The ride home

This photo was taken in the car about a month ago as I was driven back to the hotel after work in Jakarta. From 4 to 7pm, to alleviate traffic congestion, the city authorities require all cars to have at least 3 passengers. In theory, this is to encourage car pooling and hence reduce number of cars on the already choked up streets of the city. It hasn't really worked because those who can afford cars in this high Gini-coefficient city can also afford a driver. So a new industry of car jockeys arose. Unemployed men and women would offer themselves to be picked up as the third person in the car, thereby allowing the car owner to be driven to wherever he needed to be at the peak hour.

In a decade and half of travelling to Jakarta, I have made use of many such jockeys but never one as young as this. Aliyah, as she told me her name, is merely 15 years old, the same age as my daughter. She should be in school or doing her homework but no, she's helping me get back to my hotel. I struck up a conversation with her because I while I understood she was trying to earn a living (for herself and her family), I wanted to encourage her to arm herself with the weapon that truly would get her to a better place: that is to gain an education. 

At the end of the trip, I paid her three times more than the usual jockeying tip and urged her to study. I have always been moved by scenes of kids having to look after me, esp kids who are the same age as my kids, whom I love and care about dearly. Also in Jakarta, some 10 years ago, I remember it was pouring and in order to ensure i remained dry, a young boy (about my son' sage then) offered to shield me in his small umbrella as I walked to the car. I refused because I couldn't bring myself to have a young boy getting drenched on my behalf and tipped him anyway.

Just last weekend, I was again seated at the back of the car as my wife and daughter sat in front. She was being picked up from school after a peer support board event, and heading to her usual cathecism class. For M, the car ride is a time to unwind, connect with the driver (one of her parents, usually the mom) or even catch forty winks before arriving at the destination. 

Truly, a child's trajectory is so much determined by his or her station at birth. 

Bill Gates was quoted to have said something like, "it's not your fault to be born poor, but to die poor is". I do hope Aliyah takes my advice and launch herself on a better trajectory.

Of sneezing and cold...

I... Not of the medical sort, mind you, but the economic sort. It's been said that when the US sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold. That's just how important the American economy is. If it slows, it's buys less, and all the factories in the world start to accumulate inventory. This has been true for as long as I understood these things.

But just last week, something rather profound happen. I was even asked by CNA to comment on it: the fact that the US Federal Reserve Bank decided not to raise interest rates despite decent economic data domestically for fear of tipping the emerging markets (read China) further into slow down. The Chinese economy has been slowing the past few years and it is now markedly in a slower growth mode. And it looks like the maxim has found another powerful patient.

I was in Chengdu earlier this week. This city was one of the epicenters of the Three Kingdom Wars. In fact Liu Bei's masuleoum is right there in the middle of the city at WuHou shrine, along with giant statues commemorating him, his grand strategist, ZhuGeLiang and the warrior general, ZhangFei. It was also one of KuoMingTang's last bastion before they ceded control of the Mainland to the Communist Party. For a city that is arguably in the middle of nowhere (sited as it is in the southwest of China), it sure has an illustrious past.

Its recent past, however, proved more difficult. As the communist party mismanaged the country and the economy, all of China started to deteriorate and while the great "capitalism with chinese characteristics" revival worked, it started first with the coastal cities, first Shenzhen, then the rest of the eastern seaboard esp Shanghai. It took a few decades before the effects reached inland. In many cases, the 'build it and they will come' philosophy to create new 2nd and 3rd tier cities left quite a few of these places as ghost towns. Chengdu threatened to be one of them.

But as I spent half a week here, in meetings and some sightseeing (incl pandas!) I remain astounded by the world class infrastructure (6-lane main thoroughfare, with additional side lanes for buses and bicycles) laid out in an organized grid template dotted by efficient square blocks of commercial and residential buildings. It's far from a ghost town but a thriving modern city that somehow still manages to hang on to its traditions of tea and mahjong.

The idealism of youth

I just finished watching another F1 race. The Singapore Grand Prix one to be precise. Sebastian Vettel won (no suprise there). He was driving a Ferrari (again, no surprise). But three former world champions DNF-ed (did not finish): Alonso, Button and Hamilton. That's quite surprising given these guys know how to look after their cars and to nurse their damaged equipment to the finish line. The really pleasant surprise was a young Max Verstappen in his debut race. He finished in a decent point scoring 8th place from 20 cars and even set one the fastest laps in the race. At 17 years old, he is even younger than J (who is just starting to get his driving license). If this photo from telegraph.co.uk is any evidence, this kid still has spots... And he's already shown that winners mentality.

What a way to start and he drove with all the exuberance of youth. I remember that phrase well. I once started my career with just as much gusto where I would write to my Managing Director - oblivious to any hierarchical constructs - and shared what was right and wrong with the company, which was then and still is one of the world's best airlines. My director had to explain and cover for me and he nicely put it all down to youth. I sometimes still pull these 'puppy' moves. But more often than not, I am now a recipient of such equally earnest and exuberant exhortations from my staff and of course from my children.

At dinner tonight with the family, we had a good energetic conversation. Dinners at home for us can sometimes efficient affairs. Pray, eat, chew, leave... All within 10, 20 minutes. Not much love. But not tonight. I was browsing my Facebook page just before dinner and started the meal time conversation describing this photo (from gregasamar's blog) that was posted.

Both M and J truly care about environment and they are especially keen to ensure it and everything on it are sustained. For instance, M has decided her first car is going to be a hybrid or electric one. This topic really got J going and he expressed his views passionately. It gave both D and me to share our perspectives, which are expectedly different from each other's, and from his. It's been said, "where all think alike, no one thinks at all". So, we enjoy these differences of views, no matter how challenging and loudly these are expressed! It's vitally important to have ideas and to stand behind them. Wasn't it Gandhi who famously said,

“Your beliefs become your thoughts, 
Your thoughts become your words, 
Your words become your actions, 
Your actions become your habits, 
Your habits become your values, 
Your values become your destiny.”

I took a moment to share with them what I thought were two recent 21st century ideas that has had truly profound impact. First, the 'gentrification' of social services such that it became more mainstream and that the 'landed gentry' ie the ones with the resources to make a bigger difference, found it not just right but also fashionable to serve. The second was that we should unemploy the label 'unemployed'. If one is not hired by another, one should simply resort to being self-employed. This mindset (like what gentrified social services does to the middle classes) will cause people in the working classes to fundamentally rethink their self worth and hence what they can do even when they are not able to find a job with another. In fact, that's how the founders of AirBnB started. Out of the desperation of unemployment in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, they rented out a room in their own apartment and the rest is history. 

That's the power of a great idea. And very often these ideas and the ideals they purport to originate from our youth. 

Purpose

Today, I concluded the third day of meeting with my colleagues who lead various businesses and functions across Asia Pacific. We discussed many things, including some aspects that were difficult, but in a wide-ranging forum there was indeed a thing or two that I found joyful to engage on. One of these topics was about purpose.

J is at an important juncture of his life. He has to make some big decisions about which university he'd like to attend, and what course he'd like to major in. In short, time to really know his purpose. 

Throughout his life, he's always been driven. The drive comes from having set a goal and then venturing assiduously towards it. As he approaches his exams, he along with all his classmates stood down from their various responsibilities (and J had a few) to concentrate on acing the exams. I knew he would find this vacuum hard to fill. So, I was glad that he managed to fairly quickly figure out his interest, destination and even sponsor. These imbued him with a sense of purpose, and helped him get into the groove of studying for the exams, ostensibly to qualify for sponsorship, get into the school of his choice and read the subject he is keen on.

But given how busy he has been, the mono line act of just studying proved challenging and soon enough he took on another project. To make a treasure chest for a friend of his. He has always been good with his hands but without the right tools and experience, this side-project took him longer than anticipated. It threatened to take away important studying time. I lost my cool, worrying that he has lost his sense of priority (purpose notwithstanding). 

He got it, threw himself back to studying, and over the weekend (as I was sleeping) completed the treasure chest project.

It's really a beautiful thing, complete with a hidden compartment. The recipient is lucky indeed.

As his parent, I feel lucky too. To have a talented son, who is purposeful, determined and as the recent events shown, able to take feedback and yet get everything done. :-) 

Gardens and me

Even before I write this I know it sounds weird. I love gardens. I really do. Back in my younger wanderlust days, backpacking on a shoestring budget, I nonetheless always made it a point to get to the city garden. It didn't matter if I had to spend a bit f my precious little travel cash to hop on a bus to get there and to pay an entrance fee... I just needed to get in, walk the grounds, sit on a park bench, jot my thoughts in my travelogue and generally just soak up the tranquility afforded by the trees, flowers and lawns.

From Tokyo imperial gardens, to the world famous Hyde Park in London and Central Park in New York or the beautiful Kirstenbosch in Capetown or Barcelona's Parc Guell, I've been to them all... More than once, even. 

But the gardens that I've been to most almost on a weekly basis,for the past couple of years, is the Singapore Botanical Gardens. I've made it a point to be the chauffeur for M every Sunday afternoon for her Math class. I drop her and then go to the Gardens next door and spend a better part of the next two hours on some functional core routines and run the paths in SBG. It's not too far fetched to say I know every nook and cranny of this impressive gardens. And as I jogged all over it, I am only too aware of its attractions and history and had hoped the UNESCO would see them too.

Yesterday, the SBG was conferred the status of being a UNESCO world heritage site. This means it will continue to be preserved well for posterity. That's a really nice thought. Too many things of worth and purpose, too many institutions too for that matter, have been destroyed by poor governance. In fact, as Singapore Botanical Gardens (and by extensions their custodian, the NParks run by the Singapore Government) is recognised for having taken good care of this asset, my home country is a washed with a corruption scandal so egregious, it boggles the mind. 

But back to Singapore, well done! And to the photographer of the above photo: Lee Hsien Loong.

Comfort food

I occasionally tell D that at heart I am still a small town boy. Yes, I can appreciate the finer things in life, and truth be told, I even enjoy them.

But when all is said and done, I can still live simply. 

Just this morning, I went for breakfast at a neighbourhood market, in my t-shirt, shorts (one orange in colour, the other red) and dragging my feet in flip flops (or Japanese slippers as we used to call it when we were younger). I had myself a large plate of black chai tow kuay (fried carrot cake) and a hot large cup of Kopi Siew tai (coffee with less milk).

It filled me up, warmed my belly... Gave me energy for the whole day. So much so, I could even skip lunch and dinner.

Now, that's what I call comfort food!

Bas, AustinJames, Pepe, Saffron, Stefan...

... All works of mechanical magnificence. I've been interested in them first from matchbox models, then trump cards, then from magazines and of course Top Gear and some 7 years ago started to collect them. 

Today is a milestone, for more than 2 years since I first bought Bas, in it's semi-restored state,from a migrating young man in Selangor, he is now coming home in a nearly fully restored state. I say nearly because parts of this old van still doesn't work. The side windows wing stay up. The speedometer has flatlined. The drivetrain rattles, and the air con fluid gurgles. Some non essentials like the clock, now set perpetually at 8am which was the time we set off from Skudai where it has been for a year being restored by D's mechanic uncle's network of friends and family. Shortly upon setting off, we found that its fuel overflow connector pipe has corroded. Uncle fixed it and here we are a mere half hour away from OOHH and Bas is still going strong. 

J is quite excited about this old van. In fact when I bought it, I had him in mind because he shares my passion for cars, and is an even bigger fan of Jeremy Clarkson than I am. Of the three Top gear presenters (sadly no more a trio now), I find the pedant James "Captain Slow" May most entertaining. It's the juxtaposition of the thing. He's a fussy, careful man-child sandwiched between a loud overbearing man-child and an egregious daredevil man-child (both of whom one would easily expect to find amongst petrol heads). 

Speaking of heads, here's a view of two similarly shaped ones, belonging to grandpa and grandson, in this old bus bravely traversing the North-South highway, averaging 90kmh (according to Wazw, since the broken speedometer can't do its job).