Blog

58: On Millenials and CryptoMania 1

Jan 15, 2022 · 4 min read · #Economics

Ah Millenials. I mean Millenials as I picture an old fellow spittling away with a brusque sneer: A pittance of morality; lazy, arrogant foolish. I keep seeing viewpoints how different generations perceive one another - with one baby boomer generation ruining the world into purgatory, and the second millenial generation squandering wealth and its perceived nurgatory (subsequent generations are too stuck in their phone games to matter in this debate…until they’re able to infleunce votes).

57: Political Structures 1: The Spectrum of Ideological Effectivness

Jan 10, 2022 · 5 min read · #Government

TLDR; This post summarises my take/framework to understand political structures Disclaimer: I like the one I am under currently. — A Singaporean and an American walk into the college bar. I remember bringing up the phrase a “Benevolent Dictatorship” - as the craft beer seeped into the recesses of my brain and dug up this phrase that I saw once, somewhere, sometime. (I don’t think I was clever enough to come up with it on the spot, drunk enough perhaps).

56: Commentary: Profiteering is in the Eye of the Beholder

Jan 10, 2022 · 3 min read · #economics

As a matter of building off previous posts, and to ensure the “permanance” of content amidst numerous evolving conceptual ideas, I’ll add some additional ideas / thoughts through separate posts. This way, if there are interesting articles I read along the way that are relevant to a past post, I’ll add a commentary such as this one. Recently (clearly not today, as I am hardly able to maintain a regular time to write), I came across an article by the New York Times by Peter Coy discussing how big boy pharma companies are making bank (well specifically, profits) off the pandemic.

55: Obligatory 2022 Post - Frameworks for calibrating the Compass of Life

Jan 10, 2022 · 5 min read · #personal

Semi-obligatory, but nonetheless important to just privately . As I type this, I am currently in between an old job and new one, carving out a momentary pause for reflection. …and weakly attempting to clear 19 blog posts in the backlog. Trying out Zettlr instea of Typora, as the latter has launched with a subscription fee. Moving forward, I will label the post number in the header… technically this is my 43rd file, but it seems that my numbering had missed a chunk of post 20-somethings and its gone a bit off the rails.

My Response to the COP26 Response

Nov 2, 2021 · 3 min read

TLDR; I summarise here the elegant maths equation to solving sustainability; And also why its so hard to implement. Oh my, two posts in one evening. I’ve seen my social media (mainly linkedin, and some news) feeds being a flurry of activity and complaints meaningful progress, blame and finger pointing on the lack of action on climate progress. It spurred me to more acutely synthesise my thoughts on this topic.

Sustainability as the next economic chapter - A note of validation on my earlier posts

Nov 2, 2021 · 3 min read

TLDR; This is a self-indulgent pat on the back. Oh dear! Its been 2 months since the last post. I continue to have a backlog, but my attention has been focused on other matters personal and professional. This post calls back to an earlier post written off thoughts I’ve been engrossed on over the last 3 years. Specifically, on the increasing role of Sustainability and its emergence as an Economic Chapter in its own right.

The Pillars of Inequality - Framing the types of inequalities, and why it persists

Sep 3, 2021 · 8 min read

TLDR; This post seeks to present how I have made sense of the long term struggles against inequality, and why it is so difficult to crack. There are four pillars of inequality - International, Domestic, Absolute and Perceived An absolutely critical theme that runs acrosses many of my posts - economic, education, political and sustainability - sees inequality as a focal point that must be addressed to unlock progress.

On Governance and Government - a lived experience

Sep 2, 2021 · 13 min read

TLDR: I reflect on my time working for the government. I reflect on four principles that modern governments can consider for modern times. The Great Exception: There are structural challenges in being a minority in a small country Trade-off mindsets: There is too high a fixation on the myopic “best /better” decision, as opposed to a holistic view accounting for trade-offs. Bursting the Bubble: Public Officers should engage deeply in the “real world” and avoid being trapped in a bubble.

Education 2 - On Defining Education and the End of Tuition

Aug 1, 2021 · 8 min read

TLDR: I frame Education through a its aim to i) Conform to social requirements (social responsibility), and ii) Living Well (Individual responsibility). Ending tuition intuitively helps minimise domestic inequality - but the issue is far more complicated than it seems. In my last post, I wrote about the western glorification of the Asian education system, and tried to paint a fuller picture on the pros and cons of different systems.

Education 1 - Education Systems

May 19, 2021 · 7 min read

TLDR: Accelerate a diversity of experiences and the self-discovery of passions. Teach a kid curiosity, experimentation with execution, history and human nature. Preamble I am not a teacher. And I never have been - aside from a couple of volunteering stints here and there. But every now and then, I come across two running commentaries that keep popping up on the topic of education. First, is a narrative that lavishes praise on the academics of some Asian countries, including China, Korea, and Singapore.