Into the World:
The Random Thoughts in My Mind

Economic inequality is not new.  It is a phenomenon that has haunted human civilization ever since agricultural production became systematic and people saw the benefits of accumulating wealth in one place.  A ruling elite with the power to organize the institutions and structures of society came to tower over others, giving them the ability to reshape how society operates to benefit themselves.  The result is the rise of an elite that is both politically and economically powerful, often in a hereditary manner.  For too long, the general populace was OK with such an elite, notably because there was a belief that anyone can become equally as powerful and rich through individual efforts.

The Japanese are, by now, famous in the developed world for the hostility of the general public toward the prospect of mass migration.  Even as the government mulls policies that increase the number of foreign workers in the country, the media, both mainstream and otherwise, debate whether the shift to the extreme right under in way in Europe is a result of uncoordinated, unstructured, and unprepared nature by which millions of Africans and Middle Easterners streamed in.  What is implied, of course, is that the Japanese do not repeat the mistake of mass migration that the Europeans brought upon themselves.

It is certainly difficult being an Uyghur these days. Not only is an Uyghur person constantly subject to racial profiling and intense surveillance by the state in China , but the Chinese government's downright inhumane policy of disrupting Uyghur self-expression has also found support outside China, as Central Asian states bow to Chinese demand for suppressing their own Uyghur diaspora and Islamophobic Westerners express tacit approval of overt attempts to secularize the Uyghurs.  For some, the threat of Islamic terror has made the Chinese government's heavyhandedness platable, if not outright admirable.

Newsstands at Japanese train stations are usually fronted by racks full of front-page news from the country's vibrant tabloid newspapers.  On a recent day, half a dozen tabloids lined up on the racks spoke a uniform voice against Huawei, the Chinese smartphone-cum-telecom equipment manufacturer that is currently under massive scrutiny across much of the developed world.  "Huawei Smartphones: the Spying Devices that are Just around Us," one tabloid declared.  Others concurred and added in extra details about the aftermath of the ongoing saga over Huawei CFO's arrest in Canada.

Across the rich world, Japanese food is well-regarded.  The trend of wealth youths in the West eating sushi and sashimi come from the image of Japanese cuisine as healthy, characterized by the use of fresh fish and vegetables, and a relative lack of oil and heavy seasoning.  In hip American urban neighborhoods, especially, people are willing to shell out quite a bit of money to get the authentic Japanese dining experience.  The quality of Japanese food as a near-universal truth is confirmed the likes of the Michelin Guide, which has no failed to name Tokyo as the city with the most stars for many consecutive years.

A few years ago when I was living and working in Taiwan , I applied for a position at Uber Taiwan as an Operations Manager.  Uber was just entering the Taiwanese market and usual as it is for the firm, aggressively expanding into major cities with lofty goals of overhauling the entire transport market.  In the interview for the position, I noted that the advantage of a global platform like Uber is its universality.  Because it is the same platform for anyone anywhere (with perhaps the exception of language), it can open up a foreign country for new foreign residents and travelers with little prior knowledge of the new destination.