TR EMERITUS

The economic situation in Hong Kong is actually quite bad,, definitely worse than 2003 SARS period. About 20% Retail shops at prominent locations are empty or in the progress of closing down. These shop spaces are normally very HOT. The photo shows a very prominent shop space at the main junction of Jordon. In Mongkok area, there are streets with numerous empty shops. What's happening in HK may just happen to SG, although we have opened up much earlier than HK. This is indicated by the increase in property auctions listed or expected to be auctioned. Just pray that we can have a U recovery.   Goh Meng Seng      Read More →

There was a discussion in one of the chat groups that I’ve been part of, on the intrinsic selfishness of the Chinese race (just about everyone in the group being ethnic Chinese). One of the most famous examples of “Chinese Selfishness” is that of the Kung Fu Master who only teaches 80 percent of what he knows because he (most of them are men) do not want their students surpassing them. As with many stereotypes, there is an element of truth. In Singapore, we describe ourselves as being “kiasu” or scared to lose. You could say that being kiasu means we work harder so that we don’t lose out but at the same time, the kiasu mindset makes us comically petty. One only has to think of the number of school kids who hide reference books to ensure that no one else gets a chance to score higher marks in a test. In fairness to Singapore, I’m told that it also happens in Hong Kong. This strange mentality is not something that people grow out of. If anything, the kiasu mentality is encouraged and carries on into the work place. It’s been said that in the professional industry, firms try to keep young employees limited in silos so that they never really learn the full extent of what their particular industry has to offer. As with the urban legend, we are a nation filled with Kung Fu masters who are terrified of being surpassed by their students and so they hoard knowledge in order to stay superior. Ironically, one of the people who lived a life that goes against this strange stereotypical Asian mentality, was a hero to Asian boy living in the Western World. Bruce Lee was the small Oriental guy who spent an entire lifetime showing smaller built Asian guys that they could more than hold their own as long as they trained hard. However, whilst people like me grew up thinking of Bruce Lee as an “Asian Hero,” he was, in fact, only able to do what he did because he had certain Un-Asian qualities to his mindset. One of the most prominent things about him was the fact that he was open to learning from other people and other styles and using techniques that worked regardless of style. One of the most visible signs of this was in his relationship with Chuck Norris. If you talk to enough people (especially Americans), you’ll always end up in a discussion on who was would have won a fight. Its as if the two men needed to exist in a rivalry in the way that tennis in the 1990s could only be seen through the prism of the Sampras-Agassi rivalry. The truth of their relationship was rather different. Both men were friends and had great respect for each other. The worked out together and swapped techniques. Chuck Norris once described Bruce Lee as being “too good” to be his teacher. However, as Black Belt magazine reports, the teacher student relationship wasn’t a one way thing. Chuck Norris influenced Bruce Lee to use high kicks: [LINK] The World wants a rivalry – the truth being – they were collaborators who brought out the best in each other. Bruce Lee famously said argued that he was a “student-master,” or someone with the expertise of a master but was constantly learning and seeking to improve. Their students become machines which imitate martial art forms." He was true to his word. The man was famous for Chinese Wing-Chun, but also practiced Western boxing and Eskrima (which he studied from his student Dan Inasanto). If you think about this man, you’ll see that his secret was openness to knowledge and an understanding that the more knowledge he gave, the more he could absorb. The man did not think of his special skill as making him part of a magic circle. He said, “The other weakness is, when clans are formed, the people of a clan will hold their kind of martial art as the only truth and do not dare to reform or improve it. Thus, they are confined in their own tiny little world.” One of his greatest services to Kung-Fu was to teach Non-Chinese. Got into hot soup with other kung-fu masters but the fact that he became identified with the art says it all. Let’s be honest here – what Bruce Lee said about martial art cliques is true of professional cliques. We study a profession. Then, we work in a profession in the same manner as our “masters.” We only mix with fellow professionals and marry fellow professionals so that we can produce kids who follow our profession. Mixing outside the profession becomes sacrileges and it becomes a holy mission to spend your life bitching about everyone in the profession to everyone in the profession because no one else exists outside the profession. Nobody sees the idea of being like water where the professional is meant to serve the persona and not the other way round. Remember someone said something to me about not forgetting my profession of PR when I became a part-time waiter. My view was different. I am not “PR” guy or a “F&B” guy or an “Insolvency” guy. I am merely a guy who picked up a set of skills in one industry (PR) and used them to be a little functional in two non-related industries (F&B and Corporate Insolvency). I’ve reached the stage where I don’t want to be labelled as belonging to an industry or a profession. My refusal to belong to a profession does make me a failure in Singapore. However, the world is changing and reality doesn’t care about your magic circle just as the reality of a punch in the face does not care if you are “Wing-Chun,” or “Boxing” or “MMA,” or Taekwondo” guy.   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 →

Feedback from Ismael Ketura: One area that I will recommend that the Singapore government to improve is the issuance of autopass/ VEP and update of insurance and roadtax of foreign vehicles in the autopass. Previously before the Covid pandemic , if your car did not possess autopass or your roadtax was expired, you can visit the LTA office at Singapore CIQ and few ladies at the LTA offices will assist to verify your roadtax and within few minutes new autopass will be reissued or your autopass will be updated. The ladies need only to verify the Malaysian road tax disc and need not verify the vehicle ownership document and also the vehicle insurance document. Malaysian road tax validity was already made to match the last date of your vehicle insurance coverage. After the Covid pandemic , a new process was put in place .You have to apply on line and you have to upload the vehicle road tax image, vehicle certificate, and the vehicle insurance document. If your name did not match or your insurance company did not match, or some other particulars did not match, your application will be rejected and you need to apply again and need to wait again until the LTA offices processed it again. I am wondering why LTA requested for three documents ( road tax, ownership certificate, certificate of insurance) if the vital item to verify was the validity of road tax. By simplifying the process to only upload the image of the vehicle road tax , the process will eliminate a lot of unnecessary errors and unproductive processes and will hasten the process of approval. Once approved, an email will be sent by LTA requesting the applicants to collect the new autopass card at LTA 's outsourced company in Jalan Tun Abdul Razak, Johor Baru. Why not courier it to the address as requested by the applicants instead of directing them to collect and the hassle collecting at LTA's outsourced company at Jalan Tun Abdul Razak. . I am also suggesting, for urgent issuance, applicants can go to LTA's outsourced office in Jalan Susur and a new autopass can be issued after verification of the applicant road tax . For urgent issuance and autopass personalisation, additional charges can be imposed to cover the outsourced company's operation cost . There will always be some incidents , some vehicles arrived at Singapore CIQ without autopass or their road tax not updated in the system. The current practice to send them back to to Johor. Why not process their application at the LTA's CIQ but to impose higher charges than the charges imposed by LTA's outsourced company. By doing the above, I think the issuance of autopass and renewal of vehicle road tax can be carried out in a more efficient manner and at the least cost. I have gone through the current hassle, it was a nightmare.smael Ketura said. Here are my views: 1. I agree with Ismael. The earlier LTA protocol is adequate. LTA can issue the autopass for each vehicle without the insurance and ownership documents. The vehicle is already registered with the Malaysian authority. There is no need for LTA to duplicate this work. 2. The purpose of LTA is to collect revenue for the use of the road in Singapore. This is facilitated by the autopass. 3. LTA is probably concerned that the vehicle should be adequately insured for third party liability. The foreign driver can provide proof of insurance when an accident occurs. If the vehicle is not insured, it can be compounded. 4. Alternatively, LTA can levy in the daily fee a component to cover the third party insurance in Singapore. This fee can be $3 a day. This will transfer the settlement of liability to an insurer in Singapore. I understand that there were problems faced with third party claims against Malaysian insurers. 5. We should revert to the previous arrangement to reduce work for LTA and hassle for the owners of Malaysian vehicles. 6. LTA should allow the owner to get an autopass on the spot on payment of a modest fee and submission of the road tax disc.   Tan Kin Lian      Read More →