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Strategies & Market Trends : Asia Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dayuhan who wrote (8367)	3/20/1999 6:18:00 PM
From: Stitch	Respond to of 9980

Steven, Ron; <<It will also be good news for the oil-service sector, one of the best values in the stock market today. I've been picking some of these up over the last few months, partly because the fundamental numbers are so good and partly because I want to be smiling when everybody starts howling over rising oil prices.>> I have also and feel that the sector is value loaded right now. I also think we have to wait and see whether the price firms and holds. Following is OT, my usual Sunday morning ramblings. OT Notes to my journal; While it is easy to imagine the difficulties in communication between to distinct cultures with different languages it may be difficult to fully appreciate the nuances until you actually do it. This has been my experience as an ex pat in Malaysia. You just do not know when or how a misunderstanding or misinterpretation is going to come at you. When the party that you are attempting communication with is your own family it can make for some pretty interesting situations. Such was the case with my son last night. At ten years old this is a time of tremendously accelerated discovery for him. If anything, since I married his mother two years ago, I have throttled that rate even more. Since his natural father's death (he was only 2 years old at the time) he had been largely raised by his grandmother while his mother worked and dealt with the demands of single parenthood and the role of chief provider. From her he has learned the Chinese way of things including fluency in Cantonese. While he spoke English when I arrived, his vocabulary has naturally grown since then. But there are still occasions when new words throw him (and consequently me). Last night we attended the Malaysia Philharmonic in Kuala Lumpur. We hold season tickets that include enough box seats for guests, and last night we had invited a couple that we have had some business with. Our son is always included, a part of that accelerated learning curve I mentioned. We met at a posh new continental restaurant before the concert began. Our guests, who are also Chinese, labored over the continental menu and I offered an assist. For starters I ordered pumpkin soup and bruschetta. Now I have to digress for a moment and explain that on the Malaysian peninsula there is a ubiquitous word that is used by all the races. That word is “lah” and there is no translation. However it used in the familiar. For example, “I work at Sime Darby lah.” Or, in response to something like “Do you want a ride?” the answer might be “no need lah”. While I have no idea what the etymology of “lah” is I find it a bit charming. It adds a sort of musical quality to the spoken languages here. Locals use it extensively. Occasionally, when talking with locals in Cantonese, Bahasa, or English I will use it. Now, returning to my story; after the soup and bruschetta arrived I passed the plate with the toasted bread covered with the Italian version of “pico de gallo” and commented on how good it was. My son took a piece, and as he did asked ”what is this again? “ “Bruschetta” I said. “Huh?” he pressed again. “BRUSCHETTA” I said again, more loudly. He replied “oh” and munched away happily. Now here is where I screwed up. I should have known better. I could easily have turned back to our guests and continued with the mild banter that often accompanies meals like this, and we would have carried on, the picture of politeness. There was no reason for what I next said, no reason at all. “What did you think I said son?” Without even the bat of an eye or a trace of a smirk, and exuding the paragon of innocence, which I believe he was, he replied “I thought you said bullshit lah”! All four adults froze. For just a moment motion and time suspended. Once again, I missed the chance to move on quickly and diminish the effect. But of course, that is not what I did at all. “Where did you ever hear that” I asked. There are moments in our lives, whether they are triumph or tragedy, which force us to analyze the preceding moments carefully. The goal of this inquiry is usually to learn and to avoid or repeat the end result. I do not need to tell you my son's response to that last question. I am sure you have figured it out. And in my forced analysis I have arrived at the following: Accelerated language learning can occur at the ages of two or ten and can have very similar results. The source of the vocabulary is inevitably revealed in its usage. A corollary to the virtues of innocence is the lack of it in the guilty. Knowing when to shut up, as it has always been, is a virtue of great significance. It is equally virtuous at the dinner table or anywhere within earshot of your children.<G> Best, Stitch