I’m Getting Older – Not Dying

 

Around two months back, I got into an argument with someone whom unknown to me at that time, ended up being someone who would mean something to me. Our argument reached a point where I got so worked up that I felt I needed to physically remove her from the system and so, I ended up trying to pull my body weight until my arms were ready to come off and then I discovered sprinting. Basic premise of sprint training is that you pelt it down as fast as you can for around 20 to 30 seconds, rest for about four minutes and then you repeat for another four to six times (I usually stop at about three).

This was a miraculous discovery. There was something about being able to shut out the world and focusing on that singular goal of getting to the end as quickly as you can push yourself. Your heart-rates goes through the roof as one can see from mine after one session:

 

There’s one downside to the exercise, especially if you’re over 40 – namely the fact that your risk of injury increases. So, the second quarrel with the same person resulted in my hamstring getting inflamed over the weekend.

When I talked about starting sprinting, I suddenly got inundated with advice. A director in the company told me that at “our age, we shouldn’t sprint and just stick with brisk walking.” Several months later, one of my cuddly toys told me “Eh – nearly 50-years old so old, cannot do intense exercise.” Then three nights ago, I met a young man who suggested that I should just do low impact exercises.

All these guys mean well and I know they have my interest at heart. However, when I am told “at your age,” it’s a sign that I better do more of whatever I was doing. Sure, there’s no denying that I am getting older. I’m turning 50 next year and there’s no denying that at 50, the body isn’t what it was at 22. Let’s face it, back in national service, doing chin-ups was standard. These days, I stick with doing sets of “girl-chin and pull ups” (also known as Australian pull ups) and hopefully one day I’ll be able to drag my 90 plus kg up the bar.

However, whilst I am getting older, I’m not dying and if today’s statistics are anything to go by, I’m not likely to die for another 30 odd years. Which means, I need to be in decent enough shape to get through that marathon called life and I don’t want to be a burden on Kiddo. So given that I am an overweight middle-aged man, what can I do but to do the things that will give me that wonderful sensation of looking for someone better hiding inside me. It’s admittedly tough and I usually do this at night when the body is warmed up rather than first thing in the morning where, well, things don’t seem to function quite so well.

Now, what I’m saying about doing an intense exercise can be applied in the job market, where we have a class of people in their late forties and fifties who need to be in the job market to pay off things like mortgages and to get kids through school. The job search is inevitably screwed by the fact that age trumps everything else.

I think of my account manager who is over 60. The man is highly qualified, having once been the financial controller of a huge company. For him, accounting is like drinking water. However, the fact that he knows what he’s doing and doesn’t need to be trained is of secondary concern. The fact is, he’s over 60 and that’s a turn off.

However, the point that many employers forget is that the guy is just over a certain age. He’s not dead and there’s no reason why he can’t be used, especially when he has a record of being very useful.

This should be something that gets looked at. We have an aging population but our costs are rising. These people are still useful and can be utilized. We need to let them pay off their expenses and get by and not treat them like they are dead.

So, what do we need to do? Well, employers need to understand that people are just getting older and not dying. As long as the guy is useful and willing to be useful, the employer should use him or her.

As for those of us over 45, we need to understand that we are just older and not dying. There are ways of surviving beyond the standard nine-to-six gig. We need to understand that we have skills that can be sold and we live in a world where the internet allows to do work across borders. We’re not dead, just older.

I am by no measure of imagination fit. However, I’m still going to push myself ever now and then so that I can be something better. I need a generation of 20-somethings who have grown up sitting behind a desk and never leaving the house to look at me and say “if that geezer can still push himself – why can’t I?” Living like your dying is not an option for yourself or the people who look to you for guidance.   

And You Were Expecting……?

 

Singapore has suddenly become a very interesting place. Singapore’s reporters finally have something that their counterparts in other parts of the world take for granted – things to talk about. Our little island state, which took pride in being squeaky clean to the point of boring now has a host of scandals popping out every so often. So, one has to ask – what on earth is going on?

One of those big scandals evolves around a story on a couple of Chinese nationals getting busted to the tune of a billion dollars. Then men had allegedly used their dubious monies to go on a shopping spree of lots of high-priced real estate and other wonderfully luxurious items. Lots has been said about the case and so I shall leave the details of the case to intelligent people:

https://mothership.sg/2023/08/legal-fees-money-laundering-case/

 

 So, what can I, a mere mortal who doesn’t want to be associated with the intelligent on the island say that hasn’t been said before? Well, I guess the answer is – what else were we expecting? Our entire economic system, which was built on the movement of goods in-and-out of the place has now evolved into becoming about the movement of vast sums of money. If you listen to just about every government proposal around, you’ll notice a common theme – a need for the rich from elsewhere to park their money here. Hence, it’s a badge of pride whenever some billionaire or other moves here. Think of Eduardo Severin, the co-founder of Facebook. Who can honestly say they heard of him? Mark Zukerberg had long since become the face of Facebook, in the way that Lee Kuan Yew had become the face of Singapore until his death. His co-founders were in Silicon Valley speak rather like Singapore’s old guard ministers – sent to retirement to be forgotten.

However, for Eduardo Severin, this all changed when he moved to Singapore. Our media literally could not stop talking about him. The fact that he is in Singapore is newsworthy enough.

He’s only one of the best known to make it to Singapore. He is the living example of how well government policies work. The government argues that we need people like Mr. Severin to come here to spend their billions in order to create good jobs for the locals and any local who dares to have fantasies about making life for the world elite a little more interesting will be dealt with accordingly.

Let’s leave the billionaires aside and look at tourism. Why did we push through the building of two casinos and insist on having the “Only Night Race” here? Answer is simple, we want people with elsewhere with lots of money spending it here.

There’s no doubt that having people spend money there has economic benefits. Even Bhutan, which prides itself in being isolated, invites tourist in because tourist do provide foreign currency to a country to settle its bills. However, there comes a point when the chase for money becomes, well, a little in savoury.

Here’s where Singapore becomes interesting. If you look at the places that a “dubious” when it comes to money (think – most of the Caribbean or the Channel Islands), you can actually have sympathy for these places. Places like the Cayman Islands are literally too small to do much and, in a sense, they can argue that they don’t actually have choice?

Singapore is different. We have a world class port that is at the centre of a dynamic growth region. We have a history of making things, particularly in the electronics industry. Our population is educated. So, do we really need our entire system to be based on the world’s wealthy buying overpriced real estate?

Then there’s the fact that Singapore claims to be ruled by law and “compliance” is supposed to be stringent enough for the Western and Japanese multinationals to feel at home. So, how do we match things like strict adherence to compliance and the need to get as much money in as quickly as possible?

As with anything legal, there is ultimately the question of looking at the letter of the law. As a prominent enough expat banker explained – Singapore likes big sums entering quickly and getting out just before the international bodies start questioning. The banks just take their fees and money is in the economy fine and dandy. So, if you want to look at technicalities, I guess you could say that we play it safe.

However, while we may be clean on the technicalities, it doesn’t mean that we’ve stayed clear of the funny characters (Funny characters can afford lawyers to help them get round the system) and more importantly, has this love of collecting money from the world’s wealthy actually harmed our ability to generate wealth by other means?

After nearly a decade in corporate insolvency, I would argue that we have. If I look at a range of cases that I’ve handled, the landlord is inevitably one of the largest creditors or even the one that wound up the business. Rent is a killer and as one family butchery said “we’re effectively employees of the landlord.” Take our “cultural icon” hawkers, who make a living selling things like kway teow (fried noodles) at $5 a plate and pay rents of $5,000 a month. Ask yourself how many plates do they need to sell just to cover the rent?

That worry only applies to a guy who doesn’t have hot money backing him or her up. Someone who has hot money back merely needs to ensure the money flows through the books. Rents are, well, part of the professional fees. People with hot don’t need to innovate because, well, why should they when they know that the bills will be paid?

We need to relook at our system. Nothing wrong with getting money from elsewhere. However, we cannot be dependent on it. Its like drinking too much. The first bit of booze is fun but when you start to depend on it…..well, lets just say that visiting a hospital are filled with people who got too used to the high brought about by a dependence on booze.

 

Who Can Fall for This?

 One of the biggest issues facing Singapore these days is a proliferation of scams. Although we’re not having babies, we are clearly getting screwed left, right, centre and sideways. Some of the scams are really sophisticated. With today’s technology, its easy for you to fake official documents.

 

 However, while large sophisticate scams make sexy headlines, the truth is that a good number of scams actually involve the telling of impossible tales. I think of a group which asked my small firm if they could liquidate a company. When I interviewed the guy, he said he was told that if he lent the company money, they would lend it to the banks who would then pay a higher interest rate than what they were paying on deposits. The company would then split the difference. I then probed and asked if the company was regulated by the central bank or any other regulatory authority. The answer was no. Made the guy repeat the story several times, where upon he said “that sounds really bad.”

The story on its own would not have been so bad had it been left to the group of professionals who invested. The tragedy was that scam artist managed to get their initial investors to get their elderly relatives to sell their assets to invest. Hence, not only did a group of educated professionals get scammed, a group of pensioners ended up getting screwed too.

Scam artist operate on the same rationale that most businesses run on – which is, why stop it when it’s generating money. So, when you get a call from a US number claiming to be from this or that government agency and wonder “who the hell would fall for this. “– the answer is obviously enough people.

Another example of a scam was best summed up by the Old Rogue (bless his soul). It was called “Buy a job.” The Old Rogue’s idea was simple – pay me a sum of money and then you go out and make us much money as you can. Again, you might ask – who falls for this? The answer as is shown, is obviously plenty of people:

 

 

 

Why do otherwise intelligent people fall for tall tales? I guess the answer is greed and an inability to look beyond the glitz. I’ve had to stress to my mentee on more than one occasion that he needs to look less at the glamorous condos or the flashy cars and how they so and so managed to afford the glamorous condo and/ or the flashy car. As a rule of thumb, scammers know that they have to look good and make it a point to make you think that they are credible. Let’s face it, a man who has the appearance of doing well, always sounds that bit more credible.

So, they key is to never get caught up with the outward appearances of success. So, when you look at a flashy car, ask yourself how it was paid for. Is the person in that flashy car asking you to pay for it?

Maybe some moments weren't so perfect; Maybe some memories not so sweet; But we have to know some bad times; Or our lives are incomplete – Taken from How Does a Moment Last Forever, Sung by Celine Dion

 

A few weeks ago, I had to dress down a young man whom I’ve been trying to mentor. The background was simple. I had received feedback about his inability to file documents. He complained that he was being given “Shit” work and when I asked him what he expected interns to do, his reply was “Go to events and meet big shots.” When I tried to tell him, that interns are not brought to events, he then tried to argue that he was a “special intern” but backed down when it was clear that I was going to do him physical damage for giving me a wimps reply.

I recounted this story to one of my directors, he told me that I was wrong to be upset by this attitude. My director’s point is that interns these days have “expectations” about the work place and I cannot expect them to have the mentality that I had.

Well, here’s the thing, while I did take a knock or two, I don’t think I went through anything particularly harsh. As an intern at Citi, I was didn’t want people to know that I got the job because Daddy played golf with the department VP. Work was not glamorous – spent a lot of time filling out excel spreadsheets and photocopying cheques (this was back in 1999). Yet, I did because, well, I was told this was what I could expect and I was terrified that people would see me as a “rich kid” who got the job because Daddy had a string to pull.

I don’t take the mentality I brought into Citi as an intern to be anything special. When I started work in a small agency, I needed to prove that I got the job and could do the job, even though it was known that my dad had a brand of sorts in the industry.

So, I am aware of expectations. I am aware that coming from a well to do background has advantages. I’m aware that we live in a world where you got to use every advantage that you have, including the ones that you were born into. However, you have to know the limits of those advantages. I find myself telling this young man the same thing I tell my daughter, “Being young and handsome/ pretty can only get you so far.” Sure, good looks make it easier to get your foot into the door – but its not going to keep you there if you don’t do the work.

Yet, my director has a point. I belong to a different era and the kids (my own included) think differently. I can’t expect kids to memorise a phone book because there’s no need to. We all carry handheld computers which make such skills irrelevant.

However, I do believe that there are certain harsh realities that don’t change. One of them is best summed up in the Celine Dion song “How does a moment last forever,” when there is a line about how we need bad times or our lives are incomplete.

I think of that line because there’s a truth there. We’re all happy and friendly to each other in good times but suddenly things change when things get a little rough.

 

 Taken from the movie “Renaissance Man”

Its this simple, my BFFs remain my army mates till this day for a very good reason. These were the guys who were there through some awful times. We got wacked together and we helped each other out. Our memories of the things we went through were far from perfect, which in a way made the bond we formed all that much sweeter.

There is a reason why I am so proud of my days as a freelancer. Sure, I went through the awful experience of working and not getting paid and being in a business and getting jobs done but not getting recognised because I didn’t have “experience.” All these experiences made me a wiser person and although a decade of a steady job has made me financially more secure, I like the person I was much better. That guy had guts and passion. The guy I am today, undoubtedly makes much better decisions.

The memories that are inevitably sweetest came from the most uncomfortable moments. If you ask me where my future lies, its inevitably with the people who are outside my immediate professional sphere. These are the guys who challenge me to grow and even as I approach the half century mark, I know I can’t stop being challenged.

A lot of the young guys don’t see it that way. I had to tell the young man that he’s entering a world where he’s competing against people who are hungry and willing to do what it takes. Nobody is going to care about his family background and that cruising in the comfort zone is a sure-fire recipe to be eaten alive. Before he joined, his Godmother told me not to worry about him. The truth is I am terrified for him and his generation of kids who haven’t quite understood how challenging the world can be and how they need to be prepared to be constantly on their toes.  

Majulah Old Folks

 Its Singapore’s National Day and I usually try to write something about life in Singapore and what it feels like to be a Singaporean. I usually try to avoid going into political grips because its easy and I try not to sound too sentimental. It’s a challenge but I usually get it done.

This year, has been a bit of a challenge. I didn’t want to delve into the recent political scandals because everyone is doing that. Yet, at the same time I don’t want to get into the usual “ra-ra” that comes from the one event where our military actually gets put to use – the parade.

Then by some stroke of luck, I decided to visit a business partner who was working in Chinatown area, selling lifestyle products. Then, on my way back, I got my inspiration. The bus I was going to jump had to let an old Indian man, who was on a scooter, off. The poor guy had a problem stirring his scooter off the bus. What was an interesting about this incident was the fact that there was an old Cantonese man standing next to me, who started making a few uncalled-for remarks about the man’s ethnicity.

However, when it was clear that the old guy was not getting off the bus on his own, the Old Cantonese guy jumped onto the bus and proceeded to help the guy on the scooter off the bus. Managed to get the guy off the bus.

 

This was a reminder of a truism about Singapore, which is the fact that the various communities that make up Singapore, actually got along pretty well. Sure, it was not saintly. People from various communities had nicknames and stereotypes for each other. However, people who lived in the same village always found a way to work together and live in harmony.

However, somewhere along the lines, you had politicians who managed to convince the various communities that they were being screwed over by each other. You then had race riots and tensions, which was then solved by politicians. These politicians would then spend the next five decades reminding us that they had stopped racial tensions and made us happy to live together.

In all fairness to the system, racial relations are generally pretty good. We’ve not had a “Black Lives Matter” type of riot. The politicians make a point that its their policies that made our racial relations so good.

However, as the incident on the bus seemed to say – our old folks were not actually at each other’s throats. They actually knew how to cooperate and work together without the instruction of the government. So, it raises the question – were racial relations actually solved by the politicians or did the politicians create the racial tensions so that they would have a problem to solve? Could the way our old people across the various communities have the answer to how we can improve inter-communal relations and find a way forward for Singapore?

Let’s Get Naked for National Day

 It’s been a funny two months, as funnily enough, very good for the ego. The day I landed back in the UK, I ended up at a function where I was deemed “Good Looking,” by someone whose opinion on the subject matters to me. Weeks later, I found myself in a yoga class where a few people came up to me and asked if I was a fitness instructor because they found I had a “muscular physique.” That phrase would be repeated later on at a client meeting when the client noticed.

I guess you could say that it’s an ego trip. I am now pushing 50 and words like “muscular physique” and “Good Looking” are not phrases associated with men pushing 50 and so I guess one might say that I should just accept the compliments where I can get them.

However, the truth is I don’t feel particularly good looking or muscular, even if at least one of the compliments came from someone I wanted to notice. While I am fitter than I used to, I am well aware that I am far from muscular or good looking. The reason for that comes down to one peculiar quirk of my exercise routine – I’m usually topless when I exercise.

 

 Your own body, as they say, is the one thing that won’t lie to you. So, when people tell me I am good looking or that I have a muscular frame, the belly makes its presence quite clear when I go to work out. So, I am well aware that I am far away from being muscular

I bring up this analogy because tomorrow is Singapore’s National Day and our 58^th birthday comes at a very particular time. Singapore’s formerly “perfect” government has found itself in a rather “imperfect” position. We’ve had a corruption scandal involving a minister and our Speaker of Parliament who was once a prominent star in government had to resign over an affair. Our Prime Minister, who is over 70 and searching for a retirement option has had the unenviable task of explaining how the system is holding strong when a good portion of the public suspect it is falling apart. Our Prime Minister’s Speech on the issue can be seen at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5LwmjZSWJI

How did this all happen? Why is Singapore’s once famously invulnerable and omnipotent government looking like it has feet of clay?

Well, I would argue that the problem is that the government never got naked and looked at the one thing that would not lie – the body that is the nation of Singapore. Sure, Singapore does compare very well to most parts of the world and everyone who visits inevitably praises Singapore as wonderful place. We have, as our mainstream media has reminded us, have the best airline in the world, the best airport and we’re generally the best of everything, according to the number of international polls.

I think of the people who have praised my physique and I’ve been really thrilled to get that praise. So, I can imagine what our cabinet must be feeling whenever one of the international polls rates something about Singapore amongst the world’s best. However, does the external praise do one any good?

Well, I’m lucky in the sense that the faults of my own body are petty glaring. The tummy (the place where fat is often the most difficult to remove) makes its presence felt. Try as I might, the belly fat remains visible for all, including myself. So, whenever someone tells me I look good, I go back to my basic work out routine and my body has a way of reminding me that I still have plenty of work to do in order to get to where I would like to get before my 50^th birthday.

So, the question is, do our ministers have a “get naked” moment where the one thing that can lie, speaks to them. If you look at Singapore’s institutions, you’ll notice that our ministers have effectively become like a radio station commercial – “Hear only the good stuff.” Let’s face it, our President is supposed to be “independent” but two of the last four have been effectively selected. Our judges have made some good decisions but nobody seriously expects the judiciary to rule against any senior politician. As for our mainstream media editors, well, let’s put it this way, most know who not to offend.

Nobody wants to get naked and look at the body that cannot lie. So, they only hear the good stuff and take it as the gospel truth of how things are. Talk to enough HDB residents and there is inevitably one complaint – the MP only appears during election. So, its this clear that the good stuff that our government has been hearing is not the whole truth. Shouldn’t we use this National Day to get naked to see the real state of our nation?    

Singapore’s First Unsuccessful President.

 Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Tang Li and I am here to launch my bid to become President of the Republic of Singapore. I believe that my candidacy for the highest office in the land comes at an important time in our history. I have a purpose and I believe that as President my purpose will help serve Singapore’s interest at this critical juncture.

I am aware that I am going up against the best and the brightest that the nation has to offer. We have two esteemed businessmen and let’s not forget the former Deputy Prime Minister who is recognized in international circles as being a whizz when it comes to economics. So, how can I compare? My opponents have fortunes to speak of, while I struggle to pay my bills. They made policies that affect our lives. I haven’t come close. I’m sure my opponents will point to their vast experience running huge organisations and thus bolster the image that they are better qualified to be the guardian of our reserves.

Believe it or not, I get where they are coming from. How can you trust an unsuccessful man to look after the reserves when he struggles to top his transport card? That’s missing the point. The fact that I have failed in both my personal and professional life is the very reason that you need to vote for me as a president.

When we talk about the Presidency being a symbol, we need to understand that that symbol means. Sure, we want a president who can look dignified when facing the outside world. This is the easy part. The state will see to it that the president will look presentable. I’ve had people tell me I look that much better when I dress up properly.

 

 However, what does the Presidency symbolize to the people of the nation? Is the President like the British monarch, a symbol steeped in fantasy or do we want a president that the average Singaporean can say “Hey, he’s an ordinary dude like me but he made it.”

I like to think that as a national symbol, the President will be someone that can relate to the ordinary Singaporean. Sure, I never ran a S$100 million organization. However, I’ve had to struggle against “foreign competition,” and somehow found a way to make “foreign competition” work for me. I was once homeless, had to stay in a seedy hotel in the seedy part of town.

Sure, everyone notices that my friends include high flying people. However, I also have befriended the likes of construction workers and other blue-collar workers. In culinary terms, I can enjoy wagyu steak but I am also at ease eating with my hands in the company of construction workers who were thrown out of work.

I love my country and my love for the country is not a transaction. My country has not always been good to me and yet, I stay struggling on the continuous efforts to build a life. My country has its faults, yet I love my country warts an all. You need a president who represents the nation as it is and not what an elite living in a bubble would like you to think it is. Vote for a president who understands your struggles.