Taking Stock

The past few months have been hectic but truly rewarding. I've not really had the opportunity to pause and take stock, let alone write as plainly as you are reading right now. There is a certain freedom that comes with the ability to reflect on past events with sufficient clarity and distance. I must admit that being able to compose the occasional poem or rhyme gives me immense joy, and I do hope reading my work has done a little for the same for you as well!

Amidst the darkness of the preceding months, with the global economic downturn and all that, opportunities have been coming my way more than ever, and I am truly blessed to be more able than ever to make the most of them. Now that the recession is loudly proclaimed (in the mainstream media at least!) to be over, perhaps you may be tempted to believe that it's back to business as usual. That may indeed be true, although it may not be surprising to realise that things do not return to normality just yet.

While many will in all likelihood resume 'regular' activities, there is no return to the darkness of self-absorption, approval-seeking-from-the-other-person way of life for yours truly. The future is bright, brighter than ever. It's not like the path had darkened for me in the past months, so I can't in all honesty say that the light has returned; for me, it has never departed!

Over the next few weeks I'll be consolidating my musings, reflections and thoughts, as part of my mission to apply what I have learnt. In the meantime, do share what you like about the content, style and tone of the topics I've raised thus far, and what more you'd like me to share about these issues. To help you further, here's a list of guiding questions, and yes, you can definitely suggest areas of improvement too:

• What do you like most/least about the blog's contents?




• What do you like most/least about the blog's style?




• What do you like most/least about the blog's tone?




• What would you like to add most to the blog?

So yes, feel free to post your comments, which will be updated in time (just not real-time at the moments!). I'm also accessible via Facebook, Google, Yahoo!, and soon Cuil. I'd love to create a wonderful experience for all of you!

Hamsters On A Wheel

(this comment first appeared in the Singapore Angle in November 2008)

Since the independence of our island-nation, the establishment has sought to inundate its citizens with the value of being hamsters on a wheel -- that somehow there is a worthwhile payoff for being busy by going nowhere fast, and somehow the payoff seems to get larger the faster the hamster goes nowhere. And I suppose the hamster can experience the payoff as he earns another peanut, while conveniently ignoring that the wheel he runs on keeps the establishment warm at night (incidentally if anyone tries this at home, don't be surprised to have SPCA knocking on your door lol).

Which is perhaps why some hamsters choose to groom themselves better than the others, in the hope that they will be rewarded with more peanuts. Some may choose to run on the wheels longer than others for additional pet massage time, even if they cannot really understand why the establishment would value the powering up of one additional lantern (pet massages are of high perceived value to hamsters in case you are wondering). These are the hamsters who will leave when the establishment has no more food, or when another locale has better food (for the sake of argument, hamsters have freedom of movement).

And if hamsters somehow get the idea that they will still be fed without running on the wheel, they are sorely mistaken. Firstly, there will always be hamsters who are willing to run on the wheel, even if they are originally guinea pigs from another locale. Secondly, hamsters that don't perform on the wheel as they should will be replaced by new, hungry and, dare I say, more cost-effective ones. In this sense, hamsters who skive don't really bother the establishment; things will thus carry on regardless. Asking hamsters for their opinion is simply for (mutual?) entertainment.

Lady hamsters (please take this tongue-in-cheek as guy hamsters are not known for being exceptionally tactful) do not have much of a struggle compared to their male counterparts. The dissonance between peanuts and freedom tends not to apply as much to lady hamsters. For this group (in general), the game plan is to run as steadily as one can, raise a few baby hamsters, and gently lobby for as equal number of peanuts as guy hamsters when the opportunity arises. And if this means teaching newly-formed hamsters the (economic) value of being one, so be it -- they are not known to be particularly argumentative, except when having a discussion with their guy partners ;-)

Having covered the local situation, let's turn to hamsters abroad (hopefully I'm not stealing your thunder, Wayne!). Perhaps local hamsters view them with envy, that somehow there ought to be more peanuts 'over there', and wonder why they cannot have the same where they are. Perhaps overseas hamsters view local hamsters as weak and dependent, and may occasionally return to cause a minor mess to the establishment (through their droppings perhaps). Neither is desirable, because when a burglar enters to steal valuables (hamster food included perhaps?), the hamsters will scatter. Which self-respecting hamster would stay in a place where there are no peanuts?

I believe what the establishment needs are not so much hamsters (yes I know they keep one can warm at night -- don't try this, seriously, SPCA is watching!), but a Jack Russell Terrier (JRT). JRT's are intelligent, resourceful, observant, cute, quirky, and yes, some of them can be rather loud at times (JRTs call this 'an independent streak').

However, JRT's are fiercely loyal to the cause, not only because they do have ample dog food, but more importantly because through *interaction* with the establishment over the centuries, a mutual understanding of substantial meaning between the two has been reached. It is said that JRTs are among a select breed of dog that intimately understand facial, vocal and kinesthetic cues of humans, so much so that even before trouble strikes, the JRT alerts the owner. And rest assured that when burglars attempt entry without the establishment being around, JRTs rally to the cause, and battle tooth and nail to ensure its turf, even if they are next door exploring the next place to bury their favourite bone.

These are increasingly uncertain times. Eighteen months ago it seemed that there were plenty of peanuts to go around. Hamsters are sorely ineffectual during stormy seasons. If the establishment truly wants to safeguard this island's shores, get a JRT, and treat it like one i.e. no peanuts please!

Buyer's Market?

Recently I have been beset with phone calls by property agents. The gist of the message they wish to convey is that prices of properties have fallen quite significantly, and that it is currently a "buyer's market". In a similar fashion, the prices of vehicles have dropped sharply, thanks to a disproportionate reduction in Certificate of Entitlement (COE) prices the past week.

What struck me was this, indeed prices of both property and vehicles have fallen, and for those with sufficient cash to make them kings, they could indeed live such a lifestyle in this current time in a sustainable fashion. However, for those who hanker after such material possessions but lack the necessary cash on hand, a little more thought needs to be put into making such purchases. 

For instance, property that has good rental potential may be a good move for people who would like to own one but who also worry about their cash flow, particularly if they are employees. The situation for purchasing vehicles on hire i.e. through loans from financial institutions is also hampered somewhat by the current reluctance of such institutions to grant credit to individuals.

So the short answer to whether currently it is a buyer's market for property and vehicles is simply, 'Yes, if the buyer can indeed afford it in a sustainable manner.'

House of Cards

Authorities in the US and Europe have officially declared that recession is taking place in their respective economies -- finally. Months of debacles beginning with the sub-prime housing mortgage crisis in the US in late 2007 have cumulated in the stunning collapse of Lehman Brothers, a leading investment bank of the times. Additionally, the financial world has recently been hit with the double whammy of AIG and Citigroup, both respected and indeed revered institutions that now have to go cap in hand to seek the Federal Government's assistance to bail them out. What indeed could have precipitated such a drastic turn of events?

Commentators on the sidelines have proclaimed rather loudly that greed is the root cause: bank executives are greedy to extend mortgages to people who simply cannot afford such payments; credit ratings agencies are greedy and scared to lose market share to competitors and create perceptions that such-and-such a product is AAA-rated, based on 'reliable third-party information', when in fact it is downright shoddy; US Federal Reserve is greedy in persisting with low interest rates that lead to unbelievably cheap credit despite global trends that indicate the contrary; investors are greedy for demanding ever-increasing rate on return on investment no matter what the cost. Yet should we take such 'expert opinions' as an accurate reflection of the cause of such events, and indeed are the various remedies suggested logical steps that address these causes at the core?

The course of human history has been for the most part beset with actions and over-reactions. The Great Depression of the 1930s led to massive government spending; the punitive measures towards Germany after the First World War indirectly led to the rise of Hitler during the Second World War; the meteoric rise of Japan after the Second World War was followed by a lost decade in the 1990s. Perhaps the issue lies deep within the psyche of humans themselves. Rather than address the behaviour of greed per se with punitive measures such as fines, jail sentences, and government bailouts, could one not take aim at the psychology that lies beneath the decision to engage in 'greedy behaviour'? It is likely that humans are innately unable to regulate their behaviour towards a stable norm that conforms to neat patterns that can be observed and predicted in a cold scientific light, as what most classical economists would hope. The aggregate such behaviours are more likely than not to cause points of crisis in the time continuum. 

Another classic case of human myopia on a massive scale is the refrain that 'What happens over there won't happen over here.' In an increasingly interconnected world such as ours, such a mentality cannot be more inaccurate. Sooner or later the credit crunch will affect the shores of Asian countries; exports will dwindle, as will factory orders, and the dreaded R-word will be back on the lips of citizens in these countries.

One would do well to minimise the impact of external events without being unnecessarily impacted by them. For instance, job security is mostly a myth, booms and recessions are never permanent, and opportunities are like hope -- they are out there so long as one has eyes to see. Increasingly, one should also realise the futility of projecting ever increasing rates of growth just because the short-term investor market demands it be so. Persisting in such logic flies in the face of historical principles, no matter what the economists and other experts say. The sustainability question is ever-present, but is more than often hidden amidst the hyperbole of gung-ho predictions by governmental authorities and private-sector industry players alike.