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142 A Quarter in china - Sophisticated Supply; Sophisticated Demand

Apr 5, 2026 · 5 min read · #career , #travel

Location: Qingpu Library, 5 April 2026 So its been officially 3 months since a mandate and appointment here in China; and perhaps about a month since receiving my official residency permit here. It feels short and long; fast and slow all at the same time; Perhaps it is the lean-in to adventure. Perhaps its the honeymoon period. Or maybe i’m just getting a bit more comfortable without a loss of awe.

141 On Leadership 3 - A Quarter as new GM

Apr 5, 2026 · 4 min read · #career

Location: Dianshan lake, 5 April 2026 A quarter passes, and this notes touches on the more work-oriented focus. As a side note, in my about page, i should certainly reflect 2026 as a year of China and a growth into management. As a chief of staff, I last noted on the three “P"s. Not something i read about, but just conveniently slotted it in some easy to remember framework: Priorities, Projects and People.

140 On the Belief of Human Unity

Feb 1, 2026 · 3 min read · #philosophy

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.

139 Economics - Rent Economies

Oct 5, 2025 · 5 min read · #economics

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.

138 On Command 2 - Achieving, Motivating

Aug 11, 2025 · 4 min read · #career

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.

136: On Autonomy and Connection

Jun 3, 2025 · 2 min read · #philosophy , #personal

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.

135: Energy without the Noise, future trends

Jun 3, 2025 · 1 min read · #energy

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:

134: Travel 5 - Italy 2025, part 2

Jun 3, 2025 · 3 min read · #travel

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

133: Raison detre revisited

Jun 3, 2025 · 3 min read · #meta , #personal

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

132: Travel 4 - On a Porch in the Dolomites

Jun 1, 2025 · 1 min read · #travel

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.