Shaun T. Dy's Business & Economics Perspective Blog

Last time, I wrote about learning (and teaching) Mandarin through meaningful conversations, not through parroting . I found the Kico Chinese website and found some meaningful flashcards. I would like to share the flashcards. I really criticized the way old Chinese education was done. Yes, those old Chinese textbooks that I passed through can't be used to teach Mandarin (read why here ). Instead, we can use this method to start learning Chinese vocabulary using conversational methods. This is where the memorization of the answers to the bon toi (question) can become more meaningful. The three are sample flashcards for the memorization of the answers to the bon toi. However, it would be necessary to actually discuss vocabulary. One of the biggest constraints of memorization of bon toi was for people with no Chinese background or not fluent in Hokkien. I confess that my Hokkien isn't fluent and I got labeled as "huan-a gong". Huan-a is often used for Filipino though it

A few days ago, I found this quote from the Migrante (Migrant) International page. Some people jokingly call it Migraine International . The headache above gave me a migraine with what its current chairperson, Joanna Concepcion said. When it comes to Migrante, I always think about the late Flor Contemplacion is on their agenda. I guess that's why its supporters (as well as supporters of similar groups ) keep saying, "Don't keep mentioning Singapore! Think!" to the arguments. I guess they're still mourning Flor's death, even after she was proven guilty by the competent Singaporean courts. Today is the last day of January 2024. It would be March 15 (which is Flor's death anniversary) any time soon. I feel the need to write this post before the month ends.  There's really the problem of practicing what I call IBON economics. I believe that Migrante is using IBON as a source. Earlier this month, I wrote an article where I asked on how IBON Foundation views

  Introduction First and foremost, let me remind you that this is a joke post . There was this picture on Facebook that went circulating as a joke. Lubi (coconut leaf) Iton is a joke in Louie Vuitton . Personally, I don't recommend branded items because most of them are just of the same quality as regular items. With the calls for the People's Initiative going on, I noticed some people are still spreading the wrong information about FDIs. You can have Facebook pages left and right doing so. You also have groups like Bayan Muna, IBON Foundation, Kabataan Partylist, League of Filipino Students, and Migrante International to name those opposed to FDI. Now, I hope that this joke post will fire some shots.  I took the idea from the  CoRRECT Movement's " The Parable of the Mountain Bike ". Take note that I intend to let this story be as funny (and offensive) as I can within reason. I will be putting real-life characters in this one. But this post will be written as a jo

The same old narration has been made over and over again . I'd dare say that the narration out the Facebook pages of the likes of Atty. Teddy Casiño, Atty. Neri Colmenares, Kabataan Partylist, League of Filipino Students, Migrante International, IBON Foundation, etc. are more or less the same. It's already a broken record based on the facts that they've been refuted. I've read the book From Third World to First . I guess Migrante International hates that book because Singapore is often associated with the execution of Flor Contemplacion, at least on their watch. What they're doing is nothing more than still hating Japan, Germany, and Italy because of the Second World War. I'm not surprised at another lie that's often repeated--economic liberalization (or 100% FDI shares ownership) will only  benefit the oligarchs . I guess it'll be easy to nail on me because I'm not a summa cum laude and Rep. Raoul Abellar Manuel is and he's a graduate of the Uni

Currently, there's the people's initiative for charter change. In my case, I prefer to call charter change  constitutional reform . There are people on Facebook who say, "No to cha cha, yes to tango." The tango means "Tanggalin ang gago." or "Remove the fool." in English. Some people even claim that people were paid PHP 100.00 to sign the People's Initiative. The tagline goes with #FilipinosAreNotForSale. However, the irony of it all is that they support the Filipino First Policy. Yes, that policy by the late former Philippine president, Carlos P. Garcia, who tried to make sure that the majority of economic players should only be Filipinos. However, the results have been rather miserable. The Filipino First Policy, I'd dare say, enabled the first Marcos Administration to do what it did. Even worse, the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines still insists on it.  The same old echo chamber composed of defenders of the 1987 Constitution of the P

Schoolessons Some time ago, I wrote about why I used to hate school . The big problem has to be that the education system cares more about grades than learning . A good grade is indeed a sign of good character. A good grade is only good if it is achieved without cheating. However, for a grade to be really good--I believe that it must spring out from learning . However, the education system has been so focused on grades over learning that students end up cheating as a result (read here ). It affects every subject since a faulty system is a faulty school of thought. I'm going to really point out that I hated school because of the grades over learning approach. It's always all about grade shaming and even the best teachers end up indirectly or inadvertently participating in it. I still remember two of my best strictest teachers. One was as stern as the late Miriam Defensor Santiago. Another was the reason why I never dropped out.  This time, I'd like to focus again on mathemat