East Eats West

What about Shanghai?

I had an insightfull lunch with Singaporean hedge funds managers Alex, Nick and Jim. Alex, like the rest, having lived for ages in Asia gave me some interesting insights into Asia. While living in Hongkong he realized that the level of environmental poisonening, like lead-contamination, is very high, like in the rest of China. This puts the inhabitants in a long-time health risk that will eventually inhibit their lives and economies. This might be an area where Europe can lead in the future: Environmental safeguarding and protection know-how.

Alex also pointed out to me that the Asian culture is hard-trying. There is a Chinese proverb, as for all situations in life, that says: You can make a fortune in three years. Trying and failing is completely acceptable. As long as you try and eventually succeed, people will forget about your failures. This is in stark contrast to Switzerland where people are desparately trying to avoid mistakes. This leads to an explicit "cover-your-ass" culture that inhibits growth, risk-taking and innovation. I see here a clear advantage of Asian culture.

Additionally Asian are very aspirational, having developed in a few generations from the world's exotic backyard to a modern hothouse. Accumulating wealth and showing it off is an important feature of Asian cultures, making European luxury brands a runaway success in Shanghai! So Europe can lead in the future through innovation and trend-setting for Asia.

Another difference to European business behaviour is the importance of trust in daily life and business. Asian would like to do business on trust, not on contracts. But this takes time and involves the willingness to get to know your partner before you shake hands.

Is work everything?

Today I met Alvin, an American with Chinese roots and a Singaporean wife, who is a regional manager in Singapore. I was curious about the workload in Asia and asked him about it. His belief is that there are companies that expect insane working hours but he tries to give his employees four weeks of holidays and practises a human-friendly management style. In still developing Asia long hours in order to raise and accumulate capital is the norm. Job security is lower and a dedicated employee hopes to save his job. This led us to the inspiring discussion if one-dimensionally focusing on the career leads to more success and luck or not. Like in Europe the imperative "more is better" particularly rules in Asia. Alvin being influenced by Buddhist teachings, e.g. the book "The Diamond Cutter" by Michael Roach, believes that you need to enhance Karma in thinking good things and giving back to people. This will help you to transcend and get enlightend.

My view, based on observations in daily life and the wonderful book "The hero with a thousand faces" by Joseph Campbell, who by the way inspired George Lucas to make Star Wars, is that progressing one-dimensionally is not good enough. You have to follow different routes at the same time. Balance and constant progress leads to a better life and even after-life. Each one has to follow its own and individual path in life, leaving the save and comfortable home and endeavour into unknown territory. The heroic quest against obstacles and evil people will lead to fullfillment, heaven, nirvana or enlightenment, as Joseph Campbell so vividly described in his book. To put it a bit more concrete, as my human resource professor once said: "Never take a job you cannot afford to leave". Or as I phrase it: Always be prepared to leave your job at any time. If ones gets too attached for example to a career, options and ultimately freedom of choice will diminish. But only who is in full control of his life and follows his own paths is on the road to nirvana. As travelling proofs again and again: There are more options in life as one can imagine!

Hongkong vs Singapore

Today at the Fund of Funds World in Singapore I asked many professionals from Hongkong and Singapore which city is better suited for the future growth and employment in the rise of China and India. The conses was that Singapore is countering the increasing low-cost competition from Indonesia and Malaysia with very investor-friendly regulations and policies. It tries to attract small and medium-sized enterprises to invest in Singapore. In order to compete with Hongkong's about to open Disneyland they will even open a Casino after just having built an opera. In doing this they hope to attract more tourists and increase the attractiveness of the city as headquarter for Asian branches of international companies.

Hongkong positions itself as gateway to China. Through the everincreasing influx of mainland Chinese the economy gets a boost and slowly adjust its offerings. Its handycap is the higher living-costs as in Singapore but possess the more mature financial market. As manufacturing is moving to mainland China, it tries like Singapore to focus more on services. But its special status within China still lingers in the back but is commonly downplayed by its inhabitants.

My most fundamental question is still: Where shall I have my base in the future - Hongkong or Singapore? Any recommendations?

What about Europe?

Tonight I had a very pleasurable dinner with two former colleagues of mine, Caroline and Rene, both Singaporean citizens working and living in Singapore. Over an excellent dinner at the hotel we discussed business, business culture and international companies. Even Singapore and Hong Kong are feeling the low-cost pressure from China. Singapore having like Hong Kong have to maintain a good infrastructure, a well functioning administration and constantly increasing living-costs. Singapore's strategy, according to Rene, is to attract foreign companies that want to do business in Asia with low taxes, a forthcoming administration and a pool of English speaking workers. It baits foreign companies also with security, a nice lifestyle and an easy set-up of companies. But the questions remains: What are the competitive advantages of, as it seems, the rest of the world, compared to China. For one, China has no legal system as such and it uses any means to gain foreign knowledge. It is also short of team-work, marketing- and language-skills and innovation. But its sheer size of the market and low costs are a competitive threat to everyone.

So how should Europe compete? With a common currency and market two important steps have been made. Europe can offer versatility, security, tradition, culture and innovation. It also has now a lower-wage industry through the newly joined Central European countries.

What seems to be obvious by now, is that one cannot compete with China on goods that are easily to copy, ship and are needed in huge quantities.

Asia revisited

I made it again to Asia. After visiting Hong Kong for three days, I am back in Singapore. Again it struck me in Hong Kong, how busy and advanced the city is. Over a dinner with a local friend, she told me that growth comes from mainland China, especially mainlanders visiting Hong Kong and shopping around. Another friend told me, that the adjusted the product offering at the airport to suit mainlanders. So signs are strong that mainland Chinese will start to travel the world. For Switzerland they already have the special travel permit! But the question is how this travelling will change their outlook on the world?

It's alive and running!

Hello everyone travelling the great planes of the world!

For a while I had this idea growing inside of me, that I would like (again) explore and discover Asia and see the rise of the tigers myself. There is plenty of fear from Asia and globalisation and I would like to heart the opposite side.

But I felt also, that just travelling is not good enough. So one late night the idea struck me of writing a blog about the rapid change in Asia today. A blog about my future experiences and discoveries in Asia. Or the be more precise, to document how the emerging Asian economies and its inhabitants see our western world.

Will Europe become a picture book as David Bossart from the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institut thinks? Is there a future for Europe besides the rising giants of China and India?

In order to further explore this questions my very good friends and travel companions Alexander Drews and Olgica Obradovic will join me on a trip through Asia, that will start in August 2005. I will write about our findings on this blog and chuck in some nice pics. If you have any comments on this topic, or you know somebody that might be interesting to talk to, let me know!

Maybe see you someday somewhere!

Alex