Imagine taking a balloon ride around the world from Singapore's west coast, over the Middle East, over Europe, over the United States, over the Pacific ocean, over the Indonesian islands. You'll eventually reach the east coast of Singapore. That may seem like a very inefficient way of traveling within Singapore, as it will only take 45 minutes of drive to go from the west to the east. But only by doing that you get to see the world and have a deeper appreciation of the place where you got started.
I have gone so far to the west that I found myself back in the east.
Shanghai, 16 November 2011
Taxi ride to Le Meridien Hotel
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
First, take a deep breath.....
I was playing tennis under the scorching Singapore sun with my good friend last weekend. Next to my court was another court, where a couple of western men were being trained by a French coach. As in many cases during tennis lessons, the coach brought with him a basket full of balls, perhaps around a hundred of them.
Throughout my 2 hours of play, my neighboring players often hit straying balls that rolled to my court side. I felt rather annoyed by this, especially that there is no "sorry" being said, or no obvious effort from their side to control the straying ball from disturbing us. At one point, one empty plastic bottle that they brought was blown away by the wind, slowly rolling over from their side to my side. They were chatting away, completely ignorant to the intrusion they have done. Add the frustration for being under the heat and for losing, I raised my hand to express my annoyance. None of them saw me and I decided to carry on playing. I thought to myself "a bunch of stupid, rude westerners!"
The bell rang to indicate that our court booking is now over. We kept on playing as no one seemed to claim our court. Fifteen minutes after, our game ended. As we walked to pick up our bags, I realized the neighboring players were still there, chatting away. As we stepped near to them, one of them said "hi, we actually booked your court, but if you want to carry on playing we can play on another court". At that moment I realized that they were courteous enough not to bother us until the end of our game, despite the fact that it was already their right.
Fortunately I did not react angrily on the stray ball and stray bottle incidents. Otherwise we might have ended up being caught in an unpleasant argument. Ten minutes later I had a better opinion about them: a couple of decent people who are perhaps a little unaware of the rules of tennis.
----------
I am sitting in a plane from Shenzhen to Beijing right now. As I boarded the plane, I was happy to realize that my seat row is completely empty. I am seated by the window, and nobody was in the middle or in the aisle seat. I will be able to stretch, and come in and out as I want, so I thought. Just after the plane took off, a young, skinny Chinese man decided to throw himself to the seat next to me. Before he did that, he managed to open the luggage compartment above me, ruffled things around for no apparent reason. I was watching in dismay as I saw my nicely folded jacket got crumpled as a result.
Half an hour later I asked him to excuse me as I need to go to the toilet. Without saying a thing, and instead of standing up to let me pass, he shifted his lanky legs sideways, as if saying " jump over me". I wriggled myself out of the tight row and made my way. The same thing happened again when I was trying to return to my seat. Annoyed, I thought to myself "inconsiderate, rude Chinese!"
A few minutes later, a stewardess came to us and asked me in Mandarin "which dish do I want, chicken, or fish?" She immediately spoke Chinese to me as I look 100% like a local Chinese. Unfortunately I have a terrible disadvantage: despite my authentic Chinese face, I don't speak a word of Chinese. I am a fifth generation Overseas Chinese, born in Indonesia. It has been a source of many problems whenever I travel in China. The locals talk to me multiple complex sentences as if I understand everything, and most of the time I would be caught with my tongue tied and looking stupidly clueless.
So while I was caught in that moment again, I noticed this skinny lanky young Chinese next to me was staring at me with concern. I could tell from his gesture that he was ready to jump in and translate for me. Luckily the question was simple enough that the stewardess was able to translate in English, "you want fish or chicken?" I said Chicken. The lanky man stopped looking at me, until the stewardess asked me in Mandarin again: "what drink do you want?". Again the skinny man was ready to jump in to translate, if necessary.
So now I have a more favorable view of my lanky chinese neighbor....he is kind hearted, maybe just a little startled when I spoke English to him and too lazy to stand up when I need to go to the toilet.
A lesson learnt from a couple of otherwise pretty trivial chains of events. Prejudice and stereotypes exist in everyone's subconscious. One should always take a good deep breath before making any judgement.
Throughout my 2 hours of play, my neighboring players often hit straying balls that rolled to my court side. I felt rather annoyed by this, especially that there is no "sorry" being said, or no obvious effort from their side to control the straying ball from disturbing us. At one point, one empty plastic bottle that they brought was blown away by the wind, slowly rolling over from their side to my side. They were chatting away, completely ignorant to the intrusion they have done. Add the frustration for being under the heat and for losing, I raised my hand to express my annoyance. None of them saw me and I decided to carry on playing. I thought to myself "a bunch of stupid, rude westerners!"
The bell rang to indicate that our court booking is now over. We kept on playing as no one seemed to claim our court. Fifteen minutes after, our game ended. As we walked to pick up our bags, I realized the neighboring players were still there, chatting away. As we stepped near to them, one of them said "hi, we actually booked your court, but if you want to carry on playing we can play on another court". At that moment I realized that they were courteous enough not to bother us until the end of our game, despite the fact that it was already their right.
Fortunately I did not react angrily on the stray ball and stray bottle incidents. Otherwise we might have ended up being caught in an unpleasant argument. Ten minutes later I had a better opinion about them: a couple of decent people who are perhaps a little unaware of the rules of tennis.
----------
I am sitting in a plane from Shenzhen to Beijing right now. As I boarded the plane, I was happy to realize that my seat row is completely empty. I am seated by the window, and nobody was in the middle or in the aisle seat. I will be able to stretch, and come in and out as I want, so I thought. Just after the plane took off, a young, skinny Chinese man decided to throw himself to the seat next to me. Before he did that, he managed to open the luggage compartment above me, ruffled things around for no apparent reason. I was watching in dismay as I saw my nicely folded jacket got crumpled as a result.
Half an hour later I asked him to excuse me as I need to go to the toilet. Without saying a thing, and instead of standing up to let me pass, he shifted his lanky legs sideways, as if saying " jump over me". I wriggled myself out of the tight row and made my way. The same thing happened again when I was trying to return to my seat. Annoyed, I thought to myself "inconsiderate, rude Chinese!"
A few minutes later, a stewardess came to us and asked me in Mandarin "which dish do I want, chicken, or fish?" She immediately spoke Chinese to me as I look 100% like a local Chinese. Unfortunately I have a terrible disadvantage: despite my authentic Chinese face, I don't speak a word of Chinese. I am a fifth generation Overseas Chinese, born in Indonesia. It has been a source of many problems whenever I travel in China. The locals talk to me multiple complex sentences as if I understand everything, and most of the time I would be caught with my tongue tied and looking stupidly clueless.
So while I was caught in that moment again, I noticed this skinny lanky young Chinese next to me was staring at me with concern. I could tell from his gesture that he was ready to jump in and translate for me. Luckily the question was simple enough that the stewardess was able to translate in English, "you want fish or chicken?" I said Chicken. The lanky man stopped looking at me, until the stewardess asked me in Mandarin again: "what drink do you want?". Again the skinny man was ready to jump in to translate, if necessary.
So now I have a more favorable view of my lanky chinese neighbor....he is kind hearted, maybe just a little startled when I spoke English to him and too lazy to stand up when I need to go to the toilet.
A lesson learnt from a couple of otherwise pretty trivial chains of events. Prejudice and stereotypes exist in everyone's subconscious. One should always take a good deep breath before making any judgement.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Fighters and Seekers
I think there are 2 types of people in the world. The first type thinks that life is about survival. The second type thinks that survival is a given, and therefore life is about finding and being oneself.
I call the first type the Fighter. These people fight to win, fight to be the first, fight to be the biggest and strongest. They take pride for being the richest, the most generous, the least sick, the best looking. They believe that the world is a place full of traps and competitors, and the only way to enjoy life and be comfortable is to control, to organize, and be "ahead of the game".
I call the second type the Seeker. These people believes that there are ways of life, places and environments that offers the most comfort for each unique individual. Therefore they are generally willing to "drop everything and move on" - once they are convinced that their current work, their existing place, or their existing society are no longer for them. They tend to ask "why am I here and what's the point?".
Let me clarify that neither type has the monopoly of material wealth. There are enough examples of wealthy individuals that belong to either types. The two types also do not signify any correlation with intelligence, talent, energy or work ethics. A Fighter can work as fast, as hard and as smart as a Seeker. A Seeker can be as competitive as the Fighter. The fundamental difference is the source of their motivation and inspiration.
Lets compare two famous individuals to illustrate my point. I will pick Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, an excellent pair coming from the same field of work.
Bill created Microsoft from scratch in the 1970s until it became a global empire today. There is no doubt that this company reflects his personality, at least during his time of reign. After the first decade and two when it monopolized the Personal Computer market, it began to receive noticable attacks by the younger companies. Microsoft reaction to the arrival of new bloods is in a form of fierce defense and counter attacks, to protect their status as the biggest, the strongest software company. At its core, it believes in the survival of the fittest. Innovation is secondary, replaced by aggressive financial fights, acquisition, legal fights against competitors. Bill Gates is a good example of a Fighter.
Steve Jobs is famous for his cunning ability to create products that breaks new ground. He was a great innovator who challenges the "can't be done" mentality. No doubt that he is a man with big competitive drive, but he spent his energy seeking for something new instead of defending. He jumped from being a maker of PCs to music player to mobile phone to tablet computing with ease, while others seemed to be stuck on a single product. He may have hired a group of fighters to help him organize and control as things grew, but growth and dominance alone did not seem to be his main motivation. Because of that, Apple has continue to bring innovation instead of acquisition.
Has Bill Gates changed from being a Fighter to a Seeker, now that he has left Microsoft and created the largest philanthropy organization in the world? I don't think so. But perhaps it is better that he uses his Fighter mindset for something more philanthropic than profit driven.
Will Steve Jobs turn into a Fighter and begin to play defensive games against his competitors? I am betting that he won't, or at least he won't be good at it. A true Seeker would continue the journey to express one self instead of trying to defend a legacy.
We can find examples in different walk of lives. Musicians like John Lennon and Michael Jackson are good examples of the Seekers. Michael Jordan and Pete Sampras come across as Fighters while Andre Agassi would be a Seeker. Ronald Reagan maybe a Seeker while his VP, George H.W. Bush was clearly a Fighter.
Despite my bias in favor for the Seekers, I would admit that the coexistence of these two characters is there for a reason. The Seekers likely bring more creativity, introspection and innovation to the world, while the Fighters would create systems and processes to organize and control. I think the world with too much fighters influence will become a hostile, cold and abusive place. A world with too much seekers influence will be chaotic and unpredictably volatile.
Having said that, I think our world at present is out of balance - and as a result of that, we are seeing many escalating abuses of power, irresponsible exploitation of resources while at the same time diminishing creativity. The world desperately need new influential seekers, to restore the balance and make the world a more peaceful, introspective and creative place to live.
I call the first type the Fighter. These people fight to win, fight to be the first, fight to be the biggest and strongest. They take pride for being the richest, the most generous, the least sick, the best looking. They believe that the world is a place full of traps and competitors, and the only way to enjoy life and be comfortable is to control, to organize, and be "ahead of the game".
I call the second type the Seeker. These people believes that there are ways of life, places and environments that offers the most comfort for each unique individual. Therefore they are generally willing to "drop everything and move on" - once they are convinced that their current work, their existing place, or their existing society are no longer for them. They tend to ask "why am I here and what's the point?".
Let me clarify that neither type has the monopoly of material wealth. There are enough examples of wealthy individuals that belong to either types. The two types also do not signify any correlation with intelligence, talent, energy or work ethics. A Fighter can work as fast, as hard and as smart as a Seeker. A Seeker can be as competitive as the Fighter. The fundamental difference is the source of their motivation and inspiration.
Lets compare two famous individuals to illustrate my point. I will pick Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, an excellent pair coming from the same field of work.
Bill created Microsoft from scratch in the 1970s until it became a global empire today. There is no doubt that this company reflects his personality, at least during his time of reign. After the first decade and two when it monopolized the Personal Computer market, it began to receive noticable attacks by the younger companies. Microsoft reaction to the arrival of new bloods is in a form of fierce defense and counter attacks, to protect their status as the biggest, the strongest software company. At its core, it believes in the survival of the fittest. Innovation is secondary, replaced by aggressive financial fights, acquisition, legal fights against competitors. Bill Gates is a good example of a Fighter.
Steve Jobs is famous for his cunning ability to create products that breaks new ground. He was a great innovator who challenges the "can't be done" mentality. No doubt that he is a man with big competitive drive, but he spent his energy seeking for something new instead of defending. He jumped from being a maker of PCs to music player to mobile phone to tablet computing with ease, while others seemed to be stuck on a single product. He may have hired a group of fighters to help him organize and control as things grew, but growth and dominance alone did not seem to be his main motivation. Because of that, Apple has continue to bring innovation instead of acquisition.
Has Bill Gates changed from being a Fighter to a Seeker, now that he has left Microsoft and created the largest philanthropy organization in the world? I don't think so. But perhaps it is better that he uses his Fighter mindset for something more philanthropic than profit driven.
Will Steve Jobs turn into a Fighter and begin to play defensive games against his competitors? I am betting that he won't, or at least he won't be good at it. A true Seeker would continue the journey to express one self instead of trying to defend a legacy.
We can find examples in different walk of lives. Musicians like John Lennon and Michael Jackson are good examples of the Seekers. Michael Jordan and Pete Sampras come across as Fighters while Andre Agassi would be a Seeker. Ronald Reagan maybe a Seeker while his VP, George H.W. Bush was clearly a Fighter.
Despite my bias in favor for the Seekers, I would admit that the coexistence of these two characters is there for a reason. The Seekers likely bring more creativity, introspection and innovation to the world, while the Fighters would create systems and processes to organize and control. I think the world with too much fighters influence will become a hostile, cold and abusive place. A world with too much seekers influence will be chaotic and unpredictably volatile.
Having said that, I think our world at present is out of balance - and as a result of that, we are seeing many escalating abuses of power, irresponsible exploitation of resources while at the same time diminishing creativity. The world desperately need new influential seekers, to restore the balance and make the world a more peaceful, introspective and creative place to live.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
The Joo
I was in a taxi just outside of Chennai, Southern India, when my driver suddenly pointed to a large compound of ruins, broken walls, unfinished statues and rubbles. He said - "Joo will be there"......
Confused - I looked at the site and after a few seconds I said "um...Jew?!" I began to think this driver is pulling some sort of a nasty joke.
"Yes, Joo - monkeys, tigers and all that!".....
Another seconds of pause and I said "aaah! Zoo! ok, great!"
Confused - I looked at the site and after a few seconds I said "um...Jew?!" I began to think this driver is pulling some sort of a nasty joke.
"Yes, Joo - monkeys, tigers and all that!".....
Another seconds of pause and I said "aaah! Zoo! ok, great!"
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Nothing to Fear
Human is probably the only animal species in the world that accumulates more and more fear as they grow older. A six years old boy will be brave enough to say whatever he thinks without fear that someone will take his opinion personally - for example to tell his aunt that he does not like her cooking. Once he grow to be a college student, he may not have that bravery anymore - and settled with a diplomatic answer like "it's nice, aunt....but I am already very full". This university student may still fearlessly criticize the status quo without much regards to the threats of being fired or being alienated by the establishment. Once he grow to be a 30 years old man with a family, he may behave in a much more reserved way.
Then the story continues to all walks of lives. A subordinate may fear to correct his boss - for fear of a career damage. A boss of a company may decide to hide the truth about the financial problem ahead of them, because he fears the impact to the stock value and therefore his bonus and job. Many doctors fears loss of income if they give the true answers to some patients. The politicians on the left fears the rise of the right and vice versa, so they blame every single problem on the other side.
The fears I described above is not the same as the primal fear - the type of fear that we share with other animals. Primal fear protects us from things that endanger our own lives - like when deers run away at the sight of an approaching cheetah. That is a survival mechanism that is shared by every animal, including us. But in our human species, we have developed a second type of fear, which I can only define as delusional fear.
It is delusional because it arise without anything that threatens one's survival. Because of this fear, we complicate our lives by telling lies, building boundaries and creating bureaucracies. I think dillusional fear is not only counter-productive, it is also very destructive. Some people may do harm to others just because of delusional fears. Some companies may abandon their ethical standards just because of these fears. Some politicians may decide to say what they don't mean for the same reason.
At the end of all this, the only thing that will happen is change: a change to our lifestyle, a change to a relationship, a change to our habit, a change to our jobs, a change of the way we see things. This change happens everyday - in small gradual quantum, or in a one-time big bang. Some people like to believe that they are untouchable - because of their position, their money and their network. The stronger one believes in this sense of control, the bigger his/her delusional fear would be. But those are all illusions. We are all just humans, and when the change needs to happen, it will happen anyway.
Therefore I believe that the best way to live is to be the change, and to know that there is nothing to fear.
It is delusional because it arise without anything that threatens one's survival. Because of this fear, we complicate our lives by telling lies, building boundaries and creating bureaucracies. I think dillusional fear is not only counter-productive, it is also very destructive. Some people may do harm to others just because of delusional fears. Some companies may abandon their ethical standards just because of these fears. Some politicians may decide to say what they don't mean for the same reason.
At the end of all this, the only thing that will happen is change: a change to our lifestyle, a change to a relationship, a change to our habit, a change to our jobs, a change of the way we see things. This change happens everyday - in small gradual quantum, or in a one-time big bang. Some people like to believe that they are untouchable - because of their position, their money and their network. The stronger one believes in this sense of control, the bigger his/her delusional fear would be. But those are all illusions. We are all just humans, and when the change needs to happen, it will happen anyway.
Therefore I believe that the best way to live is to be the change, and to know that there is nothing to fear.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Time to Reverse
"May I help you with another drink sir" - a polite young waiter in a Delhi hotel asked me in January 2011. That started a little conversation around the economy of India, his farmer parents, his analysis for the future. He said "Not so long ago, 85% of our populations lived in the villages. now it is only 60%. We are not yet a developed country, sir, but we are getting there".
What an intelligent, well informed mind of a young waiter. I thought: If this is the intelligence of a restaurant waiter in India, there is little wonder why the country is bound for great things in the future.
I have no doubts of the quality of the young people in India, but what he said again confirms the general view of the population: that to be perceived as "developed", as "progressive" - you need to have people flocking to the city, living and working in tall apartments and skycrapers. Of course, at the center of all these, is accumulation of wealth measured by Rupees and other currencies.
I was rushing to the airport and did not think it is wise to start a little conversation about my opinion. I wanted to tell him, that urbanization is not a sign of a more mature, wiser society. I also wanted to tell him that the diminishing number of farmers and villagers is a serious problem, not a sign of progress. Afterall, they are usually the first step of a long food value chain until the food arrives to the supermarket. Haven't we heard recently that food prices has gone skyrocketing in most part of the world?
Of course, there are the alternatives. The genetically engineered crops that grow at 3 times the rate of a normal one. The hormone injected fish that grow at double the speed. The soya fed cows that generate double the meat in shorter time. But before we accept those as an alternative, we should check if that really what most people would really want to eat, if they only knew the truth? And even if the consumers do not mind, these have obviously not solved any of our food problems. Instead of solving the 1 billion starving people on earth, we are now facing rising food prices for the rest of the 5 billion earth population!
I wanted to also tell him that the city is no more than a cramped place full of grumpy people trying to make sense of their day. Most of the people will wake up saying "I wish I can do something else". Most will get stuck in a traffic or crowded public transport, and looking forward for their next holiday to the pristine villages. Yet most city people will say that they need to earn the money so that they can pay the rent or buy that bigger house when my family grow. Very few people will consider that they will be able to buy that bigger house or pay a much cheaper rent if they were to live far from the city.
I am not saying that everyone should abandon the city. Just like everything else in the world, the city has its own role in the civilization. However it is not a solution for everyone, and it is certainly does not have any correlation with better quality of life. These thoughts may sound insane even only a couple years ago - but I am confident that the fragile economic, environmental and social conditions of our world will force us to change. Let me suggest a solution for many of us: let's reverse the trend of urbanization.
What an intelligent, well informed mind of a young waiter. I thought: If this is the intelligence of a restaurant waiter in India, there is little wonder why the country is bound for great things in the future.
I have no doubts of the quality of the young people in India, but what he said again confirms the general view of the population: that to be perceived as "developed", as "progressive" - you need to have people flocking to the city, living and working in tall apartments and skycrapers. Of course, at the center of all these, is accumulation of wealth measured by Rupees and other currencies.
I was rushing to the airport and did not think it is wise to start a little conversation about my opinion. I wanted to tell him, that urbanization is not a sign of a more mature, wiser society. I also wanted to tell him that the diminishing number of farmers and villagers is a serious problem, not a sign of progress. Afterall, they are usually the first step of a long food value chain until the food arrives to the supermarket. Haven't we heard recently that food prices has gone skyrocketing in most part of the world?
Of course, there are the alternatives. The genetically engineered crops that grow at 3 times the rate of a normal one. The hormone injected fish that grow at double the speed. The soya fed cows that generate double the meat in shorter time. But before we accept those as an alternative, we should check if that really what most people would really want to eat, if they only knew the truth? And even if the consumers do not mind, these have obviously not solved any of our food problems. Instead of solving the 1 billion starving people on earth, we are now facing rising food prices for the rest of the 5 billion earth population!
I wanted to also tell him that the city is no more than a cramped place full of grumpy people trying to make sense of their day. Most of the people will wake up saying "I wish I can do something else". Most will get stuck in a traffic or crowded public transport, and looking forward for their next holiday to the pristine villages. Yet most city people will say that they need to earn the money so that they can pay the rent or buy that bigger house when my family grow. Very few people will consider that they will be able to buy that bigger house or pay a much cheaper rent if they were to live far from the city.
I am not saying that everyone should abandon the city. Just like everything else in the world, the city has its own role in the civilization. However it is not a solution for everyone, and it is certainly does not have any correlation with better quality of life. These thoughts may sound insane even only a couple years ago - but I am confident that the fragile economic, environmental and social conditions of our world will force us to change. Let me suggest a solution for many of us: let's reverse the trend of urbanization.
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