On 3rd January 2025, an article by Ilsa Chan, Channel News Asia, has the headline, “Actor and F&B Entrepreneur Ben Yeo Shutting High-End Chinese Restaurant Following Losses of S$1 million over 2 years”.
While everyone is still wishing each other “Happy New Year”, the Daily Monsoon will start the year by talking about happy beginnings and sad endings.
From the article, Ben Yeo and his partners spent SGD 800,000 to renovate the restaurant. SGD 800,000! “Go Big or Go Home”. In this case, “Go Big, then Go Home”.
To quote Ben:
When business was good, we made money but even then, it was not fantastic. But in bad months, the losses were tremendous, around S$20,000 to S$40,000 per month. Perhaps this location is not suitable for our concept.
SGD 20,000 is a lot of money to burn every month. You don’t need to burn that much to close down your business.
When I read this article, it reminded me of the shops that I used to visit, which I no longer do, because they closed down.
There was this noodle shop. I remember when they first opened up, I didn’t go in because it was their opening day and they had lots of friends and family coming to give support. Lots of flowers. Lots of smiles.
Later, when I entered the business as a customer, they had energy. Every business opens with the dream of making it big. I liked the noodles and I hoped they would do well. They hoped they would do well. But they didn’t. Some time ago, I walked past the shop. The doors and windows were removed. Contractors were demolishing the insides. They were preparing the space for a new business. And so the cycle continues.
The old are fond of saying that the young are reckless. The young reply: “The old are too careful.”
The old are careful because they saw too many happy beginnings and sad endings. As for the young, who can blame them? Successful people are selling them the dream. And they are good at selling it, that’s why they are successful.
Is this year the year to start a new business? A new relationship? A new commitment?
Perhaps one way to answer that question is to ask: Are you a risk-avoider or a risk-seeker?
At first, that seems to be a wise question. How you decide obviously depends on what type of person you are. But that got me thinking. Are there situations where the decision is obvious, where the decision does not depend on your risk profile at all?
If we can create a high-risk scenario where the right decision, the clear decision is always to take the risk, then maybe that will help us think about the actual decisions we need to make: new business, new venture, new commitment?
Consider this illustration.
Are you a fast or slow driver? Your answer tells me something of your risk profile.
But you could say it depends.
If I give you the choice of two situations, which situation would have you driving faster?
A. A familiar straight road with no hazards in sight, or
B. An unfamiliar windy road in a fog.
This is a no-brainer question. Obviously, you would drive faster in the first situation than in the second.
Then you ask, “In what situation would I drive faster?”
Let me give you two situations:
A. Someone you love is having a heart attack, or
B. Someone you love is hungry for a snack.
Again, a no-brainer. A heart attack or a snack, clearly you would drive faster to get to the hospital.
So, we can conclude, it doesn’t matter whether you are a risk-taker or risk-avoider, given a choice between two scenarios, the choice can be clear.
Likewise, when Jesus asked his question, let me read it out to you:
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?
The answer here is just as clear as the earlier questions. There is no scenario where having the whole world is better than losing your soul. I assume you believe you have a soul. If you don’t, just play along.
An encounter with Jesus is an invitation to leave everything behind to follow him. Or you can reject the invitation.
Leaving everything behind sounds like a high risk, don’t you think? But once you understand the invitation proper, you realise what seems high risk is actually no risk.
Jesus explains it in the Parable of the Hidden Treasure.
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
For those who don’t know about the hidden treasure, it seems foolish, highly risky, to sell all that you have to buy a field. The implication behind the parable is there is no field worth selling all that you have!
But for those who know about the hidden treasure, I ask you this, is it a high risk? He knows there is hidden treasure there. And don’t go and overcomplicate the scenario by saying maybe someone else took the treasure without him knowing. The treasure is there.
Knowing that, the decision to buy the field is a zero risk decision. He has gained far far more.
And that is how it is for people who make the decision to know Jesus and in God’s own good time, eventually make the decision to follow him.
The funny thing is, coming back to our question earlier, once you have made this high-risk or no-risk decision to follow Jesus, then all other decisions become easier to manage.
There are some businesses, ventures and commitments that will no longer vex you. You are free from considering them at all, regardless of whether your appetite for risk.
And for businesses, ventures and commitments that glorify God, you are free to make that decision knowing that whatever the outcome, whether it’s a great success or utter failure, God remains in control, kind, loving and wise.
The decisions you make in life, what used to weigh heavily upon you, now become manageable in the light of his glory. It may not seem so at the time, but the truth will be revealed in God’s time.
I started the Daily Monsoon podcast on 1st Jan 2025. This is a new beginning. Publishing a new episode Monday to Friday is a big ask but I wanted to take that risk and see what comes out of it for myself and for my listeners. Will the podcast end on a happy note or a sad note? Well, let’s find out when I review the podcast in 31st December 2025. However it goes, to God be the glory!