The P65 Blog

I was reading with interest a journalist’s account on his visit to Dubai. Among many things, he marveled at the Atlantis, The Palm – a man-made island that is visible from space; and the famous Burj Dubai, a tower standing more than 800m tall constructed since 2004, and which is expected to be completed by the end of this year. (Its final height is still a secret apparently – and the journalist remarked that his mini-bus driver told him Dubai would simply add spires atop the tower should anyone else decide to construct a building taller than it, for after all, “Tower is Power”.)

What struck me was one line he wrote – “that, essentially, is what Dubai seems to aim for – to be the best, biggest and grandest in whatever aspect it sets its mind on.”

I suddenly thought about Singapore and how we developed into what we are today in just 50 years (I remember that we returned the crown to our colonial rulers and became a self-governing state in 1959). I don’t recall as much about our past as my dad and uncles, but I do remember a time when there was a bus conductor who punched holes into tickets. Or when Load-runner and Alley Cat were the coolest games you can play out of a giant floppy-disk. Today, we tap EZlink cards on trains and buses, and surf with Wireless@SG at most public places to update our Facebook status.

It still amazes me how we got here, but I’m convinced lots of people thought about being “Best, Biggest, Grandest” at many levels and dimensions of our society – from education to housing to trade to foreign relations – and they didn’t just think, they acted quickly. I believe it’s a spirit of competitiveness stemming from a need for survival that fuelled their actions.

What resulted is still a marvel for a lot of my friends overseas – many of whom have never been to Singapore. They are amazed how a small country with limited resources can become so big, so fast. As a friend who has been to Singapore shared with another who hasn’t – “everything in Singapore just works”.

While I beam with pride each time someone says something positive about Singapore, reading the article on Dubai unsettles me.  The fact that I don’t fancy losing out to Dubai aside, I’m getting a nagging feeling that we may be getting too comfortable and complacent. I get this sense that we may be losing our competitive spirit.

When there is no imminent danger or question of survival, will there still be the same competitive spirit that propelled the success of those before us?

50 years on, will we be able to leave behind for our children and their children a marvel of “best, biggest, grandest”?

What are we setting our minds on to today, for tomorrow?

A friend, an associate trainer, SMSed to cancel tonight’s meeting. Her dad’s not doing too well and may leave her anytime. I SMSed back to ask if there’s anything I can do to support her, but she didn’t reply. I guess she’s already occupied.

It reminded me of another friend, also an associate trainer, and her sharing of her regret for not spending enough time with her foster mother. Her foster mother passed away in her sleep recently after being discharged from the hospital, puzzling everyone including the doctors who deemed her to be well enough for discharge. My friend lamented that she had planned to take her to a Home for the aged so she could have a better life for she had been suffering – ironically – living with her own daughter. My friend never got the chance. In her teary eyed sharing, she reminded me to make time for my own parents before it’s too late.

I left home this morning reflecting on my own relationship with my parents. All my life, they have been the strongest supporters, and also the meanest critics. It’s a love-hate relationship, but beneath it all, I know they love me dearly, and I, too, love them the same way.

I guess when things seem to be around forever, it’s just so easy to forget that things may change, and will change. 

So before I left home for work, I bought mum and dad – and myself – tickets to “Journey to the West” playing at Esplanade two weeks later. And I’m taking them out for dinner on Saturday, and visiting my grandma. I know i’s not much, but I believe where loved ones are concern, it’s never about how much.

It’s about making time.

Recently, a friend commented on a remark I made on my Facebook status.
 
I had written: “Terence is happy there are opportunities and openings in times like these.”
 
My friend then wrote: “It depends on how optimistic you are…how you view the current situation.”
 
Indeed, whether there be opportunities or openings, a lot hinges on my outlook in life, my perspective on things, or as my friend puts it – how I view the current situation. It’s a classic case of “half-full/half-empty glass”. A lot depends on how I view the world – and interpret it.
 
In running my business, I’ve come to realised that opportunities are created, not just given. A lot depends on how I look at things, and whether I choose to look, have the open-mindedness to see, and the courage to believe and act. I’ve learnt to look beyond the constraints of my current limited resources, and to create the capacity to handle projects through innovation and creative problem solving.

I find this approach to look beyond current constraints particularly important, especially these days when clients are knee-jerking to the economic downturn and holding back their expenditure. (A decrease in willingness to spend means a decrease in business for us)

I’ve encountered some business owners who see the current economic climate as gloom and doom. I’ve also encountered some who see it as an opportunity to gain. The newspapers are reporting retrenchments across industries. People are losing their jobs every other day. The government is launching initiatives to help employers keep their employees and helping people keep their keep. We seemed to be hit by one wave of bad news after another. Yet, some people are taking advantage of the drop in property and share prices to make a killing. There are so many signals and messages.

Is it a time of doom? Or is there room for boom? Just which is which?

Years ago, when my partner and I set up our strategic creative consultancy, we decided that there were so many things we could do. Hence, we chose a tagline that reflected this aspiration – infinite possibilities.
 
As a company, we have grown beyond looking at our current capabilities, but focus on what is it that we want to do in the future, and using that vision to guide us in developing the capability. We’ve moved from what we can do, to what we want to do.

We’ve taken great pains to build a culture of infinite possibilities within the team and I’m proud that this positive mindset is deeply infectious – even to our clients. (I’ve noted their own shift of mindset towards their work, where before they thought it not possible, now they think there are many ways to overcome their challenges)

I guess this mindset, coupled with adherence to our core values and a client-centric philosophy, is what attracts many to our team – both employees and clients. I believe this mindset will help us weather the financial storm.
 
Can small and medium enterprises, young entrepreneurs and new business owners ride out the current financial storm? Can there really be infinite possibilities in this economic climate?
 
I believe the answer depends no longer on what we can do, but what we want to do.

Unionised sector sees retrenchments fall in Q2: labour chief
By S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE: The second quarter of this year saw only one-third of the number of lay-offs experienced in the previous quarter for the unionised sector, said labour movement chief Lim Swee Say.

And while this showed an improvement over the nearly 10,000 retrenched in the first quarter, Mr Lim said Singaporeans must not assume the downturn is over.

When the economic downturn hit Singapore, the labour movement set itself three targets, said NTUC Secretary-General Lim Swee Say. These were: to avoid record retrenchments, a high unemployment rate as in 2003 when SARS hit, and to be among the first to bounce back when the upturn returns.

Mr Lim said: “After six months of tripartite efforts, we believe we are on track. We cannot say for sure that by the end of this year, whether we would be able to succeed to achieve all these three targets. But we will continue to pursue our ‘Upturn the Downturn’ strategy.”

Mr Lim reminded Singaporeans that the downturn was not over yet despite recent reports that companies have started hiring.

A survey by consultancy firm Hudson said that for the first time since 2007, hiring expectations are up across the board.

The Singapore National Employers Federation also found from its regular quarterly surveys that the percentage of companies saying they were hiring had gone up from 20 to 25 per cent between March and June this year.

Stephen Lee, president, Singapore National Employers Federation, said: “Certainly this is a positive sign, but the question is how long will we be bottom-bumpy and how long will we stay at the bottom.

“Certainly there are no strong signs to indicate a fast recovery. So most companies are prepared that it will stay where it is and wait till the first quarter of next year to see whether it will pick up.”

Mr Lim added: “Let us remember that not all industries will recover at the same time and at the same pace. So when we see some companies starting to recover and starting to hire workers, we should be happy, but don’t be too happy.

“We cannot keep retrenchment down to zero. But we can make sure that when the worker is retrenched, he does not necessary become an unemployed worker.”

Hence the need to remain focused on the fundamentals, with cutting costs to save jobs being key.

Although there may be some signs of improvement in hiring, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and the Singapore National Employers Federation said it is not time for companies and workers to rest on their laurels.

They encourage both employers and workers to take full advantage of the various training and re-training schemes available to enhance the employability of their workers. – CNA/vm

The small town of Bundanoon took to the polls to officially ban bottled water in their stores.

This is a perfect example of how small groups can have a major impact on the world. The fact that it was a consensus amongst the townsmen showed that people were ready to take environmental leadership and officially, chose to avoid bottled water and make use of tap water that not only saves on money but also the environment.

At the end of the day, every bit to save the environment counts and the last thing we should be doing is to unnecessarily produce bottled water when we already a viable alternative of having clean tap water! It is not just an environmental choice, but also an economically viable choice to make.

The implications of Bundanoon legislative decision, is how much we can all chip in to do our part for the environment. It begs the question that if they can do it, why can’t we?

Very similar to the concept of using plastic bags, the simpler and cost effective method was to encourage the habit of carrying our own grocery bags.

I think it is not the interest in the fact that we have to ban bottled water, but just the idea that we have the right to choose what we want to do. Simply put, we can choose to not buy bottled water and reuse bottles.

BBC: Australia town bans bottled water

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8141569.stm

My handphone and Facebook inboxes were abuzz with messages recently, shortly after the names of Nominated Members of Parliament (NMP) were made public.

A few friends and acquaintances from the Malay/Muslim community raised a question that had not occurred to me as being an issue at all. “Why is there no Malay NMP”, they asked.  I pondered over it and sent a short and sweet reply to them – “Errr..because we are a meritocracy?”

The answer was apparently not enough to quell their curiosity. “Yes, yes, meritocracy but don’t tell me there’s no one good enough from our community to be an NMP this time around?” asked one friend in response.

The issue was also discussed in the Malay media with a few readers writing to Berita Harian’s forum pages. A reader said he was worried that without an NMP from the community, alternative views from the Malay/Muslim community will not be aired. An officer from Parliament House responded, saying that selection was based on meritocracy and not on race.

To a certain extent, I was not surprised by the questions raised and the views expressed. Over the years, the same question of “why don’t we have a Malay this and that” have been raised, albeit, in different circumstances.

The most oft repeated one must be “Why is there no Malay/Muslim general or pilot in the Army and RSAF?” This issue has been widely discussed and has been partly addressed with the recent appointment of Brigadier-General Ishak Ismail, and with several Malay/Muslim men making the cut as pilots in the Airforce over the years.

I feel that this was a valid area of concern as I believe discrimination has no place in Singapore, even if the practicalities of geopolitical and historical issues at one point in time deemed it to be necessary then.

However, that validity does not automatically apply to all other issues of appointing people for top posts. Apart from the “Why is there no Malay NMP this time around” question, other frequently-asked ones are “Why is there no Malay/Muslim minister in charge of a portfolio other than the Environment?” and more recently, after the Cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in 2008, some were asking “Why wasn’t any Malay MP promoted?”

Although it may seem parochial, perhaps Malay/Muslim Singaporeans are always asking these questions because it reflects the community’s desire of having more symbols of success representing the community at the national political level, and in different ways. But after more than four decades of being a meritocratic society, what does it mean to have such questions thrown up? I can think of a few possibilities:

1)     Some feel that there really are highly qualified Malay/Muslim candidates as the community has progressed significantly and perceive that there is a lack of equality of chances given

2)     Some feel that meritocracy should be applied (i.e based on qualification) but the race of qualified persons should also be considered

Those who support point 1) are probably frustrated because they see progress in the Malay/Muslim community but yet do not see enough representation at higher levels in society. While it is true that the Malay community has progressed, these people forget that other communities too have progressed, and that the gap between the Malay community and other communities hence remain. In a meritocratic system where the best man wins regardless of his race, this means that the probability of having the best man coming from other communities is logically bigger, and the probability for a minority to be chosen, hence, smaller.

Supporters of point 2) probably concur with Law Minister K. Shanmugam, who once suggested that a certain form of “social leavening” process be implemented for minority races, within a meritocratic framework. In other words, meritocracy is applied because all candidates considered for a certain post meet the requirements. But when the selection of candidates is done, a qualified candidate from a minority race should be selected, hence the “social leavening” concept.

While meritocracy is not a perfect system, I believe it is the closest we have to ensuring a sense of fairness amongst all. It is non-negotiable. The path to success may be rougher but each has the ability to lay claim to his or her own success. One only needs to look across the causeway to see the many issues surfacing due to having a non meritocratic system. As for “social leavening”, it means one is chosen not just because one is qualified, but a qualified minority. I’d rather be just qualified, thank you, even if it means competing with many, many, more qualified people for a top post – and not getting it eventually.

I believe what is most important is not whether there are any Malay NMPs or high ranking ministers, but for the government to realise that that today’s generation, whether Malay or not, is not going to give it the carte blanche in making decisions without explaining the rationale behind it. In other words, even if we believe in a system that is meritocratic, we would like an explanation on how things have been done to uphold the principles of meritocracy. In the case of the NMP selection process, a detailed explanation by the NMP Selection Committee on why were and how the selected ones were chosen can lead to a better understanding on the quality and merit of each one of them. Perhaps the names of all nominees could be made public so that the public can assess whether the non-selected nominees are really that qualified after all. I believe greater transparency and a more proactive and forthcoming attitude in divulging information will take the zing out of speculative comments and nip conspiracy theories in the bud before they make their rounds be it at the kopitiams, on Facebook or SMS.

Pale Blue Dot - The Earth from 6 billion Km

Every one has a point of view – a position, a standpoint from which they make sense of the world, the happenings in it and how they relate to what is going on around them. Some positions change – they are connected to circumstances that change, to new information, to new perspectives.

Some positions are fundamental and endure.

One of the most enduring positions I hold was articulated most vividly by a portrait of earth, then the most distant portrait of earth ever, taken by the Voyager I spacecraft when it was a distance of over 6 billion – that’s 6,000,000,000,000 – kilometers from earth. By astronomical standards, that’s nothing – that’s not even 0.016% of the distance to the closest star. (Voyager I will more that 8.5 million years to reach as far as that star), and that would still be nothing.

And yet, when it looked back at earth, at us, all that was visible was a tiny dot. A tiny speck. A spot – something that an uninformed viewer would completely dismiss. That spot encompassed everything that we know as home.

Carl Sagan, reflecting on that dot put that perspective into words so eloquently that I feel I must repeat them –

Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar,” every “supreme leader,” every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.

I think everyone should see this photograph, and read these words. Especially in this age where selfishness, self indulgence and self aggrandizement seem to be the norm. It is good to be reminded that we are so insignificant in the larger scheme of things that were the entire earth – and with it everything we cling to as dear and worthwhile – to vanish into nothingness tomorrow, to someone just heartbeat away by astronomical standards, nothing more would have happened than a grainy photograph would have be wiped clean of an annoying little blue dot.

And this perspective, perhaps, is even more relevant for someone from Singapore – a place that is a little red dot on that pale blue dot. When we start drawing boundaries to divide ourselves into little tribes that separate the us from the them – boundaries of religion, race, sexuality, class, wealth, or whatever the latest fashionable division is – it may be good to be reminded that we as a whole are so tiny, so insignificant – and so alone – that these petty divisions are not just petty and counterproductive – but frankly, given our position in the larger scheme of things, downright laughable.

Over the weekend, I had a chance to catch up with Wilson and he gave me an update on how the National Youth Assembly was going. So far, it seems like the students are getting involved very positively and are going the extra mile, by being involved with the NGOs and partners to get more knowledge and experience on the issues at hand.

The National Youth Assembly (NYA) is a series of Legislative sessions organized to engage youth in policy-making and to allow them to interact with policy-makers. The youth would be actively involved in the process of proposing, debating and finalizing their bills on a variety of aspects of/relevant to Singapore’s sustainability. The finalized bills will eventually be submitted to the respective Ministries of the Singapore Government for review and follow up. The final debate will be held on the 1st and 2nd of August at the Old Parliament House. (http://www.nationalyouthassembly.org/)

I think the assembly is a unique chance in developing youth to understand the policy making better and an opportunity to engage youth and translate their vision into action.

It was just some time before, Wilson and I discussed the challenges of how youth can be empowered to do more. In this day and age, youth are educated on issues such as the environmental issues, economic development or poverty, however it seems harder for us to get the youth to translate their interest, passions and ideas into action.

This is very much what Kurt Hahn, founder of the Outward Bound School said almost 30 years ago, that youth are so information rich these days, yet some are so action poor. Granted of course there have been marked improvements of youth involvement with civil society, but there were other support mechanisms that could encourage more youth to participate.

There needs to be an environment to discuss issues of concern with the youth and second, was to provide mentors that were passionate leaders to inspire people on the variety of issues and encouraging people to take action. Next, is giving the opportunity to take action, providing them with the appropriate methods and good mentorship.

I think the NYA as a whole can be able to bring together different elements and the overall opportunity is definitely valuable to participants.

All the best to the NYA legislators!