Sparking Creativity in the Workplace

Can every employee be creative?

The paper shatters the myths surrounding creativity; for example, that it depends on personality, intelligence, character, age or experience, or that it belongs to people who live dangerously. The truth is that very often, the best ideas come from conservative people. Studies have shown that unusually intelligent people with a high IQ are no more creative than those with an average IQ.

How, then, can companies foster creative talent?

Creativity results from having the right aptitudes and attitudes: the ability and the will. Employees need freedom to work, since the best ideas often come when people are having fun, laughing and enjoying their work. Here are ideas for sparking creativity in ourselves and in our subordinates.

Improving Our Own Creative Talent

A creative attitude is a permanent willingness to approach problems and situations in new ways. It is based on three basic attitudes: tenacity, confidence and enthusiasm. Besides the attitude or will, we also need the aptitude or ability. In business, originality is not enough. Ideas must be useful and practical. To enhance our ability to produce new ideas we should learn to make better use of the "old elements."

Fostering Subordinates' Creative Talent

A creative attitude is an inner willingness, and so, will depend essentially on our subordinates' motivation. The first measure is to reward initiative and encourage experimentation. Second, align the right person with the right task.

There are basically four ways to encourage subordinates' creative aptitude: foster diversity; invite subordinates to explore and use sources of innovation; ask them SCAMPER questions (substitute, combine, adapt, modify, put for other purposes, eliminate, rearrange or reverse); and encourage them to use team creativity techniques.

As employees search for innovation opportunities, they should draw on the seven sources of innovation identified by management leader Peter. F. Drucker: surprises, incongruities, bottlenecks, changes in the industry, changes in perception, demographic changes and changes in knowledge.

To promote lateral thinking, teams should turn to creativity techniques such as provocation, broken logic, brainstorming or the six thinking hats, in which each team member must look at a subject or situation from a different "color" or angle.

Thus, to establish a creative culture, companies should concentrate on inspiring people with clear missions and goals, and they should promote information exchange and collaboration.

Cambodia's coming energy bonanza

If the United Nations, World Bank and Harvard University are to be believed, Cambodia is poised to become a major new global energy exporter, with a fossil-fuel windfall that promises to double the country's current GDP and potentially lift millions of Cambodians out of poverty.

The World Bank has said that Cambodia's total energy reserves may be as high as 2 billion barrels of oil and 10 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Depending on future world prices, fuel exports could generate annual revenues upwards of US$2 billion, or several times the current combined amount that Cambodia generates in domestic revenues and receives in foreign aid. Meanwhile, Cambodian energy officials indicated this week that they hope to ramp up production as early as 2009, three to seven years earlier than the World Bank projected as feasible.

An energy-rich Cambodia would appreciably enhance the war-torn country's geostrategic significance, particularly as the United States and China aggressively joust for access to new fuel sources around the globe.

Yet there's also a potential Cold War twist to China's bid. Any future oil-and-gas-production agreements with the CPP-led government will likely need to pass through Sokimex, Cambodia's leading conglomerate, which through a joint venture with Tela Petroleum Group controls 80% of the country's domestic oil and gas distribution. Energy analysts note that Cambodia's newfound reserves coincide with the expectation that Vietnam's own diminishing fuel supplies will run out over the next decade. So far Hanoi has no plans on how it might fill this future energy gap.

What is more likely is that senior CPP officials have designs on building up Sokimex and perhaps also Tela Petroleum through lucrative state energy concessions, which, once converted into foreign-currency earnings, may be tapped to support its patronage-based political machine and further consolidate the party's dominance over Cambodian politics - akin to how Malaysia's ruling United Malays National Organization has relied on state oil giant Petronas for its own political purposes.

Western donors have already sounded warnings about the potential pitfalls of Cambodia's supposed newfound energy wealth. Hun Sen's government has come under intense donor pressure to tackle endemic corruption among his ranks.

10 Ways to Catch a Liar

By Heather Hatfield
Tip No. 1: Inconsistencies
"When you want to know if someone is lying, look for inconsistencies in what they are saying," says Newberry, who was a federal agent for 30 years and a police officer for five.
Tip No. 2: Ask the Unexpected
"Watch them carefully," says Newberry. "And then when they don't expect it, ask them one question that they are not prepared to answer to trip them up."
Tip No. 3: Gauge Against a Baseline
One of the most important indicators of dishonesty is changes in behavior. You want to pay attention to someone who is generally anxious, but now looks calm. Or, someone who is generally calm but now looks anxious.
Tip No. 4: Look for Insincere Emotions
"Most people can't fake smile," says O'Sullivan. "The timing will be wrong, it will be held too long, or it will be blended with other things. Maybe it will be a combination of an angry face with a smile; you can tell because their lips are smaller and less full than in a sincere smile."
Tip No. 5: Pay Attention to Gut Reactions
While an average person might not know what it is he's seeing when he thinks someone isn't being honest and attribute his suspicion to instinct, a scientist would be able to pinpoint it exactly.
Tip No. 6: Watch for Microexpressions
"A microexpression is a very brief expression, usually about a 25th of a second, that is always a concealed emotion," says Ekman, PhD, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of California Medical School in San Francisco.
Tip No. 7: Look for Contradictions
"The general rule is anything that a person does with their voice or their gesture that doesn't fit the words they are saying can indicate a lie," says Ekman.
Tip No. 8: A Sense of Unease
"When someone isn't making eye contact and that's against how they normally act, it can mean they're not being honest," says Jenn Berman, PhD, a psychologist in private practice.
Tip No. 9: Too Much Detail
Too much detail could mean they've put a lot of thought into how they're going to get out of a situation and they've crafted a complicated lie as a solution.
Tip No. 10: Don't Ignore the Truth
"It's more important to recognize when someone is telling the truth than telling a lie because people can look like they're lying but be telling truth," says Newberry http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/10-ways-catch-liar?page=3

Ten Tips to Encourage Meaningful Conflict

Conflict avoidance is most frequently the topic when conflict in organizations is discussed. Conflict resolution - as quickly as possible - is the second most frequent topic. This is bad news because meaningful work conflict is a cornerstone in healthy, successful organizations. Conflict is necessary for effective problem solving and for effective interpersonal relationships. So, knowing how to raise issues and participate in meaningful work conflict is key to your success in work and in life. These tips will help.

1. Create a work environment in which healthy conflict is encouraged by setting clear expectations.
2. Reward, recognize, and thank people who are willing to take a stand and support their position.
3. If you experience little dissention in your group, examine your own actions.
4. Expect people to support their opinions and recommendations with data and facts.
5. Create a group norm that conflict around ideas and direction is expected and that personal attacks are not tolerated.
6. Provide employees with training in healthy conflict and problem solving skills.
7. Look for signs that a conflict about a solution or direction is getting out of hand.
8. Hire people who you believe will add value to your organization with their willingness to problem solve and debate.
9. Make executive compensation dependent upon the success of the organization as a whole as well as the accomplishment of individual goals.
10. If you are using all of the first nine tips, and healthy work conflict is not occurring ... You need to sit down with the people who report to you directly and with their direct reporting staff and ask them why. Some positive, problem solving discussion might allow your group to identify and rectify any problem that stands in the way of open, healthy, positive, constructive work conflict and debate.

Country for Sale

Almost half of Cambodia has been sold to foreign speculators in the past 18 months - and hundreds of thousands who fled the Khmer Rouge are homeless once more.

Cambodia is a nation that would drown if their boat tipped over; it is also a country whose citizens mostly do not belong to the places where they have ended up. The Khmer Rouge saw to that, eviscerating the kingdom after coming to power. Below are some highlights extracted from the long article:

• Forty-five per cent of the country's entire landmass has been sold off - from the land ringing Angkor Wat to the colonial buildings of Phnom Penh to the south-western islands. By 2006, the World Bank estimated that 40,000 had been made homeless in Phnom Penh alone.


• Rumours were buzzing around Sihanoukville's covered market that virtually every island in the region was up for sale. Over the following months, Koh Russei and Koh Ta Kiev, Koh Bong and Koh Ouen, Koh Preus, Koh Krabei and Koh Tres were all snapped up by foreigners, who then started negotiating for mainland sites, too, among them public beaches with names such as Serendipity, Occheuteal and Otres.


• The troubled kingdom of Cambodia had suddenly found itself a refuge for cash and speculators fleeing paralysed western financial markets.


• Foreign fund managers had started pitching up in Phnom Penh, alerted by the country's unexpected boom in tourism. Their interest was land speculation: buying up large sites in developing countries that they would then sit on in the hope that, with the influx of tourists, land values would soar.


• Hun Sen and his ruling CPP have, in effect, put the country up for sale. Crucially, they permit investors to form 100% foreign-owned companies in Cambodia that can buy land and real estate outright - or at least on 99-year plus 99-year leases. No other country in the world countenances such a deal. Even in Thailand and Vietnam, where similar land speculation and profiteering are under way, foreigners can be only minority shareholders.


• Many foreign funds - hedge funds, property funds, private equity funds - operating on the outer margins of the financial world thrive on complexity, risk and maximising profit. In Phnom Penh, they found an ideal partner in the prime minister, who has created a unique business environment. Since the mid-90s, Hun Sen and the CPP have declined to enforce money-laundering legislation and have concerned themselves little with the probity of investors. Foreign businessmen were offered nine-year tax holidays, and were allowed to hold their cash in US dollars in banks outside the country.


• In July 2007, Hun Sen, gambling on his people's tenuous connection with the land, changed the designation of the southern islands so they could be sold. The forests, lakes, beaches and reefs - and the lives of the thousands of residents - were quietly transferred into the hands of private western developers.


• It was Hun Sen who, as early as 1989, realised the power of land. As he privatised the land, "he simultaneously cut off the rights of 360,000 exiled Cambodians, awarding prime slices to political allies and friends." Although he bathes his speeches in socialist values, even his closest aides told us that Hun Sen was more often than not a pragmatist.


• The investors could have sold up and come away rich. But this was development with a difference. They were speculating on the future value of the land, believing that by adding only modest infrastructure, perhaps attaching big-name hoteliers, they would reap vast profits in seven to 10 years.


• Since the land sell-offs, members of the government and its allies have been splashing huge sums around. A Korean developer told us that when he marketed Phnom Penh's first skyscraper, the 42-storey Gold Tower project in February, all two dozen £750,000 penthouse suites were bought within 24 hours by "an honour roll of the CPP and its friends in the military".


• Simon Taylor, the director of Global Witness, an international NGO that was forced to leave the country last year, having accused the CPP of running a logging racket, paints a depressing picture: "A shadow state has grown up, a government that misappropriates public assets, extorts from businesses and manages an extensive illicit economy.


• Has the legacy of the Khmer Rouge been purged? Naly Pilorge, director of Licadho, a local human rights NGO, thinks not: "Everyone claims Cambodia has come through the period of barbarism, but the sadism is still bubbling beneath the surface. Extreme violence, greed and disregard for the most basic human rights - of giving people a place to live - are still with us daily. The methods of the past are being used to dictate our future."

Tales of the Mekong Cambodia 1/6

This is one of the best documentaries about Cambodia from NG. It shows how important Cambodia's Mekong and Great Lake are. Cambodia's mighty rivers and lakes are not only rich in bio-diversity, they make Cambodia a beautiful and great nation. Tonle Sap gives birth to the Khmer civilzation; the Mekong is the life blood of Tonle Sap. Both the Mekong and Tonle Sap are now facing ecological disasters due to climate change, overexploitation and poor governance.

Southeast Asia's 40 Richest

The present SE's richest person is a Malaysian, Robert Kuok. Top the 40 richest is Indonesia, while Malaysia has the most superwealthy, including six billionaires. Most of millionaires in SE are from Asean Five. The list includes head of states and family fortunes. It ranks mainly businessmen, as it is still hard to know exactly how much some government officials have. Take Suharto and Hun Sen as examples.

http://www.forbes.com/2004/08/26/cz_jwd_0826seasiaintro.html

Asia Needs to Provide Global Leadership

Can Asians think?

The dean of Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy says it's time to come to grips with the end of Western domination of global affairs. Below is his interview with BW:

You have boldly written about the hypocrisy of the West and its own inner conflicts that do not allow it to acknowledge that its time is up. What was the trigger that compelled you to express yourself thus?
I wrote because the Asian voice is never heard in the rest of the world. We are entering a completely new historical era, with new maps and new guidelines, [moving from] a monocultural world to a multicultural world. This new era is so different because it is the end of the era of Western domination of world history—though not the end of the West—and the beginning of a new era of a rising Asia. Because of Western dominance, the West has run the world for the past 200 years—in many ways benignly. It could do that when it felt confident and secure, when it felt the future belonged to it. But history teaches us that when these same powers become insecure, they become part of the problem, not part of the solution.
What are some of the consequences?
There is a global leadership vacuum at a time when you need new kinds of thinking. Asia needs to provide global leadership. But none of us seems to want to figure out what the consequences of the end of Western domination will be. It is painful for the West to give up power [and] it resists the transfer of power. It is anachronistic and absurd that the head of the IMF should still be a European and the head of the World Bank should still be American. The Doha round failed because the West has lost the confidence that it can push for trade talks and win.
And you think Asia would do better?
Asians could do as good a job in representing global interests. It is the responsibility of the rising powers to take this on, but there is a reluctance on the part of India and China to take this on too early.
But hasn't Asia been a big beneficiary of this Western dominance?
Yes. East Asia rose because [of] the rules-based order of the world, inherited from the West. America has done more for the rise of Asia than any other country. The yeast from which Asia rose came from Asian elites trained in the U.S. Larry Summers, then-president of Harvard University, said that in the industrial world, productivity improved by 50% in a single generation; in Asia, it has improved by 10,000%.
You give high praise to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) over the EU. Why?
Asean is an economic mini-power worth under $1 trillion, but it is a diplomatic superpower. The EU is an economic superpower, but a diplomatic mini-power. After all these years, the EU still remains a Christian club. Look at Asean. It has all religions in it: Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Taoism, Confucianism, Communism, Christianity. Asean is the role model of the future, the EU is not.
What about the Middle East. Where does its rise fit in?
Its moment is nigh. The picture on the cover of my book is not Shanghai, but Dubai. Dubai wants to be Singapore. Dubai's success can pressurize and inspire Iran. The march to modernity in Asia began in Japan, then went to Southeast Asia, then China, then India—and from there it will go to Pakistan and the Middle East.
And China?
China is one of the most misunderstood countries in the world. Chinese society has changed 180 degrees in the last 30 years. Western universities are rushing to partner with Chinese universities. They have to join the line now. These are the universities of the future. China may have a closed political system, but it has open minds.
Finally, where do you see India in all this change?
India will have a critical role to play. With the rise of Asia, there will be a lot of angst in the West, especially if they lose to China, a Communist country, and fear the "yellow peril." India's rise in the West is seen as nonthreatening, because there are no traditional differences between India and the West.

Catch Sputnik mania!

About this Talk

Filmmaker David Hoffman shares footage from his feature-length documentary Sputnik Mania, which shows how the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik in 1957 led to both the space race and the arms race -- and jump-started science and math education around the world.

One good lesson: The documentary tells us how a free society could be stampeded by those who know how to use the media, but it could also turns what appears at first to be a bad situation.

http://http//www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/239

The World's Biggest Companies

One world; one gigantic marketplace. This year, 60 countries have global 2000 entries vs. 51 in our inaugural list in 2004. The Forbes global 2000 are public companies with the top composite scores based on their rankings for sales, profits, assets and market value. Our justification for using a composite ranking is simple: One metric alone can give a false impression about corporate size.

In total, the global 2000 companies now account for $30 trillion in revenues, $2.4 trillion in profits, $119 trillion in assets and $39 trillion in market value. Around the world, 72 million people work for these companies.

The U.S. still dominates this list of global giants, but with 61 fewer entries than last year and 153 fewer than in 2004, as many U.S. companies failed to keep pace with global competitors. In contrast, China, India and Brazil are rapidly adding companies to the list. India, for example, has 48 companies this year vs. 27 in 2004.

Measured by number of companies, 315, the banking industry has the biggest presence on the global 2000. Banking also dominates in assets, with total assets of $58.3 trillion, and profits, $398 billion. The 123 companies in oil and gas operations lead all industries in aggregate revenues, of $3.76 trillion, and take second place in total profits, of $386 billion.

The complete list of Global 2000: http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/18/biz_2000global08_The-Global-2000_Rank.html

Tokyo 2008 Spring

Higashi Murayama central park ( Tokyo suburb): The park is spacious and is a nice place for outdoor activities. This is a variety of Tulips. The red ones look beautiful and strong while the white ones have weak stalk and short life. Wanted to go to flower gardens to take the pics of flower fields, but decided to take this one instead cus it's more cost effective. Broke after returning from Cambodia!

Shinjuku Botanical Garden ( a Japanese style one). Located at the heart of Tokyo in the busiest business centre, this is one of the most spacious and popular places for Hanami, the party under cherry blossom, and flower viewing. There are a large collection of various kinds of tree and flower, esp Sakura trees. The location is very convenient, and the garden design is pleasant, but unlike other Hanami spots 200 yen admission fee is required.

Ueno Park: A big tourist attraction in Tokyo with museums, zoos and over 1000 Sakura trees. It is the most popular place for Hanami ( from late Mar to Early April). To secure a place, you have to reserve in advance. Hanami goers bring their own food and drink. It's a joyous time to get together. I've never had a chance to celebrate Hanami there cus it's always crowded and fully booked! Just go to see people enjoying and taking pics. That makes me happy too.

Kudanshita: The place is one of the must-sees in Tokyo. It's noted for its shrines, including Yasukuni, castles and moats. It's not a big place for Hanami but maybe best for flower viewing in spring due to its superb location and scenic view. These are Sakura and other flower trees on the slope of a castle surrounded by moats.

Another beautiful pic at Kudanshita. I like this pic the most. It looks refreshing and breath-taking with Sakura tress and clear water. It's also romantic if you notice many lovers are rowing underneath the bridge! May keep it for pic contest someday.

Another scenic view at Shinjuku park. Most of the pics I took on that day is not clear cus it was showering. As can be seen, people are using umbrellas. Should have checked the wheather forecast.The park is suitable for both lovers and family; a good place for jogging and sightseeing.

Don't know the names of these flowers, but they are absolutely beautiful and the arrangement is great. It is not really Ikebana ( Japanese flower arrangement). Undeniably, Japanese are good at arranging and decorating flowers. I notice that people in developed countries seem to like flowers...

Docomo Tower viewed from a nearby park. Is it a nice pic in terms of the art of photo-taking? Honestly, I am poor photographer. Hope this one is my first noticeable work.

2008 spring is the thrid one for me in Japan. Didn't roam around much and take many photos this time cus it seems there is no other places to view flowers in Tokyo.

7 Relationship Problems and How to Solve Them

How to solve the most common relationship problems and get your love life back on track:

Relationship problem #1: Lack of trust

Mary Jo Fay, RN, MSN, author of When Your “Perfect Partner” Goes Perfectly Wrong, offers these tips to help you and your partner develop trust in each other.

• Be consistent. Be on time. When you have to be late, call and say you’ll be late. Do what you say you will do, and call when you say you will call.


• Don’t lie, not even little white lies, to your partner or to others.


• Be fair, even in an argument.


• Carry your fair share of chores.


• Respect your partner’s boundaries.


• Be a good listener.


• Don't be jealous.


• Try not to overreact when things go wrong.


• Don’t dig up old wounds. Remember that once you say things, you can’t take them back.


• Be sensitive to the other’s feelings. You can still disagree, but don’t discount how your partner feels.

Relationship problem #4: Money issues

Money issues are a sore spot for many couples. Addressing them involves many questions, says Orbuch, from how much money you each think you should save to who earns more and who makes the financial decisions. “Money is an especially sensitive subject,” says Orbuch. “People just don’t like to talk about it."
Every three months, Orbuch says, you should schedule a “money talk.” Make a list of short- and long-term financial goals, and plan for how much you're spending and how much you're saving. “It’s not unusual for one partner to play a more primary role in money matters,” says Orbuch, “but the other partner should be involved and aware. One person shouldn't be making big financial decisions alone.”

Click on the title link for more.

Special coverage on Dith Pran- The Killing Fields Hero

Below are some coverages on The Killing Fields and its hero, Dith Pran, who devotes most of his life for Cambodia's causes and genocide prevention. The collection includes his book, various articles, interviews and videos. Also are his biography and his last words. It's an old and most-debated topic but hard to forget. It's a must for Cambodians to remember to prevent such horror from happening again. As he said during his last interview, one Killing Field is many; one is enough. Just compile it for review on his death anniversary. May he rests in peace. May his causes and spirit live forever.

Killing Fields' survivor Dith Pran dies
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080330/ap_on_re_us/obit_dith_pran
Real hero of The Killing Fields, Dith Pran, dies
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article3642909.ece
Your Dith Pran reader- Various articles frome The Times
http://timesonline.typepad.com/comment/2008/03/dith-pran-a-rea.html
NY Times Achieves- Dith Pran
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/d/dith_pran/index.html?8qa&scp=1-spot&sq=Dith+Pran&st=nyt

Bhutan's Enlightened Experiment

Let have a change this week by taking a tour to the one of our brotherly Buddhist lands, Bhutan. The Land of Dragon, which is a remote kingdom on the Himalaya, is famous for its rolling mountains, cultural preservation and Gross National Happiness. Really wanna visit there once in a life time.

Photographer Lynsey Addario talks about the Himalayan Buddhist kingdom's move toward modernization and democracy with nice pics and videos.Video link:

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/video/player?titleID=1410476524

How to Handle a Crisis

Crisis: A crucial or decisive point or situation; a turning point. (American Heritage Dictionary)

How to handle a crisis?

The best thing is to have a plan of action prepared in advance. That way, you can react swiftly and smartly when a crisis hits. Crises by nature are messy, often unfolding at a pace that makes careful and considered response difficult. Sometimes, they stem from unforeseen events, and in retrospect some could have been predicted, but always they present a test of leadership skill and preparation.

Communication Is Key

Crises represent turning points for business health and reputation, often leaving both in tatters. If handled well, though, a crisis response can actually enhance reputation and spur some needed dialogue and change. Considering an airline achieved its tremendous growth largely because of its customer-friendly reputation, its failure to anticipate such cancellations and plan accordingly became the focus of the debate over what went wrong.

Playing Ostrich Won't Work

At minimum, clear and immediate communication is an antidote. If stakeholders know you're aware that there's a problem, that may be enough in the short run to maintain goodwill until the problem is fixed or at least dealt with. Yet it's far easier to find examples of poor-crisis communications response than it is to find examples of those who learn from others' high-profile mistakes. A lack of information fuels anxiety rather than defuses it.

7 steps in responding to a crisis: http://www.businessweek.com/playbook/07/0904_1.htm

13 Healthy Habits to Improve Your Life

There are 13 ways to boost your chances of living a happy, healthy life. More can be added to this list, but, for simplicity's sake, we'll stick with this typically unlucky number.

1. Eat Breakfast Every Morning: Research shows people who have a morning meal tend to take in more vitamins and minerals, and less fat and cholesterol. The result is often a leaner body, lower cholesterol count, and less chance of overeating.
2. Add Fish and Omega-3 Fatty Acids to Your Diet: The AHA recommends a serving of fish two times per week. Besides being a good source of protein and a food relatively low in the bad type of dietary fat called saturated fat, fish has omega-3 fatty acids, which have been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease.

3. Get Enough Sleep: Sleep is vital to good health and to mental and emotional well-being. The NSF reports that people who don't get enough slumber are more likely than others to develop psychiatric problems and to use health care services. Plus, sleep deprivation can negatively affect memory, learning, and logical reasoning. To avoid the pitfalls of insufficient sleep, make sure to get at least seven to 10 hours of slumber each night. Kids need more sleep, depending on their age.
4. Make Social Connections: Volunteer. Go to church. Join a club. Whatever you do, do it with people. Communal activities are good for your physical and mental health. Social ties have many benefits, including: providing information, instrumental help, emotional support and a sense of belonging.

5. Exercise for Better Health: Here is a review of the advantages of exercise.
- Helps control weight
- Maintains healthy bones, muscles, and joints
- Reduces risk of developing high blood pressure and diabetes
- Promotes psychological well-being
- Reduces risk of death from heart disease
- Reduces risk of premature death

6. Practice Good Dental Hygiene: Flossing your teeth every day could add 6.4 years to your life, according to Michael Roizen, MD.

7. Take Up a Hobby: Look up the word "hobby" in the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, and you will find the definition as "a pursuit outside one's regular occupation engaged in especially for relaxation." Since they are relaxing activities, hobbies are usually enjoyable. The joy may help people live healthier and recover better from illness. For one thing, taking part in hobbies can burn calories.

8. Protect Your Skin: Our skin starts to age as soon as we are born and, according to the American Academy of Dermatology, the best way to protect it and look younger is to stay out of the sun.

9. Snack the Healthy Way: The ADA recommends five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day as part of a healthy diet.

10. Drink Water and Eat Dairy: Water and milk are essential fluids for good health, but they can also help with shedding pounds. The body needs water to keep properly hydrated and individuals vary widely in how much water they need. Joints need it to stay in motion, and vital organs such as the heart, brain, kidney, and liver need it to work properly.

11. Drink Tea: There is some evidence that tea may help in improving memory, and preventing cavities, cancer, and heart disease.

12. Take a Daily Walk: An eight-year study of 13,000 people also showed that people who walked 30 minutes daily had a significantly reduced chance of premature death compared with those who rarely exercised.

13. Plan: There is, perhaps, no better word in the English language to better illustrate how you can incorporate healthy habits into your everyday life than the word PLAN. To eat healthy, for example, it would help to set aside time to draft a menu, make a grocery list, go to the store, prepare meals, and pack breakfast and lunch.

And the last, but not least, recommendation from me is COMMITMENT. Without it, nothing will happen no matter how much you plan!

Click on the title link for more details and other links.

Why are food prices rising?

Excerpts from various FT articles

Food prices have been rising steadily in the past few months and the effects are being felt globally. As agricultural commodities such as wheat and dairy trade at record highs, some governments, such as Russia, are implementing price controls on selected types of bread, cheese, milk, eggs and vegetable oil.

Rice prices have surged to a 20-year high in the latest sign of global food inflation, creating policy headaches in Asia, where more than 2.5bn people depend on cheap and abundant supplies of the grain. Asia has not known famines since the 1970s, and recent price rises for rice and other basic foodstuffs have sparked unrest.

Indeed, there is already ample evidence that political tensions are building: the World Food Programme, for example, now thinks a third of the world’s population lives in countries with food price controls or export bans.

There are now widespread predictions that there could be further price increases soon, because of growing demand for key resources. Scarcity of water and arable land means that the boom in food prices could last longer than most expect, a new study has warned. But why is food getting more expensive?

Here are the main factors I summarise from various articles: tight supplies and rising demand in emerging markets, urbanisation, changing diets in emerging market, subsidies and market distortion, the impact of climate change, rising input price, capital and resource misallocation. Click on the title link for interactive multimedia.

More related topics: http://www.ft.com/foodprices

Twenty-year high in rice prices sparks fears:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f40ad5ca-e975-11dc-8365-0000779fd2ac,dwp_uuid=a955630e-3603-11dc-ad42-0000779fd2ac.html

The next crisis will be over food: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/5a9b3c72-db2e-11dc-9fdd-0000779fd2ac,dwp_uuid=a955630e-3603-11dc-ad42-0000779fd2ac.html

U.S. Is Top Source of Money Sent Home by Migrants

India gets more money sent back from migrants than any country in the world, according to a new World Bank report that also showed the U.S. was the top source of remittance.
Migrants sent $27 billion to India in 2007. China came in second, receiving $25.7 billion and Mexico was a close third with $25 billion.
In many developing countries, remittances provide a life line for the poor. They are often an essential source of foreign exchange and a stabilizing force for the economy in turbulent times.
The U.S., which was the top immigration country in 2005 with 38.4 million immigrants, is by far the largest source of outflows, with $42 billion in recorded outward flows in 2006. Saudi Arabia ranks as the second largest, followed by Switzerland and Germany. The Mexico-U.S. corridor is the largest migration corridor in the world, the Worlds Bank said, accounting for 10.4 million migrants by 2005.
For 2007, recorded remittances flows world-wide are estimated at $318 billion, of which $240 billion went to developing countries. However, the World Bank notes, “These flows don’t include informal channels, which would significantly enlarge the volume of remittances if they were recorded.” –Phil Izzo

Trackback URL: http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2008/03/19/us-is-top-source-of-money-sent-home-by-migrants/?mod=WSJBlog/trackback/

Links to the original article and more information about immigration and remittance: http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:21692926~pagePK:34370~piPK:34424~theSitePK:4607,00.html

Asia faces 'unique and complex' terror threat

Business Times, 22 Feb 2008

THE terrorist threat facing businesses operating in South-east Asia is 'unique, complex and specific to the region', according to Lloyd's, the world's leading specialist insurance market, which also provides insurance cover against terrorism.

A new report from Lloyd's and the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), released yesterday in Singapore, warns that traditional forms of terrorism in Asia are being superseded by area-specific threats, such as criminal gangs with political agendas.

The report, entitled 'Terrorism in Asia: What does it mean for business?', outlines five practical steps businesses can take to minimise the threat from a terrorist attack:

1. gather high-quality information from the right sources - both government and academic

2. guide strategy and operations;
3. choose locations wisely
4. adopt security as business facilitator, not a burden;
5. protect supply chains; and
6. engage with local communities and understand local customs and traditions.

The report found that the main threat to businesses operating in South-east Asia are proximity to Western targets, such as embassies and hotels; kidnapping of employees; and threats to transport routes and supply chains.

Speaking at the launch of the report, Lloyd's chief executive officer Richard Ward said:

'There is no such thing as a uniform global threat, and in South-east Asia, businesses face some complex and specific regional issues. While there are fewer occurrences of Islamist terrorism in the area, criminal gangs with agendas are on the rise, with kidnappings and other forms of violent crime increasingly prevalent in some parts of the region.'

'Businesses need to be better at information gathering from the right source in order to focus on what they are actually threatened with, not reading the media headlines that usually focus on radicalism, and making decisions based on that,' he said.

Strategic Trade Routes: Seeking new ways to deliver the goods

One of the best places to appreciate the development of trade between Asia and Europe is aboard a ship in the Gulf of Suez. (Click here to look at possible routes for transporting cargo in Asia and Europe.)

According to figures from Global Insight, an economics and trade forecaster, container shipping volumes between Asia and Europe are likely to grow 17.2 per cent this year alone. Traffic this year will approach double its 2003 level – part of the reason why ships deployed on the route now are two-and-a-half times the size of the largest a decade ago.

With demand in North America slowing this year, Asia-Europe trades could soon overtake trans-Pacific trades as the world’s main long-haul container trade route. The surge has led to questions all along the route of this remarkable flow of goods about how best to capitalise on the trade and how to cope with it. Operators’ strategies are constantly changing as they seek ever-cheaper, faster, more reliable means of moving their goods.

One of the most important trends at work is obvious along China’s River Yangtze, which links much of inland China to the sea at Shanghai.

The move inland has inspired hope that the rail route from Asia to Europe, via the trans-Mongolian or trans-Manchurian railways on to Russia’s famous trans-Siberian route, might be able to capture a portion of the traffic. Russian and Chinese railway officials argued at an event this year in Brussels that the faster journey time on the route compared with sea transport gave it a significant competitive advantage. In June, European Rail Shuttle, part of Denmark’s AP Møller-Maersk, operated what it said was the first train carrying imports to Europe all the way from China.

Many parts of Asia are also focusing on developing the cargo capabilities of their airports, in the hope of acting either as hubs or gateways to and from areas producing high-value electronics or other valuable goods that are expensive enough to justify the higher costs involved in air transport.

Lines can also use different strategies to improve their reliability, using small feeder vessels to call at congested ports such as India’s Jawaharlal Nehru Port then picking up the goods from a transshipment hub such as Colombo in Sri Lanka or Salalah in Oman. At the European end, lines are particularly concerned with how to cope with soaring traffic levels at relatively undeveloped ports in the Black and Baltic Seas.