Geeks, Greeks, 11/9, 9/11, and lost Filipino dreams

[niky]

Yeah, Vietnam is our biggest threat in Southeast Asia.

Imagine, just forty years ago, it was a country in ruins... and yet, within the next ten years, it may surpass the Philippines in economic growth.

*the_wildthing: Tama, We don't have to be better than everyone else. Just better than some others in the right things, at the right time.

BTW, guys, add call-centers to nurses, sailors and service personnel. The Philippines is the prime choice for outsourced US call centers... over India, even... but that's because the Indians have the wrong accent.

[mikmik316]

Madami naman tayo IT-educated people dito but i dont know why the world looks to India for IT.

Yeah madami tayong IT people BUT we are end-users NOT innovators... Gusto nila India kasi when they do programming, creative sila gumawa ng software apps... Most of our IT grads e puro patikim lang ang alam sa programming... hanggang looping statements lang ang abot ng knowledge but manipulating graphics, building powerful databases??? mabibilang mo lang ang may alam...

That's why we loved Ginebra back when there were no star players.

AMEN to this one!!!!! Masarap ang simpleng buhay nung 80s na pagdating ng gabi ay si Jawo, Don-don Ampalayo, Rudy Distrito, Leo Isaac, at si Mamaril ang starting five sa PBA!

[lolo pepe]

Yes it is up to the individual. Individuals make a nation.

The Phils. is made up of 83 million individuals.

the productivity of those 83 million individuals becomes the Phils. GDP.

GDP by country:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...y_GDP_(nominal)

The Philippines, with more than 83,000,000 people, has a GDP that's ranked 51 in the world.

Singapore, with a population of just 4,000,000, has a GDP that's ranked 44th.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore

Hong Kong, with a population of 7,000,000, has a GDP that's ranked 35th.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong

How can 4 million people in Singapore and 7 million people in Hong Kong be more productive than 83 million people here?

they do because they have good government leaders who are not corrupt. good governance has a domino effect on everything: it will encourage more investments from the rich pinoys and from foreign investors, which in turn will create more jobs, which will create more exports, which in turn will improve the economy which in turn will improve the GDP, etc.

a corrupt government has a domino effect on everything: it discourages investments, therefore no jobs, no material exports, economy sucks and so is the GDP. where do we turn to? we export our human labor so our economy can survive.

yes, you're correct that individuals make up a nation but in the end, it's the powers-that-be in the government who can either make it or break it.

we need good leaders who can motivate and serve as good examples to the people, who can make our country turn around for the better.

Singapore and Hong Kong have good leaders...in the Philippines? you know the answer.

[nugundam93]

BTW, guys, add call-centers to nurses, sailors and service personnel. The Philippines is the prime choice for outsourced US call centers... over India, even... but that's because the Indians have the wrong accent.

as someone who has seen the new recruits to the call centers...

i fear we may no longer have the edge soon...sooner than we think. my gulay, i don't even know how the heck they passed CFS (corporate foundation skills) training - the part where they focus on diction, etc.

we gotta have better english right from the get-go (elementary level sa schools) if we wanna hold on to that edge.

[the_wildthing]

Yes it is up to the individual. Individuals make a nation.

The Phils. is made up of 83 million individuals.

the productivity of those 83 million individuals becomes the Phils. GDP.

GDP by country:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...y_GDP_(nominal)

The Philippines, with more than 83,000,000 people, has a GDP that's ranked 51 in the world.

Singapore, with a population of just 4,000,000, has a GDP that's ranked 44th.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore

Hong Kong, with a population of 7,000,000, has a GDP that's ranked 35th.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong

How can 4 million people in Singapore and 7 million people in Hong Kong be more productive than 83 million people here?

Not all the 83 million contribute to the GDP.

Apart from youth and retired seniors, some individuals choose not to do anything to help themselves.

HK and Sing do have their own share of problems, so it's not all that bad for us.

[niky]

RE: Hong Kong and Singapore: they're both Cities, very little or absolutely no rural areas, and they have strict immigration policies. They don't have a huge number of poor people in the countryside and a squatter population to support. And because they're cities, their focus is concentrated on technology, trade and manufacturing, so they aren't as negatively affected as we are by the aggressive and unfair agricultural trade practices of the US and Europe. They're also major ports, especially Singapore.

Our uncompetitiveness is inexcusable, though, if you compare us to Malaysia...

as someone who has seen the new recruits to the call centers...

i fear we may no longer have the edge soon...sooner than we think. my gulay, i don't even know how the heck they passed CFS (corporate foundation skills) training - the part where they focus on diction, etc.

we gotta have better english right from the get-go (elementary level sa schools) if we wanna hold on to that edge.

Yeah. call centers are beginning to realize this, too, and a lot of them are approaching us to collaborate on English tranining for students. That way, they have a bigger and better prepared labor pool to choose from.

Of course, we have to improve our Inglesh Tichurz first... ouch.