ContraTurtle

TBPN is my favorite tech show. We want them to keep that going and for them to do what they do so well. I don't expect them to go any easier on us, am sure I'll do my part to help enable that with occasional stupid decisions.

Space — the final frontier. Our new National Space Agency begins operations today. The global space industry is growing fast. While Singapore may not have launch sites, we have strengths in specialised, high-value areas — from satellites to advanced manufacturing.

Snowflake just replaced its entire technical writing team with AI. Not reduced. Replaced. All ~70 of them. If your job can be documented, your job can be automated.

🚨 “If Iran doesn’t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST…” - President DONALD J. TRUMP

I’m now in Singapore, and I just can’t stop thinking about the uncomfortable parallels between here and Dubai. Both are very modern and considered business and tourism friendly. But both are in dangerous neighborhoods, along strategic choke points, whether the Strait of Hormuz or Strait of Malacca. Whoever controls these channels is of utmost importance during crisis or war. Meanwhile, Iran retaliated against UAE for its US military support, and I can’t guarantee China while invading Taiwan wouldn’t do the same against Singapore for its logistical and maintenance support of US military assets.

Meta just confirmed they're cutting 20% of global workforce - over 15,800 people gone But sources inside are telling me the real number is closer to 30% Heard from three separate PMs that entire product verticals are getting axed. Not just trimming fat - whole roadmaps deleted overnight One insider said they're gutting Reality Labs completely. 4,000 people who built the metaverse now building their resumes The AI infrastructure spend is $135 billion next year. They're replacing human judgment with model inference at every layer Recruiting just sent termination letters to 340 university relations specialists. The entire campus hiring apparatus - gone Engineering managers finding out their teams of 12 are becoming teams of 3. Same sprint velocity expected with Copilot and offshore contractors Facilities already started boxing up 6 entire floors in Menlo Park. Badge access revoked for sections that used to house 800 engineers One senior architect told me they're screen-recording every code review session. Building training datasets from 10 years of institutional knowledge The "reskilling" sessions everyone's talking about? That's just knowledge extraction with extra steps Word is Mark wants the company to run on 40% fewer humans by end of 2026 If your badge still works at Meta... start interviewing tomorrow Because the knowledge transfer sessions you're attending aren't training - they're your exit interview

The New York Times reports Chinese authorities are taking steps to penalize people linked to $META's $2 billion acquisition of Manus, the Singapore AI startup with Chinese roots. The response may include restricting some Manus executives from leaving China.

I actually also think it’s the local top for SG but not as hopeless as everyone is. - 6 decades ago sinkies were basically labourers - 5 decades ago sinkies were trained to read and write English - 4 decades ago sinkies were trained for Petrochemicals and manufacturing - 3 decades ago it was engineering and stem - 2 decades ago it was banking and financial services - only recently as early as a decade ago we pivoted to software cloud and cybersecurity. Think people underestimate the ability of Singapore to pivot when in times of distress. Also our UBI system is basically set up (GST voucher payouts + singpass), our tax haven system is pretty robust. With the instability in the Middle East we’ll be expecting more to move here. Finance is 15% of gdp, manufacturing is ~20-25%. Semiconductor chip design contributes as much to gdp as Tourism (~4%). We’re securing data centres via JB-SG special economic zone. Probably already moving into nuclear SMRs. Gov has shown ability to think longer term and Sinkies have shown ability to adapt pretty quickly. The onus is on other nations to prove that they can outperform Singapore imo.