Category: Uncategorized
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SVB’ed – A Chaotic Week and More to Come?
The financial world was in turmoil for the last 10 days as one bank after another fell off the chair in a domino effect. First, it was Silvergate, then Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and First Republic Bank, followed by Signature Bank and then Credit Suisse. Naysayers were predicting the Great Finance Crisis (GFC) of 2008…
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My Recent HK trip – A Personal Reflection
Recently, I had a chance to revisit Hong Kong after more than 5 years. My last trip was in Feb 2017 for my previous banking job. My wife was also on a business trip this time and I tagged along for the free accommodation plus we decided to also add a weekend extension for a…
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Ukraine One Year On, Poor Myanmar
Ukraine crossed the 1st anniversary of the Russian invasion this week. It was 12 months ago that a superpower attacked the country on the premise of liberating its citizens from Nazi control. Since then, the war narrative has evolved while the world was severely affected just as it was getting out of the pandemic nightmare.…
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Getting Back to Normal
What is normal to us nowadays? After 3 years of Covid, anything before 2020 looks like a different world altogether. Youtube travel videos from 2019 and earlier cannot be used as a reference point anymore as many businesses may have stopped operating after years of lockdowns. Are we nearing the levels we were at before…
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The Advent of AI, ChatGPT and Others – Exploring the Next Frontier
AI (Artificial Intelligence) has always been a mystery for most people. We only think of Jarvis in Iron Man and what the movies tell us of sentient androids behaving like humans but way smarter. That perception is still too far into the future as we must take baby steps first. With the arrival of big…
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“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”
This has been the Golden Rule passed on for generations to provide a guideline on morality. It also cultivates a sense of empathy for others. The reverse is also true: “Don’t do unto others what you don’t want to be done unto you.” It basically means that one should treat others the way one wants…
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CNY Celebrations – A Return to Normalcy at Last?
It was a long weekend of Chinese New Year celebratory feasts and dining in big groups that we have not had for a long time thanks to Covid. The last time we had our usual annual CNY family gatherings was in Jan/Feb 2020 just before we went into lockdown hibernation for more than 2 years.…
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Where Do We Go From Here Financially – Forecasting for 2023 Ahead
At the end of the last year, there were many 2023 forecasts from banks that we have already read since Nov where economists try to predict the likely trends for the new year. Likewise, I will try to do the same and position myself for the sake of my terrible 2022 portfolio. The stock market…