Am on medical leave today due to severe cough and sore throat. But my mobile phone kept ringing, mostly from partners trying to find out how AIG's financial crisis in U.S. is impacting our local office.

The last I heard, AIG in New York would be selling off some assets for some capital. As for Singapore, there was much panic among the public but we were told that our local offices are heavily regulted by the MAS and have sufficient funds to keep us going.

Having said that, AIG's credit ratings were slashed to negative AA and this would certainly affect how the market sees us.

Many friends have contacted me and expressed their concerns. Actually, I was not too worried but with their calls or sms-es, I am now wondering if I would be retrenched if AIG in New York does not reverse its current situation.

Yes, locally we have enough liquidity and solvency, but to keep us going, the U.S. economy must stablise. Who will imagine Lehman Brothers to file for bankruptcy and for Merrill Lynch to be bought over by Bank of America? The U.S. financial situation is really in chaos now.

Shares in all markets including U.S., Europe, Japan etc, took a plunge and investors are literally scrambling. I will not be surprised if the stock market crashes. And the impeding recession which we are expecting may come sooner than expected.

This is really not a good year and I am getting really worried. Hope this whole economical situation will not affect my wedding plans next year.

Let's just keep our fingers crossed.