The year is going to end in the next 24-hours and given that I have been strangely busy, I thought I would try and bash out my usual piece to summarise the year. It’s the Chinese Year of the snake, and based on the last snake year (2013), it was similar in substance. In 2013, I had my last great working highlight, which was the IIM Alumni job (IIMPact 2013), where I had the distinct privilege of arranging interviews for Dr. Raghuram Rajan before he became governor of RBI. I would then, end that year with a crisis of dealing with one of my ex-wife’s ventures.
This snake year was slightly different. If 2013 was
dealing with a cobra that blessed and bit, this year was more like a subtle
grass snake reminding me that I was a very blessed person but also reminding me
life has downs as well as ups.
On the surface, it was a pretty darn good year. For
the first time since 2006, I actually end the year with assets. Somehow in previous
moments of blessings, I never seemed able to hold a dollar. This year, I actually
end the year with money in funds that are the seeds to “passive” income. Still
need to work for a living but it looks like I might actually be able to afford a
bowl of noodles from time to time.
I had the good fortune of regular payouts on top of my
weekly pay. Since I am no longer a “property owner,” I actually qualified for a
decent amount of government generosity.
It wasn’t just about money. I managed to get seen in
the right place with the right people. At the inaugural TMA-Asia Pacific
Conference, I actually got to post with the Minister who was giving a speech (In
Singapore speak, Ministers are like celebrities):
Life wasn’t just about being in the right place at the right time or dare I say money. This was a year of travel. The Loveable Pillow got to moving to Johor with her and then decided that we needed to spend a long weekend in Batam, a place that I hadn’t been to for a while. Most interestingly, she got to me to Bangkok, where I managed to catch up with Dad in his home town for a change. Hadn’t been to Bangkok to see him since 2009, when Max flew out to meet us.
So, whilst it looks like I may be finally settling into
something resembling normalcy, it looks like I will be missing some important
people. My ex-colleague from Citibank, Ms. Dawn Pereira died of a heart attack.
She was, 47 at the time of her death. Although I hadn’t spoken to her in years,
I’ll always remember her as a wonder bubbly person who could always light up
the place with her presence.
The other, was perhaps harder hitting. Bryan Ng Lee
Heng or “Bear,” died a week before my birthday. Along with Joe Phua, we formed a
trio of “The Short, the Fat and the Bald.” Our army bond made us brothers from
different parents. Life made it such that our meetings post army were few and
far between. Yet each meeting was special, even if all it was, was meeting for
a kopi or kway teow. Like two old men, we’d talk about our partners and kids.
Family struggles were a good topic. We often joked about being old grumpy men
sitting in a park.
The last time I saw him was in October. He had lost
allot of weight and looked weak. Doctors couldn’t tell him why but he did
strike an optimistic note, talking about eating wings and drinking beer at Hooters
like we did back in the army (something I will have to do in the new year since
Hooters is shutting down after three decades). He last visited me in Marine
Parade in October. We had kopi and when it was time to go, I got him to take a selfie.
No comments
Post a Comment