Well done, Singapore

So, Singapore will host the 1st Summer Youth Olympic Games!

With the upcoming Beijing Olympics and this inaugural win, I feel like I've regained some Asian "world sports" pride, especially after Malaysia's string of half-hearted and eventually, failed bids - 2006 Asian Games, 2008 Olympics and then not even making the shortlist for this. Whatever happened to Malaysia Boleh? Our "little red dot" neighbour down south is making waves, man.

Check back here as 2010 approaches - Singapore2010 Official Site

Clinton or Obama?

My personal support for women's college alumni and minorities in politics aside, I'd always perceived Obama as too young and inexperienced no matter how charismatic and likeable he is. Reading Roger Cohen's IHT Op Ed made me reconsider.

The fight between Obama and Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination is increasingly portrayed as one between romantics and realists.

But a realistic view of Obama would be that he is best placed to seize and shape a new world of such possibilities. He has the youth, the global background, the ability to move people, and the demonstrated talent for reaching across lines of division, even those colored black and white. He would, as Andrew Sullivan has written, "rebrand" America. Wieseltier dismisses such rebranding. But even the papacy was rebranded in our times, by a Pole, and Poles then precipitated the fall of the Soviet empire.

A romantic view of Clinton might be that she has the guts and savvy to free herself of her husband's coterie of the world's rich and famous, with its dubious deal-making from Kazakhstan to Colombia, and ensure that a White House with a president and ex-president in it projects U.S. renewal rather than the tawdrier sides of Clintonism.

Epiphanies

Ever had a moment where a "light bulb" goes on in your head? Or you sense that God's got a message, a divine appointment, just for you? Well, I've recently had some light shed on a few issues I'd been wrestling with. It's come through at the oddest times - through a book I read en route to Barcelona, an email from my alumni graduate fellowship that I'd been planning to respond to, conversations with family and old friends, and today's church service - as part of an ongoing series on 2 Corinthians - which ended with this video.

I'll spare the details here, but will share "Jesus, Take The Wheel" - a song made popular by Carrie Underwood (American Idol 2005) that has uplifted me and prompted some soul searching in turn:

We wantsss you, Yahoo

It's been a newsworthy past few weeks, with dramas in the stock market, Super Bowl and Super Tuesday face-offs, Motorola spin-off rumours to Microsoft's acquisition spree, among others.

For curious techies out there, check out Steve Ballmer's letter to Roy Bostock and Jerry Yang in which Microsoft makes the US ~$45 B unsolicited offer for Yahoo.

Microsoft doesn't kid around in its search for the precious.

In late 2006 and early 2007, we jointly explored a broad range of ways in which our two companies might work together. These discussions were based on a vision that the online businesses of Microsoft and Yahoo! should be aligned in some way to create a more effective competitor in the online marketplace. We discussed a number of alternatives ranging from commercial partnerships to a merger proposal, which you rejected. While a commercial partnership may have made sense at one time, Microsoft believes that the only alternative now is the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! that we are proposing.

In February 2007, I received a letter from your Chairman indicating the view of the Yahoo! Board that "now is not the right time from the perspective of our shareholders to enter into discussions regarding an acquisition transaction." According to that letter, the principal reason for this view was the Yahoo! Board's confidence in the "potential upside" if management successfully executed on a reformulated strategy based on certain operational initiatives, such as Project Panama, and a significant organizational realignment. A year has gone by, and the competitive situation has not improved.

While online advertising growth continues, there are significant benefits of scale in advertising platform economics, in capital costs for search index build-out, and in research and development, making this a time of industry consolidation and convergence. Today, the market is increasingly dominated by one player who is consolidating its dominance through acquisition. Together, Microsoft and Yahoo! can offer a credible alternative for consumers, advertisers, and publishers.

Here's to the best rat I know

Lion dances, fireworks, last minute Chinatown shopping frenzies, spring cleaning and reunion dinners, can only mean one thing ... Happy Chinese New Year! The lunar 2008 ushers in the Year of the Rat - born leaders who have practicality and charisma on their side.

So 新年快乐 , 恭喜发财 and 年年有馀 to all, and especially to the best "rat" I know - my sis in New York. Miss you much!


Credit to the talented tardis80