from green to black

of looks, communication and the middleman

i picked up cervantes 900-1000 page novel yesterday,
don quixote de la mancha that is and i'm pretty entertained
so far. i've read the first 100 plus pages and i'm pretty amused
by his misadventures and his sorry state at the end of each
failed undertaking. i'm also tickled by the retorts of his
simpleton squire sancho, but the icing on the cake really is
how these misfortunes are of his own doing and how blind,
'seeking to emulate the greats' kind of idealism and wishful
thinking are portrayed as madness and how this 'madness'
is actually played out.
but this is again beside the point. just giving you guys a background
to my thoughts. so as it was commented abount in the book,
about the many languages encountered there, and that outcomes
may have been different if each character was well understood,
struck me as i was thinking about addressing the 'rise of china
and india' issue in the recently concluded election. and i think i have
1 suggestion on what we can initially do about this before we set
out furthur.
first (oh and this is just the formalities of the proposition) we have
the natural advantage of language and of greater development and
greater interaction with the rest of the world. although this is more
pronounced in the case of china than it is in india it is still and advantage
that can be capitalised on. and this big advantage plays itself very well
when we see that in the case of any developing power(and better still
if the people there see it in themselves as well, as people belonging to
one of the most powerful nations in future) there is a need in their human
spirit and egos to be recognised and respected. there is a want to be able
to have in advance what they can only have in future to be among people
that at this moment they can only emulate and will strive to their greatness
one day. and that is where we come in.
in all instances, what is most vital for anything emerging is communication.
yes, the most ruddimentry forms are there, satellites, phone networks,
electricity and transport(land,air and sea). though we can improve and
offer suggestions to run these networks we would not have the greatest
spin-offs in cash as we are control limited and capital outflows are more likely
since starting up will the the issue and it would take time to break even.
hence we(smaller entities lacking in the government arm and support will
never have the resources for that. and furthurmore since such large scale
and critical to the people projects would require us to cross much legal
formalities, the benefit of time is lost on us.) have to go in on our traditional
strong ground, namely being the middleman.
with our advantages we should stir up the latent interest of higher level
communications. the provision of language as well as lessons in etiquette
and manerisms to bridge the two gaps. image consultancies and advice on
conduct and bearing pertinent to what is the norm to other cultures could
make some money if marketed as being neccessary to be seen as superior
to the rest of the nation. the competitive and arrogant chinese should
oblige.
instead of being so upward looking, the issues that could have been brought
up could also be simpler by our candidates. there are many instances of
infrastructure that is lacking in these developing countries. providing a wide
network of basic services also cound work if singaporeans could lower their
expectations.
alright. till i write again

posted by green unseen @ 9:36 PM