THANKS TO MEIJIE AND JOANNE – they revived the good old Christmas Spirit of Giving and brought our "nearly dead" ProX back to life! Same here in Hong Kong, I am trying to replicate the goodwill to my company and client. So far, it has been very encouraging. The Hong Kong ProX will be activated sometime end Jan 2010.

For those who are new to "Project X" (ProX) – it was a charity movement started back in 1993 by the Wahbiang Clan. We realised that many people spent good money on food and gifts during festive seasons. Instead of "wasting hundred of good dollars" on turkey and log-cakes, we decide to spend Christmas meaningfully. We save these good money on gifts for the needy. For many years, 24th Dec was the night when the clan delivered gifts and money to the old folks. Such activities bring the group together – We work together to create something so meaningful and joyful. Most important, Christmas is more than just a celebration of friendship and gift-exchanges. It is also the season of Giving.

This year, Joanne, Meijie and Caffeine raised fund for the Singapore Children Aid Society. Within a short period of 1 week. they put everything together. And late last night (24th Dec), 5 representatives (Joanne, Meijie, Kalinda, Gareth and me) from Wahbiang and Caffeine worked through the wee hours to pack all the gifts. Overnight at Caffeine Studio, we worked till 6am this morning! (And later at 8am, they sent me off at the airport!) These were the finest and most meaningful moments of my Singapore trip.

 

Enjoy the photos of "ProX"! And we hope to inspire all of you to do the same with your group of friends! And a big thank to those who donated generously in our ProX! Merry Xmas!

 

There have been many new developments in Singapore since I left in 2006 – (The Singapore Flyer, New IR Marina / Sentosa, New KYE Expressway, VivoCity, The New East Coast Lagoon, F1 Night Race, Airport Terminal 3, Roof-top Walk, Dempsy, new Cathay, HK Cafe etc) Of course, all of these sounded so "out-dated" now.

Meijie and Joanne have told me about the new "Orchard Road" (the new 313 Somerset, Ion etc) I was very eager to explore those new shopping attractions. Thanks to my good old poly friend, Mok Ching – she took some hours off on Wednesday afternoon and showed me around. (Yes, she is an excellent Tour Guide). We visited the new ION, 313 Somerset and Orchard Central. Of course, we walked past the new Mandarin Hotel and Centerpoint.

My verdict of the new Orchard Road? ION is clearly overhyped, boring and disappointing. Other than its fancy "organic" exteriors, there is nothing new inside. Just duplicate of top-end fashion brands. 313 Somerset is another let down. Small low entrance, tight shopping space and raw interiors. I wonder why are we building more new duplicates of the 90s? Shouldn’t we build new "world firsts" (I thought that was our forte?) Seriously, there is nothing new to attract and offer to our tourists.

The only new place which attracted and impressed me is Orchard Central. I like the long external "escalators". I love the roof-top garden dining concept. And I love the concept of blending arts & retail. This is modern living. I really hope to see more of such "new experience" in our new IR-developments. We do not need another duplicate of the past. But something new for the world to come and see.   

I have just watched a very disturbing DVD. These images are real and the butchering is taking place right now – "THE COVE" may be this year’s most sensational activist documentary against dolphin-killing. It may be also the biggest talk-about documentary after "The Inconvenient Truth" & "Fast Food Nation". You get to witness the darkest and most ugly secret of Japan – The Untold Story of Taiji – a small fishing town that slaughtered 23,000 dolphins every year for all the possibly wrong reasons. What shock me most is the hall of "leaders" – who are given power and the authority to act against such cruelties – talk with little action against those who defended their senseless acts. Clearly, we are living in a diplomatic world – a world where leaders no longer stood firm on one side of belief but in grey zones of conflicts. My doubt is – if we cannot solve something so basic and small, how can we entrust and empower leaders with bigger issues?

This is more than just a story of innocent killing of dolphins. It reveals the stupidity of how nations and "authorities" handle worldly issues. For every conflict out there in this world – we employed a bunch of idiots (great speakers) to defend and justify their acts with a loadshit of research and claims. We then table those issues in all types of mediums / media and we wait …and wait for another to act (before we react to their acts). Leaders are only interested in doing things right and no longer doing the right things. Even a domestic divorce today fully occupied our minds of getting the right "processes, procedures and documentations" that we ignore our fundamental skillsets of managing a broken relationship / family.

Gone are the days of TV – which government used to broadcast their scripted content into our minds. Gone are the days when we only rely on 2-3 channels for opinions and info. Yet our reaction speed to resolve issues are still hindered by so many "secret agendas and untold objectives". It takes one day to start a war but it take another 10 years to end it. Which school of thoughts of calculation do leaders rely on today in making their final decisions? Perhaps a good PR speech and lots of data.