Shaun T. Dy's Business & Economics Perspective Blog

I guess my passion for tea and coffee never stops, right? As of right now, I haven't had a very active life and I tend to get stuck with establishments I enjoyed for more than a decade. Well, I'm glad that I do get flexible. What slipped right through me was that last year that there was the opening of Alishan Cebu at the Cardinal Rosales, Avenue, in Cebu City . The name may sound Chinese but it's actually managed by fellow Filipinos namely Francesco Dino, Robert Dino, Maria Victoria Osmeña, and Juvy Osmeña. Alishan Philippines describes itself as: Who We Are Our purpose was to bring authentic Taiwanese artistry to the Philippines through milk tea. We source our ingrdeients like tapioca and brown sugar from organic farms, always putting great importance to our customers health. Our brown sugar is high in calcium, potassium and iron. It prevents tooth decay. improves resistance to stress, and even lowers cholesterol. Through minimal processing, we are able to maintan the hig

Some time ago, I wrote an article where I discussed why I think Chinese language schools should focus on pinyin over zhuyin (read here ). I remembered how I disliked the Chinese language subject not only because of long memorizations. I also feel (until now) that zhuyin will never bridge the gap between Chinese speakers and non-Chinese speakers. Chinese schools in the Philippines tend to act like they're in Taiwan. There was hardly any practical application. Eventually, I remembered how later batches who took the Chinese language subject admitted to making erroneous sentences. I remembered two of the Chinese language teachers I had kept getting mad over the sentences, "The people are making people." this was just one of those erroneous sentences.  Zhuyin was a tool used during the Qing period up to 1911. Why does Taiwan, well, stubbornly still embrace zhuyin? I could respect Taiwan's desire to remain independent of China. I love Taiwanese stuff. Though, I think the in

I remembered writing about Chinese language schools and pinyin (read here ). I decided to find another topic to write and this came to my mind. It's all about boba which is another term for tapioca balls. There have been many names given to certain items. Tofu can be called tao hu in Hokkien, the word itself is Japanese, tokwa in Filipino, and dŏu fu in Mandarin pinyin. Take note that any numbers are what are often referred to by Chinese language teachers as the tone. Also, I'm still self-studying Mandarin yet again using the Taoli application.  Here's a children's book written by Katrina Liu, a Chinese-American, and illustrated by Indonesian artist Dhidit Prayoga. The book's title in Mandarin Chinese would be spelled in pinyin as Wŏ Aì Bō Ba Nǎi Chá. However, it's very easy to misread the pinyin. I could remember how people were misreading the surnames of people. It's like how people tend to read the pinyin at the face value  rather than how it's suppo

It's the New Year (but not yet the Chinese New Year). I could remember people whining about the prices of onions skyrocketing depending on the area. We need to do a supply chain analysis instead of demanding the government to make "magic solutions". I did write an article some time ago pointing out how FDIs can help the local Philippine agriculture (read here ).  Instead, we have a lot of naysayers over social media who keep insisting on the age-old lie that the late Lee Kuan Yew and Kishore Mahbubani keep hearing. It's all about how MNCs are just there to rape and plunder the country's natural resources. These fools would just say stuff like, "But Singapore opened up to FDI because of its lack of natural resources." Guess what? Vietnam, a country rich in natural resources, was once poorer than Singapore and the Philippines , and opened to FDI. The late Nguyen Duy Cong aka Do Muoi imitated Singapore in some say and guess where Vietnam is now. A lot of co

It's the New Year and I'm already imagining all the financial mayhem that may have hit (read  here ). I could imagine somebody right now may be crying over an empty passbook (which causes a bank account to be closed), five-six lenders will be chasing people playing the late Yoyo Villame's parody song "Dayang Daya" on maximum volume (read here ), and the fact that they wasted all their money during the holiday season (read here ). I think much of this could've been prevented by heeding this Warren Buffett quote. This quote says, "Don't save what is left after spending but spend what is left after savings." It sounds confusing but it would pretty much mean, "Budgeting on what you have." People can say some people live paycheck-to-paycheck. Yet, there's really that bad habit of wasting the paycheck all year round. The paycheck arrives and instead of focusing on their needs, they focus on their wants (read here ). It's a typical sig

It's already a new year and I want to harshly greet people with a lot of debts a "Happy New Year" (read here ). I'd like to write this one because of this cartoon from The Manila Times  emphasizes the irony of the situation. Last Christmas season, I raised the issue of whining about inflation because of the need for lavish celebrations (read here ). What do you expect from people whose spending is poorly prioritized? If you're living paycheck to paycheck then why are you wasting the paycheck? That's the question that I can irritatingly ask because of how payday traffic can be so bad. The check arrives? They shout, "YEHEY!" They start to spend here and there, and if they can't afford it, they add credit to credit! Why do you think they're complaining about the prices of onions? The cartoon from The Manila Times would reflect the irony. The person may have been too busy buying stuff that they don't need now (like I don't need the latest

The Motley Fool Well, it's past Season's Beatings and it's time to great people "Happy New Year!" right? I did remember not celebrating New Year on Odette because of the severity of the damage. This year, there was no Odette to ruin my holidays except for a short-term stomach upset and rainy weather. Right now, I'm glad I'm able to write this one. I'd like to write this post to bring a bit more awareness. Last year, I did write a couple of blog posts such as the Philippine holiday debt trap (read here ), when a Merry Christmas can lead to an unhappy New Year (read here ), running out of money after the Noche Buena (read here ), and complaining about inflation because one feels the need to celebrate lavishly (read here ). This makes me want to greet my fellow countrymen buried in so much debt "Happy New Year!" January is here and I'm expecting some development. It's not just starting a new fiscal year. I'm also expecting those Indi