Business and Money Tips

Following my post yesterday about Singtel, M1 and Starhub, some people asked me to analyse the fortunes of countries just by looking at their year of birth. Let's dive in: USA: 1776 17 = Talk for a living, Talk to Get Money 77 = Hidden or Waiting 76 = Many friends Through talking, USA becomes a world no. 1 leader and today is still number in talking trades eg seminars, webinars, toastmasters etc. Note that USA has many friends but  there is no wealth in USA number China: 1949 19 = Leading 949 = Wealth double China was already number 1 in the year of birth as it was the world's largest population country. Now it leads in money as well. Just look at so many products made in China and WeChat Pay, Alipay, Double 11 Sale etc and you'll know what I am talking about. * Note that China has two wealth numbers here *. Now you know which country is the richest in the world Singapore: 1965 19 = Leading 965 = Investment and Hardworking Singapore is leading th...

With the current craze on Belt and Road Initiative, many people have taken a serious look at China again. From my several trips to China in the past one year, there are 7 reasons why I like China: #1 - The people are friendly, although they may not be courteous or wanting to please you. But they get things done.  And from my interactions with them, people in China seem to be happy. #2 - The food is delicious and cheap. A good meal for me costs about 10 to 20 RMB, which is very cheap and good, for they often include rice, soup, meat and vegetable #3 - Safe. Crime rate is low in China, and risks of terrorist attack is low due to the tight control of the government over everyday life in China #4 - Transport is cheap and good. Public transport by bus, train and high speed trains are cheap.  Metro starts at 2 RMB while Uber-like taxis (Didi) is often half price of taxis, which starts from less than 10 RMB.  #5 - Abundant business opportunities due to the high ...

Written by David McDonald, Quora To make sense of China’s next decade, it is critical to grasp that there is no single driver of the nation’s future. Instead, four very different drivers are pushing the country forward at once, all powerful, and all interacting with each other in unanticipated ways. The first driver is an aspect of the country’s economy and culture that I call “ Open China. ” The emerging potential of China’s consumer markets is well known to outside producers, many of which, like General Motors, have already come to depend on these markets for their profitability. Unlike other leading economies in Asia, including Japan and South Korea, China began opening its markets to foreign companies at the very start of its economic reforms and it has opened them ever wider ever since. At the same time, the Chinese people have rapidly advanced as consumers; the wealth created by China’s growth has created a substantial middle class. Putting a precise number on t...

Many people have got the following facts wrong about doing business in China: 1. Doing Business in China is NOT about Doing Business with the Chinese Only This is because there are many non-China Chinese and many non-Chinese especially in major cities like Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.  2. Doing Business in China is NOT about Doing Business with the China Government or Communists This is because there are many private sector businesses in China that one can do business with.  Also, although the Communist Party of China governs China, there is very little communist-type of governance in business as the whole economy has been run like capitalist system since 1979 3. It is hard to take out money made from doing business in China. There is no restriction on the amount of money that foreigners can take out from China, except of the limit of 20,000 RMB cash at the airports. Almost every bank in the world has branches in China, so you can freely transfer money...

I have not been to China since 2005, and in particular, have not been to Guangxi province since 1986. Needless to say my recent trips to China have been real eye openers and the following are the 5 shocking facts that I find interesting about China: 1. Despite China having severe labour shortage problem, things get done Everywhere I go, be it banks, restaurants, office, factories or hotels, there are not enough people working. Service is slow but we can get things done. Often there will be just 2 people working in a small eatery that sits 30 people. The bank branch that I visited to open my bank account has only 3 people working: a security guard that doubles up as the internet banking advisor, a bank manager working behind the counter, and a counter girl who helps customers in all banking matters. Despite having staff shortage, things do get done, provided one has no language barrier issues. Service standards become not important, as what can you expect from staff that multi-...