Thang Nguyen 555

Cultures on Collision Course

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With some short-term relief work in Asia/Africa and long stint in Telecom, Thang also earned a B.A. at Pennsylvania State University. M.A. in Communication at Wheaton Graduate School, M.A. in Cross-Cultural Communication at Gordon-Conwell Seminary, Boston. In addition, he earned a CELTA – classes taken in Hanoi for cultural re-immersion.

Tag: Steve Jobs

  • Past lives

    Alpha-Omega or reincarnation? Steve Jobs didn’t believe all those talents would disappear in a flash. Many here in Asia believe the same. Hypnotism brings back deep-seated memories in the brain, recalling multiple past lives . Duyen No. L’amour and Debt. No coincidence. Just virtuous or vicious cycle. Spin it baby. Make your choices. Think you are in control?…

  • Mojo memory

    Like muscle memory, our mojo could come back if we know how to flex it. Self-reinvention. Press reset. Peak again. Brace for it. Noose’s head. Winning. It’s hard work and threatening to ride the wave once again. Many would rather take the path of least resistance. Play it safe. But the world is crying out for…

  • Start seeing

    In two weeks, I am up for new pair of eye glasses. But today, upon first examination, the eye care doctor revealed what was obvious to her, but not to me: I have had a minor stroke (vein # 7), which pulled my left eye up and if I were able to ask someone to watch…

  • Play element

    We seem to have lost touch with the play aspect in life and work. I am thinking of John Lennon and Steve Jobs at the moment. Both pursued their passion, and both were dead. One married interracially, the other just loved all things simple (even foods). They were famous, and still are, although they could not…

  • Time, on whose side?

    Just like an old-time movie, friends met yesterday to rehash. We mentioned briefly the passing away of our friend’s brother: nerdy, good old boy and an ATM machine service man and family man. In short, the least likely candidate to die young. Yet, he had been long gone (by now 3 years). Earth, Wind and Fire…

  • Watching Victor Vu’s film

    The Coke, (pop) corn and cinema. Heroes of Destiny. Boom, bang! karate kid! Justified violence (revenge). Boy meets girl, boy almost loses girl, boy gets girl in the end. Happy Ending. When the bewitched Empress released her grip, she broke the chain of self-perpetuated violence. It’s like cutting the credit card when you  are a…

  • Jobs’ off switch

    Steve Jobs hated the on-off  switch. Perhaps more so because it was a relic of electricity (Edison) and automobile manufacturers (Ford). He did not like old wine in the same wineskin, given our always-on Cloud Service in  A/C data centers. Apple chose North Carolina as a site to store music, video and the rest of its customers’…

  • Less is more

    In reading Steve Jobs, a theme keeps emerge: less is more. He cut out the fat and all its distraction. (being a veggie, he stayed true to form). His closet was full of the same long-sleeve stretch shirt that defined his personal brand. His take on wealth and money was also consistent with his 60’s philosophy. Steve…

  • Oil-and-water economies

    David Brooks of the NYTimes had a piece about the US economy which he coined as “mid-life-crisis economy that needs  to be rejuvenated”. That’s oil. Here in Vietnam, I found quite a contrast. Young demographic, young economy that goes no where but up. Community Colleges, Trade and Vocational schools, English classes. One by one, they…

  • Strange sounds, familiar shores

    Instead of “I woke up to the sound of music, Mother Mary comes to me…” like Paul McCartney, I woke up to strange sounds these days: peddlers who use “low tech” au parleur (bull horn) mounted on bicycles or tri-cycles (selling boot-legged CD‘s). In fact, it was my first time got chased by pleasant sound from…