Author: CMR.sg

Yesterday Tracy was married to Timothy, at the new Singapore Edition hotel.

It was a nice and cosy lunch event. A small but intimate setting with long tables in a well decorated ballroom. Guests were mainly family, friends and colleagues. The menu for lunch was carefully selected and the food was good. I was seated with my colleagues and was therefore a nice catch up session as well!

The couple managed to keep the proceedings simple and meaningful and on time, unlike some weddings which go on forever with endless speeches and video montages. The speeches were short and to the point and they had a lovely video presentation where the couple talked about how they got together. All of it was well put together.

I have known Tracy since she joined the firm as a pupil some 7 years back and I have also worked with her on a number of files. I like her. She’s simple,quiet and pleasant and am happy to have been a part of one of the most important days in her life.

Here’s wishing her and her husband a long and wonderful married life.

I watched this play yesterday at the Ngee Ann Kongsi theater. I was a bit apprehensive after Harish’s rather negative comments from his visit last week. He wasn’t impressed and found it depressing.

Fortunately after watching it, I did not have a negative view about the play. It was just right in terms of length. Lasted an hour and a half without any intermission. The acting was well above average and the acoustics were good. I could catch all the dialogue without the need for glancing at the close captioning.

The entire premise of the play is about a pastor who suddenly comes to the realisation that the logical conclusion of what Christians believe, ie that anyone who doesn’t believe in Jesus must go to hell and that all who believe will go to heaven is flawed. He concludes that there cannot be a hell because there are people who never would have had the opportunity to even hear about Jesus but are nevertheless good people. Surely, he decides, they cannot be condemned to hell And he therefore takes the position from certain passages in the Bible that everyone will go to heaven. This leads to a clash with the junior pastor who takes the view that only those who believe in Jesus will be saved and go to heaven and the rest will go to hell. Because of this new position taken on by the pastor, his congregation is fractured and leaves and eventually his own wife leaves him.

The play doesn’t attempt to answer these differing opinions and doesn’t attempt to answer them.

Anyway the realization that the pastor reaches is the fundamental problem that I have always had with Christianity. It condemns all good people who don’t believe in Jesus.

The other problem is that Christians think that if they believe in Jesus , for that reason alone, they will be in heaven for eternity. That has always struck me as wrong. Many Christians are not even good people. Why should they be in heaven just because they have said they believe in Jesus even though they were horrible on Earth?

But if you accept the proposition that whether you have a good afterlife or not depends purely on your deeds whilst you are living, then believing in Jesus becomes irrelevant. Good deeds is the only clincher.

I suspect that is the problem. To sell a religion one must promise something to the preached so that they believe and continue to practise the religion. Selling a good afterlife is the safest bet.

Last night was our final meeting of the current 3 year term for this standing committee.

It has been a term of many changes. We were initially focused on promoting lifelong learning amongst our people and promoting upgrading and skills in certain sectors that had a demand for employees. That has been the focus of this committee since 2016 when this whole skillsfuture movement took off. And we had a fairly small team with a smallish budget conducting these workshops.

Then this whole new area of finding nearby jobs for people came about last year. This has been timely because of the advent of AI taking away entry level jobs and a slowing economy. This whole new area was also then parked under our committee,

That has entailed a large increase in headcount, a much bigger budget and more papers for each meeting since the two teams are doing quite different things.

This was the first meeting where both teams presented their papers and their work progress and inevitably there were many teething issues with the way the reports are set out and presented. Hopefully they are now ironed out and the work progresses.

Quite apart from ensuring that we do something meaningful for our people that will make a lasting impact in their lives as opposed to simply hitting a kpi that has been set out for them, I do hope the two teams finds ways to cooperate and synergise and provide meaningful service. There must be ways in which lifelong learning workshops can be tailored based on the demand for jobs and the likewise people who are looking for jobs at the same time can attend the workshops can be attended to by the jobs team.

Last night I had dinner with Jonathan Tan, a good friend whom I was fortunate to know from my CDC days. He was then close to Dr Teo and was helping out in NWCDC and in Bukit Panjang. I probably met him sometime in 2017 at one of our events.

I remember traveling to Russia with him on a group tour in 2019, together with some other community leaders, just before Covid. Glad for that trip because with the ongoing Ukraine war, travel to Russia looks like a very long shot.

Our dinner was at Woolomooloo at Raffles City. His choice as he loves meat. The food and steaks were good. The view from the restaurant is nice. One complaint I have is that it was noisy inside the restaurant. It could be because it was packed yesterday or that there were exceptionally noisy people around last night. It made good conversation difficult. Still we spent a good hour and a half talking about politics and people in Singapore. He is a bright chap so it is always interesting to carry on a conversation with him.

Good for him now that he is focussing on bringing up his family business to the next level.

Whilst I was meeting up with my good friend U Zyn for lunch yesterday at Ah Yat seafood restaurant, to my surprise, I bumped into a friend from a long time back at the next table having lunch with his wife.

I first met Mark Yeo in 1986. It was at the Toa Payoh police station. I was sent there after my studies because I was then a local PSC police scholar. Mark was there because he was an overseas PSC police scholar, and he had just completed his law studies in Oxford.

We bonded, even though I didn’t stay on in the police force. It could be because we were both from ACS, we both had done law or that he continued to have an interest in law and visited the law faculty regularly, where I was then based

We used to meet regularly for lunches in the early days. But after he finished his stint in the police force and went to work in Dubai, we lost touch.

It was very good seeing him again and we have arranged to meet up again soon at the same place.

I was having tea with Ken and Harvey this afternoon. Ken told me that at a yacht event in Singapore last week, he met a lady who runs the Hainan Yacht Club and deals a lot with very wealthy people. He had asked her how she manages to deal with and interact with tycoons.

She told him that there are 4 critical rules involved. I was intrigued by what he told me and I wanted to write it down so that I could reflect on whether on these “rules”.

Rule one is that there has to be a reason for a tycoon to want to interact with you. There must be an expertise or specialty that you possess that is of use to them and which they need from you.

Rule two is that there must be chemistry between you and the tycoon so that they feel comfortable spending time with you. In that way, being a likeable person and having a pleasant personality helps.

Rule three was interesting. Whether a tycoon trusts you and interacts with you depends a lot on who recommended you. These rich people tend to be suspicious of outsiders and they therefore rely a lot of personal recommendations from people they trust. So having someone saying nice things about you certainly helps.

And the final rule is that it is important never to put any kind of pressure on them. They dislike pressure from anyone, especially from one providing them a service.

As I am writing this , I wondered if these rules were limited to just interactions with the ultra rich. On reflection, these rules are common sense principles which can apply in our interactions with clients, business partners and political leaders. But it is also sad because it reflects a utilitarian view of how the world operates. People will want you if they need something from you and if you and your services are no longer needed, they will discard you. It will only be a very small group of people who will be able to cultivate true friendships during this process.

Last night’s dinner, hosted by Chelva Rajah, was at Plu, a newly opened Thai restaurant at Goodwood Park Hotel.

As for the food, I didn’t care too much for it. I have never been a fan of thai food. There are too many fried items and the curries have too much coconut milk and cream. I always feel bloated after a Thai meal.

Even having said that, I didn’t find the food quality at the restaurant exceptional but to be fair, the others seemed to enjoy the food. Perhaps my views on the food are just me. I am beginning to wonder if this is just part of a systematic decline in food standards in Singapore. Also I was surprised that a new restaurant was opening its doors in Singapore during a time of economic slowdown and high prices here.

The parking at this hotel is horrendously expensive. I arrived at 645pm and left at 915pm and the car park charges were $11. They charge $5 per hour till 7pm and then $6 per entry thereafter. Shocking.

As always the company and conversation were interesting. We talked about travels. Mostly about the Northern lights. Some of them have seen it. Peng Tiam wanted to see it. I haven’t seen it. I am just not sure if it is something so spectacular that I would spend so much money and brave the cold weather to watch. Peng Tiam spoke extensively about his shopping experience in China, and especially his online shopping experiences. He has offered to buy things online for us if we need anything. The ongoing Hyflux trial was discussed. Some of them know the personalities involved and so it was good to hear about how they felt the trial was proceeding.

We also spoke about the book, the Albatross files. I had the most to contribute on this topic as I was the only one who has read the book. I have already done a post on this and I was able to share with them some of the things I have already put out in my post, including the quote by Tunku in his signed copy of his book to Lee Kuan Yew.

Now to look forward to the next dinner in June.

I had my regular lunch with Ashwini yesterday. Ashwini is the Head of Chancery at the Indian High Commission and we have been meeting regularly over the last 2 years.

First the actual discussions we had. We talked mostly about the Middle East war and the folly of Donald Trump. The consequences of the war have affected countries differently and according to him, India would see some effects, though not devastating. The inflationary effects will of course be felt worldwide but the impact would be felt keenest in countries which lack foreign currencies to pay additional sums for the higher oil prices. Especially if their governments have been subsidizing oil prices for their domestic market consumption.

Next the food. The choice of the restaurant was his. I have been to the original restaurant in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 2016. There was a lot of hype about this place. I tried it and I wasn’t impressed at all. The food was expensive and just above average.

I haven’t been to the Singapore outlet and neither has he and so he wanted to try this out.

Unfortunately the food quality was below average and the prices high. The chicken curry we ordered didn’t have any curry at all and the rice and chicken were dry. The street bread was just dry local bread. We had ordered a crab. After a while when we realized we had finished our lunch and the crab still hadn’t been served. We called over the waitress to check our order. She had completed missed placing the order. I was happy to just stop and leave at that point but Ashwini wanted to try the crab. So we waited another 20 minutes for the crab dish. Again very average quality.

I think this is becoming symptomatic of Singapore. High prices, poor quality both in terms of food quality and service. Why would anyone want to visit Singapore and put up with this?

We both agreed that food quality and service in KL and Bangkok were far superior to Singapore and that it was only a matter of time before the tourists realized this.

He will soon be posted out of Singapore as his 3 year term is ending in July. We agreed to meet for another meal soon, this time my choice.

I was invited by U Zyn to this exhibition yesterday evening. He had informed me that he visited this exhibition some time back and wanted me to visit the exhibition and the couple who own the gallery. The couple had their first exhibition,Ink and Paper 10 years ago at this same location and so appropriately they have named this recent exhibition Ink and Paper 10 years on. Although this is the first time I have visited their gallery.

Unfortunately the gallery is located at Penjuru Lane, which is far. It took me a good 35 minutes drive to get there. The isolated location is, in my view, not conducive to those who do not drive and therefore may deter more regular visits. I felt sorry those who did not drive because it must be difficult to find transport to get there and back.

The gallery is in a warehouse complex with adequate parking. The gallery comprises a small viewing space with the storage unit just next to it. Looking at the sheer number of items they had in the storage unit, I think they must be one of the largest private collectors of art in Singapore. I used to think that with my roughly 160 pieces in Helutrans, I had too much but my collection pales in comparison to theirs.

They showcased some of their Singapore artists yesterday and there were about 24 pieces on display. The pieces were interesting and varied and Linda introduced the guests to each and every piece. I know of some of the artists whose pieces were displayed but I have never been keen on Singapore artists. A lot of local artists end up doing Chinatown and Boat Quay scenes and that has never appealed to me. I have a few in my own collection but I have never actively sought out to collect local artists.

The owners, Linda Neo and Albert Lim, started their collection sometime in 2005 and started out by collecting local artists.

I spoke to both Linda and Albert quite a bit about their collection and on the joys and pain of collecting art in Singapore. It is a joy to view beautiful art and want to own it. The problem comes about because Singapore weather is unforgiving to art and the heat and humidity destroy art rapidly. The only way then to preserve what you treasure is to wrap it up and store it carefully. This means you never actually get to see and enjoy what you bought and also additional costs incurred by storage charges.

Linda and Albert are a wonderful couple who fortunately share the same passion in art and collecting it. I was happy talking to them about their collection and their family. Hopefully their children will share their same passion in art. It is good that they put in the effort to open their doors to others to view and enjoy their artworks and share their passion.

Last night was the thank you dinner for the organising committee of this year’s Club 100 dinner. We did well and we managed to hit our target of maintaining the membership at 750.

The dinner was at Jia He Grand restaurant at Farrer Hospital. I used to go there a lot some years back but for some reason, which I cannot recall now, I stopped. The food was good and the price was reasonable for that menu. I think I will organise my next ACS dinner here.

I sat next to the Mayor and I really enjoyed our conversations. We talked about a variety of topics and I find it useful because he knows what is happening and so I learn and understand quite a bit listening to him.

Towards the end of dinner, as an entire group, we talked about the various initiatives to address job seeker’ concerns in Singapore, especially the role to be played by the CDC. This is something I will need to get my teeth into, as I chair the committee for this at the CDC. There are just so many initiatives and so someone looking for a job will find help. I am not sure how the impact of the effect of AI on white collar entry level jobs will be addressed at some point in the future.