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I have been wanting to visit a new retirement village concept that was launched by the government as an experimental project for a while. It is called Kampung Admiralty and it was finally completed in late 2017. I finally made it and reviewed the project this week. More of that later.

Retirement villages have been a pet project for me for a number of years. I came across a newspaper article around 2012 and connected with the person being interviewed. We had coffee for a number of times to talk about this.

As the population ages, we have more seniors yearning for a retirement lifestyle that was currently not available in Asia which has been very popular in the developed countries like America, Japan, Holland, and Australia. Able people over the age of 60 were aiming for an active retirement concept where live amongst like-minded people and do activities that suit their age group.

At this later stage of their lives, there are many seniors who are asset rich but cash poor. Most may be experiencing an empty nest situation and really do not need a large home anymore. They do not mind downsizing to a smaller home to encash their assets but there are not many attractive lifestyle options available to them. We see examples of retired teachers who remain very active in their seventies and wishes to live in an environment with their friends that has great medical facilities. Having a smaller 500 square feet or less apartment is sufficient for them. Having all the necessary facilities nearby is a bonus.

My friend and I continued our discussions into 2016 and even roped in my interested brother-in-law to see if we can build a retirement village in Singapore. We did our research and estimated that there would be a demand of at least 6,000 such units and there was zero supply available then. We looked at an acquisition of one hectare of land and building a 280-units project solely for retirees. This will be on a long term lease basis of up to 30 years with a monthly maintenance fee. The cost of the lease was estimated to be between $200k to 450k and we calculated that the project’s IRR was in the high teens. Sadly, the project did not continue as there were some disagreements between the partners on the general direction of the discussions. Property developers were also slow to look into this sector and a number tried to market themselves as such but were actually bogus.

The government had finally come around to the same conclusion and they were seeking inputs from the industry. They decided to bring a team together to construct an experimental retirement village. Hence Kampung Admiralty was born (Kampung is the Malay word for village).

One of the country’s top design firm WOHA was awarded the project and it was completed in late 2017. According to them, the project was described as such :

“Kampung Admiralty is Singapore’s first integrated public development that brings together a mix of public facilities and services under one roof. The traditional approach is for each government agency to carve out their own plot of land, resulting in several standalone buildings. This one-stop integrated complex, on the other hand, maximises land use and is a prototype for meeting the needs of Singapore’s aging population.

Located on a tight 0.9Ha site with a height limit of 45m, the scheme builds upon a layered ‘club sandwich’ approach. A “Vertical Kampung (village)” is devised, with a Community Plaza in the lower stratum, a Medical Centre in the mid stratum, and a Community Park with apartments for seniors in the upper stratum. These three distinct stratums juxtapose the various building uses to foster diversity of cross-programming and frees up the ground level for activity generators. The close proximity to healthcare, social, commercial and other amenities support inter-generational bonding and promote active aging in place.”

Within a year of its open, the housing development Kampung Admiralty by Woha Architects has won Building of the Year at this year’s World Architecture Festival. The entry beat 535 projects from 57 countries to snag the top prize at the awards, considered the Oscars of the architectural world. The same project had received the Best Commercial Mixed-Use Future Project award at the 2016 edition of the festival.

https://www.dezeen.com/2018/12/07/kampung-admiralty-woha-singapore-world-building-year/

As expected, the demand was overwhelming for the 100 plus units that were available for purchase, even though the criteria was restricted to a certain age group.

I decided to make a trip there this week to see for myself what had been created. The project was nestled within a matured housing estate, surrounded by other public housing buildings and just next to a mass transit train station (Admiralty MRT).

It consisted of 2 residential towers of up to 11 stories high while the lower floors are catered to communal activities. There were a lot of greenery and plantation spread throughout the buildings. An Active Aging Center was located on the 6th floor where residents gathered for various activities in air-conditioned comfort. I saw a number of elderly women engaged in board games and socializing with one another.

On the ground floor, there was plenty of space for gatherings and chit-chat in the breezy atmosphere. Supermarkets and shops were easily accessible. There was even a Medical Center conveniently located there. On the 2nd floor, there was a huge food court for one to grab a meal. Outsiders can also visit the area to enjoy the amenities.

This is a good start for the future development of more like-minded projects to cater to the growing aging population. It is a place where I would like to grow old with friends, have regular gatherings to pass my time. It was what my partners had pictured in our discussions a few years ago and finally coming to reality.

 

 

It is that time of the year again where we binge excessively and celebrate the most important period of the year for the Chinese community.

Prior to the actual holidays, we will have numerous reunion dinners with various groups of relatives and family members. This is a time of catching up with one another over a meal of good food with our elders and to look forward to the passing into another new year, another new Zodiac sign – the year of the pig for 2019.

I had a record 4 reunion dinners this year and 2 were over steamboat meals where we cook our dinner in real time over a boiling pot, stuffing ourselves with delicious meats, seafood and vegetables. The other 2 were in restaurants where they served CNY set menus.

I treasure these moments of togetherness and will never dream of taking an overseas vacation during this holiday to escape from this period of quality family times. As our elders’ age another year, they constantly look forward to the generational gathering to have visits from the newest and youngest additions to the family.

For the first 2 days of the CNY holidays, it is more home visitations to the parents and grandparents, to pay our respects to them to wish them health and prosperity. Over-eating and gaining weight is the norm here.

It is also our chance to take group photos to remind ourselves of the yearly get together and to reflect on past photos of the annual gatherings. Kids get their red packet AngPows from the married couples as a reward for their greetings and well wishes.

This is a reminder to all of us that another year has passed, that we should count our blessings and treasure our loved ones, especially the seniors who have made it possible for us to live a better life and to bless the next generation that will carry on these traditions into the future.

If you have read the news this week, one would have discovered the new term “Polar Vortex” that is sweeping across America now. This phenomenon has caused temperatures to drop like a brick into historical, never before lows.

Certain parts of US just experienced -40 degrees (all temperatures referenced in this blog are in Celsius) – that is negative forty, which is even colder than the Arctic. Chicago is wind bitting cold at -20 and everyone has been warned to stay indoors. Even the police are advising criminals to abstain from committing a crime as it may prove to be deadly for their health… No one should be outside for even a few minutes in this weather.

Is it me or has the weather gone bonkers? Does Trump need more proof that global warming is happening or are we all waiting for mother earth to blow up first before admitting that the problem is real?https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47078054

His tweet questioning global warming shows how ignorant he is. I cannot believe that the most powerful person in the world, who thinks he is the smartest man on earth, is such a total embarrassment to the Americans.

He probably cannot even identify where Australia is located on the global map. Australia is experiencing the opposite now as temperatures rocket to historical highs. Adelaide just hit +47 degrees and fishes are dying everywhere in rivers.  https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/31/asia/australia-heat-wave-analysis-intl/index.html

Weather forecasters are predicting that America will return to +20 next week. That will be a variance of almost 40 degrees in 1 week! Imagine freezing your butt off this week and then bringing out your T-shirts and Bermudas the following week,  all at the same location… It does not take a primary school kid to recognise that something is seriously wrong with the climate today.

Two opposite sides of the earth are experiencing historical high and low temperatures AT THE SAME TIME! Earth’s ecosystem is trying to tell us something, yes? Are we blind to the call for help by mother earth?

It saddens me that teenagers need to be up in arms now to try to save the world, as the adults in the room are doing nothing. They are concerned that the world that they will inherit in the future will be a bleak one because no one wants to do something about the problems that are so evident now.

In the recent annual Davos event, a 16-year-old Swedish teenager made her plea to the world to act now. Greta Thunberg took time off from school to specially go to Davos to speak to the world elites, to wake them up.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/davos-teenager-speech-climate-change-global-elite-greta-thunberg-swedish-a8747086.html

Her words are chilling to hear. A sample of her speech below :

“Some people say that the climate crisis is something that we will have created, but that is not true, because if everyone is guilty then no one is to blame. And someone is to blame.”

“I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. We owe it to the young people, to give them hope. I want you to act … as if the house was on fire. Because it is.”

What happened to the adults in the room on climate change? Almost the whole world agrees that this is a problem until Trump says screw it. How much evidence do we need before we realize that it is real? Some say that it will revert back to its norm/mean and that global warming is a hoax that has been around for years. Do we really want to take the risk? We only have one earth, one silver bullet. Do we want to risk all and ignore the red flags? What would our grandchildren say? That we did not lift a finger to protect the future?

Mother Gaia is telling us something. The recent abnormal temperature swings are not normal.

I just spent a week in Bangkok, both for business and pleasure. The trip started on the previous Friday when I spent the weekend there to catch up with an old friend and to discover different parts of Bangkok. I was pleasantly surprised at how cheap it is to travel from the airport to the town centre using public transport. Taking the airport train and then switching to the transit system cost me less than USD 1.50 dollars!

I love to go to a city and roam around to discover new places, visit local wet markets and eat where the people eat. I could easily walk more than 20 km a day. Even if I am alone most of the time, it is ok for me. It is my me-time.

The main reason for my trip was to attend a business conference that my Myanmar partners had signed me up for. It was the inaugural annual gathering of the financial sector in Asia with the impact community. https://www.afiforum.com/ It was to advance the purpose of financial inclusion of the masses with the purpose of eventually lifting them out of the poverty cycle. Our Myanmar microfinance company lends to the rural farmers in the agriculture sector. We are constantly seeking to borrow long term facilities from such companies so that we can on-lend in smaller amounts to our end clients – farmers, vendor and micro SMEs.

My whole banking career has been mainly been dealing with regional/global banks. I was new to impact investment companies and I had the opportunity to meet up with many of such names in this forum. All of them do not have just profit as the main motive. They also look at the social impact and the borrower’s ability to reach out to the group of people who normally do not get access to banking facilities.

Most of these firms generally have the backing of European governments as equity partners or they may have private investors with specific mandates to target the developing countries that needed financial help. Normally, commercial banks ignore this segment as it may not be profitable and notional amounts are usually not big.

We got to have many one-on-one meetings with these names, as our CEO had arranged the schedule over the 2 days. He was very familiar with them as he had spent part of his career with one of them, seeking investment opportunities and doing due diligence on the borrowers. Names that are new to me and we met include the following : BlueOrchard, ResponsAbility, Icofin, FMO, Proparco, BIO, TripleJump, Symbiotics, Triodos and CordAid.

They provide a lifeline to small companies like ours, being willing to take on the counterparty risk of growing setups that align to their investment mandate of creating a lasting impact on the community. Making a profit, while important, is secondary. Impact investing encompasses a wider set of goals that is answerable to shareholders who are not like your normal equity investors. They are more long term minded and seeks to provide seed money for firms like microfinance firms to develop their next stage of growth.

Overall, it was a good experience to be able to dive into another area of banking which I know very little about, even though I have been in this line for 28 years. One is never too old to learn…

 

My usual weekend blog is a bit earlier this week as I will be in Bangkok from tomorrow for a business conference next week. I will also be catching up with an old friend whom I have known since we were 10 years old – 43 years now to be exact, as he is based there now.

Subscription cable TV has been declining for the last few years as streaming giants like Netflix have gone global. They provide so much interesting new content that they are getting new converts every day. When was the last time one sits in front of one’s TV in the living room to watch a program that was scheduled to be broadcasted? On-demand TV is the norm now. You watch whatever and whenever you want, not the other way around. Except maybe for live sports events.

Even TV sales are falling. Who wants a bigger screen when each person can watch in the privacy of their iPad or iPhones? With websites like youtube, most programs are uploaded almost as soon as their official broadcast has ended.

I have scaled down my cable TV subscription to the bare minimum since we signed up with Netflix. For USD 7.99 per month, my family of 4 can log into the app and watch a buffet of shows at any time. The catch for this package is that only 1 person can watch at a time. We do have Sunday family movie nights while ordering in dinner. It is a fav activity for us as it brings the family together.

The content is so wide that one can find almost any shows or series from all parts of the world in one location. There is even a term for couples now: “Let’s Netflix and Chill this weekend”. It means to binge watch and have sex at the same time. Netflix continues to invest billions into new content and even showcase some from different countries like India and South America, which had caught the interest of a global audience.

One particular new Netflix show has recently become the darling of new converts when it started on 01 Jan. It is called “Tidying up with Marie Kondo”.  https://www.netflix.com/sg/title/80209379  This famous Japanese lady is well known for her books on methods to clean up your house and make you happier in the process.

I was a bit sceptical at the start but decided to watch the first episode before I make a judgement call. The episode looks promising and her methods may look odd at the beginning but it seems to work for the family by getting more order into their lives after they had kids.

Marie had been working in a Shinto temple during her teenage years before she wrote her book at age 19 and started to make tidying as a career choice as she enjoyed it so much. Some of her methods were relatable to her Shinto experience. Before she starts work with a home, she will ask all members of the household to thank the home for blessing them with a roof over their heads. The American family felt a bit uneasy initially but got into the act slowly as they cleaned up their home, room by room.

Her main modus operandi was to pile everything in the middle of the room as a first step. Then for the owner to hold each item to see if it sparks joy in them. If yes, it is a keeper. If no, the owner should thank the item for sharing its life with him and then discard it.

There is also a certain way to arrange things standing up within the drawers so that when it is opened, one can see everything immediately. There is a method to the madness. With much effort put in, the decluttering exercise should make the owners happier as a result.

With the internet nowadays, there is a show for everyone and any interest. There is an ongoing human phenomenon where one seeks to watch a type of video repeatedly that makes one feel good but cannot say why it does so. There is Dr Pimple Popper to watch the extraction of blackheads, channels to watch multi-coloured soaps being squashed together or setting a red hot iron rod into a bunch of crayons and so on.  Strange but true, a sign of the times and evolving human social media behaviours…

 

 

Last week, I wrote about the things I would like to do in 2019. It was a new to-do list which I thought was timely to get me going for the year, sort of like a kick-my-own-butt exercise.

As I had mentioned before on the objectives of writing my blog, 2 stands out and come to mind. First, by writing about my resolutions, it forces me to go through a process to help clarify my thoughts. I create end goals and then formulate strategies to achieve them. Periodic reviews will also help me track my progress and keep me focused.

Secondly, it is to kill the NATO (No Action, Talk Only) habit. By stating them in my blog in a public domain, I am shouting out to the world my intentions and how I plan to get there. Whether anyone reads it or not, I really don’t care. My ego is at stake here now. “Do or not do”, that is my fav Yoda statement. I constantly re-read my blogs to remind me what I have written and committed. I will not take them lightly.

One of my resolutions was to read at least 10 books this year. The opportunity came along when my older son asked me to get a book for him to read. I managed to download the ebook version of the book and then Whatsapp it to him. The book was “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki. It was written in 1997 and still hold some relevance in our world today. I figured that since my son was reading it and the topic interests me, I might as well join in and read it too!

He is a fast reader and he finished it this week while I have another 40 more pages to go. I suggested that we have a discussion on the book to highlight the topics we disagree or agree with the author. Last night, we had the opportunity to do that as we were having dinner together. It was a good discussion and I shared some of my work and investment experiences with him too. We had a quality father-son bonding session too.

I told him about my resolution to read 10 books and asked him to help me by suggesting the next book. He now has more time on his hands in the coming months as he has been posted to his permanent army unit after having an intensive train period for the last 12 months for his National Service.

He shows an interest in investments and we actually helped him open an online equity investment account 2 weeks ago. The minimum age is 19 and he qualifies now. This will be a good time for him to acquire knowledge of the subjects that interest him and would be of value for his preparation of uni life in 2020. He already has a place in Oxford to do economics so this is good practical training for him ahead of school life. Hopefully, this will also build a strong foundation for him into his work career too.

He asked me to suggest the next book we can read together, so I proposed “One Up On Wall Street” by Peter Lynch. Though it was published in 1989, there should still be some relevance that is applicable to our world today. Like the last book, we will then have a discussion on the book after we have read it. Benjamin Graham’s “The Intelligent Investor” (1949) looks like the next interesting book we should explore together. I have downloaded the ebooks accordingly for us to read on our iPhones and iPads. This is a good start to our learning journey together. It is a win-win proposition and the extra cream on the cake is that I get to spend quality time with my son and share with him some of my career learnings.

The next new year resolution was to do at least 10 more courses (online or off) to acquire new skills to sharpen my learning curve. I strongly believe that we die if we stop learning. Life is a constant journey of discovery and learning new skills. A person who thinks he knows everything is fooling himself and is too proud to admit that he knows nothing.

As a start, I have always been interested in Fintech and its various components. But yet I felt that I did not really understand it as I do not have the total big picture yet. I spent the last 2 weeks looking for such a suitable online course to attend. I came across one from Oxford’s business school that really attracted me but the cost was high and I could not get a Skillsfuture subsidy  https://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/programmes/oxford-fintech-programme   (GBP 2,500).

I finally found one that was nearer home and provided study cases of China internet giants that were highly relevant to Asia. It was from HKU and cost just USD 99 and it spans 6 weeks requires 1 to 3 hours per week. https://www.edx.org/course/introduction-to-fintech This seems to be a good start for me to get a solid foundation for my fintech journey.

As the next step, I went back to my favourite online training website Udemy to look for topics which interest me. They have many free ones which trainers post as a beginners guide to attract participants and hopefully subscribe for paid ones later if they want to go deeper into the subject.

I am starting to play with my new birthday toy, a DJI drone (Mavic Air). It is much easier than I thought, as I flew in for the first time after viewing a few youtube videos. I now need to learn more complicated manoeuvres in order to take good aerial videos and photos. This will enhance my home videos and bring it up to the standards I see on youtube nowadays. I have just signed up for 3 free Udemy drone and photography courses which I will take in the next few weeks.

Finally, I have been studying the subject of social investing for the last 1+ year. The company eToro https://www.etoro.com is at the forefront of this movement. Imagine that you can piggyback on top traders to copy their trades. This website allows you to participate for just a few hundred dollars. The top traders get recognition and earn extra fees. The exchange gets more volume. Investors hopefully get enhanced returns. Win-win for everyone…  I decided to put in USD 500 to try it out now. No more NATO!

Good start to the year as my learning plan is forming up 🙂

 

 

 

After an explosive Dec where most investors sat silently on the sidelines while seeing their portfolio being decimated, we welcome the new year with timid trepidation.

Last month was a recipe for disaster in thin liquidity, the holiday-induced environment where everyone got whipped by multiple unexpected events going into the year-end. Not surprisingly, almost 90% of these events could be attributed to one man, the most powerful person in the world throwing a tantrum and spewing nonsense – the orange moron.

Economists generally agree that the first quarter of 2019 will likely be flawed by extreme volatility as the world grapple with conflicting signals on the direction of the world economy. Most of these events are man-made and avoidable as we face a new world that has turned onto itself. It has become every man for himself, a selfish screw-the-others type of attitude.

Major superpowers are jostling to maintain their self-interest while trying to navigate uncertain times. Conflicts are the norm and upping the ante is the name of the game. This playbook is getting to be a standard modus operandi for G10 countries in a bid to maintain a semblance of control.

The GOP and Democrats are in for a slugfest with the supposed moderator (ie. Trump) going apeshit most of the time. The only way to get some balance of sanity and calm into the US market is looking like an indictment or impeachment of the president when the Mueller report is out. Pence will take over for the remaining time till the 2020 fireworks happen again. You could really see in reality TV mode a cornered animal situation where it is fighting to stay alive. It is all downhill from here.

I do not see a recession in the near term as the markets have overreacted on the bearishness last month. Naysayers predicting doomsday is a bit too premature. The underlying economy is still relatively robust and inflation does not look to be running out of control yet, as technology advances help to suppress price rises.

I still aim to scoop up quality stocks if prices continue to drop. Apple comes to mind with their cash horde and premium product branding. Facebook and Google also have a huge cloud business that is not being valued correctly, plus the big data they have which has not even been fully analyzed and utilized yet. Flight to quality assets has caused US Treasury yields to dropped a fair bit. The interest rate cycle is up, so there is no reason for yields to stay low. I am looking for a way to short the 10 years US Treasuries as I believe that the yield would pick up again.

REITs are also coming into favour again. About 25% of my portfolio is already in this sector. I have been expanding it over the last few months with newer ones in the US markets which I like. Some are REITs fund of funds which is even better.

Resolutions of the year? Below will be a list I would want to embark on :

1. Create a new learning plan for 2019     –    I have completed most of my courses, time to do more to continue my learning path. Immediately, I will be committed to doing at least 10 more online courses for this year, mainly from Udemy and the like. I would want to sign up for more SkillsFuture courses which interest me. You die if you stop learning.
2.  Be more aggressive into new business investments     –     Over the last 24 months, I had explored a number of investment opportunities but they have not been able to reach the execution stage. As one of my friends said recently, like investment banking, closure is key. NATO (No Action Talk Only) is a waste of energy. One has to get his toes wet in order to experience the entrepreneurship side of a business. Be less conservative and take more risk – learn from failures and aim to start something. My Myanmar consultancy role is already 12 months old. Not sure if it will continue, but I should use that to my advantage and expand on it while I am still taking on the job.
3.  Learn new skills     –     Got a drone last year. I need to fly it more often and use that to improve my video editing skills. I did successfully grow hydroponics vegetables finally. Maybe I should try aquaponics next. Completed the Business Analytics Diploma in Aug, time to dive deeper into this subject. Big Data is the next new frontier and I have to create my new niche utilizing my past banking experience. I always believe that the one eye person is king in the country of the blind – I need to reinvent myself and find that edge.
4.  Give back to society     –    In a way, my Myanmar consultancy role is to indirectly help farmers out of their cycle of poverty. I have also started mentoring a uni undergrad, to share with him my experiences to better help him prepare for the real working world. There are more ways for anyone to give back to society. I should seek to do more now as I have time on my hands.
5.   Read more books     –     I do read a lot, but its mostly news and business magazines. My son started reading “Rich Dad Poor Dad” recently and I decided to join him too. I aim to read at least 10 books this year. They may be in various topics and area of interest. I must cultivate this good habit as it will enhance my learning curve.

2019 has arrived. Sitting on my butt and doing nothing is not an option for me. I want a more fruitful 2nd halftime. I will need to put in more effort to proactively create a game plan for this year.

Over the past 2 weeks, the new Malaysia government had gone after Goldman Sachs (GS) very aggressively as the 1MDB scandal unravels. The latest salvo was the lawsuit to get back $7.5 billion from the bank.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-malaysia-politics-1mdb-goldman/malaysia-seeks-7-5-billion-in-reparations-from-goldman-sachs-ft-idUSKCN1OK0GU

It stems from bonds issued for 1MDB by GS totalling $6.5 billion in 2012-2013 which the bank reportedly earned more than $600 million in fees… The fee as a percentage of the bond issuance was really very high by normal bond issuance standards at that time.

Most of the funds received from the bonds that were guaranteed by the Malaysia government and subsequently misappropriated. They were channelled to the pockets of a few persons, namely Jho Low who used it for crazy parties, art pieces, a mega yacht and even to fund a successful film (“Wolf of Wall Street”….   ah, the irony of it all). A large sum was also used to win political votes in Malaysia.

A number of best seller books have already been written on 1MDB. I read one recently: “Billion Dollar Whale”  by the Wall Street Journal WSJ journalists who were covering this case a few years back and exposing it to the world then. They had so much material to work with anyway during their WSJ articles, so they might as well write a whole book (300+ pages).

This fascinating book totally exposes how deep the corruption was in Malaysia in detail, starting from the very top. Talk in the movie world now is that Michelle Yeoh (of Crazy Rich Asians fame) has recently bought the rights to the book. It should be a great crazy but true movie to watch when it comes out!!!

In the last 2 months, detailed information has emerged that GS individuals were more involved than previously thought. One was charged in US courts and pleaded guilty (Tim Leissner). The other senior guy was a Malaysian called Roger Ng who was the GS ASEAN head at that time. He is currently fighting extradition request by the US courts to face charges in America. His assets in S’pore of $29 million had just been frozen too.

This is where my story begins on my close call with this messy blowup. I had left my job in another American bank after 19 years in Jan 2012 when I was given the pink slip.  The following 10 months was a difficult time for me as I went for multiple interviews to try to secure a new job. In total, I did more than 60 one-on-one interviews with various banks.

One of the banks was GS. Roger Ng was the supervisor that was looking for a new person to work in his team. It was around mid-2012 and he wanted to hire someone to drive the GS business in S’pore.

We had a number of one-on-one sessions during that time and I remembered some of the conversations we had then. He was saying that it was easy to do business once you had direct connections with the right decision maker, especially in Malaysia. He hinted to me about knowing a person in his sixties whom he was close with in order to successfully close deals. Little did I know then that it was Najib!

Eventually, I had to complete a total of 12 separate one-on-one interviews with various GS partners, either in person or on video conference. Ironically, one of them was also Andrea Vella, the partner that was also just suspended in recent months for his involvement in 1MDB.

In the GS hiring process, it is required that all the interviewers unanimously agree that they want to hire the interviewee. Getting 12 persons to agree that they like me was a tall order… Luckily or unluckily, I did not get the job in the end.

If I had joined Roger’s team then, I would have jumped into the midst of the 1MDB bond issuances at that time, which was at the heart of the scandal. Would I have been implicated? I will never know as my GS career did not materialize. The acts to illegally redirect the bond proceeds happened and court filings now show that the senior GS bankers were very involved.

As an aside, I had heard about these 1MDB deals in the market during that time. One of the reason for the big fee GS had earned was that Najib needed the money fast in order to use it to sway the upcoming elections to his favour by greasing the palms of a lot of politicians.

GS was unable to offload the bonds fast enough to institutional investors given the short time frame required. Hence they proposed that Najib compensate GS for buying over the bonds first at a huge discount and taking the risk into their bank portfolio first.  Najib was so desperate to get the money that he agreed to do it at 90 cents to the dollar. Eventually, GS was able to offload the bonds at above par ($1) to overwhelming investor demand for a “high quality” name with a government guarantee.

This probably accounted for a lion’s share of the $600 million of fees that GS eventually earned. It was not unreasonable then for banks to assume the risk of the whole bond issuance into their books before selling them to the 3rd party investors later. What was unusual was the huge 10 cent spread that was agreed upon. But it was on a willing buyer and willing seller basis, right?

Eventually, the people in the GS team I was supposed to work under had all left the bank within 18 months. One of them even went to work for VTB, the Russian bank that Trump is now embroiled in for kickbacks. His did not last long there.

My close (was it even close?) shave with getting famous in the wrong way did not happen in the end, but it still a good story to tell, no?