Category: Uncategorized

Macau, the Las Vegas of Asia.

Having just spent a long weekend there, I realised that like Vegas, it offers whatever money can buy. The spectacular opulence is a stark contrast to the rest of Asia. Tall new buildings everywhere and all fashion labels which you can think of is available there. The casinos are packed with people wagering loads of cash at any one time.

As our group consisted of mainly non-gamblers, we concentrated on the sights and the many Michelin star restaurants available there. Ate our way through 3 days and nights of fabulous food and exquisite wines while we enjoyed the lavish accommodations. The 50th birthday celebrations for the 4 of us was certainly a vacation to remember.

Like Vegas, Macau is not a place to stay for a long vacation as it looks artificial after a while and brings out all the negative human characteristics. Gambling has certainly destroyed many fortunes and will continue to do so. Definitely not an ideal location to bring up a family too.

Yes, the whole group of my really close friends turns 50 with me this year. To reward ourselves, the spouses have planned for a long weekend vacation overseas where the 10 of us will eat, drink and party like there is no tomorrow, without the kids 🙂  We have all known each other since our Uni days and have shared 29 years of friendship. So many memories and experiences to share as we played and worked hard during our undergrad days. Then onwards to the corporate world, supporting each other during tough times, being best men as we got married and watching our kids grow over the years from babies to young adults.

Is 50 the new 30? I certainly like to think so. We are all so mindful of our health nowadays, doing regular medical checkups and watching our diets. This is so unlike our parents’ generation, where exercising and staying fit wasn’t even in their game plan. Life expectancy is much longer now and it is very common to see 80-year-olds still enjoying an active senior lifestyle. I still feel very young at heart, even though I am mindful that physically, my body is much less agile than before. Exciting times ahead!

 

 

I have been observing that as we age (myself included), we tend to get stressed up easily, worrying about little things even more.

Is it due to the fact that our body is showing signs of wear and tear, that motor functions react slower and memory is not as sharp as before? I used to be able to remember a daily to-do list quite easily but now I cannot even recall what I wanted to do a few minutes ago. Short term memory seems to be fading more often nowadays. My solution to this problem is to rely on my smartphone calendar, to immediately note it down before I forget. This situation might increase the stress level as we get a bit lost at times. I see this happening with friends that are older than me, making them frustrated and perturbed at times. I do reflect on myself too and sometimes I sense my neck muscles tightening up in a ball as I worry non-stop about a small work-related matter. Studies do recommend that one should do regular exercises. But we also have to bear in mind that we have to be more careful as recovery from injuries take a much longer time as we age.

Even as I highlight the possible correlation between stress and aging above, I don’t really have many solutions to offer, except to constantly try to  stay healthy and happy. Your thoughts?

 

 

Had a really successful school reunion last week. 128 persons turned up.

The wave of nostalgia was incredible. Long lost teenage classmates who have not seen each other for more than 30 years, recollecting childhood memories and experiences. Managed to give out printed Lifecard as a door gifts : individual report book with a 13-year-old photo attached,  exam results included 🙁 Most swear that they will never show their kids their old exam results as it will make daddy look bad… 😉 We managed to invite 5 teachers from our era too. They still look so good and healthy.

To officially open the reunion, we sang the school song. Everyone stood at attention and did so with lotsa gusto. It seems like we had only left school last week. We then had the signature group photo which took a lot of co-ordination to complete as it was not easy to gather so many people in formation. After the buffet dinner, everyone was just mingling around trying to re-connect with old familiar faces. The name tag helps : less hair and more weight now just makes recognition that much harder 🙂

To round off the night, we had specially prepared a 4 kg birthday cake with the school crest on it. This was to celebrate our important milestone. All of us will hit our 50th birthday this year. We sang the birthday song to ourselves and each other, wishing everyone good health, happiness and that we can all meet again at a future reunion.

 

 

Positivity – such a powerful concept yet most people don’t practice it.

It is a state of mind which one has to actively focus on. Never dwell in the past (easier said than done) and always look at the bright side of things. Be mindful of Negativity, it is infectious and spreads easily.

Just had my class reunion last night. 128 of us turned up. While it was stressful at times trying to control the crowd, it was rewarding to get words of encouragement from the old boys and seeing so much laughter as they reminisce about school days.

Today, I had lunch with my super cheerful and positive yoga trained old friend. Talk about happy things and her recent trip to Obama’s annual NGO conference. Absorbed so much positivity from her over the vegetarian meal.

Simple rules to follow : Stay away from negative people like the plague. Think happy thoughts. Smile more 🙂

“Positivity” by Suede

And the morning is for you
And the air is free
And the birds sing for you
And your positivity

 

Might be a half time trait, but I tend to want to reminisce about old times more often as I cross 50. I do get a sense from my friends that they are also trying to slow down and smell the roses a bit more. Everyone makes a point to get together and we tend to treasure these moments.

With that in mind, I had been planning a school reunion with an old friend for the last 3 months. It will finally happen tomorrow evening. We have been putting out teaser ads on our FB event and group pages for many weeks to gather interest. We expect at least 130 people to show up, some coming from as far as USA, HK and Thailand just to attend. Hopefully, we will all have a blast as we go down memory lane, look at old photos and play lotsa 80’s music at the event.

Tonight, an ex-colleague has also planned a get-together session for everyone whom we had worked with in the Treasury department from the late 80’s to mid-2000 period. The most senior guy has kindly sponsored this event and at least 50 to 75 people are expected to show up. A similar gathering last happened in 2012. It is amazing that I have already worked for more than 25 years in this industry! These people were there with me when we encountered some crazy shit in the financial markets – UK out of EMU in 1992, Asia and Russian crises, Y2K fiasco, Tech meltdown, GFC…

As I head into my second half in life, I begin to value such experiences even more. With our limited time on this earth and facing more uncertainties as we get older, we should cherish old friendships, forge new experiences with great friends and try not to worry about things we cannot control. “Staying healthy and happy” is my mantra. It keeps me focused. I aim to count my blessings every day and this will keep me grounded.

“Nostalgia made me feel that my life had roots and continuity. It made me feel good about myself and my relationships. It provided a texture to my life and gave me the strength to move forward.”

 

 

The trend towards a gig economy has begun. It is an environment in which temporary positions are common and companies frequently contract with individuals for short-term engagements.

This phenomenon is getting more apparent nowadays and we can see it all around us. Uber, AirBnB and fintech startups are some examples of the active users of short-term contract work with independent workers. It is estimated that by 2020, almost 40% of American workers would be independent contractors.

The implication for my age group is worrying but yet it is timely. Most of us are experiencing our half time now. We would probably like to take a step back and ease up on the rat race to pursue the things that we have an interest in, while leveraging on our previous work experience to do some part time work. I am starting to see quite a number of my friends doing this, given that most have already built up a stable financial base and now have older kids who are more independent. It allows them to serious think about what they want to do next and plan their next 5-10 years career paths.

As technology starts to accelerate and take over more jobs, older workers cannot avoid being marginalized. We can either admit defeat and retire or fight back and try to reinvent ourselves, learn new skills. The gig economy is a perfect interim phase for us to gravitate towards while we develop ourselves for the new economy.

 

 

Disturbing but possible! Trump may yet win in November.

It seems that nothing can stick on Teflon Don… Clinton just did a blitzkrieg campaign on Trump over the weekend. The video interviewed an SME architect named Andrew Tesoro who was screwed by Trump’s company and threatened by the man himself. A big boy stamping on the little guy. But if you look at some of the comments, Trump supporters are still adamant that Clinton is a bigger liar and cannot be trusted!

Amazingly, this can only happen in America. It is like Al Gore and Bush again – the rest of the world thought that the more intellectually capable Gore should win. Trump has proven again and again that his “winner takes all, regardless of the means to get there” strategy is not an issue for his ardent supporters. I believe that even Trump is surprised that he had managed to get so far into the elections, considering that he is now short of money and scrambling to prepare a coherent strategy team to fight Clinton.

Some say that the people have to choose the lesser of 2 evils. After Brexit, anything can happen again.