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Happy New Year and Hari Raya Haji Greetings from George Yeo

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From George Yeo

Christmas

1. It is interesting how Christmas has become a festive occasion for everyone, not just Christians. Whether it is China, Vietnam or Indonesia, Christmas is being celebrated on a growing scale. An important reason is commercial of course. Some Christians object to Christmas being commercialised but I think this is too narrow a view.

2. There is a parallel with Chinese New Year and Deepavali. For many Chinese, there is a religious aspect to Chinese New Year which calls for burning of joss and visits to the temple. But there is a cultural aspect which is not religious at all. It is the same with Deepavali, the festival of light, which is both a religious and a cultural celebration. I believe Christmas is becoming the same. Still, it seems odd that Christmas decorations should become increasingly commonplace in Chinese cities. But then China has become a major supplier of the objects and decorations used during Deepavali (like the oil lamps) and the Muslim Id (like twinkling lights and lanterns).

3. I attended Christmas Midnight Mass at the Carmelite Monastery with my family. This is a family tradition. This year, the Risen Christ Choir sang the hymns and carols. The Carmelite nuns dedicate themselves to a life of prayer. They are a contemplative order and do not leave the monastery except when they need to see a doctor or vote at elections. There is always some disappointment when the constituency is uncontested because they don't get to come out to vote. (Opposition: please note.) They see visitors only on special occasions (like Christmas Eve) but separated by bars.

4. To all readers of Ephraim's and Harold's blogsites: Merry Christmas!

George Yeo

(Blog sites: beyondsg.typepad.com & ephraim.blogspot.com)

Narrowcasting Content and the Rise of Media DJ

1. As I am in the E-media business, I deal with content creation everyday. In my non-working hours, I deal with it too. When I turn on the television, I see a broadcast machine called the TV (or more likely LCD or plasma screen these days) and the television programmes as content. The distribution mechanism is of course the cable. When I jog with my uber-cool IPOD Nano, I am aware that Steve Jobs (Apple) is enabling me to access the digital music files (content) via a MP3 player (broadcast). I-Tunes would be the content distribution mechanism had it been available in

Singapore

, hence for now, it has to be the music CDs that I possess. So in my simplistic world, the media business really comes in three parts - the content, the broadcasting machine (PC, TV, MP3 player, newsprint, radio etc) and the distribution mechanism (cable, internet, airwave, cellular network). As early as 1996, Bill Gates made the speech “Content is King” and predicted people will pay for quality content or more accurately, “narrowcasted” content in the Internet age.

2. However, quality content is hard to find. There sees to be some form of 1^st Law of Conservation of Energy in content production and consumption. "Everything being equal, you need extraordinary effort to consume or access extraordinary content". Think about it. How many times have you seen Van Damn (pun deliberate) bashing someone's nose in the mindless reruns of his low budget “kungfu” films on TV? Even on paid channels like HBO and STAR, you get more junk than quality programming. And just when you think Discovery Channel is quality food for the brain, flip to that channel and most likely you will see an episode of "American Chopper" in which the father-son team will swear and curse while building some awesome bike for their rich clients. It is painful to watch and there is hardly any enlightenment or educational value in the programme and yet, the series seems to last forever... When I was at Discovery Channel HQ last year in

Washington

, I posed this question to an executive, "Why is this anomaly allowed to continue?" and he was puzzled too. He told me that people have written to Discovery that they should axe these two morons (again relative to the rest of the Discovery content) but somehow it has a life of its own.

3. Yet the classics like Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" or Tom Hanks 1998 "From the Earth to the Moon" or 12 Angry Men are hardly repeated on TV or even cable channel. I bet everyone has seen Sex in the City on HBO but miss the Tom Hank's classic which was a HBO production (if it was ever shown in

Asia

). Those are just some of my favorites and admittedly, one man's meat/vegetable is another man's poison. The same thing happens to me where the radio is concerned. How often do you hear your favorite song being played and it ended abruptly because it turned out to be a sampler of what types of songs the Radio DJ will play NEXT week.

4. Here is the good news. There are entrepreneurs who figure out how to make money out of narrowcasting content (but not necessarily, good content). With Satellite Radio like Sirius, you can listen to Howard Stern (bad example), Martha Steward and Deepak Chopra selectively. With IPOD, your playlist is your narrowcasting universe. You can delete any song you dislike; you don’t even need to skip a song on the CD. In

Singapore

, there are three discotheques which figure out how to narrowcast. On Wednesday, Zouk and Ministry of Sound play 80s and 90s “classic” pop hits and the Gen X audience dance happily away to the tune of Pet Shop Boys and Wham. Dragonfly or St James Station realizes that the disco crowd loves the same songs and the same act and they have a 1 hour Canto pop session, 1 hour classic 80s and guess what, they don’t even change the songs much because they know the audience loves the same hits. As the Teletubbies are fond of saying, “Again, again, again”.

5. I predict in a few years time, it will give rise to a Media DJ. Look around you, your IKEA cabinet is probably filled to the brim with DVDs and CDs. It is too much content chasing too few bandwidths. The Media DJ will be like a MTV personality. He will decide what you will experience that day. Say, you are a Science Fiction fan. The MDJ will play all the favorite Star Wars special moments or movies on TV, intersect with clips of other classic SF movies. On your web-enabled MP3 player, you will listen to “Also Sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spake Zarathustra)” – the soundtrack from Space Odyssey 2001. Your huge interactive digital wall painting will download screensavers from Battlestar Galaticca. The MDJ will totally immerse you in the content you want. They might call it your Content Bubble for the Day (CBD). The MDJ will hunt for quality content as he scans the Amazon, the Rotten Tomatoes (movie rating website) and other sources to find your stuff. MDJ will be the new media stars.

6. Maybe in that “choose your own content” world, we finally get rid of Van Damn’s cheap flicks and the horrors of WWF wrestling matches. Then again, if your wife or girlfriend subscribes to a “Korean Show “Content Bubble for the Day, well, you will have pretty actresses dying of cancer slowly on your LCD panel every half an hour. I have no solution to that. Go read a book.

Harold Fock

Singapore History Musuem

1. My kids were not exactly enthusiastic when I said I was taking them to the new SHM after lunch today. Museums have this effect on many people. Happily, it turned out to be a much more interesting experience. The renovation was well done. The new wing at the back provides large flexible spaces for events and exhibitions. Once you enter through the main entrance of the old wing, the fun exhibits engage young people. Ahead of you is a granite screen wall in the new wing embedded with LEDs.

2. The Singapore history exhibit makes use of a 'companion' which is a key pad with display and earphones enabling the visitor to move at his own pace and time. The floors and exhibits are numbered. All you have to do is type in the number to get the explanations. Chor Lin, Director of SHM, told me that teenagers love the companion. In the multi-media age, information, education and entertainment go together. When MITA was formed in 1990, the mission statement incorporated what Lord Reith once laid down for the BBC: to inform, educate and entertain. With new technology, these three aspects can be woven together in a way not possible before. The ability to make education entertaining is the key to success in the knowledge economy of the 21st century. It is wonderful to see our museums making full use of the new technologies.

3. Our museums have improved beyond recognition in the last 15 years. For many years, Singaporeans associated the National Museum with the old whale bones hung from the ceiling. Step by step, we built up our expertise and converted old heritage buildings into museums - the old SJI into the Art Museum, Tao Nan School and Empress Place into the Asian Civilizations Museum, and now, the old Raffles Museum into the new Singapore History Museum. In the coming years, the old City Hall and Supreme Court buildings will also become museums. We have also established the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall at Wanqingyuan, the Malay Heritage Centre at Istana Kg Glam and the Chinese Heritage Centre at the old Nantah Admin Block. This is a work of generations. Slowly but surely, we are recovering and rediscovering our diverse heritage. All this strengthens our sense of self and prepares us for an exciting future, with Singapore once again an important node in a re emergent Asia.

George Yeo

 

The Tunnels of Cu Chi

1. First time tourists to Ho Chi Minh City are usually brought to see and experience the Cu Chi tunnels. They are a complex of tunnels built over twenty years, starting with the war against the French. I first saw them 9 years ago when I led a delegation of Young PAP members to Vietnam. I visited them again recently with a delegation of over 100 grassroots leaders and their families. I thought then, and I still do today, that all our NS men should visit these tunnels. One can then understand the triumph of the human spirit over technology. While the Viet Cong had none of the technology the US Army had (B-52 bombers, special sensors, sophisticated weaponry), they had guts and tenacity. They were also prepared to sacrifice themselves. I remember reading a book called 'Fire in the Lake' in the 70's when I was still a student in university. Before the 1968 Tet Offensive (when the Communists lost the battles but won the war), the fighters were shown the coffins which they would be buried in if they fell in battle before the Offensive began. That vivid image was etched into my memory.

2. Seeing how the Vietnamese welcome the Americans today, one might think that all is forgiven and forgotten. I don't believe it. Near Ho Chi Minh City, Singapore helped the Vietnamese establish an industrial park at Binh Duong, a smaller version of Suzhou. It is a great success and going into Phase 2. When I was in MTI, I visited the Park a few times. One evening, I had dinner with the elderly Party Secretary. He did not seem to be involved much in the project or so some of us thought. When I asked him about the war years, he became animated. Binh Duong was the gateway to Saigon which the Americans could never fully control. In April 1975, as the Communists moved to encircle Saigon, the Party Secretary told me that they expected the Americans to attack them by air. US ground forces had already left in 1973. He said that if the Americans had sent their aeroplanes many would have been shot down. The Viet Cong were prepared and had their weapons ready. Al  this he said with a glint in his eyes which I had not seen before.

3. East Asians have long memories. The Vietnamese recall their wars with China as if they happened recently. Today the relations between Vietnam and China are good and both sides emphasize their fraternal relationship as Communist countries. But their attitudes towards each other remain shaped by historical experiences. Following PM Abe's visit to Beijing, the Chinese and Japanese have formed a group to study their historical relationship and try to find common ground for future relations. In Fairbank's and Reischaur's classic history 'The Great Tradition', China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam were considered one civilization, the civilization of the chopsticks people, all tunnel  diggers. The 21st century will open a new chapter in the story of that civilization.

George Yeo

Photo contributed by Mr Chi Chiew Sum (Editor: Thanks!) (From Left to Right: An American having difficulty passing thru the small tunnel; A Vietnamese guide going thru the tunnel with ease; Model of the Tunnel System)

Failure to Imagine

I am currently watching Tom Hanks’ emmy award winning docudrama “From The Earth to The Moon”. It chronicles the historic moon landing Apollo missions. From the unforgettable President Kennedy speech “We go to the moon .. not because it is easy, but because it is hard”, to the early Mercury and Gemini space capsule missions, to the Apollo 1 fire tragedy and finally to the moon landing on the 20^th July 1969 by Neil Armstrong “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”. Although the moon landing was motivated by the Cold War to beat Red Russia, it was a technical and human achievement of the highest order. And Tom Hanks, as executive producer and a space mission “fanboy” (he was reported to watch the Space Odyssey 2001 every few months to get his space fix), is just awesome here. The docudrama respects the audience intelligence, focuses on the human heroic elements and drools on the space technology (and at some point, almost worshipful as the camera traces the astronaut spacesuit or the rocket like objects of desire…)

In one memorable episode, three astronauts were killed on a routine test (on the ground) when a fire broke out in the Apollo 1 capsule. Because they were pumping pure oxygen into the capsule, a spark was all it took to start a firestorm inside the pressurized spaceship. Within 15 seconds, the astronauts were ephsyiated and moments later, burnt to death. It was the first NASA space mission tragedy, way before Challenger and Columbia disasters. As expected, there was the usual board of inquiry and witch-hunting so prevalent in public organizations. One of the key witnesses, an astronaut was asked, “What do you think really went wrong?”. The astronaut said, “Failure of imagination. Failure to imagine that a fire can break out on the ground. (on planet earth).We always prepare for a fire in space. So the manufacturers are at fault. So is NASA. So is myself who takes care of the crew safety. So is everyone involved in the Apollo program. So stop the witch hunt and let us go to the moon!” And the “courtroom” applauded.

Think about it. So many of our failures are due to an inability to imagine. So many businesses and projects fail because we refuse to imagine the possibilities. We fail to imagine a world where some very fast cars running round the track like a large-sized plastic Race Car set can attract millions of fans. It is called F-1 racing. But at least, we dare to imagine a future where adults need to be entertained and bet on building two world class resorts. Seth Godin in his book “The New Big is Small” pointed out that the film-maker Kodak refused to imagine a future where people will switch to digital cameras and do away with film development DESPITE the fact that they manufacture digital cameras too! It took them a long, long time to abandon the old business model before evolving to a new one (“digital media management kiosk”).

I retrospected a bit. I helped run a listed E-learning company in Asia. It started as a sports education business in Singapore and the founders had the vision and imagination to see a future where kids will be tested diagnostically on the PCs. Putting every spare dollar in the new E-learning division, the company managed to secure a few large projects and got itself listed. And now it is flexing its wings and testing new waters in Asia. But is it enough? Maybe the new future is not about Computer-based learning. Maybe it is about developing learning software and gameware with Xbox 360 and PSP3. Maybe it is like V-Tech, a producer of educational TV games with licenses from Winnie the Pooh, Elmo and Spiderman. Maybe it is about learning via Apple I-Pod Video PDA, we know Steve Jobs won’t stop there. Maybe it is back to good old fashioned books and educators go back to basics as the kids are more interested in the bells and whistles of the technology and not learning. Issac Asimov is very fond of saying that the best invention is the book It stores information. It requires no battery. And you can access information while sitting on the throne! Am I imagining enough? Are you?

Harold Fock

Names Matter

1. Names matter. When the Chief Minister of Karnataka pushed to changethe name Bangalore to Bengalooru, it probably enjoyed significant domestic support. Many foreigners would however find the change inconvenient. And Indian companies for whom the name 'Bangalore' carries international value would lose something, at least in the short term. But India has restored many old names in past years. Bombay to Mumbai. Madras to Chennai. The British Raj mangled the original names. The Nawab of Avadh, for example, became the Nabob of Oudh.

2 Sometimes, a name change is associated with a particular regime which others refuse to legitimize. In the UN and ASEAN, Burma has become Myanmar. The Americans and Europeans, including their newspapers, insist on the old name. I have some sympathy for the name 'Myanmar' because Burma derives directly from the Burmans who make up only 50% of the country's population. Myanmar is a more embracing name. But I've long given up trying to argue this case on behalf of my Myanma friends.

3. Then there are competing names for water bodies. The Arab countries refer to the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf. Some Koreans get a fit when they hear the sea between Korea and Japan being called the Japan Sea. Under Sukarno, Indonesia insisted on the Indian Ocean being called the Indonesian Ocean.

4. But what takes the cake is the recent demotion of Pluto to a 'minor planet'. The latest National Geographic had a chart showing the 'new planetary order' with poor Pluto put down. Beginning of Star Wars?

George Yeo

The Islamic Renaissance?

1.    The opening of the Asian Games in Doha was impressive.  Underlying the fanfare was a deep message.  Starting with the founding myth, the show went on to recount the contribution of Arabic science to global science and the importance of education to the future.  The show was Asia-centric in form but universal in the values it communicated.  Peace was the objective. The Doha Government must have gone to great length to secure the participation of Heads of State from Iran, Syria, Palestine and Yemen. The message was for both Qataris and an international audience.

2.    The Emir and his wife have a clear vision of what they want Qatar to be.  It is not a big country but one blessed with an enormous bounty of natural gas (and some oil as well).  They are concerned that this wealth should not be squandered away but invested in the Qatari people for the future. With a keen sense of the developments around them, Qatar has an active foreign policy. What Qatar is attempting to do shows a way to the future for Islamic society.  Islamic civilization is going through a wrenching period.  Many models of development have been been tried and failed including Nasserite socialism.  American prescriptions are not likely to work either. It is obviously short-sighted to depend only on oil and gas revenues.  In the end, it is for Muslims themselves to evolve systems and structures  which meet the needs of the times.  As in an earlier period, while remaining true to the values and teachings of Islam, there must be a renewed emphasis on science, technology, good governance and economic development.

George Yeo

Waving to the Singapore Contingent

 

Good Service

I just got back from Hong Kong and spent 8 hours on the plane in total within the last 48 hours. Both legs of the flight was full and we had to take the 1st Class as it was an emergency business meeting. The Singapore Airlines is, as usual, world class in terms of pampering the passengers - be it 1st, business or economy class. So my mind was really on service when I touched down at Hong Kong airport yesterday afternoon.

When we reached the immigration queue, they served sweets, specially packed Polo mints at the immigration counter. That is not the cool bit. The cool bit is that the container of the mints is a metal box with two small round holes that serve as a disposable chutes for the mint wrapping and below them, a smiling face. The mint container smiles at you while you consume the sweet and the immigration officer is checking your passport. The heaven is in the details. I wish I could take a picture of the box but taking out your cellphone to film at the immigration counter is really pushing it, so dear gentle readers, you just have to accept my description.

Singapore immigration counter is probably one of the first few immigration counters that serve sweets and the officers there are so courteous that they remind you to take one. The good news is that our service level (government) is good but the bad news is the rest of the world figures that out too.

We walked to the taxi queue and the taxi driver greeted us "good afternoon" in the cab. This is  Hong Kong and our unfair perception is that the people there work a step faster to compete. Yet their cab drivers are courteous. We thought it was a fluke and we were just lucky to be picked up by a cab driver in good mood. I was wrong. On our way back, the cab driver who picked us up was equally polite and greeted us "good morning" in Cantonese. Maybe we were lucky. Maybe not. Maybe they realised that the cab drivers are often the "first contact" embassadors of their country and fixed the problem of rude cabbies thru education, campaign and encouragement. But it worked. It was as if Giordano (famous HK clothes retailer) got into cab service -"Service with a smile". Scary.

My investors from  Malaysia recently made a trip to Singapore and he commented that  Singapore "fixes things very fast". I asked him how he jumped to that conclusion. He said that just a few months ago, service in Singapore's retail and F&B sectors were terrible. He felt a sea of change in his recent trip as if the waiter/waitresses and salespersons are aware of a greater purpose- "I am not here to just make a living, I am here to make the customers' experience meaningful". It is a great improvement but like the poet says, "It is miles to go before we sleep..." And if the world figures out that good service is an integral part of global competition and business strategy, just like low cost leadership, high end technologies, well-educated and skilled workforce etc, then we may never get to sleep.

Imagine how scary is the shopping experience when every shop is professional, polite and pleasing to the senses. Those that are not are no longer around.

Harold

Qatar's Islamic Museum

1. What an unexpected pleasure to bump into I M Pei at the site of Qatar's future Islamic Museum on Thursday. At the Amir's lunch for PM earlier, Pei who was also invited spoke briefly about the Museum. Intrigued, I decided to visit the site on my own without an appointment.

By chance, Pei was there to give instructions to various people. When I greeted him, he offered to show me around the building which was mostly completed. At the age of 90, he was amazingly alert and sprightly.

2. I have long admired Pei for his architectural works some of which like the Pyramid at the Louvre and the Bank of China Building are, to me, masterpieces. I asked him why he decided to do the Islamic Museum. I also wondered why the Amir commissioned him. He explained that after 'retiring' from his architectural firm a long time ago, he decided to work on projects outside the US. For projects like the Louvre and the museum in Japan, he learnt about a people and their culture. Now he had many good friends in France and Japan. Working on this project in Doha, he has also come to understand Islamic civilization more deeply. He got to know the Amir through the Aga Khan.

3. The Islamic Museum in Qatar will be opened next November. It is huge but the architectural form, playing on facets and shades, lightens it. He said that Islamic civilization from Spain to India and China evolved architectural forms which responded to bright sunlight. Drawing from deep traditions, he has created a design which is modern and soaring. The visitor ascends an avenue flanked by two rows of palm trees. He is greeted by a big, geometrically laid-out fountain when he arrives. Once he enters the building, his eyes are drawn upwards to a polyhedral steel dome. I expect the Museum to be a great success when it opens, and a witness to Islamic civilization in the 21st century.

George Yeo