Public Address | Cafe | Hard News: From Saigon

InternationalObserver

Sat, 16 Jun 2007 09:25:29 +1200

Point of interest: the guy whos' screwing his workers is most likely to be either a returning expat Vietnamese or perhaps a Korean.
And it's women who run the brothels in SE Asia too. Crusty old mama-san's who lived the life themselves. Well at least that's how the media portray…

Amy Gale

Sat, 16 Jun 2007 07:32:35 +1200

Marcus Neiman wrote:
> very little of the windfalls of the slashing of labour and
> environmental compliance costs seem to have been passed on to
> consumers.

> Icebreaker and Macpac clothing, Fisher and Paykel products (for
> example) just don't seem that much cheaper in light of the…

Nat Torkington

Sat, 16 Jun 2007 07:11:05 +1200

Labour churn is a similar problem in Indian IT jobs, where salaries have risen 10% each year recently.

Russell Brown

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 22:59:09 +1200

Wow. Just spent a couple of hours having layers of meaning explained to me by Kevin Miller, a Japanese-American blogger, former non-profit volunteer and Linux guy. It's a complicated place.

Point of interest: the guy whos' screwing his workers is most likely to be either a returning expat Vietnamese or…

Russell Brown

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 20:50:38 +1200

Where exactly does that "scale and speed" come from, who pays for it, and who benefits? There's more to being on the left than supporting civil unions and buying Fair Trade. Start buying into this right-wing low-wage outsourcing crap and you might as well join the BlueLibs.

So you're going…

Che Tibby

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 20:10:05 +1200

man.. no email from ihug for two days either.

bull.shit.non-service...

Tane Wilton

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 13:40:31 +1200

Very good point Anjum. I was about to ask myself: Russell, when you say:

What Vietnam offers, he says, is "scale and speed": back home, you
can't go from 100 employees to 6000. Here, it's an option.

Where exactly does that "scale and speed" come from, who pays for it,…

Marcus Neiman

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 13:26:52 +1200

Word, Anjum.

And putting aside the effects of offshoring on blue collar NZers and Vietnamese, very little of the windfalls of the slashing of labour and environmental compliance costs seem to have been passed on to consumers.

Icebreaker and Macpac clothing, Fisher and Paykel products (for example) just don't seem…

Roho

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 13:26:12 +1200

Actually, Singapore is quite anal about terrorists. Armed police are present at the lovely airport and if you ride the newer MRT lines you'll be able to watch incessant public awareness videos (in all 4 official languages) about what to do if you see a mysterious package left on the…

Simon Grigg

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 12:49:59 +1200

Raffe, The reason the the A350 isn't attracting orders yet is that the design isn't finalised..rather simple. There is no doubt that the 787 is the star of the skies right now, but its a program driven by the fear of Airbus, even Boeing admit that.

My tin can analogy…

anjum rahman

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 12:26:59 +1200

getting back to growing business in vietnam, what are the labour laws like? minimum wage? maximum hours? health & safety reulations – how many workplace deaths & injuries do they have?

i had a debate last week with a couple who were spouting about the ease of doing business in asia compared…

Raffe Smith

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 12:24:48 +1200

Air NZ? Service? You must have been flying Business Class then?

No, unfortunately not! However the aircraft was only 75% full. Everything is relative, but I found it better than Virgin, and Qantas for that matter. Admittedly I haven`t flown Singapore for years, and probably won't, either.

It depends on…

Simon Grigg

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:19:37 +1200

777s are the business

It depends on the 777....the short haul ones used by Singapore are cramped and horrible, whereas the long haul layout is fantastic. But its worth remembering that it's only the threat of Airbus that has forced Boeing to take a step forward from the tin can…

InternationalObserver

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:17:20 +1200

Air NZ? Service? You must have been flying Business Class then?

Raffe Smith

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:03:12 +1200

Also if flying AirNZ, you get to travel to AKL on the 777 which is a much more roomy and modern airplane than the workhorse 747-400s that ply the LAX route.

777s are the business. Looking forward to the 787. I did have a nice time on an A340-600 the…

Russell Brown

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:02:01 +1200

I did see a group of Vietnamese fishermen outside your place looking very embarrassed.

Heh. If only.

After a brief, glorious hour of being about to send as well as receive email, I am back to being able to do neither. Can't login to webmail either. I do not feel…

Alastair Thompson

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 10:33:25 +1200

Excellent.

You have an email from me that I would like you to look at urgently.

Alastair

Evan Yates

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 10:21:41 +1200

Yeah, totally fly through San Francisco rather than LAX.

I endorse this advice completely. SFO was 150% better than LAX in terms of ease of passage on my last visit in '06. Also if flying AirNZ, you get to travel to AKL on the 777 which is a much more…

rodgerd

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 10:21:15 +1200

I might add that for both the US and Vietnam I had to get a special journalist's visa. For Vietnam, that was the end of the matter; for the US it became part of the problem on entry, when the dolt on the desk refused to accept that a journalist…

Hadyn Green

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 08:08:08 +1200

I did see a group of Vietnamese fishermen outside your place looking very embarrassed.

Raffe Smith

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 08:07:11 +1200

Yeah, totally fly through San Francisco rather than LAX. I was through customs in 15 minutes when I arrived there a few weeks ago, and I was pretty much last off the plane too.

Che Tibby

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 06:58:42 +1200

Oh, and by the way: fuck Ihug.

did i mention it took almost a month to get basic phone and broadband to my new digs?

this despite being told it would only take seven days, and constant reassurance the "service" would be up "tomorrow".

they very nicely waived all installation…

Russell Brown

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 03:00:46 +1200

My email's back. – smtp and all. About bloody time.

Amy Gale

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 02:50:28 +1200

> My last entry experience to the US was completely absurd (although
> clearly not enough to tempt me into terrorism) and LAX sucks,
> especially for transit passengers.

I have three words for you: Air Tahiti Nui.

PPT >> LAX

InternationalObserver

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 00:24:41 +1200

San Francisco is so much nicer than LA.

Sue

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 23:05:39 +1200

flying into San Francisco is so much nicer than LA.

Russell Brown

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 21:32:59 +1200

SEA-ME-WE3 has a landing in Đà Nẵng, and the NEC submarine cable map shows at least one landing in Vietnam. Starhub has another nice picture. There are bound to be many more, all owned by various consortia.
It would be interesting to see them all on one detailed map.

Yeah,…

James Clark

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 20:51:41 +1200

I must try and find a telecomms map of the region ...

SEA-ME-WE3 has a landing in Đà Nẵng, and the NEC submarine cable map shows at least one landing in Vietnam. Starhub has another nice picture. There are bound to be many more, all owned by various consortia.

It…

Terence Wood

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 17:03:17 +1200

ah...but can you mix metaphors and grow a bushy moustache...

Che Tibby

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 16:55:52 +1200

Well, I am the Magazine Publishers' Association business columnist of the year the past three years running ...

i vote that rb isn't allowed to mention this any more. :P

Russell Brown

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 16:50:23 +1200

Oh Russell! For a moment there you started to sound ever so slightly like Thomas Friedman...

Well, I am the Magazine Publishers' Association business columnist of the year the past three years running ...

Russell Brown

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 16:38:12 +1200

I might add that for both the US and Vietnam I had to get a special journalist's visa. For Vietnam, that was the end of the matter; for the US it became part of the problem on entry, when the dolt on the desk refused to accept that a journalist…

Russell Brown

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 16:23:53 +1200

That's not actually the case. They're just a whole lot smarter about it than the Americans. Putting ignorant racist thugs at the airport to give travelers the third degree shows such contempt that it is more likely to inspire terrorism than stop it.

Amen. My last entry experience to the…

Simon Grigg

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 16:17:33 +1200

He went to Changi on the way through and I think is heading back that way for a few days

James Clark

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 16:16:59 +1200

the Singaporeans don't seem to worry about terrerists at all.

That's not actually the case. They're just a whole lot smarter about it than the Americans. Putting ignorant racist thugs at the airport to give travelers the third degree shows such contempt that it is more likely to inspire terrorism…

Hadyn Green

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 16:12:48 +1200

why are we talking about Singapore?
I thought Russell was in Saigon?
Did someone invade someone and I didn't hear about it?

Simon Grigg

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 16:04:27 +1200

It's funny how, despite being a western aligned fascist state, the Singaporeans don't seem to worry about terrerists at all

Actually they did have that 2002 alleged attempt at the US Fleet in 2002 and there was a 2004 arrest for an alleged plot to do damage on the MRT.…

Russell Brown

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 15:51:41 +1200

It's funny how, despite being a western aligned fascist state, the Singaporeans don't seem to worry about terrerists at all.
Maybe either they think nobody well set a bomb off in Singapore, cos it's illegal, or that worst case lots of people will get killed and that will ease their…

Rich of Observationz

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 15:31:00 +1200

It's funny how, despite being a western aligned fascist state, the Singaporeans don't seem to worry about terrerists at all.

Maybe either they think nobody well set a bomb off in Singapore, cos it's illegal, or that worst case lots of people will get killed and that will ease their…

Terence Wood

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 13:54:32 +1200

Oh Russell! For a moment there you started to sound ever so slightly like Thomas Friedman...

Please take care whilst overseas; Friedmania is ever so hard to treat once you've got it :)

Paul Campbell

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 13:50:20 +1200

just wait until you drive out of town at night – dodging the unlit bikes and people – I finally decided the the reason they kept dipping and undipping their lights was half warning and half a sort of echo-location for unlit fellow travellers

Public Address

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 13:50:20 +1200

Discussion from blog post.