This site is an(other) attempt by me, Suren Gunatillake, to get bloggy. My micro-rants on Twitter and other places also feature on this site.

I am passionate about a number of things including music, politics, current affairs, education, aviation, food, single malt whisky (particularly from Islay), and more… there is little rhyme or reason to this blog but hopefully there is something useful/interesting/thought-provoking/entertaining in it for me and you.

What’s shaped my world view?

I recall becoming interested in politics around the age of ten, after seeing how-to-vote cards being handed out at my primary school. This sparked a general interest in current affairs that hasn’t abated since. I started watching Paul Keating perform during Parliamentary Question Time and the rest is history.

Around the same time, my music taste began to take shape thanks to my sisters’ constantly blaring boomboxes (hello 1980s) and a fascination with my first radio – a pocket-sized Hanimex/Fuji transistor doozy with one dodgy speaker and a ridiculously lengthy antenna. I came to love the concept of radio broadcasting and developed a particular affection for shortwave/distant transmissions and radio jingles. I now stream Internet radio daily and continue to love it.

I was born in Melbourne – the sports, food and arts capital of Australia. As a Melburnian, I naturally love Australian Rules Football and passionately support the Essendon Football Club.

During my undergraduate studies, I went on an exchange program to Korea’s research-centric city of Taejon and to historic Boston, USA. From late 2003 to early 2010, I called the dynamic city of Shanghai home, starting and running two companies during that time. The second chapter of my China story began in Hong Kong in February 2010.

What’s with The State of Ren? Many friends abbreviate my name to “Ren”, and I tend to enjoy that. I happened to also be a huge fan of the cartoon chihuahua from “Ren and Stimpy“. “Ren” also means “people” in Chinese, so I could pull a loose connection to my observations of life in general, as well as my time spent in China. As it happens, there are other states of Ren, in chemistry and Chinese dynastic history. So there you go.