Video from 1991 ;

         This was taken in 1991 December or so ; the start of the video shows my Dad Geoffrey entering the house, he was 70 then, still very strong and sprightly. Also our pet cat Tommy, who was crouching by the side of my car. It was the first car I owned and it was an Alfa 33 TI (twin injection) system. A 1.5 litre black roadster, it hugged the roads superbly though it gave me no end of small headaches just taking care of the fuses which blew ever so frequently, the power windows broke down (2 in all). The car's acceleration and road handling was superb, (considered a sports sedan then), the manual stickshift was not easy to handle, and the clutch,brake and acceleration foot pads were all positioned so close I could practically operate all 3 from one foot (though I never did it), hence the reaction time to accelerate and brake was faster than many other cars. 

       I had owned the car from 1987 - 1993 till the year I got married, or 6 years. 

       This car took many of my foreign principals from Frank Rigley and his family, to Mr. Hehl (the then Weiss Technik MD) to Ito san (8 Sangyo), Shimizu san (Sunteh) and Genda san (Yoshida Seiki)

       I was still a singleton then, and the car was my constant companion. Its black colour was quite appealing though inside it, the car (being something of a 'black body' absorbed more heat that only lighter painted cars and hence it was sweltering inside, much to my disdain. In addition, the indicator arms were opposite to that of conventional Japanese models, so it was a challenge when I switched and drove my Mother's Mazda 626 from time to time (when the Alfa was in service workshop for example). Frank Rigley's family took the car once and later decided to take a taxi to meet me in town, for subsequent gatherings ! It was that hot inside ! Coupled with a weak air-conditioned blower and the car was (I must admit) nice to look at but not too comfortable for transporting passengers.   

       The second half of the video shows the front of the house, my room's windows and heading to the back, in the kitchen was our Sri Lankan maid, Mary. The backyard was chock a block full of undiscarded stuff which my Mother used to keep (horde more like).

      The video camera was a Sony VCR7 bought in Akihabara district famous for its electronic goods. I can testify fully that the salesman's who sold this to me, his pitch that "Made in Japan" products like this one - made in Japan and sold to Japanese domestic market, was truly superior to the other electronics products made in (then) Malaysia and Thailand (this was way before the Chinese factories started making all the world's electronics good in late 90s - early 2000s.).  This camera gave me great service, never once breaking down or exhibiting any problems with recording, editing or playback. 

      Well, it does bring back lovely memories for me.   

Sorry State of Affairs when you cannot trust the guy at the top

This short clip shows President Trump being challenged on the number of electoral votes which he won in Nov 2016 ; he boasted that his margin was the widest by any President since Ronald Reagan.
(1980 - 1988)

When fact checked by the reporter, and told that Obama had more votes than him, he said he meant Republican President. When the reporter pressed on with the fact that George H W Bush (Bush Senior) had won 356 votes, much more than his 304 votes, he quickly said " Oh Iwas just handed this sheet of paper" I don't know about it.    

President Trump is obviously applying double standards ; when he accuses the press for providing 'fake news' which he our his staffers cannot substantiate, he goes on and on in a diatribe.

When he is cornered by a reporter with the actual fact that he is wrong, he quickly said he is given the piece of information and brushes it off.

The reporter questioned the logic that the information provided by the Press and they report it is 'fake', and when he himself goes about purporting the very same standard of 'fake facts' and hoping to pull off a fast one.

It is sad. A major embarrassment for the world's superpower and their citizens. 

The First Years 13 1975 Sanya Samaki Trip Swimming Club

L to R : John, Carl Chan, Mrs. Wee, Konrad Wee, Kenneth Ng, Tuck Fook

        That first trip to Bangkok in 1975 opened up a range of possibilities for our young swimmers at the Swimming Section then to bond and to have an objective to train for. In addition, it was a hit amongst the parents of all the swimmers because it provided a nice getaway holiday for the Mums and Dads who sacrificed their personal time for their children's well being. I do not recall much about that first trip apart from the incident in Hat Yai.

        As a mediocre swimmer, I learnt from watching the elder swimmers like Adrian Tan and Felix Chenong how they led the younger swimmers. There were plenty other swimmers who were fast and strong like Sng Tong Hoe, Khoo Teng Chuan and Teng Cheong, plus Audrey Tan who was Adrian's sister.

      I would be most happy and excited if we could all get together to reminisce about the good old times !!     

Song from that era the happy '70s ; Kung Fu Fighting

Carl Douglas was a One Hit Wonder with Kung Fu Fighting 

     Around the time of my swimming club days, I listened to whatever was playing on the radio, and one of the more recognisable songs of the day was "Kung Fu Fighting" (Carl Douglas, I never knew the singer to be really honest) and watched in awe at Bruce Lee movies as well as popular shows like 'Combat and Hawaii Five - O (starring Jack Lord)'. 
    
    In the late 60s, we watched 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' and 'The Avengers'.  

    The main stars are probably all no longer here now, but what uncomplicated times those were. Just study, go for swimming at the Swimming Club, some homework (token as I recall) and the usual hangouts with the kids from the neighbourhood.

   


       Opening Theme from the Hawaii Five - O in the '70s. 

The First Years 12 - Swimming Club Days and adventures

With Club friends L to R ; Tan Sian, me, Kelvin Wee, Gillian Khoo, Audrey Tan

     My parents joined the Singapore Swimming Club (SSC) in mid 1974, my brother and I were then enrolled in the swimming program helmed by coach Neo Chwee Kok, one of the top swimming coaches in Singapore.  As a late entrant into swimming, I was not much of a fast swimmer, partly due to my body shape (thanks to the Indian 50% gene) which left me with a belly, skinny legs and arms and starting at age 11, I had to play 'catch-up' with the much younger kids - some starting as young as 5 years old. 

     Fortunately, after about 1 year of swimming, I was able to represent the club in the Sanya Samaki regional swimming competition  amongst the ASEAN countries. There was SSC, the Penang Malaysia Ikan Bilis Club, Thailand's Bangkok Sports Club, Philippines Manila Polo Club swim section and Indonesia's Jakarta Swim Club. The first swim competition I took part was in 1975 in Thailand, and in those days, the entire swim section
headed by Swim Manager Mr. Henry Chan and the whole group of dedicated and fun-loving parents arranged for us to go to Bangkok by coach bus. It was a delightful regional experience for me and my brother, as I was 13 and visiting neighbouring countries was a great eye and brain opener for me. I was fortunate to travel to Europe (London and Greece) in 1973 - courtesy of my wonderful father and saw with my pre-teen eyes the cultured West.

    In December 1975, Club's swim section took off by bus from Singapore, through KL and Penang - those heady days there was no smooth North South Highway. I remember vividly the horribly filthy toilet (no flushing system at all, just a hole in the ground !) where are the human waste was piling up in the hole and the disgusting odour, ugh ! That place was the piss stop called Ayer Hitam (Black Water) and tour buses would stop at the eating centres and we would all bundle out into the dusty open air food centre just to stretch our legs and go to ease ourselves. 

   I remember vividly us using Malaysian currency, (I think after separation from Malaysia in 1965 Singapore established its own Singapore dollar) and although Singapore's economic growth was tremendously large (something like 15% year on year from 1974 all the way to 1985) the early to mid 70s saw our Singapore dollar having the same valuation as the Malaysian ringgit. That meant that in the early to late 70s, $S1 or 1 Singapore dollar was equivalent to 1 Malaysian Ringgit. Today, some 40 years on, the S$ 1 is equivalent to 
RM 3.2, which reflects on how strong the Singapore economy has grown all these years compared to our neighbour.  

    The first night en route to Bangkok, we all stayed at a hotel in Hat Yai. It was really a 'cowboy town' then. Another vivid recollection I had was when we stayed at this hotel in Hadyai, after dinner, the teens (boys and girls) were all camped up in our rooms playing blackjack or something when we heard loud "bang ! bang ! bang !". My first instinct was that someone had pushed down a large metal cabinet and it had bounced on the floor. My logical mind told me that that was not possible. Then it dawned to me that those were gunshots in the lobby of the hotel ! 

    My Mum and the other lady chaperones rushed into our room and after checking we were all accounted for, went down to take a look. Apparently there was some altercation between businessmen and shots were fired. We were shocked and I dare say, no one ventured outside that night !

    The next day when we checked out we found out that the businessman was drunk and he let loose on some hotel staff. Fortunately no one was injured or killed, but it brought me to the realisation that this big world was full of uncertainties and people with guns and other 'bad things'.

    We set off for Bangkok the next day, and the rest of the trip is another story.  

     

Trump and The Social Contract in the Western World

        The Trump Presidency has made me, for one, an ordinary citizen in the far end of the world (not so far if you count the social network) very concerned about what is happening in the (dis) United States of America. With all the news and 'fake news' that has been going about, I have been having a dialogue with some good friends about what democracy and the Social Contract means to me, the ordinary citizen. We do not learn this in class but we experience it in daily life through experiences and from what we have experienced living in a democracy or a socialist democracy.

         I watched videos on Stephen Bannon, who explained through his his town meetings with the Tea Party (centre right) groups, is alarmed that the US is on the path to a sorry end, and what, if they (Trump and his team) were elected, they would do. He mentioned the phrase Crito Contract, which led me to reading up on it. Its available on the Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy.

        

          In the early days of the Greek democracy some 2000 odd years ago, Socrates argued that Crito, a Greek citizen, who had committed a crime and was sentenced to death, had to serve out that crime as he was a domicile, hence a resident of Greece, hence he had to accept the laws of Greece rather than to escape and flee, thereby breaking the contract.            

         The theory is of the view that a person's moral and political obligations are dependent upon a contract or agreement (this is never formally discussed, you just assimilate into it, by virtue of your birth into that society) among them to form the society in which they live.  In the social contract, a  person living in a society has to obey laws in exchange for others in the same society to obey these laws. So just and equal men and women subject themselves to the convention of justice and the power (the state or the monarch) will dispense justice to those who break the law. 

          Thomas Hobbes, a latter day thinker, lived during the period of the English Civil War, from 1642 - 1648. The Monarchists then, preferred living under the authority of a monarch clashed with the Parliamentarians led by Oliver Cromwell. The present day USA is a breakaway faction of those Parliamentarians who fled to seek life anew in the New World. Hobbes rejects the early democratic view, that power ought to be shared between Parliament and the King.He also rejects Robert Filmer's view that the king's power and authority was invested in him by God (Judeo Christian) and such authority was absolute, no one could ever question the decision of the king. 

        The basis of political obligation lay in our obligation to obey God absolutely and through His divine investment in the King and / or Queen of the day. Then, according to this view, this political obligation is subsumed under religious obligation.

         That obligation has in the last several centuries had a major paradigm shift  with the numerous revolutions, the French Revolution being the most celebrated. While living under a sovereign (in the past) can be harsh, with the sovereign having the authority for the execution of the contract to be successful, it was better than anarchy and having people follow the universal laws of human nature. This State of Nature states that human beings are selfish and motivated their better our own situations and satisfy as many of their own (family and tribal groups) individually considered desires  as possible. So self interest (at the expense of others) is the main driving factor of each human individual. As these will ultimately result in conflict (living in close proximity as in society), a human being living in a society will have to give up or subjugate some of his desires as with other individuals in that society for safety and fairness, in short, justice for all.

       A good example of the State of Nature is exemplified in the hit TV series "the Walking Dead" where rival groups of human beings survive the nuclear holocaust and have to make "rules" and fight against other groups in a sordid post apocalyptic world with 'zombies' as backdrops. 

       Thomas Hobbes believed that the State of Nature would be very brutal and given the nature of man to be first and foremost naturally and exclusively self interested, man is more or less equal to one another. Given the limited resources each person has or accumulates in a group, there is no power able to force men (and women) to cooperate. However, as men (and women) have the ability to reason, empathise and rationalise, a reasonable conclusion is that over time, man has decided to submit himself to a higher, political, authority who would oversee the state of society.   

      

Houses of Parliament and the Thames River

     So what does President Trump want to do ? According to his chief strategist Dr. Stephen Bannon, the Crito Contract has been changed in the last few decades for the American peoples. I disagree. It has nothing to do with the Crito contract. In essence, it should be redressing the economic imbalance between the haves and the have-nots in society to create a fairer, more just a society. 

International Business - Fly, Drive, Train and Boat

On the road in Thailand

     We live in the 21st century, lets not forget that. The world is globalised, people are moving from continent to continent, through many time zones in the same day. We are eating practically the same foods (Steak, Sushi, Indian, Chinese, Italian, Korean you name it, major cities all have them), we talk the same languange of business and possibly leisure (many people speak second, third and even four languages fluently). So, it is the age of Internationalization of the mind, the inter-connectedness of the world at large (OK, China has blocked Google, FB and Whatsapp) and the flying road warrior. You cannot email a handshake, you can't pat his back on a job well done, you need to see their limited space for their a)equipment b) server c) layout.  

     In short, the selling process is still a 'person to person' interaction. People 'buy' people. They want to see, feel, shake the hand of the man who will 'sell them the dream'. To smell the same air... ok, I will stop there.

   When we do international business, we need to use the existing infrastructure of the country / territory we visit ; in this case, Thailand. Its accessibility is very easy, so is its ease of doing business. I have been too often dependent on the local representatives to get around the country. In fact, the Mass Rapid Transit is so convenient, anybody can access it from the Suvanabhum airport to the major capital Bangkok. All major cities, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul, Taipei, Bangkok, Shanghai (and many first tier Chinese cities) have that connectivity all setup.

    I have only started to use the Bangkok system and it is so efficient. So, a typical day for me is to fly in to the airport, hit the ground running, and visiting customers and being dropped off at the MTR or BTS station for me to take to the hotel. Sometimes, I take the boat to my hotel if it is beside the Chao Phya river.

The BTS line and the Airport Line 

Hence, Fly, Train, Drive and Boat ; Four efficient modes of transport in this City of Angels.