REALITY CHECK ON CHINA

[sapphire]

One other incident comes to mind, but this was in New York. Hubby was browsing through an art gallery with his colleague. The owner, an Italian, walks up and figures my hubby is Indian. Immediately starts praising MF Hussain, a leading Indian painter and gently prods him towards his paintings. He senses disinterest, moves away.

Then, he catches them admiring a painting by a Brazilian painter, I forget his name. He's a young fella of 35 or so. The owner starts his spiel on how talented this painter is and if he dies his paintings will be a good investment. To which hubby's colleague said - But he is only around 35, why will he die?

Owner says - You buy, I kill him tomorrow!

Of course, he was joking, I hope!

[Wind In My Hair]

gosh sapphire you're actually becoming prolific!

great posts.

[Vaucluse]

He says - Because Sir waved me in, I am just a building contractor. And I thought Sir needed some info on that, but when he asked about loan etc. I thought I could be of some help there. I have contacts!

Brilliant . . .


Your little fingers must be all shakey from not smoking - good to see you're putting them to good use typing.

[GordonGekko]

Yeah, way to go, Sapphire!

Democracy is a much more complicated thing than many appreciate. Western (Greco-Roman) ideals are not easily applied (if at all) in China or India. The type of democracy we slowly but surely will see in these countries will be a brand apart.

[sapphire]

Thank you, thank you, WIMH and Gekko.

Vauvau, will change my avatar the day I quit smoking.

[earthfriendly]

I did try to explain to him how its far easier for things to happen in China because of its powerful govt. as compared to India's democratic govt. If Beijing decides that the country needs airports, shiny roads and buildings, they will be built. Not so easy in India where hundreds will stand up against such decisions. Case in point is the slums near the Mumbai airport. The govt. tried to clean up, but couldn't due to political pressures from other political parties who didn't want to lose the votes of the slum dwellers.

Yes, China's development looks impressive, but the main difference being that India's growth is bottom-up not top down. People are trying to bring changes not with the help of the govt. but on their own steam. Overriding the bureaucracy, fighting the obstacles. The entrepreneurs of today...the private sector coming into its own...that's what has impressed me about India in the last couple of years.

.

In USA, the govt. can invoke the eminent domain. People can be pushed out of their properties with fair compensation so govt. can build highways and other infra-structures needed for the greater good. Democracy is needed so no particular person or entity becomes overly powerful and unreasonable. However, if democracy result in people pursuing their self-interests at the expense of the greater good, then I think democracy has become a detriment.

Govt. involvement will always be present when you are dealing with East Asian (or even SG) economies. The clear separation of state and business sector in USA will/may not happen in China. During the intense US-Japan trade war/deficit, one major complaint of US buisnesses is that many Japanese companies are backed by their govt. specifically MITI (trade minsitry) and hence playing field is not level. Many economic decisions (e.g which technology or industry to develope) may be planned at the central level and executed top down. Govt. involvement is prevalent in South Korea too. And both countries are fully democratic too. I don’t know what is it about the east Asian countries where private sectors seem quite happy to cooperate with the govt. to get things done. There must be a certain level of mutual trust to make such relationship possible (in USA, businesses are concerned about too much govt. intervention and average Americans don't seem to trust their govt. as much). I call it the “group”