Category: Op-Ed
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‘Gotong Royong’ is the Only Way for Indonesia Fintech
Ask ten thousand people when they think the Indonesian fintech industry was born, and you’re going to get as many birth date guesses as there are islands in Indonesia. Some would say it began with the release of OJK Regulation №.77/POJK.01/2016 by Otoritas Jasa Keuangan in January 2017, where Indonesia’s regulator unveiled its initial framework…
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Pulling the (virtual) World to Singapore
Until the invention of the first electronic general-purpose computer in 1946, humanity sought to bring order to our analog world by sorting and classifying information through manual, then electro-mechanical means. Networking technologies became tinder to the kindle that is computers, eventually becoming the fire of the Internet. Apart from changing the way we create, connect,…
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Amazon’s entry an urgent wake up call for Singapore’s retailers
I authored this essay for TODAY’s commentary column which was run on 4 August 2017. Many thanks to Jason Tan of TODAY for the invitation to contribute my thoughts and to the editorial team for helping with the title. I am republishing my submission as public record. Singapore’s glistening skyline disguises a worrisome decay that has…
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Once Bonded, Reloaded
Just like Yu-Mei Balasingamchow, I penned my name on a legal document in 2000 that effectively willed 6 years of my life – after the mandatory military service and the sponsored US university education – to the Singapore Public Service. The ‘golden ticket’ was like a dream come true – a chance for the eldest son…