This site is an(other) attempt by me, Suren Gunatillake, to get bloggy. My micro-rants on Twitter and other random places also feature on this site.
My closest friends know that I have plenty to say about various passions including music, politics, current affairs, education, aviation, food, single malt whisky (particularly from Islay), Asia, etc… and this is my opportunity to share musings with a wider audience.
What’s shaped my world view? I remember becoming interested in politics around the age of nine or ten, after seeing how-to-vote cards being handed out at my primary school. This sparked a more general interest in current affairs that hasn’t abated since. I started watching Paul Keating perform during Parliamentary Question Time, and my interest in politics was sealed.
Around the same time my music taste was forming, thanks to my sisters’ constantly blaring stereos, and a fascination with my first radio – a pocket Hanimex/Fuji transistor with one dodgy speaker. I came to love the concept of radio broadcasting and developed a particular affection for shortwave/distant transmissions and radio jingles.
I was born in Melbourne, the sports, food and arts capital of Australia. During my undergraduate studies, I went on exchange to Korea’s research-centric city 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, and my time spent in China. As it happens, there are other states of Ren, in chemistry and Chinese dynastic history. So there you go.