Tag: Abraham Maslow

The resemblance

She offered me water, from her huge one-gallon container. Hip-hop dancer-trainer, you see.

We need water, especially when we dance many sets at a local theme park to entertain and engage visitors.

So, you finished the first of the “girl w/ the dragon tattoo?” …..so it went. We broke bread and shared snippets of our interrupted lives.

Late Fathers Day installment.

Significant nevertheless.

With A. you don’t need to play “Anka’s Papa” (put those shoes upon my feet).

A earned  her own Sketchers at age of 4, being a child run-way model.

And joined a hip-hop team shortly after that. Now her team won 2nd place in Hip Hop International.

This year’s event will take it to bigger venue in Las Vegas, show of all shows.

I saw the resemblance (hidden, but I know: the ear lopes).

Anyhow, we were together as if never parted.

Can’t rewind or unwind the one-way flow of time.

Can only promise to see more of each other from here on.

She will be majoring in media. I recommended a mix of dancing and directing.

I hope she sees my point. Besides, women are getting behind the cameras to even earn an Oscar at directing (Jodie Foster started the trend).

How to train one’s eyes to see. Tip of the iceberg. I hope she listen. If any resemblance at all, she probably did not, and couldn’t wait to find out on her own. Like mine, my lessons were  hard-earned . I hope for A a life unlike mine i.e. without much interruption and with more people who can help her. She now grows up at the cusp of social media meteoric rise. She pointed to me at Best Buy the differences in latest version of phones.

Good luck A. Let Moore’s Law, Maslow‘s scale and Metcalfe Law work for you. Be in the way of opportunity and forget not to exercise those feet, whose shoes you had earned at an early age.

My girl got no tattoo, no attitude. She could have given the circle she is in.

Proud of A. Appreciative of those vacation dollars spent at the theme park where my daughter works. Every visitor helps. That’s an additional set of eyes watching my daughter’s dance group perform. Want some water?

Maybe all we need is time

Time heals all wounds.

It also ushers in a generation, now in high school and college.

Here in Vietnam, students have classes on Saturdays and even Sundays.

Kids of all ages, in uniforms or out of, but always with a backpack, riding on wheels of all types: bikes, electric bikes, scooters, sedans, and

buses.

They shop at night markets where there are food stalls, snacks stalls and magazine stalls.

Life in the fast lane (the only time I slow down is when I jaywalk across a busy street).

I have tried to put Vietnam in a box, but so far it’s been in vain: not scooter nation, not helmet nation, not multi-tasker nation.

I know one clear difference between life here vs in the US: your survival instinct better kicks in quick (Maslow‘s basic need).

Because it’s noisy, dusty and hot, people want to cocoon themselves in A/C  cul-de-sacs.

Common use of language also helps people cope: “choi” (play aspect) is inserted in every other sentence: “choi troi”, “choi chu”, “choi noi”, “choi luon” (upstage, wordy, flashy and go all the way).

Give Vietnam some time.

It will soon get to be a nation of 100 million, whose population is evenly distributed in a bell shape.

The UN person, Mehta, warned Vietnam about the “middle-income trap”.

They have seen it happen with Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The trends are there for Vietnam to grow.  Next step is to harness growth to produce desired outcomes. It’s not accidental that the former leader of Singapore was invited to speak here quite often.

He knew a thing or two about realizing a nation’s dream.

Maybe all we need is time. Some watch trains go by, all of their lives. Watching and wondering how others met and make it last. (courtesy of Stephen Bishop).

Maslow and Vietnam

Tocqueville saw in America a country full of contradictions.

He could say the same with Vietnam: people are moving up the Maslow scale, but some want to leap-frog security step i.e. basic needs to self-esteem need.

Nouveau riches switch companions like Hollywood celebs. Forbes or Swiss bank lists almost 200 Millionaires (USD).

Everything is bought in cash. The money machines are counting them non-stop (Zimbabwe-like inflation) .

Dizzying pace.

Traffic weave in and out, as if choreographed by an invisible and illogical conductor;  yet there have been fewer accidents than you might think.

Westerners are seen running a red light like everyone else.  We call that adjustment. When in Rome, do like a Roman.

People here are more aware of health issues than in years past.

My cholesterol result is available in a few hours.  If it’s good, then two eggs please.

I can now move to the next step in the Maslow scale: security.

Love and self-esteem can wait. They have been there since the beginning of time. A man’s glory reflects in the beauty of his woman, and vice versa.

I will leave those to the drama department. For self-actualization, we already got Bill Gates and Bill Clinton.  I have my level to attain to: staying here and surviving here. Traffic during peak hour draws out the best in us, gladiator-like. No wonder young men wear black. It’s their body signal to the world: “don’t mess with me”.

Meanwhile, young Americans are also wearing black, but for an entirely different reason: they are into vampires.  Twilight stuff. A stage of neither living nor dead. Here, it’s very clear to me that people want to get somewhere, preferably up, regardless how many bikes are in their way.