Morning Sun 14.04.2010

Morning Sun

The red blazing ball of fire peeks out from the horizon,
Massive in its glow, ever strengthening in intensity,
It calls into a new day, a new beginning,
Already some are witnessing a new birth,
One which springs forth new challenges and
New Hopes for
Today is a New Day

National B division Rugby final ; why did this happen ?

The free for all after the final whistle

Last week, the National 'B' division rugby finals was played at the Polo club with Saint Andrew's Secondary pitted against their arch rivals Anglo-Chinese School (Independent). I am a Saint Andrews Old Boy while my elder son is in ACS (I).

The final score was ACS (I) 8 , SAS 7, congratulations to ACS (I). However, an incident marred the result as immediately after the match, an ACS (I) player went over to an SAS player, patted his head and said something which infuriated the SAS player. He retaliated and in the fracas, the ACS (I) boy emerged with a chipped tooth and a broken nose. According to reports, this led to a pitch invasion as boys, parents and supporters threw punches in a melee until order was restored. Later, another boy from ACS (I) was hit at the bus stand.

The 2 schools have rightfully taken the steps to resolve the issue and uphold the principles of good sportsmanship,the SAS boy was suspended from playing in the future and made to make a public apology to the whole school, in addition, he will arrange to meet with the boy he fought. ACS on their part are also discussing with SAS on how to resolve the issues in an amicable manner. However, there are some equally culpable people who have gotten away scot-free which I feel is symptomatic
of our 'win at all costs' and 'kiasu' society.

Having been to such emotionally charged matches myself,I can understand the intense feelngs of joy, frustration, pleasure and anger at various stages of the game. I am perturbed to read in some emails circulating that outside of the pitch, there were adults who were taunting the boys in the field. Whichever team they were supporting,they were actually 'pouring oil into the fire' and antagonising the opposing team's players.

This is pathetic, the boys are men to be and at this juncture, very impressionable. So imagine if they are running by the sidelines and they are called all kinds of names.Surely, they would be psyched up even more to the point of playing recklessesly and using rough tactics just to spite the opposing supporters.

If we are to evolve as a gracious society yet rugged and mature,we need to take a hard look at ourselves and question : "what is wrong with us ?". Whether we win or lose, lets do it with style, graciousness and above all, empathy for the opposing team who have fought just as hard.

Singapore, we are a long way to developing that winner's mindset, if the Rugby 'B' Division Final is any indication of how we react to winning and losing.

Jakarta Visit April 7 - 8th 2010 Part 2

No durians please

The hotel stay in Jakarta was pleasant enough, Hotel Ciputra is located at the edge of the city along the main highway to the airport. Its central location makes it a favourite for businesspeople and one can access the industrial estates like Bogor and Cikarang within 1 to 1 1/2 hours. It is connected to the Central Shopping Mall with hundreds of shops and many restaurants. One of the nice things as a Singaporean, is that many Singapore brand food chains have setup in Jakarta, like Bread Talk, Crystal Jade, J Co amongst others. In addition, the banks like UOB, OCBC, CIMB and DBS are all over the place.


Interesting sculpture outside the hotel

Indonesia has roughly 220 million people spread over 3 major islands and hundreds of several smaller ones. It has in 2004 been hit by the world's worst ever tsunami, from an underground earthquake measuring 9.1 on the Richter scale and killing some 250,000 people in 10 countries with over 200,000 from Indonesia alone. It has had its fair share of natural disasters such as tsunamis as the island of Java lies very close to the fault lines which are under the sea.

Regardless of the natural disasters, as well as the occasional terrorist threats, the Indonesian people remain resilient and steadfast in the desire to move forward from the tragic events of the past. In 2002, there was the terrible bombing in Bali and in 2008 there was the Marriot Hotel suicide bombing which have put Indonesia on the world's headlines. But in Jakarta, life is peaceful and although I would not recommend walking the streets at night, it is relatively safer now than it was in 2000 when I last visited as there was massive unemployment, leading to lots of people begging in the streets and just hanging around.


View from the front of the hotel

Just as my visit to the seafood restaurant reinforced my impression that Indonesians have embraced the good life with good food, transport and shopping, I am still reminded that it is still very much a 3rd world country with the average salary hovering about S$ 300 per month or less. A lot of people get by with S$ 70 to $ 100 a month working as maids, drivers, gardeners or stall hands.


On the way back to the Sukarno Hatta airport

At the top end of the income scale are the very very rich people who never have to work a day of their adult lives. There are a significant minority of them and there presence can be felt very clearly during the weekends or public holidays in Singapore top shopping centers like Ion, Orchard Central, Mandarin Gallery and Somerset 313 ; the children of these rich Indonesians come to shop at the brand name stores and gamble in our casinos at their whim and fancy.

Jakarta Visit April 7 - 8th 2010

Bandar Jakarta Seafood Restaurant

During a recent 2 day visit to Jakarta, Indonesia, I was very plesantly surprised by the modernity of the capital city in Java. Located just 1 1/2 hour by flight from Singapore, it is a bustling modern metropolis city with all the trappings any modern Asian city. I had not been to Jakarta since 2000 so it was a good 10 years. My impression of it was

1) Corruption amongst the taxi driver touts was all but wiped out. Every cab company has a good reputation and there are easily 6 - 10 cab companies and countless private limousine services, so competition is fierce, which is good for the customer.

2. The traffic is very heavy during the peak hours of 5 - 8 pm and 8 - 10 am each working day. Try to avoid it if possible else, make sure you go to the rest room before your trip out to prevent an unexpected 'accident' or strained bladders to the point of bursting !

3. The infrastructure is still basic although, the cars are all looking brand new, and very cheap to own. There is no city MRT, or MTR or Skytrain like in Bangkok and KL. Buses are horrendously packed during peak hours, and there are some taxi-cycles which serve the basic transport purpose but as torists, its best to use the private limos or established taxi companies for safety reasons.


Free Boat Rides along the Marina

4. After the Bali and Marriot bombings in 2002 and 2008 respectively, security is very tight, with checks on bags in shopping centres, hotels and nightspots, there are metal detectors and auxillary policemen at every major building.

5. People are living harmoniously and there is very little evidence of the Muslim fundamentalism which has taken over much of Malaysia with many adult and youthful Indonesian women in western dressing. There is also freedom or worship and Indonesian people of Javanese, Batak, Boyanses, Iban heritage can worship any religion they choose to. They are not born into a particular religion like in Malaysia.


Bamboo Clams Live and Fresh

The seafood in Indonesia is summed up in one word, fantastic. The evening I was there, my friends who are chefs brought me to the Bandar Jakarta theme park for a pick up seafood meal. All the seafood was live and fresh, so we had river prawns, garouper, babmoo clams, mussels, honey clams, scallops, vegetables and all the beer we could drink for a really inexpensive price, which left my wallet smiling and still heavy.

They have brewed their own beer called Bintang, which is quite good actually and I have noticed that Indonesian people on the whole have progressed materially since the days of the Financial Crisis some 13 years ago. It is quite a remarkable achievement which has gone unnoticed by the foriegn funds for quite a while now.

Cross Country Day - ACS Barker Road

Tired father and Happy Son

Friday 12th March 2010 was the annual ACS Barker Road Cross Country Run for the secondary boys of Anglo-Chinese School.Initiated by the principal Mr. Peter Tan 1 year ago, this is the second year of its existence and I decided to do the father-son thing by running with my son Andrew. So at 8.30 am sharp on a Friday morning, I was at the start line of the 4.2 km 'sprint' race for the lower division boys ('C'). There were about 100 runners from various 'houses' and Andrew was representing the LSG or Lee Seng Gee (an old boy and Philantropist from the early days of the school). At the starter's gun, the boys surged ahead into a 100 m sprint leaving me and the principal plus 2 other adult teachers taking up the rear.


Andrew after his fine run

There was a roar and about 10 boys had fallen in the enthusiasm and there was a mess of bodies just 20m after the start.
We helped them back to their feet and it was then finding my son up in the distance. I was maintaining a fast pace, never really training for this short type of runs. (Yes 5km is short in my humble opinion). I picked up the pace and started oevrtaking some of the boys. The principal was a very fast runner, and was maintaining a lead of 100m ahead of me.

At around the 2 km mark, I came up to Andrew, who was walking and urged him to continue and not slacken his pace. He pulled a funny face to me and then started to run again. I was supposed to be running alongside Andrew but in my aniexty had run at a crazy speed, just trying to catch the principal. Luckily there were many teachers and assistants urging the boys to Run, Run Run.


The school tents at East Coast Park

Round the lake we ran and it was back to the start point. I finished in a decent time of 20 mins 20 seconds or about 5 minutes and 5 seconds per km. I was around the middle of the pack, around 40, but my proudest achievement was that Andrew finished at around 55th place and had earned valuable points for his 'house'.

I hope to continue running with Andrew for years to come as this is one sport both father and son can bond with.

International Sales Conference 2010 in Singapore

Fun and revelry in 2008 Shanghai

This years International Sales Conference will be held in Singapore from 21st - 24th March. This is a watershed year for the Germany principal Weiss Technik which my company represents. There will be a number of old faces missing from the line up at Weiss. The Managing Director Mr. Karl Heinz Hehl has stepped down and retired after serving for over 40 years in the company. This is indeed a rarity in these days of CEOs lasting about 5 years on average and bottom line profit making being the one and only consideration. Also gone is my long time friend and mentor, Frank Rigley, who was the Asia Pacific Sales Manager from the early 90s till 2010. He has totally left the scene, in retirement mode now.

The new management at Weiss will be headed by a Mr. Niedermeier who is the Managing Director for Sales and the existing export sales department is headed by Mr. Dieter Haus. In 4 short days we will be experiencing and understanding what are the new philosophies and expectations of the new management.


2008 Sales Conference in Shanghai

Things are expected to be moving at a much higher pace and one can expect that there will be some major changes in the organisation as well as its representatives. So, while people are on the edge as to what to expect, it is good to come prepared for the unexpected. We live in challenging and dangerous times.

Glee cover Don't Stop Believing