Asian Observer

Great Dates This Year

2011-11-22T13:59:00.000+08:00

From the title of this post, I suspect some of you readers are thinking of other things. Now, now ... don't let your imagination run away with you.

I'm referring of course to calendar dates, many of which have been quite interesting and special in this year 2011.

This posting will examine some of these dates ...

First there were the dates containing all 1's

1st Jan 2011 (1.1.11)

11th Jan 2011 (11.1.11)

1st Nov (1.11.11) and

11th Nov (11..11.11) ... this one is seen to be especially auspicious.

Then there were the so-called "binary dates" - binary meaning 1 and 0, as anyone with a bit of computer knowledge knows. So these dates were

10th Jan (10.1.11)

1st Oct (1.10.11)

10th Oct (10.10.11) and

11th Oct (11.10.11)

Then there were what I like to call "double barrel" dates, which mirrors or repeats the numeric sequence in an interesting way, like

11th Feb (11.02.2011)

and two days ago, it was 20th Nov (20.11.2011)

Dates like 11.1.11, 11.11.11, 11.02.2011 are symmetrical dates, because you can read the digits from left or right. Sentences with the same properties are called palindromes. Some famous ones are "Able was I ere I saw Elba" (supposedly said by Napolean after he was exiled to the Island of Elba) and "A man, a plan, a canal, Panama" (about the chap, Ferdinand de Lesseps, who developed the Panama Canal) ...

But I'm digressing. We were talking about calendar dates. Dates have been studied by astrologers, historians, numerologists, and feng shui consultants over the ages. I'm not a believer in any special significance of these numbers, but I realise that a proportion of the world's population do, and mass behaviour have a certain way of making things happen. Those of you who dabble in the stock market will know something about this ...

Anyway, whatever the date, have a nice day.

Football Diplomacy

2011-09-25T17:12:00.001+08:00

Now THIS is how neighbouring countries should settle their differences .... in a Football Match !

Last Saturday in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, a friendly match was played between government officials from Cambodia and officials from Thailand. The teams were made up of Thai and Cambodian politicians. The Cambodia team was led by premier Hun Sen while the Thai team was led by former Thai premier Somchai Wongsawat. A 50,000 strong crowd assembled to watch and support the match, which was held to showcase the improving ties between the neighbours.

In his pre-match speech, the Cambodian premier Hun Sen said that "the nightmare era" between the nations, who engaged in deadly border clashes earlier this year, was over. "Today is a historic event in Cambodia-Thailand relations," he proclaimed.

PM Hun Sen led his side to a 10-7 victory in the match. Look at the man kick ...

Hun Sen, wearing a red number "9" shirt, smiled broadly as he scored his fourth goal in the final minutes to loud cheers.

The cordial game came just a week after new Thai premier Yingluck Shinawatra made her first official trip to Phnom Penh, quickly followed by a visit from her brother Thaksin, a close friend of Hun Sen. Ties between the two nations have warmed significantly since Yingluck's July election win, backed by her sibling.

Under previous Thai leader Abhisit Vejjajiva, the border row, which centres around the ancient Preah Vihear temple complex, twice escalated into heavy fighting this year, prompting Phnom Penh to take the dispute to the United Nation's highest court. In July, the Hague-based International Court of Justice asked both nations to withdraw military personnel from around the temple, which both sides have heeded.

All this reminds me of another sport being used in high-profile diplomacy. Back in the 1970s, the exchange of ping-pong (table tennis) players between the USA and People's Republic of China led to the thawing of diplomatic relations. This so-called Ping Pong Diplomacy paved the way for President Richard Nixon's historic trip to China in 1972 and the much-publicised meeting with Chairman Mao Tse Tung.

Yes, indeed sports should be used more to cement ties between neighbouring nations. I say "Play on" ....

Asian Superstitions

2011-09-14T19:31:00.001+08:00

Growing up in a Chinese family in Malaysia, I can't help being exposed to many Chinese superstitions that some of the (usually) elder folk in the family may believe in and caution us against. I still remember a few of these superstitions and beliefs drummed into me by aunts and uncles ... and I'd invite you to share what you recall from your childhood years.

Anyway here's a dozen that I recall .... some may not be entirely accurate or even correct ... after all it HAS been a long time since I heard them and the old grey cells are getting a little bit rusty. Hehehe ...

1. You should not point at the moon ... if you do, you risk your ear getting sliced. Yikes!

2. You should not pee in a banana grove ... if you do, you may see ghosts and spirits.

3. No cutting of finger or tow nails at night ... I'm not entirely sure of the repercussions. I think the clippings will either attract spirits or be stolen by spirits

4. When lying on your stomach (e.g. while reading), you should not raise your legs ... Doing this risks your parents' deaths. Woah ... serious this one!

5. Pregnant women should not sit on the edge of a bed and sew ... This risks the backside of the to-be-born baby being sealed. Ouch ... not a good thing!

6. Pregnant women cannot make use of a hammer and nail ... this risks miscarriage.

7. A cracked mirror brings 7 years of bad luck.

8. If you look through a "poon kee", you can see spirits.

9. When sweeping the floor, the broom must not touch anybody as it will bring bad luck to that person (or is it to the sweeper? I forget ...)

10. When moving to a new residence, it is advisable to cook a pot of rice and bring this with you to the new house. This ensures you will always have food to eat at the new place. Certainly not a bad thing.

11. During meals, one should not stack up the empty plates ... Doing this, you will have no end of debts. (Aiya ... like that, how in Japanese sushi restaurants?)

12. When eating rice, don't leave any uneaten grains on the plate ... if so, will have pock marks on face ("mopeng" is the word, I believe).

Well, these are twelve superstitions I remember being told about. Share what YOU remember. I'm sure there'll be lots more. Over to you ...

The Dark Side of the Mooncake

2011-09-12T19:08:00.000+08:00

Today is the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival (Zhongjiu Jie), also sometimes called the Mooncake Festival or Lantern Festival. This is a popular harvest festival dating back over 3,000 years to the Chinese Shang Dynasty period. The Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese calendar, which is sometime in September or October on the Gregorian calendar. It also corresponds with the Autumn Equinox when the moon is supposed to be at its fullest and roundest.

During this Mid-Autumn Festival period, many Chinese and Vietnamese are likely to consume a lot of delicious mooncakes.

These days, the mooncakes come in all sorts of interesting flavours ...

and shapes ...

There is also a story you might have heard about the role of mooncakes in a Chinese uprising against Mongol rulers (during the Yuan Dynasty) in the 14th century. In this tale (which I'm not sure is fully supported by historical facts), the mooncakes were used as an early form of e-mail ... the "e" being "edible" rather than "electronic" .LOL. Anyway as group gatherings were banned, it was very difficult for the Chinese to make plans for a rebellion. So one bright chap called Liu Bowen (from Zhejiang), who was a confidant of the rebel leader Zhu Yuanzhang, suggested timing the rebellion with the Mid-Autumn Festival. He applied for and got permission to distribute thousands of mooncakes to Chinese residents in the city to bless the longevity of the Mongol emperor. Apparently the Mongols did not eat mooncakes, so inside each cake distributed was concealed a piece of paper with the message "Kill the Mongols on the 15th day of the eighth month". And on the night itself, the rebellion was successful and the Mongols were overthrown. The Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) was thus born.

Like everyone else, I like my mooncakes too. My favourites are tau sar, ling yun, single or double yolk and the ones with mixed nuts. Yummmmmmmy ...

However doctors and healthcare professionals have always been cautioning against over-indulging in mooncakes. They say that a small mooncake may contain as any calories as a bowl of rice! As mooncakes are generally made from flour, sugar and butter, one egg-yolk filled mooncake weighing about 60 g can contain up to 270 calories. That would take an averaged sized person about an hour to walk off, says a nutritionist friend of mine.

A health report from Taiwan that I read also noted that aside from moon cakes, many people also celebrate the festival by eating barbequed and processed meat, which are high in calories and sodium. Eating too much of such foods not only led to weight gain, but consuming more sodium than is recommended on a daily basis could also strain the kidneys and the cardiovascular system, the report said. Some health bureaus in China advised people to consume only moderate amounts of moon cakes and where relevant to substitute meat for vegetables such as mushrooms and green onions when having a barbeque. Pomelo, another traditional Mid-Autumn Festival food, is also recommended because of its high vitamin C content. The fruit is also known to lower cholesterol and decrease risk of heart disease.

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Well, having shared all that, I must say it's only once a year and so long as we don't go overboard with stuffing our faces with mooncake, it should be fine ... tau sar, ling yun, double yolk ... here I come !!!!

HAPPY MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL !!!

Presidential Election in Singapore

2011-08-27T22:16:00.001+08:00

On the heels of the exciting General Election in May, Singapore is now having a Presidential Election.

There are four candidates standing for the post.

From left to right, you can see Dr Tan Cheng Bock (a former MP), Mr Tan Jee Say (an Investment Banker and former senior civil servant), Dr Tony Tan (former Deputy Prime Minister) and Mr Tan Kin Lian (former CEO of NTUC).

Yes, by some strange coincidence, it is a battle of the TANs !

Today is polling day, and the polling stations closed jut a few hours ago.

It will be interesting to see how the results unfold ...

THE RESULT

Singapore's 7th President ...

Musical Interlude: Lex Vandyke

2011-08-02T22:55:00.001+08:00

I've recently come across the very soothing latin guitar music of Lex Vandyke. The CD that I bought was called "Latin Sound of Shanghai" and it is a collection of Chinese classic tunes from the Shanghai era. Really beautiful stuff.

I also see this album as a reflection of the globalised world we live in. Here we have a Dutch musician playing Latin guitar and reproducing the classic sounds of Shanghai, China ...East meets West indeed.

Anyway, enough words. Turn up the volume of your PC and enjoy this piece called "Night of Shanghai" ...

Do share your thoughts and impressions.

An Inspiring Commencement Speech from 2006

2011-08-01T01:20:00.000+08:00

He is currently facing a tough time in politics, but I believe in this man. I think he is smart, sincere and truly has the country's best interests at heart. I think some Americans do themselves a grave injustice by not working with him.

I enjoyed this commencement address he made at Northwestern University to the graduating class of 2006. He was then still Senator Barack Obama.

Have a good day.

Election Fever in Thailand

2011-06-24T10:17:00.000+08:00

This is certainly a year of elections ... I was in Bangkok for work last week and witnessed political campaigning in full swing on the streets of the capital city. The Thais go to the polls on Sunday 3rd July 2011, and I think it'll be another exciting one to watch. We've all heard about the shenanigans of the red shirts and the yellow shirts, the huge protests in the heart of Bangkok, the forced closures of the Suvarnabhumi International Airport and the tragic crackdown of the protests by the military. One wonders what will happen after the election results are known this time.

The two key parties are the Democratic party, led by Abhisit Vejjajiva, the sitting Prime Minister, who some ladies think is handsome, and the Pheu Thai party, led by Yingluck Shinawatra, sister of ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who some guys think is hot (I'm referring to Yingluck, not Thaksin!)

Anyway, here's a sample of the posters I saw on the streets.

Pheu Thai party's poster with Yingluck Shinawatra on the right

Democratic party, with Abhisit Vejjajiva on the right

Can't remember the name of this smaller party ... will check later

Sometimes it is quite easy to spot which politician some people don't like ...

Horny politicians take on a different meaning here

Interesting times ...

Asian Milestone in Sports History

2011-06-06T11:01:00.000+08:00

June 4th 2011. Roland Garros stadium, France.

More words are not needed ...

Manila - Old and New (Part 1)

2011-05-03T09:27:00.001+08:00

I've visited Manila several times over the past six months as part of my work. The country is going through a period of much optimism under the new leadership of the President Benigno "Noy Noy" Aquino III (also called PNoy). PNoy's stated priorities on reducing poverty and fighting corruption have been much welcomed by the people. Admittedly, the process has not been easy or smooth (remember the HK tourist hostage crisis?). However in my dealings with various politicians and senior officials, I've met many smart and committed individuals and I'm hopeful that there will be significant national progress.. Many global companies have also stepped up their exploration of new opportunities arising in the Philippines.

Manila (or more strictly Metro Manila, since it is made up of many different cities, of which Manila is just one) is a culturally rich and vibrant metropolis. There are many interesting places to visit, and also a sharp contrast between different cities.

For today, let me share one place in Metro Manila which is OLD, and another place relatively NEW .

I've been doing some reading up on Philippine history. I believe that a good understanding of what happened on these islands in the past will make my encounters and explorations of various places in and around Metro Manila more meaningful.. Take for instance the walled city called Intramuros ...

Pic 1

Intramuros (which literally means "within the walls") was built by the Spaniards in the 16th century. The Spanish explorer Miguel Lopez de Lagaspi first arrived from Mexico (then under Spain) landing at Cebu in 1564, and at Luzon in 1570. After discovering the rich resources and location of Manila, Legazpi declared the area as the new capital of the Spanish colony in the Philippines in 1571.

One impressive structure in the heart of the Intramuros is the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Manila. Originally built in 1591 by the Spaniards, it has undergone destruction by fires, earthquakes and other calamities, but each time it has been rebuilt (see Pic 4).

Pic 2

Pic 3

Pic 4

Not far away is the Church of San Agustin. Completed in 1607, this is apparently the oldest church still standing in the Philippines. No other surviving building in the Philippines has been claimed to pre-date St Agustin Church. This building is also designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Pic 5

Pic 6

At another part of the Intramuros, beside the Pasig River, stands a wall which commemorates the maritime expeditions between Mexico and the Philippines. This place is called Plaza Mexico. This apparently was the actual port of call of the fabled galleons of the past. Indeed the galleon trade which lasted almost three centuries was one of the economic engines driving the Spanish Empire of the day.

Pic 7

Another notable site within Intramuros is Fort Santiago, a 16th century defence structure which has borne testimony to the valor and bravery of the Filipino through the centuries. Originally, what stood on the site of Fort Santiago was a wooden fort of Raja Sulaiman, a Muslim chieftain of the pre-Hispanic Manila. It was destroyed by conquistadors when they arrived in 1570. The Spaniards rebuilt the fort (as well as the rest of the Intramuros) in 1571. Much of the fort was destroyed during the Spanish-Chinese War (1574-75) and rebuilt again. It became the main fort for the spice trade to America and Europe over the next three centuries.

There are various interesting spots within the fort, but the centrepiece must be the Rizal Shrine, dedicated to the national hero Jose Rizal who was executed by the Spaniards on 30th December 1896. Here one can see some of the books written by Rizal as well as the cell he spent his last nights before he was executed.

Pic 8

Pic 9

Pic 10

Next let's move to something relatively NEW in Metro Manila.

The SM Mall of Asia is reputedly the 3rd largest mall in Asia and the 4th largest in the world. It was built in 2006 on 19.5 hectares of reclaimed land and has a gross floor area of some 390,000 sq metres.

Pic 11

Pic 12

Pic 13

Pic 14

Pic 15

Pic 16

Well, that's it for Old and New Manila ... for now anyway. Enjoy and do share any comments.

Quotations on Democracy and Government

2011-04-15T15:57:00.000+08:00

It's one day before the state of Sarawak goes to the polls (for those who don't know, Sarawak is the largest state in Malaysia, and where I grew up). Those who have been following this election would have observed the high and growing tension - fiery speeches, huge crowds and all kinds of snipes in the media. It is also rumoured that the Malaysian GE will probably come not too long after this. Other countries in Asia, such as Singapore and Thailand, are also having elections this year.

With all this happening, I felt it might be interesting and useful for us to take a few minutes, still our minds and reflect on a variety of quotations on the subjects of Democracy and Government, since that's really what all this is about. Some of the quotations are wise, some are cynical, some humourous. Think about them in the context what it is you are about to do or not do ...

And if by chance, some aspiring political candidates may be reading this, it might also serve as food for thought on what kind of government leader you will be if indeed you are elected.

No.1
"No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time"
(Sir Winston Churchill, former British PM)

No 2
"Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve"
(George Bernard Shaw, author & playwright)

No.3
"It's not the voting that's democracy, it's the counting"
(Tom Stoppard, author)

No.4
"Democracy consists of choosing your dictators, after they've told you what you think it is you want to hear"
(Alan Coren, British humourist, writer & satirist)

No.5
"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb deciding what to have for dinner. Liberty is a well-armed lamb"
(Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the USA)

No.6
"The most important political office is that of the private citizen."
(Louis Brandeis)

No.7
"Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the people."
(Abraham Lincoln, 16th US President)

No.8
"When a country is well governed, poverty and a mean condition are something to be ashamed of. When a country is ill governed, riches and honors are something to be ashamed of."
(Confucius)

Choose well. And have a good day.

Remembering "Thrilla in Manila"

2011-02-17T18:02:00.001+08:00

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I've been to the Philippines for work a couple of times over the past year. I usually go to Metro Manila. Recently I got to thinking about one of the most exciting sporting events that happened there back in the 1970s. How many of you remember the spectacle that the media called "Thrilla in Manila"?

Yes indeed, this was the World Heavyweight Championship boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier on 1st October 1975. It was fought at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, Metro Manila.

I went pass Araneta Coliseum on one of my recent visits. It's still looking good and hosting big shows. In fact in February and March, Taylor Swift and Don McLean are performing there. I believe Araneta Coliseum is still one of the largest indoor facilities in South-East Asia.

Anyway, back to the World Heavyweight Championship match ... The bout is often regarded as one of the greatest fights of 20th century boxing. It was the climax to the long-standing rivalry between Ali and Frazier over who was the legitimate Heavyweight Champion. What happened before was that Ali (or Cassius Clay as he was previously known) had been stripped of the title in 1967 for his refusal to join the Army when drafted during the Vietnam War. Some years later, Frazier petitioned President Nixon to restore Ali's right to box, thereby bringing about a classic Trilogy of Fights between two undisputed heavyweight champions.

Fight #1 (Madison Square Garden, NY, 8 March 1971)

Both men were offered USD 2.5 million each, the biggest payout up to that time in boxing history. Anyone who was anyone was there. Even Frank Sinatra was ringside taking photos.

The bout was very brutal and ended with Frazier winning on points. Both men had to be taken to hospital but Frazier spent a little longer in hospital which allowed Ali to boast bout how much damage he had done, even as the left side of his own face was swollen.

Fight #2 (Madison Square Garden, NY, January 1974)

Although the rematch was a non-title fight, Ali put on one of his best performances and almost stopped Frazier in Round 2, but the referee Tony Perez stepped in thinking the round had ended. Ali won by a unanimous decision, thus earning himself the right to challenge George Foreman (who had beaten Frazier in 1973) to try to regain the Heavyweight title.

Ali did beat Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire in the so-called "Rumble in the Jungle" in Oct 1974. The bout ended in a very convincing 8th round knockout.

Fight #3 (Araneta Coliseum, Metro Manila, 1 October 1975)

This time Ali got USD 4.5 million and Frazier USD 2 million. In his taunting usual way, Ali promised that it would be"a killa and thrilla and a chilla when he got the gorilla in Manila". About 28,000 people packed the area, and 700 million more watched the match on TV worldwide.

Ali started attacking Frazier for the first 3 rounds. In Round 5, there was a change in momentum when Frazier backed Ali into a corner and began pounding him. Ali rallied in the 11th, 12th and 13th Rounds and Frazier's eyes and cheeks began to puff up.Ali kept up the pressure in Round 14, trying his best to put Frazier away. Both men were exhausted but Frazier was clearly the worse off. His trainer, fearing a fatality as Joe had been taking countless punches in the head, decided not to allow Joe to come out for Round 15. It was all over.

Ali sensing the fight was done stood up to celebrate but almost collapsed in exhaustion. He later said of Joe Frazier, "He's the greatest fighter of all time ... next to me".

Here's a video clip of the last rounds of the fight ... enjoy.

The Year of the Rabbit

2011-01-27T09:23:00.004+08:00

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Next week, millions will celebrate the Lunar New Year. It marks the end of the Year of the Tiger and the start of the Year of the Rabbit according to the Chinese Zodiac. As usual, the Lunar New Year celebrations will involve much feasting, merry-making and visiting of family and friends.

I thought it might be interesting to take a cursory look at where the RABBIT features in popular culture around the world. I have recorded whatever I can think of ... I'm certain it isn't complete so please do jump in (no pun intended) with what you think I might have missed.

The Easter Bunny

The Easter bunny has its origin in pre-Christian fertility lore. The Hare and the Rabbit were the most fertile animals known and served as symbols of the new life during the Spring season.

Studies suggest the bunny as an Easter symbol originated in Germany, where it was first mentioned in local writings from the 1500s. The first edible Easter bunnies were made in Germany in the early 1800s.The Easter bunny was introduced to American folklore by the German settlers who arrived in the Pennsylvania Dutch country during the 1700s.

In legend, the Easter Bunny brings baskets filled with colored eggs, candy and even toys to the homes of children on the night before Easter. The creature will either put the baskets in a designated place of hide them somewhere in the house or garden for the children to find when they wake up in the morning.

Lucky Rabbit's Foot

In some cultures, the foot of a rabbit, carried as an amulet, is believed to bring good luck. This belief is held by individuals in many parts of the world including Europe, China, Africa, and the Americas.

In Western Europe, prior to 600 BC, rabbits were considered to be sacred, as spirits were thought to inhabit the bodies of animals, and since rabbits spent a lot of their time in underground burrows, it was further believed that the rabbits' bodies were inhabited by numina, underground spirits with whom they communicated at very close proximity! The Celts also held the rabbit to be sacred because of their prowess in reproduction. They believed that the numina intended for rabbits should be put upon pedestals and revered as symbols of rapid procreation, health and prosperity.

Since the rabbit itself was considered lucky, it follows that any of its body parts would also be lucky. People selected the rabbit's foot to tote around for good luck, because of its capacity to dry quickly, its small size, and perhaps the fact that it makes a nice key chain!

Note: Just because this blog is reporting on the lucky rabbit's foot does NOT mean that this blogger is supportive of the practice.

Bugs Bunny

This one needs hardly any introduction. Many of us grew up reading comics or watching TV shows featuring the rascally rabbit, whose catch phrase is "Eh ... what's up doc?".

This highly popular cartoon character first appeared in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series by Leon Schlesinger Productions, which became Warner Bros Cartoons in 1944. Mel Blanc voiced the original Bugs Bunny, and continued to do so for 49 years till he passed on. Contrary to popular belief, Mel Blanc's last words, while on his death bed, were not "That's all folks!" .

Other cartoon characters that Bugs Bunny is often seen with are Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig.

Watership Down
How many of you remember the book and later movie from the 70s, entitled "Watership Down" ? Written by English author Richard Adams, it was the story of a group of rabbits living in a warren, when one of the younger rabbits named Fiver, who is a seer, receives a frightening vision of the imminent destruction of their precious warren. Fiver and his brother Hazel then try to persuade the chief rabbit of the danger, but are ignored. They then set out on a journey to find a new home, facing various trials and tribulations along the way.

The movie was an impressive work of animation, and featured the beautiful theme song "Bright Eyes" sung by Art Garfunkel. Here is a videoclip so that you can enjoy the scenes and song.

"Watership Down" was one of my favourite animated movies of the 70s. I believe this seemingly simple story can be appreciated at different levels. At the most basic level, it is simply a story of a bunch of animals and their struggles. However many people have offered different shades of interpretation of this tale, which has elements of exile, survival, bravery, political responsibility and "the making of a hero and a community". Some have even compared it to the epic Greek poem "The Odyssey".

Energizer Bunny
Remember the television ads for Energizer batteries? There was this cute, pink bunny who could go on and on and on and on ..... :-)

White Rabbit sweets
This is a popular brand of candy manufactured in China, that many of us have enjoyed in our younger days (maybe even now!). It is white in colour, has a chewy, sticky texture and is wrapped by an edible rice paper wrapping.

Playboy Bunny
Finally, we have the famous Playboy Bunny, symbol of quality reading for discerning gentlemen over generations ... LOL .... 'Nuff said.

Well, look at this recent news snippet I found ...

London Playboy casino set for 2011
The iconic brand is due to return to London with a massive club and casino.

Playboy Enterprises Inc. announced plans to open a new Playboy branded club and casino in London in early 2011. The planned venture will sit in the exclusive Mayfair neighbourhood of the capital and feature a restaurant, lounge, table games area and high-limit private casino gaming rooms. It's not the first time Playboy have set up such a casino in the UK, having run venues in London, Manchester and Portsmouth in the 60s.

The iconic brand currently owns only one club and casino, situated in Las Vegas, and the new Mayfair premises will certainly have a touch of the Las Vegas glamour to it. With private gaming rooms and casino table games such as roulette, blackjack and poker, as well as the lounge and restaurant, the club will certainly attract high rollers and casino fans.

The Playboy casino and club in Las Vegas is situated in the Palms complex, which houses ten restaurants and six bars and nightclubs, as well as a 95,000 square foot casino. The Playboy casino itself has nine blackjack tables and one roulette table inside the club.

Certainly well timed for the Year of the Rabbit ...

Well, a HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS LUNAR NEW YEAR to all who celebrate it, and for all others HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY.

Julian Assange and WikiLeaks - Before the Current Hoohah

2010-12-27T11:02:00.004+08:00

There's been a lot of global attention on WikiLeaks these days. Various authorities are positioning Julian Assange as a villain and a threat to national interests. I am not sure that this is a complete assessment of the man and what he has done.

Let me state clearly that at this point I am neither for nor against Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. I'm just an observer who believes that every story has two sides, and I for one would like to hear both sides so that I can make up my own mind.

Here's a series of videoclips from a Security conference held in KL in 2009 ... way before the Dec 2010 revelation of US diplomatic cables. I believe this talk gives us a better sense of the man and his thinking. Take a look and judge for yourself ...

Videoclip 1 or 8

Videoclip 2 of 8

Videoclip 3 of 8

Videoclip 4 of 8

Videoclip 5 of 8

Videoclip 6 of 8

Videoclip 7 of 8

Videoclip 8 of 8

I hope you made it through some if not all of those videos. These and more like them are readily available on YouTube. I certainly learnt a lot from watching them. I feel it helps me to think through what the whole controversy is about. Is what Wikileaks did right or wrong? Is it legal or illegal? Why did Julian Assange do it? What are the implications on political reform and public sector reform? What are the implications for Asian governments?
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The Nobel Peace Prize Concert 2010

2010-12-22T09:39:00.002+08:00

The
The Norwegian Nobel committee decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize 2010 to Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese political activist who is currently serving a 11-year prison sentence in China for trying to push for human rights for the Chinese. There was an angry reaction from the Chinese government when this award was announced.. They went on to boycott the award presentation held on 10th Dec in Oslo and pressured some other countries to do the same. China hinted at souring diplomatic relations with Norway and even launched their own alternative prize to the Nobel. You can see some of the details in the videoclip below.

I for one think it is rather sad how this whole thing unfolded. Being of Chinese origin, I am proud of what China has achieved in the past decades in economic and social development. The rise of China clearly reflects the ascent of the East to balance the dominance of the West. Which is exactly why I think the Chinese leadership needn't have taken such an extreme position. If they had simply stated that they disagreed with the Nobel Peace Prize this year and stayed away, the whole thing would have blown over very quickly. But their reaction actually called more attention to the award.

Of course, I also believe the Norwegian Nobel Committee is fully entitled to choose whichever recipient they like. And I must say they have been rather good at picking controversial candidates ... like in 2009, they chose Barack Obama as the Peace Prize recipient - a thinly veiled rebuke of George W Bush's regime.

But let me hasten to add that this blog is not meant to be a political commentary. What I really wanted to highlight here was the musical extravaganza of the Nobel Peace Prize Concert. Cisco has been a global sponsor to this event for the past decade, and in conjunction with our Public Services Summit, we invite senior level customers to attend this.

The hosts for the 2010 Concert, held on the evening of 11th Dec at the Spektrum arena in Oslo, were Denzel Washington and Anne Hathaway. And the artistes performing included: Sivert Hoyem, Florence + the Machine, Colbie Caillat, India Arie, Jamiroquai, Robyn, A R Rahman, Herbie Hancock and Barry Manilow.

Here I was just before the concert started ...

Other shots of the audience before the concert ...

The Norwegian royalty arrive, together with the Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

Then came the two superstar hosts, Denzel and Anne ... let the show begin !

Here are a few videoclips showing a few of the performances I liked ...

First ROBYN ...

Next we had FLORENCE + THE MACHINE ...

Then we had JAMIROQUAI ...

Then A. R. RAHMAN with his "Slumdog Millionaire suite" ... I love the energy of " Jai Ho" !

Finally the highlight by BARRY MANILOW ...

and another one by Barry ...

Well, hope you liked those as much as I did.

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Scenes from Hanoi, Vietnam

2010-07-18T14:28:00.003+08:00

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This week I've been back in Hanoi for meetings. Thought I'd just post some random shots from this charming capital city of Vietnam. The photos have been taken over the space of many trips.

Mind you, June and July aren't the best months to visit Hanoi. The temperature can go up to 45 degrees C. Fortunately I have been going between one air-con building and another, so I haven't had to bear the full brunt of the heat.

On 10th Oct 2010, the city (Thang Long-Hanoi) will be celebrating its 1000th year history as the key capital. It was founded in 1010 as a city called Thang Long (Flying Dragon). In fact, throughout its dramatic history, Hanoi has borne many names: Giao Chi (Remote Land), Tong Binh (Proper Home), An Nam (Pacified South), Dai La (Great Belt, as in the dyke surrounding the city), Dong Do and Dong Quan (both meaning Capital), Dong Kinh (Eastern Capital) - which the French priests later interpreted as Tongkin. The name Hanoi, or more strictly Ha Noi, only appeared after the Nguyen Dynasty attained power in 1802, shifted the capital to Hue and renamed the city in 1831. Ha Noi literally translates to City in the River, City Surrounded by Rivers, City in the Bend of the River, or more romantically City in the Embrace of the Rivers. Despite the name change, even well into the 20th century, people still like to call the city Thang Long.

Sunset scene on Hoan Kiem lake in the centre of Hanoi

The Opera House, Hanoi
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Art in the streets of Hanoi

Want a "Mona Lisa" or "Sunflowers" painting in your living room? Want yourself standing next to the Mona Lisa? All can be done through the talents of these copy artists in the streets of Hanoi.

A candid shot into an alley way

Outside a souvenir shop near the Old Quarter of Hanoi.

Evening in the Old Quarters of Hanoi

The above photo by Jemima Yong (jemimayong@hotmail.com) really captures the community feeling among the residents of the Old Quarters. I'd encourage you to click to enlarge the picture and try to tell the story yourself. I am firmly of the opinion that in transitioning to "modern" city living, we have lost much of this community feeling.

A roadside fruit seller arranges her ware

The unique art form of Water Puppetry in Hanoi

Ok, more on Hanoi later. I now have a plane to catch ...
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On Top of Singapore

2010-07-12T10:58:00.004+08:00

Recently we decided to explore the newly opened Marina Bay Sands integrated resort (IR) facilities in Singapore. This was the second IR to open on the island state, the first one being the Resorts World Sentosa, which opened its doors on the Lunar New Year.

The MBS buildings are certainly impressive structures, and for the past year we had been observing the three towers growing higher and higher, and finally the horizontal boat-shaped structure was put on top. I have no doubt it was quite an engineering challenge.

Well, here are some photos from that day ...

The above was on Level 1 of the mall & casino building, where a canal had been constructed to give short rides to the visitors.

Next we bought tickets to take the elevator to the Sky Park, as they call it. It cost S$20 per adult, with discounts for children and senior citizens.

The picture above shows the two orbs making up the Esplanade theatres, while on the right, you can see the seating and performing areas that will be used for the annual National Day celebrations.

I must admit the view from the Sky Park was much better than from the Singapore Flyer, the big wheel that I visited about 1.5 years ago. You can get a sense of the relative size of the Flyer as compared to the MBS tower in the photo above.

This view above is overlooking Clifford Pier and the Financial district. The thingie around my neck is the audio guide they provide visitors with such that when you press the number corresponding to different view stations, you get a narrative of what you are viewing. Quite useful.

And this one shows the Marina Barrage in the background.

The other section which was interesting was the swimming pool. As you can see, the pool goes almost to the edge of the building, and gives the impression that if one is not careful, it's a long drop down to earth. Looks scary but it doesn't seem to bother the swimmers and sunbathers.

Anyway, enjoy the scenery ...
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World Fairs and the Shanghai Expo 2010

2010-07-08T09:40:00.000+08:00

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Let's begin with a bit of history ... The names "World's Fair", "World Fair", "Universal Exposition", and "Expo" have all been used to refer to the various large public exhibitions held in different parts of the world. The first Expo was held in The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, United Kingdom in 1851 under the title "Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations".

Photo (1) : Crystal Palace, London in 1851

It was supposedly the brainchild of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's husband, and was the first international exhibition of manufactured products. As such, it influenced the development of several aspects of society including art and design education, international trade and relations, and even tourism. It became the precedent for the many international exhibitions, later called "World's Fairs", which were subsequently held to the present day.

The second World's Fair, held in 1855, was in Paris. The third went back to London in 1862. Subsequently it was Paris (1867), Vienna (1873), Philadelphia (1876), Paris (1878), Sydney (1879), Melbourne (1880), etc. In 1970, it was held in Osaka, Japan. I remember because I was there as a child with my parents. The last few Expos have been held in Hannover, Germany (2000), Aichi, Japan (2005) and Zaragosa, Spain (2008).

Last month I had the opportunity to spend a day at the Shanghai Expo 2010. We got there just as it opened at 10am. Most of the expo is on the Pudong side, with a smaller section on the Puxi side (Pudong and Puxi represent respectively the areas to the east and west of the Huangpu, the river that cuts through Shanghai).

Photo (2) : Map of Shanghai Expo 2010

Overall a very impressive showcase, with throngs of people visiting. I reckon this could become the most visited Expo ever! Here's a selection of photos from our day at the Expo ...
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Photo (3) : At the China pavilion (I didn't go in as the queue was about 4 hours long)

Photo (4) : I love the architectural designs !

Photo (5) : At the Malaysian pavilion. Negara ku .......

Photo (6) : Some shots with the Malaysian dancers performing outside

Photo (7) : This is the Singapore pavilion, supposedly shaped like a music box

Photo (8a) : This realistic looking tree roots lie within the Cambodia pavilion.

Photo (8b) : The Kingdom of Cambodia pavilion

Photo (9) : G'day mate, here's the Aussie pavilion

Photo (10) : With colleagues in the Estonia pavilion

Photo (11) : In front of the Latvia pavilion

Photo (12) : UK Pavilion

Photo (13) : With a colleague outside the Cisco pavilion

Well, there are obviously many, many more pavilions and sights that I won't be able to show ... so if you do have a chance, go visit it yourself. The Shanghai Expo 2010 is open until the end of September 2010.

On MOUs, Marble and Music

2010-04-25T00:56:00.002+08:00

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The recent drought of postings was because I've been busy travelling. This week I was back in Vietnam - two days in Hanoi, two days in Da Nang (where I am right now) and half a day stopover in HCMC.

Da Nang was the key focus of this trip. It's still one of my favourite cities in Vietnam and I've been engaging with various government agencies there for a number of years. The purpose of this trip was to oversee the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the People's Committee of Da Nang and Cisco. I had been working towards this for quite a while, and believed this to be a significant milestone in our partnership. More on this event can be read here.

After the official work was over, I had a chance to pay a visit to Marble Mountain, one of a cluster of five marble/limestone mountains located a few km south of Da Nang, that stretch from the coast inwards (in a westerly direction). The mountains are named after the five elements; Kim (metal), Thuy (water), Moc (wood), Hoa (fire) and Tho (earth). There are many caves and tunnels in the mountains and I read that they were used quite a bit during the Vietnam (or American, depending on which side you are on) War. The area is now famous for stone sculpture making and stone-cutting crafts.

Here's a shot of the area where the Marble Mountains are located. You can see three out of the five mountains ...

And here are some shots taken at one of the many stone sculpture shops.

So remember .... if you want to order some marble lions or dragons or deities or nude maidens or fountains for your grand mansions, you can place an order with me. Shipment to all corners of the world provided. I'll give you some good rates. LOL

Finally after dinner last night, I was invited to a music lounge to enjoy some traditional Vietnamese music and modern pop hits. I was impressed by the quality of the musicians (the white-haired violinist you see in the photo is particularly good!). And of course, there was a variety of singers doing everything from Vietnamese ballads to Lionel Richie's "Say You, Say Me". Alas, none attempted "Nobody".

All the lady singers I saw were lovely and had extremely powerful vocals. This was evident as each lass belted out soulful numbers one after the other with ease.

Da Nang and its surroundings are indeed fascinating places - ideal for relaxation and for exploring the real Vietnam. It is clean, safe, scenic and the people are mostly friendly. I have quite a number of friends in Da Nang and I'd certainly recommend it to all.
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April Fools' Day - Jokes and Pranks

2010-04-02T15:13:00.000+08:00

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Yesterday was 1st April, which most people know as April Fool's Day or All Fools' Day. The day is marked by the creation of hoaxes and other practical jokes and pranks of varying sophistication on friends, family members, enemies, and neighbors, or sending them on a fool's errand, the aim of which is simply to have some fun and to embarrass the gullible or unsuspecting. Most of these jokes are small but some are pretty big scale. Some can be quite hilarious (except perhaps to the victims of the prank) and still memorable after many years.

I remember one April Fool's Day back in the late 70's when I was in London, the BBC's "That's Life" program announced that a new species of creature had been discovered. They showed footage of something called the Lirpa Loof which looked somewhat like a cross between a small monkey and a koala. They even showed the stool of this strange creature to be purple in colour and glowed in the dark (making good use of colour tv technology obviously). The announcer said the creature was now in captivity at the London Zoo. As a result hundreds of people called in and crowds flocked to London Zoo hoping to catch a glimpse of the creature.

Another joke I read about was when the BBC programme Panorama ran a famous hoax in 1957, showing Italians harvesting spaghetti from trees. They had claimed that the despised pest, the spaghetti weevil, had been eradicated. A large number of people contacted the BBC wanting to know how to cultivate their own spaghetti trees.

Another one is about Decimal Time. This has been repeated several times in various countries. This hoax involves claiming that the time system will be changed to one in which units of time are based on powers of 10. So in the "new" system, 100 seconds will make 1 minute and 100 minutes will make 1 hour. Hmmm ... this could have interesting implications for clock & watch makers, exam-taking students or runners trying to break sporting records.

Over to you ....

Are there any good April Fool jokes you remember from your life?

Did you play any jokes yesterday and were they successful?

Did anyone get you yesterday with their April Fool prank?
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The Allure of the Wonder Girls

2010-03-25T09:42:00.000+08:00

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Pardon this minor digression into my personal enchantment with this musical group and its catchy hit song "NOBODY". Even if you've never heard of the Wonder Girls, a girl group from South Korea, I would suspect that many of you would have heard strains of this tune being played on TV, radio, music stores or even someone's mobile ringtone.

This is not usually the kind of musical group that grabs my attention, but I must admit their hit is extremely catchy and their performance style quite entertaining (I also find it amusing to imagine someone surnamed Chew or Chiu or Choo in the audience who must feel very flattered by their vocal rendition!).

The five person Wonder Girls, are managed by singer-songwriter Park Jin-Young of JYP Entertainment (who formerly managed that other Korean sensation, Rain ... tho' I must say I'm not as impressed by him!). This is an artifically constructed group with each of the five original members selected through auditions (kinda like the UK's Spice Girls a generation before). The Wonder Girls debuted in early 2007 and became popular later that year with the song "Tell Me." They have scored three consecutive #1 hit singles: "Tell Me", "So Hot", and "Nobody". In 2008, they won two Daesangs ("Artist of the Year" Awards).
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Even more impresssive was the fact that the group entered into the American market in 2009, with the lead single "Nobody" - which also became the first song by a Korean artist to enter the Billboard Hot 100.

Enough from me ... Turn up your speaker volume to the max and enjoy the music video ...

Like it? Share your views on this and other music groups you like.

Beware the Ides of March

2010-03-15T13:26:00.001+08:00

Today is 15th March. Do you know the significance of this day? Have you heard the phrase "The Ides of March"? If not, let me tell you the story ...

The Ides of March (Latin: Idus Martias) is the name given to March 15 in the Roman calendar. The term "ides" was used for the 15th day of the months of March, May, July, and October. The Ides of March was a festive day dedicated to the god Mars and a military parade was usually held.

However in modern times, the term Ides of March is best known as the date that Julius Caesar was killed in 44 B.C. According to philosopher and writer Plutarch, Caesar was warned by a soothsayer to be on his guard against a great peril on the Ides of March. On his way to the Theatre of Pompey (where he would be assassinated at a meeting of the Senate), Caesar saw the soothsayer and joked "Well, the Ides of March have come," to which the seer replied "Aye, they have come, but they are not gone."

This meeting of Caesar and the soothsayer is famously dramatized in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, when Caesar is warned to "Beware the Ides of March." The relevant passage goes as follows:

Caesar:
Who is it in the press that calls on me?
I hear a tongue shriller than all the music
Cry "Caesar!" Speak, Caesar is turn'd to hear.

Soothsayer:
Beware the ides of March.

Caesar:
What man is that?

Brutus:
A soothsayer bids you beware the ides of March.

Julius Caesar Act 1, scene 2, 15–19

It is clear that prior to Caesar's assasination, the Ides of March was just another day ... but after the event, it took on a special significance. In the letters of Roman philosopher and statesman Cicero from the months after the Ides of March., he even writes, 'The Ides changed everything." The phrase "Ides of March" came to represent a specific day of abrupt change that set off a ripple of repercussions throughout Roman society and beyond.

So why was Caesar killed? There were a number of reasons, but the main one was that some members of the Senate feared that he was going to revive the monarchy. The Romans had no love for kings. While Caesar had made clear public statements of turning down offers of kingship, he showed no reluctance to accept the office of "dictator for life" in February 44 B.C. (It is interesting to note that at the time the term "dictator" didn't have the negative connotation that it has today.) Indeed Caesar had been pushing his influence (and luck!) quite a bit. It has been noted by historians that Caesar was the first living Roman ever to appear on the coinage, an honour previously reserved for the gods. The plot's conspirators regarded themselves as "liberators".

So nowadays, those who know (or care to remember) regard the Ides of March as a day of infamy, somewhat like the better-known Friday the 13th.

Looking at the influence of Caesar and his demise on modern culture, I note that there have been many movies and TV series depicting the rise and fall of Julius Caesar. For me, one of the best is still a 1953 screen adaptation of Shakespeare's work, whch starred luminaries like Marlon Brando, John Gielgud and James Mason. There was also an interesting mini-series from 2004 starring Jeremy Sisto (as Caesar) and Richard Harris (in his final performance).

I am told that the Ides of March is celebrated every year by the Rome Hash House Harriers with a toga run in the streets of Rome, in the same place where Julius Caesar was killed.

There is one US-originated music group who call themselves "The Ides of March" and at least two other groups who have released tracks on their albums with the name "The Ides of March", though I'm not sure they even mention Caesar as I haven't listened to any of those albums yet.

Anyway my friends, I hope you've enjoyed this little detour into a bit of history, culture and tradition ... Just to be on the safe side, grab your lucky rabbit's foot, coin or charm ...

and

BEWARE THE IDES OF MARCH ;-)

Year of the Tiger

2010-02-08T08:01:00.000+08:00

The upcoming lunar new year heralds in the Year of the Tiger, according to the Chinese zodiac. Over the years, I've found that a number of other Asian countries have roughly similar zodiac animals. For instance the Korean zodiac is identical to the Chinese one. The Vietnamese zodiac differs in three animals (the second animal is the water buffalo instead of the ox, the fourth animal is the cat instead of rabbit and the eighth animal is the ram instead of sheep). The Japanese zodiac includes the wild boar rather than the pig.

In most of these Asian countries, the lunar new year is celebrated in grand traditional fashion. I was in Vietnam when I started writing this essay and I observed the Vietnamese preparing for their lunar new year, which they call Tet. It falls on exactly the same day as the Chinese New Year. Everywhere you went, you could see lots of decorations - arches, lanterns, posters, sculptures, etc. Red is obviously the auspicious colour. And of course, this year the tiger appears in many places of prominence.

All this got me thinking about other incarnations of tigers in our modern culture. I was able to list quite a number of instances where this majestic but fierce animal featured in different aspects of our life.

Tiger in Poetry

I believe it was the Englishman William Blake (1757-1827) who penned the famous poem "Tyger, Tyger" which English literature students in the old days used to have to learn by heart. I guess these days not as much attention is paid to this rhyme, but who knows ... it IS going be the year of the tiger soon so there may well be a revival of interest.

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright,
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire in thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, and what art?
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand, and what dread feet?

What the hammer? What the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? What dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb, make thee?

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright,
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

Tiger in Business

I'm writing this at an airport cafe, so it's probably natural that I first thought about Tiger Airways, the low-cost carrier owned by Singapore Airlines and a few others. This airlines plies routes mainly in Asia and parts of Australia.

Do you recall the slogan "Put a Tiger in Your Tank" ? Of course you do. That's from the oil company Esso. One marketing campaign I remember even involved a little bushy striped tail being given out to drivers, which they could attach to the cover of their fuel tank.

Tiger in Sports

This one is quite obvious. Tiger Woods has been a golfing sensation for many years now, until his recent fall from grace over a series of affairs. Still a lot of golfing observers are predicting he will make his comeback pretty soon.

Tiger in Entertainment

In the world of books and movies. there was Shere Khan, that fearsome character from Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book". I suspect many of us remember the Disney cartoon much better than the book itself.

A more friendly Tigger appeared in A.A. Milne's "Winnie the Pooh".

Even from the world of Chinese action movies, I still remember that Golden Harvest made a flick in 1973 called "The Man Called Tiger", starring Wang Yu (of "The One Armed Swordsman" fame).

And I'm told that "Flying Tigers" (1942) was a second-rate movie about a band of American Mercenaries called upon by China to help fight the Japanese two years before Pearl Harbour. It even starred John Wayne.

In the area of music, there was a song "Eye of the Tiger" released by the group Survivor in 1982. This song was also used in the Sylvester Stallone movie "Rocky III".

Tiger in Food

There's a certain brand of frosted cornflakes, that we used to occasionally eat for breakfast when we were young which has a tiger character too. Remember Frosties ? Remember Tony the Tiger?

I'm sure you can think of other instances where tigers have been culturally prominent. Do share them ...

In the meantime, an early Happy Lunar New Year of the Tiger to everyone ...

Shopping, Sights & Snacks in HCMC, Vietnam

2010-01-28T19:21:00.000+08:00

The wife and I made a short visit to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) last weekend. We took time off on Friday and Monday, so it was kind of a long weekend. The reason for the trip was to attend the wedding of one of my Vietnamese colleagues. We stayed at the Sheraton Saigon on Dong Khoi Street (in District 1). This is at the centre of HCMC, and from there we were able to wander around the main shopping areas, visit some of the prominent sights and also enjoy some Vietnamese snacks.

Here's a short visual documentation of our trip, for those who haven't yet been and may be contemplating a trip to Vietnam. Believe me, it's a very charming country.

The first photo shows the Sheraton Saigon hotel (the one on the right). Very comfortable and truly excellent service. The other tall building is actually another well-known hotel - the Caravelle. It was prominent during the American War (which is how the Vietnamese refer to the conflict we usually call the Vietnam War), when Western journalists and diplomats used to base themselves there. There's a particularly well known rooftop bar.

The next photo (above) shows the HCMC Municipal Theatre, popularly known as Saigon Opera House, one of the city's landmark buildings situated on Le Loi Street. HCMC was formerly known as Saigon. Even though the name change was imposed in the mid 1970s after "the fall of Saigon" when North Vietnamese forces took over the city and "reunified" the country, the locals ae still fond of using the old name Saigon. This beautiful structure was completed in 1911, under the supervision of French architects. Besides being a theatre, it was once also used as the South Vietnam government Assembly House. These days it hosts Vietnamese theatre and music performances.

Next you can see yours truly with Uncle Ho (i.e. Ho Chi Minh, the much revered leader who reunified Vietnam). This statue is in a small park in front of the grand HCMC People's Committee headquarters or City Hall, which you can see a part of in the background. Unfortunately during this period, the building facade was undergoing some renovations, so there were scaffolding everywhere.

There are numerous architectural influences from the French Colonial period in Saigon but probably none are more French than the Notre Dame Cathedral ! This 19th century neo-Romanesque structure has two 40-meter towers that can be seen from all over HCMC and is the centerpiece of the city’s government quarter skyline. I read somewhere that this Catholic cathedral originally had stained glass windows, but those were destroyed during WWII and never replaced. (For keen eyed shopaholics, Diamond Plaza in the background houses a modern departmental store).

This is the front of the General Post Office, a grand building just adjoining the Notra Dame Cathedral. If you think it looks nice outside, just take a look at the interior (below) ...

Shoppingwise, there are many department stores,branded shops (Gucci, Milano, etc) and souvenir outlets in HCMC. But we like to go to where local products are sold. And the best place for this is Ben Thanh Market.

The next few shots were taken within Ben Thanh market.

You have seen some of the architectural influences of the French in the previous photos. Vietnam was part of French Indo-China for many years, and even up to WWII. It was only after the famous Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954 that the French forces were finally expelled by the Viet Minh communist revolutionaries under Ho Chi Minh.

With any occupation by a foreign power, I'm sure there were many issues and hardships. But one less documented but positive influence that the French left behind was in the area of confectionery. I truly believe that in Vietnam you can find some of the best croissants and pastries in Asia. Feast your eyes on the display below !

They taste fabulous. I kid you not !

Interesting Photos from Travels in Asia

2010-01-27T16:11:00.001+08:00

I've always enjoyed travelling and experiencing new places.

Here are some photos of interesting things I observed on some of my trips to countries in Asia.

This first one - taken at the fashionable Itaewon area of Seoul, capital city of South Korea - is hopefully due to poor English language skills ...

The next one is from Chongqing in China. The logo is surprisingly familiar. So much for Intellectual Property protection.

Here is a shot of a street-side stall on Dong Khoi Street in Ho Chi Minh City, selling some nice looking souvenirs, made up of ... do you see it ... cans of beer and soft drinks.

This sculpture from the city of Chongqing has something to do with how NOT to erect buildings ...

And finally this stone turtle I saw in a Hanoi cafe tells the story of Hoan Kiem lake and the turtle which retrieved the sword from the king after his wishes had been granted.

May all your journeys be interesting and safe.

Resolutions for 2010

2010-01-01T13:12:00.003+08:00

How quickly another year passes by. As I reviewed my list of resolutions for 2009, I was not unduly surprised that I didn't achieve all of them. But just having achieved slightly more than half of them was satisfying enough. And some of the ones I did achieve were very meaningful.

One very significant one was the reunion of former classmates from the 1970s. My class reconnection blog was more successful than I had dared imagine, and finally on 23 Dec, we had a wonderful reunion dinner with almost 70 boys in attendance, not to mention 8 teachers. Another extremely meaningful achievement was making significant progress in our genealogical research. I've now discovered more relatives in Sabah than I ever knew my whole life.

For this year, I'm whittling down my list even further and here it is ...

Health
- make more progress in staying healthy, through diet and workouts
- complete dental work (which started in 2009)

Personal
- make more progress with Mandarin and another language
- reading focus in 2010: History, Wine, Photography & Photo/Video Editing

Professional
- make sales/business development impact on 3 countries
- get professional book manuscript-ready
- update and put "E-Gov in Asia" online (carried over from 2009)
- (re)launch professional blogsite

Family
- get the three Family Tree drafts to shareable form (by mid 2010)
- take two family holidays (possibly one of my life journeys)
- get father's book published

Financial
- improve financial position

Social & Spiritual
- more involvement in meaningful charity work
- explore more community networks

Wish me luck, and stay tuned for mid and end year reviews ...

Calling on Chongqing, China

2009-12-12T03:46:00.002+08:00

I had an interesting four-day business trip to China last week. Cisco held a Public Services conference in Chongqing, and I was invited to moderate some sessions. This gave me the opportunity to have a nice albeit short look around the city after the conference.

It was my first trip to the city of Chongqing, in the Sichuan province. Chongqing is a port city situated in the south-east of the Sichuan Basin between the Yangtze and Jialing River.The municipality, one of four directly administered by the central government, has some 33 million inhabitants. The place is known for its hot & spicy food (especially the famous Chongqing Hot Pot) and for being the place where those intending to take a cruise down the Yangtze River and see the Three Gorges Dam, usually begin their journey.

We were most fortunate to have had Fiona Liu, a Chongqing local, as our tour guide. She spoke perfect (and I really mean PERFECT !) English, and was very knowledgable about the city. She brought us to many interesting places and educated us with many facts about the city. I thoroughly recommend her as a guide to anyone wishing to visit Chongqing. You can email me for her contact.

Chongqing skyline

Note the muddy brown Yangtze River (from left) and the dark green Jialing River (right)

Historically, Chongqing was the wartime capital of China during the Second Sino-Japanese war (1937-1945). Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek made it his base, and the city was heavily bombed by the Japanese planes. Fortunately, due to its mountainous environment, many people were saved from the bombing. One can still see some old air-raid shelters in the hillside. In late November 1949, the Nationalist KMT government led by Chiang Kai-shek, under attack by the Communist forces, fled the city and went over to Taiwan.

Recent statistics reveal that Chongqing is one of the fastest growing cities in China, and indeed everywhere in the city, one can see huge construction projects being carried out. The China central government is also trying to develop Chongqing as a major financial centre.

Our group standing in front of the Great Hall of the People, Chongqing

We visited the China Three Gorges Museum, which was right across from the Great Hall of the People, separated by a huge square where residents were exercising, strolling about or socialising with one another..

The China Three Gorges Dam Museum, Chongqing

(gives a lot of background about this monumental engineering feat. The Three Gorges hydro-electric dam is the world's largest electricity generating plant, and when fully operational by 2011, it will have a total electricity generating capacity of 22,500 MW)

Road Warrior meets Ancient Chinese Warrior

(In the background, you can glimpse the Chongqing Opera House)

I had a chance to walk through Jiafangbei, the main shopping district of Chongqing ...

The place was thronging with people - shopping, having family outings, watching street performances and displays, taking in the festive mood (they had all manner of X'mas decorations out too!) ...

I sat down for a roadside snack with an "old local resident" ...

There was even a sizeable choir performing in the centre of the shopping district.

That evening, we ventured to the restaurant district at Nan Bin Lu for dinner. This is just by the river bank. There were boat restaurants, al fresco dining, Chongqing hotpot joints, and all manner of brightly-lit eateries, bars and pubs.

China is an absolutely amazing place. Each time I visit, I find myself astounded by so many things - the culture & history, the people, the cuisine, the architecture, the development ... and the relentless pursuit of growth and success. No wonder economists forecast that China will become the world's largest economy within two decades.

Mid-Autumn Festival

2009-10-02T11:14:00.000+08:00

The Mid-Autumn Festival ( zhōng qiū jié in Mandarin ) is also known as the Moon Festival. It is a popular East Asian celebration of abundance and togetherness, dating back over 3,000 years to China's Zhou Dynasty. In Malaysia and Singapore, we also refer to it as the Lantern Festival or "Mooncake Festival."

The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month of the Chinese calendar (usually late-September or early October), a date that parallels the Autumn Equinox of the solar calendar. This year it falls on 3rd October 2009. This is apparently the ideal time, when the moon is at its fullest and brightest, to celebrate the abundance of the summer's harvest. The traditional food of this festival is the mooncake, of which there are several varieties.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the two most important holidays in the Chinese calendar (the other being the Lunar New Year). Farmers celebrate the end of the summer harvesting season on this date. Traditionally, on this day, Chinese family members and friends will gather to admire the bright mid-Autumn harvest moon, and eat moon cakes and pomeloes together. Other interesting customs include: carrying brightly lit lanterns, putting pomelo rinds on one's head, burning incense in reverence to deities, planting Mid-Autumn trees,and collecting dandelion leaves for distribution among family.

Children often hear the tale of the moon fairy living in a crystal palace, who comes out to dance on the moon's shadowed surface. This legend of the "lady living in the moon" goes back to ancient times, to a day when ten suns appeared at once in the sky. The Emperor ordered a famous archer to shoot down the nine extra suns. Once the task was accomplished, the Goddess of Western Heaven rewarded the archer with a pill that would make him immortal. However, his wife found the pill, took it, and was duly banished to the moon. Legend says that her beauty is greatest on the day of the Moon festival.

The other famous legend surrounding the Moon festival is linked into Chinese history. During the Yuan dynasty (AD 1280-1368), China was ruled by the Mongols. The leaders from the preceding Sung dynasty (AD 960-1280) were unhappy at being subject to foreign rule, and began to furtively organise a rebellion. The rebel leaders, knowing that the Moon festival was drawing near, ordered the making of special cakes. Baked into each moon cake was a message outlining attack plans. The mooncakes - which the Mongols did not eat - were the perfect vehicle for hiding and passing along these plans. Families were instructed not to eat the mooncakes until the day of the festival, which was when the rebellion took place, and the government was overthrown. This led to the establishment of the Ming dynasty (AD 1368-1644).

Great stories, huh? Would make great swordfighting movies ala Shaw Brothers or John "Red Cliff" Woo. Anyway, always good to know the legends, customs and traditions behind any festival. Now who says this blog is not educational? LOL.

For those who celebrate it, do share how you spent your Mid-Autumn Festival ...

Formula 1 Fever Grips Singapore

2009-09-25T11:27:00.002+08:00

Vrooom. Vroooom. This weekend is when the Formula 1 Night Races happen, right here on the Singapore street circuit. It's the second time the F1 races are being held in Singapore. And things are beginning to heat up in this normally prim-and-proper (some say clinical and comatose) Lion City. There are posters everywhere. The TV and news media are chock full of articles and pictures of cars and the sexy lasses called the SingTel Grid Girls (kinda ambassadors for the event). I even notice ordinary drivers revving their engines a bit more, and occasionally letting their hair down with spurts of speed and execution of risky overtaking maneuveres on the Singapore roads.
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Anyway for the F1 event, there are practice runs today, qualifying rounds on Saturday, leading up to the Grand Finals on Sunday. Should be pretty exciting for racing enthusiasts.
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Different people I know have varying opinions on the appropriateness of street circuits for motor racing, and some even question the realism of Grand Prix in general. And recent revelations of Renault's transgressions on this very same circuit a year ago simply reflect the utmost importance that some automotive companies place on being victorious ... win at all costs it would seem !
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Here's a map of the street circuit, around the Marina Bay area.

I must admit I haven't been a huge fan of F1. I don't follow the sport that closely and in fact until last year's race in Singapore, I hardly knew my Hamilton from hamburger, or my Schumacher from my shoe ... but still I have to say that it was quite a thrill watching the race last year, albeit on TV from the comfort of my living room. I'm not particularly partial to sweltering conditions, deafening noise and choking exhaust fumes ... but all my friends who have seen it "live" wax lyrical on the experience, and chide me for staying home.
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Of course, whether one watches it at the circuit or on TV, what many people look for are the crashes and mistakes and pitstop booboos (like last year where one car drove off from the pit with the fuel pump still not dislodged). Talk about schadenfreude !!!
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Even if one is not into F1 racing, a good thing about the Singapore F1 is that during the period, lots of entertainers and celebrities are in town. This year, the following artistes are performing at various venues: Backstreet Boys, Chaka Khan, Mavis Staples, Travis, and others. I'm told that even busty Beyonce is in town to do a concert !!! And there are also local and regional performers including Indigo, Electrico, Rivermaya, Strikeforce, Wicked Aura Batucada, Alemay Fernandez and the Dim Sum Dollies.

What I also find very interesting to observe, is how some of the familiar streets in central Singapore are being transformed into a nocturnal racing circuit. Huge panels of lights have been installed all around the track, the roads on the circuit have all been heavily reinforced so that a crash from a high-speed vehicle would not damage the surrounding infrastructure too much.

Ah yes, here's a badly taken videoclip of me driving on one section of the F1 circuit, a few days before they blocked it off for the event. Enjoy ;-)

I'll probably update this post over the next few days, with significant events relating to the F1 extravaganza. So do stay tuned.

Vrooom. Vrooom. Vrooom. Let the race begin !!!
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Some Interviews on Asian challenges, transformation & e-initiatives

2009-08-08T21:30:00.008+08:00

Found two videoclips from an interview I gave earlier this year to eGovAsia, a website associated with the publication Enterprise Innovation.

The first one is on e-initiatives across Asia ...

http://egovasia.enterpriseinnovation.net/content/state-e-initiatives-across-asia

The other is about transformative and challenges forAsian governments ...

http://egovasia.enterpriseinnovation.net/content/transformation-and-challenges-asias-governments

Hmmm, do I look fat?
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Connected Communities

2009-06-28T01:49:00.006+08:00

At the recent "NICT Conference 2009" in Putrajaya, Malaysia, I was on one of the panels & spoke on the topic of "Connected Communities: Towards Intelligent Urbanisation".

Urbanisation is a very significant (and seemingly irreversible) trend for global economic development. In the next 5 years, 300 million more people are going to become urban dwellers. Urban activities also typically contribute to at least 70 percent of overall national economic growth. Thus, the focus of my talk was to highlight ways in which urban communities could be better connected via technology, to enable them to be more productive and effective.

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For those interested in my presentation, a PDF copy can be downloaded at the website

http://www.intanbk.intan.my/cda/m_online/nict/DAY2/SESSION9PARALLEL2(SESSION9A)/JAMEsSLYONG-PresentationCISCO.pdf

National Broadband Initiatives (Interviews in Bangkok)

2009-06-23T11:56:00.013+08:00

In a recent visit to Bangkok, Thailand, I led a workshop for government officials. The theme was around Connected Government, and also on the benefits of deploying National Broadband.

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I also had a session with a number of Thai journalists. Here are some articles or excerpts from those interviews. The first is with Bangkok Post (an English language daily), and the other a Thai language paper Krungthep Turakij.
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Article 1: Bangkok Post (17 June 2009)

Article 2: Krungthep Turakij (2 June 2009)

For the article in Thai, I am told by our PR manager that the gist of the content is as follows:

Headline: E-Government: the ‘government’ highway to stimulus the Thai economy.

Synopsis:

- ICT can play an crucial role to stimulate the economy & increase GDP especially during economic crisis situation

- The Thai Government should leverage its ICT budget to build the readiness to support the future growth ie. investment in development of the Government Network in order for all Thai people to access into information. This will help improve human resources development, create new business opportunities, pull in the more foreign investment and help stimulate economy recovery.

- The Government has an important role, which falls into 2 parts: (1) Create a good environment around National Broadband Network to be able to leverage and develop opportunities in the future and (2) improve the Government Information Network (GIN) to enable all government agencies to connect, access, share information and be able to provide ‘one-stop’ service faster, easier and more securely.

- Cisco's SONA (Services Oriented Network Architecture) is a sound framework to leverage on.

- The Government Information Network should be open, standardized, scalable and secure.

- Common people should be able to use the service through single portal and support all business organizations to be able to improve their competitiveness and launch new services to the market speedily.

- It was suggested to leverage ‘cloud’ computing technology to make most of the resources of the Government Network to achieve maximum benefit.

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Article: Jumpstart Asian Economies with ICT

2009-04-25T19:23:00.009+08:00

Here's a recent article in Enterprise Innovation based on an interview with me ...

Jumpstart Asian Economies with ICT

By Allan Tan

The buzzword within the economic and political circles of Asia is “economic stimulus package.” Indeed when economies are tumbling citizens and businesses turn to the government to provide the impetus to drive economies forward. Just how much is Asia planning to spend to get the local economies out of the sinkhole we are in today?

Over US$656 Billion has been earmarked by Asia’s governments as stimulus package for 2009. All are hoping the packages which consist of public spending on infrastructure, creating new jobs through training and education, creating environments conducive to new business and industries, tax cuts, government-secured loans to private sector businesses, all aim to stop the downward spiral.

But when you realize that many of Asia’s economies depend on the US market for business opportunities, you suddenly realize that local efforts may be futile unless one of two things happen: (1) the US gets its act together; or (2) the Asia region turn inward to support each other. But this is just my observation.

James SL Yong, Director of Public Sector Programs (ASEAN) for Cisco Systems has a very interesting chart on how the economic stimulus package would work. It reminds me of spaghetti with meatballs.

It takes a crisis to focus the mind

According to Yong, government priorities have always been around economic competitiveness, providing effective public service, public safety and security, and governance. “The global economic slump has not diverted attention from these priorities but added the extra focus on getting local economies out of the recession,” Yong adds.

“A crisis is too good to waste,” Franko Roma, Stanford University economics professor. “You shouldn’t waste a crisis because that’s where things actually happen if you play your cards right.”

People, and governments, can do great things given the proper incentive. And the global economic crisis is a very good incentive.

Where ICT sits in the economic recovery

Yong divides government infrastructure spending into two areas: physical and smart infrastructure. Physical infrastructure consists of water and electricity, roads, bridges, railways, telecommunications and ports. Governments are throwing money here to create jobs. Unfortunately most physical infrastructure projects are finite in nature. Jobs are created throughout the course of each project but once the work is completed, you won’t need the same amount of people to maintain these projects.

Smart infrastructure projects, which include national broadband networks, wireless hotspots, and rural connectivity, provides employment opportunities not only at the onset of the project but even after the work has been laid-out. “You will need skilled people to not only build these networks but maintain them as well. These infrastructure projects not only help uplift the skill levels of people, but have the potential to create new industries,” comments Yong.

Crafted well, some of these smart infrastructure projects have spawned new industries in themselves. Yong cites the case of South Korea’s national fibre optic broadband network project. While originally meant to offer nationwide broadband to every home and office, the project has spawned new industries like online gaming and digital animation.

Yong suggests that governments take a balanced approach to infrastructure investments that cover both physical and smart infrastructure projects.

Dual role of ICT

“Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country,”

- John F. Kennedy, President, United States of America, January 20, 1961.

If you look at the way most government agencies are built today, they are built around delivering a service - in a way that best suits how a government department works. For instance, it takes 15 steps and 52 days to register a business in the Philippines. Compare this to Singapore’s 4 steps in 4 days approach. How? Singapore has successfully merged ICT with process to shorten the time and improve productivity

ICT is an enabler for many governments. Properly planned, built, and maintained, ICT solutions can greatly help government departments improve service delivery to the citizenry and businesses.

“Government 2.0” is widely viewed as addressing the shortcomings of present-day public service delivery and enable government departments to work better.

The idea is that the government is created to serve the citizenry, to make it easier for citizens and businesses to access public information and transact with specific government departments.

“In many cities and many organizations, ICT is enabler of more effective working, more productive workforce and more creativity,” says Yong.

As the single largest consumer of ICT, the current economic crisis is forcing government departments to do more with less, with the help of ICT. Visit any government department in Asia, and you will find independent departments with their own applications databases, data centers and networks. Yet, if you like at the core of these systems, they are all built around delivering service to the people.

Taking their cue from the private sector, some governments are now looking at pooling together infrastructure and resources to deliver the same or even better services at a much lower cost of building and supporting these new heterogeneous networks. The airline industry has been doing this for years.

ICT is also an industry. Asia’s low cost manufacturing base and large labor and talent pool has spawned an industry that serves not only the needs of the local market but the rest of the world as well.

“The skill base that you build from your people, the experiences that they have gotten, and the infrastructures they built can be repackaged together and sold to other organizations or countries that are embarking on the same journey,” suggests Yong.
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Singapore’s national ICT infrastructure and policies, Malaysia’s multimedia super corridor, Taiwan’s ICT manufacturing base, and South Korea’s heavy investments in national broadband are prime examples of ICT-based industries that have spawned new industries in and around themselves.

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Governments need to be cognizant of the changing lifestyle of its citizens. “People today don’t

always work in offices. They are very mobile. So governments need to build systems that are flexible and take into account the mobility of employees,” advises Yong.

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If there is anything that Al Gore will be remembered by is his championing the education of the masses on the potential threat that climate change. Governments have, within them, the power to affect climate change policies in a positive way. But they have to lead by example.

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Learning from the private sector, governments can implement systems and processes that have smaller carbon footprint, are more eco-friendly. ICT can help here.

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The magazine can be found at http://www.enterpriseinnovation.net/

Friday the 13th, Valentine's Day & Other Quaint Festivals

2009-02-16T09:10:00.025+08:00

I haven't been posting on this blog for about a month. Apologies to my readers (all 3 of them :-). It's because I've been travelling quite a bit last month and also caught up in a couple of other projects. The projects have quietened down a bit now, so I'm refocusing some of my attention back onto Asian Observer.

Thought I'd start again on a somewhat lighter topic - quaint festivals and practices. It struck me (and no doubt a few million others) that this year, Friday 13th was the day before Valentine's Day. What a contrast of moods these two days invoke.

The first is associated with ghosts, ghouls, monsters, serial-killers, gruesome mutilations, lots of blood and other scary stuff. The date itself, Friday 13th, happens once or twice a year and as far as I can find out it is considered by some folk to be "unlucky" although a few people I asked don't seem to know exactly why*. Some extremely superstitious people don't even want to leave the house on such days for fear that something bad will happen to them! And of course Hollywood has done its part to capitalise on this infamous day with a seemingly never-ending series of popular horror flicks - like "Friday the 13th - Part 145" ...

The other festival, Valentine's Day, is usually linked with romantic love, giving of roses, chocolates and cards between love-struck individuals (as they make goo-goo eyes at each other) The symbols associated with Valentine's Day are the heart and Cupid (that naked little angel, armed with bow & arrow to supposedly link hearts together with well-placed shots). Although the origin of the festival stems from an ancient Christian martyr named Valentine, I believe that in modern times this festival transcends religions and is almost global, bolstered by blatant commercialisation driven by confectionery, card and gift companies. Each year on or before Feb 14th, millions of cards and candy are purchased and presented, and many candle-lit dinners are consumed - representing a nice economic spike for the respective industries.

So there you have it. Two very different festivals, one driven by fear, the other by desire - both extremely powerful human emotions. Despite my natural skepticism about both festivals, I must admit that in the current economic doldrums that we are all in, perhaps creating a few more of such emotionally-charged days may not be so bad after all.

Finally, what can one do with Friday 13th falling just one day before Valentine's Day, as is the case this year? Well, one movie title I saw recently seemed to capture and creatively integrate the two moods. The movie was called "My Bloody Valentine". I believe the latest rendition (to be released in Feb 2009) is a remake of a Canadian slasher film of 1981 (the original poster is shown, with the tagline "There's more than one way to lose your heart ..."

* My further research found this out: In numerology, 12 is a number of completeness (eg 12 apostles of Jesus, 12 months of year, 12 zodiac signs etc), so 13 is considered irregular - transgressing the completeness. Friday has in the past been considered unluckier than the other days of the week for travelling or beginning new projects. In more recent times, witness Black Friday which is associated with stock market crashes. Also Jesus was supposedly crucified on a Friday. Another story tells of the Knights Templar being arrested in France by King Philip on Friday 13th Oct 1307.

When Singapore Surrendered ...

2009-01-07T21:17:00.017+08:00

About a month ago I visited the Old Ford Factory on Upper Bukit Timah Road, Singapore. It's quite strange that even though I stay a mere ten minutes away from this historic site for some years, I've never explored this place until this visit.

The original building, built in 1941, was the first Ford vehicle assembly plant in South-East Asia.It was strategically located near to the Malayan Railway, which allowed goods to be transported to and from the docks at Tanjong pagar. Being on Bukit Timah Road also afforded an alternative transportation route. During the earlier part of the war, the factory equipment was also used to assemble fighter planes.

But historically the most significant event to have happened at the Old Ford Factory was the formal surrender of the British forces to the Japanese on 15th February 1942. On this fateful day, the British forces led by Lt General Arthur Percival walked up the slope to the Old Ford Factory and surrendered to the Japanese forces led by General Tomoyuki Yamashita.

The Old Ford Factory, gazetted as a national monument, is now an exhibition centre known as "Memories at Old Ford Factory". It is dedicated to the surrender itself as well as recalls the hard times of the Japanese occupation years (1942-1945). There were many exhibits and pictures related the fall of Singapore, including even the boardroom in which the surrender took place. Visitors can see even the table & chairs used - some are replicas, but some are the original pieces.

The fall of Singapore to the Japanese Army is considered one of the greatest defeats in the history of the British Army and probably Britain’s worst defeat in World War II. About 80,000 Indian, Australian and British troops became prisoners of war, joining 50,000 taken by the Japanese in the Malayan campaign The Japanese gave Singapore a new name "Syonan-to" which meant "the Light of the South", which is quite ironic as the people in Singapore spent the darkest days of their lives during the three-and-half year long Japanese Occupation.

Here in Asia, we are fortunate to live in a region of relative peace and prosperity (notwithstanding the few potential hotspots of tension like Afghanistan or the Korean border, and the current global economic recession), so it is even more important to have places and exhibitions like "Memories of Old Ford Factory" serve as stark reminders of the horrors of war and occupation. In essence it embodies a strong caution of what could happen if tolerance, diplomacy and negotiation were to be disregarded.

In the garden by the Factory, a rock has been carved with an ancient Chinese poem titled "Taking History as a Lesson" by Emperor Tang Taizong:

"With a bronze mirror, one can see whether he is properly attired

With history as a mirror, one can understand the rise and fall of a nation

With man as a mirror, one can see whether he is right or wrong"

More information on the Old Ford Factory and related exhibits can be found at its website.

Resolutions for 2009

2008-12-31T19:24:00.018+08:00

Every year I make my New Year Resolutions, which I pen down on a little scrap of paper and carry around the folded scrap in my wallet for the entire year. Usually in early December, I extricate the secret list and invariably admit guiltily to myself that I haven't achieved half as much as I'd have liked. Some resolutions then get carried forward to the following year, some get redefined in much less ambitious terms, and still others are quietly dropped :-(

This year, I'm going to take a rather different approach. For starters, I won't burden myself with an unrealistic list of 46 items, like what I did one year not too long ago. I'll keep it a much shorter list. Maybe 12-15 items at most. And secondly, it won't be a secret list any more as I will be displaying it in this blog entry for the whole world ... well, at least the dozen or so kind souls who actually bother to read my online rants. Ha! That should introduce a little more pressure on myself to keep my resolutions real and to put more effort into trying to attain them.

So here are my resolutions for 2009 ... (drum roll please)

Health
- reduce weight by 10 lbs & get more physically fit thru gym or other sport
(building abs was one of my previous resolutions, long discarded & I'm not putting it back in!)
- undergo medical & dental checks

Personal
- increase my Mandarin vocab by 500 characters
- learn a new language (to basic level)
- read at least 2 books a month, with more focus on humanities (esp history & classics)

Professional
- make a real sales impact in at least 3 countries
- deepen & extend domain expertise
- get one book published or at least manuscript-ready
(out of the several I've been working on & off for the past three years)
- put "E-Gov in Asia" online

Family
- get Family Journal + Book 2 typed & collated
- take two family holidays (one preferably to somewhere we've never visited)
- visit Sabah & Brunei on family tree exploration

Financial
- improve financial position

Social & Spiritual
- improve ties with family & friends (eg organise a re-union of ex-schoolmates)
- get actively involved with a charity organisation

Well, that's it folks. A very happy new year to all !

And be sure to watch out for my end-2009 review of these resolutions.

What I'm Reading - December 2008

2008-12-24T09:42:00.019+08:00

I was travelling most of December. Business trip in Sweden & Oslo, followed by a week's vacation in London. So most of my reading was done on planes, in airport lounges and briefly before bed. All books this month. No audio and video of any significance. These were the three books I picked up ...

"Parky" is the autobiography of Michael Parkinson, the British television interviewer who is almost legendary in the UK. I remember watching his programmes while I was a student in the UK back in the late 70's to early 80's. His interviews were sometimes thought-provoking, sometimes funny, always classy and entertaining. His programme, simply called "Parkinson", ran from 1971 to 1982, and from 1989 to 2007. When I was watching his shows, he was with BBC, but I read that he switched to ITV in the later years. By his own reckoning, he has interviewed some 2,000 of the world's most famous people. So this was an autobiography I was waiting to read for some time. You could say I was a fan.

"Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom" is by Matthew Fraser & Soumitra Dutta. I first heard of this book directly from Matthew Fraser, who is a Facebook friend. The book deals with the whole Web 2.0 social networking revolution. The book makes the point that while the Web 2.0 has reached a tipping point socially, especially among the so called 'Generation V' (also called digital natives or millenial generation by other literature) who feel completely at ease in the online world, it is facing powerful forces of resistance from members of corporations, including boardroom members. Based on my own experience dealing with eGovernment initiatives, I know this, and I was interested in specific examples of how such resistance could be managed, and broadly of how Web 2.0 could be effectively employed by business and government.

"We-Think" is by Charles Leadbeater. I've just started on this book. I saw the author speak at my company Cisco's Public Services Summit which I participated in at Stockholm, Sweden earlier this month. Charlie is a persuasive and entertaining speaker, and made good points about how businesses and governments needed to change to take advantage of the opportunities of "mass collaboration" and "mass innovation", and not be stuck in the old paradigm of "mass production". The inside cover of the book ends with this .. "The generation growing up with the web will not be content to remain spectators. They want to be players and this is their slogan: we think therefore we are". Also check out the website.

Portobello & Other Street Markets

2008-12-24T09:37:00.024+08:00

I spent a relaxing week in London earlier in December 2008. When in London, one of the places we always enjoy visiting is Portobello Road, particularly on Saturdays when the street market comes alive. Portabello Market is popular with tourists and locals alike. For those who are not acquainted with this place, the road swings between Notting Hill Gate and Ladbroke Grove tube stations. It is best to go earlier in the morning (say 9 or 9:30), and allow at least 3 hours for a leisurely walk, slowly browsing through the various stalls & shops, and taking short breaks at the cafes.

On Portobello, one will find numerous antique shops and stalls, a rich collection of old sketches, books and maps, different kinds of food stalls and cafes, multiple souvenir shops, some fashionable clothing shops and buskers. It can get pretty crowded at parts of the road, so always a good idea to keep an eye on your wallet or handbag.

The origins of name Portobello is quite interesting. The area was originally a farm, which was named after Puerto Bello in the Caribbean, in memory of Admiral Vernon who captured the town in 1739. Since then the area became built up with houses, shopfronts and the street market. Some of the pubs are named Portobello Gold and Portobello Star, references to those heady seafaring days off the Spanish Main. One of the antiques arcades is known as the Admiral Vernon.

Portobello has always been a popular tourist site, but it really shot to global view in the early 2000's as one of London's trendiest streets after the movie "Notting Hill", starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant, was released in 1999. People started coming from all over the world to visit the street they had seen in the popular film. There was a property boom in the vicinity soon after. I heard a sad story of someone selling their apartment in the area only a month before the movie came out. What a lost opportunity to cash in!

I particularly liked looking at one stall with a wide selection of old cameras on display ...

One of the busking groups playing when we were there was a trio called "Hightown Crows". Tneir music was very catchy and entertaining, albeit a little rough on the edges. They even flogged their with own CD of original tunes at ten quid each.

Rustic street markets complement shiny shopping malls, and often give a city more character. I've often wondered why street markets (both day and night versions) work in some places and not in others. For instance, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) has its bustling Petaling Street / Chinatown night market. Taipei has a couple of popular night markets, notably Shilin and Snake Alley. In Hong Kong, there is Temple Street market in Kowloon. Bangkok has a few, at the Suan Luam and Patpong areas. Seoul has an area called Dongdaemun (which I visited on one of my trips and wrote about in a previous blog entry). Singapore has tried setting up street markets but they don't seem to have lasted - I remember one of them was around Kallang.

This is by no means comprehensive, but I concluded that a few factors do help to make street markets successful: (1) some local culture & history helps - eg. Portobello's antiques draw a lot of collectors; (2) some unstructuredness is appealing. Visitors like the slightly haphazard way some street markets are set up, and how individual entrepreneurs innovate to attract customers; (3) pirated or counterfeit goods on sale - despite many raids by authorities, the market for fake bags, watches, garments, CDs and DVDs still remains a definite draw; (4) ability for buskers and other performers to showcase their talents, without being too worried about being arrested (5) some element of sleeze helps - need I say more?

Long live street markets !

Snippets from Scandinavia

2008-12-18T16:34:00.012+08:00

I had the opportunity to visit Stockholm (Sweden) and Oslo (Norway) last week, as part of a global Public Services Summit my company Cisco organized and sponsored. It was my first visit to both of these cities, and a most enlightening and enjoyable time in terms of insights and experiences. This entry touches on some of the highlights ...

The Summit was in Stockholm and we had a few hundred public sector officials from all around the world attending, hosted by Cisco and the City of Stockholm. A panel of world-class speakers - including Lawrence Lessig, Charles Leadbeater, author of book "We-Think", and Prof Carlotta Perez, author of the book "Technology Revolutions & Financial Capital" (picture left) - shared ideas over two days. Intellectually riveting stuff.

I also had a chance to see some of the City of Stockholm, and was particularly impressed by the Vasa Museum, which housed a remarkably well-preserved ship "Vasa" from the early 17th century, the old city Gamla Stan, which looked like a small town right out of a history book, as well as some of Stockholm's environmental conservation projects. It was a fascinating city and quite a pity that I had limited time to see the sights. Definitely worth a future visit to this "Capital of Scandinavia", as Stockholm calls itself ...

On day 3 we took a private train to Oslo, and attended the Nobel Peace Prize dinner and concert. This year's Peace Prize laurette was Martti Ahtisaari, who was honoured for his peace-negotiation efforts in Africa, Europe and Asia.

As a musical tribute to him, the star-studded concert had performers such as Il Divo, Jason Mraz, The Script, Robyn, Marit Larsen and musical legend Diana Ross. The hosts for the night were movie stars Scarlett Johansson (wow!) and Michael Caine. A most impressive line-up and a night of great entertainment!

The picture on the left shows (from left to right) Michael Caine, Nobel laurette Martti Ahtisaari and Scarlett Johansson.

From Oslo, I flew to London for a week's break, from where I posted this entry - well, kind of ... some of the pictures were added later.

A Tear for Thailand

2008-12-02T19:18:00.017+08:00

So far I've posted at least two entries about Thailand, both of which have been quite upbeat. I really like Bangkok and Thailand in general. The place has so much culture and vibrancy, and I always look forward to my visits. I also love Thai cuisine, which is both delicious and delicate. Over the years I've made many Thai friends. However as I follow what's been happening on the political scene over the past three years, and especially over the last few months, I feel sad for the country.

Economically Thailand was once one of the fast-growing Asian Tigers. With the political and social turmoil over the past three years, its economic status has declined significantly. Former strongman Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted in a bloodless military coup in 2006 and his TRT party was dissolved. Thaksin has been in exile since, first in the UK and apparently now in Dubai. Elections were held about a year after the coup, but the coalition which won was led by PPP (a party formed by many of the previous TRT members), which the Bangkok elite - led by the PAD - deemed a proxy of Thaksin. The PAD and other anti-government parties led widespread protest rallies in the capital Bangkok. Legislative means was used to topple PM Samak Sundaravej, over what seemed to be a small legal technicality - accepting fees for a cooking programme he did while as PM. Replacing him as PM was Somchai Wongsawat, a respected burreaucrat but also brother-in-law to Thaksin. He faced strong opposition and criticisms from the very first day. Thaksin did return to Bangkok once but fled just before the courts passed judgement on him in corruption allegation. But he still wields much influence and has many supporters, especially from rural Thailand.

A few months ago, the anti-government protesters (the "yellow shirts") took over Government House, where the office of the PM was located.

Last week the protesters took over the Suvarnabhumi International Airport, stranding over 300,000 foreigners in Thailand. As of this posting , the airport hasn't yet opened, and Thai society has been feeling the brunt of being isolated from other countries. Worse, the government seemed powerless to remove the protesters from the airport, because the head of the military refused to get involved, and even the police seemed ineffective.

Pro-government protesters (the "red shirts") then also started gathering in central Bangkok and there were fears that violent clash between the two camps would erupt. Then yesterday, the Constitutional Courts ruled that PPP had to be dissolved, and the PM Somchai was banned from poliics for five years, because of vote buying among its members during the elections. The anti-government protesters cheered in jubilation. The pro-government camp fumed and cried foul.

So what will happen next? Another round of elections most likely will be hastily called. Largely the same people who formed the PPP, minus the ones who are disqualified from politics, will likely create a new party, and chances are they will win again, because of the strong support from the rural population. Then we will go into yet another round of political confrontation. Some local observers say that to get out of this mess, the King should say something. But Thai royalty has usually tried to stay above partisan politics, so whether some royal direction will come is highly unpredictable.

Meanwhile the country plummets into a vicious cycle of further decline. After this airport closure fiasco, tourism will no doubt take a massive hit. Business people will also think twice about investing in a country where the political climate is so uncertain. And the local Thais will suffer.

I suppose as an outsider, it isn't possible to fully understand all the sentiments and forces at play here. But most of the political observers I speak to shake their heads in disbelief at how a peace-loving people like the Thais, led by usually rational, intelligent leaders, can let their country fall so deep, so fast. How can a dispute between two relatively small groups like PAD and PPP engulf the entire nation and bring everything to a standstill?

I also wonder whether what's been happening in Thailand could also happen in another country? What were the missing checks and balances in the case of Thailand? What lessons should other countries learn from this? Good questions to ponder over as we shed a tear for Thailand.

What I'm Reading & Watching - November 2008

2008-11-30T23:28:00.023+08:00

It's the last day of the month so I thought I should quickly note down some of my reading & video interests for November, to keep up the tradition as it were. Well, it's a rather short list this time, since it has been a rather busy month with much travelling, projects and customer engagements. So just three new books, and three videos. I had also been continuing with some of the books I started last month but hadn't yet completed.
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One book I'm reading is "Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives" by John Palfrey and Urs Gasser (Basic Books, 2008). Digital natives, referring to those children who were born into and raised in the digital world, are coming of age and soon our world will be reshaped in their image. Our economy, politics, culture and even societal structures will be forever transformed. The authors examine this phenomena throught a series of themes - identities, dossiers, privacy, safety, creators, pirates, quality, overload, aggressors, innovators, learners, activists and synthesis - which together provide well researched and insightful perspectives.

Another book I'm going through is titled "Click: What Millions of People are Doing Online and Why It Matters" by Bill Tancer (Hyperion Books, 2008). This one is more about understanding people better through an analysis of their collective Internet behaviour. This includes what people search for online and when, obsession with celebrities, what we fear, and how all this can be used for more effective predictive analyses. Fascinating stuff. As author Tancer aptly says: we are what we click.

The third book I'm reading is "Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing your World" by Don Tapscott (McGraw-Hill, 2008). It's somewhat of a continuation of his earlier study and book "Growing Up Digital". The focus is similar to the "Born Digital"book but there are many new perspectives here as well. I particularly like the chapter dealing with how the Net Generation is changing politics and government, using Obama's campaign as example.

All three books are related in the sense that they are about the Internet and digital technology, but they are also very much about people and our behaviours.

On the video side, a couple of memorable DVDs I watched were "Rendition" with Reese Witherspoon and Omar Metwally, and "Lost in Translation" starring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson. But my favourite was still a not-so-new swordfighting film with dazzling action scenes, called "House of Flying Daggers" starring Zhang Ziyi, Takeshi Kaneshiro & Andy Lau.

Well, that's it for the month of November. How time flies ....

Journeys I'd Like to Make

2008-11-26T17:54:00.021+08:00

Haven't blogged for a while. Kinda tied up with work. But I've been thinking about this topic for some time. As some of you may know, my present job requires me to do quite a bit of business travel. Despite this, I admit that I still quite enjoy finding new experiences in new places. I recall a rhetorical question I was once asked - "when was the last time you did something for the first time?". Indeed I find that having this innate curiousity is what makes life interesting. I frequently toy mentally with many "projects" that I've not yet had the opportunity to carry out, and which I still aspire towards. One of these projects involves a few classic journeys that I'd like to make one day - not for professional reasons but solely for personal satisfaction.

Journey #1 - The Silk Road
This one is at the top of my list. Those who've read a previous blog entry of mine know how much I liked Colin Thurbon's book"Shadow of the Silk Road", which traced the author's trip from China to the Middle East, along one of the routes of the Silk Road.

The Silk Road is, of course, the historic interconnected network of trade routes across the Asian continent connecting East, South and Western Asia with the Mediterranean world, including North Africa and Europe. The Silk Road (or "Silk Routes" as they're sometimes called) were not only conduits for silk, but for many other products (satins, musk, rubies, diamonds, pearls and even rhubarb) and were also very important paths for cultural and technological transmission by linking traders, merchants, pilgrims, monks, soldiers, nomads and urban dwellers from China to the Mediterranean Sea for thousands of years.

The Silk Road fascinates me. Travelling along it, I can imagine going back in time - how the grand ancient city of Chang-an (now Xian) must have looked, making our way through the rough terrain and sand storms of Gobi and Taklamankan deserts, the people, the traditions, the culture, the wonderful sights ...

Journey #2 - African Trail
My next journey is within the so-called "Dark Continent". Africa is a continent, long associated with mystique and adventure, that I've not set foot on before. I envision my journey would involve starting from Egypt. Probably I would fly directly to Aswan and take a leisurely cruise down the Nile until I reach Luxor. Then move on to Cairo. Along the way, I would visit the majestic Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx.

The next part of this journey will be in southern Africa, where I would love to go on safari. Of course, not with rifles but with really good photographic equipment. The countries that are apparently good for safaris include Kenya, Tanzania or Botswana. Like most safari goers, I want to catch a good look at (and get some good pictures of) the "Big Five" - the lion, elephant, rhino, cheetah and buffalo (hey, what about the giraffe?).

Finally I'd round off my African adventure with a visit to South Africa, particularly in sunny Johannesburg and Cape Town. While at Johannesburg, I would of course try to visit Victoria Falls, one of the seven wonders of the natural world. And somewhere I would squeeze in some time to visit a couple of South African vineyards ... heh heh, cheers!

Journey #3 - The Orient Express
Ever since I saw that Agatha Christie movie "Murder on the Orient Express" many years ago, I've been hooked. For me, this is THE ultimate train ride over the past century and half. (The poster shown is from 1889)

One of the websites advertising this journey describes it well enough:

"Bombed, shot at and marooned in snow drifts, the history of the Orient Express is both legendary and colourful.The carriages which form the famous Orient Express train each have a history of their own, with long years of service criss-crossing the frontiers of Europe, operating for a variety of railway companies.The carriages have taken on characters of their own as intriguing as the characters of those who travelled within their cosy confines. "

Travelling across the continent of Europe, one is faced with immense variety and contrasting experiences. Vibrant modern cities sit alongside ancient towns with glorious pasts and tiny villages that are seemingly untouched by time. The view spans breathtaking mountains, great rivers and forest-lined lakes encircling bustling urban landscapes. Famous examples of history, culture and technology are often located close by wild, open countryside where little has changed for centuries.This is what one will see as a passenger on the Orient Express.

The route I'd probably choose would go something like this: Istanbul-Bucharest-Budapest-Venice-Prague-Paris-London . With that itinerary, I would be crossing at least eight countries, starting from Turkey, through Romania, Hungary, Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, France and then finally crossing the Channel to end the journey in England.

Other journeys
There are a few other journeys further down on my list - like taking a cruise on a luxury liner across the Atlantic or travelling by train criss-crossing India (like what Gandhi did when he returned from South Africa, and was trying to understand his own country better .. yeah, I saw the movie too :-) But I guess these would be a bonus if I can achieve my top three.

Life itself is a journey. We have little control over how long or how short this journey will be. But we do have some control over how we make use of it. We can determine whether we are mere passengers in this vessel we call our body, or whether we've firmly taken the wheel and steered towards where we want to go. It's as an old saying goes, "it's not about the years in your life, but the life in your years" ... To my fellow travellers, bon voyage!

Bangkok - Loy Krathong, Ladyboys and eLephants

2008-11-13T00:12:00.046+08:00

Sawatdee! This week I was back in Bangkok for some meetings. I was last here about three months ago, and I remember things didn't go too well on my last day - my meetings overran and in my haste to check-out, I left my toiletries bag in the hotel room, then I was caught in a massive traffic jam enroute to the airport, resulting in my missing my flight and having to book myself on a later one. Thankfully things went much smoother this trip.

Despite small hiccups like the above, Bangkok is still a very nice place to spend time, as long as the weather is cool - as it was this time in November. The day I arrived (12th Nov) happened to coincide with the festival of Loy Krathong. This is one of the most popular festivals of Thailand celebrated annually on the Full-Moon Day of the Twelfth Lunar Month. This is a time just after the rainy season is over and there is a high water level all over the country.

"Loy" means "to float" and a "Krathong" is a lotus-shaped vessel made of banana leaves (though these days, one can get the more snazzy but less authentic looking plastic ones) .The krathong usually contains a candle, three joss-sticks, some flowers and coins.

I read that the Loy Krathong festival dates back to the time of the Sukhothai Kingdom, about 700 years ago. It marked the end of the rainy season and the main rice harvest. It is based on a Hindu tradition of thanking the Water God (or Goddess)for the waters.

Thus, by moonlight, people light the candles and joss-sticks, make a wish and gently place their krathongs on the water in canals, rivers or even small ponds. At a park near the hotel, I saw some children launch their brightly lit vessels in a canal (river?), and it was a beautiful and serene sight watching as scores of these krathongs drifted along. It is believed that the Krathongs carry away sins and bad luck, and the wishes that have been made for the new year are due to start. The festival was accompanied by firework displays (which I heard and saw in the distant sky) as well as shows and the so-called "Noppamas Queen" beauty contests (which unfortunately I didn't get to witness).

Indeed, in this time of global financial woes, it is especially apt time for such a festival, and I reckon it might even be a good idea to introduce a Global Loy Krathong to comfort the thousands of people around the world whose savings, jobs or livelihoods have been affected.

Ladyboys
For this next section, I hasten to qualify that my interest in this subject is 100 percent academic - it is more of a social or anthropological study ;-) I'm simply keen to find out why there is such a distinct (some might even say "flourishing") transvestite sub-culture in Thailand. How did it develop and why is it more prevalent here than in other Asian countries I've visited?

Wikipedia has this to say under "Kathoey":-

The term "kathoey" is not an exact equivalent of the modern western transwoman — it suggests that the person is a type of male, unlike the term sao praphet song, which suggests a female sex identity, or phet thee sam, which suggests a third gender. The term phu-ying praphet thi sorng, roughly translated as "second type of woman", is also used to refer to kathoey. Australian scholar of sexual politics in Thailand Peter Jackson claims that the term "kathoey" was used in premodern times to refer to intersexuals, and that the usage changed in the middle of the twentieth century to cover cross-dressing males. The term can refer to males who exhibit varying degrees of femininity — many kathoeys dress as women and undergo feminising medical procedures such as hormone replacement therapy, breast implants, genital reassignment surgery, or Adam's apple reductions. Others may wear makeup and use feminine pronouns, but dress as men, and are closer to the western category of effeminate gay man than transgender. Kathoeys are often identified at a young age, and are considered to be "born that way". They may have access to hormones ... and medical procedures during their teenage years.

To guys reading this who have never seen any Thai ladyboys, don't be too smug thinking a macho man like yourself would never be fooled by a man cross-dressing as a woman. Believe me, through the wonders of cosmetic surgery, make-up and behaviour, some are more beautiful and lady-like than real ladies. Sometimes it is hard to tell !

The most famous Thai ladyboy is probably the former champion kickboxer Nong Tum, whose life story has been featured in many articles (eg. refer to this one in National Geographic) and movies ("Beautiful Boxer" directed by Ekachai Eukrongtham)

I admit I'm no closer to finding the answer to why the "kathoey" culture is so prevalent in Thailand? Is it in the societal DNA of the region? Is there some evolutionary implication? Is it something that has been around for centuries in different lands but just more prominent here because the Thai society is more liberal? I don't know. But what I do know that this sub-culture is bringing in many fascinated tourists to Thailand.

Interestingly, I also learnt that "The Ladyboys of Bangkok", a fun-filled and glamarous cabaret show featuring more than a dozen beautiful Thai transvestites, is one of the most popular regular features of the Edinburgh Fringe festival each year. I kid you not. Check out their website at http://www.ladyboysofbangkok.co.uk/

eLephants

Without looking too hard, anyone can quite easily find many illegal activities happening on the streets of Bangkok each day - from the DVD pirates, to sellers of fake watches and handbags, to seedy-looking saunas and massage joints - but there is one activity that's a lot more animated (pun intended) than the others. I'm talking about elephants in the streets of Bangkok.

Our pachyderm friends aren't supposed to saunter down the city's streets as they do almost every day. For at least two decades the giant gray beasts have plodded through this giant gray city, stopping off at touristy areas where their handlers peddle elephant snacks of sugar cane and bananas to passers-by, especially in the evening time. Just five minutes from my hotel at Erawan, I know exactly where I should go to have a more than a fair chance of sighting an elephant on any given evening.

Elephants on the streets is of course in violation of several Bangkok Metropolitan laws. However, the police simply shrug, politicians periodically order crackdowns but it doesn't seem to have made much difference (at least as far as I can tell). Animal lovers despair, especially since there have been a number of road accidents involving elephants, with a recent one ending in the tragic death of an elephant and a child.

The creation of a Stray Elephant Task Force in 2006 didn't keep the elephants off the city streets. Nor did the team of undercover elephant enforcers (the E-Team?) who periodically cruise through Bangkok on motorcycles scouting for the beasts.

My view is that enforcement should be stepped up, and elephants ought to be kept off the streets. Elephants are after all a symbol of Thailand, and should be cared for in special sanctuaries. However, I do admit that being able to see, pet or feed an elephant within Bangkok somehow does add to the charm of the city. So perhaps a middle-ground could be determined, with special areas (free of vehicular traffic) being set up to allow tourists some interaction with these majestic beasts.

Bangkok is a most interesting city. Its people are hospitable, and its cultures and traditions enchanting. Despite the political problems Thailand is currently going through, a casual visitor to Bangkok would never know anything was amiss (unless you try to go to Government House, where the protestors are still staking out). My best wishes to all my Thai friends. I hope everything works out well politically and economically.

Intriguing Indonesia

2008-11-07T15:40:00.072+08:00

This week I was in Jakarta, capital city of Indonesia, for three days. I stayed at the Grand Hyatt in the centre of the city. It's a very nice hotel with an adjoining shopping mall called Plaza Indonesia.

From the lobby lounge cafe as well as from my room, there's a great view of the huge roundabout that's sort of a landmark of the city. You know, I spent some time just watching scores of vehicles making their rounds and I couldn't figure why the road leading into the roundabout (on the right of the picture) was always so much more congested than the other parts of the roundabout.

It's an intriguing time for Indonesia. Several significant events have been capturing the attention of the people, and even arousing passions in some circles ...

(a) Akan Datang : The Indonesian Presidential Elections

The Indonesian Presidential Elections will take place in May 2009, but many activities have already started in the build-up to the campaigning. Many individuals are making known their political aspirations - the usual political stalwarts like current President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, current Vice-President Jusuf Kalla, former presidents Megawati Sukarnoputri and Abdurrahman Wahid (who obviously want to go another round), former DPR speaker Akbar Tandjung, and newcomers like the Sultan of Yogyakarta.

I noticed party banners and buntings being strung up in various corners of the city. Not really very prominent yet, but it's still early days, and things will no doubt heat up in the coming months.

On the banners and posters, the faces of SBY and Megawati are easy enough to recognise. But I'm sure there'll also be young, new candidates who take inspiration from the Obama victory and like Obama, they will offer themselves as representatives of CHANGE, and hoping to displace some of the more prominent names on the election trail.

And speaking of Obama, Indonesians are pretty pleased with his victory, especially as he spent some time as a child living and studying in Jakarta. An "Indonesian son" is now Leader of the Free World. Imagine that !

(b) The passing of the Pornography Law

The Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR) passed this law recently. It was a very controversial piece of legislation. Some parties, especially the more religious-leaning ones, pushed hard for the law to be enacted. But many others were afraid that it was not well contemplated, pushed through too hastily and could be misused. The law's definition of pornography was also questioned because of the inclusion of the words "to arouse sexual desire", the meaning of which was considered too ambiguous.

Indeed, hundreds of people demonstrated in Yogyakarta, Solo and especially in the streets of Bali. The Province of Bali (being a popular destination for Western tourists) has officially rejected the law, putting the Central Government in a dilemma - if it accepts their rejection, it will be accused of giving the province special treatment. Conversely, enforcing the law would lead Bali to oppose it even more.

Even though the Bill has become Law, many feel that several articles in the Law are still problematic. I have a feeling this isn't the end of the Pornography Law story. The saga is likely to continue for some time to come.

(c) The execution of the Bali Bombers

It was the end of the road for the three Bali Bombing convicts (Amrozi, Imam Samudra and Mukhlas). They had been sentenced to death five years ago after being found guilty of involvement in the October 2002 Bali bombing, which killed 202 people in the touristy Kuta area. The fatalities included 88 Australians, 38 Indonesians, 24 British, 7 Americans and others. The three convicts were imprisioned on the island of Nusakambangan. After many legal challenges and appeals, they were finally executed by firing squad in the early hours of Sunday 9th November.

Now the government is a little on edge with security stepped up at sensitive sites, just in case there's some militant backlash. Let's hope the concern proves unfounded.

Yes, the Republic of Indonesia is an intriguing country. In spite of its huge population, sprawling geography and obvious socio-economic challenges, most observers agree that over the past two years, things have been moving. Not always smoothly, but moving all the same. It's a little like that huge roundabout in central Jakarta. Once in a while, there's a bit of congestion. But overall the progress is undeniable ...

Snapshots of Seoul

2008-11-01T15:06:00.046+08:00

I had my first real visit to Seoul, capital of South Korea, this week. In the past, I've had a number of interactions with Korean public sector officials and academics before, but never had a chance to explore the city of Seoul. Not that I had much time on this business trip, but at least I went to a couple of interesting places and saw quite a number of sites on the way from/to Incheon airport.

The economic history of South Korea is remarkable. Like the proverbial "phoenix rising from the ashes" of the Japanese occupation (1910-1945) and the Korean wars (1950-1953) - which brought widespread turmoil and destruction in the land - the country grew into an economic powerhouse by the late 80's. In the early years it was led by a series of autocratic leaders. When I was a teenager in school, my image of South Korea was always one of military rule with frequent civilian riots or protests. Between the 1960's-80's, South Korea industrialized very rapidly, adopting an outward-looking strategy. Today looking back, it is astounding to realise how the country achieved regional and global leadership in so many industries - shipbuilding, steel, machinery, automotive, consumer electronics, semiconductors, petrochemicals, information & communications technologies (ICT) and the latest exports of Korean music and television drama series (the so called current "Korean Wave") !

I stayed at the COEX Intercontinental, a very comfortable hotel in an area called Gangnam in Seoul. Next to the hotel was COEX, a huge convention centre from which the hotel derives part of its name. My company had its offices literally two buildings away. Within walking distance were a few shopping malls and tourist attractions (temples, parks and even the famed global headquarters of Taekwondo, the popular Korean martial arts).

From my hotel room window, I looked out to one side of Seoul city - which wasn't really the wall of gleaming skyscrapers I had expected but reflected more a sprawling metropolis with low to mid-rise buildings. Seoul reminded me of an early-day Tokyo in some ways, and perhaps that's not coincidental since Korea was under Japanese rule for 35 years.

After a day and half of meetings, I did find time to go out for dinner with colleagues and friends, and on my last day even made my way across the Hangang river to the main shopping areas.

I visited Itaewon, a popular shopping street recommended by the hotel conceirge, and spent some time walking around there. Picked up the few ubiquitious souvenirs and trinkets to bring home. Ha, ubiquitious - now that's a word that Koreans seem to like a lot! It's all about ubiquitious government (u-gov), ubiquitious computing, ubiquitious city (u-city), ubiquitious Korea (u-Korea), etc ...

I also went to a street market area called Dongdaemun, with makeshift stalls selling all kinds of consumer products and Korean foods. However it appeared rather disorderly in the way the stalls were laid out - possibly because of a massive construction that was happening in the adjacent block. Many stalls were also not open. I suspect the place would look better in the evening with more stalls open, more lights to add to mood, and more visitors. I walked around for a while but didn't see anything I fancied.

After a while of wandering around , I found the architecture of the historic Great East Gate, from which the area gets its name, more interesting than the wares sold in the stalls along the street. (Note that "dong" in Korean means east, similar sounding to "tung" in Chinese, and "mun" is akin to"men" in Chinese, meaning door or gate). This east gate of the fortress wall of Seoul was first built in 1397 (and rebuilt after falling into disrepair in 1869). It still looks very majestic, although a little out of place in its modern surroundings.

Well, this Seoul experience was certainly very interesting. I admit I was never much of a Korean fan (not having quite taken to their music or TV drama series), but I was pleasantly impressed by the city, the food and (despite hearing stories about the gruffness of some of the people) I found everyone I met very friendly and hospitable. Certainly I look forward to more exploration on any future visits. Annyeonghaseyo!

What I'm Reading, Watching & Listening - Oct 2008

2008-10-21T22:03:00.042+08:00

I've decided that in this multimedia world, it's self-limiting to talk merely about books, so I'm extending the title of this occasional blog entry to include videos I've watched and audios I've listened to. As usual, I've managed to build up a rich list, which probably means I've got little chance of completing all of them within this month, but I am making enjoyable progress and the ones I don't finish will be within easy reach of my desk or bedside table for the next few weeks anyway.

These are the four books that I'm currently reading ...

"Reinventing Knowledge: From Alexandria to the Internet" - by Ian McNeely & Lisa Wolverton. This is a new and insightful book which reminds and reintroduces us to the key institutions that have shaped and channeled knowledge in the West through the ages. These institutions are the Library, the Monastery, the University, the "Republic of Letters", the Disciplines and the Laboratory. The first three on the list are likely to be familiar, or at least self-explanatory. The "Republic of Letters" (roughly 1500-1800) can be defined as an international community of learning stitched together initially by handwritten letters in the mail and later by printed books and journals. The Disciplines (1700-1900) refers to the specialisation of intellectual labour (into disciplines) after the Enlightenment produced the West's first mass market for knowledge. Finally the Laboratory (1770-1970) is about the physically enclosed domain of objective fact, as well as the extension of its methods to ever wider spaces, which enlarged the realms of scientific experts.

Korean phrase book - Ahh, out of sheer necessity (I'm going to Seoul for work next week), I'm dipping into this one to pick up some common words and phrases. Ann yeong haseiyo (which means good morning/afternoon/evening), Kamsa hameda (thank you) .... etc etc. I must admit I'm quite curious about Korea, especially how it has been successful exporting its culture (think about Korean TV drama series, taekwondo, music, Korean food etc), and I'm sure I'll find much to write about from this upcoming trip there.

"West End Chronicles: 300 Years of Glamour and Excess in the Heart of London" - by Ed Glinet. I've always had a soft spot for London, having spent a good eight years there for education and work in the late 70's and early 80's. Now, my own daughter is there studying Performance Arts at a leading drama college of the University of London. So I've spent a fair share of time in the West End of London. This book - part history, part tour-guide, part collection of rare factoids - is very interesting as it traces the origins of some of the sites I'm so familiar with - Marble Arch, Oxford Street, Bond Street, Soho, Chinatown, Picadilly Circus - and I learn things I never knew before about the early roles or functions of these places.

"Shadow of the Silk Road" - by Colin Thurbon. Leaving the best for last, this one is a gem for anyone remotely interested in history or travelling or China. It's about the Silk Road, the famous series of trading routes that have been used over the early centuries and links China and Europe. It served not only as a conduit for exchange of products (eg. silk, foods, materials) but also innovation and information (eg. paper, gunpowder, the stirrup) . One could even say this was the original Information Superhighway! Thurbon writes brilliantly, and I swear that in my mind's eye I can visualise myself walking through the streets of Xian (formerly the great city of "Chang An", literally "Eternal Peace"), riding a camel through dust storms westwards into the mountains of Central Asia, across northern Afghanistan and into the plains of Iran and Turkey. This book makes me want to make the real journey ("Journeys I Want to Make" is going to be the topic of a soon upcoming blog entry) ! This book has to be one of my best reads this year.

Some good movies and documentaries I've watched this month ...

"Mongol" is a movie made in the Mongolian language, though one can also view it in Thai. English subtitles, of course. It is the story of Temudjin, the Mongol child who grew up to become Genghiz Khan. There are few actors we can recognise in this movie, which makes it more genuine, to me at least. This movie was apparently Oscar-nominated.

"The Mummy III: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" - starring Brandon Fraser, Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh - featured action from beginning to end, with great special effects and digital graphics, as well as nice humour.. This is a great example of "movie as escape" as the audience is taken on this fast-paced classic adventure of good versus evil.

"The Forbidden City" - from the History Channel - was about the design and construction of the Forbidden City in Beijing. I enjoy watching documentaries about Chinese history, and this one was pretty well made.

And finally, I'm almost through listening to an audiobook, which is very relevant given the current political happenings in the US - "Dreams From My Father" by Barack Obama. I especially liked the fact that it was read by the author himself. It is important to get a sense of the man who could possibly become the 44th President of the United States. The book was first published in 1995, so it is insightful to listen to the man who, it is probably fair to say, doesn't yet realise that a dozen years later, he would be going for the highest post in the US, and therefore is more likely to express his views with candour.

On Putrajaya and the MSC

2008-10-21T20:22:00.024+08:00

I visit Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia, quite regularly as part of my job. I was there again only last week for various meetings. As my professional and business focus is on public sector initiatives (ie. initiatives by government ministries and agencies), one place that I visit pretty often is Putrajaya, the 5,000 hectare federal administrative capital located south of Kuala Lumpur city centre.

Putrajaya, and its "sister city" Cyberjaya were created within the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) since 1996. The mega-project was a brainchild of former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir. When one looks at the gleaming buildings, mosques, roads, bridges and other infrastructure there, one can't help but be awed by the amount of investment and effort that must have gone into designing and developing this place. It is even more impressive to note that as late as 1997, much of this area was covered by acres of oil palm plantations.

I remember when I first went in search of Cyberjaya and Putrajaya in 1996, shortly after they were officially launched. When I hopped into a taxi in Kuala Lumpur, and told the driver I wanted to go to Cyberjaya, he looked at me totally without comprehension as he had never heard of the place before. When I finally directed him towards the area, we drove around in circles looking for the MSC Headquarters - which turned out to be a series of low-rise buildings (called Cyberview, if I'm not mistaken) that resembled more a resort rather than an office.

Although it is surrounded by the state of Selangor, Putrajaya is a federal territory, just like KL and Labuan. It is now the Federal Government Administrative Centre, with most of the ministries having been relocated here. The government has also built many residential apartments here (with attractive discounts to entice civil servants to relocate there), and schools, shops, sports facilities, gardens and so on, are all sprouting up in the area. An express train now links the area with KL International Airport (KLIA) as well as KL City Centre.

Many people who have been to KL may not have visited Putrajaya, so I'd just like to point out some interesting sites there - the Prime Minister's office at Perdana Putra, the Putra Mosque, the man-made Putrajaya Lake, Istana Darul Ehsan (one of the residences of the Sultan of Selangor), the ultra-modern Seri Wawasan Bridge, and the grand avenue with all the key federal ministry buildings.

Putrajaya, Cyberjaya, and indeed the whole MSC project has had its share of critics too. They say the project was too opulent, unecessary and cost too much taxpayers' money. They point to the fact that despite the beautiful architecture, the place remains relatively "lifeless" - little or no buzz.

On my part, I tend to think that Putrajaya is a beautiful project - easily one of the grandest government campuses in the world. I believe there are definite benefits in physically putting the ministries closer together, and this relocation out of KL has certainly helped alleviate traffic in the city (although more still needs to be done). It will take more time to create the buzz that the critics refer to, but it will surely come. When I bring officials from other governments to Putrajaya, Cyberjaya and the MSC in general, they never leave unimpressed.

Wine for Asia 2008

2008-10-18T11:24:00.050+08:00

Yesterday I was invited by my friend Tommy, a sommelier and owner of popular restaurant Cafe de Amigo in Singapore, to visit the "Wine for Asia 2008" exhibition and show at Suntec City in Singapore. There were over 150 companies represented there, coming from Europe, South America, Asia and the US. The exhibition was nicely laid out in neat booths along five or six lanes in a huge hall on Level 6. Many company representatives manned the booths, with bottles of wines of all varieties (varietals?) available for the sampling. It was naturally a very enjoyable experience, and I tried no fewer than a dozen glasses (only a small quantity in each, of course :-)

As with most shows and exhibitions, I ended up with a small stack of marketing collateral - brochures, pamphlets, flyers, namecards and so on. As I look through them, I found that the blends I tasted had come from countries & areas such as: Austria (Wien), France (Bordeoux), Italy (Palermo, Cecina, Sicily), Spain (Sabadell) and Argentina (Mendoza). I normally like red wines - like Cabernet Sauvignons and Merlots - but at this exhibition, I tasted some really smooth whites as well.

I had a look at some global wine consumption statistics from the Wine Institute. I'll share two sets of figures - per capita consumption and then total volume consumed.

First the per capita consumption figures available go up to 2005 (a little dated, but these kinds of figures don't fluctuate much from year to year, so I reckon they're still pretty accurate). The country with highest per capita wine consumption (in litres) is the Vatican City at 62 litres/person - I'm imagining a lot of tipsy cardinals and priests staggering around St Peter's Square ;-) Andora comes in second at 60 litres/person. France is third at 56. Looking further down the list, some interesting ones are Italy at 49, Spain at 35, Argentina at 29 and the UK at 19. The USA is surprisingly low at 9 litres/person. From Asia, the top country is actually Singapore at 2 litres/person, followed closely by Japan and Hong Kong, both just below 2. China is at 0.9, Taiwan 0.8 and Malaysia at 0.3.

And second, the total volume of wine consumed figures, which reflect a somewhat different picture. The top ten countries are: France (34 million hectolitres), Italy (28 m), USA (26 m), Germany (20 m), Spain (14 m), China (12 m), Argentina (11.5 m), UK (11.5 m), Russia (8.5 m) and Romania (6 m). Singapore does a mere 95,000 hectolitres.

Now that I've dazzled you with figures, don't expect any more deep insights or commentary today. I'm still recovering from yesterday's glorious consumption. But reading through the exhibition directory, I regret a little that there are so many booths and blends I missed - perhaps I should go back again for more exploration on the last day of "Wine for Asia 2008" today :-)

Cheers everybody !

Vietnam - Part 3 (Danang)

2008-10-10T14:15:00.048+08:00

I'm now in Danang, the third largest city in Vietnam. With a population of over a million people, Danang is located somewhat midway between the capital Hanoi in the north, and Ho Chi Minh City in the south. It's a coastal city located on the mouth of the Han river, and has beautiful beaches, relatively wide and well-planned roads, great seafood and a laid-back lifestyle (at least that's how it seems to an occasional visitor like me). This is my fourth visit to Danang.

A historical snippet is probably useful here. Danang was called Tourane during the period of French colonisation. That's why one can still see a lot of establishments still using that name - like Hotel Tourane, Sky Bar de Tourane, Tourane Spa, etc. But of course, Danang's dubious claim to fame came during the Vietnam War (or the American War, as most Vietnamese usually refer to it) when it was the landing point for the first major American troops sent to fight here. They landed on Red Beach near Danang in March 1965 (see picture). Danang quickly became a major American base. Well, we all know what happened in that war. Eventually all US troops were withdrawn, and the area was turned over to South Vietnamese (ARVN) troops by end 1972. After the final offensive, Danang fell without bloodshed to the North Vietnamese Army in March 1975, only a few days after the 10th anniversary of the initial US troops landing.

But looking at Danang today, one would never have a clue to that part of its history. I like Danang very much and have visited several times over the past three years for conferences and meetings. Usually I stay at the Royal Hotel Danang which is conveniently located (but rather spartan interior-wise), but this time I was in a much newer Green Plaza Hotel, which is just by the river. From the 19th floor that I am located, I have a great view of the river as well of the ocean somewhat further away.

Here's what the hotel looks like from across the street. Green Plaza is a 4-star hotel according to the travel brochures and websites. It's pretty good from what I've seen so far. There's a number of restaurants and cafes, a pool, a billairds room, a spa, a rooftop lounge,a disco (which I heard last night, but haven't actually seen) and a small row of shops.

Here are some of the nice views from my window and balcony.

Unfortunately it has been a little drizzly for the past two afternoons, so the skyline tends to be hazy.

There are a few sites that tourists like to visit in or around Danang City. These include Marble Mountain (one of five mountains south of Danang that stretch from the coast inland, and which have lots of caves and tunnels - see picture below), the Danang beaches and Hoi An (a UNESCO designated World Heritage site and example of a well-preserved South-East Asian trading port of the 15th-19th centuries, where the buildings are are blend of local and foreign architectures). Danang has great aspirations to become a regional tourism hub, and everywhere one can see new developments - offices, residences and many, many hotels (along the same stretch as the famous Furama Beach Resort, I saw at least five new hotel developments, including the Hyatt and Crown Prince).

I'd also like to mention the unique round, basket boats that fishermen in Danang use. Very quaint and cute looking vessel. Here's me with some of these boats.

Well, this entry is beginning to sound like a page from a Lonely Planet guide, so let me change focus a bit and talk about something else - like the people. I've found the residents of Danang generally very friendly. This place is not as culturally sophisticated as Hanoi, but at the same time it is not commercially adultrated like Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). There is still a small town "innocence" about it. In many ways it reminds me of the Malaysian town where I grew up - Kuching in the state of Sarawak. Danang, like Kuching, is the small town/city that is perceived as the backward cousin of its more progressive kins, the leading cities (Kuala Lumpur, Hanoi, HCMC). But I think Kuchingites and Danangites (don't know if that's the usual moniker for residents of Danang :) know that the real secret is to develop gradually but maintain the more relaxed habits that make for a higher quality of life. In other words, stay away from the rat race as long as we possibly can because, as an old bumper sticker I read said "Even when you win in the rat race, you're still a rat" ...

Fast Food, Fast Cars, Fast Women

2008-09-27T16:22:00.042+08:00

Fast Food

Singapore and Malaysia are well known for a whole range of delicious ethnic foods - Chinese, Malay, Indian - as well as a variety of international fare. Sold at coffee shops, hawker centres, food courts, restaurants, there is never any lack of choice. Also many places are open right into the wee hours of the morning.

Fast food outlets are also very common. Way back in the 80's when the likes of Western fast food franchaises like McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, Subway etc had yet to be established in these parts, I had my doubts if they would ever be successful. After all, who in their right mind would buy a burger, fries and drink for more than $3.50 (remember this was in the 80's) when they could get a more delicious bowl of noodles or plate of chicken rice with drink for considerably less? Maybe the only people to frequent these fast food joints would be foreigners who were not as adventurous in their food tastes, and wanted something familiar.

Well, fast forward to the 21st century and obviously I was totally wrong, as fast food joints can be seen everywhere, especially in city areas, co-existing with the local fare. Lesson: one shouldn't under-estimate the suggestive power of Western culture, amplified through persistent media advertising.

Fast Cars

Moving from food to automobiles ... Why are so many people fascinated with the Grand Prix or Formula One racing? Malaysia has had a racing circuit at Sepang (near KLIA) for some years, and I have foreign friends who attend races there almost every year. Singapore has just hosted the world's first Formula One (F1) night races on 28 September.

I've never been an F1 enthusiast myself. Previously I didn't know my Hamilton from my honey ham, and Alonso sounded like a blend of red wine to me ... but I was curious to see what the fuss was all about, and I watched the races that night. I must admit it was quite exciting, especially with the various thrills and spills along the way. I learnt that it was also most unpredictable - the driver Massa, who was in front at the beginning of the race, ended up near the last, and the chap Alonso, who due to a problem during the qualifier rounds started last, eventually won the race.

Of course I wasn't crazy enough to pay money for the exorbitantly priced tickets and go down to the trackside. Instead I watched from the VIP Grandstand of my own living room, in front of my 40" flatscreen TV set. Without sounding like "sour grapes", I still think one sees more of the race on TV, and I'm sure I won't miss the noise, heat and crowds that the trackside comes with.

Still I have gotten a much better appreciation of why F1 is so big worldwide, and why it brings the crowds - rich and poor, men and women, young and old. And having hosted the world's first night races has certainly put Singapore on the map for many who would otherwise never have visited this little island.

Fast Women

With hosting the F1 night races, Singapore has gotten a taste of what it's like to be a "city with buzz", welcoming the rich and famous from around the world. I was amused to read this recent article in the papers, which might give an inkling of what future Integrated Resorts (ie. Casino) visitors might be interested in ...

Escorts cash in on Grand Prix traffic
Fri Sep 26, 2008

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Big spenders in Singapore for the city state's first ever Formula One Grand Prix this weekend have boosted business for high-end social escort agencies by a fifth, a local paper reported Thursday.

"This is the best weekend this year," Prince Wong, owner of Singapore Escort Services, told The Straits Times newspaper. Wong said he has received five bookings for the weekend -- including one for a local starlet at a fee of S$40,000 ($28,110) for six hours of work.

Wong, who said his clients are foreign bosses in the gas and banking industries, declined to reveal the identity of both client and escort.

Singapore is hosting the Formula One race in the hopes of boosting its tourism sector, although the enthusiasm has been partly dampened by the ongoing global financial turmoil. The race will also be held at night for the first time.

The owner of The High Society Club agency expects business to be boosted by 75 per cent, while Singapore Model Escort is advertising on its website a 50 percent discounted "Singapore F1 GP Special offer," the Straits Times reported.

The newspaper said the escort's job is to smile, entertain the client and his friends by making small talk and sometimes show the client around Singapore.

The agencies said sexual services was not part of the deal but strictly between the escort and client to arrange, the Straits Times reported.

Prostitution is legal in Singapore but soliciting is not.

Agencies say their high-profile clients are picky about their escorts, asking for companions "from a good family background and at least a university degree," the Straits Times said.

"They want escorts who don't look, sound or dress like escorts. They want people to think, 'what a nice girlfriend he has'," it quoted an agency head as saying.

(Reporting by Daryl Loo; Editing by David Fox)

It certainly seems that high-end social escort services is a growth industry. Any new investors?

Life's Purpose

2008-09-23T09:23:00.026+08:00

My blog entry today is a bit more serious, retrospective, perhaps even a tinge philosophical. As one might expect, there is usually a trigger for such a state of mind ...

Last week I learnt the sad news of the sudden passing of an ex-colleague and friend. He was relatively young - only in his early 40s - and apparently he died not from illness, but from a freak accident that injured his leg, and apparently caused some circulatory complications (a blood clot, I heard) leading to him suddenly collapsing one morning.

There was quite a large group of people at his wake which was held at the void deck of the HDB block where he presumably had lived. I met some old colleagues and friends that I had not bumped into for many years. He was obviously well-liked and active in his organisation and community. I remember him as a very pleasant chap, smart, professional at work, relatively quiet but always with a ready smile and an approachable demenour.

As I had not seen him for a number of years, I wonder what he had been doing during that time. Was he happy? What were his life goals, and did he attain most of them? Were there things he would have wanted to do before he passed on so unexpectedly? What did he see as his life purpose?

Life can be so frail. Such a sudden passing could happen to any of us. I wonder when it is our time to go, would we have regrets? Would we have attained what we set out to do? Would we consider ourselves as having led a purposeful and worthwhile life? And what is the purpose of our life anyway?

This reminds me of something a Filipino friend of mine, Larrem, once introduced to me. Apparently the French novelist & playwright Honore de Balzac proposed a three part recipe for a full life- a sort of three paths to immortality:

Write a book
Raise a child
Plant a tree.

I've been quite intrigued by the simplicity of these prescribed actions, and have thought about them at some length. Is leading a meaningful life really so simple? Eventually I concluded that Balzac intended them in a more metaphorical rather than literal sense. Each simple statement could be "expanded" into a spectrum of actions.

For instance, "write a book" might be about documenting one's knowledge and experiences so that future generations may benefit from what one learnt or went through. It could include writing a book, but is not limited to just that. It could also be diary-keeping, journaling, capturing scenes in art or photography .. yes, even blogging. The essence is to leave something that records what you have learnt or felt to benefit or bring joy to others that come after you.

The "raise a child" part is not necessarily just about bringing up one's own offspring, although again that is obviously included. It also refers to developing people, recognising and enhancing talents, and generally helping other succeed if one is in a position to do so. Here again there's an element of imparting knowledge and wisdom.

The third part "plant a tree" is not simply about gardening or even mere agriculture. To me it is a shorform for conservation and replenishment of the environment, and generally leaving the world in the same or preferably a better natural state than when we came into it.

As for looking at my own life through Balzac's lens, well ... I figure I've done some of the first two items, but I can't lay much claim to the third. Perhaps time to give it more consideration.

What I'm Reading - September 2008

2008-09-10T22:46:00.047+08:00

I mentioned previously that this "What I'm reading" entry was going to be a periodic feature of my blog, if only for me to keep track of my reading journeys. So if you're not really into books, feel free to skip this entry.

Ever since mid-August, I've been switching between three non-fiction books (shown in the picture), while skimming through a beautiful "coffeetable" volume on old maps, but more about that later.

* "The City: A Global History" - by Joel Kotkin (Phoenix, 2006) - examines the evolution of urban life through the millennia and attempts to answer the age-old question: what makes a city great? Illustrating with examples from all over the world - from Baghdad to London, Chang'an to New York, Egypt to Rome, Knossos to Sydney - the reader is taken on a journey through space and time. Two central themes inform this history of cities. First is the universality of the urban experience, despite vast differences in race, climate and location. The second generalisation is that since the earliest times, urban areas have performed three functions - the creation of sacred space, the provision of basic security, and the host for a commercial market.

I'm interested in the concepts espoused in this book because in my role as government consultant, I sometimes engage with national or city leaders who need to manage the complexities of cities. Understanding the evolution of cities and urban living is useful in setting the context and reminding of the rationale for what infrastructure, services and rules we try to introduce in modern city environments. It is important to know where we came from before deciding where we want to go.

* "Supercapitalism: The Transformation of Business, Democracy & Everyday Life"

- by Robert Reich (Vintage, 2008) - analyses the triumph of capitalism and the corresponding decline of democracy. Reich, who was former labor secretary in Clinton's administration, urges us to rebalance the roles of business and government. He observes that power has shifted away from us in our capacities as citizens and toward us as consumers and investors. While praising the spread of global capitalism, he laments that supercapitalism has brought with it alienation from politics and community. The solution: to separate capitalism from democracy, and guard the border between them. The book urges new and strengthened laws and regulations to restore authority to the citizens in us. Some intriguing proposals include the abolishment of corporate income tax, and defocus on the corporate social responsibility movement, which he describes as distracting and even counterproductive. Provocatively argued, this book could help begin a necessary national conversation.

* "On Democracy" - by Robert A. Dahl (Yale Nota Bene, 2000) - presents a complex topic in a thorough, concise and easy-to-read manner, which makes it an excellent introduction for novices, as well as a trusty handbook for the more expert. The author addresses such questions as: What is really meant by the term "democracy"? How did democracy come about? What is the relationship between capitalism and democracy? What are some challenges facing democracies in the 21st century?

Yale professor Dahl discusses the tension between citizen participation and system effectiveness, the relative strengths and weaknesses of presidential versus parliamentary systems. Some of the best sections address the tension that exists in societies (e.g., the US) where a democratic system based on political equality coexists with market capitalism, which yields economic inequality. The work is peppered with historical references to such advocates and critics of democracy as Plato, John Stuart Mill and James Madison.

Finally the coffeetable book I mentioned is entitled "Early Mapping of Southeast Asia" by Thomas Suarez. I've had a long time fascination with cartography, especially of Asian geographies. I think it might have started from those history lessons I had in my early school years. I remember daydreaming about those intrepid Western adventurers who braved storms and pirates to sail across various oceans and seas to reach the "Spice Islands" (actually the Moluccan and Banda Islands), or explorers who went overland (eg. Marco Polo), others who circumnavigated the globe (eg. Magellan), or naval officers who "discovered" new lands (eg. Columbus, Zheng He) ...

Of course, Southeast Asia is of special interest to me as this is the part of the world I live. An excerpt from the inside book cover adds to the mystique, "From the time of Herodotus and Alexander the Great to the medieval cosmologies of the Christian Fathers, Southeast Asia was as much a place of myth and legend in Western thought as it was a geographical reality."

If antique maps weren't so expensive, I might actually start collecting some and framing them up in my home ... but they can cost quite a bit, so I'll just have to be content admiring them from books such as these.

I also see these ancient maps as metaphors for man's limits of knowledge. It is fascinating to compare the earlier maps, with their grossly inaccurate depictions, with the increasingly detailed renditions that more closely reflect "the reality". This is akin to the world of science where in trying to explain various natural phenomena, scientists put forward hypotheses and then rigorously test them, thereby validating or invalidating the hypotheses. Hypotheses that are supported by data from experiments generally become theories. Those that are not are discarded or amended.

On Education, Wizards, Failure & Imagination

2008-09-08T21:08:00.044+08:00

I was reading my good friend Francis' blog (Life's SOS) today, and his entry entitled "What do you do with a BA in English?" reflected on how certain university degrees may not be as effective in preparing young people for the real world. While there may be some validity in that, the idealist in me wants to believe it is not necessarily so. Fundamentally I think that a good university degree should bestow on an undergraduate two key things: thinking skills and deeper understanding of self. The actual content of the degree, although important and useful, is only number 3 on the list.

This reminds me of a Commencement Address recently delivered by bestselling author J. K. Rowling to new Harvard graduates. I was quite taken by this address, which was entitled "The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination". You can read or view Rowling's complete address here, but for now I'd like to highlight one small part of it where she talks about her university days:

"(My parents) had hoped that I would take a vocational degree; I wanted to study English Literature. A compromise was reached that in retrospect satisfied nobody, and I went up to study Modern Languages. Hardly had my parents’ car rounded the corner at the end of the road than I ditched German and scuttled off down the Classics corridor.

I cannot remember telling my parents that I was studying Classics; they might well have found out for the first time on graduation day. Of all subjects on this planet, I think they would have been hard put to name one less useful than Greek mythology when it came to securing the keys to an executive bathroom."

Yet this remarkable lady survived various life challenges and created one of the most successful book and movie series ever, about the adventures of boy wizard Harry Potter. Who (apart from perhaps herself) could have predicted that her Classics undergraduate study would have provided such a fertile foundation for her future career? But it was quite a struggle before she attained success. Indeed her "rags to riches" story - going from living on welfare to multi-millionaire status within five years - was almost as famous as her fictional works.

I urge you to read or listen to her inspiring speech as she gives very good advice on failure and imagination.

A few excerpts ... first on the benefits of failure ...
"... failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me ... rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life."

... and on the power of imagination ...
"If you choose to use your status and influence to raise your voice on behalf of those who have no voice; if you choose to identify not only with the powerful, but with the powerless; if you retain the ability to imagine yourself into the lives of those who do not have your advantages, then it will not only be your proud families who celebrate your existence, but thousands and millions of people whose reality you have helped transform for the better. We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better."

I think most parents tend to nudge their offspring towards traditionally safe, professional disciplines. When I was young (and I think to a large extent even today), the common response of Asian parents when asked by their offspring what course they should pursue at university went like "Ah boy/Ah girl, you can do anything you like as long as it's medicine, law, engineering or accountancy!" Parents invariably have their children's best interests at heart and believe this to be the path to stability, security and ultimately happiness. Yet I cannot help but feel that their children's futures might be better served if they were given the flexibility and support needed to pursue what they are really, really interested in and seem to have an inclination for. When one pursues one's passion, the results can be astounding ...

Chinese Classics at the Singapore Botanic Gardens

2008-09-07T21:04:00.039+08:00

One weekend earlier this month, I attended a free outdoor concert of Chinese Classic songs, held at the Shaw Foundation symphony stage at the Singapore Botanic Gardens. The event was part of the 85th anniversary celebrations of the Lianhe Zaobao newspaper.

When we got there around 5:45pm, just a couple of minutes after it had started, there were probably a few thousand people lounging on mats or simply sitting on the grassy slopes around the stage, enjoying the entertainment.

There were three key lady performers - erhu expert Ma Xiaohui from Shanghai, vocalist Christine Hsu from Taiwan, and singer Jizhe from China. Let me quote from the official SPH programme to give these ladies a more complete introduction.

Ma Xiaohui (马晓晖)
"Fresh from her successful concert in June at the renowned Carnegie Hall in New York this year, erhu maestro Ma Xiaohui from Shanghai will impress with her virtuosity. Hailed as the “Queen of Erhu” and a “national treasure” of China, Ma Xiaohui has twice been awarded first prize at the National Guangdong Music Competition. She also claimed the first prize at the Shanghai Spring International Music Festival.

She has performed with some of the most accomplished orchestras in the world including the National Symphony Orchestra of China, the Hong Kong Philharmonic and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Her duet with cellist Yo-Yo Ma on the Oscar-winning soundtrack for Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon also put her in the international limelight."

Christine Hsu (许景淳)
"... from Taiwan is a multi-award winning vocalist whose versatility sees her performing a wide repertoire across different musical genres from pop, jazz to ethnic folk tunes. Often regarded as “Taiwan’s most beautiful voice” by music critics, Christine Hsu has performed at major music festivals."

Jizhe (吉喆)
"Joining Ma Xiaohui and Christine Hsu will be the talented Jizhe from China. The performer with a Masters degree in vocals from the Zhengzhou Song & Dance troupe has a popular fan base in China, and is famous for her lead roles in Chinese musicals."

The audience was treated to familiar Chinese classics such as "Wei Liang Dai Piao Wo De Sin", Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Butterfly Lovers and Jasmine Flower.

It is nice to see that some aspects of Chinese culture is still preserved in modern Singapore.

Wild Ideas for Singapore

2008-09-01T23:16:00.012+08:00

Singapore is a nation that tries to continuously improve, sometimes to the extent of reinventing itself once every decade or so. From a sleepy fishing village that Raffles "discovered" in 1819 to the modern metropolis that it is today, the transformation has been awesome. It has been widely acknowledged that the "secrets" of Singapore's success lie in: visionary leadership, competent and clean government, good public sector-private sector-people sector collaboration, and adaptability to the dynamic global environment. Singapore has generally been very receptive to good ideas - whether original or borrowed, it doesn't matter. Someone once said that "the only way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas". Anyway here's a couple of wild ideas from me. Even if only one is deemed useful, and gets developed into something of value, I reckon I'd have achieved my goal.

(1) ERP Lottery
There've been a lot of public complaints about the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system that's widely implemented in Singapore. Many feel that the increasing number of gantries located all round the island have made it too expensive and create an unnecessary burden for Singapore residents. The government has repeatedly explained why the ERP system is necessary to control traffic in this island-state, while enabling more to own cars if they can afford it. Let's face it. ERP is here to stay. But is it necessary for ERP to always have this negative association for the public? I have a wild idea to position ERP gantries slightly more positively among vehicle drivers - implement an ERP Lottery! Let me explain. Since there is already an integrated computer system behind the ERP network, it shouldn't take a lot of programming to randomly pick say one or two cars a month to "hit the jackpot" and instead of having money deducted as they pass under the gantry, let the lucky car owners win some money. Imagine the gantry sign suddenly flashing "Congratulations, owner of vehicle SGPxxxx - you have won $1,000", after which the money will be credited to their bank account (I'm not sure if it's technically possible to credit the cashcard on the spot). Compared to the hundreds of thousands of dollars deducted from cashcards each month, a couple of thousand is a very small amount to create goodwill and generate a more positive view on the ERP, while at the same time injecting a sense of fun into the system! Furthermore, I rather think this is in line with the nation's move towards allowing IR ...

(2) Call it "Global Talent" not "Foreign Talent"
I'm sure some would say I'm just playing with words, that this is just semantics ... but I think the term "foreign talent" is a pretty sensitive one in Singapore. It is emotive and potentially divisive - it implicitly categorises the working population into "local" and "foreign" talent, with the underlying concern or fear in some quarters that the "foreign" talent will take away jobs from the "local" talent. Well, I say we move away from such thinking, and a good way to begin is to change the words we use. My suggestion is to drop the term "foreign talent" altogether, and replace it with "global talent". Few would disagree that Singapore needs global talent in order to be a global city. Also Singaporeans are considered part of global talent. So the challenge to Singapore is to make itself attractive to "global talent" (from outside) at the same time continuing to develop Singaporeans to be more "global" in skillsets and outlook themselves. Eventually there will be a healthy flow of global talents into and out of this island, working for organizations in Singapore as well as Singaporean companies located in other geographies. Make sense?

(3) Teach "Entrepreneurship" to the children
Today, in the primary schools following MOE's curricula, the students study Maths, Language (English + their mother-tongue) & Science. These are important foundational subjects and should be continued. I would however suggest that a new subject called "Entrepreneurship" be introduced from say Primary 4 onwards. This would teach the young ones the value of money, and get them to think of how they can develop their skills to earn an honest income. It has been observed that in general Singaporeans today lack a strong entrepreneural spirit. Many (especially graduates) prefer to work for established corporations rather than go into business for themselves. Perhaps planting the entrepreneural seed from an earlier age, as I've suggested, is one way to remedy the situation for the next generation.

(4) Singapore as location for a hit movie/TV series
Singapore needs more visitors. A whole lot more. One way is to showcase the island-state through a Hollywood-style movie - better still a hit TV series (since it runs longer and is potentially viewed by more people) filmed on location. Think along the lines of CSI New York, CSI Maimi, CSI Las Vegas ... CSI Singapore? The idea obviously is to expose more people to Singapore, and create a desire to come and visit. This is essentially a tourism attraction vehicle. It will also be a means to send out appropriate city branding messages. The trick is to make a hit show - to achieve this, perhaps it is necessary to get the best expertise from Hollywood or other movie-making centres ...

(5) "Dome" up an area and control the weather within
Singapore is such a green place. There has been careful planning that ensures that lots of plants, trees and other foliage dot the the local landscape. There are also many parks and nature reserves. However, I've always thought that it's a shame that our hot and humid tropical weather prevents these parks and nature reserves to be used as fully as they could be. In contrast, in temperate countries like UK or parts of US, there are stretches of the year, especially during Spring, parts of Summer or Autumn where it is a real joy taking leisurely walks or having picnics in the parks. My suggestion - and this one is probably the wildest idea of the list - is to use appropriate technology to build a large "dome" around a certain designated area like a park, such that the weather within the dome can be controlled. A nice 15-20 degrees C would provide conducive environment for a variety of recreational activities. Or maybe at certain times, we could simulate a winter scene ... the possibilities are endless.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed these somewhat wild ideas. Perhaps (and I hope) some of them may not be so wild ...

Life After the Olympics

2008-08-25T21:42:00.044+08:00

On August 24th, the Beijing Olympics drew to a grand close with another glorious display of choreography, fireworks, singing & dancing artistes, and a London double-decker bus. It brought an end to sixteen days of almost continuous live TV telecasts which had given us all much nail-biting excitement. Day after day we had cheered and groaned as our sporting heroes won or lost in events ranging from gymnastics to swimming, badminton to track & field, basketball to table tennis ...

At the conclusion, the top of the official medal tally table (taken from the official Olympic website) read as follows:

China: 51 gold, 21 silver, 28 bronze, total=100
USA: 36 G, 38 S, 36 B, total=110
Russia: 23 G, 21 S, 28 B, total=72
Britain: 19 G, 13 S , 15 B, total=47
Germany: 16 G, 10 S, 15 B, total=41

That ranking seems quite straightforward, doesn't it? That's what I thought too, until I heard about some alternative rankings that some other countries were putting out, which reflected a very different ranking sequence - often favouring the country where the creative ranking chart originated. I could grudgingly accept creative rankings by "Gold Medals per Capita" which has Jamaica on top, or "Gold Medals per GDP" which puts Zimbabwe on top (which may say more about its failed economy than anything else). But when you get US created rankings based on so-called Theories of Relativity, which effectively says that the US athletes brought home more gold medals than the China athletes because they won in more team events and therefore more individual American athletes received golds than their China competitors, I think that's just going a bit far ! Sounds like we have some sore losers in our midst.

Moving away from just the medal tally and looking at the significance of the Beijing Olympic Games as a whole, the media has frequently remarked that this Olympics is China's "coming of age" party. China's leadership has been keen to be the host, not simply because of the auspicious 08.08.08 starting date, but because it was an opportunity to prove that the Middle Kingdom had "arrived", and had the ability to welcome the world to this high-profile, infrastructure-heavy mega-event.

Prior to the Games beginning, there were many concerns voiced by world media and sporting teams - pollution in the air, algae in the water, quality of the venues, logistics, security etc etc. None of the concerns came to anything. And when it came to the Closing, there was really no need for all that ultra-careful political superlative that IOC president Jacques Rogge resorted to in describing the Games - "truly exceptional" he said. What does that even mean? To me, and most others I know, the Beijing Olympics 2008 was the best ever. Period.

Of course the China government invested a huge amount in preparing for the Games. Estimates have put it in excess of US$ 43 billion. There will be some who criticize the spending of such a vast amount on a mere sporting event. But I think that beyond the immense "China branding" benefits of the Games, if the infrastructure benefits Beijing society in years to come, it would have been money well spent. In any case it's considerably better than the trillions splurged on missiles and bombs and planes in senseless wars in other people's territories. But that's another debate for another day.

Still, with all the current euphoria it is easy to forget that China's biggest achievement is not so much in putting on these Olympic Games, impressive as they may be, but rather its greatest feat has been in lifting millions of people out of poverty over the past twenty years.

Finally how has the US reacted to the Beijing Olympics? Congratulations to them of course for the fantastic performance of their athletes. But taking a look at the significance of the whole event ... There have been references to the Beijing Olympics as the so-called "Sputnik moment" for the US? You know that time in 1957 when the Russians launched the first satellite, thus waking up the Americans and causing them to pursue space research with added vigour. How should the US respond to the phenomena of the Beijing Olympics 2008? I thought Tom Friedman's recent opinion piece in the New York Times was quite thoughtful.

As for me, the end of the Beijing Olympics has certainly brought a lull in my leisure (read TV watching) time. It has been an unforgettable sixteen days. What to do now? Well, last weekend we did go out and buy ourselves a table-tennis set, complete with the net, for a spot of ping pong smashing across the dining table. London 2012 here we come ;-) Beyond that, I guess it's back to work ... and, there's always my blog for entertainment ....

A Peek into the Extreme Future

2008-08-22T19:36:00.067+08:00

This afternoon I attended the SIM Annual Management Lecture 2008 at the Raffles City Convention Centre, Singapore. The keynote speaker was Dr James Canton, reknown global futurist, social scientist, author and sought-after business advisor. He is also CEO and Chairman of the Institute for Global Futures. His books include "Technofutures" and "The Extreme Future". I had skimmed the latter title last month (see my blog entry of 23 July), and found its coverage quite wide-ranging and insightful, so was looking forward to hearing from the guru himself.

In an interesting two-hour talk, entitled "The Extreme Future: Top Trends That Will Shape the 21st Century Global Marketplace" (based on his latest book), Dr Canton described the "Extreme Future" as a highly multi-dimensional world of complex trends. The key challenge for business and government leaders is to anticipate, navigate and change the future. Also the convergence of two or more trends is where opportunities (or threats) are most likely to arise.

Dr Canton shared seven trends that shape the future marketplace:-

(1) demographics

Global population has doubled over the past 45 years. Demographic changes directly gives rise to situations such as "aging boomers & "youth boomers" (creating opportunities for lifestyle products & services), global talent wars and explosive consumer purchasing demand. Rapid urbanization leads to mega-cities, most of which will be in developing countries by 2015. Worldwide by 2020, there will be some 50 mega-cities with more than 10 million people each.

(2) globalization

Most of the world's economies are inter-connected, forming a so-called "global village". Beyond economic integration, globalization can also be seen in greater political engagement, technological connectivity, personal contact and quality of life (see "The Extreme Future", Plume paperback edition, page 200). The rise of China and India is having huge repercussions on the world economy and society in general. With 1.3 billion people in China and 1.1 billion in India, these to nations represent the world's largest and second largest consumer market in the future, and together make up 1/3 of the global population. These developing countries also provide a willing, lower-cost workforce ready for the world (see next trend).

(3) workforce

The future of workforce will be defined by talent more than by geography. By 2015, the US workforce will have 14 million more jobs than workers and this will pose a restriction to US competitiveness. Hence the search for innovative talent will drive global outsourcing - not just the search for low costs.

The situation in many developing countries, for instance China and India, is quite the opposite. With a huge working population and relatively limited job opportunities, it is perhaps not surprising to hear statistics such as a million people a day walking into cities looking for jobs and other opportunities. And many of these talents would cross borders to find work, or else perform outsourced & offshored jobs from other countries like the US or Europe. Talent is mobile.

Organizations today are not preparing for and changing fast enough to compete for talent. The ability to attract and retain talent is the key to competitive advantage. Period. Ongoing future challenges include dealing with a culturally diverse, global and aging workforce.

Dr Canton even predicted that in the not too distant future, Singapore will be outsourcing to the USA.

(4) innovation

We are increasingly living in an Innovation Economy. Innovations will continue to come even faster, and likely even more radical than ever before. Today, more than 1/3 of the US GDP is innovation-driven, ie. based on innovation industries. The new building blocks of the Innovation Economy are bits, atoms, neutrons and genes. Building on this, the breakthrough innovations in the Four Power Tools (IT & networks, nanotech, biotech and cogno/neurotech) will create widespread global prosperity. Dr Canton emphasised that willingness to embrace innovation is key to competitive success. He also reminded the audience of the concept of Innovation Darwinism, ie. you need to innovate, adapt or you DIE.

(5) security

Sharing his "Securing the Future" Future Map, Dr Canton spoke about threats and opportunities related to Crime, Terror, Tyranny, Rogue Tech, Climate and Cognitive Liberty. Specifically he touched on an uptrend in cybersecurity, increased incidence of rogue players, and geopolitical risk analysis. Globally the security market is valued at around $80 billion.

(6) energy

A "Fueling the Future" Future Map was briefly shared, which touched on issues and options related to the "End of Oil" (or at least the era of cheap oil is over) , Nuclear, Geopolitics, Solar, Hydrogen, Biofuels, Wind, Nanotech, Security and Terrorism. The point emphasised here was that energy is a national security issue, and that we need to invest in new energy sources.

(7) climate

Climate change is real - there's no denying it. World temperatures are rising. Fixing the problem will be hard and long-term. Climate change will threaten national security, global prosperity and peace.

Future Readiness
Next Dr Canton touched on "future readiness", or the key skills one needs to have to be better prepared for this Extreme Future. For business and government leaders, he shared what he called his "21st Century Leaders' Playbook", which included his recommendations to:

Embrace radical innovation (you don't need to understand every radical innovation to monetise it)

Anticipate your customers' futures (by asking them questions such as: how is your business / industry changing? what do you think you will be selling in ... years?)

Understand desire, shape it and deliver to satisfy it

Understand the evaluation of value (business is in evolutionary change, and so is perceived value)

Understand that all business is going to be knowledge-engineered

Understand that collaboration wins

Not to wait until everything is perfect before taking action. Just go do it.

Develop a predictive awareness (ask what/who you are not listening to? ask what's missing?)

Pay attention to "edge culture" (defined as some groups, things you are probably a little uncomfortable with. Listen to "weak signals".)

Accept hyper-change (eg. from non-traditional competitors, potentially disruptive)

Invest in your future

Overall it was a good lecture - well delivered, good content (useful framework, relevant examples and solid research) and thought-provoking. SIM should be congratulated and thanked for bringing in yet another thought leader to jog strategic thinking and inject new ideas among the public and private sector community.

Adventures of an Armchair Athlete

2008-08-20T00:40:00.028+08:00

Ever since 08.08.08, I'm pretty sure the overall productivity of the world has dropped slightly, as millions take time out to watch the various events of the Beijing Olympics progressing day by day. I know I've been glued to the TV whenever I have spare time, following the fortunes of a number of athletes in a variety of sports. Nail-biting stuff.

Did you watch that opening ceremony at the Birds Nest stadium in Beijing? Wow, wasn't that just awesome in scale, grandeur and artistry? So much planning must have gone into choreographing the various sequences depicting the great inventions the Middle Kingdom contributed to mankind: paper, printing, the compass and gunpowder. Also for me, the "crouching tiger, hidden dragon" style lighting of the Olympic cauldron was comparable to my previous favourite which was that archer who shot the flaming arrow to light the cauldron at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.

As a Malaysian residing and working in Singapore, I was particularly interested in the two sports of badminton and table tennis, which the two countries had the best chances for an Olympic medal. As it turned out, both Singapore's women's table tennis team, comprising Feng Tianwei, Wang Yue Gu and Li Jia Wei, and Malaysia's badminton champion Lee Chong Wei made it to the finals, in both cases against China. Alas, they didn't manage to overcome their Chinese competitors, and both Singapore and Malaysia had to settle for the Silver medal. Still, it was a tremendous achievement for both countries. It was Singapore's first Olympic medal after 48 years (the only other time was for weightlifting in Rome, 1960), and 12 years for Malaysia (the previous silver & bronze medals also for badminton at Atlanta, 1996).

I was also very keen on the swimming events. Geez, that Michael Phelps (USA) must be super-human. Attaining a single gold medal is a lifelong dream for most athletes, but EIGHT ??? And most of the wins are also in world record times. Really must find out what this chap eats for breakfast.

Language-wise, through these games, the entire world would have learnt at least one Chinese phrase. That phrase obviously is jia you (literally meaning "add oil" and loosely translated to "Come on!" or "Give your best!"), almost a constant chant by the Chinese crowds in the various stadiums, as they egg their national heroes on.

Ahh, the Olympic spirit is alive and well. What a wonderful forum for the the best athletes from around the globe to pit their talents against each other in friendly competition - striving to attain excellence, as exemplified in the Olympic motto citius altius fortius, which means "faster, higher, stronger"

There's been a lot of discussion about keeping politics and the Olympics separate. All that protesting about Tibet and alleged human rights abuses and boycotting of the Beijing Olympics ... I think you can't really separate politics from anything, much less a high-visibility event like the Olympics. Humans are by nature political animals, so why bother? In fact, why not combine politics with the games in a more productive way? The idealist in me frequently questions why can't all international disputes be resolved in a game rather than with armed conflict? You know, through basketball or badminton rather than bombs and bullets.

There's about a week left in the Beijing Olympics, and I'm thoroughly enjoying myself. For the rest of the games and especially the closing ceremony, let's hope everything proceeds as perfectly as it has so far. I kinda pity those on the London Olympics 2012 organizing committee. What do you do to top a performance like that in Beijing? Hmm, possible thoughts for a future blog ...

Thailand - Land of Smiles, Shrines & Stalemate

2008-08-13T07:59:00.068+08:00

I found myself in Bangkok for two days this week for some planning meetings. I've always enjoyed coming to Thailand, and I've found most Thais I've met friendly and hospitable. The tagline "Thailand - Land of Smiles" holds true ... for me anyway.

Stayed at the Grand Hyatt Erawan, as I normally try to do. I like the Grand Hyatt, which is on Ratchadamri Road in central Bangkok. Very comfortable and conveniently located, near the shopping areas (not that I had much spare time to visit them) as well as our Thailand office.

There's a prominent Hindu shrine at the road crossing, next to the hotel. The Erawan Shrine, dedicated to the Hindu god Brahma and Erawan, his (three-headed) elephant, is extremely popular, drawing a constant stream of devout worshippers every day. They come to burn incense, offer up coloured garlands and pray. Sometimes there are traditional dance performances to honour the deity.

There are a couple of interesting stories about the Erawan area. The Erawan Shrine was actually built, at the advice of an astrologer, after several workers lost their lives in mysterious accidents during the construction of the Erawan Hotel in the mid 50's. It seemed the hotel project had plenty of problems.Besides the worker casualties, it was also beset by cost over-runs as well as loss of building materials. Once the shrine was constructed, no further accidents occurred.

A more recent incident happened in 2006 when a Thai man, later said to be mentally unstable, used a hammer to smash the hollow statue of Brahma into bits. The crowd of worshippers, once having gotten over the initial shock, descended on him and basically battered him to death. I'm not sure how many people (if any) were eventually charged. A new Brahma statue was completed and installed two months later.

Thailand is still going through much political uncertainty. It has been almost two years since the bloodless military coup which led to the ousting of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in September 2006. Soon afterwards, his Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party was dissolved, and 111 executive members from the party were banned from holding political office for five years. At the national elections in December 2007, the newly formed People's Power Party (PPP) won with a comfortable majority, and its leader Samak Sundaravej became Prime Minister. Critics cried foul saying that the PPP was just TRT under a new name and that PPP supporters were merely Thaksin supporters. Nonetheless the PPP together with a few minor parties formed the ruling coalition. Things have not been easy. The PPP continued to be pressured by the opposition Democrat Party. Some PPP politicians were charged for corruption. The abilities of the leadership have been called into question, with derogatory references to a "second tier" Cabinet. There's even a border dispute with neighbouring Cambodia over an ancient temple.

All throughout this period, Thaksin and his family have been constantly in the limelight. After more than a year of self-imposed exile in London, where he seemed to have a good time - he even bought football club Manchester City (which obviously got him a lot of media coverage by the football-crazy Thais) - he and his wife voluntarily returned to Bangkok. Charges of corruption and abuse of power were brought against him and his wife, Pojaman. Soon after the latter was sentenced to a jail term (although it is under appeal), Thaksin and wife apparently decided to slip away (after attending the Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing) back to London. The headlines in yesterday's "The Nation" newspaper said it all: "Thaksin Must Face Justice: Democrat". Moves have been initiated to seize his considerable assets and to try to get him extradited back to Thailand.

Yes indeed, Thailand is facing much political uncertainty. There's no clear light at the end of this murky political tunnel. So many things seem to be going wrong. And this political stalemate seems to have all stumped for breakthrough solutions. Perhaps a new shrine is called for. It worked for the Erawan Hotel. Perhaps it will work again for the Kingdom of Thailand.