Part Time Scholar

I am getting to the age when my son is studying calculus under the tutilege of  a tutor.  Although he is a few years ahead at math in school, I have to admit the very thought of him doing derivatives makes me feel old.  There is also nostalgia however, as I rekindled my interested in calculus by writing this piece -- and yes, I needed a memory jog from the Internet to complete the formulas.   Most people meet calculus as a set of rules.  Differentiate this.  Integrate that. Memorize formulas. Apply them until the answers come out correctly.  It feels almost mechanical, like a toolkit you learn to use without ever opening it to see how it was built.    But calculus is not really about formulas. At its core, it is about something much more fundamental: how change actually works when you zoom in close enough. The idea of first principles is simple. Instead of accepting shortcuts or memorized rules, you rebuild the concept from the most ba...

I used to pay little attention on boarding at the airport because of my elite status with various airlines. But retirement has kept me grounded and almost swiped my record clean in recent years. Recent trips, including one to Colombia with an infamous American airline, had me thinking more about the science behind plane boarding.   Anyone who has boarded an airplane enough times has likely experienced the strange choreography that unfolds before takeoff. Passengers stand up almost immediately when boarding begins, lines begin forming long before their assigned group is called, and eventually a slow procession starts moving toward the aircraft. For a few moments the line appears to flow smoothly. Then everything stops. Someone is lifting luggage into an overhead compartment. Another passenger realizes they are seated twenty rows further back. A family begins negotiating seating arrangements while the rest of the line quietly waits. Movement resumes briefly before another i...

There is a familiar ritual that unfolds on highways almost every day. You are driving in moderate traffic when a neighboring lane begins moving slightly faster than yours. At first, the difference is subtle. A few cars pull ahead, creating the impression that a better option exists just a few meters away. Almost instinctively, your attention shifts. You begin comparing speeds, scanning gaps, and calculating whether a lane change might save time. Eventually, convinced that an opportunity has appeared, you switch lanes with quiet confidence. For a brief moment, the decision appears justified. The new lane moves smoothly and the cars around you continue forward. Then something strange happens. The lane slows. Vehicles begin compressing together. Meanwhile, the lane you just abandoned suddenly starts moving. Cars you previously passed now drift ahead while you sit wondering whether traffic possesses a strange sense of humor. Experiences like this are common enough that many drivers jokin...

There is a small ritual that almost everyone performs at supermarkets. We scan the checkout area, count the number of people in each line, glance at shopping carts, and make a quick calculation in our heads. The logic seems obvious: fewer people should imply less waiting. Yet many of us have experienced the strange frustration of watching a longer line move faster while ours becomes trapped behind a price check, a failed barcode scan, or a customer searching endlessly for a wallet. At first glance this feels like bad luck, but mathematics suggests something more interesting may be happening. Most people treat supermarket checkout as a simple optimization problem. You arrive, observe a few lines, and choose the one with the smallest number of people. The assumption is intuitive: fewer customers should imply shorter waiting time. However, this ignores the fact that queueing systems are not governed by headcount alone, but by stochastic service dynamics. In queueing theory, the system is...

This year, I left Hong Kong and landed back in Canada. That’s the headline, but it barely captures what actually happened.  Moving across continents forced me to slow down, notice patterns, and re-evaluate routines I didn’t even realize I was carrying with me. Relocation: Learning to See Life Anew At first, everything felt bigger: houses, streets, coffee shops, even the way people walk and talk. In Hong Kong, life moves like a high-speed train; in Canada, it feels like a tram--or should I say, street car-- that occasionally stops and makes you think. The change wasn’t just geographic.  It was mental.  I had to ask myself: what do I bring with me, and what can I leave behind?  The discipline, curiosity, and late-night ponders came along.  The constant rush, the pressure to always perform, and the noise quietly fell away. Perspective arrived almost automatically. In a new place, it’s hard not to notice the context you’ve been operating in your whole life....

Towards the end of 2024, I left the 9 to 5 routine given my financial goals were achieved.  It felt great not needing to hug my phone to sleep and being able to wake up at whatever godly (or ungodly) hour desired.  Fast forward six months, the retirement routine became mundane.  I needed to find meaningful use of my newly found time.  Between street and league soccer, writing a book, exotic getaways, relocation back to my adopted home country, all the while taking on advisory gigs with interesting companies, life seemed like a handful.  Somehow, I managed to find time to study various topics of interest.  One topic that really caught on was game theory.   Learning game theory was a self-improvement initiative.  I wanted a life broader horizon and be better equipped when when dealing with others.  My definition of game theory is the study of interactive decision making of more than one party, where the outcome of each particpant or player...

I have long wanted to study Buddhism, because its teachings are quite cryptic in nature and to me, thought provoking.  In fact, I took a trip to China's Shaolin Temple in recent weeks to soak in some zen.  Shaolin is also known for its Chinese kung fu, so I also signed up for a private martial arts lesson with a warrior monk.  That was a great experience in itself, but the story will have to wait for another day.  Instead, I wanted to share a great read called Think Like a Monk  by Jay Shetty.  It portrays a few keystones of Buddhism and how a purposeful life can be led without subccumbing to the distractions we encounter on a daily basis.  Reading the book provided an egaging experience as it uses real life examples to illustrate its points.   Here is what I learnt:  We are what we think people think we are: we often project the "right image" to impress others.  This is the direct result of us overthinking our importance in t...

I have read many personal finance books over the years.  Coincidentally, I have become quite adept at managing my finances over the years.  It made me arrogant, thinking there is nothing more to learn in this realm.  How surprised was I to pick up the Kindle version of  The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel .  I finished it in just a few hours, a record time for reading an entire book! Here are the key and refreshing takeaways from the read:  Be Humble: If you are successful, it is very likely because you got lucky despite what your altered ego may think.  Bill Gates and Paul Allen had access to a personal computer at the high school they studied - a rare gem in the 1960s.  Of course, they had the smarts to take advantage of the situation and the rest was history.  Little did we know that Kent Evans, who was Gates best friend at school and actual first partner in business, could have been a major success too had he not died in a freak mou...

Ever wonder how fresh water is processed and delivered effortlessly into your home?  Well for starters, it is not effortless! And, it is definitely not easy.  Hong Kong's Water Supply Department (WSD) H2OPE Centre  tells it all.  It is yet another hidden gem that brings a great wealth of knowledge and interactive fun to your family.  If you are visiting the city with  young ones, and have a half-day of free time, this is the place to be.   The centre covers all key topics one has to know about water.  From collection, treatment, distribution, to conservation, you can readily choose content to skim through or deep dive into.  Many displays combine visual/audio elements, along with interactive games that captivate your attention, and provide an amusing experience for children.  Depending on your interest level, you can spend easily between 1 to 3 hours in the cosy facility.  My favourite fun-fact takeaway was that Zebrafish is us...

Artificial intelligence is everywhere in our world today.  For better or worse, it is growing fast!  Children use it for school work.  Love birds plan their honeymoon with AI itineraries.  Workers rely on robo advisors for their retirement funds.  Name a daily task or chore, and chances are AI plays a role in some capacity.    This includes writing.  I have seen AI write me travel reviews, company profiles, CVs, and many other things.  Its writing techniques are sound.  This leads me to the million dollar question: Should I continue blogging on my own or through AI?   After some contemplation, I decided to use both.  I will definitely write my own mind instead of relying on ideas and arguments from AI.  Even if it means from time to time, bad logic, clumsy sentence structures, poor choice of vocab.  I will use AI to proofread and correct all those mistakes however, and make it easier on the eyes for my readers....

I am not usually a fan of biographies.  The narcissist in me says there is no one better to learn from but myself.  I have always hold in admiration for  Jeff Bezos  however, having interned for Amazon.com during my university years.   Invent and Wander , written by the man himself, is a great summary of Bezos' philosophies on running his businesses -- namely Amazon, but also The Washington Post and Blue Origin.  In particular, a few points caught my eye:  Go long: Amazon.com is focused on the long term, and I mean really long term.  Bezos even raised the eyebrows of his shareholders on numerous occasions by sacrificing short term profits for what he believed to be worthy long term investments (Marketplace, AWS, Amazon Prime)   Focus on customers: F ocus on customers' needs, sometimes even before they know it. If you are obsessed with your customers instead of your competition, you will innovate much more.  This was how volunta...

Mid-Autumn Festival is a festival that is widely celebrated in China.  It gives families a reason to get together for dinner and enjoy some mooncakes under a full moon.  This year, the festival lines up nicely with National Day to give the working class some extra R&R.  For those visiting Hong Kong during this time, I highly recommend going to Tai Hang and check out their festivities.   Tai Hang is a gem in itself, as it is a quiet corner next to Causeway Bay, Hong Kong's bustling commercial and shopping district.  The quiet neighbourhood is home to various specialty restaurants, offering cuisines from China and around the world.  There are also plenty of non-franchised premium coffee shops for locals and tourists alike.  In my eyes, Tai Hang is a sleepy child most of the year offering tranquillity to those wanting to escape from the buzz of Hong Kong.   This quiet corner comes to life during Mid-Autumn however, as a series of celeb...

I don't have a good title yet, but for now, let's go with this:  Scaling Asia and Your Life - 10 Lessons from Growing Businesses in Asia I even put together a Prologue:  In the vast and ever-evolving landscape of Asian business, a personal odyssey unfolded—a journey of discovery, growth, and unwavering dedication to scaling companies from their humble beginnings. This is the story of my own experience, a firsthand account of navigating the intricate pathways of four diverse companies, each on its unique trajectory towards unprecedented success. As the sun rises over the bustling cities and tranquil countryside of Asia, it illuminates a tapestry of opportunity and potential. Within this vibrant continent, I embarked on a transformative voyage, guided by a steadfast determination to contribute to the growth and expansion of businesses at their inception. Scaling a company is a formidable endeavor, demanding an intricate dance between strategy, innovation, and adaptability. It re...