kendo

Observations from Wharton0
kendo posted in Uncategorized on September 22nd, 2006

I thought I would take 30 seconds to write a quick blog (my first since I started at Wharton). Things are getting fairly busy, but I feel like I’m still very much on top of everything. Two years was a long time to spend in a developing country, so I’ve noticed some adjustments I’ve needed to make upon returning to the U.S. Ex: last month I had to do my own laundry for the first time in about twenty-six months or so, which was mildly traumatizing. However, the second time around it wasn’t nearly so bad. : ) I’ve also noticed that my wardrobe needs a serious update, and not just because UPS lost a couple suitcases full of my clothes. The cheap stuff I was buying and wearing in Vietnam isn’t going to cut it anymore and the nice stuff I had before going over is showing some wear and tear. I’m also behind on the latest technological gadgets. Although I’ve never been much of a technology buff, I’ve actually had to read up on some things so as not to sound stupid in everyday conversations considering half the MBA class uses PDAs.

I decided sometime last month that I was going to workout less and let my body get thinner. As a result, I’ve probably dropped five pounds and thinned out noticeably at the shoulders, lats and arms. The funny thing is, my brain doesn’t seem to have fully adjusted to my smaller body size. I still try to push doors open and pick up heavy objects as if I were just as strong as I used to be. As a positive, I’ve found I’m able to do dance moves with my upper body that I never knew were possible as I’m much more flexible.

China Trip0
kendo posted in Uncategorized on July 3rd, 2006

Nostalgia:

The first day in Beijing, I felt a bit down after leaving Vietnam. However, I’m sure the pain would have been more acute had I returned directly to the U.S. Instead, the culture shock of visiting another country has fully occupied my thoughts and senses.

Language:

Interestingly, everyone here thinks I look Chinese. Blending in has its advantages and disadvantages. As a positive, I’m less likely to be a target for tourist scams and pickpockets. On the downside, communication is a big issue. Not many people outside the large hotels and tourist centers can speak English, and it usually gets worse the further out you go.

People get confused or disappointed when they discover I can’t speak the language, . As a result, I get to feel like a retard with virtually every social interaction I have with the Chinese. Ironically, this is the opposite of how I felt in Vietnam. There, everyone thought I looked Korean or Japanese (my guess is because the largest foreign investors in Vietnam are Korean and Japanese, and Korean soap operas and movies appear to be more popular than their Chinese equivalents). As a result, when it turned out that I was able to speak Vietnamese, people were usually both surprised or impressed.

Although the ethnic mix-up is certainly annoying, it’s perfectly logical once you think about it. The parallel experience in the U.S. would be meeting a white guy that only knew how to speak Chinese. And, the situation would get more unusual the further you moved away from the more cosmopolitan coastal cities like NYC and SF, to say, Boise Idaho. Same thing happened when I moved from Beijing/Shanghai to Chongqing, which is a western in-land city with lower rates of tourism and FDI penetration (and therefore exposure to foreigners and emphasis on English in education, business, etc.).

After the first two days, I found my way to a foreign language bookstore and got my hands on the Lonely Planet Mandarin phrase book. The book is extremely handy at times. I can reference words I want to use in the book’s dictionary, which includes the Chinese character translations as well. This is particularly effective for simple social interactions with taxi drivers, waiters, etc. However, the book doesn’t allow for two-way conversations; the worst thing is when I get a follow-up question. Sometimes I get into a cab armed with the address of where I want to go (i.e. a popular nightclub). However, instead of immediately starting off, the driver asks me something else in Chinese about the address. My first tactic is to ignore the question or even mumble something unintelligible in hopes that 1) he is making a side comment about the weather or something, or 2) he will make the decision for me if the question isn’t that important – like determining whether a tunnel or bridge is the faster route. However, if the question is repeated after a few seconds of silence and there is still no driving, I have a problem. Is it the wrong address? Is my handwriting too messy? Beats the hell out of me, and I usually have no choice but to awkwardly exit the conversation; in this case it means getting out of the cab.

At other times, I’ve had to resort to drawing pictograms or even acting out what it is that I want. It’s like a ridiculous game of Charades: literally. What’s most pathetic is when even this doesn’t work in communicating what I want. In situations like this, it’s hard not to get frustrated.

I lost motivation to try speaking Mandarin during the course of my trip. The peak of my interest was in Beijing and Xi’an, then fell off in Lhasa, where they speak Tibetan. In Chongqing, Shanghai, Guilin, the Chinese speak different dialects (same written language, but the pronunciation is different), while in Guangzhou, they speak Cantonese (which is significantly different in pronunciation from Mandarin).

Traveling through China has further reinforced how grateful I am that English is my native tongue and I am a U.S. citizen. One reason is that a U.S. passport affords the greatest freedom of movement across borders. A second reason is I’m not a natural with languages, so I’m glad that the world’s language of business is the one I got for “free”. Imagine if Vietnamese were my native tongue, and I knew only a little bit of English. That kind of language constraint would have made my trip through mainland China extremely difficult.

Clubbing:

I think I must have checked out about thirty different clubs in the seven major cities that I visited. That seems like an unbelievable stat, as it’s an average of more than one per day. However, Chinese clubs don’t charge cover, and a lot of venues are clustered together. So, I did a lot of walking in and out of places just to check out what was going on. China, in my opinion, has a budding clubbing scene, but lacks the presence of distinctive mega-clubs (i.e. Ministry of Sound) that typically exist in the world’s largest cities. Many venues are carbon copies of each other, with similar design (use of lighting, glass, mirrors, etc.), music, business model and crowd. A perfect example of this is the club chain Baby Face, which I ended up going to four times in for different cities: once in Beijing, Xi’an, Shanghai and Guangzhou. It was exactly the same in each place.

The more I travel through the developing world, the more I’ve learned what inferences can probably be drawn about the nightlife in the area I’m visiting. Clubs are a great way to observe social behavior, and are great anecdotal measures of discretionary income. One reason fot this is that clubs are a place that induce people to show off their wealth. In emerging countries, the breadth and depth of venue selection is a good indicator of GDP per capita (alternatively, in developed countries like the U.S., there are more shades of gray, where the venue selection could depend on how “happening” the city is. For example, there’s a big difference between how fun the nightlife is in Miami and Pittsburg, although they are about even in per capita economic terms). You also have to consider a host of other factors, such as the clubs’ occupancy levels, how often they’re open, DJs/music, what types of people are going.

For example, if the clubs are always packed, but the majority of the people going are tourists/expats, prostitutes or mafia members (as is often the case in Hanoi), then a packed house may be more representative of the pervasiveness of social evils in that city than of economic wealth. The local venues are almost always more interesting than the ones typically featured in the Lonely Planet/Fodder’s Guides, as they give you the local flavor (although the presence of foreigners is a good indicator of tourism and Foreign Direct Investment).

It’s also important to consider a country/city’s saving habits. For example, are relatively poor people blowing everything they have on a few nights at the club (a phenomenon similar to spending all ones’ money on cell phones, clothing, motorbikes, cars, in pursuit of symbols of economic status)? Clubs are also a good place to learn about gender equality. Who forks out the dough to pay the bill at the club, and more importantly, who is paying for everything behind the scenes.

Beijing:

The first night I went clubbing in Beijing, I ended up wasting about an hour trying to find a club that had already been closed for three years (bad internet search). The second club I tried was called Xenja, which unfortunately turned out to be a teeny-bopper club with cheesy trance and synthesizer sounds aplenty (by the way, if it’s socially and economically acceptable for younger kids to spend time and money at clubs, that typically indicates a higher level of development, holding other factors things constant). However, as it was already midnight on a Wednesday (with clubs supposedly closing around 2AM), I figured I might as well stick around. When I got to the dance floor, the crowd was packed tightly together bobbing straight up and down with an eerie synchronization. I thought to myself that this could possibly win the prize for the worst dancing I’d ever seen. However, when I stepped on the dance floor, I realized it was actually an elevated platform set on springs. Movement was determined by the crowd’s collective weight. So, despite trying futilely to dance my own dance, I was forced into the same retarded rhythm with the rest of the kids. When I tried to deviate from the collective beat, my knees would buckle as my feet came down while the platform was coming up. Needless to say, I didn’t stay long on the dance floor long.

The second night, I had better luck. I stumbled across the city’s club listings in “What’s Beijing” magazine. That night I rolled out with Linh the French-Vietnamese guy in my group tour. The six clubs or so that we visited were all on the same block. We ended up settling in at a club called Cargo, which had some of the best breakbeats I’ve ever heard. After listening to track after track of slammin beats, my opinion of Beijing’s club/electronic music scene really went up a notch. Perhaps being deprived of real music in Vietnam for two years had something to do with it, but the beats certainly ranked up there with some of the best I’ve heard.

People in Beijing are building wealth at a rapid rate, and you can see that at the clubs. When walking around the streets, I thought to myself that Vietnam has a hell of a way to go in terms of economic development. However, to make a statement about how many years behind one country is from another, you need an apples-to-apples metric like GDP per capita. Otherwise, the scale differential can get mixed up with the development level. For example, Beijing as a city generated as much GDP in 2005 as Vietnam did as an entire country. That gives you a good indication of China’s substantially greater scale (however, NYC generates about 8 times as much GDP as Beijing, with the per capita differential even larger. This shows you how much further China still has to go). On a per capita basis, Saigon is about eight years behind where Beijing is today and 12 years behind Shanghai. However, both Beijing and Shanghai are growing faster than the major Vietnamese cities, so there is no “catch-up” phenomenon to be observed if the two countries are viewed in real time.

Xi’an:

The terracotta warriors here are definitely a must-see when visiting China. It’s amazing that even in the 1st viewing Pit (there are three pits open to the public) that they’ve only excavated maybe 25% of the buried warriors. What’s more, there is a 4th pit that has not even been opened, and possibly more pits that have not even been discovered. The showcase facilities double as research centers for the ongoing excavation, which supposedly occurs at night when the facility is closed to tourists. I’m wondering what the hell is taking so long with the excavation. For students of history, archaeology, ethnology etc. the site could provide a lifetime’s worth of “live” research opportunities. So, I’m surprised why the place wasn’t crawling with researchers. Maybe these things just take more time than I think (or the excavation is being self-funded by tourism receipts or something like that).

I’ve traveled enough to recognize that there are two things I typically like to see: old shit, and things that possess natural beauty. I’ve become a bit of a snob about seeing old things. The first thing I ask my tour guide when I see a tomb, statue, building, etc. is how old it is. If the response is 18th century or something, I sometimes lose interest, thinking to myself, “shit, that ain’t that old”. I’m more forgiving if the site holds considerable historical significance. I also don’t like looking at restorations, although practically speaking, many of the historical sites wouldn’t be around if they weren’t restored over and over again over the years.

Lhasa/Tibet:

I lucked out in Lhasa, as the second day of my stay turned out to be the holiest day of the Buddhist calendar. As a result, I got to see the Sakadawa festival. The festival featured a large migration of monks and Buddhist Tibetans around the three holy circuits of the city. The most fascinating part of the migration was the act of prostration, which involved laying down ones’ body face-flat on the ground with legs and arms outstretched. Pieces of cloth and cardboard were used to protect peoples’ knees and hands as they repeatedly knelt down and used their outstretched hands as sliding supports until their faces touched down to the ground. I was told that some devotees prostrated themselves for kilometers at a time (including what looked to be eighty year-old women). Talk about devotion!

After about twenty-four hours in Lhasa, I started to suffer from Acute Mountain Sickness, which results from ascending to a high elevation without a proper acclimation period (Lhasa is 3700 meters above sea level). The sickness felt very much like a hangover, combined with fatigue and body aches. Climbing the stairs to my hotel room on the fourth floor felt like climbing up a small hill.

I also suffered from sunburn despite applying at least one coat of the powerful 81 SPF sunblock I’d brought along. I guess my natural vulnerability to the sun along with two years of avoiding it in Vietnam (for the ladies who love white skin) resulted in an easy burn. I had resisted the urge to carry an umbrella around during my first two days in Tibet (women are the only ones that carry them). But, by the third day, I threw my reservations and fashion sense out the door.

I decided to probe my tour guide about the political situation in Tibet (Tibet is one of China’s biggest political hot-buttons, ranking behind the Taiwan independence issue). The conversation was very telling. He said he didn’t like Chinese people because they were impolite and used political connections to take business way from Tibetans. Interestingly, I discovered that many of the handicrafts sold by Tibetans were actually made by Chinese (so who knows whether the singing bowls I bought were really made by Tibetans). Talk about cultural erosion. Allegedly, what the Chinese did was replicate what the Tibetans were selling, while producing in bulk and at lower cost. Chinese retailers of Tibetan goods had easier access to cheap supplies via their political connections with Chinese manufacturers so could undersell Tibetans on price.

Cultural strains may only increase as a new railway linkage from neighboring Qinghai province is expected to come online later in 2006. The railway will make the plateau accessible to a massive influx of not just Chinese tourists, but settlers who are slowly taking over the Autonomous Region (Tibetans are a minority in their own region). There are reports that popular sites like the Potala Palace will have to turn away a large number of tourists each day due to overcapacity. It’s also interesting to observe how the Chinese manufacturing behemoth has had the same impact on a simple economy like Tibetan handicrafts as it’s had on the U.S.’ manufacture of cars, software, pharmaceuticals, etc.

Chongqing/Yangtze River Cruise:

Chongqing was the departure city for my Yangtzhe cruise. Unfortunately I hadn’t researched the city much prior to leaving Vietnam. As a result, I missed out on the fact that the city is the most economically dynamic in China’s West. Too bad I didn’t budget more time to explore the city. I had only five hours to roam around before my cruise ship departed. As I ventured through the city, I was surprised to see how developed it was. It had a decent skyline, with more than a handful of tall skyscrapers. The geography reminded me a bit of Manhattan, with brown-colored rivers (due to pollution) on either side of a centrally-located downtown area, and less expensive “boroughs” on the other side of each river (although Chongqing is a Penninsula, while Manhattan is an Island).

I asked the woman that picked me up from the airport to drop me at the main shopping area in the city. Street after street was packed with designer department stores, which in turn, were flooded with customers in the middle of a Wednesday. There were a lot of fashionable looking youngsters, and a pleasantly high number of beautiful women walking around. I noticed only three non-Chinese people (two white, and one black) during my stroll through the city: a record low for any of the Chinese cities I visited ((Shanghai being at the opposite end of the spectrum).

Later on, I did some quick research on Chongqing on the Internet. Sure enough, overall GDP was decent at $33BN, although per capita GDP was still relatively low at $1,250 (roughly one-quarter that of Beijing, and one-fifth that of Shanghai). However, the government is pouring investment into Chongqing in an effort to close the economic gap between the country’s booming coastal cities (i.e. Shanghai) and the less developed cities in the Western interior. The city’s development is tied to the massive Three Gorges Dam project, which is the largest of its kind in the world. The dam is expected to provide a whopping 10% of the entire country’s power (more on the dam in a bit).

My “five-star” boat didn’t look like the white-painted cruise liner I had imagined, but my room was comfortable enough. I paid an extra $80 to get my own room on the fourth floor, which is the highest you on the boat with the best views. About 90% of the passengers were domestic Chinese and spoke very little English. The remaining 10% was comprised of families from England, France, New Zealand, Brazil and the U.S. (there were only three Americans, myself and a couple from Idaho). For meals, passengers were assigned to tables based on language proficiency. Embarrassingly for me, everyone else in the English-speaking group looked the part: white, and mostly 40 and above. So, I had the honor of being the only “Chinese” looking kid sitting at a table of old, white foreigners. Maybe the other passengers thought I was adopted or something.

The second day of the cruise was my birthday. At dinnertime, I was a bit slow to get down to the dining deck. To my surprise, I got a call from the head of hospitality stating that the captain was waiting for me, as it was my special day. Apparently Amy, the woman who had set up my China tour had phoned the cruise boat and instructed them to do something special for me. So, during dinner, I got the whole cake and happy birthday song affair, which was sweet.

The most amazing part of the cruise (and an unexpected bonus) was getting to see the boat pass through the gigantic five-stage shipping lock of the Three Gorges Dam. In aggregate, the boat was brought down about 100 meters during the four-hours it took to pass through the five gates. I only sat through the first gate, as it was already midnight. Five is the largest number of gates for any dam in the world, with the quantity necessary to withstand the massive water pressure created by the considerable depth differential and the dam’s breadth (two kilometers). Amongst other amazing features of the dam will be a ship elevator (still under construction) and downstream spillway mechanisms that can control flooding in the event the dam is attacked, and breached). Seeing the dam has to be one of the most amazing things I saw in China.

Shanghai:

The first thing that struck me about the city (as I entered via taxi at around 8PM) was how beautiful the skyline was. Most of the modern buildings (built within the past fifteen years), of which there are many, have attractive lighting installed on their exteriors. The lighting comes in all kinds of colors and is often programmed to strobe, streak and pulse like the Las Vegas strip. Casino-style lighting even appears on what turn out to be mundane concrete office buildings during the day. This type of lighting is likely encouraged in municipal planning to make the skyline aesthetically pleasing. Even some of the expressways are illuminated with neon blue lighting either on their underbellies or on concrete dividers. On the Bund, there was even a building with red neon lighting framing the entire building and each of its windows. Only upon close inspection did I realize that the lighting was hung on black netting, which in turn, covered the scaffolding of a building that was actually still under construction. Talk about attention to aesthetics.

It’s good that the artificial lighting looks good, because I don’t think you’ll ever get to see stars in the Shanghai sky. When the sun rises, it reveals an ugly smog cloud that appears to perpetually blanket the city. China is reportedly home to 16 of the 20 most polluted cities in the world, and Shanghai is certainly one of them.

With seven other Chinese cities to compare to, I think I can reasonable say that the people in Shanghai are the most unfriendly. The attitude is in effect everywhere: in restaurants, nightclubs, taxis, hotels, etc. Even my tour guide wasn’t that nice. Service with a smile was in short supply, and politeness was distinctly lacking, particularly compared to Beijing. The culture in Shanghai could possibly be compared to that of New York City, with common elements including the hustle bustle of a thriving economy, the climate, and the status as each respective country’s wealthiest city. Both cities are also very cosmopolitan. Shanghai is one of the youngest cities in China, and has been heavily influenced by foreign cultures throughout its development.

I really don’t like cities that lack warmth, so Shanghai probably wouldn’t be at the top of my list if I were to live in China (then again, it’s probably where I would most likely end up because it is developing into the mainland’s financial center). Lack of friendliness may put off some tourists like me, but it’s certainly not required for economic growth. An interesting question is whether Shanghai’s rise will marginalize Hong Kong as the country’s financial services center. This has much to do with the history of Hong Kong as a British colony, and its existing role as a Special Autonomous Region (SAR). Although HK is technically a part of China, it doesn’t have the cultural and political ties that Shanghai does. The Chinese government would be much more proud to see Shanghai, a homegrown mainland city so to speak, become the envy of Asia, and then the world. This all has relevance to me, as I am thinking about returning to Asia after B-school. Hong Kong would be my most likely destination as it pays the most (aside from Tokyo), and would likely have the greatest number of opportunities. It appears that HK’s superior linkage to financing from the rest of the world and its transparent regulatory/legal framework will make it difficult for Shanghai to compete in financial services, at least for now. However, things such as lower-end manufacturing and sea-based shipping are likely to be ceded to the Mainland.

Huangshan Mountain:

Six years ago, I bought four photographs of Chinese landscapes in the San Francisco Chinatown. At the time, I had no idea where those places were (I bought them because they were stunning). Coincidently, both of the locations for those photos – Huangshan Mountain and Guilin – were on my itinerary. The scenery up on the mountain was simply stunning. Unfortunately it is also one of those places that reveal the shortcomings of my digital camera, which never really seems to capture what I’m seeing. I’ll make sure to upgrade my camera before the next long trip.

One thing I noticed about the mountain was the exorbitant cost of its food and accommodation. Prices were more expensive than downtown Shanghai, particular taking into account quality. Some rooms had as many as six beds in order to make them affordable to the local Chinese tourist. When I asked my guide about why this was, he mentioned that we were at the top of a mountain (about 1800 meters above sea level at the summit), and it was expensive both to build accommodation that far up and to get supplies up the mountain. He pointed to the fact that supplies were brought up manually by porters who slaved underneath heavy basket loads connected by a wooden bar slung over the shoulder (similar to what the Vietnamese use in the countryside).

When I saw these guys laboring for kilometers up the mountainside (it was tiring enough just walking), I thought that surely there must be something disrupting the operation of market forces in this mountain economy (i.e. government control, economic mismanagement, etc.). There had to be easier way to get supplies up the hill in this day and age. Plus, prices were way too high. The local guide, who was obviously taken by the strength of the porters and moved by their relative poverty, insisted that it was the best way to move supplies. He insisted on this view even when I suggested alternative ways to improve transport and increase competition for accommodation. His argument was that if Huangshan innovated, the porters would not have jobs and would be unable to feed their families. Of course that’s not a valid argument, but I stopped debating the issue as I recognized it immediately as the classic resistance to change. It is also a symbol of how some people are being left behind by China’s rise, and are even resentful of the progress that is being made in cities such as Shanghai.

Guilin:

People are extremely friendly here, and the scenery is beautiful. I’m sure the two are related, as they are everywhere. I took a boat cruise down the Li river from Guilin to Yangshuo, a small town about 45 minutes away. There, I got to see a show called Impression, which was an amazing production involving over 600 minority performers (the Han Chinese are the dominant ethnicity in China). The Director of the production was the same guy that put together the movie Hero. The performance incorporated a dazzling mix of light, water, and sound. The stage itself was built into a natural lake surrounded by limestone outcroppings for which the region is famous. There were also thunderstorms in the distance, with streaks of lightning adding additional beauty to the production. You have to see it to believe it.

China’s state dominated Airline industry needs a serious upgrade. I took five flights domestically, and all five were late because of “delays from the incoming aircraft”. Since the five flights were to and from all of China’s major cities, I think that’s a good representative indication of how crappy the flight network is. For this reason, it’s likely that HK will maintain dominance over air trade despite the mainland’s efforts to take market share. Sea trade, on the other hand, is likely getting cheap enough in Shanghai and Guangzhou to compensate for any inferior service relative to HK.

Guangzhou:

Similar building lighting to Shanghai, but not very impressive given there’s no skyline. Guangdong is China’s most prosperous province, but the city is not build in a geographically constrained area, so not many skyscrapers, and not many in a condensed location. Very disconnected like L.A. The city had a dirty feel to it, and not just from the pollution. It was the only Chinese city where I remember seeing homeless people (and lots of them), prostitutes actively roaming the street near five-star hotels, which are likely people from the countryside trying to cash in on the boom, but falling short. This is also where I hear stories of massive pickpocketing and scams. It’s also the only place where I remember seeing black people. I have to check again what the story is with that.

Pearl River cruise was fairly boring, possibly a bit anticlimactic due to all the other cruises I’ve been on. Found a shoe brand that’s awesome for dancing. I bought three pairs.

Proud to say I know quite a bit about the history, business, and economy of China. I have a fairly good idea of what skills I will need if I want to do business in the mainland. Anyway, I think the knowledge will be invaluable no matter what given China’s ties to the business I conduct will only continue to grow. So, it’s good to get a head start. It’s also nice to know that China and Vietnam are so, so similar in so many ways. I should make a list. It’s almost like getting the China experience via a step-sister.

China’s state dominated banking system has a long, long way to go. China Construction Bank (CCB), the country’s third largest lender, raised a whopping $8BN via an IPO in 2005 with great fanfare. The other day, I took out 2000 Yuan (about $250) from a CCB ATM. Guess what… it turned out 500 Yuan of that money was counterfeit. Tell me what kind controls does a bank possess if it allows fake money to be distributed through its ATMs? Of course I didn’t keep the printed receipt, since I was leaving the next day. So, I didn’t have time to report the incident and reclaim my money. Although I didn’t have this problem in Beijing, imagine how embarrassing it will be for the country if it gets out that foreign tourists attending the ‘08 Olympic Games are receiving fake money at ATMs.

English or Vietnamese in Vietnam?0
kendo posted in Uncategorized on July 3rd, 2006

This is a delayed entry, but I thought I would put it up later rather than never.

Given Citigroup is a U.S. Bank, all employees, including the local-Vietnamese, must be proficient at reading, writing, and speaking English; it’s something everyone is screened on during interviews. This is the case for local staff across the 100-plus countries in which Citigroup has a presence. Communication with managers at Citibank Vietnam is always conducted in English, unless the manager happens to be Vietnamese. However, once you move up the food chain, you eventually reach a non-Vietnamese person (Thai, Indian, Korean, American) with which you must use English.

The Bank’s client base, however, has its share of local customers. The Bank’s core client base is comprised of the Coca-colas, Nestles, and other multinationals that Citigroup finances and follows across the globe. However, these firms, like Citigroup, employ predominantly local-Vietnamese. At the highest levels, however, communication is in English as senior officials are typically from the mother country. This is similar for the Bank’s foreign-invested clients, which include Korean, Taiwanese, and Japanese invested companies (i.e. Toyota). English, of course, is the international language of business used. So, Citigroup also has many clients that are Vietnamese, such as Ministry officials, state-owned enterprises, state-owned banks, etc. in which it is advantageous to speak Vietnamese.

At the office, local-Vietnamese speak Vietnamese with each other because that is the language that comes to them more comfortably. Occasionally English slang is thrown in to be funny, or if the term is technical, such as “term loan”. In my case, I try to speak Vietnamese in the office with my colleagues even though it is the weaker of my two languages. Surprisingly, this is not so much because I want to practice, but because I feel like an outsider if I don’t speak Vietnamese. This implicit pressure is a great way to force myself to practice and get better. It’s funny how telling language is at gauging how “westernized” a Vietnamese person is, as you will automatically revert to the language that you feel most comfortable speaking to that person in. As an example, I have a 30-year old Vietnamese friend from Hanoi who has spent ten years working in the U.S. Her perspective is clearly westernized, so I will automatically switch to English when speaking to her. I have another friend who is Vietnamese born and has spent a significant amount of time overseas. However, her perspective and values, at the core, are still very Vietnamese. As a result, I automatically switch to Vietnamese when speaking with her. With overseas Vietnamese friends in the U.S., it is exclusively English, not just because it’s more efficient, but because it feels downright strange to speaking Vietnamese.

Been out here too long?1
kendo posted in Uncategorized on March 2nd, 2006

I flew over to Singapore recently for my Wharton interview. While out clubbing one night, I walked by a McDonalds with a sign saying “open 24 hours”. I turned to my friends there, and said, hey I didn’t know they had any of those open all night. Everyone laughed at me, so I laughed along. The first thing I thought to myself was, silly me, I lived in NYC for six years, of course there are 24-hour McDonalds. But, then I thought about it again. Are there really round the clock places in NYC, or are people just laughing at me because there have always been 24-hour joints in Singapore? To be honest, I can’t even remember what NYC had, although the thought of me chowing down on a burger at 4AM doesn’t seem like such a strange notion. I could just google for it and find out, but I’m too lazy. Maybe I’ve been out here too long.

Angkor Wat0
kendo posted in Uncategorized on February 11th, 2006

National Bank of Cambodia, in Siem Reap

Certainly an interesting design for a bank branch. Not sure why I posted a picture of this. Guess I’m “into it” since I’m in financial services.

Cambodia is one of the few countries in ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) that is more poor than Vietnam; average income levels are about half that of Vietnam’s, and getting smaller each year relative its more prosperous neighbor. The poverty is obvious when walking around the town of Siem Reap, which is about six kilometers from Angkor Wat.

My guess is that the temples bring in about $40-60MM in revenue per annum off direct ticket sales, but much, much more in hotel accomodation, airfare, and other tourism-related revenue. The growing number of five-star hotels that charge $300-1500 a night is a good indicator of how healthy the flow of tourism is.

Southern Entrance to Angkor Thom

Bayon

There’s a large lacquer ware wall hanging in the living room of my grandparents’ house in Vancouver that I think has been there for at least twenty years or so. I used to sit in front of it as a kid and draw pictures of the temple and its towers adorned with beautiful stone faces on each side. “Imagine if a place like that really existed”, I thought to myself. Well, after visiting the Bayon, I think I’ve figured out the answer to that question.

Baphuon

Phimeanakas

This was one of the older temples (late 10th century) that I visited. Although it wasn’t as architecturally impressive as some of the others, I felt a greater sense of connection while inside it. That probably sounds weird, but it’s difficult to explain.

Angkor Wat, view from outside the moat

“Angkor Wat” is what people refer to when they are visiting the series of temples near Siem Reap. Angkor is the most famous, so it’s used as a reference for the entire group.

I keep thinking to myself, if the temples look this impressive now, imagine how amazing they were 1,000 years ago surrounded by a massive city that no longer exisits. Whenever I see something that has survived this long, I also think about the millions of different people throughout time that have shared the same exact sense of awe; it’s definitely a spiritual feeling to tap into emotions that have spanned time and space.

Angkor Wat, view from atop the temple

Angkor Wat, with view in reflecting pool

Hot-air balloon

The balloon takes you up about 200 meters, a couple of kilometers from the temple. Costs $15 for 15 minutes, although the balloon only stays at the summit for about a minute or two. You defintely have to get your camera shots off in a hurry.

Angkor from the balloon’s summit, with wide-angle lens

I wasn’t lucky with the weather here. Low-flying clouds create a haze in the picture. However, I think it looks pretty cool anyway. You can see the edges of the moat that surrounds the temple on all sides.

Angkor from the balloon’s summit, with zoom lens

Sunset at Phnom Bakhen

Everyone climbs up a hill to watch the sunset from this temple, which is the oldest in the temple group.

Ta Prohm

When walking through this temple, I told my tour guide that it would make for a great movie set; the huge tree roots growing intertwined with the temple stones are particularly stunning. She told me that it was actually a set in the first Tomb Raider movie! I’ve seen the movie, and parts of the temple certainly looked familiar. Now I want to go out and get the DVD to take another look.

Mosquitos0
kendo posted in Uncategorized on February 6th, 2006

Can’t get to sleep right now as I’m being tortured by a mosquito(s) again. I’ve been too lazy to buy a mosquito net for my apartment as they haven’t been a consistent problem. However, when one does get loose in my vicinity, the results aren’t pretty. I’m seriously thinking about the net right now. I’m counting nine, swollen bumps spread across my face, arms, feet; wherever the little fuckers could find exposed skin. I am cursed with some sort of sweet blood that moquitos absolutely LOVE. Why do I know this? Because, whenever I am close by other people, I will be the first (and usually the only) person to get bit; and repeatedly. This has been my experience with mosquitos in all parts of the world that I’ve been too. What is it about my blood that mosquito’s like? Maybe it’s something that I could look up. If my blood has something special in it, I’m curious as to whether there are any other common qualities that accompany it. I’ll have to see.

Traffic Police0
kendo posted in Uncategorized on February 6th, 2006

At midnight, the evening prior to leaving for Hanoi for the Tet holiday, I got pulled over by the traffic cops for forgetting to turn on my bike’s headlights. Without thinking, I responded to the officer’s questions in Vietnamese, which was a mistake. About a year earlier, I was pulled over for the same offense in Hanoi. By speaking broken English (under the pretense that I was a Korean or Japanese expat), I was let go with no penalty. This time, I accidentily revealed myself as a Viet-kieu. I was also unfortunately caught without proper i.d. (passport), motorbike driver’s license, or proof of ownership for the bike; a triple offense. My attempt at slipping the first officer a 100,00o dong note ($6.40) didn’t work. No bribe I thought? That was confusing.

I was subsequently referred to the “head” officer on duty (there were four officers altogether). The head officer proceeded to show me a book of traffic offenses, along with the associated financial penalties. Next to “my” offense (I couldn’t read the Vietnamese) was a large number 2,500,000 dong ($160). In addition, the guy said something about impounding my bike for forty days; which would have been a terrible inconvenience. He started writing down my license plate number and contact information. However, he wrote REALLY slowly, as if waiting for me to interrupt him. So I did… with an offer of 200,000 dong ($12.80). He laughed. 300,000 dong ($19.20)? Suprisingly, he stopped writing after that proposal. Before taking the money, he clarified that it was I that wanted to give him the money, as opposed to him asking for a bribe. I quickly nodded my agreement and was off on my way. It turns out the game between the officers was to juice me for the maximum amount. Did they suceed? Not really, as I actually happened to have over $100 in my pocket. However, I don’t think I got off cheap at $20 either.

B-School Update0
kendo posted in Uncategorized on January 19th, 2006

Well, I’ve hit my first hitch in the application process. Got waitlisted at Harvard Business School (after interview). From what I’ve read, the chances of getting admitted off the waitlist is something dismal, like 10%. While it’s certainly a better outcome than getting rejected outright, it could prove to be the more psychologically painful outcome as I wait, and wait, and end up getting rejected anyway in late July. But, it’s way too early to start worrying. Aside from HBS, the only school I applied to in Round 1, I also applied to Stanford and Wharton in Round 2. I’ll find out whether I’m invited to interview with these schools over the next couple of months. Final decisions are due out at the end of March. However, I need to complete the interview to be in the running. If, by the end of February, there are still no invites, I may attempt some Round 3 applications which are widely discouraged due to their lower probability of acceptance than the first two rounds. We’ll see.

I worry too much, something I’ve been trying to work on. They say worrying is like a rocking chair; it gives you something to do, but it doesn’t get you anywhere. I think this is true for the most part. While worrying has helped me succeed by never missing deadlines, covering all the angles, etc., I think my worrying complex has mutated into something that causes me needless levels of stress. I suppose being here in Vietnam, all the way on the other side of the world, has exacerbated the psychological impact of the HBS decision. I realized in formulating my responses to the question “why now” (for why I was applying to each of the schools at this time), that the B-school exit really is the best one for me; and, it’s important that I get in now. If not, the possibility of finding something productive to do over the twelve months I wait before reapplying isn’t that great. Anyway, no more negative thoughts until it’s time to be negative. Hopefully things will work out. Getting on the waitlist to the only school (and an uber-competitive school at that) I applied to in Round 1 isn’t a bad achievement.

Quality of Life0
kendo posted in Uncategorized on January 16th, 2006

I’ve hosted over twenty different groups of family and friends since I’ve been in Vietnam. One thing everyone is curious about is what my quality of life is like here. This, of course, has much to do with how much I’m getting paid. Contrary to what most people believe, I’m not on a cushy expatriate package; I’m actually getting paid on local terms. So, what exactly does that mean?

Let me digress for a moment to explain the employment composition at Citibank Vietnam. Out of the Bank’s approximately 150 full-time employees, only four are foreign passport holders, including myself. The three other foreigners are all department heads – one being the country’s CEO – and have at least ten years banking experience. By regulation, 97% of the Bank’s staff must be local-Vietnamese. Why? Because the government wants foreign companies that reap the benefit of the country’s growth to give back by employing locals and raising employment standards. This is a common requirement placed on foreign companies operating in developing countries. As a result, Citigroup typically reserves its work permit quota for foreigners that can come in and head departments such as the Treasury or HR, or facilitate technical knowledge transfer. The uniqueness of my situation is underscored by the fact that I am the first U.S.-born Vietnamese to ever work at Citibank Vietnam.

People generally have the misperception that compensation in Vietnam would be less, but not much less than, Hong Kong or Singapore. This isn’t the case. Vietnam’s financial sector GDP amounts to only 8% that of Singapore’s, and less than 4% that of Hong Kong’s (places that together, have less than 14% the population in Vietnam). Due to its nascent development, Vietnam is years off from seeing the financial activity that is commonplace in the region’s financial centers. As an example, banks are only just beginning to build the pools of personal credit histories necessary to support a credit card franchise in the country. Vietnam’s financial services sector is essentially a thinner slice of a much smaller pie relative to the financial services industries in HK or Singapore. This directly impacts how much revenue Citigroup can generate in Vietnam, along with how much it can spend on employee salary and benefits.

In coming to Vietnam, I sacrificed 75% of my Wall Street compensation. But, that’s ok since my expenses are low too right? Yes, if I’m paid on local terms that means that my income is in-line with local expenses. In fact, my mandatory expenses, such as housing, food, etc. are roughly the same percentage of my income as they were in NYC. However, matching up income and expenses doesn’t mean that I’m not poor give what’s left over. My financial situation is most impacted by which country I spend my discretionary income. Saving 10-20% of my income obviously nets me a much lower notional amount in Vietnam than on Wall Street. If I really were a local-Vietnamese, the lower notional probably wouldn’t have all that much impact on my perceived quality of life. As an example, in past years, international tourist arrivals to Vietnam have outweighed Vietnamese tourist departures abroad by 11-to-1. So, if you’re poor, you’re unlikely to be going anywhere; and, if you’ve never been anywhere, you probably don’t know what you’re missing aside from what you’ve seen on T.V. or on the Internet. It will be interesting to see if this ratio changes going forward. Tourist arrivals will inevitably increase as more and more people discover that Vietnam really is the untapped paradise I tell everyone it is. However, more tourism, foreign direct investment, and other economic stimulants should boost average incomes and give more local-Vietnamese the opportunity to see the world (the average Vietnamese is already earning 12% more per annum relative to eight months back when I mentioned average income in a prior blog entry).

So, what ends up hurting my financial situation most is that I don’t stay put in Vietnam despite getting paid in local terms. I go back to the U.S. or Canada at least once a year to visit family, and go on several other international trips a year for fun. The ticket costs and the overseas expenses are a much larger percentage of my income than when my home base was NYC. I’ve given up trying to save any money while I’m out here. I figure that I’m better off spending all my income (plus extra) in Vietnam, where I’m getting the most mileage out of it. Fortunately, I did the math in advance, and prepared for the financial bleeding by saving up my bonus money from Citigroup NYC. As a result, my quality of life is good, if not better, than it was in NYC. The trick is making sure that the bleeding doesn’t get excessive.

Back Again0
kendo posted in Uncategorized on January 15th, 2006

It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged. For those of you I haven’t kept touch with, the past six months of my life have been absorbed by the business school application process. First Round results are due within one week (keep your fingers crossed for me). Studying for the GMAT and writing my B-school essays took up the remaining brain juice I had leftover after spending the entire workday writing credit reviews; hence, no blogging. But, I’m back now, and plan to devote significant time to transmitting my thoughts over the coming months. Since I have so much pent up in my mind, the thoughts are likely to come out in a disjointed torrent. Be sure to stay tuned.