Into the World:
The Random Thoughts in My Mind

In a TV interview in the aftermath of the World Food Program (WFP) receiving this year's Nobel Peace Prize, a former senior Japanese official at the WFP spoke of the one big lesson from his more than 30 years with the organization. He noted that every inequality, no matter how far away, is relevant to every nation and people around the world, and it is necessary for everyone to keep their eyes peeled for every conflict that emerges to better understand themselves. The words of the former WFP manager could not more in time today especially in Japan, as a deadly military conflict rages in the Caucasus with little mainstream coverage.

In a small coastal town three hours drive from Tokyo, a beautiful two-lane wind through seaside hills overlooking remote beaches barely visited by tourists. Mostly uninhabited, the winding road is home to few occasional gated housing compounds, cordoned off from public views with high concrete walls and dense canopies of palm trees. Only by walking higher up the hills, away from the road, one can see what are inside the mysterious compounds. They are luxury private homes with large balconies facing the ocean, flanked by Mercedes and BMWs, fronted by meticulously tended gardens, standing in what seems to be the middle of nowhere with a great view.

One of the great tragedies of the smartphone era is just how attached the average user is to the device. Anywhere, anytime, people are glued to their little screens, seeking stimulations in the most mundane of situations. The propensity for people paying attention to smartphones rather than anything else around them has required local authorities to put up posters and warning signs to discourage their use under certain circumstances, lest aloof smartphone users unwittingly bump into others or worse, hurt themselves by absent-mindedly wandering into busy roads and railroads.

I recently had an opportunity to speak to a group of new university graduates just joining a particular Japanese firm, as part of the company's initial training for new hires. As an icebreaker to get to know the group a bit better, I asked each member of the group about why s/he decided to join this company. The answers, to my sheer disappointment, was extremely underwhelming. One mentioned that the company is big and stable, another said that the firm's older employees all seemed to be very friendly, and scariest of all, one person bluntly mentioned that there is no particular reason that she chose the firm over others.

Back when I was living in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia between 2012 and 2015, one thing that I noticed was the sheer prevalence of people doing things on rooftops. The city was home to dozens of high-rise condominiums and office towers, and almost every single one of the high-rise's rooftop was being used, either as a bar, a restaurant, or in the case of many condominiums, pools and just a simple open activity space for the building's residents. The prevalence of open rooftops was so commonly accepted that people would assume that, whenever there is a high-rise, the rooftop would be accessible.

Back when I was still an employee at the logistics division of the major Southeast Asian e-commerce operator Lazada Group, I undertook an initiative at the warehouse to improve the speed at which orders are processed. The idea was to rearrange the physical layout of the area designated for processing and packaging products bound for delivery to customers so that workers can get the work done without moving as much. By pushing tables together and laying down rudimentary slides for packages to travel between different processing stations, the exercise shaved off about two seconds from the time it takes to process one order.

On the streets of Katsuura, a small coastal town on the far side of Chiba prefecture is a scene that one will never see on the streets of Tokyo today. Two brightly lit stores with giant "Sale!" signs specialize in the latest repertoire of portable fireworks, for people to enjoy in their backyards. The stores are not meant to be discreet. Occupying the two prime spots across each other on one of the town's main shopping streets, their wares spill onto the streets on carefully laid out tables, standing out from the other, much more dimly light lit outlets of restaurants and banks.