Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines- His Presidency, leadership and style

It has been a long time since I last posted. A lot has happened since then. The US has a new President, UK is in the process of leaving the EU (the process of BREXIT has been triggered), TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership) is almost as good as gone and China is continuing to show its economic strength that may lead them to become the World’s No. 1 economic power before the end of the decade.

Closer to the Asia Pacific here, I am intrigued with the current President of the Philippines. President Rodrigo Duterte also known as “Digong” (nickname) or sometimes referred to by the alphanumeric “DU30” is an interesting personality. He is controversial, sometimes brash but at the same time a realist. He has a very strong alpha male personality that attracts a loyal base of supporters. His trait of being a decisive person (though some may or may not agree with his decisions) made him an attractive leader. A friend once remarked to me that being decisive is one of the apparent characteristics of a leader. It doesn’t matter if the decision is a wise one or not but the fact that a person can decide conclusively shows that the person is unafraid of challenges. That is of course debatable but I will leave that for another day.

Duterte’s brashness when speaking to his people reminded me of the way the famous US General, George S Patton Jr. spoke to his troops. They don’t mince their words. They say what they meant. General Patton once said that he used profanities so that his words would enter into his soldiers’ “thick skull” so that they would not forget them. Similarly, Duterte has laced profanities both in his speeches and at Press conferences. Though admittedly most of the time, the profanities were uttered in front of local journalists, which could only mean that he was playing to the local sentiments. Many people did not agree with the manner that he spoke but that did not stop them from attending his speeches and Press conferences.  It is just like me when I was young, saying that I do not like watching horror movies, yet my eyes were glued to the screen whenever there was a horror movie playing. The thing is that there is always something interesting in Duterte’s speech. Being unpredictable and unconventional makes it attractive when it comes to gaining wide audience and Press coverage. There have also been a few times when President Duterte “flipped the bird”. That gesture does not require any interpretation as we know exactly what that gesture meant! By “flipping the bird” towards his adversaries is like “thumping his nose” saying that “you can’t do anything with me” and indeed, he is right.  Apart from the execution of drug dealers that became a worldwide interest due to issues relating to human rights, the international community does not really have much to complain about the Philippines President.  Some may even go on to say that the execution of the drug dealers is more of a domestic issue rather than an international issue -another debatable point. The Philippines economy appears to be doing well - Duterte has managed to bring in considerable amount of investments from China. Again, some of the critics of Duterte may say at what cost? By allowing China to build military bases in the man-made islands in the South China Sea? By being soft with China in relation to the disputed Scarborough Shoal?

The critics of Duterte felt that he has compromised the sovereignty of the Philippines by giving in too much to the Chinese. However, if we look from Duterte’s point of view, it was a “bread and butter” issue for his people.  Before making his first official visit to China, the Filipino fishermen were chased away by the Chinese Coast Guard in the Scarborough Shoal. The fishermen were deprived from earning a living. The presence of Chinese naval ships in the Scarborough Shoal has also discouraged any confrontation that may occur. So what can one do in such situation? By doing nothing would lead to a stale mate and that would not help the Philippines. So what Duterte did was to play it cool by not pushing the issue when he met President Xi Jinping in China. As a result of Duterte’s visit to China, the Filipino fishermen were able to fish in the Scarborough Shoal without any interference from the Chinese Coast Guard. So, that part of the “bread and butter” issue has been resolved.

I mentioned earlier that Duterte being a realist or a pragmatic person. This may sound strange to some people but it’s true! Recently Duterte was asked about Philippines’ position with regards to the Chinese building structures in the disputed shoal. Duterte replied, “So what do you want me to do……declare war against China? I can, but we’ll lose all our military and policemen tomorrow”. Declaring war on China would be like David vs Goliath and it will not serve anyone well.  In spite of pressure from the International community to protest or to voice out Philippines’ concern, Duterte knows that it would not be easy to change the status quo. It is highly unlikely that China will dismantle the structures that it has just built. I am sure Duterte must have weighed his options or perhaps he was just being “street smart” and allow the status quo to continue while his Country prosper. To me, that was not being silly, that was being realistic.

As some of you may know, piracy is a major problem in the waters surrounding Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. The pirates who travel in high speed boats would always speed and cross into the water of the neighbouring country which will render the authorities to give up on their chase as they could not breach the borders of the other country. On 14^th January 2017, Duterte gave the go ahead to the Indonesian and Malaysian navies to blast off kidnappers or pirates that enter in Philippine waters. The President said, “You can go ahead and blast them off……My order really to the Navy and Coast Guards if there’s kidnapping and then (if they are) trying to escape blast them off….If you have blasted them everyday that would stop kidnappings.” I believe both Malaysia and Indonesia would have been surprised that Duterte had given them green light to do something that very few leaders would allowed. That’s Duterte for you, a realistic and pragmatic person.

I am not a supporter or admirer of Duterte but like I said in the beginning, I am just intrigued by this man. Who is this person? Some called him as the “Donald Trump of the East”. Well, I wouldn’t compare Duterte to Donald Trump. One was a businessman and lives a luxury life while the other has never ventured into business and lives a rather modest life. I am looking forward to seeing what else this man has in store of us. There is never a dull moment with Duterte!

It's a SCAM, not SPAM!

Today’s post is about high-tech scams. Yes, I became a victim to those scams and thought it would be useful to share them with you:

Scam #1 : Prepaid mobile phone

Ever since moving to Australia, I have continued to keep my Malaysian mobile phone number. It would be easier for my friends in Malaysia to keep in touch with me should I be in KL. The only difference is that I have converted my postpaid account to a prepaid account. This made sense as I am not liable for the monthly mobile phone charges associated with postpaid and I can easily monitor my usage with the prepaid or so I thought.

When I am in Australia, I seldom check my Malaysian mobile phone as all of my friends know  how to contact me when I am in Australia. On the rare occasions when I do switch on my Malaysia mobile phone number, I will usually get a lot of SPAM messages via SMS. The messages are usually advertisements and occasionally, people who are trying to hook you into online gambling. I would delete all of those messages and my mobile phone will be free and clean. Recently I noted a sender with a 5 digit number sending me a SMS stating that “You have successfully subscribed to our videos. We shall be sending you 2 videos every week”. I thought that was rather weird. The SMS went on to say that “You can opt out from this subscription anytime by typing STOP”. It seems rather strange to me as I have never subscribed to this service, so I chose to ignore. At the same time, I can’t help to think that the message seems legitimate as the number appears to be a “SMS Premium” service provider and there is also an option to unsubscribe from the service. Anyway, I thought I would just ignore and see what happens.

I didn’t receive anything the following week with my Malaysian mobile number so I thought that message was just a SPAM and nothing more. Then the following week I got a SMS again from the same sender with a link to a short 20 seconds video of someone running and that was it! No one in the right mind would pay for a ridiculous short video clip. In the SMS message, it shows a certain amount of money has been charged to my account. My first thought was to block the sender but after doing some research through the internet, I discovered that by blocking the sender it won’t help me. The reason being that this a SMS Premium Provider and it would still charge me unless I unsubscribed. I was still in disbelief as I have never signed up for this service, so to be double sure, I went into my E-statement. From my E-statement I got my confirmation that this is not a SPAM, this is a SCAM!!! I immediately called the office which is located in KL but unfortunately the office was already closed by that time. I decided to just try my luck and sent a STOP message. Immediately I got an automatic reply to say that “You have unsubscribed from our services”. It sounded legitimate but I am still puzzled as to how did I get my mobile number subscribed to the services in the first place without my knowledge.

My theory is that the SCAMMERS will look out for inactive prepaid numbers and then send out “feelers” like a harmless SMS to inform the person that he/she has subscribed. If the person does nothing, then that prepaid mobile number would be the likely “target”. The inactive action by the prepaid number owner would mean: (i) the person hardly uses his/her prepaid number (eg: a person such as me); and (ii) it is highly unlikely the person would know the charges.

I was fortunate that I managed to catch on rather quickly before more money has been deducted. Unfortunately, for my daughter, she wasn’t that fortunate. The entire balance in her prepaid account has been wiped out leaving “0” balance in her account. It wasn’t that  long ago when I recharged the amount for her when we were in KL (about 6 months ago). The SCAMMERS acted really fast in siphoning the entire amount.

The way I look at it, the SCAMMERS are really smart. They would first sent out a “feeler” to see if the person would respond. To make it legitimate, they would insert into their first SMS message stating that the recipient can choose opt out of the subscription at anytime by just typing “STOP”. As far as I can recall I have never sent out any SMS using my Malaysian mobile phone number in Australia. Therefore, the question remains is how did they tapped into my Malaysian mobile phone number? I know it is all puzzling but the whole purpose of this post is to create awareness and I hope I have done it here.

Scam #2 - Apple FaceTime -Stolen identity!

A few days ago, I received an email purportedly from Apple informing me that someone had logged into FaceTime using my Apple ID. It gave the name of the device (which is the same as my device) and the time. Two red flags jumped up at me. One, I have never ever use FaceTime so it can’t be me. Furthermore, I am the only person in the family that has the device as specified by Apple. Secondly, I did not use my device at the given time (whether it is Australian time or the US time). The first thing I did was to check whether the email is a legitimate email from Apple. Once I got the confirmation, I immediately changed my password as recommended by Apple. It really worries me that nowadays people are not just stealing money, they are stealing identity as well. So, if you ever received an email such as this, do not dismiss it immediately, do some investigation for it might just save you from being scammed!

Scam #3 - Fake Email

Yesterday, I received an email from my cousin’s law firm in Malaysia. The email appears to  be a legitimate account with the name of the law firm, full office address, contact number and facsimile number, all clearly stated at the bottom of the email. The email even sounded formal and business like. In the email, there was an attachment called “contract.pdf” which was locked. Immediately, I contacted my cousin in Malaysia to enquire if he had indeed sent me an email. His response was “Don’t open it”. So, there you go - another scam taking place.

We have to be careful and be observant when it comes to our mobile phones, computers and electronic devices. The SCAMMERS are becoming increasingly sophisticated every passing day. It is no longer an email from someone from Nigeria seeking your assistance in partaking a handsome inheritance, it is now much more sophisticated and believable. Just be careful and if your gut feeling tells you something is not right, it usually isn’t.

WAR STORIES: The Japanese lady who saved my grandfather's life in World War II

 

It has been 71 years since World War II ended. Many who have fought in the War are no longer with us. I thought in this post, I will share with you a story about my grandfather as told to me by my father.

I have never met my paternal grandfather as he died before I was born. He never quite recovered from the torture he received from the “Kempeitai” (Military Police in the Japanese Army known for its ruthlessness and harsh treatments of the prisoners). During the War, my grandfather was one of the local Chinese leaders in Klang representing the Hainanese clan. Before the Japanese Army occupied Malaya, my grandfather was very active in raising funds to repatriate to China to fight against the Japanese Army. Most of the Chinese who were living in Malaya at that time donated generously as they still considered China as their home. The story has it that my grandfather approached one of the Chinese businessman in Klang who refused to give any money for repatriation to China to fight against the Japanese Army. Apparently this businessman who was known to be thrifty made some degrading remarks to my grandfather. My grandfather then responded by saying, ‘What kind of Chinese are you?” or something along the line that “You are a disgrace to the Chinese”. There is an important connection to this part of the story and I will return to it later.

When the Japanese Army occupied Malaya, they rounded up all the suspected rebels and people who were against the Japanese Army. At that time, there were many “running dogs” in Klang. “Running dogs” are local people who are willing to betray their own community so that they can get rewards (in the form of rice and other food provisions) by pointing out who the suspected rebels or anti Japanese Army were. At that time my grandfather owned a coffee shop called “Nam Chuan” which was famous for its Hainanese coffee, cake and other Hainanese delicacies. Apart from helping to raise money to repatriate to China, my grandfather was not involved in any other anti-Japanese Army activities. Be that as it may, he was arrested by the “Kempeitai” and taken to the Kempeitai’s  Klang Headquarters which was just across the street from Nam Chuan coffee shop. Everyday my relatives in Nam Chuan coffee shop could hear my grandfather crying in pain due to the merciless torture inflicted onto him. They could hear him screaming my grandmother’s name and his children’s name. According to those who heard him screamed, it was really heart wrenching. Feeling helpless, my relatives approached the only local person they knew who had good connection with the Japanese Army and that was the local Chinese businessman whom my grandfather had a verbal tussell with. Apparently, my relatives gave the Chinese businessman a lot of money to secure my grandfather’s release from the Kempeitai but unfortunately, that never happened. After the War, they found out that the local Chinese businessman was the culprit who reported my grandfather to the Japanese Army. He knowingly took all of my relatives' money pretending that he could secure my grandfather's release when all the while he was the “running dog” who betrayed his own community.

It is a real irony that the person who saved my grandfather from the Kempeitai’s torture was actually a Japanese lady. She was married to a European who was in the shipping business in Port Swettenham (now known as Port Klang) at that time. Unfortunately, none of the relatives knew her actual name except to refer to her as Mrs. Van Tooren. There used to be a road in Port Klang called Jalan Van Tooren which was named after her husband. Apparently, Mrs. Van Tooren was a frequent visitor to Nam Chuan coffee shop before the War. When the Japanese Army occupied Malaya, she stopped visiting the coffee shop for whatever reason. Then, one day out of the blue, she decided to stop by Nam Chuan coffee shop for a cup of coffee and a bite. She asked the servers, “Where is the old man?” (referring to my grandfather). When they told her that he was taken away by the Kempeitai, she immediately took out a note pad and wrote on it. She tore out the page and immediately left. Not long after that incident, my grandfather was released unconditionally by the Kempeitai. Apparently, Mrs Van Tooren wrote a note in Japanese to the Kempeitai’s Commandant. In that note, she said that she know my grandfather for a very long time and had visited Nam Chuan coffee shop for many years. In all those years, she never felt that my grandfather had ill treated her. In fact my grandfather treated her so well that on her birthday, she was presented a complimentary home made cake. Therefore, she told the Commandant, “How can this man be anti-Japanese when he has treated me, a Japanese, so well?” With that note, my grandfather was released. My father and his siblings never had the chance to say “thank you” to Mrs Van Tooren personally. So, if any of Mrs Van Tooren descendant’s should read this article, on behalf of the descendants of Tan Jin Ko, I thank you for the great kindness and the compassion shown by her. Thank you and May God bless all of you.

Can you tell a person's character from a cup of tea?

I too wonder. You can tell a person’s character or personality by the way the person acts, talks, through the person’s gestures or even by the way the person eats. But by the person making a cup of tea? Weird as it may sound but let me share with you a story.

Recently, I visited a long time friend (whom I would refer to as Mike) that I have not seen for quite a while. Mike is known for making a delicious cup of tea with spices and boiled milk. However this time, all Mike did was put a tea bag into a cup, added some hot water from the tap, poured some milk and then placed the cup in the microwave. It was one of the worst tea I have ever tasted. What shocked me most was the effort that Mike put into making a cup of tea, especially for an old friend who rarely visits him due to the distance of 1,000km left me speechless. The least he could do for a long time friend was to make a decent cup of tea which his friend requested and which Mike is known for. Mike's reason was that he he was “too lazy” to make it. Well, I guess to Mike, "laziness" takes above long time friendship. All it took was just  5 minutes to make that special tea which Mike eventually did after I asked him for a glass of water when returning the “microwave tea” to him.  However, it is as clear as day that the effort in making a “a cup of tea” tells me how much Mike valued our friendship. Anyway as former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore said, “that’s life, move on”.

"Red packet" in Malaysian Chinese Wedding dinner

As all of us know things have become expensive, even attendance in Malaysian Chinese wedding dinners have become an issue for some people.

It is customary when invited to a Chinese wedding dinner  in Malaysia to give a “red packet” as a gift. The “red packet” is a small red envelope containing money. The rationale behind this is that when a person is invited, the person is there to share the joy and happiness with the bride and bridegroom. Therefore the person does not want the bride or bridegroom or whoever invited the person to come out of pocket (ie: to suffer monetary losses). In other words, the person will pay his/her own meal plus some. This is done in a subtle way by giving a “red packet” to the host. The common phrase among Malaysian Chinese when receiving a wedding invitation is “Kena saman” (literally means “got summoned”). I always thought that the phrase means that the person has been “summoned” to attend an important function such as a wedding dinner. Apparently that is not the case according to some friends - when a person “gets a summon” such as a traffic summon, the person needs to pay a fine and that is exactly what it meant. So, when you received a wedding invitation, you have been effectively been “summoned” in the form of paying a fine by giving a “red packet”. This was all good and acceptable as it is a joyful event - what a better way to celebrate by having to pay one’s small share in a memorable occasion. It is also customary that if you can’t attend the wedding, to give a small token sum as an appreciation for the kind wedding invitation.

However, as things become costlier and the economy took a downturn, most people are dreading to receive a wedding invitation card. One friend commented that since most the weddings are held in posh hotels, a “red packet” gift would be equivalent to the cost of taking the family out to a nice dinner in a descent restaurant. Therefore, he would prefer spending money in that family dinner rather than giving the money as a gift. Therefore, it was with regret that he had to turn down the wedding invitation with the excuse that he had to attend another event on the same date. These are working people who are on tight monthly budget and getting a wedding invitation would be like getting a “summon” where one has to pay a fine that has not been budgeted. Therefore, it does make sense why the person does not want to attend the wedding but it is rather sad. Of course, one can always argue why not just pay a token or smaller sum but in Chinese custom there is such a thing as “saving face” and not wanting people to talk about a person’s “thriftiness”. To illustrate this, almost every Chinese wedding in Malaysia, there will be a book where all the monetary gifts received would be neatly and systematically recorded where the amount and the name of the person or family who gave the “red packet” would be written down. The rationale behind this is that the amount would be returned should the person or his son or daughter get married. Well, it makes sense if the other person’s wedding is just round the corner but sometimes when that wedding is 10 years down the road, that amount would have significantly reduced due to inflation - so that is something to think about. So, for those who have asked me about Chinese wedding gifts, I hope the above helps.

The Good Old Days - my memory of Palm Grove Restaurant

Living in one of the most expensive cities in the world, I can’t help but to recall the good old days when I was living in a small town called Klang in Malaysia where everyday life was simple and inexpensive. I can still remember that it was a norm for friends to invite each other for a meal and have a lengthy chat about simple things in life, nothing complicated and nothing pretentious. Of course, things have changed over the years where crime has increased, things have become expensive and trust is no longer taken for granted. Below is a “feel good” story that took place many years ago and it is hard to imagine that it can ever happen today.

Palm Grove Restaurant

When I was a young boy, it was common for the family to eat out every weekend, especially on Sundays. It was also very common for my father to invite friends or relatives to join us in our meals. I remembered there was a time where my family together with some friends had lunch in one of Klang’s then famous restaurant called “Palm Grove Restaurant”. It was one of the few restaurants that had air conditioning system at that time. Palm Grove Restaurant started by operating in a small corner shop lot without air conditioning. As it was then a rather new restaurant, many people from surrounding areas came and tasted its food including us. I remembered my mum took me there to order some take-aways. As my brother was very fond of “Hainanese Chicken Chop”, my mum decided to order that dish. The lady who took the order informed my mum that the Cook didn’t know how to cook “Hainanese Chicken Chop”. My mum remarked, “How can that be possible? It is such an easy dish to prepare”. My mum gave some simple instructions like frying the chicken, potatoes, tomatoes and preparing the sauce. Surprisingly, the lady listened carefully and went back to the kitchen and later returned to say that the Cook will do it. The “Hainanese Chicken Chop” ala Palm Grove Restaurant style turned out to be pretty good in spite that the Cook had never eaten or tasted it before! The Cook just merely took instructions and prepared the dish to your liking without any issues. The funny thing was that they didn’t know how much to charge, so they said please pay whatever you wish for the “Hainanese Chicken Chop”.  I can never imagine this happening today - the restaurant workers will probably ask you to “#$@&%” out of the restaurant should you insist on a dish which is not in the menu. Those were the days where people were very obliging and patient in spite how busy they were.

I can still remember vividly another incident that took place in Palm Grove Restaurant. This  time Palm Grove Restaurant had moved to bigger premises with air conditioners. The restaurant was famous for its “Pah Poh Ark” (braised stuffed duck). At that time, Palm Grove Restaurant was the only restaurant that served “Pah Poh Ark” and it became its specialty dish. The restaurant was also famous for its Teo Chiew steam fish and “Cantonese-style fried kway teow” (rice noodle). I remember my father ordered about 8 dishes for a group of about 10 people or so. While we were eating, my father met an old friend in the restaurant who was going to take away a packet of fried noodles. While waiting for his food, this friend caught up with my dad. He only excused himself when his food was ready. We continued our lunch until it was time to pay the bill. When my father asked for the bill, the waiter came and informed that the bill had already been paid. The waiter informed that my dad’s friend had paid for our lunch. My dad’s friend was only there to take away a packet of noodles but then proceeded to pay for our lunch which perhaps cost 10 times more than his takeaway meal. But that was how life was at that time where very often friends will pay for another friend’s meal especially if they have not seen each other for a long time. Today, it appears that it is no longer possible as the cost of things have gone up and eating out is more of a treat rather than a change in eating routine. Paying for one’s meal is now a norm though personally, I still find it uncomfortable as I was brought up in an environment where everyone helps each other out. But such is life and if truth be told, I would still love to pay for a good friend’s meal but alas, the downturn of economy makes the decision much more selective and challenging. For now, we just have to settle for a cup of coffee!

Don't be shy, reach out and get that help!

One of the important things I learned in the working world is that if someone says, “I owe you one, do let me know if I can do anything for you”. If you need this person’s help, go for it and please do it soon otherwise the person would have forgotten what has just been said. From my experience, most gratitude don’t last very long. People will usually say nice things when they have received help but when you leave it for too long, the great help that has been given to them doesn’t seem to be that “great” after all. An exception would be for those very few people who gives help unconditionally BUT they are very few and almost in extinction So, don’t be shy, reach out and get that help.