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I was just perusing the BBC and the news flash was that Andrew had just been arrested and placed in custody in relation to a charge of misconduct in public office. And that on his 66th birthday.

I looked back at my posts and I noted that on 3 September 2025, I had written about the book Entitled, which was a devastating account of the life and (mis)deeds of the then Prince Andrew. Reading that book, I was appalled at the behavior of a royal who had blatantly misused his position to extract benefits of all kinds for himself.

In subsequent interviews, the author had then stated that it was, according to him, a matter of time before Andrew faced police investigations.

I didn’t think that would happen but the release a week back of a large tranche of the Epstein documents has implicated Andrew so much that it is no longer possible for anyone to protect him. Although I do wonder what would have happened if his mother was still alive. He was, after all, the Queen’s favourite child.

It is only a question of time before it will be the turn of Peter Mandelson.

Yesterday was the first day of the lunar new year. Started off the day at Kenny Hills with a coffee. They were of course open, as was every other shop there.

But what was pleasantly surprising was that the barista, servers and cashier, who were all Malays, were all, whilst wearing different clothes, were all in red, and wishing everyone a happy new year in a very sincere way. Such a pleasant and welcome surprise.

Later on I visited Pavilion where I caught with my colleague and his wife. The place was just so packed. Every shop was open and all the restaurants were full!

Of course I had to visit Hot Crush and have their egg tarts again. There was a queue, as always, but so yummy.

Today was my day of tests I had scheduled some time back. I was introduced to their National Heart Institute and after checking out their packages I picked the Heart Scan Package.

Cost me RM 2500. I arrived here early, just before 8am and just as well. Soon people started arriving after me. The registration for international patients started at 8 and took about 30 minutes.

Then it was off to the screening center where they took blood and ECG.

The main item for me was the CT scan calcium score and fill coronary artery. They needed to insert an IV line and just before the scan, they injected the dye. 3 times and it was painful and uncomfortable. Sigh. I now understand why people generally shun medical tests.. ignorance may be bliss?

All over by about 1pm. Decent service and a one stop service center. I think they will continue to attract medical tourists with their price point.

After a Hai Di Lao lunch at Pavilion yesterday, I came across Hot Crush. This is a Shanghai based viral bakery and they have opened their first overseas outlet in KL. The place was packed and I was told it has been like that every day and all the time since it opened slightly more than a month ago.

Of course I had to try it. So I stood in the queue and waited patiently to enter the store. The prices were reasonable and the bakes were good!

But the more interesting thing I noticed was the proliferation of China based cafes, restaurants and even boutiques opening in KL. And they are all doing well. So many people in the shopping centers here and they are just not sitting down and enjoying the air-conditioning. They are buying, eating and drinking at the cafes. Malaysia is truly booming.

This morning, I started off the day by visiting this famous Buddhist temple in Jalan Ampang.

I walked there and it was surprisingly quiet at the time I visited. A very peaceful and serene place.

I do think that this temple is well supported by well wishers and volunteers because they do free meals for the needy on certain days. They apparently also have a good vegetarian restaurant behind the temple where they serve reasonably priced meals for lunch, which I didn’t get to try.

I do know that this temple can be packed during festive occasions and it is also next to the MCA building. So perhaps there is connection between the two?

As I was walking around, I was asked to donate RM 500 to have my name placed on a wall lamp in the temple where they will pray for happiness and good health for a year. I duly did and discovered that it was the last available slot there.

Since I am in KL, I decided to have my 2026 flu shot. I have started taking flu shots for the last 4 to 5 years. I do think that it has been helpful. So why break a good habit?

The doctor showed me the box before he unsealed it to take out the vaccine. It is the 2026/2025 version and it just arrived. Cost me RM 60. So far am feeling good. Waiting to see if I suffer any aftereffects later.

After a fabulous late afternoon, I attended this dinner. Eurokars are just so kind to invite me every year for their CNY dinner and I am always glad to oblige.

Unfortunately Charmain Kwee was not well and wasn’t there. Her father was and he gamely visited every table to wish all a happy New Year. As for myself, I didn’t know anyone seated at my table.

The event started with a lion dance.

This was followed by the traditional tossing of the yu sheng.

The highlight of the dinner was the feng shui talk.

Somehow the acoustics in the room wasn’t that great and a number of people at the dinner weren’t paying attention and were more interested in hearing the sound of their own voices and so I couldn’t follow the talk well. Anyway the takeaway for me from that talk is that for those born in the tiger, they need to lie low this year and plan ahead. So I will do just that!

The food was good but I left slightly earlier because I was going off to KL the next day.

Spent a pleasant afternoon with Prasoon yesterday at the Shangri La, sipping coconut water.

Prasoon has,over the course of many years, built good friendships and business relationships with influential people in India and Indonesia and he has therefore excellent insights into what is happening there and the current thinking of their leaders.

And sometimes what is the truth may well be different from what one reads in the papers. So it was good for me to understand what is happening in these countries from someone who has his head to the ground.

We also spent time talking about the living costs in Singapore. And to me it is clear that this now a serious concern of not just the middle class but also the upper classes. Something Singapore has to look out for, although I am not sure what is the solution.

An early morning breakfast with Murali this morning at MTR restaurant.

We arranged to meet at 830am but I wanted to get there a bit earlier to do some reading. Unfortunately I only realized that they open at 830am when I got there so I ended up waiting outside and reading a bit of the Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, which I was asked to read. More on the book some other time.

Anyway catching up with Murali is always good. We share many common views on things. We each had a rawa onion dosa and a coffee and chatted till he needed to rush off for his next meeting. Also good to see that he has almost fully recovered from his knee surgery and is walking well.

Good for Japan. They have finally elected their first female PM. That has to mean something in Japan , which is a traditional male dominated society. She is younger, media savvy and appeals to the younger voters.

Of course, she has done and said things that appeal to voters. Tax cuts, more defence and infrastructure spending and reducing immigration and the presence of foreigners. None of which is fiscally good for a country which is already seriously in debt. How will they balance their books by spending more and at the same time cutting taxes? Of course the people don’t seem to care so long as you promise them what they want to hear.

I did think as I was writing this, these were the same things Trump promised the US voters, who then duly elected him. Perhaps this will become the new playbook for politicians. Be populist a d forget about economics or budgets.

I do think the firm stand she took against China also helped her. The high handed Chinese response to her remarks made her even more popular a home. Strangely China seems to be getting things wrong so regularly nowadays I do wonder whether they need a new group of people to do their thinking for them. Venezuela, Panama, Brazil, Peru and now Japan are just examples of how they are now seriously under pressure on the diplomatic front.