Thang Nguyen 555
Cultures on Collision Course
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Tag: Shopping
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If you look, you shall find. In my case, that little book by Edmondo de Amicis, translated of course. It made an indelible impression on my little mind and heart. Years later, it still does. That is, after I have come in full circle, have travelled and traversed the geography of the heart. That “diary” genre…
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If you followed job ads or start-up pitches, you would be hearing “Next Level” multiple times back then.. In the 90’s it was “synergy” (M&A terms). Before that “re-engineering” (The Japan that can’t say NO). Now, it’s “collaboration”. The Recession inadvertently served as an Editor who cut out words that don’t fit with the times. You…
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I touched on this slightly in another blog. It’s about growing up never knew if my grandparents even smiled at all (I gathered this from the black and white photos in the family album). We are still shackled by the analog world which tells us to stand straight and stare straight into the lenses (36 poses…
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By now the transition from analog to digital has almost been completed. Movies, music, photos and books. The old movies are easy to spot: actors using huge phones and driving old cars. Vinyl albums made those hissy noise when touched by the needle. And books, like the one I am reading, War and Peace, are so…
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The war novel with similar title was surprisingly good. I have known about it for a while, but couldn’t get myself to “carry” it home. Until now. Until it’s translated into Vietnamese. It’s the opposite of reading Bao Ninh‘s The Sorrows of War in English. Both novels had the same setting, same period, same conflict, same ending…
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Tragedy and triumph seem to go hand in hand. Past pain could be paralysing yet addictive. Those who couldn’t get over it end up going back to it. Not for the broken experience but for the context where pain first occurred. When shattered, we threw the baby out with the bath water. In coming back, with time…
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A few blogs ago, I wrote about Noel Decoration in Saigon. A few weeks from now, the glitters will have been all gone. Party is over. Then, it’s a long grind. 2013. The quants have already crunchedl year-end data: sunk costs, margin, consumer behavior (irrational at times – hint: sell spirits over the holidays). The monks look on…
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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…
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Organizations and people in them tend to take this path. Status quo. Business as usual. The comfort of routine. The predictable, mechanical rhythm. Makes the world go round. Until we drop out. One person at a time. Dust comes to dust. But the morgue still sends the bills. Please pay by a certain date, or else,…
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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,…
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