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It was amazing that I had already spent almost a month in Oxford with my son. So much planning and apprehension about the trip during these COVID19 times is coming to an end.

We landed in the UK with S’pore just being exempted from quarantine 2 hours before, got into Keble College to settle him down, then to my first apartment in London Road, Headington. Then I rented a car to drive around and doing father-son bonding day trips and meals together. As he started his week zero term, I moved to my 2nd apartment in the city itself. Then term proper (Week 1) started for him last week as he was caught up with meeting his peers and apply for internships.

It was a relatively quiet last week for me in Oxford as I ran out of things to do. I settled into a routine of forcing myself to take an early morning walk around the parks even though the sun only rising after 7.30 and that the temperature has dropped to 6 degrees Celsius most mornings. Then as the sun warms up in the afternoon, I will go for a long run which turned out very lovely as I was discovering the many canal routes around Oxford and seeing rowers in their long boats practising.

I was aiming for as much outdoor time as possible as I knew I would have to be confined in my room when I returned to S’pore to start my 14 days quarantine, which was inevitable.

Had a final Sunday roast with Justin at the Red Lion before having a video call with the family. Visited the remaining Oxford attractions that are opened, like the Oxford Castle which was used as a prison for hundreds of years till 1996 and the Oxford Botanic Gardens.

I also managed to have my first introductory calls with the 2 new mentees assigned to me this year for the NUSS Mentorship program. This will be the 3rd year I will be participating. Both candidates are very different, one overly confident while the other was the opposite. It will be an interesting year ahead as I hope to value add to them by sharing my past work experience and help them prepare for their future career paths.

The dreaded 2nd part of my 6 weeks journey was about to start. I had to make preparations for limited freedom for the next 2 weeks spent in a room doing the compulsory quarantine session in a hotel I would be assigned to. I had to make the best of my opportunity to be outdoors in Oxford and jogged as much as my body can take. I did an average of at least 8 km per day, running to new areas for the first time, exploring the suburbs of Oxford like Iffley and Rose Hill.

Finally, on Friday morning, I checked out of the apartment at 630 am to catch the bus to Heathrow. I managed to buy a decent bottle of Scottish Whisky at the airport. It will be for me to drink slowly over the next 2 weeks in my room. It was an uneventful 13 hours flight which only had just 50+ passengers where only 10 disembarked in S’pore while the rest had connecting flights and were only transiting through.

The immigration process and the collection of luggage were efficient and soon we were ushered into the buses for our trip to the assigned hotel for quarantine. I immediately asked them for the name and was pleasantly surprised that it was Shangri-La. The apprehension was also building as all of us on the bus didn’t know what to expect as it was the first time for all of us in these COVID19 times.

There was some paperwork we had to do once we reached the hotel as we were individually briefed on what to expect during our 2 weeks stay here. We had to pay $2k for the privilege of being confined here with a room and 3 meals provided a day. Today is Day 2 and I will only be able to check out on Day 15 after noontime. The card key only allowed for a one time access into the room to prevent us from leaving it for the next 14 days. We had to go a COVID19 swap test on Day 11, which is the only time we will be allowed outside the room.

The main saving grace was that we were not totally locked out of the world like a prison cell. We still had amenities like hotel room service with a 30% discount and can order food and things from outside services to be delivered to us. Incoming is OK but outgoing is not as a bubble was created to contain all of us in case someone contracted COVID19 while overseas. I had a few occasional claustrophobia anxieties setting in as I try to get used to working within a confined space for a period of time.

Based on my Circuit Breaker Lockdown experience, I quickly try to set down a schedule of things to do to keep my mind occupied. I had also prepared reading materials like eBooks borrowed from NLB and magazines to read. The TV and being connected to Youtube and the web via my laptop, iPad and phone should help pass the time.

On the first morning of Day 2, I decided to order room service to get a Nasi Lemak for breakfast. To exercise, I commit to doing 400 crunches before every meal. I also ordered 2 bottles of wine online 🙂

Meanwhile, it is 18 days to the US elections and Trump is still going into self-destruction mode. More GOP members are starting to distance themselves from him as a self-preservation instinct. Can’t see what else he can do besides starting a war now. The final presidential debate will happen the end of this week. Time flies as we move into the final stretch of a not so pleasant 2020.

We have been in the UK for 3 weeks now. It seems like most western countries do not have a good handle on COVID19 yet. The 2nd wave had started and we are heading into winter soon. Boris wants to cancel Christmas now.

The weak was lovely initially, then the rains started and the temperature plunged the whole of this week to a low of 4 degrees Celsius and hovering no higher than 13 most of the days. I managed to do my daily runs in the old apartment in Headington, clocking up to 8km before the wet weather put a stop to it.

I moved into a new apartment in the heart of Oxford city last Sat to be nearer to my son for the remaining 2 weeks before I head back home to begin my 2 weeks quarantine in S’pore this following Sat, a week from today. The new apartment was much better than I expected, having been newly renovated. It was located in the heart of the city within a 300+ years old building that used to be a coach stop in the old days. It is just beside the famous Covered Markets of Oxford where various shops have been selling their wares for many years too.

As my son’s school term started on Monday (Week Zero), he was occupied with the various orientation programs as most students moved into the college over the weekend. While a lot of activities are confine to online now, the rule of 6 did allow them to meet up and go for the traditional pubs for evening socialization. I did not want to impose on him, hence I was off to do things on my own to discover every inch of the city over the next few days.

Took it easy for the weekend and visited some new pubs to sample the lager and ale. Good to be a lone tourist trying to take my time doing anything I fancy on the whim of the moment. Went to watch the movie “Tenet” on Monday as the weekday price was lower. Then I reacquainted myself with the city again by booking a walking tour as the last one was 3 years ago when the whole family came here to check out Oxford before my son had to start his NS.

The guide on the walking tour was a friendly Canadian and he had just completed his PhD in ancient history in Oxford! He was on a 5 years scholarship but managed to finish it in 4. He was previously from the army medical sector who decided to pursue his interest on studying the similarities of various civilizations. Oxford with the huge Bodleian library collection of old books provided him the resources to study ancient Greek and Latin history. He was very entertaining to our group, although there were only 4 of us (an Italian lady and a mother-daughter couple from Australia).

Because of Covid19, some places were not opened and hence the itinerary has to be adjusted. He introduced us to the oldest pub in Oxford, The Bear which was started in 1242 and had a tradition of cutting of ties if they were worn in the pub. He also mentioned about the origins of Alice in Wonderland and how the gardens in Christchurch Meadow inspired the author. I also learned more about the special friendship CS Lewis had with JRR Tolkien as they went on to write great books which still are being admired today.

I settled into a schedule of sorts, starting with a morning run or walk regardless of the temperature, followed by a shower before going for museum visits. The Ashmolean had a “Young Rembrandt” exhibition while it also had a rich record of various civilizations. The museum of Natural History and the Pitt Rivers museum were 2 amazing large halls packed with details to explore and read. Even the basement of the Blackwell bookshop was so large that I had to go twice to fully appreciate the books on display there.

It is only less than 25 days to the US elections but Trump never stopped surprising everyone. The month of Oct is turning out to be one of crazy shit happening every other day. He goes more unhinged and desperate as Biden widens his polls gap over him. I cannot believe how many own goals he had personally shot at himself in just the last one week. Shooting himself in the foot or putting his foot in his mouth is becoming too frequent.

First was the presidential debate that wasn’t presidential at all, then he got the virus. The emerging super spreader event where 32 White House related members also contracted it to date. Then he did some crazy videos and Fox calls while high on experimental drugs like some deranged uncle. He dropped the bomb again by saying he will postpone the relief negotiations until after the elections, then did a 180 degrees turnaround yesterday by announcing that the relief discussions should be restarted and suggesting a much higher amount than that proposed by the Democrats. Pelosi even kick started a 25th Amendment commission process to determine what they have to do if a president is suddenly unfit for office…

Even the older voters are abandoning him, either through mistrust of how he handled Covid19 or suffering from the lies he told them. Talk about killing your voters, literally. The most vulnerable group of older voters who believe in his lies are also contracting the virus by refusing to wear masks and thinking that Covid19 is a hoax.

His world is starting to unravel at a faster rate now. All his life he had been able to get out of the hole he dug via various means but this one looks too deep to get out of and time is running out. Desperate times call for desperate measures and everyone is holding their breath to hope that he doesn’t do something very, very stupid any time soon… This is the best real life TV soap opera to watch for now. SAD!

Just when we thought that Oct cannot get any more interesting, more unexpected things happen…

Traditionally, this month scares the financial markets as it is one of the most volatile and bank traders look to achieve their budget by the end of this month before the year-end holidays and closure of the bank books. But then again, 2020 is a year we have all never seen before and cannot wait for this terrible year to end soon…

The 1st US presidential debate on Tues, 29 Sep was a real shit fest. The 90 minutes was practically a shouting match between 2 toddlers vying for the most powerful position in the world. The moderator was trying to control the situation unsuccessfully as both candidates interrupted each other. Trump was at his bullying worse, cutting into Biden more than 100+ times. I think the strategy was trying to pressure Biden to stumble, stressing him to stutter and justifying that he was not fit to govern.

Trump was back into his usual tried and tested lies, avoiding talking about policies which is his weakness. Biden was drawn in to act non-presidential too, calling Trump a clown and telling the president to shut up a few times. The attacks went personal as Biden’s sons were also fair game. This debate was supposed to be for the candidates to articulate their plans and policies but it was a wasted effort. Each had a few minutes to talk about a number of topics but Biden’s train of thought was constantly interrupted by the orange one.

The main highlight of the debate was when Trump refused to condemn white supremacists and telling the Proud Boys group to “Stand back and stand by”. Amazing that this even happened in such a debate. There was initial universal condemnation of the debate as shameful while Trump thought that he had won until most commentators pointed the finger at him for ruining the debate by displaying unpresidential behaviour.

The vice presidents will have a go at debating next Thurs on 08 Oct. I cannot wait for Kamala (Alamak spelt backwards), an ex-prosecutor, to tear Pence a new asshole when they clash. Pence is a bit wooden like Goh CT during the televised debates a long time ago where the opposition chewed him up while he just stared blankly ahead.

Then before the dust settles down, Trump dropped the bomb that he and FLOTUS have COVID19 late Thurs, 01 Oct. This curveball really threw the already messy political situation into limbo as we are just about a month before US elections. What would happen now that he is incapacitated, that all campaigning has to be suspended? Will he use this excuse to make the results invalid, just like what he was trying to do for all mail-in votes?

Everyone wishes him well and speedy recovery, but he is in the high-risk group (> 70 years old) and slightly obese. Was this absolutely preventable? Of course, it is! He is tested daily but refuses to wear masks and encourages reckless behaviour by continuing to have mass rallies of his supporters without masks or social distancing measures. The irony of it all is that he is killing off his supporters by exposing them to the virus unnecessarily.

He is the main reason that America is currently in such a bad state of affairs for COVID19, having a high number of cases and deaths. How can the most advanced developed country in the world handle this so badly as compared to many smaller and developing countries? Denials and conspiracy theories plus the right to not wear masks (1st amendment) were deemed better than scientist recommendations. The 1st wave never ended and the 2nd started. Lockdowns were wasted as everyone reopened too soon and they went back to square one.

The virus does not discriminate. Anyone is fair game. You let a small window open and the whole group is F%$ked. Even during the 1st presidential debate, all of his supporters including his family refused to wear masks in the enclosed room. How reckless is that? His camp is now blaming it on Hope Hicks and trying to do contact tracing. The worse part of it was that he knew he was exposed on Thurs morning but yet continued to go to a fundraising event that afternoon. Exposed persons should have gone into 14 days quarantine immediately, not continue to endanger others. The UK even just started a 10k fine recently for people who tested positive but refused to go on quarantine.

The next few days will be critical as he was injected with experimental antibodies drugs – not bleach LOL… The elections are in turmoil now as more of the White House team now tested positive and most would have to be quarantined as they were exposed. Imagine one side of the political parties suddenly went quiet overnight?!?! Will they blame their loss on the virus and try to invalidate the results? Strange times when people get desperate…

Back to part 2 of my Oxford journal. I returned the rented car mid-week and spent a few quiet days in the apartment doing my business calls for Myanmar and the consultancy group townhall. Myanmar is now experiencing a surge in its first wave as cases grow exponentially to 15k from just under a few hundred 3 weeks ago. Cases now average about 1k per day and they can only do 4k of testing a day. That is a 25% positivity rate!! Who knows how many more cases are there for a country with a 55 million population.

My son’s school term is starting this week as he gets begins his orientation program. While I would like to spend time with him, he will be too busy and I do not want to impose on him. I moved to a new apartment in the city which is just a short walk to his dorms for the next 2 weeks. They upgraded me and I was pleasantly surprised to have a newly renovated and modern apartment within a 300 years old well preserved building in the heart of Oxford city. Time to slowly explore this great place which has been the center of education for hundreds of years.

My older son and I arrived in the UK on 19 Sep, Sat at 0555. Just 2 hours earlier, UK had added S’pore into the quarantine exempt list of countries.

We originally planned to do 14 days of quarantine separately in his dorm and in the apartment I rented. But we found out only a day earlier before our Fri flight of the good news. We decided not to change the flights as the tickets had to be issued a week before the departure date.

The flight was uneventful as everyone had to keep to themselves and the middle seat was kept empty for social distancing. Only 93 passengers where it normally was at least 200+. Airlines are bleeding badly and SIA is only flying at 8% capacity. I guess this S’pore-London route of 3 to 4 flights a day is their main source of income now. The flight attendants keep to as little physical contact as possible, serving meals and not doing their usual high SQ service. It was just like taking a long bus journey. Why would one pay for business and first-class now, other than having more comfortable and larger seats?

The moment we landed, the immigration process was so quick with our biometric passports. They did not even need to stamp our passports nor check the online form we were required to fill just 48 hours before the flight. The machine took a photo of our faces and probably did all the expected AI document comparisons and authorizations instantaneously.

We had booked an MPV with a driver to go directly to Keble College where he will be putting up for his first term. It is very likely that he could come back home for his Dec Christmas holidays as he only needs to do quarantine at the S’pore end. He hopes to be able to celebrate with his girlfriend their 3rd anniversary as a couple 🙂

Once he settled down, we went to Oxford city to grab some essential stuff that he needed immediately, like bedsheets and pillowcases. Once I think that he is ok, I called a cab at 12+ to check into my 2 bedroom apartment at London Road, Headington. It was much better than I thought and I was very pleased with the facilities and a small private garden included. Spent the rest of the day exploring my street and getting some groceries to stock up.

Met Justin the next day at Oxford city for the first of our many Sunday Roast at a Pub lunch. We chose The Plough at 38 with a very nice outdoor table. Then it was more shopping for essentials before taking my bus back to the apartment.

Given that we need not be on quarantine anymore and we had time on our hands, I decided to rent a car for 8 days so that we can be more mobile and drive around the countryside to visit some nearby towns. It will also allow us more quality father-son bonding time as he could stay over at my place for a few nights.

I picked up the rented car on Tuesday morning and we went to the Bicester Village factory outlet for a nice lunch. Seems like there was no recession at all!! the place was full on a Tues and the 1,000 lot car park was also full!! Amazing! After lockdown and COVID, people were still aggressively shopping for branded stuff!

My son stayed over for the 1st of the second overnight stays in my apartment and we had a couple of nice home-cooked meals courtesy of ready-made TV dinner meals from the supermarket. The next day, we visited the city of Swindon as someone told me that things are cheaper there. We spent a few hours there walking around and having lunch at Rudi’s.

For the next 2 days, I was on my own for Thur and Fri as he had to go back to campus to finish up some work. I went to Marriott Walks in Witney on Thurs. It was a quaint place but lovely small town to walk around to get the British countryside vibe. On Fri, I decided to visit the famous Blenheim Palace at Woodstock. It was a good trip to see the only privately held palace in Oxfordshire. A super cars festival was also held then and I have never seen so many sports cars of all brands in one location. There must have been at least 100+ of them parked and displayed at the lawns outside the palace. So many “elites” owners gathering while the virus is decimating the economy. The irony!

I picked Justin up on Sat morning from his dorm and we went to Stratford Upon Avon. It was the place my wife had reminded me to bring him. We were there more than 20 years ago and I cannot really remember the place. It was the birthplace of William Shakespeare and there were a lot of walkways to explore. We had a very nice lunch there in a restaurant called The Lamb.

The next day, on the recommendation of a friend who used to study here, we went to Henley-on-Thames. If not for the cold (below 10 degrees C) and the strong wind, it would be a very pleasant walk along the river. She recommended a pub next to the river for Sunday Roast which we took a table outside to watch rowers sail pass the river while we ate.

Dropped him off in Keble the next morning on Mon after his last night with me at the apartment. We had 2 good home-cooked dinners over the weekend too. On my own again, I decided to visit another 3 Cotswold towns that day. Banbury was a bigger place where I had breakfast to escape the morning cold. Bought some stuff which I think Justin will need for his room, like a portable heater. Then it was off to Chipping Norton to check out the woollen trade. It was a super small town over the main street and most of its attractions were closed due to the virus. The last place I visited was Burford which was another small town over the main street where I had my required pint and a pizza for lunch.

I guess I have visited most of the Cotswold district already over the last week and the drives were just an hour or less from our apartment. The COVID situation is still worrying as the UK has been hit by the 2nd wave and Boris is threatening to cancel Christmas as school term is starting and students still want to party… More measures are being put into place and more to come.

Some places like Liverpool and Manchester are going into stricter lockdown measures. While cases are spiking up, the death rates seem to have eased and are lower than the 1st wave. Most shops require masks for entry while indoors but the majority still do not wear a mask when outdoors. The fresh countryside air is very nice and I have started going for long jogs over the last 2 days.

I will return the rented car tomorrow and move to new accommodation within Oxford City on Sat for another 2 weeks before flying home for a 2 weeks quarantine.

Older son’s uni term is fast approaching and we have been preparing for this for the last few months as uncertainties abound. He will begin his 3 years towards an Oxford Economics and Management degree.

His school starts in early Oct and we were prepared to do the compulsory 2 weeks quarantine as S’pore was not in the UK’s list of exempt countries. It does not help that the UK has been throwing a lot of countries in EU out of this list as the 2nd wave started to hit countries like Spain and France.

He was suppose to quarantine in his college in Keble and while I had booked an apartment about 4 km from the city center. I would then extend another 2 weeks in Oxford before heading home for another 2 weeks of quarantine in a S’pore hotel.

Then surprisingly, on the day before we were supposed to leave, S’pore suddenly made it into UK’s exempt list. It was too late for us to change the departure date as the tickets had to be issued a week before the flight. I had also paid for the accommodations a few days before.

We decided to proceed as planned as there was no point to delay the inevitable trip anymore. The upside is that the probability of him coming back in Dec has increased by 50% as he will not need to quarantine himself when he returns to the UK in mid-Jan.

The departure day on Friday was a long day as various family members and friends wished him well for his new adventure. The flight was also a late-night 11330 pm one. It was quite a full flight of 93 passengers where it normally would be at least 200+ because of the required social distancing restrictions. All the middle seats were left empty and wearing a mask during the whole 13 hours long journey was compulsory.

It was a relatively uneventful trip and the flight attendants had to avoid any unnecessary contact with the passengers. It was almost like taking a long bus journey. We tried to watch movies to keep awake as a strategy to reduce the jet lag as the UK is 7 hours behind S’pore time.

We landed at 0555 in the morning and the immigration process was surprisingly fast as there were few flights and we could use our bio-metric passports. There was also no need for the usual stamping of the passports… We collected our luggage and were out of the airport within 35 minutes. We had booked an MPV for a direct trip to Oxford as we wanted to avoid any delays or to use public transport.

Since the new addition of S’pore into the UK exempt list took effect only at 4 am on 19 Sep, 2 hours before we land, I really could not imagine our luck. The same thing happened 2 months ago when S’pore moved to phase 2 on 19 Jun, just a day before my younger son’s and my birthday! I immediately asked my father in law to buy the following 4D numbers – 1919 for the next 2 weeks 🙂

Since we do not need to quarantine ourselves in Oxford anymore, we dropped our bags in his new room and went to the Westgate mall to buy some of the stuff he needed. Once he was settled down by noontime, I proceeded to call a cab to head to my apartment.

While we were used to wearing masks whenever we were outside in S’pore, it is still not compulsory in the UK. Most people who are outside do not wear masks. But when indoors, most shops would require masks before allowing anyone in.

The other thing I noticed was that places like Oxford and the place I was putting up in Headington were so cosmopolitan. I see so many non-whites like myself and others from Africa and South Asia who have already been in the UK for many years. It could be due to the colonization of many countries by the UK for hundreds of years and their more open attitude towards immigrants.

We intend to rent a car and drive around the countryside while avoiding large cities like London. We continue to wear our masks when outside. More students are starting to come into Oxford as term starts soon.

The student who is in the room next to my son had checked in a few days earlier and is doing his 2 weeks quarantine now. Ironically, he is from California. He told my son that he is glad to breath clean air again after the terrible forest fires there that turned the skies orange.

The second wave of the virus is starting to hit the UK and the numbers are increasing. The government acknowledge that the country cannot afford to have another full-scale lockdown again as this will really decimate the already weak economy. They are leaning towards a series of tightening measures which they could name as Circuit Breakers. LOL moment as it was exactly what S’pore called them and breaking the stages into Phase 1, 2 and eventually 3.

Less than 50 days to the US elections and the Myanmar virus situation had skyrocketed to more than 10x within weeks. We are in for an explosive Q4 into an annus horribilis 2020 which everyone wished it was a nightmare which we could wake up from and forget about this year totally.

Another subdued week doing housekeeping stuff and getting ready for our UK trip next week for the start of my older son’s uni term. It will be an adventure travelling to Oxford in these Covid19 times.

We reached some milestones this week as my older son celebrated his 21st birthday. How time flies as I watch my own flesh and blood grow over the years from a baby to a toddler, teenager and now a young adult with voting rights. It is an amazing journey tracking his growth and the development of his thought processes. Hopefully, he has developed a strong infrastructure by now to prepare him for the next stage of his life journey. He will start his 3 years of uni in Oxford soon to do an Economics and Management degree.

We spent the last 2 weekends doing a scrapbook with photos as a 21st birthday present/farewell gift for him. My younger son coordinated the whole effort to reach out to various parties, family members, cousins and friends to create this booklet. We sorted out old photos and wrote messages on our individual pages to attach to the booklet. It was a labour of love for all of us. We then had a nice family celebration on Tues at La Petit Chef with a made-to-order birthday cake.

I waited for months to execute the FX to buy GBP for his 1st-year school fees and finally did it on Tues. I should have waited a few more days as Boris outdid himself by trying to backtrack on UK’s promise to the EU. I am generally bearish on GBP due to Brexit and have asked my son to only convert as and when he needs it over the next few years. I can only foresee negatives for the UK for wanting to break away from the European Union.

Thanks to stored-value eWallets like YouTrip and TransferWise, another bank staple rice bowl is being smashed. Anyone can now get close to interbank FX rates with the convenience of cashless payments. Covid19 has also accelerated the adoption process. Credit cards with their ridiculous FX spreads on overseas spending will now be a thing of the past. Moving and remitting money in real-time is also being offered free by banks now. Having a multi-currency account is also very common nowadays. So it is easy to move funds between banks and eWallets as one can use apps on the mobile to do it.

With the expected avalanche of job losses to be expected in the coming months because of the virus, the government has been trying to take proactive steps to help those affected to upgrade to learn new skills as well as create new jobs in the internet economy. My sister showed me an interesting SGUnited initiative organized by IBM which I shared with 2 other friends who were recently affected.

IBM had a Zoom call on Tues for those of us who registered online to get more information about it. Successful applicants to their 6 months courses on AI, Cloud Computing or Data Science will become full-time students taking up to 200 hours of study plus 1.5 hours of an exam at the end. This highly subsidized course cost about SGD 20,000 but we only need to pay SGD 500 which we can use our Skillsfuture funds to pay. On top of that, there will be a student allowance of SGD 1,500 per month for the duration of the 6 months course. If one cannot finish the program due to the reason that they found a full-time job, then they can drop out of the course without any penalties. How great is that??

https://webibmcourse.mybluemix.net/SGUnitedProgramme

The only big condition : an applicant cannot be having a part-time or full-time job during the program. My friend decided to apply as he was retrenched in Apr and did not see the possibility of getting a new job this year with the worsening job market.

For me on the other hand, I have been doing my Myanmar consultancy role and also recently completed my IBF project via the consultancy group I belong to. There may be upcoming projects in the near future but this IBM program may hinder my consultancy work. This is a problem for those currently freelancing in the gig economy like Grab drivers too.

Google is also conducting a similar SGUnited program too: https://grow.google/intl/ALL_sg/skillsignitionsg/#?career–ready-with-google_activeEl=career–learning-plans

Separately, another business opportunity is also developing for me in Myanmar. The chairman at the group level has been observing for the last 2.5 years what we consultants have been doing at the microfinance subsidiary on Treasury, Risk and Audit processes. There are now ongoing discussions about getting the 3 of us to replicate it at the group level for all 12 subsidiaries, to push them up to a stronger level of corporate governance by strengthening their infrastructure with new committees and policies which currently doesn’t exist. My 3 months IBF project as an exam questions setter has also finally come to an end. I had to submit an invoice for my work and hopefully will be paid in Oct.

Finally, I had lunch with my current NUSS mentee yesterday. 12 months had passed and Covid19 had disrupted most of the mentorship process. I am happy that he had managed to secure a permanent job offer from JPM after he graduates next year. This ambitious guy had managed to do internships in Citi, JPM and GIC, being very sharp and hungry about his career. It was refreshing for me to share my life and work experiences with him and I hope that he finds it helpful. I have volunteered to participate in this mentorship program again for the 3rd year and we will be having a Zoom call on Mon to present ourselves to a new set of 25 potential mentees.

Just under a week from now, my son and I will head to the UK. It is indeed strange and unusual times to travel overseas in this Covid19 era. We have been preparing for months and will take safety precautions seriously. We will head straight to Oxford and begin our 14 days of required quarantine in separate locations, him in Keble College and myself in an apartment that I had rented. I will then stay for another 2 weeks to help him settle down before heading home for another 14 days of quarantine in S’pore.

I prefer to look at the bright side of things and enjoy this “vacation” of me-time while tasting nice Scottish whisky along the way. I will always remember to stay healthy and happy, to count my blessings every day 🙂

This was the week where the S’pore parliament sat in for their first session after elections on 10 Jul. There were a lot of first-timer politicians. A record 10 opposition party members were voted in, plus 2 additional NMP (Nominated Member of Parliament). It was a lively debate indeed and I would like to highlight some topics this week.

The PM did well with a good speech on Covid19, lessons learnt and its impact on S’pore, ending it on an emotional note. It was his mention of the word “Free Rider” on voters choosing the opposition that got everyone flustered. The new Leader of the Opposition took offence and started a mini-debate on it.

For the rest of the week, there were more heated debates and the issue of minimum wage came up in the speech of opposition member Jamus. Then the normally quiet senior minister Tharman came out of the blue to forcefully give a sharp rebuttal. “No one has a monopoly on compassion.”

If this was just a peek at what is to come for future parliamentary sessions, then we are in for exciting times. I look forward to greater debates and discussions on national topics, hopefully in a non-partisan way but for the good of the nation.

The other topic that stood out for me was on foreigners working in the country. It was argued by the opposition that there is not enough transparency on the actual numbers, that the authorities were too lax in allowing too many foreigners into the country that resulted in many locals being overlooked in the job market. This is a very sore point, especially in the Covid19 environment where more job loses are to be expected. Firms that were biased against locals had been flagged but not exposed and is that effective?

The general perception is that PR (Permanent Resident) status, a step before getting full citizenship by non-locals, is too easy to obtain. They last for 5 years and could be renewed indefinitely. Many foreigners take up PR because of the many advantages it offers. Some with no intention to eventually become citizens. Citizens question why PRs have so many of the rights which a local has, but need not work for it (eg. National Service, highly subsidized school fees). If getting PR is so easy, wouldn’t locals become second class citizens in their own country?

Most job statistics lump citizens and PRs in the same category, further infuriating voters. PMET job losses are also increasing as the call to protect citizens grew louder. The authorities had claimed that PR quotas had been reduced over recent years, but citizens are still questioning if this is still too many. The government reasoned that S’pore is a global financial centre and hence it needs to attract foreign talents and global companies to want to locate here.

Many have argued that the CECA agreement with India had unfairly punished S’pore workers, especially the PMET segment. Being a small nation compared to a much large one will make things loop sided. This will definitely be a topic on further discussions in parliament.

IMHO, I believe that the issue is that we do not allow duo passports – once you get S’pore citizenship, you have to give up your existing citizenship. Those from developed countries (eg US, EU, UK) may not want to give up their passports for a S’pore one as they can legally have duo citizenship in their home countries. So if they get PR, they may not want to proceed to citizenship. But the opposite is true for developing countries like India and ASEAN, where they are more likely to convert from PR to citizenship because of the attractiveness of our citizenship versus their countries. Hence the weakness of the PR process is exploited by a lot of foreigners.

I do believe that PR requirements should be tightened further. Renewal of PR status every 5 years should get progressively harder. If a PR renews more than 3 times (ie 15 years), it may indicate that there is no intention for them to be citizens eventually. It is still too easy to get PR status and the benefits are too similar to citizens, thereby angering locals who continue to lose jobs and get replaced by more foreigners/PRs. There should be more segregation of benefits and differences between citizens/PR and they should not be counted together in job statistics.

From my personal experience, I had lost 2 jobs over the last 8 years and the replacements were foreigners. While I have moved on from these unfortunate personal setbacks, I cannot help but think if this is happening too frequently over the last 10 years to other S’poreans. In these 1 in 100 years Covid19 shock to the economy, shouldn’t the scale tip more in favour of citizens rather than foreign talents?

This is not an easy discussion. As a small country, locals may lack the global/regional experience to take up such a role. Getting the confidence of MNC companies to invest in S’pore is one other consideration. There is a fine line between being open to the world and getting more protectionistic. Look at America and MAGA, aiming at China for all its woes. Protectionism is already happening to other countries.

This week’s sharp drop in the stock market was also a wake up call to the froftiness of the lofty valuations of tech equities due to central bank liquidity in response to Covid19. We are entering Q4 flu season and the virus is still amongst us. My UK trip is just 2 weeks away…

It was GOP’s turn after DNC’s 4 days of their online convention last week. To be fair to them, I tried to watch as much as possible of the RNC event this week to be as objective as possible to hear the other side of the story.

Certain themes emerged over the 4 days as they targeted certain segments of the voters. Firstly, they aimed for their conservatives base with pro-life and religious freedom messages. Then there was a number of black speakers to appeal to the non-white population. Lastly, it was the promise of law and order against rioters.

Of course, Biden and Democrat bashing was also fair game. They had multiple over the top warnings that Biden was a socialist and wants to take away their guns and health care plan, bring chaos and rioting to the cities. They mentioned that DNC had a very negative doom and gloom image last week while they now predominantly project an image of fear if the other side takes over. They claimed that the work is not done yet and it requires 4 more years. Strangely, most of the speakers talk as if the pandemic was over and used the past tense.

Meanwhile, as the event unfolded, other major news was also happening around America. Bannon got arrested for fraud charges, 2 hurricanes barrelled towards the Gulf of Mexico, another unarmed black man was shot while a white 17-year-old militia vigilante shot and killed 2 unarmed protestors.

Then there was the Falwells and pool boy scandal that erupted on Sunday. The prominent evangelical icon confessed that his wife had an affair with a younger man and decided to resign from his post. Further sordid details emerged later in the week from the pool boy that it was an arrangement that Falwell like to watch his wife having sex with another man.

What was interesting was that his strong endorsement of Trump in 2016 helped to sway many religious conservative voters to support his presidency. Even more strange was the fact that Trump’s fixer and lawyer Michael Cohen, since jailed, had revealed that he helped Falwell use various means to cover up some incriminating photos in 2015 for them. So did this favour resulted in Falwell’s endorsement of Trump to help swing a majority of conservatives to his side?

For a while now, I was trying to understand why the conservatives and GOP were supporting a candidate that had no morals, lies repeatedly, have zero empathy for anyone other than himself, besides being racist and sexist. That goes against all basic religious beliefs. Does the end justify the means? If Trump achieves their aims, should they ignore all his human deficiencies? Also, GOP was traditionally against increasing deficits but Trump had managed to balloon it by giving a tax cut to the rich the moment he took on the presidency.

As a Gen X Asian with moderate views leaning towards the more conservative side, perhaps I can understand their concerns about the threats the RNC conservatives have seen over the Obama years. They might have felt that aggressive LGBT views had been forced down their throats together with issues like pro-abortion and limitations to their 1st amendment rights to carry arms. To make these items mainstream and acceptable to the general population is a red line they do not want to cross.

What I question is their means to an end reasoning. Is it right to ignore an amoral president who cheats and lie as long as you get what you want? Aren’t the basic framework of your religious beliefs compromised? If a thief manages to sell you an item stolen from elsewhere at a much lower price, is that acceptable? It is a dilemma which I have been questioning myself.

I have a friend that was very pro-Trump and much more in tune with the Man upstairs than me. He even bought a MAGA cap… But recently, he quantifies that he is a Trump observer and not a supporter anymore.

Honestly, I really don’t think any American news media, or any others in the world including BBC, can be trusted for an unbiased take on all subjects. This is especially true for the coverage of their own home-based news. All have a motive to capture as many eyeballs as possible and tend to present a side that achieves this aim. So if it is on American related news like the elections, they have a tendency to push their narratives. Fox for Trump/GOP, CNN/MSNBC for Biden.

So my same friend suggested, which I support, that one has to have a balanced diet of watching the same news from around the world to get a more unbiased view. For example, one should watch reporting of US elections from sources like Russian, Chinese and Middle East sources to get a flavour of the real scoop on the situation. Conversely, if I want S’pore news, I should check out the BBC and America for their reports on us. But sometimes this fails if the world is on the other side of the targeted country, for example, the current favourite past time of China-bashing nowadays.

Politics is and will always be dirty. One can play by perceived gentlemen rules or take a gloves-off no-holds-barred approach. The next remaining 65 days till the 03 Nov date will be an interesting time where the mother of all elections will be fought online, on TV and on all social media mediums. Compromise and constructive discussion is not an option anymore. It’s either you are for me or you are my enemy. SAD!