Shaun T. Dy's Business & Economics Perspective Blog

Tax season can be stressful. I think about how easy it becomes to overlook certain stuff. One can be distracted by either happy events or sad events. I remember how I accidentally signed the wrong document when my paternal grandmother died of old age. I remember how I could easily forget receipts until I started to document them. Memory should be the least reliable tool ever. I tend to get mad whenever I become forgetful. We end up excessively scolding others for their bad memory. I even end up either (1) scolding others too hard, or (2) being too hard on myself. That's why I've grown critical of the education system itself. Just imagine that even honor roll students are forgetting what they learned back in high school. Right now, I even have to download notes to relearn stuff that I learned in college . This may be the best picture for college, especially for those without a board exam. I didn't take the board exam since I'm a business administration graduate. I confes...

Let's face it that the market will never be all yours. That's what Adobe needs to learn as it still continues, it's really bad business practices. It's a good thing that I asked around before getting Affinity Photo. Adobe Photoshop's usage is really plain bad. In economics, there's such a thing as the law of substitutes. If something is too expensive, get a more affordable substitute. It's like,  don't get an iPhone if you can't afford to buy an iPhone. It's like why I would still prefer a Samsung or a Xiaomi over an iPhone. An iPhone is too expensive for my taste, even for a guy with somewhat expensive taste! As I look into Adobe's subscription (which will cost me PHP 3,000+ per month) vs. a one-shot purchase for Affinity in my Windows account, we know which is better. Affinity Photo works in nearly the same way as Photoshop does. My only minor complaint is that I couldn't make animated GIFs with Affinity Photo alone. Hopefully, Canva...

It's no secret that Adobe was the get-go for those who grew up in the 1990s. Who can remember using some of the programs like Aldus Pagemaker, Adobe Photoshop (and the term Photoshop got popularized, as a synonym for editing), and Adobe Acrobat. Unfortunately, Adobe's disgusting practice of a  super expensive subscription-based business model is really foolish. I watched this video and I have every right to agree. Did Adobe think that they would dominate the market forever and that people would stay loyal to them? Just looking at the video I shared gives me good reasons to leave Adobe for good. Why would I pay PHP 3,000+ (per month) for nostalgia if I could pay PHP 1,000+ for ownership of at least one Affinity program? Affinity Photo has given me the basics of what I need (and want). Sure, I'm willing to pay some extra money so Affinity Photo can help produce animated GIFs. Otherwise, one may get used to creating the frames manually, then using another program to create the...

If there's anything I want to say--only economically illiterate people would vote for Teodoro Casiño's promise. The chances are that (1) it's all for a vote, or (2) he doesn't understand what he's doing. In my case, I assume that Casiño is simply saying it, all for a vote instead of the second option. Chances are that he's only saying it, for a vote. Because nobody in the right mind would push a PHP 1,200 minimum wage, given the condition of the job market! I would like to write this article because what he's pushing is inflationary . It's because no matter how much you look at it, #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba is plain bad accounting (read here ). How can you increase wages without increasing the prices of goods and services? Business & Plans   I wrote about opening #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba stores nationwide . Until now, nobody has ever bothered to do the challenge. Why haven't they opened a single successful #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba store? As one would lo...

It's annoying that people live with a "sentimental value" in mind. There are a lot of things that some people probably grew up with. As a 1990s child, I grew up on this and that. Some people may remember the good old days with Adobe Photoshop. I remember seeing people use MS Paint, telling them to try Photoshop and teach some basics, and I enjoyed using the program. However, Adobe's monthly subscription model is costly . Why should I pay for PHP 3,000+ for nostalgia? The same can go for tenants. Just because a tenant has been there for at least a decade, doesn't mean that these tenants should be coddled for "sentimental reasons". Why should tenants who have been there for more than ten years, be allowed to stay there, if they're toxic? If I could ditch Adobe after many years, the same would be true for toxic tenants . It's crazy when erring tenants say, "But come on, I've rented your place for more than 10 years." Is it me or are to...

Another practical way to teach Chinese (as a second language) is to connect to real-life situations. Did I already mention one reason why I hated to study Chinese, was that teachers were forced to simply focus on rote memorization more than understanding (read here )? Anyway, I found this photo on Facebook. These are some simple words that all connect to scam. This would make a good lesson for standard Chinese (华语) to learn words that are connected to scam. It would be ideal to do some vocabulary, fill in the blanks, and do a conversational lesson. One example of a conversational lesson (which was called as bon toi in Hokkien) would be like this: Question: What is a phone scam?  Translation: "什么是电话诈骗?" (Pinyin: "Shénme shì diànhuà zhàpiàn?") Answer: A phone scam is where you are offered something too good to be true by a phone call. Translation: "电话诈骗是指有人通过电话向你提供一些好得令人难以置信的东西." (Pinyin: Diànhuà zhàpiàn shì zhǐ yǒurén tōngguò diànhuà xiàng nǐ tígōng yīxiē h...

I haven't posted a Chinese language lesson for some time. As I said, I didn't like Chinese lessons because of the focus on too much memorization  (read here ). I found this photo on Facebook. One of the biggest problems of Chinese education back in my day was that you had to learn Amoy before learning Mandarin. The process itself is a red tape. Why not learn Mandarin being introduced in the language you're most comfortable with? For example, why not teach Mandarin to Filipinos using their language or in English?  HSK Online For starters, here are some measurement units for Chinese mathematics. One problem with Chinese mathematics was that we had to learn Chinese first, before learning it. I'm talking about introducing Chinese to people who have zero background. It would be good to introduce these measurements first before teaching them how to solve problems.  What I find strange is that the Chinese word for meter also means... rice? Yes, funny but true. However, using G...

I found this meme on Facebook. Fortunately, there's already an attribution on the picture. In my case, I prefer to say, "Continuous improvement is better than expecting sudden perfection." It's because perfectionism is lethal, and we're all but human beings. As the midterm elections come in, there are still people who may either be (1) reminiscing that "perfect leader" (ex. Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr., Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III, Rodrigo Roa Duterte, etc.) or (2) still expecting the perfect leader.  It's sad some people still believe in the old lie repeated all over again, "It's not the system that's the problem. It's the people that's the problem." They still wait for this "grand glorious leader". That's why I often joke on Facebook saying, "Why don't you create this perfect leader so I too may follow him to victory!" Of course, there's no perfect leader, and trying to genetically engineer that...

Why did I drop Adobe? It's because the subscription rate is rather ridiculous (read here ). That's why I'd recommend shifting to Affinity Photo for a one-time purchase (that's probably until a super new version comes out). I looked into this video, thinking about how Adobe was once my get-go. I remember recommending Adobe Photoshop to people--whenever I saw people using Microsoft Paint. Adobe Photoshop was the get-go. I often called it "MS Paint but much better."  Eventually, I Googled for "Adobe Photoshop substitutes" and discovered Affinity Photo . True, Affinity Photo can't do animated GIFs . However, one could still draw several frames and get some other program, or an online service to create animated GIFs. I tried Affinity Photo and got convinced that buying it at USD 25.30 (price may increase any time soon). Affinity Photo was learning all over again. However, it was worth relearning since I'm not a professional graphic artist. I just ...

I refuse to comment too much on former president Atty. Rodrigo R. Duterte's arrest. It's better to let due process take place. However, I would like to address the contradiction. Many times, I hear people think that 100% FDI equals violation of sovereignty. People say that I'm an idiot for going against the Filipino First Policy, that I'm selling the Philippines to (insert foreigner), or they act like as if China is the only source of FDI. That's why I wrote a blog entry that open FDI isn't equal to China . What's ironic is that people who say, "100% FDI means giving up sovereignty!" may also be supporting Duterte's arrest in the ICC. Instead of focusing on Duterte's arrest, I would like to think about the irony of practicing Filipino First Policy while wanting the Philippines to return to the International Criminal Court (ICC).  This is a meme I found over on Facebook. Whoever made this meme highlighted the supreme hypocrisy. One could tal...

  It's already bad enough that political expert Richard Heydarian. I'm amazed that Heydarian compared Mindanao's HDI development to Sub-Saharan Africa ?! Finding it on my Facebook feeds just made me think if he truly bothered to do any research. Source: Nestor Necesito I would like to share data from Facebook Netizen, Nestor Necesito :  Representing the west coast of Sub-Saharan Mindanao, I'm Nestor from Zamboanga City, Asia's Latin City and the Sardines Capital of the Philippines! Based on the available data, here's a comparison of the Human Development Index (HDI) for regions in Luzon and Mindanao, along with averages for Southern Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa. Philippine Regions by HDI: - Luzon:   - Top Regions:     1. National Capital Region (NCR):        - 2024: 0.851 (Very High)        - 2019: 0.859 (Very High)     2. Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR):        - 2024: 0.758 (High) ...

PEH.ph It was on March 17, 1995, when Flor Contemplacion was executed in Singapore. I've noticed that I've been addressing her as the late many times, even if the late is a statement that may be ony appropriate if the person has been recently deceased within 10 years. It's about to become 30 years since Flor was hanged in Singapore. However, generational hatred would've been passed down from 1995 up to 2025. Some people are still tagging #JusticeFor Flor. These traits may be passed down from the Batang 1990s to their children in this generation. It may also be passed down from parent to child, even if the child was born in the 2000s to 2010s. Somebody born in 2000s and beyond might even say, "Papa and mama told me about Flor Contemplacion! That's why I hate Singapore!" Talk about a child born in 2004 who's probably angry with Singapore, because his parents kept telling him about how Flor was supposedly "unjustly treated" over there.  Some tim...