Category: General

This morning I was invited to his studio to view some works.

He is 81 now and is one of the foremost watercolor painters in Singapore. Self taught and a cultural medallion winner.

The place is like a warehouse and the pieces were all over the place. I was met by the son who showed me the pieces.

He has a number of Singapore scenes together with some Nepal and Bali scenes.

I didn’t get attracted to any piece there. But it was an enjoyable hour spent looking at art.

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I reposted this with my comments 2 days ago.

For some reason I am getting concerned. First, nothing in the PM’s National Day Rally about a particular community. Then the issue of Air India and Singapore Airlines’ minority stake came up. With Air India’s losses and them asking their shareholders for financial support, multiple negative comments about how Singapore tax payers would be bailing out Air India. Clear racial overtones in many of these comments.

Then 9 Singaporeans went missing in Nepal during the recent mudslide. So many negative comments on whether these 9 are Singaporeans, are they Singaporean sounding names, do they look Singaporeans (whatever that means) if so are they really Singaporeans. A post had been put out by 2 young Singaporean Indian girls seeking their parents who had gone on a pilgrimage and were now missing and so many comments posted wishing them dead. Overtly racial this time.

Mayor Alex Yam put out his post and after he had done so, he informed me that he got blasted online for supporting them.

Then someone explained to me that this is the same kind of movement happening in the US and Europe. Fear, envy and anger at successful migrants. The anger that they are taking away their scarce resources and jobs and as a result they are doing worse. The MAGA support base thinking for Donald Trump is happening here. So anyone who is a new citizen, their families and anyone working here, especially those in higher paying jobs, will become a target soon.

Let’s see where this ends. It is one thing to think that these are a few anonymous and nameless trolls doing it, but I suspect it is a lot more serious. The more such comments surface with no consequences, they will become bolder and unfortunately encourage others to think similarly.

As I am sitting on the 35th floor and looking out, it is clear that the haze is setting in. Sigh.

Noticeably warmer when I am walking outside and less comfortable. I read that Singapore will be hot with haze about now as well.

Why do we have to go through this regularly? Surely this starting of fires to clear land can be stopped if there’s a political will to do so? The affected ASEAN countries have been calling emergency transboundry haze meetings every time it happens. And always lots of talk about future actions and then it happens again the following year?

I happened to be in kl on the eve of their National Day. And they have a huge celebration at klcc park on the eve.

The main road there was partly closed for the preparations leading to huge jams around there. And yet strangely people still drive there!

The park and areas surrounding the park closed around 3. They had a huge concert, light show, drone show and fireworks. The fireworks started at midnight immediately after the singing of their National Anthem.

All of this was right in front of me! So lucky I am.

Strangely their merdeka day is 31 August 1957. But that only applied to peninsula Malaysia. Sabah and Sarawak only gained independence on 16 September 1963. Wonder how they reconcile that…

Two days ago, I woke up to some distressing news. A whatsApp from Mr Sia, informing me that his wife Janice had fallen in the kitchen and knocked her head against the oven door 10 days ago. She had bleeding in her head and after an operation, she had another massive bleeding 7 days later. She was in a coma and they had decided to withdraw life support that morning.

I have known Mr Sia and his wife since 1996 or 97. They were clients of mine. They had brought shares in a famous golf resort in Phuket, called Blue Canyon, and as a result were facing financial challenges from various people.

I visited them there and stayed at Blue Canyon several times. I liked them and helped his children enter ACS International.

I saw them on and off over the years because there wasn’t much I could do for them in Phuket and the case after the early 2000s.

I didn’t expect her to pass away so soon. She was only 68, whereas Mr Sia was 80 and not in that good health. I last saw her 2 years ago and she seemed perfectly fine.

Well one doesn’t control the length of one’s life or what happens during that lifetime.

I visited the wake and sent my condolences today.

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I watched this last night. I have always liked the music very much. I played it during my school band days. And I have seen the movie, which is good, and heard several versions of the productions.

But I have never seen a live production, till now. And I am glad I did. It was brilliant.

Great singing and good instrumentation, especially by the actors playing Jesus and Judas. Because it is a rock musical, unless you already know the lyrics, you will miss out on what they are singing at some parts. Even for me, I couldn’t catch everything.

Still I am so glad I came. Bumped into Quentin Loh and his wife and also Goh Yi Han. It was such a good experience that I am now planning to see it once more before this run ends.

After 56 years, it still rocks.

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I was invited by the Cuban Ambassador for this event.

I wanted to learn more about him and his life but unfortunately the speech by the Ambassador was rather long and difficult to understand because the sound system was not that good. That was followed by another 3 speeches by people who actually knew Fidel Castro and interacted with him. Again they were long speeches and difficult to catch because of the pronunciation and the sound system. Pity. The standing only  event made it worse because I was standing for about an hour and a half by then.

A simple photo exhibition. Can’t say I learnt much about him though..

I just watched this movie, now on Netflix.

A fast paced and devastating expose of the terrible safety work culture at Boeing. So many deliberate safety lapses, cost cutting measures, putting profits above everything else, especially safety, and silencing anyone within the company who raise safety concerns and cutting down safety officers.

A shocking indictment of a company which makes a product that most of us either have taken or will continue to take. When we fly, we all assume that the planes are safe. But when the own employees on Boeing say that they will never fly on a Boeing plane, then you know something is very seriously wrong.

And since it is an American company, there has been no one held criminally liable for the 2 Max plane crashes that killed almost 400 people. Probably also because these planes crashed in Ethiopia and Indonesia. Typical American way of thinking. Only take it seriously if it happens in the US or affects US citizens. Otherwise protect the US corporation.

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I got back from Bangkok just for this yesterday.

I always look forward to this. It’s his 3rd speech as PM and I like listening to him. He is genuinely sincere and concerned and that comes across in his speech.

It is also a chance for me to meet many people I will only see at such an event.

I noticed immediately after his Chinese speech that he had focused on Malay and Chinese language and culture and how important it is to continue to grow and nurture them. I knew he would be speaking in English after the break. So I gave feedback during the break that the omission would be glaring if he didn’t talk about the Indian community, and that he would say something. Unfortunately he didn’t and hence my post above.

I got feedback from many people, both during the break and after the speech, that it was a glaring omission.

Anyway that speech must have been vetted by the Cabinet. Strange no one picked it up.

Am just leaving Bangkok now. Arrived here on Wednesday.

I can understand why people want to migrate here, especially in their retirement years.

The weather is much better than Singapore. It rains and is cooler. The coffee is amazing. I have been having great coffee every day. Sometimes so much that I can’t sleep!!

The fruits are so fresh and good with a huge variety. The fresh juices are great and the food is incredible, especially their japanese food.

Just so fortunate for us Singaporeans that it is just a short 2 hour flight and the hotels are relatively inexpensive.

And just as I was in the lounge in Bangkok waiting to come back, I met my colleagues!