A Memory of Charlie

When Einstein was asked about his theory of relativity he quipped, “When you spent an hour with your girlfriend, it seemed like a minute just passed; but if you spend a minute in front of a hot oven, it feels like an hour.” Of course he spoke in jest but I can agree that 2009 raced past without me realising it had been a year. It was eventful, event-filled and eventually left me restless. Perhaps it should explain my almost year-long hiatus on my blog. If you had been hopeful to follow my blog when I first started it, sorry! It is an issue of personal discipline. How do you keep going when you’re down, tied-up, harried, hurried and hurt?

So here is this year’s review, a journey I started a decade and half ago in Motorola, Inc. Now that I no longer have a base from which to send out emails, I welcome you to my blog. It’s not “public consumption” as it’s really a sharing with friends, people I cherish and trust. However, I do recognise that in cyberspace, you don’t have real privacy and for that, I do pause. Unlike past summaries, I’ll review myself first. A year spent in the wilderness: a generous dose of reality and wake-up call. It was a whole year of change – doing things on my own, not knowing what tomorrow or next week brings, appreciating the many things and people I’ve taken for granted and realising that I’m held accountable for more than just one life.... these have been quite a threatening experience!

As the fireworks went off in Ritz Carlton and JW Marriott, I was in Jakarta. It was surreal watching the remnants of a restaurant on TV with the thought that I could have been having breakfast there that morning. God was and is still in charge. Suddenly the H1N1 virus that was affecting some three quarters of the world wasn’t that major an issue to me. It did give me some problems, though. It wasn’t a big deal when my son was down with chicken pox; I just resolved to take care of him myself and told my wife to back off. After all he’s on MC, I have flexible hours and I’ve had it when I was four..... except I didn’t reckon that I belong to a select group of people who will never gain immunity from the virus regardless how many times I’ve been infected.

Getting my son to the clinic was crazy that day because of H1N1 screening. We wanted him to have minimum outside contact and decided on the nearest clinic opposite his school (his paediatrician is 10 minutes from home). The line stretched for over one km! Then it was my turn to host the virus. If you never had it as a kid, pray that you’ll never get it as an adult. I fully appreciate Job and his boils – he was a courageous and faithful man. Bee Hwa got on the casualty list next after scalding her hand with boiling water and was out of action for a week. We then realised the cooking, cleaning and clearing have been taken for granted. These just have to sequentially spread over 3 weeks..... but it all turned out well. Simple, we just need to have faith and a few praying friends!

Then my ex-boss suffered a stroke while holidaying. He was bed-ridden and spent a month in a US hospital. Thank God he’s a lot better now but there’s still a long road ahead of him. Another friend had a heart attack just before our cell group were to meet. We met at the intensive care instead. When all signs were pointing towards a scheduled recovery, Charlie left us. A good friend, a loyal friend, an enthusiastic believer and a spirited cell group member, I remember him for his food, fixed timing and faith. He was a great pal to my son and was committed to all the things we did as a cell. He will be missed. When you have to squeeze for a seat at the funeral hall, you get an idea what sort of man he was. Charlie, this reflection is for you....

This year we also bade farewell to a few notables I grew up with. I was in my secondary school when we had our first TV. So I get to watch the Jackson Five, Kung Fu and Charlie’s Angels. Michael Jackson, David Carradine and Farah Fawcett were a part of my adolescent life. While those who know me know that I’m not really into entertainment, these old-time celebrities still left a vacuum in my life upon reflection. Michael taught us how to walk backwards (apparently you do that on the moon) with the music, Farah made Six Million Dollar Man Majors more interesting and David fed my appetite for some physical fighting post Bruce Lee. Patrick Swayze and Sir Bobby Robson left us too. Already I begin to dread if I’ll soon stop getting to enjoy great animation with the passing of Roy Disney, the last of the Disney clan to have significant contribution to the company.

Iconic brands left us too. I used to complain about the treachery of marketing when I heard the tagline “Sweden’s safest car”. Sweden exported only Saab to this part of world. Well, no more. I grew up knowing Max Factor, thanks to advertising (no, I *don’t* use the product) and it had certainly been around. My favourite business example when I teach was the demise of Encyclopaedia Britannica. A great brand with a great product that produced great benefits but was distributed in the wrong channel on the wrong medium. Encarta quickly replaced it and this year, Mr Softie decided the Wikis and search engines of the world have rendered it useless. Then, an Air France Airbus 330 disappeared into the Atlantic without its black box ever being recovered. Perhaps now we can only speculate at what actually happened. There have been too many deaths....

On a brighter note, the year started out with the historic inauguration of a black man to the most powerful position on earth. Mere months later, Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo where he delivered a "just" war message. I thought Tolstoy made it clear war and peace don't go together? This controversy was preceded by something more controversial – his US$787 billion “stimulus package” to salvage the American economy. Across the Atlantic, The Bank of England reduced interest rate to 0.5%, a first in over three centuries. China was in a Catch-22 with her Renminbi while India launched the world’s largest election. There seemed to be a huge effort by the governments to fix things but is that enough for the capitalists? The stock market indices continue to rise despite the glaring absence of fundamentals.

Mr Softie, doing her part for the economy, introduced 2 new products. Bing is doing pretty decently against the juggernaut called Google and Windows 7 managed to salvage some mojo for Vista. Google herself brought out Chrome and Android. The airlines were not buying new planes nor were banks lending out that much more. Apple launched a new iPod Touch and the iPhone 3GS. This Christmas, after 15 years of denial, I’ve crossed over to the dark side ala Anakin Skywalker and joined the Apple Evangelist Army.

Across the causeway, there are creative ways to boost the flailing economy. Promoting “halal” bak kut teh must certainly rank top as a novel idea. Hiving off a couple of jet engines to Argentina is both novel and brazen. But the MCA calling an EGM and then ignoring every resolution passed at that EGM is novel, brazen and not incredibly very bright for a political party. When a Mongolian lady went missing last year, a key witness suddenly went missing. This year the blogger writing about it has now gone missing. More incredulous things have happened in “boleh land” over the years so I’m not that taken aback. Despite having lived here for so long, I still have feelings for my home country and I can’t really laugh.

In Singapore, there is a war against loan sharks, symptomatic of the economic troubles we inherited from last year. There is also preparation to deal with gambling addiction and one campaign (how typical) is looming up shortly. One wonders why go through this rigmarole while planning for more opportunities for people to go into debt – with 2 casinos opening soon, higher housing costs and increased maintenance of cars. It makes more sense to license money-lenders and increase tax on bright colour paints/markers just like they do on liquors and narcotics. It’s seriously "demand & supply" and there’s serious money to be made and perhaps ease off the pressure on ERP collection. Our little respite came from some comedy the Miss Singapore pageant afforded us. It lent credence to the rumour that these winners were decided even before the final evening, not that the result ever bothered me....

Some celebrities do deserve their fame. When a middle-aged spinster opened her mouth, Simon Cowell opened his in disbelief and bit his acerbic tongue. That classic look on TV for me is priceless, I had to download it from Youtube. Susan Boyle’s is a fairy tale. For Tiger Woods, his is now a horror story. He won 14 majors and reportedly matched each one with an affair. As he now qualifies as a Cheetah, he might have to give up his stripes. Hmmm, endorsing Pfizer’s Viagra might be an option? Michael Schumacher returns to the F1 after a false start when Felipe Massa was horrendously injured on track. Still on sports, Cristiano Ronaldo left MU, Kobe Bryant shot a 3-pointer with a hand in his face and zero seconds left to beat Miami Heats, Malaysia finally won the SEA games soccer gold after 2 decades and France handily qualified for the World Cup when the Irish forgot that basketball rules apply at times....

While everyone is in a holiday mood now, let me spoil it by reminding you that it’s actually a season trying to end the year, sandwiched between two public holidays. The latter holiday is symbolic but practical, considering the number of year-end party-goers who will not wake up for work the next day. This time around, there’s a weekend cushion! As a parent, it is pretty unique that school doesn’t start on Jan 2. The former holiday is symbolic too but for a far greater significance than advancing a number. A gift and a sacrifice twice over. Not because we paid for it or earned it or worked for it or deserved it but because we are loved. We made sacrifices for our son because we love him. He didn’t pay for them and wasn’t worthy of them through good behaviour, good grades or good obedience.

Whatever the year has been for you, the descriptions are in the past tense. The year ahead holds out new plans, new promises, and new power. The first 5 verses of the Book of Joshua open a new chapter for people in the wilderness. There is hope. The next 5 verses describe how the people should respond: be strong and courageous. Since the year is unknown, uncertain and uncontrollable, we need faith. Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1). Amid the sanguinity, let us not forget to love. A society is measured not by how expensive are the cars or how big are the houses or how strong are the people or how smart are the kids, but by how the poor, sick, aged and handicapped are being loved.

Soon some of you will be chasing customers, some will be chasing the stock market, others will be chasing education and a handful will be chasing your spouse-to-be. I wish you something better than good luck: May your endeavours go according to God’s will, may His blessings go with you and may His hand be upon you.

This posting marks the end of my hibernation from the blog. You’re welcomed stop by but do not publicise. Have a blessed year ahead.

the quiXote

Obama's Historic Inauguration Address

My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often, the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land -- a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America: They will be met.


On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the fainthearted -- for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things -- some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor -- who have carried us up the long, rugged path toward prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

Time and again, these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions -- that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act -- not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions -- who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them -- that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works -- whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account -- to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day -- because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control -- and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart -- not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: Know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort -- even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West: Know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment -- a moment that will define a generation -- it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends -- hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism -- these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility -- a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world; duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence -- the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed -- why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent Mall, and why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world ... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive... that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested, we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back, nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.