Jason Mraz - Butterfly

Golf and Squash ; 2 Sports As different as Night and Day

Recently, Johnson, a colleague asked me to play a game of squash with him and this is the theme of this blog. Golf, the gentleman's sport where there are 101 rules about everything from the shoes to the dressing to the positioning of the body,to the tee-off, to etiquette on the fairways and greens etc. It embodies the values of honesty,manners of courtesy and behavior and players are fined or penalised for slight misdemeanors such as cursing,or even walking across one's 'line' at the tee.

My opinion of it is that it is a social sport, where the competition is mainly between the player and the golf course .How he pits his game against his handicap score is the fun part. Say I am a 24 handicapper (from previous games on the greens, and I am certified by a professional to be competent), during the game with my friends, I shoot a 86 for a par 72 hole, that is actually 14 above par, but after I deduct my handicap, I am actually playing 10 strokes better than my 24 handicap. So if I play a few more similar excellent games and record these score cards with my home club, my handicap will be knocked down to around 16.This is how it works for the handicap scoring system

The trick with golf is one has to round up a gang of similar minded khakis (mates) and arrange a 'flight' of normally 4 people and book with the golf club one
is attached to. Golf club rules dictate that players must abide by the following before playing a round of 18 holes :

1. Form a group (flight) of 3 or 4 players at a prearranged approved time
2. Show proof of competency (handicap card or Playing Competency card)
3. Be appropriately attired in golf gear and spiked shoes

So the fun starts when all 4 of different playing abilities go on the greens and the 'true' characters of people are revealed. Cheaters (those who put false scores) will be found out very fast and can lose their handicaps and those who are impatient also learn patience - by waiting for their flight mates to a) find their lost balls or b) their flight mates may be hitting the balls in all directions except that of the green so its quite comical to see a bunch of beginners in all kinds of rough and waiting for each other to hit onto the green. Trust me, I have been there and done my fair share of 'gardening' or digging out little tufts of the fairways when my stroke is too deep into the ground. The opposite is the 'airstroke' whereby a "whoosh" sound is made when one totally misses the ball. There is also
many versions of the 'slice' where in the most embarrasing case,one hits the tee off with a full blown swing and expecting to see it soar 150 meters it trickes out off the teetop and rolls say 6 inches.

There is a lot of bantering and joking whenever I play with my golf friends,because of mishits, poor hits and excellent or fluke shots. By the time one takes to finish a round of 18 holes (around 4 hours), one is usually burnt brown by the sun, dehydrated and ready for the 19th hole - which is the watering hole or terrace where the depleted energies are regenerated by copious amounts of beer, isotonic drinks and the local food. Normally we have some betting going on so the 'loser' or the 2 'losers' pay for the dinner / lunch.

Squash, on the other hand is a more gladiator like where 2 palyers enter and 1will emerge victorious. It is seldom a social sport where people hit for fun aganinst the wall. Squash players (or squashers) learn a variety of strokes from basic drive strokes to cross court volleys, from boasts to back of wall lob shots.

Invented in France in the early 1500s, the game has evolved over the centuries to incorporate even doubles play (4 people, 2 per team) play.However, for most players, it is 2 per game. Again, there are basic rules to abide befors stepping into the court :

1. Non-marking shoes must be worn before entering the court
2. Players must be attired in all-white (some clubs)
3. Use of yellow or double yellow rubber squash balls are preferred

Again through playing with my partners over the last 20 years (its 10 years since I picked up my racket to play a decent game), it is always about winning the point and fighting for every point with no quarter asked or given.

Now that I am in my mid to late 40s, and with the flesh not so willing, perhaps I may have to develop a 'social squash' mindset where hitting the ball is already an achievement. Or then again maybe not ?

Integrated Resorts ready in 2010

3 blocks of the Iconic Looking Sands Tower almost completed

By the beginning of 2010, Singapore will have its first Integrated Resort Gaming Facility located at the Marina South just next to the floating platform. The second, managed by Resorts World, will be ready by 2011 located in Sentosa. Sands of Las Vegas, whose chairman is Sheldon Sands has placed his bets on gambling in this 'fine' country where there are fines aplenty from spitting to smoking to littering.

It is a contradiction in a sense that the ultra prim and proper Singapore, wants to pursue the gambling dollar.However, the Government having thought long and hard and elicited feedback from all areas such as religious groups, various intrerest groups and the man in the street, decided on a "YES PROCEED" vote in 2007. This is being true to their pragmatic nature, had decided that they wanted to "have their cake and eat it".

The Government has probably had their think tank models and scenario models out a long time ago and decided that the 'pillar' of manufacturing will not be as strong as before and will probably shrink massively in the coming years, hence, the need for new skillsets and mindsets and hence the decided on the gaming and entertainment industry.

Now there are up to 30,000 jobs being dangled for Singaporeans (and Malaysians) displaced by the Financial Crisis such as Croupier, Concierge, Limo Driver, Asst Sales Associate, and alot of other related jobs in the tourism and hotel industry.

Gambling and its related ills like gambling addiction leading to family breakdown will have to be managed. The Institute of Mental Health has spent untold sums of money visiting places like Las Vegas and Macau to study the effects of excessive gambling and how spiralling debt will spell disaster to the family unit. How the casinos can manage to get the finances of problem gamblers and persuade them not to continue now but in years to come (say 5 years) will determine whether Singapore's move into the IRs is indeed successful.

In the bigger scheme of things, there are the new restaurants, Seaworld and Universal Studios to look forward to.I was a small time gambler (during my NS days), but my forays will be limited to the buffet table. My gambling luck has always been 'so - so'.

Neither Win Big or Lose Big. Perhaps its time I seriously reviewed this Mindset if I am to learn from the Big Boys like Goldman Sachs - see earlier post on "Lessons from Goldman Sachs Turnaround "

Sheares Bridge and Army Half Marathon 2009

This year's half marathon is almost like a regular event for me.I have taken part in the Army half Marathon (organised by the S'pore Armed Forces) for a total of 8 times, and in the last 5 consecutive years (except 2006) I have taken part in the Veteran's competitive section. The objective is to 2 fold :

1) To achieve an Intermediate Goal of 21 km whereby I can attain a level of running mileage enroute to the end of the year full marathon which is 42 km long. I force myself to run this distance and motivate my tired aching muscles to go the extra km.

2) To pschomotivate myself to now maintain and run at this distance and push the distance envelope longer to 25km, 30 km, 35km and then 40 km.



At the Finisher Paddock

Dean Karnazes, the famous ultramarthoner once famously said that to run the 100 miler (160 km), "you run the first 50 miles with your body and the next 50 miles with your mind". Reflect on this phrase for a while.

This is especially true for me as while I enjoy distance running as a hobby and sport, there are times when I lack the motivation to a) get out of the door at 5am in the morning b) Continue running to the set distance.After finishing 10 km or even 15 km, it is so easy to say "stop,thats enough for the day" when in actual fact,
I need to cover the neccesary 15 or 20 kilometres. I need to log in about 80 - 100 km per week and an average run spped of 6 minutes /km for me to achieve the required timing I desire of around 4hr and 15 minutes for the full marathon.

This is the target time for me this year, barring any unforseen injuries like last year.

In 2007, I covered the 42km in 4 hours and 45 minutes or so


Finisher Medal

This year's Army half Marathon started at the right time in my opinion, not too early where all competitors must wake up at the unearthly hour of say 2am. 5.30 am is a decent enough time to start but my grouses for this year's Half marathon is this :

1. Too many soldiers who are supposed to run at 7.00am (10 km) are already there are 5am causing alot of confusion and chaos at the baggage deposit areas, toilets and general waiting areas.

2. Announcement to come to the starting paddock was not heard, there was too many people milling around causing confusion. Many runners, me included did not know that the run had started (5.28am) until we walked near the start and went over the Championchip timing mats.

3. Baggage handlers were very inexperienced and asked for all bags to be opened and checked (for possible bombs ?) as a new security feature and then to delay things further, we had to cut the bag tags when the earlier instructions were to tie the tags to the bags directly. The reason was to place each bag in a waterproof plastic bag.

Compliments this year

1. Plenty of water points and serving water as well as 100+

2. The motivators were youth groups and some units music and dance companies which were quite a sight to see, thus distracting me from my aching muscles and heat.We had a Caucasion gorup on kompangs (Malay drums) and also a group of stiltwalkers among the more interesting ones.

My run target was 2hours and 05 minutes and I hoped to reach that time by strapping a wrist band with the km times printed out for each kilometre covered. By 2km, I knew that I was behind the target time and was trying my hardest to make up for lost time. However, my experience and instincts kicked in and I decided to stop or slow at almost all drink stations to get water for hydration - a very important factor for me so as to ensure I could last the distance.

Truth be told, I had not covered this distance in a year and this run was in a way of telling me, hey I can cover this distance. Anyway, the first 5 kms were pretty smooth with about 6:30 pace, behind the target 5.55 pace needed for a 2hr 05 finish time. I decided to continue on 6:30 pace as it wss crowded and overtaking and swerving around sweaty bodies take up alot of energy and effort. Maintaining the pace for the first 10km was my goal.

Around 7km, at the start of East Coast Park,and I could see the first elite runners already heading back at the 15km mark, their long purposeful strides making the most of the road.How I wish i could run like them !

At 10km, we hit the first timing mat and it was still quite a decent pace for me of 6:30. Around 12km I popped my first Accel Gel, an energy gel of complex carbohydrates and drank water to digest. Around 15km, near Mountbatten road exit the first aches on my muscles were starting. I was enduring the aches and ignoring the younger runners zipping past. " Run your own race. I have nothing to prove except finish at a respectable time" I told myself. There were about 1000 people ahead of me but around 5000 behind,so I figured I was around 20% percetile.

By the 18km, I was visualising how I would finish, the route was familiar so I just took the time to mentally play out how I would look for the cameras at the end point. How vain of me !

By the 20km mark, my legs were like wood, but I endured and the last 1km I took the extra effort to raise my footstrikes and not to shuffle. I even found the photographers at the finish and toyed with them on the home stretch to take myself finishing.

After collecting the medal at the Finisher's paddock, I bumped into my running khaki (Gopi). We had a nice catchup on our runs last year, and since I injured myself, I made it a point to run with him in the near future.

Truly, this sport is all-inclusive and one I will partake for a long time.

Michael Schumacher - True Champion

7 times F1 winner Michael Schumacher

I applaud Michael Schumacher's decision not to contest this year's F1 although he is the tehcnical director at Ferrari. He has won the championship a total of 7 times and frankly had nothing else to prove. The fact that he agreed to comeback at age 40 in place of the injured Felipe Massa speaks volumes of his character and willingness to be a team player.

Unfortunately due to an injury during a motorcylce race, he decided not to race.
True champions have nothing else to prove, if they come back when they are past their prime,they are only proving that though their bodies have had enough of the glory and its time to call it a day, their egos or their wallets have not.

Lessons from Goldman Sachs Turnaround

Goldman Sachs Tower in Chicago

Here is a writeup I 'borrowed' from the latest edition of Newsweek (August 10 & 17th 2009) which is applicable for any business in my opinion. Tited "How come Goldman is Making Billions and I'm still Broke ?"

In the months that followed the meltdown of the US economy and the failures of Lehman Brothers, near failure of Citigroup and AIG in late 2008 and subsequently Chrysler and General Motors this year, it is a coup that Goldman Sachs, a 100+ years old company focussing on 3 core areas :

Investment management (ie. Hedge funds)
Sercurities Services
Investment Banking

managed to post a record US$ 3.44 billion profits in the Quarter from April to June 2009. HUH ? Americans have been outraged because just less than 6 months ago they applied for the TARP (emergency Government funds for banks and institutions with toxic assests) and got US$ 10 billion all in additional taxes, from the US Governmenr paid by the American public. So how come they did this turnaround and so quickly ? Follow these steps :

1. BE RUTHLESS - They helped create the market for subprime mortgages during the Boom and then BET AGAINST it as it crashed. So they did not believe in their own 'baby' they created and bet AGAINST it making big bucks while the competitors, Merril Lynch,Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers all kaputted because they all bet FOR it.Imagine spending billions on developing a product (of course in this case it is a monetary product) and then gamble that it will FAIL when the rest of the market starts to believe in it !

2. TAKE BIG RISKS - They borrowed $28 for every $ 1 they owned in capital. The risk of making big bucks or losing everything and more is key to this strategy.

3. DON'T BE PROUD - They got US$ 10 billion from US Government, US$ 5 billion from Warren Buffet and another US$ 12.9 billion from AIG becuase they were AIG's biggest shareholder and the Government bailed THEM out.

4. PAY YOUR DEBTS - They repaid their debts with 23 percent interest, and scored valuable PR points. If you repay your debts, you will continue to get funding.

5. WORK UNCLE SAM - They managed to lobby the Obama Government, spending US$ 3.3 billion to fend off regulation on caps on their top executives pay etc. etc.So the top executives still made US$ 3 - 10 million EACH. By the way, Henry Paulson is the former Treasury Secretary (or Finance Minister).

6. GAMBLE WITH OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY - Sitting on billions from taxpayers, they bet and won from trading equities (shares in Dow Jones). So revenue from equities jumped 100 percent just in the 2nd quarter, amounting for much of that US 3.44 billion.

Class, Lesson for Today has ended. Keep this in mind, especially the HEADLINES.

Thoughts on Singapore's Birthday

Enthusiastic Singaporeans at the parade

This evening, I watched at home on TV the National Day Parade celebrating Singapore's 44th year of Independence, many thoughts ran through my mind. Our country has come very far in 44 short years, I am older by 3 years by the way ! From a backward fishing village, to small time port, to major port and then world's busiest port in the early 90s.Singapore is still No. 2 in terms of tonnage moved as a port. From a small airport in Paya Lebar, to a bigger airport in Changi to a major international air hub linking the Western world to the Eastern Asian countries and Australasia.From a small airline, to the world's most profitable and recognisable airline, first to fly the renowned A380. From a small island kicked out from the Malaysian Federation in 1965,numbering only 1.9 million, it is now a cosmopolitan metropolis of 4.8 million with a per capita GDP of over US$ 30,000.From a country with no natural resources to one investing in the futures of many smart and talented scholars from all over the world working in the fields of life sciences,biomechanics,nanotechnology and solar energy. The firsts and awards can go on and on.

This year, the parade was held at the Floating Platform where 27,000 lucky people (by ballot) could watch the festivities.
There were many national songs, civil defence performances, lots of military,navy and airforce marches, but the most impressive facet was the evolution of the usual parade of march pasts and floats into a glitzy Hollywood type one showing the many races' performance arts groups capabilities.


Electrico Singer David Tan commenting on his song "What do you See?"

The 2 most poignant moments of the parade were the singing of the Majulah Singapura (Onward Singapore) National Anthem and the reciting of the pledge. I was quite overwhelmed when I stood up to say the pledge, with my 2 sons by my side. Reflecting on what my country means to me and my family, we have the following priceless environments created for us which we take for granted :

- Multi racial harmony : this is by far the most cherished aspect of Singapore life

- Meritocracy : everyone has a chance to make his or her Singapore Dream in his lifetime whether he is the son of a hawker or doctor provided he or she is prepared to study and work hard.

- Peace and Security : a safe haven in this unreliable and unstable world where the clash of cultures and ideologies have led to terrorist attacks.

Where people young or old, male or female can walk free at night unafraid of being harrassed by drug addicts,criminals or homeless people so typical in many big cities in other democratic countries. Singapore has a very efficient system of improving the paths of those people who 'fall through the cracks of society'. The people however,must be prepared to work at all costs and not depend on the Government for handouts unless absolutely necessary.

- Proactive and Able Government : They take the high ground and sometimes make the most unpopular decisions with the country's interests first and foremost

- World Class Education System Environment :

Many foreigners have set up homes and bases because of our excellent schooling system which is primarily logic based with alot of rote and creative aspects thrown in. We have been topping the Maths and Science worldwide tests for many years now, so much so that certain states in the USA are using Singapore textbooks for Maths and Science.

- First world Infrastructure and Connectivity : MRT, Expressways, Bus and Pedestrian walkways,Parl Connectors, Wired Island.

- First World Sports and Entertainment : Many big name football teams, the F1, top stars like Rod Stewart and Rolling Stones have played here

Some friends have migrated for the 'good life' overseas, but the key thing is this, we have a place which is buzzing with plans for the future for us, our children and our children's children. Wonderful array of food choices and places for entertainment and exciting things to do (F1, and the upcoming Integrated Resorts come to mind). Most importantly it is a place created BY Singaporeans FOR Singaporeans. Opportunities are plentiful, banking is supportive and the network of friends, busness and family relationships is ever strengthened with each passing year. Life is Good.

Majulah Singapura !