Thought of the day

The lemmings are confused

It is hard to separate oneself from preconceived notions. It not only means to start thinking again, but also more often, to recognise one’s own mistakes. This is what is faced by many companies that went to China like lemmings during the last ten years…

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Out of office

An “Out of Office” message is the automated response to an incoming e-mail telling people that the recipient is presently absent from work. Normally this means physically absent; very rarely will an employee use such an automated response, if he has just written a wall post informing his 2,797 Facebook “friends” of some nasty incident or when perusing stimulating sites for his dreams that night.

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Fear of Flying

Fear of flying is certainly not helpful if you must fly frequently. Airlines are aware of this and offer their elite guests psychological support. You might have gotten used to the thought…

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Well then, cheers …

A good government cares for the health of its citizens. Such is also the case in Thailand. Everyone knows how unhealthy alcohol is and so the responsible Ministry controls the alcohol consumption there with all its power and competence.

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In Germany not have corruption?“

Upstanding officials are to be found everywhere in Asia, at least I firmly believe that to be the case … definitely … or at least highly likely! They must be somewhere! Even in, let us say, “Fantasyland” which is I will describe the place where the following events took place, so as not to unfairly expose a particular country on account of its customs. I recently learned how tough and selfless the job of a corrupt public servant can be when I tried to escape a traffic jam by driving illegally in the bus lane.

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Expat homesickness

“Expats” are those provided with a pretty financial package from their attentive parent company, at receptions, drinking “sundowners” and at luxury hotel bars enjoying respect which…

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Feudalism or masochism?

“Never say something like that to someone at home in Germany. Otherwise, they’ll believe that feudalism has been resurrected here.” When he asked during a morning phone call how I was doing so early, I replied: “Oh, it’s going to be just a normal, terrible day. Our maid got scrambled egg on my shirt and the driver seems to be seeking out every available pothole and then checks in the rear-view mirror to see how many times he’s managed to drive my head into the car roof!”

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