Colin Charles Agenda

I wake up to the Oura telling me I got all 3 crowns — 97 for readiness, 90 for sleep, and 87 for activity. It practically never gives me all 3 when I’m in KL and do a daily spin!

It does not take long for a couple of my friends to want to do a WhatsApp video call, and the three of us shoot the shit for a bit.

I’m supposed to be in Singapore today but thanks to the lockdown preventing me from leaving Malaysia, this isn’t happening. Besides, Singapore also requires you to have a 14-day stay at home if you arrived after Monday night, so it is not like I was given much choice. Folk spent some of Tuesday trying to get an exemption, but that didn’t quite work.

We get the first clue that Malaysia might deploy the army to uphold the lockdown from one of the ministers. There were calls to shutdown Bursa Malaysia, and the Securities Commission replied that they would not, and then the same people that called it claimed that they never called it. The circus is not just in the current ruling government, but much of her institutions. Anyway, Bank Negara also reduced banks Statutory Reserve Requirement (SSR) down to 2% from the previous 3% to free up about RM30b in liquidity. In finance news, the US Federal Reserve also started some swap lines with some key central banks (something they did in 2008 after maybe many months; this was much quicker action).

Our new Health Minister was either pandering to his audience or is a complete idiot when it comes to his portfolio because he went on live TV to tell people that the “virus loves humans”.

In London, some tube stations started shutting down. However, nature reserves are staying open, they are encouraging you to go out and breathe some fresh air. Springtime in London is truly quite beautiful, and it is a smart move; something I wish Malaysia learned from.

I will naturally be focused on places that mean a lot to me besides just KL. I have friends in London, and it might as well be my second home. Portland yesterday, but NYC, etc. all matter. So Life with Rona is my life during this time, and what I care about.

Just as I was planning to go to bed for some reading, I noted that Dr. Mahathir is in self-quarantine as he was in close contact with a DAP MP (young chap, 33?) who tested positive for Covid-19. Imagine that. A 95 year old elder statesman. Let’s hope he get’s well soon.

I was not planning to link to things as this is a dump of my thoughts at the end of each day, but you have to see this message from Arne Sorenson, CEO of Marriott International. Marriott is my 2nd hotel chain preference (they were never a preference but they did purchase Starwood, and SPG was my 2nd preference after Hyatt always, largely due to footprint). It is 5 minutes long and is a great example of how you can deliver poor news. Shows clear leadership in a tough time. What did not hit me as hard was how bookings are down (I know this, I’ve been knowing this since February as I talk to hoteliers and spent the last few weeks in Bangkok/Tokyo), but the fact that they consider this worse than 9/11+2008 crisis combined; and we are literally just starting this journey with the SARS-CoV-2/Covid-19.

The answer is not lockdowns. The answer is frequent testing. Isolation when necessary. Life has to go on as we can’t stop the world this way.

I toyed with writing a “live journal” about this interesting time, and a friend mentioned the name, Life with Rona, so that’s how it got its name.

We are under a Movement Control Order (MCO) in Malaysia. Some call it a Movement Restriction Order (MRO). This is to last for 14 days, and you are told that you can only go out of your homes for essential activities.

As of today, hotels are now included in the list of essential services, but just last night I spoke to a handful of hoteliers who were planning to shutdown as soon as their last guest checked out.

We are living in a time of very poor communications. On Monday, 16 March 2020, we were told about this MCO, but told it was not a lockdown. We were given just a little over 24 hours to escape the nation if we needed to. I had a friend and his family head to the airport yesterday to be on standby, get on a plane, and also some of his family cleared immigration and waited for the next flight. Imagine just waiting for your next flight at the KLIA departure lounge (I believe they were at the Plaza Premium Lounge, which isn’t the worst place to be; could have been a very crowded departure gate).

Malaysians have probably last faced something similar after the May 13 1969 riots. No one of my generation knows what a MCO/MRO/lockdown feels like. And with such poor announcements and lack of trust in the government of the day, it would seem that things are not as rosy.

I for one think lockdowns are not sensible, and we just need to increase testing. Lockdowns harm the economy, no one seems to be thinking of that. Whatever the administration has promised is paltry to whatever losses are going to amount to. It is ironic that on Twitter, we see “Lockdown Malaysia” as a trend, which goes to show how a lot of my fellow Malaysians lack systems thinking; lockdown long enough and they’ll have so much free time on their hands but no ability to pay their Internet bills to tweet.

Just yesterday I saw that Powells in Portland, Oregon laid off hundreds of employees across their network of bookstores. I personally am a shopper there, so this is heartbreaking. We will see this in Malaysia.

Also, we encountered out first death from COVID-19 yesterday. And the police yesterday lifted an interstate travel ban, or at least a requirement to register that they were departing the state (crowd at police stations, great way to spread a virus, no?). So many did an exodus to “balik kampung”. Don’t get me wrong, I too thought of departing, but with a sick father, and my mother being the primary carer, I thought it would make sense to ride it out like the rest of my Malaysian brethren.

Today we see Trump refer to it as the “Chinese virus”. Steven Mnuchin believes that in 2 weeks, cash will be sent to every American. In Malaysia, we are always talking about means testing, trying it via e-wallets, etc. I’m sorry but when there is a crisis like this, everyone is equally affected. Don’t means test. Give it to everyone. The so called T20 also have commitments like the M40 and B40.

Love seeing defiant people jog/run/walk in public parks. It is apparently closed. People are still gathering in eateries today. Maybe waiting for takeout, but there is no “social distancing”. I more or less exercised at home. Not much of an exercise, but in the time of corona, I will just make do with achieving my Apple Watch move goal. Which by the way, has been going on for 180 days, non-stop; what a great way to start being locked in, eh?

We also get the first warning that this “partial shutdown” may extend beyond two weeks. I have not spent a period this long in Kuala Lumpur since maybe my college days, so I can say, 20 years. A long time. I’ve not gone anywhere since my return from Tokyo.

Food-wise, to plan for the worse, I ordered from GrabFood at lunchtime and dinnertime (though I did not consume dinner; had a call) — both were from Lim’s Fried Chicken. First time trying it. Good value. Especially since I paid for 2 packs and got the 3rd pack for free, with free delivery. VC subsidies rock!

Another year comes to a close. I’m in Kuala Lumpur (3rd year running) for New Year’s, and for the first time in a long time, I’m actually happy to be here. KL is growing on me.

Travel stats: 30 trips, 219 days on the road, 388,834 km travelled, 45 cities, 16 countries. This is 1 trip more than 2018, 30 days less on the road (!), 2,285km less, 4 countries less and 12 cities less. Nothing particularly stood out, though I did visit Richmond, VA, Chiang Mai, Thailand (will return) and Koh Samui, Thailand (will definitely return; besides my hotel and another villa, I saw nothing) for the first time. In what is also rare, I did not make it to Seoul all year (compared to every month during the heyday, keeping it under 60 days per year). I did go to Bali twice, which I enjoyed immensely.

Overall, I consider that I spent quite a bit of my time drifting, coasting, et al. but found my rhythm in the second half of the year. I have started paying attention to being fit and healthy, and maybe that is the best change I’ve made to my life. I’ve also generally quit drinking alcohol, so if I have a glass to toast with you, you’ve got to be extremely special (or it is an extremely special occasion).

I welcome 2020 with arms wide open.

Too busy to sum up the year but generally speaking: father much more gravely ill, lost another grandmother exactly 14 months to the date of the previous one, lots of general busyness.

As I write this, I’m in Kuala Lumpur, not elsewhere (second year running), shuttling between home and the hospital. First trip of 2019 has also just been cancelled.

Travel stats: 29 trips, 249 days on the road, 391,119 km travelled, 57 cities, 20 countries. Comparing to 2017, it is 1 trip less, 2 days more, 59,903 km less (!), with 4 cities more and 3 countries less. Nothing particularly memorable stood out (even based on my Swarm statistics).

I’d say I want to blog more, but I know its tough. I am however enjoying long form writing thanks to my Field Notes subscription.

Here’s to 2019. Life can only get better. Right?

Lying in bed with iPad in tow, and not feeling like reading, I fired up Netflix thinking I could watch the new season of House of Cards. Unfortunately, in Germany, November 2 2018 means something completely different (i.e. Season 5 is the latest).

Kevin Spacey, irregardless of what you think of him, was a pretty good actor. I read on Wikipedia that he was in another movie called Billionaire Boys Club and how it grossed terribly. I hopped on over to Amazon and realised I could rent it (it wasn’t on Netflix). Then I remembered I had some Google Play credit, so I tried to rent it there.

I even then downloaded the app from the App Store. In Chrome, it kept on trying to get me to download a SetSID file. Urgh. The purchase basically would not complete.

All in, I spent a good 15–20 minutes before I gave up trying to watch Billionaire Boys Club. And I was willing to pay $3.99-$4.99 (with tax, the SD version is $4.39, $0.40 for taxes), in the hopes of watching it in my German hotel room. I failed.

I bet the (illegal) download from a torrent site would have been quicker.

I like Twitter. It is the social media that I use the most. Maybe followed by Instagram, since I’ve always liked photography. I don’t spend time on Facebook/LinkedIn like one would expect. So my energy seems to be Twitter-centric if I’m going to use social media. On my iPhone, Twitter is on the main screen, which tells you I consider it useful :)

Before the social media apocalypse on the stock market recently, I thought I’d try to pay $99 for Promote Mode. I had been invited for many months but summer seemed like an ideal time to try it. Long story short? Save your $99/month.

I started with 4,660 followers. Today I have 4,547 followers. Less, how? Why? There was a recent purge of bots and fake followers, and I lost 2.64% of followers.

In the end, Twitter said I gained 19 new followers, with 185 promoted tweets, and I had 35% more reach (+107,274). 19 new followers for $99 seems like daylight robbery. I was targeting USA based folk.

When I asked their support if I could switch to the UK, they said it was not possible. The only other option was Japan, and I didn’t realise I had to choose so wisely at the start. And now you can only reactivate the subscription when promote mode gets out of beta (but with such poor performance I am unlikely to do that).

I wasn’t the only one how has had such a poor experience. Ahsan Anis writes, Is Twitter’s promote mode worth the $99 monthly subscription? (disappointed), Buffer writes How Effective is Twitter Promote Mode? We Tested It for 30 Days. (did not renew due to performance, limitations and ease).

Guess they’ll have to find a better way to make me pay to use the service so that the stock price can go up! (I am not an investor in Twitter stock, but really do like the product and want to see them survive in the long term).