Blog

138 On Command 2 - Achieving, Motivating

Aug 11, 2025 · 4 min read

Another year, another In Camp Training (Singapore reservist shenanigans). My 9th year of ICT (how time flies), and the 7th cycle in the “syllabus” It was different this time. In the preceding year, I was focused on understanding, applying and trialing different observations from various leaders and managers. In particular, I was taken to the concept of Servant Leadership: which I layer on a fundamental belief that humans do desire to be productive; and if well directed, may miss their target due to 3 fundamental factors: resourcing, competency, and bottlenecks and decisions.

137: On High Agency

Aug 9, 2025 · 3 min read

I was introduced to Agency as an idea. This was well explained in the article. A fun read, accompanied by memes and graphic accompaniments. Its a concept that acts well as an intermediary between the idealist notion of absolute freedom, and the practicalities of life. For we can’t control everything, nor can we find perfection in maximising anything. But preserving a degree of element of choice and control within the world’s constraints is something that i find is:

136: On Autonomy and Connection

Jun 3, 2025 · 2 min read

Likely written around 3 June (while somewhere in Italy) This post was inspired by an article i read, published in early March 2025. There was an elegance (Simple principles, ugh, so gooood) in two fundamental, and somewhat opposing needs of 1) Connection and 2) Autonomy “These needs reflect two key goals our distant ancestors had to achieve: to bond with others for their mutual protection, and to develop personal skills to make them valuable to their group and potential mates.

135: Energy without the Noise, future trends

Jun 3, 2025 · 1 min read

Noting and recording what someone (corporate, non philosophical stuff really), said about energy at a talk I attended in Mid April 2025 Principles in the Future of Energy The elegance and simplicity in taking a long-term principled view based on several fundamentals: Energy consumption will rise, significantly. Developing countries will demand more energy, as they develop Every industrial revoluton (currently AI), often drives a step-change in energy consumption. New trends to look out for:

134: Travel 5 - Italy 2025, part 2

Jun 3, 2025 · 3 min read

This is a compilation of word snippets and musings, while on the trip. On the Highways from Milanpensa Adolation of symmetry Man belongs in nature Wrapped by sheet cliffs of green. Columns of broad shouldered Europeans Mountainous like the ranges Paths cycling A love of the outdoors Hiking, biking But man too needs to suffer, Straining up steep roads Braving the elements The artifice of putting ourselves in nature, and the artifice of our self made constraints of modernity

133: Raison detre revisited

Jun 3, 2025 · 3 min read

At the Botanic Wachtler. I remember when this website was born out of a feeling of a loss of control. Or a sense of helplessness that is felt during a once-in-a-lifetime (hoepfully) pandemic. Change is an ever constant, and writing this when I have finally caught a berak overlooking what i believe to the be the Alps between Italy and Austria comes at a time when the human mind, my mind, is equally at risk of imploding in the too many

132: Travel 4 - On a Porch in the Dolomites

Jun 1, 2025 · 1 min read

Rediscovering Belle Epoque, and the link and connection with a nice game i’ve picked up recently (Clair Obscur, expedition 33). A wistful being overcomes me. The philosopher. The Poet. Not the warrior, today. I listen to Tosti, which wikipedia says is representative of Salon Music. I read about the lineage of English kings. The rabbit hole brings be from Orleans (not far from where Caesar won the battle of Alesia), the hundred year’s war; the black death, from Edward III to Elizabeth I.

131: Singapore 2 - The Future of Singapore (2024 ed.)

Dec 22, 2024 · 6 min read

I pick up this smattering of notes, on the back of finishing of a macro view of the evolving world order. What next but to write about a place a bit closer to home? A topic that still has a lingering interest, having worked in a government agency and all; and a continuation of where I last left off. Since then, I’ve written fairly broadly, especially around my interests in Universal Frameworks and principled views on seemingly complex or abstract topics.

130: On the Ever Evolving Change in World Order

Dec 22, 2024 · 5 min read

The spark for this post was the election of President Trump to his second term, and the minor rah rah of emotions that goes along with it. In content and outlook, it mirrors a time when I became a slightly more politically attuned graduate (2016), but more or less felt nothing in this second term. For structural issues remain issues, and change is (I suppose I am now 7 years wiser), acceptably constant.

129: Business 2B - Finance Accounting

Dec 19, 2024 · 2 min read

Generally, I’ve found that accounting is not biblical scriptures, but its principles needs to be aligned. Most accounting practices can be fairly standard, but some that perhaps require more thought (based on past experience) are: Cost of Goods - what goes into it, what doesnt (especially on material and manhours, and on unit costs) R&D Capitalisation - Unclear if capitalising too much is a good thing in the long run.