Category: Thoughts

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Oh How the Mighty Have Fallen: Is Toyota the new GM/Ford from the ’60s/’70s?!

If you haven’t been watching news lately, Toyota has announced the biggest, if not one of the biggest, recalls on vehicles… EVER!  Evidently it’s a pedal that seems to get stuck.  It has already claimed lives… and its luxury sibling, Lexus isn’t immune to this defect either.

Picture courtesy of NY Times

According to the NY Times article, four people died in a tragic accident that shouldn’t have happened in last August in a Lexus ES 350!  How the hell does this kind of stuff happen?!  Well, from my sociology class from yonder years in college at WPI, I am reminded of the ethics falling behind the curtains of schedules and costs.  Ford & GM had similar safety issues but with gas fuel tanks in the ’60s and the ’70s.

Back then, I thought Ford and GM had made one of the worst choices by choosing not to recall the cars and leave it to statistics and chance and paying out lawsuits rather than spending millions in repairing the dangerous defects.  I still hesitate because such an inherently terrible oversight makes a consumer think twice and buying such product.  Only recently (since 2005) have I actually thought that Ford has come a long way and made the cars actually decent and safe.  So in essence, it has taken about 30 to 40 years to erase the reputation damage that were burned into the minds of the consumers.

So I was rather shocked and disappointed to find out that Toyota has been so slow in doing something about this recall and dealing with its defects!  It applies to millions of cars including the best-selling Camry!  When you choose money over people, you are telling the consumers that you don’t care about us and only care about money.  Well, that will always be true to certain degree because of the nature of for-profit companies.  However, if you look at things in long-term perspective, you think Toyota would have learned from the lessons of Ford and GM.  Come on!  Toyota is repeating history!

Today’s headline in Business Weekly shows that their decision to recall and repair was too slow.  Trying to hide it or ignore it (or whatever they call it) is definitely the worst business AND ethical decision they have made EVER!!!

I will say this… Toyota, welcome to my black list.  I will buy your cars in maybe 30 years or so… when that terrible stigma of poor decision making process wears off from me, your typical consumer.  Sheesh…  Just the picture of this Pinto makes me shriek and reminds me of some of the terrible decisions made from the past…

Courtesy of Motherjones.com

UPDATE: Now, though fixed somewhat more or less, 2010 Prius have had some brake issues as Toyota admits its problems.  Like I said in the last comment, Toyota is at best becoming like Sony, just big in its head and riding on its popularity.

UPDATE 2: This lady was driving a ’07 Tundra pickup….

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Democrats (and Republicans) and Prejudice

If you had asked me which political party I belong to about 10 years ago, I’d have said Republican w/o a doubt.  However, since then, I have had my share of doubts about the party and have now become a moderate.  But don’t party now just because you are a democrat.  I still have bones to pick with you yet.

You see, 10 years ago, I’d have said that it is just the republicans that are prejudiced.  Against everything and everyone.  Be the issues of abortion or gay rights or death penalty or “War against Terror”, I’d definitely agree with you on that the Republicans are prejudiced.  However, it seems that the Democrats are not that different.  You see, among my list of friends, many who are younger tend to be democrats.  However, I was just as surprised to find out that they are still prejudiced against me.

For what you ask?  Simply for being me.  I’m going to be taking lots of flak for this, I’m sure.  What I mean is that my democratic friends are prejudiced against things that are not cool.  Take Star Trek for example.  During our retreat, the speaker used the Star Trek reference and she misused the reference to which she meant “Starfleet Academy”.  Upon my correction, slew of people reacted as if it’s a taboo.  So it’s a crime to be a geek and a nerd?

I am a die-hard PC gamer.  And people ridicule me for being one.  They use lines like “Why don’t you grow up?”  So picking up other expensive habits are better?  And take sports as another example.  In my 2 cents worth of opinion, sports is a waste of time unless you are playing it.  So my not watching it becomes another point of ridicule.  I can go on and on.

My point is thus a simple one.  Prejudice runs in both republicans and democrats.  I wish everyone would stop using it as an excuse.  Just for being different, it is a (bad) human nature to pick on someone else, be it color of skin, economic status, political status, how nerdy you are, or if you suck at sports and make them look bad so that you look better.  Just admit it.  We all should belong to “Prejudiced Anonymous” and we all need to repent of it…  I know I do.

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Father’s Wishes for His Son

Animated JJ

JJ has been… energetic to say the least.  He’s anything but like me when I was a kid.  He’s very outgoing, highly energetic, and very sociable.  I was nothing like that when I was little.  I was a huge introvert, shy, and definitely not full of energy.

So when he was born, I wanted him to have a life that I failed to live.  I wanted him to enjoy life even from the young days.  I wanted him to be playful and enjoy each day, even if it meant him being … loud.  The picture above captures the essence of how I want my son to be… playful, enjoying being himself.

My days of childhood was too quiet.  Not sure what prompted me to be so shy but I was.  In some extreme years, I became a bookworm and stayed home all day reading books.  These days, I don’t think it’s enough to be just smart and intelligent.  As much as I’d love my kids to be smart, Soojin and I agree, that given the choices, we would prefer them to be sociable over smart any day.

I’ve come across many intelligent people in my life, both personally and professionally.  And my only conclusion thus far is that intelligent people are hard to work with, way too finicky, and are not open minded.  In this world, I want JJ to grow up expressing himself openly, no matter how the world treats him for it.  At the same time, being sociable to work with others and get along with others.

In short, I want him to enjoy life on a day to day basis.  Sure learning is important.  In fact, one should never stop learning.  However, beyond that step, living the day to its fullest potential (carpe diem) and being full of life is how I want him to be.  I would rather have him be bit more mischievous and hyper than shy and reclusive.  Perhaps that’s more due to the fact that that’s how I was and didn’t like it, but that’s what I would want for JJ.

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Bittersweet Parenthood

Before I forget, happy new year…

I have now been a parent for almost 8 years now… and it surely has been anything BUT boring!

I wanted to, however, share some key learned lessons in becoming a parent. Most will tell you to 1) sleep as much as you can before you become a parent and 2) your life as single independent will be over. Those two are very true. However, that is not all.

Once my kids were out of baby stage, my life was bit more… relaxing. They began to sleep at more normal hours (except my daughter who just can’t go to sleep before 9 pm anymore!) and they are able to do some minimal things on their own (eg. tooth brushing etc and dressing themselves etc.). However, with that comes their own state of mind. It may not seem such a big deal at first but lately, I have noticed few things about my kids.

My daughter has become super-sensitive to others and will apologize at the smallest of things. My son has been causing more and more ruckus lately. Oh scratch the second one. That’s just being a boy. 😛 But seriously, both have started to ask questions. An they are never-ending! I give them credit for wanting to learn… but now I understand why you can’t teach your own kids!! >.< Along with these, they have been developing their own preferences and a sense of who they are in the ways of what they like and don't like. My daughter goes through daily morning war in choosing what to wear to school. My son only likes to things just the way HE likes them. And I as a parent, am finding myself trying to come up with new ways to teach them how to be human. Yes, it's important that they develop sense of who they are but it's a balance that they need to practice. If it's 30 F outside, shorts are not practical. And with the latest craze of Bakugans, we've come to conclusion that my kids are not ready for the animated TV series as the shows seem to make them behave more... violently. With this came realization that I no longer live for myself. For next 12 years, my life's schedule will have to adapt to theirs, and spend more time in familiarizing with their environments and friends (no problem with watching cartoons!). Addressing some key questions/issues like when can we get them started on video games? How do we limit on their friends? I get my mind blown away at these things that I have to deal with as a parent, but it's all bittersweet. Sure it's complicated. Sure I don't have as much "free" time. Sure I get more and more tired, both mentally and physically. But each time I see their smiles, and each time I see them enjoying life, it seems to be all worth it. So what if it gives me headache thinking about how grumpy they get when we tell them to get ready for bed? The ending punch line is that my life is no longer just my own. I am responsible for 3 more people now. It's not just me who needs joy and happiness, but my wife and my kids as well. And you know what?! I am ok with that.

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A Very Warming Story for Modern Cold Times

NPR has a weekly spot called StoryCorps.  This week, they ran a story of self-recorded interview on this one person.  He is a janitor.  Nothing extraordinary there.  However, he and his wife of 25 years do not have kids.  So Willie Jefferson feels that the kids at the school that he has served as janitor for 23 years are his kids.  He has had impact enough on these kids over the years so much that they think of him and his wife as their parents.

These days, I feel that our society is getting more and more distant and colder as technology and crime seem to distance us away from each other.  So I take these warm stories like Haagen-Dazs coffee ice cream: savor every word of such awesome story.  Stories such as this gives me hope that people can be trust-worthy…

I hope we all have people that we are fond of and love… Like in the words of DC Talk, “We all wanna be loved”

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A Story That Crossed an Ocean and Half a Decade

NY Times Article

Wow… this story definitely crossed several genres of walls for me.  A story of a US soldier who coincidentally picked up a drawing and a picture of a Japanese baby girl that transcended time to reunite them fifty+ years later.  That baby girl grew up not knowing her father at all but upon being reunited with the picture, she saw her father’s unspoken and unknown side:  that her father had adored her and carried her picture to his dying field.

War has never been pretty.  World War II was never an exception.  If anything, it seemed to bring that point out even more sharply with two big powers.  Iwo Jima was such a small island and losing several tens of thousands of soldiers seemed so tiny of a reason.  Yet, what this story was able to do was to make this war so much more personal for these 3 people involved.

I fought back a load of tears as I read this story.  Having allergies actually was a positive thing for once as it helped cover up the tears and the runny nose.  This story also softened my heart about wars because it showed that there’s always a personal side to something so tragic and terrible.

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Adventures in Childhood

Article: Review of Wilderness of Childhood

I may not remember a whole lot about my childhood, but I remember lots of little adventures.  It’s in men’s nature to seek adventure.  We like going to new places, seek new challenges, and find out what is out there.  I realized that when we lived in England.  First few months in Harlow, once I had learned how to ride a bike, I used to ride around the little town trying to find out where each roads led to.  That sense of adventure never left me.  I think that’s why I loved driving.  Even in my four years of college in New England area, I drove to Vermont by myself before school began to take in the countryside.

Now, I am a parent and every area and people seem like dangers to my kids.  It’s true.  Fatherhood changes you.  The world is truly scary place.  Ok, it probably has always been that very same scary but we just never knew about it.   Now, thanks to the media and the Internet, we know bit too much.  No, way too much.  🙁  I want my kids to be able to play wherever and whenever they want.  However, part of me says it’s too dangerous.  The book review of The Adventures in Childhood points out the very same things I worry about and what the kids would miss out on…

I hope that I will do well in keeping the balance on kids’ safety and allowing them to develop sense of adventure and their imagination.  Sometimes, we just have to say “No, I won’t deprive them of what is due them as kids!”  Say it with me!!