They Won by A Point – The Point is They Won

 

The Rugby World Cup is over. The tournament saw a historic fourth victory for South Africa’s National Team, the Springboks over the New Zealand All Blacks in what most described as a “thriller,” where the Springboks emerged victorious over an All-Black team that had, against character, lost discipline in the initial stages and saw the captain sent off:

https://www.eurosport.com/rugby/world-cup/2023/new-zealand-v-south-africa-rugby-world-cup-final-live_sto9855397/story.shtml  

 

 As with the last time these two sides met in a Rugby World Cup Final (back in 1995), the New-Zealand All Blacks were the bookies favorites. The All Blacks looked like they were going from strength-to-strength. They lost the opening game to France but and had to put in some heavy defensive tackles against the Irish (Who were at the time the top of Rugby Football Union’s world rankings) in the quarters. By the time they reached the semi-finals, the All-Blacks looked like they were in awesome form when the steamrollered the Argentinian Pumas.

The South Africans by contrast, had a tougher time of things. They lost a match to Ireland in the group stages and only beat France in the quarter finals by a single point and England by a single point in the semi-finals.

 

 

 

 

Yet, despite only getting into the final by a single point in the semis and quarters, the Springboks did get into the finals and despite winning by a single point in the finals, they won the tournament for a historic fourth time.

There’s a life lesson to be drawn from this, which is the fact that many of us often lose perspective. We down play our defeats and blame the defeat on everyone else except ourselves and when we win, we tend to blow the win into something out of proportion.

Let’s start with the topic of defeats. Nobody likes to lose. However, in every contest in life, be it sports, business, politics or even one’s personal life, one is bound to face some form of defeat. There is a saying that goes like this – “The only way to remain undefeated is not to play the game.”

If you look at the two sportsmen who transcended their sport, namely Mohamed Ali in boxing and Pele in soccer, you will notice that they did “lose.” Pele was a magician on the field but he couldn’t save Brazil from going home after the group stages in the 1966 World Cup. However, despite the disappointment, he came back and brought the legendary Brazilian side to win the 1970 World Cup in style.

In the case of Mohamed Ali, it was even more pronounced. He “lost” the best years of his professional life because he was banned from boxing thanks to his refusal to serve in the military during the Vietnam War.

Then, if you look at his tremendous career, you’ll notice that it wasn’t a case of Ali destroying people magically in the ring. He faced people who could and did beat him. Everyone remembers his trilogy against Joe Lewis, including the “Thrilla in Manila.” Ali won two of the three and Frazir made him work for them. His famous upset victory over George Forman in the famous “Rumble in the Jungle,” was famous because he was having the “c**p” beaten out of him but somehow survived long enough to tire out the seemingly indestructible Foreman. Even in his one-sided defeat at the hands of Larry Holmes, Mohamed Ali refused to go down.

So, if you look at the “champions” in just about every sport, you’ll notice one very clear thing – all of them have learnt to handle defeat. The recently retired Roger Federer in tennis is one of the best examples. Mr. Federer went through a “dry spell” of nearly five years. After his win at Wimbledon in 2012, he didn’t win a single grand slam tournament and everyone thought that it was it for him in the list of “greats.” Then, at the age of 37 (geriatric by the standards of professional sports), he came back and won the Australian Open against his greatest rival Rafael Nadal, who happens to be five-years younger and has a leading record against Mr. Federer.

In World Rugby, New Zealand and South Africa tend to steamroller everyone else. However, coming into this tournament, they were not the obvious favourites. Ireland and France were the two top teams in World Rugby. The All-Blacks lost to France and South Africa lost to Ireland. However, instead of complaining and giving all sorts of press conferences about how something else was to blame, they went back to the locker room and used the defeat in the group stages as a lesson in what they needed to do.

Then, if you look at the fact that the South Africans only won their quarters, semis and championship match, you’ll find that most of us are likely to get obsessed with the fact that they won all the key matches by single point. What we’re unlikely to talk about is the main point – the point that they won all the key matches. At the end of the day, the key is not how many points you win by but the fact that you win.

Let’s put it this way, our wins and losses are often about getting through various stages in life. A win in life is often about getting through the various stages rather than all conquering, life-setting event.

I live in Singapore, a place where the academic system is torturous. Parents and schools go all out to make their kids the national champion in PSLE (Primary School Leavers Exams), N-Levels, O-Levels, A-Levels and degrees. Its national news when some kid tops this or that exam on a national or international level.

What everyone forgets is that each exam serves mainly to get to the next stage. A champion of O-levels is not necessarily going to be a champion at A-levels. We’re discovering that a champion at getting a degree does not necessarily make a champion getting the job done.

So, the lessons from sports are simple. Learn from defeats. Look at each defeat as an opportunity to learn. Look at each win in perspective. What is the end goal and where ensure that you do what it takes to win to get to the next stage rather than think of the individual win as a be all and end all.

 

Getting F****

 

I generally don’t post about insolvency issues even though I’ve worked in the Insolvency industry for around a decade. The reason is simple. I am not a qualified insolvency practitioner and I am not in the position to give “advice.”

However, there was a discussion on Linkedin about the fact that the staff of Flash Coffee were not getting paid because the company was in liquidation. While I am not a qualified insolvency practitioner, I’ve often been broke (still am most of the time) and been in situations where payment has been delayed, I thought I’d have a crack and giving my two cents worth.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/jobs/flash-coffee-ex-staff-will-not-receive-owed-salaries-in-near-term-union

 

 Not getting paid for work sucks. As much as we talk about money not being everything, it is one of the key reasons why we go to work. Money remains the essential element in ensuring that we have food on the table and a roof over our heads. Like it or not, we have bills to pay at the end of every month.

So, when you don’t get paid for the month, you get f***ed. The mortgage or rent, phone bills, transport bills still keep going whether you get paid at the end of the month. Unless you have a huge cash cushion, not getting paid for the month is something that can put you into the financial dog house. So, what can one do about it?

Well, the best thing to do is to expect the situation. Most of us go to work with the guaranteed expectation of getting paid. For the most part most of us get paid on a regular enough basis to take the mindset that getting paid is a given, its merely a question of whether you can reach a stage of getting more.

However, what most of us in the private sector forget is that our employers are enterprises of one sort or another and by their very nature required to make money. The reality is that businesses can fall into financial difficulty and the reality is that jobs are expendable and like or not businesses go down and your salary can be delayed and denied.

So, start on the premise that being screwed is a very real possibility. As long as you, as an employee, accept that you can get screwed as a possibility, then you can prepare for it. Accept that you will need to put money aside. You will need a side-hustle or an investment portfolio that can replace your main income should you ever need it.

It also pays to understand that there are obvious signs if your employer is facing financial difficulties. The most obvious one comes when getting your basic salary is a struggle. Look for something else the moment your salary is a problem for your employer. The logic is simple – if he or she cannot pay you for a month – what makes you think they’ll be able to pay you for the next?

Now, what happens when your employer goes under and a liquidator replaces the directors as the main point of contact in the company?

The only thing you can realistically do is to fill out what is known as a Proof of Debt or POD. This form should be provided to you by the liquidator. This form means that you “officially” are recognised as a creditor of the Company. For Singaporeans reading this, you can find out more about the various forms that need to be filled out in an insolvency situation:

https://io.mlaw.gov.sg/corporate-insolvency/forms/

As a creditor you have the right to attend creditor’s meetings and you have the right to find out what’s going on.

However, you need to understand that the liquidator is duty bound to minimise liabilities for the benefit of ALL creditors. Your legal employment will be terminated because everyday you are legally employed adds to the liabilities, which inevitably means that there is less for the everyone.

Now, one needs to look at being paid from an insolvent Company. Under Singapore’s insolvency regime (which should be similar to most Common Law jurisdictions), there is an order in which certain people get paid.

https://io.mlaw.gov.sg/corporate-insolvency/information-for-creditors/#:~:text=Moneys%20recovered%20by%20the%20Official,expenses%20incurred%20in%20the%20liquidation.&text=Those%20who%20are%20entitled%20to,Restructuring%20and%20Dissolution%20Act%202018).

 

 

As an employee, your salary ranks as a preferential payment. Hence, once the liquidator has taken his or her cut, the salaries become the next priority, even ahead of the tax man.

However, you, as an employee who is owed money needs to understand two key things. First and foremost, the only way anyone gets paid is from what’s left over of the Company. Think of the liquidator as a butcher trying to carve meat from the bones of a carcass. You only get meat if there’s meat to carve off.

So, once a company enters an insolvent situation, you have to be prepared for the reality that there simply isn’t enough money to pay off ANY creditor.

Then, the nature of the debt also changes. In a normal situation a salary is what you get for doing work. However, in an insolvent situation, even if the debt incurred is a result of salary owed, its more like an IOU. There is no obligation on the part of the liquidator to pay you within a certain time frame as in the case of a normal salary.

Liquidators do not just make payments to creditors. There is a statutory requirement for them to advertise their intention to pay and then details of the payment. Such advertisements are usually in the “notice” section of the financial press (in the case of Singapore, it’s usually Business Times).  

Treat any employer like an elderly relative, where you do what you need to do and they will need to do in a relationship marked by obligations. However, expect that one day, they will pass on and the obligations they once had to you will no longer exist and treat what you get from the will as a bonus.

Better on the Playing Fields than the Killing Fields.

It’s going to sound wrong but what the world really needs right now is to look at what happens during an England-Germany football match. You get 22 men on the pitch kicking a ball and two halves of the stadium trying to outdo each other with all sorts of insults. The tabloids in both countries come out with all sorts of insulting headlines about each other. The Brits like to remind the Germans that they won the war. The German press runs headlines like “God Save the Queen – From her subjects.” It’s been going on for years and despite all the not very attractive expressions of jingoism, nobody dies and most people have fun.

England and Germany were at the heart of two World Wars. Both sides lost millions and there were scars. However, since 1945, England and Germany have actually been friends, who have traded together and prospered together and today, nobody can envision England and Germany going to war. So, how did two nations, which were mortal enemies at the start of the twentieth centuries, end up as good friends towards the end? Well, there are plenty of factors involved but the one that stands out is the fact that feelings of national chauvinism got transferred from the battlefield to the football pitch.

There is a lot to be said for the saying that “sport is a substitute for war.” Nations that play together have a way of avoiding conflicts. Think of that famous rivalry between South Asia’s nuclear powers – India and Pakistan. They’ve fought four wars (all won by India) and always seem to be on the verge of another. Yet, somehow, a full-scale war hasn’t broken out since 1999. Well, whilst Indian and Pakistani politicians may find each other to be the most convenient enemy, the people of both India and Pakistan have managed to live out a good portion of their “rivalry” on the cricket pitch. Great friendships between Indian and Pakistani players like the one between Pakistan’s legendary fast bowler Wasim Akram and India’s legendary batsman, Sachin Tendulkar, have developed:

 https://www.hindustantimes.com/cricket/sunny-bhai-they-ll-hate-me-in-pakistan-wasim-akram-s-explosive-revelation-about-controversial-tendulkar-dismissal-101670126243468.html

 

 So, if India and Pakistan have avoided plunging the world into a full out nuclear war by playing regular enough cricket matches, why can’t the rest of the world’s geopolitical rivals do the same. Again, I lived in the UK where we had the annual “Five Nations” (now known as Six Nations), where the Scots, and Welsh took on the English, French and Irish. They enjoyed indulging in “NOT” being English during the match and then went back to being part of the smaller components of the UK. Can you imagine if the former USSR had arranged for something similar between the component parts. In the Southern Hemisphere, New Zealand had the Bledisloe Cup, which allowed the smaller nation many moments of triumph against its larger neighbour. Can you imagine if the Arab League and Israel had a regular football tournament? Won’t solve all the issues but it would plant the seed of people-to-people understanding.

I’m a Singaporean and I think Singapore could play a role in hosting an annual “Israel-Palestine” football game. Like Israel, we are a non-Muslim nation in a Muslim neighborhood. We have, however, a significant Muslim population. We can get commercial rivals to sponsor the various teams too. Think of the billing it would be.

As kids, we play with other kids. We play with the kids in the neighborhood and we don’t worry about their social status, race or religion. We just know them as the guys and girls we play with. Then, our parents start telling us about differences of race, religion and so on. As we get older, we get corrupted and become nasty brutes to each other.

 

 So, isn’t it time we go back to childhood and learn to play together. Its time we realise that the guy on the other side isn’t some slur – he’s just the guy you want to beat on the pitch and then go for a meal with when the game is over. Surely the world would be a much better place if we relived the experience of playing together and releasing our competitive and more aggressive tendencies to the playing fields rather than the killing fields.  

An Eye for an Eye makes the World go Blind

 

The current war between Israel and Hamas has been an exceedingly emotive affair. If you look any social media feed, you will see plenty of horror stories from both sides. Israelis and their Western friends point to the brutal slaughter of civilians and the hostage taking. The Palestinians and the Islamic world have been pointing to the fact that Gaza has been starved and bombed.

Unfortunately, this is a case where both sides are wrong and at the same time, they have a point. There is no other way of describing the attacks on 7 October 2023 as anything other than barbaric. The indiscriminate slaughter of civilians went beyond any justification of resistance and its understandable that public opinion in Israel is for vengeance.

At the same time, the bombing of the Gaza strip, which has killed even more innocent people has gone beyond any form of “self-defense.” In addition to the bombing, Gaza has been  deliberately starved and humanitarian aid was been blocked. The only way you can argue that this hurts Hamas is that it will wipe out most of the population of the Gaza strip.

https://www.thenation.com/article/world/israel-gaza-hamas-war-netanyahu/

 

 This is Horrific

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/10/16/israel-refuses-ceasefire-carries-out-most-intensive-bombings-of-gaza-yet/

 

 But this is not the answer

If you look at the root of the problem, you’ll realise that it is caused by the fact that both sides have a point and both sides are wrong. Every atrocity committed is justified by an atrocity committed by the other. What is needed is for someone to break this vicious cycle.

Let’s face it, most places in the West are sympathetic to the Israelis and the phrase “our nine-eleven” is now being widely used, particularly when Israeli politicians meet the Western, or more specifically the American media. However, as the journalist, Medhi Hassan (who is Muslim, born and raised in the UK but now holds US citizenship) points out – the lessons of September 11 are not being learnt. After the Twin Towers were felled, the American public was justifiably angry and wanted revenge. The President of the time, George W Bush vowed to wage “War Against Terrorism” and the “Axis of Evil.” How well did this global campaign against the “evils of terrorism” work. The Invasion of Iraq to topple Saddam Hussain led to the creation of ISIS, which made Saddam Hussain look like a Teddy Bear. As for the Invasion of Afghanistan, the US has in twenty-years of occupying the country, spending some twenty trillion (nearly the GDP of China, its main geopolitical competitor) and countless American lives, left with the Taliban back in charge.

So, leaving aside the morality of bombing the Gaza strip, there is no evidence to suggests that bombing and starving the Gaza strip is going to rid the world of Hamas or improve Israel’s security. If anything, the bombings are either going to help Hamas recruit more people or strengthen someone even more radical.

One only has to watch that brilliant Israeli series, “Fauda” to understand that Israel needs to make the first move. As shown in Fauda, the Palestinian side is “reactive” and “emotional” when its nasty. The Israelis are calculative when they are nasty. As much as most of us who grew up in the Western influenced world believe Israeli to be the bullied “non-Muslim” small kid in the neighborhood; that is not the reality on the ground. As much as everyone is talking about the other side being “backed by Iran,” the reality is that Israel is considerably more powerful than the enclaves of the West Bank and the Gaza strip and happens to be backed by the USA and just about every rich and powerful European country.

So, it is the so called “rational” and “powerful” side that needs to take the first step. This is the side that has the capability of bothering to find out why the other side is reactive, which is a point often made by Israeli journalist like Amira Hass.

Again, the solution was clear. Land for peace works. The late Yitzhak Rabin showed that it was possible. He could tell the Israeli public that they needed to give up land in order to be secure. Mr. Rabin, for the record, was a decorated solider – he actually proved he was a damn good fighter. Unfortunately, he was assassinated by a Jewish Settler.

Nobody has ever said that Israel does not have the right to defend itself. However, Israel has to play by the same rules as everyone else. Let’s go back to the issue of land for peace. On 30 April 2001, the Sharm El-Sheikh Fact-Finding Committee Report chaired by then US Senator George Mitchel (the man who pushed and got peace in Northern Ireland) proposed that “The GOI should freeze all settlement activity, including the "natural growth" of existing settlements,” as one of the key elements required to achieve peace.

https://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/rpt/3060.htm

The idea is simple, strengthen the Palestinian leaders who are willing to negotiate so you can negotiate. Even Hamas has its radical and moderate elements. In 2006, when Hamas won an election and acknowledged the “reality of Israel,” not withstanding its charter to destroy the Jewish State, the first reaction of the Bush Administration was to impose sanctions thus making it impossible for the moderates to do anything and strengthening the extremist.

Nobody denies that the slaughter of children on October 7 was horrible and should be condemned. Nobody says that Israel should not go after the perpetrators. Bombing and starving the Gaza strip is not the way to do it. It will only sure that there will be a repeat on this incident.  

Just Because He isn’t Nice, it doesn’t Mean He’s Not Smart

 

I make no secret of the fact that I detest Donald Trump. In his four-years in the White House, Mr. Trump promoted “Politics of the Wimp” to a new level. Thanks to him, the world’s most powerful nation became a laughing stock and had Covid or the lack of Covid preparations not killed off so many Americans, Mr. Trumps rants about the good job he was doing in managing the crisis might have been comical.

However, whilst this is my personal view, it doesn’t mean that I think Mr. Trump is wrong about everything. He has, in his long career in the public sphere, come up with a few gems. One only has to read “Art of the Deal,” to realise that Mr. Trump, has on occasion got it right.

Unfortunately, Mr. Trump has found himself, once again, in troubled waters for coming up with a gem of wisdom. This came in an interview with Fox News on 11 October, 2023, when he criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the attacks that took place against Israel on 7 October 2023. Mr. Trump then went onto describe Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group, which has history of attacking Israeli interest as “Very Smart.”

Mr. Trump’s remarks set off a fire storm. The White House condemned him and his Republican rivals for the 2024 Presidential election literally squirmed:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/10/12/trump-israel-netanyahu-comments/

 

 The 7 October 2023 attacks against Israel were undoubtedly horrific and it might seem in bad taste to pay anything that might seem like a compliment to groups like Hezbollah and Hamas, which execute such attacks.

However, as horrible as the attacks were, we should not confuse morality with being intelligent. Like it or not, the 7 October 2023 attacks were, from an operational point, brilliantly executed by Hamas and a massive failure of intelligence work on the Israeli part. Then if you look at the broader geopolitical implications of things, it would seem that the “enemies of Israel” have won. Israel has already cut off water and power to the Gaza strip and started conducting against air strikes, which have killed far more innocents than the 7 October attacks. This will undoubtedly confirm the belief in much of the Arab world that Israel and her American backers are nothing by bullies and more importantly, any Arab leader thinking of cutting a deal with Israel will not be able to (think of Saudi Crown Prince MBS who kept Anthony Blinken waiting).

Even the branding of this conflict has shown that the militants are actually smart. It’s known as the “Israel-Hamas” War. Let’s think about it, Israel has one of the most powerful militaries in the world that happens to be backed by THE MOST POWEFUL military in the world. It’s fighting against militant group operating in one of the most miserable parts of the world. Everyone talks about Hezbollah and Hamas being “backed by Iran,” as if it makes these groups sound more powerful. However, let’s be serious here. No matter how much backing Iran may or may not give to Hezbollah and Hamas, its still very small when compared to Israel and the backing it gets from the USA and the rest of the Western World.

Yet, despite the power imbalance, Hamas and Hezbollah have, for so many years have managed to create “Israel-Hamas” or “Israel-Hezbollah” wars, rather than “Israel-vs-another country,” war. By getting Israel to brand itself as being at war against them, they have effectively announced that they are equal to Israel and her American backer.

Sure, in terms of sheer fire power, Israel wins hands down. Any devastation that these groups cause Israel doesn’t compare to what Israel does to the Gaza strip or Southern Lebanon. So, I guess the Western and Israeli argument might be – “You’re stupid because you pick a fight against someone who can squash you?” That is because this view only takes on aspect of the war into consideration.

Let’s look at a personal analogy. If I brought my middle-aged obese body against Tyson Fury, who is to date one of the most successful heavy weight boxers in history, most people would say that I had a death wish. Mr. Fury could kill me with a flick of his fingers let alone a full punch. So, even if I were to be given $50 million to get into the ring with Mr. Fury, I would probably not take it – this is working on the principle that no money is worth my life.

However, if I found a way of coming back to life and back to full health after being murdered and could do it after every fight, I might actually do it. Not only would I get what I want (lots of money), people would actually start thinking that I might actually be powerful enough on my own right – after all, I take beatings from Mr. Fury and keep coming back for more. Mr. Fury will also start to wonder how I can keep coming back every time he beats me beyond death.

These is precisely what these groups do. Sure, they have no hope of hurting Israel in a conventional battle. However, years after year, they shown that they can hurt Israel, despite that Israel is so much more powerful.

So, the question that one needs to ask is not, why they provoke the fight which they know they’re going to get beaten in but how do they do it? How do they work in such a way where they can, on their limited resources work in such a way where they can damage what is effectively one of the most powerful nations around.

The key lies in their structure. These organisations are not huge monoliths but a collection of highly motivated individuals who know how to use their environment, turning their weakness into a strength. The following link provides an explanation as to how Hezbollah, which is a Lebanese militia into a global brand:

https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/legal-documents/ACLURM001616.pdf

In the conventional war situation, Israel and its Western allies have consistently hammered them and sure, they “win” in that sense. However, Hezbollah and Hamas are fighting different wars with different adjectives. They are effectively “winning” too. Sure, lots of innocent people die but in terms of geopolitics, that’s never been an issue.

Its very clear that nothing is actually going to change in the latest round of Unholy Acts in Holy Land. Everyone seems happy because they all act tough and the misery complains. Unfortunately, that’s probably not going to be very sustainable. Surely, its time that someone on the powerful side realized that they got to stop assuming that the “militant” groups are “stupid” because they’re “nasty,” and actually “win” and “finish” the conflict by sitting down and understanding these groups and figuring out how to beat them.

Who are the Enemies?

 Let’s face it, the land that the three Abrahamic Faiths call Holy is anything but. At the time of writing, it has been reported that at least 3,500 people have died on both sides, 12,000 have been wounded and 400,000 have been displaced in the Gaza Strip. The sad statistics can be found at:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2023/10/14/israel-hamas-conflict-the-grim-statistics-after-a-week-of-war/?sh=59a48c244407

Unfortunately, for the people in the region, this bout of Unholy activity is playing out like a “Reality TV” series. The argument is that if you read the Bible, “Israel” has been fighting a number of adversaries in this region ever since there have been people. So, this latest bout of “Unholy” activity is considered “business as usual.”

Then, you’ve got to deal with the lot that believe that God is a “real-estate” agent who promised a plot of land to a Semitic Man and his decedents.  Hence, whenever you get Unholy activity in this part of the world, you will have this lot getting worked up as to why the brown semitic people who lost their homes are getting upset with the European settlers who displaced them.

Unfortunately for the people in the region these two groups have a lot of power. It is not in their interest to see peace.

Let’s face it, the Israeli-Palestinian issue is solvable. In 1994, the late Israeli Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin reached out to his enemy, Yasser Arafat and reached a “Land-for-Peace,” deal which was supported by the majority on both sides. In theory, this could have a brilliant success if you managed to get two separate entities combining their respective strengths – Israel with her technology know-how and the Palestinians with their pool of labour.

Peace was not in the interest of powerful factions. Mr. Rabin was assassinated by a Jewish Settler called Yigal Amir. That was effectively the end of the hope of peace. Israelis ended up with a politician that was to stick with them for three decades – Benyamin Netanyahu. This was a man who built his entire career on taking apart the peace process that Mr. Rabin tried so hard to take apart. Mr. Netanyahu has for the record, been accused of assisting Mr. Rabin’s assassin.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/labor-chief-michaeli-rabin-was-assassinated-with-netanyahus-cooperation/

 

 In a way, Mr. Netanyahu was supported by the Palestinians who couldn’t deliver the peace he said he wanted. Mr. Arafat ended up being boxed into his compound in Ramallah and wasn’t able to do anything. Sure, he did attend a negotiation with Mr. Netanyahu’s successor as Prime Minister, Ehud Barak and much to distaste of Western and Israeli commentators, turned down the deal (which Palestinians pointed out – screwed them). Mr. Barak was replaced b Ariel Sharon, who proceeded to ensure that Mr. Arafat rotted away in his compound.

Mr. Arafat was replaced by Mahmoud Abas, who was, to put it politely, ineffective. Israeli and Western powers screwed him and when Mr. Abas failed to deliver as expected, the Palestinian people turned to the more radical group called Hamas, who believed that the only way to get the world to listen was through violence. When Hamas won an election in 2006, the Western World, lead by the USA, proceeded to sanction them, thus proving the radical elements right in its argument that Israel and its Western backers had no interest in listening to anything the Palestinians had to say.

Mr. Netanyahu found his way back to power and whenever his American backers suggested he attempt to make peace, his argument was – Who exactly was he to make peace with? Was it Fatah, which couldn’t deliver (waste time) or Hamas, who were irrationally bent on destroying Israel (don’t go there).

So, when Hamas launched its latest raid this month, Mr. Netanyahu had a field day projecting himself as a hero protecting the people against a group of radical nut jobs to support his falling poll ratings, just in time for the upcoming Israeli elections. Stories about Hamas going on a raping and baby-beheading spree have helped boost Mr. Netanyahu’s efforts to bomb the Gaza strip back to the Jurassic Age.

However, there’s one slight problem for Mr. Netanyahu. According to a Times of Israel editorial by its diplomatic correspondent, Tal Schneider, Mr. Netanyahu’s relationship with Hamas isn’t quite as adversarial as he might want the world to believe:

https://www.timesofisrael.com/for-years-netanyahu-propped-up-hamas-now-its-blown-up-in-our-faces/

 

Hamas has been for Mr. Netanyahu, the convenient bogeyman. They fire rockets into Israel proper, hence Mr. Netanyahu has been able to claim to the Israel public that they’re too irrationally violent to deal with. More importantly, they make life utterly miserable for Mr. Abbas, the Palestinian President. Thanks to Hamas, Mr. Netanyahu’s claim that there’s no Palestinian faction he can negotiate with is valid.

Ms. Schneider’s article describes the ways in which Israeli governments lead by Mr. Netanyahu and his allies allowed Hamas to raise cash through worker remittances and through the Qatari government – things which the Israeli government could have stopped.

Israel is for the record, not the only nation with issues with Hamas. Egypt, the Arab nation with the most people does not like Hamas, as do the GCC (with the exception of Qatar) and Jordan. In fact, Egyptian intelligence did warn Mr. Netanyahu that the group was up to something, a warning which he chose to ignore.

So, instead of building an alliance against the radical elements of Hamas, Mr. Netanyahu chose to strengthen them. How does one describe a head of government that strengthens a group that has called for your nation’s extermination? Israelis deserve a leader like Rabin who was willing to solidify military gains by trading land for peace. When this Unholy War is over, Israelis should put an end to the Netanyahu era at the ballot box and see to it that he faces justice.

How Convenient?

 

The area of the Middle East that the three Abrahamic Faiths call “Holy,” is once again in a period of “Unholiness.” The current period of Unholy activity started around October 7, 2023 when the “militant” group Hamas, launched a strike into Israeli territory, which ended up with the slaughter and capture of civilians.

Atrocities against Israeli civilians have been well documented and so there’s nothing more than can be said. It also goes to say that Israel has now declared against war against Hamas and so at the time of writing the Israeli military machine is preparing to bomb the Gaza strip (the sliver of land controlled by Hamas) back to and beyond the Jurassic age. As expected, the US President has offered his “unwavering” support for Israel’s right to eliminate brown people.

This is only the latest cycle of unholy activities in a land that so many people call holy. The results are predictable. Israeli bombardment of the Gaza strip will do wonders for the recruitment drive for Hamas’s militant wing. There will be tones of chest beating in the Islamic world and the Western media will have a field day trying to understand why the brown people huddled in the Gaza strip won’t accept the generosity of the white people in Israel proper.

Nobody seems to be looking at what could be the biggest winner of this entire mess – Israel’s persistent Prime Minister, Mr. Benyamin Nethanyahu, who has served longer than anyone else as Prime Minister in a three-decade long career. The political career of Mr. Nethanyahu has been what you could call a text book study in knowing how to read luck. Mr. Nethanyahu is not known for being brave (his brother was the hero of the Entebe rescue) or particularly clever. His basic integrity has always been questionable (he’s been under criminal investigation since 2017 and there was supposed to be a criminal trial in 2020, which got pushed back because of Covid). Yet, somehow, he’s managed to stay in the top job longer than people who have proven themselves to be men of courage and integrity (Yitzhak Rabin comes to mind).

How has Mr. Nethanyahu stayed on top for so long despite his obvious sort comings. The best answer is probably because he’s avoided doing anything risky and he’s known how to make circumstances work to his advantage.

Let’s take the current round of “unholy” activity. Mr. Nethanyahu was, until the raids into Israel facing legislative elections that were due for 27 October 2023. Thanks to his efforts to defang the Israeli Judiciary and the storming of the Al Asqa Mosque, Mr. Nethanyahu wasn’t exactly doing well:

https://www.timesofisrael.com/gantz-maintains-lead-over-netanyahu-in-latest-poll-coalition-falls-to-52-seats/

 

 Mr. Nethanyahu, was until the invasion by Hamas looking like he would need a new job. His poll numbers were down and nobody wanted anything to do with him. Then, by some coincidence, Israel’s super high technology surveillance systems and formidable ground intelligence (As anyone who has watched Fauda will tell you – Israeli force on the ground mingle in Arabic speaking areas exceptionally well) failed to capture a whiff of what was about to take place.

A month ago, Mr. Nethanyahu was a man in danger of losing his job and being hounded out of office in disgrace. At this moment, he’s on the world stage, demanding and getting attention as a war leader protecting his highly advanced and militarily sophisticated nation against a “terrorist” organization. His main rival for the top job has now ad to join in a government of national unity.

Mr. Nethanyahu has shown that courage, integrity and basic competence only play a secondary role in maintaining power. The key, it seems is knowing how to make the most of events and coincidences.  

Who Married Down?

 

Around 12-years ago, I made the decision to get married to a Vietnamese girl that I was seeing on an off-and-on basis. It was a decision that went against what “conventional’ Singapore expected of someone like me but at the same time, its proven to be one of the most educational experiences of my life.

Let’s start with the “controversy.” I am a Singapore Chinese Graduate working in a professional service. I belong to the segment of Singapore society that is expected to stick to its own kind (same ethnic, educational and professional background). The only sort of exception to this would be to marry an “Ang Moh” (white) girl. As far as “respectable” Singapore society is concerned, only “blue collar losers” marry girls from poorer parts of Asia and get screwed for it. I’ve get reminded of this fact when some of the “cultured” people online have decided to comment on my pieces.

I won’t pretend that my marriage with Huong has been smooth sailing. We are from different worlds and we’ve had our fights. However, whatever quarrels we may have had, we’ve always found a way back to each other and we’ve been doing so for the last 12-years. Give me a chance to go back to that moment when I decided to get married to her and the answer will always be the same.

One of the things about her that keeps me going back to her is the fact that she’s smart. Whatever she may lack in formal education, she more than makes up for it in street-smarts. She won’t be able to tell you about Shakespeare or Bach but she’s also not going to fall for a horseracing scam because some worm looked pretty and flattered her (if anything, she’d feed the worm to the fish). I’ve known far better educated women (professional qualifications from nothing less than NUS) and years of work experience as a working professional who have fallen for the most obvious scams, which is something she would NEVER fall for.

I also find her determination for get ahead very sexy. Her most recent venture was to take part in a Beauty Contest. Put her heart and soul into it and ended up wining the Singapore version of this contest. I was really happy for her win and ironically in her moment of glory, I became part of the support staff. One of the jokes being that after years of writing press releases and putting people in the media, I ended up as the husband of a woman who had a press release written about her and got my media appearance as her husband:

 

While I was really happy (to the point of thanking the Almighty in public) with her Singapore win, I thought her moment would end there. If you study the history of beauty contest, you’ll note that Asian girls don’t strike it on the global stage. World Beauty contest tend to be won by South Americans and World Modelling contest won by Eastern Europeans. However, since she was supposed to go, Kiddo and I prayed for her and did our part to support her ambitions. Well, guess what? I woke up to the following video:

 

 She actually pulled it off and won her contest on the global stage. OK, I am biased for her and I am sure that there will be plenty of voices about how this was not a mainstream beauty contest and its something minute on the scale of things.

However, let’s put things into perspective. This is a girl from a Vietnamese “Home Town,” which translates into a rural village in the middle of nowhere. She’s not the most educated person and yet, at the age of 42, this girl from a Vietnamese village has made her mark on a global platform.

Think about it for the moment. How many of us with our superior education and world-wide connectivity in Singapore have ever dreamt of doing anything on the global stage? I actually blame Lee Kuan Yew, our political rock-star for this. I remember watching videos of him talking about how Singapore simply didn’t have the economies of scale to do things big and somehow everyone believed him. Joseph Schooling and the late Sim Wong Hoo aside, how many Singaporeans do anything outside Singapore? Sure, we have a few how become senior corporate leaders in the Asia-Pacific region of a multinational. However, doing things on a global scale is a different matter. Among my family contacts, I can only think of Tham Khai Meng, former Global Creative Head at Ogilvy & Mather.

For me personally, I don’t think as “big” as she does. Sure, I think of things outside Singapore, like India or the Middle East or even Africa. I like the fact people from the US and Europe read my blog. However, I’ve not dared to “compete” on a global stage, which she has. People look at me and her and think that I might have “married down,” because she’s less educated and from Vietnam. However, if you look at what she’s dared to achieve and what I’ve dared, you got to question – who really married down?

“Welfare isn’t taking care of the Poor but Creating Jobs for the Useless”

 

I remember in one of my many discussions over beer with the Old Rogue, he would often state that America started having issues when it implemented a “welfare system.” He argued that the problem with the welfare system was the fact it was not designed to help the poor but to create jobs for “useless” people who would be incentivized to keep the poor that way so that they would always have a job.

OK, I get that his comments aren’t politically correct. However, I believe that he has a point. The next time you need to swim through paper work in an office, ask yourself if that paper work actually leads to anything productive or if it’s designed to create work for the sake of creating work. You need to ask yourself who benefits from this. Inevitably, you’ll find that “work process” aren’t actually processes to get a job completed but a means of keeping parasites busy.

This became very apparent when I attended a talk at a law firm on “Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States” (“CFIUS”). The talk was moderated by a friend and former customer at the Bistrot. One of the main speakers was an American lawyer who dialled in from one of the American offices and the other was from a consultancy. The later had actually worked at the Department of Justice and Homeland Affairs and had played an active role in making CFIUS what it is.

 

 What struck me about the entire situation was the fact that the moderator had made the point that America was the world leader in opening up the world. However, America had recently reserved its position and become a leader in closing up the world and the only real beneficiaries were lawyers and consultants (the moderator being a high-powered lawyer himself).

Now, I get that the world cannot be totally open. Just as a lot of good things came about when countries opened up, a lot of bad things also crossed borders. In an ideal situation most, places should be open enough for goods and services to cross borders but closed enough so that nasty things like terrorist and crooks stay out.

I get that in the case of America, there are genuine concerns about national security, where you don’t want potential adversaries getting hold of sensitive military information. So, in world where Russia is openly aggressive and China is increasingly more assertive, it is understandable that the USA would want a certain amount of control over what goes on in its borders. So, I get that there is a rationale behind CFIUS and I can understand why other countries are following the American example and implementing CFIUS.

However, while I do get the need for controls on certain things, we have to ask ourselves if we are creating a situation where the people you are creating complications for the sake of creating complications so that lawyers and consultants can stay in a job rather than achieving an objective.

The speaker made the point that certain definitions were kept vague so that CFIUS could come down on businesses and it made negotiations all the more interesting. The speaker gave an example of a French company that he once worked for that bought an American subsidiary in a “sensitive” industry. In order to get the deal approved by CFIUS, the French parent company had to agree that only natural born US citizens could work in the American subsidiary (everyone from the CEO to the janitor). As the speaker stated, this violated a bunch of American laws but the issue of “national security” overrode enabled these laws to be overridden. This is despite the fact that there is “NO PROOF” that naturalised citizens are less loyal than native born citizens (let’s remember that the 2005 London Bombers were native born).

This is, unfortunately not the only example of governments trying to keep lawyers and consultants in a job. I recently had to fill out the American ESTA form. Now, the last time I filled out the ESTA was a decade ago when I went to the USA to see my stepdad for his 80^th birthday. That experience was painless. This time, it wasn’t. They went as far as to ask me for my various social media accounts. Erm, what was that supposed to achieve other than to give someone who had never done a day of honest work a sense of superiority?

To be fair to the Americans, they aren’t the only nation where governments feel obliged to create problems for productive people, I think of Singapore where we insist on looking for useless information about people – just think of the way the government needs to know which primary school you went to and what your Primary School Leavers Exam (PSLE) results were, whenever you apply for a government job. Who exactly does this benefit except some worm sitting in an office?

Yes, I do get that you can throw things wide open. However, we need to stop creating useless work for useless people and encourage them to be productive rather than parasitic. Society can only progress if its citizens are used for work that benefits people rather than paper pushers and worms in cubicles.  

33 I had some Hope and Now I’m 49

 

A few weeks ago, I got reminded that in November of 2007, I wrote a piece called “17 I HAD A BETTER DREAM, NOW I'M 33,” in which I tried to talk about how I had moved from being a dreamy 17-year-old to a slightly more cynical adult at 33. It then occurred to me that quite a few years had passed since then and I in a matter of year, I’ll be turning 50 and one can legally call me “middle-aged.”

It's potentially a scary milestone particularly if you haven’t stashed away any money (which I haven’t really) and you might have a few health issues coming up. I use the word “scary” because as much as Singapore claims to be an “Asian Society” that respects the elderly, we actually dispose of the elderly. If you’re patient enough to wait till office hours are over and the beautiful people have gone home, you’re bound to see the elderly collecting tin-cans so that they can earn a few cents to buy a cup of coffee (apparently, some clever minister called it “exercise”). Whilst 50 is not “elderly” per se (as in you can still move), it’s the age where employers start thinking of you as an inconvenience whatever your productivity and healthcare insurers try to price you out of a life (as a reference point, my hospitalization plan was $100 a year and then jumped to $500 a year the day I turned 40).  

The more the government talks about its generosity towards the “Pioneer,” “Merdeka” and other generations, the reality for most of us is that old age in Singapore equates to a glorious career in cardboard box collecting.

So, what can you do about it? I guess the options are simple. Deny the fact that you’ve reached a certain age and encourage Singapore’s legion of Mummy’s Boys and Daddy’s girls who have the physical presence and energy of a 90-year-old (which is actually unfair to 90-year-olds, if my stepdad is anything to go by) and contain the worldly knowledge of a five-year-old (which is unfair to five-year-old's – I remember Christopher at that age) to look like their genuinely attracted to you in return for you pushing buttons on the washing machine when the maid hired by Mummy or Daddy gets that one day of legislated rest.

Alternatively, you can enjoy being a certain age and revel in it. Much to the horror of one of my newest (within the last year) and better friends, I actually take enough pride to splash all over social media, the fact that I spent my Sunday night moving close to a hundred boxes of documents from one storage room to another on my own. His reaction was “Dude – shouldn’t you want to move up.” He has however, supported by Facebook page called “ObeseMiddle-Aged Man” where my delusions of being active are posted.

 

 Me in a warehouse on a Sunday night.

He’s a young man with ambition and I get what he’s saying. I get that money is important and so I persevere in my corporate job whilst looking for hustles. Like it or not, I need a “Kill” or two if I am to avoid a career in cardboard box collection. Yes, as I push 50, I understand that money is important and I understand I’m out of the “high-flyer” corporate or civil service career. So, since the accepted path of success is out for me, I need to find different ways. Ironically, it was my 27-year-old godson and intern who reminded me that Colonel Sanders was in his 60s when KFC came about.

Whilst pushing into “Middle-Age” can be scary, its also exciting. On the physical front, I’m actually OK and ironically, being told that some form of daily exercise was medically non-negotiable, pushed me into taking my personal fitness seriously. At 49, nobody thinks I’m pregnant, which was what a 7-year-old kiddo once thought when I was 32 (she patted my tummy and said “32 babies.”). Probably not going to achieve my personal goal of being shredded by 50 because I do fall into temptation (I’ve had beer nights after sprint nights) but I actually feel better at 49 than I did at 39 or even 29 where beer night was limited by finances and sprint nights didn’t exist.

The other “exciting” thing about pushing into middle-age, is that I have something I never had – clarity. I have a better idea of what I want and don’t want. It’s clear to me that I detest sitting at a desk and staring at a screen. I don’t want to get excited by spreadsheets. So, I gladly accept assignments that take me away from the desk and heavy lifting at work saves me the need to carve out time to work out. I don’t want to give up time for friends and family to work on senseless things or for people I know to be evil.

More importantly, this clarity gets especially clear when it comes to the people I want in my life. With the exception of an angel with a host psychosis, I have a pretty clear idea of what certain people in my life can and cannot do. I have a better idea of the people I want in my life and with the exception of a neurotic angel (someone who is disruptive in every sense of the word but at the same time miraculously creates happy coincidences). I have a young man who actually gives me guidance. I have someone around my age who shares my passion for food and brings out the softer side of me.

So, as I push 50, I’m actually feeling more confident about things. Yes, many things could go wrong. The world is volatile but I believe I’m better prepared to accept it. So, while I had hope at 33, I’m now 49 and actually clearer about things.