The Next Three Days

A last minute change means that I now fly to Hanoi tomorrow morning instead of taking the 2 night train. After a day in Hanoi I head on a tour to Ha Long Bay for 2 day/1 nights. On Return I catch my overnight sleeper train to Nanning, China.

Wow Saigon!

Now this is a city that buzzes! Here is my list of things to do:

SEE
- Presidential palace: impressive with much history but the interior is nothing spectacular. They play a short video in the basement explaining the last 150years of history ending wi a long segment of Vietnam's struggle against the "American Imperialists". The photo gallery is quite interesting, also in the basement
- War Remnants museum: previously known as Meseum of American War Crimes. The US doesn't come off well here once again. In fact, it's an excellent museum that can easily take up 3-4 hours. It's packed but can handle the crowds very well since its organised and well laid out. Be warned that this is super intense - I saw quite a few visitors in tears half way through. The crowd is probably 50-50 Asian and European tourists.
- Jade Emperor Pagoda: this is a functioning pagoda used for prayers so no fee for entry but its out of the way, off the tourist trail. Make sure you head here because inside this tiny little, dark chamber is an incredibly impressive sight. The Chinese influence is clearly evident but the exterior simplicity and interior awesomeness is amusing.
- the French quarter: this is the fancy part of town which houses Notre Dame, the palace, post office, etc. Remarkable contrast to the remaining 90% of Saigon and oh so French!
- Riverside view overlooking District 1. New Saigon lies beyond the river connected by a 4 lane highway that lies empty for most part as the 2 wheelers cramp into one lane and the occasional Toyota SUV zooms past. This is ex-pat land.
- Tao Dan park: in the morning come along to the coffee shop in the south west corner and watch the old men enjoy their birds...not euphemism, they actually bring along their pet birds in cages and hang them up so you see 20-30 cages with different birds that sing in the morning as their owners chat and drink coffee along with the sun rise. The women practice a slow form of martial arts which is their work out. Younger people play badminton, martial arts and even dance. A real pleasure watching locals enjoy their patch of grass since personal gardens attached to ones own home are unheard of.

DO
- motobike tour of Saigon (XO or Vietnam Vespa). This is THE way to traverse the city. 2 wheeles are like swarms of bees zipping past and around slower, obstructive cars. Quite a remarkable sight.
- take a local bus. Very easy to figure out how it all works. Fast, cheap and reliable.
- walk down Dong Khoi from Notre Dame to the river


EAT
Just about anywhere along the road will be magic!. A few shacks/holes in the wall that were recommended to me and proved to be fantastic, are:

- Pho Hoa, 260 Pasteur St, District 3
- Pho Anh, 10A Ky Dong, St
- a shack with no name, at the intersection of Cach Mang Thang Tam and Bac Hai, at the corner of  Le Thi Rieng Park- they do "pancakes" or " sizzling cakes" called Banh Xeo.

In general, grab a map, keep your rain gear to hand, bring walking shoes and just walk! It's fascinating. Checkout shops, watch what people are eating along the road, see the various historical/religious sites. Fun 3 days.

I didn't bother going to some of the major tourist spots such as Ben Thahn market.

Bangkok to Cambodia, overland...

The Guide: seat61.com

Leaving Bangkok

I went to Bangkok's Hua Lamphong station 2 days before I was to depart for Cambodia just to confirm the train details. There is a very helpful tourist info desk which is well-staffed with English speakers. It is open during working hours and located at the main entrance to the station near where the taxi drop-off and entrance to MRT is. 

They explained that the train to Aranyapathet is a busy commuter train that is free for locals and 48baht for foreigners. As seat61 said, this cannot be booked in advance but there are no issues with buying on the day. Arrival slightly ahead of the train departure time is advised to not only buy the ticket but also get a good seat - window, facing direction of travel. Since its free for locals it does get very busy for the first couple of hours at least. While it is technically 3rd class, it is comfortable and clean. I was lucky to get a sunny day with no rain in late Sept so the journey was very pleasant with fresh air through open windows and interesting scenery. The passengers are a real mix across Thai society as well.

Toilets are available on the carriages but they are not the kind you want to have to use. There are various food items sold during the journey - all traditional Thai snacks. Some are very clean and well presented, other items are a bit more rough and ready.

I took a bottle of water sandwich and some wafers for the journey. The water is especially necessary when queuing at Thai immigration. In hindsight, I would have carried a bit more because the earliest I could get any decent lunch is after 3pm once I reached Siem Reap.

At Aranyapraphet

As soon as the train pulls up to the platform there are numerous tuk tuks and motorbikes available. I got a ride for 80baht to the border and didn't bother to haggle down. The tuk tuk might stop at a Cambodia visa centre which is in a new, white building. One can get a visa there or if you already had an e-visa like me, then just complete an immigration form which is free. This immigration form  is also available Cambodian arrival check point, in case your tuk tuk takes you straight to the Thai Border post.

The Thai post building here also looks quite new and I've attached a picture of the shiny new arch that marks it. From the Cambodian visa centre walk 200 metres down the road and the Thai border post will be on the left. There could be a long queue as I faced which takes a while but the process is simple.

Following Thai border control follow the blue exit signs that are fairly self-explanatory. Immediately ahead of you lies the Friendship Bridge and thereafter starts a long row of casinos and hotels. It starts to feel a bit chaotic already but just follow the road. At this point it's also hard to figure out where to go but walk on the right hand side of the road and after a few hundred yards, up ahead the Cambodian Arrival Post is marked. 

In this small building you queue for entry into Cambodia. You can get that immigration form here as I mentioned above. Going through immediately you will get surrounded by people offering rides to Siem Reap. It's quite difficult to tell who is genuine and who is not. As a solo female traveller I opted for a pre-arranged taxi which was organised by my hotel. It was a nice relief to see my name held up on a piece of paper so if I had to repeat this process or recommend to any one else, I would suggest doing this. The cost of the hotel taxi: $45. Peace of mind : priceless!

the drive to Siem Reap after this is about 2 hours.

On Bangkok (or Why Indian cities should be like this one)

Thoughts on Bangkok - bottom line, I wish Indian cities were like this one.

- public transport, underground, sky train, motopods, taxis are clean, efficient, reliable and have air con (not motopods and tuk tuks obviously)
- traffic is crazy at peak hours but everyone obeys traffic laws, drives within lanes and no crazy Indian style obnoxious honking, at all
- everyone uses public transport not just the population at the bottom of the hierarchy
- taxis and tuk tuks are super clean. It always amazes me how and why Indian taxis are so gross.
- streets are clean and so walkable.
- people do not have a bad BO problem
- I can eat from a hole in the wall or a street cart and not get Delhi belly. 3 days in Bombay with a frankie and vada pao knocked me out! The hole in the wall places might be small in Bangkok but unlike their Indian counterpart they are clean - try out the nizam place behind Taj in Calcutta and I promise you the sight of it will make you give up food for a week even if the nizam roll there was pretty phenomenal.

Observing the way bangkok runs, makes me wonder whether we Indians are innately smelly, unhygienic and incapable of long term innovation beyond quick fix jugaad.

The Bombay I spent my summers in is now just a growing dust bin. I don't care how many fancy malls and swish hotels come up, the streets are filthy and infrastructure poor. The beaches I grew up on building sand castles are not only covered by tarmac now but also filthy. Observing Ganpati being celebrated in the city unfortunately only brought out the worst of its character. I can't imagine how Mumbaikers have the patience to live through it year after a year - a festival that is clearly so politicised that it has lost all cultural and religious value.

Consider Delhi, my old home. That I prefer Delhi to Bombay today is unambiguous but despite the metro, the new roads and the city being cleaned up since I lived there 15 years ago, fundamentally life hasn't changed. The features of Bangkok that make me admire it so much are entirely missing in Delhi as well.

Certain differences between BKK and Indian metros can perhaps be forgiven or be written off due to my jaded view of India or, arguably, unreasonably high expectations of where it should have been today. However, I don't believe it's possible to accept or justify why the quality of written English of national newspapers is so very poor. I was pretty disappointed reading 5-6 different newspapers in Delhi and Bombay and observing that celebrity gossip is given more space and importance than national issues. Also the space allocated to celebrity endorsements makes reading a newspaper plain irritating. The quality of analysis is certainly very poor as well. On top of that poor grammar too? English is a national language, how can this be accepted?

I leave bangkok in a day from now and expect to do so with much respect for the city. If Bangkok with its "Asian" ways, so very similar to India, can create and sustain such a living environment, we Indians really need to stop kidding ourselves and actually make India Incredible rather than just delude ourselves that she is so already. The chaos used to be amusing but now it's just embarrassing.

Beyond Beijing...

Oct 27 Beijing to Tokyo with Micky C!
Nov 2 Micky C heads back to London, I shall perhaps take the ferry from Fukuoka, Japan to Busan, Korea

Could be interesting to take the cross country train from Busan up to Seoul, spend a few days there and then take the overnight ferry from near Seoul (Incheon precisely) and head back into China through Qingdao - all of course depending on whether I get that Double Entry visa... We shall wait and see.

The Next 3 Months.

This blog has the very high likelihood of turning into a travel journal over the next few months as I go traipsing around SE Asia on my own - mother does not approve.

This is the plan so far, all hinging upon the benevolence of the China Embassy staff to approve my visa.

Sept 19 London - Bombay, by air
Sept 24 BOM - Delhi, by air
Sept 27 DEL - Bangkok, by air
Sept 30 BKK - Siem Reap, Cambodia, by train and Toyota Camry pick up trucks (apparently)
Oct 3 Siem Reap - Phnom Pehn, by bus
Oct 4 PP - Saigon HCMC, Vietnam, by bus
Oct 8 HCMC - Hanoi, by train (2 days - it looks spectacular!)
Oct 10 Hanoi - Nanning, China, by train
Oct 11 Nanning - Yangshou, by train and bus/car
Oct 16 Yangshou - Xi'an, by air
Oct 20 Xi'an - Beijing, by train
Oct 26 Beijing....TBD - any suggestions??

Currently I'm awaiting a visa for China that half of my journey depends on. Oh what an arduous application process that was!

The logistics are easy - make appointment online, fill out form online, print and take to the Visa processing centre (near Bank). Easy.

I was told that getting a visa if entering by air is the easiest as the Embassy team pay most attention to the port of entry and how that entry point will be met. If my case, explaining the plane/train/bus journey was all too complicated so I had to end up typing out a letter explaining the transit points and how I intended to meet them. The whole situation appears to be much more complex because I had th audacity to request a DOUBLE entre visa. WHOA! I had to "kindly request" this in my visa application for the reason that I might want to pop over into HK and then back into China for continuing my travel. Let's see how that plays out.

Also remember to take along proof of accommodation - I had to print out all hotel bookings and train, flights booking info. Handily the processing centre has set up a few PCs and a printing machine for people to use so clearly I'm not the only one suffering through this. Make sure you take enough lose change since every 4 pages of printing = 20p.

For a 10am appointment, I arrived at 9.50am and left just before 1.

Other visas:

Cambodia - e-visa online, very straightforward
Vietnam - in person visa including an option for next day express processing, very simple again.

Great sites to use for planning a trip like this:

If there was just one resource needed, it would be this: http://www.seat61.com

http://www.talesofasia.com
http://www.travelfish.org

I've also bought GroovyMaps for each city I am heading to. Will have to check them on location but they come highly recommended as the best practical travelling companion by the independent travelling community. http://groovymap.com

Money: Biggest expense is of course accommodation since the train and bus journeys will run into a few tens of dollars. Flights courtesy of BA airmiles. Most hotels I can pay online in advance or by credit card on check out. I'll be replying on the Post Office travel card which works as a pre-loaded debit card - the 2012 version of travellers cheques I suppose. In terms of cash I'm only taking $ with a lot of singles, 5, 10s. Local currency for Baht, Dong and Yuan will be exchanged on arrival in each country. From what I have read $ is the de facto currency in Cambodia.

5 days to go.

The Dating culture amongst Indians

Since the early nineties when I was growing up in New Delhi, life for a teenager in India appears to have come a long way. My generation and those younger are much more amenable to dating and figuring themselves out through relationships that are not initiated strictly with an intent to get married. Like most things in India the trends across social strata vary so while the upper middle classes may have begun to the embrace some form of casual dating while the bulk of the population does, I think, still tend to favour the tradition “introduction” route, or at least works to maintain that perception.

Amongst the group that has tended towards the independent pursuit of life partners, there still are very many who continue to favour the family driven process. I find it rather interesting but also question how long culture can stand up against economic independence?

The reality of life in India, wealthy or otherwise, is that we like to live in large joint families back home. If not in the same home, we live near enough to lovingly interfere in each other’s lives. Cousins are like siblings, and everyone is an Aunt or an Uncle. Along with this, we then tend to live under someone else’s rules for much longer than in the West. Perhaps only on marriage or maybe much later does a young family or couple get the chance to settle down in their nest and draw up their own rules.  At the same time, younger affluent Indians are becoming economically independent at an earlier age.  They are adults, but they live like children in the sense that they don’t have all the responsibilities of independent living – paying house bills, cleaning up, cooking, etc. Young Indians succumb to the privileges of living with parents and in doing so hand over some autonomy in their own lives. They inevitably develop distinctly different outward personalities – the work/friends personality and the one at home; The latter to fulfill the expectations of the parents, hence the loss of autonomy.

Through our culture, while economic independence was not achieved until much later in life, incomes from individuals within a family were pooled for a common budget and joint decisions were made to enable a happy co-existence, but now that the younguns can afford their own cars and flats below the age of 30yrs, the strain on who they are and who they present to their parents might start to give. There will be a reduced inclination of subservience to the parents under whose roof a young adult lives. While the parents were the driving force behind the decision to get married and whom to marry, it might no longer be so since the married couple will be living in DLF while the parents live in Green Park.

If the bride is no longer going to have to adjust to the groom’s family home with incumbent traditions and dynamics, why would the incumbents continue to have a dominating vote in selecting her? The new bride will move in to her married home with her husband and they will begin life in their own nest. She doesn’t need to wake up at a certain time to be able to help in the family kitchen before the communal breakfast. She doesn’t need to learn how to make tea in 4 different ways to please all tastes and she certainly doesn’t have to dress to seek her in-laws’ approval either.

The dynamic of a newlywed life is changing. Economic independence is bringing about this cultural change. Sure I still know many of my generation who still look to their parents for advise, but if we can get up and go to work every day, make up our own mind about what job we want to apply for, pick out our own flat and choose our own car …why can’t we select our partner in life too? It’s not about marginalising parents from this process, but more about understanding why smart, aware, financial independent individuals are not confident enough in the social arena to know what they are looking for in a life partner and then, how to go about finding them. Perhaps, they simply prefer to follow their parent’s choice in the matter. Is that becuase in these matters, we are in fact quite a shy nation? The personal confrontation of approaching another person to reveal our true feelings for the fear of rejection or even simply to have to reveal our emotions, is a fairly frightening thought. The alternative of managing a relationship through parental intervention is a somewhat easier concept to accept. Perhaps with economic independence being achieved earlier in our lives, where we are forced to take most decisions for ourselves rather than revert to the household norm, we will overcome any such hesitation on the relationship front ; that certainly was my own experience.

My bet is that very soon, within my lifetime, we will see a marked shift whereby young Indians will learn to go through the heartbreaks and joys of romance, live and learn by the process of trial and error which eventually leads to understanding themselves better. And the only way to figure out what you are looking for in someone else, is to figure out what you yourself are all about first and not be afraid to have your heart broken.

______

I’m curious about where the thinking stands currently - if you have literally a few minutes to click a mouse a few times, would be great if you could complete this short poll. Results will be published for public enjoyment. All hail Google docs...


Quick Poll - please click!

Why Indians dig fairness...

Is it the result of a century of white rule or is it just that we crave what we can't have? Whichever one you think it is, have a read of this explanation by Alyque Padamsee ...

http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/business/she-is-not-a-moron-she-is-young

He may have been a great judge of indian aspirations to have crafted those memorable ads back in the day, but Mr Padamsee sure is trippin' if he really thinks Indians chase white skin because of it's reflective qualities!

By a look at the comments on this article, he really has misjudged his fellow countrymen by miles on this one. 

By George, I think he did it!

Only last week, we were discussing how the government appeared to be stalling. Too much rhetoric, not enough action. In times like this, when so much is obviously fixable and the hardships being suffered provide need for immediate solutions, I for one, want to see the government making practical, sensible decisions. Ok, so its the government and it don't always work that way, but the stalemate has been broken.

By George, I think he did it!

Political sympathies aside, today's heavily leaked budget, was practical and necessary. There are probably elements where it could have been even more brave but it did what necessary. The opening statements set the tone, the subsequent details confirmed the intentions.

So much of the critical rhetoric now is focusing on the 45p tax but that to me is unjustified political opposition. The pain was shared by the top and middle earners with much needed concessions for the low income earners. Good to see the obvious loop-holes surrounding stamp duty being closed out - they really are after those "static assets"!

I only hope that this is the beginning of a trend that sees a shrinking government, a growing vibrant private sector with public sector wages finally seeing some reality being brought into line with the private sector.

The Lost Generation...

It is a broad generalisation, but not inaccurate, to say that many young people have less sense of their responsibility and need for self sufficiency today. This is in my view caused by, amongst other reasons, a generous welfare state which can lead to dependency within a family across generations. We are subsequently faced with young people without motivation who are in fact selecting the rational choice based on what they observe around them of less work to achieve payout comparable to the working population. The solution here needs to be of the “stick” variety rather than “carrot”. The former is needed to stem the spread of the problem; the carrot is used to address the prevalent symptoms.

For the wellbeing of individuals and society as a whole, it is in our collective as well as selfish interest for each of us to pursue occupations that we hopefully enjoy and have a natural interest in. This is the ideal aim that most working adults might not relate to as they head to work each morning but it is the ideal that ought to be targeted through increasing exposure. Students and young people can only identify what they enjoy based on what they have come across. The education system needs to be able to expose them to ideas beyond their usual comfort zone. This can be in the form of exposure to occupation, languages, culture but also the working environment, social work, community involvement, etc. The aim here is to also provide a reality bite by subjecting them to the real world notion that actions have consequences and that there are pressures of adult hood to be prepared for. If students see more, they identify options that they are naturally inclined towards and are self motivated in pursuing these (the “carrot” approach).

Along with Sir Terry Leahy’s publicised remarks about the education system not supplying employable youth, the recent articles in the FT(Jobs for the young and Education system ‘failing business and workforce’, Feb 21) discuss the softer skills and training that are lacking in young people ranging from personal presentation, conversational skills, work ethic etc.

How do young people get the idea that wearing a hoodie to a job interview is not appropriate? To some extent it is an observation of a generational gap. The evolving trend over time has been to adopt informality and the younger generations are naturally less formal and more relaxed than older ones. However there continues to be a need (at least for now) for professionalism in the work place. The stick approach will state that young people learn to do whatever is needed else they pay the consequences for not abiding i.e. unemployment and low income. The carrot approach means that they are given experience while at school to become familiar with and understand this concept of making themselves better employees and productive workers.

At the end of the day, this is a social issue. The culture supported or created by the welfare state has contributed to its establishment. Poor standards of literacy and numeracy are more directly targeted by education but the softer skills and life training needs to become a core part of the school experience. This is not about the state taking over and interfering it is about the state (since we have one) being concerned for its overall wellbeing.

A few points I would like to see executed in mainstream education that every student has to go through:

1. Classes for managing personal finance

2. Compulsory community work

3. Compulsory work shadowing/experience (paid or unpaid)

While attending University and further education is not a must for every student, getting a job and being self sufficient is.
 

My Letter to the Editor of the FT re. Education

Below is my letter to the editor of the FT in response to a few articles published in today's edition on education and the failings of the current system. Let's see if it's good enough to be selected for being published!

I’ll follow up with another post outlining my views on the causes of the observed failing.

__________________
Dear Sir,

In his article Brian Groom (Education system ‘failing business and workforce’, Feb 21) discusses the skills and training that are lacking in young people ranging from poor levels of literacy, numeracy to interpersonal skills. Certainly professionalism at work means adopting a certain presentation and style of interaction. This has to either be learnt through observation or instilled through education. We are back at the starting point of tackling a social issue, where young people do not have a role model to absorb these life skills from and education is not filling the void.

As a 28 year old, I am perhaps of the generation immediately preceding the one being described as “lost” which is facing record high unemployment and rightfully causing much concern.

I fear that the approach being taken to address the issue, today as well as in the past, is inherently ineffective. There may be much wisdom amongst the experienced politicians and educationists but they are severely lacking in empathy towards a young generation which even I at my age feel disconnected from. We have to create solutions that tackle the true cause which is social in nature and deliver it through the education system in a design that is appealing to the recipients, the young people themselves. Imposition will only face a reluctant audience.

A doctor should prescribe the medication but it is the patient’s prerogative to select the honey flavoured syrup over the orange flavoured one.

I am not an educationist but I have spent some limited time thinking about this subject while working on a documentary and helping to kick-start a campaign by young people to tackle these issues of young people. A solution needs to be found through a dialogue between young people (NEETs, current students, recent students, etc) and policy makers; this is currently missing but is desperately needed when determining what shape policy should take so it will be adopted rather than be resisted.

Yours Faithfully,

Miss Riddhi Bhalla
Volunteer for Change the Future

Nokia Lumia with Windows vs. Apple iPhone

Perhaps a late awakening, but my recent purchase of the excellent Nokia Lumia (yes, that’s Windows) hit home the truth that the iPhone is now outdated.

If I make a list of what were and have continued to be the points of fascination withthe  iPhone, I now find most points to either be no longer applicable or no longer exclusive to Apple.

-          Functionality – ease of use and interaction, responsive

-          A novel framework that my life has adapted to – calendar entries, FB events, email feeds, twitter, google maps, music, etc

-          Simplicity – the organization of information and user interface seemed almost intuitive and logical to the point where I at times felt there could be no other way

Well, what’s changed?

Our lives. When I got my iPhone 3GS 2 years ago, twitter didn’t dominate my life. I had fewer feeds from numerous accounts to keep on top of. My FB friend list was around 350 and I probably only used one calendar, if even that.

Today, the amount of information from numerous sources has made the same Apple IOS framework obsolete. The concept of finding an app to do specifically one function and load it on a phone to make it your own is not optimal for my use. I end up juggling between apps or downloading a new app like Tweetdeck to try and replicate FB, linked in, etc but do I really stop using the FB app entirely? No, I still need that for events, messages etc.  The apps just multiply and I get lost juggling between them. Also in case you haven’t noticed, closing them down is critical to maintain an iPhone that functions smoothly.

Instead what I want from my phone now is for it to be smarter than that. I don’t want a blank canvas that I can pile up with gzillion apps to focus on individual functions. That leads to overlap and inefficiency. Now I have tweetdeck, and the FB app, the FB messenger app, the linked in app, and then the texts I receive from people in my contact book, emails…the communication channels have multiplied and the IOS can only offer app over app to address one, or some of these but at least until now, it has not really addressed it holistically.

Ah. But Windows 7 on my Lumia has.

The People function is the answer to avoid having 11 apps all with the same purpose o ffunneling communication of different formats from your contacts that come through different channels. They have clearly gone back to basics and mapped how information flows and how we access this information.  So built into this phone is the basic concept that no matter what channel John Smith in my address book chooses to send out information (text, FB, tweet, linked in, email, phone call etc) – all those feeds should be brought together under his name and my phone should be smart enough to recognize that John Smith on facebook is the same john.smith@email.com in my email contacts hence  pool the information and cross reference. The Lumia automatically cross references all these profiles on your phone and on all the accounts you disclose to it.

Apply this to pictures – all your facebook albums are automatically pulled into the phones links so when you access your phone albums you can immediately get to all your facebook pictures without jumping screens and waiting ages for it to load up. The smoothness of this operation is remarkable.

The appearance itself it pretty remarkable. I have found no touch screen to be as responsive as that on the Lumia, not even the iphone now. Visually the “tile” approach looks refreshing and the neat thing about it is that the tiles are “alive” – If I pin John Smith to my home screen I end up with a tile that says his name and a picture of him that has automatically been pulled from one of his accounts (FB, uinekd in etc). But the pictures are not static, they keep flipping slowly in a way  that seems as though the phone is winking at you! Also any change in info will reflect in his tile – a new text, a new email etc.

For someone with an uncluttered phone that is intended to be kept so, there is no comparison that the Lumia is the alternative to the iphone. If however you spend more money on apps than groceries, you probably should stick to the IPhone. The windows platform is nowhere near to competing with the appstore.

If there are flaws, those would be limited to:

-          Not being able to create a playlist on the phone

-          Creating your own ringtones is just as cumbersome as on the iphone (I haven’t figured this out yet)

-          The calendar is less sophisticated than Iphone’s so one can’t categorise events such as personal, work, etc, only as busy or available. Although the sync with my google calendar is seamless (while iPhone was not) so that makes life a lot easier.

Listen out for my interview with BBC Radio 4 You and Yours on this subject....Available on iPlayer (fwd ahead to 41 min) 

Nick Clegg is championing the social mobility drive so getting an internship is “open and transparent” to change the “who you know not what you know" culture.

It appears that 100 companies have signed up which include some of the largest supermarkets, banks, law firms and energy providers including Barclays, HSBC and Santander, and retailers Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer and Morrisons.

 The companies have agreed to advertise work experience places in schools and over the internet, rather than just telling informal contacts.


They also agreed to work with schools to encourage pupils' ambitions and make internships “open and transparent” so poorer children were not put off.


The firms also agreed to use so that application candidates were not screened out because they went to the wrong school or come from a different ethnic group.


While this is all rather commendable I’m afraid Nick is behind the times. 11 years ago as an A Level student I managed to go online and apply to various internships or work experience days being offered by Investment Banks. I repeated the same process with one of the Big 5 accountancy firm and then again during my first year at a University to get a 3 week internship at an investment bank. Lastly I secured a summer internship in my penultimate year of University which led to a full time job offer.


I assure you that I neither knew the difference between a consultancy firm and an investment bank, nor did I know anyone who worked at either. The process to apply, the requirements and timeline were clearly posted online.


This is the reality of the financial sector broadly. The internship process is transparent as is the graduate recruitment process. There are also very strong diversity drives within this industry championed by the very senior most people. Banks like to make money. They want to hire smart people who they think can help them make more money;  They don’t care where a student went to school and even what degree they may have done. All it comes down to is aptitude and being able to demonstrate ability.


Unfortunately, private schools in the UK are very good at providing opportunity to their students that allows them to develop this work ethic and also be able to demonstrate it in an interview when asked “can you give me an example of when you assumed the role of a group leader?” Students have more support through careers advice, mock interview and training that leads to better interview performance.


By comparison, state comprehensives do not provide the same support. Hence students don’t perform as well in interviews. It is also a reality that they are perhaps less likely to apply to the financial sector because of less information.


What Nick Clegg needs to do is address this issue with state schools so more students are encouraged to apply. I can assure him that the financial industry has had an open door for the last decade or more, at least.


This observation about how accessible the financial sector is can largely be applied to larger firms. The 100 or so that have signed up have reached a level of institutionalisation where there is a clear process for everything aspect of functioning and recruitment is one of them. The big HR departments at these other large firms outside of finance also have invested in creating clear processes and then presenting them on their websites and offering opportunities for students to learn about them. For any profit seeking company the aim is to attract the best. The larger firms have the resources to advertise themselves and they have already done so. Nick’s drive for social mobility will not cause much improvement since he’s trying to change the wrong elements of the equation.

Besides motivating students across the state sector broadly and informing them of opportunities beyond what they see in their immediate surroundings, Nick needs to tackle opacity within small, medium sized businesses and less “institutionalised” sectors. Media, films, arts broadly, etc do not have a clear process of how they hire and who they hire.

As someone who tried to make a documentary, short films and a feature film I can confirm that unless you have the former head of BBC drama on your side, you ain’t getting a big wig casting agent to return your call. That’s where the “who you know” culture really has a stronghold. It’s those smaller businesses and informal sectors that don’t have huge HR departments or websites that explains step by step how to apply at different stages of your life.

So good for Nick for promoting a noble cause but if he really wants to make a difference then he needs to:

1.      Make the state school sector better at informing and preparing students so more apply for internships

2.      Get the informal sectors and SMEs to sign up for providing clearer guidance on their recruiting policy

2. a.       But don’t criticise them for firing incompetent interns!

3.      Provide government support to businesses that cannot afford to hire interns through grants etc

The result of these actions will be that the pool of students applying for internships will be braoder, beyond just the very motivated and private school educated, but also sectos of the economy beyond finance will become more accessible hence helping in some small way to redress the unbalanced UK economy.

The tragedy of Hester's pay at RBS

These are sad times when ill informed mass hysteria overrules reason and rationale.

 Crony capitalism has become the latest buzz word in a list that includes WMDs and moral hazard. And so let’s behead all bankers for they are the epitome of evil.

RBS is a basket case. It failed under the previous leadership of Sir Fred Goodwin and now it is state owned. For the state and UK tax payers to benefit from this situation, the bank has to recover. Stephen Hester was brought in to do this job. He is not the cause of this wreck. He is hopefully its saviour.

Tax payers own 82% of RBS market cap. If RBS stock price recovers, the state stands to benefit. Steven Hester’s job hence, is to increase the bank’s share price from its current depressed value.

 What better way to incentivise him than to pay him in the same stock that the taxpayer owns so his interests are perfectly aligned with ours. Isn’t this the precise proposal that has been touted as the solution to end short term profit seeking behaviour from bankers?

Well then why the media driven outcry over his bonus compensation? Yes, he got a bonus in a year that RBS lost money. But he hasn’t been paid out in cash from a depleting source. He’s been paid in the same currency that the government owns. If he wants to increase his private wealth he will work to maximise the stock price and in doing so, will benefit the tax payer.

 Over the public outcry he has now turned down this stock compensation. That means he has no upside from driving value for the tax payer any more. He was paid his base salary for the year so now why should he bother working harder? There is no personal upside for him. £1.2mn for a base salary might sound a lot to the common man but for the top bankers, as we hope Hester is, it’s relatively meagre. The reality is that globally finance pays inflated salaries. For one bank, or one country to singularly pressure its financial sector to cut wages, means that that bank or country will no longer be able to attract the best talent. If Hester is as good as we all hope he is, then he is now severely underpaid and not motivated to work in our benefit.

The problem we face today is that the media has received the backing of the public in beating up bankers and in brandishing the government as accepting hand outs from this sector. There is no longer a reasonable discussion about what is fair and what is outrageous. In the Hester case, the government cannot stand up for him because they will be labelled as succumbing to “crony capitalism” and Labour will jump at the chance to push this opinion.

I wish we could see more reasoned judgment from the media and perhaps the private sector itself but unfortunately the audience does not want to listen. There is a cry for blood and that is all that they seek.

Ed Balls and Labour - wise choice to keep silent

I follow Ed Balls on Twitter just to understand what it is that Labour is trying to say these days. I found something to help me out today in his article in the Daily Mirror titled “Why won't Tories take the blame for economic crisis?”

The allegations of the title alone are laughable. As a reminder the symptoms of the crises were first noticed in 2007 when Gordon Brown was in power. Let’s not forget the role Ed played in influencing policy while his best pal was running the nation.

But mudslinging aside, let’s looks at what Ed has written about here objectively.  I find a rather large number of ludicrous claims but more than that, for a senior statesman such as Ed Balls, I’m sorry to note the underhanded tactics he’s employing in his one sided attack on the coalition government. The tone of this article is not to educate the population and explain reasonable differences between the Government’s policies that have been enacted and what Labour would have done if it were in power. Instead, the article appears to want to sway the less informed reader with brash assertions about what Labour would have done better. That’s it. Nothing about what exactly Labour would have done instead. Here is a nugget to cherish: Of course, after the biggest global financial crisis in a century, fixing the economy and getting the deficit down was never going to be easy for any country or any government. It would have meant difficult decisions on tax, spending and pay if Labour had won the election.

But Labour it seems has a 5 point plan:

 That’s why Labour has set out a five-point plan for jobs – including a temporary cut in VAT to help our struggling high streets and give an average £450 boost for a couple with children, tax breaks for small firms taking on extra workers and a tax on bankers’ bonuses to fund 100,000 jobs for young people.

 If the country is already in deficit, and the current Government inherited this deficit from the previous (Labour) government, where do the Eds hope to raise cash to fund the 5 point plan from?

The much debated Welfare Reform Bill is aiming to reclaim benefits from the undeserving to the deserving. That’s the boost to families, to single parent families, disabled and those out of work who are looking for work. See my previous post for more on this.

Cutting VAT from 20% down to 17.5% might sound great but the lowest income group on which VAT has the biggest impact, will not really see the gain. As we know certain basic items are either already exempt from VAT or are charged a lower VAT rate (5%) instead of 20%. Hence cutting VAT as Ed suggests will have a very limited impact but it sure sounds good, don’t it?!

Food and drink for human consumption is, in general, zero-rated as are all supplies of unprocessed foodstuffs such as:

• raw meat and fish;
• vegetables and fruit;
• cereals, nuts and pulses; and
• culinary herbs

As a general principle, you can zero-rate a product sold for use as an ingredient in home cooking or baking. Other items that are either exempt from VAT or are charged the lower 5% of VAT include:

• Smoking cessation products - nicotine patches and gum
• Talking books and vision aids for blind people
• Equipment for blind or partially sighted people
• Mobility aids for the elderly
• Health services provided by registered doctors, dentists, opticians, pharmacists and other health professionals
• Care or medical treatment provided by a qualifying institution like a hospital, hospice or nursing home
• Education, vocational training, research and other connected services provided by an eligible body like a school, college or university
• Electricity, Gas etc for domestic use is charged the lower rate of 5%
• Children’s clothes are either exempt or charged at the lower rate of 5%
• Insurance is exempt

What will benefit from a cut in VAT is alcohol, cakes, frozen foods which are charged the full rate.

 So next, let’s consider the boost to small businesses that Ed would like to see employ more people. He also says that “it’s only exports to other countries that stopped our economy going into recession last year”.

 Now I’m confused – all these businesses hiring people, what will they do? I thought they might produce to export to economies where there is consumption demand but Ed implies that’s quite frivolous. Maybe he thinks they will sell to the domestic consumer alone which will pull us out of a deficit.  But tell me Ed, what’s wrong with exports driving the economy? Isn’t that what Germany’s much admired robust economy is based on? If not exports, what would you have liked the economy’s growth to have been based on? Oh wait, I know, it must be the financial services!

 “We’ve all heard the excuses. First they blamed the snow. Then they blamed the Royal Wedding. Now they’re blaming the eurozone”

 Here we lay the last, low punch. Bravo. But hold on, what if Labour does take over from this “mess”. Uh oh, it might be tough to deliver all this big talk so Ed includes a caveat:

But I have to be honest with Mirror readers. If the Tories plough on regardless, the next Labour government will inherit a really difficult situation. Of course we would be making different choices now. And we will make tough but different choices in the future. But after five years with Cameron and Osborne at the helm we don’t know how bad the economy will be.

That’s why Ed Milliband and I have said Labour cannot make any promises now – more than three years before the next election – to reverse spending cuts or tax rises.

We will have to see where we are in 2015 because, unlike Nick Clegg, we won’t make promises we can’t keep. We’ll have a big job to sort out the deficit, clear up Osborne’s economic mess and deliver social justice in tougher times

So there we have it. That’s why Labour and the Eds are not providing us with any reasonable plans on what they would have done in power. Silly, it’s because the Tories are making SUCH a mess that who knows what situation Labour will end up facing. Of course they shouldn’t say anything now. Much more sensible.

Thanks Eddie,  that clears up a lot.

Welfare Reform bill - Key policy proposals worth knowing about

Some of the key policy proposals are listed below. The full white paper can be accessed here

·         radically simplify the system to make work pay and combat worklessness and poverty

·         The Government is committed to ensuring that no-one loses as a direct result of these reforms. We have ensured that no-one will experience a reduction in the benefit they receive as a result of the introduction of Universal Credit

·         If the amount of Universal Credit a person is entitled to is less than the amount they were getting under the old system, an additional amount will be paid to ensure that they will be no worse off in cash terms.

·         people will no longer have to take a risk in moving from one system to another. For those in employment, Universal Credit will be calculated and delivered electronically, automatically adjusting credit payments according to monthly income reported through an upgraded version of the Pay As You Earn tax system (on which HM Revenue & Customs will be consulting shortly). The system will be simpler and will respond more quickly to changes in earnings so that people will not face the same complexities as they do now, particularly at the end of a tax year. As a result people will be much clearer about their entitlements and the beneficial effects of increasing their earnings by taking on more hours or doing some overtime.

·         People will have one system to contact rather than having to repeat information to three separate bodies, so strengthening the connection between financial and labour market support.

·         By allowing recipients to benefit financially from doing small amounts of irregular work Universal Credit will reduce the incentive for people to commit fraud by failing to declare work.

·         capping household benefit payments so that families do not receive more in welfare than median after-tax earnings for working households

·         Single taper would apply to earnings net of tax and National Insurance meaning that the highest Marginal Deduction Rate for low-earning workers would be reduced from around 96 per cent to 65 per cent for those earning below the personal tax threshold and to around 76 per cent for basic rate taxpayers.

·         The aim would be to allocate some of the current support to those working fewer than 16 hours, so that all types of work are rewarded.

·         it will now be financially rewarding for a lone parent to work 15 hours per week, or 17 hours per week (both of which would not have been financially rewarded under the existing system which only recognised 16 hours per week); and should more hours be available, the extra earnings will no longer face a Marginal Deduction Rate of 96 per cent. Under the current system a lone parent working 16 hours at the National Minimum Wage would only increase their take home pay by £5 a week if they increased their hours to 25 hours. Under Universal Credit the same lone parent would increase their take home pay by £17.

·         we are considering an option of allowing those pensioners who choose to extend their working lives to claim Universal Credit, rather than Pension Credit, so that they can take advantage of the tailored in-work arrangements. We would welcome views on this approach.

·         Financial support will remain unconditional for people who we do not expect to be able to work or prepare for work. None of the changes set out in this White Paper change that basic principle.

·         Disability Living Allowance - We intend to retain its role, outside the Universal Credit, as a non-means-tested cash benefit. It will continue to be paid to people in and out of work. We plan to consult shortly on our proposals, which will complement the support provided to disabled people by Universal Credit.

Welfare Reform Bill and why it is must be passed

The proposed reforms to the Welfare system are drastic. The intention is to address the dependency culture, weed out the frauds and hence create savings to assist the deserving. I think we all generally support this aim. The opposition amongst British opinion appears to be based on the negative impact these changes might have on some deserving recipients. The reality is that this division and opposition to the reforms are being based on ideology rather than facts.

 The Tories have a poor reputation when it comes to caring for society. Meryl Streep’s effort hasn’t cured the hangover some Britons still carry from the Thatcher era. But we need to put ideology aside and not turn this into a character assault against the Tories.

 The government’s drive for reform is coming from a necessity for change. A policy that affects so many people that form a heterogeneous group will unavoidably lead to small group that looses out. These will be the exceptional circumstances. We need to figure out a way of addressing their situation – that remains outstanding but it’s not being ignored.

 

We can argue about the policy details and how to improve it based on facts. What I am losing patience with is opposition that is based on painting the reforms to be the evil Tories’ scheme to squash helpless citizens and attributes them to mal intent.

 Yes, the policy could be improved – there is always room for improvement. So voice your opinion and contribute to the feedback that the government is seeking in its consultation period that runs to 30 April 2012. What we can do is try to highlight the exceptional cases so that policy may further be tweaked to address their case.  Click here.

 There will be individual cases who are thought to “lose out”. Their situation should not be used as a reason to block this reform but instead should be used to shape it.

 I do think where the government falls short is in communication. Especially when radical changes are being proposed, clarity of communication, explaining why and how is critical. The coalition has not done a good job of this. But again, let’s not hold that as an example of vindictive intentions.

 The case studies considered by the government show that their research has tried to be comprehensive. Where housing benefit may be reduced, other measures are boosted to support people who rightfully need it.

 There are a number of points about the reforms that I strongly believe are undeniably positive. They will make assessment, collection and receipt easier by not having to chase multiple forms and paperwork.

·         The Government also announced the inclusion of an additional bedroom within the size criteria used to assess Housing Benefit claims in the private rented sector where a disabled person or someone with a long term health condition has a proven need for overnight care and this is provided by a non-resident carer(s)

·         When Universal Credit starts and people do more work, they will lose about 65 pence of every pound they earn after tax. This means that we (government) will let people keep some of their benefit before they start to lose money from their benefit because of their wages. We call this the taper.

·         There are many others that I will post in a separate blog

The bottom line is that there are very many reasons for reform and that the proposals go a long way in addressing these. It is not a final policy and the government is keeping an open door to invite feedback during the consultation period. Let’s acknowledge that what is trying to be achieved here is very brave – while many previous governments have recognised the need for reform, the controversy surrounding such a sensitive issue has prevented action. Here is a government being brave, and risking its popularity to make necessary changes. Speak up to shape policy but blocking it will continue injustice.

 

Here are some facts on the current situation and the full length white paper can be read here

 

·         working-age welfare budget has increased by 45 per cent in real terms over the last decade – while the deserving population demographics have obviously not deteriorated by the same proportion, or even close

·         5 million people are on out-of-work benefits in the UK, and 1.4 million of them have been receiving out-of-work benefits for nine out of the last ten years. Not only that, but we now have one of the highest rates of workless households in Europe, with 1.9 million children living in homes where no-one has a job ­– Where possible, people have to be incentivised to work. The proposed single taper will benefit people who work any amount of time and will increase as more hours are worked. Under the old system only 16 hours per week was recognised, any time below or above this was not credited

·         contributions from the public resulted in over 1,600 responses via post, email and through the online consultation site ­– all the voices in opposition who wish to block the reforms should be instead contributing to this consultation.

·         In 2009, 2.3 million contacts to the Department for Work and Pensions were driven by people contacting the wrong agency and 1.4 million by people contacting the wrong office. 3 This complexity prevents people taking up benefits to which they are entitled. For example, in 2008/09 only between 38 and 51 per cent of those in work and entitled to Housing Benefit actually claimed. The Government spends a further £3.5 billion each year on administration.  -  A key focus of the reforms and Universal Credits is to simplify the whole system. One contact point, less paperwork, fewer government departments involved, eliminate duplication of resources, easier transition in and out of work and monitoring of benefits. Hopefully more of the deserving recipients will now apply and savings from wastage can be directed to the rightful beneficiaries.

·         Spending on working-age Housing Benefit has increased by more than 25 per cent to £14.2 billion -  once again, the population demographics have not shown the same proportional change to match the increased spend hence there is significant wastage.