Author: CheckW

Time flies and it has almost been a year into COVID19 since I started my weekly blog with a count down 51 weeks ago.

It seems so long ago when we were in the old normal, travelling for vacations and taking frequent flights everywhere. No one a year ago would have believed me if I had told them the whole world will go into a lockdown to stop this invisible enemy from spreading, that mask-wearing is compulsory and social distancing is expected.

Everyone on earth had gone through some form of home confinement within their homes or hotel quarantines for weeks and months. Some countries have even done this a few times as the second, third waves hit us while the virus had also mutated into more contagious strains. The situation was compounded by a number of world leaders who were slow to react or even tried to deny that the virus was deadly. The months of advance notice which could have been used to prepare and prevent the spread was sadly wasted.

It was every country for itself as there was initial chaos. No one had the right formula or procedure to contain the virus and it was all trial and error while thousands die. The whole world finally decided to focus on the development of a vaccine as a long term solution. The rush towards a vaccine resulted in more than 100+ independent groups working frantically to get a successful result.

We finally had vaccine successes late into the year. The biggest vaccination rollout program the world has ever seen has started into the new year. Many have adopted the strategy of giving it to the front line staff and the elderly first. It seems that richer countries have the advantage of money politics to secure supplies ahead of others.

I am very thankful that the S’pore authorities were proactive in negotiating and securing vaccine supplies early in the game during the development stage. They had hedged their bets by placing advance orders on the most likely successful ones, ahead of most developed countries. S’pore is now slowly rolling out the vaccination program since Jan. We have the luxury of a stable and safe environment to hand out the vaccines slowly, unlike the Western world where the urgency to stop the runaway viral spread in the community is high.

The timeline to get enough people vaccinated to achieve herd immunity seems possible by year-end. Travel could start on a limited scale by mid-year with the issuance of immunity passports. There is yet still not enough data to determine how long the vaccines can immunize the individual taking it and if they protect the person from the newer strains. While those that had the virus before are also encouraged to take the vaccine, will they still be contagious? There are still many unknowns that we have not figured out yet.

We are now less than 2 months into the new and hopefully brighter new year and much had already happened. There was the 06 Jan storming of the Capitol and finally a sense of normalcy as Biden takes over on 20 Jan. The quick trial to impeach the former president is over with the predictable acquittal end result as getting a two-thirds majority could never have been achieved without bipartisan support. Meanwhile, Biden has been moving fast to address the pandemic chaos and undo/reverse the damage done over the last 4 years.

Then we had the Myanmar military coup on 01 Feb. It made our microfinance business even harder as the situation changes day by day. The civil disobedience movement is spreading and the youths are determined to make sure that their voices are heard. The military’s show of force is all around the country and its patience may be wearing thin. It looks like a powder keg that is waiting to explode any time soon.

I hope that violence can be avoided at all cost. The opening up of Myanmar in 2011 after more than 50 years of isolation can go south very fast. I do not think that its citizens want to go back to those dark times again. With the internet and mobile phones, it is not possible to keep a country with a population of 55 million quiet again. I pray that this will end peacefully instead of violence.

I will begin my next phase of lifelong learning next week as I embark on a 6 months online course from IBM to learn about AI (Artificial Intelligence). It is part of the SGUnited initiative to convert mid-career participants to a new field. Hopefully, we can use our past work experience to pivot to this new and exciting career. https://webibmcourse.mybluemix.net/SGUnitedProgramme.

It’s unbelievable that we have already been in the brave new world for 51 weeks. It seems like it has been a long time and we have forgotten what the old norm is like. 2021 should be much better than in 2020. The light at the end of the tunnel can be seen now. The question is: How far are we from the light now and how long will it take?

It has been an unusual CNY (Chines New Year) festive celebration in these Covid19 times. We have been a year into the first lockdown and the world is still grappling with changes in the new normal as the vaccine rollout slowly gains momentum.

Here in our country, the situation has been much better than in most other places as the authorities have been successful in preventing new waves from overwhelming the systems via proactive contact tracing and compulsory mask-wearing. The size of a group gathering has been slowly relaxed since last July to 8 persons now. The fear of CNY visitations causing another wave has meant that tighter restrictions on reunion dinners and social gathering at homes needed to be adopted.

While we had to follow these new rulings since 26 Jan, our family decided to adjust accordingly. As we have more than 8 persons for our reunion dinner, the wife suggested that we split the dinner into 2 groups to be held in 2 separate households. All the adults went to my parents’ apartment while the kids gathered at my place. We used our iPads to FaceTime both groups to do a realtime interactive Loh Hei and steamboat dinner. It turned out to be quite successful and we enjoyed the unique planning required to make this annual event happen.

Today is day 2 of CNY and all households are allowed only 8 visitors per day. There goes the multiple family visits which we are used to every year. We all had to work around the situation and prepare timetables for each of the next 14 days of CNY. Most of us decided to do visits before the start of the CNY holidays too. We settled on more intimate small gatherings to spend better quality time together with the various important people in our lives due to this constraint.

I realized that all of us have not had the chance to have many late nights now as nightspots have been totally closed and restaurants cannot operate beyond 1030 pm. The air smells fresher nowadays as there is less pollution from commercial airlines and transportation. The swing to extreme cold weather may be Mother Gaia’s response to grasping the opportunity to repair itself for the past 12 months. Most people are getting used to the long periods of time spent at home and mindful of new ways to get things done while having more quality family time.

After the Myanmar military coup last week, we had the 2nd Trump impeachment trial to keep us occupied. The evidence provided by the prosecutors were very compelling, giving moment by moment breakdown of what happened on the fateful day of 06 Jan at the Capitol.

It was obvious that he had been inciting the protestors for months on the big lie that the elections were stolen and inviting them to come down on that date to show their displeasure by storming the House. Thankful, it went the way it did with minimal casualties due to a few lucky decisions which prevented face to face confrontations of the mob with the senators which could have ended with many more hurt or killed.

The GOP seems to be imploding into itself again as they put party before country and aim to acquit the orange one by not voting with the Democrats even after this trial. He couldn’t even hire decent lawyers to put up a credible defence as most better ones turned him down when approached. It could also be that he is confident that there will not be enough votes to acquit him. Instead of the 16 hours of time they were given, they did it in 3 hours on Fri. The sloppy presentation was a laughing stock and embarrassing to watch.

There are now still so many in the GOP who still refuse to acknowledge the facts being presented and insist that it is not constitutional to impeach an ex-president. They have effectively condoned his actions and given future presidents a free pass to commit mayhem into the final weeks of their presidency. Is it not clear enough that he had thrown the whole senate under the bus by sending an aggressive mob towards them and not lifting a finger for hours to stop the danger that was storming the Capitol?

It seems like there are less than 30% of GOP members that can identify with the old values of the party nowadays. The radical right is now dominating it and most of the senators need to cultivate this group in order to stay in power. But many members have also quit the party in disgust, giving more voice to the kooks who believe in conspiracies more than facts. Some senators are finally standing up now to agree with the impeachment process but it may be too late. A group of 120 ex and current GOP members had a call recently to decide if they want to break away and form a new 3rd party instead.

The demise of the GOP is looking to be upon us soon. If they do not cut away the cancer that the orange one is promoting, they can never get back to the conservative ways which they stand for, to be replaced by hate and radical views that are not the norm nor what America represents. The disorganized party is now battling with calling truth lies and lies becoming truth. This basic inability to differentiate lies and truth questions the moral authority of the GOP to become a credible party in the future.

Things will surely come to a head very soon as this combustible and toxic environment cannot go on forever. It seems like a trend that Republican presidents tend to blow up the economy (ie. Bush in 2008 GFC and now Trump in 2020) in time for the Democrat president to clean up the mess (Obama and Biden). The American political pendulum continues to swing from right to left and then back again all the time. Freedom of choice over stability. Is the definition of Democracy the right to burn down the house periodically in order to build a new house and is it such a good thing after all?

The week started off with a bang, literally.

Early Monday morning, news flashes started appearing that the Myanmar military had taken the ruling members into custody and have placed them under house arrest. This was the same day where the new parliament was supposed to be sworn into power after NLD’s landslide victory in last Nov’s general elections.

As an aside, I have come to know Myanmar better over the last 7 years since I started to visit the country for work in 2014. My old private equity company had started a joint venture with a local business group to build a new microfinance firm from the ground up.

The country had just started to open up after having closed itself to the rest of the world for 50+ years after the last military coup in 1962. Not much was known about the country for many years until it opened up to prepare for the first general elections in Nov 2015. Some said that the junta was forced to open up as the US had threatened to freeze all their funds that were held in S’pore if they do not hold democratic elections.

My relationship with the country continued into 2016 as I visited them a few times and marvelled at how fast the country was growing and modernizing in the first few years. It was a rapid catch up to the modern age as the people realized how big the outside world has become and they had their first taste of consumerism.

I remember watching the late Anthony Bourdain’s first season and episode 1 of Parts Unknown which was about Myanmar. They were so closed to the outside world that most were basically scrapping through used vehicle parts imported from neighbouring countries to adapt to their automobile needs. Food was scarce and most were living from hand to mouth. A merry-go-round in Yangon shocked Anthony as it had no engine but was kick-started by a few men pulling the frame manually to create the momentum to make it go around… I should watch the episode again to see how much things have changed since then.

Intro to Parts Unknown S01E01 Myanmar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrSULRKOUdU

The full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L8ZY0-E4Ho

I left the company in Apr 2016 and lost touch with the country for a while, until Jan 2018 where I joined an ex-colleague who had become the CEO of a local MFI to become a Treasury consultant. It was focused on providing loans to farmers and I had to travel to Yangon monthly. This helped me to develop a new and deeper understanding of the country.

I remember my first trip there around 2014/15. The beat-up old car that was supposed to pick me up at the airport broke down halfway to the office and I had to hail a cab instead. Traffic was super bad with jams along the old roads and multiple very old cars honking around us. There was limited hotels available then and the few that were offered charged almost USD300 per night. The standards were pretty bad for that price but foreigners were flooding the city as it started to open up again after 50 over years of self-isolation.

Cut to Jan 2018 until my last monthly trip there in Feb 2020. Over the more than 20+ trips there where I spent a few days in Yangon every month, I saw first hand the transformation of the country as it modernizes and caught up with the modern world. Everyone now has a mobile phone and internet access to most means a Facebook account. I had developed strong relationships with the people of the senior team and also had numerous lovely meals in the new restaurants popping up all over the city while observing the changing landscape of the country.

It is a lovely place with very kind people who were getting used to no more secret police watching over your shoulders nor having to think about where your next meal is going to come from, to a generation of people hungry to succeed in life. Most of the over 50s were unable or were too late to make the transition but those below 50 were all trying to make up for the lost time, career-wise. Probably motivated by the Lady leader, I see around me mainly women that were striving to get more education, learn to communicate in English. They were generally more hungry to learn than the local men.

Alas, this week the world came crashing down for the country when the military coup happened. It was a reality check for everyone who thought that this possibility was too remote after 2 democratic elections. The main NLD party had just won a landslide victory in Nov and now the military had done a Trump on the whole country.

There were seething tensions and undercurrents between the NLD leadership and the junta for a while before it exploded to the surface on Monday. The military was disappointed that its claims of voter fraud were not seriously looked into. That was the main reason given.

But I suspect that they and the business community were unhappy with the progress of the country under NLD to date. It was like one step forward and 2 steps back approach for the last 5 years. The NLD’s senior management was mainly staffed with people who were absolutely loyal to the Lady and had been jailed together with her previously. There were hardly any qualified technocrats in the parliament who can help drive the huge potential which Myanmar had to offer. It was unlike the time just before the military handed power over to the NLD in 2015. During that time, there were swift reforms and changes made by technocrats appointed by the military to prepare the country to open up to the world.

All the telecommunication providers were told to shut down on Monday for half a day and it was radio silence throughout the country during the coup. Things became better on day 2 as bank ATMs started to operate. But the tension is rising into the weekend and mobiles went silent again yesterday. The situation is still evolving and I feel for the people of Myanmar as they go through this uncertain period in the midst of the COVID19 pandemic.

On the personal front, I strongly believe that when a door closes behind you, many other doors will open in front of you. The retail business that I was planning to start late last year did not happen for various reasons. I did my 2021 New Year Resolutions and wondering what I should be doing for the rest of the year, given that the virus and vaccination process will probably extend into the rest of the year and that we will likely be confined to our countries for a little longer. I received good news in Jan that I was accepted to the IBM AI (Artificial Intelligence) course to become a full time student. This heavily subsidized course by the government will occupy me for the next 6 months and even provide me with a student allowance while I study.

https://webibmcourse.mybluemix.net/SGUnitedProgramme

The Chinese New Year CNY period is about to begin. Lotsa reunion dinners and eating to start, albeit in a more subdued fashion with many restrictions, given the virus situation. We should count our blessings and be glad that we have things under better control than most of the other countries in the world. What we can do now is more than what a lot of other people outside S’pore can safely do as the rush is on to get the vaccines out to all to achieve herd immunity.

It has already been a year into the pandemic. Mother Gaia is healing itself, people are living a healthy lifestyle with no late nights and partying as all nightlife is closed. Everyone should emerge from this episode stronger than before and not take simple things in our lives for granted.

What an epic week it has been, as much was written about a particular war that was taking place in cyberspace where billions of $$ were being wagered by 2 opposing teams.

David took on Goliath and slugged it out on the Robinhood trading platform via WallStreetBets sub-Reddit. The difference cannot be more extreme. The “ants” of numerous retail investors versus the armies of hedge funds with deep pockets fought a daily battle over one stock: GameStop got Game Stonk’ed.

Anger is now the new investment emotion taking over the traditional Greed and Fear drivers. A revolution has been set up. Objective: Sweet revenge against the evil financial empire that was responsible for the 2008 GFC where no evil bankers were punished with jail time and all were bailed out by the central banks.

It was the rise of Robinhood traders in these COVID19 times. Thanks to technology and the novel way of providing free trades to the retail sector, many that were stuck at home with much time to kill turned their laser focus attention to a single cause – to punish the fat cats who have been taking the common people for a ride for so many years.

The GameStop fight was also a very smart trading strategy that took a few months to be developed before all the stars started to align themselves to trigger the great big war this week. https://www.wsj.com/articles/keith-gill-drove-the-gamestop-reddit-mania-he-talked-to-the-journal-11611931696

Short only hedge funds have been the villains of the markets that even Elon Musk hated. He eventually crushed the Tesla shorts totally. Such funds tend to crowd around the same ideas to muscle into a company, pressuring them to their knees in the name of corporate activism. In the process, they make tons of money.

Some like Muddy Waters call out the frauds – Chinese names which were doing fanciful financial accounting. Others shorted the investment banks in the 2008 GFC and brought down Bear Stearns, Lehman and Merrill Lynch. But is it right to create short positions that are more than 5 times of the available stock? It sets a ripe situation to engineer a short squeeze, which was what the Robinhood masses did to the funds with great success.

While hedge funds do serve a function to make the market more efficient, there are others that do questionable actions to gang up against a company. They get into grey areas like insider trading info in order to get a successful kill. When caught, they are handed a big fine which they can easily afford, which will get them off the hook. Example: Steve Cohen and the $1.8 billion fine which inspired the Axel Rod character in the TV series Billions. Incidentally, these same names are also indirectly involved in the current GameStop mega battle too.

The politicians have also jumped onto the bandwagon when the platforms started to limit the buying behaviours of the Robinhood retail players, who cried murder and accusation of double standards. The stock had already shot up like a rocket into the stratosphere, mortally wounding hedge funds like Melvin Capital. The Robinhood CEO explained that it was a necessary action as the increased volatility and more buying actions meant that they had to borrow and stump up much more collateral to post in the exchanges. Hence the justification to slow down the buying frenzy.

And into the week, the GameStop stock price jumped one day to fall the next before the retail hordes came back again to pump the price back up. This was like a DOTA game where winning was everything and making lotsa money the by-product. It was the conviction and the belief in the cause that mattered most. The Battle Royale was fought in real-time and both sides refused to blink while the GameStop senior management was sidelined, unable to do anything and looking totally helpless as things got out of control.

We all know how this is going to end though. If we follow the fundamentals of the company, it will not in its wildest dreams, be able to fulfil the current price valuation. In the long term, it is likely to collapse in price. But in the short term, it seems like newer and higher price records will be broken as the hedge funds continue to be pushed out of their short positions.

Like BLM, the masses are saying that they have enough of being ripped off by Wall Street and that it is time to fight back. The anger and a newfound ability that each and every individual’s action can collectively tip the iceberg into their favour is a powerful adrenaline rush for them. Using short-dated options and various leverage methods, their small capital can be amplified multiple folds to combat against the might of the giant hedge funds. The rallying cry via memes: to hold the ground and be a diamond rocket. To never sell but to buy more. It becomes a cultish act for the greater good, profit be damned. Will many be eventually burned by being the last to hold the hot potato when the avalanche of orders to exit happens?

This evolving epic war will continue into next week and no one can foresee the final outcome. I see a new pattern of more such similar fights to come in the future. The masses have been empowered and they are not going to take any more shit from the elites. If they see a noble cause worth defending, they will rally the troops and create an Avengers response to the Thanos hordes. Game on and suit up, people!!!

This week started with trepidation as US headed into the inauguration on Wed, 20 Jan.

After what happened on 06 Jan with the storming of the Capitol and more than 25,000 troops stationed there ahead of the swearing-in ceremony, there was a real fear that something bad would happen on the actual day. Would there be a final QAnon storm that will descent on DC? Will some crazy nut try to pull a violent stunt on the newly elected leader? These were very immediate concerns which the world was watching intently because of the 06 Jan fiasco by the security team.

Thankfully, nothing happened on 20 Jan and we had a short and abbreviated ceremony which signal a return to normalcy after 4 years of the orange menace. Boring and predictable is good. There was a nice 1 hour of inauguration events with singers, actors speeches and fireworks.

Biden gave a short speech and got down to work immediately to sign multiple presidential executive orders to correct the mess made by the previous team and to tackle the urgent issues on hand, like the pandemic. The uncoordinated approach to the vaccine rollout was also addressed.

I thought Obama had his hands full in 2008 when he had to take over the financial crisis but Biden’s tasks now are even more onerous – pandemic, climate change and a weakening economy. Leadership that was so sorely lacking over the past months had created a headless chicken administration where no one was home and the supreme leader was out playing golf.

It is a nice breath of fresh air to see Biden taking control and providing a top-down direction to a nation that is divided with hate and confusion. At the oath-taking for 1,000 political appointees, something he said caught my attention. “I’m not joking when I say this: If you ever work with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect, talk down to someone, I will fire you on the spot. No ifs, ands or buts.”.

That common sense of human decency that was totally missing from the last administration is finally returning. Their past actions constantly shocked us as people are humiliated and then thrown under the bus while his supporters cheered him on. We watched from outside America and wonder if it was the demise of American world leadership and that western democracy was crumbling. The hypocrisy was so rich it was vomit-inducing.

Biden immediately got down to work and within the last 2.5 workdays, he probably did more work than what the orange one accomplished in a long time. A lot of the toxic measures were also reversed. Building a wall and separating children from families is no more. Cruel actions for the sake of doing it should stop now. Science should triumph over falsehoods and lies. Even Fauci commented that it is so good to rely on scientific facts and speak the truth now. That if he doesn’t have the answer, he can say so honestly instead of trying to twist the truth to suit a political agenda.

Hopefully, the GOP comes around to non-partisan politics and push through an agenda that benefits all. But bad habits are hard to kick and Mitt is into his games again, trying to delay the process even though their house majority is no more. As more evidence emerges from the 06 Jan riots, I am sure the case for impeachment will become stronger.

There is so much to do now and so little time left. The urgency is very real as another 100,000 more in the US may die from the virus, according to projections. The world is not out of the woods yet. New waves have started and the newer strains are being detected everywhere, even as travelling had been restrictive. Asian countries including China are seeing new lockdowns as the virus creeps into the population again.

To date, about 56 million in the world have taken the vaccines so far. Some deaths have occurred for the older folks who took it. Some people are still fearful of possible side effects. But between prevention of death and getting long Covid, isn’t it better to just take the vaccine when your turn comes?

Vaccination is now being administered for the older generation and front line troops who are battling the virus in hospitality/service industries. My age groups turn should be coming soon. I have no hesitation about taking it. A return to normalcy is only possible with the vaccine and herd immunity. Future overseas travel will depend on if you have had the vaccine. No more 14 days quarantine.

The issues on hand now are as follows… We have no idea how long the vaccine can last and protect us. Is it 3, 6 or more months? Before we get vaccine herd immunity, will the people who took the first batch of the vaccine shots still be immune or do they need to take it again? There is also insufficient studies on asymptomatic cases. Can they still pass the virus to others and for how long? Newer waves are also being detected due to old infections and new virus mutations.

I strongly feel that we can see light at the end of the dark tunnel now. But the question is how far are we away from the finishing line? 6 months? 12 more months? There is still no certainty at the moment. But at least there is renewed hope that the worst is behind us, that things should get better from here, that 2021 would be so much brighter than 2020. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Woke (/ˈwoʊk/ WOHK) is a political term that originated in the United States, and it refers to a perceived awareness of issues that concern social justice and racial justice. The object of attention is then Cancelled, silenced online by the masses.

It finally happened. The social media took away the only superpower of the orange moron. Talking shit on Twitter to his millions of ardent supporters and using it as a bully pulpit as the most powerful person in the world for the last 4 years is no more.

Day in and day out, he has hoarded the news media with newer and newer lows on how not to act presidential, acknowledging that he was untouchable. His loyal acolytes blindly follow him. They provided him with a protective shield by threatening any opposition voices with bodily harm even as the lies become more ridiculous. Grown men reduced to snivelling idiots who defend his every action as they breath and believe his alternative reality, calling everything else that is against them fake news. We saw a lot of these hardcore fans last week at the Capitol riot.

Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Snapchat and even Google started to shut down his bull horn platforms within a week after the 06 Jan Capitol riots. They have deemed that he is too dangerous to allow to continue even as he has only days left to leave the office on 20 Jan. Corporate sponsors avoided and cancelled their links with him so fast as if they just came into contact with a pariah. He tried to use official White House social media sources as an alternative and was shut down immediately too.

And then he was silenced… His supporters lost their communication channel with their great leader. There was eerie quiet from a man that was muted by the tech companies overnight. His only superpower was taken away from him, like taking the favourite toy from a naughty toddler.

Are the supporters still going ahead with new violent acts into the 20 Jan inauguration event or will they become headless chickens that will fade into the darkness? Riots in all 50 states and threats to the members of parliament are still possible as the crazies are now being rounded up by the FBI after the fiasco at the Capitol. We see so many seemingly normal people and ex-military personnel being sucked into the QAnon conspiracy rabbit hole. Driven by hate and anger, fueled by more lies, no one knows what they are capable of doing with the ammunition they have accumulated.

It feels so surreal this week when we suddenly had no new tweets from the orange moron anymore. The only video of him to condemn the violence he had egged on was also not widely broadcast in most news network. And he still refuses to acknowledge that he lost the elections, continuing to perpetuate the “Stop the Steal” conspiracy to rally his troops to remain angry and frustrated with their government.

We have returned to the days where every other news is not about him or linked to him anymore. It felt unusual and disquieting to return to a normal time where general news was about more important things that matter, like the virus situation. America is not out of the woods yet. With a worsening pandemic situation caused by inaction and made worse by false conspiracy theories and politicized, Biden has a tough road ahead. Not only has he got much work ahead, but he has to also be wary of the mess he is left with and the need to clean it up. Personal safety and those within the Capitol is now also an important consideration as there are enemies within them who had facilitated the riots by the protestors.

Based on new information, it could have been an inside job where some senators may have provided the organizers with a personal tour of the Capitol for a recce mission prior to 06 Jan. Some Democrats like AOC were rightfully fearful for their lives on what the protestors had planned to do if they were successful in locating and capturing their targets.

This is what America has descended to now. No better than a third world country with violent insurrections and no will to control a pandemic while everything is being politicized for political gain. The irony is so rich as they continue to try to tell other countries what to do. “Do as I say, not as what I do”.

Their comments on supporting the 2019 HK rioters now look so laughable as it is exactly the opposite of what is happening to their Capitol now. The moral authority to lead the world has been badly wounded by the orange menace. The double standards they apply – the rest of the world has seen through them, thanks to the current administration. Using the might of the whole government to bully a corporation using a motherhood statement like state security without any concrete proof is so pathetic. Tiktok videos can do that? What about Youtube, Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram doing it to the rest of the world then?

The American social media platforms have suddenly woken up to the dangers they themselves pose into the new year. They had been ignoring the same threats which had been happening for years in many other countries where social media ecosystems have been used to push false narratives on citizens for political gain. We see that happening in Myanmar, India and the Philippines all the time and yet they did nothing. It’s all so hypocritical. And now the all-out push to cripple China’s tech advancement. Zero coherent strategies to punish, while executing punitive measures which don’t really make any sense at all.

It is only 2 weeks into 2021 and we have already seen so many things happening. It will shape the rest of the year as we figure out how we can navigate the pandemic. Vaccines are not a cure-all strategy. They do not last forever (3 months?) and without sufficient data, no one knows if asymptomatic cases can still spread the virus. More mutated versions also make it more complicated to address long term. Getting herd immunity is the best bet now but by the time we get there, which could be many months, will the people who had the shots early in the cycle still have the COVID19 immunity?

As we muddle through the rest of the year with 50 more weeks to go, I believe that it cannot get any worse than annus horribilis 2020. The coordination with the rest of the world should improve with the Biden administration, barring any other stupid actions form the Covidiot crowds. Stay safe and healthy my friends!

And the superpowers of the orange moron has finally been removed. Like a spoilt kid that was given too many liberties by the parents/enablers for the last 4 years, they have finally had enough of the “enfant terrible”.

Twitter, Facebook, Google and the rest of the social media platforms have finally permanently banned him from their platforms as they deemed that he is too dangerous for the public, even though he has less than 12 days left in the office. Talks of the 25th amendment to remove an existing president or a new impeachment run rampant online now. It is too little too late.

Talking about double standards… The US (via Pompeo) had protested on the recent arrest of HK protestors just before their Capitol house was stormed this week. The irony is so rich I really don’t know where to start. The hypocrisy and the “Do as I say, not as I do” attitude is so vomit-inducing. Social media platforms like Facebook had already done the same around the world – in Myanmar, India and the Philippines to kill and destroy opposition dissent via lies and falsehood for years. And yet they did nothing in the name of free speech. Now the rooster has come home to shit on the capital of western democracy.

US democracy had almost died this week and like a pendulum, it is likely to swing from the right to the left now. It is a sad day to see all his enablers now crying wolf and saying enough is enough, I told you so… Political means to an end overrode common sense and human decency for too long and should not go unpunished. He has already thrown all the protestors under the bus within 24 hours, after having incited and encouraged them to violence for weeks, right up to the morning itself into the rally to fire up the troops to march to the Capitol. Even the National Guards were prevented from supporting the Washington DC police leading up to 06 Jan by the orange one.

With the mass arrests that will happen soon, will the supporters eventually wake up to the biggest hoax they have been lied to? Fox tries to blame everything on suspected Antifa troops hiding in the crowds. Really? You have all of the protestors that are easily identifiable as they refused to wear masks in a pandemic. It is now up to the police to follow the trail, identify and arrest them. It reminded me of the S’pore Serangoon riots a few years ago where video evidence was used against the rioters, to eventually charges them with the full weight of the law. Let’s hope America develops a spine and grow a pair of balls now.

And now to my 2021 New Year Resolutions which I have been thinking about for the last week since I reviewed and rated my 2020 ones 7 days ago. It is more of the same but with some fine-tuning as I wanted more focus on certain areas rather than have some generic motherhood statements. Here goes:

(1) To read 15 books

It is the same as last year though. I only managed to read 11.5 in 2020 and I envy a friend that had read 40. With free, popular and current ebooks easily available to borrow from the National Library, I should not have much excuse to not want to set aside at least an hour every night to do some reading, rather than to watch more TikTok videos. There are also a few much thicker books that are greater than 500 pages which I want to attack, so maybe 15 is a reasonable number, for now.

(2) Get a new consulting project

This was achieved last year by luck as the S’pore consultancy firm gave me a project to complete in 3 months. I hope to get more from them this year and am also currently working on another new Myanmar role which could hopefully crystalize by end of Q1. My retail business venture that was heavily planned in Q4 is now put on hold for the moment. So I should have more time in 2021 to do more MOOC online learning or sign up for Skillsfuture courses.

(3) Upgrade my video editing skills

I have cheated on this for the last 20 years by using the Muvee AutoProducer software to edit my family videos. With just a click of a few buttons, I could easily create MTVs of events. Perhaps it is time for me to upskill and learn what is new out there to make better videos. If I managed to make my drone capture some good aerial videos, I would need a better way to make more professional stuff like what I normally see from astounding youtube videos nowadays. If they can do it, I should be able too.

(4) Learn a new programming language

Back to my junior college computer science roots again, I would like to bring myself up to speed on what is available in the market. I have not decided on what this will be yet. It could be Python, SQL, Linux or something relevant. I also need to know what the common infrastructure tools available are like, for example, GitHub and off the shelf software products.

(5) Learn to create an online store

With the retail business idea, we had wanted to pivot to an online store first, instead of having a physical one. Now that the business is on hold, that should not stop me from learning how to develop one. Drop Shipping is the buzz word for creating an online store without inventory while automating most of the processes to close transactions between buyers and sellers seamlessly. The Canadian company Shopify is the most successful platform for hosting online dropshipping stores. I want to learn how to do this.

(6) Continue to stay happy and healthy

After a year like 2020, this becomes even more relevant and crucial to remain sane and weather through 2021. My mental wellbeing is tied to my health. I managed to loss 3 kg of weight and maintain my lighter self into the end of the year. My health app says that my ideal weight should be 64kg. So can I reduce it further? No harm trying by exercising more and eating healthily. Always being focused on this makes life more bearable and easy to follow.

The first week of 2021 has started with a bang, only 51 more weeks to go. It should look brighter than last year and with fewer uncertainties. With all humans putting their minds to common goals, we will be able to overcome. Just don’t hold your breath though…

And yes, we crossed into the new year and survived a horrible 2020 which we will all remember for years to come. The great vaccination exercise has started as humankind races to stop the virus while winter is coming. What lies ahead as we enter into the first week of the brand new year?

Today is 02 Jan and it has been raining cats and dogs non-stop for the last 48 hours since we entered into the new year. Everyone has been trying to celebrate the traditional holiday festive period in a subdued way, wary of the ongoing virus still surging in the Western world.

As each country’s vaccination program is being kick-started slowly, we will surely see it accelerate over the next few months. It is a race against time as the virus had mutated into a more contagious strain in the UK. Cases are also reaching record highs in many developed countries. As more vaccines get approved and come online, getting into a herd immunity situation is looking to be more likely now.

The problem at hand is on the execution of this program and convincing everyone to take it. Choosing between life/normalcy and death: surely this is a no-brainer?? The vaccine will not change your DNA or cause you to become a zombie. Haven’t we been taking vaccines since we were born?? Influenza, flu shots etc…

Meanwhile, America is set for an explosive week ahead, courtesy of the orange one. He is probably doing his last-ditch effort to overturn the elections. Telling his Proud Boys supporters to gather for a 06 Jan fireworks gathering, right after the Georgia elections. The way he is sabotaging GOP every day, how can the 2 Republican candidates win? But then again, this is America we are talking about. They prefer a lousy opposition rather than a one-party rule. Having a one-party majority is a no-no for them. But everyone seems to have forgotten that GOP did control the House, Senate and White House in 2016 though…

This may not be the last we will see of the chaos as we head into the 20 Jan inauguration. More wacky pardons will be issued and his survival strategy is to deny Biden and still make himself relevant after leaving office. This will give him a perceived protective shield against the multiple legal lawsuits that will rain on him once the presidential powers are taken away from him. It is crazy days ahead!

Now is the time to set my new year resolutions again. I have been doing this on my blog for the last few years and it has been effective to help me stay focused for the next 12 months. By also declaring them so publicly here for all to see, it also forces me to make action plans in order to achieve the goals.

Before I state my new 2021 New Year Resolutions next week, perhaps it will be good for me to reflect on my 2020 ones first. I will then have a week to chew over them and set new ones for the rest of the 51 weeks. I will now look at each of the 8 resolutions I had set for myself in Jan 2020 and do a post mortem on them, to see whether I had been able to accomplish them.

(1) Read 15 books

I managed to only complete 11.5 books, which is less than 1 per month. The best book I read this year was the one on Elon Musk. I should have read this earlier to understand the genius behind the madness. I would then have held Tesla as a long term investment and not just trade it away. There were also a few books on financial matters and AI which I reread again to better appreciate the contents.

(2) Do my family videos

Completed. I was a bit behind by a few years and managed to complete editing them, right up to the end 2019 period. Had to do all of them in MPEG4 format as the auto video editor Muvee does not support MPEG2 anymore.

(3) Do 10 courses

This was a big fail for me. I tried to start a few online MOOC courses which I did not complete for various reasons (ie. laziness). COVID19 should have been a strong push for me to do so during the lockdown periods. Totally no excuse not to do so.

(4) Fly my DJI drone.

Another big fail for me. It was the birthday present I requested for 2 years ago. Flew it less than 5 times and was discouraged each time when the drone video output was less than satisfactory. Coupled with the short flight time of 21 minutes for each required battery change, it was off-putting for me. I simply lost interest in this hobby.

(5) Have more consultancy jobs

After my Deloitte/Grab 3 months project late last year and my Myanmar ALCO role since 2018, I thought that I was ready to pivot to more consultancy projects in 2020. As luck would have it, the founder of the local consultancy group that I had joined decided to jumpstart his company aggressively this year. He managed to acquire a project with a government board which required expertise than I had. It was a 3 months work to help set up a certification module for the financial sector from Jun to Aug period. Towards the end of 2020, I am in the midst of a discussion with 2 other partners for a new consultancy project with the parent holding company of the Myanmar microfinance company I have been working on for the last 3 years. Hopefully, it will develop into a live project in 2021.

(6) Start a new hobby

Nada. Zip. Big fail. Watching too much YouTube videos does not qualify as a new hobby. It should have been easy to do this one since we had to be confined in the house due to the virus. Interestingly, Baking was one of the top new hobbies for most in 2020.

(7) Restructure my portfolio

I would give myself a B+ on this. I could have done better though. It was a year of surprises where the window of opportunity came in Mar as markets crashed when the realization of the virus impact slammed us in the face. I got investment bullets prepared, ready to shoot at least 2 rounds when levels were reached. I chickened out after the first bullet was shot as the meltdown unfolded. It was a battle Royale between COVID19 and the central banks. Would liquidity or the virus win? With too much liquidity chasing too few assets and too many Robinhood traders emerging, the K recovery pushed tech stocks to the moon. Fiat currencies were cheapened by the uncontrolled printing machines of the lender of last resort in a desperate attempt to salvage the economies ravaged by the virus.

I managed to restructure my portfolio accordingly in a more active manner by dumping those that I don’t like and getting into more promising ones along the way. My investments recovered and exceeded my expectations. I could have done better though but it would have taken more aggressive actions which I may not have been prepared to take.

(8) Staying happy and healthy

Surprisingly, due to the Mar-Jun lockdown, I managed to lose 3 kg of fat. I did not weigh myself during that period and started a daily regime of a run in the morning of the same route to keep sane. The 4 weeks in the UK staying mostly alone in the 2 apartments resulted in more runs via the scenic Oxford countryside and more self-awareness. That prepared me for the 2 weeks of hotel lockup when I returned to S’pore in Oct. In 2020, I learnt not to take things for granted and to enjoy/count my blessings every day. Looking forward to many small happiness every day and to smell the roses while the whole world changes daily, the virus impact notwithstanding.

Overall, my 2020 Resolution achievement grade result looks like a B- to a C+ handle. Time now to contemplate my 2020 resolution achievements as the new year lies ahead and plan for new ones into 2021. Every soul on earth have had a life changing year where the impossible had happened. It makes one rethink our priorities and value the moments past as we look to the new normal. We cherish the simple moments and have a greater appreciation of simple pleasures like quality family time. 2021 should be an easier year with the rollout of the vaccines as we can see some light at the end of the tunnel now.