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Last Wednesday was a bittersweet moment for me. We had to send my older son to military camp to start his 22 months NS (National Service) and it was a nostalgic moment for me to return to the island again after 33 years. All 18 year olds had to go for 3 months of basic military training and Pulau Tekong was the destination of choice for most of us.

I was so proud to see my grown son entering the next phase of his life, but yet as a parent, I was sad and apprehensive that he is going from a sheltered environment into a new, tougher world. He will eventually emerged from this as a young man. Mummy was absolutely worried. This is the rite of passage for all Singaporean males since the late 1960’s. Having experience it myself for 30 months (it was 2.5 years during my time), I have tried to share my learnings with him over the months.

The most valuable lesson I learnt from my stint in NS was how lucky I was, to have a future ahead of me, to be able to enter uni to further my studies after NS. I had a wonderful and supportive family to help me through it all. My social circle widened tremendously and I met people from all walks of life. I made friends with people I would never have seen in my previously cocooned junior college life, some with little future to look forward to, which I had written about in my earlier blogs.

Told my son to keep his mind open and stay positive. Life will be very different but he should enjoy the ride. I firmly believe that this will mold him into a more matured adult and that he will learn life long lessons which will be applicable to him for the rest of his life.

Over the last 7 days, we have had phone calls with him every night at 930 pm, the permitted time where they can use their handphones to call loved ones. As I had informed him before, the first few days were slow and peppered with administrative events. The army is trying to ease them into military life and understands that not everyone’s physical strength is at its peak yet, hence a gradual ramp up of the exercises during these first 2 weeks of confinement period in camp. He will be out next week and I had promised him that I will eat with him the list of food he misses during this 2 weeks of camp life.

Meanwhile, the army had also kindly given us a self-addressed envelope to send personal letters to him which he will receive them after his 6 days of field camp in the later part of his 10+ weeks of BMT. My wife, younger son and I will each aim to write him a heart felt letter to encourage and egg him on.

Ah Boyz to Men indeed – the name of a popular local movie that chronicles the NS journey. I do occassionally view the home videos I made of the kids when they were babies till now. How they have grown and I have aged. It is so rewarding to see a defenceless infant grow up in front of your eyes to become a young adult who is now ready to defend the nation.

 

 

Just completed a fantastic 2 weeks family vacation in Great Britain and back in time to celebrate the approach of a new year with friends last night.

This trip was planned for months and timing was critical because of my older son’s A-level exams and subsequent military national service enlistment in early Jan. It will be the last long vacation with the whole family for a while, given that for the next 4 years, both sons would have to complete their 22 months NS one after the other and it will be tough for them to take their annual leave of 14 days at one go.

Given the shorter daylight hours (only 8 hours per day from 8 am to 4 pm), we decided to start off with a road trip directly from the airport when we landed. Pleasantly surprised that the rental car was a Mercedes C220 diesel model that drove very smoothly.

First stop was Torquay for 2 nights in Devon after a 3+ hours drive. Visited the Eden Project and then to Stone Henge and Bath before another 2 nights at Southampton. Had to get used to the weather that was below 10 degrees Celsius most of the time. Last stop was in Oxford where Justin had applied for, to help him get an idea of the university town that he may attend.

Dropped the car in London and spent 8 nights at King’s Cross in a nice service apartment. Rediscovered London again after my last trip there almost 20 years ago. Lots of eating and walking around and Christmas eve and boxing day were spent with close relatives. The 5 kg prime beef bone-in roast was really good…

We tried all the great eating places (Barrafina, Four Seasons, Lobsters & Burgers and Core) and watched 2 musicals (Thriller and Book of Mormons). Cost of living is so high there, even the train tubes were expensive. Made a mistake of taking the black cab taxi once and the damage was GBP 28! Thanks to Uber, we discovered it was the cheapest way to move around London. They were a manageable GBP 7 to 12 per trip, sometimes even cheaper than public transport for a group of 4.

We even had an adventurous day trip to Cambridge where we experienced snow for a few hours. Christmas day was when everything was closed and we had to eat at Chinatown where they only had “special” menus. White rice was a ripoff at GBP 5.5 per person!

Overall, a very nice family vacation where we had quality time with the boys as they get ready to turn into men soon when military service starts. Told wife we will probably be having more couple vacations in the future as they start getting plans of their own with friends and girlfriends.

A pleasant surprise while on vacation : Thanks to XRP Ripple shooting up in price from 0.20 to 2.30 , my crypto portfolio MTM is now +400% … Crazy!

The 4 of us finally completed our Bangkok trip over this past weekend, spending 3 nights there. This trip was to relive the 2 weeks backpacking journey we took as undergraduates way back in Jun 1989.

Being relatively dirt poor during our uni days, 5 of us had then decided to travel throughout Thailand on the cheapest way possible. On the first leg, we took the bus and ferry to Koh Samui, arriving at our final destination only after 28 hours of being on the road. We then headed to ChiangMai by overnight train after stopping at BKK for a few days. We did a jungle tracking trip into the opium lands with many adventurous foreigners like ourselves and the experience was unforgettable. After all these years, the group of us still talk about this trip all the time.

Earlier this year, one of the guys discovered he had colon cancer after a routine medical checkup. The next 6 months were spent on a major operation, chemotherapy and recovery. Glad to say that things turned out well for him. During one of our recent walks, we started discussing the good, old times, reminiscing about the 1989 Thailand trip. This was when we decided to call the rest of the gang to redo it again, to fulfill our bucket wish list 28 years later.

After much planning, we finally set off last Thursday for BKK. The accommodation of choice was a new hotel (Ibis) in the heart of the Khao San road backpacking community. It was indeed a memorable time where we relived the old times, did a few things that we had done before like the riverboat cruise. Given that we are much older now and financially better off, the meaning of “roughing it out” is now very different from our uni days. We did all the touristy things, with lots of massages, eating and shopping. Felt good to be young again, without much care to the world. Can’t believe that we are all in our fifties now, uni life seems so long ago now.

Life is about good experiences now. We cherish what we have, make events happen that can create more happiness and great memories. Friendship is precious and most cannot honestly say that we still do have close friends whom we know for more than 30 years. Let’s live each day as if it is the last day of our lives.

Yes, Dec is already here. What a year for me. Lots of new experiences and forward-looking moves to prepare for my second half.

I started this blog in Apr last year, beginning with daily entries and now on a weekly basis. To date, I had written about 180+ blogs and counting. There were a few key reasons I wanted to start this blog :

1.  To improve my writing skills. I find that with regular practice and the help of auto-correction software, I am (hopefully) able to write better.
2. To help me focus. By having to think of a topic to write every week, it has forced me to crystallize my thoughts more clearly. The added advantage is that it makes it easier to then bring them to action (eg. cryptos investment). I want to stop being a NATO (No Action, Talk Only) guy.
3. To keep an online record of memorable things that happened in my past, life learning thoughts and future ambitions. If my 2 boys like to know more about their old man in the future, they can just refer to this blog to get into the inner workings of my brain…
4. Venturing into new technology. You cannot say that you truly understand the new world until you dip your feet into it. With age comes risk aversion and the fear of new things. This is one of my ways to try to break out of that cycle.

If anyone stumbles onto my blog by chance and finds it interesting/amusing, then that is an added bonus for me.

Anyway, back to my other topic for the week. What events stood out for me in 2017? The year began with a promising start of a new job for me and I was committed to working my butt off. Things went downhill shortly after in Feb when my new boss lost his job. By May, it was inevitable that things were not tenable for me and the new person I was reporting to, with a mismatch in expectations. Subsequently, I went on gardening leave from Jun till Sep, with more time to reflect on what I want to do next.

Going into my 3rd break in my working life, I came to the undeniable truth that age is working against me and that perhaps banking is a sunset industry for PMETs like myself. I really needed to pivot myself into something different and try to leverage on my past work experience if possible.

Ironically, my timing may have been good because the government was also pushing a more aggressive agenda of skills upgrade for PMETs like myself via the SkillsFuture initiative. By now, I was less fearful of taking exams since I had to redo all my bank exams again earlier this year (7 CFMAS related certifications) as they have lapsed when I left the industry for more than 3 years. By planning my time well and being focused on the task at hand, I was able to pass the exams and convinced myself that nothing was impossible if you put your mind to it.

On the learning front, the more I researched, the more I realized that there were so many things out there I do not know. There is still so much to learn from a constantly moving world. I had some experience here already as I was doing a lot of online elearning last year during my 2nd break from work (hashtags, affiliate marketing, media optimization via FB, Google).

Things fell into place and in quick succession, I completed 3 courses by Nov – Science and Business of Wine, Intro to Business Analytics, Starting a Small Business. The latest one is my most ambitious – Specialist Diploma in Business Analytics, a 6 months course in a local polytechnic.

Lifelong learning is now my goal going forward. This focused approach to anything that interests me and then doing a deep dive learning process has sparked a revival of energy for me. It has opened doors for me to explore and sharpened my focus.

On the investment and trading front, I managed to fine-tune my portfolio to be in line with my overall macro views, starting with an initial top-down review followed by a bottoms-up analysis, complemented by technical analysis for entry levels. It has also finally made me jump into the world of cryptocurrencies. Being a firm believer of blockchain as the next wave of innovation that will Uberize everything we touch, this was a natural step. I also had the opportunity to explore doing voluntary work (sitting on NGO boards) as well as a possible Myanmar consultancy project.

There is no fear of the future anymore, only excitement. So much to do and so little time. You are what you make it out to be. You die if you stop learning. Live each day as if it was your last on planet earth.

 

These are the 2 topics that occupied my time and thinking this week.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I was looking for a business opportunity as a consultant for a microfinance firm based in Myanmar. My ex-colleague is now the CEO and he recommended me to the group CEO who was the owner of one of the largest agricultural groups there. He finally arranged for a face to face lunch meeting on Thursday where I met the group CEO, COO and CFO. It was a day trip for me, taking the 3 hours flight there and back on the same day. I am glad to say that the lunch meeting went well. We had a very fruitful discussion and putting a face to the names always help to build the business relationship. Let’s see how we can take this from here.

Myanmar seems to have changed a lot again after my last trip there almost 2 years ago. There seems to be a buzz of activities and people are excited about their future prospects. Having been shut off from the world for so many years, they have now opened themselves to the world in a rapid fashion. The people have tasted materialism and now want more. It is the infrastructure, both physical and policy-wise, that is lagging far behind which the new government is grappling with. Without the military at the front seat now, the newly elected leader is overwhelmed and under delivering. She is not getting enough technocrats into the team but fighting political battles that seemed to have toned down her previous campaigning rhetoric. I hope that this will change as they move back on track to rapid country development in a sustainable way.

The other thing that gave me a light bulb flashing moment this week : batteries. It may have been triggered by Elon’s Tesla reveal of their new toy last week. He showcased their new electrical truck and surprised the crowds with a brand new sports car too, all run by batteries. I started to realize that we have so many things we use in our daily lives which have a battery in them. We have mobile phones, watches, cars, drones and even homes for the storage of power from solar panels.

Battery technology is so old, starting from Nickel Cadmium and now to Lithium Ion, which has been around for many years already. I would have guessed by now that there should have been a quantum leap in new battery technology which can last much longer, right?  There is a persistent conspiracy theory that battery manufacturers are trying to hide this new technology in order to maintain their current factory production. I think it may be more about the cost per unit issue which the new ones could be expensive to make at the moment. I need to do more research on this.

As a side note, I read somewhere that our bodies are a living battery. What if we can harness it for our devices? It will be a perpetual machine! Thoughts about the Matrix and the Bible’s Revelations come to mind immediately.

Imagine if a company can introduce a breakthrough in batteries? This should be a huge investment opportunity as we all need longer battery life! My next immediate task will be to learn about the new technology and seek out a company where I can invest in.

The only name I can come up with at the moment is China’s BYD. Warren Buffet invested in it many years ago and its share price has doubled this year alone. They rolled out EV (Electrical Vehicles) buses in China way before Elon came out with trucks last week. They have the capacity and breath to do vertical and horizontal manufacturing of batteries and their by-products.

More research needs to be done for my next investment idea on battery development. It will also be good to know as this breakthrough, like blockchain, will really impact many industries.

Finally, to cryptocurrencies. They continue to surprise me in a pleasant way. Seems like every Tom, Dick, and Harry wants to jump in now. I got in around late Sep and to date, in less than 2 months, my portfolio (of invested funds) is already +40% in absolute terms. I just bought the top 7 currencies from the start to try to understand more about them. Bubbles forming? Who knows? The high volatility is really steepening my learning curve fast! From a Treasury background, I can see how and why they are moving up, as the market capitalization is relatively small and traders like hedge funds are moving in for the kill. The trend is your friend as they say in the FX markets. The future is coming : Blockchain => cryptocurrency.

 

 

 

After Trump’s Asia tour was completed on Monday, it is apparent that the new world order has shifted east. With egocentric maniacs and NIMBY characters running the western countries, we see an emergence of new superpowers to take over the USA’s number one global position.

China is forging ahead to lead the world by taking ownership of its global responsibility as it re-organizes its economy at the same time. This is helped by Trump’s message of wanting to withdraw from the world stage. He was so easily manipulated by the Asian leaders during this trip. Just give him the red carpet treatment, make him feel important and he will be like putty in their hands. Mr “Fake News” even toned down his pre-election rhetoric against China as they fed him generous helpings of ego massaging maneuvers. The sucker punch was delivered at the end of the Asian summit in Vietnam where both US and China supreme leaders presented divergent views of where they aim to go to the rest of the world leaders.

My hats off to China. It is one of the most far-sighted governments in the world. They are planning for 2050 now, a generation away. The Chinese always have patience and they believe in 100 years cycles, where China’s economy will probably peak in 2040, after hitting their low in 1940, just before WWII. That is why they are taking baby steps to achieve their goals, by slowing opening up their internal economy and absorbing the best in class practices in the process.

On the other hand, the decline of the US is evident. Trump tries very hard to do MAGA and now refuses to police the world. Self-interest (selfishness??) is the number one priority and screw the rest of the world. He has handed the global leader crown to China, whether China is ready or not. Japan is also being marginalized, as they struggle with their own unique set of problems – highest debt to GDP ratio in the world, aging population etc.

For Trump, things are getting into a perfect storm very soon. The Mueller investigations on Russian interference is now getting into second gear. The findings are getting juicier every day. Denials are now proven absolutely fake news. Not only were they in bed with the Russians, it seems like the pee-pee tape episode could be real….

The other escalating bombshell is also coming – sexual harassment accusations, the uprising of the oppressed. Each and every business sector in the world is being bombarded with new revelations of previous inappropriate behaviors, the #MeToo movement. It seems like taking out your manhood in front of a total stranger in the 1970s is more common than I thought (???). Trump just tweeted a negative comment on Al Fraken while being silent on Roy Moore. Why? Because Fraken is a Democrat? The fact that Trump is so guilty of such similar practices is so ironic. This could be the final straw that will break the camel’s back for Trump.

Yes, the new world order has changed. US is on the decline and the dragon from the East is rising… The momentum is moving from the West to the East.

 

As part of the reinvention of myself, I had made a conscious effort to acquire new knowledge. It started with online eLearning last year via Udemy and Coursera after I left my job in Apr. It was an eye-opener for me as I learned about Hashtags, FB and Google Affiliate marketing and new programming languages like Python. I also started my own blog to help me improve my written skills and hopefully, to share my diary with my sons whenever they want to know more about their old man. I discovered new occupations like travel blogging and influencers, realized that we continue to create jobs that did not exist a few years ago while old ones die at a rapid rate. With unlimited imagination and new technology constantly evolving, the whole is your oyster indeed.

My resolution for this year was to go a step further and attend physical classes. The timing was good too, as the government was also actively trying to push the Skillsfuture initiative, especially to 3rd Ager PMETs like myself. We cannot afford to keep still when the world is moving ahead at lightning speed.

I just completed my 2nd Skillsfuture course this week, after 8 evening classes over 4 weeks. The course was “Starting a small business” and the trainer had his own F&B experience to share. It was a pleasant surprise for me to have interacted with 15 other like-minded coursemates who are all into our halftimes and wanting to explore Plan B. One, in particular, stood out. She wanted to start her own cake shop as she was in her sixties and kids are all grown up and they are supportive of her initiative.

I was always interested in the retirement village concept and during this course, it pivoted into a service business discussion group I was in. Over the weeks, more details were fleshed out as we go through the process of the 8 steps that the trainer had taught us, to methodically prepare for a small business setup.

What if we set up a membership service to link 3rd Agers who want to lead an active lifestyle and expand their social circle to meet up with like-minded individuals over diverse topics like health/wellness, sports, new learning interests (eg. food, skills/hobbies) and travel? Currently, we can see pockets of such activities all around us. With WhatsApp alone, one already has multiple chat groups with different groups of friends/family members on a wide area of discussions.

What if there are more people like me out there, who want new learning experiences and like to expand our social circle? My wife knows I like to organize things, having planned more than 8 class reunions over the last 7 years (more than 100+ pax per gathering). I was always the one planning the family holiday vacation in detail. Talk about merging your interest with your job! I could literally set up this business at home and do this online. My creative juices continue to swirl in my mind as I try to visualize the overall game plan. This course has allowed me to do this in a structured way, to take into consideration all areas to avoid common pitfalls and help shorten my learning curve.

On the last day of the course, we did a small potluck to build up the camaraderie within the team. The trainer rightfully emphasized that as the training ends, we should continue to support each other as we all embark on a new journey, to try to that the next very difficult step to cross the invisible line to start a business. A new WhatsApp group was also set up so that we can continue to stay in contact, to encourage each other and also provide support if appropriate.

We stop growing if we stop learning. Risk aversion comes with age but that should not prevent us from wanting to continue to gain knowledge. This will build up excitement to face new challenges and adds more meaning to our lives as we face our second half. Learning is a lifelong journey.

https://www.spring.gov.sg/Developing-Industries/FBS/Pages/Campaign-Start-Right-for-FB-Enterprises.aspx

Being called uncle nowadays reminds me that I am older than most of the general population. Getting used to it is another thing. While one may feel young at heart, the physical body tends to have a habit of reminding you that it has been around for quite some time. The body aches and pains seem to take much longer or forever to go away, the excess body fat seems to be increasing even though you try to eat less and exercise more.

One is constantly reminded of one’s mortality when someone you know has passed on. And this happens more regularly as you grow older. Last week, I was informed that a classmate from secondary school days had a fatal heart attack. It was tragic that he was living alone when it happened and colleagues found out about it a day later when they noticed that he was MIA. I was told that he had medical problems and a heart condition. I remember him as a very sporty and friendly person in school. RIP.

What is human mortality? Once we passed on, loved ones only have memories of the person which fades away over time. Thanks to social media, we may be able to call up photos and videos of the person anytime we feel a tinge of nostalgia.

Would you rather know when you will kick the bucket or do you prefer not to know? We had a friend that passed on at 37, 7 months after he found out that he had pancreatic cancer. He made full use of his limited time on earth, making peace with the world and spending quality time with close friends. He even composed his own obituary epitaph where he invited everyone to his wake, to have a celebration of his life with nice food and wines. He told his best friend : “No cheap mineral water please!”

Going out with a bang is something I would like to do. Morbid as it sounds, I have already told my sons and best friends my chosen funeral wake song (Silent Lucidity by Queensryche). I would also like them to play a list of songs (with MTV video and lyrics) that had impacted my life during the wake. Haven’t got to the part to choose the playlist yet though.

LKY, a possible atheist, once said that when you are gone, you are gone. Accept that. For those that have religious faiths, it means going to a better place or being reborn again. Whatever your inclinations, the fact remains that we are living on borrowed time on planet earth. You are what you want out of this. Either you make the best out of this life and maximize it by living each day as if it is the last day of your life, or you waste away every single day. It is your choice.

I choose to face life positively, to look at the bright side of every situation and make the best of it. While I may still encounter people I dislike once in a while, it should not stop me from sharing and trying to give back to society. Staying healthy and happy is still my motto.