Project Better Place – Tackling Peak Oil

I haven’t written a lot about Peak Oil. For one thing, it’s full of apocalyptic visions of a future where unaffordable oil (you think $100/barrel is high?) brings about a catastrophic collapse of civilization. 2007 may be remembered as the year when climate change took center stage in the world media, but few realize that there are more imminent dangers – our assumptions of continuing access to cheap fossil fuels are about to be challenged.

Shai Aggasi’s Project Better Place is one of many startups that have tried to tackle this head-on. What I like about this:

• They understand the problem – although some of their message contains elements of climate change, the key is that cheap oil is running out.
• Agassi has persuaded a national leader (Israel) and an automobile manufacturer (Renault/Nissan) to back his plans – that’s an amazing feat accomplished in a short space of a year.
• The idea brings electric vehicles one step closer to the mainsteam.

Check them out:

• Project Better Place
• Video – message made simple for 5th graders

More Resolutions for 2008

Two weeks into the new year and I’ve decided to add a few more items to my annual objectives:

• Exercise more regularly. Winter is a dismal time to exercise, but I’ve not been regular at other times either. My 15 min bicycle ride to work hardly counts. I’m thinking of fitting a lunchtime ride into my routine – at least once a week. Would also like to learn to be more hands-on with the bike.
• Read more. I’m spending far too much time on the Internet. I plan to close each day with a chapter and to work on a book summary as a means of active reading.

And a list of other goals:

• More outdoor activities – hiking, camping.
• Work on my photography skills. It’s been a long while since I took creative photos – it’s been mostly of G.
• Organize my photos and videos.
• Pick up some container gardening.

Happy New Year, 2008!

2007 has come and gone. It was a quiet transition – we are still recovering from our Christmas vacation in Sonoma. If anyone wants a peek at the photos, they are available at Picasa

Here are some key highlights of 2007:

• Watching Gabriel grow. He started saying “Please” during our vacation in Singapore, and he now runs and walks everywhere.
• ST’s continued restructuring. Uncertainty rules the day and I’m not the only one with lots of questions.
• Exploring California. We had great trips to Sequoia, Yosemite, Los Angeles, Angel Island, Sonoma
• Visit to Singapore – not long since we left, but still missed everyone

What’s coming in 2008? Here are two major goals:

• Preparing for No. 2 – we’re cautiously optimistic but realizing this will be another big change.
• Getting a GC processed.
• Invest cautiously – expecting energy prices to continue rising and economic fundamentals to change.

Farewell to the Vios

Today, I accepted a cheque for S$44.2K for my Toyota Vios. It was a simple transaction – I removed all the personal belongings (CDs, carpark discs and cash cards) and handed the keys over to the agent.

In the past year, falling prices have made this car purchase probably the worst financial decision I have made in recent years. After purchasing it for S$64K only one year ago, I now have to write off nearly one third of the value of this vehicle. Ouch!

Lessons learnt:

• Never buy a first hand car. The premium you pay for the smell of new leather isn’t worth it.

Hong Kong Airport

I’m in a stopover at HK airport, which is an impressive example of how nice modern airports can get. Over the past decade, airports have transitioned from cold grey concrete structures to stainless steel glass-covered architectural wonders that house chic boutiques and trendy cafes. Even then, HK airport stands out as an outstanding piece of work.

Yet, as I hunt around for a power outlet, I realize that this airport wasn’t designed for a notebook user in mind. Which is either extremely short sighted, or an ingenious means of compelling transit visitors to shop instead of work on their computers. There are simply NO power points in view, and finally one helpful employee tells me that there are some concealed plugs recessed deep by the side of some plants. And it’s far away from any table or seating area, so I’ll have to perch my notebook on a ledge to work. How frustrating!

The Wedding Mass

I’m now a married man!

When I woke up on Monday, 23 May 2005, I felt a tinge of excitement. Why else would I be awake at 5 am in the morning? Unlike the bride, I had absolutely nothing to do, so I went for a bicycle ride around Bedok Reservoir, had my breakfast, came back and changed.

I drove to Sengkang where I picked my brother and mother up. They had the corsages ready and were fully dressed. My brother was the designated driver and we drove up to St Anne’s.

We arrived at the church at 8.45 am, and were greeted by the SJI boys guiding the cars. Inside, there was lots of activity and I could see everyone setting up the tables and decorations and all. It was lots of things happening, but R had arranged everything to a fine detail.

At 9.30, the bride and her father walked in. She was absolutely stunning, and it was almost surreal to see her walking up to the pew and me taking her hand. R wore a gold lengha with a light veil over her head. LA and CM were the page boy and flower girl.

The Mass went smoothly. Fr David Garcia was the main celebrant and Fr John-Paul Tan was the co-celebrant (we had two because Fr Garcia was not a resident in Singapore and could not therefore officiate at weddings). R’s two nephews served as altar boys. The cordless microphones failed, so we had to step up to the altar to make our vows to each other, which was better because we were then facing the congregation instead of having our backs to them.

After the Mass, we took photos – groups of people took turns to stand with us. It went on for quite a while, and after that we had a lunch reception at the church canteen. This was a whirlwind of activity that had us mostly greeting our guests and smiling continuously for photographs.

When lunch was over (we didn’t really eat anything), we went to my parent’s place for the tea ceremony. It was a small ceremony involving us serving tea to the relatives in order of their seniority. To each, we greeted with their proper names that indicated their relationship to us. That went rather well.

Singapore Press Holdings

The Straits Times is the largest English daily newspaper in Singapore and has been in circulation for over 150 years. It was not without anticipation that I visited the offices last night (LL had to turn down dinner with us because she had a “story” to work on – we decided to visit her workplace after that).

The offices were state-of-the-art, with landscaped gardens, stainless steel and soft lighting. And at 9pm on a Friday night, it was probably the busiest office in Singapore. People were working on the weekend editions and the energy was palpable. Journalists are minor celebrities in their own right – we caught glimpses of many familiar names huddled over their workstations, though we did not dare interrupt their outpouring of creativity.

The only thing missing was the huge presses – these are no longer located in the head office on Braddell Road. Instead, stories are sent electronically to the presses in Jurong where the machines churn out the sheets for distribution. Everything is now digitized – there were screens of newsfeeds and layout software that held the skeleton of tomorrow’s news.

Also interesting was the skeleton of the Channel i studio. This was Singapore’s abortive attempt to introduce competition between the TV/radio company and the printed press. SPH started broadcasting television and Mediacorp started printing newspapers. It was probably a daring adventure out of their core competence that did little to enhance the availability of free choice (both offerings had little to differentiate themselves).

It was an interesting glimpse into the innards of a modern newspaper. Thanks LL!

Cycling in East Coast

East Coast park stretches over 20km along the south eastern coast of Singapore – it is one of the largest and most popular parks in the island. This strip of park was built on reclaimed land which also carries a highway to the airport.

The park has been a part of my life for decades – when I studied in St Patrick’s, I used to come here for BBQ’s and to hang out with other teenage boys. In Temasek JC, I trained for my marathons by running along the park.

Nowadays, the place is a little too crowded for my liking over the weekends. But on weeknights, it’s an excellent place to do some serious cycling. The bicycle route goes right up to the Changi Coastal Road that runs around the perimeter of Changi Airport. If you are inclined, you can even ride all around the boundaries of the airport (although that’s another 10-20km).

Another treat is having the jumbo jets fly right overhead as they approach to land on the runway. The aircraft approaches directly over the cycling tracks as they descend – it’s an awesome roar!

Being a Soldier

I started my five-week stint in the Army on Thursday as part of my annual training programme. It’s never been something I’ve looked forward to, but instead, it has become tolerable as the years passed. This time, it’ll be much longer than any previous stints – it is a 40 day course for the staff officer S2 position.

This time, I have the distinction of being the oldest trainee in the course. I realised that some of the young lieutenants were barely 19 – a full 16 years younger than me. It was a sobering thought, and I still can’t believe I’m that old.

The lessons started off in a brutal fashion. The first day, lectures did not end until 10 pm. On Friday, we didn’t leave before 11.30 pm. The syllabus for the course was very aggresive, with the instructors demanding a lot of work from the trainees.

The advantage of being an older person is that I can afford to drive home every night. The rooms are bare and with little entertainment besides anything we bring ourselves.
Another officer who has never attended an In-Camp Training since he finished his service, was actually excited about spending nights in the camp. That was until he looked around the empty bunk and realised this wasn’t the same as his good old days. He left after one hour.

A Public Holiday That Isn’t

Yesterday (17 Jan 2005) was Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the USA. To my surprise, although this was a gazetted public holiday, my corporate HQ (based in Sunnyvale, California) did not recognize that. Some people took leave, but others turned up for work as usual.

I’ve never given it much thought before, but it seems like the private sector is free to stipulate which days are holidays and which are not. The gazetted holidays have the government imprimatur, but depending on the employer, certain companies may not choose to honour that. I suppose it’s the same in Singapore as well where retailers are often required to work over the holidays.