Sunday, 11th October 2026
PART 9: OWNSELF EMPLOY OWNSELF
Well today, I will talk about "ownself EMPLOY ownself", which is essentially what a sole proprietorship is all about.
After I left my previous full-time employment on 15 Jul 2020, there was a couple of years that I was totally out of the workforce, making the necessary adjustments to cater to my dad's decreasing quality of life. After he got his stroke in June 2010, he was hospitalised for two weeks, then transferred to St Luke's where he stayed a month before being allowed to return back home.
He had to be bathed, diaper-changed, tube-fed, assisted in walking and attended weekly therapy sessions. I also had to bring him to see his geriatrician on a regular basis, and also to monitor his medications and medical supplies.
After about 2 years, his condition stabilised, and with it, a predictable routine to his caregiving requirements, so that was when I seriously considered setting up a sole proprietorship.
(11) Akeraois Phronesis (11 Jul 2022 to date)
I had thought of the name Akeraios Phronesis for quite some time already, those being the Greek words ἀκέραιος for "innocence" and φρόνησις for "shrewdness" respectively, found in Matt 10:16.
Around that time, I got to know Patrick Bezalel Lee, and commissioned him to conceptualise a hyper-realism piece of artwork based on that very verse, for which he quoted me a very good, kingdom-friend price :-)
He shared the masterpiece he came up with in the following Instagram post. Thanks Pat!
I then engaged fellow GraceUnited member Eve Elza Zoe Tian to design my name-card. It was beautifully done. Thanks Elza!
Note how I intentionally use 4 corporate colours: purple, red, white and blue. These are the 4 colours used in the tabernacle (see Exodus 26) and also the 4 colours representing the 4 gospels.
Purple = Royalty (Matthew, where Jesus is the Lion of Judah, the King of the Jews, descended from David)
Red = Blood (Mark, where Jesus is the Ox, the Suffering Servant, with no predigree)
White = Purity (Luke, where Jesus is the Son of Man, descended from the first human, Adam)
Blue = Heaven (John, where Jesus is the Son of God, typified by the Eagle)
I also bidded for the UEN number. Note how it ends with a series of 7s and 5s :-)
The timing of setting up Akeraios Phronesis on 11 Jul 2022 could not have been more perfect, because a fellow NTU Christian Fellowship alumnus, FT Liu, invited me to speak at the Professional Development Conference held at the Lifelong Learning Institute on 13 Aug 2022.
And then 3 years later, it became the very vehicle I used to register the vehicle I bought for my son to use. You can read about that here.
By the way, I have also done the following write-up on LinkedIn:
Having worked for more than 30 years, many a time I have felt like a sheep in the midst of wolves. Yet the wisest Man said we should be shrewd as snakes while remaining innocent as doves.
Akeraios (“A”) and Phronesis (“P”) are the Greek words for "innocence" and “shrewdness" that were used in that passage in Matthew 10:16, hence the name. The title Chief Mover/Shaker was inspired by 2 of my other passions: Trucking and Droning.
Feel free to engage me, and I will share with you through real-life stories on how to sharpen one’s P, while maintaining one’s A. Let us together become movers and shakers where we are placed in society.
Unemployed?
I was exactly that from 23 Aug 2010 to 28 Feb 2011, and then again from 16 Jul 2020 to 10 Jul 2022.
Self-employed?
I have been from 11 Jul 2022 to date.
Retired?
I have not actively sought business for my sole proprietorship, so some would refer to me as a retiree. I recently bought this shirt from Lazada, which defines "Retired" as the "ability to do what I want when I want" and also "not my problem anymore", which aptly describes the my current circumstances :-)
In the next post, I will conclude this series with what our true identify should be. So stay tuned!
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