Tag: London

Softer side of Soft Power

In the end of A Christmas Holiday, our Somerset Maugham‘s character went back to his middle-class comfort zone but quite aware of his “plastic” existence. This was right after he had spent a week in Paris, meeting Lydia, a Russian gypsy whose suffering life was nothing Charlie had ever imagined.

I couldn’t help think of a parallel to what America was going through: having involved with a suffering Europe and came home with a G.I Bill, went through a life-altering experience and education. Then we got a Kerry who once testified before Congress as an anti-war camouflage-wearing activist (John Lennon-like) , just to find himself decades later on the other side of the mike.

Softer side of Soft Power.

War-weary country, post-industrial America no longer wants to play global cop, regardless of the nature of mass weapon violation.

We truly are entering the Post-American era whose first phase leaves a huge void to be filled by a host of BRIC countries.

(NATO now stands for No Action, Talk Only).

In short, when the world calls 911, there is no answer.

Only a recording that says “we are short of resources and too compassion-fatigued to be involved, please call back at another time. Sorry for the inconvenience this may have caused”.

And that recording might be generated from a pre-recorded upload from India.

Syria or India, to an average American in this post-Recession era, is the same.

Kids need shoes, need to be dropped off and picked up. Groceries in the freezer and fast food at the second drive-through window.

That’s about it.

Please don’t bother us Please do not show us any photo of mass massacre, or influx of refugees to Lebanon and Turkey.

We might enjoy a vacation or a movie set in Istanbul (Taken 2), but we prefer marginal exposure, not deep engagement.

Yet, there has been a significant rise in NGO’s treasure chest during this Recession.

Where is our sense of priority?

Back from our Christmas Holiday, to same old La-Z-Boy chair , feeling life returns to normalcy.

We might have met a few real-life characters whose suffering we could only imagine. But then, it’s better to let sleeping dog lie.

Even Soft Power has its limits (we no longer talk about Hard Power). State is leading Pentagon, but then Russia is now in center stage. Where are Britain, Germany and France?

The so-called Lords of Finance?

In a Post-American World, the power vacuum is up for grabs But no one is big enough and “naive” enough to step up to the plate.

Perhaps there will be a new “NATO”, one that acts only, and no talk at all.

Our Somerset Maugham’s character did give Lydia some money. He felt good about giving. He had a wonderful Christmas Holiday in Paris, the Louvre and the London’s status-quo existence. Will life ever be the same after each human encounter?

The answer lies in whether there is a softer side of Soft Power. I believe American at heart are people with a softer side.

It is finding its footing and balance after a period of growing pain. Mr Kerry wasn’t shunned by first turning into an anti-war, then a pro-war and finally the Geneva deal. Maybe someone will pick up the 911 call after all. It’s called a change of heart. That call can be routed anywhere in the world, It’s called follow-the- sun technology and follow-your-heart ecology.

Georgetown on my mind

It’s been some years since my last visit to Georgetown.

Who could forget the last scene in Exorcist (which set standard for a whole new genre).

But first, a stop at my parent’s graves in nearby George Mason U.

Cold and crisp. Students were out for a jog, some even shopped for shoes. It’s President Day. President Obama however chose to spend time in Old Town Alexandria.

We were lucked out! Imagine what the parking would have been had he picked GT !

We found a spot on 27th St way pass the Mongolian Embassy (GT could be one of the most international cities besides NYC).

After deciding to pass on Miss Saigon (the restaurant, not the show), my brother and I settled for Johnny Rockets. Shakes and fries, peppered with music both of us can relate to.

It says on the mini juke box (next to the ketchup) that it costs only 5 cents per song.

Give Me Some Lovin., Lean on Me.

What a time! (50’s Innocence).

I even got extra milk shake (total one and a half glass). That explains why I feel  so full now.

Georgetown might be an open-air mall, but to me, it represents something else. It’s neither old nor new. Just classy. World-classy (well, with Pretty Woman, walking down the road… and gay guys too)  elegant, exotic and exclusive.

On days like today, President Day, one cannot help reflect on the making of the Republic.

How our taxes are collected to the dime, our parking meters to the minute and our library books to the day. Then how our leaders let it go to the cliff, fiscal cliff.

I know the Mongolians are watching. They have their embassy here. To see, to learn, and to relay “take aways”. One of the many things they probably won’t take home and take heart is that American spent first, save later.

Saw a shopper carry a pair of Nike out of the box. He probably just took them off display.

Now, that’s some “take away”. Just Do It. Run, baby run. Just watch out for the fiscal cliff. It’s tax time. Have we a lot to declare? to write off? to hide?

On the cover of The Economist, I noticed something about trillions of dollars of uncollected  off-shored corporate taxes.

I am glad to see across the river that Rosslyn is building out aggressively.  I root for many more Rosslyns and Georgetowns across the nation. Let’s build and they will come.

Why should world tourists flock to Paris and London? And Mongolian only put a diplomatic presence here, instead of urging their people to come, to spend, and even to stay. We need foreign currencies, in any shape or form. Let them pick the song on the juke box. Good for the house, good for the country. Happy President Day. Start thinking like one. After all, we all live here, and very likely, die here. Georgetown on my mind (courtesy of Ray Charles‘ Georgia on my mind).

Fools ignore facts

In all my stops in London, Zurich, Cote D’Ivoire, Monrovia, Ghana, Hong Kong, Manila, Mexico, Montreal, I formed good impressions of each locality and people. When I came back to Vietnam in 2000 and on subsequent trips, I did the same even in the worst of scenes e.g. how could that guy without legs drag himself on the street selling lottery tickets!

But this kind of lens Joel Brinkley did not wear on his trip to Vietnam last month (I was still there then). He came back, and wrote that Vietnamese ate anything that moved “birds and domesticated animals are rarities on city streets” and that he saw one lady in Da Nang sell field rats..” this rich in protein diet drove the Vietnamese to attack peaceful neighbors e.g. Cambodian whose diet had less meat.”

Now he made me paranoid! With the same observation, his steady Big-Mac diet could turn out to be a threat to his journalist students at Standford (who could be 100 per cent sure what’s in the “rich in protein” fast foods).

Our Canadian neighbors to the North love eating quails. French, horsemeat. Even in IKEA products.

Regionally, people responded to scarcity and starvation differently. If he had read Guns, Germs and Steel, he would have known that it’s the lack of anti-bodies (against invaders’ germs) in the native population that killed them more than all the aggressors’ guns put together.

I know what Vietnamese drinkers do and look for. They call it “moi”. It could be appetizers such as roasted peanuts or fried tofu, from escargo (French) to eel (Korean). Vietnam explores and incorporates many strands of culture and cuisine (recent article showed wider adoption of wine, but still not the cheese – due to lactose intolerance).

On the day Joel Brinkley published his opinion piece on the Tribune Media site, by a stroke of luck, the editorial oversight was asleep at the wheel. I was saying goodbye to a friend over a beer (E European) and fish. Luckily, the joint did not serve dog food, or else I wouldn’t be writing this piece of cultural defense in good conscience.

I helped circulate Mr Brinkley’s piece to a network of friends, but did not sign the petition as many did (petition for his removal from post). It said he should have practiced what he preached i.e. fack checking before forming an opinion, observe before conclude, and learn the difference between cause and correlation.

People in Korea, China, Vietnam country side did eat field rats in hard times. Perhaps they want to go back in times (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) bonding over beers (therapeutic more than ritualistic). I once shared a meal with Filipinos over the weekend. We ate without utensils, the native way. It’s their “letting the hair down” time, away from the monotonous rhythm of the Western style cafeteria. And I was glad to be included. Felt like Margaret-Mead then.

I would not fall into a trap to argue that, yes, I saw rats and heard birds in the city while I was there. It would not be cool if I am pressed about where (in the alley, because I took a short cut to shield myself from the scorching sun).

But for someone who wrote a scholarly piece on Cambodia, then to make a 10-day stop in Vietnam, all the while living in a group-think bubble (expat cocoon riddled with colonial jargons) just to write-up a piece that stirred up controversy and resentment, was uncalled for. I remember my Communication professors at Penn State. They earned their stripes and their respects. Joel has to earn the prizes he had already received. In the beginning, was the Word. Noble and enabling word, that builds up not tears down. He probably is tasting a spoon full of his own medicine these days, and wishing he did not make those comments. Teachable moments for both prof and students. Just as we thought we could put Vietnam to rest. BTW, a friend in Ghana who took me to his home offered me foods full of tomatoes and hot chillies. And their dark skin was quite shiny and healthy. I don’t think Ghanaian attack any of their neighbors either. Most wars I read about involved McDonald eaters. Or hit and run  Or drive-by shooting. Want me to open the box? P.S. In Talk Vietnam, there is a parody in which the author took a tour in the US and couldn’t find any livestock here either. All eaten!

World on wheels

You want to see wheels at work, you come to Saigon.

(Baby) strollers, scooters, (food) stalls, all on wheels.

But instead of having you walk up to a vending machine, here the merchandise come to you. Ladies in cone hats would walk about with all sorts of knickknacks on their shoulders: toe clippers, wallets, key chains etc….

At night, snack vendors come around the neighborhood, waking everyone up.

“Banh gio”.  KFC, Pizza, Hot noodle bowls all delivered on wheels.

It’s a 24/7 world on wheels. Rolling, rolling, rolling on the river.

They finally put the canal fences up, but the “river doesn’t flow through it”.

Saigon used to be known as the Pearl of the Orient.

Neither Paris nor London, Saigon is a synthesis of every strand and shape. Young people from the country side pour in and mix in to form a kaleidoscope. It is as if the old energy from a mix of Cambodian and Chinese were not enough. Now with young and old, East and West, it is transformed into something unrecognizable. Perhaps a Singapore of the next century.

I live next door to a young couple. Their son is just one year old, barely taking baby steps. In the morning, mom would be walking vending machine. In the afternoon, Dad would walk around shoe-shining. The boy is well cared for. The boy has just got a toy automobile for Christmas. The young couple were discussing about buying a Nokia phone.

The future of Saigon. Of Vietnam. Soon they would save up enough for a scooter. Nuclear family on wheels. The kid after all had already got his wheels.

World on wheels.

Spending spree

Right about now. If the economy is going to pick up, authorities should push spending. Credit card spending.

Gadgets are out. Electronic devices miniaturized. Skirts cut shorter even when it says Winter Clothes. Victoria Secret pulled Native American outfit from broadcast. Planned controversy or not, we don’t know. We just know that things are back to its normal pace.g. Windows 8,  I-phone 5 release etc…

With Halloween behind us, Veteran Day being celebrated, what else to look forward to besides Turkey and Tree.

We got the calendar seasons, then we got shopping seasons, but for centuries we live with only a few seasons (until they made up Fall and Autumn).

Seasons are good for the Soul. They roll in cyclically, to remind us there is a rhythm of life: hard times and good times.

Unlike compound-interests chart and monthly bills. These come in under a different chart and graph.

We still respond to seasons in awe: autumn foliage, first snow etc..

When something like Sandy screw up our lives, we are at a loss (blaming it on those new voiture in China and Brazil?)

Meanwhile, those with or without money still have to spend. For loved ones and for oneself.

Gotta get those midget gadgets: i-pod and tri-pod.

Who would find out that our taste for music has been the same for decades? or what content women read on airplanes (E-readers).

Something strange has happened  lately, but then nothing strange has happened lately (covert ops but overt affairs etc…)

Banks and retail stores are still into collecting ROI perentages. And we consumers still fall for it, willingly.

We are creatures of habit and of harmony. We put on warm clothes and winter clothes. We feel a warmth in our hearts when we see Christmas decoration  all around us. We  miss that fireplace scene and the gathering of the faithful. We long to belong and to be home (Train, plane and automobile) . We long for rest and comfort.  The world knows this. It will offer a different version of our hopes and dreams. It will instead offer false hope and unreachable dreams. It will in fact give us the opposite of what we hope for. In the race to embrace our dreams, often times, we have to outsmart those who claim themselves to be dream providers, of essentials that we need like homes, health and happiness. We gotta to own the process of attaining them ourselves. When we do, we will be rooted firmly in that which we can call home, that which anchors our restless feet and soul. True happiness lies in the heart of those who feel content and are not in denial of death, the only reality that matters most. So spend, spend, spend. But keep in mind that those gadgets will be obsolete next year. In their places, are successive versions and newer generations. That’s what keeps us awake at night.

Progress has its pain and price to pay. To stay in the game, one needs to constantly pedal forward and uphill.

Again, I admire people who stay up all night out in the cold for a shopping spree phenomenon we call Black Friday.

Just remember to leave those pepper sprays at home this year. Walmart is trying to outsmart the competitors by opening early. Thanksgiving night as a matter of fact, for your 24/7 shopping need.

Imponderables

Dead Valley is known to be the hottest place on Earth.

Yet millions have traveled pass there on their way to Las Vegas.

Venture Capitalists are also well versed in what’s so called “valley of death” i.e. when a start-up moved pass its honey-moon stage, and simply cannot sustain the burnt rate.

Yet people keep trying.

Then, aside from “death” rate, we got divorce rate.

Yet people keep falling in love, and getting married.

Hint: more shopping and spending for a family of two and more.

In America, there is no shortage of imponderables.

I am starting to read Paterno bio. I could barely get through the first few pages.

Something quite imponderable there (despite the lucid prose).

After all, what happened in America, stayed in America.

Sex shops, butcher shops.

Churches and strip clubs, sometimes near each other.

Schools and parks (for homeless people) near fast-food and donuts joints.

Dental office next to candy shop.

And 24-hr gym (all you can lift)  near Hometown Buffet (all you can eat). Go figure.

America spends a large chunk of change on incarceration, pornography (hard and soft e.g. NYT best-seller list, top 3 are taken by the same author who caters to women taste for escapism), guns and amos (especially amos, modeled after HP cartridge business model), medical marijuana and spirits (that get you on a downward spiral).

My name is Thang. And I am not an alcoholic. So help me God.

Somewhere somehow, the line has been moved: the incarcerated are better cared for than the non-incarcerated.

The top 1% refuses to pick up golf balls, while the rest can’t afford meat balls.

Kids aren’t learning (slipped in ranking), while workers need to but can’t get it paid for by the employers or government.

Politicians are talking, but leaders aren’t leading.

We are bidding for time, for election, for miracles, and are freezed like deers in front of approaching head lights.

Actors are either making quiet retreat (Sundance Festival), or gone overboard (Eastwood and Samuel Jackson).

It’s the best time to be in  late-night comedy.

But SNL fans can’t stay up late (wrong demographic for that time slot).

Voting booths seem to always have problems in Florida. (Voters should be required to have an eye-exam). We are enjoying our time on the deck, but forgot to check the ship’s name. ( Titanic ?).

Even if it’s free, no ride lasts forever.

Every once in a while, we need to check the navigating instrument. No such thing as auto-piloting (Google unmanned car?).

Not in this age of post-innocence. Not at this time of austerity. Not now. Not ever. We need to be vigilant against those who quack like a leader, walk like a leader, but in fact, are not leaders at all. Leadership comes with a price. They come to take credits. This is the root of all imponderables: those who can’t lead, lead. Those who can, refuse to stay in the game.

Machine and Man

The Curiosity Rover landed intact. Mission Control jumped up and down. Machine and Man. One giant step. Let’s hug, even the meanest-looking of guys.

From Moon to Mars (better known as a candy bar), machine as modern-day Columbus.

Something in the way she moves.

Knowledge gap will be filled in the days ahead, on-screen and online.

Ask Not.

We are going places after running in place.

Some of us don’t run at all.

Austerity and sedentary.

Maintenance mode and screen-saver mode.

Let’s hope it’s just a temporary condition. What if it’s a new norm?

Industry anticipated deadlock. Companies scaled down orders, translated into non-expansion, translated into hiring freeze, translated into low consumer confidence and purchasing parity, translated into slower growth which feeds stagnation further on the downward spiral.

Stuck in high gear and high prices.  The harder you push, the more RPM, but no progress still.

Just revving noise.

Distraction (London) and attraction (Mars).

Summer breeze  for scorched Earth.

Wild fire and gun fires.

The State of the Union is not that good.

But no one is here to listen.  Even when they try “they do not know why”. Starry starry night.

From Moon to Mars.

Machine jolting Man to jump for joy. What happened in Mars got our full attention. What happened in Maine no longer triggers our curiosity despite its obvious and deteriorating “signs of life”.

Machine and Man.

 

Besides perspiration

Hard work is a given, a prereq for success. But that necessary spark, the 10% inspiration, must be there.

Two candidates, with  equal experience, the one with a great attitude wins. You must have the mojo.

It shows up in conversation, in off-hand moments (kicking the dog on the way out or giving the finger in the driveway to the one who ends up interviewing you).

In the Orient, job interviews often take on a new dimension. 3 finalists. Two walked by the broom that fell on the floor. The third picked it up and thereby, secured the job.

Attitude.

I just learned that Oprah ran the 1994 Marathon. On your way to success, you will have to walk across many “brooms”.

Just pick them up. Get used to removing obstacles. Habits of Effective (and not Deffective) People.

Tell me a success story, I will tell you how many obstacles he/she had to overcome:

– Colonel Sanders almost gave up until his last-ditch effort: a bar owner asked him to toss in more salt which is now the KFC recipe.

– Khan‘s wife offered herself to Silk Road traders to bail her husband out

– Al Gore, accepting defeat, but not becoming a failure, went on to win the Nobel Prize

– yesterday, at the London Olympic, Michael went on to break world swimming record.

Life gives us those stories to instruct and illustrate the point, unveiling new heights and setting new benchmarks.

Stay away from the Nay sayers. Prove them wrong. Or even better, think of them as never existed, for the longer we do, the more likely that this will come to pass.

Yesterday, I blogged about The Limits. But that was just one side of the coin. Today, there is another.

We have physical limits. But we reach out still to the stars. Feet on the ground, but eyes on the prize.

One more try. Then one more.

Another heart beat, then another. Breathe in and breathe out. Wax on and wax off. Karate Kid all grown up. Use all the pain and suffering and waste them not. They were there  to make us and not to break us. Each of us is different, not because of our limits, but because of how we dealt with those limits.   90 per cent inspiration, 10 per cent perspiration. Multiply that to the nth time. While perspiration is limited, inspiration is limitless.

Last summer day

The academic calendar starts just about now.

A different season. Different drum beat.

Formula and conjugation.

Grades and test scores.

Cafeteria and classroom.

Principal and peers.

Pranks and punishment.

Same starting point, different finish lines.

Education is democratic in nature.

I admire people in wheel chairs, still being wheeled their way around the library, trying to reach up to the latest titles (Tillman or Unbroken).

I wish we could apply Moore’s Law to our cognitive development.

As it turns out, our brain capacity can process much more information, forming knowledge stream, and turning them into usable grains of wisdom (emotional and social intelligence).

The end of all learning should be to form a capacity for empathy, to see others in their historical and social context, from their frame of reference.

This is the underlining assumption of many art forms such as cinema and work of fiction.

In fact, we need escapism. During the Great Depression, Hollywood did quite well.

This time around, cinema still manages to stay afloat (without McCarthyism).

We also enjoy the news as presented live and downstream much faster thanks to broadband connection. Newsbreak has been more interesting than fiction (The Social Network, Arab Spring and London Summer – which BTW, an antithesis to the fairytale version of the Royal Wedding , same version as earlier centennials’).

This summer has been a summer of disasters, from environmental (drought) to economic *(drought), from political blunder to criminal assaults (Oslo).

But our kids are back to school. It’s a blessing in disguise. It brings back normalcy.

Or something like it. It reminds us that we have been there,and are still here years later.

Had we known then, what we know now.

That vantage point could only be viewed from hindsight.

It’s called exposure and experience. It’s called empathy. It’s called optimism, because the last summer day, actually signifies the beginning of a beautiful Fall, with foliage and cool fronts. In Vermont and Maine, Fall actually is the most beautiful and livable time.

Hopefully, it’s a start of a new fiscal year and fiscally restrained calendar for leaders around the world. Remember, they once started this season like everyone else: in an elementary classroom. Same starting point, different finishing lines.

Osmotic effect

BlackBerry was blamed for London Summer unrest while tech proponents gave it credits for Arab Spring.

Tech is just out there, with its incremental and osmotic effect.

What society chooses to do with it is entirely different.

There will come a time when we do need to switch to energy-efficient light bulbs, paint our roofs white and use plug-in hybrid vehicles. All 7 billion of us.

I have always been fascinated with the Mormons in UT and the Amish in PA and OH.

They seem to have operated on a different plane.

The osmotic effect stops at their county line. Off-grid.

No stimulus, no response. No Playboy bunnies, only horse and buggy.

Meanwhile, 300 millions Chinese have been lifted out of poverty just as millions of American children are now entering it (boarding the school bus from outside of their motel rooms).

Osmotic effect.

With hooded sweats to cover their faces from London CCTV cameras, mass rioters force us to reconsider the Luddite‘s view. Has everything been too fast and easy?

It’s the difference between real noodle versus instant noodle. Try it to see what I mean.

The broth, slow cooking and osmotic effect. Something still needs time and not rushed into.

Like cleantech adoption.