Risk aversion

5 years ago, a french scientist told me the problem with Singapore is not creativity, but risk aversiveness. It rings true, but I haven't seen it with my own eyes. Today, I gave him a thumbs up. More if you so like but I only have two.

1. I met a local university professor who told me making a proposal would take 3 weeks of solid 8 hours/day filling in forms that ask about everything. That is about $10k include overhead I believe.

2. Nobody encourages me on my PhD, except those from my profession and those who knows my future professor. Everyone is skeptical. Same question asked, "Why do you want to study more? Do you like to study? How about your house? How about your kids? How about your wife?" To parents, I have to use the money terms (how much is the funding worth) to convince them its good investment. I have a different explanation for everyone.

3. No companies seem to like consultants. But everyone like training. The former seem expensive and latter seem economical. I am not sure but I think the latter is much slower. I even know of a company which trains its guys for one year before they actually start doing anything productive.

4. Very few new things appear in Singapore. Even Creative copied its MP3 player from Apple, which is not too Creative. I haven't seen anything new. Even my father ask me to go to the states and see what can I learn and bring back to sell.

5. Almost everyone freaked out when I wanted to paint my dining room red. It turns out to be fantastico.

6. Lastly, almost everyone travels on guided tour in China. I am glad my wife didn't freak out when we went Yun Nan on our own. We saw a glacier.

I like freedom to risk, on good calculations. I think we either gain more or learn more then walking on sure paths. Often, its ourselves which we begin to know more: our short comings, limitations, and potentials. It makes us who we are.