Monday, May 21, 2007

Want to make big money, give small money first

My staff returned to Singapore from China to report on the progress of our project. We are having some minor problems. I have to fly over to China soon and be Santa Claus. It's not even December!


My project would eventually be completed, as long as we keep the people in-charge of various licensing departments fed; ply them with alcohol; good supply of young, pretty girls and enough pocket money to spend. Bribery? Well! That's common in China. Even Singapore has it. The Chinese are blatantly open when it comes to asking for money, favours and gifts.


I'm not running an illegal business in China. Over there, legal or illegal businesses, you have to give offerings. And knowing the right people does help a lot. At least I don't have to bleed so much and I would have no trouble from the small fries.


See the problems our Singapore Government is having with Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and China. What do the high-ranking holier-than-thou civil servants know about handling the officials from these countries? It's a losing game for Singapore. Not many Governments in the world think like those dense ones in Singapore.


When I first invested in China, I lost everything because I didn't play by their rules. Do you know what happened to our Singapore-Suzhou Industrial Park? The true story is being circulated among the businessmen and investors in China. The Singapore Government is a laughing stock. MM also cannot settle the problem for them.


How can a nobody from a small island demand to sit on the dragon throne? Well, he thought he is somebody and wanted to be the Big Brother. The Chinese taught him and his bosses a good lesson. I have no sympathy for such arrogant ass. I only feel sorry that our money is wasted.


I'm coming to the end of my vacation and then I'll be plunging back to work. And I'll be working very, very hard, Jaymes wants to study in a top University in the US. I need to prepare a sum of money for that. That's another story.......

32 comments:

  1. yeah ..money money..money is what humans can live without.....sighs.
    u have to give and take. "give first"...before u can "take"...haha
    thanks for ur bday greeting !

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  2. Yo Winn!
    You must have an awesome birthday! :) You have wonderful frens!

    ya... give and take. Winn, you haven't give me money yet. hehehe....

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  3. Yeah, Winn has awesome friends! *grin*

    I realised that nothing moves the way you want it to in China without $$ Grease too, once when I was in Shenzhen on an emergency trip. The bigger the Grease, the lower the kowtow! Such a pity.

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  4. Yo...I m back from my holiday liao...hmmmm....My hubby was telling me in Singapore tarak bribery one...

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  5. lb,
    ahhh.... you have been 'educated' by the Chinese too! :)

    There're the advantages and disadvantages of greasing, but you can get very fat greasing the right people. hehe....

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  6. eve,
    yes, but there are cases which go unreported. :) Singapore is not sooo clean as reported in our papers lah.

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  7. My project would eventually be completed, as long as we keep the people in-charge of various licensing departments fed; ply them with alcohol; good supply of young, pretty girls and enough pocket money to spend. Bribery? Well! That's common in China. Even Singapore has it. The Chinese are blatantly open when it comes to asking for money, favours and gifts.

    Some Singaporeans are even more blatant when it comes to money - so blatant to the point that our national papers has special editorials on it for weeks in a row!

    Long time no see ECL!

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  8. Hey miss loi!
    ya... long time no see!

    hehehe.... sum jiu lah!

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  9. china people not even want money, they give threat too..

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  10. huisia,
    oh ya, since you are there now, you know what's the situation like. It's scary to deal with those from the lower levels. Police n military - tough. haiz...

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  11. Eastcoastlife, work hard, and work smart, and remember to take good care of yourself, ok? Your life and health is more invaluable.

    It seems like it's a challenge to invest in China.

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  12. Wah... when you going over?

    Wanna bribe people, still dare to say so loud in your blog. Wait you ganna arrested first thing your plane touchdown in china. :P

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  13. Enjoy the vacation. Any pretty girls leftover?

    What schools does Jaymes like? Let me know if I can help you with gathering info or such.

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  14. From what you say, ECL, the Chinese think very differently, and we have to think like them.

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  15. The Chinese are on a roll right now. They just keep building new and new projects.

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  16. oceanskies,
    It's a battle of wits and guts in China. It's really challenging. Lots of grey matter dies but if you can emerge a winner, it's a great achievement.

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  17. Money is not a problem, I guess.
    My only worry is how those 'drunk ass' will see you, after so many drinks, through their blurry hamsup eyes.

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  18. dk,
    I declare that I'm Santa Claus so more Chinese CS would do business with me. hehehe....

    I'll get red carpet welcome and school children lining on both sides of the carpet, waving flags of both countries! :)

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  19. simple american,
    Come with me to China and you can pick from a bevy of beauties.

    Thanks SA. I'll email you should I need help.

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  20. Hey Captain Picard,
    Yes, they definitely do think differently from us.

    China's been this way for thousands of years. It's just that with the opening up of the country, foreigners trying to do business with them are trying to impose their own values on them. That's where they fail.

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  21. ya yenjai,
    That's the danger I have to face every night I'm there. :(

    But then, with the bevy of young beauties to select from, they are not so drunk as not to be able to distinguish between a chick and a mother hen. hahaha.....

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  22. 小财不出,大财不入!!!
    Wah...you want to send jaymes to which US top uni ? ;p

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  23. So the questions is not how much you can earn, how much that you save from what you earn, on how much is enough:
    http://henryleongblog.blogspot.com/

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  24. tigerfish,
    I'm thinking of sending him to California. :)

    But first, have to finish 2 years NS. :(

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  25. Henry,
    Money is always not enough wan lah! I don't get to spend most of my money because I seldom go shopping. I usually re-invest. Money makes money. :)

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  26. money makes money..
    can imagine u r heaping up mounts of $$$ liao :D

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  27. chen,
    Dun imagine that lah. No heaping. Just sweeping. muahahahaha....

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  28. Yep, I totally agree with the greasing part. It opens up a world of good 'guanxi'.

    Most of the time, these MNCs claim that they don't grease. However, it is an open secret that they do appoint the local agents to do all that dirty works while they sit on their moral high horse.

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  29. cockadoodle,
    Greasing is a necessary evil in some countries and an art too! It comes in many forms. To most ordinary people, it is wrong. To the resourceful n enlightened businessman, it is survivor in a competitive environment.

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  30. I have heard of stories working and doing business with the (China's) Chinese. Its really not easy to work with them but no doubt the potential profit is worth the venture! The wise man learns more from his enemies than a fool does from his friends. So i guess you can definitely learn a lot by doing business with all the sly foxes ard ans i m sure u have learnt a lot from ur past experiences. Understand ur enemy makes your battle easier! Good luck good luck!

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  31. zeezee,
    Thank you.

    ya, It's a jungle out there in China. Either I become a good hunter or they make minced meat out of me. :)

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  32. You should feel happy that you can make money by giving small money. In the land where the sorry ass came from you gotta pay BIG money just to make small money. Know what I mean? apply all kind of permits, landlord (govt owned) dictating everything.. pay and pay.. just to scrape a living

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