wassup september 2011

WassupIssue 5 September 2011

The cultural trends magazine from Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific

Edited & designed by Kunal SinhaEditorial assistant: Madhumita Bhattacharyya

Correspondents:

Elaine Dai (Beijing)Neha Punjabi (Mumbai)Donnah Alcoseba (Makati City)Wine Chua-Leonardo (Makati City)Tania Chan (Singapore)Justin Chow(Singapore)Naoko Ito (Tokyo)Azusa Fukai (Tokyo)Natalie Gruis (Ho Chi Minh City)Siddharth Roy (Colombo)Mei Wu (Taipei)Caryl Heah (Kuala Lumpur)Beatrice Yong (Kuala Lumpur) Josephine Phang (Kuala Lumpur) Vanich Jirasuwankij(Bangkok)Zubair Siddiqui (Karachi)Serena Park (Seoul)

© Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific, 2011

Wassup

Fast Company magazine’s ranking of the most innovative companies in the

world has more firms from Asia featured than ever before. They represent a

wide range of business opportunities which draw upon culture, both past

and emergent. Dawning Information, a manufacturer of supercomputers is

able to tap into China’s vast pool of scientific talent, while Tencent has

turned the obsession with gaming into a profitable venture. Shaadi.com is all

about making connections online, not of the casual kind, but ones that end

up in computer-savvy twenty-somethings in India finding a partner for life.

Fab India connects village artisans to urban consumers. In this issue, we talk

to Asian designers, who aren’t quite Jonathan Ive, but someone will get

there soon.

As creativity gets recognized as having economic and social value, students

and parents will demand changes to deeply entrenched education systems.

Our conversations with high school teachers are fascinating: they reveal how

students have changed so much, and yet the parameters for evaluation

haven’t. Regrettably, many brands continue to hold out being at the top of

the class, or first in the race, as a promise, piling on that pressure.

We’ve made a departure from our previous issues, by reporting about what

people across Asia are elated about, not raging against.; our Waiting List

section continues to show immense diversity – ranging from the material to

the spiritual.

So, Wassup with you? Do let us know …

14 countries.

20 correspondents deeply immersed in popular and leading edge culture bring you Cultural Insights that will make a world of difference to your business

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contents

Look who‟s talking:

Asian designers

Knowing me, Knowing you:

High school teachers

Playing on my iPod

Elated about

Waiting list

Tense about

Everyone‟s talking about

Online shopping

Look who’s talking

Asian designers

Look who’s talking …

Sabina is an ambitious young Pakistani designer.

A graduate of London College of Fashion, Sabina

launched her label Bon-Chic in Karachi in March

2008. Her fun casual wear and embroidered

evening wear, all meticulously cut and stitched,

has been quickly snapped up by trendy

Karachietts ever since.

“I think art inspired me to become a fashion

designer. I tend to look on fashion as an art form

and work my ideas through the medium of clothes

and textiles,” explains Sabina, who graduated

from London College of Fashion in 2010 in fashion

design technology with a major in surface textiles.

Sabina tries to give every woman a unique and

different look to help them stand out in the crowd.

“I feel everyone should make their own trends.

Everyone has their own personality and through

their clothing they can tell the world what they

really are on the inside. “I try to help my

customers find their perfect look and, most

importantly, what they are comfortable in.”

Sabina feels younger clients are more open to

trying new designs. “They usually want something

that is very daring and makes a statement.”

Innovation is critical to Sabina, to help give her

designs a distinct identity. She likes working with

flowing fabrics like chiffons and jersey,

embellished with brooches, stones and beads.

She buys her raw materials in bulk from regular

vendors.

Designer Hee-Jung Jung was born in Korea

in 1974. After graduating from ESMOD

Seoul in 1996, she shifted to London where

she studied at Central St Martins, and then

launched her women‟s wear label HEE

JEONG. In 2001, she launched her first

store in Seoul.

In 2004, the HEE JEONG label was named

the Promising Designer‟s Collection at

Seoul Fashion Week. Her avant-garde

silhouettes made the most of the natural

textures of the materials she used. Several

collections were shown from 2005 to 2008

in Seoul, Paris, New York and Shanghai,

inspired by Asian traditional lines. In the

09/10 fall/winter Seoul Collection, she was

inspired by the Korean poem Nature,

which found expression in beautifully

colored garments and fine detailing and

silhouettes.

Jung is now supplying to seven boutiques

in Korea and plans to launch a flagship

store for her label in Seoul. She also

dreams of spreading her reach to Japan,

China and Europe.

Katayama Chie is a designer at Ogilvy

Design‟s Japan office. For the past couple of

years, she has had the chance to work with

many eminent clients, including The Coca-

Cola Company for two kinds of beverages –

OLO OLO smoothie and Real Gold energy

drink.

She has been passionate about art since she

was in kindergarten. After graduating from a

design prep school, she enrolled in an art

college to broaden her perspective in the field

of business marketing, packaging design and

advertising. “As a kid, whenever I came

across products that I thought were not

visually appealing, I always thought I could do

better. I wanted to become a designer

because I wanted to create better designs.”

One of the greatest things about being a

designer at an advertising agency, she feels, is

the amount of inspiration and excitement she

gains from her team members. She also enjoys

being able to contribute her perspective to the

brand building process for a wide variety of

companies and products.

Art is all about inspiration for Katayama. But she

also has to bear in mind what the client wants,

and what works for the consumers. She does not

feel limited by her role as a commercial

designer. “Artists and designers have different

jobs. Yes, a designer has limits to what she can

do, but that is inevitable when money is

involved. But one of the fun things about being a

designer is that you get to look at trends and

develop an ability to identify designs that draw

people‟s attention.”

She often goes for walks to gain inspiration from

the streets of Tokyo. “I also visit the website

www.ffffound.com, where you find a lot of cool,

design-related stuff,” she adds.



Jason Wu‟s talent has been recognized by two of

the most influential opinion leaders in fashion –

US First Lady Michelle Obama and editor-in-

chief of American Vogue, Anna Wintour.

His work – a romantic one-shouldered design,

appliqued with tiny flowers and strewn with

Swarovski crystals – is now part of fashion history,

to be displayed at the Smithsonian's National

Museum of American History collection in

Washington DC.

Jason Wu was born in Taipei, Taiwan, where his

parents run an import-export business. He is the

first to credit them for always giving him 100 per

cent support.

He later moved to a boarding school in

Connecticut, US, studied sculpture for a couple

of summers in Tokyo and then spent a year in

Rennes, Brittany, on an exchange program

visiting Paris on every available occasion, where

his love for fashion was confirmed.

Returning to New York, Jason enrolled in the

Parsons School of Design where, early on, he

won a fashion doll design competition. He went

on to create the Fashion Royalty collection for

Integrity Toys.

After an internship with Narciso Rodriguez, Wu

launched his own label with the backing of his

parents in 2006. His love for beautiful cocktail

and ball gowns almost immediately won him

acclaim as a natural successor to the older

generation of 'occasion wear' specialists such as

Oscar de la Renta and Carolina Herrera.

This was followed by his first appearance in

American Vogue in January 2007, in which British

model Lily Donaldson wore one of his designs in

an editorial shoot by Steven Meisel.

Jason Wu and Anna Wintour backstage

at the showing of his spring/summer '09

collection

US First Lady Michelle Obama with the

Wu- designed dress she wore for the

inaugural ball at the White House


Ye Qian is a 24-year-old Chinese fashion

designer who gained fame after winning the

design talent show My Style/魔法天裁 in 2008.

In 2009, he founded his own line YE‟S, with the

tagline “Yes is no!”, a declaration of the

brand‟s rule breaking image. The limited

production, non-seasonal collection comes up

with a special concept for each season.

Ye‟s 2011 spring cruise collection

featuring exaggerated draping and

irregular cuts

Born in Fujian province, Ye‟s designs

incorporate elements strongly inspired by

local culture, such as the story of Matsu. He

also likes adding elements drawing from

social issues, such as sustainability and

helping the underprivileged, into his designs

to promote public awareness.

Just two years after his label was launched,

Ye‟s designs are selling on the shelves of

sophisticated boutiques including BNC and

Dong Liang Studio, and also have found favor

with celebrities like actress and singer Zhou

Xun and actress Yao Chen.

Foo Aiwei is a 29-year-old fashion designer who

was born and raised in the heart of Borneo. She

moved to Singapore when she was 18, and

pursued a degree in fine arts before moving on

to apparel design and merchandising. Many

had expected her to create a label that featured

quirky and whimsical clothing, but instead she

rejected convention and expanded her line to

include all kinds of artwork, blending design

and art in accessories, books and typography.

In an article in Shift magazine in Japan, she

shared her „See You Tomorrow‟ concept, which

reflects a persona she uses to create and tell

stories, sort of like an alter ego. It allows her to

step out of mundane, everyday life to create her

own happy place. It also signifies hope and the

possibility of seeing a close friend or family

member that you may not be able to see again

in real life.

It is hard to define the

scope of Aiwei‟s

expertise. For her, it is

more a marriage of both

her passions – design and

art. She draws rich

inspiration for her work

from sources as varied as

ballerinas, film-makers

and writers.

Her creations can be

found at local boutiques

such as A Curious Teepee,

Egg3 and Asylum in

Singapore.


“Style is knowing who you are, what you want

to say and not giving a damn,” says the 24-

year-old Sri Lankan Shimalka Bodaragama,

otherwise known as Shimmy.

At the age of 18, Shimmy ventured into the

world as a model and thereafter won the

Model of the Year title in Sri Lanka. Soon after,

she joined Sri Lankan Airlines as a flight

stewardess, but subsequently realized that it

was not the path for her. She then entered the

Academy of Design and majored in fashion

design.

That is when opportunity came knocking in the

form of Art Walk, a show that exhibits a fusion

of art and fashion on the catwalk. In 2010,

Shimmy showcased her talent for designing

men‟s dress shirts for “daringly young boys at

heart”. The Art Walk 2010 collection received

rave reviews which prompted her to launch

her own designer collection of men‟s dress

shirts titled Vswear, “To Be Unique”. Shirts

with cuts “off the hook”, and prints not usually

seen in men‟s wear were her forte.

Shimmy‟s goal is to make guys look good at the

same time as making them look unique. “I want

to make them the center of attention, for once!”

she says.

Shimmy has also reached out to her audience

on Facebook with a group titled Vswear “To be

Unique”, where all her designs are available for

public viewing. Since then, she has also seen a

spike in order numbers, and has received a

number of positive comments.

Word of mouth plays a large role when it comes

to marketing for Shimmy. All those who have

purchased her shirts and have been satisfied

with their look and feel have spread the good

word to friends.

Shimalka @ Art Walk Show


Born in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Ha Thuc

Nhat Minh graduated from the Ho Chi Minh

City University of Architecture with a degree

in design in 2005. Bagging the prestigious

New Designer of the Year Award from the

Vietnam Collection Grand Prix at that time

thrust him into the limelight.

His first job as a designer‟s assistant was

where he learned the importance of innovation

in design based on the overall structure of the

garment. He launched the Nhat Minh Label in

Ha Noi with a women‟s spring/summer 2003

collection and expanded into men‟s wear in

fall/winter 2006. His first boutique opened in

Ho Chi Minh City in the fall of 2005.

"I always loved it when Vietnamese women

would wear their most beautiful dresses to

parties, weddings or other celebrations. So I

tried to capture that in my designs," the

designer said.

He is routinely featured in Vietnam‟s leading

design and fashion magazines and his clients are

the who‟s who of Vietnam‟s business and

entertainment industries.

Nhat Minh loves natural fabrics like wool, silk

and cotton. Each collection is a juxtaposition of

color, texture and clever detailing and he plays

with constructs of masculinity and femininity by

using soft draping alongside structured tailoring.

He hopes that fashion in Vietnam will grow to be

more tolerant and accepting of world trends.

"We should trade different aspects of

Vietnamese culture with aspects of western and

eastern culture. It would be an experiment for

local designers to show the world that there is

fashion in Vietnam.”


Gabby Dizon is a game developer and designer for

BOOMZAP Entertainment in the Philippines. The 31-

year-old has been creating computer games since

2003.

Among Filipinos, it is Facebook games like

FarmVille that are most popular, says Gabby. In net

cafes, it‟s shooters like Counter-Strike, online games

like Ragnarok and DoTA that keep gamers hooked.

The game design biz is a technical one. “It‟s hard to

keep up with all the trends and technologies, so I

choose to keep up with a specific set (casual gaming

on mobile/web) and social media,” explains Gabby.

“There are too many things to keep track of online

and you have to use your time and focus

effectively.”

The trend now is towards mobile and social games.

“The biggest games today are not the multimillion-

dollar console games but hits such as Angry Birds

that are seemingly on every device.” Gabby

admires founders of the casual game company

PopCap (creators of Bejeweled, Plants vs. Zombies),

which takes apparently simple gameplay and makes

it into fun games that people play for years. They

also ensure that their games are available on all

possible platforms. The company was recently

bought for almost $1 billion dollars by Electronic

Arts.

“Filipinos are very creative and are natural

gamers,” feels Gabby. “We are already strong on

the art side but still have to develop the design,

engineering and coding sides of the business. Our

company has over 40 people from all over Southeast

Asia but more than half of them are from the

Philippines, which goes to show how much faith we

have in Philippine talent.”

Gabby‟s company‟s first real hit was the Awakening

franchise. Awakening: The Dreamless Castle

(http://www.boomzap.com/games/ awakening-the-

dreamless-castle/) is a casual hidden

object/adventure game available for the PC, Mac,

iPhone and iPad and has been translated into nine

languages.


Indian fashion designer Nachiket Barve believes that good clothes

can do wonders to lift one‟s spirits. Though many of us might feel

quite the reverse while skimming through fashion magazine filled

with images of unreal models, Nachiket thinks that if the dress

doesn‟t fit there‟s always a bigger size to be had.

This designer, born into a family of doctors, has a post-graduate

degree in apparel and accessory design from NID, Ahmedabad,

and has also studied at ENSAD Paris on a scholarship awarded by

the French government. He followed that up with spells under

Michael Kors at CELINE in Paris, a part of the LVMH luxury

conglomerate, couturiers Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla and textile

designer Neeru Kumar.

The NACHIKET BARVE label was launched in 2007, which is a

contemporary, fresh and innovative look at luxury. His latest line

Abstraction was showcased at the Lakme Fashion Week on August

18 in Mumbai.

Nachiket finds inspiration in the eyes of women when they wear his

creations and look at themselves. Even the most famous celebrities

who wear his creations, such as Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Sonam

Kapoor or Jaya Bachchan, only want to look their best. Fashion, he

believes, is a way of living. Where you eat, which newspaper you

read, who you hang out with, what you talk about -- all of it will have

a bearing on how you dress.

There is a great difference in how women dress from city to city in

India, says Nachiket. “In Delhi there‟s still a certain amount of

conformity. They will have their hair blow-dried, wear Gucci or

Cavalli glares. They will match their heels with their bags, and have

perfect eyes, perfect lips. Mumbai is a little more disheveled.

Women there will carry a Birkin bag when they are wearing shorts –

they are more about dressing up with a little dressing down.”

The desire to look good every day has come about very recently,

says Nachiket, and we‟re now ready to shell out big bucks for the

latest styles. The desire to look international is now ingrained,

alongside our Indian roots. Like wearing an Anarkali with Louis

Vuitton.

High school teachers in Asia

Knowing me, knowing you

Meet Blossom Villafuerte, a teacher in the Philippines…

How long has it been since you were in high school?

Not too long, actually! It‟s been nine years since I entered high school.

What kind of teaching style does your school use? How is it different from the school you

went to?

My high school was very traditional – we had a series of lectures, some practical sessions and

written tests. A decade ago, high schools in the Philippines were all largely traditional in the

sense that the teacher would establish authority and the students would obey. Otherwise they

could expect to be punished or reprimanded. What we see more and more of today is that

teachers adjust to students and employ ways to engage their interest. In my school, we follow

the empirical method. We try to understand how students prefer to learn; that‟s how we plan

our curriculum.

How are high school students different now?

They see teachers as equals, probably because parents nowadays talk to their kids in that way.

They‟re also more interested in studying abroad and understanding different cultures. It is

common for high school students to go on exchange programs and spend a year studying in

another country.

What are the popular subjects?

Still not science and math! What I see is

that many students are more interested in

subjects they can immediately apply in

daily life. One class we have here is the

Life Skills Program, which addresses

subjects such as relationships, dating,

prom etiquette and career building. The

value of the class is concrete. Also, a few

years ago, a large number would opt for

marketing or business in college. Today,

high school students have so many options

to succeed even on the creative side and

they pick streams such as advertising,

fashion technology, styling or culinary

studies.

Wang Yue has been teaching Chinese at Shanghai

Fenghua High School since 2000. She sees herself

more as a big sister to her students than as a

traditional teacher, thanks largely to the school‟s

psychological training program, Listener. The

program was started in 1985 to make sure support

systems were in place for students who experience

psychological problems. Wang encourages her

students who need guidance to join the program.

“You can‟t guide a student without fully

understanding them and winning their trust. The

program is the bridge of communication between

me and my students,” explains Wang.

Since most of her students are the only children in

their families, they often don‟t have anyone to talk

with when they face problems they don‟t want to

share with their parents. In Wang‟s role as a listener,

she tries first to understand her students and then

provide solutions to help them stay on track. With

the quality of life improving in China and society

becoming more open, these students have grown up

in a different environment than their predecessors.

The Sociological Training

Program of Shanghai

Fenghua High School

Wang‟s students were born in the 90s, and she

thinks, as a result, that her students are more

confident than those of previous generations.

The fast-pace of development and

modernization has also made them more

accepting of new ideas. They are quick to pick

up – and drop – hobbies that she has never

even heard of such as board games, Judo,

Cosplay and Lomo photography. “They

usually move onto other things within a few

months. New trends always seem to be

coming out,” says Wang.

Her students are also more willing to take

risks. One of Wang‟s student has submitted an

application to suspend studies at the end of

the semester to spend more time painting. He

wants to get into a good art school in Europe

for college but isn‟t able to focus on his art as

much as he needs to while tackling the rest of

his course load. “This is something I would not

have dared to do when I was young, but for

today‟s kids in Shanghai, their parents are

able to afford the expensive tuition fee for

overseas study, so scoring well in the national

college entrance is not the only way to

achieve success.”



Le Thi Bich Thuan is 25 years old and teaches

math at FPT University in Vietnam. Having

moved from her home in Dalat to Ho Chi Minh

City, it was always her dream to go to university

and become a teacher.

After teaching all day, Thuan tutors students at

night in order to have a good quality of life and

to be able to afford all the exciting things she

likes to do in her free time, from shopping and

watching movies to catching every single K-Pop

concert.

As the youngest teacher on campus, Thuan

loves that it has been easy for her to get close

to her students. “But you have got to make

sure they stay within limits. Students shouldn‟t

get too casual with you or you will lose the

authority you need to be a good teacher and

role model”.

Thuan finds that most of her students are still

interested in pursuing core subjects such as

math and science. Entrance exams for

university really focus on these areas, she

says, so it is important that students are

proficient in them from their early years. “It

creates the path that many students continue

to follow in university.”


Meher has been teaching literature at a

local school in Karachi for the past five

years. Literature and math are the two

subjects her students always take up. But

Meher feels math is popular not so much

because the students like it but because

it is important for those who want to go

into business later in their lives.

Coaching centers have picked up a lot of

momentum in Pakistan, and after school,

most, if not all, children head to their

designated tutors.

Meher is happy that her students are

respectful toward authority, and she

believes that good parenting is behind

this. “But that doesn‟t mean students

aren‟t vocal. They stand for what they

believe in but they are very careful not

to cross any boundaries,” she says.

Outside class, football fever seems to

have gripped Meher‟s students over the

past few years. They all carry red or

blue key chains and scarves that

represent their favorite teams. The boys

even play more football than cricket

now. The girls like watching football, but

prefer to play basketball.

“There‟s definitely a change in the school

environment and the level of ambition students have

these days compared to my time,” says Kumiko

Suzuki, a high school teacher at a Japanese pubic

school in Tokyo.

Kumiko also sees a difference in student interaction

that has been driven by technology. “I‟ve been

teaching for almost 15 years and it is striking to see

how kids spend more time on the Internet and

phone. Even older people seem dependent on the

virtual social platforms rather than traditional, face-

to-face interactions.”

She is currently in charge of second and third

graders. “I have taught many subjects over the

years, like social studies, history, and

environmental studies. Students seem to enjoy

social studies because we touch upon current issues

that students can relate to.” She also feels that it‟s

been increasingly difficult to motivate students to

focus on school work. “High school grades don‟t

really count in college applications under the

current educational policy in Japan. Students are

more focused on going to prep school for the

college entrance exams,” says a concerned

Kumiko.

In 1998, Japan‟s ministry of education declared a 30

per cent cut in the academic curriculum to give

students yutori (Japanese for „rest‟). “Students‟

mental well-being is something we have to

consider. Japan‟s education policy might have

reduced the academic load of students entering

college, but students seem a lot more relaxed and

happier.”


There was a time when a high school student was

popular if he studied hard or played hard. But now,

believes Ellen Lin of Taiwan‟s Song-Shan Senior High

School, young people look up to those who study for

the future and play for future.

Ellen, who has been teaching at the school for about

10 years, feels that students in the past only had only

one ambition – to pass the college entrance exam.

However, with the proportion of students entering

university nearly at 100 per cent, students have

turned their focus to searching for their true calling.

They are also able to follow their dreams more than

previous generations who had to comply with their

parents‟ wishes.

Today‟s students are game to try new things, to see

more of the world. For example, a student might join

the high school basketball league and then still study

every night for the TOEFL. Another student might

choose to moderate a serialized online novel and also

manage a dance club at school at the same time. Also,

more and more students participate in camps of

departments at university to better understand their

choices for the future.

In an effort to succeed, young people are pulling out

all the stops. Ellen remembers a boy who walked

around the island for a month to “better understand

the Taiwan spirit”, while another one played an

online game continuously to earn a trip to compete in

a gaming tournament in Japan.

But there are downsides also – some students will pull

pranks that are out of control because they want to

get attention. Students are no longer afraid of

authority. Though now with teachers more likely to

see the students' perspective, it sometimes works out

for the best. “The school was most powerful in the

past, but nowadays you have to listen to the students,”

says Ellen.

All students seem to have one thing in common –

Facebook. It is a platform on which to connect with

classmates and friends.

The Affiliated High School of National

Chengchi University (HSNCU), Taiwan,

is an experimental school.

To increase teachers‟ effectiveness and

to use space as efficiently as possible,

HSNCU is designed to have four spaces:

classrooms, teaching research rooms,

discussion rooms and home-base. The

teaching and research rooms are near

the classrooms belonging to the

related subjects. HSNCU also keeps

teachers of the same subject together

to enhance the functions of teaching,

research, and counseling of the

teachers.

Every class has one home-base in

which students have their personal

lockers. Classes of the same grade are

kept in one area to make the

interactions easier and more

convenient.


“Students today represent the short-cut

generation,” says Vinod Senadeera,

headmaster at St Thomas College, Mount

Lavinia, Colombo.

According to Vinod, students today are more

keen on acquiring experience than mere

education and he believes educational

institutions should wake up to embrace this.

St Thomas has recently shifted from a

“stream-based” system to a more “subject-

based” curriculum, which means Thomians –

as students of the school are called – need

not pick science or commerce and instead

can choose specific and unusual

combinations. Students can now opt for

mathematics and physics alongside, say,

psychology and modern history.

“The reason behind this shift,” says Vinod,

“is that the youth today doesn‟t necessarily

attach value to professions such as medicine,

engineering or law anymore. I have known so

many students who started studying to

become a lawyer but opted out as they lost

interest.”

Sports is another domain that St Thomas as an

institution lays stress on. In fact, their terms

are customized to offer students pursuing

sports the flexibility to keep up with their

studies.

Vinod believes the digital domain has

empowered students in numerous ways. “It

offers students width and depth of

information unmatched by any textbook or

library.” But Vinod also believes that Sri

Lankan teachers need to hone their digital

skills in order to guide students better while

sifting through the sea of information.

Students have become bolder thanks to the

digital platforms, says Vinod. “Today, if you

don‟t like a teacher, you can simply put up a

status update on Facebook and be sure to

start a conversation.”

Vinod is concerned about the current education

system in Sri Lanka. In a nation which has the

highest literacy rate in South Asia (92 per cent),

there is an acute shortage of teachers. Teaching

as a profession is not exciting anymore because

it doesn‟t pay well. In fact, the low pay-scale is

the main reason for the ongoing indefinite strike

called by Colombo university teachers. This, in

turn, is making students opt for little-known

foreign universities to get a UK, US or Australian

degree. The lack of a governing body to

ascertain the credibility of these mushrooming

institutions is further adding to the trouble.

Vinod believes that education is an extremely

important ingredient for Sri Lanka‟s progress.

He hopes that the government along with

educationists will formulate a policy in line with

the progressive environment in other parts of

the globe to offer a fillip to teaching as a

profession, and also better guide students on

course and career selection.


Diana Fernandez has been a teacher in Singapore for

the past 19 years. She started teaching at Gim Moh

Secondary School in Singapore and is now a

permanent staff of Singapore Chinese Girl‟s School.

“I teach English and Literature, but sometimes the

school even makes me teach the girls P.E. (physical

education)!” she says.

Diana has observed the effect of social change on her

students. “Things have really changed in society, so

of course it affects the girls. Our education system is

not moving fast enough for them.” In her school, an

independent institution, there are more options

within the academic environment to do what‟s best

for the students. “But I know it‟s different in other

schools that don‟t have that much freedom,” she

feels.

The increasing emphasis on arts programs and sports

education in Singapore has also affected the students.

Participating in co-curricular activities in school is

compulsory because it encourages interaction

between students. Many girls now want to have two

CCAs, though in the past they could barely cope with

one. “I‟m worried that they won‟t have enough time

to relax.” If a student opts for a sports-based activity

as well as an arts-based one, she would only get back

home at around 6pm or 7pm.

The more popular sports are basketball,

netball and tennis. On the other hand,

arts programs such as dance, drama and

debate are demanding attention. But

since students who do well in sports are

considered „cooler‟, many students still

pick both.

Diana feels students nowadays aren‟t

well versed in ethics, and are not

necessarily respectful of their elders

compared to students five years ago. “It‟s

not too bad in SCGS, mostly because I

drill it into their brains! But when I see

kids outside, I‟m ashamed when they

behave badly,” she says with a sigh.

Playing on my iPod*

* or at my favorite

KTV parlor

Playing on my iPod*

Damith Asanka

Mata Heenayak Wela

http://www.youtube.co

m/watch?v=A5Jz2LbnO

AM&feature=related

Romesh

Digu Dasa

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E

dXYU2EbUwo&feature=related

SRI LANKA“GO GO SUMMER!”

Kara

http://www.youtube.com

/watch?v=7AO2Wa-

DVRU

http://www.youtube.com

/watch?v=l_pC95haJTE

JAPAN

“パレオはエメラルド”

SKE48

http://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=6OenMFm-I5M

“You”

Juju

http://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=UVLeK9Q5teM

Mika and Amrita

“Desi Beat” from the

film Bodyguard

www.youtube.com/wat

ch?v=zd5e7zgKxgg

INDIA

“Senorita” from the

film Zindagi Na Milegi

Dobara

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo9MEM-LsX0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5Jz2LbnOAM&feature=related













http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdXYU2EbUwo&feature=related










http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AO2Wa-DVRU




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_pC95haJTE



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OenMFm-I5M














http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVLeK9Q5teM












http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zd5e7zgKxgg








Playing on my iPod*

Maroon 5

Moves like Jagger


m/watch?v=suRsxpoAc

5w&feature=related

Nicki Minaj

Super Bass


m/watch?v=4JipHEz53s

U&ob=av3e

PHILIPPINES

Jam Hsiao

“Wild Dreams”

http://www.xiami.com

/widget/0_177026472

1/singlePlayer.swf

Jane Zhang

“My Looks”

Link:

http://www.xiami.com/

widget/0_1770216428/

singlePlayer.swf

CHINA

Van Mai Huong

Neu Nhu Anh Den

http://mp3.zing.vn/video-

clip/Neu-Nhu-Anh-

Den-Van-Mai-

Huong/ZWZC7FFA.ht

ml

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xvy3hnw_pU0&feature=feedlik

Quratulain Baluch

Akhian Nu Rehen De

Jeremy Liu

Miss You


m/watch?v=wZNFMOR3

AxE&feature=related

PAKISTANTAIWAN

VIETNAM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suRsxpoAc5w&feature=related










http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JipHEz53sU&ob=av3e



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkYVI2FYlT0&feature=related

http://www.xiami.com/widget/0_1770264721/singlePlayer.swf






http://mp3.zing.vn/video-clip/Neu-Nhu-Anh-Den-Van-Mai-Huong/ZWZC7FFA.html



















http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZNFMOR3AxE&feature=related



What‟s making people really happy,

and why?

Elated about

The Banga brothers are two names on a growing list of global Indian business leaders, a

roster that includes CEOs such as Citigroup's Vikram Pandit and PepsiCo's Indra Nooyi as

well as the deans of both Harvard Business School and INSEAD. Lakshmi Mittal may have had

the advantage of growing up in the family business, but ArcelorMittal has been transformed

into a global powerhouse thanks to his leadership.

What factors account for the rise of India-trained business minds? “Our colleagues in our

Asian offices are asking the same question,” laughs Jill Ader, head of CEO succession at the

executive-search firm Egon Zehnder International. "Their clients in China and Southeast Asia

are asking, „How come it's the Indians getting all the top jobs?‟”

People like Motorola‟s Sanjay Jha or Berkshire Hathaway's Ajit Jain (tipped to be Warren

Buffett's successor) have succeeded due to talent and drive, and not because they're Indian.

Nooyi too has spent most of her formative career years outside the country. So is it that these

overachievers just happen to be Indian? As Ajay Banga notes, "You are who you are because

of what you do, not the color of your skin.”

Yet data suggests ever more Indians are scaling higher corporate heights. In a study of S&P

500 companies, Egon Zehnder found more Indian CEOs than any other nationality except

American. Indians lead seven companies, Canadians, four. Among the C-suite executives in

the 2009 Fortune 500 were two mainland Chinese, two North American Chinese and 13

Indians, according to a study by two professors from Wharton and China Europe

International Business School.

“The earth is full of Indians,” wrote Salman Rushdie. “We get everywhere.” Unlike, say, a

Swede or a German, an Indian executive is raised in a multiethnic, multi-faith, multilingual

society, one nearly as diverse as the modern global marketplace. Perhaps why he – or she –

is poised for success.

Baseball fans around Taiwan got up early on Saturday morning to cheer for Taiwan's top pitcher

Chien-Ming Wang, who was back on the Major League Baseball mound for Washington Nationals

after a serious shoulder injury had kept him away for more than two years.

At Taipei City Hall, large screens were set up for a live broadcast of the game against the New

York Mets, attended by hundreds of excited fans. So what if the Nationals lost 8-5? Viewers

started pouring in before 6am, some dressed in red and white, the colors of the Nationals‟

jersey. "Today is Chien-Ming Wang's first game back, so I'm dressed in red in the hope of

bringing him good luck," said 27-year-old Raul, who used blue tape to make Wang's number

"40” on his red jersey to show his solidarity.

It's the time of year that Chinese high school

graduates get excited about the start of

college. It usually begins with receipt of

acceptance letters, but this year it started

even before thanks to a text message sent

out by Nanjing University of Science and

Technology. The university sent

acceptances via text message that struck a

chord thanks to the trendy writing style. This

soon sparked the “coolest acceptance letter

battle” on Sina Weibo, China‟s micro-

blogging site. As of early August, there

were more than 350,000 acceptance letters

posted on Weibo.com, with millions of users

expressing their views on which school had

the best missives. An application has even

been created to make fake, funny

acceptance letters on Weibo.com.

Elated about

Elated about

Basketball is considered the most popular sport in the Philippines. So it wasn‟t surprising that

tickets to the Smart Ultimate All-Star Weekend sold out in five days. The BIG event was

brought to the Philippines by one of the top telecom service providers, SMART

Communications, the brand that sponsors the national basketball team (Smart Gilas), which

played against the NBA stars.

More a friendly game than a competitive one, the SMART All-Star Weekend gave Pinoy

basketball fans a chance to see their NBA idols in action with their top local basketball players

– who themselves seemed somewhat star-struck by the visitors!

Amidst a barrage of bad news,

Pakistanis have found a designer

distraction in the form of Hina Rabbani

Khar, the new minister of foreign

affairs. Why is she such big news?

For one, she is Pakistan‟s first female

foreign minister, and the youngest.

And for another… well, she‟s quite the

looker! News channels in Pakistan and

across the border have been full of

images and stories about the 33-year-

old. Sure, we should all be more

focused on the foreign issues plaguing

Pakistan for which Khar has been

appointed. But for now, Pakistanis are

just glad to finally have someone who

presents a more refined image of

Pakistan to the world; and as one

newspaper said, puts our “best face”

forward.

Elated about

On July 4, 2011, former Sri Lankan cricket

captain Kumara Sangakkara addressed a packed

Lords Stadium to deliver the Cowdrey Lecture,

the only Sri Lankan cricketer to ever be given

this honor.

In his speech, Sangakkara spelled out all that is

wrong with the cricket administration in Sri

Lanka. He explained the important role cricket

had played in rebuilding the war-torn country

and why it is crucial that cricket be kept away

from politics and selfish motivations. Fearlessly

he attacked the cricket board and its greed,

elitist attitude and politics. He brought to light

the machinations which threaten to tarnish his

beloved game and took a stand against those in

power.

As expected, immediately after Sangakkara‟s

speech the cricketing authorities expressed their

discomfort and declared that “it will be dealt

with firmly”. But the media, social leaders and

average Sri Lankan all came out in full support of

him. The national media echoed Sangakkara‟s

sentiments and condemned political interference

in cricket. Eminent cricket writers like Peter

Roebuck labeled the speech a turning point in

cricket history. Fans used social media to

express solidarity with the former captain.

One cannot say if things will now change in Sri

Lankan cricket. Still, the fact that someone had

the guts to speak up in a country where freedom

of speech is often curbed, brought hope to

millions.

The last weeks of June were eventful for many

Singaporean soccer lovers. On July 23, fans

gathered at Jalan Besar Stadium for the first leg

of the World Cup qualifiers.

It started badly after the Singaporean Lions

allowed Malaysia to score in the opening 30

seconds of the game. The scores were leveled,

however, when Aleksandar Duric took

advantage of a free kick to find a hole in the

Malaysian defense and got the ball past the

goalie.

Singapore put in another three goals at a

steady pace but after captain Shahril Ishak was

substituted, the home team‟s defense

weakened. Malaysia took advantage of this,

scoring in the 69th minute. Another goal a

minute later brought the scores up to 4-3,

leaving fans of both sides on the edge of their

seats. Finally, Duric scored again in the 81st

minute to seal the deal at 5-3.

The second leg of the game was held on July

28 at Bukit Jalil Stadium, Kuala Lumpur. The

Singapore team had to keep the score low, as

a difference of over two goals would see

Malaysia through. They met much resistance

from the home fans in KL, but still managed to

wrangle a draw of 1-1. That pushed Singapore

through to the third round of the 2014 World

Cup qualifiers for the second time in history,

with an aggregate score of 6-4.

Waiting list

In the spring of 2011, Jeremy Scott

made sneaker history when he fused a

cuddly teddy bear with a chunky Metro

Attitude Hi. This season, he continues

the trend by looking east to China„s

giant bamboo eaters for inspiration.

The new Jeremy Scott x Adidas Panda

Bear Sneakers were released in the

Chinese market on August 1 at two

select retailers in Beijing and Shanghai.

Priced at a comparatively high

RMB1,680, they have still become a

must-have item amongst the young and

trendy this fall.

Even before the official launch, strong

demand was demonstrated for the

sneakers on Chinese social networking

sites Renren.com and Weibo.com.

According to updates on Renren, the

sneakers were sold out to Adidas

members even before the official

launch!

Thousands flocked to Taipei„s Ximen area to watch the second official trailer of Seediq Bale, one of

the most-anticipated locally produced films, to be released later this year. An earlier trailer for

the epic, whose NT$700 million (US$24 million) budget is a record high in Taiwan's film history,

was screened in cinemas and posted on YouTube where it received more than 10,000 views.

Seediq Bale, which means “real men” in the Seediq language, is to be released in two episodes.

The film, which took 12 years to make, is set against the backdrop of the Wushe Incident -- a

large-scale uprising by the Seediq tribe against their Japanese colonizers in the 1930s.

Waiting list

The summer is university application season

across India, and that brings with it some

stressful times. So imagine the shock when

Shri Ram College of Commerce in New Delhi

announced that it had pegged its first cut-off

for its hugely popular B.Com (Honours) course

at a staggering 100 per cent!

Across the board, cut-offs are rising and most

students will depend on waiting lists to get

admission. There seems to be no place for

weak students. Lokesh Bhandari, a student of

Ahlcon Public School in Mayur Vihar, was

happy with his aggregate of 91.25 per cent -

till the cut-offs were announced. “I am

interested in economics and mathematics, but

I think I'll have to wait till the third or the fourth

list to see if I can get through any of the North

Campus colleges,” he said.

Mansi Sheth, who scored 92.2 per cent in the

SSC board exam, was ecstatic when she saw

that she had been awarded a seat in the college

of her choice. "I have been allotted a commerce

seat at HR College, Churchgate, which was my

first preference," she said. But for Kirtana Shetty

who scored only 2 per cent less in the ICSE

board exam, Friday's list was a bitter

disappointment. "I got a seat in a commerce

college but it is not the one I wanted. I hope to

improve the result in a later list," said Shetty.

Cut-offs for other students for the best colleges

have been creeping upwards for years.

University administrators have said it is partly

the result of grade inflation in school exams --

meaning that more kids are leaving school with

higher test scores, causing colleges to raise

their cut-offs in order to make sure they still get

the best students. But India is also facing a

supply crunch when it comes to higher

education. It now has about 500 universities but

needs four times that number, say government

experts.

Pilgrims’ progress

Devotees at one of India‟s most sacred

pilgrimage sites in Amarnath have had a long

wait ahead of the last day of darshan, August 13.

This year has seen the highest number of

devotees visiting Amarnath, with nearly 600,000

pilgrims arriving for an annual pilgrimage to

the cave shrine in less than a month. On top of

that, pilgrims who reached late faced

disappointment as the holy „Ice Lingam‟, the

most interesting phenomenon of the annual

pilgrimage, was melting fast.

Still, worshippers

apparently stood in

queue for over six

hours. “The Shivlinga I

saw yesterday was

smaller than the one

shown in the

photographs released

in the initial days of the

yatra. But I think I‟m

still lucky to catch a

glimpse of it,” said

Durga Prasad Kaw, a

pilgrim from Panipat.

The Amarnath Shivlinga resembles the

symbolic Shiv idol, and is formed naturally from

ice. On June 29, when the yatra began at the

12,729-foot-high cave, the icy idol was 18 feet

tall. By the end of it, thanks to an

unprecedented rush of devotees, the idol had

completely melted away.

Waiting list

Movie goers in Karachi were recently introduced

to 3D cinema at the Atrium Mall, which is located

not in one of the elitist pockets of Karachi but in

the heart of the city. The Atrium Cinema was

launched on December 31, 2010. Apart from

being the first state-of-the-art 3D cinema in

Karachi, the Atrium Cinema has elevated the

experience of going out to the movies in many

ways. From the warm ambience to the

sophisticated interiors to the delicious caramel

popcorn -- not to mention all the latest summer

blockbusters from Hollywood and Bollywood --

the Atrium Cinema has taken the city by storm.

Viewers have been queuing for tickets days in

advance. And getting seats for a weekend show –

well, that‟s near impossible.

Finally, a Brazilian dressed as a character from

“Final Fantasy 12” was chosen as winner. An

Italian came in second, dressed as an anime

character from “Sugar Sugar Rune”, while a

Chinese participant geared up as a “Dynasty

Warriors 6” character placed third. A Japanese

contestant dressed as a Mario Brother came in

sixth.

The cosplay community has become strikingly

diverse over the past few years. Competition is

becoming more heated as the number of foreign

cosplayers increases and the judges demand

higher standards of creativity from the global

cosplay community.

Other cinemas were quick to introduce 3D but

will require major overhaul in order to match the

class and prestige that the Atrium Cinema has

managed to achieve. Here‟s hoping that others

do equal the experience at Atrium Cinema,

because a little competition is always healthy.

The annual World Cosplay Summit, held in Aichi prefecture, Japan, is the only event where

cosplay (or costume role-play) lovers from all over the world gather to showcase their hand-

made costumes and compete for the best-dressed award. After the massive “Red Carpet”

cosplay parade, there‟s a series of performances where celebrity judges vote to choose the

cosplay champion.

Despite the earthquake and fear of nuclear radiation, the number of participants in this year‟s

cosplay summit has hit a record high with over 17,000 cosplayers and cosplay fans from 17

different countries.

Waiting list

The San Pallegrino world‟s 50 best restaurants

might have named Iggy‟s and Gunther‟s the best

restaurant in Singapore, but Andre‟s, a new

artisan restaurant opened by Taiwanese native

Andre Chiang, is steadily climbing the chart.

The French fusion restaurant opened its doors

last October on Bukit Pasoh Road next to

Emperor Hotel. They seat only 30 people at a

time and serve a degustation menu based on

Andre‟s “octa-philosophy” of eight different

characteristics.

Each course is based on a single theme --

Unique, Texture, Pure, Terroir, Salt, South or

Artisan -- designed to tap into people‟s memory

banks and personal experiences to create a

memorable dining experience.

Locals rave about the food by Chef Andre on

review websites such as hungrygowhere.com

and tripadvisor.com, calling it an “experience

that softens the senses and opens the mind”.

There is currently a two month waiting list for the

degustation menu at Andres.

Tense about …

Tense about

In light of the Aquino administration‟s campaign

to resolve corruption, and fraud cases left by the

previous administration, Filipinos are

experiencing a period of guarded optimism.

They feel that justice will finally be served. The

question now is, when?

July‟s State of the Nation address roused those

impatient for change, prompting questions on

why the impact of reforms has still not been felt in

particular sectors after a year in service. Filipinos

believe that constructive criticism is an essential

feature in improving the governance process in

the Philippines. As incremental changes can only

be recognized over time, it may seem like a long

wait for many.

On July 24, 2011, a collision between two high-speed trains near the coastal city of

Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, China, left at least 40 dead and 210 injured. The accident

occurred when one train lost power after being struck by lightning, and another train hit

it from behind, causing a derailment.Two carriages subsequently fell off a bridge.

The accident unleashed a torrent of public criticism and raised doubts about China's

breakneck plans to expand high-speed rail across the country. On China‟s micro-

blogging website Weibo.com, netizens have been questioning official explanations for

the cause of the accident as well as the earnestness of the rescue and recovery efforts

that followed. “If a train is stopped on the tracks, can't dispatchers be automatically

notified? Is this accident due to irresponsible personnel or a design problem with the

trains?” they asked.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FVkxuHuc1yM/TifkW1_TrVI/AAAAAAAADf0/0QGB2QRjxKE/s1600/sona.jpg

Tense about

Food inflation in India zoomed to 9.9 per cent for

the week ended July 30 as rains made

transportation across the country a challenge.

The rate, the highest in over three months, made

it difficult for the Reserve Bank to stop raising

interest rates despite global economic

uncertainty and deceleration in industrial

growth.

“Inflation has been very volatile and right now

monsoons have triggered additional

transportation problems for food products.

Perishables are mostly generating the price

spikes now,” said Rupa Rege Nitsure, chief

economist, Bank of Baroda.

Sri Lankans are extremely passionate about their

vehicles. There are an estimated three million

petrol vehicles in Sri Lanka, so when a petrol

scam hit the country recently, there were a lot of

angry car-owners to contend with.

Around 20,000 metric tons of low quality petrol

(below the normal 90 octane standard) were

released on the market. It was further revealed

that this stock was tested at a laboratory before

release and found unfit for use because there

were metal particles and other substances which

could damage motor vehicles.

There has been an across-the-board rise in

prices during the week, with egg, meat and fish

rising the fastest, at nearly 6 per cent. Prices of

onions, potatoes, fruits, and cereals also rose

during the week. Though inflation in food is

largely driven by rising input costs and supply

constraints, the RBI has been worried that it

could cause a vicious wage-price spiral.

Despite this, a top official ordered that the

contaminated stock be released to filling stations

and, as a result, thousands of vehicles and

numerous pumps were damaged, requiring

extensive and expensive repairs. Aggrieved

motorists were provided hotline numbers to

lodge their complaints, but the numbers were

mostly non-responsive. The petroleum ministry

also attempted to blame rain water for the

contamination, even though the nation had been

experiencing one of the driest spells in recent

times.

Tense about

Karachi has long been the face Pakistan wished to

show to the world. The port city -- the sixth or

seventh largest in the world, depending on whom

you ask, with a population of more than 18 million –

once represented the ideal of what Pakistan ought

to have been. There are cities around the world

that you just can‟t imagine leaving. No matter what

goes down in the city, despite tension, havoc and

chaos, you still say, “This is MY CITY, and I just

can‟t leave it.” Karachi was one of them.

Yet the City of Lights, which is the source of 70 per

cent of Pakistan‟s revenue, is now plagued by

intense violence, targeted killings and lawlessness.

Karachi is bleeding like never before, with the city

turning into a battleground.

This was once the city where shops would stay

open late, restaurants would be booming and traffic

would be crazy. But a lot has changed in the past

few years. If you are a student, you now just want to

go home as soon as you‟re done with school. If

you‟re working, you want the day to end as soon as

possible so you can catch a ride back home.

The worst-affected areas in Karachi have been the

Qasba Colony and Orangi Town, where terrorists

fired rockets, bombed houses and killed innocent

civilians. They looted homes, burnt cars and

torched shops. Firing all around the city has

resulted in many lives being lost.

Yet we have hope that one day this all will end.

Karachi is indeed a survivor‟s city, and we know

that this violence doesn't define us.

Tense about

Low scores in the recent university entrance

exams have raised concerns that

Vietnamese students today do not have the

necessary knowledge of the country‟s

history. Many students got low marks, while

thousands of students got zero. This has

prompted discussion and debate on

whether it is necessary to revamp current

curriculums and teaching methods for

history, or whether there is simply a lack of

commitment towards and interest in

Vietnamese history.

Limited career opportunities and lower

salaries for history graduates have also had

an impact on the subject‟s popularity, and

educators have recognized the need to

make the subject more relevant to every

generation of Vietnamese student.

There‟s a growing concern on the effects of

nuclear radiation on Japan‟s food supply.

Recently, many cows in Tokyo

slaughterhouses were found to be tainted

with almost 2,500 Becquerel per kilogram of

radioactive cesium, which is 500 per cent

higher than Japan‟s permissible limit. In

addition, dried green-tea leaves, harvested

in Shizuoka prefecture, were were found to

have levels of radioactive cesium above the

permitted threshold.

For the Japanese, food produced in Japan

has traditionally been considered more safe

and reliable than imported products. But

now, things are different. There has been a

surge in sales of New Zealand pork and

beef, and it seems inevitable that this is a

trend that will continue in the time to come.

Everyone’s talking

about …

Campaigns & events generating buzz

Everyone’s talking about

Strip surge in Manila

Bench Lifestyle Clothing is one of the most

successful Filipino-owned businesses to

have made it internationally. They have

received endorsements from local and

foreign celebrities, all of whom are proud to

have a Bench campaign in their portfolios.

So it worked out well for the rugby team

Philippine Volcanoes when they tied up with

the brand with the hope of making rugby a

more popular sport in a country where

almost every street has a basketball hoop.

This is not the first time that the brand has

put up big billboards of almost-naked men

on the main highway of Metro Manila. The

first such campaign prompted much talk

about propriety and it was only a matter of

time before this latest campaign received

the same attention – which must have been

expected by the advertisers. Shocked

conservatives called for the huge

billboards to be taken down – a great way of

getting in the news!

A calendar of the Philippine Volcanoes

featuring similar, sexy shots sold out fast,

with proceeds going to a rugby fund.


Travel bugs in Vietnam

Taiwan Excellence has partnered with the country‟s leading IT brands to launch IT

Travellers GO across Vietnam, Indonesia and India. The regional campaign developed

by Ogilvy One Vietnam encourages young dynamic consumers to showcase their IT

lifestyle by uploading images and videos to gain public votes and support.

Twelve contestants will be chosen to participate in a journey across each of the three

countries using the Taiwanese IT partner products and will then have to blog about their

experiences for a chance at the ultimate prize of US$20,000.

Beer on the rocks in Japan

It‟s been a pretty hot summer in Japan this year, and ever since the

nuclear meltdown in Fukushima, there‟s been increasing efforts to

use less electricity, even in the face of the heat. So office workers,

despite following the Cool Biz dress code, need a way to cool

down. That led Kirin Beer, one of the beer manufacturing giants of

Japan, to launch Ice Plus Beer, a new beer designed to be had with

ice!

Although considered a no-no by beer aficionados, Kirin‟s

unconventional Ice Plus Beer has caught on with Japanese

executives. Ice Plus Beer is specially designed to be poured over

ice, with a high concentration of flavor, aroma, and alcohol so that it

tastes better than regular beer would when diluted with ice.


… and small screen weddings

“Begaani shaadi mein abdulaah deewana” is a Hindi saying which

roughly translates to “getting enthusiastic about someone else‟s

wedding”. Not only does this happen in real life, it happens on the

small screen also, with Indian telly audiences tuning in whenever

there is a wedding on any popular TV show.

The most recent wedding is notable for being quite unconventional.

Ram Kapoor and Priya on Bade Achhe Laggte Hain, on Sony

Entertainment Television, are interesting because they are quite old

compared to most couples on Indian TV, and in India late marriage

is still fairly unusual in most traditional families.

This storyline has helped serial soap-maker Ekta Kapoor reclaim the

small-screen queen crown, with everyone in a tizzy over this on-

screen couple.

Population control in India…

The new Idea ad suggests that 3G technology is

so entertaining that consumers are no longer

having sex every time they are bored. The

result? India‟s population problems are

reversed!

After a series of thought-provoking campaigns around themes of caste war, education for

all, democracy, use of mobiles to save paper and language barrier, this time the muse is

population control. The ad shows that couples who had no entertainment apart from sex

before the 3G days are now spending all their time having fun with their cellphones. The

ad leaves viewers with the catchphrase 'No Baby, Only 3G'. When Abhishek Bachchan‟s

friend asks him about his own baby (which is on the way in real life), Bachchan

sheepishly says that the deed was done before 3G! Watch the ad here:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqtB-IaeEo8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqtB-IaeEo8









The lasting impression in Taiwan

The 16-minute Taiwanese film My Beautiful

Island features four different life stories -- a

young American searching for a sense of

belonging, three young Japanese women

traveling around the world to celebrate their

friendship, a family with a rebellious teenager

and an elderly couple planning a romantic

holiday.

The film is a departure from the usual

promotional format and aims to stir people's

emotions, said its director Johnason Lo.

Lo, who has won the international Promax, iF

Design and red-dot awards, said he tried to

avoid the conventional tourism narrative that

focuses on scenic spots. "The most meaningful

element of a trip is the people who give tourists

their most lasting memories," he said.

The film will be released on TV in San Francisco

next month and later in Japan, Korea, Singapore

and Hong Kong. It is part of a larger campaign

worth NT$100 million (US$3.4 million), which

tourism bureau director-general Janice Lai

hopes will attract 500,000 tourists to in turn

generate revenue of US$770 million per year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncU6_jG4P7Q

The Fun Pack Song in Singapore

In early June, mayhem erupted on Youtube

around a video taken during the rehearsal of

Singapore‟s National Day Parade to celebrate

the 46th year of independence on August 9 of

the multicultural melting pot.

The video featured the “Fun-Pack” song, an

adaptation of Lady Gaga‟s Bad Romance. The

modified lyrics referred to the “Goodie-bag”,

a pack that each spectator was to receive at

the Marina Bay stadium celebrations.

Within a week, there were over 50,000 views

on Youtube. But Singaporeans were soon

embarrassed by the silly and suggestive

lyrics, and global viewers called it a “butchery

of Lady Gaga‟s creativity”.

The song was later removed from the

performance lineup as organizers did not have

the rights for the Lady Gaga track. When

asked about the song, Lady Gaga said she had

no comment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncU6_jG4P7Q


The Lynx Effect in China

Launching a brand in China is hard, creating

a new product category is even harder. On

June 10, 2011, Unilever officially launched it‟s

Lynx brand in the Chinese market with a

campaign featuring controversial celebrity

Edison Chen, the star of 2008 scandal in

which the youth idol‟s personal sex photos

were released to the public. After the

scandal, Chinese took to calling Edison

„Professor Chen‟, thanks to his apparent

expertise in sexuality and photography.

In Lynx‟s (also known as Axe) latest TV spot,

Chen is cast as a laboratory researcher,

uncovering the secret to make women flock

to men like bees to honey.

Through a wide range and varied

digitally-driven campaign focused on

educating young male consumers on the

brand and product, Lynx has generated a

great deal of buzz amongst the Chinese

youth. Humorous viral videos charged

with sexual innuendo captured the

imagination of thousands of young

Chinese men and women, educating them

on how to use this new type of product

(body sprays and shower gels). Coupled

with smart live activities – most of which

were presided over by an army of scantily

clad “Lynx Angles” – and a host of digital

platforms, the campaign went from zero to

over 100,000 unique new followers,

commentators and viewers on Chinese

social networking sites in just three

months.

“I have always wished there was

something like a Mating Bible to teach me

how to get girls and solve my girl trouble.

Coming from Edison Chen, this must

work. The online videos are interesting as

well,” said one follower on Lynx‟s page on

micro-blogging website Weibo.com.


Rural smarts in Sri Lanka

CIC Agri is a leading name in the agricultural business in Sri Lanka. The company‟s

products and services cover the entire gamut of the agricultural business – from

seed to shelf. Some of its flagship products are paddy seeds, fertilizers and tractors.

To reinforce their leadership in the agri business, CIC recently launched a campaign

led by three TVCs, each highlighting one of their lead offerings. For better cultural

connect with the target group (i.e. farmers), CIC drew upon Shailygatha – a musical

dramatic form popular with rural audience, similar to the jatra folk art of Bengal,

India. With over-the-top characterization and humorous content, this campaign not

only stands out amongst the current message clutter but has also generated chatter

among urban audiences.Click hereto watch the ads:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXpZxn3NQA4&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02rnwVIR1oE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jzBO1MZo1Q&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXpZxn3NQA4&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02rnwVIR1oE&feature=related




A peek at some unique or popular

offerings on the Web

Online shopping

http://www.clickthecity.com/hot-off-the-

press/?p=12045

Multiply, which started out as a social

networking site, has evolved into a digital

shopping portal, thanks to entrepreneurial

Filipinos who utilized the site‟s popular

Photo Album feature to showcase products

and wares. Taking its cue from this growing

trend, Multiply harnessed the opportunity to

rework the site with a fully-functioning e-

commerce platform to ensure a safe and

hassle-free digital shopping experience for

its users at clickthecity.com.

17 product categories

88,000 stores and growing

24/7 store hours

Easy-to-follow and secure

payment process through BDO

Virtual Card, BPI, Paypal and G-

Cash Buyer Protection Program

Savvy Vietnamese shoppers can now login

at http://muachung.vn, one of the first

Groupon sites to take Vietnam‟s online

market by storm. The group coupon website

offers one “Groupon” per day. If a certain

number of people sign up for the offer, then

the deal becomes available to all. However,

if the predetermined minimum is not met,

no one gets the deal that day.

As an exciting new channel for Vietnamese

consumers to not only search but access

new products and services, Muachung.vn is

only increasing in popularity and is getting

much positive feedback from consumers.

http://www.clickthecity.com/hot-off-the-press/?p=12045







http://muachung.vn/

Online shopping

Launched as the first global import agent and online shopping mall in Korea in 2001,

Wizwid deals in trendy products at reasonable prices. It differentiates itself from other

online shopping portals through its brand sourcing strategy and collaborative fashion

projects under its [W Concept].

To provide users a convenient global shopping experience, Wizwid acts as a purchase

agent, bringing up-to-date fashions from famous and less known contemporary brands to

Korea. The collaborative collections with promising Korean designers also helped build the

site‟s image as a premium shopping mall. The [W Concept] has brought unique lines from

designers such as Doo ri, Jain Song, Choi Jung In, ANDY & DEBB, Suecomma bonnie, Jardin

de Chouette and Seun to online consumers in Korea.

WIZWID‟s path has been quite distinct from other online fashion sites. Cheaper than offline

malls, its selective brand souring strategy and exclusive designer lines have not been easy

to copy.

Online shopping

FashionAndYou.com and DealsAndYou.com are

the pioneers of flash sales in India. These online

sales offer powerful alternate marketing and

sales vehicles to brands searching for a novel

approach

Fashion and You has witnessed over 35 per cent

growth month on month, charted by social and

digital word of mouth marketing. Interestingly

35-40 per cent of their active members are in

non-metros and smaller towns. “We started

Fashion and You with the aim of providing

premium quality products to our members

across the country,” said Pearl Uppal, CEO and

co-founder, Fashion and You. “In the very first

year we became the number one shopping club

and the number one online fashion retail

company in India.”

In 2010, Lakme Fashion Week became the first

fashion week in Asia to embrace e-commerce to

drive the business of fashion. Fashion and You,

its official online partner, is mentioned on the

LFW website as India‟s largest private shopping

club, now accessed by over 1.2 million high net-

worth members, working with over 450 luxury,

high fashion and designer brands.

China‟s largest online apparel retailer

VANCL.com was created in 2007 by

Chinese e-commerce entrepreneur Chen

Nian, also known for founding Joyo which

was later sold to Amazon. In three years,

VANCL has captured 28.4 percent of the

online B2C garment sales in China and has

become one of the most popular online

shopping destinations for the youth.

In the past few years VANCL has grown

rapidly, maximizing the opportunity

presented by China‟s online clothes market.

The company’s sales in 2008 reached

about RMB300 million and doubled in 2009.

This year, VANCL expects sales to touch

RMB20 billion and is looking at a Nasdaq

listing.

They key factor behind VANCL's success

appears to be the tremendous amount of

online advertising it leverages to target

young urban Chinese aged 18 to 28 years.

Its stylish clothing at affordable prices are

made by famous designers from Europe

and America who tailor the garments to

suit the Asian market, a model which has

proved very popular with the Chinese

consumer.

Online shopping

Taiwan's online Uniqlo store is doing so well that it is posing a threat to retailers with 200 stores

on the streets. In four years, Lativ, founded by Chang Wei-chiang, has seen its revenue grow

from NT$10 million to an estimated NT$1.5 billion this year.

When Chang decided to go into business, he noticed that most online clothing stores were

selling trendy, fancy and cheap clothes that were of poor quality. He set about learning the

basics of the clothing business, studying fabrics, patterns and cut. After only a year in business,

Chang sold 600,000 polo shirts at a price of NT$168 each.

High quality has helped build trust among customers and now 80 per cent of Lativ's 250,000

members are repeat buyers. The product lines have also expanded to include children‟s wear

and underwear.

Sri Lanka is still in its digital infancy.

However, growth signs are extremely

positive with Facebook just passing the one

million-user mark, and e-commerce

becoming more popular. But even so,

Kapruka.com‟s business model depends

largely on Sri Lanka‟s large expat

community of over two million people.

This group is in regular touch with family and

friends back home, and this is Kapruka‟s main

target market. The site started out as a means for

expats to send gifts to loved ones in Sri Lanka,

expanding its network by buying gift shops

across the country to deliver to any doorstep in

Sri Lanka.

Kapruka now has offices in UK and USA as well

as Sri Lanka and provides over 5,000 gift

products for its customers, ranging from flowers

to restaurant foods. It has become popular

among Sri Lankans living outside the country

wishing to send surprise gifts for birthdays and

other occasions.

The unique approach to business and offline

product development are key factors behind the

success of Kapruka as a leading e-commerce

business in Sri Lanka.

For more information, to request a presentation on cultural insights, or to contribute your perspectives in your market, please write to:[email protected]

wassup september 2011

Design

ho chi minh

lady michelle obama

mather asia pacific

fenghua high school

blogging website weibo

lakme fashion week

high school teachers

high school students