George S. Chua

IT is standard practice for all vehicles on the road to have a spare tire, just in case you get a flat. However, in reality, you don’t even think too much about it and chances are that you never even have to use it. I think most people don’t even know how to change their tires. Nonetheless, a spare tire becomes a life saver when you get into trouble with a flat tire.

I am no expert in deciding if schools can resume the traditional classroom education—as it is already being done in a number of countries—or to maintain our current virtual classroom system. However, having taught in physical classrooms for more than 30 years (at the tertiary level in De La Salle University, University of the Philippines-Diliman, Far Eastern University, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Manila and more recently online at Don Bosco Technical College), I can definitely see the difference.

ONCE in a while we go through difficult times such as these, where just being able to survive is good enough. Sometimes this is easier said than done. Nonetheless, there are certain practical things that can be done to increase the chances of your survival. The first thing to do is to ASSESS the situation, come up with a BLUEPRINT for your plan of action and finally keep a close watch on your CASH FLOW.

The 8th Philippine Electric Vehicle (EV) Summit was held virtually, due to Covid-19, on September 24 to 26.

The Covid-19 global pandemic, without a doubt, has affected all of us, some more than others. As a result of the quarantine restrictions imposed by the government authorities, a number of industries have been adversely affected and the following immediately come to mind:

IT has often been said that the best time to buy into the equities market is when there is blood on the streets. This contrarian way of thinking does make sense. After all, it would tend to be an oversold market with most investors dumping their positions to get out of a bad market. Hopefully, being able to get a bargain will mean that you maximize your gain as the market turns around and recovers.

IT is unfortunate that many Filipinos would rate poorly in terms of financial literacy, which often results to a life of servitude, living from paycheck to paycheck and using up future cashflow to pay for current expenses.

WE all have to make decisions daily and each decision may not be the same all the time. The decision-making process depends on many factors, such as the current situation or need, the available options, the urgency, the experience and preference of the one making the decision and the significance or scale of the decision to be made.

FOR many executives, being a member of a country club has become part and parcel of their perks and privileges. Making use of country club facilities to entertain customers, government officials and business associates is quite common and has even become an expectation. There is also a great deal of prestige in companies to have their senior executives play golf in the more exclusive golf clubs.

WE are all held accountable for something which we may or may not be the owners of. For example a driver is held accountable for a number or resources such as the vehicle he is tasked to drive, the time to complete his task, the fuel needed, and so on. Much like a homeowner who is responsible for the upkeep of his house, maintaining it in a safe and orderly condition, paying taxes, taking out insurance and many other things to maintain or even enhance the value of his property.

As defined by the “Urban Dictionary,” “F_ _k you money” is “the exact amount of money required in order to tell an individual or organization to go f_ _k themselves without facing repercussions.” In more polite company, I would call it walk-away money, which will allow you to walk away from any job, business, investment, transaction, relationship, anyone or anything without any terminal consequences for your actions.

I have often pondered the relationship between happiness and success and I have come to the definitive conclusion that they are directly correlated. This is nothing new and it has very strong support from business concepts such as self-fulfilling prophecy and market expectations. Essentially, this means that when you expect something to happen, your actions will precede the actual event and dictate what actions you will take to reflect your expectation.