change

Give and change for the better

This February, the Random Acts of Kindness week is taking place now and we have 2 holidays in a row, one is Valentine’s Day which just happened, and today is Random Acts of Kindness Day to encourage people for giving back and helping each other with kind gestures.

So how’s your February so far? and how do you celebrate love and kindness throughout this month?

Kindness is beautiful, and giving is powerful.

Give for change

Kindness is the quality of being friendly, generous and considerate. It can be a praise, a thank you note, a friendly hello or a generous donation…That’s exactly the Random Acts of Kindness Day about. This annual celebration started with donating food and making a gift to someone or nonprofits, now it becomes a popular movement with small or large acts of kindness to treat people no matter you know or you don’t know.

Beautiful kindness can be seen everywhere and makes a positive impact in our life and community. In our families, we love and support each other as family members. At hospitals, many healthcare professionals work hard to help patients and save lives every day. There are doctors who try to cure the diseases, nurses who treat patients and their families with nursing skills and caring heart, emergency room workers who give medical services 24hours.

Just like firefighters and lots of everyday heroes, the frontline healthcare workers contribute a lot to our community with their professional practices and dedication. Proud of being a family member of nursing professional, I know nurses generally are kind and friendly to others as part of their work and living habit, they are trained to do something nice for injured strangers and patients with healing and caring services, they try to save lives and make the world a better place by spreading a little light at work and beyond, they really give a lot with less receiving to help people around them. That’s why nurses are called smiling angels in white.

Kindness practices do inspire people and change lives. Every day, we want to be better people to offer and help. We give to someone we love, give to someone who deserves, give to someone who matters to us, give to a nurse angel we don’t know personally but who keeps our community healthy and well. Let’s give to receive, donate for good, give to build an ecosystem with a ripple effect to pass along a kind act from one to another.

We don’t have to be a superman or healthcare heroes to save the world and many lives, a small and simple act to give and donate can also change someone’s life.

Change for the better

Be kind and do good deeds don’t have to be costly and a very huge thing, small gestures can make a big impact. Recently I joined a group conversation about helping vulnerable people and tackling social issues for a better and safer place. It’s a very open and interesting discussion among the enthusiastic participants, who are from public services, community organizations, different areas and neighborhoods. A series of topics were talked about safety and security, equity and diversity, accessibility and inclusion, education and discrimination. All is about community building and engagement to change for the better.

In uncertain times, the high inflation and slow economy have impacted more or less every one, especially the vulnerable groups such as elderly and older adults lack of income and resources, women in need of more help and support, people and families who have lost a loved one and experienced trauma and huge pain, disabilities and homelessness living with unemployment and affordable housing problems. By looking at the matters in our surroundings, some actions need to be taken and something needs to be changed with the community network from individuals to organizations.

Equity, diversity and inclusion are definitely important to build a healthy and resilient community. Today there are still many barriers for individual members from equity-seeking and underrepresented groups, indigenous and racialized communities in all aspects of life. There are still lots of work to do on equal opportunities, a fair process and diverse environment open to all, especially for people of color and minority groups.

Help others to help ourselves. So stop hate and violence towards others, we are all the same who live in one global community. We need to take part and work together, raise our voice and speak up, donate and support to keep the conversation going and continue to call for actions and change.

The community is ours, and we are the community.

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Give now, act now

It’s friendly February and psychology month filled with kindness and wellness themed events. There are Groundhog Day and CNOY event (Coldness Night of the Year) about nature and eco-friendly practice, cultural diversity celebrations from Lunar New Year and Lantern Festival to Black History Month. There is World Cancer Day to raise awareness for health and fighting cancer causes.

We have Family Day long weekend happening with many family-friendly activities for family love and wellness. The Pink Shirt Day is coming up next week and an annual event of anti bullying at school and work, in the neighborhoods and communities. There are negative stuff and bad things happening all the time, but there are also lots of good things happening every day…so will you choose to give and change with us and spread positivity in the community together?

Kindness is not only a helpful act to build a more healthy living community, but also creates the health benefits for ourselves. Studies have shown, be kind can positively impact your depression and anxiety, and do good deeds to others can reduce your emotional stress and improve your mental health. The science and psychology of being friendly and being grateful are effective to help boost our morale as well as personal wellbeing at large.

Kindness is good for our health and our mind. Remember this: To do unto others as we would have others do unto us. So what are you waiting for? Act now to give and pay it forward mentality, treat others as you want to be treated. Wanna be respected, do respect more to others; want to be loved, do love more others; want to be helped, do help more others…just as simple as that!

Give more is to receive more. It takes a village to raise a child, and it takes everyone to build a healthy and thriving community. Come one, come all, we need to work together and take action: do something, give something, get involved and start to change…In the spirit of doing good, let’s cultivate a healthy mind and life to carry out some kindness today and every day:
✓acknowledge someone who deserves
✓donate and support the nurse angel fund
✓help your elderly neighbors with a task
✓give to the community funding of FightCancer4life
✓be friendly to others especially to women and kids
✓be kind to each other and our animal friends
✓fund and give to the green change cause for a healthy and diverse ecosystem
✓express gratitude to family members
✓smile to people around you

Dream big with small and digital power

October is the month of autumn, a colorful season with mild weather and beautiful foliage, a busy period of ripening and growing, a harvest time for farmers and also for business owners. Here comes the annual Small Business Week which runs from October 16-22, time to celebrate entrepreneurship, startups, small and medium businesses in our communities.

Small business can be seen every where, we visit them, we talk to them, have a health checkup regularly at a medical clinic close to home, order the food with their delivery to the door, get the services and goods from them…so what is about a small business? how they fuel the economy and impact the community?

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Dream it, do it

Small business is powerful. It may be a micro company that has fewer employees and less annual revenue comparing to a regular or large enterprise. It can be a privately owned consultancy, an independently operated law firm, a local grocery store in your neighborhood, a walk-in clinic down the street, or a coffee shop at the corner…They provide the products and services we need, create jobs and employ millions of people across the industries.

Small business is big in Canada. There are more than 1.2 million small and medium-sized businesses from professional and technical services to construction and retails, they help the trades work and marketplace stay active and competitive, they’re at the heart of our communities and the backbone of our economy. If we look at some provinces like Ontario and British Columbia, there are about half a million small businesses in one and the other to represent a strong business community. In BC, approximately 1-in-10 people are small business owners or entrepreneurs to make the province a home of entrepreneurship.

It takes action, passion, commitment, entrepreneurial spirit and much more to start small get big, and make dreams come true.

Small business is all about entrepreneurship and opportunities. Many successful owners started small with only 1 or 2 people but have a big idea and a willingness to work hard and grow. By becoming bigger businesses, they provide more and more opportunities for people and give back to the community with inspirational entrepreneurship. Every year, Small Business Week brings thousands of aspiring business owners, entrepreneurs and founders together for the opportunities of learning and sharing, networking and celebrating. Digital literacy, innovative solutions, green technologies, business ecosystem and sustainable community, it’s a group of dreamers and doers to work hard and change the world with the ambition and big ideas along the way.

Start local, think global

There’s no doubt that small businesses are important for many reasons: job creation, selling varies goods and services to benefit people and sparking innovation. How many of us got our first jobs at a family business down the street? Were you ever helped by a trade worker in the area? Have you been any block parties sponsored by a local business? Did you take any practical advice from a small business owner in the neighborhood? Plenty of small businesses start from local, focus on local and have a big impact on local to thrive, prosper and grow together, they’re lifeblood of our communities.

This week, we celebrate the contributions small businesses make to our neighborhoods and local communities. Let’s support them as much as possible to eat local, shop local, buy local and act local…

To start and grow a business is never easy, and one thing always stands out, the passion and dedication of entrepreneurs. Many small business owners dare to do things differently with courage and innovative thinking. They conduct import and export with overseas partners, collaborate with others to work together for digital transformation, hire a marketing consultancy to research and develop new markets, invest in green business and digital projects with professional advice for growth…

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Nowadays, we’re facing many changes due to the pandemic and economic issues. I personally saw a few businesses in my area has disappeared, like one day I went to a familiar store but only saw the closed door…they may be gone in silence without too much attention but I know it’s not the good sign for small business, our community and our life. Certainly, some small businesses are finding ways to succeed in tough times, and some are struggling to survive with physical distance and safety.

The economic downturn is real, it hits international market and local business, no exception to the mall businesses. If you confront challenges like reduced cash flow, declining sales, labor and buyer shortage…we’re here to help each other out, provide digital solutions and personalized plan for your business, work with creative practices and online strategy to solve your problems, build resilience in global community for a win-win collaboration.

Be the change

Small business is the cornerstone of our economy, plays a significant role in local and global communities. Doing business is not only to achieve financial success and independence, but also help people including women and minorities to benefit the community at large: create job opportunities, help local economy, promote entrepreneurial spirit, encourage collaboration and partnership.

We see the pandemic hit hard on our businesses and economy, inflation and tax increases continue to hurt. Over the past 2 years, while small business owners have faced many challenges, such as rising costs, lack of workers and supply chain disruption, can we find better ways of working?

Any business can be an impact business, let the digital power and green impact be your strength.

Power up your growth with digital technologies is now more than ever. The economic recovery has brought new changes for entrepreneurs, services providers, restaurant and shop owners, digital services are on the rise. So what are you waiting for? Get online and go digital, improve your online presence and e-commerce business, work with a digital advisor to enhance your digital literacy for a sustainable business. Technologies empower small business, when small business succeed, our economy grows, jobs are created and communities thrive. So we live in a changing world now and disruptive innovations are on the way, be part of it to make our businesses more inclusive and sustainable, improving our digital strategy while driving the economy.

Give back

October is in the middle of fall season, it’s annual Women’s History Month and Small Business Month. Small Business Week is also underway till this weekend, the giving season and holiday season are coming right after. This harvest time is in full swing, I saw my neighbors already stored some pumpkins and potatoes for Halloween, I plan to light the candles for my late family members and pray for them on All Souls’ Day, Thanksgiving is also coming up next month…It’s a season full of diversity and sustainability about harvesting food, celebrating life and giving back to the community.

Food is essential for our life. When we celebrate the harvest festival, we celebrate the food culture and sustainability. World Food Day is an international day celebrated every year on the mid-October, which is the founding date of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. You can join the event to visit a local farm or food business, check out a community garden close to home and grow your own food, help food security and sustainable agriculture, donate your time or money to food bank or charities to give back the community.

Recently I joined a regional conference about arts and culture over a weekend. The theme is braving the future together with a focus on EDI (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) topics and issues. It gathered the participants from varies backgrounds, there are small business owners and program funders, executive members and staff from public services and non-profit organizations. By meeting and talking with them, I feel to open a dialogue between different social groups, a peer conversation to express and share freely, a space to collaborate and promote equality, diversity and inclusion among members.

This year, Indigenous Peoples’ Day occurs on October 10, a time to honor the beautiful traditions and cultures of the native people, an opportunity to celebrate and recognizes their histories and valuable land for living with diversity and sustainability. From culture to business, from non-profit organizations to public services, from startup founders to financial funders, giving back and giving more are all about building communities and resilience through collaboration and partnership. We all need help and we all can help, keep helping each other and working together is a good way for the benefit of everyone in our communities.

Go digital, go global…LefTech offers consulting services to help small businesses with digital strategy and solutions, we promote green business and technologies, we support entrepreneurship and community for sustainable practices and living.

Happy harvest, happy fall! Let’s celebrate small businesses that make our neighborhoods vibrant, support diverse entrepreneurs with Small Business Diversity Forum, build an inclusive business ecosystem with more public services and programs. Whatever you want to start your own business, transit your startup to a small business, finance your company with some funding and boost your business with technology, there are some tools and resources for entrepreneurs and small business owners to recover and grow:

Digital Adoption Program: help business owners to adopt new technologies and grow the e-commerce with a micro-grant

Small Business Financing Program: access to the fund, loan and materials to finance and grow your business

Regional education and free webinars for Small Business Week

Regional and national events for Small Business Month

Making an impact on health, science and digital

There is a light at the end of the tunnel,
even it happens a little bit longer sometimes…

As the year is coming to an end, time for a year-end review and end of the year reflections to think and learn. Looking back this year, no doubt it’s been a very special year for everyone, so much happened and so many challenges: coronavirus, pandemic, lockdown, social distancing, quarantine, stay at home orders, face mask…what a year for people, businesses and the world! 

For most people, this year started off with normal sense, soon the pandemic hit and getting harder over the course of the year, then we are suddenly facing an unprecedented situation and new realities. For some, this past year may be rough and difficult to survival and live healthy…For some, it may be a year filled with tears and hardship for many endings and farewells…For some, it’s full of uncertainty and changes both professionally and personally…and for all of us, it’s certainly a year unlike any other. Whatever the year has been good or bad for you, stay healthy and upbeat to finish it strong and well with some meaningful thoughts and gestures.  

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.
— Charles Dickens

Health for all

In reviewing this challenging year with the ongoing pandemic, we all have experienced and learned a lot, health and science are much more important than never in our everyday life. There are frontline healthcare professionals who keep working hard to fight for public health, many scientists who put great efforts on making and developing vaccines…Selflessness, compassion and courage, all the dedicated healthcare workers step up to protect as much as they could around the world.

From public service to business community, from World Health Organization(WHO) to local healthcare provider, there are essential service workers like everyday heroes to keep daily life running with basic needs for our health and safety. Doctors, nurses and medical staff are called as fighters in white on the frontlines, they have kept working day and night for public health and safety, provided medical care to the patients with high risks of being infected with coronavirus…Remind that, they also have a whole family and loved ones behind each of them, but they have stayed at work to help more people in the communities just being health heroes. 

We say that nurses are smiling angels with loving hearts and invisible wings, and we mean that they’ve been saving lives, caring for others, making relentless contribution to the community everyday. In honoring of their dedication and contribution to our communities, WHO designated this year as International year of the Nurses & the Midwife.

Nursing is a work of heart and nurses are angels in white among us. Amid the pandemic and in everyday life, they deserve our deep gratitude for their caring work and sacrifice to take risks and beat the coronavirus, keep people safe and improve the public health. Health is wealth, more and more people including many big performers and entertainers who have sincerely valued and supported their hard work by paying tribute and spreading the love in global community. 

No science no health, no health no life. Science improves greatly public health in many ways, let’s respect science more and show our appreciation to scientists and healthcare workers.

Science for good

Living in the challenging times from coronavirus recovery to vaccine research and development, what are your reflections on public health and science for everyday life? As we pray for the vaccines in the coming new year, we rely on the scientific research so much for this health crisis recovery across the globe. 

In this past October Nobel Prize season, total 8 scientists and medical professionals were awarded the Nobel Prizes among 12 laureates. Also a historic winning with 2 women scientific researchers as the first time in Nobel Prize history, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their scientific discovery. 

This November and December, total 175 nationwide recipients were appointed to receive the Order of Canada as one of the country’s highest civilian honors. They’ve made up with 9 Companions, 34 Officers, 1 Honorary Member and 131 Members to be honored for their accomplishments and success to build a better country. Among them, about 30 significant figures are scientists and medical professionals in a diverse fields of pediatric and obstetrics, cardiology and neuroscience, geriatric medicine and cancer research, chemistry and pharmacology, crop science, computer and planetary science. 

No two snowflakes are alike. There are women clinician-scientist, pharmaceutical researcher, scholars and many more. With outstanding achievement and dedication to the community, they’ve been honored for their service to the nation and innovations to shape the future. In the spirit of northern heritage and diversity, the Order of Canada recognize their contributions are varied and enriched the lives of others in different ways and for a better life.

https://www.gg.ca/en/activities/2020/governor-general-announces-61-new-appointments-order-canada

Order of Canada

Digital for life

This year is almost over, whatever we’ve been through are part of experience and lessons to look back and also look ahead. Knowing of digital age and power, how to go above and beyond our virtual life in the coming year with digital impact?

In the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity.
— Albert Einstein

The pandemic has changed our life and the world radically in unpredictable ways. Many of us have experienced the quarantine and stay at home by following the public health and safety guidelines, the restrictions for social activities and gathering have forced us to stay apart with people even with families, there are also the limitations of traveling from local to international. We are socialized human beings, how we keep up with human interaction and connection with remote work environment and social distancing everyday?

Going up like a rocket, it seems a virtual network and space happened overnight without delay, everything goes digital from study, work to social. Facing with the big changes and happenings in life and world, we need to adapt a new environment and start to redefine our life and work with digital technology. Love it or not, a virtual world has arrived and we are part of it no matter what…

Digital used to be an online solution in pre-pandemic and now becomes an essential activity in our daily life. We’ve seen digital shows and exhibits, digital theaters and operas, we’ve worked at home, attended virtual meetings almost everyday, we’ve known more and more business are going digital also many types of festivals are held online as well, thousands and millions of people stay online to meet, chat and learn through webinars and cloud video meeting platforms…all digital, all virtual, all good, so what’s not online now?

The rise of digital technology is soaring and most digital service providers see a massive success amid the pandemic. With about 300 million daily active users, Zoom has risen to the top of the market on a fast track due to the COVID. This December, Zoom CEO Eric Yuan named as Time’s businessperson of the year. Zoom meeting and Zoom social are the ones among the popular digital strategies to connect people and the world.

Today is the last day of the year, it’s hard to believe that this year has come and is almost gone enough quickly. As the pandemic continues to hammer the world without stopping point yet, it is vital that we stay well and keep mental health while isolating and dealing with loneliness. From foresight to insight and hindsight, from motivation to creativity and inspiration, what are on the top of your list of New Year’s resolutions? Being healthy, staying safe and well with digital tech could be top 3 for many people to keep going forward. 

Going digital, going global…With the pandemic challenges and physical distancing restrictions, digitalization is underway coming faster than we expected, remote work, streaming services, virtual activities and online communities are all over the place and all around the world. The year’s end means the beginning of a new one with new possibilities, jump into the coming new year with best wishes, keep calm and carry on for a digital and green life: 

*Go digital to be a game changer from local to global

*Embrace our virtual life to stay social and connected

*Dive into online world to keep up with what matters for you

*Live healthy and well with nature and animals for a safer and sustainable future

*Go above and beyond to make an impact on the global community

Living well with nature and animals

Coronavirus risks are spreading rapidly with public health concerns and environmental problems. Love animal and live healthy are not only a good quality now, but also more about life choice.

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) spreads much more faster than the SARS 17 years ago, so far it has caused about 500 death worldwide in less than a month, the massive pneumonia outbreak raises the concerns about the impact on public health and the economy from local to regional and international. So where did it come from and what are the reasons?

According to WHO, the deadly virus is spreading rapidly through multiple transmissions and a PHEIC was declared across the world, but the real cause remain to be found out with investigations. Is COVID 19 a nature-related virus, animal-related disease or human-related intentional act? With more and more infected cases of this contagious disease, people are getting upset about many different sayings and unverified sources everywhere.

When it comes to an emergency situation with high infection risks between each other, we don’t have too much choice to think about thoroughly and can only respond as quick as possible. As the COVID virus can cause cough, fever, shortness of breath and death, the prevention and treatment are extremely important to protect our health and save lives. Keep a social distance, wear the face mask, stay more at home without big gathering and frequent contacts with lots of people, quarantine, isolation and vaccination, COVID outbreak has greatly changed our life in all ways.

Whatever the reasons behind the COVID 19, we need to learn from such a big lesson, don’t be egocentric, share the world equally and live with birds, mammal and wildlife together. Let’s raise more environmental awareness, respect more nature and biodiversity, take responsibility for our planet and ourselves most importantly. It’s the time for people to be fully aware of the health risks with the ignorant behaviors and uncaring mindsets, better understand about nature, animals, food chain and ecologic system. Speaking science and health, respecting nature and caring all lives just mean to protecting ourselves.

We all know how important is the ecology balance between people, nature and animals, most of people like birds and animals. My mom and I visited a bird museum in China, discovered different kinds of birds and their interesting facts, my mom also played some interactive games with some kids…very fun experience of learning birds and animal friends. Here’s a video about this visiting tour, enjoy!

Doing business with cultural diversity

May is one of the most busy and beautiful months of the year. Mother’s day, World Press Freedom day, Endangered Species day and International Day for Biological Diversity, a long list of important days can be found throughout the month of May, there’s also the ongoing month-long celebration like the following one.

The Asian Pacific Heritage celebration is a time to honor and appreciate Asian heritage and contributions to the growing and prosperous communities within North America. This is an opportunity for people to celebrate the multicultural heritage and explore Pan Asian history and traditions in Arts, culture and business. People like May as the month of sunshine and flowers, in UK it’s National Smile Month, and it’s commemorative month of Asian Pacific Heritage across North America, in the US it’s called Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, in Canada it’s simply called Asian Heritage Month.

Culture matters

When we say Asia, what comes to your mind firstly? Panda, green tea or lotus…Check out some Asian cultural icons and find out their meanings in oriental traditions and philosophy. Many Asian people see green tea as green mindset. Tea culture has thousands years of history in Asia. Over a thousand varieties of tea can be found in Eastern Asia and beyond, one of the main types is green tea. With mild smell and light taste in general, green tea has spread across the oceans from Asia to the world. Behind its popularity and health benefits of drinking, people really enjoy the oriental culture and traditions such as mindfulness, meditation, peace and harmony.

Be like a lotus, let the beauty of your heart speak, be grateful to the mud, water, air and the light.
~ Amit Ray, Indian author and spiritual master

Everything in nature has a spirit, and lotus is one of the most spiritual symbols with profound cultural meanings. The lotus is to the East, as the rose is to the West.¹ Lotus is a summer flower that rises from the muddy water and blooms gracefully like a pure beauty. In Eastern cultures, people love lotus for its purity and serenity with long and deep roots in the mud. Live like the lotus flower, be enlightened by peace and harmony: the deeper root you have, the stronger growing you are.

Culture connects us

Every culture has its profound identity and deep root through the generations, it connects people, enriches our life and defines our communities from historical footprints to cultural milestones. From Asian people to Asian community, we have seen many success stories coming from this diverse, vibrant and growing community in all aspects of life.

With the importance of transmitting culture and heritage across generations, Asian descendants and immigrants contribute actively their talent to the thriving and diverse society. To emphasize the valuable contributions by women of Asian descent, here are some notable Asian figures who have made a significant impact in different fields of arts, culture, sports, entrepreneurship and business.

A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people.
–Mahatma Gandhi

Since 3 decades, Asian American writer Amy Tan has written some stories about Chinese immigrants and how they embraced Chinese heritage. Her best seller The Joy Luck Club explores Chinese American experience, Chinese culture and family relationships between two generations. As the former Governor General of Canada, Asian Canadian Adrienne Clarkson, has played an active role in multicultural environment with a long and successful career in broadcasting from journalist to arts show producer.

The award-winning geneticist and broadcaster David Suzuki is widely recognized as a world leader in sustainable ecology and environmental protection. He has received numerous honors and awards throughout the lifetime, his work, documentaries and books about nature and the environment are inspiring others “to find the ways for society to live in balance with the natural world that does sustain us.”

CEO of Google, Sundar Pichai grew up in India, studied at Stanford University, and has worked at Google to the top is a remarkable personal journey and success story to inspire many people. The professional basketball player Jeremy Lin is one of the few Asian Americans to play in the NBA with impressive athletic achievements through the years. Talented and humble, he represents a younger generation of Asian descent with higher education background and influential public image today.

David        Jeremy Lin

From the East to the West

The beauty of the world lies in the diversity of its people, and the beauty of life is in living it with different traditions and cultures. Open, pacific and colorful, Asian culture is well characterized by the peaceful mindset and vibrant spirit. As one of Asian culture icons, Asian food is extremely popular across North America. Noodles, General Tso’s Chicken, sushi and fortune cookies…have a look at some famous Asian food and learn more about Eastern cuisine and culture in good smells!

General Tso’s chicken is sweet and deep-fried chicken dish and almost universally available in North American Chinese restaurants. It’s named after a Chinese military leader in the history, and the origin of the dish can be traced back to over 200 years ago with the stories connecting to Chinese traditions and history. The making of dish replicates traditional Chinese cuisine of Hunan province, it’s lightly battered and covered in a mildly spicy sweet & sour sauce in a way that adapts the recipe to fit the western taste. No doubt this chicken dish represents a typical Asian American experience about cultural connections and integration.

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Healthy and fresh, sushi is another typical Asian food combined with a variety of ingredients such as cooked rice, seaweed, seafood, vegetables and more. As many other Asian cuisine, the sushi culture is rooted in Eastern traditions and Japanese lifestyle. Traditionally, sushi is served on wooden platter along with soy sauce, pickled and sliced ginger, wasabi and chopsticks. With a colorful presentation and aesthetic style, making sushi is more like crafting a work of art with different combinations and recipes. In North America, the western-style sushi has evolved to become something completely different from its Japanese origins. By inventing some new types like brown rice sushi and latin flavored sushi burritos, sushi art has become more and more interesting and creative with mixed cultural influences.

How can we talk about Asian cuisine without noodles? Unlike Italian pasta, Asian noodles are typically handmade from fresh dough which is stretched, extruded, rolled and cut into a long and thin shape. As a staple food originated in China, noodle is a symbolic cuisine of representing Chinese culture and traditions everywhere. In the animated movie series of Kung Fu Panda, Panda Po had a dream about noodles but finally becomes a Kung Fu warrior, and his father Mr. Ping is master of noodles having a secret ingredient to make noodles and run the shop…From movies to real life, making noodles is an art of perfection with passion and inspiration behind its long history and culture.

Fortune cookies are another staple of Chinese cuisine in Chinese restaurants within North America, they’re crispy and sugary wafers and folded around a small slop of paper written with a so-called lucky message. People love cracking it to open one of them at the end of a meal, be delighted or surprised to read the words: good things come in invisible packages, accept the next proposition you hear….whatever is wisdom quote, Confucius phrase or vague expression, it’s fun and entertaining by the end. Now this bite-sized dessert has become an iconic symbol in North American culture, inspiring many businesses and cross-cultural communication between the East and the West.

Cultural diversity in business

Over the last 2 centuries, immigrants have journeyed to North America from all parts of Asia, they bring in a rich cultural heritage of many languages, ethnicities and traditions. Now more than 200 million people of Asian decent are living on this land, mainly Chinese, Indian, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, Indonesians and Mongolian etc. Like many diverse communities out there, Asian Pacific communities have a vibrant entrepreneurial spirit that continues to grow and strengthen local economy.

Natural diversity is essential for a healthy ecosystem, and cultural diversity is in the lifeblood of vibrant economy. By integrating into local communities, the emigrated Asian Pacific Islander people have made various achievements in every aspect of life including entrepreneurship and business. In the US alone, there are 1.5 million Asian American Pacific Islander – owned businesses, with more than 500 billion of sales and 2.8 million workers, they are certainly fueling job creation and strengthening local communities and American economy.

Cultural differences makes the world more complex and interesting, especially when it comes to some differences between Eastern and Western cultures. Eastern culture is deeply rooted in its long history of traditions and based on a wide variety of concepts and philosophies from Confucianism, Tai Chi to Yin and Yang. Extremely complicated and profound, it emphasizes the balance of Yin-Yang and highlights the harmony through the energy movements in tranquility of Tai Chi.

Western culture has its roots in Christianity and European civilization, it has developed many themes and traditions in arts, humanities, philosophies and scientific evolutions. Based on logical and rational concepts, it focuses on the values of legal system and innovative creation through technological revolutions and discoveries along the way. Physically and culturally, Asian descendants and immigrants are different and identified with oriental colors, Asian traditions and pacific culture, but we all represent the big image of multicultural heritage, belong to the culturally diverse and prosperous communities.

The East is East and the West is West, neither is better nor worse than the other. In global community and digital age, the cultural integration and diversity are more important than ever, a good understanding of both cultures is truly practical and valuable in doing business effectively. Diversity is colorful, beautiful and powerful with the strength to broaden our mind, create the opportunity and encourage people to reach their full potential and participate positively in all aspects of life from communities to business.

Culture connects us, it brings people together to celebrate our rich and cultural heritage and promote the harmony in our communities.

To the end, culture is a tool of communication by all measures, it’s a great way of learning from each other and understand the world. Identity, language, tradition and heritage…culture is everywhere, it enriches and enlightens people’s lives from hearts to souls. In the multicultural environment, cross-cultural communication is effective for people to collaborate and grow together since it’s a creative process to interact and share with different perspectives through an open and dynamic conversation. Culture inspires people, it reminds us that we always have the power to change ourselves and make the world a better place.

See the future, be the change

Being entrepreneur is never easy, and the business world never stops changing. We say once you step into the entrepreneurial world, you can only go forward to follow your dream and constantly stay competitive in the changing global environment. It’s the lifelong learning and never-ending journey for entrepreneurs to pursue the goals and success.

Today we’re in digital age, and the digital economy has transformed the world with many growing tech companies. China-based ecommerce giant Alibaba hosted its biggest ever US event in Detroit last week. Including Jack Ma, Charlie Rose, David Abney, Lisa Ling and more featured speakers, about total 60 presenters and panelists from inside and outside of Alibaba talked about the China opportunity in front of a big crowd over 3000 entrepreneurs and SME owners across the North America. All is about how to source from China and sell to China with digital technologies and power.

The Internet, big data and mobile innovation….the fast-changing technology offers so much opportunities for the business to grow rapidly and globally. In the era of digital transformation, digitalization can be a powerful tool to win the world. We have so-called Big 5 of digital economy – Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook, and we also have so-called Big 7 tech companies that really control big data – Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu. Digital is everything, and tech companies are literally leading the world.

Looking at now and the future, some businesses that master digital technologies are getting a big piece of cake in the market. As one of top tech companies in China, Alibaba manages multiple businesses and platforms for different markets, such as the consumer-to-consumer marketplace Taobao, the business-to-consumer T-mall, and the business-to-business Alibaba.com, plus digital media and entertainment, online banking and a cloud computing service, it’s all in one. Having been called as China’s Amazon, Alibaba identifies itself more like an ecosystem to be different from the Amazon model. Alibaba’s CMO Chris Tung said that unlike Amazon as shopping channel to make the profit margin, Alibaba services as a marketplace, a bridge between the seller and the buyer through consumer data. The chairman of Alibaba Jack Ma also differences the 2 companies: “Amazon is an ecommerce company, we are not. We help other companies become ecommerce companies.”

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“Thinking of Alibaba as a combination of Google, Facebook and Amazon…” Tung made a point about Alibaba’s global popularity in many countries like Russia and Southeast Asia with a presence in some countries in Europe and South America. Recently a report was published about Chinese consumers and their online shopping habits. Some very interesting data is shown the online shopping differences between the west and China. In the west, people are more likely searching online sources and going different platforms for buying experience. And in China, people are more dominated with online exploring and discovering on 1 or 2 large platforms for shopping experience. With digital power and platforms, people go online for everything: education, trendy content, entertainment, shopping and sharing on social media. From the west to the east, living in digital environment with a digital-oriented lifestyle is now and future.

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Digital makes life easy, and also raises the challenges to be able to succeed in everyday life. To win or to lose, to succeed or to fail…the stories about entrepreneurship keep going around in the business world:

Today will be terrible, tomorrow even worse;
but the day after will be beautiful.
Most companies die tomorrow night.
~Jack Ma

The struggling business can be real, entrepreneurs need a digital strategy to empower their businesses, and keep up with technology for the future. Be digital, be the change, it’s now or never, just like the famous abstract of “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only. 

From Amazon to Alibaba, from big companies to small business, digital is powerful and disrupting everything, digital transformation is now and future. On the past Gateway’17 event,Jack Ma presented the Chinese dream to US sellers about cross-border business opportunities in China, and closed his an hour long keynote talk with a compelling message:

Small companies will be the future…
Embrace the change, see the future,
change yourself, don’t miss the chance!

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