有幸出席“2026临沂外贸优品(新加坡)经贸对接会 #173
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有幸出席“2026临沂外贸优品(新加坡)经贸对接会 #173

昨晚承蒙学强邀请,我有幸出席“2026临沂外贸优品(新加坡)经贸对接会”,与来自临沂和新加坡的企业家及各界朋友交流。#173 席间最难得的,是与一桌背景各异的新老朋友畅谈——既有在新加坡扎根的第一代华人,也有传承至第四代的新加坡华人,还有正在新加坡工作、并积极探索东盟商机的中国朋友。不同的人生经历与商业视角汇聚在一起,让这个夜晚格外丰富。 跨境合作不只关乎产品与市场。真正决定一段关系能走多远的,往往是信任、物流、安全与信誉。机会可以促成一次会面,但唯有可靠的履约、清晰的责任和长期建立的互信,才能让合作跨越地域与周期。 新加坡与临沂之间的双向联系,可以成为更广阔区域合作的起点:从中国与新加坡出发,延伸至东南亚,并进一步连接美国、欧洲及其他国际市场。重要的并非一开始就定义所有可能,而是先把正确的人、可信的能力与共同的长期视野连接起来。 感谢学强的盛情邀请,也感谢当晚每一位新老朋友的真诚交流。许多有意义的合作,往往始于一张餐桌、一场坦诚的对话,以及彼此愿意长期同行的信任。 — Grateful to 学强 for inviting me to last night’s 2026 Linyi High-Quality Export Goods (Singapore) Economic & Trade Matching Conference. One of the evening’s highlights was sharing a table with people whose connections to Singapore span remarkably different journeys—from first-generation Chinese immigrants to fourth-generation Singaporean Chinese, alongside friends from…

Robots, speed dating and an unmanned booth: notes from The Business Show Asia and AIMX 2026 #172
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Robots, speed dating and an unmanned booth: notes from The Business Show Asia and AIMX 2026 #172

Robots, speed dating and an unmanned booth: notes from The Business Show Asia and AIMX 2026 #172 The Business Show Asia promised scale—8,000+ visitors and 250 exhibitors—while AIMX focused on real-world and embodied AI. For The Thousand Ships, I found potential collaborations across Singapore, Japan, China and the Philippines. “Speed Networking” was business’s answer to…

Are We Ready for a New World? | Reflections from the 7th Annual GEX Conference 2026 #167
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Are We Ready for a New World? | Reflections from the 7th Annual GEX Conference 2026 #167

Are We Ready for a New World? | Reflections from the 7th Annual GEX Conference 2026 #167 It was a privilege to attend Dr Patrick Liew’s 7th Annual GEX Conference 2026, where diplomats, economists and business leaders shared their perspectives on navigating an increasingly uncertain world. A key takeaway was that today’s geopolitical landscape bears…

#159 Lee Hsien Loong’s Twenty Years: Leadership, Information and the Greatest Challenge of Governance
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#159 Lee Hsien Loong’s Twenty Years: Leadership, Information and the Greatest Challenge of Governance

For two decades, Singapore was led by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong through one of the most challenging periods in modern history. He inherited a nation already admired for its stability and transformed it through the Global Financial Crisis, the rise of China, increasing geopolitical competition, digital disruption, an ageing population, COVID-19, and an increasingly…

#148 Ho Ching, The Enforcers, and Singapore’s Invisible Operating System 何晶、《执法者》与新加坡的隐形操作系统
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#148 Ho Ching, The Enforcers, and Singapore’s Invisible Operating System 何晶、《执法者》与新加坡的隐形操作系统

My previous article, “Professionalism, Restraint, and the Standards We Choose to Uphold,” spoke about slipping standards, public conduct, and the increasingly fragile balance between authority, restraint, and responsibility in modern Singapore. Today, I wish to continue that discussion through a different lens. A woman. A technocrat. An engineer. A steward of capital. And perhaps one…

#147 Professionalism, Restraint, and the Standards We Choose to Uphold 专业、克制,以及我们选择维护的标准
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#147 Professionalism, Restraint, and the Standards We Choose to Uphold 专业、克制,以及我们选择维护的标准

In recent years, Singapore has worked hard to strengthen regional business connectivity across ASEAN. Professional institutions, chambers of commerce, engineering bodies, startup ecosystems, and sustainability communities are increasingly interconnected. This is a good thing. However, with growth also comes an important question: Are we preserving the standards that made these institutions respected in the first…

#137 We Are Not Far From WW3: The Impending Arrival of the Asia-Pacific Theatre of War (I) 我们离第三次世界大战并不遥远:亚太战场的即将到来 (I)
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#137 We Are Not Far From WW3: The Impending Arrival of the Asia-Pacific Theatre of War (I) 我们离第三次世界大战并不遥远:亚太战场的即将到来 (I)

For years, the world has been fixated on flashpoints in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. But the real question is no longer where conflict begins. It is where it ultimately converges. And increasingly, the answer points toward the Asia-Pacific. War Today Is Not About Speed. It Is About Time We are witnessing a shift…

#132 China Is Not Just a Country — It Is a Civilization 中国不仅是一个国家——它是一种文明
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#132 China Is Not Just a Country — It Is a Civilization 中国不仅是一个国家——它是一种文明

When Henry Kissinger once remarked that “China is not a nation-state in the traditional sense, but a civilization pretending to be one,” he was not being poetic—he was being precise. This distinction matters. A country is bounded by borders, constitutions, and political systems. A civilization, however, is something far deeper—it is memory, continuity, philosophy, and…

#117 Reality vs Rhetoric: CPF, Cash, Foreign Talent and Why Nuance Still Matters 现实与修辞:公积金、现金、外来人才,以及为什么“细节”仍然重要
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#117 Reality vs Rhetoric: CPF, Cash, Foreign Talent and Why Nuance Still Matters 现实与修辞:公积金、现金、外来人才,以及为什么“细节”仍然重要

#117 Reality vs Rhetoric: CPF, Cash, Foreign Talent and Why Nuance Still Matters 现实与修辞:公积金、现金、外来人才,以及为什么“细节”仍然重要 In an age where commentary spreads faster than context, public statements about national policies can shape perception almost instantly. Discussions about CPF, employment economics, and financial systems deserve more than simplified comparisons or selective framing. They require completeness, especially when they…

#116 When Civilizations Collapse, They Don’t Send a Warning. 当文明崩塌时,它们从不会提前发出警告
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#116 When Civilizations Collapse, They Don’t Send a Warning. 当文明崩塌时,它们从不会提前发出警告

#116 🏛️🌏 When Civilizations Collapse, They Don’t Send a Warning. 当文明崩塌时,它们从不会提前发出警告 🏛️ The Bronze Age Collapse wasn’t just a war. It was a systems failure. ✍️ Entire civilizations vanished. Writing systems disappeared. Trade networks dissolved. Cities burned. Knowledge was lost. For generations, humanity fell into silence. No one living through it thought they were at…