Time really flies when you work full-time. The weekdays pass quickly; before you know it, it’s TGIF again. I felt it much more because I stopped having a normal job when I left my last bank job in Oct 2017 and was always trying to find new things to do to kill time.
The last 6 years were filled with a process of self-discovery, the beginning of a lifelong learning journey. Between infrequent contractual consultancy work, I became a student again, pursuing topics I wanted to know more about. I even tracked COVID by numbering my weekly blogs till I was absolutely sure that it had become endemic and the world was going back to normal again.
As I started working again 3 weeks ago, I felt that it was important for me to note down what I did each week. It is a self-reflection of what I had done to track my timeline and milestones achieved. I can then look back on them in the future to remind me of what I have done and to look for areas of improvement.
This week started on a high note and ended in the same way. We had a nice and long Sunday lunch with my wife’s side of the family at an Italian family restaurant filled with Prosecco, Vinos and lots of pasta. Then at the end of the week on Sat, we had another long lunch with my side of the family to celebrate the 1st birthday of the newest addition to the family clan. She is the 3rd great-granddaughter of my parents. Four generations meeting up over good food and an amazing birthday cake.
Starting on Monday, I had several meetings with the team the whole day. Our group CEO was preparing for his business trip to HK to brief the senior management team on our S’pore strategy. We brainstormed on his presentation and tried to pre-empt any possible questions that may arise. I also briefed him on our trip to JB last Thursday to see the plantation owner for our Biomass project. On the personal side, I completed the paperwork to refinance the housing loan for our investment property. Interest rates are higher now (3x) and we went for a 1-year fixed rate.
Tuesday was a surprisingly fruitful day. Our CIO gave the team a concise technical lesson on the Biomass project using the financial model he had constructed. It was important that everyone in the group was up to speed on the progress and that we were on the same page on the next steps forward. We then had a brief one-hour but productive call with the German technical expert contact to clarify some of his understanding of various topics relating to the project and for our team to strategize on the next steps.
Wednesday morning was the work to apply for online company accounts as part of the requirements for the regulatory license. I then headed off for a luncheon event in the business district. It was a showcase of a very exciting company called MicroConnect that will be expanding aggressively into China after securing USD 500 mio for their series C funding. The CEO sat on the panel with a senior local bank executive to conduct a lively Q&A session. It was also a good networking session where I reconnected again with some old classmates and ex-colleagues.
On Thursday, my supervisor was back from his HK business trip where he did a post-mortem of his HK meeting. I then met up with a number of ex-colleagues for a lively 2+ hours of discussions and gossip. Later that night, one of them apologized to us that he had just tested positive for COVID 🙁 Bummer!! No wonder he was popping Lozenges and coughing throughout the lunch.
Friday morning was a wrap-up of the documentation of the fund’s Shareholder Agreement draft before we handed it on to our lawyers to vet. I informed everyone at the meeting beforehand of my lunch partner’s positive COVID result before we started. I also decided to wear a mask for the meeting. My CIO and I then attended a networking seminar in the afternoon. It was held by an association from Vietnam called CFO Vietnam. They had a delegate coming to S’pore to look for business opportunities. I ended the day with a lovely dinner with my better half to celebrate our 29th wedding anniversary 2 days earlier as she will be travelling for business soon.
The first 3 weeks passed by very quickly and we had done quite a bit of initial work to get ready the foundations of the fund company. Some things are falling into place and we are lucky that some of the stars aligned themselves along the way. There is still much to do and multiple variables to monitor to ensure that we reach our end goals in 2024. Exciting times ahead!
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