WELCOME TO FUNNYLAND (Luna Park in Sydney, Australia)

My Singapore-based small business, Tangram Lab, recently celebrated its one-year anniversary. The idea for Tangram Lab was conceived shortly after launching this blog in 2009, when I’d emerged from the corporate cocoon fearful, raw, and relatively certain that I wouldn’t ever be flying back to it again. During this period, I was also immersed in rewriting a graduate thesis for the sixth time, researching doctoral programs, and volunteering at a few charities in New York— a period of dignified avoidance culminating in the realization that I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do with my stint on Earth. Although I was probably too young to be disenchanted with the opportunities life offered and too old to be pondering what I wanted to be when I grew up, that’s exactly where I found myself. Looking back, the recession probably didn’t help matters.

Over the course of a very dark week or so, I directed my free hours into designing “the perfect job at the perfect place which doesn’t currently exist and under the assumption that the human species has transcended its gauche and detestable obsession with money instead operating under a scheme weighing an individual’s positive and negative contributions to society.” Or something like that. The result of this exercise was Tangram Lab, an idea I nervously tried to sell to a few well-meaning smart folks, most of whom looked at me with a special kind of pity and said, “umm, I’m not sure what you have here is a business. How will you eat?”  Sadly, the etchings of Tangram Lab were concealed within a puke green folder and shoved into a filing cabinet. I went back to the business of trying to Google my future.

In the summer of 2010, my husband and I moved from New York to Singapore after he accepted a job that would require us to relocate.  Contrary to my own expectations, I soon found myself relegated to the status of “Dependent,” exempted from the vast majority of job openings, and looked upon as merely a stay at home foreigner wife.  As someone who had been entirely self-sufficient since the age of seventeen, I viewed a potential opportunity as a minor devastation to both the ego and the spirit. My choices seemed to boil down to a few: 1) I could join the legions of well-heeled expat ladies who lunch, minus the haute couture and social club memberships, 2) I could enroll in seminary school, secure an apprenticeship with an urban farmer, or pen international true crime books under a saucy pseudonym, all of which I considered, or 3) I could start my own business. Tangram Lab leapt out of the puke green folder, reshaped itself to fit inside all of the appropriate boxes, and ended up on a bureaucrat’s desk.

To be clear, Tangram Lab was not originally structured as a traditional for-profit business. In fact, other than being modeled on the basic characteristics of a social enterprise, I have not come across any entity like it in terms of offerings and overall goals, which I devised to span over a period of decades, as opposed to one or three or five years. I see it as a lifelong labor of love that will change form as it naturally evolves. However, Tangram Lab’s main function- to work on the periphery of seven dissimilar yet interconnected subjects (a Tangram is a Chinese puzzle made up of seven pieces and means “seven boards of skill,” by the way) will not change. Seeding Tangram Lab in the soil of a highly structured country has presented its own challenges. While some might say that the first year has been a successful one (I got a handful of clients right off the bat, I made some money, I worked on cool projects, yadda yadda yadda), I’ve made an incredible number of mistakes and by my own standards, the first year was largely a loss. Here’s why:

1.  I allowed a new environment’s financial expectations to compromise my original vision for the business.
Singapore is a capitalist mixed economy and the third wealthiest nation in the world. While people from all over the globe are clamoring to move here for work, Singaporean nationals have expressed their displeasure about the influx of foreign talent. Minimum income requirements for foreign talent have become more stringent and foreign entrepreneurs without permanent residency status must list a regular monthly salary on documentation they submit for approval to work here, even if they are opening their own company. I immediately felt financial pressure beyond my own basic needs after receiving business approval. This was exactly the opposite of how I should have been thinking about Tangram Lab, and I ended up accepting projects that did not align with the vision and goals of the business while working myself into the ground. To outsiders, I was succeeding by generating revenue and expanding my client base. By my own assessment, I was compromising the vision I had for Tangram Lab and began to resent the work. I ended up becoming depressed because of this.

2. I failed to promote my business and share my ideas in a new market.
Singapore is said to have one of the most evolved social media markets in the world and I just happen to have a lot of things I’d like to share, so it’s no wonder that I haven’t set up a Tangram Lab Facebook page or logged on to Twitter in about a year. That’s right, since launching the business my use of social media has decreased a thousand-fold, my blogging activities have stopped, and my participation at conferences and networking events has been a bit pathetic. Why? First, nearly all business for the year came through recommendations and word of mouth, so I didn’t feel an immediate need to engage in marketing. Second, I was burning the candle at both ends by accepting all work that came my way. Third, by the time strangers began sharing their lunches with me via Instagram, I became completely burned out on social media and disenchanted with the idea of self- promotion. The whole social media enchilada has never truly appealed to me on a grand scale. To be honest, I’d much rather be running in the park or petting the doggies at the local SPCA or tangibly sharing lunch with a real human being in the flesh than tweeting something along the lines of, “look at me! Look what I’m doing! Check me out!” I’m over it. Therefore, I viewed today’s marketing activities as a way to use up free time rather than just another (important) component of doing business.

3. Rules, rules, rules! I didn’t stay on top of all the rules and procedures associated with operating a business in a new country.
A few months ago, my employment pass (or lack thereof) was updated when my husband accepted a new job. Several days later, I received a notice in the mail stating that the Letter of Consent allowing me to work for my own company had been canceled due to this new pass classification. As soon as I’d found out that our passes were going to be changed, I should have marched down to the Ministry of Manpower to find out if and how this would impact my own employment and company. Instead, I failed to see a connection between the two and therefore had to wrap up all of my business activities until a new Letter of Consent was approved- which would take approximately six weeks. This was a devastating blow, but in hindsight, it was also rather serendipitous since I had lost the original direction of my business and desperately needed some peace and quiet to reevaluate where I was going with it. Some good news has since arrived in terms of my employment pass- I am now a Singapore Permanent Resident!

4.  I didn’t turn to the locals for help (or anyone, for that matter).
If there is one thing I could have used this year beyond capital or space or time, it is HELP. I could have used help figuring out what types of grants and assistance are available to me as an entrepreneur, but I never sought out that information beyond a quick check on the Internet. I think, as a foreigner, I felt like I’d be looked upon unfavorably for not arriving with bags of cash and infinite wisdom. I could have used help from the small local social enterprise community in honing my business model, but I felt that they probably wouldn’t have the time based on my initial interactions with social entrepreneurs when I first moved to Singapore. I probably should have hired an intern or staff member instead of scrambling for contractors or taking on all of the work myself. I should have tapped into my extended network for subject matter expertise and potential partnership, but I figured I would wait until the business concept felt more secure, whatever that means. This has more to do with my own warped perceptions of self-reliance than anything else, but I know that if I’m going to make a dent, I’m going to need a lot of help.

5. I began taking a poisonous sociocultural concept to heart.
Anyone who has spent time in China is familiar with the term “face” and the myriad challenges that come with the maintenance of “face.” In Singapore, a country comprised primarily of ethnic Chinese who share many of Mainland China’s traditions and perceptions including face, another similar concept also exists that adds an additional layer of pressure. Kiasu, a Hokkien term which literally means “fear of losing” is an ingrained aspect of society in Singapore, where failure is still seen to many as unacceptable even as the country endeavors to become the Silicon Valley of the East. For a foreigner living on a tiny island the scrutiny can appear to be magnified, especially when it comes to eschewing the path of conformity for one that remains untested. Falsely believing that I was no longer allowed to fail had the effect of turning me into a very quiet basket case, if only for a moment. Thomas Edison once said, “I’ve not failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” With this in mind, kiasu remains a foreign concept to me and I’m still plugging along.

I could easily fill this blog post with fifty, or even a hundred, business mistakes I made over the course of the year. However, these five jumped out at me as the most applicable to the brave souls who are venturing into entrepreneurship on foreign soil.  While I’ve identified potential fixes and workarounds for all of the above, I’m still not sure where Tangram Lab is going or if it will succeed in its original form. I’m not sure it even makes sense to most people and I still don’t know if it’s replicable, scalable, or economically sustainable. However, over the course of wandering without a compass or map, I’ve intuited that the only way I’m going to find any sense of value in my own life is if the work I do lends itself to building a future that is more loving, healthy and sane. I’m sure that will sound hippie and airy-fairy and even preposterous to some people, but when you take a look at the world we live in now, why would you ever want to do anything else?

I aim to get back to blogging semi-regularly. I’ll try to keep you posted on how the business is evolving here on this site, as well as any learnings, adventures and innovations I uncover along the way. Thanks for reading and if you have any questions or comments, please share! 

Singapore: One moon, one sun, thousands of wishing spheres

Researchers at the University of Hawaii disclosed this week that the Earth is likely being watched over by not one silvery sentinel, but two. Those of you who have shelved your social lives to read the most anticipated book of the year, Haruki Murakami’s 930 page tome, IQ84, may be feeling a bit on edge after learning this news. If you have yet to check it out, the cagey characters in Murakami’s Orwell-inspired tale (pronounced “Q-teen-eighty-four”) are indeed guided by two moons— one robust and familiar, the other small and sickly green— signifying a sinister parallel universe fraught with psychopathy, compromise, and inexplicable complication. Given the coincidence between our big blue marble and Murakami’s fictional one, perhaps the author’s real genius comes not from his literary prowess, but from his ability to prophesy. After all, how many of us this year have said, “is this for real?” or “what planet am I on?” or even, “stop the world, I want to get off”?

Like some of you, I’ve been preoccupied with figuring out how to escape cosmos A (war, famine, global warming, unemployment, usury, banksters, Newt Gingrich, the Kardashians, and privacy as defined by Facebook) and get to cosmos B (peace, abundance, awareness, fulfillment, jubilee, justice, competence, depth, and privacy as defined by people). This unfortunately left me with little appetite to blog. On a personal level, the Year of the Bunny has been a fast and twisted hop, one that often led me down the rabbit hole and into the unknown- from my first year in Singapore, my first go as a small business owner in the Eastern hemisphere, my first marathon, my first year feeling like a total outsider since the sixth grade and frankly, my first year sensing that nearly everything I’d been taught about the way life is supposed to work belonged in the manure heap (I’ve since concluded that yes, a lot of it was and is crap). So, with 2012 approaching— and taunting our minds with visions of doom thanks to bad movies and ancient rumor mills— I hope that we’ll at least begin to find the tunnel back to a world that’s wiser, saner, and kinder, a world with only one tried and true moon.

Unlike my favorite literary greats (Orwell, Huxley, Shteyngart, Atwood, H.G. Wells and Murakami to name a few), I have little confidence in predicting humanity’s future overall. As a long-time Asia-watcher with fairly strong training in socioeconomics, I am a tad more assured that my insights on opportunities and challenges East of the prime meridian will be worth a bit more than night soil (although an increase in biogas plants puts this assurance at great risk). Hence, in the Year of the Dragon here are eight things you should know:

Warning signs in China

1. If you’re struggling in the West, you can still head East for a fresh start… but it’s going to be more challenging to find a job and a welcome mat.
According to HSBC’s recent Expat Explorer Survey, Southeast Asia is a highly desirable destination for foreigners, with Singapore coming in as the most ideal expat location. Unigroup Worldwide issued a similar study showing a nearly 50% increase in the number of Americans moving to China. As an expat who has returned to Asia for the second time after eight years at home in New York, I can attest that the number of Westerners living and working in East Asia is staggering compared to what the population was here a decade ago. And, it’s no longer just entrepreneurial cowboys, ESL teachers and social misfits venturing to the other side of the world. Technology wizards and fresh MBAs from top-tier schools are clamoring to gain experience, language skills and spouses thousands of miles away from their roots. With this influx comes increasing pushback from the locals, many of whom shun Western values while complaining that foreign talent jeopardizes their own chances at landing good jobs and affordable housing. This is particularly true in developed urban areas- Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore, Seoul, and even Bali. Yes, Asia is an incredible place to live as an expat… but if you’re new here in 2012, expect very stiff competition and fewer smiles.

2. “Help Wanted” ads are still abundant in Asia… if you’re in the right field.
Media and technology companies in Asia are desperate for talent in user experience design, creative and analytics. This could be a promising transition for versatile journalists and English grads, as well as for extroverts who are mathematically inclined. Medical technologists, biomedical engineers and molecular biologists should have an easy time landing good gigs, as will health professionals specializing in elder care. A rapidly increasing awareness about mental health and the expanding foreign population also makes Asia a promising destination for psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers who have secondary language skills under their belts. No college degree? That will be a problem. More than ever, companies and bureaucrats in Asia seek highly educated professionals from recognized universities and are particularly interested in brain gain via returnees, otherwise known in China as ”sea turtles” (海龟, hǎiguī). And, while many of the expats I’ve met here have taken the traditional route working at MNCs and universities, an increasing number are experimenting with their own small businesses, launching social enterprises, and making their mark as artists.

Silkworm cocoons in Beijing: creepy crawlies are promising alternative food sources.

3. Freaky foods and rising food costs overall will be a big problem in 2012. Learn how to grow and prepare your own- no matter where you are.
Remember China’s melamine-tainted milk which sickened an estimated 300,000 babies in 2008 alone? Well, now the Mainland has glow in the dark meat, Japan’s got irradiated baby food, Malaysia’s dealing with e-coli flavored milk, and in Borneo I recently dined on the strangest genetically-modified corn I’d ever seen. Add to this, food poisoning is on the rise worldwide, sending millions to the hospital every single week. On the other hand, food prices have been steadily increasing— at 10% inflation in developing Asian nations at the first half of 2011— and have a very good chance of spiking again next year. More natural disasters makes food shortages another very real risk, as do viruses like bird flu and regional instability. Rather than relying on unknown sources for your nutrition, why not learn how to grow and prepare at least some of your own? Urban farming, locavorism and a return to cooking at home will become hot trends throughout Asia as more people on this side of the planet gain awareness on nutrition and socially-conscious living while being directly impacted by the threat of food insecurity. Additionally, farmers and scientists will continue to experiment with alternative growth methods like hydroponics and unusual food sources like bugs, worms, and tissue-cultured meat.

4. Consciousness about what and how Asia consumes will take center stage.
Consider GIFT founder Chandran Nair’s dire warning about development and supply in East Asia: “If 500 million Chinese people are lifted out of poverty in the next twenty years, what will they do? They want seafood… If 500 million Chinese start consuming one meal of fish like you and I do, the oceans will be empty. There is no technological fix. There is no social network that will fix this problem.” As the whole of East Asia’s economies gradually begin to improve, rapid depletion of resources and other related problems like increased production of methane gas from rising beef demand will become the most pressing global challenge of the decade. But of course, the West cannot just tell the East, “we had our cake. Sorry, you won’t get to eat yours.” Thankfully, more socially responsible diets like veganism and vegetarianism are on the rise. Additionally, less Asian consumers crave wasteful dishes like shark fin soup. In fact, Peninsula Hotels, Asia’s longest running luxury hotel chain, has just taken shark fin off their menus. Will moneyed Singaporeans, Middle East royalty and nouveau riche Chinese stop shopping at the malls just because the Earth is in peril? Probably not… without government intervention…and I don’t think that’s something we should rule out.

Bling and Booze... Western values according to a Malaysian cabbie

5. Beijing is going to have difficulty attracting and retaining global talent because of pollution.  Increasing ire about this issue is expected.
Just a few weeks ago, the US Embassy issued a new warning about Beijing’s air. Air quality no longer hovered in the familiar realm of “poor,” but had instead reached “poisonous” status. Expats from global companies were given gas masks and many just chose to stay home, while locals found themselves blindly wading through the soupy air. I was in Beijing a few months ago and can attest to the validity of these dire warnings; the city no longer feels like a safe place to live, work and raise a family simply because it’s so difficult to breathe. If you must spend time in China’s capital, invest in a good pollution mask and make sure you can telecommute if need be. Better yet, tell the government that you won’t be going to Beijing anymore until it cleans up its act (you may want to add that you’re not talking about quick fixes like cloud seeding…)

6. Massive uprises against corruption will continue in both the East and the West. Ditto with income inequality and corporate greed…expect wide scale protest.
While Occupy Wall Street protesters in America were busy fighting off the paramilitary police and defending themselves from the wrath of mainstream media, millions in East Asia blockaded villages, let loose poisonous snakes in government offices, fired off homemade rockets at barricades and security troops, and set fire to structures of significance- including themselves. In China, Nepal, India, Mongolia, Russia, the Philippines, the Middle East, Thailand, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and pretty much everywhere else in Asia (except Singapore), people are fed up with oppression and are now willing to put their own lives on the line in order to create a better future. Given that the conditions spawning these protests will remain unchanged barring some alien intervention or massive altered collective consciousness among the 1%, I expect that 2012 will be a year marked by incredible unrest as the majority fights for fairness… and it will be a bloody, ugly fight.

Business as usual at a market in Borneo

7. We’re going to act like it’s the end of the world…
Thanks to Hollywood and mainstream media, our global population is either freaking out or going Zen as we count down to December 21, 2012, otherwise known as “the end of the world,” according to Mayan prophesy. The I-Ching, Asia’s most well-known book of divination and an ancient classic Chinese text, is also said to indicate a similar doomsday date, although neither of these predictions specifically explain what the end of the world would look like. How will this declared expiration date impact our societies and daily lives?  Although I anticipate far less hysteria here in Asia than I do in the West, expect increases in violence, impulsive behavior and anxiety as well as decreases in work productivity on account of the entertainment industry, which is thankfully a lesser provocateur in this neck of the woods.

8. … and that might not be such a bad idea. 
While I don’t advocate selling all of your personal belongings and living in the woods, it’s no secret that humanity has reached a boiling point. We’ll be forced to make massive changes in the near future if we wish to ensure our survival. Asia represents 4 billion people- nearly 60 percent of the global population- and is home to the fastest growing economies in the world. As the West struggles to stay afloat, Asia’s people are hard at work building families, cities, armies, companies, and innovations that will greatly influence the international community over the next decade. With 7 billion bodies on the planet, rapidly depleting finite resources and a majority of people unhappy and hungering for change— not stuff— 2012 could be our last ditch effort. Think of it as a time not only for reflection and alterations in our daily habits, but as a season of fearlessness and unrestrained creativity to build a new and better society for all. What can we accomplish in 364 days… and counting?

I wish you all a wonderful holiday and an auspicious, brave New Year. Thanks for reading!

given we have already altered our environment in ways that may be viewed as unethical by universalist ETI, it may be prudent to avoid sending any message that shows evidence of our negative environmental impact. The chemical composition of Earth’s atmosphere over recent time may be a poor choice for a message because it would show a rapid accumulation of carbon dioxide from human activity. Likewise, any message that indicates widespread loss of biodiversity or rapid rates of expansion may be dangerous if received by such universalist ETI. On the other hand, advanced ETI may already know about our rapid environmental impact by listening to leaked electromagnetic signals or observing changes in Earth’s spectral signature. In this case, it might be prudent for any message we send to avoid denying our environmental impact so as to avoid the ETI catching us in a lie.

Ironically, reports of UFO activity in China have caught the attention of global news outlets this month, from an “unusual cloud”  in Chongqing resulting in the shutdown of Jiangbei International Airport to a super colossal sphere of light seen from Shanghai to Beijing. Even a few days ago- after cheering on Joe Biden’s caravan as it sped through Jianguomen- I gazed up at the night sky to witness two multi-colored triangular shapes hovering overhead. “Military intelligence? Spy technology? Alien armchair politicians? A sale at Uniqlo?” I pondered. “Just a few kites,” I was told. Still, I wonder… After spending the past week in Beijing, unable to run outside or breathe through my nose or open my eyes all the way without crying, I suspect that- given this scenario analysis is correct and ETIs do in fact exist (and we’d be arrogant to think that they don’t)- China will be their first stop on Earth once they figure out how to navigate through the dull gray scourge that blankets it. Disclaimer: I had not been back to Beijing since Nov. 2002- not since that fateful day when I’d abruptly decided to leave my home in Shandong for my home in New York. Beijing is not China to me. Beijing is the headliner for horror stories- the black jails and bird flu and that unknown incident in a famous square. And on a personal level, Beijing is a dream derailed and a relationship soured; I’d stayed South ever since. My return was thus laced with a small dose of PTSD and my expectations- save for a trek on the Great Wall- were quite low.

And so, I should not have been surprised when- after going through immigration at Beijing Capital Airport, past all the signs reminding me that I too am an alien, and emerging into the dusk- I instantly felt a grip on my lungs. All the air quality index tweets and blog photos of pollution stew could not have prepared me for this. Was I having a panic attack? Were past memories triggering a physical meltdown? Nope. Just a concoction of oxides, compounds and particulates asphyxiating my life force, suppressing the most important activity we humans do every single second of every day. Breathe. This simple oversight- never mind all of the other issues that China now contends with- makes mention of China as a “developed country” laughable. Thankfully, as an alien, I have the option of leaving when I want to, when my body breaks down and demands clean air. The vast majority of the residents of Beijing- the children especially- do not. A city can have all of the Bugatti dealerships and Gucci stores it desires, but if it cannot provide its populace with clean air to breathe and safe food to eat, then its leaders aren’t doing such a great job.

This brings me back to the ETIs. As a guilt-ridden American expat in Asia, I have generally tried to be sensitive about openly criticizing a government which is not my own. And yet, when an issue directly impacts the future of this planet- a planet that we have to share whether or not we agree with each others views- that issue (severe pollution and global warming in this case) becomes collective business independent of politics, citizenship or race. The NASA scenario analysis goes on to state:

“Humanity may just now be entering the period in which its rapid civilizational expansion could be detected by an ETI because our expansion is changing the composition of the Earth’s atmosphere, via greenhouse gas emissions, which therefore changes the spectral signature of the Earth. While it is difficult to estimate the likelihood of this scenario, it should at a minimum give us pause as we evaluate our expansive tendencies.

Instead of waiting for an intergalactic savior or foe to intervene, perhaps it is time to take a good, hard look at what development and nationalism actually mean in the face of a planet that we all rely on for the continuance of our own species. That said, if a UFO does decide to make an appearance on the ground anytime soon, my official bet is on Beijing… the roads are wide and Tiananmen would make a great landing field.

Do you think that the global community has a right to put more pressure on China for its environmental situation? Where do the boundaries lie? If aliens did invade our planet and threaten to destroy us if we did not clean up our act, would we? Have your say in the comments section.

In the capital cities of the two most influential nations in the world, this type of production is a true favorite. Political theatre at its finest, there are the enigmatic and omnipotent villains, intensely blamed and yet never clearly defined. The rising action, with all its twists and turns, will have you transfixed right up to the climax, which clings to the precipice of misfortune or maybe, just maybe, redemption. And then, of course, there is the Great Denouement- what we often refer to as reality- of lives and livelihoods lost, of angered voices stilled. As much as the performance may suck us in, these tragedies are never about us- or our families, our health, our jobs, our safety, our bank accounts, our futures. And whether the stage is in Beijing or Washington, you can’t guarantee that we as the ticket holding audience will get our money’s worth. But, before you fill your bags with tomatoes, let’s clear up something: these actors, like any actor, are not evil aliens from a distant fiery planet. They are human beings. And like most human beings, they have good intentions based on a narrow and self-interested lens.

Say you’re an American spectator in China. After paying close attention to the actors, one of the first traits you may notice is that they almost never admit to their mistakes, even if that mistake has cost hundreds of lives. An admission of error would mean loss of face and confirmation of failure, which would be a sin against the parents and teachers who fully believed that their little stars would grow up to be the best in the world. One can assume then that those who rise to the top of the billing as government officials are the ones who have been pushed the most, who have trained the hardest, and who understand well what an incredible burden it is to be perfect all the time. For a character study, I recommend scanning the comment sections of articles pertaining to Amy Chua’s book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, where you will find a fair number of high-achieving Chinese who convey that they are psychically wounded and unable to forge true bonds.

Similarly, a Chinese ticket-holder in America might notice how aggressive and flamboyant the actors are, placing style over substance much of the time. “Why does everyone need to be so individualistic?” the Chinese viewer may wonder. Just as perfection in the Chinese family is valued, many American tots are weaned on tough love and power from a very young age, with the struggle to be seen and heard commencing upon exit from the womb. The stage is distinctly USA, where divorce rates hover around 50 percent, child abuse is rampant, and drug and alcohol addiction seem to be the norm. But, no one needs to write a book on the outcomes of American-style parenting- the tabloids and headlines do a fine job already. Did you hear the news that Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan are partying together again? And how many shootings in the US was there this week?

So, what if the roles were reversed? What if the troupe in D.C. had to address the high-speed bullet train collision (if the US actually had a high-speed bullet train) while those in Beijing tackled the debt debates (if China actually had these financial problems)? My guess is that China would never allow a potential default, instead collectively deciding behind closed doors to raise the debt ceiling far before the issue ever became public enough to impact national confidence. As for a train crash scenario in the US, it would have been handled in a manner that conveyed sensitivity and investigative thoroughness while fully acknowledging public grief. China and America have a lot to learn from one another.

We all grow out of childhood, but the personalities constructed during these impressionable years and the masks we wear thereafter are really what shape the “system” that we all tend to point our fingers at. And so, as I’ve watched the tear-jerkers in Beijing and Washington this month, I’ve focused not on the systemic problems themselves, but on the people behind them.
I watched Speaker of the House, John Boehner- the second eldest in a blue-collar family of eleven children who had to work his butt off from a very young age in order to make something of himself- tell his fellow conservatives, “get your ass in line!” I watched President Obama- a precocious third-culture kid from an intellectual, single-parent home- plead for assistance from his supporters. And then, I “watched” the officials from Beijing as they expressed calm power from behind a wall of faceless authority- behavior ingrained in the culture far before the Forbidden Palace was conceived. From this, I’ve concluded that the finale of any tragedy like the two I’m referring to are not dependent on what we the audience wants, but what they- the actors- are capable of showing us.

When the curtain falls, we are all just people. From a psychological standpoint, this means that our personality traits are pretty predictive by the time we’re out of diapers and have quit sucking our thumbs. Philosophically, it could also mean that, no matter what our station in life, we operate with our own interests in mind. Thankfully, humanity cannot be distilled down to simple philosophical and psychological perspectives. Our species is far too valuable, complex, and evolving. When we begin to design systems that serve humankind by internalizing the common bonds between all of us and appreciating what we can learn from one another, we will be on the right track. For the time being, maybe we should get to know the children we once were by playing nice, showing kindness, and opening ourselves up once again to all the wonders and possibilities of our world and each other.

View of Athens from the Acropolis

Athens is not the crumbling slum you’d expect in a country on the brink of economic collapse. Most of the residential buildings appear to be occupied and well-preserved save for the graffiti that scars nearly every flat surface. Historical monuments like the Parthenon could use some tender loving care, but they still manage to attract thousands of tourists each day. The main roads are in relatively good shape and, in terms of cleanliness, the subway system in Athens puts New York City’s to shame. And of course, there are the tavernas- the true cultural attractions of Greece- which continue to lure in customers with their salads, saganaki, and spinach pies. It’s true- you have not experienced the sweet and juicy brilliance of a tomato until you’ve tried one in Greece. By outward appearances alone, it is difficult to understand Greece’s new reality as a country with a $435 billion debt and no viable long-term plan to dig itself out of a very large hole.

A shop in Plaka, Athens

“The protests usually start around 6pm every evening,” a waitress informed me. “Tuesday and Wednesday will be the big ones; the weekend is pretty quiet.” And big they were, injuring dozens of demonstrators and police officers while Wall Street rallied on the Greek austerity vote. Activities on the Saturday prior were comparatively uneventful. A group of frustrated twenty-somethings juggled, danced and napped in a protest camp of around fifty tents pitched smack-dab in the center of Syntagma Square. Posters and banners decorated the walls surrounding the Square, deriding the usual suspects- the IMF, Goldman Sachs, the EU, the USA, capitalism, war, and bigotry. Two dozen or so demonstrators dressed in black robes and white face masks silently assembled in front of Parliament while armed guards coolly kept watch. Angry middle-aged professionals, curious tourists and jumpy teens collected around the staircase opposite Parliament, all seemingly waiting for, well… something. A life-sized doll tethered from a noose was dragged out momentarily to the side of the street while beer and flag vendors twiddled their thumbs. Yes, there was frustration in the air, but if you ask Greek locals exactly why their country is in such a pickle and who they’re pointing the finger at, you’re likely to get an array of answers.

Protesters in Syntagma Square

My generation, Gen Y, seems to blame globalization, crony capitalism, and resulting income disparity. Graffiti bearing slogans like “no war but class war” and “fuck progress, free everyone” represents this view. “We’ve got the solution, revolution” one banner reads; another bears a logo associated with the cyber-activist group, Anonymous. Red anarchy symbols peppered throughout the city are hard to miss. As in the rest of the world, the thirty-five and under set in Greece are beginning to seriously question the systems that shaped their parents lives. “These kids are really angry because they are smart and hard-working and yet they have no jobs,” a longtime Greek expat from Malawi informs me. “They go to school to become doctors and lawyers and engineers, and then they graduate in an economy that has no work for them. We don’t need anymore doctors or lawyers or engineers. We need plumbers. These kids won’t accept this.”

Protest banners in Syntagma Square

A taxi driver in his forties sees things differently. “Our politicians are in the black market business,” he explains. “We buy our electricity from Bulgaria now. This highway we’re on was built by the Germans- they split the profits with our government. Too many of our politicians are piranhas. Once they start eating, they don’t stop.”
”But they’ll have to listen to the people if they’re all protesting in the streets,” I say.
”Piranhas don’t have ears,” he answers. “Do you know how much the Special Olympics cost us to host this week? 100 million Euro. We are broke and these piranhas pay 100 million Euro anyway. Too many people in this country don’t want to work. They don’t want to drive a taxi like me. They just want to relax.”
Another local gentleman in his sixties has a different take. “Our Prime Minister Papandreou went to school in Stockholm. Now he thinks he can run Greece like Sweden is run. But we are Greeks. Our culture is very different. We must have our own way of doing things, not try to copy other countries.”

Poster in front of Parliament

And then there are the voices at the fringe, big enough and loud enough and uncomfortable enough not to be ignored. Some of them believe that it is the foreigners who have ruined their country; the target du jour are the Arabs who have fled to Athens in search of a better life. But, to the hate groups who have planted roots in the city, anyone of a race or religion not their own is viewed with contempt. My husband and I should know. As we walked across Syntagma Square in search of caffeine, three young men dressed head to toe in black crossed our path. “Sieg Heil,” one spat when we made eye contact. Down the street, in front of the University of Athens, a small protest camp of Afghan refugees were assembled in a few weather-beaten tents, sharing their story through a collage of grotesque images from the war. One poster read: “Why have NATO forces been unable, for years now, to defeat the terrorism of the Taliban? It seems clear that this is not their actual goal. The sufferings of our country are ignored by most everyone. To return would mean death for most of us.” After eight months of trying, they persist in their appeal for political asylum. They’ve even gone on a hunger strike and physically sewed their mouths shut. While these measures might seem extreme, I could not begin to imagine what their journey was like just to get out of Afghanistan… and what it would mean to have to go back.

Afghan political asylum protest camp in Athens

“What do you think will happen to Greece?” I asked nearly everyone I came in contact with throughout the duration of my trip. “They will default within the next few months,” was the predominant answer from non-Greek friends and acquaintances. A Cretan offered this ultimatum: “There are 11 million Greek people; 6 million are in Athens. Here in Kriti we have the sun, we grow our own vegetables, we fish, we share with our neighbors… no matter what, we will always survive. Our people in Athens need to come back to the countryside. If they don’t leave the city, they will die.” No matter what future measures are taken to prevent default and its aftermath, Greece has an incredible struggle ahead of it. The country- while one of the most fertile and breathtaking in the world- is deeply uncompetitive, its people unwilling to accept the dog-eat-dog world of globalization and free trade. But perhaps, in the long run- and as long as they can hold onto most of their land- they will be better off. How many nations are left that honor their soil, their seas, their families and their traditions like Greece does? How many people on Earth are left who can rely solely on a small patch of land and the kindness of neighbors for sustenance?

Stay human.

On my last day in Athens, I passed a man wearing a T-shirt which read, “Stay Human,” and I could not help but think that this is the solution not only for Greece, but for all of us.

Thanks for reading. I’d love your take on the future of Greece, as well as your opinions on what being human means in a world that seems to be making us less so. Have at it in the comments section.

While “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” is certainly still relevant today, when dirty politicians and scandalous headlines seem to be the norm in America, I did not expect to wake up this morning to yet more examples of Western media manipulation around an event that should instead be resoundingly celebrated. I’m referring to the release of Ai Weiwei, the Chinese artist and activist who has been held in detention for eleven weeks after he was netted by China along with other outspoken individuals during a period of potential civil unrest. The crime that led to Ai’s arrest depends on who you choose to believe. The Chinese government cites tax evasion, which Ai has apparently confessed to. The rest of the world would probably argue with this charge and claim instead that Ai was perceived as a threat to China’s security and stability, especially during a time of intense protest across the globe. I generally tend to give China the benefit of the doubt, but I’ve got to agree with the rest of the world on this one… 

 

As I pored over media coverage of this small and perhaps temporary victory- Ai Weiwei is still being investigated- I noticed that the language used to describe the event was less than positive. In fact, it was a bit similar to the tone of coverage surrounding another controversial figure, Julian Assange, following his release from jail.  On the eve of Ai’s release, The Wall Street Journal ran a story entitled, “US Museum Directors to Ai Weiwei: Drop Dead” which alleged that the art world had collectively turned its back on Ai and vilified the Association of Art Directors (AAMD); their members have actually actively supported Ai since the beginning. Unsurprisingly, outrage over the paper’s erroneous story ensued; the Wall Street Journal has recently scrubbed the article from its website. The BBC and others have since downplayed emotional reactions to the end of Ai’s detainment, referring to it as a “muted” and “guarded welcome,” while other outlets like The Daily Mail have instead chosen to focus on Ai’s “tax evasion confession.” No matter what specific treatment mainstream media outlets have given to this story, one thing is clear: very few are actually highlighting the real scoop, the one about a highly nervous government, its increasing clampdown on freedom of expression and heightened internet censorship, and all of the so-called dissidents that are still missing or behind bars.  

 

We live in an age where the public exploration of painful yet necessary truths is increasingly scarce, one where opinion is far too often shaped by dollar signs. Mainstream media will always have politicians and advertisers to answer to- I understand that. But, they also have a large responsibility in where our collective society is headed and… we’re in trouble here, folks. Between too-big-to-fail multinationals, increasing public sector corruption, and government systems that rank money over humanity, things are not looking good. Journalists- many of whom enter the profession as seekers of justice and champions of the unheard masses- can either insist on unbiased truth-telling no matter what or prostrate to the companies they work for while sacrificing their own integrity. Let’s not forget that some people’s lives depend on the former and that, in the end, we all have to live on this planet together. Welcome home to Ai Weiwei, and thanks for reading.

1. If you haven’t done so already, consider registering with your embassy. You can easily do this online. The U.S. Department of State offers a free service, The Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to aid in assisting Americans abroad in the event of an emergency. It also provides travel warnings and travel alerts. Most other countries offer similar programs.

2. Create an easily accessible document listing important emergency numbers. I recommend listing five direct contacts, with at least one in your home country and one in the country that you’re currently residing in. Include their email addresses and home addresses, if possible. Also list local emergency numbers for ambulance, fire and police as well as the phone number for your country’s embassy. Email yourself a copy of this information, create an emergency file on your hard drive, and print out two copies to keep in your home and workplace. Downloading this information to an encrypted thumb drive isn’t a bad idea either (see #6).

3. Create a document containing emergency medical information and, if applicable, share it with your spouse. This document should include the names and phone numbers of your regular physician and dentist, any medical conditions and drug/food allergies you may have, your insurance information (if any), and your blood type. You may also wish to indicate whether or not you’re an organ donor. As this information can be very personal, you may just wish to share it with your family via an encrypted file kept on your desktop or thumb drive, and/or on a piece of paper stored in a safe place.

4. Assuming that you have a strong partnership, you probably want to share other important information with your spouse and/or children, including your social security number, your passport number and your banking number. This is a very personal decision and one that should never be taken lightly. In other words, if you’ve only been dating for a few weeks, you might want to rethink this level of openness.

5. Step Five is very important and often overlooked because we assume that our mobile phones and internet connections will work in any situation. WRONG. In case of a disaster which compromises communication lines, establish at least THREE meeting places to convene with your loved ones. The first place should be your home. I recommend that the second place be approximately 5-10 miles away from your home, and the third place be 15+ miles away. Workplaces, airports, embassies, and sports arenas are good alternative venues to list. Be sure to discuss a meeting plan with all of your family members.

6. I highly recommend creating an encrypted thumb drive containing your emergency medical information, emergency contact numbers, and other important information like your social security number, banking numbers, and passport number. Be sure to store this in a safe place and only share your password with the few people you’d trust your life with.

7. Pack an emergency “GO BAG” for each of your family members. A durable but lightweight backpack or duffle bag with an identification tag is sufficient. Items should include:

• Important prescription medications and OTC drugs like ibuprofen and antibacterial cream
• First aid supplies, including bandages, gauze, alcohol swabs, scissors and burn relief  cream, Epi-pens and cotton balls
• Non-perishable food items and a large thermos of water. Recommendations call for a gallon of water per day, but you need to be able to carry your bag, so… I’d personally go with a reusable thermos. Don’t forget a can opener.
• A flashlight and a battery-powered hand crank radio for emergency reports. Be sure those batteries are good!
• Matches and a lighter
• Water purification tablets
• Duct tape
• Extra batteries for both the flashlight and the radio…
• A charger for your cell phone, a backup battery and, if possible, an extra cell phone
• At least one full change of clothes, a blanket and some comfortable shoes
• A whistle and, if legal in your area, some pepper spray
• Copies of important documents kept in a waterproof envelope. Be sure to include copies of your passport, your driver’s license, proof of residence, and your birth certificate
• Pictures of your family
• Plastic garbage bags, ziploc bags and a roll of toilet paper
• Notebook and pens
• If you’re female, don’t forget sanitary napkins or tampons
• A small box of hand and foot warmers
• A face mask, like the N95 mask. There’s still some debate over whether or not it really protects against viruses, but I’d include it
• Local map and compass
• Cold, hard cash in ziploc bags. I personally recommend carrying at least $200 in US currency, $200 Euro, and $300 in the currency of the country you’re residing in. An activated extra credit card and travelers checks are also handy to have. However, in an emergency, cash is king.
• If you have a beloved pet, be sure to pack a few cans of pet food and some extra water, as well as any essential medications
• A good luck charm. Maybe it’s a life-changing book or a family trinket or a framed photo that reminds you of the best day of your life. Whatever it is, it should have special importance to you

8. In addition to the GO BAG, an at-home emergency kit is essential. Items should include all of the above. High-calorie food items like peanut butter and at least a few gallons of water per person is a smart idea. Walkie-talkies, a strong multi-tool with a blade and pliers, ponchos, a thick towel, and a spare set of keys are also items to consider including. You can organize the contents of this kit in a durable bag or a Rubbermaid tub and store it in an easy-to-access place like a front hall closet or under the bed. What’s most important is that it’s filled and up-to-date and that every member of your family knows where it is.

9. If you haven’t had the highly uncomfortable “worst-case scenario” conversation with your partner or closest loved one and a lawyer, you might want to consider just getting it over with now. The conversation and agreements should include a living will (organ donation, what happens if you become incapacitated, etc.), life insurance information, and preferences for burial/funeral. This is a difficult talk to have, but for anyone with a family, it’s also a very important one. For an easy three-step approach, chat about the basics, visit with a lawyer to create a living will, and place the rest of the information on an encrypted thumb drive (don’t forget to share the password and consult with your lawyer).

10. Learn about survival. Some of us have already had to apply our survival skills in one way or another, whether because of a life-threatening accident or illness, homelessness, violence,
or a particularly difficult life challenge. Survival training of any type- whether a self-defense course, outdoor survival school, endurance training, sea survival, or emergency rescue- are extremely helpful in boosting both your knowledge and your confidence. In addition to manuals on first aid and edible plants, two books I highly recommend reading are The Survivor’s Club and Man’s Search for Meaning. Finally, beyond the classes, sticky situations and trips to the emergency room, if there’s anything I’ve learned about survival, it’s that faith is the enemy of despair. Believe in something.

”Ultimately, what defines a survivor is the talent for making the most of life, however much remains.” – Ben Sherwood

Kampung Pondo is a community of a few thousand people who live just above the South China Sea off Gaya Island in Borneo.

Many of the residents are refugees from Mindanao in the Philippines. They are unfortunately considered an illegal and dangerous clan by urban locals in Kota Kinabalu.

The settlement is rumored to harbor terrorists and to be heavily engaged in the drugs and weapons trade.

Kampung Pondo has been destroyed at least twice (in 1994 and 1998) by fires. There was also shootout in 2006 which injured five Marine police officers.

I didn't see any drugs or terrorists or shootouts. What I did see was a lot of kids.

Kids swimming and playing, kids scampering across thin wooden beams, kids waving at the stranger in the small white boat.

I was told that the Filipino refugee children cannot legally attend school.

When I first heard this, I was horrified. But then I realized that these kids are a lot more educated about life than the children at public school are.

They know how to build a home. How to catch and prepare their food. They know which plants and fish are edible. How to clean a wound. How to adapt.

This is the third sea gypsy community I've been to. I'm a bit obsessed. I want to know if they are happier than us modern, city folk. I want to know how they know so much about the future before it happens.

They know when a tsunami is on its way and which animals are disappearing. They know that the earth is in great danger.

But they don't watch TV and they don't really read the news. I don't think many of them own laptops or iPhones either.

These communities save things. Save everything. Their days are surrounded by the waste of the city.

Kampung Pondo is scary, so I hear. When you say "Kampung Pondo," that's all the locals really tell you. "It's dangerous. It's dirty."

I was greeted with warmth. I just wish I'd had the guts to hang out and help with dinner.

We're all just human beings, after all. Just trying to survive.

The kids splashing in the sea are definitely not terrorists.

Resilience, resourcefulness, and a respect for nature...

A wish for peace.

As I write this post following several months of consciously avoiding expressing what has been on my mind, a government shutdown looms in America which may result in the furlough of approximately 800,000 federal employees and the closing of national parks, museums and offices providing valuable public services. The social and economic toll of this shutdown will be widely felt. Tens of thousands of federal workers and service providers may not receive their paychecks during this time. Popular destinations like the Grand Canyon and the Smithsonian will be empty at the height of the tourist season. And, if you tally up the federal workers and private sector employees who will be directly impacted, we’re talking about a million lives- and salaries- being put on hold indefinitely. Simultaneous to this fiasco, the U.S. is spending $4 million a day on the war in Libya- add that to the more than $1 trillion in military spending in Iraq and Afghanistan. And yes, America may be closed but the wars will still go on.

If you are an American or you read the news, I do not have to tell you how bad the situation has become. You probably already know that nearly 25 percent of children in the US today live below the poverty line. And, I’m sure you realize that the jobs data isn’t quite right and that actually, one in six Americans are under- or unemployed. You’re likely aware that homelessness is rising at an alarming rate, that millions can no longer afford a roof over their heads and that massive numbers of students are graduating college with tens of thousands of dollars in debt and no job prospects in sight. It’s all extremely depressing news, particularly since there are few solutions on the table and the federal government doesn’t seem to give a damn. After all, they’re too busy bickering with each other while entertaining their deep-pocketed friends on the golf course. Perhaps you feel that I’m being cynical but I’d say it’s a pretty fair assessment.

Since I launched this blog, I’ve tried to highlight positive aspects, ideas and solutions in the majority of my posts. And, I’ll forever encourage people to seek out new experiences, learn new languages, experience different cultures, and see the world. After all, that’s why I began writing here in the first place- to share my insights as an adult “trans-culture kid” who has spent a chunk of the last decade living in and learning about East Asia. However, I am first and foremost an American with deeply-rooted sentiments about my homeland, due in part to the political and military narratives in my own family tree and the persistent childhood dream that I would one day be President (as well as a poet, veterinarian and hairdresser). Therefore, I am keenly aware that the bonds I have to the land of the free and home of the brave (right?) are, in many ways, unbreakable. With that stated, I’m going to offer a little advice to those of you who are in a tough transitional period that seems like it does not have an ending in a country that is being decimated by incompetence, greed, petty politics and the resulting apathy. As I type this, I am specifically thinking of many young people who cannot afford higher education in America or who cannot find a job in their field or who are about to lose the roof over their heads. So, here’s my actionable two cents: either become a REAL catalyst of change and devote yourself to helping your homeland and its citizens OR leave for a while. Get out. For many, this situation is kind of like being confronted by the bully on the playground all over again. You can fight, or you can walk away.

So, you can move to another country. Learn a new language. If you have a degree or a valuable skill that’s going to waste, find a place that could use your expertise. If you can’t afford college in the U.S., look at some of the great programs abroad in countries like Singapore or Australia or, heck, China. Go teach English somewhere. Lawyer or M.A. out of work? Many companies overseas would be happy to have you. Volunteer for a year or two with an NGO. Entrepreneurial? Find out which countries are entrepreneur-friendly and in need of your type of business. Or, just load up a backpack and travel. You can trek the world for next to nothing if you’re willing to get your hands dirty along the way. I recently met a guy from New York in Singapore en route to Poland by land who was doing just this. Incredible. Life-altering. While you’re abroad, you’ll have the rare and precious opportunity to show new friends that Americans aren’t all reality television stars or Wall St. crooks or gun-toting gangsters. You may even be able, in a very small but meaningful way, to repair some of the damage caused by endless, brutal wars. If this sounds like the option for you- learning and living in another land for a while- there is always a way. However, if you’d prefer or need to stick things out at home, the best thing you could possibly do is fully embrace the power of voice and choice that comprises the unique American spirit. After all, it is your country.

“All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.”
– Thomas Jefferson

We all have insecurities- every single one of us. They tend to creep up at the worst possible times and they thrive on undermining the reality of what we’re actually made of. The more we believe that they’re tangible truths, the more they become a part of us. I’ve been glued to the Amy Chua Tiger Mommy saga that’s unfolded over the past two weeks, not so much because I’m interested in her parenting wisdom (I’m so not), but more because I’ve appreciated reading the hundreds of comments from brave people who are wrestling with insecurities on behalf of some less-than-ideal child rearing techniques. Believe me, I get it. Having people that you literally and figuratively look up to call you “stupid” or “worthless” will breed entire families of “insecurity rats” that chew on your spirit and piss on your dreams (Mrs. Chua, I would advise that you get your daughters into therapy. Seriously). I’ve managed to exterminate most of mine, but there are still a few resilient ones sneaking around, like the fat guy who dines on “Harvard.” Strange, right?

If you haven’t tuned in to the commenters who’ve responded to Tiger Mom, I will tell you that there are many financially successful adults, Chinese and otherwise, plagued by debilitating anxieties which were seeded from the idea that they must, individually, be THE BEST. Sound familiar? Remember America, THE BEST country in the world? You wouldn’t know it from the recent headlines detailing record-high unemployment, rampant corruption, decaying infrastructure and not-so-subtle suggestions that the U.S. may just be #2 now. In fact, a recent poll conducted by Pew Research Center shows that 47 percent of Americans believe that China is now the top economic power (compared with 41 percent who believe that America still holds the number one spot). How odd! As this ludicrous contest persists- #1 or else!- America’s been doing some pretty weird things, like investing in weapons instead of education and continuing to focus on old models like Big Oil instead of embracing new frontiers like greentech. The recent headlines are even more bizarre, whether it’s Rush Limbaugh’s shameful and ridiculing impersonation of the Chinese language or the press’s constant reference to the US-China  “competitive relationship” and a “potential cold war.” Can we attribute some of this American weirdness to insecurity? I think so.

So, when should we collectively agree that there’s really no such thing as “THE BEST?” When can we as human beings be allowed to focus on our personal potential instead of holding ourselves up to some impossible ideal or worse, promoting the idea that parents should deprive their children of their own unique power in order to become “powerful” by narrow and nebulous societal standards? And, when can America stop fretting about China’s rise and start focusing instead on what the U.S. is uniquely skilled at while supporting its millions of talented citizens in their own endeavors? Americans are super creative! They’re really bold! They think BIG! And, a lot of them really do want to make the world a better place! But, forget THE BEST. Screw #1. It’s a myth and the more we buy into it, the more we end up looking like “jerks” or “dummies” or “losers” or all the other things that gnawing voice of insecurity tells us we are. SHINE. Be the awesomeness that YOU are instead of focusing on the other guy. Forget the rats. Now, would someone mind passing this advice along to Congress before their meeting with President Hu tomorrow?