Archive for the 'wisdom' Category

Children Education - Raising a child in Hong Kong

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by
cloneofsnake
on July 28, 2008
in hong kong and wisdom
. 0 Comments

After moving to Hong Kong and hearing all the management horror stories, I had an epiphany in regards to the failure of general Chinese / Asian style education.

When I hear about poor management, I realized I cannot possibly work under such a manager or in a company that is governed by “command and control”… and then it hit me… when I went to primary school in Hong Kong, I was also quite rebellious! I was only a few years old, but I already acted out against meaningless rules and unreasonable authorities! My mom would scold me and beat me up, some adults would say I was a bad kid for not obeying the rules… but had anyone really thought about why?! I finally understand… even when I was a kid, even when I was still very inexperienced in life, I could tell what’s efficient, what’s effective, what makes sense… When I encountered “bull shit” rules, like when the adults or teachers told us to just follow the rules and do some stupid shit. I was always like… “Why?! Why do I have to do this?! This is stupid!! Why can’t we do it some other way!!”

Last week, I talked to my friend who’s a psychiatric therapist and child psychologist. I told her about this, and she said: “Yes, kids nowadays are still the same way… but eventually, they learn to shut up and comply.” And I said: “That is exactly the problem!!” You see, children are born with creativity and curiosity, but as they grow up, the adults beat them into following their sad footsteps… “Shut up and comply!!” That’s exactly what most working adults do these days! Continue reading ‘Children Education - Raising a child in Hong Kong’

Hong Kong only cares about money, lacks innovation

Published
by
cloneofsnake
on April 11, 2008
in Work and wisdom
. 2 Comments

(Rant!) Generally speaking, that is. I’m sure there are some innovators in Hong Kong too, but from what I can see, Hong Kong people and businesses can be summarized in the following few points:

  • Most people either work in (or want to work in) banks, insurance, or sales
  • Most people only care finding a job that makes more money
  • People would spend that money in foreign brand name goods
  • Local goods are seen as “cheap” and therefore can only command a low price
  • Businesses are either small retail shops, textile manufacturing in Chna, or cell phone / mobile phone, laptop covers (they have covers for everything!) (Sarcasm)

It’s really quite sad. Today, I went to meet with a company’s owner whom I thought may be a good local partner for future web development and retail supply logistic. However, I was disappointed to learn that he really doesn’t have a direction for this company. His main concern seems to be to just hang on to their biggest client, and continue to support their intranet, which they developed.
Continue reading ‘Hong Kong only cares about money, lacks innovation’

Last Day at Yahoo! Farewell email from my manager

Published
by
cloneofsnake
on June 19, 2007
in Work, networking, reference and wisdom
. 0 Comments


04 My Yahoo Cubicle, originally uploaded by cloneofsnake.

Last Friday was my entire team’s last day at Yahoo! It has been a fun ride… My professional life has grown exponentially during my 5+ years of service there, and the main reason why I was able to achieve so much was because I was lucky enough to report to Phil Eisenberg for the first 3 years I was there. I’m forever grateful for having the opportunity to work with him.

On Friday, Phil came over to chat with us and also to me individually. (We had kept in contact over the past 2 years even if we weren’t working together anymore.) Before I left for the day, I sent out my farewell email to the remaining few old timers that still remain, and Phil replied with something that I thought would be great reference material to put on my LinkedIn profile.

—– Forwarded Message —-
From: Phillip Eisenberg
To: Nicholas Wang
Sent: Friday, June 15, 2007 6:19:23 PM
Subject: RE: Farewell

Nick,

Thank you for all your contributions through the years. You certainly made me look good as we grew the data quality department and made my job easier and many others as well. I hope you got as much out of the experience of working together as I did.

Good luck with your future endeavors and don’t be shy about going after what you want. I have worked with many talented folks over the years and you are very high on that list, so never doubt your abilities.

Keep in touch and let me know if you ever need anything.

Regards,

Phil

I have to write something back as a token of appreciation. Fortunately, it will be very easy, as I had started documenting a list called “Management 101″ during my days reporting to Phil. He is like a “wise old man” that leads by example, except he’s not old. :) I filled 3 pages of the word document with things I’ve learned from him!! I’ll be using that to write him a recommendation on LinkedIn.

I guess I’ll post that document here too, so check back later for “Management 101 from Phil”! :)

This is a blog about many failures (and hopefully a few successes)

Published
by
cloneofsnake
on May 30, 2007
in CurryStar News and wisdom
. 0 Comments

There’s a Chinese proverb - “Failure is mother of Success” 「失敗是成功之母」, I’ve known it since I was a little kid but I’ve never really lived according to these words of wisdom… until now.

I’ve read numerous books and articles on famous people, I’m intrigued by the charisma that only a person who had overcome hardship can possess. People are always attracted to the successfuls’ achievements and social status. However, one thing I noticed is that when they talk about how they became successful, every single one of them would tell stories of immense hardship, yet their expressions were not of pain or disgust, but rather joyful! Almost seemed reminiscent of the hard times! Why do you think that is?

Words of wisdom that I heard from Hiroshi Tasaka, a Professor at Tama University and President of Thinktank SophiaBank, the other night at Japan Society’s “U.S.-Japan Innovators Project Symposium: Improvisation, Creativity, Collaboration: Fueling Innovation in the 21st Century“. “When do you think we grow as a person? Do you think we grow when we’re living life smoothly? No. We grow when we encounter hardship.” You can try to plan ahead in life, but while you’re planning, life is happening. Some would even say that it is all the mishaps and failures that forces one to adapt, that shapes a person’s life.

Hardship makes a person grow, builds a person’s character, shapes a person’s life. Hence when successful people tell their stories, they reminiscent of those hard times, as it was the hard times that pushed them to work harder than everyone else and brought them to where they are today.

Through this blog, I’m going to document my journey from the USA to Japan. My goal is to go to graduate school in Japan, and ultimately, live and work at one of the big internet companies in Tokyo. I have already endured a few spectacular failures! (Don’t worry, I’ll be sharing them with you shortly.) This blog will be my almost live reality show. :) You’ll all be able to watch me crash and burn! Wish me luck!!