Donavan's Scratchpad

Three years ago, I tried to pen a reflection post on National Day, but eventually ditched it; writers’ block happens, and that National Day was one such occasion. I haven’t written much about National Day in 2021 and 2022, but I figured I should get back to writing that I have got yet another cybersecurity […]

As someone who hasn’t flown in three years since the onset of COVID-19, I haven’t flown for a while. I would not have seen through the most abrupt of COVID-19 changes. But there are, and thankfully SQ tries their level best through their crew to make it, still, a great way to fly. P.S. this […]

(I have not intended to write reviews in some time, but this is quite the exception(al) stay! Because this was not intended, pardon the dearth of photographs.) Fairmont has been a household name in the luxury hotel scene alongside competing brands such as Hilton and Marriott. The first time I stayed in an entry-level Fairmont […]

2021 was hectic. How hectic? About an hour ago, I was still drafting Very Clear Cut’s special newsletter. I finished the last gathering for 2021 in the evening. And… to top it all up, half my January calendar is full of meet-ups I could not fit in 2021. I should not repeat this next year. […]

Recently, Parliament convened on Tuesday to address concerns about the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Agreement (CECA) that was brought up by the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) on numerous occasions. The term “CECA” refers to a free trade agreement between India and Singapore in August 2005. However, this term was then used recently as a racial […]

The real estate business was always going to be more profitable than the media business. But people have already taken umbrage to this notion years ago by calling SPH “Singapore Property Holdings”. In this Linkedin article in 2019, Derrick opined that a break-up between the underperforming core media business and profitable property business inevitable. His […]

(Hint: They are not equal.) How Did I Even End Up in Sofitel?I never planned for a staycation, or a “work from hotel” day. But this happened: In true Singapore kiasu spirit, I accepted the offer. After all I could always work from the hotel (always remember to use a VPN!) Work From Hotel @ […]

Budget season is upon us in Singapore, with 8 days of Budget debate that started yesterday. Not everyone may be aware on what “the Budget” is, so here are 10 questions and 10 answers to basic Budget questions. What is the Budget? Every year, the Ministry of Finance prepares a budget for each of the […]

The most popular topic on my Facebook feed now is on GameStop. But for the completely uninitiated, let us try to make sense out of what happened. Simplified post as per 30 January 2021, since the situation could evolve. What is GameStop? GameStop is an American videogame, consumer electronics and gaming merchandise retailer. It had […]

A chain of thoughts starting from a seemingly tautological statement. There is much of the world that I definitely do not know about. Hence, I have to rely on many friends to navigate the world around us. Reliance on friends means that I need to take effort to upkeep relationships with friends. Upkeep can be […]