Antony’s Weblog

Everyone is talking about China’s economy.  Their economic growth has been constantly more than 8% per year.  There is no sign that their economic growth will be slowing down.  We see "Made in China" products everywhere.  Our clothes, our electronic devices, our furniture, our office equipments, our kids’ toys, ….

When I ask my friends about "Made in China" products, most of them say the price is very cheap although the quality is questionable.  My mother bought a washing machine from China and she was disappointed with the quality.  My friend bought a motorcycle from China and he complaints a lot because of many small problems.  Another friend of mine bought a DVD player from China and he was upset too.  What’s wrong with China’s QA (Quality Assurance)?  Are they producing only cheap products with low quality?

In fact, many products from China are made with good quality too.  Usually they are products from ODM (Original Design Manufacturer) and CM (Contract Manufacturer).  What are ODM and CM?  Basically they are companies that manufacture products under the brand of other companies, in many cases for American or European companies.  For example, mobile phone companies, like Nokia and Motorola, manufacture their handsets in China to cut production costs.  They really control QA of their products very carefully.  They want to cut production costs but of course, they don’t want to destroy their own brand by producing "yet another Made in China products".

What I am more curious now is, will we see world-class brand from China?  Will we see the "next" Sony and Samsung in the electronic industry?  Will we see the "next" Toyota and Hyundai in the automotive industry?  My personal opinion says, may be but not soon.  Still a long way to go….  At least, they have the power to do that.  Let’s wait and see….

We all have dreams since we were kids.  Some of them have gone because the reality is always not as good as our plan.  In some cases, we cannot achieve our dreams because the opportunities come too late (or simply not in the right time).

Five years ago, I had a dream to work in the United States.  I had a chance to be interviewed by the largest software company in the world, but I failed after the first interview.  One and a half year ago, I was dreaming to spend the rest of my life in Canada.  I had a chance to be interviewed by the largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world, but I failed (again).  I was very depressed at that time.

Let’s talk about opportunity now.  About two weeks ago, someone from the fastest growing Internet company contacted me (their stock has jumped 300% in the last 12 months).  They asked me whether I am interested working with them in the United States.  Why did they contact me?  May be because I have some experiences in the mobile industry (they are expanding to the wireless world these days).  Unfortunately, I am no longer interested working in the States.  As I said, the opportunity sometimes comes not in the right time.  If I would have been given this opportunity five years ago, I would have said "yes" right away.

Another example, I am working in Canada now with a relatively good salary (it is not that high, but enough for me to have a "simple" life).  Unfortunately, I just realized that I don’t want to spend the rest of my life in North America.  Life is so complicated here and sometimes it can be very though.  Many people say that Vancouver is one of the best cities to live.  It is not always good because it leads to a side effect.  More and more immigrants are coming…. the price of property has been flying very high in the last few years….

What do I want to say?  Dreaming is good.  Without dreams, our life would be very boring.  But, be realistic….  sometimes when we reach our dreams, we realize that they are not what we really want.  Enjoy our current life and be happy with that.  Life is too short….

I have talked to many people about education, and surprisingly many of them don’t know that we can study in Germany for free.  Yes, it’s true…. public universities in Germany are tuition free.  The good thing is that it is free for international students too.  It’s even cheaper than tuition fee in Chinese universities, isn’t it?  As a matter of fact, many Chinese students are studying in Germany nowadays.  When I was studying in Germany five years ago, 1/4 of my classmates were Chinese.

Do we need to speak German to study there?  Short answer is no.  Many universities are offering English-instructed Bachelor and Master programmes in English.  We can learn German while studying there (just like me).  Just for your information, Germany has actually its own degree, called Diplom.  Originally they didn’t have Bachelor and Master Degrees.  The Diplom degree is the combination of Bachelor and Master.  They introduced Bachelor and Master a few years ago to attract more international students.

Although German public universities are tuition free now, the situation will change next year.  I heard that some public universities will start to charge tuition fee.  Fortunately, it applies only to certain conditions.  You can find more information about it at DAAD’s site.  What is DAAD?  DAAD (Der Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst) is an organization that helps students, teachers, researchers and scientists, especially from developing countries, to study and do research in Germany.

Why isn’t Germany popular as destination country to study?  I don’t know either.  The first country that pops in many of my friends is the United States.  May be because the US is the only super power country in the world now.  I have written a blog about American Dream too, because many people are dreaming about America.

Yeah, I have been living in North America for about four months now.  Many things have been happening.  The relocation and adaptation processes are not so easy.  I just couldn’t imagine if I had to relocate to North America five years ago.  About 5 - 6 years ago, I had a dream to live in North America, especially in the United States.  Just like many other people, I was imagining about American Dream.

At that time, I did everything I could to move to North America.  I joined Green Card lottery from the US government five years ago (but no luck).  I applied hundred of IT jobs (but again no luck).  Well… actually I got a job offer from a start-up company in San Diego, but the company collapsed right after I got my H1B approval.  I applied for M.Sc. programs in 7 universities in the US (guess what…. again no luck).

I was very depressed at that time, no more American Dream.  I continued my study in Europe and then work there for a couple of years.  Now, I feel very lucky that I didn’t move to North America five years ago.  Life is not easy here.  I have marked three things that might be obstacles for new immigrants in North America.

• Finding a job is not easy.  Finding a job in North America is very challenging.  Even though they are open to immigrants, but many skilled workers are still unemployed.  I had been looking for a job in North America like crazy for quite some times.  Hundred of applications had been sent.  I had two interviews in Canada about 18 months ago and 9 months ago, but they rejected me (although I feel very confident that I could do the job).
• Living cost is killing us.  It’s true that the salary in North America is relatively high, but the living cost is very high too.  I simply couldn’t imagine how new Canadian immigrants can survive in the first few months because finding a job is not so easy either.  This will become worse if we have spouse and children.
  In many cities, having a car is mandatory; otherwise we won’t be able to do anything.  The public transportation is usually not so good.  Buying a car, of course, requires some amount of money.  Don’t expect to apply for credit (a.k.a. financing) if we are still new to the country (they won’t approve it).  Applying for driving license is another challenge.  I have been fighting for about 2 months to get my driving license, but it is likely that I won’t have it until beginning of next year (may be longer).
• We are not trusted at the beginning.  Government and many institutions basically don’t trust us before they see our records or references.  May be this is because there are a lot of criminals.
  When I came to Canada and would like to rent an apartment, the landlord asked for a reference from my former landlord.  How could I have a reference if I just arrived in Canada for a couple of days?  Opening bank account and credit card is even trickier.

As final words, I have relocated a few times, to Europe, Asia and North America, but this time is the most difficult one.  If I would have known this from the beginning, I would have decided to stay in Singapore and live happily there….  Well, everything has happened and life must go on.

This morning I read an advertisement in a local newspaper.  It is about Cathay Pacific airline and Hong Kong International Airport.  The advertisement says that Cathay Pacific is Airline of the Year 2005 and Hong Kong International Airport is the World’s Best Airport.  I was a little bit surprised because I thought Singapore Airlines was still the best airline.  Yeah, poor me….

The award is based on a survey conducted by Skytrax, a private company based in the UK.  They claim that their surveys have been a global barometer of passenger opinions about airlines and airports around the world.  They are free of outside or financial influences.  Actually there are some other companies or institutions conducting similar surveys, but Skytrax is one of the most popular ones.

Here is the list of Top 5 Airline of the Year 2005 (source: http://www.airlinequality.com/2005/airline-05-ent.htm):

1. Cathay Pacific
2. Qantas Airways
3. Emirates
4. Singapore Airlines
5. British Airways

And here is the list of Top 5 Airports in the world for 2005 (source http://www.airlinequality.com/2005/airport-05-ent.htm):

1. Hong Kong International Airport
2. Singapore Changi Airport
3. Seoul Incheon Airport
4. Munich Airport
5. Kansai International Airport

I myself have never flown with Cathay Pacific nor seen Hong Kong International Airport (hopefully this Christmas), so I cannot give my opinion about them.  However, from the airlines and airports I have been flying with and visiting, Singapore Airlines and Singapore Changi Airport are still the best.