Ning-Jia.com

From my Ah Gong, stories of joyfulness, strength, and being burdenless. From my Amah, recovery, perseverance, straightforwardness, adaptation, multi-talentedness, being multi-lingual, and always making ends meet despite having so many children. From my 公公, the ability to take it all in and hold it together. That one rare moment of love—buying fireworks for me and playing with me. The stories of him never saying no to money for books. The frustration when kids get distracted from their studies. Education is key to changing one’s life, and therefore the whole generation. From my 婆婆, stories of her placing importance on literacy, and of the respect she garnered in holding the house together. From my father, generosity, hard-working nature, education, adaptation, agency, confidence. From my mother, kindness, agency too, fun and adventures, and a great, enduring social life. From my brother, truth, principle, polymathic talents, and focus. And most of all, my wife, softness. Special mention...

I'm tired of people playing games, being too smart for their own good—invoking 'privacy concerns' one minute, then pushing to overshare the moment I stop caring. Come on guys.. I understand human psychology better than many. There is an innate need to share the truth; suppressing that need hurts you more than it affects anyone else. Personally, I am very comfortable knowing only what is necessary. I’m curious, sure, but only about things that matter. If new information won't change my actions, I’d rather not have it. So go ahead, use privacy as a shield to your own detriment. I won't be asking again.

Just attended an art festival called "What The Elders Left Us." The one event I managed to catch was the "Talk and Staged Readings: Artist Lee Joo For," and boy, was I in for a treat. I chuckled a lot, and my aunt was puzzled as to why I chuckled so much. I told her that, of all the events I could have attended at this art festival, it was fated that this one about a man who was quite bold and sexual in his expressions of theatre and art was the one I attended. Even the curator, AT, confessed that she couldn't quite decide how she felt about Lee Joo For. But to me, it was clear—this was a man larger than life. One of his own family members who remembered his stories admitted she knew she couldn't believe half the things her uncle said. His imagination was wild, like the horses he drew. He also enjoyed drawing bulls and women—things he was deeply drawn to. What a man. What a life. What an impact he has made.

Met someone two days ago at a conference — a highly respected figure from the consulting industry — and we had a great conversation about culture, M&As, org structure, and overall corporate strategy. One conclusion that PL mentioned, which I want to remind myself of from now on, is this: centralisation is only appropriate for brand and tech. Everything else can be democratised. However, maintaining a single source of truth and a unified brand is crucial — information must be as real-time and accessible as possible to support good decision-making, and the brand must stay aligned with the organisation’s initiatives. Functions like HR, legal, and admin, on the other hand, can be more decentralised, autonomous, and flexible. Of course, there are other arguments, but I’ll leave it here for now. Another conversation — this one with someone from India (I can’t recall who at the moment, and I really should get back to actual work instead of just penning my thoughts) — reminded me that fami...

Being a leader means pissing a bunch of people off in the hope that we win as a team. If we win, it’s worth it — and everyone might thank us (or think it was all them anyway). If we lose, it’s all our fault. Not easy. “A leader sees more than others see, sees farther than others see, and sees before others see.” ~ John C. Maxwell

Factors Term Description L + G Passion Ignited flow: Love meets mastery, pure electric energy. L + N Mission Soul-driven crusade: Heart + world, unstoppable fire. L + P Joy Heist Guilty pleasure pay: Thrill cash, but shallow waters. G + N Raw Duty Service utility: Skill for good, quiet and unrewarded. G + P Profession Competent hustle: Talent cashed in, reliable grind. N + P Vocation Noble livelihood: World-healing income, duty fulfilled. L + G + N (missing P) Poor Rapturous impact without a dime—blissfully broke. L + G + P (missing N) Purposeless Cozy skills and coin, but echoing void of meaning. L + N + P (missing G) Uselessness Earned passion for change, fumbled by inexperience. G + N + P (missing L) Emptiness Polished payoff for progress, but soul-starved routine. L + G + N + P Ikigai Total alignment: Alive, adept, essential, and enriched.

Don't rush it. In life, many things deserve a second thought. No, we're not going to miss out. No, that other person isn't thinking about us right now. Take our time. Think it through. What was I about to do? What should I actually do? Why am I doing this? What about that? It isn't analysis paralysis if it's just a night's sleep. Sometimes, that's all we need.

Reading comments from other posts about this, I felt the urge to write. I see it in my own country, amongst family members too, that believing open dialogue can resolve disagreements is increasingly challenging. In an article by Rob Henderson, he noted that many people no longer trust the Enlightenment ideal that words can lead to shared understanding. Henderson highlights a perspective that challenges the notion of objective truth, citing Ezra Klein in The New York Times: “Everything you believe was invented by someone. Your ideas, the books you’ve read, even the words you speak, were all made by powerful people with their own interests and blind spots. The values of speech and open inquiry carry the soiled fingerprints of the societies that championed them.” (Klein, as cited in Henderson, 2025) Henderson elaborates on this perspective, noting that many conclude from this view that “nobody can give an objective account of reality. There is no neutral truth. Every political system, the...

me: You should be less publicly visible. me: Why? me: You'll regret it one day. me: Will I? What will I miss out on though? I've been an open book. I enjoy being an open book.  My vulnerable self is open to the public at any given moment. The public has been kind to me so far. me: You'll make someone angry one day. me: For sure. But I'm also counting on making many others happy every day. me: One angry person will do more harm than 100 happy people. me: Hmm... I want to prove to you that people are kinder than you think.  More courageous than you think. And have more agency than you think. me: You'll regret it. me: Not yet...

I often need to remind myself what recession, stagflation, depression, and other economic terms mean, so here’s a 2x2 matrix to clarify them.  The y-axis represents inflation (high to low), and the x-axis represents GDP growth (high to low). Even with negative growth, we face two bad scenarios: stagflation (high inflation, low growth) and recession/depression (low inflation, low growth). Stagflation and economic booms are typically temporary because they’re unstable states. Recessions can persist and deepen into depressions, while economic booms can last if central banks fail to manage overheating (e.g., through interest rate hikes). As a Gen-Yer, I barely experienced the last major recession during the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2008–2009. While the pandemic caused a significant downturn, I don’t expect a repeat (barring some mad scientist unleashing chaos). The GFC is likely a better case study for understanding recessions. Unless the current trade war and tariffs escalate ...