Our daughter has a creative and very independent mind. She has a counter proposal for everything we ask her to do. "Put on your shoes"; "First, I'll pull up my socks, then I'll put on my shoes." "We're going to eat lunch, an then you'll take a nap"; "We'll eat lunch, play a game of Uno, an then I'll take a nap." Luckily, she also believes in the infallibility of her parents. We've parlayed this last trait, and her penchant for hearing new stories, to our advantage.
We often have a hard time convincing our daughter to finish her dinner. She is always "full" long before her dinner is complete, yet always asks for and has room for dessert (she takes after her father). Things got easier the night I started pulling coins out of her ears. She started asking me to pull coins from her ears all the time. Many times, I didn't have any coins in pockets, and she would walk away disappointed. I started telling her they needed time to grow. At night, I would leave a coin under her pillow, as if it had finished growing at night and fallen out. Every morning, she started looking for coins under her pillow and wanted to know why none were there if we had forgotten. I explained that it depended on what she ate the prior day. If she ate healthy - vegetables, fruits, grains - they grew, if she eats too much chocolate or sweets, they don't grow. Now, she eats healthy and will turn down dessert....of course, I have to leave a coin under her pillow every night.
For now, this doesn't cost me anything because she always gives the coins to me and I just reuse them. When she starts saving them, it could get expensive. My wife keeps asking me for my exit strategy. I've given it some thought. I think she'll likely tell someone at school, and that person will tell her it's fake and she'll ask me about it. My response will be that it only works for those who believe it, and that it only works for kids under 4. Hopefully that works.
My daughter is also a daredevil. Completely fearless. In some situations, her bravery is admirable. In others, it is downright scary for us. Singapore has a riverwalk. The start of the walk is just outside our apartment building and it continues down to our favorite restaurant. Our daughter started climbing the rails at the edge of the water. To prevent her from falling in, I told her the story of the "river people" who get very mad when people get too close to the river or fall in. In short, the people who lived upriver polluted the water for the people downriver, and, as punishment, were sentenced to be guardians of the river forever. Now, our daughter stays away from the river and always points out when she sees their heads, or when she sees the bubbles that occur when they breathe. She isn't scared of the river people - quite the contrary, she really wants to see them. She also doesn't go near the river anymore.
Finally, drawing on my childhood literary memories of the Big Friendly Giant (BFG) by Roald Dahl, I told my daughter the story of the giants who roam the streets at night and blow dreams into the rooms of children. I took a bit of license by extending the story to say that children who behave are given good dreams, and children who misbehave are given bad dreams. For the most part, this has proven quite effective. If she starts to act up, I just mention she'll get a bad dream, and she calms down. Of course when she has a nightmare after being good all day, I have tough questions to answer. We don't dwell on this story so much anymore, though she still remembers it.
Some of you may be thinking that tricking our kids is inappropriate or will lead to mistrust in the future. I used to think that, too, and had planned on not introducing Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy as a result. Then I saw the joy on my daughter's face when Santa Claus brought her a toy airplane. We use Santa for behavior modification, but it's only effective in December. Coins, the river people and dream delivering giants achieve behavior modification daily.
Maybe I'm being lazy by using tricks. Maybe it would be better if I baked broccoli into brownies like the best selling cookbook recommends - that seems to be an appropriate level of trickery. All I know is it works, and my daughter wakes up every morning excited to find coins under her pillow like it is the first time it has ever happened, and walks along the river have become journeys of discovery and hunts for the river people. Those are side effects I can live with.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Interesting Singapore
Singapore has unique characteristics I have not seen in other countries (though, to be fair, I can only compare it to the US and Indonesia).
First, the pop culture. Perusing the local newspaper, I found an article celebrating the birth of a local celebrity's child. The local celebrity? The silver medalist in ping pong. Another local celebrity - at least someone I see doing a lot of endorsements and on TV a lot - is a strange man with a large growth protruding from his neck. He is over the top ridiculous, and omnipresent. Reminds me of the French infatuation with Jerry Lewis.
Second, the focus on education. Bookstores have entire sections dedicated to education and preparing children as young as four for standardized testing. Children introduce themselves as "Johnny, one smart boy". There are entire malls dedicated to nothing but childhood education - 6 floors, hundreds of stores, dedicated to clothing, entertaining, and educating children.
Third, browsing my favorite websites here is annoying. If I go to Yahoo, it brings up the Singapore edition, and I am unable to revert back to the US edition. I'm not interested in the Singapore financials, or local celebrities. I'm not sure why a country smaller than New York City should even qualify as having its own celebrities.
Separately....
All my life, I've been against cologne. I've always considered it a waste of money and a poor substitute for bathing. The French invented perfume and cologne to cover the stench of not bathing for months at a time. I prefer my people "odor free". Being on the subway (called the MRT here) and, especially, today at the US Embassy sitting in a full room of people, I now have a reason to wear cologne. It isn't to mask my smell - I showered. I may have to start wearing cologne so I can have a "pleasant odor bubble" that, I am hoping, will act as a prophylactic against the offensive odors of the certain ethnic group in SE Asia that refuses to bathe. Literally, I was lifting my arm an smelling the deodorant in my armpit to avoid having to smell the BO of the woman behind me. It was bad.
At least we now have all the paperwork filed for my son's passport, birth certificate, and SSN. We should have everything ready for the family to return to Jakarta on 20 November. I return on 02 November and will have to make one more commute back to Singapore the weekend of 13 November.
First, the pop culture. Perusing the local newspaper, I found an article celebrating the birth of a local celebrity's child. The local celebrity? The silver medalist in ping pong. Another local celebrity - at least someone I see doing a lot of endorsements and on TV a lot - is a strange man with a large growth protruding from his neck. He is over the top ridiculous, and omnipresent. Reminds me of the French infatuation with Jerry Lewis.
Second, the focus on education. Bookstores have entire sections dedicated to education and preparing children as young as four for standardized testing. Children introduce themselves as "Johnny, one smart boy". There are entire malls dedicated to nothing but childhood education - 6 floors, hundreds of stores, dedicated to clothing, entertaining, and educating children.
Third, browsing my favorite websites here is annoying. If I go to Yahoo, it brings up the Singapore edition, and I am unable to revert back to the US edition. I'm not interested in the Singapore financials, or local celebrities. I'm not sure why a country smaller than New York City should even qualify as having its own celebrities.
Separately....
All my life, I've been against cologne. I've always considered it a waste of money and a poor substitute for bathing. The French invented perfume and cologne to cover the stench of not bathing for months at a time. I prefer my people "odor free". Being on the subway (called the MRT here) and, especially, today at the US Embassy sitting in a full room of people, I now have a reason to wear cologne. It isn't to mask my smell - I showered. I may have to start wearing cologne so I can have a "pleasant odor bubble" that, I am hoping, will act as a prophylactic against the offensive odors of the certain ethnic group in SE Asia that refuses to bathe. Literally, I was lifting my arm an smelling the deodorant in my armpit to avoid having to smell the BO of the woman behind me. It was bad.
At least we now have all the paperwork filed for my son's passport, birth certificate, and SSN. We should have everything ready for the family to return to Jakarta on 20 November. I return on 02 November and will have to make one more commute back to Singapore the weekend of 13 November.
Monday, October 26, 2009
A pitch for micro-lending
Many of the economics books I've read recently discuss, in some aspect, poor nations - why they remain poor, why institutional lending doesn't work, and what programs do work. Every book highlighted the benefits of micro-lending.
Many people who live in destitute poverty can dramatically improve their lives with small loans - less than $1,000. Most cannot qualify for personal credit - if a construct even exists - despite having the means to repay such a small amount.
Most banks don't like micro-lending because the cost of the paperwork to process the loan exceeds the potential profit from the interest on the loan. Indonesian banks implemented micro-lending programs a few years ago. They have bypassed the paperwork altogether by simply requiring a government issued ID that they can scan and they limit loans to $200. For the banks that are doing it, this sector of the lending market is one of their most profitable and has the lowest default rate.
Most poor nations are poor because they lack a financial infrastructure. This is where a micro-lending non-profit organization enters the picture. For details, see "Kiva".
FYI, for those of you who would like to profit from micro-lending in the US, try Prosper. It appears they have finally cleared their federal hurdles and are accepting new lenders an borrowers again. They've been around for nearly 6 years - at least that is how long I have known them - so they are not a fly-by-night operation.
Many people who live in destitute poverty can dramatically improve their lives with small loans - less than $1,000. Most cannot qualify for personal credit - if a construct even exists - despite having the means to repay such a small amount.
Most banks don't like micro-lending because the cost of the paperwork to process the loan exceeds the potential profit from the interest on the loan. Indonesian banks implemented micro-lending programs a few years ago. They have bypassed the paperwork altogether by simply requiring a government issued ID that they can scan and they limit loans to $200. For the banks that are doing it, this sector of the lending market is one of their most profitable and has the lowest default rate.
Most poor nations are poor because they lack a financial infrastructure. This is where a micro-lending non-profit organization enters the picture. For details, see "Kiva".
FYI, for those of you who would like to profit from micro-lending in the US, try Prosper. It appears they have finally cleared their federal hurdles and are accepting new lenders an borrowers again. They've been around for nearly 6 years - at least that is how long I have known them - so they are not a fly-by-night operation.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
My son squeals like a pig
A good friend of mine once told me an article he read stated that our children, thanks to evolutionary adaptation, make crying noises in sounds that are most annoying to their parents to guarantee attention. To me, this explains both why so many infants are shaken to death by their parents, and why my son squeals like a pig. Seriously. The kid doesn't cry. He squeals. It definitely gets our attention.
I also think my son is making a statement that he should have been born in the U.S. He sleeps all day and is awake all night. Our daughter slept, ate, and pooped in 2 hour shifts when she was born. Our son is sleeping during the day and demanding food all night. I think he consumes more calories than I do. Hopefully that means he will grow quickly.
My wife needs to focus most of her attention on our newborn. For me, this means focusing my attention on our daughter so she does not feel marginalized by the new arrival. We both want her to know that her role in our lives has not diminished with the arrival of our son.
Today, this meant taking our daughter to the water park in Singapore - Wild Wild Wet. Her uncle and I spent the whole day there with her. She had a blast. She loves going down the slides - by herself - and really enjoyed the 4 storey, inner tube ride they had that she calls "The Loop". The tube seats six people and there are several drops and high speed turns from the top of the stairs to the pool at the bottom. She enjoyed every minute of it. I don't know many 3-year olds that will go down a large water slide by themselves. I certainly didn't see many at the park.
The bonus of having her spend all day running around a park and swimming was complete exhaustion when we returned. We arrived at the park at 10:30 AM and left at 3:30 PM after my daughter said to me "I'm kinda tired. I think I'll fall asleep on the next ride." She fell asleep in the taxi on the ride home, and went to bed 2 hours earlier than normal.
Now, if only we can get our son to sleep through the night....
I also think my son is making a statement that he should have been born in the U.S. He sleeps all day and is awake all night. Our daughter slept, ate, and pooped in 2 hour shifts when she was born. Our son is sleeping during the day and demanding food all night. I think he consumes more calories than I do. Hopefully that means he will grow quickly.
My wife needs to focus most of her attention on our newborn. For me, this means focusing my attention on our daughter so she does not feel marginalized by the new arrival. We both want her to know that her role in our lives has not diminished with the arrival of our son.
Today, this meant taking our daughter to the water park in Singapore - Wild Wild Wet. Her uncle and I spent the whole day there with her. She had a blast. She loves going down the slides - by herself - and really enjoyed the 4 storey, inner tube ride they had that she calls "The Loop". The tube seats six people and there are several drops and high speed turns from the top of the stairs to the pool at the bottom. She enjoyed every minute of it. I don't know many 3-year olds that will go down a large water slide by themselves. I certainly didn't see many at the park.
The bonus of having her spend all day running around a park and swimming was complete exhaustion when we returned. We arrived at the park at 10:30 AM and left at 3:30 PM after my daughter said to me "I'm kinda tired. I think I'll fall asleep on the next ride." She fell asleep in the taxi on the ride home, and went to bed 2 hours earlier than normal.
Now, if only we can get our son to sleep through the night....
Friday, October 23, 2009
The first day of life
My son's first day of life has been quite eventful. He was up most of the evening vomiting from having too much ambiotic fluid in his stomach. They pumped his stomach to solve that issue. He also struggled to stay warm in the 25 C temperature of our room. His little hands and feet turned blue, so they took him to the nursery and let him sleep under the warmer for a while. He's doing much better with that today. This morning he had his first set of vaccinations and his circumcision.
Below are more pictures of yesterday and a video.
Below are more pictures of yesterday and a video.
Funny Football Antics
In case you missed it, this is a video of a pigeon contributing on the Raiders special teams.
The Raiders need all the help they can get.
The Raiders need all the help they can get.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
A son is born
Alexander Justus joined us at 12:20 PM on 22 October, 2009. He weighed a healthy 3.8 KG and was 52cm long. Join us in welcoming Alex (mom insists we don't use "AJ"....though I do).
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Random thoughts this week
I've been reading a lot of economics books lately: Tim Harford's "The Undercover Economist" and "The Logic of Life", Malcolm Gladwell's "The Outliers", and now am reading "Discover Your Inner Economist". I also found in the book store today that Gladwell has a new book - "What the Dog Saw" and there is a sequel to Freakonomics called "Superfreakonomics", so I bought both of those, too.
In "The Inner Economist", the author - Tyler Cowen - cites a study that proved a point I made in a blog entry a few months ago regarding putting credentials after your name, a practice I call "Signature Resumes". To quote from the book:
The findings - people of higher prestige used titles 4% of the time while people of lower prestige used titles 78% of the time. Pretty compelling if you ask me.
Our daughter is playing Uno - and often winning, though we do help with the strategy. In an attempt to make her feel proud of her achievement, I showed her the box that indicated the game was for children 7 and older. To my surprise, she walked away sad. We asked her to come back and play. She refused because the rules state you have to be 7. She wouldn't come back until I said 7 and older, or 3 years old and wearing pink pants. Then she came back, and proceeded to beat us. The next night when we wanted to play she wasn't wearing pink pants and wouldn't play. Now she believes that 3 year olds can play as long as they play with their parents.
Two other items categorized under "from the mouths of babes":
1) Our daughter likes to watch the closing credits of her movies because they often have characters dancing and singing as the credits roll. When the movie is over, she now asks us "Can I watch the credit cards"? Seems she goes shopping with momma a little too often.
2) Cajoling adults is a new past time for her. When she wants us to do something, she asks "Can you do me a favorite?"
Final comment of the day: Tomorrow we will have a son. He did not make me miss my beloved Broncos go to 6-0 by convincingly defeating the team everyone thought would win the division. We are inducing. Tomorrow at 7:30 AM we will give the baby a little nudge into the world. I'm assuming the nudging doesn't require 16.5 hours to complete.
In "The Inner Economist", the author - Tyler Cowen - cites a study that proved a point I made in a blog entry a few months ago regarding putting credentials after your name, a practice I call "Signature Resumes". To quote from the book:
"[Two professors]...hypothesized that of all the people with a given title, such
as Ph.D., the least successful people from that group should be the most likely
to advertise that title." (p. 110)
The findings - people of higher prestige used titles 4% of the time while people of lower prestige used titles 78% of the time. Pretty compelling if you ask me.
Our daughter is playing Uno - and often winning, though we do help with the strategy. In an attempt to make her feel proud of her achievement, I showed her the box that indicated the game was for children 7 and older. To my surprise, she walked away sad. We asked her to come back and play. She refused because the rules state you have to be 7. She wouldn't come back until I said 7 and older, or 3 years old and wearing pink pants. Then she came back, and proceeded to beat us. The next night when we wanted to play she wasn't wearing pink pants and wouldn't play. Now she believes that 3 year olds can play as long as they play with their parents.
Two other items categorized under "from the mouths of babes":
1) Our daughter likes to watch the closing credits of her movies because they often have characters dancing and singing as the credits roll. When the movie is over, she now asks us "Can I watch the credit cards"? Seems she goes shopping with momma a little too often.
2) Cajoling adults is a new past time for her. When she wants us to do something, she asks "Can you do me a favorite?"
Final comment of the day: Tomorrow we will have a son. He did not make me miss my beloved Broncos go to 6-0 by convincingly defeating the team everyone thought would win the division. We are inducing. Tomorrow at 7:30 AM we will give the baby a little nudge into the world. I'm assuming the nudging doesn't require 16.5 hours to complete.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
It's a waiting game
Braxton-Hicks contractions all day, every day...no baby. Only two questions remain:
1) Will my son force me to miss football and be born in the next 48 hours?
2) Will we induce Tuesday morning?
Baby will answer #1, wife will answer #2. I'm powerless.
Mother-in-law and brother-in-law arrived 3 AM Thursday after missing their Wednesday flight and a 2 hour delay on the flight the next day. So, we're making all the same rounds we did when we were discovering the city and when my mom came for a visit - Sentosa Island, Chinatown, Clarke Quay.
We know the birthday is close, so we are staying close to home. We thought about going to a waterpark or the Night Safari again, but those are long trips to the hospital. Instead, we're waiting.
Congratulations to my cousin who is in process of having their first child, a son, as I write this!
1) Will my son force me to miss football and be born in the next 48 hours?
2) Will we induce Tuesday morning?
Baby will answer #1, wife will answer #2. I'm powerless.
Mother-in-law and brother-in-law arrived 3 AM Thursday after missing their Wednesday flight and a 2 hour delay on the flight the next day. So, we're making all the same rounds we did when we were discovering the city and when my mom came for a visit - Sentosa Island, Chinatown, Clarke Quay.
We know the birthday is close, so we are staying close to home. We thought about going to a waterpark or the Night Safari again, but those are long trips to the hospital. Instead, we're waiting.
Congratulations to my cousin who is in process of having their first child, a son, as I write this!
Friday, October 16, 2009
Singapore Sting
Singapore is known for being strict. Draconian laws. In the 1990's, the US papers covered with much fanfare the caning of an American for theft and vandalism. There are a number of odd laws (see more here), my favorite are walking around nude in your house is considered immodest and can result in jail time. Failure to flush a public toilet can result in a fine or jail. Thanks to the laws against spitting phlegm or gum, we say that Singapore has a "swallow don't spit" policy....though that statement could get me jailed for sedition or insulting modesty. Locals say Singapore is a "fine" city, because of all the fines.
Our offices in Singapore are on the 30th floor at United Square. From my borrowed office, I counted 19 active cranes. Remember from one of my earlier visits to Jakarta that the IMF uses the number of cranes in operation as a judgement for the strength of a nation's economy. Cranes mean skyscrapers. Skyscrapers mean a strong financial system, because banks are always lending money to build them. They also mean a strong economy because growth of population and demand for office space is encouraging the creation of the skyscrapers. Seeing 19 in one part of the city is phenomenal.
View Larger Map
This is also the rainy season in Singapore. Every day it rains. Growing up in the Midwest, I'm accustomed to watching clouds roll in from the west. Here, I arrive in the morning to a clear sky as far as the eye can see. An hour later, the sky is filled with clouds. They materialize out of nowhere. It's interesting to watch.
Speaking of strange laws, I always read the corporate policy documents applicable to my employment and my position. Sometimes, I come across a strange policy that I know has a story behind it - like the dress code policy a few jobs ago that explicitly stated "you must wear underwear". Recently, I've received a lot of emails reminding us of the Alcohol policy - something most companies have these days. They started as a warning about the dangers of homemade alcohol using Ethyl alcohol as a base. I think we had either a fatality or a hospitalization as a result of some moonshine novices. A few weeks later came an email with the alcohol policy attached. This week, we received a cartoon (that I wish I could republish here) reiterating the policy. I bring it up because this is a good example of the different techniques we must employ as a company to ensure all employees, regardless of their level of education....or attention span. For me, the funny thing about the cartoon was that the English translated version had a blanked out obscenity "f...". Humorous from my perspective.
Our offices in Singapore are on the 30th floor at United Square. From my borrowed office, I counted 19 active cranes. Remember from one of my earlier visits to Jakarta that the IMF uses the number of cranes in operation as a judgement for the strength of a nation's economy. Cranes mean skyscrapers. Skyscrapers mean a strong financial system, because banks are always lending money to build them. They also mean a strong economy because growth of population and demand for office space is encouraging the creation of the skyscrapers. Seeing 19 in one part of the city is phenomenal.
View Larger Map
This is also the rainy season in Singapore. Every day it rains. Growing up in the Midwest, I'm accustomed to watching clouds roll in from the west. Here, I arrive in the morning to a clear sky as far as the eye can see. An hour later, the sky is filled with clouds. They materialize out of nowhere. It's interesting to watch.
Speaking of strange laws, I always read the corporate policy documents applicable to my employment and my position. Sometimes, I come across a strange policy that I know has a story behind it - like the dress code policy a few jobs ago that explicitly stated "you must wear underwear". Recently, I've received a lot of emails reminding us of the Alcohol policy - something most companies have these days. They started as a warning about the dangers of homemade alcohol using Ethyl alcohol as a base. I think we had either a fatality or a hospitalization as a result of some moonshine novices. A few weeks later came an email with the alcohol policy attached. This week, we received a cartoon (that I wish I could republish here) reiterating the policy. I bring it up because this is a good example of the different techniques we must employ as a company to ensure all employees, regardless of their level of education....or attention span. For me, the funny thing about the cartoon was that the English translated version had a blanked out obscenity "f...". Humorous from my perspective.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Only in Jakarta
Being in Singapore the last few days reminded me of an experience I had last week in Jakarta that I have begun referring to as one of my "only in Jakarta" experiences.
Jakarta is a humid city. So is Singapore, but this would never happen here. With humidity comes condensation of water molecules on cool objects. So, unless you have an air conditioning unit that dries and cools, you get moisture build up on the unit, and wet floors beneath them. When we first moved into our unit in Kemang, we had mostly older units and they dripped. The complex was nice enough to replace all the units we had trouble with.
The brand new unit in our bedroom, however, has continued to have problems. It doesn't cool very well, and it still drips. At 1 AM last Tuesday, it got even worse. When I arrived home Monday night, I put the unit on high to try and cool the bedroom after warming in the tropic heat for four days. I left it on all day at work, too. When I went to bed Tuesday night, I noticed it was dripping much more than usual, and much more frequently. Too tired to deal with it, and too late to call maintenance, I put a towel on the floor and went to bed.
I should have dealt with it. At 1 AM, my AC unit woke me with projectile ice cubes flying across the room and onto my head. They weren't large, but that isn't the ideal way to wake up. I shut off the AC and spent the rest of the night sleeping on the couch in a room with a functioning AC unit.
Thankfully, maintenance fixed it the next day and I got a good night's sleep on Wednesday. I never would have imagined an AC unit would build up enough ice internally to cause the fans to dispel it with enough power to fly across the room with enough force to wake me up. Only in Jakarta.
Jakarta is a humid city. So is Singapore, but this would never happen here. With humidity comes condensation of water molecules on cool objects. So, unless you have an air conditioning unit that dries and cools, you get moisture build up on the unit, and wet floors beneath them. When we first moved into our unit in Kemang, we had mostly older units and they dripped. The complex was nice enough to replace all the units we had trouble with.
The brand new unit in our bedroom, however, has continued to have problems. It doesn't cool very well, and it still drips. At 1 AM last Tuesday, it got even worse. When I arrived home Monday night, I put the unit on high to try and cool the bedroom after warming in the tropic heat for four days. I left it on all day at work, too. When I went to bed Tuesday night, I noticed it was dripping much more than usual, and much more frequently. Too tired to deal with it, and too late to call maintenance, I put a towel on the floor and went to bed.
I should have dealt with it. At 1 AM, my AC unit woke me with projectile ice cubes flying across the room and onto my head. They weren't large, but that isn't the ideal way to wake up. I shut off the AC and spent the rest of the night sleeping on the couch in a room with a functioning AC unit.
Thankfully, maintenance fixed it the next day and I got a good night's sleep on Wednesday. I never would have imagined an AC unit would build up enough ice internally to cause the fans to dispel it with enough power to fly across the room with enough force to wake me up. Only in Jakarta.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Back in Singapore
I've been remiss posting to my blog this week. I think all the back and forth travel of the last few weeks wore me out. I've battled fatigue all week, and yesterday, after having a good night sleep, I still needed a two hour nap in the middle of the day to finally feel fully rested.
The big concern for this week was whether our son would decide to arrive early. Our doctor has adamantly explained that our daughter is not welcome in the delivery room, so if my wife went into labor when I was not around, we had to find someone to stay with her. Our building offers a babysitting service at $15/hour. However, they require a 24 hour notice and a two hour minimum. I didn't think the minimum would be an issue. The 24 hour notice definitely would be. I tried to swing a deal whereby I would pay the two hour minimum to have someone on call, which they would keep if we never used them and would be a bonus if we did. They countered with paying someone to be present for the full time I was gone - 96 hours, at the full rate. Not interested in paying $1,000 for a babysitter we did not need, I did not peruse this option. Luckily, one of our new neighbors agreed to watch our daughter, if needed, until I arrived. We didn't need to partake of their hospitality.
I continue to read extensively. This week I finished two books on discovering and using economics in everyday life. For example, using theories of economics to identify which queue at the grocery store will move the fastest. Ultimately, economic theory helps to determine policies and procedures at work (or in government programs) that create the appropriate incentives for the behavior you desire. People typically act rationally to serve their own self-interests, so you have to structure programs in recognition of this tendency so that self-interest aligns with corporate interest.
A corollary to these readings is learning more about our health care situation. There are so many myths about how great, but expensive, US health care is vs. the rest of the world. The US system contains $1,000 per person just for administration - secretaries, insurance processing, etc.! Here is the reality: per person, the US spends more than any other country in the world with no proof of additional quality. And not just a little bit more - at least double, often triple.
The theory is that this is okay because we have better care. What defines better care? Probably most effective to look at common measurements - longevity, infant mortality, quality of life. When comparing the US data on these categories with other countries, our claim for "the world's best care" falls hollow. Many countries spending less per person surpass our statistics.
The system achieving the most value? Singapore. Singapore's publicly funded system spends the equivalent of $752 per person to cover the entire population - less than just the administration portion of the US costs. Unlike the British or Canadian system, they also do not have long wait times to see a doctor. Singapore has designed a system exactly they way I would have. Blending personal responsibility (cost) with protection from catastrophe.
The British and Canadian system has long lines for one simple reason - when something is free, the laws of supply and demand dictate demand will always be more than supply. If you did not have to pay for a car, how many would you own? So, people use services they don't actually need. Singapore addresses this situation by requiring everyone to pay for the care they receive out of their pocket, up to a certain amount each year, based on their ability to pay. So, a person earning $100,000 a year will have medical expenses cap at $5,000 while a person earning $20,000 a year will cap at $1,000. Once expenses exceed this amount, the government picks up the rest. Of course, they still decide what they will cover (heart surgery, yes, breast augmentation, no), but there is no discussion on who (young vs old).
The anti-public health care groups in the US focus on perpetuating fear and myth - death councils, government ineptitude, uncontrolled cost. All they are really demonstrating is their own laziness. Inaction is easy. We pay them for action. The private sector solution is not working. It is expensive and does not cover everyone. We can be lazy - or, for many Congressman, just believe that the Rapture will occur before we ever have to address it - or, we can solve the problem by looking at successes around the world. Singapore is a good place to start.
The big concern for this week was whether our son would decide to arrive early. Our doctor has adamantly explained that our daughter is not welcome in the delivery room, so if my wife went into labor when I was not around, we had to find someone to stay with her. Our building offers a babysitting service at $15/hour. However, they require a 24 hour notice and a two hour minimum. I didn't think the minimum would be an issue. The 24 hour notice definitely would be. I tried to swing a deal whereby I would pay the two hour minimum to have someone on call, which they would keep if we never used them and would be a bonus if we did. They countered with paying someone to be present for the full time I was gone - 96 hours, at the full rate. Not interested in paying $1,000 for a babysitter we did not need, I did not peruse this option. Luckily, one of our new neighbors agreed to watch our daughter, if needed, until I arrived. We didn't need to partake of their hospitality.
I continue to read extensively. This week I finished two books on discovering and using economics in everyday life. For example, using theories of economics to identify which queue at the grocery store will move the fastest. Ultimately, economic theory helps to determine policies and procedures at work (or in government programs) that create the appropriate incentives for the behavior you desire. People typically act rationally to serve their own self-interests, so you have to structure programs in recognition of this tendency so that self-interest aligns with corporate interest.
A corollary to these readings is learning more about our health care situation. There are so many myths about how great, but expensive, US health care is vs. the rest of the world. The US system contains $1,000 per person just for administration - secretaries, insurance processing, etc.! Here is the reality: per person, the US spends more than any other country in the world with no proof of additional quality. And not just a little bit more - at least double, often triple.
The theory is that this is okay because we have better care. What defines better care? Probably most effective to look at common measurements - longevity, infant mortality, quality of life. When comparing the US data on these categories with other countries, our claim for "the world's best care" falls hollow. Many countries spending less per person surpass our statistics.
The system achieving the most value? Singapore. Singapore's publicly funded system spends the equivalent of $752 per person to cover the entire population - less than just the administration portion of the US costs. Unlike the British or Canadian system, they also do not have long wait times to see a doctor. Singapore has designed a system exactly they way I would have. Blending personal responsibility (cost) with protection from catastrophe.
The British and Canadian system has long lines for one simple reason - when something is free, the laws of supply and demand dictate demand will always be more than supply. If you did not have to pay for a car, how many would you own? So, people use services they don't actually need. Singapore addresses this situation by requiring everyone to pay for the care they receive out of their pocket, up to a certain amount each year, based on their ability to pay. So, a person earning $100,000 a year will have medical expenses cap at $5,000 while a person earning $20,000 a year will cap at $1,000. Once expenses exceed this amount, the government picks up the rest. Of course, they still decide what they will cover (heart surgery, yes, breast augmentation, no), but there is no discussion on who (young vs old).
The anti-public health care groups in the US focus on perpetuating fear and myth - death councils, government ineptitude, uncontrolled cost. All they are really demonstrating is their own laziness. Inaction is easy. We pay them for action. The private sector solution is not working. It is expensive and does not cover everyone. We can be lazy - or, for many Congressman, just believe that the Rapture will occur before we ever have to address it - or, we can solve the problem by looking at successes around the world. Singapore is a good place to start.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Photos and Singapore Update
I arrived in Singapore Thursday evening about six hours earlier than originally scheduled thanks to our false alarm.
Friday morning, I did a little research and found a movie theater in walking distance from us (about 1.5 miles) that was showing "Cloudy with a chance of meatballs". After a morning swim, we walked to through Singapore's neighborhoods to see the latest cartoon fad. It was pretty good.
Friday night, Great World City, where we are staying, had an autumn festival at the pool. There was free food, free beer, wine, and soda, and they gave away Chinese lanterns to the kids. We stayed long enough to enjoy a good meal before returning to our apartment for games of CandyLand.
Saturday it rained all day so we went to the Singapore Science Center. They had some pretty cool exhibits, mostly dealing with physics and the natural world. The museum dedicated one entire section simply to mathematics. One exhibit allowed you to watch chickens hatch out of their shells. Each morning, they must put new eggs in the exhibit when they reach 21 days of incubation. We ended our visit to the museum watching a movie about bears at the obligatory Science Center IMAX theater.
Below are some pictures of various activities in Singapore over the last few months.
The Buddhist Temple in Singapore
By a bridge over the Singapore River
Swimming and trying to fly a kite with no wind at Santosa Island
Pregnancy Photos
Friday morning, I did a little research and found a movie theater in walking distance from us (about 1.5 miles) that was showing "Cloudy with a chance of meatballs". After a morning swim, we walked to through Singapore's neighborhoods to see the latest cartoon fad. It was pretty good.
Friday night, Great World City, where we are staying, had an autumn festival at the pool. There was free food, free beer, wine, and soda, and they gave away Chinese lanterns to the kids. We stayed long enough to enjoy a good meal before returning to our apartment for games of CandyLand.
Saturday it rained all day so we went to the Singapore Science Center. They had some pretty cool exhibits, mostly dealing with physics and the natural world. The museum dedicated one entire section simply to mathematics. One exhibit allowed you to watch chickens hatch out of their shells. Each morning, they must put new eggs in the exhibit when they reach 21 days of incubation. We ended our visit to the museum watching a movie about bears at the obligatory Science Center IMAX theater.
Below are some pictures of various activities in Singapore over the last few months.
The Buddhist Temple in Singapore
By a bridge over the Singapore River
Swimming and trying to fly a kite with no wind at Santosa Island
Pregnancy Photos
Saturday, October 3, 2009
An eventful week
A lot happened in the short, four-day period from Monday to Thursday.
The Pacific Rim experienced a lot of natural disasters. Samoa had an earthquake and a Typhoon. The Indonesian island of Sumatra had a 7.9 earthquake, followed by a mudslide, followed by a 6.8 earthquake. The planet finished its shakes for the week with another earthquake in Tonga. This region has always been tectonically active. That many major earthquakes in a short time period is rare. I was unaware of the Indonesian earthquake until people started contacting me asking if I was okay. Indonesia has a lot of earthquakes. Having them in Jakarta is rare. Jakarta has had two earthquakes in the last 3 years. I've been there for both of them.
The other big news of the week happened on Thursday at 11 AM. I had just sat down in a meeting to discuss a major production problem when my wife texts me to tell me her water broke. I leave the meeting and call her to make sure she is okay, and then make arrangements to fly to Singapore. My original schedule was to fly out at 7:30 that evening. I was able to move my departure to 3:30 instead. Driving to the airport, I get a second text from my wife. Long story short, the next time I have to urinate I will excuse myself to the restroom so I can "break my water".
On a less dramatic but more interesting note, two people informed me this week that their maids had quit. For the Ramadan holiday, the tradition is to give domestic help a bonus of one-month's pay. They then return to their families for the holidays. Apparently, it is also common for some of them to decide to just not come back. No notice. No phone call. One of my colleagues said he realized they weren't coming back when he went into their rooms and found all the personal effects were gone. What is more amazing to me is how life-altering this event seems to be. I think the middle class in Jakarta is so dependent on their domestic help that it is difficult to live without them. As much as we like our maid, I think if she quit, replacing her would be more of an ordeal than not having her. I think we just haven't acclimated to the concept of always having domestic help.
I am now in Singapore on my last there-and-back trip before my semi-permanent move here. I'll be here until Monday and then return to Jakarta until Friday. Then I return to Singapore until our son arrives, returning to Jakarta on 2 November.
Last, but not least, the biggest, most important news of all....in Singapore, I was able to pay for a channel that broadcasts both college and NFL games live. Cost about $6 USD for the month, but it will be worth it....even though I will likely not be awake for most of the games. They are played from midnight until 9 AM.
The Pacific Rim experienced a lot of natural disasters. Samoa had an earthquake and a Typhoon. The Indonesian island of Sumatra had a 7.9 earthquake, followed by a mudslide, followed by a 6.8 earthquake. The planet finished its shakes for the week with another earthquake in Tonga. This region has always been tectonically active. That many major earthquakes in a short time period is rare. I was unaware of the Indonesian earthquake until people started contacting me asking if I was okay. Indonesia has a lot of earthquakes. Having them in Jakarta is rare. Jakarta has had two earthquakes in the last 3 years. I've been there for both of them.
The other big news of the week happened on Thursday at 11 AM. I had just sat down in a meeting to discuss a major production problem when my wife texts me to tell me her water broke. I leave the meeting and call her to make sure she is okay, and then make arrangements to fly to Singapore. My original schedule was to fly out at 7:30 that evening. I was able to move my departure to 3:30 instead. Driving to the airport, I get a second text from my wife. Long story short, the next time I have to urinate I will excuse myself to the restroom so I can "break my water".
On a less dramatic but more interesting note, two people informed me this week that their maids had quit. For the Ramadan holiday, the tradition is to give domestic help a bonus of one-month's pay. They then return to their families for the holidays. Apparently, it is also common for some of them to decide to just not come back. No notice. No phone call. One of my colleagues said he realized they weren't coming back when he went into their rooms and found all the personal effects were gone. What is more amazing to me is how life-altering this event seems to be. I think the middle class in Jakarta is so dependent on their domestic help that it is difficult to live without them. As much as we like our maid, I think if she quit, replacing her would be more of an ordeal than not having her. I think we just haven't acclimated to the concept of always having domestic help.
I am now in Singapore on my last there-and-back trip before my semi-permanent move here. I'll be here until Monday and then return to Jakarta until Friday. Then I return to Singapore until our son arrives, returning to Jakarta on 2 November.
Last, but not least, the biggest, most important news of all....in Singapore, I was able to pay for a channel that broadcasts both college and NFL games live. Cost about $6 USD for the month, but it will be worth it....even though I will likely not be awake for most of the games. They are played from midnight until 9 AM.
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