Culpium is Back: Remission, Recovery and Return
Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans.
Good Evening from Taipei,
My last post was in February, when I argued that President Donald Trump’s threat to impose a TSMC Tax on Taiwanese semiconductors would be a bad move.
I am pleased to see that he didn’t follow through. My sense is that this was not really a case of TACO, but that the initial threat was just posturing. Since then, TSMC’s expansion in Arizona has gathered steam, ameliorating the need to hold Taiwan’s feet to the fire. Jensen Huang even visited the campus in Mid-October to officially announce what we already knew: that Nvidia AI chips were being fabbed at TSMC Az. That gave Huang bragging rights over Tim Cook, even though Apple chips were actually the first to get taped out there.
I did make another brief post in May when I shared the news that Culpium had been selected as a finalist for Asia’s prestigious Society of Publishers Asia Awards (SOPA). That was particularly pleasant news. Culpium was less than six months old when the nomination landed, and was up against two pieces from Singapore’s respected The Straits Times, which is 180 years old. I think the nominated piece, “TSMC Built a Bamboo Ladder,” still says a lot about the state of affairs in the US and its goal of reindustrialization.
We didn’t win. Instead, Culpium was awarded the runner-up prize of Honorable Mention (Silver Medal?). Kudos and congratulations to Shannon Teoh, though, who won for his interesting and insightful discussion of Malaysian politics titled “No country for young men: Where is Malaysia’s next generation of leaders?”
At the end of my 7 February post I announced an extended break, noting that “I will be taking a number of months off to undergo intensive cancer treatment.”
That is indeed what happened. I was diagnosed with Stage Three cancer at the end of 2024. I commenced chemotherapy at the start of the year with radiotherapy added a few months later. Hence the need for me to go on hiatus. It’s been a dark and difficult journey — and the outcome is all but assured — but my latest scans indicate that it is now cancer’s turn to take a hiatus. The battle is not over. Extensive rehab is needed to combat the side-effects which come from pumping copious quantities of poison into your veins. And remission doesn’t mean cure.
Nevertheless, I decided that it’s time for Culpium to make a comeback. I miss writing. And there’s much to be said, clarified, and explained about what’s going on in the world of tech, Asia, and global supply chains.
There’ll be a few changes to what I share with you, and since your time is valuable Iet me outline what you can expect from Culpium. First, I probably won’t return to the previous cadence for a while yet, but I’ll try to keep Culpium regular, insightful, and relevant.
Second, here’s the editorial mandate I have given Culpium:
No press-release journalism. I just don’t see you getting much value from me copy-pasting what you can find elsewhere.
Exclusive news. To save your time, I want the 5-15 minutes you spend reading a post to offer information no one else has shared with you. And I’ll resist the common temptation to pad out a few bullet points of news with five pages of “background.”
Deeper analysis and out-of-the-box ideas. There’s a lot of uncertainty in the world right now, and a lot of that volatility is at the nexus of technology, global security, innovation, and economic change. My analysis is usually pretty tight — it’s not merely my opinion based on a whim — and I’ll show data, examples, or other evidence to back it up. But innovative ideas are also worth floating, too, and some of those might just suck. I expect you’ll call me on it.
Taiwan. It’s an unfortunate truth that few people care about other people’s domestic politics. (Except the US, in which case everyone on the planet has an opinion.) Taiwan is no different. Yet much of the world’s future — from AI and reindustrializing America, to economic shifts and global security — will be influenced by what happens in Taiwan. And while there’s plenty of people reading the tea leaves on Zhongnanhai, there’s a lot of really terrible takes on what’s happening in Taipei and why Taiwanese make the decisions they do. I’ll try to set the record straight and offer alternative ways to view developments in Taiwan.
Investigative journalism. The definition of “investigative journalism” is open for debate, but in essence it means looking more deeply into topics by drawing on public and non-public sources of information. I already have some projects in the works. Some may never see the light of day. Others may take considerable time to come to fruition.
The price of Culpium remains unchanged: free. At some point I’ll probably stick on a price tag, and when I do it’s my hope you’ll find value in what I provide. Dozens of people have already pledged to pay without me ever asking, and I am truly grateful for that vote of confidence. But monetization is not here yet. You’re welcome to pledge now, if you like, but please don’t feel obligated.
Many people find my work by following me on the Substack app and website. Please subscribe instead, it makes a huge difference.
Finally, I’d like to extend my thanks to the many, many people who sent well wishes and good cheer. I wasn’t able to respond to everyone, but I am grateful for your love and understanding.
Now it’s time to look to the future. My email inbox is just a reply away, so if you have feedback, tips, ideas, or dad jokes (even better; mum jokes), please drop me a line.
Thanks for reading.
Welcome back and glad to hear you fought back this nasty force of evil. Hoping the cancer stays away and you get back into writing more posts! Looking forward!