Tonic

Cô mặc áo đỏ. Quán cũng đỏ. Ghế cũng đỏ. Cô ngồi như chìm vào.  

Nhìn ra ngoài, khách sạn Rex trắng, trắng màu vôi. Đằng xa bên phải là một dãy nhà cũ kế bên ủy ban thành phố. Nhà cũ từ xưa, có lẽ là thời Pháp. Màu tôn cũ, nâu rỉ sét, giăng đây đó mấy bộ quần áo người ta phơi đồ.  Tonic đắng. Pha muối hay chanh vào trước? 
 

Từ hướng cô, nhìn về ủy ban, mấy con chim bay loạn lạc. Bay rối rít. Nhiều lắm. Con nào cũng nhỏ. Nhưng không bay thành đàn ngay ngắn như người ta vẫn nói trong truyện về đàn én bay lượn. Tự ngẫm mấy con chim này đang bay về đâu và có biết hướng nó đang bay hay không, hay đơn thuần chỉ là đang đùa giỡn và mua vui với trời, với gió, với nhà, với Rex. Thương lắm.

Những giấc mơ

Lẽ đời, mơ thường không thật.  Mơ huyền ảo, mơ huyễn hoặc.  Khi tỉnh giấc, mơ còn có chăng chỉ là một cung bậc cảm xúc đâu đó còn đọng lại, nhưng trong phút chốc, lại vuột bay đi.  

Ở trong không gian phòng đầy màu đỏ này, mơ lại rất thật.  Hình ảnh vẫn rất ảo.  Mơ là một miếng băng cá nhân vào đầu gối đang còn chảy máu.  Mơ là một cuộc bỏ chạy, là hình ảnh co ro trong một góc tối.  Mơ là những cuộc đối thoại không bắt đầu, chẳng kết thúc, là những âm thanh mơ hồ. Nhưng rồi, mơ thật vì những nhân vật trong mơ; và vì mơ là một buổi ăn, một đĩa rau, đầy màu sắc, như gió nhẹ.  Đến và đi, như thật.  Khóc và hạnh phúc, như thật.

Work

Used to think that feeling so exhausted from work is so rewarding.  Not now anymore - or it could just be me run by caffeine.  Checking flights.

Flat but not connected

Last night:
- One of my favorite place and favorite settings, rooftop - wine again (no i dont plan for all of the fancy meetings to happen in my life - costly.  but i can't resist good friends and conversations)
- G considered that it's a proposal-standard lol 
- Conversations:
. the curse of globalization - thanks to the new global mobility that's supposed to bring everything closer and flatter, we are experiencing more loneliness.  Ppl move.  Long distance.  Ppl have more things to do in their 20s.  Uncertainty of future.  P said that's why faith is important.  How is faith measured?  Some by promises.  Some by actions.  Maybe we could also measure it by the answer to this question every morning and every night: if today were to be our last day, would I still love and care about this person so much?
. i always thought What's next is a question established relationships don't have to ask.  They do lol

On idealism

The fiction movie about Wall Street of late has done a thorough job in simulating the real-life crisis, while spicing it up with the script writer's speculations, as the movie's term, not about the causes of the crisis but also about how human beings make certain decisions, weighing a myriad of competing desires: power ("it's about the game and not the money" - it's about making the news and not reporting on news - it's about winning - it's about a chance to make a difference in the world), love (what the characters trade - what everyone was willing to trade for and forgive for at the end of the movie at the expense of moral judgments, irregardless of right and wrong).  To sum it up, the ego/ the self needs to feel good, which is the mind and body's motivator; whether it's through power or through love is just a manifestation of egocentricity.  

I was entertained by thinking of the real names of the banks and companies and by reflecting on how the year and the crisis got to be personal to me.  In August 2008, I found myself standing at the International Financial Center, Hong Kong, saying bye to a very good friend, at the time a trader at the famous bank.  As I walked away from the building, a big signage appeared in front of me: Expect the Unexpected, and I took a picture of it.  I then just walked away, leaving behind thoughts about the difference between me and the friend, between what we value, or about the out-of-place feeling as we roamed through the chaotically exciting party rooms of bankers, traders and consultants.

Indeed, one subtle theme throughout the movie is the conflicts between idealism and cynicism (cynicism here, I mean always believing that people act for their self-interests), from the romantic relationship between the two main characters, to the strikingly different office environments between the trading floor and the environmental non-profit.  A thought I developed is that idealists, when pushed to necessarily be pragmatists, are those in great pains.  The true cynics feel good when they act for their egos or it will take a long while before they realize what's important, since they don't know what they are losing.  The idealists are in misery when they go against their appreciation for family and love, just to be able to use pragmatic schemes to satisfy their ego's call for being paid, for revenge, for winning. They know the value of what they're trading and losing.

The dramatic movie painted only a part of the story, not highlighting much the rest of the picture: the regulators, many traders, investors all over the world.  Thinking about the system made me think about the importance of leaders' selflessness.  Which ideal social models they believe in is less important than whether they, when using and building power as their implicit job description entails, would still have the public interests in mind.  An interesting question piqued me: between the evil of greed of a few (when countries are ruled by a few) and that of many (when countries give power to more people) which one is the less evil?  I'm a bit inclined to the latter, and yet, I do remember the unique theme in Asia, particularly in countries like China, Vietnam, Singapore: being super-pragmatic delivers.

On Family

~ for people I will be forever indebted to ~ lots of inspiration from Yasmin Ahmad

Imperfect to make it perfect:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mx9ocubowMs

Parents' dream:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgwFjC0P0tI

Children's dream:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQh81KTZ5uc&feature=related

Famous Singapore commercial about Family:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v66VMFBPq8E

Mom and daughter:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWx47qeCqyk

Come-back:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sjKEONJbao

Very touching:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hcn-I2b88ZQ

On Love

It's such an important and yet difficult topic.  Writing and thinking about love is difficult because it's so close to emotions.  Politics, business, intellectual pursuits etc., they are not personal.  The law of diffused responsibility works here.  If we don't do anything about business, someone else will.  Our mind tricks us by thinking that even if we don't do anything, nothing major will really happen.  Hence, we can stay in confusion as long as we want.  Even business leaders and politicians don't have the full right and wrong answers to everything.  And when it goes wrong, there is always the history, the system, the situations to blame :)

Indeed, love seems hard because there would (usually) be a few individual human-beings to blame.  So much is at stake in one's decisions of to love or to break, to be mad or to forgive, to say yes or no.  Any changes would be so easy to feel, from our chats, our phone calls, our emails, to our everyday habits.  While certain people can learn to be cynical of the government or give up hope in having better bosses so that they can stay happy since there's nothing can be done about it, most (young) people would not adopt the same attitude for their love.  There's always something that can be done to make one feel better, happier, someone out there, who knows.  In search of a sense of permanent happiness, one believes in temporariness - how ironic.

~~~ inspired after watching 500 Days of Summer w the best girl friend. I've been in both sides of the story. And don't want to be in either now :) Fantasizing and creating fantasy is... bad.  Staying real, learning, truly caring and loving is cool =p

Singaporeans and Vietnamese

In good days, it's easy to feel even better because we have time, energy, and lightness of soul to embrace the world.  Last week is such a week of mine.

Over Late Harvest Semillon, Bordeaux, and cheese, a group of us, 3 Vietnamese, 2 Singaporean, and 1 Japanese painted thoughts on each other's questions.  Granted that it's a gray area when explaining social phenomena and attitudes, we still entertained our thirst for trust with some interesting speculations:

- Singaporeans whine very often, especially when they are together with other Singaporeans.  It could be because they have not really known what's misery and suffering outside of their country.  It could be because the system does not teach nor promote the transformation of complaints and the strong stand for something into reality.  It could be the peer pressure effect, as when both Singaporeans and non-Singaporeans have created and reinforced the buzz of being cynical and not having true life passions.  Singapore has gone through a magical economic transformation.  The need for survival, for food and safety, has now been secured.  Will the next transformation be a social and cultural one? One of the reasons why I still hold much hopes for Singapore and Malaysia is that both of them are still so young.  It's not that they are currently dysfunctional; culturally and historically speaking, they are like teenagers forming and morphing their identities. 

- All market research analysts and investors would tell you that Vietnamese people's wealth do not come from their work salary.  For the past 30 years, externally, wealth comes from serendipitous connections, either related to the government or to foreign investment, and internally, the people's by-necessity entrepreneurial spirit, dedication for their family and children, or put simply, will to survive and stay well while survival.  Too abstract?  Imagine a working mom selling a piece of land assigned to her to invest in another piece of land.  Imagine the multiple ways people have managed to generate money, both ethically and unethically, all because no one knows when rains will come to their family and their children.  And here you go, the so-called Vietnamese entrepreneurial culture!  Entrepreneurship by necessity is very different from the American entrepreneurship by the pursuit of individual passions.  One is driven by the relentless love and dedication to both self and family, the other by dedication to oneself.  One caveat though entrepreneurship by necessity is really personal.  Whatever happens to your business, your family suffers.  Sometimes, unintentionally, will that prevent businesses from springing forward, from taking risks and involving new ideas or people?

- And here is the irony.  How could we have the stereotype of the cynical Singaporeans having created a developed and wealthy Singapore, while the optimistic and entrepreneurial Vietnamese still struggling?  Is history to blame?

Lilly!

 

A nice break from the everyday melody of pop and soul, and from this blog's serious tone. Coincidentally, Lilly is my favorite flower lol
http://mp3.zing.vn/mp3/nghe-bai-hat/Lilly-Pink-Martini.IW668FEI.html

Comrades

Duy is taking the picture :) [many more ppl in the Yola family of course but this one looks just.. nice =p]

Documentary films

My favorite movie genre! 

Waiting for Superman:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOnAIdIMoeI&feature=related 
"Waiting for Superman begins with a simple question: What's four minus two?"

The Underground Orchestra
"A stirring account of survival in exile. Warmly observed. During the richly diverse musical interludes, Eric Guichard's agile camera cruises the Paris streets. Taking in immigrant quarters, markets and low-rent hotels, the filmmakers casually construct a picture of the vibrantly cosmopolitan, multi- ethnic burg that draws these musical refugees."—Variety

A Family is a Family
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkFr-rjjzlw


On the list:
Sicko 
The Commanding Heights

East vs. West

Good insights from the conference:
- Every partnership, from business to politics to marriage, must have a soul.  Soul can be defined as what the partners mean to each other and how is what they mean to each other today different from that of the past.  Each partner understands that they have a stake in their partner's future and common future they are creating together. (Peter Gontha, Indonesia Investment Coordination Board)

- The type of education done is just as important as the quantity of education done.(Michael Buchanan, GS)

- With cable TV now, people just tune in their favorite channels. In other words, they only hear what they want to hear.  They hear their own ecochamber, which reinforces their own prejudices.  (Khairy Jamaluddin)

- Choosing what's right and what's popular is a difficult leadership test, especially for politicians.

On the debate between whether ASEAN should learn from the East or from the West in order to be competitive? (Note: The debate was the highlight of the conference. Everyone in the forum participated)
Why East? 
- The West is about reductionism. Everything is rationalized till the simplest form possible. For e.g. Terrorism to airport security and Islam. The whole is missing.

- The West is about being the top runner of the race. That's why it's about creating more and more expensive products few people can afford, as long as it keeps the runner at the top. 

- Family values will drive the East forward and are more sustainable than being the top race runner.  5 things with family: 1. make peace,  2. don't shame your family and others (responsibilities), 3. learn, 4. Fengshui (environment), and 5. most essentially, Care for each other.  More sustainable, more holistic, more human.

- Innovation already exists in the East. Go to China for their high-speed railroad, which was requested by California to have one for themselves. Engineers in Silicon Valley are from Indian and Chinese origins.  We have to be more self-confident.

- The West creates an environment for creativity.  But the motivation is for the self.  The East's motivation is for the family, is out of necessity, not boredom which leads to wasteful innovation (look at healthcare or college costs in the U.S.) 

Why West?
- Aside from the usual argument of how the best companies, the best economies, the best universities are from the West, other valid arguments are: The Scandinavian economies have built a quite strong social and economic model. The EU is what ASEAN should analyze now. The West has made a fair number of mistakes, which is even why we should learn from them.

For me, the question is closer to my heart and to my other friends: where do we go: East or West? From what I have observed, the West is great at thinking and innovating, skills that should be trained early on in ones' lives. It's about the pursuit of freedom and passions. Nonetheless, should we agree that the next 20 years is in Asia (I can't predict the next continent after that), the real test is how to get things done in the East. Even with the best machines or the best practices or procedures, things can't be done if we don't know how to relate to others or if we don't know how to rally Asians under common visions.  And for that, learning from Asian cultures with successful cases will shed more insightful lessons, lessons that have not been documented in our (heavily Western-influenced) research papers.  The East is about commitment and inner peace. It's easy to find passions and with this global world, for some of us, easy to pursue freedom.  With that abundance of choices, how do we decide what to get committed to and to feel content?  With the constantly chaotic changes all over the world, how do we find peace in order to have enough stamina for this beautiful life?  We still have much to learn from our Asian fellows.

Most importantly, how do we achieve peace, retain family values, and still develop forward - what have the Chinese and Koreans done in the past 20-30 years and how have they done it?  To fully reap the best lessons from these countries' experiences, one must look beyond economic policies. It's also about their fiscal policy, their redistribution programs, education, and ultimately, their leadership preparation, structure, and dynamics. 

Buddha has said: You can't be too rich, since you will be too occupied with wealth to be enlightened. You can't be too poor, since you will struggle with survival and not be enlightened. Hence, moderation is key.

The conference ended with one woman entrepreneur telling me it's important to take your work seriously, but not yourself seriously.  Agree.

On the ASEAN Utopia Quest

A Personal Perspective

Growing up in Vietnam, I had little, if no exposure at all to the so-called Southeast Asian culture.  I knew Singapore and I knew the SEA Games.  But that’s about it.  Later on, as people in Vietnam became wealthier, Vietnamese tourists traveled more to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia.  Yet, at the heart of it, in Vietnam, the ASEAN spirit hardly exists in our everyday life.  Those are “other” countries, and the thought of how the thrives and bumps of those economies could affect the local Vietnamese lives rarely come up in media or in public debates.  In the Vietnamese perception, the fates of China and the U.S. affect our business lives.  To our investment sources, Korea and Malaysia are important; yet, the talk on whether ASEAN integration is important stays at the government meetings level.  

In college, I have been given many opportunities to know about our Southeast Asian friends.  To me, the Philippines is not just the Philippines.  It is Lorra, Ryan, and Andrew.  Thailand is Top, Art, Ping, Job, Pao, etc.  Malaysia is Jianwei and Atiqah.  Cambodia is Seihout, Hok, and Heng.  Indonesia is Dian and Eliza.  Singapore is YF, JH, and many of my SEALNet teachers.  We bonded over durian, laksa, Thai chicken curry, Vietnamese Pho.  Among my international friends, I hardly had any Chinese friends, which left me wonder: What’s that common value that bonded our Southeast Asian group so well?  Is that value something special to Southeast Asians only?  Or it is more an external value – the so-called service spirit for the region – that has been well cultivated and inspired by our mentors to us?  Whatever it is, one valuable lesson remains true: Should ASEAN want to replicate that solidarity, our common values have to be renewed and reinvigorated.  Only from those values that visions can be aligned and driven, visions ambitious and lofty enough to overshadow individual countries’ interests.  The E.U. was united by their belief in equality and the environment.  What are our common beliefs? 

Coming back from the ASEAN 100 Leaders Forum, I was given a confirmative message: ASEAN will become more integrated after a long dormant period.  It is a critical period, given the rise of China and India, for ASEAN to build the seed of either an altogether stronger block, or a disintegrated region with failing states living hands in hands with rich nations.  As any partnership, conflicts happen.  Inter-ASEAN conflicts are still there.  Yet, facing with a survival threat, ASEAN countries have no choice but to leave aside the conflicts in order to not only survive, but also to bring their countries to the next level of development, be it middle-income or rich nations standards.   

As with other things in my life, should I be given the decision-making power for this issue, I would go ahead and do what can be done first, then figure things out along the way.  High on my agenda of projects (Unlike fighting corruption, reforming regulations, or building an ASEAN university, these projects don’t take 10 years or more to be completed!), inspired by the ASEAN 100 Leaders Forum, are:

• Building the ASEAN brand to external parties: ASEAN Food/Products Standards – Depending on economic analysis, I would choose the strong industries that ASEAN countries share to promote those industries to the world.  In my humble knowledge, those would include: new innovation to move our abundant agricultural resources up the value chain (healthy products? As opposed to food from China), and secondly, to move beyond energy resources extractions (clean tech?)

• Strengthening internal education so that if we can't innovate today, we will tomorrow. It has to start somewhere. Our ecosystem doesn't lack the intellectual leaders. The brightest and most privileged minds have been educated abroad and have been back. Yet, the inadequacy of the K-12 education quality has refrained ASEAN from reaping the potential of their 500 million people market. Lacking consumer sophistication, skilled and creative teams, the most brilliant minds will stay a lonesome bunch for a while. 

• Encouraging the ASEAN connectivity: Special ASEAN Tariff Promotion, ASEAN high-speed trains, ASEAN student fellowship.  

How does this issue apply to Vietnam?  It shall remain to see how much the integration will impact our countries' other priorities, which I'm in no position and with no knowledge to comment on. Perhaps, another conference? Or when I have the luxury of time to write a critical and analytical piece...