Shaun T. Dy's Business & Economics Perspective Blog

It's funny how I look at Facebook and find several ironic things. A few years back, there was a Facebook page that I think was called Heneral Luna (General Luna) . It had a meme that mentioned that the first world countries didn't become industrialized by accepting FDIs but through a land reform where the small businesses were protected from foreigners. It was claimed that's where the first-world countries reformed. My answer to that is baloney . The meme above this paragraph was from the 1987 Philippine Consh*tution page. Note that I decided to do some censoring because a bad word is being used. Yet, I can't help but use the page to illustrate a point. This "Heneral Luna" page on Facebook (now even called Heneral Lunatic since the ideas spelled are lunacy at their finest ) can be easily debunked with proper research. We also have the Philippine Anti-Fascist League (PAFL) with its idiotic leftist memes and support for the late terrorist Jose Maria Sison. I cou

Keats School Blog   I wrote about why those old Chinese textbooks will not help achieve the HSK level needed . HSK means 汉语水平考试 (Hànyǔ Shuǐpíng Kǎoshì) or Chinese proficiency test. I really remember a lot of bad memories that some people laugh at today. Some say they were crying at the tutorial classes. Sometimes, there are good reasons that a child can end up crying. Memorization is useless when understanding is hardly incorporated. That's why I flunked Grade 2 Chinese back and I always had problems with my grades. As a student, I realized that I wasn't really just wanting to learn but wanting to learn how it's applied. The same goes for how mathematics and sciences are taught. Both are important subjects but the way teachers are forced to teach them isn't really making people learn.  HSK is defined by the Chinese Learning Center as: HSK (Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi) or the Chinese Proficiency Test is an international standardized exam which tests and rates Chinese language

Bahay Tsinoy, museum of Chinese life in the Philippines I must admit that there's really a lot of cavemen out there. Some would argue that Pinyin is making things too easy, never mind that Mainland China has been the first to make the move to abolish Zhuyin. I was looking at the comments on the Bahay Tsinoy Facebook page and I'm not surprised by the comments. I try to talk about Pinyin and even ask, "Can you get your business permit with Zhuyin?" I guess I was being too blunt in what I did or not. Those old books above were useless . It's because they required people to learn Chinese first and an overdose of memorization . Memorization helps but without understanding, it doesn't help. Besides, you can't even use those textbooks above to teach Mandarin in the language centers (read why here ). People who graduated from Chinese schools talk about their experiences. Some of them even said, "We just memorized so we don't get whacked at the ruler by th

I was looking for a song in relation to the BoPoMoFo. In my case, I'm prone to calling Pinyin "BoPoMoFo" until today (read here ). It's because Pinyin basically serves the same purpose as Zhuyin--teaching one how to read Chinese. I'd like to say that I got too comfortable with this old sequence: I may hate memorizing Zhuyin but I like treating Pinyin in the same sequence. The new table which uses the 23 initials-24 finals method (read here ) can be confusing. Some old-timers may have an easier time transliterating the Zhuyin into Pinyin. However, I still find the new sequence confusing. I may no longer remember Zhuyin (and I kept failing at it and kept memorizing sentences without understanding) but I can remember Pinyin. Except my memorization of the Pinyin was in the BoPoMoFo sequence.  With more than a billion Chinese speakers worldwide--can we keep using the old books to teach Mandarin? That's why I wrote about why the old Chinese textbooks can't be us

Just reading the Facebook news led me towards Kabataan (Youth) Partylist representative Raoul Abellar Manuel. Yes, I don't deny that Manuel himself is a summa cum laude . In a recent debate, Manuel himself said the following : “Mr. Speaker, modesty aside, summa cum laude po ako. Hindi po ako bobo. Insulto sa kabataan na ang turing ng AFP sa ganitong mga topics ay paraan sa recruitment pupunta sa mga rebelde,” Manuel stressed. The translation would be, "Mr. Speaker, modesty aside, I'm a summa cum laude. I'm not stupid. It's an insult by the AFP to raise these topics as a method of recruitment for rebels." I really must laugh that someone should use the appeal to authority fallacy .  What is the appeal to authority fallacy? Appeal to authority fallacy occurs when we accept a claim merely because someone tells us that an authority figure supports that claim. An authority figure can be a celebrity, a well-known scientist, or any person whose status and prestige ca

I was doing some random historical study. One of the many things I recalled from Asian history class was the Chinese Communist Party in Sichuan. It's an interesting piece of historical detail that Mao Zedong (and other Chinese communists) were avid lovers of spicy food . Yang Hero had its first branch in Gaisano Tabunok. It opened a branch in IT Park last May 25, 2023 . The menus had Chinese translations. The establishment has made me realize  the importance of learning Mandarin . True, I could order their food without speaking Mandarin. However, I still feel that the increasing number of Chinese businesses left and right would mean, "You may need to learn some Mandarin now to connect with more people in the world." For a bit of background, here's what I gathered from Sun Star Cebu: Evanmarie Mendoza, social media specialist at Yang Hero, said: “The Chinese barbecue is also a must-try for foodies as it differs from the regular ones that we typically have here in the P

It's time for an evening dinner. Rather than go to my usual "sweet spots"--I tried out Phat Pho of the Abaca Group. I got to taste what might be called "revolutionary food" because Vietnam is under a Communist regime. Well, Abaca Group is founded by is owned by Jason Hyatt and his Chinese wife Anna whom he met in Hong Kong. I tried eating Vietnamese spring rolls and Vietnamese steamed egg. I tried the Vietnamese Pho which is their soup.  I was craving some meat and I tried the ever-popular Pho special. It contains some shaved beef, braised beef, meatballs, and some tendon. It takes around 5-10 minutes to prepare to ensure that the soup is well-prepared. The noodles are a different variety from what I get from Chinese restaurants. Condiments are added so the customer can flavor the soup according to their preference. I guess one can say it's served without much seasoning. Adding condiments such as vinegar, chili paste, chili flakes, and pepper is needed. It&

Manila Shaker Make no mistake that I'm still for SIM card registration (read here ). What I'm currently shocked is just how can SIM registration be this careless . SIM card registration is supposed to help stop scams but laugh (and cringe) at the stupidity. Just think for a second about the news that the picture of a monkey was used in a SIM card registration . Some people joked that it might've been the photo of Senator Francis Pangilinan aka Kiko. Pangilinan was often called Kiko Matsing--based on a character from the children's show Batibot . Even worse, more cartoon characters slipped into the SIM card registration . Maybe, that's why former president Atty Rodrigo R. Duterte vetoed the bill . Though in 2013, Senator Paolo Benigno A. Aquino did want the bill passed because of a Cagayan De Oro bombing incident .  I think the problem has to do with a lack of competition. Why is FDI often demonized as invasion or an increase in loan? I even met someone on Facebook w

Tuoi Tre (Youth) News Checking out my Google browser landed me on an interesting piece of news. It's all about Vietnam's coconut export to the USA may reach USD 1 Billion . Reading the news makes me wonder why hasn't the democratic Philippines reached this feat in contrast to Communist Vietnam? I also want to sing the English Filipino song "The Coconut Song". Civics and Culture classes talked about Philippine coconuts. Here's an excerpt of the article from The Star which I just shared: According to food experts, Vietnam coconuts are known for their high quality and freshness . (Rich in nutrients: Vietnamese coconuts are also found to be rich in vitamins and minerals, including potassium, magnesium, and fiber, which can help support overall health). As the US is about to open the market for Vietnamese coconuts and China allows official coconut import, local businesses are trying to develop raw material areas, apply for growing areas codes, and register to buil

The decades of Filipino First Policy really need a clean-up, right? It's really amazing how some people keep blaming the US for Venezuela's current situation. What's next? Will they blame China and South Korea for North Korea being poor? I wrote an article where I discussed Venezuela's pride and protectionism . One of the many sources I cited discussed how frequent blackouts caused Venezuelans to eat rotten meat last 2018 . Are they going to well, blame the USA again , for the frequent blackouts? If Venezuela's basic utilities are all monopolized by the government--how can they blame the US for the crisis that Venezuela caused itself? Did the US tell Venezuela to do its really bad economic policies? I would read the comments made by SJWs on Facebook. They would write all forms of anti-capitalist rants without understanding what capitalism is. They say that competition ruins quality and that things will be better under a welfare state. The video above shows a sample