Photovoltaic Seminar 17th November 2009

Kannan, Fred Schweitzer and I

17th November was the 2nd National Photovoltaic Conference held at Putrajaya Malaysia. Attended by over 1200 professionals and businesspeople, it was very heartening to see many people from all the different sectors of industry showing great interest in this promising young field. As one of the renewable and green sources of energy, Solar Energy has been around in simpler forms such as the energy used for heating water and even some basic form of street lighting.


A segment of the 1,200 attendees

The downside is the conversion or efficiency ratio from the Solar energy to first Direct Current. Currently it is still no more than 18% of total energy received by the solar panels (lots of energy go to waste) and then storing it in a battery before passing through an alternator to convert it to AC current. So it is still a rather tedious process even with the advancement of the technology. However, countries in the EU like Germany and Spain have offered a lot of Government grants for farmers to convert from their conventional diary farming to this energy farming. So they get grants from the Government, followed by ease of selling off the excess electricity back to the Electrical Grid which makes PV or Photovoltaic Energy so attractive.


Intense interest in Photovoltaics and their applications

The situation is the same in S.E.Asia as both the Malaysian and Singapore Governments have been active pushing the Green Agenda and it is hoped that I can make some business foray into this area in the near future.

Andrew's 12th birthday

Andrew, May, my Mum and Noel

My second son Andrew celebrated his 12th birthday his way. He invited just 2 friends to the house for computer games and watched a movie all by themselves. They had the time of their lives. The transition from boy to teenager is at hand and at the precocious age of 12, they are experimenting with meeting with the girls in their tuition class, going for a burger at Orchard Road and playing computer games. What fun it is to be 12 again !


I'm going to light my candles

On the 25th October (Sunday), we had a small cake for him and brought it to my Dad and Mum's place for the cake cutting. My Dad will be 90 this year and my Mum 79. It has been a tough year for Andrew,as this was the PSLE year. H had been putting in many hours of work for his tuition teacher, Mrs. Lim. For me as the father, I have to 'motivate' him by giving him the carrot of computer time and movies and sometimes the going got very tough. I am just glad that the efforts he put in has made him better prepared for the secondary school where he will have 8 or 9 subjects to juggle with and study for exams.


Andrew, my Father and Noel

In about 1 1/2 weeks it will be 3 birthdays, my Dad, myself and my Mum. It will be a hectic week of birthday celebrations .I can't wait.

New Karate Class on Thursday Evenings

Our School or Dojo Every Sunday Evening

I have been training Shitoryu Karate for the last 7 years with the Ken Shi Club headed by 7th Dan Sensei (teacher) Chia Kwek Fah. It is held at the Tanglin Community Centre from 5pm to 6pm (for senior students) and 6.00 pm to 7.30 pm (for Junior students) every Sunday with the exception of Public Holidays. My progression has been steady in the last 5 years and I have learnt as many as 20 katas or predetermined movement of strikes, blocks,kicks and jumps. Karate has improved my overall fitness (Sensei Chia is a certified Coach in Sports Science, sanctioned by the Singapore Sports Council in 2009) as well as body conditioning and self confidence.


Ina Shyi Gi or Movement with Form

Recently, Seipai (senior trainee) Roland Teo and myself have taken the initiative to start the Thursday class at the CC from 7.30pm. The emphasis is to improve our form in kicking, punching, basic sparring and kata. We hope to attract as many as 10 eager learners for this class as not eveyrone can make the Sunday evening class due to family or other social committments from time to time. Do support us and the lessons are totally free of charge as the basic course fee covers this extra class.

So calling all KSK club members, drop in and be surprised !

Thailand - Work, New Person and Business Potential

Kannan presenting our installation base to Sean of TUV

For 3 days last week, I made a trip with my Regional Manager, N. Kannan to Thailand to visit customers as well as arrange for new personnel to join QRA. It was all the more memorable as 1 year ago,Thailand was in the midst of a political crisis whereby the opponents of Thaksin backed Government, took over and controlled the Suvhanabhum airport for a period of 1 week. It was utter chaos and I had blogged about it roughly 1 year ago. How time flies ! This trip was much more sedate as we made our way through the bustling airport and met with our new Sales representative, Krid Sripanich. Krid and I have known each other for about 9 years and we hope to work out a win-win partnership in the very near future.



A friendly meeting with future potential ; L-R ; Me, Sean Boey (GM of TUV), Kannan and Krid Sripanich

We had several excellent meetings with key customers and there is the future followup potential in the coming months. I am personally excited about several these potentials as we already have an installed base of around 10 chambers. The customer above, TUV is a Singapore headquartered testing house with their test facility in New Science Park on the outskirts of Bangkok. More visits are to follow in the coming months.


Tawatchai has decided to leave our team - Best wishes to him !

During this trip, I also bade farewell to a colleague Tawatchai Umnuaysiri who is leaving to join a friend in a new industry. During his time with QRA, he has been very able in handling the sales and service components of the Thailand market so it is with some regret that he is leaving. Due to his industriousness and persistence, we have secured the largest single order in our short history, (which has now been surpassed) but will put a big mark on our presence as THE major chamber player in S.E. Asia. Thanks to Tawatchai and I wish him all the best for his future endeavors !

Memorable Meal in Ayutthaya 5th November 09

2 types ot Tom Yam soup ; the milky Tom Yam and the Red Spicy Tom Yam ; both equally dangerously hot !

During a 3 day trip to Thailand last week, I was invited by some customers to have a lunch by the Chao Phya river near Ayutthaya. This is one of the highlights of my business trip whereby deals have to be negotiated and discussions take place every day. So, without much hesitation, I accepted and was treated to a lovely 'feast' for the senses ; taste, smell,sound, and of course sight. We ordered several dishes which were the fish maw, fried fish, prawn with vegetables and 2 types of Tom Yam soups.

The 2 Tom Yam soups we ordered were served in the steamboat and one was the milky tom yam while the other was the spicy chilli tom yam. Both were equally dangerously hot and able to cause 'fire breath' if one is not careful.


Fried Mish Maw with Nuts and Fried Goby Fish

My favourites were the fish maw and the fried goby which were crispy and tasty. Our customers from Western Digital were usual patrons of the place and we could have the 'WD' discount. To find the place requires some local knowledge as there are no visible signs in Thai or in English but it was a favourite with the local people as well as some expatriate community who are obviously working in the area.


Half submerged Entrance to the Boat Restaurant

To reach the restaurant, one has to negotiate 2 landmarks, a dishevelled looking Shar Pei dog who looks abit like Winston Churchill (!) as well as a half-submerged walkway to reach the boat restaurant. It is actually an old barge converted to a dining place and the food is cooked over in the kitchen on dry land while the diners eat over the water's edge.


Entrance to the Boat Restaurant

Its quite fun watching the barges and the speedboats (ala James Bond) ply the Chao Phya river to Bangkok and taking in the sights of the ferry every 10 minutes. On top of that, the river is teeming with fishes which give me the sneaky feeling that some of these fishes are fed for the purposes of being on the dining table later !



10 Baht (S$ 0.40) to get across the Chao Phya river

6 weeks to the Year End marathon

At the 42km and 150 m mark, 25 m to go

I am facing the ultimate runner's dilemma, to run and finish a goal I set out at the beginning of this year which is to run 2 marathons, (so far 1 finished 1 half marathon in August) and risk injury ranging from patella (knee) problems, Iliiontibial band problems and possibly even overexertion, or I may just pull it off with little damage to my body.

To quit at this stage is another option whereby I listen to my body which is screaming, 'No more' and take that rest which many many of my friends have stopped maybe a decade ago, ie. to switch to a gentler sport like swimming or cycling.
On Tuesday, I ran 10km and it was not really fun, although I enjoy the breeze and scenery at the East Coast Park, the reality sets in maybe 3 hours after the run when I am tired and the endorphine and adrenalin have all subsided and the 'good feeling' generated from these natural body chemicals dies out.

Should I run or should I stop ?

Hong Kong 17 -19th October 2009

View of Hong Kong harbour from our 31st Floor Hotel

As my wife, May, is in Hong Kong for work related matters, I came to Hong Kong last weekend to enjoy the food,shopping and sightseeing for a short 2 and a half days. Hong Kong is my favourite destination because it has wide variety of top end shopping (many LV,Chanel, Dior,Tods, Gucci etc. etc.) so much so that it beats Singapore or any other Asian city on 3 counts :

a) Widest varierty of branded goods in a centralised area - mainly Central Hong Kong
b) Weak HK dollar which is pegged to the US$ ; at present it is S$ 1 to HK$ 5.5 ; about 10% lower than start of this year
c) No Goods and Services tax (Singapore has 7%)



Tender, Juicy and Cold - Taken best with Lea and Perrins Worcestetshire Sauce. Yummy.

Teochiew or Chiu Chow food has got to be one of the best in the world here, not to mention Cantonese food. As a foodie, my wife and I know of many friends and acquaintences who have eaten at the 'best of the best' and Hong Kong chefs are best in the world for their food. No doubt about that. The cold crab above is 'to die for'.



Cold Crab at Pak Lok, 23 - 25 Hysan Street

The Cantonese food, is also top notch too. Yung Kee at Wellington Street is world famous winning literally 100+ awards for its gourmet Cantonese food and the roast goose, pork ribs and pei tan (100 year old egg) are literally out of this world. It is what I call gastronomic excess to the 10th degree. Food beyond anyone's imagination. President's, kings, queens, princes have all eaten here, as have movie stars and millionaires.



Halloween is 2 weeks away and they are celebrating already

Lan Kwai Fong is the party district of Hong Kong, so if you are a party animal, the party goes on till 6am in the morning. The place is filled with tourists, expatriates and party people spilling on to the streets. The cool weather also assists in making the place a perfect venue for alfresco dining and drinking at a reasonable price.




Marlin Bar at Lan Kwai Fong

Hong Kong in short, is a main shopping venue, safe, inexpensive and has very excellent MTR infrasructure so getting around is a brezze. To paraphrase an Austrian / American action star : " I'll be back !"