Category: Uncategorized

Today I watched snippets of the testimony by Sarah Wynn Williams before the Senate Judiciary Committee given on 9 April 2025.

I have not been following this story at all and when I first saw this, I was quite shocked with when I heard.

Apparently Mark Zuckerberg and his people have told the Senate several times over the years under oath that they have no business dealings in China and the Chinese government has no control over what Facebook does in HK and Taiwan or have any access to its data.

It now appears that all this may have been untrue . For years Facebook has been quietly doing business in China and to break into this market he has worked with China and allowed them to do surveillance and have access to data of Chinese, HK and Taiwan account holders. They were also doing the censoring on behalf of the Chinese government. In addition, they were sharing details of their latest technology developments such as data centers, facial recognition and AI models as they were being developed with China. The evidence given was that Deepseek, the Chinese AI, was built based on the Llama model by Facebook.

Also in addition to building their security apparatus and systems together with the Chinese government and sharing all its details with them, they have at the request of the Chinese government, blocked the Facebook account of a Chinese dissident based in the US. And lied about this previously to the Senate.

Wow. This is scary. If this is true, he is going to be in very serious trouble. This coming at a time of heightened trade tensions between the US and China and the US crackdown on tech going to China. If Facebook did help China develop AI, then the crackdown on Facebook is going to be huge. I need to follow up on this.

I am also going to read her book entitled “Careless People” which was was about her time in Facebook.

Today I had lunch with Shapoor Mistry, together with a dear friend, Prasoon Mukherjee.

Shapoor is the current Chairman of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group. This is a 160 year old Indian conglomerate. It is a very well known diversified family group dealing with infrastructure construction, real estate and oil and gas both in India and worldwide. They are also a significant 18.4% shareholder in the Tata group.

The Shapoorji Pallonji family are Parsis. Parsis were originally from Persia, which is modern day Iran. They are Zoroastrians, which is an ancient religion. They faced persecution in Persia after the Arab Muslims invaded there and as a result they started moving out in waves to India from about 800CE. They settled in India and were successful business people. The Parsis are great believers in philanthropy. Though they have been in India for a long time, they still retain their strong cultural and religious ties as Parsis. The Tata group is an example of successful Parsi business in India.

We had a simple lunch at Hyatt. He is lovely unassuming gentleman. He started off by telling me that their family name Mistry means carpenter in Parsi, which I thought was an apt description since they started off in business by doing construction. He explained to me their family businesses. He also talked about the history of Parsis and Zoroastrianism and about the Tata group. Am so glad to have met him.

I only found out today that George Foreman had died sometime in late March this year. He was 76.

In 1974, he was the reigning world heavyweight boxing champion and that year, he fought with Muhammad Ali in Zaire. The event was called the Rumble in the Jungle. I was in Primary 6 then.

When I was growing up Muhammad Ali was a legend. He was very popular and even my parents knew about him. He had won the Olympics gold medal in boxing in 1960 and became the world heavyweight boxing champion in 1964 after defeating Sonny Liston. He was just so beautiful to watch. Graceful, fast and powerful and he talked a lot both before and during a fight. His title was taken away from him in 1967 after he had converted to Islam and refused to be drafted to fight the Vietnam war. He was only allowed to fight again in 1970 after he had taken the matter to the Supreme Court. But by then, he was not the same. He had lost his speed, energy and power. So he lost the opportunity to fight and defend his title in his prime years.

George Foreman was a formidable champion. Strong and powerful with a power packed punch. In 1974 Foreman was in his prime and Ali had already passed his prime. No one liked Foreman much then. He never smiled. And everyone, me included, was rooting for Ali that year. And Ali won.

That fight was how I got to know who George Foreman was.

Later Foreman became a Christian minister, won the title again in his 40s and became good friends with Ali. When you see photos of him in his later years, he always has a beautiful smile and looks peaceful.

Rest in peace George.

Today is Tamil New Year. It is the first day of the Tamil solar calendar and is the start of the Chittirai month. This time around, the New Year starts at 6am Singapore time. Auspiciously, this morning, the moon was huge and beautiful as I was driving out.

The Gregorian calendar starts the year on January 1, but for the many people who follow the solar calendar, today is the start of their new year for eg the Sri Lankans, Cambodians also have today as the start of their New Year.

As a start to a new year, it is the start of a new beginning and the day is traditionally celebrated by a visit to the temple and eating vegetarian food. Tamils will cook ponggal today and when I was growing up, that was something I also looked forward to!

Last night Trump blinked again. Realising that the prices of everyday electronic goods in the US will skyrocket, he has exempted tariffs on most electronic goods and components from China (except for the existing 20%). This is about a quarter of the goods the US imports from China.

Smartphones, computers, chips and other electronic goods and components such as flat panel displays, semi conductors, solar cells, flas cards, memory cards and solid state devices from China are now exempted. Simply because the US is wholly dependent on China for all these products as none of them are made in the US.

Clearly this is another indication that he had no idea what he was doing when he announced his sky high tariffs against China. Either ill advised or he thought China will capitulate and he will then brag about how he negotiated a great deal with China.

Since China did not budge and consumer confidence in the US collapsed on Friday to one of its lowest levels, he had to back down.

At this point in time he is just looking silly. And I don’t think this will be the end. With no endgame in sight, embarking on a tariff war was just plain stupid. He will be a laughing stock of talk show hosts this weekend for sure!

Today China increased its tariff to goods from the US to 125%. This is in response the tariffs Trump introduced yesterday on Chinese goods.

Stock markets have tanked, bond markets are dropping and surprisingly the US dollar is dropping. All 3 are going to start having a serious impact on the US economy in a very short time.

With the tariffs at this rate, virtually all trade between these 2 superpowers will come to a halt. I can only imagine the enormous impact it is already having on many companies in both those countries.

How long can this carry on? The US buys so many of its products from China and so many US companies manufacture their products in China. What will happen?

If the US dollar continues dropping, will people buy its debt? How will the US continue servicing the interest on its debt? The rate at which the US dollar is dropping is going to erode its status as a reserve currency for the world and its safe haven status. Both these will have devastating effect on the US economy in the long run. The interest the US will have to pay to borrow is going to shoot up to levels which will wreck havoc on its economy.

In Singapore, many companies have factories set up in China to manufacture their goods. If they don’t export to the US that’s fine. But if they do, then they will have serious difficulties.

Banks which have lent to these companies will have to consider their financial viability. Also if banks have lent to finance setting up plants in China, Vietnam, Cambodia or Loas, then they must be worried about the financial ability of these companies to repay with the tariffs so high.

Pain has to be felt within the US before Trump will reverse course. When will that happen?

Shocking that a US Vice President can label people in China as Chinese peasants.

Absolutely no grace, diplomacy or tact. What has happened to the art of diplomacy or statecraft with this current administration, In so many respects China is so far ahead of the US. Their infrastructure, advances in technology etc. What is wrong with these MAGA lots there in the US? Have they all gone crazy?

if China were to stop buying US debt and dump their existing holdings what will happen to the strength of the US dollar. Also since the US is running a deficit, if China stops buying US debt, how will the US fund their economy I wonder

Once again Trump has blinked. After watching the stock market collapse in the US and warnings by economists and banks of the near certainty of a US recession, Trump paused his tariffs on almost all countries except China for another 90 day period.

The stock markets swung up on this news and in any other dimension surely someone will wonder if anyone was using any insider information to make huge monies on the stock and bond markets.

What looks to me like a panic reaction to collapsing stock prices is branded by Republicans as brilliant negotiation skills. I fail to see any intelligence in any of the recent actions on tariffs by Trump.

I think it was the fear of a stock market collapse, fear of recession in the US, huge discontent within the US on the impact on higher prices on everyday goods and the fear of a coordinated tariff strike back by all the other countries that caused Trump to back down.

However he has maintained his tariffs on China because it is “ripping off” the US. I wonder if this is an attempt to isolate China from the rest of the world.

In any case, this is only a 90 day pause. How should countries respond? Negotiateor hold back and see? Perhaps form alliances with other countries in the meantime?

Whatever happens, the US has shown itself to be a utterly unreliable trading partner and ally. The loss of credibility is immense and I wonder if the US will ever gain the trust and confidence of other countries ever.

Today I learnt that for humans there are only 5 personality traits that apply across the board. Each of the traits are classed over a spectrum or range rather than just simply yes or no to each. These personality traits are different from personality types, which we hear about so often eg Type A or Type B, which are “either-or”.

The 5 traits are as follows;

Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism and Openness.

A person high in conscientiousness is organised, disciplined, reliable, goal oriented and plans well. Whereas a low conscientiousnes person is disorganised, procrastinates, not goal oriented and spontaneous.

A person high in extraversion is outgoing, likes social interactions, likes being around people and energetic. A low extraversion person is reserved, likes solitude and doesn’t like social interactions much.

A person high in agreeableness is cooperative, likes harmony, trusting, compassionate and empathises. A person low in agreeableness is competitive, skeptical, confrontational and blunt.

A person high in neuroticism is reactive emotionally, anxiety prone, has mood swings, worries a lot and has doubts about everything. A person low in neuroticism is calm, stable emotionally, less stress prone and resilient.

A person high in openness is open to new things and experiences, enjoys art and culture, is creative, curious and open to abstract concepts. A person low in openness is routine oriented, prefers familiarity, is conventional and is more traditional.

Are these traits genetically ingrained in us when we are born or do we pick these up as we are growing up and watching our parents, friends and society. Or is it a combination of both? Do they change over time? Can we change them? How? Is a high in each trait necessarily a good thing? What should the balance be?

I am curious. I have just started this course and and I am keen to understand this. Can knowing these traits really predict behavior?

I see in myself a bit of each of these traits and I am not sure which part of the spectrum of each trait I fall into. I think at different times, with different people and on different occasions I react differently. Is that a bad thing? Can I call that adaptability? Is being agreeable all the time good? Isn’t being neurotic sometimes not a bd thing? Does knowing about these traits help me be a better person?

As a further update, in addition to the 5 personality traits, there are 3 motivators of behavior in humans. The 3 being affiliation motivation, achievement motivation and power motivation. On each of them, we are motivated to different degrees. But being motivated may not be sufficient if the corresponding trait is not there. Hmmm…

It was while watching Oppenheimer, the movie, that it struck me that in the early 1900s and up till the Second World War, the center of learning in the world, especially in the sciences and maths was actually Europe and not the US.

Of course now every well to do Chinese or Indian parent and increasingly some well to do Singaporeans are doing whatever they can to ensure that their children end up in the best universities in the US. To this end, a number of them send their kids to good boarding schools in the US as early as 14 to better their chances.

Oppenheimer was born in the US. In the 1920s, he studied chemistry at Harvard and did well. But to advance further in physics, he had to go to Europe. He initially went to Cambridge but later studied at the University of Gottingen in Germany to do his PhD in theoretical physics.

Germany then had Gottingen University, University of Berlin and University of Munich. All top class universities and then considered the best in the world. France had ENS Paris and University of Paris. Switzerland had ETH Zurich. Holland had University of Copenhagen. UK had Oxford and Cambridge. These institutions had the top names in science and mathematics working and teaching there and they were involved in cutting edge research in new fields in mathematics and physics. The Nobel prize winners then were all coming from these universities.

Of course Germany’s downfall came with the rise of Nazi Germany in 1933. Many of the leading scientists who were Jews fled Germany. Einstein was a German Jew who fled to the US. The murmurings of war in Europe and the fear of German invasion led to scientists in the other European countries to also flee Europe.

US realised the importance of high level research in sciences and in particular in mathematics and physics by 1920s. They accepted that they were far behind advancements in Europe and in particular Germany. Princeton and Caltech started attracting researchers from Europe with good positions and grants and freedom. The rise of Nazi Germany and the Second World War provided the impetus for the top brains to leave Europe and the US has not looked back since.

China has since the early 2000s wanted to be a world class player in the field of cutting edge science. They have made a huge effort to attract top chinese researchers from US and Europe back to China with grants and positions. The negative attitude in the US towards top chinese researchers and the fear that they are stealing research and spying for China has led to them being ostracized there. This has encouraged the exodus from the West.

Of course China has its own peculiar problems. They country is so protective of its research that if you are a leader in your field, you are restricted from traveling outside China, even to attend conferences and deliver papers. Even top Chinese students in schools are discouraged from going abroad to study nowadays.

Singapore is in a strange position. We have had top scores in the world for our primary and secondary education for years. Yet we are nowhere in terms of original research in sciences and mathematics. We have not had a world class artist, novelist or musician. Strange that for a country which invests so much in education, we have not been able to stand out in any significant field. We have compulsory education, motivated parents who invest time and money in their children’s education. And yet nothing. I wonder why. Is there something wrong with our education system?

Is it because our education system is still based on a system that was set up in the 1960s and which was originally geared to producing a working class to do manufacturing jobs for foreign companies which the government was attracting here? And is it because we have not evolved significantly from that model of education? I cannot imagine schools to be very different from how they were when I was studying. Class sizes and subjects taught are still the same.

With Trump in the White House and cracking down on certain universities such as Columbia and cutting off funding for any courses in some topics such as climate change, gender diversity etc, Europe senses that this may be the best time to lay down the red carpet and attract top researchers from the US. A large number of researchers are increasingly disillusioned with the politics in the country and the views and acts of those in power. They are finding open arms awaiting them European universities.

Perhaps history will again repeat itself in the reverse direction?