Sight to Insight

What could bring lawyer and scientist together? Appreciation of art and art as an investment. We have been colleagues for over a decade in Singapore. He decided to follow his passion into art, and I decided to learn "art" from my "scientific" thinking. I asked myself a few questions before investing in art: 1. Do I like the piece? 2. Am I willing to pay for what I like? 3. Is there any possible investment value over the longer term (>5 years)? Above all, getting a third party opinion from my lawyer always help. Here is a happy moment of home cooked dinner at my friend's house where family members can eat and laugh together. It is a simple but often neglected habit. Yes, it is a simple habit to deepen the bond of friendship.

Boxing day or rather night was the reunion of five of us from Bentong Gospel Centre (BGC). I have not met them for over a decade. Imperial Palace, at Subang Jaya was the chosen location. The food quality was not great, but the conversations were. The bonding as friends is as remarkable as the religion that made us "brothers and sisters". It is an evening that I will remember for a very long time. Memories and names of people have to be dragged out from cells which haven't been working for a very long time. It is an exercise that could delay Alzheimer disease, I am sure. But it was all worth it, to link back names and events that have happened so very long ago. They bring back sweet memories. I started with BGC when I was 15 years old, and that was almost 4 decades ago! I remember Roger Dalhberg, the missionary from Wanganui, New Zealand, who started it up with his family. He is now in the Philippines, continuing with his missionary work. What a remarkable man, who brough...

I changed the blog URL to "living-a-good-life" to feed my behaviors toward that goal in life. Indeed, during this Christmas festive season in Subang Jaya, all activities are contributing to this goal. Christmas is a public holidays in both Malaysia and Singapore. That's already a good thing to have if you were an employee. My company shuts down during this season for the whole week to save cost and increase profitability. I am not going into this rationale for my private blog. My family and I drove up from Singapore for a week's vacation back "home". For me, visiting the old folks as many times as I could is one important duty and it is a demonstration of a good life. My mum is now 85 and still running around healthily. This is a great life for her and us. We are blessed and thankful. My mother in law isn't so healthy, but she is always a dear person, who tries her best to make life great for everyone in the family. That attitude makes life wonderful. Lo...

This was the exact word of an ex-colleague who is 63 years old (see picture), owning a beautiful cottage on a mountain resort (see picture), just about two hours by train from Shinjuku station. Why do I want to write about it? The simple answer is that corporate ladder climbers have forgotten that there is life outside of work! He is the prime example of this story by demonstrating that he is just too busy to think about working for a living. He is working for his life! He is working for his entertainment! He is working to bring joy to many people. A few of us who are still working for the corporation visited and stayed for two nights at the cottage. The atmosphere was so serene that the stress of work disappeared, as I looked up the blue sky littered with sparkling stars in the night. The cold spring of just about 4 degree celcius added to that peacefulness. A barbecue dinner along with beer, wine and jovial conversation truly brought out what friendship can be developed even in the c...