Of sneezing and cold...

I... Not of the medical sort, mind you, but the economic sort. It's been said that when the US sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold. That's just how important the American economy is. If it slows, it's buys less, and all the factories in the world start to accumulate inventory. This has been true for as long as I understood these things.

But just last week, something rather profound happen. I was even asked by CNA to comment on it: the fact that the US Federal Reserve Bank decided not to raise interest rates despite decent economic data domestically for fear of tipping the emerging markets (read China) further into slow down. The Chinese economy has been slowing the past few years and it is now markedly in a slower growth mode. And it looks like the maxim has found another powerful patient.

I was in Chengdu earlier this week. This city was one of the epicenters of the Three Kingdom Wars. In fact Liu Bei's masuleoum is right there in the middle of the city at WuHou shrine, along with giant statues commemorating him, his grand strategist, ZhuGeLiang and the warrior general, ZhangFei. It was also one of KuoMingTang's last bastion before they ceded control of the Mainland to the Communist Party. For a city that is arguably in the middle of nowhere (sited as it is in the southwest of China), it sure has an illustrious past.

Its recent past, however, proved more difficult. As the communist party mismanaged the country and the economy, all of China started to deteriorate and while the great "capitalism with chinese characteristics" revival worked, it started first with the coastal cities, first Shenzhen, then the rest of the eastern seaboard esp Shanghai. It took a few decades before the effects reached inland. In many cases, the 'build it and they will come' philosophy to create new 2nd and 3rd tier cities left quite a few of these places as ghost towns. Chengdu threatened to be one of them.

But as I spent half a week here, in meetings and some sightseeing (incl pandas!) I remain astounded by the world class infrastructure (6-lane main thoroughfare, with additional side lanes for buses and bicycles) laid out in an organized grid template dotted by efficient square blocks of commercial and residential buildings. It's far from a ghost town but a thriving modern city that somehow still manages to hang on to its traditions of tea and mahjong.

The idealism of youth

I just finished watching another F1 race. The Singapore Grand Prix one to be precise. Sebastian Vettel won (no suprise there). He was driving a Ferrari (again, no surprise). But three former world champions DNF-ed (did not finish): Alonso, Button and Hamilton. That's quite surprising given these guys know how to look after their cars and to nurse their damaged equipment to the finish line. The really pleasant surprise was a young Max Verstappen in his debut race. He finished in a decent point scoring 8th place from 20 cars and even set one the fastest laps in the race. At 17 years old, he is even younger than J (who is just starting to get his driving license). If this photo from telegraph.co.uk is any evidence, this kid still has spots... And he's already shown that winners mentality.

What a way to start and he drove with all the exuberance of youth. I remember that phrase well. I once started my career with just as much gusto where I would write to my Managing Director - oblivious to any hierarchical constructs - and shared what was right and wrong with the company, which was then and still is one of the world's best airlines. My director had to explain and cover for me and he nicely put it all down to youth. I sometimes still pull these 'puppy' moves. But more often than not, I am now a recipient of such equally earnest and exuberant exhortations from my staff and of course from my children.

At dinner tonight with the family, we had a good energetic conversation. Dinners at home for us can sometimes efficient affairs. Pray, eat, chew, leave... All within 10, 20 minutes. Not much love. But not tonight. I was browsing my Facebook page just before dinner and started the meal time conversation describing this photo (from gregasamar's blog) that was posted.

Both M and J truly care about environment and they are especially keen to ensure it and everything on it are sustained. For instance, M has decided her first car is going to be a hybrid or electric one. This topic really got J going and he expressed his views passionately. It gave both D and me to share our perspectives, which are expectedly different from each other's, and from his. It's been said, "where all think alike, no one thinks at all". So, we enjoy these differences of views, no matter how challenging and loudly these are expressed! It's vitally important to have ideas and to stand behind them. Wasn't it Gandhi who famously said,

“Your beliefs become your thoughts, 
Your thoughts become your words, 
Your words become your actions, 
Your actions become your habits, 
Your habits become your values, 
Your values become your destiny.”

I took a moment to share with them what I thought were two recent 21st century ideas that has had truly profound impact. First, the 'gentrification' of social services such that it became more mainstream and that the 'landed gentry' ie the ones with the resources to make a bigger difference, found it not just right but also fashionable to serve. The second was that we should unemploy the label 'unemployed'. If one is not hired by another, one should simply resort to being self-employed. This mindset (like what gentrified social services does to the middle classes) will cause people in the working classes to fundamentally rethink their self worth and hence what they can do even when they are not able to find a job with another. In fact, that's how the founders of AirBnB started. Out of the desperation of unemployment in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, they rented out a room in their own apartment and the rest is history. 

That's the power of a great idea. And very often these ideas and the ideals they purport to originate from our youth. 

Purpose

Today, I concluded the third day of meeting with my colleagues who lead various businesses and functions across Asia Pacific. We discussed many things, including some aspects that were difficult, but in a wide-ranging forum there was indeed a thing or two that I found joyful to engage on. One of these topics was about purpose.

J is at an important juncture of his life. He has to make some big decisions about which university he'd like to attend, and what course he'd like to major in. In short, time to really know his purpose. 

Throughout his life, he's always been driven. The drive comes from having set a goal and then venturing assiduously towards it. As he approaches his exams, he along with all his classmates stood down from their various responsibilities (and J had a few) to concentrate on acing the exams. I knew he would find this vacuum hard to fill. So, I was glad that he managed to fairly quickly figure out his interest, destination and even sponsor. These imbued him with a sense of purpose, and helped him get into the groove of studying for the exams, ostensibly to qualify for sponsorship, get into the school of his choice and read the subject he is keen on.

But given how busy he has been, the mono line act of just studying proved challenging and soon enough he took on another project. To make a treasure chest for a friend of his. He has always been good with his hands but without the right tools and experience, this side-project took him longer than anticipated. It threatened to take away important studying time. I lost my cool, worrying that he has lost his sense of priority (purpose notwithstanding). 

He got it, threw himself back to studying, and over the weekend (as I was sleeping) completed the treasure chest project.

It's really a beautiful thing, complete with a hidden compartment. The recipient is lucky indeed.

As his parent, I feel lucky too. To have a talented son, who is purposeful, determined and as the recent events shown, able to take feedback and yet get everything done. :-)