TIGER TALK: Here comes the Rest of the World

These past two weeks the Tiger has visited two parts of the world that we hope will continue to provide strong economic growth to support our sick "first world" economies. A few impressions for those who have not had the opportunity to visit these parts of our planet.


The first was China, and in fact the ancient capital Xi'an -- home to the Terracotta Warriors and Horses, and a city for a mere 5000 years or so, depending on when you start counting. As expected it is a city of great history, however for a country of over 1.3 billion people Xi'an is relatively small with around 3 million people in the city proper.

Xi'an is now a modern city on a par with most in the world. Despite it being smaller and inland, the economic miracle that is China makes Xi'an a comfortable, albeit bustling city.

A Customer visit brought me to Xi'an and the exciting part was that we joined our Customer (in the Consumer Cleaning and Personal Care products business) on a visit to a local supermarket and to a Consumer's home to see the products in action. The supermarket had the feel of a large European multi-level store that, language aside, most readers would find very familiar. Not unsurprising I guess.

The home visit to a middle class apartment was fascinating. The compact apartment was essential a modern blend of China meets western, except that the TV, Refrigerator, and Washing Machine were all bigger and/or better technology that the new ones in our apartment back in HK! The lady of the house was very gracious in explaing how she uses her cleaning products and what she likes and what needs to be improved. A great and invaluable morning of learnings.



This week I have been in Dubai, again for work. My, this city has continued to boom in the years since my last visit, and it really is something to see. Perhaps something like "Singapore of the Middle East meets Las Vegas" (without the Casinos). It is bold and confident, and a wonderful example of what a modern Middle East could become. I guess most readers only hear of the "big" things in Dubai, like the soon to be completed Burj Dubai which is outside my hotel window. It is alrady the tallest building in teh world at over 2300 feet, and when completed next year will be at least 2800 feet (the actual height is still a secret). An incredible engineering feet and I think it is quite an attractive building.

So I guess there are a few that question "why bigger?". Well, my spin on this is that it is simply Dubai letting the world know it has arrived, and that it can match it with the big boys. It seems to me that all of the established countries did this in past centuries with their monuments, building, bridges, and the like. It is now just the turn of China and the Middle East (or should I say the RETURN, since China has it's Great Wall, Forbidden City, Warriors, etc, and the Middle East built five of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World).

It was an interesting week to be in Dubai as the world financial markets went to pieces and an impending world recession faced a modern UAE economy that has never seen one before. Predictably folks are cautious but optimistic. The are well positioned to ride it out in a better fashion than many, and the Government here seems to be taking a very active and responsible approach to addressing the issues.

Dubai is a real melting pot in terms of local Arabs, folks from the surrounding Persian Gulf and South Asia regions, and a large international expat community. Despite the speed of growth and the mix of cultures, everyone I met was warm and very proud of their Dubai. And it was great to bump into some folks that knew what cricket was as well !


Well that's it for now. Cheers.

TIGER TALK: 2008 Typhoon Season

What a year it has been for us in Honkers -- four Typhoons (that's a Hurricane for you folks in the Atlantic, and a Tropical Cyclone for those in the southern hemisphere). We started early in the season with Typhoon Neoguri (Korean for a Raccoon Dog) in April which peaked as a Category 2 cyclone before shutting down HK as it rumbled into the south China coast. In June we had Typhoon Fengshen (Chinese for The God of Wind) which peaked at Category 3 and again went over our part of the world. August saw Typhoon Nuri (Malaysian for a Blue Crowned Parakeet) which was also a Category 3 but had downgraded when it made a direct hit on HK where a rare Typhoon Signal 9 was raised. And then in September, which is the height of the season, Typhoon Hagupit (Philippino for Lash or Flog) raised the stakes with a Category 4 Super Typhoon which roared nearby us and into the nearby China coast -- take a look at it in this graphic satellite picture.

So, this raises a few questions. Firstly, why are we telling you about all this? -- it's old news after all. Well, we have been sitting here in Hong Kong this weekend awaiting Typhoon Higos and hunkering down for a long, wet and windy few days. Happy to say that old Higos couldn't get his mojo going and it fizzed into a tropical depression as it crossed Hainan and headed north toward us. As I sit writing this we have PLENTY of rain, but none of the wind we were expecting.

Secondly, as we have mentioned our Typhoons (and those that have struck Taiwan and elsewhere) to others this season the question has regularly been raised that "if these are as strong as Hurricanes then why don't they cause the destruction we see in the US?". Well the simple answer is that everything here is built for the Typhoons that are regularly expected each year. The longer answer is that after a few thousand years of being pounded along the west Pacific coast, the folks here got smart enough to build on higher ground to avoid the storm surges, and to build strong buildings to withstand the wind (and thank goodness for us that they did). It's a very different experience to sit one out than it is to run from Hurricane Rita as we did in 2005.

Now the Typhoon season doesn't end until November and so you could yet read an update on this blog, but we are hoping the cooler weather will scare them off and we can start planning our weeks more predictably.

In closing, our thanks to Nana Marg who was in charge during Typhoon Nuri (while Mum and Dad were at the Beijing Olympics) and managed through a rare Typhoon Signal 9 -- that's something they don't teach you in Streatham !