Antony’s Personal Opinion

Everyone is talking about China’s economy. Their economic growth has been constantly more than 8% per year. There is no sign that their economic growth will be slowing down. We see “Made in China” products everywhere. Our clothes, our electronic devices, our furniture, our office equipments, our kids’ toys, ….

When I ask my friends about “Made in China” products, most of them say the price is very cheap although the quality is questionable. My mother bought a washing machine from China and she was disappointed with the quality. My friend bought a motorcycle from China and he complaints a lot because of many small problems. Another friend of mine bought a DVD player from China and he was upset too. What’s wrong with China’s QA (Quality Assurance)? Are they producing only cheap products with low quality?

In fact, many products from China are made with good quality too. Usually they are products from ODM (Original Design Manufacturer) and CM (Contract Manufacturer). What are ODM and CM? Basically they are companies that manufacture products under the brand of other companies, in many cases for American or European companies. For example, mobile phone companies, like Nokia and Motorola, manufacture their handsets in China to cut production costs. They really control QA of their products very carefully. They want to cut production costs but of course, they don’t want to destroy their own brand by producing “yet another Made in China products”.

What I am more curious now is, will we see world-class brand from China? Will we see the “next” Sony and Samsung in the electronic industry? Will we see the “next” Toyota and Hyundai in the automotive industry? My personal opinion says, may be but not soon. Still a long way to go…. At least, they have the power to do that. Let’s wait and see….

This morning I read an advertisement in a local newspaper. It is about Cathay Pacific airline and Hong Kong International Airport. The advertisement says that Cathay Pacific is Airline of the Year 2005 and Hong Kong International Airport is the World’s Best Airport. I was a little bit surprised because I thought Singapore Airlines was still the best airline. Yeah, poor me….

The award is based on a survey conducted by Skytrax, a private company based in the UK. They claim that their surveys have been a global barometer of passenger opinions about airlines and airports around the world. They are free of outside or financial influences. Actually there are some other companies or institutions conducting similar surveys, but Skytrax is one of the most popular ones.

Here is the list of Top 5 Airline of the Year 2005 (source: http://www.airlinequality.com/2005/airline-05-ent.htm):

1. Cathay Pacific
2. Qantas Airways
3. Emirates
4. Singapore Airlines
5. British Airways

And here is the list of Top 5 Airports in the world for 2005 (source http://www.airlinequality.com/2005/airport-05-ent.htm):

1. Hong Kong International Airport
2. Singapore Changi Airport
3. Seoul Incheon Airport
4. Munich Airport
5. Kansai International Airport

I myself have never flown with Cathay Pacific nor seen Hong Kong International Airport (hopefully this Christmas), so I cannot give my opinion about them. However, from the airlines and airports I have been flying with and visiting, Singapore Airlines and Singapore Changi Airport are still the best.

A few days ago, I read an interesting article from Jeremy Rifkin that compares American Dream and European Dream. Jeremy is an American who is also the author of “European Dream” book. What’s this article all about?

Jeremy starts with the fact that America has been a refuge for every human being who has ever dreamed of a better life (including myself about 5-6 years ago). Unfortunately, he says that America is no longer a great country. He compares many facts between United States and European Union. EU itself has been growing as another superpower “states” in Europe.

I won’t repeat all Jeremy’s comparison here; you can read it yourself from the link above. One thing that I feel just right after moving to North America is vacation days. I was used to have 6 weeks vacation per year in Europe, and now I have only half of it in North America (3 weeks). Perhaps Jeremy is right saying that Americans “live to work” while European “work to live”.

Honestly, I agree with most of Jeremy’s facts about American vs. European dream. It is a very interesting article anyway because a lot of people, at least in my home country, are still thinking that the States is their dream land (just like what Jeremy has mentioned). Many of my friends in the high school and university are now working and living in the States. They didn’t consider European at all (may be language is one of the problems).

Let’s see what is going to happen in the future… is EU really becoming a dream country for people who wants a better life?