Asia rising - random thoughts during a car wash

This is the year which the rest of the world is still struggling and Asia is rising in terms of human and economic development, GDP per capita and standard of living. As the European Union struggles with its not so unified union of countries, it is bogged down by the PIIGS group of countries which are, technically, bankrupt. Portugal, Ireland,Iceland and Greece are all part of the EU and each with massive amounts of Government debt. Bailing out these countries will, in my opinion, take another decade and whether there are other countries teetring on the brink of country remains to be seen.
They have to take the bitter pill of borrowing from the IMF and their stringent transparency requirements to pull themselves out of their quagmire. All this is new for the Europeans but in Asia, countries like Philippines, Thailand,Indonesia, South Korea have all experienced the tough times and are now much more prepared for future financial crises.

The access to easy loans at rock bottom interest rates made every country want to modernise, but with this step, countries without enough reserves, are running a very risky path, as interest rates can rise, tourism revenue is very fickle owing to terrorists potential attacks and even natural disasters like the vocanic eruption of the E.......... is causing billions of losses, again mainly in Europe. America on the other hand, has bitten the bullet and is still fighting to rid itself of the toxic assets, bankrupt and manipulating companies, and tackle the massive health care monster to get all Americans access to basic health insurance. The Obama administration has done well on the last issue, but is now tackling 'big business' to reduce and
overhaul banks ways of doing business.Its a tough objective, but again, the effects will only be seen after his first 4 years in office.

This is the year which Asia will truly shine. Led by 2 giants, China and India, partially decouple from the world economy and drive the trade between its own neighbours to new highs. Already the middle income belt of these 2 countries is easily 500 million and with their growing desire for travel, luxury good and latest gadgets like the iPad, iPhone, Blackberry will stimulate their respective economies and the economies of countries that make them too. They will want nice houses in beautiful locations, gamble a little, safe living environment and let their children attend good schools. Ideally, in their home countries or at a neighbouring country. Many people are switching to educating their children for higher education in neighbouring Singapore which is an education hub with many top US,UK,European and Australian Universities housed in the Lion City.

So cities like Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Mumbai and Chennai, Sydney, and Melbourne will all thrive for the forseeable future. Its the Asian century and lets make the most of it !

Dinner at Jing Restaurant

The almost completed Casino Marina Sands

Last week we celebrated my wife's birthday with a dinner at Jing Restaurant. Located at One Fullerton right beside the Singapore river, it has a tremendous view of the soon to be completed Marina Sands casino. The table we sat offers an unblocked view of the entire Sands hotel, convention centre and casino and will be THE place to be once the casino opens probably by June 2010.


Soft shell crab with Foie Gras

We ordered the chef's recommendation for 2 persons and it started pretty OK with the soft shell crab and foie gras (goose liver). Service at this establishment I must say is not good, as the waitresses were quite slow to respond to our calls as well as not well trained in the etiquette of asking the patrons about the dinner etc.


Winter Melon Soup pared with Shiraz Cabernet

The second and third courses were above average, with the steak nice and marbled, but with too much sauce. The winter melon soup was very good and savoury, in my opinion.


Steak with Lea & Perrins Sauce

Coming to the 4th and 5th dishes which were the chilli crab and the noodles with duck meat, it was downhill, as the chilli crab paste was a bit runny and the noodles were too mushy.


Chili Crab with Man Tou

All in all, the ambience of the place was excellent, the food was above average and the service was quite abysmal for a fine dining restaurant. If they could amend on the chilli crab choice (perhaps try for dou fu with mushrooms) and the noodles changed to fried rice with salted fish, it would be have been in my opinion, a more balanced menu.

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.