The Soft Power List - South China Morning Post

During my recent trip to Hong Kong, I read a very interesting article about the Soft Power List from the South China Morning Post ; we all know about Hard Power which is based on GDP per capita,,military strength and trade balances. Soft Power has in the last 16 years, at least from the turn of the century (2001 being the actual 1st year of the new millenium), made its impact on the world we live and how we view each other's countries.

The various categories in which the Portland Communications derives the ranking (their is no mention of the weightage attributed to each category) are :

a) Government - this I would take it as how well run the country is ; the rule of law and
    the adherence to a basic common civil code amongst its citizens. I agree Singapore's law,     order, and civil society scores our country very highly in this category. 

b)  Culture - I would question as to how much weight is given to this attribute, as a small and still young country like Singapore only has 52 years of existence and hence, a very naturally shallow depth of works in the arts.  A country like South Korea with its recent emergence and global popularity of KPop and Korean movies would score very highly in this area.However, it is ranked below Singapore in the Global Soft Power List coming in at 21 compared to Singapore's 20. 

c) Education : This is very crucial attribute or category. Many Western countries admire the rote learning of the Eastern Asian and South Asian countries but the criticism about too much rote kills creativity and freedom of expression and independent thought, which is crucial for today's leaders. Singapore's scholars have known to excel in achieving top marks from the best Universities, but  when entering into the working world, which is most probably the civil service, end up doing very well, but no one would challenge the status quo. 

    Groupthink  while good for incremental change would be detrimental if that organization just plodded along with all its scholars and 'yes men' just pushing the KPIs mindlessly set for them by the upper management. Its a recipe of mediocrity in the long term. 

d) Enterprise : I would rename that as Entrenpreneurship Creation would be an even better category  name

   When a country creates a flood of new wave of business models from mavericks such as Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin, Elon Musk, Jack Ma, Stan Shi and Kobayashi (Softbank) it enhances its image very much in influencing the way people interact, dress, purchase things and invest. This is definitely soft power.  Singapore only had one or two top rated entrepreneurs in Sim Wong Hoo (Creative Tech) and Olivia Lam (Hyflux). 

   Steve Jobs most famously said in the '80s : "forget what people think, I will tell them what they want".    He as a mega brand ambassador created "wants" for millions of people such as the Mac, Mac II, IPhone, IPad.   Soft Power ?  Very much so. US (then)  - Yes. 

e) Engagement : this I would take it as political and how well connected and engaged each country is to the rest of the world. As a city state, Singapore does punch above its weight class, however, our leaders need to take a recalibration of our 'reach' as our founding fathers have left the scene permanently and the new world order is quite unsettled.

    US has pulled out of the Paris Climate Pact, and TPP. So there are new leaders on their up the Soft Power list namely China, Germany and France. It would be good for us to forge warm ties with the new Head Prefects so to speak.

f) Digital : this is the most disruptive attribute of all. Every month, new normals are coming into the field of play on our smartphones to change the way we interact with people, choose friends, communicate, send messages, book flights, spa packages, fashion,movie screenings the list is expanding at a dizzying rate. 

   Countries which embrace the digital platforms risk losing precious security aspects,personal data and a whole myriad of people's private information on dining, drinking, working, driving, holidaying and playing can be assessed and more.

   So its a double edged sword. Choose wisely and tread carefully.

   The 6 attributes get reviewed each year ; its a fascinating read. Everyone else watches and follows what the top 30 does each year. 







   

Getting around Hong Kong inexpensively by MTR - world class system

          MTR system of Hong Kong ; 9 lines criss crossing Hong Kong Island and Kowloon 

      Fresh from a trip this last week, I would like to record my experiences on the MTR (Mass Transit Rail) system in Hong Kong. It is an excellent system, which is unlike Singapore's which is newer and still fraught with many breakdowns, delays and frustrated commuters due to the signalling and track faults. The MTR system when I was there worked perfectly.We can learn many lessons from how they run their train system. 

     The key services provided by the HK MTR system as a people mover are :

a) Quick arriving times of trains (on the average, the waiting time is only 1 - 2 minutes     during peak hours) 
b) Reliable train services 
c) Clean and fast moving station entry and exit gantries
d) Concise announcements and signs in both English, Mandarin and Cantonese

    While Singapore has all 4, 1 and 2 are at best a 'work in progress'. HK on the other hand has all 4 operating at the best levels of customer satisfaction.

    Getting around HK inexpensively was my objective, and there are 3 options from the airport if you don't have anyone picking you up.

a) Take the airport express train from airport - Tsing Yi - Kowloon - Central (HK)
b) Take the airport bus to Kowloon or Central station or even your hotel
c) Take a taxi

   I elected to go for a) and the Airport Express is an express train dedicated for airport passengers to and from Hong Kong and Kowloon. Fast, and very frequent, departing every 20 minutes. When I arrived on Monday evening, it was raining cats and dogs and I opted to buy the 3 days pass for HK$ 350 which included a $50 deposit returnable, and 2 airport express round trip (normally costs S$ 110), to save me the bother of buying multiple tickets within the island as well as mainland which normally costs $6 to $ 30 per trip. 

Ordinarily just to take the Airport Express to and from HK Central is HK$ 110 for the Airport Express, so the rest of the 3 days costs $350 - $50 (deposit) - $110 = S$ 190.
or roughly $60  (S$ 10 and US$ 6) per day. Good value, in my opinion.

Buy this pass at the arrival hall and take the train at B2 just below the arrival hall

   A taxi to the hotel on the island will normally cost HK$ 300 or more, so be prepared for the cost of that ; most cost effective is either the MTR Airport Express or the Airport Bus. 

   Since I arrived late in the afternoon or early evening, the Airport Express was very smooth and efficient, and I reached Central station within 30 minutes of boarding and 
another 30 minutes to the Tin Hau station where my hotel was. 

   The next 3 days, I used the card to move around HK with no hassles of needing to stop, queue and buy tickets, although I had to take a day trip into China, the 3 day pass was well worth it.

    Fast, efficient, smooth movement of people. That is HK MTR system from the numerous times I have been there.





   

I share somethings in common with Bruce Lee - and thats about it

Nov 27th 1940 ; DOB of Li Xiao Long aka Bruce Lee 

Bruce Lee aka Lee Xiao Long (small dragon) was born on 27th November 1940 ; I share the same birthdate as him. He passed away in 1973 at the very young age of 33 due to a brain aneurisym (bleeding of the brain) at his friend's house. As the icon of martial arts in the modern world, he had no peers. He published numerous books, (the Tao of Jeet Kun Do was his magnus opus), had 7 films (the last being the Way of the Dragon) and was involved in a hit TV show the Green Hornet as the super competent fighting side kick Kato.

His mother Grace Ho was half Caucasian, and so he was of mixed parentage ; so these 2 things I share with the great man, the same birthdate and mixed race parentage.

I am a martial artist no doubt inspired by him, but by no means anywhere as competent or as good as him in my craft. 15 years of perseverance, I am an assistant teacher in my dojo at the Tanglin Community Centre.

Thats about the only similarity with the great man which I share.  

One of my favourite quotes on the Human Concious Mind

Einstein was pretty sure about the infinite stupidity of humankind. 

        This is one of my favourite all time quotes on the human mind and its ability to not learn from past mistakes or not even put their brains into gear and use them for even 30 minutes a day. Science has shown that we use only 10% of our brains in the waking hours, and the rest is unused either to be kept 'for a rainy day' or never used at all.

       As I age, the mind becomes more at play, logic, music, physio kinetic, numerical and language aspects are being used on a day to day basis. Physical fitness which involves strength, balance, endurance and flexibility will ultimately diminish as I am experiencing.

      As a middle aged person, I avoid crowded places, I eschew noisy environments, smoke and queues. I treasure friendships, enjoy fine cuisine, like to travel, am passionate about my hobbies and like to think I live a balanced lifestyle. 

     I persevere at my work, and hopefully will make something worthwhile out of my brand of equipment in its small niche in the world.   

Ni Pai Po Shito Ryu Kata and Japanese explaination

Serendipitous Lunch near Tin Hou station, Hong Kong Island

Culinary Award for Shek Kee 

           Along Ngan Mok street very close to the Tin Hou MTR station is a small eatery, called Shek Kee. I chanced upon it last week when I had a lunch meeting with a long time friend Alvin Low who is based in Hong Kong.

      From exit A1, just head up the street and it is on the left hand side ; no outstanding displays of food exhibits, just a nondescript menu, some Michelin recommended food guide stickers and a bustling high turnover of eat and go patrons who typify the "sit, eat, chat and go" crowd from around the area.

Its within the circled area in the map 

        I do not pretend to be a foodie, not by any long shot, but I do enjoy good local food especially if its tasty, the ingredients are fresh and the four key elements of sight, smell, taste and touch are adequately satisfied.

       We entered this unpretentious place thanks firstly to the Club Lounge lady staff on the 29th floor of the hotel where I stayed, Metropark Causeway Bay, which is just 200 metres from the MTR station, in the gritty Tin Hou Hong Kong suburb. She pointed out this food Hub area just next to the station around Ngan Mok road where I could get cheap and good Tim Sum, Thai and other International delights at a fraction of the costs at Central or Tsim Sha Tsui areas where rents are so much higher.

     

 Briased Beef with Tomato Sauce and Rice 

             Be warned, English speakers and writers, the menus are all in Chinese, with a smattering of English posters only at the entrance, so its more like asking the waitress who has an attitude when you ask her to recommend, she will retort  "everything here is nice" . So either point and hope for the best, or (like me) resort to my lousy Chinese and look out for 'key words' like 'niu rou' (beef), 'ju rou' (chicken) or 'yu (fish) and then see what the establishment serves you.     

          Cut a long story short, by the time we reached there, the place was full, so be prepared to share a table, like we did, with a tourist from Europe. I believe that the Michelin guide is useful for both people from the Eastern part of the world to sample fine cuisine in the capitals of Europe and vice versa, Western tourists come and sample good fare in Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai and Tokyo for example as the Michelin guide generally is a good review of quality food. 

         

Vegetable Soup

 

      My braised beef was very tender and flavourful though I would have liked some spice into the dish, I believe Hong Kongers do not take too well to spicy food, judging from the food I have tasted every single time I have been there. The vegetable soup was good using fresh vegetables and I had a 'ying yong' drink or mixed coffee and tea concoction which is a signature drink in Hong Kong. You can either have it in cold (with ice) or hot version like your normal beverage.

     My verdict, well the place was 90% patronised by locals, many working class folk judging from their attire. The food was good and the price was amazingly affordable ('duh') ; I remember the bill for the 2 of us came to HK$ 98 or S$ 18 (USD 13) for 2 which is quite unbelievable for an air conditioned cafe,  passable service and above average food.

     Will I return ? Certainly. But only If I stay near the same locale when I am next in Hong Kong island.

     Will I actually make a food trip specially to visit to eat ? No. There are so many other types of great food in Hong Kong, I would be doing a disservice to my taste buds if I neglected trying out the other food types  during my short trips.

  

     

Fewer Birthdays Left so Treasure each one

Water-colour painting gift from Mr. Chia Kwek Fah  

            Last year I had a grand surprise when my karate instructor, Mr. Chia Kwek Fah had a surprise birthday party for me after my Sunday training class in November. As it was attended by about 20 odd trainees, I was very touched and humbled that he and the other karatekas had remembered my birthday. I have been training at the Tanglin CC dojo (class_ since June 2002, or 15 years. My attendance has been pretty regular, and although age is catching up with me, I patricipate in 95 to 100% of the intensive exercise and sparring. 

            He presented me with his water-colour painting of a rose, as well as 4 first day covers of stamps from his secondary school Bukit Batok Secondary which the school had commissioned him to paint for their 150th anniversary. We had a cake, the obligatory birthday song and some drinks. I was overwhelmed and grateful to say the least. 

       Bukit Batok Secondary School First Day Cover Stamps commemorating 150 years 

           I do not want to 'fish for compliments' I am comfortable within my own skin and whatever I have done in this life is not for me to judge, if anyone is. If people appreciate me for what I have done for them, then good for them, if not, it does not matter. Some friends, business partners and even relatives I have crossed swords and do not want to meet again. Most times I never take the matter personally as those incidences are in the course of business, and my standpoint is based on a value of fairness in business practice - it has to be going both ways, so there must be a give and take.  

          I do not bully (intellectually or morally) people, it is not a trait of mine. 

          There remain few birthdays in my life, so each passing year, I must make the point to reach ever higher and never settle for anything less.