The Coming Summer of Discontent

 The Mr Scrooge Predictions for the coming Antipodes summer 2022/2023. 

1.   A new wave of Covid strains is likely to cause spike in infections across greater Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane soon. Case numbers will continue to be under reported, more people can experience long Covid and we are approaching the third annual anniversary of the arrival of the now increasingly unmentionable matter. 

2.   Many eating places of varying set ups across Australia will be closed for a few weeks after Christmas. Shortage of vegetables and other fresh produce are likely to hit supermarkets and eating outlets across NSW and Victoria, as Christmas 2023 approaches, due to recent widespread flooding over many farms. 

3.  The months long continuing dispute between Nsw State Government and train workers for Greater Sydney have risks of getting worse. 

4.    Prices of daily consumption items will be going up further, like for petrol, groceries, human services, insurance premiums, utility usage and supply charges, airfares, private school fees and child care services. 

5.    Warmer and radiating dry weather can make afternoons unbearable going out in coming months, unless one is determined to have that tan and risk the health side effects. 

6.     Food, grocery and other delivery service charges will increase.  This is one example of the lack of labour supply for many sectors that rely on cheaply paid human resources to deliver the final stage of consumer interface transactions. 

7.    La Nina is forecast to hang around in the coming season - with some of the lingering uncertainty, more of the wet in some states, more heat in the west of the Australian continental island and generally more of the same like in the past 12 months. 

8.    The downstream impact of the huge battle for reliable supply of smart chips is yet to be fully played out. 

9.      Investment options for players of all funding ability sizes will change over the next 3 months, whether decision makers are on holiday or not.  The arrival of recession in the UK; the need to draw a line on the books before the festive season and the close of the year;  the staged increase in interbank rates by several central banks; the continuing rollercoaster ride of crypto currency; the changing return on bonds; the shifting attitude for small caps; the rise in exchange value of the USD; and the outlook for the Chinese economy are all still relevant in the heady mix of the cauldron. 

10.    Using airports will further embed our perceptions of their disorganisation; the lack of connect between corporate planning, purported marketing image and the actual customer experience;  the greater investment by airport operators/ owners in vehicle parking spaces rather than anything else;  of the strong need by airlines to fill up every passenger seat of every flight; and the silo effect and divide between Immigration, Airline and Customs as a passenger goes through the process before and after a flight. 

Okay, I better move on to brighter things. Lol. 

#yongkevthoughts

The Promise

 

Human pyschology in approaching purchases - a deal, a package, a commitment, an arrangement or a perceived need - can be fascinating, bewildering or just being held captive.

Try assessing whether you would enter into the following product arrangement.

1.    You pay upfront in money for a promise of services that you may never use.

2.     The annual charges increase every financial or calender year - and you will definitely be charged more if you had breached some detailed promise on your part.

3.     You are asked to disclose personal details of yourself, your lifestyle and your movements before the product is sold to you.
There is no guarantee your privacy is protected in practice in the data base of such providers.

4.    Legislation makes it compulsory for you, your entity or business to have  or require the product.

5.  The people, software robot or website interface you deal with, after buying the product, have a different personality or customer interactive approach after you buy from them.

6.    The contract for such products is purposefully made complex, utilises legalise language or high sounding technical terms and has so many pages that turns off most customers from ever reading it.

7.     There have been rogue players in the product sector that you want to deal with.  Gross breaches of contract, uncivil behaviour and unexplained penalties have been landmarks of such providers.

8.    Authorities and governments have declared such providers as too big to fail.

9.    Such providers often hold us as captives by luring us with peanuts and diversions as earning points, making us buy things or services we do not need - and make us wait for a long time before we can claim our membership rewards.   The common thread in such provider programs are getting us to be involved in churning of transactions that add volume and margin to their business.

10.    Promises of payback, claims and refunds of our upfront financial payments are laced with conditions, percentages and administrative splitting of hairs.

#yongkevthoughts

Compare The Pair

 

The longest reigning royalty.
The shortest ruling Prime Minister in a nation's history.

Both were not given their roles in democratic elections.
One talks too much, the other was so consistently discerning, in reflection.

Both are called Liz.
One has enjoyed the glory of Empire.
The other aspires for power, Sire.

One has long overcome episodes of family rife and public dissent.
The other cannot handle six weeks of political turmoil and resentment.

One met the last Queen, the other shook the hands of an inexperienced wannabe.

One is a familiar authority recognised through generations.
The other now seems more like a figment of a horrible reality, not imagination.

Empires come and go,
what makes good leadership more treasured than gold?

The Autumn of Britain, 2022.

#yongkevthoughts

Growing up in Penang

 The nostril arousing cooking aromas wafted through the house.

It was a hands on encounter of delightfully trying to second guess the source of the ingredient utilised.  At times, it was irresistible to just go downstairs to see what Mummy was dishing up over the stove. 

The equatorial afternoons can be oppressive outside. So on a public holiday or weekend, we would most likely be preserved behind closed doors with the air conditioning fully switched on. I would go through  a spectrum of reading material, which would reveal the wonder and complexity of the world outside.  

Cocooned as I was, I could hear the cries of passing vendors, visitors to the house at the gate and at times, the rumblings of a budding thunderstorm.   Best of all was listening to the radio, with voice inflections, pronounciations and enchanting beats of music. 

Friends from school would drop by on their bikes.  We would chat outdoors during the coolish evenings and rattle about several things, building up our individual art of conversation and developing a rapport not afforded elsewhere.  Time would seem endless, the mood so relaxed and then hunger for street food may arise. 

The casualness and accessibility for dining out were taken for granted.  As a child, it was a treat to go out in the car with Papa late at night, to not go far in a user friendly city, to find groups of people huddled over low tables enjoying their supper, even if it was a school

night.   The diversity of food offerings was taken for granted by me, the charcoal fire pots were feeding into a culinary delight and we bumped into other families known to us.  There was no need to change our clothes, as we took such trips already suited in our pyjamas - all ready to scramble into bed on reaching home in the late of an exciting evening.  Steam warm baos were a late evening treat.

Politics, race and disappointment were not on the menu.  Through optimistic childhood eyes, I recall only encouragement, inspiration and laughter.   Uncles and aunts dropped by, engaged in chatter which only widened my mindset and appreciation of the outside world. My Mum's sis Keow Ee was always there to make sure I was recovering well when I had a childhood ailment.  I particularly looked forward to sitting down in the lounge during visits by Papa's youngest brother Hong Beng.  Their youngest sister Kuchai cooked the best dishes - and still does in Island Glades, south of George Town. Brother Kin On took much of his effort and time to run things around the house, organise logistics for me and  do so much more. Aunt Suan always had a big beaming smile for me.

Inevitably there was cognisance of an evolving and challenging society as another veneer in life to grapple with.   My eldest brother was going to university for the first time, albeit in another city, when his inter-state train arrived smack in the middle of the nation's largest and most serious riots after a general election.  An uncle would be involved in a road accident as the over bright sunlight  temporarily blinded his sight - but he would survive.    The national airline had an aircraft that crashed in a remote swamp on the short haul between the capital city and Singapore. 

My thoughts were already articulated in the English language, although I learnt various dimensions of other languages - in varying degrees. I still recall Cikgu Othman at Francis Light Primary School who sufficiently encouraged me to master the official National Language for me to win an award.

If we see the best of a multi-racial society to make the most of it, we reap the benefits of diversity and harmony.   I rode a manual bike to Penang Free School with Ishak, the son of a navy father.  My Mum infused in me the love of Sri Lankan curries, the recipes of which were taught from a neighbour.   Uncle Cornelius gave me the best Christmases as I was growing up.

Dr. Yeoh and Uncle Harry organised beach outings, dinners at hilltop eatouts overseeing the beach and facilitated sleep overs with their children at their house.  Robert Donald Julian was the first American school boy I met and know of.   

From the base in Malaysia, my first tropical island visit overseas was Phuket.   Suchart and his family took care of me like a brother.   I gradually learnt to be grateful for and appreciative of special individuals who navigated me on my journey and let me see what is truly important, cutting off distractions, managing disruptions and optimising dilemnas. 

My childhood in Penang was enchanting, practical and with a strong foundation for various aspects of life.  

Malaysia marks its 65th year of independence from Britain on 31 August, 2022. 

#yongkevthoughts

Mr. Lincoln Rose