TR EMERITUS

A management consultant shared this story with me. It occurred more than ten years ago. He was giving consultancy to a large organization in Singapore The client wanted to introduce a new computer system to improve an important process in the company. The local manager in charge of this project was afraid of change. He asked for the system to be changed to cater for many possible contingencies that might arise. He said that he was "playing the devils' advocate" and wanted a system with "zero defects". The modified system became very complex, very costly and not user friendly. Before implementing the new system, the local manager asked -If I introduce this new system, can you guarantee me that I will not face any operational problems. The consultant said - I can certainly guarantee you that new problems will arise. But when they arise, we can fix them. We are adopting an agile development approach. In fact, it is easier to deal with real problems, rather than imaginary problems. The local manager rejected the new system. The project was abandoned after a heavy budget and several months of planning effort. A few years later, the consultant learned that the local manager had lost his job. He was replaced by a "foreign talent". Why? The top management realized that the process in the company was backward and behind their competitors. They were losing a lot of business, even from established clients. The displaced manager tried very hard to get a new job for a few years. He was unsuccessful. He blamed the government for allowing "foreign talents" to come and take over his job and for competing for new jobs. He did not realize that his over-cautious approach towards change was the key problem that led to his displacement. He also did not realize that a new employer would look for experienced managers who focus on opportunities, rather than problems. Does this story sound familiar? It was told to me by a management consultant that I have high respect for.   Tan Kin Lian      Read More →

I am, what you’d call a late entrant in the area of watching Korean dramas. With the exception of a few meals at Korean restaurants and enjoying the odd bit of eye candy of Korean girl groups, I was never into Korean soft culture until the circuit breaker, when I found myself with sometime and easy access to Netflix. One of my most recent discoveries was a series called “Whisper,” which tells the story of an honest judge and policewoman who team up to bring down a very corrupt but very powerful law firm that has built up its business in the arms trade. The most interesting character in this drama is the head of this law firm - main villain. He is the son of a “slave” who built an empire through brains and hard work. The man is a spider in a web of connections with those with power. If he wasn’t a character in a Korean drama, he’d probably be on the cover of Forbes Magazine. The crux of the entire series is the scene when he teaches his daughter how to gain the loyalty of person to the extent that the person will do literally anything for them. His advice is as follows: Take Away EVERYTHING they have; Help them climb up when they reach rock bottom If you look at this advice, you’ll realise that the man in a genius. Who wouldn’t want to be loyal to the people who helped them when they were down? Every bit of “feel-good” and “self-help” wisdom tells you that the people who really care about you, are the ones who are there for you when you are down and out and are unable to offer yourself, let alone anyone else anything of any possible value. The human brain is such that once we get out of the proverbial doldrums, we’re bound to think better and act more favorably to those who bothered speaking to us when we were down. The villain in Whisper is correct in his second point. We are inevitably loyal to those who helped us when we were down. What most of us tend to don’t do is to question the first piece of advice, especially when it comes to our “friends” who are in positions of power and influence. I mean, who on earth would even question the person who was there for us when we were at our lowest point? Yet, its an important piece of advice, especially when you apply it to the current global economic disaster caused by the current pandemic. Most of us have reached or are reaching low points in our personal finances. Jobs and other sources of income are hard to come by, yet bills like mortgages need to be serviced. Nobody has any clue as to how when an economic recovery will happen and even then, it will be sometime before any of us see a recovery in our personal finances. In such situations, we’re bound to accept a helping hand regardless of where it comes from. If you look at “talking points” and conversations that people had before the circuit breaker in April, it was on the topic of government assistance. Singapore’s government was perhaps one of the more sophisticated in dealing with this. The government announced in February that was preparing for an economic slowdown and proceeded to make sure that the public knew that it was asking the president permission to draw down from the reserves (which is a “given” in practice as the president is “selected” by the government). There were also great pains to announce there were an unprecedented four budgets, which were designed to help us get through the economic storm. It was only at the end of June, when the government decided to call for a snap election and it was only after the election that the government announced that the economy had been in a double-digit recession. You have to hand it to the government to timing things well. The first payout came in April, while we were getting used to life under lockdown. The second was in June, a month before the election. In fairness to the Singapore government, it’s not the only one to try and pull this off. Donald Trump’s biggest political stunt was to try and get the stimulus cheques sent out to have his signature. Think about it – you can say what you want about the man prescribing medications he has no business prescribing and mismanaging things because the feelings that matter are not the ones that you talk about but the ones you have when you look at that cheque and then look at your bills. Politicians know that we’re less critical towards our “benefactors” in downturns. We’re in no position to start questioning sources of money, when the need to pay bills remains pressing and money is a scarce commodity. Who in their right mind is going to question the motives of the guy offering something that you need most? The saying that we should always remember the people who helped us in hard times rings true. However, at the same time, it’s also important to remember how we got into the hard times and the role that our benefactors may have had in putting us there.   Tang Li *Although I’ve been based mainly in Singapore for nearly two decades, I’ve had the privilege of being able meet people who have crossed borders and cultures. I’ve befriended ministers and ambassadors and worked on projects involving a former head of state. Yet, at the same time, I’ve had the privilege of befriending migrant labourers and former convicts. All of them have a story to tell. All of them add to the fabric of life. I hope to express the stories that inspire us to create life as it should be.        Read More →

As the dust has yet to settle on Singapore’s 18th General Election with post-revelations of irregularities and double standards, I cannot help but not share the same euphoric and optimism as some Singaporeans for our future and I shall elaborate on the reasons: 1. Although the WP has managed to capture another GRC owing to gutter politicking by the establishment, the PAP still controls an unacceptable 83 seats in Parliament which makes frequent adjustments to the Constitution entirely plausible without much dissent. 2. The Sec-Gen of the WP though offered “Leader of the Opposition” title by the government in name, still has that unresolved PRPTC lawsuit hanging over his head as is his fellow MP Raeesah Khan who has been implicated in ongoing police investigations by an ardent PAP member. Mr Singh, Ms Lim and Ms Raeesah’s victories may in fact be short lived as there is always that “back door” avenues to remove them. 3. Recent Court cases of “slap on the wrist” sentences for the affluent while relentless pursuit by an unaccountable AGC against civil activists if anything, should indicate that its “business as usual” as there was no change from the previous electoral power that the Cabinet held. 4. Despite a whopping $91 billion of taxpayer dollars that were dispensed to the various corporations instead of the citizenry, it is still unable to overcome the waves of massive retrenchments with more to come. These masses cannot be expected to be retrained for other menial jobs and we have not heard any concrete plans to assist them besides trumpeted motherhood statements. 5. The apathy of a good number of people who are either unaware of prevailing issues or unwilling to step forward to aid the 3 main Opposition parties mount a good campaign against the PA grassroots, resulted in weak scores at some Constituencies for the Opposition, particularly in MacPherson, Mountbatten & Yuhua. It is a folly to believe those PAP candidates are strong and hardworking when so many in their wards are displaced even with the “high scores”. As a GRAB food deliverer in Marine Parade, I was much appalled when I learnt of fellow youths who are unable to find jobs as myself voting for PAP as they’re unaware of who to vote as they do not know much about the Opposition profile in our area. In my opinion, the Opposition must do 3 things to make a breakthrough at the next polls: 1. Form an alternative charity arm with fundraiser to aid poorer folks in wards like MacPherson and Radin Mas. 2. Emulate the Red Dot United’s model in assigning and dividing candidates’ roles at the various wards where residents can turn to for alternative help or communicate to keep the incumbent constantly on their toes. These issues can be highlighted either through their respective parties’ letterheads or Social Media which SDP team Marsiling-Yew Tee did. 3. Avoid 3 cornered fights at all costs and distancing from so-called sideline “political commentators”, who are planted to stir Opposition resentment against 1 another, thereby entrenching the PAP’s divide and rule strategy. In the words of Mr LTK to his detractors: “what have you done to advance the Opposition’s cause besides arm-chair critiquing?” All the more we should commend the opposing team of Jalan Besar and MacPherson as they stepped up to fill the void when the other 3 parties could not field candidates there! With this, I wish the WP, SDP and PSP much more successes at GE 2024 or 25 and I look forward to the WP stepping up engagement at my Marine Parade and neighbouring Macpherson.   Jainudin Adi      Read More →