Musings of a 50+ year old boy – a halftime journey

It has been a long time ago since I entered the army to begin my 2.5 years of compulsory national service at 18. I went in as a naive, innocent and pampered teenager and it eventually molded me into a man, rich in new life experiences. Initially, it was a total cultural shock to suddenly…

If you have ever read the bio of Apple’s Steve Jobs, you would have come across the term Reality Distortion Field (RDF). It was coined to describe a particular talent of Steve that made him the successful innovator he was known for. Steve has the ability to convince himself and others to believe almost anything…

So sang Frank Sinatra in “My Way”. Each and every one of us will occasionally look back at our past and reflect on a number of things we had done and felt a sense of regret. Disappointment over an occurrence or something that one has done or failed to do, wishing that we could turn back…

Hillary was the last speaker for DNC on Thursday and her speech had substance. She provided more information about herself and her background, to soften her image and help the voters to know her better. She highlighted a number of strategy themes for her campaign and will likely expand on them in the coming months.…

I have been watching the Democratic National Convention and it certainly packed more punch than the Republican circus show last week. As a marketing person myself, I can see clearly that they are doing a good job of repackaging Hillary, emphasizing her skills as a good listener and effective change maker. Michelle Obama’s short 15…

Had my first taste of how difficult it is to develop business partnerships. One of the things on my to-do list when I resigned from my previous job was to explore 2 possible business opportunities. The first one was quite straight forward, to look at enhancing an existing F&B outlet. That one did not go…

Perseverance is the hallmark of eventual success. I can relate to it from personal experience. Just before 12 noon on 01 Dec 2011, I was curtly told that I was retrenched due to cost cutting, even though my team had a record year. That was after 19 years of loyalty to the same American bank.…

Macau, the Las Vegas of Asia. Having just spent a long weekend there, I realised that like Vegas, it offers whatever money can buy. The spectacular opulence is a stark contrast to the rest of Asia. Tall new buildings everywhere and all fashion labels which you can think of is available there. The casinos are…