Hilary Term

This is a rather quixotic world, with a vocabulary all of its own. Most universities would refer to their terms or semesters numerically or maybe according to the season. But not here in O. The terms are named after angels or some significant religious event. That is what happens when the university is over nine hundred and twenty years old. Time, or rather meaningful time, a millennium ago was marked more by religious events. In this case, M’s 2nd term is called Hilary, after the feast day of St Hilary which falls on 14th January which was when term started. The first term is Michaelmas after the feast of St Michael and all angels and the third and final term of the year is Trinity, which starts after Trinity Sunday.

I am on my way to Davos and thought I drop by and see her. She has already moved into a a new room at NG, sat for her first collections (another curious word to describe exams) which test a student’s grasp (or recollection?) of what was thought the term before. M sat for this in a chapel, wearing a black and white gown (sub fusc). I think I have confused you, dear reader, enough. And it is indeed into this disorienting world that M stepped into all by herself, having lived in the relative comfort and safety of home for over 19 years.

She is assigned a new room for Hilary Term and it is larger and faces the Gardens of the Nunnery. Previously, she was also facing the “Gardens”: the road called N Gardens :-). So progress!

 The real progress is that she packed up her previous room and unpacked fully into her new room. It’s often said that household skills skip a generation because an unusually able parent (in, say, packing) would do all of that to the extent that the child need never do it. D is that unusually skilled packer, so M had to learn really fast, and learned she did. Although she had only moved in less than a week ago, when I stepped into her room this morning, it felt really settled in already.

She has indeed had to navigate through many new situations. Some are trivial: do I join my friends to the club or not? Some are simple: where do I lunch today? Some are important: which course do I take/drop next term/year? Whatever she chose, she also learnt that there are no wrong decisions. Life is wonderful that way. It is a journey that allows for course correction... so there are no failures, just learnings. Don’t enjoy clubbing after deciding to go, then leave early. The lunch place was not up to expectations, avoid it the next time. Even with courses, there are always new knowledge to be gained. M is obviously putting her thinking and analytical skills to bear as she makes these decisions: big and small and in time she would know which are the big stuff to think more deeply about and which small stuff not worth sweating gray matter over.

Right now, she is getting ready for her third and final collections for the start of this term. It so happens to be about evolution. We have all evolved over millennia and in M’s case, in just a few short months, she has already evolved into a more independent person and more ready to take on the world.

Doors

It was Alexander Graham Bell who famously said, "When one door closes, another one opens. ..."

It is human nature to rue our mistakes, and the more perfectionist the human, the deeper the regret; for after all over-achievers don't fail .... or do they?

The truth is the biggest names in history, be it in science, literature, sports, politics had all been forged through the fires of failure. From missed opportunities to silly mistakes to poor miscalculations, Edison, Shakespeare, Ali and way too many politicians to name, they all have two things in common: they had doors closed, even slammed shut in front of their faces. And secondly, they never lingered too long in regret in front of that shut door but went on to find the doors that open instead.

At a much smaller scale, but big in the context for a student returning to university, M was very much confronted with a shut door arising from her own illness-induced forgetfulness. But rather playing the blame game with herself, she surprised both her mum and me and indeed the airlines counter staff with a decision. She had accidentally checked in her carry on bag which was unlocked and contain valuables needed for school. The big question was whether we could get the bags offloaded and re-checked in time. In an absolute moment of clarity, in front of anxious parents, she decided to let the bags go ahead.

In the end, the bags arrived safely, she had less to carry on to handle and most importantly learnt the lesson that Mr Bell had so succinctly put across. When bad things happen, we need to move forward. Thinking through new options (but don't get analysis paralysis) and most importantly, decide and act. The rest will take care of itself.

Careers

Its 9pm here in Vijayawada airport. I landed here at 8am this morning from a 6am Delhi flight. And had landed in Delhi at 8pm the night before from Singapore. My first flights as I start work this new year.

I met the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and his team to discuss a balanced, inclusive growth plan for the state; as well as to help with a PR crisis he is now facing. PR risks are now part and parcel of advising governments. In this age of social media, everything a public figure say or do (in private and in public) can and will be captured and published and often out of context, esp. now as we live in a world of polarising politics.

Tough job indeed! But then again here at the airport I got to witness poor ground staff being harassed and verbally abused by passengers of a delayed flight. It reminded me of my own experiences (some quarter of a century ago now) of having to handle very much these situations. There are others too like lost bags, wrong seats, and worse of all overbooking!

I had sought to get out of such frontline jobs only to land myself in another frontline job, this time with more high powered customers! Talk about leaping from the frying pan into the fire. I am not sure though if I would do it any other way, or rather if I would do it again, i think i would still take a front office job over a back office one. There is something to be said about human interaction and solving these problems dynamically.

At some level, all jobs are the same. Its about delivering a good/service to a customer who has paid for it. The key difference is at what stage of the value chain one plays. Some are upstream, designing the product. Some play midstream, making the product. Others downstream, fulfilling the order. Still others orchestrate the whole chain. And then the managers who see to everyone doing their jobs.

At the end of the day, the most fulfilling job is the one you like, because it makes you feel you have been purposeful.

2020

This marks the start of a new decade. A century ago the 20s was a roaring decade only to end in a great depression globally. Lets hope this 2020s will be lived more sensibly, esp. as a bunch of folks born near the beginning of the new millennium comes of age, for they are our future. In fact, they are very soon going to become the present, in terms of being part of the humanity that has learnt enough to now contribute to society.

For my part, I have worked for nearly 3 decades and while I would like to think I have done my part, and even made a difference, esp in the last 3 years leading the practice to help governments globally, I am not sure that as a generation, we have covered ourselves in glory. Yes, there wasn’t a global military war in that period, so peace reigned but other wars were waged: on the working class, on the environment and even on race and religion that the world we are now bringing into 2020 is one that is more divided than in the past half century.

Who is responsible for this? Well, no one specifically. We all worked within the system that prevailed and in our case a free market capitalist system, largely led by the democratically elected national/global leaders. And in the words of Pope Francis, “if no one is responsible, then we are all resposible”.

J asked the family as we chatted the night before he returned to the US, for our new year resolutions. I thought about it for a moment and realised that I have not made up any for awhile now. The way it happened is simple: my life, unlike one of a student's, is no longer regulated by the year but rather by a tenure, a tenure of appointment to be precise. I am midway through my 6 year term and hence see this period as one contiguous block of time with a clear expression of what success looks like in 6 years time' but not less, because near term milestones are less meaningful when one can course correct until the eventual goal.

Speaking of goal, we had a family new year's dinner and as often happens, we would land on an interesting (often big) topic of conversation for the table. Yesterday was no different. I had put forth the proposition that people with small issues should set out to solve bigger problems. That way, their issues would become smaller (and hence less important and more surmountable) in context and they may even deliver great value when solving the larger problems. Then again, even this bigger problems do not need to be fully resolved. We just need to have a purpose and yes, it'd be good to have made some progress along the way.

The greater problems for me now are two-fold. At the world scale, it is to move us all positively forward on issues of inequality. At the homefront, it is about being there to support my family as they forge their way ahead in this world.

Photo Credit: D who snapped this 

during our 2-hr patience testing

 stand-still jam at the 2nd Link

That, and yes: to lose my belly fat and manage my stress.

Resolutions.

Be Free !!!

I picked up this card in Bleinheim Palace, the birthplace of Winston Churchill, earlier this month. Given that the elephant is a bit of a family mascot, it is not unnatural for this card to catch my eye, especially the warm image of a child running into the arms of a parent: probably the safest place in the world for the youngling. It was rather apt considering this was purchased at the ancestral home of a man who made his country, and to an extent the continent and the world, safer. The card is entitled “And as I learn ...” which was a bit off, I felt. It could have been “... running into safety”.

I am now on my way to the Middle East, specifically Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. I have meetings with various government officials in Riyadh, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. This region of the world has unfortunately been (for thousands of years) and remain in conflict with each other and the world. So, safety is high on my mind now.

And in the front page of today’s Straits Times, a harrowing caption, “ Mom, I love you and Dad so much. I’m dying because I can’t breathe”. This were the last words in an SMS that 26 year old Pan Tri Tha My sent to her mom before dying in an unventilated trailer that was smuggling her into the UK. It is tragic she died this way but at least in those final moments, she managed to communicate with her parents, no doubt her place of safety. So, I pray her soul is at peace.

Back home, this morning we met with Tracy and her boyfriend Pedro (who works in the UK) and they are now contemplating of coming back to Asia having appreciated the potential of this region and having just completed a week of vacation in Vietnam, they were thinking of doing business in Vietnam.

The world is full of contradictions like this. People criss-crossing the world to forge a brighter future. The Chinese have a history of emigrating in search of a better life. This type of migration was known as “tao sheng huo”, which roughly translates to seeking a life. It is all the more poignant that in such a search, some lose their lives. But more of such emigration will continue. For there remains this fire of purpose that burns in each of us: to build a better a tomorrow.

It is for this reason, I know, that you are both overseas. To gain knowledge from the world’s most learned. And to do so in places that will better help you understand the world at large. There is however one big advantage you have: safety. Our arms are always open. Like Leonardo Da Vinci who was safe in the employment of the Medicis in Florence, and therefore free to give full rein to his creative genius without fear, you too are free to make the most of your time abroad.

You need not worry about what others think. 

It's the heart afraid of breaking
That never learns to dance
It's the dream afraid of waking
That never takes the chance
It's the one who won't be taken
Who cannot seem to give
And the soul afraid of dyin'
That never learns to live

Try new things. It doesn’t matter at all if you fail in these. Can you imagine how many sketches Leonardo has abandoned and how bulbs that didn’t light up for Edison? Yet the world remembers them today for the geniuses that they are. So free yourself. Don’t be too hard on yourself: Go where you want. Eat what you want. Wear what you want. 

Because unlike the poor Vietnamese girl, you have a real place of safety and our safety platform is not a net (from which you find hard to crawl out from), but rather its a trampoline... that will safely catch you when you fall and bounce you back up again. And you know how trampoline works: the higher a height you fall from, the higher the bounce! So, be free, my darling. 

Rise and fall

I am a fan of Kuik Yishen’s posts (on FB). His grasp of history and his pattern identifying (and if somewhat conservative) interpretations resonate with me. From calling out the tropical botanical gardens as the then silicon valleys of their time: for colonial masters to undertake agricultural R & D and hence take advantage of large land masses they have “acquired” globally to produce the highest value cash crops... to the decisions taken by the British (in particular Raffles) to prioritise Singapore 200 years ago over all its other colonies, his version of history traces success to their sources.

His focus on Asia and especially Southeast Asia meant he cannot but write of Malacca, whom he characterised as part of the quadruplets of colonies which included Macau, Penang and Singapore. Malacca was in fact the big sibling. It was a thriving port along the most important sea lane that connected India and China. The straits is still called after it. So much so that the Chinese Emperor sent Admiral Zheng He to form diplomatic, economic and security ties back in the 13th century. So much so that it is the first state an ambitious new global naval power, the Portuguese, set to conquer. When the Malacca Sultanate fell, in 1511, this empire had lasted just about 250 years.

Credit: vinterior.co

So, recently when Kuik wrote a piece not about the origins of success but of its duration (none lasting over 250 years), I thought I’d capture it here on my blog too. He went on to ask, therefore, what of Singapore who has just celebrated its bicentennial.

A few years ago I visited Westminister Abbey. Here was Raffles, there was Blake and the poets, and there was Newton and the scientists, monarchs, aristocrats, statesmen, on and on.

I realized then Westminister Abbey was the most exclusive club in the world. A distinguished life of service to England was required for burial there. It was an institution to motivate the building of Empire.

Lim Siong Guan, Head of Civil Service (1999-2005), often quotes from Sir John Bagot Glubb, a soldier-philosopher. Glubb looked at great nations and identified 7 ages as they rose and fell, describing the changing values and heros of each age.

Practical men begin the cycle, borrowing and adapting ideas in free experimentation. Then professionalization ushers an age of expansion, where great men are builders and conquerors who bring glory to the nation. Expansion leads to an enriched nation, which celebrates its artists and intellectuals. Society sheds conservative habits and becomes eager consumers, leading to a worship of the wealthy. Finally, as consumerism gets decadent, the frivolous are worshiped - athletes, entertainers and chefs.

Singaporeans may find it hard to believe that the richest Roman of all time, Marcus Crassus, would choose to lead an army against Syria aged 61 in 53 BC. Despite his great wealth, the pinnacle of Roman achievement was to be granted a victory parade. Crassus died in Syria, molten gold poured into his head as reward for his greed. Then again, Osama bin Laden was from a rich construction family and the Ibrahim brothers who bombed Colombo, a rich spice family.

In Glubb's essay, greatness does not exceed 250 years. Writing in 1950s, he was worried about Great Britain, and proved prophetic when the IMF bailed out the UK twenty years later in 1976.

Thoughts for our Bicentennial
Tan Kah Kee's life did not overlap with my generation, so the power of stories from his time have but a feeble impact on us. The world of Crazy Rich Asians - of Eu Villa, Karikal Mahal, Har Par Villa, of Singapore in the 1930s have receded into the mists of time for Singaporeans below the age of 70, more legend than reality, and fodder for fiction.

For Singaporeans yet to take their PSLEs, LKY is only slightly less distant than Sang Nila Utama. The transmission of values from LKY's generation in the PAP and society is intact today but 30 years hence those in Primary School will be in control of Singapore.

Will we still have a honest Civil Service? Will we still have an unambiguously fair National Service? Will we still trust our Courts and the Police? Will we have a sense of national unity? Will we still have meritocracy? None of these questions should be take for granted. The power of remembered stories, lived by individuals famous or otherwise is an underestimated force in shaping the character and strength of a society and nation.

The living memory of grit, struggle and the values of LKY's generation has served as a cloak of protection around the PAP and Singapore. Kempeitai brutality, Konfrontasi, British incompetence, race riots - these were gifts of history, lending invisible strength to our commitment towards multi-racial self-determination. This cloak is coming off and it will be the challenge of Singapore to see if it will retain its greatness past Glubb's time limit. The old adage of shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in 3 generations might also apply to societies - tripling the human lifespan of 75 years gets close to Glubb's limit.

Hymn

Forth in your name, O Lord, I go
my daily labour to pursue;
you, Lord, alone I long to know
in all I think or speak or do.

The task your wisdom has assigned
here let me cheerfully fulfil;
in all my work your presence find
and prove your good and perfect will.

You I would set at my right hand
whose eyes my inmost secrets view;
and labour on at your command
and offer all my work to you.

Help me to bear your easy yoke
and every moment watch and pray;
and still to things eternal look
and hasten to that glorious day.

Gladly for you may I employ
all that your generous grace has given;
and run my earthly course with joy,
and closely walk with you to heaven.

This is the closing hymn at the first mass at the chapel of SBH to mark the start of Michaelmas term of the 2019 Academic Year. Deeply meaningful words that will help guide all of us, especially M, as she spends the next three years here.

During the Fr O, the chaplain, in his calm Queen's English voice, spoke of servant leadership and how everything we do has to be in service of the Lord. With such foundations, this is indeed a unique place for M to study Human Sciences. As it is, it is a course that marries the sciences with the humanities. And if she adds spirituality to it, it would truly be the Grand Unified Theory of Everything.