What's on Sean's mind

What sports should baby Aaron play?

2010-08-06T11:21:00.000-07:00

So my baby boy is turning one in 2 weeks! I have really been thinking about what sports I want him to play… My family has pretty good athletic genes... My sister was varsity in cross-country and tennis, my dad was a fighter pilot, my uncle was a fencing champion in Taiwan, I myself isn't too bad at kendo... My father-in-law is a tennis champion, my wife's cousin is currently ranked # 1 in Thailand in Tennis at 16 yrs old... Although he quit professionally already. So, I'm really counting on him to be a good athlete so he can get that free ride for college!

Sports that have historically been the most “Asian-friendly” have been baseball and golf of the major sports… Basketball really is an afterthought unless you are 7 foot tall. Football… off top of my head, there is Nguyen who used to play for the Cowboys and Hines Ward who is half Korean. But back to basketball… Jeremy Lin has been really turning some heads his senior year in Harvard and the recent outstanding performance in Las Vegas Summer League that landed him 2 years of guaranteed contract from the Golden State Warriors. Lin showed great basketball IQ, great willingness to defend, and good athleticism, which is a big surprise to a lot of people, since Asians are stereotyped to be athletically inferior… And being a Harvard graduate didn’t exactly help with the stereotyping.

As pro-athletes go in the U.S., Asian-Americans don’t really represent that well. We got Tiger Woods who is a lot of Asian… But I don’t think most people see him as that. There was Michael Chang in tennis, but, most people saw him as an aberration. We got Hines Ward and Nguyen in the NFL, but I think that is about it currently… Then we have a whole lot of Asian baseball players in the Major Leagues. But how many of them were born here in the US? I think it’s zero although you are free to correct me. Interesting thing I learned when Lin was signed though, was that the first non-white NBA player was Asian-American: Wat Misaka, drafted by the Knicks… although he played only 3 games, but still pretty cool.

Anyways, although Lin got many headline articles written about him already in Times, Sports Illustrated what not, him getting in the NBA is a big deal for us sports-loving Asian-Americans and especially to us Chinese-Americans. Makes me feel like my baby boy can do more than just going to Harvard… If he works hard enough, it is actually possible to be the one that hit the buzzer-beater Game 7 in the NBA finals. It is a dream that he can go chase, instead of my generation where it’s just a dream, not a possibility. And if he gets his mother's mother's tall genes and grow to 6'3"+, he really might have a shot! Else he might have to settle for playing short-stop in the MLB or something... (jk... I'll be ecstatic if Aaron plays well in highschool!)

Return of Allen Iverson

2009-12-08T12:11:00.000-08:00

As a kid, the manga "Slam Dunk" was the reason why I started liking basketball... Michael Jordan was the reason I started to love basketball... Allen Iverson was the reason I loved the 76ers. Allen Iverson was the reason I kept watching the NBA after Jordan was gone.

He was just like MJ... 40 point games... 50 point games... all the while being barely 6 foot and 160 pounds. He was an athlete that defined a generation. He was rebellious and defiant. He defied tradition and conformity. He did things his way. He played his hardest when it mattered... But was chill and laid back when it did not. He wore his heart on his sleeve and said whatever that came to his mind and did not care about the consequences. Allen Iverson was the ultimate hip hop athlete and we all either loved him for it or hated him for it.

As a teenager, I always believed that I didn't need to do things the way adults told me to do it. I will do it my way and learn it my way. I didn't care if it took me longer to do something or learn something... I will listen eventually if it is actually the best way... But I don't want to be simply be told that. I want to find out myself. I think that was how collectively my generation generally thought through things. Iverson was the same way... That's why we loved him so much. This is how we wanted to grow up. Through trial and error instead of just listening to what others tell us.

While Iverson was on top of his game. He made us believe that it is okay to be defiant and be different. You can be the scoring champ, Leagu MVP, and lead your team to the NBA finals while being a man among giants and while being disliked. You can be yourself and still succeed in the highest level. You don't have to be Michael Jordan... You don't have to be the picture perfect idol that always say the right things and act the way others want you to act. It is okay to act the way you want...

Then... of course I and my generation grew up and started fitting into the norms of the society... Gone are the baggy jeans, big t-shirts, jerseys, and timbs, and saying and doing whatever we wanted with little regard of adults... Here comes the suits and ties and saying and acting the right way...

Perhaps it is fitting the Allen Iverson never won a championship... Since people like Iverson are not supposed to achieve the ultimate success. The knight in the shinning armor and snow-white horses like Michael Jordan are supposed to... But... for a generation that loves our villains more than our heros... That is exactly why we love Iverson so much, especially for the people of Philadelphia. Welcome home Bubba-chuck.

Kendo is constantly relearning the same thing

2009-10-30T11:17:00.000-07:00

Kendo, at its core, consist only a handful of simple movements. But as you practice... these simple movements often get corrupted and become inefficient and ineffective. I think that is why it is so important to practice basics a lot and drill yourself in these basics every practice.

Because you are not reading something on paper or listening to someone... It's pretty hard to notice yourself doing something wrong. A lot of things are very subtle too, and most senseis won't be able to help you, and most likely won't even notice it. I'm talking about the very suble things like the balance of your weight on each foot... grabbing the shinai a little too tight with the right hand or grabbing the shinai too tightly (with the index and middle finger)... having your body a little too tilted or too centered... Sometimes I start tiliting doing the men... Going sideways too early with the kote and doh... Hit doh too horizontally...

Professional athletes do this all the time too... So i guess it's a normal thing in physical activities. You have to constantly "refind" your movement. I guess that's why Golfers have to go to the driving range... Baseball players have to go to the batting cage... Basketball players have to practice shooting over and over in the gym...

It's a constant adjustment. Eventually you enter "the zone" and you can do it exactly right for an extended period of time... Then eventually you come out of the zone and you have to work on it again. It's always a cycle, just like economics.

Baby and Love

2009-10-30T10:51:00.000-07:00

The day Aaron was born was one of the happiest days of my life, no doubt. Ju and I were both really looking forward to it too... And Aaron turned out to be like the cutest little thing ever! Whenever people ask me what surprised me the most about having a baby.... i would always say that I really misses Aaron when I'm away, maybe even more so than I missed Ju.

But the thing is... I really miss the days when it was just me and Ju. We never have time for each other anymore. Whenever baby's awake... well, we have to entertain him, haha. Else he cries... When he's sleeping... We sleep too because we just feel exhausted, especially Ju. I really wish that Ju and I can be like before... Do fun things together and do romantic things together. I guess my friend Xiaolu said it best that you are never really ready for a baby... It's life altering to say the least.

When you get married, your life isn't just you anymore. It's you and your spouse. When you have a kid.... Both of your lives are your kid's.

Lebron James to the Nets

2009-10-22T12:32:00.001-07:00

Although I don't really want to see the Nets land Lebron James... Since they are in the Atlantic Division with the Sixers... To me, they look more and more like the most probable destination for The King.

Brook Lopez is already one of the best centers in the East, and he is only entering his second year... Nets coaching staff has plans to make him the focal point of the offense, and if the Nets play respectably for the first-half of the season, there's a good chance he'll make the All-star team. Lebron would certainly want to play with an all-star center in his prime during HIS prime, and Lopez is a very good bet for that.

Yi Jianlian has tons of potential at PF. Although he still has lots of holes in his game, he is an athletic 7-footer and is a very good outside shooter, and still young. He would be a good compliment to Lebron James.

Courtney Lee has a lot of potential also. He can score, he can shoot, and he plays very good defense... He is only entering his 2nd year just like Brook Lopez, but he is already a playoff veteran having gone to the finals with the Magic last year.

Devin Harris is already an All-star point guard. His defense regressed last year because he had too much offensive responsibilities, but that won't be a problem with Lebron James running the show.

Why wouldn't Lebron want to play with these guys? They are all young. They are all athletic. And they all can shoot. And guess what?! The Nets only has $17 million in guaranteed contract next season. That means they can sign Lebron James AND another top tier FA to play with these four guys. Tell me Joe Johnson wouldn't want to play with Lebron James and these young players. Tell me a starting lineup of Brook, Yi, James, Johnson, and Harris isn't a scary looking lineup for the next 7 years.

Just from the personnel standpoint, I don't see how Lebron James wouldn't want to go to the Nets. But, I think it's pretty much game over if the Nets move to Brooklyn and that rich Russian guy buys the team.

Now, compare that to if Lebron James stayed in Cleveland... He would be playing with: Delonte West, Mo Williams, Anderson Varejao, Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon, Daniel Gibson, and I guess one more FA if they don't resign Shaq or Ilgauskas. And if Stephen Jackson really get traded to the Cavs.... I think that's really just telling Lebron to leave. The Cavs would never be able to beat the Lakers with these players at those salaries. It really doesn't matter if the Cavs win it all this year or not. What the Cavs have to offer really is nothing compared to what New Jersey Nets has to offer.

Thoughts on China's ambition as a world super power

2009-10-21T12:27:00.001-07:00

China's rise to superpowerdom is imminent. In fact, they are already a superpower. But the scary thing is... They are just getting started. When I was little, there was always a saying in Taiwan that the 21st century is Chinese people's century. The way it is going... It looks like it's going to happen sooner rather than later.

Economics: What ISN'T made in China these days? The dependency on China's factories really started picking up in the 1990's... And I believe, has reached its apex . China's economy is vastly improving and therefore the labor rates... So businesses will start looking at new emerging economies to manufacture their goods, like South America, Africa, Southeast Asia... But the big turnaround is that China is approaching Europe and US's stratosphere both as a consumer market and investment source. Chinese state owned companies are buying up everything at a discount in this economy... Regarding these state owned companies... It's not really fair competition you know... People often say this and that company have the operating budget of a small nation... But in these cases, they are actually competing against a nation, and in fact, the most populist nation in the world... Communist Capitalism in China, as well as other economic models like Korea's state-subsidized corporations and Dubai's benevolent monarchy are certainly changing people's opinion about capitalism. Chinese has never been a big proponent of land conquest... But rather prefer culture invasions and trading agreements with other countries. What they are doing right now is nothing new to Chinese people.

What many westerners don't understand is that Chinese has always been the most greedy business people on earth. They are not just greedy, they are ruthless, from a billion dollar corporation CEO to the street vendors in Beijing. They try to make every last cent they can make out of you. It has been like this over not just centuries, but millenniums. Southeast Asians certainly know this... Vietnamese, Thai, Cambodians, Filipinos, and Indonesians... All have seen this first hand since the beginning. "Jews of Asia"... a term these Southeast Asians in the US have referred to Chinese as... They are still hated as much as Jewish people ever was in European history.

Diplomacy: Because China has a lot of extra money these days, they can afford to and they are being very kind to third-world countries money-wise. They are friendly with basically everyone in the world these days because of economic ties. Who doesn't want a piece of the Chinese pie? Communism is not viewed as the source of all evil anymore... because it really is not. It's a political theory that some people agree with and some don't. Certainly, individual and personal wise, you would not want to live in a communist country since you don't have as much freedom... But as a country, benevolent communists and monarchs are certainly efficient in going the direction they want to take... with our without your support.

Military: China is making no secrets about their military ambitions. They clearly want to be the biggest military power in the world. Ten years ago, no one in the world think that other countries can catch up to the US in terms of military technology. But... turns out, these days, US cannot even catch up to their own commercial sector in terms of technology and business processes. Most of the technical knowledge China needs to build up and modernize their military are widely available... And the places the military across the world has the most room to improve on currently - information technology - are basically all technology from the commercial sector.

As a second "virtual" world is built in the networked computers and servers of the cyberspace... Traditional physical boundaries between countries will have decreased meaning. World economics is already inherently tied to the Internet and will become the most important place of interest for every country. Defending your interests in the "cyberspace" will become just as important as defending your sea space or air space... So far, things on the web have mostly been commercially driven, but so did the European expeditions to the America and trading with India and China... There's really no guarantee that the cyberspace won't be a future battleground among nations. And with that in mind, their capabilities are not far behind the US. They are actually taking more of an initiative than the US in exploring IPV6.

Chinese Navy is also very ambitious these days. They are following UK and US's model of world domination - an Navy that they can mobilize and deploy anywhere in the world. For certain, they will be able to increase their influence on the Asian-pacific island nations as well as southeast Asia with a stronger Navy. If Taiwan and Singapore became under direct Chinese control and become big Navy hubs... China would own East Asia with only Japan standing in their way.

Social Networks and Work

2009-10-21T12:04:00.000-07:00

I'm certainly not alone thinking that Social Network sites like facebook can be a powerful tool in the business world. We are just scratching the surface in the potentials of social networks along with other web 2.0 applications with regard to collaboration and work management.

Andrew Mcafee dubbed these ideas Enterprise 2.0... Reading his blog, apparently there are a lot of non-believers out there along with a large number of believers of course. I am getting really interested in these web 2.0 applications and Knowledge Management these days... I think the whole concept of Knowledge Management needs to be changed. It's not just about databases and filing and search engines... It's about people and connecting to people that have the knowledge you need.

Google and facebook are doing a lot in trying to capitalize on this new technology... This is the new gold rush of the millenium people! Business ideas these days need to be centered around how to utilize Goolge Wave, iphone/blackberry apps, and facebook. Gone will be the days where you need your own website and your own servers... facebook and Google Wave apps is the way to go!

blogging

2009-10-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

Yep, I've always been resistant to making a Blog... But I guess more things come to my mind these days... I guess I'm getting old. Just wanted somewhere to write down my thoughts and I guess share my thoughts too. Twitter and Facebook just don't let me type enough each post haha. I guess it's a good way for me to organize my own thoughts too.