Tag: Indonesia

The limits

LG Sciences
LG Sciences (Photo credit: teamstickergiant)

If you happened to watch the Olympic men weightlifting , you would find out quickly that we have our limits. We are shaped in this body, given that much neurons and glued to the ground by gravity (tell that to the jumpers).

This is an unpopular observation. We are more used to hearing inspirational messages, that we can defy logic, the law of gravity, social obligation and even growing our nest egg infinitely (most touted during the “irrational exuberance” 90’s). Yet, from that screen, I stared at a physical reality: Korean, Indonesia, Colombian. All got limits about how much weight they can lift and hold.

Realizing and finding out those limits are the mark of maturity. In the end of all learning, we return to the starting point and know ourselves for the first time.  Some of us found out that our parents and spouses were right all along. Others have proved them wrong. But all got limits about how far one can push the envelope. Out of 24/7, 365 day world, we can only progress that much. Up the hierarchy of needs. Up to self-actualization  and Enlightenment.

This Recession holds the mirror for a lot of people to see themselves, their lust and limits.

We still want to hear inspirational messages, walk on Tony’s hot coals, and climb those fake walls at the Mall. But we also know, at least for the first time, there are limits to growth and limits to our personal wishful thinking. Great men and women know this after their term(s) in public office. They retreat to the range, some even grow hair (in Lyndon Johnson case) while most spend time with grandchildren where it matters most.

This is when the Allures of the world are sending out marketing messages, that you can have it all, without limits. Shake, shake, shake, shake, shake your booties. I will never forget the irony of the Titanic: no one seemed to know they were in danger until it’s too late. The scene we all know too well : “I am King of the world”. Fake it until you make it. Really? Tell that to the weightlifters.

Middle-Income Trap

The phenomenon known as Middle-Income Trap is alive and well in SouthEast Asia.

Not all boats rise with the water. Contentment sets in and gets in the way of progress.

Countries like the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia are  in this trap.

From a global perspective, they could do better if getting over the hump. Yet people are caught  with false sense of security (just a little bit over the Survival phase). No challenge, no progress.

Entrepreneurs, innovation and R&D? That’s a luxury one cannot afford here.

I went pass a Malaysian Educational Center here in HCMC. Apparently to get to Malaysia nowadays is already a step-up (then Singapore, Australia and/or US).

Vietnam needs to leapfrog to be in the forefront of science and technology, commerce and communication. FDI and Tourist dollars unfortunately landed mostly on infrastructure investment more than talent investment.

Its young people will need more than a dose of legislation. They need role models, encouragement and financial supports (to truly master English for Commerce and not just to pass a required placement test).

Encourage Life-Time-Learning.

Life-Time-Learning leads to Life-Time-Fulfillment. Middle-Income will be de facto results.

My hope and wish is for college students to master life’s skills, and to see the big picture, that of being a global citizen, where Many-to-Many is the new model and Pull, not Push, prevails.

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).

Inertia and urge

In business parlance, we call them “entrenchment” and “creative destruction”. Find a niche, dig in. By the time you crossed “valley of death”, someone had already elbowed in to eat your lunch.

As Venture Capitalists scour the globe looking for “the” deal, they find new energy and risk-taking in places like Rwanda, Indonesia and Israel, the new “BRICS“. Emerged out of the ash of the Great Recession, these countries offer a unique proposition: invest in us for we got talent, nerve and market.

Since history can only be understood backward and not forward (a need for spices and to dispel “Earth-is-square” theory drove Columbus to stumble upon America), we can’t manufacture another version of post WWII American Dream. Whatever shape it will take, post-recession wise, one will likely find “gems” in the most unlikely places (GE and MSN in India, or “frankenfish” farmed in China bio-lab).

After reading Sarah Lacy‘s book about start-ups in emerging countries (Brilliant, Crazy, Cocky), I felt as if “Independence Day” were celebrated else where, and not in the US.

Web eco-sphere and capital flow (as in the case of hyper-Brazil) are tilted to smaller countries: lower barriers to entry, greater access to broadband and micro-funding.

To jump-start a project, one needs more than an urge to get rich. In most cases illustrated in the book, it has a cause or personal narrative to underline the efforts. Innovator’s dilemma implies a balancing act between preserving the status quo and feeding the creative urge.

If not, someone else will and will do you in.

It’s called Progress. It’s called evolution. Climbing the pyramid of need and innovation. Unplug the respirator and move into the “incubator”. I have lived on both sides of the world, one more risk-taking, and the other,  safety. It’s as if we have reached a plateau in “subduing the Earth”. Columbus, welcome to America, now go home. Take another lesson in adventure and entrepreneurship elsewhere. Maybe we haven’t failed enough. But it’s time to finish the race. Inertia and urge. Let the urge overtake the inertia.

Saigon in motion

A couch floats down the river right pass Bong Bridge a while ago.

As of this edit, there was a “hot” clip about police trying to stop a girl from jumping to her death on another bridge.

Vietnam still has to battle with forces of nature, (typhoon Utor) and economic pressures  (bad debt).

Here, before the rain stops, people already start moving.

A poncho, two people. Total trust. You drive, I ride.

Street vendors spread out merchandise on tarp, just to wrap them up five minutes later.

The lucky few zoomed by on Toyota Runner or Lexus.

Progress by osmosis.

Henry Ford reincarnated will be happy to find this land where automobile market has yet been saturated

Despite, people have managed to move about efficiently and effortlessly on two, not four wheels, defying all odds.

High rises are up. So are bridges in the city.

People are in constant motion, on Mobil phones and motor bikes.

People honk at every hour of the day.

(Unlike in the States, honking would invite road rage.)

I get to call on a few ICT companies. I found the work force young, intelligent and responsive. The marks of top students (learning), and soon becoming top workers (unlearning).

Post-war baby boomers grow up with no legacy.

Order a beer, shoot the breeze and hop on the bike.

Competition is tough at all level i.e. entry-level workers, mid-level manager, small companies and mid-size ones. Meanwhile, the nation itself strives to become the next Malaysia and Indonesia. If failed, or not trying hard enough, caught in “Middle-Income trap”.

So, back to two wheels, while the rest of the world on four.

As long as things and people are in motion. A couch that floats and a girl who tries to jump. Keep moving. Keep fighting gravity and inertia. Keep up with progress. Endure the pain to surely gain.

I am not here for solitude and reflection. I am here to move with the flow.

Just to survive. And the fade out music today is “rain and tears….”

More from Saigon on my next blog. Got to hop on a “xe om” to fight traffic.

 

body building in Saigon

I have paid my first-month membership and come back for seven days straight.

The place is tiny.  I must have timed it badly: my body peak performance coincides with peak-time traffic which weaves through the front door (bikes found their short cut artery in an alley).

So I lift while listening to Michael Jackson’s CD. I feel proud, to be among muscle men, although if you get at the truth, I am more like Charlie Chaplin at the swimming pool (who pretends to get water out of his ears, while actually stays out of the pool altogether).

So here I am, in a city of roughly 10 million. People try to get home by bikes or buses. A bike front ended a Hyundai at an intersection this morning. People exchanged some unpleasantries, and went on their way. No wasted time. Lean city. Lean people.

Back to my muscle men. The owner put up whatever pictures and posters he can get his hands on: his own when winning medals, body muscle tissues poster straight from medical book and half-naked lady (but tasteful art).

He said if I wished, he could open the door at 3AM for me.  I said it would be more likely 3PM.

When your body produces endorphin, you feel less of a need for caffeine or nicotine.  I feel refreshed now, after two weeks of reverse culture shock.

The dust, the noise and the heat. There is tension in next door Thailand and earthquakes in Japan and Indonesia. China is building a huge project in the Mekong River, which might threaten the natural down-hill flow of SEA including VN.

The bodies and muscles here will need a lot of strength and endurance to withstand all that is throwing at them. And mine in particular, will need even more since I have used to working out in an A/C gym. Now,  I learn how to sweat it out among others in this steam-bath gym. I need to pick up on that: no wasted body fat, or any fat anywhere in the city of millions. Lean bodies in motion.  No wonder westerners found Saigon a great place to shred a few pounds, with or without joining a gym.