Feb 1, 2026 · 3 min read
As I enter mid-life, and found a brief moment in the sea between Bintan and Singapore. Where the stakes are higher, the responsbility immense. I was reading the Wikipedia article on the Spanish war of succession, left beind on a forgotten Chrome tab. And, despite a time when defence stocks are at an all time high. I did notice, there was an inherent trend towards unification. After all these years, all these times.
Oct 5, 2025 · 5 min read
Sunday October 5th, flight on the way back from Vietnam to Singapore To the Rentiers they go - Are REITS Alright? Premise and context This post was first drafted probably around 2 - 3 years ago, but i never really got around to it. In its conception, this was an attempt to understand rent economies, and, as a lay person: starting with the actual “rent” industry of real estate. Intuitively, it seems wrong, but when bad things persist - there must be an underlying reason.
Aug 11, 2025 · 4 min read
Another year, another In Camp Training (Singapore reservist shenanigans). My 9th year of ICT (how time flies), and the 7th cycle in the “syllabus” It was different this time. In the preceding year, I was focused on understanding, applying and trialing different observations from various leaders and managers. In particular, I was taken to the concept of Servant Leadership: which I layer on a fundamental belief that humans do desire to be productive; and if well directed, may miss their target due to 3 fundamental factors: resourcing, competency, and bottlenecks and decisions.
Aug 9, 2025 · 3 min read
I was introduced to Agency as an idea. This was well explained in the article. A fun read, accompanied by memes and graphic accompaniments. Its a concept that acts well as an intermediary between the idealist notion of absolute freedom, and the practicalities of life. For we can’t control everything, nor can we find perfection in maximising anything. But preserving a degree of element of choice and control within the world’s constraints is something that i find is:
Jun 3, 2025 · 2 min read
Likely written around 3 June (while somewhere in Italy) This post was inspired by an article i read, published in early March 2025. There was an elegance (Simple principles, ugh, so gooood) in two fundamental, and somewhat opposing needs of 1) Connection and 2) Autonomy “These needs reflect two key goals our distant ancestors had to achieve: to bond with others for their mutual protection, and to develop personal skills to make them valuable to their group and potential mates.
Jun 3, 2025 · 1 min read
Noting and recording what someone (corporate, non philosophical stuff really), said about energy at a talk I attended in Mid April 2025 Principles in the Future of Energy The elegance and simplicity in taking a long-term principled view based on several fundamentals: Energy consumption will rise, significantly. Developing countries will demand more energy, as they develop Every industrial revoluton (currently AI), often drives a step-change in energy consumption. New trends to look out for:
Jun 3, 2025 · 3 min read
This is a compilation of word snippets and musings, while on the trip. On the Highways from Milanpensa Adolation of symmetry Man belongs in nature Wrapped by sheet cliffs of green. Columns of broad shouldered Europeans Mountainous like the ranges Paths cycling A love of the outdoors Hiking, biking But man too needs to suffer, Straining up steep roads Braving the elements The artifice of putting ourselves in nature, and the artifice of our self made constraints of modernity
Jun 3, 2025 · 3 min read
At the Botanic Wachtler. I remember when this website was born out of a feeling of a loss of control. Or a sense of helplessness that is felt during a once-in-a-lifetime (hoepfully) pandemic. Change is an ever constant, and writing this when I have finally caught a berak overlooking what i believe to the be the Alps between Italy and Austria comes at a time when the human mind, my mind, is equally at risk of imploding in the too many
Jun 1, 2025 · 1 min read
Rediscovering Belle Epoque, and the link and connection with a nice game i’ve picked up recently (Clair Obscur, expedition 33). A wistful being overcomes me. The philosopher. The Poet. Not the warrior, today. I listen to Tosti, which wikipedia says is representative of Salon Music. I read about the lineage of English kings. The rabbit hole brings be from Orleans (not far from where Caesar won the battle of Alesia), the hundred year’s war; the black death, from Edward III to Elizabeth I.
Dec 22, 2024 · 6 min read
I pick up this smattering of notes, on the back of finishing of a macro view of the evolving world order. What next but to write about a place a bit closer to home? A topic that still has a lingering interest, having worked in a government agency and all; and a continuation of where I last left off. Since then, I’ve written fairly broadly, especially around my interests in Universal Frameworks and principled views on seemingly complex or abstract topics.