Business & Economics Perspective Blogger

It's time for another Throwback Thursdays post. It's often how irritation can sometimes give me inspiration . I want to think about the problem with boomers. I was thinking about how, as a millennial, I can navigate life with some boomers who are open-minded (even if they still use boomer talk, such as "When I was your age," which can be irritating but can be bearable once they admit they achieved it via open-mindedness) vs. those who are plain stubborn. In fact, I often read some stories on Facebook where some boomers,  or better called the stubborn boomers , often try to operate in a world that no longer exists. This is the difference when the stubborn boomers start opening their mouths because blah blah blah, they were honor students, successful businessmen, etc., and try to make their children (and grandchildren) "extensions of themselves", rather than succeeding as individuals. It made me think about how boomers tend to marry in their 20s . Some can bra...

Asia's Best Choice What's a business site without talking about rags to riches ? Sure, I could keep focusing on Filipino rags to riches stories but I'd like to talk about an item that's selling worldwide. It's called Lao Gan Ma-- which literally means old godmother . It gets interesting because Lao Gan Ma can be used in different types of cooking. But what wasn't too surprising is the rags to riches story behind Lao Gan Ma. In fact, the founder herself Tao Huibi, who's currently 79 years old , came from a poor background and never learned to read and write. Last 2017, when she was 70 years old , she actually drove a Mercedes Benz, two Rolls-Royces, and a BMW .  The story was actually pretty tragic . Tao herself lost her husband where she had two sons, and to work multiple jobs to survive. However, this poor widow rather than play the blame game , decided ot open a small noodle shop in Guiyang in 1989. This is where her fermented soybeans and chili sauce bec...

Credit: Verywell / Dennis Madamba Some time ago, I wrote about the Broken Windows Theory and school insults . Whenever I remember the vicious cycle where the insulter usually gets a free pass (out of the name of "kids just being kids"), I also get more violent despite the interventions done. It wasn't until I was in another school that both sides were usually mediated, even if teachers could often lapse into just "dealing with the bigger offense". It made me think that several fights I got into in high school, even if the conflict wasn't resolved immediately, eventually fizzled because when I got scolded for overreacting, the aggressor still had the punishment that met the offense. For example, I got the harder scolding for overreacting,  while the other person got scolded also for triggering the offense. I even felt that reconciliation with some of my former enemies may have been much harder without mediating between the  two sides of the conflict. I mean, ...

WeLiveSecurity It's crazy how I scroll Instagram to see my friends, then I see Dr. Deepfakes. I remember some images were of an old man, an old woman, and some of them used real doctors to promote quack advice. It also promotes "natural health treatments" that are "too good to be true". I was victimized by a scam in 2012 . Until now, I have  never recovered the money. I couldn't risk taking these blatant scams that says with statements like: "This is what your doctor is never going to tell you." "Only I know this miracle cure." "The big pharma industry doesn't want this or they'd all be shut down ." "The big pharma and hospitals are only after your money, not your health. It's all after money, unlike me." The basic accounting will tell you why hospitals actually need that huge sum of money  Let's refresh back to basic accounting . There's a big difference between the revenues (the money the hospital...

Vecteezy The 1990s may be over, but there are times I feel like reviewing them. Many times, I feel like the teacher is often the enforcer and the victim of a bad system. You can have a smart teacher, but the same person  is constrained by the work culture of that day. There's this irritating mentality that says, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." mentality. This is like saying insults supposedly have no lasting impact . This reminds me of some incidents growing up. For the privacy of the people, I will not mention their names or the names of the institutions where they took place. In one incident when I was seven years old, a girl taunted me and wagged her tongue at me. I got mad, and I punched her in the eye in front of the whole class. The teacher comforted her and scolded me severely. I said I was insulted and I told the teacher, "Come on, you saw it ." However, the more I look at the work culture of that day, people were ex...

Lechon may look fresh but it's really bad | Credits to: DVMF It's May and Fiesta Months are here too. Fiesta tends to have lechon in mind. I was thinking about the near-inescapable tradition of, "Must have lechon." A recent incident in Cebu City was reported by the Cebu Daily News with this frightening report: In a report, the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Fisheries (DVMF) said two lechons weighing 15 kilos and 42 kilos were confiscated in Barangay Apas. The pigs used for the lechons were reportedly slaughtered in the cities of Talisay and Mandaue. The third lechon, weighing 30 kilos, was found being sold in Barangay Lahug. Investigators found that the pig had been slaughtered in the mountain barangay of Bonbon in Cebu City. The DVMF, in coordination with the Cebu City Police Office, conducted the “hot meat” operation on Sunday as part of the city government’s campaign against unregulated slaughtering and the sale of undocumented meat products that may pose p...

DSWD Field Office 7 - Central Visayas It's disheartening to know that after the Bogo earthquake in Cebu last September 30, 2025. Today, an earthquake Davao Oriental this day on October 10, 2025. It's sad to think that today is October 10, which is the Double 10 celebration for Taiwan . Right now, it's effortless for fools on Facebook (which is ironic) giving anti-capitalist, anti-business rants, never mind that even Vietnam is no longer solely dependent on State-Owned Enterprises! Instead, it made me think of the COVID-19 incident all over again, such as how Foodpanda and Grab, both foreign delivery services , have been helpful to Filipino businesses . Some idiots said on Facebook (and as always, I will not mention their names, they're public figures ) that it is the workers who did the work, not the owners, and that the government should provide everything. One crazy comment I got from someone on Facebook was, "Why should there be private enterprises? The DSWD is ...

Perdana Leadership Foundation Last time, I wrote a post on whether Filipinos should listen to (a) Atty. Hilario G. Davide Jr., or (b) former Malaysian prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad . Both of them know the law, but we can still tell who made a significant difference to the nation. I thought about what Mahathir said, that education is a lifelong process . One can graduate with honors but fail in real life when one stops learning (read here ). It's a far cry from Davide's stubborn attitude, where he refuses to even amend the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines, to fit with the times! Mahathir's quote on entrepreneurship explores why some long-time successful businesses either fail in the present or continue to succeed. Nokia could've still remained relevant in the mobile phone market if it had taken such advice to heart . Nokia's lack of vision caused the crash and loss of dominance after decades of success. For businesses, the need to evolve is always there (read ...