Law School Guerilla Tactics

After graduating from law school, I realized that there are a few tactics that can help you survive in law school, and theoretically, survive the rat race of life.

You see, when I first got into law school, I thought I could handle it with no problem since I knew many of the people who went there ahead of me.

I had worked in China for a few years before deciding to take up law, so many of my former batchmates from college were  upperclassmen in law school. They showed me the ropes and told me about all the things I needed to know about legal education. I was pretty confident I could breeze through it.

Boy was I wrong.

Instead of handling law school studies with ease, I wound up nearly buckling under the pressure. It’s true what they say: some of the demands of law school ARE impossible. Part of what you learn in law school is how to deal with those impossible demands.

So here are a few unorthodox guerilla tactics on how to cope with law school.

1.)    Prioritize – with so much to read, there is no way you can finish everything, no matter how hard you try. One suggestion then, is to pick the most important things you have to do and do it. You can ignore the others and hope for the best. Or, in the alternative, you can opt for damage control (see below).

2.)    Damage Control – you can only do sooo much. You will likely get called sooner or later, and more than likely, it will be on a topic you didn’t get a chance to read. So what to do? Well try and control the damage. Read up on some of the more important or likely to be discussed topics.

Or better yet, if you can, read a little on every topic so you can at least have some ammunition to throw at the professor when you get called in recitation. Forget about complete mastery of the topics. It’s better to know a little about everything rather than master one topic and know nothing about the others. One alternative tactic however, is tip # 3.

3.)    Play the Averages – one reason people study and read so much is because of the fear of getting called on a question and being unable to answer. But since you can’t read everything, you can gamble a little bit and concentrate on a specific class where you will really be called.

It’s like Sun Tzu. Concentrate all your forces where your opponent is weak. In the same way, concentrate and study the subject where you will likely be called. If one subject doesn’t demand much study, then forget it for now and study for the subjects which do. And do so quickly. Remember you don’t have that much time on your hands.

Yes, these tactics do not make for good academic mastery. That’s why they’re unorthodox guerrilla tactics. Their purpose is survival, not academic excellence. These tactics are mostly for those folks who want to go to law school, survive it, and still have a life.

So the next questions: Did these tactics work for me? Do I still have a life? Well, I’m writing this column, graduated from law school with a Best Thesis (Silver Medal) award, and have been together with my girlfriend for the entirety of 4 years. And recently, I married her. So you tell me.

Things I learned From Dealing With Wedding Suppliers

I write this after a series of phone-calls and meetings with wedding suppliers (note: this was written before my wedding, and then edited after the big day).

I was quite happy with the wedding suppliers who handled my wedding, particularly because most of them were very adept at client relations. Here are some thoughts on how and why we were so happy with our suppliers, which can be tips for other people in the wedding business.

1.)    Be Enthusiastic, or at least sound like you are.  – when you meet with a client or if a client calls you, try to be enthusiastic. After all, future brides or husbands to be, don’t like talking to a lifeless lump when discussing their wedding or engagement.

A lifeless conversation with a wedding supplier is more than enough to turn off a client and leave a bad impression. And in the wedding industry where one’s reputation is the gauge by which clients decide on hiring you or not, you do not want to wind up with a bad reputation.

2.)    Don’t treat it as just a job – even if the whole wedding thing is just a job to you, don’t treat it like one. Remember that the wedding for most people is a once in a lifetime event (I for one, do not plan on getting married again after all), and if you treat the wedding like it’s just a job, it makes the clients feel bad or disappointed, which in turn makes it less likely the client will refer you to other prospective clients.  Thankfully most of our wedding suppliers treaded us not as just clients, but as friends, which leads us to our next tip…

3.)    Be Friendly – I once had a conversation with a wedding supplier who wasn’t unfriendly, but was stiff and  a little aloof. The supplier gave me the feeling that they had better things to do with their time, even though they were in the wedding business. The supplier was civil, but I hung up the phone a little apprehensive.

Thankfully the supplier worked out great, but I was worried for a little bit. Contrast this with my wedding coordinator, who was always very friendly with me and my bride. We were always delighted to talk to her, and we even consider her as a friend now.

4.)    Be Reliable – one wedding host/wedding coordinator I know of (NOT OURS thankfully) has earned the reputation of being late to meetings and even on actual weddings he would host. On the wedding day, the last thing a husband or wife to be wants to worry about is whether or not the coordinator or event host will be late. Not unless you want the bride to be to become a bridezilla and go on a rampage.

5.)    Make us feel like VIPS – I know this may be asking a bit too much, but what client doesn’t want to feel like a VIP? Who doesn’t want to feel special? I would hire a wedding supplier that makes me and my dreamgirl feel very special on our most special day, even if they are a little sub-par in terms of quality.

We want to remember our wedding day with fond feelings, with feelings that our wedding was a special one. That for just one moment, we are important and the center of attention. Any wedding supplier that can do that will definitely have tons of clients. Most of our own suppliers made us feel that way, although admittedly, not all did so.

So there you go. Some very simple tips on how to be a great wedding supplier. Just remember, the husband and wife to be want their wedding day to be happy and special, and will greatly recommend anyone who makes them feel that way when they get married. So take the hint.

Make them feel special!

Support Our Own

Babble On for the Sunstar Davao, Friday, Oct. 17. 2008

At a time of worldwide economic turmoil, when even our vaunted OFWs are unable to help our economy with their remittances, it is time for the Filipino people to seriously consider supporting our own. Our own industries, our own products, and even our own country.

Our people have always preferred foreign things. If we could afford it, we would buy Armani instead of Bench, Havaianas instead of Banana Peel, Minute Maid instead of Zesto, Maxim magazine instead of Manual magazine, Starbucks instead of Bo’s coffee club or Brew Crew.

Our choice of food also reflects this mindset. Filipino food is considered simple cooking and no one would go eat at an classy Filipino restaurant like Sentro or Abe, when they could eat instead at Friday’s or Italiani’s, or at fancy and expensive hotels which are owned by foreign conglomerates.

And when money is an issue we Filipinos buy the cheapest product out there instead, which is never the Filipino product, but the Chinese one. Most of the popular commodities which Filipinos purchase now like milk or luncheon meat is from China and is the preferred choice not only because it is foreign but also because it is dirt-cheap.

Even in our choice of travel destinations Filipinos prefer foreign over local. Filipinos often choose to travel abroad and go to exotic locales like Paris or Britain. And yet most of us have not fully explored our own country.

The Filipino loves the foreign over the local.

Some people call this mindset the colonial mentality. I just call it short-sighted thinking. The more we support or love foreign things, the more we buy foreign goods. The more foreign goods we buy, the more Filipino money goes out of our country. The more money that goes out of our country, the less money there is to run our economy.

Yes this is a fairly simplistic characterization, but we must remember that sometimes it is the simple idea that makes the difference. It is sometimes the simple idea that people can grasp. And to clearly spell it out, the simple idea is this: the more money goes out of the Philippines, the less money there is in the Philippines.

It is that simple, and that clear.

Despite this simple idea, our colonial mentality spurs us to keep buying or supporting foreign goods. I say enough. Let’s support our own.

There are countless top-notch Filipino products and places out there. You like nice clothes? Buy Bench or Folded & Hung. You like hamburgers? Eat at Jollibee or Burger Machine. You into beaches? Go to Antulang Beach Resort in Dumaguete or Boracay Island or Pearl Farm.

Let me repeat. It is a simple idea. If we support our own, we put more money into our own economy. With more money in our economy, it is less likely that the Philippines will drown under the tidal wave of economic pain that is engulfing the world.

There is a Chinese saying, “Don’t let fertile water flow into other’s fields.”

Let the Filipino water flow into Filipino fields. Let’s support our own.

***

I was on an early flight to Manila from Davao a few weeks back and was checked in very quickly and efficiently by Mr. Butch Casimiro, a ground manager for Philippine Airlines in the Davao International Airport.

He has a tip for passengers on popular, and consequently very full flights. When you purchase your tickets you can already pre-book your seats on the plane. This way, you are assured of a seat on the plane no matter what.

I hope Mr. Casimiro’s tip can be of help to travelers on very busy flights.

Some Thoughts and Blogs on Entrepreneurship

I like the idea of being self-employed.

One day I hope to be able to run my own business, perhaps even run a law firm (whether as a partner or by starting my own remains to be seen since I am still in law school).

Entrepreneurship has hit the mainstream in a big way. Where once people preferred the protection and stability of a good-paying job, more and more people are now jumping on the entrepreneurship bandwagon or being encouraged to do so.

Of course, running a business isn’t easy. If it was, almost everyone would be doing it. And I guess that’s where the biggest problem is. Fear.

There is a lot of fear involved when one opens up your own business or start your own law firm or even just jump into your own sideline. There is a lot of uncertainty and a large chance of failure.

But that doesn’t stop most people. And it shouldn’t, because the rewards for going into entrepreneurship are amazing. A strong sense of self-control, possibly tons of money (if it succeeds) and an opportunity to do something you like for the rest of your life.

I know one day I’ll jump into the whole business thing myself like my sister did. But for now, I’m just biding my time, studying the law and trying to brainstorm for possible businesses.

Until then, here are a couple of great blogs and websites on entrepreneurship you should check out (in no particular order).

1.) Instigator Blog – the blog of the CEO of Standout jobs, which is a promising internet start-up.

2.) Pinoy Web Startup — a Filipino webstart up I discovered recently. Marie Casas, one of the founders of Pigmata Media, and the author of the Pinoy Web Startup Blog, was even featured in MoneySense magazine.

3.) Open for Business – a new blog by the editor of SME Insight which is published by the Inquirer. New but very promising.

4.) Reflections of a Bizdrivenlife – Wilson Ng is one of the earliest business bloggers I know and runs a successful computer business which distributes to Visayas and Mindanao.

5.) Go Negosyo - the brainchild of Joey Concepcion who is a strong advocate of opening up your own business.

6.) The Brazen Careerist – the ultimate startup for career bloggers and the like. Founded by Penelope Trunk and the Ryans of Employee Evolution, you should check out their blog posts on starting up a business. Really great stuff and offers a different perspective.

(Disclosure: I am a member of the Brazen Careerist Network but I read and enjoyed their blogposts on start-ups BEFORE I was asked to join. So I recommend their posts on a very unbiased basis.)

7.) Guy Kawasaki’s Blog – probably the ultimate web start up guy. He has founded a number of businesses and was even once connected to Apple as one of their tech evangelists. he has also written a number of books on technology and start-ups.

8.) What Would Dad Say – a great blog by G.L Hoffman, an American baby boomer who has successfully founded a number of start-ups. He has a great post on the 100 attributes needed to become a successful entrepreneur.

Book Contest Held by the Manila Freelancer: How to try and get a copy of Why We Want You to Be Rich.

I recently heard about this contest being held the Manila Freelancer. You can win a Copy of Why We Want You To Be Rich by Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki. The two authors are entrepreneurs I absolutely love and respect.

Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad in particular showed me how to think differently about the things we buy with our money, and that what we thought of as assets (like houses) may not be assets unless they add to your bottomline and generate income.

From Trump’s books and lifestory, I learned that gratuitous self-promotion may not be a bad thing, and that your brandname, your reputation can often mean all the difference between success and bankruptcy.

I am sure their combined insights will be very useful to those willing to learn.

I do hope I can win this book. I am definitely keeping my fingers crossed!

Oh and if you do want to check out the contest yourself, the url for it is as follows:

http://www.melovillareal.com/2008/02/15/win-a-copy-of-why-we-want-you-to-be-rich-two-men-one-message/

Career v. Friendship: Which Would You Pick?

What comes first for you, your career or your friend? If you had to choose between your friend and your career, who would you pick?

According to a Wall Street Journal article  by Mylene Mangalindan (entitled “Making a bid for eBay’s CEO Job” and dated Jan. 24, 2008), eBay Inc. Chief Executive Meg Whitman invited John Donahoe for an interview in eBay’s California office in 2005.

Donahoe was then a Bain & Co. consultant. He had originally thought it would be a discussion about a business project with the company. It turns out that it was an invitation to join eBay, with the possibility of becoming Whitman’s successor.

Most people would jump at such an offer, but for Mr. Donahoe it was a difficult decision to make. A friend of his, Jeff Jordan, was then President of Paypal, which is eBay’s online payment center. Jordan was widely considered to be in the running to become Whitman’s successor as CEO of eBay.

Now here’s the interesting thing: John Donahoe, instead of immediately saying yes to the great opportunity presented to him, chose to talk to his friend first before making any decisions.

To quote Mr. Jordan in the Wall Street Journal article: “The fact that he put a discussion with one of the most powerful people in business on hold for a while, so he could chase down a friend, is what I considered  to be one of the most significant acts of friendship.”

In the end, John Donahoe joined eBay, but only after talking to his friend Jeff Jordan and making sure he was ok with it.

John Donahoe is now considered the leading candidate (and heir apparent) to replace Ms. Whitman at the helm of eBay. Yet he had been willing to throw it away for the sake of his friend.

I can only hope that my friends would pick friendship before their career, and do the same thing for me.

Would your friends do the same?

Choose friendship.

How Paranoia Can Actually Make You Successful

My dreamgirl often complains about how paranoid I am as a person. For example, I refuse to leave my laptop in my car. I always insist on leaving at least an hour ahead of schedule before any meeting or date, so that I won’t ever be late.

I triple-check to see if the doors are locked in my house before leaving or going to sleep, and often spend sleepless nights wondering if I did or didn’t pull out the plug on my TV whenever I am away on a trip.

So far, I haven’t lost any of my laptops, nor any of my wallets, or been robbed or anything like that. And God willing, nothing like that will ever happen to this paranoid writer.

So it seems like being paranoid isn’t always a bad thing. Liew Mun Leong, The CEO of CapitaLand, Singapore’s biggest property firm, would agree. He considers paranoia as part of his philosophy of success.

His message to young professionals is: “be paranoid! The most untoward event can spring at us, so be prepared.”

Mr. Liew believes strongly in the importance of paranoia. In his book Building People: Sunday Emails From a CEO, he say that “in business you’ve got to plan and be prepared for every eventuality.”

He isn’t the only top business executive to believe in the value of paranoia. Former Intel Chairman Andrew S. Grove even wrote a book entitled Only the Paranoid Survive, and credits the success of Intel (which dominates the computer chip market) to his seeming paranoia.

It is when you are paranoid that you plan. And you plan for the worst situations. It is paranoia that makes one prepare for the worst that life has to offer.

In management, the “worst” that is being referred to is probably best described by Murphy’s Law. Murphy’s Law says that “if something can go wrong, it WILL go wrong.”

The thing is though, if one is paranoid, one is prepared for that wrong that will happen. So paranoia, properly applied, can be the cure for Murphy’s Law.

Just look at the brisk sales of external hard drives on the market. Their main purpose is to backup your files and make sure you don’t lose them in case your computer crashes at the worst moment (in loving obedience to Murphy’s law, of course). They have been quite successful in meeting that need. Many computer users now have one.

So what’s the lesson for the day?

Be paranoid. It may actually be the key to your success.

Be Paranoid.

How Your Motto Can Make A Difference

(Originally entitled How Slogans Can Make a Difference, for my Babble On column in the Sunstar Davao, January 18, 2008)

In a recent issue of Forbes Asia magazine, there was an article on “Slogans That Work.” It talked about how corporate catchphrases and mottos can be effective, provided that there is some substance behind it.

Meaning, they work only if the companies do actually support these mottos, and aren’t just using them as mere wordplay. For mottos to work, companies have to mean what they say, and essentially, say what they mean.

One example that the Forbes article cites is Nintendo. For years, the Japanese gaming company rallied around the motto of “The Blue Ocean.” Blue Ocean strategy basically says that companies shouldn’t battle it out in an already saturated market, but should instead develop uncontested market space with limitless potential.

And Nintendo did exactly that. Nintendo sidestepped the standard gaming market and aimed instead at people who never played videogames before. Uncontested market space equaled limitless profits.

Nintendo produced the Wii, which has attracted new gamers and is especially popular with women and older players. These were people who were never even considered part of the videogame market. Nintendo Wiis now outsell the products of Sony (the Playstation 3) and Microsoft (Xbox 360).

Nintendo’s Blue Ocean made a difference and succeeded because it wasn’t mere wordplay for them. It was their way of corporate life. It was a motto that became part of the corporate culture.

(Btw- In the Philippines, early advocates of the Blue Ocean strategy are Francis Kong and Josiah Go, who both teach seminars on the subject.)

In the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila prides itself in “creating men and women for others.” This is not mere wordplay either. One only has to look at the number of social entrepreneurs that make up the alumni of this school. For example, Harvey Keh created Pathways to Higher Education, which helps less-fortunate students from public schools receive quality university education.

Atty. Carlos Medina, a graduate of the Ateneo School of Law, went into alternative lawyering (where lawyers essentially work for free ) and became head of the Ateneo Human Rights Center (AHRC).

The AHRC’s clients aren’t the top moneymakers. Instead, their clients are people like the Sumilao Farmers, poor and indigent, but in need of legal assistance.

Ateneo continues to mold men and women for others, because that institution supports its motto by believing in it, living it and breathing it everyday. Pathways and the AHRC are actively supported by the Ateneo leadership; both organizations have offices within the Ateneo campuses.

In the curriculum of the Ateneo itself, there are even classes which require immersion in poorer communities, in order to expose the studentry to those not so blessed in life. The Ateneo also actively supports and encourages the Jesuit Volunteer Program (JVP) among its students.

It’s no wonder that Ateneo continues to produce selfless graduates, men and women for others, such as Benigno Aquino, who literally came home to the Philippine from exile to die. He believed in his motto that “the Filipino is worth dying for.”

Mottos aren’t just mere words. They can embody an entire culture and lifestyle, provided the corporation, institution or person wants it, supports it and believes in it. Then and only then can the motto make a difference.

As a law student and writer, I know the power of words. I make my living off of them, after all. I believe in the power of words so much, I made my blog and column’s personal motto revolve around it: “Making a difference one word at a time.”

I try and stay true to that motto every time I write. It’s a heady responsibility, knowing that with each word I put down, I am trying to make a difference in the life of my readers. It makes me more careful of what I write, and of the thoughts I consider putting down on paper.

So I continue to write and try to make a difference — whether it is through expanding the political point of view of my readers, sharing a lesson I learned with them, or simply just blogging a random thought, I hope my words can make a difference, one way or the other.

Whether I succeed or not like Nintendo and the Ateneo did however, is another story entirely. But I keep trying. One word at a time.

Your motto and your words can make a difference – you just have to stay true to them. And most of all, you have to believe in them.

So what’s your motto?

=====

Related Posts:

• Being Positive
• The Beijing Principles
• Making An Impact

3 Things On My To Do List For 2008

A To Do List for 2008

(Babble On, for the Sunstar Davao, January 11, 2008)

Every new year people make new year’s resolutions. The problem though is that resolutions are always broken.

So I decided to try something new and come up with a To Do List instead. It’s the same basic idea as a new year’s resolution, except that there is an emphasis on it being something that one HAS to do, rather than being something one merely hopes to do.

With the name change, the list is more likely to get done.

I know it’s just semantics, but you would be surprised at how effective a name change can be. Never underestimate the power of words.

So anyway, here’s my 2008 To Do list. Hopefully it will inspire you to include it in your own To Do list for the year.

1.) Learn more about Financial Planning – everybody needs to learn more about personal financial planning. Money doesn’t grow on trees, after all (even though I wish it does!). Unfortunately, financial planning isn’t something you can learn easily. It requires study and discipline.

This year, I plan to read and study different books on financial planning. There are a number of books in the Philippines on the topic already, such as Bo Sanchez’s 8 Secrets of the Truly Rich and Efren Cruz’s Pwede Na: The Complete Filipino Guide to Personal Finance. One recently released book is that of Chinkee Tan, ‘Till Debt Do Us Part.

On the internet, the best place to learn about financial planning and meet like-minded Filipinos would be the forum www.income-tacts.com. This forum includes some prominent businessmen, such as Francis Kong, as members. I just joined that forum myself, and I hope to see you there.

2.) Make a Positive Difference in the Lives of Others – How can I do this? By helping a volunteer organization, such as Pathways to Higher Education which provides college education opportunities to underprivileged high school students.

One can be a Pathways volunteer teacher or a friend-raiser (Pathways defines friend-raisers as someone who spreads the word about what Pathways is doing).

An alternative to simply helping an organization is to create the organization instead. One can partner with the international organization Glocal Key, which is on the lookout for a founding member for a Philippine chapter. I would love to do this myself, but I just don’t have the time nor resources right now. Hopefully, a passionate reader can pick up where I left off.

Glocal Key focuses on connecting the youth in grassroot communities throughout the world. Glocal is basically an amalgam of the words Global and Local. Their motto is this – A Global Network: A Local Impact.

Interested volunteers can contact the founder of Glocal Key, Harum Mukhayer, through the website at www.glocalkey.org.

Another option in making a positive difference is social entrepreneurship and becoming a changemaker. One can do this by joining the changemaker network which is supported by the Ateneo School of Government. You can learn more about social entrepreneurship and hopefully become one yourself.

3.) Find my entrepreneurial passion– after being an employee, student and writer most of my adult life, I believe it’s time to try and look for my own business opportunities.

It won’t happen overnight, especially since I have my Bar examinations coming up soon, but at least by being consciously on the lookout for a business, I am more likely to find a startup to call my own. And I hope it shall be something that I can be passionate about.

One example of someone with entrepreneurial passion is my very own little sister, Keryl Lee. She had a great human resources job with an international bank in Manila. However she left that job to pursue her passion for coffee in Davao city.

She soon opened her own coffee shop named Brew Crew’s Coffee House, near the Ateneo de Davao College Campus. Note that she is still in her early twenties, so this was no easy feat!

She is now doing what she loves, what she is passionate about. And that makes all the difference.

I hope to find my own entrepreneurial passion soon, and perhaps become like my little sister in the future.

So what’s on your to do list?

Related Posts

• Predictions for 2008
  
• Kelvin is (was) in Davao
• Making an Impact
  
• My ipod Story: How I wasted 10k
• Being Positive

Singapore Lawyer Runs off to the Philippines

Singapore Lawyer Runs off to the Philippines

A Singaporean lawyer, Zulkifli Amin who has been missing since November 2007, ran off to the Philippines to escape possible criminal charges. Here’s the kicker – he billed the plane ticket to his law firm.

So he not only got away, he charged someone else to do so too. Talk about adding insult to injury.

According to the Strait Times, Zulkifli is under investigation for $6 million Singaporean dollars that went missing. A lawyer for seven years, Zulkifli is a partner in the Sadique, Marican and ZM Amin law firm. He was in charge of the conveyance and real estate department.

According to K.C. Vijayan, the Law Correspondent of the Strait Times, the runaway lawyer may have taken on “more work than he could handle.” Some of the transactions incurred financial penalties for delays. A number of these penalties were quite severe and allegedly caused Zulkifli to dip into other accounts he handled in order to pay off the surcharges.

This is illegal, and when other penalties started adding up, the whole thing “may
have snowballed,” according to the Times.

The interesting thing about this news report is Zulkifli’s choice of country. I am surprised Zulkifli picked the Philippines. Our country is not exactly the kind of place one would pick as a safe haven for criminals (unless you count the alleged training grounds for terrorists in the South, but even then Mr. Zulkifli isn’t exactly a terrorist).

Granted, the borders of the Philippines are porous; getting in and out of the country has never been particularly hard, and there are a number of Filipino fugitives who remain hidden to this day, such as COMELEC officer Lintang Bedol.

But I would have thought Zulkifli would have run off to some place like the Cayman Islands, or to Switzerland to escape the law, as traditionally seen in movies and novels.

As of this writing, I don’t know if the Singaporean government has contacted the Philippine one to investigate or apprehend Zulkifli. I do hope the Philippines does catch him though, if he is still in the country.

Otherwise, this rogue lawyer may not only give lawyers a bad name, he may also wind up giving our country a new reputation: as a hideout for criminals.

And no Filipino wants that. Ever.

Predictions for 2008

Predictions for 2008

(Babble On column for the Sunstar Davao, Friday Dec. 28, 2007)

It’s the end of the year and it’s time for writers and columnists to write about what they think will happen next year in 2008. Here are my bold predictions:

1.) More Political Storms Will Rock the Philippines – Every year there is always some big political event which rocks the nation’s stability. This year it was the Trillanes takeover of the Peninsula, the ZTE brouhaha and accusations of electoral fraud during the elections, among others. In the previous years we had wire-tapping scandals, grave charges of corruption and a lot more. I don’t believe the next year will be any exception. Heck we’ve gotten so used to political scandals in our country, it already feels like a normal event. Which is sort of sad, actually. But that’s Philippine politics for you.

2.) The Philippine Stock Market Will Go Up. – After a very turbulent year for the market, I believe that next year, it will shoot up. I know the market remains volatile and I may sound too optimistic, but stock brokers seem to agree with my upbeat prediction.

Analysts from the Abacus Securities Corporation believe that the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Index will rise to 5,000 by the second half of 2008, if not sooner (as of this writing, the index is hovering around the 3,500-3,600 mark).

Stockbrokers aren’t the only ones upbeat about the market. Big time companies Cebu Pacific and Pepsi-Cola Philippines plan to list in the market come 2008. The message is clear: it’s time to invest in the stock market. We just have to be careful about it, of course.

I Was Wrong: How Trillanes DIDN’T Affect The Economy

Hmm….

I was pleasantly surprised today. In a post written shortly after the Makati Standoff, I predicted that Trillanes would make our upswinging economy go down, and make our stock market and peso fall. Turns out I was wrong.

Though Trillanes did affect the international perspective of our country, it didn’t slow our economy down. Thank goodness for that. Based on Monday’s stock market performance, everything seemed to be going up up up. Investors are upbeat, and the peso strong. Even the Peninsula is upbeat after last week’s Makati standoff. We’re back, they announced today as that grand hotel reopened.

Perhaps people were impressed at how quickly the government handled the crisis, with no fatalities and little to no extra damage, save for a damaged hotel and a controversial incident where a number of journalists were hauled off to a faraway camp.

But even with those as negatives, government is already making amends to the Press, with no less than the President telling government units not to rile the media. In fact, that controversy with the Media may have a positive effect as well, because now government and the Media are meeting to discuss “rules of engagement” in order to avoid a repeat of that incident.

For the first time in what seems like a long time, things seem to be looking up for the Philippines. Despite everything, we remain strong and hopeful and bullish on the future.

I have never been so glad to be as wrong as I am now.

We still have to make sure to keep Trillanes and company away from five-star hotels though.

Overrated Statements about Employment in China

Overrated Statements About Employment in China

China is, to coin a cliché, the fastest growing economy in the world. It has surpassed even Germany’s economy in the global rankings. But to keep that economy going, to keep the businesses and multinational investments coming, China needs talented people. Unfortunately, for all of China’s size, there is still a large gap in terms of corporate leadership and management. Experienced talent is still, in a sense, a precious commodity.

This is where expatriate employees come in. Many major multinationals for example, bring in expatriate employees, or expats, to handle their China operations. Foreign consultants make a killing as they are in great demand, especially those with strong credentials such as MBAs or other advanced degrees.

But before you suddenly get the urge to go to China to bring your career to the next level, there are a few statements about foreign employment which must be debunked lest you get burned in the process.

How To Network Without Really Trying

How To Network Without Really Trying

(Article contributed to Employee Evolution, October 3, 2007)

Let’s be frank. You can’t get anywhere in your career without doing a little bit of networking. It’s a necessity in the business world.

In China, guanxi (relationships), are vital to getting things done. In the Philippines, it’s the same thing. If you have many kakilala (acquaintances), you are bound to get what you need. In Iran, having a large collection of ashnas (important contacts) is a badge of honor one wears proudly on his chest.

It seems as if it’s not what you know, but WHO you know.

You won’t know many people (and have many contacts) if you don’t network. How do you do it unobtrusively then, and without raising eyebrows? Or without looking like you are trying to network?

Here are a couple of simple tips on how to network without really trying:

1. Never turn down an invitation to meet, have coffee or lunch with someone — I first heard Sam Davidson of CoolPeopleCare mention this on Rebecca Thorman’s blog, Modite, and I find it to be a simple but effective way to network. No matter what country you are in, or what culture you are dealing with, people inevitably invite you to have coffee or lunch. Just say “yes.” Go talk to the person and you’ll be surprised at how easy networking really is.

The Beijing Principles

The Beijing Principles

(Babble On, For Friday, Sept. 21, 2007)

This column started out with me living and writing in Beijing. I lived in the capital of China for a few years, studied Chinese and made a living. I even fell in love (which is a story for another day).

In short, I made a life there, and it was a good life. While there, I managed to not only survive, but even thrive. I was a training consultant for a number of different companies in Beijing. I taught English in several schools and wrote articles for a local magazine. And this was on top of writing this weekly opinion column for the Sunstar Davao. I was independent, self-sufficient and more confident than I had ever been in my entire life, up to that point.

Doing all that wasn’t easy. I was in a foreign land, knew no one, had no connections, did not speak the language, was stuck in a city where the natives were not exactly what you would call friendly, and had to compete with westerners nearly everywhere. So I cried myself to sleep the first few nights I was there (yes yes, tears are for women. I cried anyway).

5 Tips For Doing Business in China

5 Tip For Doing Business in China

Zhang Xin and her husband, Pan Shiyi, are a China business power couple. They are the Co-CEOS of the property development company Soho China, and they are well-known for their funky, yet popular aesthetics for the many building projects they have put up. With more than 1.5. million square meters, Soho is the leading developer in Beijing’s central business district.

In the Wall Street Journal Asia Edition (Sept. 18, 2007), Zhang Xin offers these 5 tips for those doing business in China:

1. Believe you are the most privileged person for being in the right place, at the right time.

2. Enjoy competition; there is always plenty.

3. Enjoy a healthy dose of insecurity; always try harder.

4. Never think too much about wealth; it’s a mere means for advancing civilization.

5. Go to bed early.