My Unique Day in Singapore

18th October 2010

The morning was a little bit of a hurry, as we were trying to beat the 7.30am Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) toll charge along the East Coast Parkway in Singapore. We started a little late and so we had to hurry. However amid the haste, in between pauses at traffic lights, we could still change the iPhone4 skin. Not bad eh? Every each day, a new skin! Isn't it cool? :)

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Then as we got near the ERP toll gantry, as if to make the plot more exciting, the traffic slowed down and we had only 2 minutes before the toll bells ring! Then as we crawled till just at the bottom of the gantry, the clock clicked 7.30am and we got charged $1.50 instantly, to our cries of "Oh shit!" in perfect synchronisation.

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Later in the day as I travelled in (public) bus number 130 along Balestier Road, an elderly man (about in his late 70s) got up with a folded wheel chair. The driver forbade him to take it up the bus and suggested that he took a taxi. "Taxi is very expensive!" the old man replied, but that didn't soften the driver's stance to block him coming up the bus. Ironically, the driver said that the old man could bring the wheel chair up if he sat on it, which he couldn't as it was damaged and he was bringing it for repair.

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After the old man got off the bus, the driver called up his head office to enquire if he could allow the wheelchair up, and after some discussion, the head office said that he could allow the wheel chair on board. However by then as I ran down the bus to get the old man, he had already taken a taxi.

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I was upset with the driver for being so heartless and myself for not intervening earlier. Singapore sadly has become a state where many people live like robots. I asked the driver how he could possibly turned the old man away and he said that if it was just up to him, he would have allowed, but he was afraid of possible reprimand from the company. Couldn't the driver decide with his heart? What harm or safety risk can a wheelchair do on board? The irony is that he could have allowed the wheelchair up if the old man sat on it. Haiz!

Good reminder that we should trust our heart.

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This is my Uniquely Singapore Day!

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Bucky Group - Making Enzymes

9th October 2010

Siew Kiang, a Bucky Group member briefed and guided us into the process of making enzymes from fruits. We made one from fruit peels and wastes for cleaning, aka "Rubbish Enzymes" and another for drinking.

We used big fat plastic bottles. 'Fat' for the volume and 'plastic' so it won't explode during fermentation. The yeast in the fruit consume sugar producing alcohol and carbon dioxide. Initially, the carbon dioxide will carbonate the water and subsequently build pressure that can pop the bottle or break it.

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The proportion of sugar:fruit:water is 1:3:10.

That means if you use 900g of fruit, then it would be 300g sugar: 900g fruit: 3000 cc of water.

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The brown sugar is added, then the fruit peels and remains (only for the Rubbish Enzyme). Have a good mix of different fruit peels, like lemon, apple, bananas...etc, so that we can get the different properties of the different fruits.

After that, add clean water, leaving some space in the bottle, cap it tight and shake the bottle thoroughly to mix. Open the bottle cap once a day during the first two weeks to release the built up pressure during the fermentation.

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At the end of 3 months, filter the enzyme solution for use. Enzyme solution is like wine as the potency increases with time. There is no expiry date.

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The residue may be reused for the next batch by adding more fresh ingredients or you may dry the residue, blend and bury them in the ground to fertilize the soil. Use this carefully as it is a very strong fertilizer. Alternatively, pour into your toilet bowl / kitchen sink to clean and remove blockages in the pipes.

Do the same for enzymes for drinking, but use raw honey in place of sugar, as sugar produces more alcohol, and in excess, is bad for the liver.

Enzymes are effective as:

• Fertilizer (replace or reduce use of chemicals), diluted 1:100/500/1000 ratio.
• Insecticide, diluted 1:1000 ratio.
• Pesticide, diluted 1:100 ratio.
• Plant hormone (for fruits and flowers – use on roots, soil), diluted 500 times.
• Anti-odour / air freshener ( pets, laundry, toilets, closets, shoe box, refrigerator), diluted 200 times.
• Shampoo, Washing liquids, Detergents (to reduce chemical side-effects, grime, mould/fungus), 1 teaspoon per 500cc.
• Veggie and Fruit wash – soak fruit and vegetables for 45 minutes to remove harmful pesticide residues, 1 tablespoon per 1000 cc.
• Soothe Insect bites / itch / eczema / scalding - applying on affected areas immediately.

Notes courtesy of Dr. (H) Joean Onn of Naturopathic, Family Care Centre in Penang.

At the time of writing, we are 9 days into the enzyme fermentation process. You can drop in Hair Affair Salon to see what the bottles have turned into. In another 81 days, the enzymes will be ready for use, saving the environment from harmful toxic chemicals, giving you good health and hygiene and saving you some money.

Finally, see how easy it is to keep a group of senior citizens happy by just giving them each a bottle to shake with.

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Read about my explosive experience making wine in High Spirits.

Adaptive Imperative

Date: 5 Oct 2010

Venue: NUS Bukit Timah Campus

Speaker: Jeff Chua, Boston Consulting Group

I have attended a talk recently about developing business strategies in turbulent times when it is difficult to see trends beyond two or three years. The speaker mentioned the following observations:

The context of strategy has changed since changes happen frequently.

1. Market leadership does not necessarily imply the same extent in profitability.
2. It is harder to define industry boundaries.
3. It is harder to predict the future.
4. Market position is unstable. Those on top do not stay on top for very long.

Example of a Market Leader losing out to latecomer:

Blockbuster vs Netflix

Blockbuster was a market leader in video rental. But on 23 Sep 2010, it filed for Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code or protection against creditors.

Netflix is also in the video rental business and started in 1997. It deployed no strategy other than encouraging compulsive dissent and experiments. They tried sending out DVDs on envelopes, posting them and pricing them on a flat fee for as many DVDs customers care to watch. Then they continued to stream videos across different channels. By 2007, they passed the billionth DVD delivered.

This, the speaker claimed is evidence of increased unpredictability and turbulence.

Businesses would need to have:

- Responsiveness (agility)

- Resilience (robustness)

- Readiness (anticipation)

- Recursion (experimentation)

Example of two market leaders deploying very different strategies:

Google – using open systems

Apple – using closed proprietary systems.

The speaker continue to suggest that businesses should adapt using their:

1. Signal Advantage
2. System Advantage
3. People Advantage
4. Simulation Advantage
5. Social Advantage.

My opinion:

I think the speaker had focused too much on the form and not enough on the essence of the apparent ‘changes’.

The underlying common denominator of the current observations is merely the advent of technology and its easy and cheap availability. For instance:

- Netflix triumph over Blockbuster because of the former’s clever use of technologies.

- Large companies no longer make the proportional scale of profits as they used to because clever technologies are no longer just affordable by big companies, but they are affordable to small ones too. It is now possible even to become a one-man multi-national company.

So things aren’t that unpredictable or turbulent if we focus on the common denominator of ‘technology’.

Also, while Google appears to be ‘open’ and Apple being ‘closed’ using propriety systems, the commonality is that both makes money through their own propriety ‘orifice’. Google’s orifice is their search engine, while Apple’s is iTunes. And we have another major orifice called Microsoft Windows. Businesses love orifices. So in this respect, they are the same. So there isn’t the unpredictability or turbulence.

In summary, observations may appear different in form, but in essence there are usually common causes. The trick is look beyond the raw data to derive meaningful meta-information. The luminary Buckminster Fuller (Bucky) believed that the universe is one system obeying a set of generalized principles, and that in the early days when equipment are limited in ability and accuracy, different phenomena appeared to behaved differently. That resulted in the formation of different disciplines. So some scientific observations became ‘physics’, some became ‘chemistry’, some became ‘biology’,…etc, but in truth, they all belong to one system in the universe.

By those measures, it doesn't matter if Apple is a computer company, a mobile phone company or a lifestyle company. The fact that businesses have be categorized wrongly as stoke pipe industries with clear boundaries, doesn't mean that they need to continue to be so. A fresh look at them as eco-systems in one universe with their outreach enabled by technology would be closer to the reality.

Once the causes are identified it’ll be easier to help companies to cope up. So now you cure the causes, not the symptom. That means a simpler remedy, but usually that means you cannot sell expensive ‘medicine’ and make a lot of money. Bucky said, “You either make sense or make money, they are both mutually exclusive.” To date, I am still pondering over this question, "Can we make both money and sense?"

For god, No god.

Met some atheists. They mocked the raping of choir boys by church priests and said they are going to educate others that there is no god.

I think they will have a hard time, as if they really believe that there is no god, then there should be nothing to educate about. Unless they want to start atheism as a religion.

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Happy Children's Day

For those children out there and those still a child at heart, "Happy Children's Day".

Here is a song I used to sing in school called "Semoga Bahagia" on Children's Day in my National Language Malay. This song is composed by Zabir Said, who also composed the National Anthem of Singapore.

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Lyrics (Malay)

Sama-sama maju ke hadapan

Pandai cari pelajaran

Jaga diri dalam kesihatan

Serta sopan-santun dengan kawan-kawan

Dengan hati bersih serta suci

Sama-sama hormat dan berbudi

Jaga tingkah pemuda-pemudi

Adat dan budaya junjung tinggi

Capailah lekas cita-cita pemudi-pemuda

Supaya kita ada harga di mata dunia

Kalau kita lengah serta lupa

Hidup kita sia-sia

Jiwa besar sihat serta segar

Rajin dengan sabar tentu bahagia

Lemah lembut perangai pemudi

Cergas tangkas wataknya pemuda

Suka rela selalu berbakti

Sikap yang pembela dan berjasa

Capailah nama yang mulia pemudi-pemuda

Rajinlah supaya berjaya semoga bahagia

Lyrics (English)

Together we progress

Clever at seeking knowledge

Take care of your health

And be courteous to your friends

With a clean and pure heart

We respect and do good to each other

Watch your behaviour, oh youths

Respect and honour your customs and traditions

Quickly reach your goals/dreams, oh youths

So that we'll have our worth, in this world

If we are lazy and forgetful

Our lives are worthless

A big heart and a fresh mind

Hardworking and patience definitely brings success/happiness

Soft-spoken is the lady

Energetic and tenacious is the man

Charitable, always contributing

Having a righteous spirit and doing good

Attain a respectable position, oh youths

Be hardworking so that you will succeed, may you achieve happiness

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Bucky Group - Shock Incarceration

25th September 2010

This Saturday, we started our session with a Skype connection with Dr Cherie Clark from Albany, New York State. In true blue Bucky Group impromptu style, with some of us still munching our breakfast and others probably didn't know what was going on in the beginning when we were merely exchanging pleasantries.

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However, it didn't take long before we learn of Dr Clarke's impressive programme called "Doing Life", which she taught to inmates of several Correctional Institutions in the US, to help rehab them. Dr Cherie has adapted Bucky's Synergetics: the 12 degrees of Freedom, which are 6 positives and 6 negatives into the programme. To date, 42,000 inmates have graduated from her programme with a very high success rate, since 1987. This programme has since spread to five states in the US.

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The programme is tough. It is 16 hours a day, 7 days a week for 6 full months! Not for the feeble minded! The inmates though have the motivation to complete it and do well because they will get their sentence reduced from 3 years to 6 months. This saves the prisons a lot of money every year and transform the inmates back to useful citizens in the mainstream of society.

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For the video about the "Doing Life", click here.

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More about 12° Of Freedom: Synergetics and the 12 Steps to Recovery, click here.

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Bucky said, "Everyone is born a genius, but the process of living de-geniuses them."

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AND

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"... reform the environment instead of trying to reform human."

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So, by accepting that the inmates too are geniuses, the programme seeks to re-genius them. This has been well demonstrated and 42,000 graduates from the programme can attest to that.

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The Golden Palm Tree

An Extract from "The Making of the Golden Palm Tree", author Michael Chua

The world population has risen steeply, since the Second World War, due to the conquest of many diseases, increased food production and improved sanitation and hygiene. Alongside this population boom, came the impetus to develop houses, hospitals, schools, factories, etc to serve the increased population. This rapid urbanization in the last century has burned a trail of damages to the environment which we now see is causing climate change and mayhem in some nations.

While we need to continue to develop life supporting wealth to humankind, it is timely that development has to be done in tandem with nature and perpetually balanced with nature to achieve continued harmony and prosperity.

Harmony with nature is of paramount importance as humankind is part of nature and therefore ought to flow with the pace and rhythm of nature. It is amid the natural rhythm and balance that we find bliss.

The Golden Palm Tree has funded the Sepang Gold Coast Environmental Interpretive Centre for the protection of wild life around Sepang. Even before the construction of the resort, it has already contributed to the cleaning up and replanting programme of mangrove samplings along the (river) Sungai Sepang. These mangrove plants have been around for thousands of years. Mangrove swamps protect our coastal line at Sepang Gold Coast and also forms an important habitat for biodiversity.

The rivers at Sepang are now clean from debris and flotsams, thanks to the hard work of the boatman, our guide and the hired cleaners. It is through involving the common people in the cleaning process that the environment can be protected.

I asked the guide at the mangrove river boat ride how he would urge people to protect the environment and he said that he would ask people to treat the environment as their home. “How would you like it if other people come to your home and destroy your home? You wouldn’t like that, so do the same for the wild life at Sepang. As the environment is beautiful, it will attract more tourists to the place and bring prosperity to your business…”

It is through young men like this guide that more will step forward to protect these mangrove swamps and coast lines, which are the habitat of many creatures like the otters, sea eagles, kingfishers, egrets, mud skippers and the ubiquitous colourful blue swimmer crabs. You can see these wonderful creatures and more when you hop on the mangrove river ride. Then, you will also have the chance to plant a mangrove sapling by the river bed and do your part in protecting the environment.

The Golden Palm Tree is designed as an ecologically friendly resort with energy saving insulation building materials, water treatment plants and building the sea villas on raised stilt platforms with minimum disturbance to marine life. The raised platforms have become an artificial reef offering shelter to the marine life beneath. Fishermen at Sepang Gold Coast have said that there are now more fishes in the sea since the resort is constructed.

All these environmentally friendly installations added significant costs to the resort and savings can only be realised after many years. This means that ecologically sustainable development essentially requires long term commitment.

Besides the infrastructure, the other half of ecological sustainability is the service and training to hire locally and scout for local farms as their food suppliers.

As a result, the local cottage industries are now bracing themselves to get ready for more tourists. The local famous Seafood Bak-Kut-Teh (seafood pork rib soup) is already serving two bus loads of tourists every other day. Others like a local bird nest farm has decided to set up a showroom and visitor centre for tourists to understand and appreciate the process of harvesting bird nests and the health benefits of consuming them. They are also clearing parking lots for anticipated tour coaches coming to their showroom. Local fruit farms, fish, prawn and crab farms that are already suppliers to the resort’s restaurants will also see increased demands when Sepang Gold Coast ‘food paradise’ is completed. This will bring you the best chefs and restaurants in the region, so that you can wine and dine in the idyllic settings of the sea.

In the world of large corporations and institutional finance, cottage industries offer us a softer and gentler side of commerce in a more human scale, where products can be designed and packaged closer to the customers’ tastes and lifestyles.

Together with the resort, the restored environment and these cottage industries, the heritage of the people in the Klang Valley can be conserved for the many generations to come and enjoy.

For other articles of the Golden Palm Tree, click here.