Tip 176: Maintaining a good Facebook demeanour

It is amazing that a click of a button can send a social signal to friends. Facebook has revolutionized communication mainly because of the amount of people using it such that new standards and cultures can easily emerge. An online community is literally created as many people religiously logs on to Facebook everyday to read about news of their friends. They possibly meet their friends 'virtually' more often on Facebook than physically face to face. The messages exchanged and responses made on Facebook could have a stronger impact than a handshake at church. This means an encouraging message left on a church member's facebook wall could possibly mean more than a mere handshake at church. Same goes for a careless sarcastic comment left.













But what's okay on Facebook? Are there are any netiquettes to follow? Are we building the right Facebook identity such that a person seeing us face to face will not feel disappointed with how we acted or responded on Facebook. Are we accepting invitations by friends and if we don't, does that send a negative signal to them that we are arrogant or that we forgot them?













First of all, we should use Facebook at a frequency that we are comfortable with. We should also expect others to be likewise, as not everyone responds as quickly even if they maintain a Facebook account. Yet, how we respond to accepting invitations from friends can send a strong message. I was particularly encouraged by someone in church who is among church leadership, who thanked me for adding her as a friend. Just 1 sentence can be a powerful encouragement. Same goes if you are in leadership in your company and do the same to one of your junior workers. It is surely a commitment to be involved and share in other people's personal lives. Yet, if done with the right Facebook etiquettes, we could build goodwill and strengthen connections. Some dos and don'ts include avoid sending invitations to quizes and other applications to everyone in your friends list by clicking 'skip this step' or 'continue to result' button. This would avoid annoying others by minimising the updates they see from you. Same goes for only inviting friends to groups that they are really affiliated in, instead of sending a mass invitation without customizing it. Probably, the most important netiquette is to know the difference between a wall and a message. Personal messages or questions belong to clicking a send message instead of leaving the comment on the wall for others' consumption. Only general messages such as birthday wishes have their place on a wall. To reply to a status update, comment on that section so it is more relevant for others to read it instead of seeing them on a wall later without context.













I personally need to control myself when leaving opinions to certain topics or questions raised. In the heat of feeling strongly on an opinion or stand, one can use sarcastic or heavily worded expressions that can be a bad taste to the receiver, as well as others who read the comment made. Surely, we all need to be responsible with our Facebook presence so as to leave a pleasant trail instead of unnecessarily weakening ties we have meant to build in the first place. Putting care to how we use the different Facebook features does demonstrate that we are not only considerate, but detail oriented with whatever we do. Even on Facebook.













(Photos show a wedding walk at a Kamakura temple as well as an octopus crepe/cracker made fresh from octopus at an Enoshima stall. It taste like a dried squid crepe, though less strong in scent and taste. As it was made fresh, it is hot on the fingers and crispy in the mouth. Surely, a good business idea to follow the takoyaki and okonomiyaki small stalls spreading outside Japan).

Tip 175: Informed about tax incentive & govt subsidy

It's the recession and many governments are giving cash handouts. Together with a host of many other things a daddy needs to do, keeping track of such news is one of them. The deadline for this tax kickback by the Japanese government is fast approaching. For Shinjuku ward, it is August 6. This probably does not apply to all of Japan and it could be different between prefectures and wards within Tokyo. Officially, the deadline will be 6 months after the implementation date, anywhere between January 27, 2009 when the Japanese Diet approved the ¥2 trillion economic stimulus package and March 31, the deadline given for the ward and municipal offices to implement this Supplementary Income Payment (teigaku kyuufukin).

So check your bank accounts if the money has been depositted if you have already submitted the application. If you have not done so, do not bother looking in your post box for the application form mailed to you. Just rush off to the ward office with your alien registration card and bank book/ATM card. It has been reported that payments to post savings accounts take longer. But according to the policy, in some circumstances, payments can be received in person. There have been a host of many practical problems such as application forms that were filled incorrectly with English names instead of katakana names, yet in some cases, the foreign applicants were able to insist that the payments be made regardless of such petty mistakes. So, don't give up. This handout is meant for you if you meet the conditions.













The only condition is that the foreigner need to have a gaikokujin torokusho/alien registration card as of February 1, 2009. That means you have not surrendered it even if you are overseas.














Cash amount (non-taxable)
• 18 years old or under on February 1, 2009: ¥20,000 per person
• 65 years old or over on February 1, 2009: ¥20,000 per person
• All others: ¥12,000 per person













Besides this cash handout, I have been getting 10,000 yen (USD$100) subsidy a month for having a child in Japan besides the existing tax rebates. Many other wards have such cash incentives too. Check it out.













(Photos show Mount Fuji in summer viewed from Enoshima).

Tip 174: Pre vs. Postpartum mood swings

As I blog I was reflecting on when the postpartum mood swings of my wife ended. (Postpartum is the term used to refer to the mother after pregnancy, while postnatal refers to the infant).












It is hard for the husband to make an objective evaluation as men will mostly treat all mood swings the same as they find it challenging to understand what women feel they want all the time. Wikipedia defined the period of baby/maternity blues as typically lasting from a few hours to a few days. However, postpartum depression is defined as any depression symptoms occuring at anytime till the first year after birth. As bias as I am, I very much like this definition of postpartum mood swings better.












As I have graduated from that 1 year postpartum period, I can definitely agree with a colleague of mine who gave me an advice just before my paternity holiday. He said, "Philip, please do not work and take your holiday. You will have to support your wife as she will be even more emotional than before pregnancy". I was a little shocked at that due to ignorance, since I thought no daddies need to read childbirth books. I even only half believed him at first. Now I know.













During pregnancy, Tomomi was working under a difficult supervisor and she would complain much to me. Plus, there was stress involved in purchasing our home in Tokyo and preparing for it since I wanted the best deal before making an investment with my own hard earned money. I had to be blamed for not showing enough empathy for my dear wife who have to tag along to view the different properties. I faced her mood swings which varies from demanding me to buy different foods at odd times, to being uncooperative. Okay, she is probably right in not meeting my demands many of the times. :)

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After birth, Tomomi was very attached to Haruka. As this is her first child as well as she spends much time with Haruka being a full time mother, she was strict with many ideal methods for caring the baby. This introduced much stress to her. One main contributing factor is probably the desire to breastfeed Haruka without using a breastpump, thus making it difficult for Tomomi to free herself to relax and rest for long periods. It would affect her sleep as well. Yet, she would overlook them, but be irritated when she sees any stress originating from me. At that time, I was undergoing a heavy work schedule and the weekends were a welcome time to rest. Yet, Tomomi complained that I did nothing to ease her burden. I began to allocate weekends to lend a hand, to let mummy off while I babysit and to head to the restaurant so Tomomi could have a change of venue. This seemed to make the mood swings milder. :)












I looked through the list of symptoms and found the following true: anxious and hypersensitive to criticism, low spirits and irritability, weepiness, sudden burst of anger and restless insomnia. I think she did not encounter the symptoms of "unbonded" with the baby or losing appetite as Tomomi is constantly hungry due to the breastfeeding. But its hard to understand the emotions she may undergo especially in the first few days after birth. Tomomi's mother was assisting for a few weeks so that eased the initial intense period probably. At least she need not vent it on me alone.












I do get the same shocking look whenever I share this with new daddies. They were usually in unbelief that life will be much tougher than what they gone through in the initial 9 months. One day, all daddies will look back and smile at the sacrifice of love they gave to mummies and to their beautiful children. Hey, the article even speak of the possibility of daddies experiencing postpartum depressions. I probably did. :) Though, we are thankful that we merely had mood swings and tiredness to bear with and did not encounter any symptoms that require psychiatric attention. Among them are having thoughts of wanting to hurt the baby and oneself or not having any interest in the baby. In any case, they are behind me ... for now.

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(Photos show the Yuigahama beach with blue skies and during sunset, and "good views" of the Enoshima Katase Beach, known as the Miami beach of the East, both located near to Kamakura.)

Tip 173: Giving as a father would

I was leaving the house and said "ittekimasu" ( 行ってきます means I'll go and come back in Japanese). Haruka's response tickled me and gave me a smile. She was running to the door to send me off. Then, she looked at me and said "blueberry OK?". She gave a Japanese bow. I said,"Orikou, OK?" (Clever child in Japanese). Haruka smiled and said a quick "OK" and ran back to her box of toys. (Probably the reply was quite hesitant, yet necessary to get her the blueberries).

Haruka has just learnt some persuasive asking. I would understand if I was already holding a bowl of blueberries or ice cream in front of her, and she asks for it. But, she knew that in order for that to happen, she would first have to convince daddy to bring back some to the home. She does not fully understand the concept of money yet, but she knows that in order for her to enjoy things, someone has to bring them back home. She would think that daddy and mummy are being nice by bringing delicious food or cute toys home, or it is in response to her being an obedient child. She knows that when she smiles, people tend to smile back and be nice to her. Of course when the blueberry gets home, Haruka would leap with joy. If I would request a kiss from her, she would gladly do it. But upon consuming them, she would probably forget the good deed of daddy. Haruka is closer to Tomomi as she spends more time with mummy who is a full time homemaker who have been breastfeeding her since birth. Many times, she would say she wants mummy instead of daddy. Daddy of course feels sad or jealous.

Upon reflection, a father's love is about giving with no expectation of recipocration. There is surely hope in love. Yet, love is giving sacrificially. A colleague who had a brood of children told me that children are not a form of investment. That however was not the case previously. There used to be more fillial piety in a society less individualistic. My parents expect me to provide for them when their savings run dry. In fact, my dad expects me to send more cash back home regularly as I am earning well now. Though, most in society these days plan ahead for their own retirement. But, it is a blessing to be able to give and reflect on God's love to each of us. When we pray, we yearn after God's provision. Yet, after receiving blessings from God, we fail to remember Him that He loves us much. Like a father to his children, God is the same. He yearns for our recipocration too. Most importantly, He still loves without condition.

Do you think children are a form of investments? Do you expect anything in return?

(Photos show Hase-dera temple gardens and view overlooking Kamakura from there. It is a popular location to watch the hydrangea (ajisai in Japanese) flowers in bloom in July along the hilly path, though the fresh blooms are in June.).

Tip 172: Market research work is in demand

I was reviewing my invoices for my freelance market research work that I undertook during my free time over the past 2.5 years. It added up to USD$45,000. Did not realise that the few thousand dollars every project would add to a sizeable amount over time. As I reviewed the different projects that I researched on, it covered different industries and different geographic locations, though mostly focused on Japan. Although, Japan is a fairly developed market with saturated competition, it is the second largest economy in the world. Many companies who wish to enter the Japanese market, would first need to understand the market dynamics, how to gain market acceptance and obtain market information that is mostly published in the Japanese language. The companies would want to know insider information of their competitors such as sales numbers by product types and product models, instead of just general sales figures reported in spreadsheets for public listed companies. They would want to know competitor's distribution channels and their marketing strategies, competitor's top customers and top selling products, country's change of regulations in case there are market opportunities, as well as pricing information of different competing products in the market including margin earned by the distributors. All this require foreign language abilities to research on the internet, as well as locating key people to interview through my LinkedIn network.

For instance, I researched on the children workbook market in Japan dominated by reputable publishers like Shogakukan, Kodansha and Gakken who also held copyright to the manga and cartoon characters they used in the workbooks. Yet, my research demonstrated that specialized tuition and kids learning schools such as Kumon and Benesse are beginning to steal the limelight by influencing parents to spend substantial amounts on their recommended workbooks instead of shopping in the bookshops. Then, there is the research on the window, door and shutter market of Japan dominated by players such as Tostem, YKK AP and Sanwa Shutters. Due to the size of these companies and the relationships they build with large general contractors such as Kajima and Taisei, new market entrants simply find it difficult to penetrate the market unless they have a just-in-time order procurement extranet linked with the construction contractors. Foreign new entrants would also find it a challenge to have detailed product manuals in Japanese for each product model including hardware part, listing the components of each item and usage instruction with the Japanese user in mind. Companies such as YKK AP also has built a reputation in curtain wall and skylight technology catered for Japanese buildings with its strict fire resistance standards that construction companies would be likely to choose only them.

In one of my research, I found out that Japanese consumers usually do not read food product labels compared to Western countries as they trust the manufacturers. A company that was manufacturing non-additive starch was interested to know from supermarkets, retailers and convenience stores if clean labels on natural products would increase sales. Another such regulatory example was the introduction of REACH, a European Union regulation requiring registration of chemical compounds of any items imported to EU. A chemical trade show organizer was interested to know if Japanese chemical companies were interested in such topics of discussions and what other factors would meet their needs in international trade shows such as networking events or availability of interpreters and translators.

There are Japanese information that are not widely available on the internet such as the JAL Passage card that is exclusively for corporate clients in Japan by invitation only. A competitor wanted to know the number of accounts they had and average spending per account, the criteria for openning such accounts, how travel agents work with the department, the number of employees within that department and its total revenue and expenses year by year. The only way to obtain the above information is by interviewing with tact the head of the department himself. That would probably be as difficult as interviewing the IT department decision maker from the Ministry of Defense as requested by an IT network security company new to the Japanese market. Probably interviews with any Japanese can prove tiresome as they seek to be accurate in anything they say, while such researches would require insights and foresights into the industry. A large sample size interview on distributors and manufacturers of portable and bench power tools and measuring tools in Japan encountered just exactly such a scenario. Yet, when piecing together the jigsaw puzzle of the different interviews, I could inform the new entrant that the main players are Makita, Hitachi, Ryobi, Bosch and National for power drills, while bench tools include others such as Kosuku and Shindaiwa, and measuring tools include Tajima and Hilti.

Besides Japan, I did a research on the Malaysian market for FRP (fibre glass) floor grating whether pultruded or molded for vessels, offshore, chemical and waste processing plants. The main players in Malaysia are Polymer Composite Asia (PCA) Sdn Bhd, Yi Sing Composite Industries Sdn Bhd and OGPM Services Sdn Bhd. Also, did a research on generators for commercial boats in Germany, Turkey, Netherlands, Italy and Japan with players such Masegenerators, Lindberg, Volvo Penta, Scania, Koler, Caterpillar Marine, Deutz, Cukurova Ithalat Ve Ihracat Turk A.S. and Yanmar.

This blogpost should find a lot of google hits. Feel free to contact me for detailed research information on any of the above topics if you are willing to pay a small fee by paypal. Market information can help you make better strategic decisions that will cost you less especially in challenging times.

(Photos show Inokashira zoo and park, Tokyo. Two of the photos show a Japanese plum blossom (ume) where you would get the pickled umeboshi, and not a cherry blossom as the oval shape petals here would demonstrate).