serge’s attendance at Woodstock in 1969 which was pivotal in his life, with a dive into weed and psychedelics beginning his journey into what is best described as spiritualism. Serge met a number of well-known musicians such as Miles Davis and Ravi Shankar, reconfirmed his vegetarianism and refocused on meditation to centre his mind. Htook himself off to India on a journey of self-discovery that lasted eight years and involved the iconic VW van favoured by young visitors to India, along with a period of self-imposed celibacy. Since his first India sojourn in the 1970s, the joint focuses of Serge’s life have been self-improvement through self-awareness, and caring for and helping others. Many examples of this love and care can be drawn from a variety of times across Serge’s adult life, and are not cited in linear fashion.

Serge’s search for self-improvement has been both physical and spiritual. While his almost total veganism began as the epitome of caring for other living things, it also has positive impacts on his physical health. He is amazingly fit and spry for his age, having long practiced martial arts in the form of Tae Kwon Do, in which he has a 6th dan black belt. In the last two years in Hua Hin, with the encouragement and support of his friend Derek Russell, Serge has immersed himself in the world of Spartan training to further enhance his physical fitness and endurance.

There are countless examples of Serge displaying great care for others, who he actually views as part of himself. While in India he started an organisation called Child Care International with his wife Roxanne, who he married at the age of 42. Serge met the young classical ballerina in Canada. She was the adopted child of a French family from Bordeaux who rescued her from Bangladesh during the Liberation War in 1971 which inspired the pair  in creating a non-profit association with those less fortunate in India. Across a period of years, CCI released 175 children from indentured slavery either in chemical factories or the sex trade, and provided them with the beginnings of an education that would have been impossible otherwise, starting in a house with 8 rooms and just five teachers. Serge’s heart fills with gladness as he recounts how some of these girls went on to become informal teachers in their own families and communities and how some even progressed to tertiary education. From little things, big things grow.

In the 1980s Serge worked for Air India as a Director of Sales, part of his role to co-ordinate Know India seminars.  This part of his role with the company involved interacting with groups of travel agents and demystifying travel to India for them, including taking them to Indian restaurants and presenting slide shows, all with the aim of empowering them to confidently run tours to India. One day in June 1985, Serge checked people in on Flight 182 from Montreal to Delhi via London. All 329 people onboard died in what is regarded as Canada’s worst terrorist attack, which was linked to Sikh extremism. On the flight were many members of a Hindu association of expat Canadians in India, and Serge lost many personal friends, only to find that his employer needed him to begin the difficult task of contacting all the families to notify them of the bombing, believing he had the appropriate skill set to help families in distress.

Serge’s love and care is of course extended to his own family. His “miracle” sister asked Serge to be present at the birth of her first child. She had planned a home-birth but due to the breech position of the baby, ended up needing a caesarian delivery in hospital. Serge was present in the delivery room, regardless.  And in a very potent act of love, prior to Diana’s delivery of her second child, Serge trained and qualified as a doula so he was able to facilitate a natural home-birth for her, second time around, and himself “catch” his new niece, despite the qualms of the baby’s father. Indeed, Serge has delivered five children in his role as doula and states that the hardest part of the job is convincing the husbands and partners of the pregnant women to allow a man to act as a birth coach and doula. Midwifery is still seen as overwhelmingly a female domain.

Saranya, Serge’s Thai life partner, has also been the beneficiary of his healing touch and expertise. The pair have been together for seven years and are in a committed relationship, although they are planning to wed in 2026 for the sake of convenience when it comes to government regulations. When Serge eventually left Montreal for good, he tried on several places in Thailand for size, including Phuket, Pattaya and Chiang Mai before settling on Hua Hin as his long-term Thai hometown. It was in Chiang Mai that he met Saranya, also an avid vegetarian and working in the tourism industry. She had stomach cancer and had already undergone some surgery, with the understanding that further surgery would be necessary. With Serge’s holistic therapy healing knowledge, 18 months later, Saranya was declared cancer-free and in need of no ongoing treatment. Although his methods have proven effective, Serge would much rather assist people in preventing issues developing in the first place, noting that prevention is critical. Serge finds that many doctors today do not promote holistic prevention to their patients, to the patient’s detriment. Serge believes modern medicine should also embrace naturopathy since it also has a history back to the time of Hippocrates. Serge considers it prudent to take advantage of Mother Earth’s healing before resorting to modern medicine.

Now technically retired, Serge has plenty of time for personal interest projects such as helping friends with wellness, fitness and happiness goals, through accessing their own powers. He has been complemented as a loving, caring and attentive advisor and is inspired by the Dalai Lama who he has had the pleasure of meeting twice. 

A further source of inspiration is Nepalese French monk Matthieu Ricard, the author of one of Serge’s favourite books, “Altruism – The Power of Compassion to Change Yourself and the World”.  Serge is part-way along his own writing journey about altruism, as well as working on a modern version of the Hindu scripture, Bhagavad Gita, a prominent sacred text from the 1st or 2nd century BCE. Serge aims to incorporate all the philosophies which underpin world religions, since their source is the one unique essence, before being divided by men over the centuries. He hopes to complete these projects within a time-frame of about 2 years.

Also on Serge’s bucket list are some more active, even daredevil pursuits.  Serge wants to visit Australia, Japan and some other eastern countries, go parachuting and bungee-jumping and learn to swim, overcoming his fear of water that arose from a near-drowning incident.  Yet most of the time, Serge is happy to live a quiet life in Hua Hin, content to see Saranya’s face beside him when he awakes early to greet each day with a walk through the garden to the second-storey meditation spot where he greets the new day. The couple share their peaceful home with their two adorable dachshunds and four members of the parrot family. Serge’s dearest hope is to live to see an end to childhood suffering, despite never having had children of his own and quarrels between countries sprouting from religious conflicts. He knows, deep within his very big heart, that looking within ourselves to find and acknowledge our essence is the key to loving ourselves and empowering worldwide happiness and harmony. “Our globe is big enough to carry all its children.”