For friends who don't already know, I'm bringing the brood.
Finding housing for families in Massachusetts is not the easiest thing in the world. To problem is because of leaded paint. Since most of the housing in MA pre-dates 1978, it is likely that these house would use leaded paint. Paint however, is quite toxic and little children can suffer from lead poisoning when in constant contact with it.
I am actually quite happy that there is such a legislation to protect my little ones but it also translates to a smaller selection of housing for my family. Nevertheless, we've managed to find housing near school albeit being a little pricey. It's a nice little townhouse and once we are there, we can show you pictures of our temporary home.
So for other newbie Fletcherites who will be going with family. This is an important point to note.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Friday, June 6, 2008
A Role Model - Kishore Mahbubani
Hello Fletcherites and readers of this blog,
Being a 2nd generation citizen of Singapore and having enjoyed the fruits of good governance, I certain that it is of no surprise that I am a great admirer of our founding father, Mentor Minister Lee Kuan Yew. I dare say that the success and the strong foundations of this tiny island nation were the life work of this great man.
Today however, I would like to introduce another role model for me. He is none other than Kishore Mahbubani, Dean of Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. I vaguely remember my first introduction to this great thinker during a special forum held in my high school and he was the Permanent Secretary (Policy) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs then. I was raptured by his clarity of thought and his ability to communicate clearly on issues of foreign policy and governance. For the moment on, I have always found myself drawn to his writings whenever I encounter them.
He has written a new of book on the emergence of the East. Ironically, his first book has a title that says, "Can Asian's think?". I have also found his commentaries on US Foreign Policy particularly insightful. On some quarters, his articulate and frank comments has not only drawn controversy and the ire of some Western journalists and commentaries who rejects his pro-Asian ideas.
I think the last article I read was one which he commented on the 3 presidential candidates of John McCain, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barrack Obama. I think it was expressed that he was most in favour of an Obama presidency.
More interestingly, I found that he is no stranger to Tufts University. He was also given the 2003–2004 Dr Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award by the Institute for Global Leadership (IGL) at Tufts University.
I guess if there anyone is willing to read his works with an open mind, it would yield much value in my opinion.
Anyhow, here are some cool Youtube Videos of him at the Carnegie Council.
<
Being a 2nd generation citizen of Singapore and having enjoyed the fruits of good governance, I certain that it is of no surprise that I am a great admirer of our founding father, Mentor Minister Lee Kuan Yew. I dare say that the success and the strong foundations of this tiny island nation were the life work of this great man.
Today however, I would like to introduce another role model for me. He is none other than Kishore Mahbubani, Dean of Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. I vaguely remember my first introduction to this great thinker during a special forum held in my high school and he was the Permanent Secretary (Policy) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs then. I was raptured by his clarity of thought and his ability to communicate clearly on issues of foreign policy and governance. For the moment on, I have always found myself drawn to his writings whenever I encounter them.
He has written a new of book on the emergence of the East. Ironically, his first book has a title that says, "Can Asian's think?". I have also found his commentaries on US Foreign Policy particularly insightful. On some quarters, his articulate and frank comments has not only drawn controversy and the ire of some Western journalists and commentaries who rejects his pro-Asian ideas.
I think the last article I read was one which he commented on the 3 presidential candidates of John McCain, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barrack Obama. I think it was expressed that he was most in favour of an Obama presidency.
More interestingly, I found that he is no stranger to Tufts University. He was also given the 2003–2004 Dr Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award by the Institute for Global Leadership (IGL) at Tufts University.
I guess if there anyone is willing to read his works with an open mind, it would yield much value in my opinion.
Anyhow, here are some cool Youtube Videos of him at the Carnegie Council.
<
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Shin Splint...
I'm not sure how many of you knows this but it's a fun fact to know. It's trivia and it's substantiated.
How do you identify a Navy man?
Well, all you have to do is to check his shin. Due to the incessant need to cross watertight doors on a ship, you will invariably nick your shin on the edges of the hatch. If you are a klutz, perhaps you get it more often then some. As a rule of thumb, I conclude that everyone have at least been struck once. For me, I've got scars at approximate the same height on both my shins. Prove of a Navy man and a klutz.
What's the purpose of this post you may ask?
It's my way of conveying a metaphor. Crossing that threshold can seem like an effortless task. For some like me, it's an obstacle and its whack you squarely in the shin and leaves you reeling in pain for a while. Paralysed and unable to walk.
Today, I'm at my lowest and humblest. Unbelieveably, I have decided to remain with the organisation that I serve. As a compromise, I am requesting for no pay study leave or no pay leave in order to maintain this path to Fletchers. I must say that in these few weeks I have received continual offers to derail me from the road to where I want to go. This I resisted with great vigor.
Perhaps my friends and colleagues will be bewildered by this sudden turn of events but perhaps they will never understand this internal turmoil that I face. This strong desire to do something of meaning and purpose when I know that I have established myself in a position of influence. Perhaps some others may be disappointed because of my inability to join them in their adventures without restraint but it may be for the best. It certainly isn't about money because that is something that I'm fully capable of generating. More importantly, I believe is my needs of having immaterial satisfaction over the material.
The battle of my emotions and my logic has once again proved that my heart is stronger than my mind.
The ball is now in their court. I have abdicated control and this is my final recourse.
How do you identify a Navy man?
Well, all you have to do is to check his shin. Due to the incessant need to cross watertight doors on a ship, you will invariably nick your shin on the edges of the hatch. If you are a klutz, perhaps you get it more often then some. As a rule of thumb, I conclude that everyone have at least been struck once. For me, I've got scars at approximate the same height on both my shins. Prove of a Navy man and a klutz.
What's the purpose of this post you may ask?
It's my way of conveying a metaphor. Crossing that threshold can seem like an effortless task. For some like me, it's an obstacle and its whack you squarely in the shin and leaves you reeling in pain for a while. Paralysed and unable to walk.
Today, I'm at my lowest and humblest. Unbelieveably, I have decided to remain with the organisation that I serve. As a compromise, I am requesting for no pay study leave or no pay leave in order to maintain this path to Fletchers. I must say that in these few weeks I have received continual offers to derail me from the road to where I want to go. This I resisted with great vigor.
Perhaps my friends and colleagues will be bewildered by this sudden turn of events but perhaps they will never understand this internal turmoil that I face. This strong desire to do something of meaning and purpose when I know that I have established myself in a position of influence. Perhaps some others may be disappointed because of my inability to join them in their adventures without restraint but it may be for the best. It certainly isn't about money because that is something that I'm fully capable of generating. More importantly, I believe is my needs of having immaterial satisfaction over the material.
The battle of my emotions and my logic has once again proved that my heart is stronger than my mind.
The ball is now in their court. I have abdicated control and this is my final recourse.
Monday, June 2, 2008
On Capitalism
In warfare, It is common to know of Sun Tzu who proposed 36 strategems of War in his evergreen work known as "The Art of War". One another classic on warfare was written by Carl von Clauswitz who timeless work was known aptly as "On War". These have been familiar works which I have been introduced as a result of my vocation.
Last weekend (on BT Weekend, page 6), I was introduced by my favourite Business Times correspondent Ms Teh Hooi Ling, a parallel in the field of Economics, particularly on the subject of capitalism. He is none other than Joseph Alois Schumpeter. Although, in my life time, I have been more familar with free market economist like Adam Smith and John Maynard Keynes. Ms Teh's coverage of Schumpeter got my attention.
When considering classical economics, the allocation of resources has been reduce to mere mathematics calculation of the interactions between demand and supply. The 'invisible hand' mechanics implies that all social and economic interactions will be resolved based on personal cost and benefits. Schumpter having the benefit of being able to observe the trend in the 19th century notes that a hybridised form of capitalism is present that is as much a social and cultural construct compared to an economic one. In this form, it extracts the value from the free market mechanism in capitalism as an efficiency form of resource allocation and yet able to reconcile the societal needs to minimise and limit the negativity of the fairness of the laissez-faire.
Another key element of Schumpeter's writing covered in the article was his thoughts on entreprenuership. He believes firms that there is a need for a "incessant dynamism" and competitive innovation for standing ahead. Failure to do so and the inability to maintain this entreprenuerial spirit is a key reason why the list of Fortune 500 in past decades would experience a great degree of variance. I quote "without blazing new trails, without being devoted, heart and soul, to the business alone", one cannot expect to remain on top.
Since my background is one of a organisation involved in the production of a public good, it leads me to think one thing. Firstly, how does one promote an entreprenuerial spirit when there is an absence of a "profit motive"? Public policy must therefore facilitate a few conditions to achieve this.
Firstly, a need for a measure to define staying on top. This I envision will come from very concrete measureables of key performance indicators or very realistic benchmarking. In short, policy must mirror free market conditions to exact the cost and benefit relationship so that failure can be real and is a measureable cost.
In the individual front, this means that the individual must passionate and with great commitment to his business and his business alone. To invoke this commitment and passion, the individual must be given a "profit motive". In today's HR context, this would be in form of rewards and recognition. As a policy, we cannot lapse into a "mere husbanding of already existing resources, no matter how painstaking, is always characteristic of a declining position". Call me a government lap dog all you want but this justisfies a rethinking of the rewards of the civil servant and hence my position of a reasonably high and attractive ministerial pay maintains. Of course, creative employment of resources here do not only apply to HR but to all facets of the public function.
Ms Teh has also made mention of entreprenuership in large corporations stating that they require "even more talents". They must "woo support" among their colleagues, "handle men with consummate skill", and give others ample credit for the organisation's achievements. At this juncture, I take this opportunity to honour my personal mentor and another dynamic and amazing senior commander. Both are great leaders that typifies an entreprenuerial description and whom I deeply respect and willing to serve. LTC Thng Chee Meng and COL Harris Chan Weng Yip.
There is a small part of this article that encouraged me greatly, it was a reflection of my current circumstance and it adds further conviction to my decision to travel off the beaten path. It is also my secret hope that Schumpeter is right and that I can truly live up to the ideal of validating it. I quote the whole section that Ms Teh has written.
<<
On Social Mobility
"The persistence of class position is an illusion... Class barriers must be surmountable, at the bottom as well as at the top." The key to a higher class position is for an individual to strike out "along unconventional paths. This has always been the case, but never so much as in the world of capitalism."
Most industrial families have risen from the ranks of workmen and craftsmen "because one of their members has done something novel", and this is "virtually the only method by which they can make the great leap out of their class".
As Abraham Lincoln noted, singularly talented people almost always strike out in bold new directions. "Towering genius disdains a beaten path. It seeks regions hitherto unexplored... It thirsts and burns for distinction."
>>
I hope in time, I can be counted among the "towering geniuses". Hahaha~!
To wrap this up, I end it with a further quote in the article.
"Innovation itself is primarily "a feat not of intellect, but of will... a special case of a social phenomenon of leadership".
I guess Clauswitz and Schumpeter is agreed on the sword of the spirit and the power of the will.
Last weekend (on BT Weekend, page 6), I was introduced by my favourite Business Times correspondent Ms Teh Hooi Ling, a parallel in the field of Economics, particularly on the subject of capitalism. He is none other than Joseph Alois Schumpeter. Although, in my life time, I have been more familar with free market economist like Adam Smith and John Maynard Keynes. Ms Teh's coverage of Schumpeter got my attention.
When considering classical economics, the allocation of resources has been reduce to mere mathematics calculation of the interactions between demand and supply. The 'invisible hand' mechanics implies that all social and economic interactions will be resolved based on personal cost and benefits. Schumpter having the benefit of being able to observe the trend in the 19th century notes that a hybridised form of capitalism is present that is as much a social and cultural construct compared to an economic one. In this form, it extracts the value from the free market mechanism in capitalism as an efficiency form of resource allocation and yet able to reconcile the societal needs to minimise and limit the negativity of the fairness of the laissez-faire.
Another key element of Schumpeter's writing covered in the article was his thoughts on entreprenuership. He believes firms that there is a need for a "incessant dynamism" and competitive innovation for standing ahead. Failure to do so and the inability to maintain this entreprenuerial spirit is a key reason why the list of Fortune 500 in past decades would experience a great degree of variance. I quote "without blazing new trails, without being devoted, heart and soul, to the business alone", one cannot expect to remain on top.
Since my background is one of a organisation involved in the production of a public good, it leads me to think one thing. Firstly, how does one promote an entreprenuerial spirit when there is an absence of a "profit motive"? Public policy must therefore facilitate a few conditions to achieve this.
Firstly, a need for a measure to define staying on top. This I envision will come from very concrete measureables of key performance indicators or very realistic benchmarking. In short, policy must mirror free market conditions to exact the cost and benefit relationship so that failure can be real and is a measureable cost.
In the individual front, this means that the individual must passionate and with great commitment to his business and his business alone. To invoke this commitment and passion, the individual must be given a "profit motive". In today's HR context, this would be in form of rewards and recognition. As a policy, we cannot lapse into a "mere husbanding of already existing resources, no matter how painstaking, is always characteristic of a declining position". Call me a government lap dog all you want but this justisfies a rethinking of the rewards of the civil servant and hence my position of a reasonably high and attractive ministerial pay maintains. Of course, creative employment of resources here do not only apply to HR but to all facets of the public function.
Ms Teh has also made mention of entreprenuership in large corporations stating that they require "even more talents". They must "woo support" among their colleagues, "handle men with consummate skill", and give others ample credit for the organisation's achievements. At this juncture, I take this opportunity to honour my personal mentor and another dynamic and amazing senior commander. Both are great leaders that typifies an entreprenuerial description and whom I deeply respect and willing to serve. LTC Thng Chee Meng and COL Harris Chan Weng Yip.
There is a small part of this article that encouraged me greatly, it was a reflection of my current circumstance and it adds further conviction to my decision to travel off the beaten path. It is also my secret hope that Schumpeter is right and that I can truly live up to the ideal of validating it. I quote the whole section that Ms Teh has written.
<<
On Social Mobility
"The persistence of class position is an illusion... Class barriers must be surmountable, at the bottom as well as at the top." The key to a higher class position is for an individual to strike out "along unconventional paths. This has always been the case, but never so much as in the world of capitalism."
Most industrial families have risen from the ranks of workmen and craftsmen "because one of their members has done something novel", and this is "virtually the only method by which they can make the great leap out of their class".
As Abraham Lincoln noted, singularly talented people almost always strike out in bold new directions. "Towering genius disdains a beaten path. It seeks regions hitherto unexplored... It thirsts and burns for distinction."
>>
I hope in time, I can be counted among the "towering geniuses". Hahaha~!
To wrap this up, I end it with a further quote in the article.
"Innovation itself is primarily "a feat not of intellect, but of will... a special case of a social phenomenon of leadership".
I guess Clauswitz and Schumpeter is agreed on the sword of the spirit and the power of the will.
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