Euroasia: Language, Culture and Travel

[UPDATE 13 July 09: I review Xero again 3 months post-implementation.]

[UPDATE 12 October 09: MYOB vs Xero 6 months post-implementation]

OK, I can see some of you asking what has accounting packages got to do with language and culture? Well, for starters accountants speak a different language. To understand them is no easy task. I spent some time in a Big 4 accounting firm, so I can now act as an interpreter for some of my poor business friends who have no idea what their accountants are going on about.

Anyway, I have decided to switch over from MYOB to Xero starting 1 April. Why? Especially given Xero costs $49 + GST per month, and MYOB is essentially free, after you pay the upfront cost of buying the software (much like buying MS Office and other software). Given the need to tighten spending, why spend money on paying a fixed fee forever, plus the cost of swapping over?

Accounting software by definition is pretty sticky. Business owners typically find it too cumbersome to swap. Because your staff would have to relearn a new system, and you can imagine the hassles involved with just switching say, photocopier suppliers, let alone a critical system integral to the running of the business.

Thinking of the hassles involved sends shivers down the spine of most business owners. So why did I decide to do this? For the following reasons (in no particular order):

1) Staff can access Xero from anywhere.

Right now, MYOB is hosted on a file server at the office. Major hassles because you can’t get to it from outside the office without setting up a remote connection, which is slow even with naked broadband at home. It’s a major hassle if something happens and the PC connection is lost, as I would then have to physically be at the office to fix this.

2) Instant and easy access, with no backups required

Getting into MYOB is quite a hassle. You have to look for the filename, and when you have an unfamiliar staff member, you have to explain where the file is etc. Xero is pretty intuitive. It’s idiot-proof. If you forget the site URL, you can just google it.  We don’t have to run backups and wait 15 seconds and specify a “save as” location. We also do not have to worry about backing up this information remotely anymore.

3) Interface looks pretty

This is not a key reason, but high usability and visual aesthetics are important in order to generate buy-in from staff with no accounting background. Most people panic from the moment they open MYOB because it’s not designed for non-accountants. My initial feeing is that using Xero is like playing a game. Using MYOB is like washing dishes; you don’t like it, but you have to do it.

4) Integrated with ipayroll

Makes it easier than having to make sure the accounts person import / export journals correctly.  If only ipayroll can learn some lessons from Xero and update their interface.  Ipayroll is just plain ugly, but at least it works, and it’s online. We already ditched MYOB Payroll.

5) Xero is an amazing business

They employed an “agile design and development” process to build their business. I like their story. Doubled their client base in the last 6 months. Cool!

6) I can access Xero from my Iphone.

This is a stupid reason I know, but basically with this last accounting portion now on my phone, I can pretty much access 90% of the information I need to operate the business using a phone. How cool is that?

7) Bank transactions automatically flow into Xero

It’s great because we don’t have to wait for bank statements or download them from the bank. Bank reconciliations can be performed with ease and it’s so much easier to stay on top of things.

At the cutting edge

Xero boss Rod Drury blogs about technology and implications for business eg check out his write up on provoking customers. They even have a twitter account! My bet is the senior guys at MYOB have no clue what twitter is, let alone what it does! Why is this important? You want your technology provider to know more about technology than you. Betting on the right horse increases your chances of success. You wouldn’t want your GP to not know the difference between a pharmacist and a pharmacologist.

When I find time, I will write about the transition experience from MYOB to Xero. [Jul 09 update: Xero implementation experience]

Dsclosure: I have no investment interest in Xero or MYOB. My company has been a loyal client of MYOB for years, but the time has come to switch.

[UPDATE 13 July 09: I review Xero again 3 months post-implementation.]

[UPDATE 12 October 09: MYOB vs Xero 6 months post-implementation]

Flat out at the moment putting this forum together. Counting down to next Monday. A few tickets left if you’re keen to come check this out.

The International Sustainable Cities Forum to be held on 30 March brings together government and business leaders from both China and New Zealand, in conjunction with the first anniversary of the signing of the China-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement.

The organisers have managed to secure the attendance of approximately 50 senior business and government leaders from China to attend this Forum. Amongst those attending is Wang Shi, the Godfather of Chinese real estate, Chairman of Vanke, with market capitalisation over US$10b, the largest property developer in China. Wang Shi is also the he oldest person in the world to complete the 7+2 (scaling the highest peaks on seven continents and to trek to the two poles). Many of the delegates are members of the China Urban Realty Association (CURA), and are well-known entrepreneurs and investors. Government delegations from Chang Xing County in Zhejiang Province and Wu Jin District in Jiangsu Province will also attend.

The Chinese participants are keen to look at partnership possibilities in New Zealand. They also want to better understand New Zealand’s capabilities in the area of sustainable development, especially given the significant challenges faced in China.

Continued >

When: Sunday 5 April, 10.00am – 3.00pm
Where: Victoria Avenue School, 282 Victoria Ave, Remuera
Admission: Free

Enjoy a great family day out at the Victoria Avenue School Gala – we have live music from the Nairobi Trio, children’s’ performances, quality second hand clothes, toys, sports gear etc for sale, arts and crafts, delicious food, raffles, farm animals, pony rides, bouncy castle, paint ball and more.

Euroasia is sponsoring a free language course valued at $359 for this event, in order to support a local school.

There are some sectors calling out for a reduction in the number of immigrants to New Zealand as the economy slows down and jobs become more scarce. This will intensify in coming months as the unemployment rate creeps up. Unions and out-of-work locals will no doubt pressure government to tighten immigration policy. We may see an increase in protectionist measures; more funding for Buy New Zealand made and government bailouts of uncompetitive firms.

In my view, this would be the worst possible response to an already dire situation.

I came across an interesting article in the New York Times by the author of “The World is Flat”, Thomas Friedman a few days ago. He says

If there is one thing we know for absolute certain, it’s this: Protectionism did not cause the Great Depression, but it sure helped to make it “Great.” From 1929 to 1934, world trade plunged by more than 60 percent — and we were all worse off.

Immigrants to New Zealand work the hardest, get paid the least and put their hard-earned money to good use: investing in local businesses and saving for their children’s education. Immigrants are less likely to splurge on non-value-adding plasma TVs and imported Italian designer furniture.

Immigrants, by their very nature, tend to be ambitious and enterprising. Why else would they travel thousands of kilometres to a distant land, far away from their families, to start over?

More than half of Silicon Valley start-ups were founded by immigrants over the last decade. These immigrant-founded tech companies employed 450,000 workers and had sales of $52 billion in 2005, according to research by Vivek Wadhwa,  in an essay published this week on BusinessWeek.com.

The fear that many ordinary Kiwis have is that immigrants will steal their jobs because they are willing to work for next to nothing. Even if this was true (which it is not), so what? We all need to wake up to the new reality. We cannot afford to rest on our laurels and become increasingly less competitive on a global scale. We need smart, resourceful, connected and hard working immigrants in New Zealand. Current immigration policy does not give much scope for low-quality immigrants to enter New Zealand in any case.

The other myth is that immigrants make no economic contribution to New Zealand. Recent studies show the net impact for having an immigrant here is $3.29 billion, or $3547 per capita, while the net per capita contribution of a New Zealand-born is just $915. Immigrants are 4 times more valuable than locals.

Immigrants are willing to work harder and not mind getting paid less. Is that such a bad thing? Are we crying exploitation because we are genuinely concerned for the welfare of immigrants or simply because we don’t want anyone to rock the cushy boat?

Smart, ambitious and hardworking immigrants are good for this country. Having more such immigrants in New Zealand would increase not just the number but quality of jobs, resulting in a more prosperous nation in more ways than one.

Instead of sending Christmas cards (virtual or real) this year, I decided to send my friends and business partners a video message instead. In this video, I talk about what Euroasia has been up to this year, reflections on 2008 and plans for 2009. Check it out when you have a spare couple of minutes.

Understand how learning a foreign language helps you develop greater cross cultural empathy. In this video, I share some observations on how you can better understand people from other cultures.

Euroasia offers cross cultural communications courses and cross cultural solutions to people who work across cultures.

I just received an email from an old friend who now lives in London with the subject line: “Any recommendations on who to vote for?”  This came after my sister asked me last night, “how does one decide on whether to vote for National or Labour?”

“National’s colour is green right?… oops no, that’s National Bank”

I then asked my sister what’s the first thing you think of when I say National? “John Key”

She could be the odd one out. On more than one occasion, I have been asked by migrants: “Is John Key National or Labour?” Apparently, my sister’s friends at uni like the Greens because they have cool posters. I like their billboards too, not too sure about their policies, but yeah, they have nice artwork.

It got me thinking, how do people decide who to vote for? This question is particularly relevant for immigrants who have limited experience of New Zealand politics. Even more so for migrants who don’t understand the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system. And what if you don’t have much experience with the democratic process?

In many countries, politicians do not necessarily think of themselves as the people’s representatives, forgetting that the real bosses are the people who put them there.  In any case, in more corrupt democracies (oxymoron?), election results can be rigged.  As such, perhaps many immigrants may not understand the power in their hands.

In this article, I attempt to answer the frequently-asked-question “who should I vote for?” with a 5-point checklist for migrants.

For those of you too busy to read the long version, please scroll to the bottom of this article for a 3-point shortcut version that is applicable to Europeans, Maori, Pasifika, Asians and migrants of every ethnic group.

1) Register to vote.

This is first base. If you’re not registered to vote, you can’t just turn up to vote. Last day to enrol is 7 November (election next day on 8 November).  In New Zealand, even permanent residents are entitled to vote, not just citizens. Many PRs have told me they didn’t realise that. You have to be 18 years or older and have lived in New Zealand for one year or more without leaving the country.

2) Understand the New Zealand electoral process.

Each voter has two votes …

… a party vote and an electorate vote.

Your party vote …

… helps decide how many seats each party gets in parliament. 

The government will be formed by one or more parties with the support of enough seats to win important votes in parliament.

Parliament is currently made up of 62 general and 7 Māori electorate seats, plus 51 seats allocated from party lists, giving a total of 120 seats.

Your electorate vote…

… helps decide who becomes your local MP. 

Each electorate has a different selection of candidates to choose from.

Electorate candidates can include independents and candidates from parties not contesting the party vote. 

The candidate who gets the most votes wins the seat.

(Source: Elections website)

Most migrants understand the electorate vote, but many migrants have no idea what the party vote is. The party vote is critical because every vote goes towards a pool and at the end of the day, they work out the % of votes each party obtained. This is roughly the % of seats the party will have in Parliament.

More details can be found on the elections website.

[poll id="2"]

3) Decide what is important to you

What are you most passionate about? Education? Student loans? Economy? Health etc?  

What would you like to see changed? What are you absolutely certain about?

You want to choose a candidate/ political party that fights for what you believe in. BUT you would not be able to find a single candidate or party who would agree with you 100%. This is why you have to decide on what is important, and what you can compromise on. 

There are 2 main political parties in New Zealand. The current Government is led by the Labour Party (under Helen Clark). Polls indicate that National Party has a good chance of winning. Then again, last time around, the polls said the same thing, and Labour Party still managed to form government. Look through the political party websites to see what they stand for. 

National Party: http://www.national.org.nz/About/standsfor.aspx

Labour Party: http://www.labour08.co.nz/policies/

There are many other minor political parties including New Zealand First, Maori Party, Act Party, Greens etc. You can google them.

4) Check out the candidates and parties.

Find out who is standing in your electorate. Attend political talks and debates. You can look at the political party websites to see where the next seminars are. A good source of information is your local community newspaper (eg. Central Leader), which advertises the upcoming political debates, rallies and seminars.

Keep up with the elections news. TV and newspapers are the traditional sources of information. Check out the blogs too. Google Blogs: elections NZ

One of the great things with living in this country is seeing ordinary folk walking up to MPs, complaining about footpaths being too narrow, high food and petrol prices and schools not teaching enough maths, languages etc. What’s more amazing is how attentive politicians are, even when it’s not election season. Do not be afraid to talk to politicians and ask hard questions. Don’t worry. No one will laugh at your English.

Just because you’re Asian doesn’t mean you need to vote for an Asian. In fact, the pakeha guy may be more Asian-friendly than the Asian Similarly, European New Zealanders shouldn’t be afraid of voting for Asian politicians. This relates to the previous point: What is important to you?

5) Go with your heart.

The messages voters get are really confusing. It’s very hard even for born-and-bred Kiwis to decide on who to vote for, let alone migrants. Ultimately, after having done your research, you will then need to decide on which candidate or party that is closest to your ideal.  

Perhaps one reason I get asked by migrants who to vote for is because they are trying to seek confirmation that the candidate/party they have chosen is the “right one”. The fear is that because they don’t understand the New Zealand political process, perhaps there’s the risk of choosing the wrong party (say one which is anti-immigration).

My personal view is that both the main parties are not that far apart policy-wise.  Although I have decided on who to give my party vote to, I don’t think it’s the end of the world if either of the big party forms government. 

As for my electorate vote, I’m still having a tough time deciding between Richard Worth and Rodney Hide. 

p/s: Don’t ask who I’m voting for. I’m not saying

Who to vote? The 3-point version

OK you’re here because you’re too lazy to read my 5-point checklist, let alone do the research, so the shortcut way to decide on who to vote for is to:

1) Find 5 friends/family members who share similar values with you

2) Ask them who they are voting for and why

3) If you agree with their views, go with the majority vote.

I just got back from a Vietnamese dinner in Otahuhu, hosted by one of my Vietnamese friends. He had a theme going, which he called a Vietnamese “show-and-tell”. Nothing sleazy I assure you. The idea is every person brings something along to share with the rest. It has to be something related to Vietnam.

I have been thinking about this for days. Today I asked my colleagues to see what they thought. Peter suggested talking about the Vietnamese hat. I’m glad I didn’t as 2 other people talked about hats.

Instead I decided to talk about something that Vietnam is famous for in South East Asia. And that is for the prowess of their football teams. Vietnamese people are really into football (OK, so’s the rest of the world outside of NZ). Considering their size and economic status, they tend to do pretty well.

As a Malaysian, I’m pretty embarassed to see the Vietnamese constantly beating Malaysia’s football team. In the most recent incident, the Vietnamese Women thrashed Malaysia 11-0 in the group stage of the Southeast Asia Women’s Football Championship in Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday. I know my Malaysian friends will say I shouldn’t be writing about this. But this is what I shared…

Perhaps a better story than the alternative, which was to talk about bean sprouts…frankly that was the first thing that came to mind when I thought about Vietnam. You know the kind you get when you order raw beef noodle soup…

We have to start organising some show and tell events at Euroasia. French show and tell, Spanish show and tell etc.

I am sure at least some of you would be keen…