Tag: Thailand

OPP (other people’s problems)

We live in a world full of acronyms e.g. PPO, OPM (Other People’s Money), SOP, CDO, COD etc..

In big companies, Customer Service reps just get through their day, throwing around acronyms to feel they are on the inside, without thinking about “touchpoints” (problems as opportunities to upsell).

My cable acted up two days ago.  The CS rep on the phone failed to help, so I had to take the box to the local center for an exchange.

The reception area was tiny, the guard imposing and customers, many were old men, holding the box with no place to sit. The rep first wanted me to drop my ticket in a pencil holder (her makeshift trash bin), then proceeded to check my ID. If it weren’t for the sign that says “Comcast” , I would have thought I had been at a DMV (whose seating area was more comfortable. In fact, the DMV in Stuart, FL was excellent at being “civil servant”.  Comcast reps should come over to learn a few things).

Take away: we are born naked and will die rotten. What we have now is all derivative (from our lineage, our society and our global links). Customers will always vote with their feet and they don’t wait until November. No contract could lock anyone in. Companies should periodically audit employees’ “attitude” (Sales should pick up Service skills, and vice versa). Gone are the days of “yesterday we were nice because you were a prospect”.

In its place should be the kind of enchantment Guy Kawasaki was referring in his book.

There is a reason Nordstrom and Four Seasons got their J.D. Power awards even in tough times.

(Recent USA Today poll features a large percentage of consumers cutting the chords with their long-time Hairdressers, Personal Trainers, landscapers etc..).

The trickle down economy.

Even China is growing only at 8% (down from earlier 10%) while the US teetering over the red line. Not all emerging countries are doing well. Thailand got a centennial flood. Like global recession, global warming is not OPP. A UN expert on Natural Disasters opined on the Newshour that it’s 50-50 natural/man-made split, let’s say, in the Mekong River (logging, upstream dam overstretched…) or a Honda plant in Thailand was submerged while Toyota parts couldn’t get to us from Fukushima.

Jasmine rice from Thailand (with Elephant brand) will be in short supply next year.

Tomorrow we will enjoy Bill Clinton’s birthday concert, brought to us by Yahoo.

But we can not just download the good stuff (democratized technology) while ignoring our carbon footprints.

Technology and globalization are the two sides of the same coin.

A manufacturing plant cannot move overseas without dumping toxic waste into someone else’s stream and water supply.

Again, early civic lessons came to mind (a neighbor found a dead rat in his yard. He decided to toss it over the fence to his neighbor. The next day, the whole neighborhood, his house included, smelled dead-rat). Or as in a story about living down-hill from someone else’s farm. The act of helping to water a neighbor’s farm uphill,  ended up with the benefit of having part of the water flow down hill anyway. In doing good, we are also doing well (Henry Ford knew this when he decided on paying high manufacturing wages “so my workers can afford to buy my model T’s – in any color they want, as long as it’s black”. We will all need to relearn the concept of service in today’s hyper competitiveness yet globally connectedness (and not letting the machine-generated “Now, serving number B-52 at window number 3” announcement put us in a trance, or worse off, become machine-like ourselves.) Want another acronym? It’s called living in the age of AI (Artificial Intelligence).

Never let go

14 Vietnamese women were found and freed from Baby101, a Taiwanese outfit operated outside of the law in Thailand.

They were paid to be surrogate mothers (artificial insemination or otherwise), whose future babies would be put up for adoption.

Baby, never let me go.

Newsweek has a piece about anonymousUS.org, an organization which seeks to organize “kids who are not all right” and demand access to their records.

In “Never Let Me Go” Ishiguro explores the “human side” of clones (children who are brought up to stay healthy and to eventually become organ donors).

“We ‘let you study arts’ just to see if you had any soul at all”, says the head mistress . It’s “the Island” 2.0.

I realize the technology (for cloning and artificial insemination) is there.

And that once we let the tiger out of the cage, there is no turning back.

Still, I feel sad for the characters in “Never Let Me Go“.

They seek a normal life i.e. romance – in this case triangular one, in vain.

It’s been more than a decade that the top 1% of the world’s richest keeps getting richer, while the bottom billion live on longer (thanks to vaccination and bio-tech discoveries ). This divide will only rush in the next rung of colonization (Upper vs lower rungs): medi-tourism- offshored drug testing- outsourced pregnancy and why not – organ harvesting.  Money can buy anything from nuclear waste to nuclear families.

Sign here. Down payment now, and the rest paid upon delivery (organ donor to baby delivery). First, start with donating the blood. Then, just don’t stop there.

Half a kidney is quite acceptable.

How about your whole kidney.

How about your whole life, since inception.

Test tube babies. Youtube adults. (How about $400 to keep the peace).

Life is difficult, completely. Just never let me go. Hold me like I am (the Only girl – by Rihanna).  Ishiguro portrays a world of tomorrow, where there are only  forced choices – yet like the retired butler in

“the Remains of the Day“, we are reluctant to leave the estate of comfort behind. Gone are the days of laughter under the lantern. Modernity doesn’t ask for permission. It just shows up like a force of tyranny – way past curfew, and not for a cup of tea. It asks us, to set aside Rousseau “social contract” for  a  “biological contract” – surrogate mothering – in the name of progress. What can be done will soon become that which must be done.

 

Vietnamese meta language

She said No, but her body language said Yes.

He said Yes, but his other language said No.

How to figure it out? Context is key.

Mothers love you your entire life, but never said “I love you” directly.

Teachers who were mighty proud of their students’ achievement, but remained stern and strict behind thick glasses.

Harsh society? Hardly. But one needs to learn how to decode it.

One moment, the lover scolds you, then kisses you the next  second.

Enough to give Westerners a heart attack.

Do not react quickly. Just paraphrase and confirm your understanding. Use a third party for independent verification.

Vietnamese is an interlinked society, way before LinkedIn .

My friend recommended “Com Tam Bui Saigon“, an upscale version of blue-collar broken rice dish. So I found myself dining there.

Word-of-mouth. Trusting “Like”.

Hard to break in if you were an outsider. But once you untangled the knot (after finding out that everyone seems to be related to someone else: from being an in-law to being a distant relative), then you know you are dealing with collective self.

Things get done, but not on your timetable. It takes time to build trust.

Lots of toasting and testing.

People don’t give you deserved praises directly. Even when they do it indirectly, praises came across as having been dipped in vinegar. It keeps you humble. On this point, it’s best to let others sing your praise. Self-promotion belongs in the West.

By nature, it’s a communistic (and somewhat stoic) culture . The nail that stands out gets hammered down.  You can dance, you can shout, but only for  a minute before someone steps in to enforce the rule (I experienced this first hand during my senior year: sending out some guy to rent a base guitar, just to see the power got cut off when it was finally arrived). Recently, a club (Feeling) got inspected with search warrant for running past closing time. Nowhere do we see this conflict on display then at the Water Park, where kids are into action and adventure, while stoic adults sit watching in complete aloof and alienated. Unwanted pregnancy used to be top of the shame list.  Now, it is joined by out-of-closet gays, abortion, interracial marriage and old maids.

Yet Thai Tai, Dao Vinh Hung not only defy the rule, but thrive on it (the former even went so far as undergoing surgery in Thailand, and changing his title, from Mr to Ms).

Imagine Vietnam as a boat, with everyone on it.

Rationing the morale, and rationing the meal.

Take your turn to speak, but make sure group speak has the last say.

Consensus, compromise and often win-lose is the way to go (the winner would rationalize that his win is for the common good. Hence, “hieu” vs “tinh” or filial duty overrides personal self-gratification).

To understand Vietnamese meta language, one doesn’t need a dictionary. Just be ready for upfront loss to hope for eventual gain. And be careful what you wish for,  just like the nation itself which is still trying to win the peace in the midst of urbanization and modernization. It will need a whole set of new language to define itself just to keep pace.

electronics mart for Viet consumption

“I want nobody nobody but you” blasted out from, of all places, busy Hang Xanh circle, Electronics Supermarket by Thailand. Buy a laptop, got a free phone. Flat screen tv‘s, refrigerators and karaoke systems.

Should be the envy of our proverbial Maytag man since N American market has been saturated for a while. How many TV’s can you fit in the kitchen – LG double-door refrigerators already came with built-in TVs).

Now, comes the hard part: connecting all these “smart appliances”. For now, when sold separately, they are “dumb” appliances.

Dao Vinh Hung, the pepper-sprayed singer, bought a 5-million dollar house in Phu My Hung, completely furnished with bells and whistles.

His perpetrator, meanwhile, is out on bail (money pulled together by ardent supporters).  Tech and gadgetry. Mass produced for mass consumption.

There will be a TV show aiming at the upper crust (Managers and expats), all in English. Once the dish is on the roof, and the screen is in the home, people need to channel surf. With choice comes decision (and confusion).

In the US, paid cable subscribers often have to sift through a menu of programming, anything from Spanish soap to Euro soccer.

And Hulu is out to give the control back to the audience. Finally!

We have been talked at for so many years. Now we don’t have to shout out of our window like in Network ” I am mad as hell, and I won’t take it any more”.

The change will take hold with the next generation who are glued to I-phone screens, TV screens, and computer screens. Slowly but surely, fashion will claim its dominance (the old Rex complex is now renovated and ready for trading up).

District 1, playground of the rich,  will both showcase and accessorize the city. Look at me! I have it made e.g. watch, pen, jewelry, glasses, ring, tie, socks and shoes, belts, manchette, wallet (preferably thick), purses, handbags, hats, lighters and cigarette cases. (This reminds me of a scene in Line of Fire, where Clint Eastwood and Renee Russo, as secret service agents loaded with ammunition and gadgetry, droped one after another on a hotel wooded floor).

Meanwhile, out in Binh Thanh, people just wait for the green light, and listen to “I want nobody, nobody but you”, and the electronic mart was just hoping that blasting music will result in lasting impressions, subliminally ” I want nothing else but electronic gadgets for my home. Like Dao Vinh Hung of Phu My Hung.”

Now I understand the cult of karaoke. You get there faster by singing than studying.

Jazzy Saigon

I attended Quyen Thien Dac and the Nilsson Trio (Jazz) performance a while ago.

Cultural exchange. But “fant” or on-the-dime invention is not new here.  Saigon traffic has already been jazzy, zigzagging at every turn.

I was with friends. He himself brought an ensemble of jazz men to Vietnam a while back.

Mighty proud of my friend who is multi-talented and multi-tasking.

I also noticed an “order in chaos” pattern here in Vietnam.

You might visit  Nha Tho Duc Ba (Notre Dame de Saigon) and  a taxi hop later, visit Lang Ong (the Grand General Temple). In one jazzy move, you embrace both a Church that glorifies the Maternal side of divinity, and a temple that honors a local patriarch who died a martyr death defending the city (of Gia Dinh) against invaders. Yin and yang, zigzagging at the highest level, both East and West. Young people are into Hospitality Management (to capitalize on booming tourism and the lack of service mentality, taken for granted  in Thailand . Four-star price demands four-star service.

Thus, at the service level, we still have room for improvement.

But not to take away credits. Young Vietnamese, having completed their studies abroad are coming back. Reverse brain drain; just like their Indian and Chinese counterparts (my housemate was toasting a US-bound relative last night. She will be attend US College this Fall).

Marriott is here. So are Inter-Continental, Hyatt and Hilton. Chinese building boom (latest horse-shoe Sheraton for one) echoes here as well, since constructors need work.

Everyone is snapping up valuable real estate and talent.

Need a musician? Done. Hair and make up? Done.

Even M&A. Things might have slow down due to the Recession, but many are seeing opportunity in crisis (young expat filmmakers have given it a try).

This paradox has traditionally been a Vietnamese trademark: thriving in chaos. So Thien Dac personifies what everyone already knew: the positive spirit needed to rise above one’s humble circumstances.

It’s weather perfect last night. And I knew I was sitting in the middle of change, and perhaps, might be swept away by whatever comes with it.

Avez vous le vuvuzela?

Vietnamese soccer fans are eager to get their hands on the instrument.

It’s not surprising to see Vietnamese hot for soccer. I was there when Vietnam scored at the last-minute to win over Thailand.

But it is quite amusing to hear how vuvuzela is also making its way from South Africa to South Vietnam. Isn’t it noisy enough with millions of motor bikes honking all day long?

http://www.vnexpress.net/GL/Doi-song/Mua-sam/2010/06/3BA1D42E

Some cultures have an affinity to expressing themselves more audibly than others.

Hispanic events are always loud, so are the Filippino ones.

And Japanese events are the most quiet.

In the article, we also learned that in Hanoi, the demand for vuvuzela is lower than in HCMC .

The hotter the climate, the noisier the society.

The cold and rain tend to soothe and produce a calming effect.

The gods must be crazy in South Vietnam.

And World Cup fever is at its height. Blow the horn. Win or lose.

Meanwhile, in traffic, people also blow the horn to :

– announce their presence

– urge drivers in front to hurry

– celebrate soccer victory

In other words, honking  for all occasions.

In the US, if you honk, you will likely get a finger or trigger a road rage.

Intended and perceived message. Pure mis-communication play.

At least, the article brought up a good point: vuvuzela is not meant to be blown solo. It’s not like a sax which produces the urban lonely sound.

Vuvuzelas are meant to be blown in communal setting. In World Cup stadium. In South Africa. It’s so amazing how fast music (or sound) and sports can bring people together.

So does a simple instrument  (from the Roman Empire to today’s Arlington Memorial).  Wait until someone tries to blow it in Sapa or Dalak where nature will join in with its own hollowing echo, reverberate the (sounding) circle of life (Disney-esque) e.g. bushman and cave man, mountain man and city man, factory man and fashion man, hobo and homo: all free men.

Humanity will get its say. It just takes time. Do unto others what you would want done. What comes around comes around. I just hear the sound of one hand clapping.

What’s that sound. Everybody is going round.

Self-monitoring Vietnam

Two articles on Bloomberg Business Week.

One on Clicking with co-workers (productivity increase) and the other, Vietnam is finally ready for foreign investment ( with a question mark at the end).

The former article is based on a study that people who work and play together make a great team.

The other, since its neighbors Thailand and China are facing internal pressures (upheaval and worker strike) Vietnam might emerge as a strong off-shored contender. (As of this edit, BW has an article on Vietnam’s emerging role in Regional Security, with Mr Hagel meeting with Vietnamese counterpart in Brunei).

Huge hotel infrastructures have been up, but cautiously, taken a lesson from China’s building burst.

Meanwhile, Utah just put a man down via firing squad, a century old practice which has just been banned in Vietnam.

How is that for Amnesty International observers? Be fair and be balanced.

Have you read Banners from Heaven, a tale of struggle and murder in Utah?

There are Evil everywhere, even in the self-professed  civilized society ( And conversely, there is kindness in the most unlikely place.)

Back to our Bloomberg articles.

The clicking which results in team synergy came from self-monitoring (social intelligence).

And Vietnam, to build critical mass in global integration, will need a dose of self-monitoring as well.

By installing VINASAT 2, it will soon be able to see things from outer space.

And this GPS view will help it to see its geo-economic position against its neighbors: Thailand to the left and China to the North.

BBC did an interview about the subject just last week at the World Economic Forum i.e. China + 1. And Cisco signed a deal to build Smart buildings.

It’s not good enough these days to build world tallest hotels. Our expectations have increased : we need not only sky view, but also broadband access.

The rich want to be connected (it’s lonely at the top). And Vietnam, wanting to “click” with ROW, will need to accommodate those wishes, among them, high-speed rail and mail. The list of unintended consequences just gets longer each day. And that’s the price of growing pain. Instead, it is considering blocking off Skype and Viper, disruptive services which eat up the shares of state-owned shares. All the energies devoted to catching the “bad” guys could be channeled to “creative destruction”. It’s not too far-fetched to see Vietnam young come up with another Yahoo or Skype itself. Just a matter of time.

Work in team and play in team. It’s best that way!

 

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.