Collect the Money before You Get F***ed

I was dated a girl from China after my first marriage. My friends ended up having a little debate among themselves on whether this potential relationship was any good for me. One of them said “What if she’s using you,” while another said, “after your marriage, I hope she’s using you.” The reason for this debate is simple – girls from China do not have a good reputation in Singapore. They are known for “using” their charms on old men and ensuring that recently received pension monies end financing China's economic growth. China girls, so the saying goes – look great as long as their pocket are filled. In the red-light district, they are most famous for asking for money before they even undress.

I bring up that anecdote of the China girls in the red-light district because it underscores one of the most forgotten points that people fail to ask in business – “When do I get paid?”

Whenever the topic of payment comes around, everyone is focused on the quantum. Everyone is interested in “How much” they get paid and nobody focuses on when they get paid. This is especially true for people who are employed. It’s understood that you get paid on a fixed date, it’s usually at the end of the month, though it’s not uncommon for workers lower down the food chain to get their pay on a fortnightly basis.

However, once an employee leaves the comfort of employment, he or she learns rapidly that the question of “when” is vital to survival. Bills need to be paid and suppliers don’t want to wait. Furthermore, entrepreneurs soon discover this thing called “Credit Terms,” when after completing a job or selling a product, you’re supposed to wait so many days for get paid.

I take the biggest supplier to my day job – the construction industry. In Singapore, everyone thinks of the construction industry as being exceedingly wealthy. We have images of “Phua Chu Kang,” a comic character of a construction contractor who is doing well. We think of the guys running the construction industry as spending their nights in karaoke lounges sipping overpriced brandy and enjoyed overpriced bar girls.

While there may be a certain truth in that stereotype, there is an untold story, which the good reason why this industry has kept me busy. Small subcontractors have to come out with cash to pay off certain portions of the project (Wages, levies, materials, machinery up-keep etc). Each portion of a project can take a matter of months of complete. Then, at the end of that particular period, the subcontractor has to submit a “progress claim,” which in lay man terms is something like a progress report. In main contractor, or the guy above in the food chain, then has the right to inspect the works done and then, if he’s not satisfied, impose “back-charges.” After that the main contractor then “certifies” how much he thinks the works and worth and the subcontractor then sends in an invoice, which takes about 60 plus days to get paid.

Admittedly there are certain safeguards such as a legal process for the main and sub-contractors to settle their disputes on pay. Then, as the scion of one group explained, “You’re looking at it from an outsiders view – as an insider we always find a ‘Godfather’ in the main contractors office to take care of us.” Yet, despite these “assurances” it’s clear that the odds don’t favour the small guy waiting to get paid. Power resides with the guy in the position to pay.

So, what can any aspiring entrepreneur do? The key is to remember what the Chinese working girl does – collect the money before you get fucked. Work on the principle that you’re going to get f**** in a job and so, you better to collect the money fast. It is better to have money from cash flow paying for a job instead of having to dig into your reserves. It’s also easier to tell someone to f*** off when you have money in the bank.  Chasing for money is a time-consuming process that requires resources. Going through a legal system to get what is due to you is resource draining.

When you think about all these things during the course of a business day, don’t get snooty about bitchy China Girls who screw people for money. Instead, appreciate the wisdom they have gained from pounding the streets and learning life’s harsh realities. Don’t wait to get paid after you’ve been f***ed.

Fair Play v. Outsourcing of Legal Work to and Competition with Lawyers in Low-Cost Jurisdictions

By Mr. Siva Balakrishnan

Commercial and Shipping Disputes Lawyer

Partner at Robert Wang & Woo LLP

The recent proposed reforms to the Singapore civil justice system, in particular scale costs, and solicitor-and-client (S&C) costs should be equal to party-and-party (P&P) costs for civil litigation work raise the fair play concept versus outsourcing of legal work to and competition with lawyers in low-cost jurisdictions.

For the benefit of lay persons, briefly, P&P costs are costs that the losing party will usually be ordered to pay the winning party as a partial reimbursement of the winning party’s lawyer’s charges; while S&C costs are the legal costs each party (i.e. claimant and defendant) are liable to pay to their own lawyer. So, the winning party can expect to recover its P&P costs which will cover part of the winning party’s S&C costs, thereby leaving the winning party out of pocket for the balance. 

In support of the proposed reforms of scale costs, and S&C costs should be equal to P&P costs, it may be argued that there is the pressure to outsource legal work to and compete with lawyers in low-cost jurisdictions, whose hourly rates can be low in comparison to Singapore lawyers’ hourly rates. 

However, this fails to take into consideration that unlike Singapore-qualified lawyers lawyers in low-cost jurisdictions, among other things, may not be admitted to the Singapore Bar, may not hold a valid practising certificate to advise on Singapore law, may not be subject to the Singapore Legal Profession (Professional Conduct) Rules, and may not have professional indemnity insurance to cover them in the event of a professional negligence lawsuit filed against them. 

In short, businesses and lay persons who may want to opt for lawyers in low-cost jurisdictions may be taking a risk that the advice on Singapore law they receive may turn out to be wrong or not accurate with no recourse against such lawyers.     

This is also why, although legal fees in Singapore may be less expensive than in England, a Singapore-qualified lawyer will decline to advise on English law unless the Singapore-qualified lawyer is also qualified in England & Wales as a barrister or solicitor and holds a valid practising certificate issued by the Bar Council and Bar Standards Board (England & Wales) or Solicitors Regulation Authority (England & Wales). Otherwise, it will be a race to lawyers in low-cost jurisdictions.    

While Australia, Canada, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and other nations may have similar laws as they are all common law jurisdictions, this does not detract from the fact that each of these jurisdictions have their own admission, practising, and professional conduct rules for their respective legal professions.  

Coming from a common law country (X) may give a lawyer qualified in that country (X) knowledge of another common law country’s (Y) laws or how the courts of another common law country (Y) may or may not interpret and apply its laws, but it does not give that lawyer a license or right to advise on or practise another common law country’s (Y) laws unless he/she complies with the admission, practising, and professional conduct rules of that country’s (Y) legal profession. 

This is called Fair Play in any common law jurisdiction, and for that matter, civil law jurisdiction. 

Dirty Dodder and Fat Friendly Fathers

I was at a business dinner last night where I had the strange fortune of being able to sit next to a very attractive young lady. The lady in question was exceedingly well groomed (tight skirt, heels etc but not in a cheap tacky way) and more importantly, she somehow dropped enough hints that she found me relatively interesting too. It looked like a perfect evening and then I pushed for the most crucial question – how old are you? She turned out to be 27 and that killed the fantasy.

I bring up that topic because the topic of what constitutes “appropriate” behavior in the sexual sphere has become a hot talking point, thanks to a case of peeping toms in the National University of Singapore. What do we consider “appropriate” behavior when it comes to boy-girl relationships?

Like all heterosexual men, I like the act of sex and I like looking at beautiful and shapely women. I’ve said that the biggest perk I have with my job in the Central Business District is the fact that there’s plenty of “eye-candy” – namely young, good looking things, dressed in short tight skirts and high heels. I’m also going to ad in my defense, that its perfectly normal for older men to find younger women attractive and in the case of the young lady – 27 is an age where the lady in question is actually a woman in mind as well as in body – hence, finding someone that attractive is not pedophilia. In all honesty I wasn’t bothered that I found the young lady in question.

However, after the evening was over and I thought things through, I was a little bothered by this. I was actually bothered that I wasn’t bothered at all about finding someone that much younger attractive. While 27 is a perfectly respectable age and I wouldn’t be the first 44-year-old man to find a 27-year old attractive, I can’t help but think that there’s something not quite right. She’s the same age as my youngest brother, Christopher, who I cannot help but think of as a cute little baby that I used to call “Fat-Wat.” (For the record, Christopher is known in my social circles as “That Good looking guy,” or as one of my colleagues in the night job said “fucking handsome.”)

History and sociology have made it acceptable for older men to have younger women – a clear trade off between his power and status and her fertility. Men, as they say, gain respect when they have young things attracted to them. Women by contrast get a lot of flack when they go for young studs. One only has to look at the fact that the 24-year age gap between Donald and Melania isn’t the issue that it is between Emanuel and Bridgette.

Yet, and yet, when I think of the people, I know at that age it feels strange to think of them in that way. It took a while for me to accept that I wasn’t a pedophile when I started going out with girls who were 5-years younger – I remember Tara as a baby and her friends were cute little things too. However, they grew into full grown women and I couldn’t help but notice a few of them (In my sister’s words – “I saw the way you looked at her – disgusting.”) I ended up having a pretty intense relationship with someone that much younger than me.

It’s funny how nature works. I remember little Jenny noticing how I looked at a family friend. She said, “You F*** don’t you? Please …….she’s old enough to your daughter…..gross.” So, here’s the rub – as men, we may have our urges but we also have our roles as fathers and protectors and ultimately, the later role should prevail. Sexual urges come and go but being a dad to a sprightly young woman last.

The age of cockroaches

By Suresh V Shankar

Founder of Crayon Data Pte Ltd 

I read an article, The Age of the Cockroach, on Medium and found myself completely agreeing with it. In fact, it hit a sweet spot.

We all know there’s a lot of money chasing that all B2C internet and e-commerce start-ups need to do. These investments however happen at highly inflated valuations. Most of the money raised is spent on customer acquisition; where customers are basically allowed to use the company’s products for free, resulting in massive losses for the enterprise.

There’s a great article that my co-founder IVK recently wrote he talks about how he was incentivized to take a cab with a discount of more than 50%, essentially resulting in a loss for the company. At some point, the law of supply and demand is going to catch up with them.

This flood of money-chasing-start-ups is soon going to run dry. It’s not that there will be no winners, but that there will be very few. Every investor hopes that they are backing the magical (or should it be mythical) unicorn.  

In reality, most of these highly valued start-ups will die.

In backing these start-ups, it seems to me that many venture capitalists are like lemmings, following each other off a cliff. It’s taxi time, they go. “E-commerce is it”, they say. “When the music’s playing, we can’t stop dancing”, they shout.

Until the VCs stop being lemmings, we’re going to find more unicorns being celebrated.

I sometimes think, that if we at Crayon, called ourselves a taxi company or an e-commerce store, people would write us a 100M$ dollar cheque, without a second thought. However, since we’re doing something that looks fundamentally unsexy, people tend to think of it as unglamorous, and overlook how cool it is under the hood.  

On the other hand, we have the cockroaches. There will always be companies that are hardy creatures, that manage to thrive even in rough environments.

Enterprise software is one such space, overrun with cockroaches. Solving difficult problems, expanding slowly but surely, and even making money doing so.

Enterprises are difficult to sell to, sales cycles are long, and people there are anal about what they buy. Still, there are companies that crack these problems and find a way to sell to hundreds of enterprises.

There’s a lot of money to be made selling stuff to enterprises, something we’re very familiar with at Crayon Data. We’re building something that’s fundamentally game changing with our SimplerChoicesTM platform, and Maya, Yoda and Enzo products. Our progress may seem slow to people on the outside, who are used to a certain speed in terms of growth. However, we know we have successfully solved a problem for 2 or 3 banks. Hence, we know we can now solve the same problem for 200 to 300 of them in the next 3 to 5 years. Keeping this goal in mind, our growth is actually quite solid.  

It’s time to celebrate those cockroaches! The smart VCs however, are the ones who will find and fund them!

LISA VON TANG TAKES US THROUGH A JOURNEY BACK IN TIME WITH ‘THE 5 ELEMENTS’ COLLECTION

https://harpersbazaar.my

/fashion/lisa-von-tang-5-

elements-collection

-recyclothes/3/

THE CANADIAN BORN DESIGNER OF

SINGAPOREAN-BORN BRAND,

LISA VON TANG SHARES HER 

PERSONAL ESSAY EXCLUSIVELY 

WITH BAZAAR.

By Elyza Khamil

“This is a journey back in time” writes Lisa, designer of
Singaporean-born label Lisa Von Tang in a personal essay about the 
‘5 Elements‘ collection that was debuted in Kuala Lumpur. 
A collection that was created by Lisa’s very own re-connection 
back to Mother Nature, the 5 Elements scent line dives into the 
primal forces and has five fragrances representing: Earth, 
Fire, Water, Metal, and Wood.

The luxe-streetwear brand is

 known for spreading 

the message of

 empowerment 

through creating designs from a

 medley of textiles and excess sustainable fabrics that feature

 Western and Chinese designs and has been seen on celebrities

 that include Cara Delevigne, Mick Jagger, Adriana Lima, and Eve.

Debuting her first fragrance collection at CÉ LA VI, 

Kuala Lumpur where Lisa Von Tang presented an 

ethereal performance art show that stemmed back to the inspiration 

of the collection and the need for humanity to be more

 environmentally conscious. The launch included an 

interactive section where guests could discover their Chinese 

element and horoscope according to their birth dates.

The 5 Elements Scent Collection

To reduce the environmental impact, the manufacturing

 of the scent and its packaging was kept local. The label also supports 

local environmental NGOs with each bottle sold. 

In Kuala Lumpur, Lisa Von Tang teamed up with 

Rebekah Yeoh‘s social enterprise, Recyclothes due to their 

promotion of sustainable living through recycling clothing. Click through 

to check out what went down at the launch and to discover 

the 5 Elements collection:

Yi Ping, Lisa Von Tang and Rebekah Yeoh

Lisa further explains the inspiration of the collection in a

 personal essay she shared with BAZAAR:

This is a journey back in time – Millenia ago, when all 

peoples of the Earth worshiped Nature. The Louvre in Abu Dhabi 

does a great job in exploring this period, pre-3,000 BC,

 with relics carefully uncovered from the majority of 

humanity’s recorded existence. This was before Christianity. 

Before Islam. Before Judaism. 

We existed for millions of years before the concept of 

worshiping “one male god only” was conceived.

Courtesy

From China, to India, to Greece, to the Americas – 

all of the earliest civilisations held 

Mother Earth in the highest regard. We lived, breathed,

 honoured, and were a part of nature. 

Our ancestors were all wild pagans – every race of us.

 Starhawk explains this sacred connection:

“IN AN ANCIENT WORLD IN WHICH EVERYTHING

A PERSON ATE, TOUCHED OR USED CAME LITERALLY

FROM THE LAND AROUND THEM, HUMANS

INDEED WERE PART OF THE LAND IN A DEEP

INTEGRATION WE CAN ONLY IMAGINE.”

Gods and Goddesses took the forms of the most beautiful and 

awe-inspiring things humans saw around them: 

In Hawaii, there was Pele, Goddess of the Volcano.

 In coastal China, Mazu, the Goddess of the Sea took prominence.

 In Eleusis, once the most fertile plain in Greece, she was 

Demeter, Goddess of grain. 

There was Zeus, the stunning God of Thunder and Lightning. 

In hot Egypt, there was Ra the Sun God.

What we called Goddess or God was actually the face

 and voice that people gave to the way the land spoke to them.

 What a gorgeous compliment to the creation around us. 

I wonder these days, have we forgotten to 

appreciate the nature that use to inspire the highest levels of holiness?

This passage by Eddy Berkovits perfectly captures how 

I feel as well when I take refuge in forest walks:

 “Yesterday I came to you, and filled my eyes 

with your splendour. You breathed life into my body, you

 nourished my soul. You let me walk through your realm,

 my footprints marking my journey.

 Yesterday, I brought you nothing and you gave me all.”

As an artist, I appreciate design as the core of existence.

 I live to create beauty, to find beauty, and to savour it. 

And I will never be able to find man-made beauty that is as 

gripping, poignant, exquisitely detailed, and surprising in its 

random genius, than that of Nature. She trumps all.

So can we stop bringing Nature nothing, while 

she gives us everything? The 5 Elements Collection 

has been designed to re-inspire your connection to Gaia, Mother Earth.

"GAIA, AS YOU AWAKEN, I HEAL MYSELF.

AS I AWAKEN, YOU ARE HEALED." -MAYAN PROVERB