I received many DMs asking about my experience overseas. I wanted to share my time in Singapore, where we lived for 7 years. We moved there when my eldest was 6 months old. My second child was born in Singapore.

We were on an Employment Pass for many years before we made the decision to apply for Permanent Residency. About 4 years into our stay in Singapore, I received a letter from the government.

Letter was sent from a government unit. It was a personalised letter addressing my wife & children’s names. It talked about importance of people in Singapore’s nation building.

The letter also assigned me a relationship manager who gave me her contact details if I wanted to know about life in Singapore, assimilation & how I’d like to contribute to community or national development work

My colleagues said it was a cryptic way to encourage me to apply for PR. We were very comfortable in Singapore, it was home and we could see ourselves living there for a long time. We applied for PR.

(1) When you don’t communicate policies effectively, somebody else will, albeit incorrectly. This is called rumours. This is made worse during information vacuum, the period between saying you’ll announce something, and actually announcing it.

(2) Content - The government is in a position to control the narrative, avoid panic, minimise misinformation - how rumours starts. Govt also controls most media machinery - this should be simple.

(3) Audience - Govt must understand that vase majority of population are common people who are earn wages. They want to know how closures will affect them, their wages, their families. It’s day by day survival for many.

(4) Coordination - If you’re announcing something, make sure you know how to explain other aspects of life that is affected. What happens to schools? How will syallabus will be continued? How about kids with no laptops? Daycare? What if my employer refuses to allow WFH?

(5) Explain - articulate how you arrived at that decision, what considerations were taken, and ways to fix that. Assure people who are daily wage earners from their concern about loss of income. For many, not going to work daily, is a death wish itself.

Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) has become very popular globally, especially in USA. SPACs are known as blank cheque companies, because its a shell company with cash. What is it? How does it work? This is a thread.

(1) A group of people, known as the promoters / founders will list a company (SPAC) on the stock exchange. They are the key management who are also shareholders of the SPAC.

(2) SPAC is a listed company, but has no assets, no business, nothing. It only has cash raised from IPO. Shell company with lots of money.

(3) Once listed, the SPAC will use this money to acquire another company and merge it into the SPAC. Once merged, the company is no longer a SPAC, as it now has assets & a core business and operates like any listed company.

(4) The money raised from IPO will be kept in a trust, until an acquisition is identified, closed & approved by regulators & shareholders. The operating expense of the SPAC is borned by promoters until the SPAC turns into company.