Cultivating the attitude to stand alone

If you really want a 99.9% acid test on how to gauge the capability of a man. It really boils down to ONLY one quality – is he comfortable with loneliness? If he is not, then don’t trust him. Because such a soul will let you down terribly. Best to walk away. Or just remain bullshit hi and bye friends who really only exchange seasonal greetings once or twice a year.

Why do I say that…. You should ask because it is a strong view point?

Because a person who is incapable of enduring loneliness is simply an immature person who still has a lot of growing up to do…this person is probably lousy for everything from relationships to being a reliable partner in business. Because when you can’t stand alone it simply means you have NOT clarified where you’re headed and let’s forget about the how.

Let me give you a life example. Man or woman is afraid of being alone. So they search for a life partner to make an unbearable life more bearable. The problem is since both are motivated by their fear of loneliness. What unites them is not love. Rather it is the unity of fear. And no love can bloom in fear…this is the reason why there are so many divorces and even those who decide to stick it out, do so enduring averagely miserable marriages.

Hey Kompf, there’s no epic Dr Zhivago love there man….just a whole lot of fear. And fear like Yoda once said leads to anger and that opens up the darkside!

This is also the reason why some men stay in the same miserable job, the same factory sorrounded by the same litany of everyday issues for the rest of their life. And worse of all because they can’t bear being alone from the mob. They never ever stick their neck out, not even if its the right and good and decent thing to do and this is the very crux of the reason why most people are just so risk adverse that most of the time, they do nothing!

But when you look at a man who is very comfortable being alone….he is none of the things that I just mentioned….we are dealing with an entirely different class of human, so this should rightly prompt you to ask a big WHY? And if possible to observe him from now onwards and if you do this…..you will learn more than I can ever say or write about this subject.

What is the best way to get by in the lean and mean times of Corona?

Kompf. Governments can do some things to improve one’s lot. But if you ask me – it doesn’t pay to look to them. Infact it pays to be a bit dismissive of governments in the way we regard people who talk a lot, but do very little or simply folk who have no idea what they are talking about. For me 99% of self improvement comes comes from YOU! I will give you the biggest example of what holds back the average Singaporean – they’re conditioned to be feel ashamed with working with their hands. Manual labor is often perceived as lowly, dirty and being a loser. As a result of this corrosive social programming many in Singapore never really learn to trust their hands and even less have ever felt the intensely edifying experience that only comes from producing something with one’s hands.

That is why I believe it is not always a good to care to much about what others think especially governments because all they really do is point you to the yellow brick road of life where you go thru university, work for a straight jacketed organizations. That way of life was fine in my Dad’s time, but these days if you really expecting that template to hold you in good steed. Then you are in the danger zone.

To be really so good at working with your hands. You’ve got to be thick skinned. You cant be easily bruised. Otherwise its quite impossible to cultivate this really deep yearning in your soul to go to a place where no one has been before. In other words you need to be comfortable with the idea of loneliness only then do you have the inner strenght to take the long road.

This is the only way to be really invested in your craft. You dont even care for the money or even bother whether it would all end happily…above all there are no safety nets…..you’re just like a man who has leaped off the edge with both hands outstretched like some bird.

You believe and so you simply are!

That’s why if you ever get the rare opportunity to talk to someone who has worked hard enough to trust his hands and it doesnt really matter what their craft is…could be some hawker who makes really heavenly wafer thin popiah skin to even a barrista who pumps out five chili coffee…you can see their eyes light up and how the sound of voice rises to gush out the words….you should do this, because at some point in the conversation. You would probably realize this is how people behave when they talk about love…God or maybe just being able to whip up the worlds greatest omelette.

And you are probably wondering how do I know all this? Because I am the best farmer in the world…I work with my hands!

Chopin – Nocturnes

I don’t fear death. I know it sounds perverse, but I find myself even relishing it more than I care to admit. I don’t know why that should be so. Perhaps I have reached a point of reckoning at this stage in my life where I am beginning to realise the finality of my irreconciliability with who I actually am and the person who I want to be….or maybe I am just curious about whats on the otherside.

I guess its best if I wake up before the crack dawn and go for a long hike all by myself….. Like I said, I don’t take lockdowns well.

It’s Friday in Lockdown wonderland………. I just realised (A Poem)

I don’t take well to lock downs. For one I drink more than its good for me and I tend to post stuff that I invariably regret the following day. Besides the diminishing size of my tube of toothpaste, the dirty plates pilling in the sink, overfilled laundry baskets…its hard to tell what day it is…maybe the fruityness of my boxers do a better job of counting off the days….Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday…..These are just some of the things that mark my days in lockdown wonderland – I work almost in a surreal room where clothes and overnight pizza go to die. Suddenly I chuckle to myself like a deranged and unhinged soul. I realise the books that line my bookshelf in my daily 2.30 am Zoom calls resembled relics of some bygone past where I once wandered aimlessly around narrow twilight streets like some flaneur poking his nose into whatever took his fancy. Those moments of being able to walk for hours on end without ryhme or reason thru the labyrinth into the bowels of a city seems so faraway from my life now in lockdown wonderland……I wished terribly, I could endear myself to TV and settle for hours on end like a cactus on the couch, but that’s not me I am afraid…I am an incorrigible snob, the sort of likes the rasp of the printed word on creamy paper… time in lockdown wonderland has taken on a flat and featureless quality reminding me of yet another life once lived in Africa….my mind drifts to some distant memory of driving for days across one faceless sand dune after another. From time to time, I stop my Land rover and scan across the acrid copper tone dunes…they all bloody look the same, I mutter to myself. I stick out my tongue like lizard…yes, a smile tears across my dust caked face…I can even taste it in the air. FREEDOM. Yes, it’s terribly daft I reckon…then again it’s what I used to do in the shifting sands of the Sahara where it’s so easy for one to feel a little untethered. Just then the BBC crackles to live and jolts me out of my reverie….only for me to realise its Friday today in Lockdown wonderland.

George aka Darkness 2021 (Copyrighted 2021)

Never try to belong so much that you end up losing yourself

Not long ago. I joined a group of hikers who got together a few times a week. One day they asked me to reason with a fellow hiker as many of them didn’t like what he was posting online…I told them exactly this word for word – go find lackey to do your bidding. I went on to add that I consider it very rude to attempt to control the mind of another. A few days later. I made a decision to hike alone. I think that more or less says it all.

The moral here is as old as the hills. Being an individual is impossibly hard in an age when everyone aspires to be liked and respected. Life becomes resistance itself for those who have made a decision to hold on to their individuality. Because the tribe is always trying to assimilate the individual into the glob of collective thought and action..and since most fear the tribe because if they don’t conform they will either be ostracised banished to Coventry or both and much more…so it can be both frightening and intimidating to go against the mob. But if the individual endeavors to keep his independence despite his many hardships, he will be rewarded amply simply because ONLY the thinker is truly free. And you may ask why – because he is first and Foremost very comfortable all alone….many simply cannot do this.

They will all never admit the truism…they cannot be alone! Kompf why is this observation so overwhelmingly jugular. Because if you examine the life of ALL great novelist, thinkers, inventors, mavericks and every luminary who has ever walked this earth, you will discover a common thread, they don’t mind going it all alone!

So if you are the sort who everyone just meets up in the club to gossip and trade vicious rumours about. Let me be the first to welcome you into the illustrious fraternity with this, you’re in good company matey!

So be mindful of the man who doesn’t mind being alone….he’s very dangerous.

Consider this fair warning Kompf!

Q: Who, what and where to watch in 2021?

Kompf. No one will be watching the US in 2021. Because as far as Biden is concerned his plate will be full with non stop servings of Covid 19. You could even say his hands are tied for the rest of the term. Besides what you need to appreciate is this, while Trump is out of the picture. The damage he has inflicted on the US reputationally is long term. And it is conceivable certain aspects of the relationship between the US and their reliable allies such as Singapore will never go back to pre Trump status. Because it is not simply Trump’s mercurial temperament that has spooked many of the US reliable allies, it is the fact that the checks and balances which were supposed to rein in the powers of the office of the President simply did not work as they were supposed to allow Trump to run amok. So this spooks many of the reliable allies of the US….if they are not wary of thid, then they have no business being in foreign policy.

The second factor Kompf why very few eyes will be trained on Biden and the US in 2021 is because the US is a waning superpower. its a dying star. It does not weild the same level of influence or prestige as it used to. And to be fair to Trump. This has nothing to do with him and more to do with ill conceived foreign policy of his predecessors like Bush senior and junior, Clinton and Obama. For the last thirty years, the foreign policy of the US has lacked coherence and as a consequence she has haemorrhaged credibility and influence in virtually every theater ranging from the Middle East to the Pacific and Asia. China on the other hand has stepped into this foreign policy no man’s land,

Chinese president Xi Jinping has signalled for the very first time recently – China is prepared to take the lead in shaping the “new world order” and that implies safeguarding international security, this puts China in stark contrast to the US “America First” policy. So while the US is looking inwards, China for the very first time feels it is secure and has the good will to push a bold go-economic agenda (interruption by Kompf, script deleted).

Q: You mentioned that China feels secure. Can you elaborate more on this, are you referring to economic or military assurance here?

A: I think both. As I said Trump has inflicted long term damage on the US and while he has neglected foreign policy, other actors have surreptitiously moved in to fill up the power vacuum. We see this in Syria, Libya, Yemen most clearly, where Russia is now a dominant player that is blunting Turkey and Saudi geo-military proxies. In the Persian gulf the Israelis have been much more aggressive in pursuing their own anti nuclear agenda against Iran and in the South China seas, the Chinese are starting to be much more muscular by projecting their new carrier fleet into the Indian ocean. As for their land based assets, the Chinese have occupied Western Himalayas. So all these is the consequence of US neglecting to forge a coherent foreign policy regionally and globally.

Q: Do you see Modi responding to the emerging Chinese military threat in the Indian Ocean?

A: No. Modi has stirred the proverbial hornets nest. He has decided to lock horns with the farmers Union in India. To my understanding there are three sacroscants that cannot be touched in India for various reasons that are too long to explain here. The first is cows. Nehru tried to ban cows from City roads despite passing a pheltora of by laws he failed, so did Indira Gandhi and after that her son. Even MGR failed to stop the cow. The second thing, is onions. No politician has mucked with that crop and ever got reelected. It is worse that the curse of Tutankhamen. Don’t believe go and fact check. And the third is the farmers Union that has been mythologized even in the Bhagavad-Gita. So these are very powerful folklore forces and theyre controlled by influential oligarchs such as the chettiars thru the Mawari Guilds. Modi will be stuck with two feet in solid concrete trying to get out of the mess with the farmers for the whole of 2021. I really don’t see him getting out of that mess to deal with the bigger mess that is India, such as Chinese troop encroachments into Western Himalayas, the sectarian powderkeg of Jammu and Kashmir or even the irreconcilable differences within his Hindu fascist Pracharak movement.

Q: You mentioned that Xi Jinping has signalled a willingness to play a more significant role in foreign policy, where do you see the first moves of this new Chinese global agenda?

A: That’s a good question Kompf and it’s one that we have been focusing on – I think many will focus on what is currently unfolding in Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt and it involves water politics, specifically river resources which will be the 2021 hot spot. This is one area that many will be looking at to determine how China goes about resolving diplomatically such a potentially explosive resource related impasse. And it’s impact is far reaching as ultimately it affects the Nile and as such affects 1.5 billion people. Traditionally as far as East Africa is concerned the French has weilded a lot of influence, but they like the US are waning stars and power has devolved to the Chinese, so this is something to watch very carefully Kompf.

Q: What, who and where do you see happening in Malaysia? Recently Mahathir mentioned many are critical of Emergency Rule, but they dare not speak out for fear of reprisals.

A: I see the continuation of Emergency rule for the whole year of 2021. Beyond that you have to ask me then. As for the great Malaysian political saga, I don’t think there will be much happening in 2021. As for Mahathir’s comment I don’t think it is reflective of the prevailing sentiment. Most Malaysians are fatigued, jaded and indifferent to the never ending political intrigues and this has been exacerbated by Covid. Had Mahathir done a good job as the PM in 2018, we wouldn’t even be in this mess. So all they really want to do is to pay their bills for 2021 and not end up getting their cars and fridges repossessed because they can’t make the payments. I think the only reset happening here is most Malaysians want to get back to the basics of eeking a living what they call euphemistically as ‘cari makan.’

If there’s anyone trending in radar it’s probably the former Youth and Sports minister Syed Saddiq. Because he has a very creative plan to mobilise the youths in Malaysia to be a coherent political force. To me this is a very bold idea, not only politically, but ideologically and organizationally and demographically as well and he’s definitely a man to watch in 2021. Simply because if we look at Thailand, young people can do many things and they should not be underestimated.

Q: What, Who and where do you see at home…Singapore?

A: It’s definitely got to be Pokemon. You know Kompf after the lockdown. Because I don’t take well to being cooped up like a battery chicken. I don’t mind running wild in the streets of Singapore playing Pokemon go.

Q: I do apologise George. But I have a feeling either you or the ASDF are holding out. I would really appreciate if you could give me a candid answer to my last question. As I believe many of our regular readers deserve to know.

inght tA: I am sorry Kompf. If I came across as playful and indifferent. Yes. You are right. What, Who and Where do I see happening in Singapore 2021 is not a person or even place as much as the tale of two cities Kompf. Currently in Singapore there exist two competing views concerning what the future would be – the first is what I term the classicist viewpoint, who subscribe to the belief this pandemic is really just a gigantic fly in the ointment and once everyone is vaccinated life as we know will simply resume again. The other view. I term the revisionist. Those who believe that this pandemic is likely to drag on and as such it even has the capacity to alter our DNA on how we have traditionally seen the world. The revisionist do not believe that life will return the way it used to be. They believe that many set pieces that used to feature in work, life and play will go thru a revolution as a consequence of how this pandemic ultimately rewires our brain.

Now listen carefully Kompf. Because I will only say this once. After that I will remain silent. The who, where and when event in Singapore 2021 is there are not enough revisionist within government. And this has to be a source of worry. Because they don’t seem to understand that things will not be the same again even after the virus is long gone and forgotten. The problem with Singapore is its really only streamlined to function optimally in a globalised world, but that construct of the world is disintegrating. To me events such as Brexit and Trump and Boris et al merely presages a far more disturbing trend that all have the effect of relegating Globalization to the doldrums and instead heralds a new age of insularity and irrationality. So these are just some of the sentiments that has been sharpened by Covid.

eoComing back to my point Kompf. There are not enough revisithonist and my fear is if that is the case, then Singapore will be in big trouble. Because I do not believe the way forward after Covid, if there is such a thing as the day after is to do the same thing. That I do not believe Kompf. I believe, we need to go the other way and do that other thing.

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Dior

Because of lock downs being a feature of Corona times. People not only spend a lot of time cooped up. It’s conceivable their taste, habits and preference has even gone thru a reincarnation to emerge as different. As a result even the marketing manifesto has to adapt to the chastening pace of change that is man.

Evolve, adapt and overcome or die!

Will Covid lead to the surveillance state?

The question you have to ask Kompf, is this – what is the most efficient and effective way to manage the virus on a long term basis? The reasons why I say this is because many remain delusionally optimistic that just because a vaccine has been discovered, its really only a matter of time before all our problems will disappear like lemon drops. But even with the salvation of vaccines, there are likely to be shortages that will last years and as for the mammoth task of vaccinating billions, that presents a logistical, operational and manpower nightmare that is likely to drag on for an indeterminate number of years….Kompf. So do you see the hubris – life has to go on. Hence my question at the very beginning of the answer to your question – what is the most efficient and effective way to manage the virus on a long term basis.

The answer is to incorporate a microchip into every human on this planet and to track them 24/7. In the past all this would only be conceived by the totalitarian state to enable them to control every aspect of their citizens to quash dissent at soon as it sprouts. In the Covid generation the motivation I feel is significantly stronger and the justification higher still as the motivation is to preserve the common good. So in my thinking this will definitely happen and to varying degrees it is already happening in the digital prosthetic that is actually an extension of our life – the modern smart phone. Kompf, I am not talking about science fiction here were everyone goes around in silver suits, the technology to do all this already exist in one shape and form.

Kompf. I understand many of the readers will consider this madness, but that is only because they have not experienced the attritional effects of Covid for a prolonged period. But as governments thru out the world attempt to get a handle on this pandemic only to fall victim to the vicious cycle of one lockdown followed by brief periods of normality only to repeat it all again while trade and commerce is ravaged no end. Even the most sanguine and democratically self conscious nations of this planet will incorporate a microchip into every citizen…..as that is the most effective and efficient way to live with this virus on a long term basis

There is no other way…and what I want you to know Kompf is that what I have shared with you will not seem unusual or for that matter intrusive or even an attempt to appropriate one’s privacy in three or four years…..it will just be any other day in Corona times.

I am definitely not a ‘Lock Down’ kinda guy

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200728-how-lockdown-may-have-changed-your-personality

I’ve just got too much of Friluftsliv spirit in me. I didnt take the last lock down well…not at all. This time round. I am much better prepared. I am actually enjoying it…the solitude..the privacy and the wide open seas all to myself. As I decided to get on my little plastic boat and just sail to nowhereville.

” There’s a big difference between loneliness and solitude. Loneliness is when the passing of every of moment cuts like a knife. Solitude is when you no longer feel either the need to belong or seek the illusion of security in strangers. You’re just comfortable in your own skin.”

George 2021 Somewhere in the great expanse of the Pacific

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And…what makes a woman that much more attractive?

oWell that’s simple Kompf. I am a man and as you know a big aspect of the Brotherhood Press is churning out love stories like Toyota Motors. I have a big following when it comes to my love novels. Let me share this Kompf. Many people and even some of my readers don’t realize how technical love stories can be. They have this simple Simon idea that I just hack away at the keyboard like someone chopping onions or something. But a woman’s mind is the very definition of complication. So to be realistic in order to breathe life into the characters I have to go into that hall of mirrors in her mind. And if you ask me what is the one quality that makes a woman attractive it is simply this, not every woman has it. Most just go thru life not even knowing what I am talking about and even more believe it they have it, but as soon as you ask them about it. They will look at you clueless and bewildered. And that attractive quality is simply the intuition to be able to read the silence of the man. Silence is not nothingness Kompf, it is a language that has alphabets and everything that goes with what a language offers, history, lineage, emotions and it is very powerful. Because when you think about it Kompf, the highest level of communication is not just about being able to use fancy words to string a sentence, that’s very primitive if you ask me – as the most highly evolved level of communication is simply to know. Without having to ask 20 questions etc. And that is very attractive in a woman. Her knowingness….her ability to see right into a soul of a man and to see all his seasons and much more. To me that’s nothing as attractive as that…of course to make it easy for herself and the man, she should preferably not be two metric tons.

What really makes a man that much more attractive?

It seems odd that of all people you should ask me that question Kompf. You know what, I have always suspected you were gay….(deleted) I am just kidding Kompf. I think the most attractive aspect of a man is the part of his character that he can show to the world to make himself a bigger, richer and smarter man. But instead this man chooses to remain silent and incomprehensibly walk away from it all….if I had to define attractiveness in a man, it is his discipline to walk away into the realm that allows him to be his own man and not someone who belongs to everyone to everything that he literally disappears like a drop of red ink into the infinity of the seas.

Men who are attractive all seem to be able to pull off that the one impossible trick ..their silence can indeed be deafening…..I wonder how do they do it Kompf.

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You can buy many things in this world, but you can’t buy depth of character

If you want to live well. You should cultivate the habit of reading deeply. Because when you make reading an integral aspect of your daily life. You will realise that it takes you away from the masses and this will enable you to be your own person who is well prepared to live your life under your own terms. Now I am not saying being part of the masses is a bad thing. Not at all, because one other aspect of living well requires one to be at peace and harmony with our fellow man….only you must be very careful about being so woven with the masses that its spirit begins to assimilate all of you, till whatever that is YOU disappears completely like a drop of red ink into the infinity of the seas…it is well and fine to get along with others. Only don’t over do it till you end up becoming someone who you don’t even recognize, like or want to be whenever you see yourself in the mirror…and to keep your independence of mind and spirit from the maddening mob reading is crucial. Because it is a sanctuary that you can seek refuge in and the best thing is its portable. As it’s in your mind.

And that reminds me. I like Agnes very much…..if you don’t mind me sharing something very personal with you – I think she has a lot of depth.

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The life lessons of John Delorean

Kompf, I will start of this way. I have always admired John Delorean for his panache, originality and sheer balls of steel….I deeply admire the man that’s why this is such a hard interview and you can probably make out that I am struggling deep down inside. Because if any of my regular readers want to be genuinely and seriously successful people in whatever they have dedicated themselves too…they have to learn NOT to do some things that Delorean did. Now Kompf do you understand why this interview is so bloody difficult for me – I have to judge the man that I not only like, but admire…OK let’s dive in. The main problem with Delorean was he wasn’t committed to be a real and genuine person. He married a high maintenance model who was young enough to be his daughter. He did it to slake his ego. He pursued trivia like a kid even in his fifties, plastic surgery, cultivating fake friends who really didn’t give a shit about him and worst of all he made business decisions largely on emotion and not with his mind..that’s to say Kompf, he didn’t have a hard core in his character that he could count on when things started to fall apart. Being a superficial and fake person is OK, when life seems like a free flow never ending party, but when the shit hit the fan and the his shiny stainless steel car hit a big pothole and his dream of building his own car came to an abrupt end when the British shafted his factory in Northern Ireland…..his glamorous wife left him overnight, his fake friends didn’t pick up his calls and worst of all he was left a broken man when dream turned into a nightmare.

Kompf, you know why talking about Delorean is so sad. Because he should rightfully be the Elon Musk of his age. But like I said, he filled his life with too many fake things…that’s why if you want to be seriously successful, learn to walk away from fake anything…fake people, fake relationship, fake deals…..just go for the real stuff – real food, real people, real relationships, real conversations and if you just do that and that alone, I don’t think you can go very wrong even if the car in life you’re driving dies on you and it just happens to be to DMC12.

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Why I am not a big fan of lock downs as strategy to manage Covid 19

Lock downs don’t fundamentally change anything…they don’t change the viciousness of the virus or how it may spread thru out a community. It just supplies the happy illusion that all is well by buying time i.e delaying what would have otherwise HAVE to happen. But it doesn’t alter the fact the virus will earnestly regain a foot hold after the lock down is lifted and begin to spread again. And with each successive lockdown, fatigue and anger and a profound sense of helplessness is heightened. And as society is forced to go thru this purgatory of stop and start, many can only begin to question whether all these “precautions” are really worth it, especially when the cost is so prohibitively high in terms of loss of jobs, shuttering businesses…. People started to equate suppressing the virus with staying at home and shutting businesses and at some point one would have to ask the prosaic question – why do millions of lives have to be put on hold on…. Is it even worth it?

By all means protect and shield the vulnerable, but let everyone else get on with trying to live some semblance of a normal life (mind u, its not easy to even do just that as the economy is well and truly busted up beyond all recognition) ….. Because if life keeps stopping and starting all the time, there may well be nothing left to get on with any longer.

Tesla’s very very quiet revolution in how to build a car

Kompf. I don’t think many people really understand how revolutionary Tesla’s new manufacturing strategy is. I am an engineer so I know how absolutely radical it is when aluminium casting is used to form the front and back end of an automobiles chassis. Because since the invention of the car, the chassis has either being bolted, riveted or welded together using many sections of pressed steel pieces and that means structurally every car that has been manufactured since Henry Ford has been a compromise between physics, material science and manufacturing strategy. But what Tesla is doing now is to prioritise physics to the level that has never been done before in production automobiles. Sure in Formula 1 racing cars single monocle chassis design has been de rigeur, but by and large in production cars it hasn’t been done till now…so this Kompf is definitely a breaking of the sound barrier moment that will probably shock the shit out of established car manufacturers like Toyota, BMW and General Motors. The last time anyone even came out with such an idea was John Delorean when he conceived the fiberglass monocle chassis, but that subsequently didnt materialise and now you have Elon Musk doing something so radical in automotive design that its likely transform forever both the cost structure and manufacturing strategy of how automobiles will be built forever.

Corona quarantine work out

Will 2021 be better or worse than 2020?

Kompf. Both will probably be remembered as lousy years ten years from now. If you think 2020 was bad. I think 2021 will be far worse, because many enterprises would have languished for a whole year without being able to do their thing. So even the most well resourced enterprise would feel the debilitating effects of attrition brought forth by a prolonged weak or non existent consumer economy in 2021. We can see this very clearly in Singapore. Despite attempts to restarted cruises and the bubble travel corridor. Both have run into complications. In the case of Malaysia the rates of infection went up when the authorities allowed interstate travel, so we can see that this is not easy problem to get a handle on. To exacerbate matters. The vaccination program thru out the rest of the world is proving harder and slower than was initially anticipated. It seems many poor nations don’t even have ready access to vaccines because rich countries have cornered the most of the inventory. Then there are those who are two minded about getting vaccinated. Their numbers are significant but small for the time being. But as more get vaccinated so will the number of side effects and it is reasonable to expect the fear factor of getting vaccinated to increase. As for the fate of businesses. I remain two minded, simply because interest rates are low and as for inflation its relatively flat and so long as the cost of money remains low, then I think most of the major economies will probably succeed in trying to jump start their economies by spending. But having said I am upbeat about businesses. I do not believe some traditional models of how business used to be conducted will never return again.

Kompf. I don’t think 2021 is going to be a good year at all.

How will Emergency Rule in Malaysia affect Singapore?

esn oKompf. Let me put it this way, one must always be careful what one wishes for…because it may come true. And I think this was starkly underscored in May 2018, when Mahathirs coalition outfit Pakatan Harapan won the Malaysian elections by unseating the seventy year old ruling party Barisan Nasional. At that time Kompf many began to celebrate a new dawn in Malaysian politics. I on the other hand was labelled an incorrigible party popper, as I was a contrarian who was quite adamant inthat nothing could possibly change. Not substantively or really of course, cosmetically maybe. And the reason I forwarded was UMNO is not simply going to disappear. It cant.As its a hegemony that has extensive networks in virtually all the rural nodes thru out Malaysia and to compliment this there’s an oligarchiny ofto bureaucrats and vested parties that all support UMNO, so none of this is just going to disappear overniaught and in all likelyhood, all of this is going to try to regain power simply because no matter who comes to the power in Malaysia. They’re not going to do so with a landslide majority, rather the winnings will be by the narrowest of margins. And this simply means political volatility will feature in Malaysian politics. Now why am I sharing all this with you Kompf. Because I want you to understand that background of power and politics that led to Emergency rule.

The next question will be how long will it last. Well thate is 1st August 2021. But to be honest this is predicated on the Covid situation and to me there’s unlikely to be a transition of power then. As the Covid situation is still in the early days. So early that I don’t see 2021 as a year of recovery as much as a year when the world gets to know how operationally and logistically difficult it is to immunise the masses. This may not be a problem in Singapore, but you have to understand Kompf, even if Singapore moves at light speed, its economic recovery as a service center can really only recover based on its slowest neighbor. So my feel is there will be plenty of reasons to justify the extension of Emergency rule.

The third question is will Malaysians (rakyat) come to accept Emergency Rule. I don’t see any reason why not. Because the prevailing sentiment in Malaysia at this moment is the political machinery is broken. So much so, no one knows how to fix it. And one credible response is Emergency Rule. Of course there are issues relating to principles because Emergency powers are the anti thesis of democratic rule. But my answer is Malaysia never had a real democracy in the first place and it like Singapore is a de facto dictatorship where the PM gets to cut his cake and eat it at the same time. That’s why when politicians talk about democratic rights it rings hollow and doesn’t have the expected impact. Besides the rakyat has grown fatigued and even ambivalent to the endless political intrigues and there has been so much erosion of trust in the traditional political figures that even if free elections are held which ever party comes in will simply perpetuate the chaos and again Malaysians will not be able to break free from the political deadlock.

The fourth factor is can Emergency Rule in Malaysia be in place permanently. To my thinking I see absolutely reason why not. Thailand has had Emergency Rule for nearly ten years and by and large with minor kinks life proceeds normally with no adverse effects on trade and commerce. To my thinking this is not a negative development because if the current political outfit can run the country judiciously and produce hope and stability, I see no reason why most Malaysians will not support them. Because Kompf this may well be the only way for Malaysians to press the reset button and to set right everything that is wrong with the political process/

What stands taller than raw intelligence?

Well if you ask me that question Kompf. Then I would have to say intuition. Intuition is defined as the ability to understand something instinctively, without the need for conscious reasoning. The problem is our schools and universities don’t teach or encourage one to intuit and as a result most really well educated folk not only lose this ability, but they over rely on analysis and reasoning and worst of all they develop a misplaced trust on intelligence….but Kompf somethings in life, you can’t sit down and work it out like an equation on a piece of paper. Some things are just really abstract and they may not even make a whole lot of sense there and then, but when you think back. You were just incredibly glad, you went with your gut feel instead of what your brain decided. So to me intuition is key to the creative process, risk taking and managing your opportunities.

If you look at truly independent and successful thinkers in the field of the creative arts and business. You will find that they have a very well developed sense of intuition. They seem almost to know instinctively deep down in their bones, that this or that is good to go. I think at times, we give too much credit to intelligence when it’s actually intuition that we should be profoundly thankful too.

(Extracted from a fireside chat with Kompf and George at the 23th E-symposium organised by league of energitica in the Ukraine under the auspices of the Petrov Institute 2021. Get the full interview in the new improved whassap app read mode and read at the convenience of the go any time or place. Sign up before 20 March 2021 for a group discount of 30%!)

Nowadays I have to conference call at 2.30 am

So I spent a lot of time here…..