Ryan Ho's Entrepreneurship Blog

Identity is the sense of self, providing sameness and or likeness. It is the individuality, personality, distinctness, uniqueness of oneself which makes everyone of us different.

Within a country, there should be a unique country identity, but thanks to globalizing, this identity of a country has being infused with other countries identity and is no longer unique to own country with the exception of some countries.

China, Korea, Russia, India, Thailand, Malaysia, United States of America, European countries each have their own unique identity as a country and it is shared by all of the citizens.

They embrace and honor their respective nation identity, culture, values and beliefs in the form of religion and have faith in what their nation belief in.

Singapore on the other hand, is on the verge of losing our own unique Singapore identity. Gone are the days of the kampong spirit, friendliness. The present us, are all confine and closed up thanks to the lack of privacy in home designs thus neighbours close doors and contribute largely to what we have today, employees who do and not talk thus it is more like a mundane life as compared to the past.

Being a garden city in the past, with such large investments from overseas companies, are we losing our identity? Where is the garden city? It is becoming more and more like a city of another developed nation with nothing more than commercial buildings, earning profits etc.
Not much focus has to thrown on religion, culture, which is our strength but all this is under valued in terms of commercial profits. We are losing our multi-racial identity which to globalization and losing it to just commercial purpose.

What does Singapore has to offer to tourist? There’s nothing unique of Singapore if it doesn’t focus on your multi religion identity and the ability to work, trust each other regardless of race, language, religion or culture. We allow cooperation and helping one another, but obviously this is what is lacking.

Tourist are paying money just to see what they can find in other countries, Formula One race track, casinos, buildings, all these are just solely for commercial and tax benefits only with no unique identity for Singaporeans. Are we duplicating other countries success at the expense of losing our own unique Singaporean identity which cannot be duplicated in any other countries for obvious reasons?

It is an expensive identity that we are losing and it is heavily neglected and thus giving tourist more reasons to by-pass Singapore if we were to continue with whatever the decisions the tourism industry is thinking.

Even cultural identity is losing, why the local religion and culture are losing to religions thanks colonization during war times. The focus should be local religion and there we have so many locally born Singaporeans embracing religion from overseas. It should be the Singapore Experience and not something which can be seen, duplicated in any part of the world. Fatal mistake!!

Investments should be pumped into showcasing Singapore’s rich
bio-diversity of various religions and cultures staying to our roots.

It is the relationship which we are bonded to by birth which we should stick to and not to embrace other countries identity like what majority of people are converting to other religions from our own roots.

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Crazy is a word which many would immediately come to think and associate with being mentally deranged or to be insane. But if you look up the dictionary, there are many different meanings to just being insane.

It has many other meanings; it can be unusual, informal, bizarre, extreme, recklessness, unexpected, random quality, singular, wonderful or excellent. Different people or businesses will occasionally and intentionally use crazy as a word to attract attention to the business.

Example: “ABC Company is having a CRAZY SALES giving up to as high as 80% discounts on all its retail outlets, HURRY UP and buy them before they are gone, WHILE STOCKS LAST!!”

Here’s another example: “He must be a crazy coach, asking us to do dangerous actions putting our own lives at risk.” The latter example often takes place in motivational seminars for your info.

Individuals, businesses and even countries are doing crazy things. Look at Japan; they are having a game show which requires game participants to be crazy enough in order to play the game and even Americans come up with a show “I survived a Japanese game show” just to win a competition.

People do crazy bizarre things everyday. The more successful you are, the more crazy things you will do that looks, feels, think strange.
Entrepreneurs themselves do crazy stuffs, at least it looks and feels strange that they are doing things out of what is considered to be normal among the majority, but it is exactly by doing what seems, looks and feels crazy, bizarre, never done before actions, tactics that make them unique and successful.

I am crazy myself, staying up so late after watching television just to blog when I can write it later when I wake up from my sleep when now by right I should be sleeping already at nine minutes to two hundred hours which is two am. I do things which others discourage me to do, but I know what I am doing, so that is good enough.

You don’t other people’s approval to do what you like, you just need to prove to them you are right at the end of the process and have the last laugh.

Do what you like and monetize whatever you are doing fueled by passion, excellent products and a good marketing strategy for profits.

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Change is the transformation from something to another thing. It is to become different, pass gradually into something else.

Since the time men started roam the earth, we underwent lots of changes to who we are today. With different nationalities language, tribes and religions we all still come from the same roots and origins, from the monkey family.

Fast forward to present, and staying local in Singapore, this nation has underwent so much changes that the kampong days are long gone, even the friendly neighbourhood atmosphere is already gone, no longer do neighbours know one another among the community. When I was young around 1980s to 1990s, the community bonding and unity was slowly fading away as I grow up while Singapore keeps changing and improving.

Lives 1990s was definitely way much better than 1950s that period, but looking at the present bonding of Singaporeans among different races, Singapore in fact has gone worse. Back than, even my grandma knows Malay and now those local Singaporean Chinese who knows Malay language is the minority with Malaysian Chinese taking away our advantage in language proficiency.

In the past, everybody knows a bit of other language here and there, even Indians know Chinese, but that’s is the super minority.

These days, with the housing development planning, the layout of the houses are pleasant taking into considerations for limited land, but gone are our privacy, with doors shut, the friendly neighbours atmosphere is long gone.

People who used to be able to work until fifty years old and retire for a blissful family, is already gone without a trace, the possibility of it is gone permanently. No longer can we grow up looking forward to retirement, in fact we will work till the date we die, that’s how the way we are growing, and this problem is not subjected to only Singapore but all over the world. Any capitalist country will face this issue.

Just that Singapore with limited resources is showing the negative effects of capitalism society faster than our neighbouring countries because they still have land, religion and culture to fall back on thus they will not face this problem so fast but gradually, they are feeling it.

Taiwan is also losing its tribe practice and people are going to cities for a living, like wise for India and other countries. But somehow thanks to its strong unity and government space for religion practice, they are still going strong with their Chinese culture and proud of it, unlike Singapore, even for our own four different religions, we also have the public holidays reduced, no longer greatly celebrating it but it has downsized so much that it becomes more like a yearly commercial event rather than festive celebrations doing only a yearly routine with no heart put into it. It’s a festival without the soul, bonding and unity in it. How I envy countries with such rich festival celebrations.

Singapore although has lost the festival bonding among people, but it has gain something else in return to compensate for its culture losses which is financial industry and is often said that Singapore is the window to China, nonetheless that comes with a great price of sacrifice.

Hard work, always increasing work load, only more and no less, work load increase is way much faster than the speed whereby our pay increases, thus we are getting poorer and poorer. Just look at the working age and ask yourself if you can even retire and enjoy a blissful family, never ever if you follow the majority. It’s just the facts.

Should we want to reverse the effects, we should pick up entrepreneurship, in particular allowing ourselves more time to spend with family, encouraging a family and work-life balance, so as to have more births per family, thus tax will not increase. Financial insiders or those who at least study bits of history will know why birth rates has links to tax.

What we deserve, we got to earn it, and to do it, we have to find our way. Singapore is growing and improving, but not the people, majority of the people are still staying in a poor mindset thus making Singapore government job of running the country increasing harder having to cope with the silver tsunami many years ahead which is slowly revealing the tip of the ice berg already. We are just another country one step slower than Japan only.

We earn what we keep, and we got to defend our homeland from foreigners, lower our demands for foreign talents, in order to do that, we have to increase our own competitive advantage so as to reduce our reliance on them.

The easiest way to do so is to do our own business, and offer employments to fellow Singaporeans by helping Singaporeans earn their own keep. Entrepreneurship is the only way to go about, don’t look at it as purely business, you can go into entertainment, science, invention, financial related or even sales and service, it is not restricted to only business. Explore different ideas and stomp the front. Be a leader, take charge of your own life.

BE in control and stay in control.

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Eliminate is to get rid, omit or remove from further consideration or competition. It is to be void or expel and when it becomes serious such as to eradicate and kill the enemy.

Elimination is what keeps the Asian nations running and function perfectly like a well oiled engine with a system that never breaks down not even once.

In the game of elimination, where it is embraced and practiced by Asian countries, it is a similar to the game show “Survivor” from the USA or “Ninja Warrior” from Japan. The strongest contender wins the game and is crowned the champion at least for that very moment and during the process.

Failure is not an option nor do we Asians encourage one another, it may look bad on the surface, but in fact this elimination culture in Asians is what keeps us going and striving for the better and to surpass the previous champions and winners previously.

Once you fail in any segment of the game show, you are eliminated instantly either by the rules or via votes. For you to come back again, you need to wait for the next show to win back your honor, something which the Japanese perfected in their quest for supremacy thus it climb back up from the fall of the WWII to be the leader in technology.

China is another highly and extremely competitive country, where the strongest and fittest survives. On the surface it may look cruel to abandon our peers and move forward, but this trait and style of practice is essential in the quest for supremacy. Why so, because in order to be the supreme leader in whatever you do, there is no room for weaklings, thus elimination is the way business is conducted thus the difference in business ethics between China and USA.

Singapore on the other hand is a cosmopolitan country with such a rich mixture of nationalities from all over the country that it is no longer works on neither encouragement nor elimination. Instead Singapore is purely and solely based on Black and White, everything has to be spelled out for on the paper in the law. With neither sides near us, the weak minded people will naturally open themselves to lots of problems like being over dependant on the country which is what most of the Asians are doing and is not restricted to only Singapore but also to our neighboring countries.

Being an island with no common share identities with other nations, we need to identify ourselves, like our forefathers in history which we learn, we should take up entrepreneurship, look at the Chinatown back than, it was buzzing with activities and businesses, so much so that it causing problems but that is a positive problem. Look at the current Singapore and ask yourself what is the difference, and if you bright enough with see what I see, you are somewhere there already.

I may not be somebody now, but with time, you will see what I am made off. Either you join me now and we work together and build trust, or in future I select candidates and partners to work with. You decide for yourselves. Look at Bill Gates and his investors, those who invested in them when they were back than a nobody is already benefiting lots from their first investment to date. Vision and foresight is what keeps an entrepreneur moving despite all odds moving against the tide emerging as the champion, the supreme leader.

Success is not a process, it is war, and in war, you need to eliminate your enemies and step on their corpses, with the killing intent and aura to scare off any potential competitors. Constantly improve and work with like minded people to succeed together. Refer to Chinese Three Kingdoms if you need more information.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

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Supremacy is a philosophy that one is superior to others, so dominate, control or rule those who do not.

It is to be of the highest in rank or authority; paramount; sovereign; chief.

Every nation has something which they regard themselves as the chief, be it food, people, language, unique resources and even military might.

USA is the current chief in military ability due to Nuclear power, but not the highest, because it is sharing the number one position with Russia, because before USA it was Russia whereby Rome was one of the first few countries to win numerous battles in war thus of the success and rich heritage around the world with the little bits and pieces of heritage left behind.

Before Russian (Rome civilization), it was the Greek history of ancient Greece civilization which inspired Rome. Than later comes Adolf Hitler who than made Germany a supreme country back than.

Back to the subject proper, supremacy can be found in France too for its nuclear abilities thus the reason why USA will not do anything against European nations which are on par with them. Thus USA can easily declare war with Iran and other small countries, due to military abilities.

It is the supremacy here that is the primary reason for having war. The fear of the next rise in another supreme country in terms of military abilities especially in terrorist which is Iran as well as another country which is in loggerheads with USA is China, the communist country, self-sufficient and need not even rely on USA for nearly everything if I am not wrong.

Look at the way USA is trying to discuss, persuade these countries and imposing sanctions on bilateral ties, it’s all about business, profits, having a smaller competitor is way better than allowing a fellow competitor to surpass you putting yourself at more risk. It’s all purely business and politics, using treaty to ensure that they can profit from other respective countries.

Looking beyond military, Japan was also one a ‘supremacy country’ in military during WWI but thanks to alliances of fellow European nations, Japan is back to its own humble beginnings due to treaty agreements signed in WWII. But that has not stopped Japan’s supremacy; in fact it is a blessing in disguise. Japan is the most high tech countries in the globe, thanks to the war treaty, they shifted their focus to the financial sector thus it is the second strongest country with China catching up closely behind at third due to currency reasons.

Egypt is has it’s own supremacy too and that is in the preservation of bodies, mummification and pyramid structure which is still a mystery to date on why it is able to help preserve mummies back then.

To succeed with a big bang and buzz allowing neighbouring nations or competitors to acknowledgement requires skill, supreme skills, ability and unchallenged niche.

Shao Lin Shi in China is another supreme in the martial arts, whereby it integrates all different forms of martial arts into the present Shao Lin Martial arts with the help of the marital arts masters in the records of history.  Bruce Lee is another chief in martial arts, being the first yellow skin to be honored by Hollywood.

India is another country, without wanting to copy Hollywood, it come up with Bollywood to feature their own films and industry over taking Hollywood in terms of movie production per year showcasing their own supremacy without following and instead start by leading and opening a new trail.

Supremacy is the way to go, if you don’t know what is your strengths, follow another person who knows their strengths and work closely with those people, and one day you will be considered as one of the co-founders of whatever is going to be the next supreme industry be it business, military, technology, science or others.

“Be the best at what you can do and constantly upgrade yourself to be the supreme leader of your niche” – That’s what I would say and tell to anybody who decides to take on entrepreneurship. Be the leaders and not the followers.

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Festival is an event staged by local community centers on the unique aspect of the community.

There are many types of festivals across the globe, from religious to arts, food, entertainment and seasonal festivals. The most talked about regardless of nationality will be the various religious festivals of respective countries.

Time and time again, religious festivals have being board cast on television shows numerous times and showing different types of religious cultures and festivals. Christianity and Buddhism are the most commonly featured on the media due to the yearly festival across the world.

Media telecast of religious festivals is to neither a good nor bad thing, it’s just another piece of news and allow people to get updates for people to follow up with.

Buddhism has quite a number of religious festivals that has being shown on television and in other media channels. With its deep roots and influence from all around South-East Asia, all the way from China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Iran, Afghanistan, India, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and in Singapore. With different religious practice and worshiping of different gods, generally we are all from the same roots, Buddhism just that our way of celebrating festivals might deter from among ourselves.

The scale and magnitude of how a country practice their own religious goes to show how united they are actually. I’m not trying to promote any religion here, but just that I was watching a Chinese show this afternoon and it help me understand the importance of culture, generations, unity,

Celebrating festivals is good way to build bonding, unity and getting to know one another of the same belief. Example like what I watched in the show, the dragon boat festival also known as the 端午節(Duan Wu Jie) is a good way to let people among the community interact with one another.

Dragon boat festival is especially successful in this aspect. Due to the involvement of lots of people, competition among respective dragon boat teams (different communities pit against each other) thus getting to know and understand respective cultures thus encouraging mutual understanding.

With a common celebration, it is not limited to a small group but it is done a big scale. Making of the dumplings in the kitchen increase the family bonding when the cook, and the assistance on a small scale.

Within a community, the village will work towards preparation for the dragon boat festival, all the festive practice; beliefs will be passed down to the next generations with participation and involvements thus strengthening the bonding among them.

Beyond community level, they cheer each of their own community to spur each other community to fight for the dragon boat championship thus increasing the tolerance for other communities with a common goal united as one.

Organizing a festival is hard-work but the rewards far exceed the cost of the festival strengthening themselves with their own country’s identity, culture and unity.

That is something which we all can learn from, to understand each other’s religion and practice instead of condemning and trying to stir up conflicts which results in only more signs of trouble etc.

Tolerance and mutual understanding is the way which we all should work towards together as a whole. Like wise in business, instead of trying to cut each other’s throat with reducing profits, getting into a price war competition, why not work together, spilt profits, and have win-win situation?

At times, when I read and watch news and getting to know businesses trying to fight for a bigger slice, it just amuse me to know how much they lack in terms of mutual respect and cooperation.

Most businesses outside are just dumb in my personal perspective, why can’t they learn a simple thing like cooperation like the politicians, government, helping one another? Although it’s true that businesses are making much more money than politicians, but they are killing each other instead of helping one another.

Businessmen should instead learn from entrepreneurs who are successful than businessmen themselves.

Festival is the way to go, respect, tolerance, and understanding is needed to build a relationship and a mutual beneficial business for profits and not losses seeing red figures.

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