Culture is a vital aspect of any entrepreneurship venture as Oman has a culture of dhando vado, with the Shia Lawatiyahs and Hindu Banias from Kutch, however the inland tribes were not as mobile. Oman had a maritime empire before oil, and that spirit needs to be recovered. An effective way would be to tap talent within the trader castes aka Omani Lawatiyahs or Ajmis for entrepreneurship. Oman is not talent void.

Oman is the ideal renewable playing ground with ample free land, good port and road infrastructure, sun and talent not accounting for the strategic location.

#AsliOmani

“I do not want to look at your cv.. If you have not upgraded in the last 6 months like an iPhone, it is of not much use” : Emaar’s Mohamed Alabbar on AB Talks

The masala chai was perfect here at this north Indian place next to the Indian Heritage Centre. Nice to chat in Hindi with the owner and the service crew.

The 1970’s Bollywood tracks playing in a packed Little India on a Sunday evening has a different aesthetic.

Bismillah Biryani lives up to its Michelin star billing.

Had it in its original store in Dunlop Street in the Little India area.

The aesthetics brought me to a biryani place in the Gulf.

The taste is just like in the Gulf as well.

The reason people, particularly the young, work in startups is to work at levels they would not be able to work in big organizations but build the capacity to transfer them to other contexts later.

Today, as I headed out as usual for Jumma Biryani Lunch at the Mamak Prata restaurant in the vicinity, the Chettiar chef from Sivaganga said hello, and when I headed out a few minutes later with my tapao packet, he met me outside the door asking whether I eat Pongal, as today is the harvest festival in Tamil Nadu.

We often discuss Biryani styles and his migration trajectories from Sivaganga to Batu Pahang to Clementi. All his brothers are mamak cooks in Singapore and Malaysia. He worked in Johor for over a decade.

I wished him Pongal Vazhuthakkal with folded hands, he was taken aback with surprise and came back with pongal, which is sweet and special.

He said Nandri in a huff as he rushed back during the peak lunch hour crowd, which reminds me of a time earlier to the pandemic.

This sudden generosity was touching and makes me wonder if these are what transnational spaces of solidarity and care are about.

#pongal

#everydaysingapore

There is a charm in having puri keema over lunch in a mamak prata place and listening to Aashiqui track on a Singaporean radio station during the afternoon hours. The milieu is palpably South Asian.

Migration and ESG are complementary themes; think labor welfare in global value chains and global production networks (ILO Forced Labour Standards, IFC Performance Standards 2, 5 and 8 & SA8000)

Dropping out and succeeding is an idiotic myth, bought by idiots by the privileged who have a trampoline net, to bounce back.
Even if one drops out, learning and relearning takes place as an entrepreneur everyday with no specific reading lists and curating real time learning as a response to profit and loss decision making is a lot harder than exams.