Universities Today

 There are 166 universities in the United Kingdom -  currently there are 3 Vice Chancellors in a British university with a South Asian background.

1.  Leceister Uni  - Nishan Canagarajah.

2.  Kings College London - Shitij Kapur.

3.  Canterbury Christ Church University  - Rama Thirunamachandran

The only VC in Britain with an East Asian background is Max Lu of the University of Surrey, who has recently been appointed by the University of Wollongong NSW in Australia as its new VC.

There are 43 universities in Australia.  No one with a South Indian background has been appointed a VC in this Antipodes nation.

No non ethnic Malays have served as VC of any university in Malaysia.

No non ethnic Chinese currently serve as a University VC in Singapore.

There are eight universities in New Zealand with no VCs of Asian origin.
Damon Salesa of Samoan origin is the current VC of the Auckland University of Technology.

In Canada, Mohamed Lachemi serves as VC of the Toronto Metropolitan Univsrsity.
Deep Saini is VC of McGill University and is of Punjabi origin.  There are around 100 universities across Canada.

Across the Australian university sector, there is an obvious under representation of females as Vice-Chancellors.

Are VC roles supposed to reflect the mores and uniqueness of each society?
Or are they increasingly chosen for abilities in corporate management, strategic leadership and financial
prowess, as higher educational instutitions become more of competitive
behemoths obsessed with research rankings, easy student revenues and corporate growth?

Universities do not pay tax and are inherently community entities to start with, originally meant to serve the ideals of education, inspiring thinking, academic growth and embedding benefits from society ideals.   They have now grown to be jaggernauts which can prioritise high level commercialisation over those of teaching, learning and student experience.

Universities are not accountable to shareholders and yet now operate like commercial entities.   The equivalent of a corporate Board can be in University Councils, whose members should be a broad based demographic but increasingly stacked with political aspirations and corporatised vibes.

There are universities burdened and yet enriched with historical traditions.   There are universities which carry the torch of enlightenment and innovativeness in ages of oppression, extremism and backwardness.   Universities are best when they develop the minds and behaviours of progress and reform for the larger society outside their campuses.
Our contemporary age has never seen so many numbers attending university.

Yet universities can be held captive by the overwhelming control of geopolitics.   Donations for such institutions are significantly important, whether in knowledge, finance or human effort.   Universities do not stand alone well by themselves, but are best to serve when they have a collective will and purpose to advance the course of continuing human civilisation.

#yongkevthoughts

The Southern Hemisphere

 Living in the Antipodes has its quirks and pecularities.

Most of the action is dominated by the Northern Hemisphere.  South of the Equator seems to imply something less, suggestive of secondary.   We have lesser populations, especially across the Indian and Pacific Oceans.   Even our land masses are perceived to have just mountains and forests like in the Andes and in parts of Africa.  The mystery loved by adventurers hangs around thick and alluring in South America and Africa.   Two of the most risky capes to sail past in the age of colonialism were the Cape of Good Hope and the Tierra de Fuego.

Geopolitics, technology advances,
finance, trade, arnaments and medical fields can be dominated by the big players in the European Union, Russia, China and the United States.  All north of the Equator.  

The critical air links and shipping routes all compete more in the Mediterranean, Red Sea, Malacca Straits, South China Sea, Panama Canal, the Carribean, the Baltic and the North Atlantic.   The vastness and large distances of the South Pacific between Chile and New Zealand already prove to be barriers.   And I dare not reflect the  challenges in the wide ocean between Perth and Durban - I can only think of the secret USA military base at Diego Garcia.

South America in the past 100 years gives me the perception and impression of being a hotbed of revolution, dictatorship and violent change of ruling governments. I must not generalise, for each society and its history do have circumstances and conditions that create their own geopolitical path.

South Africa was strongly condemned by the United Nations as an apartheid state before the arrival of Mandela.   Australia has a whites first policy before it was dismantled by Gough Whitlam. 

The vast waters in the Southern Hemisphere  do provide so much for sea creatures, weather patterns and romanticised cruise travel.   On the negative side, the South Pacific attracted French government nuclear testing - as did the Australian mainland, by British and USA interests.

Time differences are not caused by being in the south or north.  These human measurement systems agreed internationally to bring order to the human world do mean that while London is starting a new day, Sydney is going to bed.  Events in the USA happen a day before New Zealand regarding calendar date.   However, Cape Town is the same time zone as Berlin - and Rio is only an hour ahead of New York.

Air routes tend to be more over oceans, rather than land, when you venture below the Equator.   There are more islands as you cross over the Indonesian Archipelago.  There is more emptiness seemingly as you fly over the oceans.   On the other hand, one can be captivated by the dry deserts over Australia, the lush forests or grasslands of Africa and the high peaks of the Andes.

Institutions of higher education below the Equator are generally ranked below the top universities sited above that geographical line.

The Indigenous of Southern lands and waters have had tumultous historical times since the arrival of the sailing ships from Europe.   Almost the whole non- European world was colonised in rapid succession from the 16th to 20th centuries ( exceptions were Japan, huge parts of inland China, Thailand and Ethopia).  The Australian continental island with around 200 Aboriginal nations was declared "terra nullius" by the first British stepping foot at Sydney Cove.

The Maoris in Aotearoa fought back against the colonists in a most vehement manner.   Natives across southern Africa were challenged by the technical superiority, agricultural transformations and better weaponry of the European arrivals.  The allure of gold, a falling Inca Empire and the resources in South America spurred on the Spanish conquerors.

The lands of the Southern Hemisphere all had gold mining rushes, echoing the richness of its topography which can still provide hidden resources.  European dictated agricultural practices were imposed in Australia to the disregard of native traditions.

People from Europe brought infections and diseases to the Southern Hemisphere in the period of colonisation.  

Flora and fauna come foremost to mind in the Southern Hemisphere. A striking example is the variety as studied by Joseph Banks as he sailed on the Cook voyages.

The ways of best managing the environment  in the Antipodes were challenged by the mindset of the colonisers to bring and implement their previous template and practices to their new world.  Australia, New Zealand and Argentina were strongly viewed to serve aa food growing resources.  Foreign plants and animals were introduced with short sighted reasons

The Koala population is strongly decimated in Nww South Wales.  

Quietness, especially at night, can bring forth a rather special charm when one is in the country areas outside cities and towns across the Southern Hemisphere.  I reckon this can be experienced as well in the depths of the Eurasian continent, the Canadian Tundra and in the forests of Europe.

So far, the horror of war conflict, civillian collateral damage and destructive arnaments has not been as much as in the Northern Hemisphere - bar around the South Pacific in the 1940s, where the USA navy gained stature in Australian eyes.  New Guinea was also a scene of intense physically close fighting between the troops of the Japanese Imperial Army and those of the Allies.  South America was spared much of the horrors of the two World Wars in the 20th century - but then became the refuge of Nazi escapees from war torn Europe.

Clearer skies at night are a delight and privilege in the Southern Hemisphere.
Due to less population and fewer of bright cities, it is easier to see a passing comet or let our eyes better appreciate the millions of sparkling stars of the Universe.
The atmosphere can be more refreshingly felt due to less pollution and more natural winds.

When societal disruption broke out in the Northern Hemisphere, due to war, discrimination and displacements of people, South America, Australia and New Zealand became places of refuge and attraction to start a life all over again.
Such migrants brought their unique cultures, philosophies, culinary and systems to their newly adopted countries.

Australia seems to still be a land where her migrants of various religions and background come from over 200 separate foreign nations.  Her Indigenous are also the world's oldest continuing civilisation.

#yongkevthoughts

Looking at War

 Which countries have always waged war for a long time now since the middle of the 20th century? 

The United States of America has chalked up the most in number of wars participated, starting with the Korean Peninsular War in the early 1950s.  An ironic fact is that such military episodes have never taken place on homesoil in mainland America. 

The USA military and government have mostly dabbled themselves and their arnaments in the Middle East - Libya, Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Yemen and Lebanon come to mind.    The cauldron of aggression, conflict, geopolitical tensions and social disorder sparked off by the establishment of the state of Israel have seen fights with her neighbours.  And the USA government is a dominant supporter of Israel.

The Cold War turned out to be varying degrees of heightened tensions, a game of high stakes who will blink first  and almost shaving near close encounters of military outbreaks.   The main protagonists were the Soviet Union and the USA, with the circle of accompanying allies.

The break up of the Federation of Yugoslavia in the 1990s arose from long brewing domestic differences.  United Nations sent personnel to be involved in the intracacies and complexities, thereby causing foreign troops to step in a stage beset with the divide between Eastern and Western Europe.

The Falklands Isles in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean witnessed the determination of Margaret Thatcher and Britain to not let a strategic colonial outpost be lost.  The confrontation with Argentina could have been the last fought battle of the British Empire's military tradition.

New Zealand has not experienced military mayhem domestically since the wars of attrition between the Maoris and the British colonists in thd early 19th century, leading to the Treaty of Waitangi.

Contemporary India and Pakistan have had limited skirmishes - and so have India and China on the Himalayan border, plus that between Vietnam and China.  China's last major war participation has been in the Korean Peninsular in a proxy conflict between Communists and capitalists.

Which European nations have not gone into battle since the end of World War 2?
Amazingly, most of the European continent has undergone peaceful political processes under the advent of the EU.  The Ukraine question escalated in the third decade of the 21st century with still an unresolved and continuing military conflict.  Historical fears and sentiment still run through the instinctive geopolitics of the European continent.

Most continents have never been invaded by foreign powers since the end of the colonialism period.   " Invasion"  these days can be more in the form of commercialism, soft power, financial domination, technology advancement and trade prowess, rather than in physical military wars.  However, colonies, albeit of small size, still exist around the world - we reflect on the possesions by the French in the South Pacific.  On the other hand, large nations like Canada and Australia still have Governor-Generals representing the ultimate authority of the British Monarch over their lands.

Which contemporary nations have somehow retained their viable independence amidst the rolling waves of human tribal conflict and war?  Thailand and Ethopia were never colonised when most of the world were.

Which nation has often joined others in warfare, and in the name of the another country leading the war, despite of almost never being attacked before?  Australia, India, New Zealand and Canada had sacrificed many in the war effort led by Britain and the USA since the beginning of the 20th century.

Which region of the world has attracted the most invaders in modern times since 1945?   Perhaps it is the Middle East.
Evolving disorders have broken out domestically in societies there  as a consequence of dictatorships, religious based groups, people's revolutions and interference by foreign governments.

Central Africa had its share of turbulence
due to economic inequity, warlord dominancs, burgeoning populatons and claims over resources.   War has even been declared between El Salvador and Honduras in 1969 over the results of a football match in Central America.

All nations in South east Asia have been attacked and invaded by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War 2.  Which nations in present day ASEAN have managed to experience predominant lack of warfare since then?

Singapore, Brunei, the Phillippines, the Federation of Malaysia and Thailand have been fortunate to not have serious epispdes of warfare in recent history.   Indonesia had battles in Irian Jaya (western half of Papua New Guinea) and when fighting the Portuguese ruled Timor-Leste in the latter's war for independence.

Indo-China was quagmired in atrocious warfare as the Communists fought intense nationalistic struggles in Vietnam and Laos.  Kampuchea was taken over by a cruel regime under Pol Pot.  Myanmar continues under military rule and its central government fights the armies of several different ethnic groups in major portions of the country, apart from facing rebellions within the Burmese cohort.

What lies for the near future in the 21st century?   Will ideology continue to stir up the masses?  Are democratic styled elections a sham subject to manipulation, misinformation and huge monies controlled by a few individuals?  Will conflicts still arise because of significant fights over trade and resources?  Will the ideal human values overwhelm the human tribal instinct to fight?

The quality of specific leaders who hold the upper hand in world affairs can be so important.   Do politicians choose between the welfare of their human denizens and the tempting short term way to massive business opportunities and wealth?  The core generation of voters can decide the path but powerful people can pull the puppet strings.   War has always been waged by older politicians making use of younger people to do the actual fighting.

#yongkevthoughts

When It Is Fraud

 "i have not lost my memory, but I still do not seem to remember". So goes a line from an old British movie.

When asked to respond to concerns of the serious lack of competition in the supermarket sector across Australia, a representative of the business sector is said to proudly state that " but they are making profits to serve investors".

I cannot see the humour and logic in such pronouncements that miss the essential point.  More of such publicly made statements can be heard from those in authority, to detract and distract from issues they cannot explain.

"The exact contrary of what is generally believed is often the truth."
(Jean de la Bruyere)

"Our ability to manufacture fraud now exceeds our ability to detect it." ( Al Pacino).

Albert Camus once stated
'Truth, like light, blinds. Falsehood, on the contrary, is a beautiful twilight that enhances every object."

"Fraud is the daughter of Greed." ( John Grant)

"Force and fraud are, in war, the two cardinal virtues.”
— Thomas Hobbes

"The first and worst of all frauds is to cheat one's self. All sin is easy after that."
(Pearl Bailey)

"If you see fraud and do not say fraud, you are a fraud."
-  Nassim Nicholas Taleb

"If it is too good to be true, it is probably a fraud."  (Ron Weber)

In Australia, there is more legal requirement to ensure truth when selling toilet paper in advertisements, than when in flagging political ads.

Whether it is in the context of business, politics, government service, communication media or international initiatives,  each of us must observe the words and actions who promise one thing and enact another. 

Confucius can have the final say.
"Look not at what is contrary to propriety; listen not to what is contrary to propriety; speak not what is contrary to
propriety;
make no movement which is contrary to propriety."

#yongkevthoughts

English Language News

 Nation wide news bulletins across a nation, small or large, understandably reflect the language, political shade and culture of her predominant inhabitants.

Across China, Pu Tong Hua or the Standard Speak, is pervasive across the massive extent of her territory, from Hei Long jian in the north east to Tibet in the south west.  The national tv broadcaster, CCTV, uses an updated version of a language agreed upon the embarkation  of the Republic formed after the fall of the last imperial dynasty in 1911.

We are what we speak.   Our thoughts are articulated in the language we speak.  We often do not lose the ability to speak the language of our childhood, in the community or nation where we first grow up.

The reinforcement of constant language spoken by or to us is reflected in what is articulated in news media, whether spoken, written, read or listened to.  Nations with a mainly homogenous demographic have no issues with the choice of official national language.

What then faces countries with  a diverse population in terms of ethnicity, culture and language?    There are societies facing this situation due to past colonialism,  history or active recruitment of immigrants from different parts of the world.

The Republic of South Africa has a dozen official languages but English and Afrikaans rule the news broadcasts there.
Singhalese dominate in Sri Lanka.  Both Thailand and Indonesia stand out in using only their national languages as news broadcasts, with English notably absent - this is understandable as Thailand was never colonised and Indonesia was under the Dutch colonists.  However, both countries have diverse cultural groups in their domain.

The island Republic of Singapore has a national language of Malay and three official languages of Mandarin, English and Tamil.  Yes,  the free to air news telecasts are available daily in all the four languages.   Even public announcements on the MRT reflect these four languages.

The nearby Federation of Malaysia in contrast has elevated Malay to increasingly be the de facto lingua franca of national and official stature.   I understand there may only be a sole English language news bulletin on free to air tv in Malaysia ( on a commercial channel if I am not wrong).   The numbers of non Malays in the current 34 million population of Malaysia has decreased since the 1980s due to migration, official discrimination,  low birth rates and political climate.

The United States has had an image of welcoming migration.   Think of the lure of the Statute of Liberty,  Hollywood movies, university admission,  relatively low taxation amongst the Western nations,  lifestyle attractions and the power of so called democracy.  Even if Latin Americans propel in numbers to be an ever larger percentage of the USA population,  the Englush language dominates in news broadcasts, although Spanish cannot be ignored,  especially in the parts that truly and formerly were part of Mexico.   Immigrants from overseas continue to take to the English language like ducks to water, especially those from former colonies of the now defunct British Empire.

Australia  had a long term White Australia Policy, until it was dismantled by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in the 1970s.   Since then it has embraced diversity in its welcoming of migrants, until recent developments domestically and in geopolitics.  It is said that capital cities
like Melbourne and Sydney have residents with backgrounds of around 200 nations.

The news media across Australia is mainly in the English language.  An exception is the free to air SBS service funded by taxpayers and going into its 50th year.  I recall being impressed by SBS streaming in news bulletins from across the world as early as the late 1980s.  I could tune in overnight to uncensored news presentations in their original non- English languages.  

Sad to say, since the reign of former Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Russian language news from Moscow and Mandarin language news from Beijing have not been allowed on SBS.   Instead SBS World Watch now streams in daily news bullletins of several languages from India, apart from Hindi.  There are perhaps 200 separate Indigenous cultures across the Australian continent, yet there is no regular news broadcast in any Aboriginal language.

English language news prevalence in daily news across Australia is spiked by access on free to air of news from the BBC, CBS, NBC, ABC USA,  Deutsche Welle, France 24,  CBC Canada, NHK and the Phillippines.

In recognition of the significant role of English as a practical international language of communication, technology, politics, finance and trade,  several newscasters of note provide world wide access of news in that language.

#yongkevthoughts

The Stars From The Universe Are Watching

 April and May 2025 can be emerging as a a transitionary time, when the stars of the Universe are looking at the choices of many groups of Homo Sapiens in their rituals and society behaviours.   Will the course of human civillisation encounter significant changes, or more things will be the same, with just different players forefront on the world stage?

Elections can be just smokescreens to seemingly give the human being on the street a sense of participation.   The powers that truly are can be putting the individuals they control as their continuing agents.

Registered voters head to the booths to mark their ballots in Canada, Singapore and Australia.   

Canada has seen the exit of long time Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose government has overseen the age of Covid epidemics, changing attitudes towards relentless immigration,  more acknowledgement of past injustices towards her Indigenous peoples, continuing pressure from the government of her nearest neighbour and rising costs of living.

Singapore has a newly minted Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, urgently handling a sweeping change of the landscape in international  trade, finance and economic exchanges as the fall out from the return to power of a controversial person as the POTUS.  That latter person has recently been most effective in creating widespread uncertainty.

The Australian Labor Government seeking re-election on 3 May has at most been under performing under Anthony Albanese, who has been reluctant to differ in several respects from its Opposition,  continue to toe the line and requirements from the USA and been ineffective and mainly bushfire reactive to the rising costs of housing, food, utilities, lack of commercial competition and social issues.

Although restricted to the Conclave, laden with traditional secrecy and religious ritual,  the selection of the next Pope at the Vatican is essentially a political process.    The successful candidate, who emerges on the balcony after white smoke is seen bellowing,  presides over 1.4 billion Catholics, mainly in Africa, South and Central America, the Phillippines, Timor-Leste and Europe.

Nations outside the USA are scrambling to reorganise supply logistics, access to critical minerals and manufacturing ingredients, payment systems, trading arrangements, over reliance on the USA and other impacts on GDP and economic growth.

Military conflict, suffering by the masses as part of socio-political aggression, the enrichment of the arnaments business and an intense propaganda media channeling remain key features of continuing disputes in the part of the world that transverses Sudan, Yemen, Gaza, the West Bank,  Ukraine and bordering parts of Russia.

Will Europe wake up to being more self reliant, more proactive and united in her affairs and strategy?   It can be a time to diversify alliances, partners and arrangements.   So can the disparate nations of South-east Asia, historically caught between the tradewinds and politics of the so called East and West.   Problems can be opportunity,   challenges can be the time to build a new future.

The sanctions, boycotts and cutoffs faced by the Chinese economy in recent years have made China even more determined and passionate to significantly improve their growing advanced technology,  reduce strategic  risks and become more self sufficient.    This is a nation that does not have enough food security,  takes on the massive macro debts of an over spending USA and now beginning to reduce the utilisation of the USD, long seen as a safe vital currency.

So will change be grabbed by the horns of the proverbial bull?    Will voters choose more of the same?   Can political leaders realise that viable preparations for a very different social, political and economic future may be too late?   Will governments continue to bask in the comfort zone of a landscape that has disappeared and not come back?  Will societies continue to be led by individuals who think less of their own nation and follow the wants of another country?   Will cabinets wait for reactive mindsets, instead of being proactive?

#yongkevthoughts

The Churn 2025

 The way stock exchange prices fall or rise are all part of the way shares work.  Sentiment, speculation, fundamentals, demand, uncertainty, competition, chase for higher returns, timeliness, hedging, parking, liquidity and more.

Financial trading, asset values, share churning and investment stability are all vulnerable to quake like proportions of downstream and immediate impact of significant tariff impositions by a dominant player like the USA government. 

Topsy turvy  causes and events are currently shaking human made arrangements that have been in use for so many years.  At least for now, or for some time.

Whether it leads to better or worse times, opportunity or challenge, or a storm that passes by, is up to our mindset, response, reaction and migitative action we choose.

History can repeat or rhyme.  Trump is not original in his actions.   Tariffs and sanctions have been applied in spectacular fashion by the USA and other nations in the past, leading to war, awakening,  upheaval, regrowth, industrial change, the doldrums and philosophical reflection.

To me, it is what we, as individuals,  have already learnt or  do learn further intrinsically from such human made developments, that is more significant.

Human systems in society can be fragile, turbulent, structurally vulnerable or shaking in political winds.   Yet they can be embedded in longer lasting values, infrastructure, internationally agreed and implemented agreements and principles.   The growth of human civilisation demonstrated the tensions between opppsite ends of the spectrum, change management or mismanagement and the destruction of the old to make way for the new.

At times human beings have to take steps backwards in order to go forward.  What used to work can be chucked ruthlessly away by events of Nature, political ego, silo thinking religious or cultural imperatives and more.  What did not work can be taken up again in a tornado of other priorities.  What works can be adopted once more by a new dynasty.

The masses continue to be swept up in the aftermath of decisions, wise or otherwise, made by individuals and their cohorts in power   - whether financial, technological, political or more.  In a population of eight billion, most of the denizens of Earth are like the proverbial ants that some can look upon with disdain  or without care.

In the meantime, the eagle still soars.  The moon continues to exert its gravity on the tides.  Human beings in their masses still lose some of their reality in this contemporary world based more on instant gratification, excessive waste and false diversions.   Human nature is essentially self centred - but the finesse and  cultivation by some societies of community priority over self can help to reverse this selfish characteristic.

News media reacts.  They do not really help us respond or think effectively on a holistic basis.  Their business is to churn, excite, incite and divide.  The presence of movement, or creating differences, is their rationale to make money out of events.

And so is making money out of investment in tangible assets, non tangible instruments of trade and finance, putting a bet on short or long term pricing of tradeable options, cashing on the lack of supply,  sentimentally driving up demand and liquidating at the right time.

Investments, trading, media reporting and  economic growth all need activity.  Why do finance websites, business reporting and 

investment screens obsessively display continuous trends and changes?   Revenue is mostly earned on the acquisition and disposal of the variety of investments, hedged, physical, derivative or intangible.  

Both news and finance thrive on events that spark off sentiment waves.

Nature does not sit still  either.  Our planet does move,  babies do grow,  seasons change.  

In human society, assets run down past their useful life,  man made currencies without the backing of gold vary in value and perception of worth and societies can collapse, as opposed to the unrealistic presumption that growth happens eternally.

Bullies know when their territory is being reduced, when their competitiveness has declined and they cannot practically get back to their days of misplaced glory.  The human pysche is built for change, adaptation and improvement.   Being the top dog a half century ago does not ensure being still king of the hill in 50 years in the future.  Down trodden economies of even 20 years ago, with renewed effort, intelligence and reorganisation can blossom for the future.

They embed themselves with longer lasting vibrancy, strength and meaningful management, direction and effort.  They do not resort to short term aggressive measures -  they build up their capability, markets and trade.

#yongkevthoughts

Repeating and Rhyming

 "History does not repeat itself, but it rhymes."

Whoever is attributed to have first made that quote, Mark Twain or someone else, does not really matter.

More important is what seems to rhyme again, after historical lessons are not learnt.  Do events seem to occur again in varying forms, more because human beings as a society are embedded in their ways, mindset and political behaviour?

History seems to repeat when we reflect on the fall of massive empires.   We are told that such political behemoths were not eventually sustainable due to rebellions, food insecurity, loss of trading hegemony, religious change, collapse of governance, etc.

The things that made empires great no longer exist when such entities begin to collapse.   Borders have been transgressed,  militaries have been gutted, foreigners have made incursions and the last generation of rulers were not made with the same guts and talent as the empire founders.

The rules, checks and controls that made an empire great in its heyday no longer exist by its end.   Rome was an ideal when it was managed by Senators - then came dictatorship and disorder. 

The last Chinese dynasty rotted and collapsed when it looked inwards rather than adapt and adopt the challenges of a new world order.   The Ottoman rulers could not hold on to various and diverse corners of their vast lands.  The last vestiges of the Soviet Union promised better political freedom but not economic opportunity.  The Japanese imperialists ventured out beyond their islands on a hunger for natural resources available in the rest of Asia, but floundered when it got hit with the early version of terrifying nuclear war.

The Moghuls did not survive the onslaught of colonials who came with better technology, divide and rule strategies and a sweeping rush of the growing British Empire ( where once the sun never set upon her colonised lands).  The British Empire became a shadow of itself by the 1970s but still holds the allegiance of Canada, Australia and New Zealand through Governor- Generals.

So which next contemporary empire is gradually destined to fall?

And then there are corporate collapses.  East Asian thinking notes that businesses do not last beyond three generations of ownership.   When a successful idea is over run by competition, contrition, conviving of narrow mindedness by its Board or top management and lack of capability, its inability to change often overwhelms its outdated structures held on and modus operandi.

If customers and suppliers are berated or not appreciated, the foundations of a business are quickly torn apart, unless one dominates the market. 

When channels of sale and delivery or nature of market are significantly changed, inflexibility and lack of innovation are sure doom sayers.   Think of Kodak, Tupperware, the taxi industry, television channels, etc.

Rhymes of history affect us in parts of our everyday lives.

Why are infrastructure like highways and railways built with generous contracts given to private equity with the public taxpayer holding the repayment liability?

Why are casinos encouraged and thriving with not much concern about the social costs?

Why is priority given for immediate profits rather than concerns for environmental or public health?

Why are so many aspects of life privatised by government, with lack of monitoring of the performance and behaviour of those given public grants to run a service?

Even when there is obvious grief, disappointment and underperformance from those privatisation exercises, most Governments carry on in the same way, Australian Royal Commission hearings and recommendations or not.

Why are unhealthy foods allowed to lure, captivate and be consumed by individuals based on convenience, with lack of disclosure of balanced information and low cost driven with turnover emphasised revenues?

Despite the obvious sufferings incurred from outbreaks of war and use of aggressive weapons, the "civillisation" of human societies and geopolitics thrive on division, aggression, arnaments and conflict, rather than more seriously embrace shared values and moral practice.

Human selfish tribal mores over ride many alternatives - that is essentially driving the repeat of historical human behaviour and outcomes.

The specific players on the world stage can change, but not the acts, drama and memory.

What is the point of knowing and understanding history?  To know the past is to prepare for a better future - in theory at least.

History can rhyme but stand out leadership can break or reduce the cycle.   Such a leadership need not be from the political or religious field.

#yongkevthoughts

Breaking News

 I have an amused laugh when the term "breaking news" is used daily, whether online or on retro television.

Often when the details are finally revealed, it is not breaking or that important.

The misuse of exagerrated labeling or reference does cheapen words, descriptions and their meanings or implications.   No wonder many people I know do not bother to keep up with the news, or the overloading transmission of news.

Concurrent with the use of such terms as breaking news,  the news industry is observed to lure and bait readers, watchers or listeners with falling standards of integrity, rising sensationalism and agenda backed selection of what to report.

Trust by consumers of news holds it all together.  News that are increasingly seen or understood to be politically massaged lose their attractiveness.  On the other hand, some have argued that groups of believers take comfort in being reinforced and embedded in what they honestly reckon is their way.

News delivery that try to balance opinions and explain the diversity of views are getting hard to find.  The choice of words in headlines can also reveal the sell of the news provider.  Less we see are non prejudiced descriptions and more we see the obvious bent towards what they want us to be convinced about.

If you only know about news on channels of social media, you also do not escape what I mention above.  

Communication media seem to be categorised according to political colour.   We are less encouraged to maintain an open mind.  I do not want to take sides and can only see the ridiculousness of a circus of news transmission.

The world of newspapers, screen media and video clips have such a significant volume of material that any individual cannot handle.  Even if I want to be cocooned away from this calvacade of over kill, I get news in my personal or group messages online.

This information overload does test our intelligence, sanity and mental vibrancy.   The worst scenario to me is to subscribe for a fee or not.  Reaction to this can be to shut down, get sucked in or to be more cautious in what we hear or read.

"Breaking news"?  If this is followed by interviews or opinions that want the masses to toe the line, there is a canary in the coalmine.

Promotions for a product, service or opinion are also blatantly parceled as news.  The commercial communication industry needs funding and there is no such thing as a free lunch.

The upside is that the most discerning amongst us can see and understand better, sift the corn from the cob and spare our minds from poor quality stuff.

#yongkevthoughts

Peranakans Today

 The Peranakans or "Local Born" originated in south east Asia a few hundred years ago.  The hybrid of culture resulted when immigrants from India and China settled in the Malayan Peninsular, Borneo, southern Thailand, the Indonesian archipelago and Burma.  These first arrivals intermarried with the women in their new lands of adoption.

The Straits Chinese Peranakan had formulated a developed lifestyle of Chinese cultural rites, Malay wardrobes, fusion culinary and patois, loyalty to the British colonists,  a matriarchal family arrangement and acumen for business.  

Many of the men or Babas had maintained their essentially Fujian or Hokkien values and practices in combination with an adoration and passion for British education and trappings.

The women or Nyonyas were traditionally trained in the nuances and arts of house rule, often spending much time and effort in the fine arts and details of elegant cookery.  This was pretty much the reality before universal education liberated females around the world.

Roll up to 2025 and the contemporary world of the Baba and Nyonya descendants has moved to a transitionary uncertainty.

Malaysia and Singapore are lands that compartmentalise their populations by race and religion.  The Peranakans are not recognised for their niche identity, often having to choose in their identity cards as belonging to one of the three main demographics.  ( Thailand and Indonesia remarkably do not follow the same system).

The significant waves of emigration in the past forty years to Western nations from south east Asia have placed many families of Peranakan heritage in cities far from their origins in Malacca, Penang, Ipoh, Medan, Phuket, Rangoon, Surabaya and Singapore.  Subsequent generations from these families are now intermarrying more with Caucasians, Vietnamese and Filipinos in the Westen societies.

Historically the Peranakans are a minority and it continues to be even so.  The practice of three generations living under one roof has dwindled, especially under the individualistic mindset in Western culture.   The emphasis, knowledge and mindset of Peranakan values have dissipated and diluted in the 21st century, especially amongst its younger descendants.

Those who hold on to the Peranakan heritage and sentiment are essentially baby boomers.   The exquisite porcelain, the practical coconut scraper and the food baskets remain as powerful symbols when used in the house, but can soon become historical icons when the meaning, mantra and measure of Baba and Nyonya life is lost with the passing of the elders.

Peranakans thrive in song and dance, having social afternoons and dressing up.  The refinement and care with which traditional foods are prepared can be most significant - think of Babi Pongteh, Ayam Buah Keluak, Kueh Pie Tee, Ayam Tempra, Pulut Tai Tai, Kueh Talam, Ang Koo, Ondeh Ondeh, Kueh Lapis and Seri Muka.  

The Kebaya, which in 2024 was finally recognized by UNESCO, is a unique creation of design that flatters and brings out the best when adorning the female figure.  The  high skill, design and art of making the Kebaya underlies both the symbolic and real  problematic future of Peranakan prospects.

Will Peranakan icons like the Kebaya increasingly move into a commercial colllection sphere rather than being actually be used in daily life?

Peranakan culture cannot positively evolve when it is overwhelmed by stronger and other social overlays and is viewed as not contributing to modern life.  The language is no longer spoken by the grandchildren.

The foods are not served om a regular basis at home but have been hijacked by commercial outlets.  Weddings are now of a Westernised practicality.  

Ths Singapore government seems consistent in showcasing the Peranakan heritage in encouraging ways, compared to her neighbours. This is done even if her Baba and Nyonya constituents are not many in number.  The Peranakans in other nations carry on in rather limited and informal ways.

#yongkevthoughts

Blog 18th Anniversary: Shake Up

 What can be the silver lining in a crisis?

When pessimism blankets the land, with drastic changes in the social order, can such a situation also bring out the best in human behaviour, despite the obvious signs of negativity?

Life is not a monochrome, but a rich tapestry of various outcomes, emotions and self effort. 

Is there opportunity in gloom?

Particular sectors, trades and professions can always thrive during good times and bad, because of their unique niche and roles.

The wreckage can be first surveyed by peddlers, most likely out to take advantage of scarcity, greed and basic want. Whether it is questionable or still ethical, some individuals and businesses can profit from a crisis, as against the overall good of society.

Existing systems already facing problems will be shaken in crisis. They can be forms of government, financial setups, trading orders, means of social communication, ways of delivering products and services or the divide between the various social classes. 

The world can witness more significant changes in mankind's development borne out of upheaval than during stable periods. At times, whole regions fall into relapse before rising again like the proverbial Pheonix.

It is not unexpected, after a catastrophic event, Mother Earth takes occasion to heal, regrow and revive. This may happen despite the ravages inflicted by humankind, biological organisms or atmospheric forces. The environment reintensifies with oxygen, over farming is stopped in the tracks and there is more time for non-human species to flourish again.

When human populations get decimated - and what many of us take for granted are taken away - the mindset of human individuals and communities can be reshaped by moderation, realisation and reinspiration.

People and societies find another way, perhaps more effective ones, of doing things and viewing their place in the Universe.

The true character of individuals, whether they are leaders, business allies, or just your friends or relatives, can be suddenly sifted out in the shake up. The best of true friendships are reinforced and at the same time, the worst of unreliable relationships are revealed. 

In a crisis, over the top materialism and excessive consumption are stripped bare for what they are. A monetary system that trades on dubious underlying values can be ripped apart. Governments that take the easy way out by printing money without supporting assets are caught. Nations that put the proverbial eggs in one basket will find grief in over depending on the golden goose that can no longer lay those easy come easy go revenue eggs. Players are shaken off their comfort zones.

So overdue restructuring of economic and trade parameters can be pushed forward in a crisis. Bad business management is thrown out, in an escalated way.

Man made boundaries are thrown off their shackles in times of war, whether initiated by aggressors of whatever kind - humans, artificial intelligence or biological. Traditional ways of seeing the world are disrupted.

#yongkevthoughts

Diversity on a Normal Day

 My normal routines here in Australia have a variety of meeting people of various backgrounds.

I do not think of race - only conscious of people with positive energy, people who inspire me, people who can teach me new things, people who change my mindset in a good way.

So in a weekend I can weed spray my bricked courtyard, having learnt safe techniques from an Anglo-Saxon.

Then I have brunch in a local eatery run by Italians.

I can chat with international students working in a fresh produce market before I go home to cook. I have my free to air tv on, just listening to the barrage of usa generated propanganda on news bulletins streamed in from the night before.  Know your friends, but know the manipulators better, lol.

I like to watch contemporary Asian movies, but films also reflect the problems, opportunities and attitudes in society.

I also love pottering in the garden and enjoy Indigenous, South east Asian and Euro origin plants and blooms.

Near dinner time, the Rupert Murdoch funded forces spew one sided news on the commercial channels here.  It is so liberating for me to realise I do not have to believe whatever is pushed to my ears.

Then to wind down, I look for views from a more multi polar political world.  No time to attend to distractions, diversions and disillusionment.

#yongkevthoughts

Blog 18th Anniversary - Oh Malaysia!

 Britain granted independence to Peninsular Malaya on 31 August 1957.  Here is one

of my previous write ups. 

As a child having a charmed life on Penang Island, this day was anticipated with much fanfare.  The lyrics of the National Anthem were reexamined in earnest.  Specials were screened at theatres and on telly.  No special cakes or delicacies were made though, even for a food obsessed society.

Neighbours did however come out in compounds to chat with each other.  English was still spoken with gusto - and everything Brit was still held with respect, much akin to parents in contemporary Malaysia still, having an embedded respect of university education in good reliable England.

I never questioned then what we were celebrating independence from. Sure, the history books said we were free from the yoke of imperialism, economic exploitation and rule by a foreign race.

But I could already enjoy the heritage of what Britain left behind in other positive aspects.  There was a Westminster based Parliamentary system.  We already had a royalty, from nine component states, left intact by colonial interests - in case anyone missed Queen Liz.  There were legal and governance systems already working in the Malayan Civil Service.

Transport infrastructure, education mechanisms and economic pillars were already well established, much better than in most newly founded nations.  There was a strong foundation of family, criminal, corporate and tax law like in Australia.

Friends of my parents, my classmates and neighbours relished in enjoying commonly shared values than focus on differences.
Socially, we immersed themselves in laughter, helping each other out and cultivating joint hobbies.

Gatherings were more spontaneous than formal, centring round fruit seasons, cultural festivals, good weather days and when people needed a listening ear.
In the classroom, there was a comradeship that transversed the boundaries of religion, ethnicity and class.

We valued the English language for its dominance in world trade. We learnt our respective mother tongues. By law, we learnt the Malay lingua franca.   In Penang, there was a Patois spoken that is still as colourful as in New Orleans, Papua New Guinea or in South Africa. 

Like in Sydney and Melbourne these days, we had access to several cuisines - and still do.   Friends of diverse backgrounds used to eat together at the same table, but I understand now they no longer do.  We picked up using the whole plethora of ingredients from well tried recipes from around Asia and Europe.

My Eurasian Uncle Cornelius exemplified the closeness of Malaysians when I was growing up.
He personified Christmas to me, with a joy from his Dutch heritage and his ability to make magic of a day when he visited.  Mum and our Sri Lankan neighbour' s wife made curries.   I still recall the beauty of furniture in the lounge when we visited Cikgu Iskandar.  I picked up bad words in Tamil, Hokkien, Cantonese, Japanese, Mandarin and Malay - and they did have a punch which can hold their own in an ocker Aussie pub.

Soccer, badminton, late night suppers, jungle and beach trial walks, hide outs on Friday arvos after school - they all had no racial identification.  There was a strong underlying and unspoken bond of just being humans, of growing up and of connecting to society.

What seemed like benign bureaucratic practises - like of being identified by race and religion, instead of just being Malaysian - in retrospect, evolved into tools of separation, social alienation and discrimination.  Critics blame the colonial authorities for laying down the seeds of the current socio-political structure in current day Malaysia.   They cite the "divide and rule" strategy utilised to manage a diverse society like Malaya before independence.   However, once tey were their own rulers, the politicians of the day reinforced this policy, instead of applying fresh and innovative approaches like meritocracy,  equity and tolerance.

As a child in Malaysia, I vaguely recall a night curfew imposed in Penang, due to riots and social disorder.  Such tools of social and political control can be primitive in looking back, for now there are other covert or other more effectivs tools of political manipulation, corruption in theft of state funds, mass cajoling of the emotions of voters and gerrymandering of electorate borders.

Malaysia's ideal democratic practices have sadly been whittled or hijacked as the nation moved to the 21st century.   There has grown a culture of dependency on state hand outs to a majority of its denizens, who dominate the military, civil service, universities, police, banks and economic or trading monopolies.  The growing emphasis by a series of Prime Ministers since the 1980s in linking political power with financial kleptocracy measures has taken a severe impact on the nation's vibrancy and future prospects.

Malaysia is a land of abundant resources, scenic landscapes and potential.  It has been the less than desired management by its leaders that have now rendered it less attractive for investment potential than its nearby neighbours if Vietnam, Indonesia and Singapore.

My birthplace has petroleum resources, agricultural wealth, manufacturing capability and strides between China, India and Australasia.  Yet some key factors continues to suppress its future potential - leadership, mindset, history and inertia.  Blame shifting has also been a characteristic of its past.  Soon there may be no one else to put the blame on, apart from themselves.

Before the arrival of Covid, the seeds of problems and embedded issues have nor been resolved. A pandemic only amplifies the weaknesses and rifts already raging in a nation.

So far from the evening equatorial thunderstorms, smells and sights of a colourful street and the chatter of boyhood mates, I reflect - can Malaysia turn round a corner?

#yongkevthoughts

Blog 18th Anniversary - Covid 19 Times

 

Many significant matters in our personal lives, and that of the world, seem and are at the same time put on hold, as if in a freeze-frame of photography -  as media, politicians and commercial medical providers overcrowd our attention to a virus we cannot even see.

And in the rising din, underlying panic and ever changing positions generated by various parties in this on going circus, of how to best manage this c19, it seems to me that things can just be plucked from the air and covert intentions not fully disclosed to the public.  There can be too much talk and too little meaningful action which brings results.  Politicians change their directions increasingly to serve their survival, rather than the health of their voters.  Medical bureaucrats can be under unstated pressure by the powers that employ them.  There are increased concerns in the militarisation of the public management of this Coronavirus. 

The connundrum between choosing lockdowns or vaccinations is the latest dilemna faced by governments.   Are vaccinations encouraged with creating a false positive sentiment as elections draw near?   Why has there been no progress and communication by Big Pharmas in developing a treatment for c19?   Canberra has made serious mistakes in over depending on only two types of vaccines - and looks like only going to over rely on Messenger RNa vaccines in the future. 

Several nations are beginning to stare c19 in the face, as they cannot maintain a zero tolerance approach in snuffing out c19.  Movement restriction, if continued for too long, is increasingly impractical.

Individually, each of us has to grab the proverbial bull by the horn and tame the beast .  For around 18 months, no reassuring results have been achieved by those who rule us - if this was a Board and senior executive of a listed conpany, they all would been sacked at an extraordinary General Meeting.

How I cope is to follow and implement the four principles of self preservation and personal development.

P - Presence of positive spirit and mind is always good to be conscious of and practice.

A - Agendas, good and bad, are to be discerned between the lines, exhortations and varying policies we are put up with.

I  - Intelligence, not Inoculations, is the primary tool we possess to counter this Delta spread.

N - Negativity is to be avoided, so that we can maintain our own clarity and purpose in our journey amidst distractions, deflections and devastation.

Oscar Wilde is reputedly quoted with " Suffering is nothing, when there is love."

The suffering imposed on each of us, in this challenging time, can not be accompanied with empathy, humaneness nor concern by the people and organisations we put in power to take care of us.

So I say, "Suffering is nothing, especially when we just take more care of ourselves."

And I am no Oscar Wilde.

#yongkevthoughts

Paper, Where Art Thou?

An update.

 So paper continues to be on the way out in our daily lives. Or so it seems, perhaps reinforced by the need to be more contactless, surfaceless and storageless in this Age of Technological Revolution.

It can be interesting we are not always offered the paper receipt or invoice at cafes, newsagents, produce outlets and eating places, as the transaction is already captured online.  If you want a copy of the receipt, you have to give an email address - and such email addresses can be further possibly be spamned or hacked.

Paper based products are still gooxld to blow a nose, absorb the excess oil after a deep fry and in demand for our delicate bums after answering Nature's call.  Yet the wheels of contemporary commerce discourage paper trails with their consumers, embedding the writing in the wall for printers and the use of the still pervasive suburban post box.

Paper shredders can go the way of the extinct Dodo bird.  People may still enjoy the feel of the ever shrinking daily newspaper and love their grilled fish served on printed paper.  The disposable virus protector face mask is essentially crafted from paper layering.  Magazines are no longer the companions on rainy days, long train rides and at afternoon tea sessions at home that they once were.  Are trees being saved with a reduced usage of paper, or trees are depleted anyway for other stronger reasons?

Electronic screens are increasingly held more than paper pages.  Libraries and street bookshops are still significant custodians of knowledge on paper despite it all.  The vulnerabilities of holding knowledge and information on paper are highlighted by the storage of things and data on virtual clouds and internet files, but the latter has other risks inherent and subject to hacking, contamination and identity theft.

Butcher paper, art materials and Origami still retain an elegance and usefulness about paper.  The historical transformation of paper originating from papyrus reeds to its important role in spreading knowledge and equity, as accessible printed items can never be underestimated. 

Contemporary technology has led us to increasingly abandon paper as a medium, but perhaps paper will still be utilised for other but more niche purposes.  The role of paper as money in currency circulation has also been questioned, as governments moved to plastic at the close of the 20th century and then to digital monies in the 21st.

Paper has served to facilitate the societal arrangements and needs of humankind for a long time.   Their creation, destruction and disposal has meant various things in different cultures and religions.  Paper has been laminated, bound and preserved.   We used to put down our innermost thoughts, write our qualifying exams and declare our economic transactions mostly on paper.

Stationery still comes in countless forms on paper despite the advent of the digital age.  Our writing instruments still require paper instead of non paper materials.  It may be still too early to witness the demise of paper use.

#yongkevthoughts

AI Ramifications

 

My thoughts about AI are that once AI gets embedded into massive use, we will soon not realise or distinguish, what is the truth or reality, from what is made up with dubious agendas and out to mislead.

Technology will offer new fangled or useful mechanisms.  How one uses them is the bottom line reality for society, economy, philosophy, art, personal relations, geopolitics and in the broad management of Mother Earth.

Unlike offerings from past Industrial Revolutions, AI heralds a more serious concern to the human race, as AI can sophisticatedly self learn at a fast pace to emulate otherwise inherent human abilities like observing, copying plus self developing - and gradually become more independent from or merged in singularity with previously separate human intervention.

Applied negatively, AI will increasingly become a useful ingredient for destruction, manipulation and greed.  At the same time,
AI can save significant costs, bring more efficient supply logistics, eliminate repetitive work in human labour and provide instant analysis of performance, business or health wise.

With a burgeoning population of currently 8 billion, Earth has so many unique humans to look for a purpose in employment, business or occupation role.
AI can remove much of human input in manufacturing, care services, health diagnosis, financial care, retail services, mass delivery, military, communication, transport and in the daily regime of any human being.

AI can spike the value of services and businesses where personal interaction is still offered, albeit at expensive prices and higher revenue margins.

AI can make its mark in the quality and quantity of services provided to customers residing in remote geographical areas, like across the United States, China, Russia, Africa, Australia, Canada, Brazil, Chile and Argentina.  Long distance education is an obvious candidate for such a useful purpose.

Aged care services so benefit from AI, ranging from diagnostic services, location of patients, stimulating activities for the elderly and in assessing meal standards.

On the other hand, will our already much eroded personal privacy parameters be scuttled even more by the application of AI technology?

AI only works when there is a viable level, capacity and capability of wi-fi delivery.  Not many places or much of the population have access to this higher level of wi-fi. 

Fun aside, like at this stage, with the making of amazing, humorous, agitative, educational, propagandic or
community video clips,  AI on balance poses further challenges to the viability, integrity and uniqueness of the human intellect, condition and pysche.

Will there be a time when AI creativity surpasses that of the human brain and heart?

As demonstrated in the past, pertinent regulation, policy and legislation introduced in various nations can be so many steps behind the impact of AI.  This kind of mindset and reactive response to AI can only be disadvantageous for human interests.   Earth is meeting head on with a powerful technology whose control still remains with supercharged and well funded powers.

#yongkevthoughts

And When Being Back in Penang

  

The land jutting out in the city centre comes to view with a hundred details.

 There is a mixture of architectural styles. What I like most of all are the Victorian styled terrace shophouses, with louvred windows, strong supporting columns, the covered five foot ways and the coloured tiles of the roofs.

Welcome back to George Town, and you can most likely see it first from the air as your air craft is landing.   

Sited on the north-eastern corner of an island smaller than Singapore, with a geographical feature of an island shaped like a tortoise and named after the areca nut palm.   The settlement has had humbled beginnings, with this cape partly cleared of the jungle by the cannon shooting of coins to help accelerate clearing of the jungle.  

The conurbation that developed is a testament to the days of monsoon winds powering sails, of adventurers from another side of the Earth and of trading and the search for spices driving schemes, financial power and politics across various cultures.

George Town, on Penang Island, thrived on the exchange of goods and produce that were sourced nearby or in exchange as an entrepôt facilitation between China, the South-east Asian isles, India, the Middle East and Europe.   The original engine of growth can be seen in the dry goods provisions, porcelain displays and crafts stocked in shops and markets full of character located in what UNESCO has deemed to be a world heritage quarter.

The streets laid out by Captain Francis Light and his able administrators are still there, luring backpackers, youthful tourists and well heeled groups cycling or walking on them or seated on pedalled rickshaws.  The walls of buildings tell a thousand stories, many of them faded and jaded, but there are also others well maintained with fresh paint or with street murals.

There can be several things to do during a short stay, but having a foodie trail seems to dominate.  Penangites are dominantly Hokkien, with food, cultural practices and traditions from the southern Chinese province of Fujian.  They, along with others from a China in dynastic turmoil, migrated since the 1800s for opportunity and risk to make a better life.

The street food from these Hokkiens include Lobak meat and veg rolls, oyster omelettes or Orh Chien, Char Koay Teow, Char Kueh Kak ( savoury radish cake) and prawn stock flavoured noodles ( Penang Hokkien Mee).  Add the Cantonese migrants who brought along their roast meat styles, Chow Hor Fun ( stir fried broad rice noodles oozing with wok heat), yum cha dumplings and claypot rice with Lap Cheong cured sausages.

People snack several times from food courts and street stalls a day and night here, but the servings are small, varied and so appetising anyone easily joins into this regime.  

Penang had fusion a long time ago.  The hybrid between East and West can be observed in the way of dress, eating habits, creative dishes and social attitudes.   The ability to obtain ingredients from various parts of the world is emphasised in what they have as day to day food.  You can have American styled burgers, Japanese ramen, South Indian banana leaf rice, English fish and chips, Italian pasta and pizza, Aussie beer, Tandoori chicken, German frankfurters, Chinese hotpot, Thai stir fries, Eurasian Sugee cakes, Straits Chinese delicacies, Vietnamese spring rolls, Malay Rendang and bacon on toast without any problems at all - and the only advice is to avoid the midday sun.

The island is essentially compact, with most of her population packed on to its eastern side.  To her west, quality durians have been cultivated on hilly slopes that look out to where the Andaman Sea meets the Straits of Malacca.

Penang's northern shores host a winding and mostly narrow road that stretches from Tanjung Tokong ( Temple Cape) to Teluk Bahang ( Bay of Heat).   Residences cling on to hill sides and intersperse with contemporary architecture hotels and resorts.

Food stalls, souvenir outlets and night clubs congregate at Batu Ferringhi ( Rock of Foreigners) that heralded the hype beach scene in South East Asia from the 1970s.

In the middle of this Pearl of the Orient stand out two landmarks that have withstood the test of time.  The Kek Lok Si ( Temple of Ultimate Happiness) exemplifies the best of Buddhist architecture with Thai, Burmese and Chinese influences - and has a giant statute of the Goddess of Mercy Guan Yin.  The beautifully lit up KLS can be best experienced during the 15 days and nights of the Chinese New Year festival.

Penang Hill began earnest existence as a British colonial hill station, replete with bungalows that were built from around a hundred and more years ago.   The views of Penang Island and the surrounding mainland of the Malayan Peninsular are inspiring anytime,  but more so at sunrise and sunset.

What are the downsides of contemporary Penang? 

The lack of public transport infrastructure is so obvious to residents or visitors alike.
The population has increased several fold but many of the roads remain as narrow and unchanged as when I grew up there.   Vehicle numbers have spiked beyond the ability of current roads to cater to them.

With two landmark Penang Bridges connecting the rest of the peninsular Malaysia to this small island,  long weekends and festive periods result in congestion, crowding and chagrin for the island's residents.  Traffic jams have caused a normally 30 minute car ride to Penang's Airport from the UNESCO Heritage Quarter of George Town into an uncertain delay and stress for many airline passengers.

High rise residential reality of the 2020s signals a change from single storey accommodation of the mid 20th century.
The cooks who are behind Penang's well known and unique street food are no longer the Chinese, Malays and Indians but these days can be from Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia and Vietnam.  French or Italian culinary are so protective of their strict traditions, but are Penangites equally so?

What business or industrial sector will make Penang's future?  The making of chips once made Penang famous as "Silicon Island" throughout the IT world.

Tourism revenues continue at its pace, with more investment in new hotels in the past few years.  Is medical tourism still growing, with costs cheaper than Singapore but more expensive than Thailand?

In the socio-political landscape of the Federation of Malaysia, Penang is one of the few hubs with a Chinese demographic (others can be the Klang Valley in Selangor, Ipoh and Taiping in Perak, Kuching and Sibu in Sarawak and the Johor Baru region next to Singapore).
How can present Penangites and their diaspora living overseas do effectively to better Penang's future in economic 
growth in a diverse society?

The big question remains, what can Penang do to differentiate herself from her competitors?

#yongkevthoughts

Professions, Politics and Your Personal Choice

At times I do wonder...... So called professions impose a strict regime on the entry of members to their groups. The rules, policies, examinations, continuing training and unspoken traditions can be viewed, at the very best, as maintaining or enhancing the quality of admitted members. At the other end of the scale, it also works to limit the quantity of practitioners, imbue them with a privileged sense of exclusivity and pull into better consensus as to which future directions the profession's core wants.

 Is politics a profession? If it is, there do not seem to be the same formal admission processes required otherwise of most trades and professions. The clue is in the nature of the beast - politics essentially thrives on informality, flexibility, relationships, strategisation and personalities. Yet the stark difference is that one does not have to obtain academic qualifications to enter politics.

Politics can be compared to fulfiling tribal tendencies and imperatives of human nature. Power - and the ability to exercise it - can be the most attractive feature captivating to those individuals and parties who have tasted it. And this political power reigns supreme to direct, manage and control the lives of other individual human beings, who can have much better attitudes, talents and skills than people in politics.

The Achilles heel in so called contemporary democratic systems is that in the extreme, radicals, fools and those with the loudest voices - and not necessarily with the best qualifications -find they can exploit the system to enrich, empower and elevate themselves without care or concern. The inherent and actual power of politicians can embed society into collective consequences which voters do not deserve. Politicians influence the investment climate, the working enviroment of medical frontliners and the very basis of a progressive civilisation - the law. Just to name a few. It disturbs me that so called enlightened human beings allow such a risk to continue to manifest itself. 

As I am told, do not blame anybody else, if I allow the corrupt, the hoodwinkers and the hypocrites to be my political leaders. To be fair, not all politicians are negative. Yet, for example, most professional bodies do not demand improvements in the political sector - and are left to be subject to the vagaries and whims of the ruling political power, good or not so good. Perhaps professional bodies can learn more from political parties - to be more savvy in networking, to improve its image and communications, to form alliances with bodies outside its niche profession and to help develop society in its broadest possibilities. Those who remain overly quiet can be relegated to the sidelines. Those who speak out can be effective, if they are persuasive, address needs and have connections. Those who speak out with over the top vibes and misleading agendas can become obvious as to intent. For anyone, with or without membership of a formal professional body, what is your choice?

Do not let misleading politicians of not so desirable intent insult our inherent intelligence.

 Every action of ours is important, when we make it so. This is not just applicable for professional and political bodies. #yongkevthoughts

Thoughts in the Course of Life

 The coverage of news and communication powerfully funded media dishes out to us can be fickle, ever changing and held captive by selfish interests.

Freedom of access to what we need to know, has been replaced by manipulation, of such a freedom, to that of us being subject to propanganda, political brain washing and strongly vested interests.

Here are some of the news that we are rarely reminded of.

That things and experiences we seem to get for free and access so easily rob us of more significant personal costs.

That promises to reimburse us, upon the occurence of specified events, regularly drain us of our earnings as cash cows.  Such parties can play on the emotion of fear, risk and misplaced assurance.

That repeated behaviour of consumers can be the most rewarding of revenue source to parties that sell products and services to them.

That market capitalism and privatisation increasingly do not work in the interests of ethical behaviour.

That nutrition, medicine and health treatments can start with what you regularly consume and your lifestyle -  ending up with what only takes care  of symptoms and not the cause of it all.

That constant reinforcement of beliefs, right, wrong or dubious, emphasised on to the public can eventually work.

Just reflect more of these in your personal and family experience.

#yongkevthoughts

Questions about the Illawarra NSW

 The Illawarra region depends significantly on only the normal surface commute trains for public transport to and from Greater Sydney.

There are no underground Metro trains, no light rail gliders and no ferry services between Circular Quay in Sydney and Port Kembla.

No regular bus services operate between the Illawarra and southern Sydney border.

Many baby boomers from the Illawarra area and NSW south coast use the rail to get to Sydney Airport flights or Circular Quay Sydney Harbour for their cruise ships.  It is an almost two hour trip one way.

There is an over dependence on private cars on the long highway from Sutherland to Wollongong and vice versa.

There is under developed infrastructure in the Illawarra, whose voters have always elected Labor - and which Labor at State, Council and National levels may possibly have taken the region for granted.

I am told that AUKUS submarines paid for by Canberra to the USA, if realised, are going to be stationed at Port Kembla. 

The town's main manufacturer BlueScope faces in 2025 high Usa tariffs for steel production.

The Illawarra has joined some other parts of Greater Sydney in having its economy churned by property sales, barista cafe lifestyle and aging services, but it does not look and is not as dynamic as some key suburbs across Greater Sydney.

Many Sydney property owners have also sold out across Greater Sydney and resettled along the NSW South Coast, if not moving out of the Big Smoke to be on the Central and North Coast of the State.
Property prices along the Illawarra have also risen alongside the mushrooming of high rise blocks.  Youngsters may naturally gyrate towards Sydney side, but the persistent lack of supply of housing there has embedded itself to a horrible situation of spiking rental lease costs, increasing vehicular traffic and crowded suburbs.

The Tasman Sea may be near and scenic to Illawarra residents, but her beaches have lured the demographics of south west Greater Sydney, especially when there are no parking fees, welcoming beach infrastructure of bbq pavilions and less people than in Cronulla, Bondi or Manly.

Wollongong Cbd is showing signs of struggling businesses.   There is a much reduced David Jones, but retail sales may bot be encouraging, especially for the smaller shops and eateries.   Crown Street Mall looks awesome and sea breezes also bless it due to its location near Wollongong Harbour.  The weekly Friday markets have stalls operated by people outside town and things are asked for at Sydney prices.   Maybe Thursday to Friday evenings show the most economic activity but not on other nights.

The Ilawarra may best be described as a residential corridor rather than a bee hive of business, innovation and consumption.
There can be no innovative plans or design to make the Illawarra prosper better for the future. It is seen as a university campus town whose fortunes can depend on foreign markets.  No high tech footprint has arisen in all these years.
Wind farms are planned by the government outside Wollongong Harbour but the energy generated can possibly mostly serve the burgeoning populations of Greater Sydney up north.

The tourism potential of the Illawarra has not risen to what can be.   Even the world class UCI cycling event in 2022 was amazingly not promoted like in Europe or North America. 

#yongkevthoughts