After I read my pal Max Limpag’s blog, I decided to finally try Twitter . It is a big hit among techies, and it is a great and free.  Think about everybody of you are in Yahoogroups, and your messages can be sent, and seen by everybody that asks to see it.  However, instead of the messages coming and going to email, it can come from the mobile phone text or instant messaging.  That is basically what twitter does.  It is just like a blogging through a cell phone or mini device, but each post is only upto 140 characters ( just like a text message), but there is all to it.

What you do is get a free account.  And then you get your pal a freeaccount.  Then you can each follow each others update through the web, orthrough phone.  So if I text to my account, and you are following it, whatTwitter will do is send you a free text of what I wrote to my account. You can also Read the rest of this entry »

In China, they said, Guanxi ( the art of relationships) is everything.

I guess in most Asian countries, it plays a big role in businesses.  We deal with the Japanese, and the Chinese, and yes, it makes a difference if you are good chummy friends with your partners and customers.  Yes, it pays also to know people who are in power or who makes the decisions.  No, meritocracy still plays second fiddle.  If you are favored, you can win contracts and concessions even if you are not the best supplier or lowest priced contractor.

Yesterday, I meet a Taiwanese and he coined to me a quote:

With Guanxi, then no Guanxi.
No Guanxi, then everything Guanxi.

This is a little bit hard to explain and cryptic.  Although the first Guanxi reads like the second Guanxi, the meaning is different.  Translated it means:

If you have the right relationships, then nothing is impossible.
If you don’t have the right relationships, then everything is difficult.

Relationships goes to the fabric of the culture, and i think it will be sometime before that changes.