Mizore

It’s amazing sometimes how things can coincide. Like facing a heap of jigsaw puzzle pieces, there’s no other way to see the completed picture at the start than to dilligently join each piece to another, one step at a time.

On the first day of the lunar new year, I decided to do a break from the tradition of visiting and stayed at home. My mother knowing how stubborn her son could be, didn’t bother to try persuade.

“You’ll miss out on the collections, ” my brother said, in a last ditch attempt to reel me in to keep him company.

“It’s okay,” I replied, with my full attention fixated on the D3 – The Mighty Ducks showing on TV.

Not having any relatives in Singapore, (the only family we had was an uncle and aunt who relocated to China last year) I didn’t see the point of going with this tradition, although we have an abundance of friends of the family, longtime friends of my mother and my grandparents, most of whom are Indonesian-Chinese who have made Singapore their home since decades ago.

Each year, the older generation would meet and exchange stories, while subtly weaving the political tapestry they created long time ago. Their offsprings on the other hand, usually go through these sessions due to deference to their elders.

The situation’s slightly different with us. The elder generation spent alot of time with each other in their youth and knew each other quite well. For us, we only get to see each other once a year. In fact, it wouldn’t be too farfetched to describe it as a meeting of almost strangers.

This year, I wanted to do without the awkwardness and the entire irrelevance of the traditional routine, and opted for a simple homestay, probably also tired due to the night before’s watching of Jet Li’s last martial arts movie in Fearless, in between hearty gulps of ice-cold Tiger lager, an apt lunar new year substitute for the usual movie fare of coke and popcorn.

Shortly after the family left the house, I received a call from Eric, who invited me to his place to hang out. An unexpected turn of events.

Eight years have passed since we last saw each other. During this period, he graduated with an accountancy degree, worked for the Singapore office of a sister company of one of the Big Four banks in Japan. When the Asian financial crisis struck home, the company relocated to Taiwan, with Eric in tow. Currently he works as a private equity fund manager investing in technology companies in Taiwan.

Time seemed to fly at our discussion, while we reminisce about the past, we also talked about banking, world economics, investment, technology.  He shared his insights and opinions; and advised me on my fledgling career. I was deeply appreciative.

Eric commiserated over the lack of good companies to invest in. Alot of the good companies already are public. Taiwan is home to leading technology manufacturers whom American companies outsource production of their electronic components, such as those commonly found in LCD panels, cameraphones, and microprocessors.

I also met Judy, his Taiwanese girlfriend. Surprised was I to learn that she was born on the same month and year as I, with only sixteen days apart. She was very friendly and accomodating.

Christine returned home and introduced me to her boyfriend Gil, who I later discovered was a former New York corporate banker with one of the Big Four banks in Japan, and currently works as a venture capitalist with the San Francisco office of a Silicon Valley technology company, and form the third banker in the house.

Our discussion flowed easily, trading stories and experiences with as much gusto as we tucked into the bak kwa Christine provided. The subject of marathons and the Kenyans, investing, Mexicans and the history of California, Taiwan and Singapore, which Gil refers to “Switzerland of Asia” were discussed. Both countries are similar. Things start on time, strong laws, clean and small, and their reputation for being wealth management hubs, although Gil thinks we may have a slight edge due to the our port, world’s no. 2. Although both have US$40 billion each in foreign reserves, it has taken us just 40 years to accumulate it, in starking contrast to Switzerland’s 500 years.

Between the two intelligent and good-humoured ambitious moneymen, and their eclectic student new to the industry, the discussion went on for hours. We shared laughter and enjoyed each other’s company.

“Nobody can tell what’s going to happen in future. All we can do is look back at the past, and when we put the pieces together, then we see the picture,” someone once said, to this effect.

If I had gone to bai nian (visiting) with the family, I probably would end up utterly bored, and wouldn’t have had such an enjoyable afternoon. One can only tell these things after they’ve happened. I’m glad things turned out the way they did.

On a final note, here’s wishing everyone a happy lunar new year. May the year of the Dog bring you a prosperous year ahead and good health throughout.