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Had an early morning breakfast at PS Cafe at Dempsey with a good friend U Zyn.

U Zyn was a client who became a friend. I still remember the first time I had to handle his matter. He was referred to me by a neighbor when I was in KL. The matter was urgent and complicated so I had to be on several calls with the client whilst I was still in KL and had my colleagues attend to him in Singapore.

It was tedious matter and painful at times in part because of the behavior of the other party. But in the end we achieved a good outcome for the client and I am glad everything turned out well eventually for him.

I also didn’t know then that he was staying near me.

This morning we had a good time chatting about many topics such as the budget, housing prices and the cost of living and I found out that we have many common views on a range of topics.

U Zyn also likes to drive in Malaysia so we are tentatively planning a driving trip up north next month!

This small joint along Race Course Road has existed for some time and their specialty is their ice cream, especially the coconut ice cream. In addition to ice cream they do have waffles and beverages. It is truly strange that this place exists in a location that is otherwise filled with Indian restaurants

So today I had lunch with a good friend and colleague, Harish, at Serangoon Road. Just when we were finishing lunch, another good friend and colleague, Haq, messaged me. I told him that we were having lunch. Whereupon he asked if we were going thereafter to have ice cream at this place. I said we were planning to and he said he would join us there.

When I was driving there another good friend, Kesa, asked if we were going to have ice cream there since he was also at Serangoon Road having lunch. So we all ended up having ice cream there and talking about the state of affairs in this country.

Three is a crowd but what happens when there is four? I wonder…

I had lunch with a colleague at Osteria Mozza yesterday. They are now located at Mandarin Gallery. I remember when they were located at MBS. Good pizzas!

We had arranged this lunch sometime back but it got postponed because of work commitments on both our parts.

He is younger colleague about 8 years into practice. Just had a new born son and he was telling me about the difficulties he was having at home managing the baby, the wife and work. He looked tired.

Also he is having difficulties with his existing boss who wasn’t getting much work, didn’t seem to want to work hard anymore and wasn’t guiding the younger ones well. As a result of low billings, his bonus last year was badly affected and doesn’t look like it will improve this year. His work flow this year looks weak and the morale in his team is low as a result of the way their boss is working.

He wants to start out anew at a new place and he knows he needs to do it soon before he hits 35 but the job market is weak and no one is hiring.

I do feel sorry for the younger people nowadays. Work is much harder with longer hours and the billing demands are also greater. Also the chances of social mobility are poorer. The days of being able to purchase a decent property and a car after working about 5 to 6 years on a decent salary and retiring comfortably seems to have evaporated. I do wonder what is the long term solution for these people and if it’s a peculiarly Singapore problem?

There was news today that 8 USAID projects in Nepal would cease as a result of Donald Trump’s and Elon Musk’s cutting back on the staff and budget of the USAID. That’s a pity because that country has wonderful people who are prepared to work hard and uplift themselves to give their children a better life. It’s just that it’s a mountainous place and difficult to have factories and industries so they rely a lot on tourism and selling handicrafts.

I was very fortunate last May to be able to visit Kathmandu to give a series of lectures. I have never been there and was initially apprehensive about the trip. I arrived on a Saturday night and I had a Sunday free. The lectures were on a Monday and Tuesday and I was leaving on a Tuesday night. So I arranged for a car and a guide to bring me around Kathmandu on the Sunday and I was so glad that I did.

I didn’t know Nepal had so many world heritage sites and clearly it must have been a historical place of significance looking at the number of old Hindu and Buddhist temples there. It is said that Emperor Asoka visited some of these sites in 300 BC. It is a pity that the country is unable to spend money to promote the place for tourism because there are so many things and places to do and see. They have very talented craftsmen, decent food and good hotels. It’s an ideal place for hiking and about 80% of the country is covered with forests so the air is fresh.

The first place I visited was a very famous Sivan temple called the Pashupathinath Temple by the Bagmati river. The temple is a world heritage site and is considered one of the holiest pilgrimage sites for Hindus. It is the oldest Hindu temple in Kathmandu and a very important sacred site for Hindus. By 730am there were thousands of people already there. It is clearly a historical place and from available records, it has been in existence at that location from at least 400 CE. It is a sprawling temple complex and I walked though only the main parts of the temple. There were people praying, singing and chanting everywhere I looked. No cameras, videos or footwear allowed inside the temple.

I next visited the famous Buddha Stupa at Bhodinath. This is another world heritage site and apparently this was the place where Tibetan Buddhism began. It’s a huge stupa and I walked around it 3 times, although I understand some people spend the entire day walking around the stupa. There are bells along the side that people ring as they walk by.

I then visited the Pathan old town. This is an ancient royal city, a lovely site with lots of old palaces and many shops selling arts and craft. This is another world heritage site. Full of beautiful handcrafted items and whilst there I purchased 2 beautiful thangka paintings. I also had lunch with my guide here on a rooftop restaurant. They also have shops selling cashmere sweaters and scarfs. These are made from the goats that are native to that part of Nepal.

Finally in the evening, I visited the famous monkey temple. Another ancient sacred site for Buddhists. It was quite a climb up the hill to visit the temple but once there you get a lovely view of the Kathmandu valley. The place has lots of monkeys!

I was in Nepal where Mount Everest is but I was nowhere near it. Then someone told me there were mountain flights that flew past the Himalayas every morning if the weather was good. So I took a 6am flight on a Tuesday morning. It was a 1 hour flight and I saw Everest from the sky! There are many such flights and these flights were mostly full. The people I met there were friendly and were sharing stories of the various places they had visited in Nepal.

And finally standing on a suspension bridge over a deep valley en route to the airport! The bridge was so long I could not even finish walking to the other end!

I only realized the importance and significance of some of these places I visited after that. I should have read up on these places before I went there. In fact a doctor friend I know well told me that he had been to the Sivan temple and that’s it’s very famous and it was only when he was there that he received a vision for the name for his then newly born daughter. There were also many more places I could have visited. Certainly a place I must visit with more time and more reflection!

How can one come to Taiwan and not visit this restaurant.

This restaurant commenced operations in 1958, later obtained a Michelin star and they now have branches in quite a few countries.

They have quite a few outlets in Taipei. They still occupy the location where the original restaurant once stood but they  no longer operate it as a restaurant in that location.

They open at 11am and already by 12 there is a queue.

The dumplings are very good and it’s amazing that after all these years and with so many outlets, they maintain their quality. The prices are unsurprisingly cheaper than Singapore.

Woke up this morning to the news that the Pope is in critical condition. He had been unwell for about a week with respiratory illness.  Although just 2 days ago the news was that he was getting better.

I am not Catholic. I am not sure I now believe much in organized religion. Religion is something between you and whatever God or power you believe in. Being part of an organized religious group doesn’t help you become a better person. Religion has been the source of so much conflict, suffering and pain in this world over the years. There is conflict within religious groups and between the religious groups. So many people, over the centuries, have died in the name of religion. So I can understand why John Lennon in 1973 used the phrase “imagine no religion” in his most memorable song. I wonder how much better the human race would have been if we didn’t have the various religions separating us. Well anyway that’s not going to happen anytime soon…

Still Pope Francis was the first Argentinian, in fact the first South American, to become Pope. As an institution the papacy has lasted some 2000 years. Of course not all the Popes over the years were good or did anything meaningful and in fact some were very controversial. Nevertheless the papacy must be the only institution that can claim such a long traceable lineage.

The Pope visited Singapore in September last year. I am grateful that I was invited to attend the Mass he conducted at the National Stadium. I went and it was a lovely occasion and I was happy to have been there.

I decided to visit this place this morning as it was recommended. They are supposed to do fresh seafood at reasonable prices.

It’s a fresh seafood market together with fresh vegetables and fruits and a small supermarket. They do have lots of sushi, different types of sashimi including whale meat and cooked seafood. The only setback is that for some unfathomable reason, they only take cash and there is no sitting area. You have to stand and eat whatever you purchase in the cold weather. That doesn’t allow for a pleasant eating experience or a high class dining feel. Not sure I will go there again. The restaurant prices are just slightly more expensive but more pleasurable!

The PM and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong read out the budget on 18 February.

I had to give via WhatsApp and email my comments and views on the budget.

I also sent an email to the PM re the budget and this afternoon he replied to me.

It’s a budget that provides lots of handouts to citizens. The giving of handouts started sometime ago but this being an election year, the handouts appeared more generous.

Sometimes I wonder where this will end. Once you start giving, there is an expectation on the part of the recipients that there will be handouts every year and each year would be more than the last year. If that is no longer possible, I wonder what the consequences will be.

Already some people are commenting that the handouts were not generous enough and they expected more.

It is indeed sad that hard earned tax revenue is given out this way by way of rebates and vouchers. Do these cash vouchers across the board to everyone really help anyone? Are we helping the needy in a meaningful manner by giving out cash? Do payments across the board to everyone achieve any fiscal objectives? Are we becoming a socialist state? In any case, would giving out money to all indiscriminately constitute a socialist state?

I also think our people are starting to become entitled. In the past, such cash handouts were never given. Somehow I wonder if we have started to pander to our people too much. Once pandering starts, it will never end and woe betide the government if the people think they didn’t get enough.

Unfortunately I feel MPs started to pander to their residents some 15 years back. House visits, meet the people sessions and bending over backwards to cater to each and every need. Now the way they treat MPs is transactional. They view MPs as being there to do things for them and if they do not get what they want, they get upset.

I am not at all sure this is a healthy state of affairs for the long term especially with the myriad of long term issues facing the country. The list I sent to the PM included the high cost of living here, high public property prices (private property prices are out of reach for most of our people now and landed property prices are completely out of hand), ensuring good employment prospects for our young people, ensuring social mobility for our people, ensuring constant upgrading of skills of our people to keep up with the latest technology changes, healthcare costs and its implications for an ageing society and in what areas will Singapore excel long term and what our position will be in this new world.

Had afternoon tea at this place today. I have seen this place and their menu before but I  have never been here.

I must say, after trying it today, that it is a superb afternoon tea at very reasonable prices.

The eggs tarts were superb and the afternoon tea set was wonderful.

Highly recommended!!

I first saw cherry blossoms in 1986 in Washington DC USA. I went there for a moot competition in April 1986 and the streets were lined with these beautiful cherry blossoms. Then I didn’t know what they were and didn’t have a camera to take pictures although I remember thinking they were beautiful.

Seeing cherry blossoms are a big thing in Japan and people spend lots of  time trying to predict the exact dates of their bloom and book accommodations. Hotel rates soar during the period.

Surprisingly I found out that they have cherry blossoms in Taiwan but they bloom from January to March. Lucky to catch a few this time!