Hello CB, Now is a good time to respond to this earlier post of yours:0)
Your description of New Orleans <<Corruption in the sense of judges, cops, taking bribes, looking the other way for the right price, even an occasional hit by a cop for the right price>> reminds me of the Philippines (Texas, Washington and New York for good measure). A bribe paid in New Orleans can presumably achieve some measure of result, whereas in the Philippines will get you little in the way of what is desired, be it the lifting of building height restrictions, expansion of plot ratios, or the permission to build shops over storm ditches.
Then again, one probably cannot do any of what I just mentioned in New Orleans either. Do I sound like a secret adventurer:0)
OTOH, a bribe in Texas, Washington and New York seem to work absolute world record-breaking wonders! Outrageous!
Let us get back on the subject of my homeland. The thought that the twin calypso islands of Trinidad & Tobago may be likened to the Philippines excites me, and not even secretly. I do not know that Trinidad is a place of decay though, which the Philippines is, and is its charm.
I suspect the inhabitants of the federated steel band and rum islands of the Caribbean are simply slow, lazy, and much too happy, wallowing in a pool of oil, soaked in rum, and blessed by the sun. I will know for sure in a few more days, and will file a report here. I will miss the annual carnival by one day, and glad of it. This will be my first visit since the initial one 18 years ago, and first visit for my wife.
Trinidad is in one way probably like the Philippines (for that matter, China, Russia, India, and the US) in that opportunities are more plentiful, especially during times of economic stress, to the few, connected, and in-crowd. As one relation joked, perhaps, not too far from the truth, ‘it is time to clean out the little guys again’.
I have never been a member of this crowd, and I am curious about what one can do as an in-person, having been raised in the American fair play environment under the Chinese ‘meritocracy is salvation’ credo. The lack of “in” status, supposedly limiting, as would a natural law, has so far not fazed me wherever I lived, as I have, by and by, done OK regardless of own deficiencies in social network. Never the less I do recognize the status as an unfair competitive advantage, perhaps to be desired, and am a little ashamed to admit that I am drawn to its current politically less correct possibilities, as would a good Catholic girl be drawn to I do not know what.
No kidding, I realized, even without Enron, the magical possibilities of access to financing, deal flow, and political back-slapping nights of debauchery. Half kidding, I think I have much to contribute, as well as learn. Just another adventure for a fast burning Hong Kong dweller living on rented effort and borrowed time. Something to fantasize about, in any case:0)
To say something politically correct seems appropriate at this point. Like you, I do not know how I will react to outright corruption and blatant opportunity for unfair play. I have not been tested, yet, at least not with the right sum of rewards. I look forward to the trial, eh, test, as in exam.
I disagree with AC Flyer Mike, I doubt very much Mr. Lay will go to jail, because he supposedly did everything in accordance with the book, or at least he should have, and he certainly had enough lawyers around him. We will have to wait for the book. No heist is good unless one can get away, cleanly, best in daylight, OK at night.
On a separate matter, I will be meeting a bunch of folks comprised of eco resort operator, plantation owner, lawyer, doctor, math professor, oil executive, partner in auditing firm, CEO of bank institution, corporate chairman of non-bank financial company, controller of one of few publicly listed public companies, owner of another, and such.
The words ‘keyed up’ do not describe my anticipation. ‘Psyched’ comes closer to the truth. These people are all previous strangers I am happy to call family, and they tell me, “welcome, for you are home”. I discovered these people through the Internet search engines and e-mail referrals in the past 8 months.
Imagine if you will, a ‘new’ (to the local environment) species of predator, armed with Hong Kong island know-how and American technology, let loose in the gentle environment of the Caribbean! Rip, crunch, engulf and gobble up. Like you, I would have trouble deliberately hurt some one, any one, if they are defenseless against me, but gad, with ‘greedy grasping types’ I say ‘rip, crunch, engulf and gobble up’.
Here I must hedge a bit, because I have seen video clips of gentle octopus smother fast moving shark, and so realize I could be dinner ingredient for the gyrating troppo types Maurice so belittles.
BTW, on <<here there is corruption, too, but it's very different … charge the government $900 for a toilet … whistleblower statutes … Political corruption is the constant fodder of Washington journalism. Nobody looks the other way>>, not this time, hopefully, because the sums have gone beyond a $900 latrine and it apparently does not now matter which of six directions we look, we simply see the same ugly mess. What's more, we are still in the early days of discovery. Remember that the Savings & Loan cum Junk Bond Leverage Buyout fiasco came to light in its entirety over, what, 18-24 months?
<<place to raise children>> I am actually concerned about this issue now, for I am worried that my future hope to happen soon kids will take after me, all in the spirit of collecting experiences to write a book.
Chugs, Jay |
