Exception to the rule of game

"We are a proof that there is business integration," he says.

For Goh, ASEAN is 47 years of norm. "The norm of the ASEAN (countries) is governments; the exception of ASEAN is business and social institutions," he says.

"I hope we are now willing to spend some time on exceptions. Diversities of (ASEAN) are exceptions, but they are not necessarily bad. Barriers are the norm, but they are not necessarily good."

Goh is not only interested in ASEAN markets but also in Chinese ones. Hainan Airlines Group, a multi-sector conglomerate in logistics and tourism with annual revenue of 126 billion yuan ($20.5 billion), is Silverlake's major business partner in China.

Back to his favorite subject: Exceptions.

"Researchers don't really care," he says. "It just happens that exception is such a powerful economic tool that it is a way to discover innovation. If it's just an atomic theory, most likely you will know me as professor Goh (rather) than a businessman."

Nowadays, it is not a good idea to expect to meet the high-flying man at his office in Kuala Lumpur. He spends most of his time on the golf course - at least four days a week - not merely for leisure though.

"I am a thinker, not a doer. I think when I play golf. I need not be in the office to be a thinker.

"I am not busy, but my mind is," he says. "A good golfer is not distracted by the surroundings and I am quite close to that."

But one thing is keeping Goh busy at the moment.

Goh, the dyed-in-the-wool researcher, says he has not given up academic writing in science and mathematics. He plans to publish his writing about the concept of exception on his personal website, which will launch on Dec 1.

So why publish online?

His rationale: "I don't have time to go through the formality (or norms) of submitting a paper."

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