A few weeks ago I was on holiday in Genting Highlands, Malaysia. I came across this article by a westerner correspondent in their local newspaper, The New Straits Times. He was talking about the current global financial crisis, and drew parallels with the Asian Financial Crisis a decade ago.
I shall not go into details about the article, but rather, I want to bring to particular attention a term which the author used - the IBG mentality.
What is IBG? Well, it stands for "I'll Be Gone". The majority of the bankers and corporate managers have this I'll Be Gone mentality. This means that they are only interersted in short-term results; and they are willing to sacrifice the future of the companies they are in charge to achieve this. I think we have no lack of examples and I shall skip that part.
There are many reasons for the root causes of this IBG mentality. Indeed, just pick up any western magazines or listen to any western current affairs broadcasts, you will have no lack of explanations given by experts.
Well, I am no expert. But I have been following this financial saga, and interested enough to come up with my own views. I shall share them with readers here.
I have not heard any of the above (i.e. magazines, broadcasts, etc.) mention that the blame lies in a critical aspect of modernity - more specifically, in the separation between ownership and management. I believe the IBG mentality grew inherently out of the fact that ownership is separated from management. As the layers grew more numerous, and more complex, who is responsible for what becomes blurrer and blurrer, until in the end, a manager/management can commit acts so fraudulent as to defy societal conscience. An example was quoted in that article from The News Straits Times :"when someone in the USA who earns USD19,000 per annum can afford to buy and get a loan to finance a house worth USD750,000, you know something is terribly wrong!"
The reason why no one has yet to lay a blame on modernity, is of course political and... uh... come to think of it, i'm writing is blog using the products of modernity... shall i bit the hands that feed me?....
No of course not... lets be clear about this, I do not blame modernity for this state of affairs, per se. Nor do I blame the bankers or corporate managers... really! - when in Rome, do as the Romans do.
I write this article to highlight a flaw of modernity and capitalism - IBG - the "I'll Be Gone" mentality. I hope readers will think about this and ask themselves if they are inflicted with this disease.
Family Image
Monday, December 29, 2008
Monday, December 1, 2008
A Poker Lesson
Last Sunday I hosted and played poker (holdem) with my cousin and friends at my home.
I was playing my ace game right from the beginning. Soon towards the end of the session I was up by nearly $400. We played $0.50/$1 game. However, I lost my entire stack of nearly $400 in one hand (which was to be the last hand of the day). here's how it transpired:
Preflop:
I held Ace-ten unsuited. raised $12 on the button, got 2 callers.
Flop:
ace diamond, something diamond, and something non-diamond.
i raised $30, one guy folded, another called.
Turn:
another diamond.
remaining player checked, i raised $50, he check-raised me $50 plus $100. I considered for a while, re-raise him all in, which he promptly called and turn over King-four of diamond for the nut flush - his hand was unbeatable.
Stupid, stupid moves by me. Why plural (s)? let me walk you through:
1. I was doomed from the start. I wanted to win that particular pot so bad that i disregarded everything else, even when the odds were staring right into my pupils and irises.
2. I talked myself into not believing that my opponent had me beat. Indeed there were so many hands he could have held that would have beaten my Ace pair with 10 kicker - 2 pairs, three of a kind, flush, ace-jack, ace-queen, ace-king....
3. But I still called my opponent's check-raise, and even re-raised him all-in, in the faint hope that he was bluffing....
Stupid, stupid moves...
In retrospect, the best strategy was to walk away when i knew I was beat. I had disregarded my inner voices, disregarded my common sense, my intelligence, my hard-earned knowledge of poker; simply becasue of the fact that I wanted to win that pot. I thought I had to win it... no matter what. I got desperate. And as a result, I fell flat, I got cleaned out of my entire stack.
I think God was trying to teach me something here...
He gave me ace-10 unsuited.
He made 2 loose players call me.
He made the flop came with 2 diamonds.
He made the 3rd diamond appear at the turn.
He gave my opponent 2 crap cards King-four of diamonds, which turn out to be the nuts (the unbeatable hand).
Ok I have to correct a bit on what I said about me being "doomed from the start". God gave me enough warnings along the way, but i refused to listen because I was blinded. I wanted to win. I WANTED TO WIN THAT HAND! AND I GOT HUMBLED THOROUGHLY. Let me explain further:
1. Ace-ten on button - can play a bit aggressive, but not too much, becaue of the relatively weak kicker. I ignore warning, raised 12 times the big blind.
2. 2 loose callers - means proceed with caution on the flop.
3. 2 diamonds - can play a bit more agressive to drive out drawers, but be careful once another diamond comes on the turn. I ignored it all.
4. A big check-raise on the turn all of a sudden by my opponent. I ignored the signs.
The punishment: Got beat by the nuts, don't even need to see the river card.
Now I realised that the best thing to do at that time was to walk away. But my pride and my ambition to win that hand had blinded me.
I could have achieve a spectacular victory (by walking away when I was re-raised at the turn), God had given me that last chance for that hand. But I ignored it.
I hope this defeat will stay with me for a long time (although I wish the pain will lessen.. haha...). I hope this defeat will remind me in whatever I do in the future - always be humble, not blinded by implusive emotions, and listen to my instincts..
Thank you God.
I was playing my ace game right from the beginning. Soon towards the end of the session I was up by nearly $400. We played $0.50/$1 game. However, I lost my entire stack of nearly $400 in one hand (which was to be the last hand of the day). here's how it transpired:
Preflop:
I held Ace-ten unsuited. raised $12 on the button, got 2 callers.
Flop:
ace diamond, something diamond, and something non-diamond.
i raised $30, one guy folded, another called.
Turn:
another diamond.
remaining player checked, i raised $50, he check-raised me $50 plus $100. I considered for a while, re-raise him all in, which he promptly called and turn over King-four of diamond for the nut flush - his hand was unbeatable.
Stupid, stupid moves by me. Why plural (s)? let me walk you through:
1. I was doomed from the start. I wanted to win that particular pot so bad that i disregarded everything else, even when the odds were staring right into my pupils and irises.
2. I talked myself into not believing that my opponent had me beat. Indeed there were so many hands he could have held that would have beaten my Ace pair with 10 kicker - 2 pairs, three of a kind, flush, ace-jack, ace-queen, ace-king....
3. But I still called my opponent's check-raise, and even re-raised him all-in, in the faint hope that he was bluffing....
Stupid, stupid moves...
In retrospect, the best strategy was to walk away when i knew I was beat. I had disregarded my inner voices, disregarded my common sense, my intelligence, my hard-earned knowledge of poker; simply becasue of the fact that I wanted to win that pot. I thought I had to win it... no matter what. I got desperate. And as a result, I fell flat, I got cleaned out of my entire stack.
I think God was trying to teach me something here...
He gave me ace-10 unsuited.
He made 2 loose players call me.
He made the flop came with 2 diamonds.
He made the 3rd diamond appear at the turn.
He gave my opponent 2 crap cards King-four of diamonds, which turn out to be the nuts (the unbeatable hand).
Ok I have to correct a bit on what I said about me being "doomed from the start". God gave me enough warnings along the way, but i refused to listen because I was blinded. I wanted to win. I WANTED TO WIN THAT HAND! AND I GOT HUMBLED THOROUGHLY. Let me explain further:
1. Ace-ten on button - can play a bit aggressive, but not too much, becaue of the relatively weak kicker. I ignore warning, raised 12 times the big blind.
2. 2 loose callers - means proceed with caution on the flop.
3. 2 diamonds - can play a bit more agressive to drive out drawers, but be careful once another diamond comes on the turn. I ignored it all.
4. A big check-raise on the turn all of a sudden by my opponent. I ignored the signs.
The punishment: Got beat by the nuts, don't even need to see the river card.
Now I realised that the best thing to do at that time was to walk away. But my pride and my ambition to win that hand had blinded me.
I could have achieve a spectacular victory (by walking away when I was re-raised at the turn), God had given me that last chance for that hand. But I ignored it.
I hope this defeat will stay with me for a long time (although I wish the pain will lessen.. haha...). I hope this defeat will remind me in whatever I do in the future - always be humble, not blinded by implusive emotions, and listen to my instincts..
Thank you God.
Baby and Maid
The other day we brought Ethan for his immunisation jab at AMK polyclinic. My wife, ,mum and maid went along as well. 2 interesting things happened on this trip. I shall relate one this time round.
While we were waiting for the doctor, we got to speak to a few mums and grandmas, who were there to bring their babies for jab too. In particular, I got to speak to a grandma, during which she gave me an advice. This is how this part of our conversation went:
Grandma: Why do you let the baby have so much physical contact with the maid? (upon seeing that my maid was trying to cuddle Ethan to sleep, and no doubt a rhetorical question)
Me: .... (don't know how to reply, so wait for her to explain further)
Grandma: Once your baby get used to the smell of the maid, he'll stick with her and you'll have trouble gaining his affection. its better to prevent this from the very beginning. wats worse, once your maid leaves, you gonna have trouble cos he'll miss the maid...etc..etc...
Me: .... (nodded, and just smile)
Okay, here's my thought:
Firstly,
How can anyone prevent "love", and still be right? of course i'm not taking about love for heroin or love for lying... i'm talking about love in its purest sense (which i think is undefinable by the way, you just know it).
Ethan is going to spend more time with my maid, or anyone taking care of him, while me and my wife is working. Naturally, he'll feel for his care-takers, and maybe more than he feels for us (mum and dad) at this point in time, simply due to the time they spent with him. Am I going to subject myself to jealousy or guilt simply becuase of that? I don't think so, really.
Me and my wife loves Ethan with all our heart. I'm sure Ethan will come to realise that in time. I am sure he will love us back as well. By him loving and feeling attachment to the maid, does not mean that he has less love to spare for his mum and dad. I think love is stretcheable... not a zero-sum game, it is expandable.. and ideally boundless...
On the other hand, we should feel happy, that he loves his maid. For he has an instinctive understanding of piety, even at this tender age. We should not teach him otherwise.
We should also feel blessed, that our maid really cares for him (we hope and we'll know in time to come).
As such, who are we to "prevent" our baby having "too much" affection for our maid?
--------------------
Many a time, I feel I should spend more time with Ethan, especially during the weekends when he comes back to stay with us. I'm sure my wife feels that too. And we should.
On another note, I feel that we should not revolve our lives around Ethan (I say this with pragmatism, and I can only hope readers understand what I mean). Or we risk burning out in the long run. We should have our fair share of social lives and activities. What this means is that it is okay to take the occassional tea-sessions with friends and leave Ethan in the care of trusted people. It is ok to have the occasional poker sessions (ha...), or any other activities, and NOT feel guilty that the time spent should be with our baby instead.
Of course, its about balancing at the end of the day, never forgetting the foundation laid with love. As such, i resolve to give up my regular holdem session during weekends, but instead spend more time with Ethan and Candy.. Yeah..!
While we were waiting for the doctor, we got to speak to a few mums and grandmas, who were there to bring their babies for jab too. In particular, I got to speak to a grandma, during which she gave me an advice. This is how this part of our conversation went:
Grandma: Why do you let the baby have so much physical contact with the maid? (upon seeing that my maid was trying to cuddle Ethan to sleep, and no doubt a rhetorical question)
Me: .... (don't know how to reply, so wait for her to explain further)
Grandma: Once your baby get used to the smell of the maid, he'll stick with her and you'll have trouble gaining his affection. its better to prevent this from the very beginning. wats worse, once your maid leaves, you gonna have trouble cos he'll miss the maid...etc..etc...
Me: .... (nodded, and just smile)
Okay, here's my thought:
Firstly,
How can anyone prevent "love", and still be right? of course i'm not taking about love for heroin or love for lying... i'm talking about love in its purest sense (which i think is undefinable by the way, you just know it).
Ethan is going to spend more time with my maid, or anyone taking care of him, while me and my wife is working. Naturally, he'll feel for his care-takers, and maybe more than he feels for us (mum and dad) at this point in time, simply due to the time they spent with him. Am I going to subject myself to jealousy or guilt simply becuase of that? I don't think so, really.
Me and my wife loves Ethan with all our heart. I'm sure Ethan will come to realise that in time. I am sure he will love us back as well. By him loving and feeling attachment to the maid, does not mean that he has less love to spare for his mum and dad. I think love is stretcheable... not a zero-sum game, it is expandable.. and ideally boundless...
On the other hand, we should feel happy, that he loves his maid. For he has an instinctive understanding of piety, even at this tender age. We should not teach him otherwise.
We should also feel blessed, that our maid really cares for him (we hope and we'll know in time to come).
As such, who are we to "prevent" our baby having "too much" affection for our maid?
--------------------
Many a time, I feel I should spend more time with Ethan, especially during the weekends when he comes back to stay with us. I'm sure my wife feels that too. And we should.
On another note, I feel that we should not revolve our lives around Ethan (I say this with pragmatism, and I can only hope readers understand what I mean). Or we risk burning out in the long run. We should have our fair share of social lives and activities. What this means is that it is okay to take the occassional tea-sessions with friends and leave Ethan in the care of trusted people. It is ok to have the occasional poker sessions (ha...), or any other activities, and NOT feel guilty that the time spent should be with our baby instead.
Of course, its about balancing at the end of the day, never forgetting the foundation laid with love. As such, i resolve to give up my regular holdem session during weekends, but instead spend more time with Ethan and Candy.. Yeah..!
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