The Merlion statute, the symbol of Singapore

The D&O Diary ended its Asia Pacific itinerary with a final stop in the prosperous city state of Singapore. The primary purposes of my visit were to speak at the PLUS Singapore Professional Liability Symposium and to attend one very important dinner. My stop in Singapore was brief and I had only a short opportunity to look around the city. I did have a chance to see some of the city’s more famous sights, as reflected in the pictures below.

 

The roads and walkways in Singapore’s central business district were restricted by barricades erected for the Singapore Formula 1 race, which was scheduled to take place Sunday night. Because of the barriers, I wasn’t able to freely walk everywhere I had hoped to go. But I did have a chance to walk around Marina Bay district.

 

The Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Casino

 

The Supertree Grove in the Gardens by the Bay

 

Along the Singapore River, looking toward Boat Quay

 

The Cavenagh Bridge, the oldest bridge over the Singapore River

 

The most important business part of my Singapore visit was the PLUS event, on Thursday afternoon. I delivered the event’s keynote address, and I also participated in another panel entitled “Evolving Risk, Vulnerability and Resilience.” This is the 7th annual Singapore event, and as has been the case in the past, the event was very successful. It was a privilege for me to be a part of this excellent event and to meet so many of the professionals in the Singapore D&O insurance market. My thanks to the event committee for inviting me to participate. I would also like to thank Ronak Khan of QBE, Shasi Gangadharan of Berkley Insurance Asia and Arati Varma of Marsh for all of their hard work in making sure that this year’s event was another success.

 

Here is a picture taken of the participants in the panel discussion of which I was a part: Ian Roberts of Clyde & Co; me; Melanie Flatman of Marsh; Alex Moran of Zurich; and Robbie Riha of Axa XL 

 

This picture was taken during my keynote address. As the picture shows, the event was very well attended

 

With Gaurav Wahe and Jennifer Tiang, both of Tokio Marine Insurance Singapore. I met Gaurav several years ago at an event in Barcelona.

 

The Conference Committee, from left to right: Ronak Shah of QBE; me; Cassandra Lee of Berkley Insurance in Singapore; Aruno Rajaratnam, the grandmother of D&O in Singapore; Arati Varma of Marsh; Shasi Gangadharan of Berkley Insurance; and Dan Jenney of PLUS. I congratulate the committee for organizing such a successful event.

 

Lakshmi Nagappan and Sally Mant, both of Chubb Insurance Singapore. I first met Sally at a PLUS event in London several years ago.

 

With Adeline Lee of Berkley Insurance Asia, Parimalam Jyah Raman of Willis Towers Watson, and Stehpanie Yio of Berkley Insurance Asia. All three are enthusiastic newcomers to the field of D&O insurance.

 

In this picture I am speaking with Julianna D’Cruz of Marsh and one of her colleagues. (Sorry, I did not get her colleague’s name!).

 

Our Dinner with Aruno: While I enjoyed being a part of the PLUS event, the high point of my Singapore visit was the dinner that Aruno Rajaratnam hosted at her home on Friday evening for a number of friends. The dinner was in a way a reprise of an dinner Aruno hosted several years ago. This year’s dinner, if it is possible, may have been even better than the first one.

 

In addition to great company and conversation the dinner consisted of a range of flavorful and savory Asian dishes, as depicted in the pictures below:

 

 

 

 

The menu included an interesting range of regional dishes: brown basmati rice with ghee and lemongrass; lentils with thavasi (from Aruno’s garden), long beans, and broccoli; chicken marinated with ground herbs (from Aruno’s garden) and spices; prawns cooked with red chilies and tomato chutney; cabbage cooked with turmeric and herbs from Aruno’s garden; and cucumber salad with yogurt spiced dressing.

 

Among the many wonderful things about the dinner is that, as noted above, many of the spices and herbs came from Aruno’s garden, which is just outside her kitchen. Here are a few  pictures from her garden of some of the herbs and spices used in the meal:

 

Here is a picture of the thavasi used in the lentil dish

 

Kaffir lime leaf

 

Cukor leaves

 

It was a very memorable evening and it was extraordinarily generous of Aruno to invite us into her home for this wonderful dinner. It was the high point of my entire Asia Pacific tour. My very special thanks to Aruno for inviting me to be a part of this very special dinner.

 

A picture of a wonderful meal. From left to right,: Dan Jenney; Aruno Rajaratnam; Arati Varma; Shasi Gangadharam; Ronak Shah, and Ravi Rajaratnam, Aruno’s husband.