RISK VS COST

The end of the pandemic is near.

It has become crystal clear -

We should not fear the risk of failure,

But that the cost of failure may be dear.

Trying every which way is now a must.

We should fail often and fail fast!

We’ll quickly learn to transcend the past

And complete the whole of our task!

 

F(OX)

Battered by waves of hard knocks,

The bull has turned into an ox.

But we can’t afford to live in a box.

We should remain the agile fox.

 2022   🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴

Twenty twenty-two,   🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴

What are we going to do   🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴

To stop this funny flu?      🔴 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴

Nobody seems to have a clue.     🔴🔴🔴🔴

Is Omicron Delta’s Waterloo?    🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴

An unlocking miracle out of the blue,    🔴🔴

A pandemic dream come true,       🔴🔴🔴🔴

The inevitable drop of the other shoe?  🔴🔴

Some say that’s bound to ensue.  🔴🔴🔴🔴

But, others just say “boo”,      🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴

Unimpressed by such hullabaloo.     🔴🔴🔴

So, who should we listen to?     🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴

Like you, I can’t help wondering too:     🔴🔴

Who, in a court of law, can we sue?      🔴🔴

For we are no closer to pulling through     🔴

Despite the troubles we have gotten into! 🔴

INNOCENT CHILD

Innocent child,

Running wild

Round corners loose or tight,

Falling left or right.

Full of energy and guile,

Under skies stormy or mild,

Navigating the night,

Yet never feel the fright.

Taking a breather during the lull

And a second to mull.

For the prize is within sight,

If we pull with all our might.

Let’s return to the hull,

If there’s too much to cull.

The future’s burning bright.

2022 is at a comfortable height.

ROCK OR BUST!

I know I should

And I would,

If I could.

But it’ll be no good,

If my thoughts have no food.

I know I ought

To use the time we bought,

To continue the battle we fought.

So, dispel the thought

That things will come to nought.

I know I must,

Have my eyes cleared of dust,

My will freed from rust

And faith restored by trust.

Henceforth, it’s rock or bust!

OMI-OMI

Omicron.

Ok, game on?

O-mi-God!

Will it be like Armageddon?

O-mi-tuo-fo,

Infinite wisdom to depend upon?

Owe me an answer:

Where have our old lives gone?

 THE CHASE OF THE WILD GOOSE

Now, this ugliness of times recent

Is really a ghost grossly indecent, 

Of the jumping of the many 

On the one that they so choose

For the chase of the wild goose.

For the making of us dependent

On the habit of one bad moment

And the decorated guilt to carry

On grounds of sand so loose

As to rival the laxity of their noose.

It is the object of this lesson

To temper the feeling and passion

Of any Tom, Dick and Harry.

In the book, it’s the oldest ruse,

A trick they never fear to overuse.

Never mind the acts of reason,

And the semblance of a sober nation,

There is much political tomfoolery

In a game both sides can’t afford to lose;

Pursuing, not a wild, but a golden goose.

AW GEE!

I opened my eyes but I don’t see

Anything vaguely familiar to me.

I wonder if it happens to everybody,

But this world is no longer what it used to be.

You and I used to agree

But conversation has become tragedy,

No more tolerance or generosity.

Will friendship return to what it used to be?

I don’t know if I’m really me.

I can’t recognise my self and my body,

I guess this is the ultimate uncertainty.

I’m less than half the person I used to be.

Yet, all you can say is: “Aw gee!

Are you just looking for sympathy?

For this or any other query,

It should be referred to the Committee!”

BEAUTIFUL AQUATIC-THEMED EARLY CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS 

AT MARINA SQUARE

DECONSTRUCTING RICHARD MILLE "WATCHES"

I think most people don't understand Richard Mille and understandably so. Most people would wonder how such big, vulgar, tasteless and cheap-looking wrist eyesores can be worth hundreds of thousands or even millions each. That's because they are not Richard Mille's target customers. Richard Milles are meant for the super-rich as a form of membership to a rarefied elite club. The "uglier" they appear and the more they are disliked by ordinary people, the better it is for the top 0.1%. It just means that they have no ordinary tastes and that they are style innovators, not conservative traditionalists. To them, the exorbitant prices and "poor" value-for-money are exactly what are needed to exclude the crowd. So, they like the crazy prices and the equally-oddball designs just because they serve its purpose of preventing ordinary folks from gate-crashing their club. After all, for them, money and price are irrelevant, but maintaining exclusivity is crucial.

Of course, aspiring to be the best watch brand in the world entails that the watches themselves cannot be too shabby. In fact, in terms of innovative, avant garde design, fresh ideas and concepts, revolutionary materials, technical advancements, specifications, build quality, fit and finish, they do live up to their name and image. You just have to open your mind and learn to appreciate them. And if you do, you’ll begin to see their unique beauty and desirability.

So, will the Richard Mille bubble burst? No, I don't think so! Richard Mille has very cleverly identified a gap in the watch market and had skilfully developed their products to fill that niche. It is not competing with the mass market brands like Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet and Rolex because it is in its own market in which it is the only member. There is no alternative to Richard Mille in that niche. And, just to be provocative, if you reverse the perspective, the Nautiluses, Aquanauts, Royal Oaks and Daytonas are also, if not more, overpriced given that they are quite simple and "ordinary" watches of mass market brands deviously marketed as high-luxury brands.