a hung parliament

Malaysia just had its 15th general elections and for tue first time in its 65 year history as an independent country, no party (or pre election coalition) garnered the majority seats. Its a hung parliament. 

The King's office has issued a decree to have the parties form a majority coalition and to present it to him by 2pm tomorrow. I do find it surprising that he is not asking for the party with the most seats to attempt that first. Indeed, I alerted the PH leader's office that get the constitutional lawyers to check if what the King has asked for is in keeping with our laws. Shouldn't he first allow the ticket with the most seats the chance to form the government first before asking the next party to do so. Because it can end up with the “losing” parties combining to form the government which ultimately perverts the will of the people. 



Within our office, there has been some exchanges of views and here is mine:

That no party/pre-election coalition would get majority has been widely predicted. Even the fundamentalist Islamic party getting more seats is not surprising reflecting the trends towards conservatism (even extremism) the world over. 

That these are not surprising developments however doesn’t mean these are good developments. And how good or bad it is depends on what the two leading coalitions (PH, led by my friend Anwar Ibrahim; or PN, led by Muhyiddin who won power through the back door by betraying Anwar) can cobble up. 

Anwar’s coalition includes the Chinese-dominated DAP who has proven to be difficult bedfellows esp with the Malay parties. So he has his work cut out. That said he has the largest number of seats.

A partnership with BN, the erstwhile ruling party, would easily get both sides over the line. However that partnership would certainly entail pardoning Zahid (who has 42 outstanding corruption charges) and possibly also Najib (who has been found guilty). 

On to our business: I think the Public Sector business will need to be rebuilt (yet again). The ministers who are key buyers of our work to date (MOF, MITI) both lost their seats as did MOH Minister who had bought us in the past. They are the larger consulting users so in any scenario with any coalition these three buyers won’t be in play. 

If Anwar becomes PM, we will have a good chance as over the past years, I have seen him umpteen times to talk about the country’s socio economic agenda and he is a big fan of SEDA and has mentioned it several times in parliament (and I even played the clip of him doing so at a global plenary back in 2019). So we are in play for a KSA level whole of country transformation should he win. 

On the SWF side, we don’t have a large book of business today and so if anything the impact could even be positive as the current crop of CEOs have proven to be small buyers. 

On the GLC side, the relationships we have at P, M, T, S etc should continue regardless of who is in power as we have served them through various regime change in the past 5 years. 

On the private sector side, my tycoon friends are optimistic. They welcome a legitimately elected government (rather than a back door one) and with the anti-hopping law in place, they are hopeful that a semblance of stability will return and the environment for doing business will improve.

In any case, the best people to advise how to create a positive enabling environment for socioeconomic development is us and we will be ready to do this bringing the best of firm to bear.

My two sen 😀 worth

a modern silk route 8

I am on this leg of the journey on my own. D flew back home yesterday and I have a couple more days of business meetings in Riyadh.

The mode of travel may be different from a century ago but the geography remains. It is still a desert, albeit one blessed with many natural resources, especially here in Saudi Arabia.

Some have called the natural resources a curse rather than a blessing because it enfeebled rather than enabled the most important resources of all in any country: its people. 

When God, through Moses, led the people to the Promised Land, its interesting that he put them through 40 years of hardship and then led them into a land that actually have limited resources. Instead, the people had to rely on their own ingenuity to overcome the environmental drawbacks. It is no wonder that after millenia of such reprogramming, Jews went on to master many aspects of knowledge: Einstein, Spielberg, Streisand etc. 

In three of my meetings here today, I was accompanied by a talented young principal, A and in running between meetings we walked past a prayer room. He commented in passing that, when all else fails (with respect to the high ambitions we have shaped with the clients), they can always go to that. I replied that I too believe in God but I also think God wants us to apply ourselves. God gives a destination and a road map but we have to undertake the journey ourselves. This "God willing" mentality is incredibly hope and life sustaining when faced with incredible odds where divine intervention is required but it cannot be the go-to for every situation.

God gave us a destination (heaven), a navigation guide (bible) and also free will as traveller in this life on Earth.

There was this line in the movie Lawrence of Arabia where one of the men in his troop had fallen off his camel on their way from Wadi Sarfa to Aqaba. They travelled via land through the Nefud desert (considered impassable even by the Bedouins) to Wadi Rum where he raised a larger army to surprise the Turks who were attacking them and expecting them from the sea. Lawrence acted without orders and this strategy was therefore not recorded in the British Empire's playbook and came back to haunt them in their defence of Malaya and Singapore a few decades later when their guns were also all pointed out at sea.

Lawrence and his men have to make the crossing in 20 days or else the camels who will not drink will die of thirst and so will the men. So, there was no time to lose and Lawrence's counterpart did not want to turn around to get the man who fell. Lawrence did so while the troop was resting for the day and brought the man safely back. He then said this, "it is not written".

It is very much with this philosophy in mind that I share my advice with the public sector officials here esp pertaining to human capital development where its not just about the quality of teaching but also the inculcating of desire, drive and detail. And not losing the sense of cohesion, now that's nation building at its best. 

That's what countries like Indonesia, Qatar and Saudi Arabia whom I have visited on this trip are doing. Some of them suffer from a culture of complacency and conservatism that they almost have to unlearn their recent past in order to move forward again. I am confident they can move forward they shall as Lenin once described, "There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen"

And some of the changes they make are "genie out of a bottle" nature where you cannot put the genie back. Society is transformed. Like this video clip of an acoustic band playing in the terrace of a hotel in Riyadh right next to a bar serving cocktails (non alcoholic, of course). It wasn't so long ago when one couldn't get a tourist visa into this country, where women can't drive, and where music cannot be played.

Very few countries in history have achieved this. Singapore is one shining example. In 50 years, it went from one of the poorest countries (in nominal GDP / capita terms) to richest in the world. It is no wonder that ambitious leaders in the middle east look to this little island state in the far east for inspiration and exemplars. And I guess having a leader who will readily take anyone to task is one way, albeit frightening, to ensure results are attained. That is certainly the case in this country and coincidentally it reminded me of an LKY quote, “Between being loved and being feared, I have always believed Machiavelli was right. If nobody is afraid of me, I’m meaningless.”

There is however a time and place for everything, as the good book of Ecclesiastes remind us. In today's society, fear may not necessarily breed obedience and love may not necessarily equate to weakness. The right leaders knows that style is situational,and in fact should be changed constantly. Only the outcome, that of uplifting the potential and spirit of the people is immutable. That both my children, and N as well, are working for the state or state-linked companies really make me proud. Their jobs matter. Hopefully, they will keep Singapore strong and safe and connected as one of the most important capitals of the world on this modern silk route. 

a modern silk route 7

"Nothing modern that is remarkable

Nothing historical that is apparent"

D, 30 OCT 22 @ Sufra, Amman 

Now, that's a quote worthy of T.E.Lawrence, another famous Oxford alum, whose canyon we visited this morning on a sunrise drive through the northwest corner of Wadi Rum desert. The landscape of Wadi Rum is so out of this world that movies like Prometheus, Dune, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, The Martian and of course Lawrence of Arabia was filmed here. 

Photo credit: Mary Evans picture library

D was thinking of Wadi Rum, Mount Nebo and Petra in Jordan's past and glorious as that may be, the modern day country is anything but. Its poor yet expensive. Its historical yet dirty. Its Islamic yet kids are unattended and unschooled.

The second line refers to Qatar and maybe there is something to be said about rulers who try to create something out of nothing.

Nothing is exactly what we are doing now at half past midnight awaiting to board our 2:45am flight. The fact that Jordan, a major trading country of the past, is not as connected to the rest of the world as Doha is speaks a lot to its place in the network of global business centres today.

What is perhaps most tragic is our sense of how it is taking care of its future. Much like Malaysia where education standards for the young (both the teaching and learning thereof) have fallen, and then exacerbated by politicians who buy their way into power by providing safety nets rather than trampolines for the citizens. So not only are the population poorly educated, they also lack hunger and drive; all vital ingredients to help uplift a nation to live to its fullest potential.

In fact, the refrain we heard here in Jordan is, alas, we don't have oil and gas like Saudi or Qatar. When in fact, my meetings to Riyadh and Doha are very much because the leaders here want to diversify their economy and instill greater skills and drive in their people. 

D felt that Qatar had developed so fast using/buying the talents of the world that little of their own history is evident. So, between the high end, clean malls in Doha vs the chaotic shops in downtown Amman, the latter still has a charm. But then again, the charm begins to fade when the cleanliness mindset is so sorely missing. Even high up in the desert plains to Showbak Castle or along the beach of Aqaba right across from Israel, and on the streets of Madaba, the city of mosaic artistry, trash is everywhere but in the bins and for that matter there are few bins. 

In fact, it astounded us to see children playing amongst heaps of trash and it shocked us to see kids living amongst the trash and just running on to the streets to beg for money. Quite unlike the free range kids we saw in Kashgar or Samarkand. Those kids are cared for, albeit freely.

There is a lot to be done in Jordan and that its king is listed in the Panama papers as one of the wealthiest man on earth only makes it more tragic when he is so revered and loved. 

Jordan is a beautiful land with friendly people. It deserves better. This important country at the strategic crossroads of the Silk Route can be better. It needs strong leadership and governance. 

We had only a brief 3 days here and packed in a lot. In the last 3 hours here, we ambled up and down Rainbow Street (Amman's high street) and ate the best food we had so far throughout the Middle East at Sufra. Even Jordanian wine, St George, is OK. D even saw a worker sweeping the streets and so happy she was to see that, she asked for a photo with him. So, yes, they can improve if they put their minds to it.

a modern silk route 6

Today's entry is anything but modern because we are driving from Wadi Rum to Aqaba and then on to the Dead Sea and Mount Nebo and Madaba. If any of these names sound familiar, it's because you have probably seen it in the history books or more likely in the bible. 

Mount Nebo was where Moses, the heroic leader who led the Israelites out of slavery and Egypt died, before entering the promised land. He did get to see it though from the top of the mountain. We will shortly be at the same spot he was. 

In advising governments especially emerging countries trying to uplift their people, I have recounted the story of 40 years of wandering in the desert. That's more than a generation worth of humanity and it is what it takes to help purge a defeatist mentality that has become ingrained in a people who have been enslaved for centuries before. 

Some books of the bible can read like a Tom Clancy novel. Consider this plot:

Moses led the Israelites to Mount Sinai, where he was given the Ten Commandments from God, written on stone tablets. However, since Moses remained a long time on the mountain, some of the people feared that he might be dead, so they made a statue of a golden calf and worshipped it, thus disobeying and angering God and Moses. Moses, out of anger, broke the tablets, and later ordered the elimination of those who had worshiped the golden statue, which was melted down and fed to the idolaters.

He also wrote the ten commandments on a new set of tablets. Later at Mount Sinai, Moses and the elders entered into a covenant, by which Israel would become the people of YHWH, obeying his laws, and YHWH would be their god. Moses delivered the laws of God to Israel, instituted the priesthood under the sons of Moses' brother Aaron, and destroyed those Israelites who fell away from his worship. In his final act at Sinai, God gave Moses instructions for the Tabernacle, the mobile shrine by which he would travel with Israel to the Promised Land.

From Sinai, Moses led the Israelites to the Desert of Paran on the border of Canaan. From there he sent twelve spies into the land. The spies returned with samples of the land's fertility, but warned that its inhabitants were giants. The people were afraid and wanted to return to Egypt, and some rebelled against Moses and against God. Moses told the Israelites that they were not worthy to inherit the land, and would wander the wilderness for forty years until the generation who had refused to enter Canaan had died, so that it would be their children who would possess the land. Later on, Korah was punished for leading a revolt against Moses.

When the forty years had passed, Moses led the Israelites east around the Dead Sea to the territories of Edom and Moab. There they escaped the temptation of idolatry, conquered the lands of Og and Sihon in Transjordan, received God's blessing through Balaam the prophet, and massacred the Midianites, who by the end of the Exodus journey had become the enemies of the Israelites due to their notorious role in enticing the Israelites to sin against God. Moses was twice given notice that he would die before entry to the Promised Land: in Numbers 27:13, once he had seen the Promised Land from a viewpoint on Mount Abarim, and again in Numbers 31:1 once battle with the Midianites had been won.

On the banks of the Jordan River, in sight of the land, Moses assembled the tribes. After recalling their wanderings he delivered God's laws by which they must live in the land, sang a song of praise and pronounced a blessing on the people, and passed his authority to Joshua, under whom they would possess the land. Moses then went up Mount Nebo, looked over the Promised Land spread out before him, and died, at the age of one hundred and twenty.

At this juncture, it is worth highlighting that M told me last night, speaking as an experienced blogger herself, that I cannot cut and paste from Wikipedia. In my defense, I am using it to add factual historicity to the opinions I express in these writings. So, in a way, yes I am justifying plagiarising 🙃.

Well, we are also plagiarising Moses' journey too. Like him and his flock, we are travelling from the south to the north through Paran desert (complete with the odd camel on the road through the former territories of Edom and Moab, now aptly renamed Wadi Musa or Moses Canyon) to the Eastern banks of the Dead Sea and will also be atop Mount Nebo. It took him 40 years to get here on foot and we will do it in 4 hours, in a Kia Cerato chauffeured by Waseem ("the best driver in Jordan", according to one of his many "cousins" everywhere). 

The Dead Sea has attracted visitors from around the Mediterranean Basin for thousands of years. It was one of the world's first health resorts (for Herod the Great), and it has been the supplier of a wide variety of products, from asphalt for Egyptian mummification to potash for fertilisers and today there is a large potash site just south of it. It is of course a tourism destination but our driver told us he is worried it is disappearing.

The Dead Sea is receding at a swift rate; its surface area today is 605 km2 (234 sq mi), having been 1,050 km2 (410 sq mi) in 1930. The recession of the Dead Sea has begun causing problems and multiple canal and pipeline proposals, such as the scrapped Red Sea–Dead Sea Water Conveyance project, have been made to reduce its recession. We were glad to be here, partake of its mud therapy and float in its waters, one of the saltiness in the world. By we, I meant me coz D found it too much trouble to change our of her jeans just for a salty dip and muddy scrub plus her back acted up. So, I did.

And it's an experience I would recommend to everyone, NOT. First, saltwater got into my eyes three times and had to be washed off by the thankfully ever ready Ramada staff. Then water got into my mouth and it sure was like eating a large spoonful of salt. And then to top it all, I entered the waters with my glasses and handphone thinking that I will get some nice shots in situ. Well, the wave washed over me and I lost my glasses and wet the phone. Oh yes,did I fail to mention that the Dead Sea (though just a lake) actually had waves! It felt like I voluntarily put myself through the plagues. 

All said, the water and mud is supposed to have therapeutic properties. I had some scratch wounds (from itchy dry skin) which stung a bit but now feels so much better. And my skin fresh off the mud bath does feel baby smooth. So, would I do it again... well, I just might but with a lot more care next time. 

From the Dead Sea, we went to Mount Nebo and here we saw what Moses apparently saw: the expanse of the Promised Land ahead of him. I can only imagine how he felt to have come so close and yet not finish it. On the other hand, these men and women of faith, its often about the journey rather than the destination and what a journey of courage, heroism, struggle and faith that Moses had. 

And so it is with our journey this time that I draw many lessons, especially from the failure of public service, responsible child raising and from the fortitude of my pain bearing better half. 

a modern silk route 5

To be fair to you dear reader, all four of my similarly titled blog the last few days have been misleading. Because neither Singapore or Jakarta were really part of the Silk Route of old. Doha maybe but only to a limited extent as a small fishing port and some of its produce may have found its way up the Arab Peninsula to the major trading centres. 

Amman would have been one but Petra certainly was one of the more important capitals back then. Today we visited Petra, the aptly christened Red Rose City with buildings (tombs mostly of all descriptions: from simple burial sites to mausoleums for royals) and temples and shops and of course dwellings; all carved out of the side of the multi-hued mountains in this magnificent canyon. 

The nearly 6 hour walk we had here (from 7 to 1pm) reminded us of at least 3 other places. The most recent is our trip last year to Matera which also featured cave dwellings and innovative water cistern management systems plus being a well used movie location. Then of course we saw similar rock hewn buildings in Mogu, China back in 2019. Then 8 years ago, we were in Peru at another UNESCO world heritage site of Machu Pichu and not just because of the monumental stone- work there but also a shared history of an 18th/19th century re-discovery by European explorers.

Petra had all of these and a bit more and a bit less. 

More because it is perhaps the oldest and best preserved. Mogu's art paintings have been vandalised, for example. More because it is intricately made, whereas Matera are more about inventive negative architecture. More because it is much older perhaps a millenia or so older than Machu Pichu. And more also because walking through it was really like walking back in time because they did nor overdevelop this place and left the local culture to organically coexist so the hike is  complete with Bedouin folks including kids in your face (for just the right amount).

But it is also less. Because all the other places I mentioned above have been better managed especially to benefit the local community. A telling case in point: it took the government a century after the rediscovery of Petra to develop it into a economic tourism activity whereas Machu Pichu was developed shortly after its rediscovery. 

Petra not only has a far longer but also far richer history. So there was so much more that could have been extolled. In the iron age between 1200 and 600BC, t was the home of the Edomites (the Ammonites lived in Amman in the north). The Edomites are supposed to be descendants of Esau and Petra was a natural water catchment area given its configuration of mountains. This made Petra a stopping ground for merchants even back in biblical times. Then one of the nomadic Bedouin tribes that roamed the Arabian desert, the Nabateans emerged and used their knowledge of the terrain to see of their enemies. They were particularly skilful in harvesting rainwater, agriculture and stone carving (and ample evidence of all three are still seen today). They established Petra as the capital of Nabatean empire and it was believed to be one of the richest cities esp with all the spice and fragrance trade that centred there. Its importance started to decline when the Romans colonised it and  as sea routes started to emerge. So much history and I should add that the Petra Museum was indeed well done though nothing like how the Qataris did in the National Museum of Qatar despite their far more limited history. Incidentally, Doha probably benefited from the growing sea trade and its ironical that I am coming from and going to Doha in this trip.

Back to present day, here I am, literally sleeping under the stars in the Wadi Rum desert, just south of Petra. Well, there is a bubble tent next to me with running hot water (though it strangely decided not to work for D... even the water system here follows the male chauvinistic culture here 😀) but I decided to have the camp lay out a bed outside. It's a cool 18°c and my ears are soothed by the Arabic music wafting from the musician entertaining guests in the main tent and the sweet scent of sisha permeates the air. What a life!

Tomorrow, we are going to have a jeep drive in the desert and see sights that first captivated Lawrence of Arabia. Its a sunrise drive and so we have to be up really early. 

a different kind of route

While D & I were on a modern silk route (looking at ruins the Roman empire left behind), her centurion of a grandfather whom we saw just before going on the trip passed away. He is on a journey too. The most important one... a route to heaven.

She wrote a eulogy for him which J read out at his funeral. M and J call him Ah Chor and he is the only great grandparent they ever knew.

 "My earliest memories of ah gong are going on rides with him. 

He had a scooter which was parked below the large mango tree in the house at 32 Alexandra Terrace i used to sit on it now and then and have a burn mark on my left calf as a natural tattoo to mark one of my early adventures with it.

I remember in particular one car ride where we went for a drive and we visited one of his bosses' house - some ang moh chap. I had the chance to see the compounds of a nice big house and play for a short while inside a place very different from my own home. It seeded in me an early desire to appreciate houses and i would go on to take long walks in my teens and aimless drives when i finally had my license, in different neighbourhoods in whichever country i was in, just to marvel at the beautiful ones and dream of living in one some day.

Ah gong was a driver and a story teller.

He wasnt particularly demonstrative but through his stories and commentaries about life in general and world affairs and situations reported on the news channels on TV, he shared his advice and imparted his wisdom in his booming voice in a mix of English and hokkien. Sometimes laughing at his own comments, sometimes admonishing everyone in general. World politicians not exempt!

He was a distant figure when i was growing up, a fierce presence in the family.  I would engage with him at the milestones of my life, with my boyfriend now husband, my babies now adults, and he always had some advice for us. Study hard, work hard, drive carefully, watch the road, slow down at the junctions, pay attention to traffic lights, take care of yourself. Simple words but heartfelt, evergreen and applicable in life. 

Though undemonstrative, his greatest show of love was embracing the Christian faith. I never thought it possible but was awed when he agreed to follow in ah ma's footsteps - demonstrating in death what may not have been apparent in life. That love is never too late and it is wise to listen to the wife! :) My aunties and the faith leaders in their communites have been exemplary in their patient steadfastness. God bless them.

Ah gong it will be difficult to practise my hokkien without you. It is an important part of our heritage that I have not been good with but at least i think my driving "eh sai la"! I am not bad at sense of directio  and parking! In the last couple of years I am very glad to have had the chance of taking you on a couple of car rides and sharing a meal or two with you in our our home. 

Happy journey ahead ah gong! I will think of  you driving now with Jesus and ah ma and uncle tat now - and imagine that there are no traffic lights or speed limits in heaven!

"Ah gong, le gah Jesus jiak hong liao!"

(Ah gong you can go joy ride with Jesus now)" 

a modern silk route 4

Here we are, D and I, on board QR3086 from Doha to Amman. We are travelling in style unlike the silk road travellers of yore. 

Well, those travellers never passed through Qatar (so I guess we don't need to go through the same hardship for this leg). Though the people here in the Arab peninsula share the same life as the nomadic pastoralists of the Central Asian steppes and in northern Sahara, there just weren't enough resources here to make this place of any interest in the middle ages. Besides the gulf that separated it from mainland Asia meant it was not on the way of the travellers.

They went from Xi An in China, past Dun Huang then Tur Fan and Kahs Gar and through Sary Tash, the Fergana Valley and then to Penjakent and of course Samarkand and Bukhara. Like the Gulf or Arabia, the Caspian Sea would have proven a challenge for the camels and like the ancient travellers, we too concluded our first journey on the Silk Road 3 years ago. 

D & I resumed the next leg of the Silk Road earlier this year on the western side of the Caspian Sea (lake actually). The flaming land of Azerbaijan (on account of abundance of near surface gas) is where Asia begins to merge with Europe. It borders Turkey, Iran, Greece and Italy which is the other main terminus of this 10 thousand mile road. 

The Silk Road actually branches into many paths as is approaches the Middle East and Mediterranean Europe. And it is not the main trunk highway to Venice and Rome we are on this time, but to the Middle East. 

So from a little desert peninsula jutting into the gulf on the southeastern tip of the Arabic peninsula, we are now flying west of northwest, past the most ancient civilisations of Sumeria (now modern day Iraq) and Persia (yup, no road to Damsacus for us) to the more verdant lands of Jordan (Gilead in the biblical past). There is almost no place more central in the world (past or present). It is at the strategic crossroads (via land) to the continents of Asia to the east and Europe in the northwest and Africa in the southwest.

I've been to the middle east multiple times the last twenty years but always for business and therefore always to the oil&gas-rich and capital cities of Doha, Abu Dhabi Dubai and Riyadh where we have business. I never took time off the see the rest of the region especially places of old civilisations. After all, this place is the cradle of human civilisation, the crossroad of the world.

So with a weekend in between visits to Doha and Riyadh, I got D to join me and see perhaps one of the most important places here: the Heshamite Kingdom of Jordan with sites like Petra and the Dead Sea and not to mention the river where Jesus was baptised. 

We land first in Amman, the capital of Jordan and are met by Weesam. An "Indiana Jones" adventure awaits us tomorrow but today we will tour the city of Amman (Ammon in the past) and literally traipse through its many millenia of history.