Two countries one system?

Singapore 🇸🇬. 21 hours in the Lion City. Lots can be packed in an efficient city state. Started with dinner on Thursday night (day 75) with the K Alumni in SG – even with many travelling, we had 8 for a great meal together and then good ol’ teh tarik at Arab Street. Thanks very much Andrew, Samuel, Yit Ming, Lay Seng, Shirwan, Mike, Rezal and Anthony.

Early start with breakfast at the Raffles with old friend Prof Danny Quah, Dean of the LKY School of Government followed by a walk down memory lane with Rezal to Tanjung Pagar and the proud old art deco rail station awaiting its next incarnation. Then a couple of stops on the MRT and off to Solat Jumaat at Masjid Sultan. Having been on the road in my 11th week, its great to be able to attend Solat Jumaat at the historic Masjid Sultan.

Then it was lunch accross the road and after Friday prayers, the long running battle of the murtabaks was in full swing… Our family has always been Zam Zam over Victory! Thanks Rezal for spending time and for the lift to Woodlands.

Being half Johorean, Singapore had always been just a short 170 bus away in my standard week a year in December holidays as a schoolboy. Went up the 1st escalator, saw 1st color TV, bought first trainers, Singapore’s influence was always felt as a trend setter and window to the world. Divorce can of course be traumatic but am a great believer in complementary advantage, in an age of supply chains and complementarities. Both nations have our respective challenges, breaking through the middle income trap on one side, and graduating a city state into something sembling a civilizational world city. Both will want to chart their respective paths, but there is much to be said for the case of strategic complementarities. 🇲🇾🙌🇸🇬 #kretapikir

28 September 2019