University of Char Kway Teow

Sounds like a never heard university but this is were people graduate by experience & passion and the only university where thesis, papers, certificates, degree are not seeked for admission and graduation. I realised this after my recent trip in Singapore with Uncle Tan in his taxi. He was nearly in his late 60's. I was taken back when he talked about economics and politics without any formal graduation. The facts he could place to substantiate his arguments were astounding.

He could talk about why lawyers are better politicians, Hyper inflation in Zimbawawe, Deflation in Japan, Inflation in Singapore and his prediction on deflation coming soon to Singapore, Ex-US President Bush concenration on Iraq and the lack of judgment to identify the recent sub prime crisis which took the world markets down by spiral.

Top football coaches like Jose Mourinho, Sir Alex Ferguson, Microsoft Bill Gates, Apple Steve Job are a few who are not graduated from top business school but have excelled in management. What drives them is passion and not paper. According to uncle tan, for a business to prosper you need a good coach (leader) to identify talent and a eager student (employee) who can learn

At the end of my 30minute journey with uncle tan, I could not stop myself from asking him where from he gained all this knowledge and the answer was University of Char Kway Teow. This converstation made me remember of the recent hit bollywood movie - 3 Idiots, where the theme is 'follow your passion' and I could little disagree with that after the trip with uncle tan.

Finally for those who are not aware of Char Kway Teow - it is delicacy made from flat rice noodles stir-fried with lard, garlic, dark soy sauce, bean sprouts, kale leaves, fishcake, fresh cockles, prawns, eggs and lup cheong (Chinese sausage). This is one of the hardest hawker dishes to cook perfectly, which is perhaps why it causes the strongest, deepest cravings!