This is another attempt by me, no not to fish for compliments, but a way of keeping a record of my slow progress to fitness. A 7 km run at ECP with an average time of 6 : 54 per km. I aim to run 60 km per week by June and lower my weight to a much more manageable weight of 72 kg.
For the sake of my health, I will dilligently record each and every run for posterity. The Blog is the perfect way to see the progress or degress,
This issue has taken front page in Singapore. The issue was always and will always be a hot-button one. After the second world war, Singapore emerged from the ruins of Japanese occupation a backwater. Gone was the image (only) of the British Pearl of the Orient. The British was so pathetic in defending Singapore that many locals had lost their faith in the Western Powers and the ferment of self governance was taking place. When the first Chief Minister David Marshall, then followed by PM Lim Yew Hock, change was underway for the British to move out their defence forces and their influence waned. Singapore is now 53 years, since the ruling PAP has come in, Singapore has developed and progressed tremendously, however at some costs. The modern Singapore offers a quality of life on par, if not better, with the best cities in the world. The 2nd and even 3rd generations of Singaporeans are facing a life where things are so smooth and well taken care of. The HDB public housing where 80% of the population now lives is in many respects equivalent to condominiums in many other countries in Asia. Personal Safety is the envy of the Western world. Many Western expats love to come to Singapore for its moderate climate, wide variety of excellent foods and - safety. We have none (thank God for that) of the nonsense and chaos which fills the screens every week in many cities across the US and even Western Europe. Our schools are amongst the best in the world (the NUS is ranked the top Asian University), our dual language system is also admired and copied all over the world. Racial and religious harmony is also excellent, thanks to the wisdom and foresight of the founding fathers of Singapore, so that the sight of multi- cultural dating or marriages hardly makes news anymore.
Barcelona One major problem (amongst many others) emerging is the gap between the rich and poor has never been so apparent. Children and grandchildren of fabulously wealthy and moderately wealthy parents have never had to slog a day in their lives. The sense of entitlement and the gap between the haves and the have nots is ever increasing. There have never been more rich and entitled children and the gap is every widening. The difference between the incomes earned by the rich and poor nowadays is estimated to be in the 000s ; say a super wealthy real estate developer or lawyer easily earns in excess of $5 million. Compared with the bottom 10% whose earning is say $24,000 that represents over 200 x. I am not even comparing the newly rich (nouveau riche) who migrate here with their billions and live in Sentosa.
Vermouth and Tapas In the 60s and 70s, the top earner (say school principal or top lawyer) would earn about $36,000 per annum. The lowest wage earner earned about S$ 1500 (S$125 per month). So the quantum is in the tens (in this case 24 x). My point ? Social problems and class envy will arise. Last time in the 60s and 70s, we were all more or less equally poor. Hardly anybody travlled out of Singapore let alone on business class to Europe or Iceland (as an example). Nowadays, there are alot more people (visible thanks to Facebook) who travel to all the far flung corners of the world and a lot more who have no money to afford 3 meals a day. It is indeed a very wide gap.
How the effects will be manifested will be displayed in the news. How the government is going to tackle that is also another cause for concern.
I heard the shocking news that the DJ Tim Bergling, better known by his stage name of Avicii, passed away yesterday at the age of 28 in Oman. He had battled pancreatitis and other drink related illnesses before his passing. So tragic that a young and talented individual had passed on so early on his life. The song by Mike Posner (I took a pill in Ibiza) which was dedicated to Aviici in the lyrics "I took a pill in Ibiza, to show Avicii I was cool..." well Mr. Cool just became immortalized in the annals of the Great DJs at the tender age of 28 ; he joins the plethora of very young talents who died way too young. Among them are James Dean, Steve McQueen,Aliya, Prince,Michael Jackson,Patrick Swayzee,Christina Perri, Duncan Edwards (Man U footballer) and the whole host of rock stars who messed up their lives in the 60s and 70s such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, the Doors lead singer Jim Morrisey, and Bob Marley (cancer). Latter day music heroes who died young are Nirvana's Kurt Cobain (drug overdose) and the Script's lead singer.
With Wolves comfortably leading Botton 2 - 0 at half-time, I can say that after today's match Wolves are the Championship Champions ; and after 6 long years in the 2nd tier and almost in my lifetime of poor performances, I am delighted to finally support a 'major' team.
True, they have only 2 league cups success,one in 1974 and 1980. This time round, they have a team of true talent and top class coach in Nuno Esperito Santos. In Reuben Neves, they have a world class midfielder.
My predictions for Wolves (though it is immaterial now just more for the dreamers) is that after today's match, they would have 98 points with 2 more games to go and I believe they should win both matches - and possibly tryout some reserves - and end up in triple figures.
Will they get 104 points ? Its purely speculation, but again 2 teams who are 5th from bottom and bottom respectively they should get at least 4 points if not 6. My mind says 6, so they should end the season with 104 points ;
Congratulations to the Championship Champions from a happy fan 4000 + km away !
The story of Singapore's success the last 50 odd years is undoubted. From a Third World small port to (once) the world's busiet port, now we have the best airport in the world, 2 integrated resorts hosting world class casinos and per capita GDP of US$ 75,000 within the top 10 worldwide. Not bad at all for a country with no natural resources led only by an exceptional leader for 30 odd years and with one party rule, the PAP with token opposition. Where once our Singapore efficiency and meritocracy, clean environment, rule of law and emphasis on productivity has been touted as a model for many emerging new countries, we have somewhat lost that massive lead in terms of the above to the neighbouring countries and China has not only followed the Singapore style of management, but built up its own core competencies with much more financial backing and adaptation that China is now leading the way in helping many other countries develop their cities, ports, airports and train systems. Singapore on the other hand has been slowly losing its competitive advantages and now we are really in need of finding new ways to make us relevant. In these disruptive times, being orderly, or having a nice airport, Sentosa island, Night Safari or lovely zoo just doesn't make our country an attractive place to visit (perhaps just once). There are far more (and cheaper) exotic places with much more beautiful beaches, resorts, varied zoos, beautiful scenery, many new foods to try etc. When we once were a shopping paradise, Singapore has been overtaken by many bigger shopping metropolises in the region, from Shanghai, Bangkok, Shenzhen and Hong Kong to name but a few. Our service standards are pretty poor by comparison to many Western First World countries while prices of our goods from branded names are practically the same - with the exception of Hong Kong which does not have GST compared to our 7%. So we are no longer a shopper's paradise. Tourism - well you visit once, and thats about it. Spend 4 days here, visit Sentosa, Zoo, Night Safari, Bird Park, Singapore River and take a dip (yes its that small) on the 57th floor of the Marina Bay Resorts and you can say you have done it all in Singapore. Compare us to Thailand, visit Bangkok for 1 week, see the temples, Victory Monument, the floating market, the snake show, the Chatuchak market, Ma Bun Krung cheap fake market, Chinatown, the Patpong red light area, the tons of nighspots and cheap and good thai massages etc and that is ONLY Bangkok. You need another week in Pattaya, possibly 4 days in Phuket, and 1 week in Chiangmai and 1 week in Hua HIn. You get my point that any visitor will come several times to fully visit all of the country.
Clean and Green City - yes, we have this distinction and still are the best in the region. Airport : Changi International has consistently won the title "World's Best Airport" from Skytrax for 6 consecutive years ; with Terminal 4 winning my vote for being super efficient, fast and futuristic (lots of computer games, on line boarding pass, immigration), it wins my vote HANDS DOWN ; but its only a gateway into / away from our country. Singapore Airlines : Another 1st in the world ; no small feat for a small country but we are world's best. Integrated Resorts - Well, unless you like to gamble, there are 2 but Macau is the leader by far in this field, and now many others have followed suit, Jeju island and numerous small ones along the border between Thailand and Vietnam. So Genting up north, to Star Casino in Perth and Crown Casino is Melbourne, the gambler is spoilt for choice. Banking Industry - Yes, we are still up and coming in the wake of Brexit but, its not been the same for banks since the last Financial Crisis, meaning there is alot more uncertainty in the world with rising debt levels and massive untamed debt in US, Japan , UK and possibly China causing the rise of alternative forms of currency such as cryptocurrency and blockchains but that requires far less infrastructure such as banks and all the supporting services. Manufacturing - this is almost gone. We have a miniscule amount of manufacturing in Singapore with only token semiconductor companies and several biomedical and pharmaceutical companies and that is about it. 30 years ago we had disk drive industry employing possibly 200,000 people or more (supporting industry), that industry is gone with the wind and so have the jobs. Many other lower end manufacturing have all gone away and / or died.
Moving upscale has been very very tough and there are only small R and D operations employing perhaps a few hundred staff at best. Oil and Gas - another dead in the water industry. Look at the price of oil per barrel nowadays, probably 30% of its top price. So, the industry looks to be in sunset mode. Port - well there is the One Belt and Road from China, which effectively will mean that there is an overland route from the Factory of the World to the West. No need to come via sea and Singapore. So where does the future leave for us ?? We as a country and especially our leaders, need a new, clear direction to move forward.
I am all fired up to get back into shape for this year. The year my boyhood team Wolves made it to the Premier league with the best assembled team for at least 40 years. So the success factors which the team coach, Nuno Esperito Santos has been spouting all along and I will follow religiously are :
a) Self Discipline b) Focus c) Character - based on strong values and determination d) Teamwork e) Luck f) Get out while the going is still good. (I made that up but I think it is so relevant)
All these are the critical success which I will take on for the rest of my life. It is crystal clear what is expected. Carpe Diem
