tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-220446522024-03-29T09:21:28.761+08:00BeautifullyIncoherent This blog is Beautifully Incoherent because it celebrates the beauty of this mess that we call life. This contains my thoughts on a variety of social topics, sprinkled with advice and thoughts from friends I've made over the social spectrum. Whether you agree or disagree, I hope that my postings leave you with a sense that you can always make it through and see the beauty of life and are inspired to make your world a little better. Tang Lihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13936895039543026551noreply@blogger.comBlogger1123125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22044652.post-60715266015097317262024-03-22T17:54:00.009+08:002024-03-22T17:54:50.281+08:00Still Wanna F**K with Me – Mike Tyson<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The latest buzz in the world of boxing is the fact
that Mike Tyson, once regarded as the “Badest Man on the Planet” is coming out of
retirement to fight Jake Paul, a 27-year-old YouTuber turned boxer. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In normal circumstances a physical contest between a
fit and active 27-year-old and a 58-year-old coming of retirement shouldn’t be
allowed. Although Mr. Paul has only started boxing publicly in recent years, he’s
had success against some credible opponents like Anderson Silva and Nate Diaz:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://news.paddypower.com/boxing/2024/03/19/jake-paul-next-fight/">https://news.paddypower.com/boxing/2024/03/19/jake-paul-next-fight/</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFMhNSoVjQMT4RCBQ7Z3Y-IcRn5a73i9q9OXaVRHKLAV-zeTcMvGf8vfhr8KHvOW9MCtADG2r7ysITvaCVNA3wrlCzRMm3cX3mfPzKEWWzWNPQroU7czB9Lgi9GjDDUOs4p2VoAMu9ePNzFwFUzjOxkB0SKN8HF1ksVIH4AA_3vHYh8xWwaU6avA/s985/Jake%20Paul_Paddy%20Power.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="619" data-original-width="985" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFMhNSoVjQMT4RCBQ7Z3Y-IcRn5a73i9q9OXaVRHKLAV-zeTcMvGf8vfhr8KHvOW9MCtADG2r7ysITvaCVNA3wrlCzRMm3cX3mfPzKEWWzWNPQroU7czB9Lgi9GjDDUOs4p2VoAMu9ePNzFwFUzjOxkB0SKN8HF1ksVIH4AA_3vHYh8xWwaU6avA/w536-h336/Jake%20Paul_Paddy%20Power.PNG" width="536" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">However, this isn’t “normal.” Back in his hey-day, Mr.
Tyson was known for his brutal destruction of opponents. He only discovered
defeat when he discovered partying and underestimating opponents. His physical
power and speed were legendary. Whilst Mr. Tyson isn’t the youthful force of explosive
power that he once was, clips of him training show that he’s still someone that
most normal people wouldn’t want breathing at them when he’s in a foul mood. As
famed combat sports podcaster Joe Rogan says, “I don’t care if he’s 55, he can
still hurt you.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In a way, this fight is what boxing, a sport that is
primarily funded by the fans, needs. There hasn’t been an “electrifying” and “charismatic”
champion that drew people in since Mr. Tyson’s hey day in the 1980s. Both
fighters are undoubtedly going to make a huge amount of money.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This is, in many ways, a clash of “visions.” Mr. Paul
is a young upstart in the world of boxing. Talk to enough boxers and you’ll
find that many of them want Mr. Tyson to teach Mr. Paul a good lesson because
as far as they are concerned, Mr. Paul is a young upstart who hasn’t paid his
dues. As far as many professionals are concerned, Mr. Paul is soaking up the
monied fights based on the fact that he’s gained fame as a YouTuber.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">While there’s something tempting about smacking up the
face of a young, rich kid who thinks he can’t be touched (think “My uncaring
elite face” in Singapore), young upstarts are, from a social perspective, a
good thing. Reason being – they’re more often than not, the guys who think of
something quirky that upends a system, thus creating the disruption and
innovation that is a hall mark of progress. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were, as
far as the high-powered executives of IBM were concerned, young upstarts who
ended up revolutionizing computing. Now, its guys like Evan Spiegel of Snapchat
who are upending our relationship with cyberspace.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Say what you like about Mr. Paul but he’s interesting.
People who might never had watched boxing are now tuning into watch him fight
and in fairness, he’s actually won a number of fights. He can actually fight.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">However, there’s one slight problem. Mr. Paul is a
nice boy from a well to do family His father is a realtor and his early career was
on YouTube playing pranks. Boxing comes across as a hobby to him. In fairness, he’s
been relatively successful at it and he’s won fights that nobody expected to
him to win. I can sympathise with Mr. Paul in as much as he may be a “rich kid”
trying to show that he’s actually got some merits of his own. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">However, whilst Mr. Paul has won fights, he’s never
really faced anyone who had a hunger to “kill him.” Sure, Nate Diaz and
Anderson Silva are good fighters in their own right. However, both were not “angry
killers.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Mr. Tyson is a different story. If you read Mr. Tyson’s
biography “Undisputed” truth, you’ll see that here is a guy who may well have
been murdered in gang violence had he not found boxing. For Mr. Tyson, smacking
people up is the core of his being. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Sure, the current 57-year-old Mike Tyson has mellowed.
He’s no longer the angry 21-year-old who became the world’s youngest heavy
weight champion. Back then, being heavy weight champion and knocking down
everyone in his way was the only thing he had to love for. These days, he’s
having fun on his cannabis farm.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">However, whilst age can mellow you, it doesn’t really
take away who you really are deep inside. Many of the training videos that have
been leaked, show that Mr. Tyson still has speed and power. Sure, he may not be
as explosive as he was – but he’s still powerful enough as Roy Jones Junior
states:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=jake+paul+vs+mike+tyson&sca_esv=1f6968c2800695af&source=hp&ei=IgD9ZZDlIqLi1e8PlK-">https://www.google.com/search?q=jake+paul+vs+mike+tyson&sca_esv=1f6968c2800695af&source=hp&ei=IgD9ZZDlIqLi1e8PlK-</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Mr. Tyson’s last fight was an exhibition in 2020,
where he was in it for fun. However, this fight has awakened something in Mr.
Tyson. It’s not just his physical conditioning that people notice but his
intent to make a point. His hunger to hurt has been awakened as anyone who
looks into his eyes from this training montage will realise:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9VaIbFTQHU">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9VaIbFTQHU</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6M0qEuXJk5qpybz9epI4Cqy7o6N4ggGslIlvd4A-LXiWkSTPXgFrPVYKLfDXoD4ePHOGWIdx8kZ3sQMYDPD845gzx3g9_8ENzsvlDwyOIz-HgTdnwk7md1A6nBruEHcMjLOY4QtzdyuZPXhRYBWLWzbKBnlS8I9hgmT2HQQhfSF8e0VIY0uOG6g/s842/Still%20Wanna%20....with%20me.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="689" data-original-width="842" height="405" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6M0qEuXJk5qpybz9epI4Cqy7o6N4ggGslIlvd4A-LXiWkSTPXgFrPVYKLfDXoD4ePHOGWIdx8kZ3sQMYDPD845gzx3g9_8ENzsvlDwyOIz-HgTdnwk7md1A6nBruEHcMjLOY4QtzdyuZPXhRYBWLWzbKBnlS8I9hgmT2HQQhfSF8e0VIY0uOG6g/w494-h405/Still%20Wanna%20....with%20me.PNG" width="494" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">If Mr. Paul thinks that the 58-year-old Mike Tyson is
going to be a case of fighting his grandpa, he will be in for a nasty surprise.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In a way, this comparison between Jake Paul and Mike
Tyson is the one that best illustrates the point when I talk about competing people
who are less educated and from less privileged backgrounds. In the last decade
of being in a working professional environment, I’ve noticed that working
professionals have one major flaw – namely the fact that they think their
professional status gives them some magical status. This is especially true
when they face people who are less “qualified” than them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I remember being on a project many years ago involving
Nestle. The marketing manager of the division we were working with had started
out as an office boy. I remember he had something to a business partner who felt
aggrieved enough to complain about it to me. My partner dismissed him as “just
an office boy.” I shuddered - anyone who climbs from office boy to marketing
manager isn’t someone you want to mess with.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Likewise for the people who kept complaining about my
ex-wife being an uneducated Vietnamese. This girl clawed her way up from a home
town. She came to Singapore, became a business owner and then a beauty queen at
the international level. After years in Singapore, she’s setting up in the USA.
I think the only person who understood this is my partner in the Chubby Tiger
venture who said, “This woman is no joke.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So, when we talk about what gives people the edge, we’ll
talk about things like education, connections, family background and so on. This
is where people from comfortable middle class professional backgrounds get
lulled into a false sense of superiority. The most crucial fact that everyone
seems to over look is will, or desire. You could call it “killer instinct.”
Look at Mr. Tyson who trains at inhuman levels (500 daily pushups among many
others). He’s focused and the only thing that matters is flattening the other guy.
I think of my ex, who entered a beauty contest because she had that ultimate
goal of getting into the USA and became a global champion. I think of her focus
and the work she put in. It’s that drive that gives people the edge. It’s just
too bad HR can’t measure it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Tang Lihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13936895039543026551noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22044652.post-37726402759898571692024-03-18T17:36:00.003+08:002024-03-18T17:36:25.909+08:00 Cracked<p><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I’ve finally
changed my phone. It turns out that my phone contract was up for renewal and I managed
to pick up a new iPhone 15plus, which is sleek and sexy. It’s the first time in
over a decade when I’ve actually picked up a new phone from a contract renewal.
Huong, used to recontract all our lines early so that she could pick up phones
at a discount and sell them onto her friends. The phone I had been using
previously was a hand-me-down from her.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVVLTJyYaT7N0h11Wp3UE00g2XLuaqeARqCPxrsxF54xlN8I66zaDepCLinZdPUJbsvb-wK8NrVHOacGctudJIDBbX7gzutkxPwAKl1pYXyATwkPhndarPSqOyjbyEX3BMpRxnN56cIWIpIkQyMuUNdnMWQMqSwkbQgeMQR-GBkkKVJcfSOlGCQw/s4032/Sexy%20Phone.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="575" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVVLTJyYaT7N0h11Wp3UE00g2XLuaqeARqCPxrsxF54xlN8I66zaDepCLinZdPUJbsvb-wK8NrVHOacGctudJIDBbX7gzutkxPwAKl1pYXyATwkPhndarPSqOyjbyEX3BMpRxnN56cIWIpIkQyMuUNdnMWQMqSwkbQgeMQR-GBkkKVJcfSOlGCQw/w431-h575/Sexy%20Phone.HEIC" width="431" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span><i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">My New
Indulgence</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I got to admit
that the last few hours playing the new phone. The battery is solid, the face ID
feature works and I’m only just getting used to the fact that this is a phone
where the volume works sufficiently enough for me not to need to have all my
conversations on loudspeaker.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">One might ask
why it took me so long so change phone. The phone was a second hand from Huong
who had a way of changing phones rapidly. It was with me for four years and I
am, as a rule of thumb – rough. In a way, I held on because, I didn’t see the
need to change the phone. It still functioned and did all the things I needed it
to do. It functioned as a phone and the apps that I use worked well enough. I
never saw the need to spend money on a new phone because it worked and as my
favourite gym instructor likes to remind me - “real men carry cracked phones.”
However, the charging jack has been going slowly but surely. It used to be that
I would have to hold the charger at an angle, then one day it only charged when
put on an air charger. A phone dying on me when I needed a phone most looked
like a very real prospect:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaOHuKMdzkJvWjKHeSbfS2LR9RXgURUdelmEo9PB_qIpEN3cRgWJCqLGmtvQlgT5WAytlUzdeoIk7I7hJsC7MGnyzHZ01E3gTPj21J1bvRcSN7XuJEiO8xSXOaCstiTWUy3U0yO4SBmw-Sw3a-ZAinOFaSpeYzB7xJGfoFWIImjJbGEUNpM5TKrw/s5712/Cracked%20Phone.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5712" data-original-width="4284" height="525" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaOHuKMdzkJvWjKHeSbfS2LR9RXgURUdelmEo9PB_qIpEN3cRgWJCqLGmtvQlgT5WAytlUzdeoIk7I7hJsC7MGnyzHZ01E3gTPj21J1bvRcSN7XuJEiO8xSXOaCstiTWUy3U0yO4SBmw-Sw3a-ZAinOFaSpeYzB7xJGfoFWIImjJbGEUNpM5TKrw/w394-h525/Cracked%20Phone.HEIC" width="394" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span><i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Bro-Phone</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I talk about my
recent phone purchase because there are apt parallels with life, particularly
in the employment market, particularly in a day and age where there is a big
worry that society is getting older and by extension, there is a worry about
what do with the labours force.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Let’s face it,
everyone wants sexy, sleek things that function at optimal performance. I love
my new phone because its sleek and sexy. Its battery life is resilient and all
its functions are in tip top condition. Filling it with new apps and data is
not an issue. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">If I look at my
relationship with my phone, I get why employers are keen to snap up fresh
graduates. They come into the work force fresh. They’re enthusiastic and their
minds are functional. Everything is new to them and they approach task with
energy that their more experienced counterparts treat as routine. The best part
is that you can fill their heads with the way you want them to work.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">There is,
however, one problem with this. Whilst I do get why hiring the kids is fun, the
definition of old becomes rather relative. When people are looking for sleek
and sexy things, they tend to dump the current sleek and sexy thing the moment they
see something else which they may consider even more sleek and sexy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">My soon to be
ex-wife and dad do that with phones. The moment there’s a new model, they’ll be
out trying to make sure they have it. Given that new models come out on a
yearly basis, they’ll happily brave the crowds to get hold of the latest new
model.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Think about it,
our youth may be young and enthusiastic to work. They may be the sexy and sleek
things. However, before they’re ready to mature and be really productive, they
get discarded by the kids from elsewhere who are hungrier and willing to work
for less or by a technology.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">To an extent my
old phone was lucky in that, there are people who are more than happy to take “second-hand”
goods. For me, the phone that I inherited was not the latest and greatest but
it did all the things that I needed it to do. As long as it functioned in the
way that I needed it to function, I had no reason to change the phone. My need
to change the phone only came about when there was a question of its mechanical longevity.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">So, if our policy
makers need to look through the fact that while the number of sexy and sleek
things may dwindle as people don’t have babies, we have plenty of people who
are still functional. Let’s look how we can make use of this growing legion of “cracked”
people who are still functional. Sleek and sexy fades according to trend.
Functional last a lot longer and you can do more with it. Surely, that point
should not be lost on our policy makers. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Tang Lihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13936895039543026551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22044652.post-4901287639780104792024-03-16T15:36:00.010+08:002024-03-16T15:36:58.911+08:00Budget Buses<p> <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">There was a time when there was an issue about
transporting workers from South Asia or the proverbial “Darkies” who are exploiting
Singapore by doing the jobs Singaporeans won’t do. A few “aged lefties” (In
Singapore, they’re inevitably aged – the kids are too busy trying to be
successful in cubicle land to care about the rest of the world), got upset that
the construction companies were jamming the workers in backs of lorries that
had no seat belts or any form of safety during accidents:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUWVHEwwUcJUp5axHBGJgHCHSK3n2TP4Tl2hnMP132XqsRjCV3My1zmr_HF_uaVOMFoLFRjzG6tba8b7r3xGVTtpLqIacVodRdr03enhAA7afCSODD_2E4g1OF4kKoCSS6UJii_uEmhglnPfFaZUEbEFbfGxrJZ2Y4pSWy876jDgOuX4c95VzFCg/s4032/IMG_9490.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="457" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUWVHEwwUcJUp5axHBGJgHCHSK3n2TP4Tl2hnMP132XqsRjCV3My1zmr_HF_uaVOMFoLFRjzG6tba8b7r3xGVTtpLqIacVodRdr03enhAA7afCSODD_2E4g1OF4kKoCSS6UJii_uEmhglnPfFaZUEbEFbfGxrJZ2Y4pSWy876jDgOuX4c95VzFCg/w342-h457/IMG_9490.HEIC" width="342" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk49d953zIilt-H8xH9nXCanyriXw73qRofZuigvHyNVJaF_Mcn9XJVwVE13OreOhAonoaM75sodJxFe_g_2zI1hzvlD6ldsDLgtZFVLJp3f_65SdI0Ya_Cy6c0GFjMg5qdrcl15d42wE57BLsnizpBNXss8cHZpsY1D3GiXq7aOoGe6Nl16z31g/s4032/IMG_6544.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="459" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk49d953zIilt-H8xH9nXCanyriXw73qRofZuigvHyNVJaF_Mcn9XJVwVE13OreOhAonoaM75sodJxFe_g_2zI1hzvlD6ldsDLgtZFVLJp3f_65SdI0Ya_Cy6c0GFjMg5qdrcl15d42wE57BLsnizpBNXss8cHZpsY1D3GiXq7aOoGe6Nl16z31g/w345-h459/IMG_6544.HEIC" width="345" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8CbtaBLxUBL9RFjzxU-7c4gYThgTyWxqeygVP83h_6NXTqQI182K2oABa3QLo0Q_JKgmmnQDvr4UbXqX3dC6tA1thjdhdvs1we2MxFwmEcaBnZ2WPt6_BzIeg0OAUhQsKa8_Cv8Ks64XhcwSwtJK5OWp3S09v0LUb88ZnRWYhlo8g-CUS77eY7A/s4032/IMG_0146.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8CbtaBLxUBL9RFjzxU-7c4gYThgTyWxqeygVP83h_6NXTqQI182K2oABa3QLo0Q_JKgmmnQDvr4UbXqX3dC6tA1thjdhdvs1we2MxFwmEcaBnZ2WPt6_BzIeg0OAUhQsKa8_Cv8Ks64XhcwSwtJK5OWp3S09v0LUb88ZnRWYhlo8g-CUS77eY7A/w347-h462/IMG_0146.HEIC" width="347" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRNaeJsKpocWPUrBGu7tyBg8p2odcYIM3rtBRF7lnWiMmBXAJeDxjM_vFAi3ftUL31DEqTAismwyUKLMBAMrj_3cicigg3AhhQWRtlHtQU7Y38Dd76M44yFSLb33mG1fp2lxC-TzMyIs6sBs2BVbav4OTudpoDZKQqcwocLWONd7BKkY8fCY5x5g/s4032/IMG_0145.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="461" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRNaeJsKpocWPUrBGu7tyBg8p2odcYIM3rtBRF7lnWiMmBXAJeDxjM_vFAi3ftUL31DEqTAismwyUKLMBAMrj_3cicigg3AhhQWRtlHtQU7Y38Dd76M44yFSLb33mG1fp2lxC-TzMyIs6sBs2BVbav4OTudpoDZKQqcwocLWONd7BKkY8fCY5x5g/w346-h461/IMG_0145.HEIC" width="346" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">If I remember correctly, there were one or two traffic
accidents and I believe one or two “Darkies” were killed. Singapore’s aged
lefties were up in arms that human beings could be transported in such a
fashion and wrote many social media post about this. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">However, whilst there was a hue and cry about this and
the government did make one or two noises about promising to look into things,
nothing actually happened. Around two-years after the din of needing to treat dark
skinned South Asians who do actual work, nothing was actually done. The reason
was simple. The construction lobby made the point that it would be prohibitively
expensive for them to actually provide things like buses to get their workers
from point A to point B.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">To be fair, to the government, only the aged lefties
seemed upset by the issue and sine aged lefties aren’t inclined to vote for the
government anyway, the government decided to do what it does best – pay attention
to those who can be reminded to vote “properly.” As far as that segment of the
population is concerned, the Darkies should just be grateful for whatever they’re
getting and one shouldn’t force “prohibitively” expensive things onto the
employers like wages, accommodation and let’s not forget the levy for foreign
workers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Then, as was once pointed out to me, Singaporeans used
to ride around in a similar fashion and were perfectly happy with it. So, why
should one impose “unfair” expenses on the construction industry (which is
inevitably government funded) when everyone was perfectly happy with such
methods of transportation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I’ve come round to accepting that there may be a point
here. Instead of calling for the ban on putting workers in lorries, we should
expand this and create a new form of mass market transport.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Look, many us complain about how the bus and MRT
services have become more expensive in recent years. I am guilty of this. I
notice that a decade ago, it was possible to travel around for a week on $10.
These days, $10 last you a day or so. What I can do about it? The answer is
utterly jack all because mass market transport in Singapore is a duopoly run by
the same people. They can charge whatever they want and the masses like myself
can either learn to walk longer or die if we don’t want to pay the fares.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So, what’s to be done. Well, the answer is lies in the
taxi market. At one stage, driving a metered cab was to exclusive purview of a
few big companies. Then Uber came along made it such that anyone with a car
could be a taxi driver. Uber was eventually booted out and replaced by Grab in
Southeast Asia but the point remained – everyone with a car was suddenly giving
rides. Metered taxis were forced to get creative because the ride hailing platforms
were actually competing with them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The same thing happened in the telco market. Along
came Starhub and M1 and before you knew it, SingTel, the elephant of the market
was forced to cut prices (especially on long distance calls) and look beyond
Singapore for growth. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I am very sure that there are plenty of people
yearning for an alternative to the bus and MRT. You just need to let entrepreneurs
fill this niche. A guy with a lorry can become a bus operator of sorts. Just figure
out a route and I’m sure enough people will be willing to cram onto a lorry to
get from the housing estates and head to say the centre of town for half the
cost of a standard bus ride.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I’ve sat in the back of lorries. Happens when I used
to hitch a ride with the guys helping me move things. When I was married to Gina,
we’d ride in the back of my then father-in-law’s lorry, which he would use for
egg delivery. It was one of my few happy memories of that period.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So, let’s remember that we once used to move around
the way foreign workers move around. Let’s see if we can return to that era and
think of how happy our local population would be. <o:p></o:p></span></p>Tang Lihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13936895039543026551noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22044652.post-72772437919640865752024-03-09T14:34:00.001+08:002024-03-09T14:34:04.177+08:00“You Do Believe in God; But Never Listen to Him”<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I had to do a day trip to Dubai on Wednesday, which
meant that I had to sit on a plane for several hours. Since I left on the
morning flight, I thought I would make the most of the inflight entertainment
system and went on a movie binge all the way up to Dubai.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 6.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">One of the gems in this movie binge was a Bollywood
flick called “Thank God,” which tells the story of Ayan Kapoor, an arrogant
debt-fueled businessman who finds himself in limbo after a car accident. He
meets the characters of the spiritual realm who involve him in a game show
where the “sins” of life are played with him. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 6.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">One of the best scenes comes when the CG the game show
host gets a call from Lord Hanuman (the Hindu Monkey God and the good the main
character is a devotee of.) The main character assumes that “his God” is
getting him off the hook because he’s been making plenty of offerings, only to
find that he gets drenched and sweets get stuffed into his mouth and he finds
out that “His God” is “p****ed off with him.” CG explains to him that “You do
believe in God: But Never Listen to him,” and then explains that God is not
interested in your offerings and rituals but in your humanity. It turns out
that in his effort to prove his devotion to Lord Hanuman by buying offerings,
he p****es on a beggar and her grandson, which leads to her death and the
abandonment of the child.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 6.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-sgnhYJGOA">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-sgnhYJGOA</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 6.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 6.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4lzUlSoP3ubv2-DFI8IPfzoKp7b_ffwBwDWi5o73kag7dWMOXgkUM5HF8j5mbsbtGSPifwt3dKz1SfrDU2_q1zdfeR27a_wFpT6EDJxW81CUeCN5b6ozyq36UyOKpnK-iybwRhAU1glkD14642hbNUzBpjvfukJ-euyILFy3thipw7DaRiUNzKg/s1904/Thank%20God.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="771" data-original-width="1904" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4lzUlSoP3ubv2-DFI8IPfzoKp7b_ffwBwDWi5o73kag7dWMOXgkUM5HF8j5mbsbtGSPifwt3dKz1SfrDU2_q1zdfeR27a_wFpT6EDJxW81CUeCN5b6ozyq36UyOKpnK-iybwRhAU1glkD14642hbNUzBpjvfukJ-euyILFy3thipw7DaRiUNzKg/w607-h247/Thank%20God.PNG" width="607" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 6.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu6CgqoY-F6DbdrJSM6oDZJLnyHH4zpUKPx3Q0CahECWvy6UoEnIZoDhpjE-qoCEAUtDEgk4wjthejx2-RhTuo4nq8IRSqNGWRqSpxwHgTkk4tt2SHhw_yg2gfLqONrf-G7w2Cw-RLuYMRVZAidnUEFDvh23C_6sAZYbTvaT8jcJO5NUylIveAqw/s1887/You%20Never%20Listened%20to%20Him.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="764" data-original-width="1887" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu6CgqoY-F6DbdrJSM6oDZJLnyHH4zpUKPx3Q0CahECWvy6UoEnIZoDhpjE-qoCEAUtDEgk4wjthejx2-RhTuo4nq8IRSqNGWRqSpxwHgTkk4tt2SHhw_yg2gfLqONrf-G7w2Cw-RLuYMRVZAidnUEFDvh23C_6sAZYbTvaT8jcJO5NUylIveAqw/w617-h250/You%20Never%20Listened%20to%20Him.PNG" width="617" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 6.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMuL0MYWrQvauXtW-8LdSQIEKdOx5yFo4wOWNcv8FHePkzmvdQOAH27aFYXSipOC9JjDDe29AygITG0Z_g5R54N-EgVDgP-robz3OsK0_ufBTViReUrXWLVXzJfiMcMH3C7ljtm97Uf5peY3U5Opm1XSoqsMmK8pvDmwK9VfPAZgU5FuyX6lm8nQ/s1906/Thank%20God%20Garland.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="839" data-original-width="1906" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMuL0MYWrQvauXtW-8LdSQIEKdOx5yFo4wOWNcv8FHePkzmvdQOAH27aFYXSipOC9JjDDe29AygITG0Z_g5R54N-EgVDgP-robz3OsK0_ufBTViReUrXWLVXzJfiMcMH3C7ljtm97Uf5peY3U5Opm1XSoqsMmK8pvDmwK9VfPAZgU5FuyX6lm8nQ/w625-h275/Thank%20God%20Garland.PNG" width="625" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 6.0pt;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 6.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">That line stuck with me because we live in an age
where there are many distractions from the things that are important to us. In
human relationships this usually comes into the form of the people we spend
time with. Many of us chase those with “power” and “money” or both because we
believe it helps us get ahead. However, we end up becoming so busy trying to be
around money and power that we neglect the people who really matter and forget
our real friends in our quest for wealthy friends.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 6.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In the spiritual realm, it often comes in the form of
an obsession with rituals. Regardless of religion, you find people get focused
on the rituals and motions of the faith they practice. Payer becomes like a transaction
where you ask the almighty for some magic pill to make your problems go away in
return for your good behavior.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 6.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">However, as just about every religious text known to
man points out – the almighty is interested in what’s inside you rather than
what you try and show on the outside. In the Christian Gospels for example,
Jesus talks about the “Parable of the Widow’s Mite” and teaches us that God
values the poor widow’s mite more than he does the vastly superior number of
coins donated by rich merchants.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 6.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Even if you discount the “illogical” nature of faith,
there is a logic there. Why would a higher power be interested in our earthly
things like money and offerings when they could get whatever they wanted with a
simple thought? If anything, a higher would probably prefer us to be “nicer”
people to each other. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 6.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What is the point of going to a church, temple or
mosque on a daily basis and proclaiming your faith and devotion to the almighty
when the moment you leave, you promptly kick the poor tissue paper seller in
the face and try and get her arrested for disturbing your day?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 6.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">While I can’t claim to speak for the Almighty, I
suspect the Almighty would prefer it if people spent more time raising up their
communities instead of trying to out pray each other. I think of the Catholic
Priest who told his congregation that “It is not in the beauty of our liturgy or
the buildings but in our compassion.” I think of the Muslim driver who said “Islam
is not the first religion of man – the first religion is Salaam – shake hands
and make friends that is the first religion.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 6.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I am not disputing the importance of faith and the
rituals. Prayer is a wonderful source of solace and there are times when “talking
to” the Almighty helps provide one with the fortitude to get through tough
times. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, rituals without action are
pointless and prayers need to be backed by sincerity. As said in the movie, we’re
so used to trying to show we believe, we forget to listen to the message. <o:p></o:p></span></p>Tang Lihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13936895039543026551noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22044652.post-16469919033470223482024-03-08T17:41:00.004+08:002024-03-08T17:41:36.452+08:00Doing the Right Thing doesn’t Really Pay?<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">At the end
of last month, I had the honour of being invited to a seminar conducted by
Rajah & Tann, one of the larger local law firms. The seminar was around the
topic of knowing your customer and the perils of money laundering and terrorism
financing. It was clear from the presentation that Singapore has a very comprehensive
set of laws to deal with “doggy money.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpI3vYAvRKY_w5YrbP6XpyG8Db9vthXH6YUpHf79tcstUvxana68hHd7WorpmSL66KNwEaSowbhckk_gBjkhA7GpTh88Gv0Kd_tX53OtA_PYjU-_xZ0V0KA6KEeeTqNx9b3LY_zz8d9ynQEkNcbpeXkRFY6teS0I0H29NpjYajXghn6g3IKw9FhA/s4032/IMG_9635.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="408" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpI3vYAvRKY_w5YrbP6XpyG8Db9vthXH6YUpHf79tcstUvxana68hHd7WorpmSL66KNwEaSowbhckk_gBjkhA7GpTh88Gv0Kd_tX53OtA_PYjU-_xZ0V0KA6KEeeTqNx9b3LY_zz8d9ynQEkNcbpeXkRFY6teS0I0H29NpjYajXghn6g3IKw9FhA/w544-h408/IMG_9635.HEIC" width="544" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span>If you were
to look at the set of laws dealing with things like money laundering and
terrorism financing, you will be undauntedly impressed by the legal tools in
which the government has given itself to catch the bad guys. You will also
admire the fact that the various sets of laws place responsibility on getting
things right where it should be – on senior management.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">There is, however,
one slight flaw to our legal system when it comes to financial nasties. It
assumes that people on the top are automatically responsible and decent people who
will always be responsible. Hence, the trick to making everything work like clockwork
is make senior management responsible for everything.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">There is
one slight fallacy with this. This situation only existed in the wettest dreams
of Confucius. While it does take a lot of positive qualities for someone to get
to a high level, being “always moral,” simply isn’t one of them and we need to
remember that the law in practice and the law as it is written are not necessarily
the same thing. You can have all the laws in the world but if there’s no
ability to detect and enforce those laws, then the laws are pointless.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In theory,
Singapore law states that if an employee knows his or her employer is guilty of
something or other, they have a legal obligation to report it. However, let’s
be honest, how many of us would be willing to report the source of our livelihood
to the authorities when there is a risk of losing your job and never being
hired and the potential for vengeance from an employer who may get acquitted whereas
you only have the reward of knowing you did the “right thing”? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Let’s look
at one of the most famous “whistleblowers” in recent years – Lieutenant Colonel
(LTC) Alexander Vindman, who famously reported his “Commander-in-Chief,” then
President Trump for trying to shake down Ukrainian President Zelensky into
conducting an investigation into Hunter Biden.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What was
LTC Vindman’s reward? The President Trump was acquitted in the Senate Trial and
took no time in disposing of everyone who got him impeached. LTC Vindman, a
decorated war hero was labeled “insubordinate” by his “Commander-in-Chief,” not
something which any military officer wants to be known for. The man fought for
his country and has been rewarded with the hatred of a good percentage of it:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://news.am/eng/news/559243.html">https://news.am/eng/news/559243.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDDlgyX_zejOpwCNy4s1EPvz13Oo0nMxaf4HEOrTkNRQW0bgQA1jZypuSHwHcq_e08O-zQgGW9pcaBDMvH_hNOXuuf2DhSCB-slDIw-H4desU-3mnV3okOGRRRf9xyrrUKypOxl4Hmuv0C-89HPdUTba6SgK2WTiFHaAX4fqXzv54co7o7naHqjw/s1231/Vindman%20Insubordinate.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="654" data-original-width="1231" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDDlgyX_zejOpwCNy4s1EPvz13Oo0nMxaf4HEOrTkNRQW0bgQA1jZypuSHwHcq_e08O-zQgGW9pcaBDMvH_hNOXuuf2DhSCB-slDIw-H4desU-3mnV3okOGRRRf9xyrrUKypOxl4Hmuv0C-89HPdUTba6SgK2WTiFHaAX4fqXzv54co7o7naHqjw/w564-h300/Vindman%20Insubordinate.PNG" width="564" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span>Sure, LTC
Vindman has now gotten himself a new career as a celebrity of sorts. However,
let’s remember that this happened in America which has laws and rewards for whistleblowers:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5azzC0ZS9yM">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5azzC0ZS9yM</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZDpFlrN6Hi1Y_0phnD-4_17A5bZUw2AUPf3lANg-gpbtScj7lxb9hUQjfES68pPXCaoO7UDbuxCLAFBvEQ4A83nroWRjEBLft-sPA_JGUZVpqksyar7iUJJD97R4SVUrxt4-mP11w8n-6SD9ZlHG0DYtzeT-dgCgNZbBie6h9xrz_cV-ArKNm7w/s1917/Vindman%20truth.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="848" data-original-width="1917" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZDpFlrN6Hi1Y_0phnD-4_17A5bZUw2AUPf3lANg-gpbtScj7lxb9hUQjfES68pPXCaoO7UDbuxCLAFBvEQ4A83nroWRjEBLft-sPA_JGUZVpqksyar7iUJJD97R4SVUrxt4-mP11w8n-6SD9ZlHG0DYtzeT-dgCgNZbBie6h9xrz_cV-ArKNm7w/w603-h267/Vindman%20truth.PNG" width="603" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span>At the time
of writing, America is the only major economy that rewards whistleblowing. A
good portion of the EU economies do not have strong laws protecting
whistleblowers let alone having a reward program, specifically in the financial
sector.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When I
attended an International Fraud Group (IFG) conference in November of last
year, the question of whether more countries should implement a whistleblower
reward program along the American model. The general consensus was no. The Eastern
Europeans had scars of the Soviet era and argued that nobody wanted to be know
as the “informant” and a lot of the attendees from the developed world argued
that it would incentivize frivolous information. Only the boss of an NGO that deals
with human trafficking argued that whistleblowing was necessary to reduce human
suffering. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This
sentiment wasn’t particular to the group. </span>The Bank of England’s
Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority, henceforth
(FiCA & PRA’s), writes in a note for a UK Parliament Committee that “There
is as yet no empirical evidence of incentives leading to an increase in the number
or quality of disclosures received by regulators” (PRA and FiCA 2014, p.2,
italics in original).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now, if this is the sentiment of regulators in the “democratic
Western,” world, what can be said of Asian countries where the culture remains
focused on the importance of the “patriarch.” <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Going against “your boss” or the person who has power over
you and in cultures where authority figures are venerated, its even more difficult.
However, the fact remains that you’re not going to get fraud punished if you don’t
get it reported and you’re not going to get it reported if people are fearful
of doing so. Going against someone who has the power of an organisation involves
serious risk. Let’s face it, one can say “it’s only money,” but its different
story when it means you can’t feed yourself or look out for your family.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">One might event ague that whistleblowing is not necessary or
that it encourages “frivolous” complaints. However, if you look at the UK where
there is a system of rewarding whistleblowing in the health care sector, it was
found that 41 percent of fraud causes were detected by employees. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Whistleblowing or getting people who are under the power of
others to report crimes is good for the system. While government’s might be hesitant
to get involved, there are at least private sector companies willing to step
in. One example is <a href="https://omnibridgeway.com/litigation-funding/dispute-funding/whistleblower">Omni Bridgeway</a>, a litigation funder, which has argued that
whistleblowing takes “courage”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvIVQd5anOD0QqqPHx5_gqP0t4413Cpwv3NrToW8lA3TKtWsuaxoqbLEq0hSlqtlsFRun43qZZUNgWpFLoHKCtIPckTICdSMl7Ismf4eKnewEezPZrmgsuhg20e_k0sMygqui1uO65DnCU6GCL6v4z7Y9lFGs_SRyTx8gzgznAg52MajGFChubSg/s751/Whilstle%20Blower%20Courage.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="751" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvIVQd5anOD0QqqPHx5_gqP0t4413Cpwv3NrToW8lA3TKtWsuaxoqbLEq0hSlqtlsFRun43qZZUNgWpFLoHKCtIPckTICdSMl7Ismf4eKnewEezPZrmgsuhg20e_k0sMygqui1uO65DnCU6GCL6v4z7Y9lFGs_SRyTx8gzgznAg52MajGFChubSg/w548-h370/Whilstle%20Blower%20Courage.PNG" width="548" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">It also understands that being a whistleblower means putting
yourself in financial harm’s way.</span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxPDWACSd0mnvIo4JFgi5lofd2WMeFG0d4ixUWx_9p_ibPVR_XfATw0QWx2J8k6jvBljuJ-FLgSJukB6SK5IyqIxuziGHRMtpZate6lvhyphenhyphenuU7KFIQdFvg28kmkBKnQxfeXvkSW3Z_LZ4apjmXtohKWuCD2BBbTpYcfQZCEbgV1UQ3mXd5jPz2X7Q/s751/Whilstle%20Blower%20Courage.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="751" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxPDWACSd0mnvIo4JFgi5lofd2WMeFG0d4ixUWx_9p_ibPVR_XfATw0QWx2J8k6jvBljuJ-FLgSJukB6SK5IyqIxuziGHRMtpZate6lvhyphenhyphenuU7KFIQdFvg28kmkBKnQxfeXvkSW3Z_LZ4apjmXtohKWuCD2BBbTpYcfQZCEbgV1UQ3mXd5jPz2X7Q/w555-h374/Whilstle%20Blower%20Courage.PNG" width="555" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">While <a href="https://omnibridgeway.com/litigation-funding/dispute-funding/whistleblower">Omni Bridgeway </a>does have a system that funds whistleblowing
suites, it only offers the service in the US market, where whistleblowing has
financial rewards. Would Omni Bridgeway or companies like Omni Bridgeway be
allowed to work in other markets? Just because governments may be hesitant to
take on rewarding whistleblowers, there’s no reason why they can’t encourage
the private sector to step in.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Whistle blowing takes courage but it’s shown that it is an
essential part in combating things like corruption, money laundering and
terrorist financing. These are things that societies need to deal with if they
are to grow in every sense of the word. Isn’t it time we stop talking about
combating financial crimes and lauding people’s courage and actually protect
and reward people for doing the right thing and being serious about combating
crime? <o:p></o:p></p>Tang Lihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13936895039543026551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22044652.post-78298402829838702352024-03-05T00:53:00.005+08:002024-03-05T00:53:44.279+08:00Giving Under Siege<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Went to a talk by the Ukrainian Ambassador to
Singapore, Her Excellency (HE) Ms. <a href="https://singapore.mfa.gov.ua/en/governance/katerina-zelenko">Kateryna Zelenko</a> at <a href="https://www.duanemorris.com/offices/singapore.html">Duane Morris &
Selvam LLP</a>. The talk centered two years into the war between Russia and
Ukraine.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022
was what you could call a pivotal moment in world history. This was what you
could call the first invasion of a sovereign state by another on European soil
since the Second World War. For the first time since 1991, when the Soviet
Union collapsed, we actually had world powers looking at a conflict and helping
“by proxy” rather than getting involved.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">However, thanks to the Israeli invasion of the Gaza
strip, the global focus and the questions about international law have
inevitably moved from Ukraine to the Middle East. However, whilst the focus of
global attention may have shifted from Ukraine to the Middle East since October
2023, the key issues that the world faces today haven’t gone away and they’re
particularly visible in the war in Ukraine.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The key issue that the war in Ukraine and the war in
the Middle East has thrown up, is the question of food security. The need to
eat is an equalizer between social classes and ethnicities. While everyone is busy
talking about the latest development in this and that when it comes to growing
the economy, the reality is that the most basic industry and the backbone of
any society is ultimately food production. Simply put – no point having a lot of
money if there’s no food.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So, it goes without saying that in war situation where
one party is trying to annihilate the other, the first thing they will do is to
try and remove the ability of the other party to feed itself. One of the key
issues of the Israeli invasion of Gaza is the fact that people in Gaza no
longer have the ability to feed themselves. The same is true in Ukraine, where
the Russians have attacked Ukraine’s ability to feed itself:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVGmRgsAVYsTrxzHxd0yGiLdQlxQRvrQhN-Qz5J_oG5gr5T7StwZr3uksTdkqSzeRhacddRdEHy3AynIGtu_yhydwpaH7T5gMahpQYTvioyn7I5t_3w7t8E_UehJB-husFSKaYeasJciEYmPu-WqABjEGAJcqvCOGoJbyOX9pYxiOP9V6P0DsfEg/s4032/IMG_9781.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="659" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVGmRgsAVYsTrxzHxd0yGiLdQlxQRvrQhN-Qz5J_oG5gr5T7StwZr3uksTdkqSzeRhacddRdEHy3AynIGtu_yhydwpaH7T5gMahpQYTvioyn7I5t_3w7t8E_UehJB-husFSKaYeasJciEYmPu-WqABjEGAJcqvCOGoJbyOX9pYxiOP9V6P0DsfEg/w494-h659/IMG_9781.HEIC" width="494" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">There is a background to Ukraine and agriculture. The country
is famously fertile and it was known as the “breadbasket” of both the Czarist
Empire and the Soviet Union. According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), the Ukraine
was the in the top five global for exporting sunflower oil, corn and wheat in
2021:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/07/ukraine-s-food-exports-by-the-numbers/">https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/07/ukraine-s-food-exports-by-the-numbers/</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgueobqReLm_u-troink7kTcvLVHxxmRxM1SccegVgd0-BGgyFKl9hhnKzchr-elOGeRnNfDOrY-dp7hlhgmDtLOn7Csk9bj5XMCHqAJ0h2eDg-KDtCuknhPgqJDr2xXsa0iY3f4lS9WzL6KABuORtMRc1bvYWeFZ4CB9GcCdkYgvOLgpYQu0palA/s1400/Ukraine%20Food%20exports_WEF.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1400" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgueobqReLm_u-troink7kTcvLVHxxmRxM1SccegVgd0-BGgyFKl9hhnKzchr-elOGeRnNfDOrY-dp7hlhgmDtLOn7Csk9bj5XMCHqAJ0h2eDg-KDtCuknhPgqJDr2xXsa0iY3f4lS9WzL6KABuORtMRc1bvYWeFZ4CB9GcCdkYgvOLgpYQu0palA/w590-h380/Ukraine%20Food%20exports_WEF.PNG" width="590" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Again, agriculture tends to get overlooked when we
talk about the industries of the future. However, the importance of agriculture
to a society and an economy becomes apparent when the industry is no longer
there. Hence, if you look at history of conquest, you will notice that one of
the first things an invader does is to burn the farms in order to make them unusable.
Once the farms are out, there are no crops and there’s no food.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So, what have the Ukrainians done. It was a surprise
to find out that the Ukraine had a program called “Grain from Ukraine,” which was
started in November 2022, or over ten months after the Russians invaded. The
idea behind “Grain from Ukraine” is for the countries donating to the Ukraine
to bring Ukrainian grain and send it to the parts of the world that need it. Details
on the “Grain from Ukraine” program can be found in the following URL:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://mfa.gov.ua/en/grain-ukraine">https://mfa.gov.ua/en/grain-ukraine</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdm9KbWOm2_UGb0g1sHJdMWlEaX0lrB3EG6QZqbiUXj2B1tdsg0JMi7BgrOHgdn8PLIVjiTZw7gmjEDe9CzEZyM6Y4P9aQnnMv0dIbmmxjshNnBGxOF0YGFRpiHO8z9EgoTozNFnb_XS3vSf2qDjw27f5oxhp9U2I5w8QERmDSRu3MC1CKl1gQtA/s4032/Kat%201.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="581" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdm9KbWOm2_UGb0g1sHJdMWlEaX0lrB3EG6QZqbiUXj2B1tdsg0JMi7BgrOHgdn8PLIVjiTZw7gmjEDe9CzEZyM6Y4P9aQnnMv0dIbmmxjshNnBGxOF0YGFRpiHO8z9EgoTozNFnb_XS3vSf2qDjw27f5oxhp9U2I5w8QERmDSRu3MC1CKl1gQtA/w436-h581/Kat%201.HEIC" width="436" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In a way, you could say the idea of a country that is
under invasion by a larger power giving away its grain to be insane. One might
argue that the Ukrainians should be doing everything to keep their grain to
themselves.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">However, you could also argue that this is strategically
brilliant. Work on the understanding that countries only help out when they have
an interest to do so. By getting donor countries to export Ukrainian grain to
the “needy” parts of the world, Ukraine is reminding the world why it should
have an interest in helping the Ukrainians keep Ukraine, Ukrainian. This is a
country that plays an important part in global food security. Ukraine is
telling the world that it tries to use its agriculture power to keep the food
flowing and that we want a reliable partner in the global food supply chain
rather than one who could happily blackmail the rest of us if he had control
over so much of the world’s grain production. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Let’s face it, Ukraine has held out for so long
because its had help. Russia is the vastly larger power and Ukraine does need all
the help it can get. In the initial stages of the war, there were a lot of
emotional reasons to support Ukraine. However, when the war in Gaza started,
the emotions turned to the Middle East. However, when the “Grain from Ukraine”
program, there is a very rational reason for outsiders to ensure that the
Ukraine is able to hold its own and keep control of its vast agricultural production.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Being a “good guy” particularly when you’re not in the
best position to do anything for yourself let alone the rest of the world is
tough. However, the Ukrainians might have just proven that doing good whilst they
are under siege is not just morally correct but smart. The rest of us can learn
from that. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Tang Lihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13936895039543026551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22044652.post-18416101853746660632024-03-03T20:20:00.003+08:002024-03-03T20:20:14.082+08:00The World is Big Enough<p> <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">One of the things that I remember most about starting
out was being asked if I was interested in trying to write for the Today
Newspaper. The person who asked me, was a senior writer in the Straits Times
and she made the suggestion when I went to visit her in her office. She had to
make this offer in hushed tones.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">There was a reason for this. Back in the days when
there was “media competition,” the top management of both media houses (SPH and
MediaCorp) took the competition personally. The team that went to the Today
Newspaper were from The New Paper and considered “traitors” to the management
of SPH. The same was true for those who went from MediaCorp TV to help set up
SPH MediaWorks. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I found this attitude strange. I had grown up in the
UK where business and political competition were a fact of life. Sure,
companies would “compete” and try and come up with things to win consumers over
and to keep good staff. However, I never heard the phrase “too small for competition”
until I moved back to Singapore nor had I heard of top management taking it
personally when staff left to join a competitor.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">However, as life required me to come up against the
political system more frequently, it became clear where this attitude amongst
out top business people came from. In the 2006 election, we got the hear the
argument that Singapore was too small to support a two-party system. To anyone
outside Singapore, this is a strange idea to put forth, especially when it
seems like the governing party in question has done a decent enough job. Why would
an institution in a position of strength be so keen to try to convince people that
natural laws did not apply to it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In fairness, this isn’t something that is particularly
unique to the PAP or Singapore. If you listen to American politicians talk
about China, you’ll notice that the superpower has developed something of a weird
fascination with the aspiring one. Take the following from two diplomats:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkIbVC8UIeC4BGJ8y29N03aVBIFpiZdpjkVW2weSX1QGqS_0CeIjpDRuBV_StWLy9CUu3hGO9z5X8m85u5_54ixTfqHGevfl1bw8ZwPZ0xLVOSolQcCQhpDnmt5o897zy5dtBbHC2qsRwbY4gey-6hK4iKkWrbP-GLFp7eeq03YQUhxeF04x-gIA/s2688/IMG_9726.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2688" data-original-width="1242" height="671" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkIbVC8UIeC4BGJ8y29N03aVBIFpiZdpjkVW2weSX1QGqS_0CeIjpDRuBV_StWLy9CUu3hGO9z5X8m85u5_54ixTfqHGevfl1bw8ZwPZ0xLVOSolQcCQhpDnmt5o897zy5dtBbHC2qsRwbY4gey-6hK4iKkWrbP-GLFp7eeq03YQUhxeF04x-gIA/w310-h671/IMG_9726.PNG" width="310" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Sure, the People’s Republic of China does not have a
good record of accepting competition to its power. The Chinese Communist Party,
particularly under Xi Jinping has become even more monopolistic in its attitude
to power. However, in this case, the Chinese have a point. The world is large
enough for America and China and while China’s economic rise has been
impressive, the fact remains, the average American remains richer than the average
Chinese and whilst China’s military has been “modernizing,” it’s been modernizing
from the 1950s whilst the American military is preparing for the space age.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So, here’s the reality of life – no one is above the
laws of competition. If you study nature, you’ll notice that animal and plant
species are designed to compete and everyone in the eco-system has a purpose.
The same is true for business and politics. The dominant species only remains
dominant as long as it remains strong and has enough food. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In the case business and political economic systems,
its clear that the dominant beast are dominant as long as they give the market
what it wants or they create markets for their products and services. The
problem only steps in when the dominant beast starts to believe that its position
of dominance is “God-given.” Again, the story of Singapore’s media giants is
instructive. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">SPH and MediaCorp went to the government and got the
government to restore their monopolies. Everyone seemed happy and secure and the
top management spent their time gripping on each other’s platforms about whether
readership or viewership was better. What nobody noticed was the fact that the
general public got bored with both of them and turned to the internet and a host
of “alternative” sites run by people who were motivated by things other than
money. The advertisers who were paying the media monopolies noticed it to and
moved their money accordingly. Revenue figures dropped and eventually, SPH, a
company that that effectively had a license to print money ended up becoming a “non-profit”
dependent on government handouts.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Competition exists to keep everyone on their toes. If
you look at nature, you’ll notice that even the biggest animals have to stay on
their toes or they become a meal for predators. No animal gets the idea that its
survival, particularly at the top is a given. So, human institutions need to
understand the same is true for them. A dominant player is there because it
serves the market rather than being served by the market. Top nations, top
companies, top political parties and so on need to remember that they are
servants to ordinary folk rather than the other way round. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Tang Lihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13936895039543026551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22044652.post-67081594560131082482024-03-01T14:03:00.010+08:002024-03-01T14:06:06.156+08:00Let’s Share the Load<p> <span face="Arial, sans-serif">Had the honour of attending a breakfast meeting hosted
by the <a href="https://www.irishchamber.com.sg/">Irish Chamber of Commerce </a>this morning, which was in celebration of
International Woman’s Day. The speakers on the panel, were a group of high-powered
women, led by the <a href="https://www.ireland.ie/en/singapore/embassy/">Irish Ambassador to Singapore, Ms. Sarah McGrath.</a> The panelist
shared their thoughts on gender equality and the value that it provided
organisations. Personal stories were shared and it was on the whole and
enjoyable event.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifI3BihqeNEFS6XJZ2yBs-ufv9mInl6JtfeGiVXOEV1wcxdpNjtDcWwAIafxtQPyoXEAuwcGWGKL4KrPFHftaWZJrlbYJ5vIYpwqEUcFncmbGcVoclN4-us15MqnQ8XEYDv3lD4IwmqYhuTMKiUaZHy3Fzf1WaNVm12DIO0peLgod-BOw0_qrW2Q/s4032/Irish%20Chamber%20Breakfast.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifI3BihqeNEFS6XJZ2yBs-ufv9mInl6JtfeGiVXOEV1wcxdpNjtDcWwAIafxtQPyoXEAuwcGWGKL4KrPFHftaWZJrlbYJ5vIYpwqEUcFncmbGcVoclN4-us15MqnQ8XEYDv3lD4IwmqYhuTMKiUaZHy3Fzf1WaNVm12DIO0peLgod-BOw0_qrW2Q/w558-h418/Irish%20Chamber%20Breakfast.HEIC" width="558" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">However, there was one topic that got missed out –
namely the fact that one of the worst proponents against gender equality are
women themselves. Token women in positions of power tend to be like all other
tokens – keen to preserve their status as the lone one in power and thus work
against “their own kind.” The second group of culprits, particularly on the
Asian continent, who work actively against gender equality are mothers, who give
everything to make life for their sons easy whilst expecting their daughters to
slave like dogs.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">This point was brought home during my first marriage
when my ex-wife was stunned that I knew how to turn on the stove and wash
dishes. Her younger brother, who while brilliant academically was totally
incapable of turning around and putting the wrapper of his McDonald’s take away
in the bin. The reason was simple, my former mother-in-law had made sure that
as long as her son was in the house, he’d never need to lift a finger to do
anything resembling housework.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">This was not a “one-off” freak. As life progressed, I’ve
found that this isn’t limited to Singapore. I once met a Vietnamese lady who had
a small massage parlour. She was earning money and sending it back home. However,
the money she was sending back home was used to support the tobacco and alcohol
habits of her brothers. So, in an effort to see her hard-earned money put to
good use, she stopped giving money to her brothers and would give money to her
mother. However, she ended up cutting off the money to her mother for one
simple reason. Her mother would donate every penny she was sending to her
brothers who would then keep the booze and tobacco shops in business. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">As expected, this “cultural” preference for boys over
girls that is enforced by well meaning-mothers has had predictable results. You
get capable women and boys who remain boys for the rest of their lives and
remain gloriously unable to tie their shoe laces without their mothers. I think
of my Padawan whose CV was barely legible. His sister, by contrast, is the wet
dream of every Singaporean parent. She’s top of her class in NUS and the big
company that she interned in offered her a job at twice the national average
salary. I asked him how the hell did things turn out that way. His told me that
he is a “pampered” child. As the first and only grandson, his grandparents
forbade his father from getting him to do anything. As he admitted “I am very
weak,” and it reached the point that I could only advise him to stay healthy
and handsome because that was the main thing going for him. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I don’t believe I am the only clown who has met a
generation of hopeless mummy’s boys who make foreigners vital to the economy.
Gender inequality has a cost to it in that it clearly weakens one sex over
another. The importance of solving gender inequality has never been more
pressing and it needs to start at the root cause – the way in which parents,
specifically mothers pamper their sons at the expense of their daughters. You
can have the most beautiful policies in the world but unless you get things
settled at the root of the problem, you will only have a group of incapable
boy-children that need to be supported by their mothers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Thankfully there have been efforts made to solve this
at the root cause. One of the best advertising campaigns that I can think of
was from <a href="https://www.ariel.in/en-in">Ariel </a>which ran a campaign in India. The campaign was called “Share
the load together. “One of the ads involved a marriage that was dissolving because
after years of having to earn a living and look after the household, the wife
had reached the point of “enough.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=youeaZyavg0">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=youeaZyavg0</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkc8lv3rs5piSNWrQ7t_GbURC9czmtc3VrQpj3Bp8zs_zLYUbvYVc7X_A8Hh8CpIYjSufB_LPwgU8vf8aSoM6Sdmotvqd4EUxWXIgaV_isVn-Bx_w8QNFHkzbrbYwQU6fB-UBSabQySwwIkyyBue8_sLEHDYPNHiWegubLV0bF3I4xDNVXYT2Rmw/s1752/Took%20her%20for%20granted.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="862" data-original-width="1752" height="337" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkc8lv3rs5piSNWrQ7t_GbURC9czmtc3VrQpj3Bp8zs_zLYUbvYVc7X_A8Hh8CpIYjSufB_LPwgU8vf8aSoM6Sdmotvqd4EUxWXIgaV_isVn-Bx_w8QNFHkzbrbYwQU6fB-UBSabQySwwIkyyBue8_sLEHDYPNHiWegubLV0bF3I4xDNVXYT2Rmw/w686-h337/Took%20her%20for%20granted.PNG" width="686" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif">There was an even more significant ad, which involved
a mother realising the error of her ways when she realised her daughter had to
give up her job because she had been married off to a husband who did not know
how to do housework and promptly gets her son to do his own laundry.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QDlv8kfwIM">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QDlv8kfwIM</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7um1kFXgLM_cP7_8N72mLKcxOtBpZe7KAWFFx7yM-tMg7O5CIJAvdSA6Y_1pS4yBwK7I-nihLW1ZMIUtcM08Q6iCDTIPB2sb5Hyw3Up484jBHYlzinU-1zfAAL5i6Ej1BMd8HWb31DcLTOz1mwVPbZpf54dwSuZbpRFvmzMxV74VqAKXEBwVEpg/s1880/Share%20the%20Load%20Mother%20and%20Son%20.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="820" data-original-width="1880" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7um1kFXgLM_cP7_8N72mLKcxOtBpZe7KAWFFx7yM-tMg7O5CIJAvdSA6Y_1pS4yBwK7I-nihLW1ZMIUtcM08Q6iCDTIPB2sb5Hyw3Up484jBHYlzinU-1zfAAL5i6Ej1BMd8HWb31DcLTOz1mwVPbZpf54dwSuZbpRFvmzMxV74VqAKXEBwVEpg/w647-h283/Share%20the%20Load%20Mother%20and%20Son%20.jpg" width="647" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">The message in this campaign was clear. It made the
point that gender bias is bad and that parents who propagate this end up doing
more harm than good. You will only succeed in tackling gender inequality when
you start focusing on homes.</span></p>Tang Lihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13936895039543026551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22044652.post-84762085729341812512024-02-27T12:43:00.005+08:002024-02-27T12:43:28.072+08:00Is Letting People Think for Themselves a Bad Thing?<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The late Lee Kuan Yew was without doubt an
extraordinary person. Say what you like about the late Mr. Lee but on the whole,
he did good for Singapore. Sure, I have my grouses about Singapore and how life
has become expensive. However, as one Dutchman said to me “Where else is there.”
If you think about it objectively, Lee Kuan Yew got most things right and I
will never tire of saying this but Singapore is pretty much what any city or
country should be – clean, green and rich. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">However, while Mr. Lee was undoubtedly an extraordinary
leader, he developed what one could call a glaring flaw. In his later years as
a consultant to nations, he developed a philosophical aversion to natural law –
namely an aversion to the laws of natural selection. He seemed to genuinely
believe that the system he created, which was all about the perpetual rule of
an “intelligentsia” concentrated around his family (both his actual family and
political party) was the best possible system for Singapore and would last in
perpetuity. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The man who forged a nation where citizens pledged to “build
a democratic society, based on justice and equality” ended up arguing that
Singapore would be undone by a “two-party” system and while Mr. Lee had the
wisdom to know when to curb himself (let’s remember he voluntarily stepped
aside and made his successors remember to let him come to them), this wasn’t necessarily
the case with the people after him. Whilst Singapore’s political system seems
to continue to deliver the proverbial goodies, one cannot help but feel that
there is a genuine belief in the elites that they have received the “mandate of
heaven” to be where they are. I mean, which other “free-market” capitalist society
actually has business leaders saying “the market is too small for competition.”
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYBWnqRq-70u3pG57tMvYkDNeF2vtDFkopJnkmHvcqlh4BUuIlOpZcs9_ak9WDJLvTD6Er_zH924q3MzIulxHbUn-g7npvHfKtgg0fEuDwTbFaKUz_VI_jG7kHSfCYgKIJAPODt-Pw1LTlmq_Qbsk3Ht0hOyNwKpUaWbMhEGaBDISPKhDWvtv_ag/s2688/IMG_9572.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2688" data-original-width="1242" height="635" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYBWnqRq-70u3pG57tMvYkDNeF2vtDFkopJnkmHvcqlh4BUuIlOpZcs9_ak9WDJLvTD6Er_zH924q3MzIulxHbUn-g7npvHfKtgg0fEuDwTbFaKUz_VI_jG7kHSfCYgKIJAPODt-Pw1LTlmq_Qbsk3Ht0hOyNwKpUaWbMhEGaBDISPKhDWvtv_ag/w294-h635/IMG_9572.PNG" width="294" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif">Singapore’s success made Mr. Lee the choice consultant
of developing nations. He was particularly liked by the People’s Republic of
China. Thanks to Mr. Lee, autocrats of the world found an example that proved
that you could keep an iron grip on power and still grow the economy. It’s
particularly noticeable when you talk about the Asian giants. While you get a
number of Indians complaining about China being nasty, you will undoubtedly get
another group (mostly business people) talking about how India should learn
from China’s ability to get things in order. India’s Prime Minister, Narendra
Modi is known to be an admirer of Mr. Lee Kuan Yew and attended his funeral.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So, was Mr. Lee, right? Is an iron grip on power
better for the economy than letting people do what they want? Sitting in
Singapore, which seems relatively stable (no Trump and no Brexit) compared to
pretty much most of the world, the answer might be yes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">However, around November of last year, I attended a
talk by His Excellency, Mr. Ignacio Concha, the Chilean Ambassador. This was a talk
about investment opportunities in Chile, which is the most advanced economy in
South America.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy1Vwtl2bZDeV3n3j3BKGPUUiy1tj5cDaT4TayisUT5fNte-mAwE02G2L5LWUF556NPW7XVF9TXWktpUZqKk5WI21X-iVcn-Es9A6skxgBsfkwvD5R_g7foHbawG47Nd1Ih6bVxRXDqRhpI0O87LZuSou9kCOP9kfA76l635kQlhUZz3rMbg_o3Q/s1079/South%20America%20HDI%20Index.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="950" data-original-width="1079" height="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy1Vwtl2bZDeV3n3j3BKGPUUiy1tj5cDaT4TayisUT5fNte-mAwE02G2L5LWUF556NPW7XVF9TXWktpUZqKk5WI21X-iVcn-Es9A6skxgBsfkwvD5R_g7foHbawG47Nd1Ih6bVxRXDqRhpI0O87LZuSou9kCOP9kfA76l635kQlhUZz3rMbg_o3Q/w536-h472/South%20America%20HDI%20Index.PNG" width="536" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">Chile's “success story” once made it comparable to an
Asian Tiger economy rather than a Latin one. More importantly, Chile was once
run by a strong man, called Augusto Pinochet, who along with murdering
millions, actually stabilized the economy and set Chile onto the path of
growth and development.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">One might argue that Chile under Pinochet was a
classic example of the benefits of strong man rule. However, the Ambassador
made the point that the real explosion the Chile's growth came in the decade
after the return to democracy (1990). If you were to look at World Bank
statistics, you would realise that the Ambassador is right:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=CL">https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=CL</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO8hsNxADG_sSvzh_kKbAeqMBX6cHzc0cxTMSIdGmXictouG4QyQYU9FsMo-9qibE0rskMc5xLT2gvoKuh4Q5Jw-zB7UvfifL_t7a3QIeCOpH4pPwHJAf8vm09w1JMa0ZBYAm-2IQhlr_XMNcmtgI6GLZWAak952lnbtSApH058E-MNT4aUKCo5A/s1207/Chilie%20GDP%20per%20capita%20World%20Bank%20.jpg" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="827" data-original-width="1207" height="389" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO8hsNxADG_sSvzh_kKbAeqMBX6cHzc0cxTMSIdGmXictouG4QyQYU9FsMo-9qibE0rskMc5xLT2gvoKuh4Q5Jw-zB7UvfifL_t7a3QIeCOpH4pPwHJAf8vm09w1JMa0ZBYAm-2IQhlr_XMNcmtgI6GLZWAak952lnbtSApH058E-MNT4aUKCo5A/w569-h389/Chilie%20GDP%20per%20capita%20World%20Bank%20.jpg" width="569" /></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">If you look at the statistics closely, Chile’s real explosion
didn’t happen in 1990 with when Pinochet stepped aside but in 2000 when he was
arrested in the UK on the orders of the Spanish Magistrate Baltasar Garcon.
This marked the beginning of the end of his influence on the country. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So, while there is a case to say that Pinochet, for
all his faults, did stabilize the Chilean Economy, there is a case to say that his
influence held the country back and the country only started exploding into
wealth and advancement when his influence over the country ended.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">There’s a similar example closer to home. In South East
Asia, there is Indonesia, which is by far and away the economy that counts on
the global stage. For 30-years, Indonesia was run by a strong man. Like
Pinochet in Chile, Suharto had millions killed. However, he was a stable force
in Indonesia and the ASAEAN region. Coming from Singapore, where there are
memories of “Konfrontasi” under his predecessor, Sukarno, Suharto was a vast improvement.
He kept Indonesia stable and focused on itself rather than on us, which allowed
us to grow. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When Suharto fell, it seemed that things were a little
bit messier. However, if you look at growth figures, Indonesia has done exceedingly
well and being the world’s third largest democracy has been good for Indonesia’s
entrepreneurs. The years under Jokowi, Indonesia’s first entrepreneur president,
have been particularly good for growth:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=ID">https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=ID</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBWV46qkAkex05WSHWFOhWW1aU4sHk_r9499_Qu0f6kJceiy2FZxPF76WfE1IEvGWK2Jl344NwsyHPyazRtxi5ITgxYEJYCz2URi7zVy2WhSAByPpre3xU5o4pGHoydZ9V51qCxL-tANq4U-CHKpGIXMUWqD-B4nv0zYj9im2uGe4SOMT_tlDaQA/s1202/Indonesia%20GDP%20per%20capita%20World%20Bank%20.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="878" data-original-width="1202" height="407" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBWV46qkAkex05WSHWFOhWW1aU4sHk_r9499_Qu0f6kJceiy2FZxPF76WfE1IEvGWK2Jl344NwsyHPyazRtxi5ITgxYEJYCz2URi7zVy2WhSAByPpre3xU5o4pGHoydZ9V51qCxL-tANq4U-CHKpGIXMUWqD-B4nv0zYj9im2uGe4SOMT_tlDaQA/w557-h407/Indonesia%20GDP%20per%20capita%20World%20Bank%20.jpg" width="557" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">On the African continent, there’s Nigeria. Like
Indonesia in South East Asia, Nigeria is the giant in its neighborhood. For the
better part of its Independence, Nigeria was run by its generals. There were
periods of vast growth, which were then followed by economic collapse. Nigeria
was effectively driven by oil exports. Then, in 1999, the last and worst of its
military dictators died. Nigeria returned to civilian rule and growth has been
steady. While Nigeria has by no means escaped poverty, its been remarkably
steady since 2000.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=NG">https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=N</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFL4d8Q8sU8c33xDYBCnYJhBm4vYIOItTMsGg2Vb-6znLPo4Rbe5yzLfb-cBCjNEnlFxs5aU5UJ9tUhqi9rgT6pkVhgK_HHWsadz0qhLUDvilkpE02iqsSf_dgLPmDqVHvqlLT7FLEYCOUxMmXr7TtAVhCb9iRaN21KyRlF_wpO0B0YQLmutqHbQ/s1205/Nigeria%20GDP%20per%20capita%20World%20Bank%20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="851" data-original-width="1205" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFL4d8Q8sU8c33xDYBCnYJhBm4vYIOItTMsGg2Vb-6znLPo4Rbe5yzLfb-cBCjNEnlFxs5aU5UJ9tUhqi9rgT6pkVhgK_HHWsadz0qhLUDvilkpE02iqsSf_dgLPmDqVHvqlLT7FLEYCOUxMmXr7TtAVhCb9iRaN21KyRlF_wpO0B0YQLmutqHbQ/w546-h386/Nigeria%20GDP%20per%20capita%20World%20Bank%20.jpg" width="546" /></a></div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So, if you look at the examples of Chile, Indonesia
and Nigeria, there is a case to be made for democracy being good for growth.
Yes, rule by strong men can be necessary to bring a sense of stability.
However, that’s only good up to a certain point. A lot of the benevolent effects
of strong man rule depends on the strong man himself. In Singapore, we’re lucky
that the “strong man” was Mr. Lee who got things right and saw to it that his
immediate successors remained honest. However, there’s no guarantee that the
next few leaders will remain honest or get too used to the perks of power. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Nigeria’s plethora of military strong men turned what
should be an exceedingly wealthy place into a basket case. Suharto was a force
for stability but when things collapsed in 1997, he was exposed as being more
interested in hanging onto power to protect family wealth than running the
country. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Democracy and competition for power are actually good.
When you let people get on with it within a certain framework, you actually
create prosperity. It may look messy and ride may be rough, but in the end, letting
people get on with it and making them have a stake in the country is actually
good for everyone <o:p></o:p></span></p>Tang Lihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13936895039543026551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22044652.post-89411730451314433852024-02-19T14:58:00.002+08:002024-02-19T14:58:34.828+08:00The Definition of Insanity<p> <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I’ve been a little taken back that my piece on “<a href="https://beautifullyincoherent.blogspot.com/2024/02/should-you-exercise-for-life.html">Should You Exercise for Life</a>,” has been getting a bit of traction on Linkedin. The
story was essentially about two friends who found that exercising for life had
benefits other than the physical.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">However, I realise that these two gentlemen might be
an exception. If I look closely at enough at the people around me, I realise
that there’s one major problem with aging – namely the fact that you become
rather resistant to change no matter how beneficial or necessary that change
might be to your survival.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">One of the reasons why “older” people are so resistant
to change is because they tend to be better off. A guy who has worked ten years
is more likely to have cash in the bank than a kid who started out. If you’ve
been around somewhere for a decade or so, chances are you’ve found a formula of
sorts to move on with life. When you think you have a formula, there’s no need
to look for another one. By contrast a kid who just started out needs to experiment
to find his or her formula to life. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">However, if one looks at the pace of technological
change, one will realise that established formulas are no longer reliable. What
worked yesterday may not work today and quite often it takes “crisis” to force
a change.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">If you look at the two gentlemen in the previous posting,
you’ll notice that both went through a personal crisis. This gave them the
impetus to change the way they were doing things. Change in their lifestyle
brought them back their health. Their improved health helped improve all other
aspects of their lives.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">However, I’ve realized that these gentlemen are a rare
breed. Human beings can be so hard wired that even the threat of a decline in
the quality of life and impending death can’t them to change. The most amusing example
of this was found in a reality TV show called the “1000lbs Sisters,” which follows
the story of two sisters whose combined weight is 1,000lbs (453kg). They can
barely walk and the root cause of their health problems is painfully obvious
their lifestyle is screwed up. The heavier sister (600 lbs or 272 kg) is
particularly interesting. Despite being told that she’s likely to die unless
she makes drastic changes, she persists in carrying on. Take a look at the
following clip on how they don’t drink water – they drink “soda” to counteract
sugar. The expression on dietician’s face is priceless:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIAFe7zaCRU">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIAFe7zaCRU</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCRwN-FIxhtN-tbe0sOjya2lXRct3EgWhk0uG1n68i8ekVYtRuKlijbc9Rbx2majAxvfTpDrg3ASsM-E_O09MZKay4DfLvSkgeP9EVL_ERBCl1utPVm09SEqh-JgIbp7pHOVEkx5B6OZXx1VAZGYokJQbxPbBweKnAV36QqrkaG2D5_bzj2iVXsQ/s1885/Soadies.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="786" data-original-width="1885" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCRwN-FIxhtN-tbe0sOjya2lXRct3EgWhk0uG1n68i8ekVYtRuKlijbc9Rbx2majAxvfTpDrg3ASsM-E_O09MZKay4DfLvSkgeP9EVL_ERBCl1utPVm09SEqh-JgIbp7pHOVEkx5B6OZXx1VAZGYokJQbxPbBweKnAV36QqrkaG2D5_bzj2iVXsQ/w603-h250/Soadies.PNG" width="603" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The 1,000 Lbs sisters are merely the most public
example of people who double down and refuse to change in the face of crisis.
Recently met someone whose diabetes was so bad that he’s lost his hearing and
had his toes amputated. Yet, he insists on drinking Coke and proudly declares
that he does not take vegetables. Why do people let their health reach that
stage and why can’t they see the problem even when its pounding upon them?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I’m not saying that I’m saintly. I’ve persisted in
many sticking with many rough decisions when I should have cut earlier. I
stayed married to the first wife longer than I should have. I should have
started exercising in my 30s instead of waiting to be hospitalized in my late
forties. I should have worked a blue-collar job alongside my freelance work
earlier and thus had a better financial savings. I did make the adjustments but
it took a while. Yes, not all the changes have been to my liking but it was
better than the alternative, which was to be a poorer, sicker person.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Change in inevitable and if we’ve learnt anything from
the last two-decades it should be that change is so constant that paradigms and
formulas are constantly changing. What worked yesterday may not work today. I
personally argue that the best form of crisis is called anticipation – the best
way to manage a crisis is not to let it get to crisis stage in the first place.
I’d also add that the worst form of crisis management is called – digging deeper
– where you double down on the thing that brought you down in the first place.
I recently met someone who wrote an email calling the judge an unflattering
name. This fellow then proceeded to tell the police that he would do it again. I
told him that he was begging to be slapped very hard and he’d lose what he
wanted most (custody of his son). He insisted that his was a principled stance.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Many of us, myself included, tend to avoid problems
instead of dealing with them head on. It’s a natural thing to not want to deal with
the unpleasant. Then we hit “crisis” point. At that point we should be forced
to deal with the crisis so that we survive and even bloom as a result of the
crisis. Whilst we should anticipate crisis, we should, when they come around,
use them to learn. Doing the same thing that brought the crisis in the first
place is the very definition of insanity. <o:p></o:p></span></p>Tang Lihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13936895039543026551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22044652.post-18047686804074612332024-02-18T03:23:00.008+08:002024-02-18T03:25:54.717+08:00Should You Exercise for Life? <p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">One of the things I realized when I hit my forties was
the fact that the only way, I’d be able to survive in Singapore was to do all
the rough work that young, local graduates would not do. Such work inevitably involves
being in relatively uncomfortable places and involves the use of muscle. Hence,
I’ve made it clear to the boss that I have no desire to look at files and stay
in a cubicle but I have plenty of energy to run around.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">There’s only one problem with this. You need to be relatively
healthy and as I push 50, looking after my health has become important. While I
do go out for the odd drink or so (since I am obliged to entertain), I avoid the
wild parties of my 20s and 30s. I make it a point to walk as much as I can and
take the stairs. Then, when the doctors told me that my blood sugars and bad cholesterol
were shooting north, I had to add some of resistance training to my life.
Whilst I am by no means body beautiful (the tummy and folds on the neck are
clearly visible), I am feeling a lot better at the end of my forties than I was
at the beginning.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Let’s face it, much of modern life is bad for you
because it’s simply too convenient. As a doctor I once had to arrange
interviews for said “Life is NOT meant to be convenient – you would not have
been born a baby and been forced to grow up if were.” He has a point.
Convenience culture has removed a reason for people to leave their homes, let
alone their desk. People can get their necessities from the comfort of beds and
chairs. Even at my worst, I had to walk out to the kopi shop to get food. For
Kiddo and her generation, they just press a few buttons and food is delivered to
them. So, why move when you don’t have to. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Yet, at the same time, life is seemingly more
stressful. There is no such thing as “work-life” balance. You are your job and
being trapped a cubicle is a badge of pride. One is expected to be on call 24-7
if one wants to keep the job let alone get ahead and build a career. So, you
have people who don’t move around, get stressed out and end up eating the type
of food that whilst tasty has the nutritional value of a sponge. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The life that we lead isn’t doing us any good and
suddenly, after spending our youth screwing up our bodies, we suddenly get hit
with something nasty and a portion of what we sacrificed our youth building,
ends up going to feed the medical industry. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">One of the first friends I made via Linkedin and who
since become a “real” friend came into my life because of this. It was a post
about ending up in hospital which got us connected because it was something I could
relate to. By the time we met in person, he’d already set out on a personal fitness
journey and today, he posted about his fitness journey and how it had affected his
life:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7164536341156859904/">https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7164536341156859904/</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyTn5HUTz6ToVz8dkmhISYNYyAqcuGtc5S7fP91x1-r696UJDhSsndNBL9mVHc3o2s-0UqM8cb9V1I8Ei7KjArrbKkAyCnscVz4KW2fvKPPze7SZwDXMlarEHZ2oH2uJGImG4SRSSfs47SaBpIc0NP4_W9rrczvr-g8jAyW_3IFWY_pO-6Bl5DOQ/s987/Lewis%20Exercise.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="857" data-original-width="987" height="511" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyTn5HUTz6ToVz8dkmhISYNYyAqcuGtc5S7fP91x1-r696UJDhSsndNBL9mVHc3o2s-0UqM8cb9V1I8Ei7KjArrbKkAyCnscVz4KW2fvKPPze7SZwDXMlarEHZ2oH2uJGImG4SRSSfs47SaBpIc0NP4_W9rrczvr-g8jAyW_3IFWY_pO-6Bl5DOQ/w587-h511/Lewis%20Exercise.PNG" width="587" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span><i><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Taken from Mr. Lewis Grimm’s Linkedin Page</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Exercise isn’t just about the physical. It’s about the
personal and mental. For my lawyer friend, the discovery of exercise not only
helps keep his body in check but he’s found a way of controlling stress and
having better mental clarity – two things which are vital for him in performing
as top-level lawyer for a huge firm. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I found, though Linkedin that former colleague had an
even more interesting story. When this man joined the firm around five years
ago, he was grossly overweight. He struggled on the escalator and was notoriously
bad tempered. His news on Linkedin was about a dramatic physical transformation,
which became a personal transformation:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://exerciseforlife.sg/about-us/">https://exerciseforlife.sg/about-us/</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYZ4CDF9b8Cv_hEkRdewwb5kZ_PlojnCbGayTVsF8IYEBPMSIvZnZ3xpyIAjuEgoHUOL4j2tdJ_xWaYBKmdv76MTHCdDZyy9BhrUYQ9J1g2goyW1UkCbEZxJUdkCV9ctFPT7H7DGJ5A25YQQtMIglIvxAq0Toa_pbrRZ1_Xw9L5NCwhqvgGDXUGA/s1284/sanjeev%20weight%20transformation.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="674" data-original-width="1284" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYZ4CDF9b8Cv_hEkRdewwb5kZ_PlojnCbGayTVsF8IYEBPMSIvZnZ3xpyIAjuEgoHUOL4j2tdJ_xWaYBKmdv76MTHCdDZyy9BhrUYQ9J1g2goyW1UkCbEZxJUdkCV9ctFPT7H7DGJ5A25YQQtMIglIvxAq0Toa_pbrRZ1_Xw9L5NCwhqvgGDXUGA/w626-h328/sanjeev%20weight%20transformation.PNG" width="626" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-US">The man would go onto become The </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif">First Singaporean Recipient of the Global
Hero Award from the <a href="https://europe.medtronic.com/xd-en/index.html">Medtronic Corporation </a>and he’s gone onto set up a movement
called “Exercise for Life,” to encourage ordinary folk, especially those who
are overweight or obese to get into the habit of regular exercise.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">When I was
pushed into having to exercise regularly, I also become interested in knowledge
about the things that I needed to do. One of the things that everyone, and the
two fellows mentioned have been living proof of, the benefits of lifelong
exercise go beyond the physical. Both men mentioned have improved their lives
mentally and physically as well.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">I mean, you
could say that I’m past the age where I can expect to be “Body-Beautiful” – so why
exercise? However, the choice is this – get the muscle tone to use and store
the excess blood glucose or spend whatever is left of my life as a lab rat for
a medical system that is primarily focused on selling pills? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@tang.li0/video/7336607861306297608?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7274292816955999746">https://www.tiktok.com/@tang.li0/video/7336607861306297608?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7274292816955999746</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmiaGalZEeqd3aAKrlqoCTgeFeCxkI_46JuX8xfWZd9CCrJpI5RhRvRO21SlJgD5OubOev4ItgPnqY2uSquQrqRITHRff9T9dU3ki3C-VRUqK3aX2o9AgaUg2-Da68Y56LPAbCrJ6lCz3GBhm2taGfpz47Hswx6MknYQtcoJfv_Jdwo0M7mVIEYw/s3088/IMG_9290.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3088" data-original-width="2316" height="642" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmiaGalZEeqd3aAKrlqoCTgeFeCxkI_46JuX8xfWZd9CCrJpI5RhRvRO21SlJgD5OubOev4ItgPnqY2uSquQrqRITHRff9T9dU3ki3C-VRUqK3aX2o9AgaUg2-Da68Y56LPAbCrJ6lCz3GBhm2taGfpz47Hswx6MknYQtcoJfv_Jdwo0M7mVIEYw/w482-h642/IMG_9290.HEIC" width="482" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><a href="https://exerciseforlife.sg/about-us/#home-events">Exercise for Life </a>I’ve tried to be
an example to a young man I was responsible for. I wanted to show him that if
he maintained good health and fitness, he would enjoy things better when he
reached my age. I had to step up and exercise more and while I’m nowhere near
beach model standards, I’m enjoying decent enough health and not being a burden
on those around me. Isn’t this something we need to be mindful of as we grow
older?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 352.2pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Tang Lihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13936895039543026551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22044652.post-9310483716030382702024-02-07T02:00:00.007+08:002024-02-07T02:00:48.845+08:00Trying to be a Little Less Obese and Ugly<p> <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I got to admit that my freelance life was a lot of
fun. I didn’t work normal hours. Stayed up late at night and whenever I had
spare cash, I spent it on food and drink. You could say that I lived very well.
For man whom people wondered how I survived, I lived pretty well. I was, for
example, regular enough in the Bar & Billiard Room for two successive
managers to invite me and an eating buddy to their Sunday brunch on more than
one occasion. On the output side, well, my exercise was rather limited.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The natural result of a life of eating and drinking
the stuff I shouldn’t have been drinking and limiting my physical activity was
the fact that I ended up becoming an obese little thing. First it was the rolls
around the neck, which I tried to hide by not wearing ties and then the trouser
size grew. I actually had to buy cloths instead of inheriting them from Dad.
When people, or specifically my own mother told me I was actually “gross-looking,”
I continued to eat more because, I took the attitude that if people wanted to
be around me for my looks, they could jolly well sod off because I was having a
decent enough life doing things that I liked – basically eating, getting enough
booze in the system and flirting with Pinoy Bar Girls.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I guess must have looked OK in my 20s, reasonably
normal in my early thirties but by the time I reached my late thirties and headed
into my forties, I was actually getting a little round. Didn’t bother me as I figured
I could get away with wardrobe tricks.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The Covid happened. The wife insisted I walk more and
I realized that walking was a wonderful way of getting away from the house. The
kilos dropped and I started to like not needing to doze off in the day. Then,
there was the stick. I got such a bad gout attack on my 46<sup>th</sup>
birthday that I spent in hospital. I also ended up back there in hospital several
months later. Yes, weight had gone down but my uric acid levels were abnormally
high. I was literally camping out in the polyclinic on a weekly basis because I
was getting gout attacks on a regular enough basis.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Then, to get the right pills, I needed to take a blood
test and there they found that my blood sugars and triglycerides (bad cholesterol)
were heading the wrong way. I ended up being given a series of pills.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I don’t really like pills and so I’m trying to not need
them. I’ve started taking exercise seriously. As anyone who follows my key
social media pages can testify, I try to move constantly. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I’ve indulged in two gym sessions recently. However, whatever
work outs I do, usually tend to be the home-based variety. Much as I see the
value of gyms, I don’t think you should only be able to work out in a single
place, just I don’t believe you need to be confined to a single place to do
work. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">If I stay with my aunt in Marine Parade, I use East
Coast Park. I’ve I’m with the family in the Whampoa area, I use Blastier as my
walking route and in both places, I make the most of the HDB facilities. So, what
have I gained out of all of this.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><u>Talking to the One Person that Will Never Lie or
Butter You Up</u><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I like to work out topless. Usually work out at night
or in the afternoon on weekends. Given that I am an obese man, I don’t exactly
have the type of body I can show off. However, when you’re topless, the sweat
cools faster and if you lack enough water, you might find salt crystals in
places you never imagined them to be.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">More importantly, being aware of your body makes you
live on planet earth. As I’ve gained a title in professional life, I’m aware
that people might be inclined to stroke my ego. The Padawan actually called me “handsome
in rugged way.” It didn’t stop there. I’ve had the phrase “muscular frame” used
to describe me and someone whom I’ve grown to care for and whose opinions on my
looks matters to me, went as far as to use the phrase “really good looking.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">As nice as these phrases are to hear, the truth remains,
I’m still a middle-aged obese man. The one thing that never lies is your own
body and I notice that I still have too much belly fat and the neck rolls are
well…… So, no matter how many people might tell me the things I want to hear, looking
at my own body tells me what I really am and while it encourages me, its also
made clear that I am far from what those praising me tell me.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><u>At Our Age</u><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A few people have used this phrase when talk to them
about what exercises I do. It’s especially true when I tell people I started
sprinting on a weekly basis. Apparently, bodies over 40 are not supposed to
take the punishment and I should restrict my activities to the gentler ones.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Well, I happen to like the sensation of bringing my
heart rate up. Have brought it up to as high as 160 plus beats per minute. The
bottom line is I probably have a deficiency in human growth hormone and testosterone
and so, rather than injecting the stuff or accept that I’m supposed to let things
fall apart, I’m going to try and shock the body on a regular enough basis to
get things moving. The reality is that I need to be of a certain strength level
because I’m probably going to need to work for a very long time and the work available
to people like me will inevitably be physical.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><u>Getting Used to Collapsing.</u><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">If you look at enough YouTube videos on fitness, you’ll
notice that they all make a single point. You are supposed to train a muscle to
failure. Rest it for about two days and train it again. The mechanics are
simple. Exercise tears the muscle and during the rest day, the body builds it
back bigger and stronger.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Had a go at pushing myself to that extent on Monday
night, doing several sets of bench dips and Tyson pushups as well as inverted
rows. Found it challenge to raise a cup of water with my arms but it will be
interesting to see how things go from there. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='419' height='347' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyjZzslvbphfaiAguNVpLz5pcp8Y9GytDzWpIdB9ZVxXcj3ZaNrE_KQBVrE7qYtySfGEElps6w6X8E' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Muscle building is like life. You got to get torn up a
bit and then you heal and come back stronger.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Can’t say if I’ll be less obese and ugly but as I
approach the half century mark, I like to think I’m going to age as a fit old
dude or at least someone who won’t be a burden on the kids, who will undoubtedly
have enough of their own problems to worry about. <o:p></o:p></span></p>Tang Lihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13936895039543026551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22044652.post-81235686324434036872024-01-31T01:50:00.010+08:002024-01-31T01:50:43.571+08:00How Do You Age Well?<p> <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I’m turning 50 in November. It’s an interesting mile
stone in as much as I will officially be “middle-aged,” though if you take the
average rate of mortality as 80, then I will officially past the half way
point.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So, like or not, I’ve officially aged and I’ve screwed
it up big time. I am officially a financially unsecure single dad (officially
at the end of March), with no much to show for it. I’m officially out of the
radar of corporate and government employers and should my current employer dispose
of me, I can look forward to a career cleaning up at McDonald’s or go on the
path of entrepreneurship crushing tin cans and selling tissue paper in hawker
centres or the MRT.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">All of this should be terrifying. The only thing that
should occupy my mind is how I’d survive if the current hamster wheel I’m on
comes spinning apart. However, where I should find terror, I’m actually finding
turning 50 with not much to show to be a liberating experience. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Let’s start with the obvious. I am a failure in the
traditional sense. I don’t have a corporate career, despite early dreams of
being an AVP at Citibank by my 30<sup>th</sup> birthday and much to the
annoyance of my family, I chucked in the security of a steady teaching career
(There’s nothing more painful than sitting in committee meetings watching
people jerk off over their self-importance). I have, in the words of New
Zealand’s youngest MP, Ms. Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, “Never fit in” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9epy5wg-d7KGEVufd5M3zF4V_P1icSi2gPH_WoBX7CWwy2I5dDT_Yovq0JKXIy6_IXPLh6zI491AwMu3dh54awKMMe38oMKGhObDLVFYVup0j3U-NkthSYzyuYkGCP740jl_tnKGCcv7soWxnwpWkbF-rpKgy10A_UYsM2qa02y9sOTYE-JKUcg/s1887/Never%20Fit%20in%20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="785" data-original-width="1887" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9epy5wg-d7KGEVufd5M3zF4V_P1icSi2gPH_WoBX7CWwy2I5dDT_Yovq0JKXIy6_IXPLh6zI491AwMu3dh54awKMMe38oMKGhObDLVFYVup0j3U-NkthSYzyuYkGCP740jl_tnKGCcv7soWxnwpWkbF-rpKgy10A_UYsM2qa02y9sOTYE-JKUcg/w619-h257/Never%20Fit%20in%20.jpg" width="619" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Not fitting in is a challenge in a society that prizes
conformity. Gina, my first wife, used to complain whenever I did things because,
in her words, I needed to understand that I was in Singapore and not in an “Ang
Moh” country. Now, that I look back at things, I’m actually happy I never “fit
in” and became part of anyone’s clique. I do attend industry functions and
enjoy them for what they are. I’ve enjoyed industry functions both in PR/Marketing
and law and accountancy for they are. I do meet people. However, I want to
avoid cliques, which are essentially gatherings of little bitches gathering to
jerk off.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So, as I get older, I want to stay with people I genuinely
like rather than with people I’m looking to get something from. I try like
everyone I meet but then again, I’ve come to understand that there are many
types of “like.” There are likeable people you can work with. There are
likeable people that you should keep liking from a distance. Aging helps me have
a better idea who I can and cannot work with. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Then, as Ms. Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, states, I try
to take things personally. Yes, you’re supposed to learn to take things less
personally as you get older. It’s a case of you realise that nobody gives a
flying f***k about you and so you no longer feel the need to try to impress.
However, I like to think that there are things in this world that I want to get
personal about. I want to care even no one else wants me to. It’s a case of you
know you’re still alive when you have things that you can care about and want
to do something with. I envy the way someone like Ms. Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke can
break out into an intense Hakka on her maiden speech because defending her
Maori heritage is something that is important to her:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf2qCAyBVhc">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf2qCAyBVhc</a>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLfsuomP9dXR3EUoCIQDteqiRfRrDJRht1Amwb7OeWH33ZqtyPCOXMYK0cgZ2SbN_3NPYkD0PSOTwreVzAZa8pb_Y2KRtiPltTXFarDavg0EdNIzoYHrheW5jGYGSsgIlpnHDM4QdTY3iGUA88aGIMhjNmTcp71OOlX-Z0DKR3ewVucNSqSnewAw/s1892/nz%20mp%20hakka.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="837" data-original-width="1892" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLfsuomP9dXR3EUoCIQDteqiRfRrDJRht1Amwb7OeWH33ZqtyPCOXMYK0cgZ2SbN_3NPYkD0PSOTwreVzAZa8pb_Y2KRtiPltTXFarDavg0EdNIzoYHrheW5jGYGSsgIlpnHDM4QdTY3iGUA88aGIMhjNmTcp71OOlX-Z0DKR3ewVucNSqSnewAw/w606-h269/nz%20mp%20hakka.jpg" width="606" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Then, I look at things that I’m not supposed to do. My
favorite discovery was sprinting. I’m past the age of thinking about the Olympics
but intense exercise is something a quite enjoy. Started sprinting because I
wanted to get the neurotic angel out of my system but then found that I felt
alive feeling my heart rate go insane. I get encouraged to continue with
sprints when people use the phrase “Old already” or “at our age.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@tang.li0/video/7322508801901366546?lang=en">https://www.tiktok.com/@tang.li0/video/7322508801901366546?lang=en</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='491' height='408' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwqDJCytE9ysR1LpPWWoo9LSw4KMgaS3E_SUrqVsWHpuaKAlB5ixyzaVTOyx_HbMaxn37YDstStzvo' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I’ve also decided that I want to try and build up the
body I neglected in my youth. You might call it old age vanity but I realise
that the one thing that will kill me off is getting sick and the only way to
keep out of the hospital is to exercise regularly an intensely enough. So, the indulgence
thus far has been to discover gym time. It’s challenging to lift heavy when you’re
an obsess, bald, weak middle age man but then again isn’t that the point. The
weaker and more screwed up you are, the more you have to challenge yourself.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@tang.li0/video/7329668788494814472?lang=en">https://www.tiktok.com/@tang.li0/video/7329668788494814472?lang=en</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='533' height='443' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxBkeeORbug2Hg277HoLxNeeEpPkOHJvbJs9XWkmogyUXWLxGY7p-y5Pl0KRo-5VYAVKsCP_v20UJQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Not sure if I am aging as I should. I mean, sometimes
I wish I could go back and correct a few mistakes like letting myself get obese
in the first place. Could have had a better life without so much booze. Aging
is tough but then again, the alternative is always worse and whilst you can’t
stop aging, you can do it on your own terms.</span></p>Tang Lihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13936895039543026551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22044652.post-15334338695054434942024-01-19T13:34:00.008+08:002024-01-19T13:34:54.001+08:00I am NOT a supporter of Hamas<p> <i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Hamas should be Supporting Me Instead</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">American Presidents have a way with coming up with
soundbites. One of the most memorable belonged to George W Bush who declared
that “you are either with us or against us,” in the wake of the September 9,
2001 attacks in the USA.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Whilst this phrase was meant to rally the world
against global terrorist movements, the reality was that it ended up summing up
what many people in less developed countries have felt about what the Western
world really thinks about the world – namely the fact that it can tell the rest
of the world “Do as we tell you or else.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This is particularly true whenever military conflicts occur
between Israel and one of its neighbours. Rationality and objectivity get
thrown out of the window and the conflict inevitably becomes framed as an “us
versus them” issue. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This most recent Israeli bombardment of the Gaza trip
is no exception. I’ve taken the view that whilst the October 7 attacks on
Israel were horrific, the reprisals have been murderous. This point was made
very clearly in <a href="https://beautifullyincoherent.blogspot.com/2024/01/its-not-genocide-as-long-as-were-doing.html">IT’S NOT GENOCIDE AS LONG AS WE’RE DOING IT?</a>, and <a href="https://beautifullyincoherent.blogspot.com/2024/01/gods-trial.html">GOD’S TRIAL</a>.
Here’s the response I got:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG7nb0bUze5XKw_rn8djN5NR3hl_QOiNzjXGHnCnORszMtFectzfgKV2863fWBLzUKnFhUMVNZZwO7EyAjps_e3qL7_0nZ40W3rbx4qhp91XBfDIvdsAcRzn4lq4ObOrlAR0qNpbW1gzTutyhJkXSbiydWFlivuqWmoBPM52tcF4GG70LlFfyZ4w/s1280/Hamas%20Support%20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="282" data-original-width="1280" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG7nb0bUze5XKw_rn8djN5NR3hl_QOiNzjXGHnCnORszMtFectzfgKV2863fWBLzUKnFhUMVNZZwO7EyAjps_e3qL7_0nZ40W3rbx4qhp91XBfDIvdsAcRzn4lq4ObOrlAR0qNpbW1gzTutyhJkXSbiydWFlivuqWmoBPM52tcF4GG70LlFfyZ4w/w604-h134/Hamas%20Support%20.jpg" width="604" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The person who made these comments is quite funny. I
like the fact that he or she decided to remain anonymous rather than put his or
her name down online.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Then, I like the fact that I’ve been dubbed a
supporter of Hamas, even though I never said that Hamas were good guys and I
did make the point that the attacks on October 7, 2003 went beyond what most
people would call “resistance” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What makes it particularly amusing is the fact that I’ve
been told that I continue writing, I would actually achieve the destruction of
the State of Israel. I believe that the writer of this comment believes that I
am an exceedingly powerful person.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Let’s put it this way. I am an ugly obese middle-aged about
to be divorced man sitting in a hovel of an office in a small island in the
South China Sea. The State of Israel by contrast is a rich technologically
advanced society with one of the most powerful militaries in the world, equipped
with some o f the best military and surveillance and has the total support of
the richest and most powerful countries in the world. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Yet, despite this obvious contrast of power and
relevance, the commentator believes that it is the State of Israel who should
fear me. Thanks to writer, I am now aware of my power and instead of calling me
a supporter of Hamas, they should persuade Hamas to support me – that way I’ll
be able to afford my next cup of coffee. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Tang Lihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13936895039543026551noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22044652.post-51601496910725317362024-01-15T16:40:00.003+08:002024-01-15T16:40:51.720+08:00It’s Not Genocide as Long as We’re Doing It?<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">One of the most noticeable things about South Africa’s
case against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the fact
that it has highlighted the divisions in global politics. If you were to look
at who is supporting the South African case, you’ll notice that they are
primarily what the Once and Future President of the USA called “S***hole”
countries. The countries supporting Israel are inevitably the developed ones
lead by the world’s hyperpower – the USA. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Every time you look at the news, you’ll have a Western
leader talking about how the case against Israel is “meritless” or as the
German’s recently promised, they would “intervene” on behalf of Israel. British
Foreign secretary, David Cameroon even went as far as to call the entire case “Nonsense,”
despite having no legal training to comment on the merits of the case:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://news.sky.com/story/nonsense-for-south-africa-to-accuse-israel-of-genocide-says-foreign-secretary-13048098">https://news.sky.com/story/nonsense-for-south-africa-to-accuse-israel-of-genocide-says-foreign-secretary-13048098</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF3he6N_rTI9QUJatuTcEnhPJG2ichl40kqqOyyym-X9TZUxeM-AViSU0zOd8PyKztD7qUyqA2O9W2vGy25kf69ma0jTDa6inko6jxM8dIrQ13I5cWPT470XsVfo2myCDBzMRS9fPTJBeEHzVN9ihOkOHpsepDe5RAfwDStdWhBAGYjMsXpXvuAQ/s1850/Nonsense%20_Dave%20Cameron%20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="970" data-original-width="1850" height="325" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF3he6N_rTI9QUJatuTcEnhPJG2ichl40kqqOyyym-X9TZUxeM-AViSU0zOd8PyKztD7qUyqA2O9W2vGy25kf69ma0jTDa6inko6jxM8dIrQ13I5cWPT470XsVfo2myCDBzMRS9fPTJBeEHzVN9ihOkOHpsepDe5RAfwDStdWhBAGYjMsXpXvuAQ/w617-h325/Nonsense%20_Dave%20Cameron%20.jpg" width="617" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Now, I do get where a lot of nations are coming from.
Israel was attacked on October 7 and the desire to hit back is understandable. Let’s
never forget that part of the thing that got the Western World so involved in
the creation of the State of Israel was in part due to the guilt of committing genocide
against Jewish people. Having spent a part of my formative years in Germany, I can
confidently say that the one thing that will NEVER happen is a German Chancellor
talking about “Fine People” whenever Nazis involved. The world will never allow
the Germans to forget that part of their history and the Germans have been diligently
trying to redeem themselves ever since 1945.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">However, as one Chinese diplomat points out – yes, the
attack against Israel was morally repugnant and condemned but that doesn’t mean
that the subsequent reprisals are justified either. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='496' height='413' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dznFUD-hKOa7zk8hRafU0YR3hI1cfkt1VRsPZxcOhZ7yBXfyjPIxEha0AyFCkyCtWpkhX5u15deQVQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Then, there is the inevitable comparison between the
two legal teams. The internet is filled with videos providing critiques of how
both sides performed and it becomes clear that were this case left to pure
merit, it would be a case of the Springboks steamrolling the Israeli rugby
team. South African lawyers were calm, composed and on point. They anticipated
every counter argument and answered it. The Israeli team by contrast were in a
shambles. One of the best memes on TikTok involved Israel’s lead lawyer, Malcom
Shaw talking about how someone had “shuffled his papers.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So, one has to ask, why Western leaders have been so
keen to defend Israel despite the evidence? The Western World, which has a beacon
global civilization in the last two centuries finds itself on trial. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">On one hand, everyone is quick to condemn Valdimir
Putin for invading Ukraine. Everyone agrees that invading another country and
killing innocent people is morally and legally wrong. Everyone is quick to warn
China about invading Taiwan. I am Mahayana Buddhist and I’m from a family that
supports an independent Tibet and decries the atrocities in Tibet.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">However, while the most powerful nations are rightfully
busy defending these oppressions, why do they turn a blind eye and even encourage
it when it comes to Israel? The self-defense argument is so ridiculous that a
comedian I know made the point in live roast that he could “Get a wife from
Gaza and live the Indian stereotype of beating the shit out of her on a daily basis
and he’d be defending himself.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The Western World’s leaders need to change this. Blindly
covering and trying impose a narrative that no one else believes in erodes the
moral authority of the Western World (which for the record, I do believe remains
a benevolent force). It’s not even good for Israel. Prior to these reprisals, Israel
was making friends and allies amongst the Arab nations. Now, no Arab Ruller can
be seen to be vaguely friendly to Israel. Take a recent conversation between UAE
President, Mohammad bin Zayed, which made peace with Israel only four years ago
and Israel Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, which involved the UAE President
telling him to get stuffed:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/ask-zelensky-uae-president-gives-vexed-response-to-netanyahu-asking-for-aid-money-678506">https://www.wionews.com/world/ask-zelensky-uae-president-gives-vexed-response-to-netanyahu-asking-for-aid-money-678506</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>Tang Lihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13936895039543026551noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22044652.post-26174210634160433722024-01-13T18:14:00.005+08:002024-01-13T18:14:35.588+08:00God’s Trial <p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Something Godly is actually happening in the world of international
geopolitics. Around two days ago, South Africa brought a case of Genocide
against the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This is a historic first. Israel has traditionally
been regarded as one of the good guys of international diplomacy in the Western
World. Criticism of any of Israel’s actions particularly in the Western World,
inevitably get shut down as “antisemitic” and in the case of Europe or more specifically
Germany, Israeli politicians have a field day of talking about what happened in
the 1940s. Try to suggests that Israel is less than perfect in the United Nations,
(UN) and the world’s most powerful nation will inevitably shut it down with
their veto.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">My personal position is and always has been this –
yes, the attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023 went beyond resistance but the subsequent
reprisals against the Palestinians have gone beyond self-defense. Sure, if you
want to wipe out Hamas, put your famed intelligence service and army of spies
and assassins to good use. Show the people of Gaza that its worth working in
peace with Israel and they’re not going let the destructive arm of Hamas rule
them. Bombing the Gaza strip on a daily basis and turning off all essential
supplies is only going to make Hamas stronger and more radical.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The argument that Hamas have killed 1,000 Israelis
does not justify Israel killing in the tens of thousands. People who use this
argument are inevitably saying that the life of someone of European decent is
worth significantly more than someone of Semitic decent. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In the 1990s, these common facts were appreciated and recognized
by leaders like Yitzhak Rabin, who actually served his national service. However,
when Mr. Rabin was assassinated by an illegal settler, Israel under the insane arm
of the Likud has been on a mission to take as a much land by force, thus
trashing any hope of a secure and stable Middle East. As the Israeli journalist
Gideon Levy points out – this current bombing campaign has no strategic point
and the same could be said of every other campaign that Israel has waged against
Palestinian people:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.pbs.org/video/haaretz-columnist-gideon-levy-on-israels-conduct-in-gaza-fgu/">https://www.pbs.org/video/haaretz-columnist-gideon-levy-on-israels-conduct-in-gaza-fgu/</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC3RQlpJX6XKT8g0aaXANxTwNN4iW7NtSIG6Os7oqnS3l0W6vn6of8OzgO6BGtmBvz4ep4k3woPfH7Vb5MoqZ0bZFCIjSC3RDI13pp9YqHpnsuoXZp-etUlljH-s1e70_lEYTqXK_lTlaELV6320Tp6SKM_2yTUAm_uP4NexAjwMh5ZncA2LK1CQ/s1856/Gideon%20Levy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="885" data-original-width="1856" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC3RQlpJX6XKT8g0aaXANxTwNN4iW7NtSIG6Os7oqnS3l0W6vn6of8OzgO6BGtmBvz4ep4k3woPfH7Vb5MoqZ0bZFCIjSC3RDI13pp9YqHpnsuoXZp-etUlljH-s1e70_lEYTqXK_lTlaELV6320Tp6SKM_2yTUAm_uP4NexAjwMh5ZncA2LK1CQ/w626-h299/Gideon%20Levy.jpg" width="626" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">That’s my personal view, which I believe is pretty
much based on the evidence that I get from news reports. However, it’s never
been the acceptable view in Western societies (which includes Singapore) where
I’ve spent most of my life. If you talk to enough of “My” people (graduate
middle class – lighter skinned people), you’ll be unable to avoid getting the
sense of relief that the Israelis are putting dark skinned people in their
place. I’ve actually heard people complain that the Palestinians brought it on
themselves by not trying to help the Israelis overthrow Hamas – erm, why should
they side with a power that has made it clear that it sees them as disposable
darkies. I’ve actually been told by local Singaporeans that they are proud of
being a colony of the UK and my tax director actually tried to tell me that
people missed colonial rule (my reply was that the only thing better than a
colonial master six foot under was the act of putting him there and I had to be
reminded that the steak knife was for steak).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">South Africa’s case changes that. Sure, whatever the
ruling, its probably going to be ignored. Israel and the USA do not recognize that
jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). However, the fact
that this case was brought before the Court, is a sign that many of the smaller
nations of the world, are not going to accept a narrative on a situation
dictated to them by global Western Powers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa_v._Israel_(Genocide_Convention)">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa_v._Israel_(Genocide_Convention)</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8pR_AsKzjry7APC-d7Ves-lv4PivHU1uNgmxJIZM2HB-hWCsy6i9uX2RafEQqZ5cIafvxZDCtyLEk0oHuHJNgbM3312ma24kAIyARUvzWcJiqMf0cgvUR-rj5aZ5JvKqHaAkzFaQTy0De3L1uOjS8JcpewysN_uMEIHdQHdWG7qCfa7PetrbzDA/s1367/For%20RSA%20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="830" data-original-width="1367" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8pR_AsKzjry7APC-d7Ves-lv4PivHU1uNgmxJIZM2HB-hWCsy6i9uX2RafEQqZ5cIafvxZDCtyLEk0oHuHJNgbM3312ma24kAIyARUvzWcJiqMf0cgvUR-rj5aZ5JvKqHaAkzFaQTy0De3L1uOjS8JcpewysN_uMEIHdQHdWG7qCfa7PetrbzDA/w587-h356/For%20RSA%20.jpg" width="587" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Sure, the majority of nations supporting South Africa
are Muslim-Majority. However, there are prominent non-Muslim majority states
like Brazil, Colombia and Nicaragua that are supporting the South African case.
What’s even more interesting is that smaller European nations like Ireland and
Belgium seem to support this motion. Think of the arguments made by this Irish
Lawyer.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS6IYp0BErg">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS6IYp0BErg</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjH2gWqaPZThZB89Cp7wqc6hV9gfX0P6dc5AUtzYRwd270TvbeXTKKSgEDsUmuQkwmye6XP3swI0TTwndGKiCtekpjsiH-nVzp2TO7_oDJsWBx7FOjhepNVczEToRrZgxi1xULVfa8TYHSA1YOGuwt4qXlCS_CgfhcFR7sB1k48ketUvtcM52VAQ/s1862/Irish%20Lawyer%20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="832" data-original-width="1862" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjH2gWqaPZThZB89Cp7wqc6hV9gfX0P6dc5AUtzYRwd270TvbeXTKKSgEDsUmuQkwmye6XP3swI0TTwndGKiCtekpjsiH-nVzp2TO7_oDJsWBx7FOjhepNVczEToRrZgxi1xULVfa8TYHSA1YOGuwt4qXlCS_CgfhcFR7sB1k48ketUvtcM52VAQ/w609-h272/Irish%20Lawyer%20.jpg" width="609" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">It’s encouraging to see the proverbial “third world”
wanting to make its voice heard. Sure, the economic and by extension military
power in the world remains in the West. If migration patterns are anything to
go by most of us would rather live in a Western country than in a third world
one – the joke being will only be a world power when the American Born Chinese
tell you that they’re Chinese with American passports rather than Americans of
Chinese descent.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">However, as the so-called “developing” world develops,
its no longer going to accept the dictation of the “advanced” world. The
opportunities of the future are inevitably going to be in “developing” places
and one will need to respect their point of view rather than impose yours onto
them. The argument that a fair skinned life is worth more than a dark and
semitic one was never acceptable and its good that the world is making that
point. <o:p></o:p></span></p>Tang Lihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13936895039543026551noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22044652.post-86573153503509395832024-01-08T00:25:00.005+08:002024-01-08T00:25:33.832+08:00So, You Want to Date My Daughter?<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">One of the most prominent things you end up doing as
you get older is you tend to develop a rather strange relationship with those
who came after you. As you grow, you often see life as being about you and the
generations above. Life up to a point is about being provided for by parents
and then taking control of your life from your parents. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Then, there comes a point when you become the “old”
generation and there are a group of grown-up kids looking to you as the “old”
generation. How you relate to them becomes your new challenge. For a
Singaporean guy, the act of getting older inevitably means grumbling about how
National Service isn’t quite as brutal as what it was in your day.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">For me, the biggest aspect about getting older was
called parenthood, specifically parenthood to a girl. I was, as they say, the type
of guy who enjoyed any glimpse he could get of a woman’s anatomy and have all
sorts of fantasies. I took the position that it’s only natural for men to like
the sight of T&A.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Well, I made the choice of adopting a young girl who
has grown into a very good-looking young woman (let’s not forget that her
mother is an actual beauty queen). That experience has formed how I relate to
people significantly younger (defined by 20-years and more).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Don’t get me wrong, I still like looking at good
looking and well-shaped women. However, the moment I get the inkling that the girl
could be Kiddo’s age, I back off – it’s “ew – no, not going to get involved with
someone who could be my kid.” Never mind Kiddo, I still can’t get over the fact
that Christopher, my youngest brother, and I once had a conversation about
pregnancy scares and abortions. Although he was well past 30 when we had that
conversation, it felt weird because I remember him as a tiny fellow and our
conversations centred around whether small things were cuter than big things. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So, as I soon to be divorced man pushing the half
century mark, I find that while I would like to have someone in my life, it’s not
going to be someone close to Kiddo’s age because …..well it would like Kiddo
and that would feel like pedophilia.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">As for my relationship with young men, I have my former
intern to thank for it. In the initial stages, he actually asked me “Can I marry
your daughter, then I can really call you Dad?” That remark made me realise
that I actually relate to a lot of younger guys as potential “sons-in-law.” It’s
a case of – would I want you near my daughter?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In fairness to Kiddo, the two times, I’ve been
introduced to a potential son-in-law, I’ve actually liked the guy. Both my
potential sons-in-law were decent and well mannered. The first candidate
actually bowed before me and presented a cake. The second took my around Hai-Phong
and was the perfect host.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I am not the stereotypical Asian parent who expects
the kid’s significant other to be a multimillionaire. I’m simple, I’m happy as
long as the guy has a job. What he works as not important as long as he’s got
the determination to work. Let’s be realistic, not everyone can be a lawyer or
a doctor but everyone can make an honest living. First candidate worked as a
bar manager and the second worked in the port at Hai Phong. Both were hard
working guys who also gave attention to her.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The second criteria of a potential son-in-law is his
relationship with his family. Does he treat his parents with respect. Is he
willing to care for his parents? It’s this simple, if he treats his own parents
with respect, he’ll treat me with a certain amount of respect. First candidate
was a child of a single mother (dad died in his youth) and took care of her.
Second candidate was also respectful to his parents. Both guys respected me and
displayed impeccable manners when around me. No, I will not tolerate a Mummy’s
boy as a son-in-law no matter rich the family. I expect my son-in-law, whoever
he may be, to have an independent mind and not have an entitlement mentality.
He has to be respected for who he is rather than his family, wealth, material possessions
and so on. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">My third criteria for a son-in-law must be he looks
like he can handle himself in a fight. I was told that I had a bit of a thug’s
mindset but I do have a rationale to it. Firstly, I do expect anyone who is serious
about my kid to be willing to protect her physically, as I would.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">More importantly, I’ve realized that the people who
can handle themselves in a fight are the ones who have been in fights before.
As such, they know that everyone gets hurt in a fight and as such, they’re less
likely to get in situations that are nasty. Knowing how to handle people in difficult
situations is an often-underappreciated skill.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The problem in Singapore is that the system tends to
encourage coach potatoes to pretend to be tough. Hence, you get hair-brained bureaucrats
who only experienced combat by masturbating over graphs on a computer in a
cubicle challenging people to fights, knowing that they’ll be protected by our
strong anti-violence laws. These are the people who find a problem for every
solution and make life unnecessarily difficult. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Hence, I expect any potential son-in-law to be a real
human being rather than a bureaucrat in cubicle who thinks he’s got an
invincibility complex. You can only snap the necks of such people for sport. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/blogs/editorial/why-do-men-who-have-no-fighting-experience-keep-proclaiming-they-can">https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/blogs/editorial/why-do-men-who-have-no-fighting-experience-keep-proclaiming-they-can</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFLxh9Dv4GIG-mAdceFm6aRaoMwwx4NHeQnknPEfVMNTdRGVUpmwQCgDZF5kR5PecQcv1xCgrFIgV5NaMDxqJ97E3-FJRjOPVIVNud7-dd-CwFklrx3dZfeHlNwzfXFYgjWH5UDBf1Dzbk19jj2WbO4TUc19134QJWfA9TUSH1zPP4J3i6vIlfjw/s792/Fight%20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="792" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFLxh9Dv4GIG-mAdceFm6aRaoMwwx4NHeQnknPEfVMNTdRGVUpmwQCgDZF5kR5PecQcv1xCgrFIgV5NaMDxqJ97E3-FJRjOPVIVNud7-dd-CwFklrx3dZfeHlNwzfXFYgjWH5UDBf1Dzbk19jj2WbO4TUc19134QJWfA9TUSH1zPP4J3i6vIlfjw/w573-h332/Fight%20.jpg" width="573" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">We don’t need more automatons being related to us. We
need to ensure that the people who get related to are actually humans with values.</span></p>Tang Lihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13936895039543026551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22044652.post-2323889653993658722024-01-05T17:53:00.000+08:002024-01-05T17:53:03.327+08:00Creating Memories<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Since I worked
at the <a href="https://brunospizzeria.kitchen/contact-us">Bistrot</a> on New Year’s Eve, I’m reminded of the fact that one of the
things that people find curious about me is the fact that I continued to wait
tables even when I was officially employed in a respectable job. I only really
stopped working in restaurants when Covid hit and the restaurant business got
shut down.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">There are
several answers that I give. The first one is simple – I’m not going to turn
down extra money. They few dollars an hour I earn waiting tables happens to be
a few dollars an hour I would not have had otherwise. Then, there are the
perks. Instead of spending money on food and drink, I work and get fed and if I
am lucky, I get a beer on the side. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Then, I also
make the point that I can’t be too proud about being a director of this and
that but being “embarrassed” to do certain work. The reality is that the fancy
title that I currently enjoy can easily go tomorrow and if there’s anything a
decade in the insolvency business has shown me, it’s the fact that its not that
difficult to be kicked out of your livelihood. So, its always good to be
willing to take on manual work should you ever need to do it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I’ve also tried
my best to cross-pollinate my activities. I’ve met certain lawyers in the
<a href="https://brunospizzeria.kitchen/contact-us">Bistrot</a> and worked with them in my corporate job and I’ve also made a point of
entertaining people from my corporate existence at the <a href="https://brunospizzeria.kitchen/contact-us">Bistrot</a>. Given that I’ve
spent my earliest years hustling and am likely to spend the rest of my life
hustling, I need to be in constant circulation. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">These are my
personal reasons for working in a restaurant, even at the age when one expects
me not to. However, there is something greater for me. Working in a restaurant
taught me the importance of “creating memories.” I think of the day where one
table was a man proposing to his lady and on another table, you had a girl
celebrating her hen night. Now, I appreciate the fact that we were only going
to know the tables we served for the duration of the service. However, it dawned
upon me that even in that brief moment when we were dealing with the two
tables, we were playing a role in creating special memories for people. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Memories are
what you’d call an important part of what makes us who we are. For me, that
message was brought home during my last trip. Ended up in Covent Garden and it
became important for me to have a cider in the <a href="https://www.coventgarden.com/listings/punch-judy/">Punch & Judy</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The reason was
this simple. I was brought to this pub 31 years ago, when I was 18. The girl
who brought me there was the first girl I was in-love with. Relationship never
got off the ground but that particular pub signified something important in my
life. Would often drink there when I was studying in London. I developed more
memories of the place from every subsequent visit but the memory of the place as
being where I first fell in love with someone. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">It made a good
story for the pub when I last visited – a 31-year absence from the place where
I fist fell in love. Helped that my junior colleague and I ended up sitting
with a couple who had just gotten together and wanted to travel (he was a <a href="https://www.pwc.co.uk/who-we-are/office-locations/london.html">PwCpartner in London </a>who just left to set up his own thing, she was a creative
director at <a href="https://www.diageo.com/en">Diageo</a>).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@tang.li0/video/7308456155808845063?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7274292816955999746">https://www.tiktok.com/@tang.li0/video/7308456155808845063?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7274292816955999746</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='496' height='412' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyYYWrBkuxOcgFgKLriycqYu9LBB1fI_7J5LE4eJ9lkZEBjLTmw6yPyaeT3yAROmlPmOXqgDZWbbns' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I think my relationship
with the </span><a href="https://www.coventgarden.com/listings/punch-judy/" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Punch & Judy</a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> and I become conscious of the role I have in creating
memories. It affects the way I do things. A lot of times, I do get walked over
for being too nice and I am getting a little sharper as I get older. However, I
am always conscious of role I have in creating memories for other people. I
always ask myself; how do I want the people who come into my life to remember
me and I act accordingly.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">At the end of the
day, what you make or don’t make in terms of monetary gain will be history. The
only thing that remains are the memories. <o:p></o:p></span></p>Tang Lihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13936895039543026551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22044652.post-64310511718279523952024-01-02T00:24:00.005+08:002024-01-02T00:24:23.864+08:00Can You?<p> <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Sometime back
in June of 2023, my mother mentioned that she wanted to meet with her sister
and cousin during my sister’s wedding in the UK. Mum, “It’s probably the last
time we’ll get together as cousins.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I told my
mother to stop being pessimistic. However, I realised that my mother’s cousin
had just finished a book on our family history, which described by grandmother
and siblings as “the children” and it dawned upon that my mother, like the rest
of the “Boomers” is now in her 70s. We are, like it or not, aging even if we
don’t like to think about it. I mean, I’m turning 50 this year and I am a dad
of 24-year-old. I have people my age telling me “Oh don’t worry, your turn to
be a grandparent will come soon,” and I think “WTF, grandparenthood – I still
can’t get used to the fact that I took on parenthood.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Although it
shouldn’t be, my 50<sup>th</sup> which will b in November is going to be a
strange milestone. In many ways, I’m still as unsettled as I was in my 30s but
although that fact should be scary, I’m actually feeling excited and you might
say its down to the new year, but I am more energised by the fact that a
certain part of my life has crumbled. Why would I feel that way about getting
old?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Getting old isn’t
easy. The body for one, has a way of giving out signs that it’s not going to
take certain things that it used to do. Then, there’s are certain fashions that
are simply not going to work.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">However, the alternative
to aging is inevitably worse. I think of the fact that I am freaking about
turning 50 but then again, I could be like my army buddy, Ronnie, who was
killed in that fatal accident – he is forever 21. So, I’ve had the privilege of
living past 30 and I need to figure getting older.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">So, how does
one deal with getting older? Well, I guess you realise that getting older and
dying are two different things. I look at some of the idols of my youth and look
how they’ve turned out. Take former Heavyweight champion of the World – Mike Tyson.
Back in the 80s and 90s, he was a terror in the ring. Lasting more than a round
with him was considered an achievement. It’s been nearly two decades since he ruled
the ring but he’s managed to stay in good shape and at the age of 57, he
remains the type of guy that most people won’t want to mess with:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.marca.com/en/boxing/2023/10/24/6537fd89268e3e2c7f8b4582.html">https://www.marca.com/en/boxing/2023/10/24/6537fd89268e3e2c7f8b4582.html</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS64zSJXwusTavCXm4x2kJ8nEtm3msNhpyyhxDSFm_UXnHPJgxuhHqAtwdYS3HOQ9_gxHumm0Q8Mc_a8_XEP-jahZNDdlelb7uovbCW7yUYOkG9jMneLtGmsrX6V9plivXC-9aCPl54oAnsoeZjcWF4gbi0Jz6QvAm587KiPRAX-n4kx8trzBmvg/s1861/Tyson%20Macra.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="923" data-original-width="1861" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS64zSJXwusTavCXm4x2kJ8nEtm3msNhpyyhxDSFm_UXnHPJgxuhHqAtwdYS3HOQ9_gxHumm0Q8Mc_a8_XEP-jahZNDdlelb7uovbCW7yUYOkG9jMneLtGmsrX6V9plivXC-9aCPl54oAnsoeZjcWF4gbi0Jz6QvAm587KiPRAX-n4kx8trzBmvg/w613-h305/Tyson%20Macra.PNG" width="613" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Then, if you
look at the ladies, there’s Cindy Crawford, who epitomised the age of “Super
Models.” Ms. Crawford is 57 and is the mother of two kids. While she’s not as “fresh”
as she used to be, she remains stunning:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.prevention.com/fitness/a46187993/cindy-crawford-toned-legs-skating-rink-throwback-instagram-photos/">https://www.prevention.com/fitness/a46187993/cindy-crawford-toned-legs-skating-rink-throwback-instagram-photos/</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMaiHXeymGOuGzv6fnrhfXjeKeuM7tXVgMmYl336NS75lW9-cGMw6b9E0wastTflBFfN6fYjeZGRaMXjg7oXfnWM_t7PS0ZDgrErKRjwZ9VLEyUnfUaj2pWP_ZWHUSM6SR2ia-idq6AUg2Ax7r84_iXvec6b3gYrKIU-1Mp7h6d5EB0DOLHZFEqA/s1865/Cindy%20Crawford%20Prevention%20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1011" data-original-width="1865" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMaiHXeymGOuGzv6fnrhfXjeKeuM7tXVgMmYl336NS75lW9-cGMw6b9E0wastTflBFfN6fYjeZGRaMXjg7oXfnWM_t7PS0ZDgrErKRjwZ9VLEyUnfUaj2pWP_ZWHUSM6SR2ia-idq6AUg2Ax7r84_iXvec6b3gYrKIU-1Mp7h6d5EB0DOLHZFEqA/w570-h308/Cindy%20Crawford%20Prevention%20.jpg" width="570" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">So, how do Mr.
Tyson and Ms. Crawford maintain their shape. Well, you could say that they
understand that they are past a certain age but they’ve looked after their bodies.
Like it or not, getting older means that the body does have wear and tear. However,
that doesn’t mean you can’t be in shape.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">In my 20’s the
only time I looked after my body was during national service and the only time
I had to look after it in my 30s was whenever I got called up for reservist and
remedial training. Everything else in between was given into drinking and
buffets. Then, when I went to work, I ended up with screwed up sleep patterns. Going
without sleep was considered a sign of “cool.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Then, when I
hit my forties, health complications came about. Regular gout attacks were the
most painful. However, that wasn’t the only thing. My blood sugars and bad cholesterol
levels are high. So, after two decades where my main exercise consisted of
lifting a beer glass, I’ve suddenly found myself doing things like regular
squats and push ups. Developing muscle is not about impressing people but
ensuing I don’t end up in hospital for all sorts of ailments. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I’m obviously
not going to become a professional athlete in my late forties and early fifties
but I can be healthy and fit. Just because I’ve reached a certain age, it doesn’t
mean that I still can’t move about (if anything, staying fit becomes more
important as you age and need to continue working). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">You could say
that there’s a trade-off, in as much as your mind should become stronger and
you get to focus more. Focus allows you to get through difficult task.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Aging isn’t a
walk in the park but we all have to go through it. As such, you have to accept
that you are becoming older but instead of being 50 but hopping everyone thinks
you’re 20, you become the best type of 50-year-old around. Staying fit and
looking after your body will make ageing easier. <o:p></o:p></span></p>Tang Lihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13936895039543026551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22044652.post-64974917883878824592023-12-31T16:48:00.005+08:002023-12-31T16:48:48.160+08:00Ending and Rebirth <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl9ffOL8qWAcHhhpmSZE3_xOO1yHkX0Z_WTd2yw9yvAPqPERVJLe-QlFbrXQLdbrV2zUynRqTJ7X9tQ7KkRM4aafo6RDvqnGVChm-2Fbwmmajclqko120gkZ32KpPpsxkhvg3dmFEsYDPCliNONMbGjCx_-mTfY_mbjyxmvxQ_ZQ56fGuEvCE8wg/s1600/076ea1e0-2c39-4044-8abc-b8b3e7ff33a0.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1230" height="475" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl9ffOL8qWAcHhhpmSZE3_xOO1yHkX0Z_WTd2yw9yvAPqPERVJLe-QlFbrXQLdbrV2zUynRqTJ7X9tQ7KkRM4aafo6RDvqnGVChm-2Fbwmmajclqko120gkZ32KpPpsxkhvg3dmFEsYDPCliNONMbGjCx_-mTfY_mbjyxmvxQ_ZQ56fGuEvCE8wg/w365-h475/076ea1e0-2c39-4044-8abc-b8b3e7ff33a0.JPG" width="365" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The last few years of 2023 are ticking away and I’m
due to work in the Bistrot on Telok Kurau, so I thought I would try and bash
out a few thoughts of summarize the year that is going by and to express my
hopes for the year to come. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In a way, 2023 was a brutal year. Thanks to the brutal
attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 and the subsequently even more brutal
Israeli reprisals on the Gaza strip, much of the world’s attention is focused
on the brutality of that particular conflict and other conflicts that may
arise. The chaos in the Middle East and Russia-Ukraine looks set to get worse
by the fact that that 2024 is an election year in the USA and the world’s most
powerful office is set to be a rematch of 2020, a contest between an elderly
establishment candidate perpetuating the worst sins of the establishment onto
the world and an unstable lunatic whose sole focus is to use the power of the
office to cover his own personal weaknesses. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Since I joined the insolvency business, the turmoil on
the global stage looks like a good Christmas present. Businesses around the
globe are likely to be affected by the turmoil and many are likely to go under,
which is good for insolvency practitioners around the world. Even the firm I’ve
worked at for the last decade, which is a small player in the local Singapore market,
has found its wings. In the past year, we’ve managed to set up our shop in
Dubai and by the end of 2024, we are expecting to have a base in London.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So, whilst I have no great love for the industry that
I am in, I’ve been able to enjoy certain benefits of the way the industry has moved.
After many years of not traveling, I got to enjoy a trip to Jakarta and London
for business purposes. I met people outside of Singapore and that can only help
to keep my horizons normal.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">On the personal front, Kiddo brought me to Hai Phong
for a week and I believe this could be somewhere I may want to move to as I
age. It’s not just the cheaper cost that make Vietnam attractive but the fact
that there’s a sense of dynamism that is so sorely lacking in more developed
places. Its one of those places where the poor don’t sit and beg or ask the
government for handouts. They turn their little street holes into thriving
enterprises. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The second personal trip was to head to back to the UK
after 23-years for my sister’s wedding. I’m so happy I actually got to see the
UK after so many years away and having my sister’s friends tell me “You were an
important part of our childhood – what happened to you?” I am delighted that
Tara has met someone she wants to spend the rest of her life with and I’m glad
I had the chance to not only meet the new family but connect to relatives I
haven’t seen for ages, specifically my stepdad, Lee who is 91, my stepsister
Carol and her husband Sean as well as my Aunty Frieda and Uncle Adrian.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">While my sister got married, I will officially be
divorced next year. After 12-years together, Huong, the amazingly gorgeous
Vietnamese woman I had the privilege of calling my wife, and I will go our
separate ways. Her ambitions have taken her to the USA and I can no longer
support her as her husband. As such, we dissolve our “life partnership” and
move on. She will always have a special place in my heart and I like to think
the same is true for her too and given that we’ve come back to each other so often,
who knows where fate will take us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Kiddo asked the simple question – “Will you still be
my dad?” I’ve told her that the answer is always yes, but she’s now an adult
and she has to find her own way and build her own life and I will be there when
she needs me. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">During the course of our separation, I’ve been asked
if I would change anything. The answer remains no. Even if you were to take me
back to the moment, I decided to marry her with everything I know now, I will
always agree to get married. Our life together, good and bad made me a stronger
person and my life would be poorer without those moments we had.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Another person who deserves mention is my intern, Mr.
Jeff Yeoh, who came to work for us in July. At the age of 27, he told me he saw
me as a “father-figure,” and I’ve found myself taking the trust he placed in me
seriously. Its like this, when you have a little girl, the instincts are to try
and protect. When you have someone of the same gender looking up to you, you
actually need to show him or her what the future can be like. So, as I push 50
this year, I got to get it through his head that the future can be great if he
steps out of his comfort zone and takes on the world on his terms. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The other person who had made life so much richer this
year, is Ms. Genia Wee, my collaborator in the Chubby Tigers project. Genia is
a tough and lovable cookie, who has a way of turning every meal you have with
her into a joyful experience. She’s what Singapore needs – someone who is
willing to discover the nooks and crannies of this little Island I have called
home for the last two decades. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">As always, I can only hope that 2024 will provide more
adventures and opportunities to discover the world. I’m going to be 50 and its
time I start discovering the unknown or the things that I never knew about the
known world. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>Tang Lihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13936895039543026551noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22044652.post-76242705260479170342023-12-19T15:38:00.004+08:002023-12-19T15:38:48.412+08:00“I Used that to My Advantage – Them Being Big and Me Being Who I am” – Mike Tyson <p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">One of my favourite characters in my life is a girl
called Zen, or Fleshball. Zen was, for a long time, Singapore’s proudest
prostitute. She survived on the streets on Geylang and wasn’t shy about out it.
This was particularly true when it came to former cops. Most girls who work in
the business are weary of being spotted by ex-cops. Zen, would approach them
and exclaim, “you look familiar – I know you.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">One of the best things about Zen is that God looks
aren’t her strong point. At one stage, she was so fat that she waddled instead
of walked. There’s something almost baby like about her. Yet, despite that, she
remains super confident than better educated, better looking professional middle
class women have been intimidated by her. My ex-girlfriend, who happened to be
from Raffles Girls School (RGS), NUS School of Architecture and was the former
head of marketing for Haymarket Publications in Beijing and Shanghai, actually
got visibly jealous of her or as Zen said “Slimmer than me – but still jealous
of me – never mind, I’ll teach her how to use make up.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I bring up the topic of Zen because of all the people
I know, she’s the one person who remains a middle finger to the established
order and established thinking, which is precisely what Singapore needs. I’ve
argued that whilst Singapore is on paper, ticking along nicely, cracks are
starting to appear in the system. Our government, which ranks as one of the
least corrupt in the world, has seen a corruption scandal at ministerial level,
something which no one would ever have imagined. You got to ask yourself – “what’s
going on?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The answer is simple – we grew so addicted to the
playbook of the 1960s that we forgot that the world was actually changing and
old paradigms are becoming less relevant. In a twist to “The Emperor’s New Clothes,”
story, nobody is allowed to point out that the magnificent gowns are less so
and that the emperor is going to be stark raving nude.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Take our great “tiger” economy. We are officially one
of four nations that went from swamp to wealth in a generation. In the case of
Singapore, the government argued that this was only possible because the
government controlled everything. Instead of a public and private sector,
Singapore has a government owned and government-controlled sector. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Anyone else in between the government owned and
government controlled got crushed as being a nuisance. I think of our media
scene, where SPH, the government-controlled owner of the print and MediaCorp,
the government-owned, owner of the broadcast could actually get the government
to remonopolise the media based on the argument that Singapore was “Too small
for competition.” They got so cozy that they’d spend their time arguing over
whether readership was better than viewership without realizing that the paying
audiences were losing interest in both and advertisers noticed. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So, instead of making the monopoly players wake up to
reality and face competition from smaller online players giving the market what
it wanted, our pro-business government decided to bailout the big players and cripple
the smaller players with laws like POFMA.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The business scene has followed the maxim of “God on
the side of Big Battalions.” Instead of ensuring underdogs don’t get crushed,
the system actively goes out of its way to make life difficult for anyone with
the audacity to challenge the established players. Hence, super scale scholars
get more. People like Zen are not expected to survive until election time. The
fact that someone like Zen has the audacity to survive is an act of giving the
middle finger to a system that sees underdogs as an inconvenience.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So, what can people who are not part of the established
order do to survive? The standard answer is that you lie down and be grateful
for the crumbs. But what happens to when you the establishment does not want to
give you crumbs?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Again, I don’t have any real answers. However, I got
interested in a YouTube video when someone made the point to Mike Tyson, former
world heavyweight champion, who he beat bigger men. His point was that he used the
fact that he wasn’t the bigger guy to his advantage:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmJJK7Ac4Fk">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmJJK7Ac4Fk</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCQHxajXn3P958iCKRF-szfPsmJUIKJ6mJhNcDJoYgvoYI-MSqbhqr2PnLQwNP_66pYFVad5aC5U3VCiLAR8BjRcVuvhYOvUEfGAHUcyZCHOPwZnQBLGKYAB6958YFc28iTaszudcJevcAUh7PC40C_m5IlkQz69VnFyQWovAiHfaOWLDaZSTjAQ/s1901/Tyson%20Work.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="827" data-original-width="1901" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCQHxajXn3P958iCKRF-szfPsmJUIKJ6mJhNcDJoYgvoYI-MSqbhqr2PnLQwNP_66pYFVad5aC5U3VCiLAR8BjRcVuvhYOvUEfGAHUcyZCHOPwZnQBLGKYAB6958YFc28iTaszudcJevcAUh7PC40C_m5IlkQz69VnFyQWovAiHfaOWLDaZSTjAQ/w611-h265/Tyson%20Work.jpg" width="611" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Think about it, Mr. Tyson wasn’t the biggest guy in the
ring but he was the most devastating. He terrified larger men and the fights
were often over before they started. How did he do it?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">There’s something that our entrepreneurs need to take
note of in the domestic market. Big players can be beaten and quite often, their
biggest strength is their biggest weakness (the fact that they are the big player).
Look at the media industry as an example. Both SPH and MediaCorp had the
backing of the government and resources. Yet, this became a handicap as viewers
and readers wanted something that didn’t seem like a government mouth rag. Like
Mr. Tyson, the online media in Singapore has used the fact that its not big to
its advantage. Entrepreneurs and small business owners should take note. <o:p></o:p></span></p>Tang Lihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13936895039543026551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22044652.post-56028671020607560482023-12-19T01:46:00.005+08:002023-12-19T01:46:43.832+08:00God the Hobo <p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I’ve just come back from the UK on a business trip.
Unlike the trip in June for my sister’s wedding, this trip happened to take
place Autumn when temperatures were dropping. The boss, the junior who came
along and the chairman who is Australian, ended up shuddering for a good
portion of the trip because, well we’re all from places where winter is 16
degrees centigrade and anything below is considered Arctic. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I got lucky in the sense that I discovered <a href="https://www.uniqlo.com/sg/en/men/innerwear/heattech?path=%2C%2C9906">“heattech”from Uniqlo</a>, which helped deal with the cold. However, whilst I managed to deal
with the cold better than my colleagues, I wasn’t so warm and comfortable that
I couldn’t see a group inhabits London – the homeless. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Go to anywhere in London, and you will inevitably find
someone asking you for spare change. You will inevitably see a section of any
given tube station, which has become a makeshift shelter by someone homeless,
who has subsequently put up a sign asking for donations. Take this fellow who
had camped outside Tower Hill Tube Station as an example:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-I6eB5ljT8nPesE_BTwp11LbXviidilWMaQuEezucEQc6r97m0yAnIWAmdsgBMvqlgTlf9GEaDl6VGWNRbYWq8Ye2lVtC_QefOne_jzBxRZhYQtt483uEmCvtze3Bxd5WmH7x6Xt2_siCkfijRIg-gaaovj91Uab2HQE1IRnIcZMXcGFEHOpjaw/s1656/Homeless%20Dude%20UK.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1656" data-original-width="1242" height="676" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-I6eB5ljT8nPesE_BTwp11LbXviidilWMaQuEezucEQc6r97m0yAnIWAmdsgBMvqlgTlf9GEaDl6VGWNRbYWq8Ye2lVtC_QefOne_jzBxRZhYQtt483uEmCvtze3Bxd5WmH7x6Xt2_siCkfijRIg-gaaovj91Uab2HQE1IRnIcZMXcGFEHOpjaw/w507-h676/Homeless%20Dude%20UK.jpeg" width="507" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I’ve lived in Singapore for nearly two decades now and
whilst the prospect of growing old in Singapore are not exactly fun, I’ve
somehow managed to take comfort in the fact that the weather remains relatively
warm in Singapore and the prospect of freezing on the streets of Singapore don’t
exist. However, even in this age of global warming, it still hit the minus
levels and I simply cannot imagine how anyone could consider sleeping out in
the open.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In a way, living with the homeless was what put me off
London and made Singapore so much more appealing. I lived in Soho back then. I
was where the “fun” happens to be. The amount of wealth in the area is
staggering and as my mother often reminds me, I probably would have been more
successful had a I settled in London instead of making my way back to
Singapore. I think of people on leftist campuses who would go on the human rights
bandwagon the moment they knew I was from Singapore and I’d be thinking, “ya, sure,
we can be a***holes for locking up a few middle-class people for minor things
but as a society, we’d never allow our young to make homelessness a lifestyle
choice.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">As a matter of disclosure, that was the position I
took back then, when I lived off Daddy. I’ve been through a few rough patches
(Hotel 81 in Geylang was once home) and years in corporate insolvency have
shown me the callous way in which Singapore thrives on what can only be politely
called slave labour. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What’s more, we’re starting
to show very visible signs of the same problem that London has – homeless people
or people sleeping out in the rough (which, for the record is not happening
because they think its fun). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The man that I am now has a lot more sympathy for the
downtrodden than the student that I was once. Back then, I had the luxury of
being take care of by Daddy’s money. Today, I look back as someone who has
never “taken-off” and emotionally, its easier to accept that people simply don’t
make it in life. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">However, I still find it hard to accept that anyone
would allow themselves to be in a situation where they had to sleep rough in
minus temperatures. I can accept that for whatever corporate opportunities I
didn’t get or take, I’ve had the good fortune to feel inspired enough to have
the mindset to the see the potential in the things that I’ve done. I take the
example of being a waiter and managing to find my IIM (Indian Institutes of
Management) gig and opened several doors to law firms for the liquidator who employed
me for nearly a decade. I don’t take particular pride of being in corporate insolvency
but I see it as a means to getting through to places.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Being able to be optimistic even in the direst of
circumstances has kept me going. Even as I push 50, I still function with that
intrinsic belief that somehow, somewhere something will click. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">For the guys living in the tube stations, that’s clearly
not the case. Life is merely about making it to the next fix. What hope is
there for them?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This is probably the main question that we need to ask
as Christmas approaches. If you read the Gospels, you will see that Jesus was
effectively the world’s first God of Hobos. There is no record of the man having
a job beyond a stint in the family carpentry business, let alone any record of
the man owning the cloths on his back. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Whilst Jesus was probably the first God who joined the
ranks of the Hobos, his message was inevitably one of joy and optimism, as I
was reminded by the Priest conducting third advent mass last Sunday. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='601' height='499' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzqhM1-iBBBSTz30PZsBt2W5GUGrqhuwS6kZmR5-TQYqsdnaoPXAMIkWthkqjhGUYtsZASoyDZ06nA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Jesus spoke to the downtrodden and told them there was
hope for them. He urged his followers to serve them and to find joy in serving
the down trodden.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Now, I am of limited intelligence, so I shall not pretend
I know how to solve problems. However, I do believe that churches, temples,
mosque and all forms of religious organisations have a role to play in helping
the homeless get onto their feet. They should do as Jesus told them to do (Jesus’s
message is applicable to everyone – Buddhist should take note that the Dalai
Lama has said he is a Boddhisatva and Muslims revere Jesus as a Prophet of
Islam). Go out – serve the downtrodden, give them a reason to live and take joy
in doing so. Its only when these things happen will we start to resemble a
society which can itself vaguely Godly. <o:p></o:p></span></p>Tang Lihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13936895039543026551noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22044652.post-59036403562442016172023-12-17T01:41:00.002+08:002023-12-17T01:52:40.969+08:00A Tale of Two Pageants <p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This has been a funny year. I’ve known two women who
got involved in Beauty Pageants. Like all good heterosexual men, I do like looking
at good looking women and as a matter of disclosure, one of the women mentioned
is my wife of 12-years and the other is a friend whom I’ve grown to care for.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The point of the pageants is, however, larger than the
contestants themselves. There are sociological issues that become quite clear.
Firstly, one of the best things about the two pageants is the fact that they
were aimed at contestants over 35. Like it not, we are living in an aging
society, where people are simply not rushing out to reproduce. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The main reason is simple – women have become educated
to the point where they realise they have more value than just making babies.
Hence, you have a growing number of women who prefer to be single and couples
who choose not to have kids (or as my mother says “why have kids if you can’t
bring them up in a world better than the one you were brought up in). End
result – societies are becoming older and its good that we celebrate female
beauty that goes beyond the obvious physical signs of fertility (big boobs, wide
hips etc) and look at things like poise and elegance. Celebrating the beauty of
older women is good for society. Teaching men to look for long term beauty for
example, makes them understand that the “hot bods” they see on the beaches may
not necessarily be the women they want to wake up next to in their later years.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p><a href="https://www.oprahdaily.com/beauty/a30980789/beauty-brands-women-over-50/"> https://www.oprahdaily.com/beauty/a30980789/beauty-brands-women-over-50/</a></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The second point is centred around the difference in
approaches to the competition. The Vietnamese girl entered the competition with
the determination to not only win but to use the competition to do things on a
global stage. The Vietnamese girl not only went onto win the Singapore leg of
the competition but got herself crowned as the global champion for that particular
competition. To her, this competition was “important” not just for her but
everyone around her. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='514' height='428' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwGjKOuxDxVmhohbDaz6i55RcbNomkkbTEWt3PxQ6EtcA7py8JRX0D0SZUVCUifABzXogutxEXYCOU' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span><i><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Determination and doing what it takes gets you places</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The local girl, by contrast, didn’t treat the competition
as a priority. When you arranged hairdressers for her, she was too busy. When you
tried to get her input on things, she asked you to do for her, she threw a
tantrum for disturbing her busy schedule. She did get placed in a talent segment
but didn’t make it close to championship stage.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It’s not that the local girl is unattractive. She
looked elegant and poised in the relevant promotional materials and there’s no
reason why she could not have given the others a run for their money. However,
that was not her goal and it showed. It was a distraction from her daily life. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">If you look at it from a “lifestyle” choice
perspective, there is no right or wrong. However, if you look at it from a “get
things done” perspective, there’s a powerful point to be made. We are underestimating
people from other parts of Asia because we think we are educated whereas they
are hungry and willing to turn our trash in to their gold.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This is not to say that our people lack drive. Many of
us work insane hours and are proud of pat ourselves on the back on the number
of things we do in the office. I think of my intern who proudly talks about
being a “Por Lampa” (Hokkien slang that roughly translates into ball carrier)
person. Everyone I know who works with Singaporeans, says they we’re a hardworking
bunch.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">However, whilst we may be hardworking in functional in
our own environment, we tend not to look at possibilities outside what we know
and if anything, we psychologically collapse when things go off tangent. Even
our ministers cannot function without a script. I’ll always remember watching
Dr. Lee Boon Yang and Carl Bildt give speeches. Even the Ministry people had to
admit that the Swedish minister outclassed ours in his delivery. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Look at the pageant as an example. Our local girls
avoid pageants because they don’t want to get dissed online. The older ladies
are usually in it for the fun than for anything else (I counted three familiar
faces between pageants) and don’t really think of what they can milk from it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The girls from elsewhere see things differently. The
pageant is a stepping stone into something bigger. It’s their chance to make it
big and so they go all out. In the first pageant won by the Vietnamese girl, it
was very noticeable that the only other person offering competition was also
Vietnamese. In the popularity segment, the two Vietnamese girls ran away with
it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So, yes, Singaporeans are smart and educated. However,
we need to adapt our mindsets to the modern world. Opportunities that may not
be in the conventional career path can opportunities for us. Staying with the
familiar is not necessarily the way to go in a world where the familiar is
closing in on us. Our foreign competition understands notions of “stayer” and “quitter”
are outdated and the only thing that matters is what works best for you and the
your family. <o:p></o:p></span></p>Tang Lihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13936895039543026551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22044652.post-73054541483768603552023-12-10T03:59:00.002+08:002023-12-10T03:59:45.198+08:00We Met as Strangers and Parted as Friends. <p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I come from a patchwork family. My mother has been
married three times and has had a kid from each husband. My dad is also on his
third marriage and a kid from two of his three marriages. Thus, whilst I have
three siblings, we only have one parent in common. In the ever-tricky situations
on race, I am officially the only “pure breed,” since both my parents are
Chinese (mum and dad’s subsequent spouses are Caucasian). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">If you were to look at my family, through the eyes of “traditional”
values, you could say that we were the text-book case for social welfare and
mental abuse. However, as my sister once put it, “We wouldn’t have our
patchwork family any other way.” Whilst the family is made up of people of
different ethnicities, religions, and cultures, we are actually similar in the things
that matter. We have love for each other. I’m significantly older than my siblings.
Since I moved back to Singapore rather than stay in the UK or USA, my
experiences are totally different from theirs. Yet, we love each other deeply
and the highlight of my most recent trip to the UK was having dinner with my brother
and sister from my mum’s side:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1iEmpLdX_SJH2P0K2xuE_P-UIY2l8fdFjYAIP6aAlCjY6n-mZCXBi_oFz6gQtpiJi74M3mL7-5TRilvddSLUuaL4yQ8MoOKcUN3aAUMmsTSMDpZFxs9RqhptALkK9n4dpH1F7T4lfnGTSMh_AGUCEpzSMyLg9rUGUmWrS_MKnEDXuPd41fW-yqw/s1600/Siblings.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1218" data-original-width="1600" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1iEmpLdX_SJH2P0K2xuE_P-UIY2l8fdFjYAIP6aAlCjY6n-mZCXBi_oFz6gQtpiJi74M3mL7-5TRilvddSLUuaL4yQ8MoOKcUN3aAUMmsTSMDpZFxs9RqhptALkK9n4dpH1F7T4lfnGTSMh_AGUCEpzSMyLg9rUGUmWrS_MKnEDXuPd41fW-yqw/w564-h430/Siblings.png" width="564" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">With Tara, Christopher and Urte (my brother’s
girlfriend) at the <a href="https://www.germangymnasium.com/">German Gymnasium Café </a>in Kings Cross London.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I bring up the experiences of my own family because I
believe we live in a world where people are encouraged to be scared of people who
are not like them. The power of race and religion to divide humanity and go
against God are at strong points. Impotent charlatans who couldn’t get laid in
a whorehouse are successfully rebranding themselves as “strong-studs” by
attacking weak and vulnerable people who happen to be a shade darker than most.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It isn’t just about race and religion. Social class has
also played a divisive part. Let’s not forget that Donald Trump successfully
reminded white coal miners in Louisiana that they were being screwed by white
financiers in New York. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So, you now have a situation where societies are now
breaking themselves down into micro-groups based on ever possible division you
could think of. People only want to huddle with people exactly like them. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Now, this is perfectly understandable if you’re a
migrant in a new country where you don’t speak the language or know anyone. Human
nature is such that we’ll drift to the people who are most like us to help us
settle in a place. If you take me as an example, I grew up in England and in
boarding school. Most of my friends were native Anglo-Saxons. However, if you
ask me where I like hanging out best in the UK, the answer is going to be
Chinatown in London. I am or was (the main language has moved from Cantonese to
Mandarin) most familiar with the sights and sounds of the place.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">However, whilst hanging out with your own kind is very
natural when you are starting out, there comes a time when you need to break away
from your own in order to grow. It is as simple as this – you are not going to
get any form of change unless you face the need for it and the most painless
form of change comes when you meet people who have different experiences from
you.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Let’s look at the Singapore economy as an example. Sure,
Singapore has been one of the great economic stories of the past 50-years. There’s
plenty of money floating around Singapore. However, the uncomfortable fact remains
this, the number of Singaporean businesses that have made great things beyond
the local market and the number of Singaporeans in any given field who have
achieved anything beyond the shores of Singapore can be counted on with one
hand. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Lee Kuan Yew would have argued that this is because we
are small. However, small is not an excuse, especially in this day and age of
instant communications. The one common factor is this – our companies are
increasingly run by the same people – ie people who went to the same school,
junior college, army unit and university. Their career paths look ever so
similar and so nothing changes. The men (they usually are) will then marry girls
who are exactly like them and instead of making children the biological way,
they will tailor make them to be exactly like them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">However, as European royal families discovered, the
problem with inbreeding is that it eventually leads to deformities both mental
and physical. The gene pool gets weaker and the species becomes prone to all
sorts of nasty things. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I used to hang out with my own kind, namely PR
professionals. Then, when I changed fields, I started hanging out with
insolvency lawyers (which is where most of the work for liquidators comes from).
Now, nothing wrong with that in that you want to know what’s going on in an
industry and you do want to stay up to date with the movements in your field. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">However, there’s one slight problem with that. If you
only hang out with your own kind, you start getting this delusion that your own
industry is the centre of the world and you fail to realise that your value is
not being at the centre of the industry but how the industry benefits everyone
else.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I discovered this last night when I went for a wine
tasting event, that I’ve been attending for some time. I used to have a large
group but that got smaller as people found other things to do. Then, last night
an expected number showed up. The group was professionally diverse. I had my
accountant and a professional nude model. We were joined by a businessman, a
surgeon and a Bollywood Scriptwriter. We were later joined by an aspiring
liquidator (a former junior colleague), a <a href="https://www.donnarossdisputeresolution.com/">multilingual American arbitrator </a>and
an Italian data architect as well as an <a href="https://give.asia/campaign/mrs-singapore-chinatown-2023-nicole-metta?#/">aspiring beauty queen</a> and an ecommerce entrepreneur
(my Chubbytiger partner). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQCOw3pzgdAoujy9ju_YmTA33Ay8ejtU3OjU0wh4AMJchipk6RbosJVY-9zwxfSNPY65BbIpzJ9mX9OXTiPw2DVMC-H34ZNNKPbpjbrMayc-JbuG-VtrEeoBPkEgScliBYEc_PAzFWfvG_h1V9yluvfnmYdp6ayCkVi9GlzVywTzcrptFKgXdvGQ/s4032/Businessman%20and%20Script%20Writer.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="609" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQCOw3pzgdAoujy9ju_YmTA33Ay8ejtU3OjU0wh4AMJchipk6RbosJVY-9zwxfSNPY65BbIpzJ9mX9OXTiPw2DVMC-H34ZNNKPbpjbrMayc-JbuG-VtrEeoBPkEgScliBYEc_PAzFWfvG_h1V9yluvfnmYdp6ayCkVi9GlzVywTzcrptFKgXdvGQ/w457-h609/Businessman%20and%20Script%20Writer.HEIC" width="457" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The businessman and the script writer admire the wine –
Taken at <a href="https://theprovidore.com/stores/downtown-gallery/">Providore OUE</a></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What made the event successful was that people had things
to talk about other than their usual mundane business life. We were united by
an appreciation of good wine (the surgeon recommended a great bottle) but we
approached things from different angles. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This was a moment where people could help each other
solidify ideas and somehow ideas could flow easily.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So, yes, by all means, we should be with our own kind.
However, its important to move away from our own kind if we want to achieve any
form of growth. Group think and inbreeding only make you weaker and seeking out
differences and challenge are actually good for you. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Tang Lihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13936895039543026551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22044652.post-26245217957501736372023-12-01T15:46:00.006+08:002023-12-01T15:46:58.192+08:00Should We Reward the Right Thing<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I was at an all-day seminar oragnised by the
International Fraud Group (IFG), yesterday. There were various discussions
related to the issue of combating fraud and the one discussion that caught my attention
was a discussion on whether countries should change their legislation to reward
whistleblowers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilzjtUCmADoq5dp5PkmVUho5zgA1nBkUkUYijndVF41A_8_BYIBLUgBhQOdHPD96EUWArdqt6mu4pGyEQ7dG4N2XSXl4b3o0DkNahb0q2DjItEvn_UgTDz6NXZH-Ih4C0rdKgI2xBpqoh7c18BSNcH5BcTrmzCmPOfDIkbyNKvA9XMTLQ1L7MbBQ/s1656/Whistle%20Blower%20Seminar.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1656" data-original-width="1243" height="611" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilzjtUCmADoq5dp5PkmVUho5zgA1nBkUkUYijndVF41A_8_BYIBLUgBhQOdHPD96EUWArdqt6mu4pGyEQ7dG4N2XSXl4b3o0DkNahb0q2DjItEvn_UgTDz6NXZH-Ih4C0rdKgI2xBpqoh7c18BSNcH5BcTrmzCmPOfDIkbyNKvA9XMTLQ1L7MbBQ/w459-h611/Whistle%20Blower%20Seminar.jpeg" width="459" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">As with most things, the biggest and most interesting
cases of rewarding whistleblowers comes from the USA, where the Securities and
Exchange Commission (“SEC”) paid a whistleblower a sum of US$279 million in May
2023.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2023-89">https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2023-89</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The main thrust of the SEC’s argument was that it made
the payout because it wants to encourage whistleblowing. Whilst this was an
amazing story, an American lawyer on the panel rightly pointed out that the
system was not perfect. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Let’s face it, the topic of paying people for doing anything
other than a nine-to-six job is something that many people struggle with. Call
it the mentality of “I work so many hours a day for x number of dollars and so
and so just makes one report and gets so much more.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Whistleblowing is a particularly tricky topic in that
it is more often than not an act that requires you to go against an organization
or individual who has power over you. In school boy terms, you’re literally being
a “grass” or a “snake,” to the hand that feeds and more often than not, to the “team”
that you’ve grown up with. There is, in a lot of human societies thrive on
concepts of “loyalty” to authority. That, as an Estonian member of the audience,
pointed out, can be tricky, when you come from a society where people are
terrified of “telling-on” people or oragnisations to the government. Post-Soviet
societies are particularly terrified of this because they are trying to get out
of a culture where people were terrified into “telling-on” their neighbours. A German
speaking member of the panel made the point that the term “whistleblowing” in
German is “informant” which has negative connotations. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Let’s face it, whistleblowing is not something that
comes naturally and there are justified concerns that people may become “whistleblowers’
to get “revenge” on employers and that evidence provided by “whistleblowers”
may be tainted if there’s a “reward” motive. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I get these points. Well intentioned systems can be
abused. The welfare system in many Western countries is an example. The
intention to ensure people don’t starve when they’re out of a job is a noble
intention. However, the system has in plenty of cases “disincentivized” work. Rewarding
whistleblowing can lead to abuse. So, the question is, why should you encourage
people to be “disloyal.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">However, the case of not wanting to “reward” people
for being “disloyal” has one fatal flaw, which is, it works on the assumption
that people in authority are by default the good guys. One of the panelists in yesterday’s
discussion is Ms. Ruth Dearnley, who is the CEO of <a href="https://www.stopthetraffik.org/">STOP THE TRAFFIK</a> Group, a
charity dedicated to combating human trafficking. Her argument was simple –
without whistleblowing she wouldn’t be able to do what she does. In Ms. Dearnly’s
is in the business of helping victims of crime and relieving a menace. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">To put it simply, those of us who happen to be working
professionals living in a place where there is a “rule of law,” sometimes fall
into the trap of thinking that everyone is like us. We go to work, which we may
not necessarily like, does provide us with a reasonable livelihood. If you’re
in a profession like law, accountancy or medicine, there is no need to “tell-on”
your boss unless its an extreme “life-threatening” case. Members of any given
profession have to comply with rules governing the profession as well as the
laws of the land. So, whistleblowing only comes into our daily lives in extreme
circumstances. – “Why rock the boat unless its life threatening?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">However, the sad truth is that the majority of the
world’s population is not working professional and living in a country where there
is rule of law. The fact remains, that in the majority of world, being an “honest”
and “law abiding” person is the fastest way to die and easy to be tempted and
tricked by anyone offering you better prospects. Go into any given red-light
district, and you’ll find a young girl who thought she was going to work in a
factory but was forced to get “f***ed” to keep other people rich. Ms. Dearnly
had examples of boys who could use a computer and dreamed of working for a big
IT company only to find themselves crammed into a cell, forced to run “love-scams.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Let’s face it, these are stories that most of us know
exists but they are usually things that don’t even enter our conscience. Yet, these
cases exist. The world actually has people who are forced into situations where
they are effectively prisoners of the “bad” people who profit from harming
other people. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I believe that right thinking people will want the “bad
guys” brought down and every right-thinking person will want “victims” to be rescued
so that they can get on with life. However, you are not going to get that
scenario unless people who are victims come forward. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Now, if it is challenging to get someone like me to
come forward to do the “right-thing,” let us imagine what it is like to get
someone who gets beaten up or tortured at the whims of their proverbial bosses.
Sure, I may have my disagreements with my boss but I am NEVER in danger of losing
my life or having harm done to my family as a result of those disagreements. At
the most, I quit or get fired and work in a different industry but I don’t have
a reason to move from where I am. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">That’s not the case for people who are victims of trafficking,
whether they are in sex work or forced labour. How do you get these people to
help you out.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Yes, the SEC case is sensational. However, when you
discuss the issue of whistleblowing, you are not asking people to try out for
the lottery. You are asking them to stop the bad guys. Unfortunately, bad guys
have a way of doing bad things to people whom they perceive may be a problem.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">You need to tell people that you will stop bad things
from happening to them if they do the right thing. They need to be able to “feel
secure” if they do the right thing, whether that is to ensure basic protection
both financially and physically. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">No system is perfect. Abuses can happen. However, if
you were to weigh up the cost and reward of incentivizing whistleblowing, its
clear that society would be far better off if people felt secure enough to do
the right thing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Tang Lihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13936895039543026551noreply@blogger.com0