shifted!

been a while!

so it's been a while since i last wrote... no more spanish. English, english.

Been back for... 2 weeks, and this is the start of the 3rd week. Our apartment's all set up; i've a nice huge room to myself and so thats nice.. (i've really understanding and nice housemates)

Been busy with SSA stuff, trying to get the new guys settled in; we've a humungous batch this year so that's kinda fun. There'a someone that reminds me of lydia and lorraine. Someone that reminds me of my cousin, and just so happen that they all know each other. Singapore is REALLY small. (who am i kidding?)

Off to a good start I hope: BSF starts tonight (yikes!) Toddler ministry hopefully soon.. Prayer group too! We'll see how this year figures. I've a good feeling about it but we ll see we ll see.. thank God.

Other than that.. work's piling in and that's for sure. Thank God for an amazing A that seriously came out of nowhere because I was almost having a panick attack about the exam last week..

Spain beckons this thanksgiving I hope.. and Peru this Winter? I dont know!

I love America.

vuelvo a illinois

ahh. estoy en la casa de mi amigo, dan. seis dias de descanso fueron muy bueno. De verdad, todo el dia hice nada. Como... NADA. Fue 'awesome'.

Pues. Le (lo) echo de menos! Mi vida espanola desapareció :( Pero, las dias pasadas, mire las programas espanolas en la televisión por cable. Fue una cosa interesante porque pude entender muchas palabras de el presentador! increible..

Voy a regresar a mi universidad luego...

Voy a empezar una vida loca (de estudios y cosas asi...)

No quiero pensar sobre esto.

semana 5

hola, nadie. a veces está un poco extraño cuando yo escribo aqui. Pero, este es un lugar para exprésese. punto.

Ya aqui por 4 1/2 semanas. Estoy muy contendo con este programa; es un buena programa que ayudarme a aprender español mucho. Pero, de verdad, a veces pienso que espanol es ridicolo. Todas las estructuras de la gramática son muy confusas. Hay muchas, muchas reglas. Por eso, creo que para aprender esta lengua, se necesita mucho tiempo. No lo se. ¿Cuál está en el futuro?

Estaba pensando sobre idiomas en general, y cómo se aprender una lengua? Específicamente sobre lengua de Chino. ¿Cómo lo hice? Actualamente, no lo quiero saber. Estoy agradecido para las políticas de mi país, en serio. Si no aprendí lengua de Chino en el pasado, pienso que ahora no está possible. Gracias Dios.

Hoy fue muy triste. Todas los estudiantes en mi clase estaban agitados. Yo tambien, no me encontre en ambiente para la clase.

Ahora estoy aqui. Bueno. Quiero estudiar mas y intento aprender más, más, más....

what's all this bloodshed about?

2 days ago i saw 'the mission', a 1986 film about 18th century South America




i saw 'platoon' yesterday, a 1986 film on the Vietnam War



Today i saw 'private', a 2004 italian film by Saverio Costanzo




I constantly get reminded about what this world is about and what people stand for; everyday, a constant effort to struggle for freedom and life.

The Vietnamese cursed the bloodshed left behind by the Americans; but the soldiers did what they had to do not only as soldiers, but what they had to do to survive.

The Americans claimed the Vietnamese to be the most brutal people in the world, creating the deadliest of booby traps and having villagers-women shoot at them at the most unexpected moments. But, they did it simply to survive. They did.



In the Israeli-Palestine conflict we see the same, and 'private' reveals this in some scenes, where the daughter simply wants to take it out with the soldiers to claim back her house, and more importantly her freedom.



All the way back to the century of colonization we see the same, as in 'the mission', as the rampage of the Spaniards, Portuguese, French and Dutch over-ran chieftains and villages, leaving the indigenous with no choice but to fight back.


somehow these themes kept lingering in my head as I watched these films, and i get reminded of what this world stands for and what it will continue to stand for: conflicts, and more conflicts; because as there are aggressors, there are simply souls who stand up to fight for their freedom.

the WORLD the WORLD the WORLD

AH!

i am thinking about my times in Brazil! and this wonderful song rings in my head - Sou Praiero by Jamil - AHHHHH "sha la la la la la la la la, Sou praiero, sou guirero, tu soltero...."

and then recalling some stuff from MUS133 about music from Trinidad and Tobago... Steel pans!!!

and then yesterday Profesor Robert shared about his days living with the indigenous Mayans!

Today we had a class of latin America pop music it was awesome! - La Bomba by King Africa -

What fuel and oil and corn and $$ and bear sterns and China and India and inflation and 401Ks and shares and commodity indexs and S&P500 and WHAT THE )$@#U*$#(@*$#.

There's so so much more to these.

El mundo esta cambiando....

claro claro claro..

YESTERDAY



TODAY..

estoy esperando todavia...

hoy, fue lloviendo por toda el dia ... muy triste. pero esta apropiado para escuchar a canciones de Patrick Park.

viendo a las montanas, viendo a los alrededores, estoy teniendo un sueño sobre la vida en general ..

el futero.

hay una persona... un amigo de yo... quiere elegir una trayectoria diferente. Nosotros estuvimos hablando sobre la vida en general, pero específicamente sobre algo especial.

Espero tu eliges la trayectoria diferente y ayudame a alcanzar algo que no peudo alcanzar.

buena suerte amigo.

español...

Antonces… éste es el principio de él todo....

A hoy, nosotros tenemos clases de las ocho a las dos en la mañana. Las clases son muy interestante porque una nuevo lingua es divertido siempre. Mañana, nosotros tenemos dos examinación! El primero es un orál examinación y el segundo es un examinación de escribír. Antes de hoy, está muy difícil para mi porque yo no intiendo todos infomación! Las profesoras hablan en Español para todos las clases! In las primero y segundo dias, yo intiendo nada.

Pero, lentamente yo peudo entienda los significantes de las palabras.

A hoy yo jugué fútbol y voleibol. Entonces, estoy muy cansado ahora. Yo necessito descansar ... o yo necessito domir ... está muy importante!

Middlebury College, Vermont

so i actually didnt want to blog for this period (anyway i'm not supposed to 'communicate' in English...) but there's a rush of emotions and thoughts in my head....

There is nothing in this school except for maybe 5 big buildings, 20 smaller buildings, some fields, a chapel and tons of grassy patches.

There is nothing near this school except for a TJMaxx.

There is nothing to do here except to study or to participate in the activities within the school.

BUT,

There are mountains, there are grazing cows in the distance, there's a vast, wide blue sky, there's fresh air everyday from nature, there is a culture that promotes learning.

A liberal arts college.

The actual students here come from all over, a wide myraid of backgrounds and nationalities. 1 in 3 of the students are non-white. In here you find people with different personal passions. In here you find students from Bulgaria, Morrocco, Mauritius, and everywhere from America. In here you find people who are passionate about what they study and what they do. In here you find people who are, different.

I am not quite sure how well i fit into this culture, but this is a pretty darn good experience.

Sitting in Armstrong library, staring out into the Green Mountains of Vermont, the Sun setting in the distance giving a charming silloutte to the mountain range, and just enjoying the moment.

True, there isn't much to do here.

But,

over here you can find your passion, you can find your connection with learning, you can find a diverse group of individuals. Most importantly, you can find yourself.

Hasta Pronto my friends.

Adios.

and we're started back at one.

10,000 miles back to where we started again, and I blow life back into this page again.

Past 6 weeks back home was a rude awakening; both from God and from the past. Priorities that were foresaken in light of the new environment, primarily. But taking that journey back also brings about a certain type of haunting that inevitably ensues. A conscious effort to keep in touch is an endless cycle of trying, or die trying. At the end of the day we ask, is it worth it?

Good to see the family and all being good. Kids at church were awesome, same old, same old. Though within the blink of an eye almost everyone has grown up now. Almost... Not to mention food, which was definitely something to live for. Countless awakenings from God telling me where I had been and where I should be. Japan and Bangkok trips were nice getaways...

Friday I left.

A whole deal of apprehension and being reluctant, but here I am in the middle of nowhere in Vermont and I guess I am ready for another short (well, its not that short) in USA again.

One of the most brutal journies I've taken thus far:
SIN- TOKYO
TOKYO- CHICAGO
CHICAGO - PHILIDELPHIA
PHIDELPHIA - BURLINGTON
BURLINGTON - MIDDLEBURY

Phase 2/3.

Comenzar.

the end.

so freshmen year has officially concluded with the last paper an hour ago. I was so stressed last night i couldnt sleep. wth. first time in America. NOOB.


I don't really know if I'm in the mood for a concluding thought-type-thing.



I just want to thank God for being omnipresent in my life.
Watching over me for the past year despite my iniquities.


despite my lack of faith
despite my aloofness in this relationship with him
despite my selfishness in putting myself first
despite slipping away countless times.



and he showers upon me health
a church that feels so much like home
friends to support me
blessings upon blessings upon blessings



It's end of chapter 1 of 3 in Illinois.


I want to:
1. Eat chicken rice
2. Mambo
3. Go to Azarh and sit and do nothing
4. Play poker with the GEPs
5. Go to S-11 and do nothing

it's funny

so college begins and I thought one really weird observation was how time kind of changes. That is, the start of a new 'period' doesn't happen on Dec 31st 1159 onwards per se, it starts on ... May-ish. Because that's when the semester ends and we fly home. And as I continue writing chapter one of this fantasy I am living, I'm approaching the end as Chapter 2 patiently awaits.

I am blogging because I have FIVE days to study for 2 exams. That is too luxurious of a time-frame I believe. And since I have been the superdupermugger this whole semester, I don't think I need so much time, do I? Bottom line is.. EVERYONE ELSE HAS FINISHED THEIR EXAMS EXCEPT ME! I am sitting here in our secret room and staring out at a entity that seperates my current world from the outside. It's really just a window. But the analogy represets the disparity.

I reflect on the semester and think about the hours I've spent in the secret room. It's really just a study room but we call it the secret room to make our lives more interesting. Wow. Asians. Geniuses.

I think I am studying too much and that in itself is a failure; I didnt mean to travel 10,000 miles to come here to study so much. I could have done the same back home. I know I am a grades-whore but this is unacceptable!!!

Chapter 2 does begin on a fresh page, but Chapter 2 needs to begin with a different-minded author.

Let me get to the conclusion in the next few days before I fly, again.

Last 8 days in America! [Chapter 1 of 3]

So it's here, and today marks the beginning of very tumultuous period.

Sadly, the feeling is rather.. familiar? We've been studying way too much this semester. and this is the Zenith.

Well since a picture paints a thousand words. I have two thousand words to express so here are TWO wonderful pictures to express current moods:

Energy, Environment, Security: Can we have it all?

So Steven E. Kooonin swung by the quaint little champaign-urbana area in the middle of nowhere to grace this year's Beckman Lecture Series as the speaker. I must say being the Chief Scientist of BP does translate into some kind of pompousness.

Key take-aways:

1. Though intensity of carbon use has decreased in recent years, carbon emission levels have increased. In order to prevent the carbon concentration levels in the atmosphere to rise beyond 550-600(ppm) as current trends predict, reduction in emissions need to reach a factor of -2. However, imagine if China and/or India's emissions achieved parity with that of Japan (least emissions amongst the developed nations), global emissions will increase by 40%. So amidst concerns of global warming etc, I think something new he higlighted was the unhealthy carbon concentration level. Timeframe: within my lifetime. damn it.

2. Problems impeding energy solutions include scale, cost competition with alernatives, players with divergent interests and longevity of fixed asset investments. Behind the velvet curtains of the energy theatre, lies the backstage crew of economical forces and political will.

3. Education needs to penetrate not only the public, but policy makers and academia to infuse some sort of global direction, one that isn't misguided by personal interests and selfish gains.

This leads me to the whole new topic of behavioral economics which worships self-interests as describe in the book 'Mind of the Market'. Not a topic for today's discussion though.

i feel like Al Gore

GREEN RANTS!

So a while ago I was making noise about China (and risking the chance that 1/6 people in the WORLD might spit on me) and how they are chugging gasoline....

Now now, we have more company.

India has a seemingly insatiable appetite for cars, as shown in this traffic jam in a suburb of New Delhi,­ and the oil needed to run them, contributing to growing worldwide demand for petroleum.

Glorious

it began with a glorious day out. Though it was around 54F, but the sun was at its brightest, beaming. (think Tellytubby Sun).

And then the expression of God's love manifested through baptism today; teary-eyed, 4 souls in a public proclaimation, functioning both as a reminder and expression of the grace that flows in our lives.

And then the worship, relentless powerful week by week.

Everyone needs compassion

Love that’s never failing

Let mercy fall on me

Everyone needs forgiveness

The kindness of a Saviour

The hope of nations

Saviour

He can move the mountains

For my God is mighty to save

He is mighty to save

Forever

Author of salvation

He rose and conquered the grave

Jesus conquered the grave

I thank God for despite the lack of spiritual entities in my life now, week by week he sustains me with his powerful presence in his santuary at church. And every week I get reminded of how he is truly the author of salvation.

it's times like these

walking back to the dorm from classes yesterday...

weather was beautiful, the grass was bright green, the spring-time flowers are blooming, people laying on the quad. the breeze in my face, ipod in my ears - patrick park on the playlist... and all I can express is..

"AH.................." :)

It's times like these i thank God for everything and bringing me to America:)

conversations

A random conversation in my Professor's office today and I came across this book at the corner of my eye:

"Blue Ocean Strategy"

Came back, internet-ed it for abit; here's the synopsis

In the authors' words:

"The only way to beat the competition is to stop trying to beat the competition. In red oceans, the industry boundaries are defined and accepted, and the competitive rules of the game are known. In blue oceans, competition is irrelevant because the rules of the game are waiting to be set. ...The companies caught in the red ocean followed a conventional approach, racing to beat the competition by building a defensible position within the existing industry order. The creators of blue oceans, surprisingly, didn't use the competition as their benchmark. ...Instead of focusing on beating the competition, they focus on making the competition irrelevant by creating a leap in value for buyers and your company, thereby opening up new and uncontested market space. …

Value innovation is based on the view that market boundaries and industry structure are not 'given' and can be reconstructed by the actions and beliefs of industry players. …To fundamentally shift the strategy canvas of an industry, you must begin by reorienting your strategic focus from competitors to alternatives, and from customers to non-customers of an industry. As you shift your strategic focus from current competition to alternatives and non-consumers, you gain insight into how to redefine the problem the industry focuses on and thereby reconstruct buyer value elements that reside across industry boundaries"

The first example in "Blue Ocean Strategy" is Cirque de Soleil. The criteria/boundaries/rules for the circus industry that were "taken for granted" for decades included: animal shows, star/famous performers, multiple shows at the same time (i.e. 3 rings), and pushing concession sales. Rather than keeping a high emphasis on all the existing rules and then creating new ones, they either eliminated or reduced many of those rules and created a bunch of new ones. In the process, they increased value for their target market while lowering their own costs.

A key thing they did at Cirque de Soleil was that they looked across market boundaries to alternatives to the circus. It ended up being part circus and part theatre. Rather than focus on the market boundaries, they focused on the job the customer was hiring for -- in this case, it was adults looking for sophisticated entertainment.

Another key thing they did was not targeting the existing market (i.e. children), rather they targeted non-consuming adults. Blue ocean strategy is all about creating and capturing net new demand by ignoring boundaries defined by traditional competitors. The authors are big on stressing that new technology rarely turns into a great company. They state that unless the technology makes buyers lives dramatically simpler, more convenient, more productive, less risky, or more fun/fashionable, it will not attract the masses.

Think about it: the Nintendo Wii - classic case of a blue ocean strategy break through:_

green rants

Mouawad, J. (2008, April 20th). The Big Thirst. New York Times. Retrieved April 20th 2008 from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/weekinreview/20mouawad.html?ref=weekinreview

... Oil now accounts for just 19 percent of China’s energy needs. But China’s oil demand is expected to more than double by 2030 to over 16 million barrels a day, according to the International Energy Agency, as more people rise from poverty, move out of villages and buy more cars.

Just as in the United States, much of the increase in China’s oil demand has come from that country’s love affair with cars. The number of vehicles in China rose sevenfold between 1990 and 2006, to 37 million. China has now surpassed both Germany and Japan to become the second-largest car market in the world, and is set to overtake the United States by around 2015. China could have as many as 300 million vehicles by 2030.

William Chandler, an energy expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, estimates that if the Chinese were using energy like Americans, global energy use would double overnight and five more Saudi Arabias would be needed just to meet oil demand. India isn’t far behind. By 2030, the two counties will import as much oil as the United States and Japan do today.

What about the United States? The country has shown little willingness to address its energy needs in a rational way. James Schlesinger, the nation’s first energy secretary in the 1970s, once said the United States was capable of only two approaches to its energy policy: “complacency or crisis.”

The United States is the only major industrialized nation to see its oil consumption surge since the oil shocks of the 1970s and 1980s. This can partly be explained by the fact that the United States has some of the lowest gasoline prices in the world, the least fuel-efficient cars on the roads, the lowest energy taxes, and the longest daily commutes of any industrialized nation. The result: about a quarter of the world’s oil goes to the United States every day, and of that, more than half goes to its cars and trucks.

Old prices are at $116 a barrel now but then again that's still based on speculative prices and the weak dollar and the futures. So when will this looming crisis ever.... actually loom?

I dont wish to think about it but guess what, when it actually looms, in the next 2 1/2 decades or so, imagine a world without sustainable energy. Imagine... energy rationing. (re: last week's south park episode on Internet rationing) Imagine, hours without electricity.

In fact, it's impossible to imagine this.

But remember playing Red Alert 2 and like 2 hours into the quest you run out of orefields to mine for cash and you basically start selling structures to salvage yourself? (I'm clearly a poor Red Alert player)

What will happen when the world runs out of energy.

P.S. I think wind, solar, hydro energy account for less than 1% of total global energy production now.

Solution?

There is no solution. The unprecedented prosperity and economic fertility the US enjoyed for the longest ever is now being looked upon as a prime model for everyone else in the world to catch up with. That's ... a couple billion people in China and India combined. They want what they had never been entitled to. and they want it now.

God save this land.

things to do before you die

1...
2...
3...
4...
5. Experience an Earthquake [CHECK]
6...
7...
8...

So it's kind of ridiculous but yesterday in the middle of central Illinois, an earthquake hit. Yes. Central Illinois. I found out today that there's apparently some fault line down in Southern Illinois and hence the tectonic activity and hence the earthquake.

It was DAMN exciting. I woke up thinking I was dreaming, only to feel the wall shaking along with my bed. Difficult to make sense of though, because I kept thinking I was in the middle of America and Earthquakes can't emerge in the middle of a plate. (so apparently i was wrong)

But yes! Experience an earthquake.. Check!

Next up, a tornado, that ll be sweeeeeeeeet.

Randy Pausch Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dream

ok i may be a little late but this is for Randy Pausch:

"Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch, who is dying from pancreatic cancer, gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007."

So this reminded me of that little advertisement that flooded the bus stops before i left: this black and white poster that was talking about the last things to do before you die. But it kind of had a gloomy shadow of deathly hollows. It was something about dying and people. Death in fact.

But Randy Pausch delivers this lecture with 3 months left to live (he's still alive today though) with so much passion and humor and most importantly, a legacy and many lessons left behind for humankind.

I wish one day I could turn around when i am 40-50 and list out 5 things I learned in life and the string of things achieved, that can mirror the magnitude of what Randy achieved. Most importantly, how he sought to achieve things he dreamt of when he was a child. And unlike most people, he made them come through.

He achieved zero gravity
He's as comfortable on the football field as an NFL player
He worked as a day-a-week consultant at Disney Imagineer
He met Captain Kirk

Inspiration 101.

tell me, did the wind sweep you off your feet?

well, on a rather retarded note, the wind did sweep me off my feet today: it was strong as hell and getting to and from classes was a total disaster.

++

been pretty bogged down with work lately; also with the impending prospect of being on a flight back home, alot of things are just flooding my head. Routines and responsibilities? But also 2 vacations and much food and many people to anticipate. We'll see how it eventually figures.

So this is the random chart i came up with because i am so bored of doing work already. I shall name it the... hyperbolic theory of emotional preference.

*advisory note: the whole curve still remains on the POSITIVE y-axis.

++

On another note, I am writing a paper against lowering the drinking age to 18; BUT i think it is the perfect policy to get rid of the alcoholic craze in this crazy country. I am writing against my will. So, I have to convince myself.

Spring

So spring seems to be finally here. As in its here to stay, and that's a good thing.

The Sun's out, people are playing frisbee and what-nots on the quad.

We can dress in shorts and t-shirts again.

conversations

MSN-ed with Mr. fastman Loke a while back. Wah damn it miss everyone suddenly KNS!

It's really spring because it is slightly warmer, i can keep my leather jacket and the squirrels are out.

Squirrels:

Okay so this question was kinda hanging by my mind all throughout winter.

Squirrels are given a wonderful layer of fur as a natural coat. They look pretty and adorable and all. During the winter, this coat gives them a nice protection from the cold. Plus, they sleep and hibernate and conserve energy and all that jazz. (btw, jizz represents a damn disgusting term in America)

What about summer? Its 95F and they have that same damn coat on their body. But, they can't take it off.

I don't understand.

Can some animal science major explain to me.

A tribute to squirrels: some owning photo i found online

back to you

dear dusk, yes yes yes pls dig them out because i want to burn a sentimental shite disc all together again for my keepsake and i can take it out 20 years later and feel even more sentimental then. remember our calatrava video session when I come back (wah damn exciting please). I am giving my presentation tmr wish me luck.

So after this week, its 2 more weeks to your freedom so hang in there. I have 5. Then i can return to eat what i have been missing out for the past 8 months or so. (that's alot of food).

I think the SEAsia pictures makes me sentimental/emo also. Those 2 months that I was there, i was literally as carefree as a bird, as bird would call me, a bird too. I guess you must have had the most wonderful journey during your trip too.

and you know what song reminds me of you? Holiday in Spain. haha. no reason in particular.

Good luck to you. Sleep more or you ll turn into an old woman. Drink chicken essence or something. Just stop waking up at 4am to do work!

p.s.
There are about 5 songs in my life that reminds me of 5 people. 1's already dead.

The Patriot

A recent conversation with another friend in London plus some random polls leads me to this conclusion: somehow I am getting a tad bit more patriotic the longer time I spend in another country.

+++

Loh, D (2008). MM Lee says S'pore needs to find new ways to stay ahead of competition. Channelnewsasia. Retrieved 1st April 2008 from http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/338708/1/.html

Mr Lee said Singapore is now one of the largest foreign exchange trading and wealth management centres in the region and he believes there are concrete reasons for this.

He said: "Swiss banks and other wealth management banks don't come to a country unless they're sure there's stability, certainty, rule of law, strict systems for money laundering and predictability."

damn eggcited

i realised today that i am a rather nerdy person.

i was extremely thrilled to have my parcel arrive today, because it consisted of 2 books. I don't know if i was thrilled because of the parcel or because of the books. But nonetheless, I feel the force of a nerd coming onto me.

The clean Energy myth

i've learnt so much about biofuels in recent weeks, it's scary. Let me take you to the heart of it all, money and politics. More than 50,000 jobs and $2billion in income in Iowa alone; it represents farmers which directly transcends into support for the government. Keep them appeased, subsidise the biocrops. I'm sure they knew what they were doing; subsidising something that, to quote TIME magazine (April 7th, 2008) "... increases global warming, destroys forests and inflates food prices".



Money and politics drive our world today; in fact, they are both working in harmony and driving us to our deaths.

Did we (Singapore) not recently purchase some sort of stake in Malaysia's palm oil biofuel industry? Or invest some ridiculous amount in it? Well, I guess there's more money to be made having the forests destroyed than having it stand there in its primitive (and pristine) state.

Money makes the world go round? I say money is making the world become flat(literally). Coincidentally, a similar concept to Thomas Friedman's proposition, which he believes is a result of globalization. Interesting randoms? Hmmmm.

financial Giant makes waves

Miller, M. (2008). Temasek Rising. The Deal. Retrieved 31st March 2008 from http://www.thedeal.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=NYT&c=TDDArticle&cid=1202101593995

Two years ago, hundreds of thousands of Thais took to the streets after Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his family sold a controlling stake in Shin Corp., the country's biggest mobile telecommunications conglomerate. It was a sweetheart deal that generated Thaksin almost $2 billion tax-free and revealed just how insensitive he was to perceptions of corruption-fueled wealth. In the chaotic aftermath of the scandal, elections were hastily called. The Thai military eventually stepped in. Thaksin was deposed and remains in exile.

Shin's acquirer was Temasek Holdings Ltd., a decades-old, Singaporean sovereign wealth fund, which found itself the object of Thai fury as well. Demonstrators called the move "economic imperialism," hurled anti-Singapore invectives and burned effigies of both Singapore's prime minister and his wife, who, coincidentally or not, heads the fund.

The degree of anger shocked not only Temasek, but a nonplused Singapore government as well. Neither should have been particularly surprised. Particularly in Asia, Temasek has become synonymous with "Singapore Inc.," a potent, increasingly muscular and, to its critics, heavy-handed business force. It is "the most aggressive corporate expansionist in this region," one Malaysian commentator says. Others fear that Temasek, in its investment decisions, does the government's bidding and serves as a kind of latter-day Trojan horse. "There is that fear," admits the India-based research director for an investment bank. Temasek has been increasingly active in India over the past two years.

While Temasek's charge is profitability and insuring that Singapore's wealth continues to grow, its recent spreading of its investment riches does represent a kind of "soft diplomacy," says a Singaporean lawyer and unabashed fan of the fund, who casts the process as a positive. "We're a small country, a rich country. We always need allies."

From its roots as a financial backer of Singaporean companies, Temasek has in recent years moved aggressively, first within Southeast Asia, then Asia as a whole and finally to the West. It has acquired stakes in critical industries such as telecommunications and in companies that are household names, most recently Merrill Lynch & Co. As the more than $100 billion fund expands outward with its increasingly robust checkbook, it discovers that investment decisions can have serious, sometimes dramatic and occasionally unforeseen regional and geopolitical implications.

"We've got to take various factors into account such as whether the company or the activity is iconic for that country, whether it will arouse all kinds of emotional sentiments," Temasek chairman Suppiah Dhanabalan told the local Straits Times newspaper in November, finally admitting the fund has an image problem and might have to curb its aggressiveness. Dhanabalan, one of the country's senior statesmen, suggested Temasek would rethink a strategy of controlling stakes offshore and instead seek local partners.

Thailand isn't the only place Temasek has encountered resistance. An Indonesian commission ruled in November that Temasek violated Indonesian monopolies regulations because it owns majority stakes in the country's two main telecommunications companies-it doesn't, actually-and must sell one of its holdings. Temasek said it would appeal the decision.

Then, in early January, shareholders in China Eastern Airlines Corp. Ltd. nixed the sale of a 24% stake to Temasek and the airline it controls, Singapore Airlines Ltd. The rejection came after Air China Ltd., China Eastern's bigger competitor, strong-armed investors and promised to submit a better bid. That bid has yet to materialize.

With assets that now total anywhere from $2 trillion to $3 trillion and are forecast by some to reach $12 trillion by 2015, sovereign wealth funds generally have gotten increasingly potent. Temasek's recent setbacks reflect a broader wariness of sovereign wealth funds, an increasing vigilance-from Washington to New Delhi-over their impact and a greater sensitivity to their histories and strategies. "Sovereign wealth funds are beginning to understand they're on the radar screens and have to behave accordingly," says Edwin Truman, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and a former assistant secretary of the treasury.
What is a sovereign wealth fund? A Citigroup Inc. study calls them, "government-created investment vehicles usually funded by commodity export revenues or the transfer of assets directly from official foreign-exchange reserves." Citi further categorizes the funds and puts Temasek into sovereign savings funds-government investment corporations, with "longer-term wealth creation and policy objectives" as its goal. This contrasts with sovereign stabilization funds, which are intended to provide budgetary relief when commodity prices fall.

A key moment in this mounting tide of suspicion of sovereign wealth funds was the political firestorm that erupted in Washington after a subsidiary of DP World acquired Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., a venerable British company that ran operations at four U.S. ports, in 2006. (DP World beat out PSA International Pte. Ltd., a Temasek subsidiary, for P&O.) While it's debatable whether state-owned DP World is, strictly speaking, a sovereign wealth fund, it served as a proxy for the supposed dangers from Mideast funds, enriched by oil and gas wealth. In the end, DP World had to sell the U.S. ports operations. "Concerns provoked by the incident mirror concerns over SWFs [sovereign wealth funds] purchasing business interests that had formerly been the domain of private companies," the Council on Foreign Relations wrote in a recent policy briefing.

American attention is not focused only on funds in the Gulf States, but also on a newly constituted Chinese sovereign wealth fund. That fund is modeled after Temasek, widely credited with pioneering a holding company brand of sovereign fund. Other countries are less discriminating and cast a jaundiced eye on just about every fund out there. They fear everything from backdoor takeovers by foreign governments of critical industries to another form of the well-heeled corporate raider.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, for example, last month lashed out at what he called "extremely aggressive sovereign funds which only follow economic logic," adding, "France must protect and give [French industries] the means to develop and defend themselves." And organizations from the International Monetary Fund to the G8 countries are demanding that sovereign wealth funds adhere to some sort of accepted standard of transparency.
That makes Temasek instructive for another reason. Granted, it isn't exactly a model of corporate forthrightness; its media relations department didn't respond to requests for comment on this story. But it is more open than most sovereign wealth funds, the result of a decision four years ago to issue an annual report and seek a bond rating from credit agencies. Truman modeled 32 sovereign wealth funds in transparency. He ranks Temasek 10th. Remove marginal funds from the rankings, including those from Timor-Leste, São Tomé and Azerbaijan, and its rank shoots up. Temasek, in fact, is more transparent than any other major Asian and Mideast fund.

So it's easier to track Temasek and glean its investment strategy than it is other sovereign wealth funds. For example, the Government of Singapore Investment Corp. Pte. Ltd., or GIC, is the country's other sovereign wealth fund, this one primed with foreign exchange reserves. It is so close-mouthed that it won't even say what its assets under management total other than that they are "well above $100 billion." (Morgan Stanley estimated its true value at $330 billion.) It had never even announced an investment until it put more than $10 billion into UBS in December. "They're very, very secretive," the Singaporean lawyer says.

Still, it's harder to hide these days. Over the past few months, sovereign wealth funds such as GIC have shored up the balance sheets of some of the biggest names in global financial services. Temasek has been an integral part of this exercise. In late December, Temasek plowed $5 billion in Merrill Lynch. That followed a $2 billion investment in Barclays plc that Temasek made in July. In addition, Temasek has been steadily increasing its stake in Standard Chartered plc over the past two years. The Singaporeans now own 19.03% of Standard Chartered, the London-based bank that focuses heavily on Asia. That stake is now valued at £4.3 billion ($8.4 billion).
Temasek doesn't completely mirror its sovereign wealth fund brothers and sisters. It fashions itself as an investment house. It's actually a cross between an operating holding company, a pension fund and a private equity shop. "Most sovereign wealth funds do not take controlling stakes; Temasek does," says Truman. "Most sovereign wealth funds are passive investors. ... Temasek has been strategic."

It's also getting more complex in its operations, despite a staff of only about 250 as of March 2007. Last fiscal year, for example, Temasek bundled private equity and venture capital funds from its portfolio into a special purpose vehicle that it sold. It launched what it called "Asia's first infrastructure business trust." In December, Temasek announced it was collaborating with Fang Fenglei, chairman of Goldman, Sachs & Co.'s China securities joint venture, to establish a private equity fund. Temasek agreed to provide $1 billion of a $2 billion fund.

An American investment banker who was based for years in Singapore describes the difference between Temasek and GIC: "Temasek was more development-oriented, while GIC was run like an asset management company." GIC made news when it led the $12.5 billion investment in Citigroup last month and forked over almost $7 billion. But the fund still is overwhelmingly a passive investor in treasury bills and equity. GIC "is much more a pure fund investor; all it's interested in doing is making a financial return," says another source. "Temasek is the super holding company of the government."

Temasek, and by extension the Singapore government, has been criticized over the years for its very presence. The argument goes that having such a well-heeled government insider stacks the deck, stifling the private sector and entrepreneurialism. The days when it was necessary for the government to support these businesses are long gone.

Yet its financial success is incontestable, especially in recent years. The value of its portfolio more than doubled in a four-year period ended March 31, 2007. Its "aggregate investment value" reached S$164 billion ($116 billion) for the last fiscal year, a 27% gain. As Standard & Poor's explains, this translates into the market value for listed companies and the book value for unlisted ones, which last fiscal year amounted to 18% of the total. (Standard & Poor's points out that asset values of unlisted companies could easily exceed book values.) Its shareholder returns gained 25% last fiscal year. Its profit tipped S$13 billion.

Last fiscal year, according to its report, Temasek invested "almost S$16 billion and "monetized over S$5 billion."

Named after the ancient city upon which Singapore now rises, Temasek was founded as a state-owned holding company in 1974, nine years after Singapore separated from Malaysia and declared independence. Reflecting a government that was fixated on self-sufficiency and jump-starting development, Singapore's Finance Ministry had underwritten companies it considered critical to the growth and well-being of the 4 million-strong island city-state: Singapore Airlines Ltd., the shipyards, the port, Singapore Telecommunications Ltd., power generation, the Development Bank of Singapore. Some termed this "state capitalism." By moving 36 companies into an autonomous entity, the government could bring a more market-driven discipline, it proclaimed, and help mute criticism. In the words of Temasek itself, investments could be managed by the fund "on a sound commercial basis, as distinct from the government's public-interest role of policy-making and market regulations." The government valued these initial investments at S$350 million.

The Finance Ministry is still Temasek's single shareholder.

human felony

there are a ton of items that goes under the list of human felonies, ideas that make us cringe upon hearing them, leaving us to think "how can anyone do that?"

Perhaps 2000 or even 5000 years ago when the first murder was commited i wonder what were going through people's minds then: How can it happen?

Then the string of heinious crimes that followed as humankind progressed.

Last week's NewYorkTimes reported about a man sentence to 25years in jail and fined $10,000 for microwaving his 2 month old daughter (oh yes my initial thought was how can she fit in there?).

Today's child sex slave trade is so rampant, its ridiculous to imagine the amount of people out there demanding their services.

The human felonies.

and i guess in the mean time we antipate the day of restoration from him, his original intention for it to be "good", just as he created it. The kingdom will come, and like a thief in the night. Restore this Earth!...restore.

Good to Great

so over formal dinner today i had a conversation with a certain individual from a certain organization. He shared his life story, his achievements (a whole string of them), his life, his choices.

He talked about how he looked into 'competition' during the course of his MBA, how he researched, studied and actually applied it when he went back into the field again. It's about making choices and making them quick. The 1 1/2 hours felt like reading a business book, except this time it was speaking to me, and from someone who lives and believes in the precepts he preaches.

He talked about how he managed to successfully merge his passions and interests with his job; he enjoyed every single moment of the past 17 years because of this. I posed a question to him: how many people can proudly claim that some 20-30 years into their working lives?

A man, with his team, transformed the performance of the Cadillac and the Corvette.

The head of the aeronautical department of General Motors.

powerful story.

so you know you're getting old when

i remember knowing i was growing old back in JC.. because it was the first time people the crossed paths in my life started to pass away. There was Mr Ho, then Justina, then my grand mother, then my grand father. That's kind of depressing but also a sign that, well, we're growing up and the world's not gonna stop for us.

today i received an email and I KNOW I AM GROWING UP WHEN I FOUND OUT...

one of my friends is getting married. like. are you serious? and then i turn and look at my i/c ... 19 September 1986. oh goodness, I am 22 this year. that makes my brother almost 30 (28). like, since when was the last time i imagined my brother being anywhere close to 30 years old.

its scary and how they say you race to grow up when you're little, only to try with utmost desperation to slow down when the realization of age starts to sink back in again.

a little tribute to all our childhood....

i really should be inside my books now

so i have an exam every week for the next 4 weeks. bummer.

would i have preferred if they all came in a week or two? perhaps not.

but now the pain is gonna drag on......

there's a sudden excitment + huge anticipation about going home.

the reality of going home seems so.. real.

a good load of people to catch up with.

fun times.

Some think its crazy to think ahead.

Grad school or not? increase costs or not?

study somemore or not?

start work? serious? as in, START WORK? this is madness. this is sparta.

Just heard about some umich pple gg to Stanford for grad school.

jealous.

i mean, California! i mean, Stanford. i mean, increase bond WHAT.

So we are bogged with decisions to make too okay.

it's not as if we sign that thing and our lives are set. bah.

interesting read in this month's issue: Grab hold of it if you get a chance. #7 is terribly interesting.

10 Ideas That Are Changing The World
More than money, more than politics, ideas are the secret power that this planet runs on. Here are a few you need to know about:

1 Common Wealth
2 The End of Customer Service
3 The Post-Movie-Star Era
4 Reverse Radicalism
5 Kitchen Chemistry
6 Geoengineering
7 Synthetic Authenticity
8 The New Austerity
9 Mandatory Health
10 Re-Judaizing Jesus

blast from the past

had a rather kinda sorta lengthy conversation with a certain individual from the past today.

it was nice and sentimental shitey and all.

makes me think of home!

and 250MB worth of MP3s that accompanied me through the A levels... yellowcard...box car racers... i dont even remember anymore.

It's been so long.

Guess we're all old.

In the meantime. I have a brutal 3 weeks ahead. Nose dive back into the books; be back for a breather sometime later.

Resurrection!

It's Friday, they beat him up and tore his flesh apart
But little did they know, there's Sunday

It's Friday, they put a crown of thorns on his head and scorned him
But little did they know, there's Sunday

It's Friday, they pierced those nails into his hands and feet
But little did they know, there's Sunday

Its Friday, they hung him on a cross, in the company of criminals
But little did they know, there's Sunday

It's Friday and he breathed his last breath
But we know, there's Sunday.

Jesus is alive!

one good break

6 days.

2000 miles.

illinois to tennessee to North Carolina to South Carolina back to Tennessee to Kentucky back to Illinois.

cornfields to the moutains to creeks and waterfalls to the atlantic coast to the city of nashville to the mammoth caves and back home.

a good time away to think and reflect. started to miss home. got to read abit of the bible. got to reconnect with him again.

leaving some pictures, thoughts from the book and a verse, whoever it can apply to

'... no one is perfect. This is why it is important to understand that santification is a process - something we will be working on until the Lord takes us to heaven. The apostle Paul writes,"And I am sure that God who began the good work within you , will continue to work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again" (Phil 1:6)'

yellowstone.. NOT

conversation today:

"Hi is this the park office at Yellowstone national park"

yes

"I was wondering if you could help me with a few questions"

okay

"are all the locations in the park accessible now?"

No

"so only mammoth springs is open?"

Yes

"we're going camping, whats there to do?"

Depends on what you are doing

"like... hiking etc.?"

Well, there's currently 20 inches of snow.

"K THANKS BYE"

So, a change of plans. We're heading south to Tennesse Smoky Mountains National Park. Should be good (and warMER)

meant to worship?

i remember the carrot post some time back. but it's not legitimate that i continue to live life this way. i'm allowing the environment to shape me and that is depressing.

+++

I always wondered how it'll be like if i chose to go to LSE.

A Sunday morning breakfast with old faces in a random Chicago pancake house was definitely a nice occasion. Pau mentioned about how NYU would be such a terrible choice and I'm thankful for hearing that cause I got a little saturated in this campus last week. Then again I hear Jia's stories about Greece and Paris and Italy and what-have-yous up North with 1 pound flights... How different would it have been in London?

In the mean time, I'm settling down nice and comfortably in little Urbana-Champaign in Illinois, and Yellowstone beckons in a week!