NorthEast

Tomorrow I will be starting a new career in Shanghai for at least a year. The opportunity came at a timing less than ideal given our family has just celebrated the arrival of 欣蒽, and 芯宁 is now enjoying her sister's companion; all the good reasons for me to be at home. At the same time, 丽晶and I are both doing so well together. Like our past successes, we always need to keep ourselves on the toes and be prepared to take up new challenges that could represent a greenfield for our family. Nelly took up the challenge of being a Private Banker after her surgery in 2005, I took the risk of jumping into Operations at the time banking is most unstable in 2008 and we had just overjoyed with 芯宁arrival. Looking back we are glad to take up the challenges and enjoying the fruits of our decision and hardwork. I guess now this is another huge leap of faith for me, again, and this time it is Shanghai. It will be a challenging career and tough time managing being aw...

After almost 3 weeks looking after Xin En, and seeing how Xin Ning reacted towards her little sister, I can't help but feeling proud and love the girls more. The feeling is derived from the gratification and proud seeing Xin Ning's continuous affection towards Xin En and her spontaneity in defending her little sister. Both Nelly and I are extremely delighted to see how these two girls are getting on with each other, so far. We will be patient to see them growing up and surely will enjoy the journey with them.   Daddy and Mommy love both of you very much.

In just less than a month, I am probably going to start a new post in Shanghai office, taking care of Trade Finance and Cash Solutions operations. Whilst excited with the opportunity there are several reasons I am feeling a little divided on the following: 1) Leaving family behind especially the three adorable ladies at home 2) Uncertainly on the term of the contracts 3) The extend of the challenge at work I have been thinking of whether to bring the entire family over or to travel back and forth, and after much consideration the latter prevail for following reasons: 1) It helps keep wife on payroll which serves our family as an insurance in the event my career hit a bump and we still have a bit more to go before we could declare financially free 2) Food safety in Shanghai or China at large is worrying moreso Xin Ex is an infant and on-going health scare 3) Having Nelly being a full-time housewife, while could be enjoying at beginning, could turn into boredom when children grow...

Being a Malaysian, married to a girl originated from Indonesia and now a proud Singaporean, who is born on 31 August, in itself is a symbol of national importance. That was 2004. Fast forward to May 1, 2013, I am again about to claim a coincidence of great importance. On 2 May (tomorrow) Nelly and I are excitedly welcoming the arrival of our new born, and 3 days later (May 5, 2013) Malaysians will head to polls to decide the next government. For us, the arrival of second child will coincide with another significant event in our family, that is, I am awaiting my relocation to Shanghai, a move which I think will boost my career prospect and enhance my experience in a great way. During the very same week, on this Sunday, Malaysians are gearing up to cast their votes in what many have predicted as the closest battle between the incumbents and the Oppositions led by Anwar Ibrahim. For the first time since Independence the National Front government is facing a real prospect of losing its...

How could I cut all the noises in my head and just live by holistic principle of full contention, expectation-less, and enjoy everyone as it comes?

Few things came into my mind when this topic pop up: 1) Do I have enough financial means to raise this child, giving him / her the best I could afford, when job is hardly secured? 2) What will happen to old days nest egg if we were to allocate substantial resources to support Xin Ning and her brother / sister? 3) Could I be fair to both of them in term of material provision in which I have a wish to provide them top-in-class education and leave them with an equal assets / wealth to launch them to ensure their stay ahead? For all the considerations above, I do have some inclination towards having a second child for following reasons: 1) Giving Xin Ning a companion and an opportunity to pick up responsibility being an elder; to look after the younger sibling 2) I know having another child will have fulfilled Nelly's wish given how happy she is being a mother and all the fun generated from looking and spending time with Xin Ning This is a complex situation and I am amazed to ...

Last week, Nelly and and I have begun to see how our apartment at M@P is gradually to feel like a home. A few aspects of the apartment have caught a better side of Xin Ning; the yellow light at walk-way to common room, the height of switches means she can now switch on/off the lights at ease, pink writing table, and the purple curtain she has chosen finally got fixed. Nelly, on the other hand, is excited with the prospect of living at M@P that comes with vast space, resort-like layout, a big pool (Olympic size), and its close proximity to St Nicholas Primary School. I, too, am excited with the fact it is situated next to Upper and Lower Peirce which helps bring nature really close to my weekend running regime. One other interesting point about moving into M&P is the on-going discussion among netizens on where is the nearest MRT station for next Thomson MRT Line. An engineer from Poh Lian, the main contractor for the project, has speculated with confidence that it is somewhere n...