When your 6 inch is the only thing that matters….

It’s 6 am and a working Monday!  You stretch your arm out to reach for your smart phone. As you lay on your bed in between sleep and being vaguely awake, the super sharp  6 inch screen lights up your dark room and just a split second before you partially lift your right eye lid, your phone vibrates in a zig zag motion to indicate a dozen notifications from Whatsapp, Clash of Clans , Facebook and  Instagram.  You are just half way through and darn it’s 620am, time do your thing before you head out to the office.

Through out of the day, you will be accessing a few apps every now and then, namely Waze, Uber, your favourite shopping app, Whatsapp, Paypal, Bloomberg and Facebook. It is almost impossible to keep yourself away from these apps, however if you succeed to do so, I would not congratulate you, instead I would advise you to switch to a USD 15 phone and revert back to sms and phone calling.

Ladies & gentlemen, boys & girls, welcome to the 21st century! And you are highly recommended to do things the 21st century way!

Smart phone growth throughout the globe has been phenomenal, I recall just about 17 years ago, when I was probably a handful Malaysian’s who owned a the Palm V PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) and boy I used to get the gawks, whilst in university, some lecturers even thought I was playing games.

Palm V PDA

5 years later when I got the Sony Clie PEG – UX50, the gawks even became more prominent and with my patchy beard, which did not help in promoting the clean image i hoped for ,many of my friends thought I was probably busy detonating a bomb.

Sony Clie PEG- UX 50

On a more serious note, in the time and age we live today, being isolated from our smartphones is almost impossible; because we have grown to be dependent on the services and benefits it offers. The smartphone does offer some pretty good benefits albeit some of the criticism observed.

For starters,  it gives us - convenience in communicating and expressing thoughts, a platform to shop, it's a mini entertainment jukebox and 24-7-365 news portal keeping us informed on global news.  Getting acquainted with information has never been easier!

Just like how some thought in the past on the television; the “devil’s box”, the smartphone is probably getting the criticism just like how the television did some 25 years ago. Like most other things, we must use this tool in moderation.

Those of us who remember Lindsay Lohan’s statement released post her troubled moments-  “ Live every day to the fullest – in moderation”, is perhaps the best advice offered till date by this celebrity and i think you should follow it too.

If you find yourself doing more than 3 of the 7 below, it’s probably time you reconnect with earth the good old fashioned way:

1. You only connect through your phone
   • Your idea of connecting and communicating is limited to social media
2. You text throughout dinner
   • Socialising is defined as exchanging thoughts and emotions face to face, if you find yourself exchanging tweets whilst having dinner with friends and family, perhaps it’s time you dined alone as you are not doing yourself any favours
3. You miss important conversations
   • Whilst you are doing that thing on your phone, and you find yourself unable to pay attention to the conversations on earth because you are simply busy touching your 6 inch, you begin to lose the human connection
4. Normal conversations are a challenge
   • If one is guilty as point 1,2 and 3, you would soon realize over time that having a normal conversation does not feel normal anymore. Conversations become awkward and seeing real facial expressions is not as cool as the pixelated version. Scarily you even begin to find Adam Sandler's Pixels the most realistic movie you ever watched!
5. You need your phone
   • There was a time where the mobile phone just stayed with you when you were out of your home,so that your loved ones could contact you with ease. However if you find yourself having withdrawal symptoms,the moment you leave your phone for a charge, well you can safely say that you are a smart phone addict
6. You become detached
   • When you become immersed in the virtual world , you would soon realize that you prefer to remain in the virtual world, none of your real relationships matter anymore in fact everything else is quickly becoming a bore
7. People keep repeating themselves
   • How often do you find your family and friends repeat themselves that you were on your phone? Whilst it sounds annoying to you but just imagine how they feel being ignored? At this stage, the only thing that matters is your near 6 inch smartphone

Whether you are a casual smartphone user or an addict, the ultimate decision is yours to make. But if you find the need to protect your smartphone, i have got a recommendation; do check out the Trendy County Automated Store at a transport hub near you for the latest collection of high quality phone covers and powerbanks to keep your smartphone in spanking good shape. Whilst at it, do give yourself a treat by checking out the coloured contact lenses and very cool shades by trying the 3D-Try on feature for a totally virtual experience.

Trendy County Automated Store KLIA

Virtual 3D try on @ Trendy County Automated Store

Virtual 3D try on @ Trendy County Automated Store

The age of toxic personalities

It was a hazy Sunday afternoon here in Kuala Lumpur , API index > 250 and staying indoors seemed to be my best bet.  Whilst sipping on Spritzer, I tuned in to Radiotunes and chose my favourite jazz station “Smooth Nova Bossa” and ironically Maria Augusta’s track  “Smoke gets in your eyes” was being aired, an expression of my exact thoughts, live from my android app, technology is indeed advanced just like the automated store  i visited some days back, as it shouted- hey charming!

Trendy County Automated Store @ KLIA

I moved over to my subscribed readings and came across an interesting article; “8 toxic types of people you should keep out of your life”, and you probably are able to guess the types, however for the sake of clarity, I am summarizing it as below:

1. Those who are judgmental
2. Those who are envious
3. Those who are control freaks
4. Those who arrogant
5. Those who are victims
6. Those who are negative nancies
7. Those who are liars
8. Those who are gossipers

Without reaching out to my crystal ball, my gut tells me that you are in agreement as you gently nod your head. From a personal stand point there are 2 more types that we should ideally stay away from:

9. Those who fail to keep their promise (subset of liars)
10. Those who only think about themselves

Now let’s focus to somewhere closer to my heart; Malaysia, a land of approximately 30M people comprising of 3 distinct cultures, a former British colony; strategically located in South East Asia, rich in natural resources like crude and palm oil and has been boasting a GDP growth of 4 to 6% in the last 10 years mainly arising from service, manufacturing and the construction industry. Sounds pretty impressive doesn’t it?  On the flipside, Malaysia also had its fair share of scrutiny from the media and west; three most prominent topics were as follows:

• The iron fist former prime minister – Tun Dato Sri Mahathir Mohd with his radical views and his infamous debate with George Soros who apparently single handedly devalued the ringgit in the late 90’s
• The infamous quota system to protect the majority from the minority
• The sodomiser – Anwar Ibrahim

In 2014, Malaysia probably became the first country in the history of mankind to have 3 crises in the aviation industry which was not only a disturbing experience but a very tormenting one for many. One can only imagine the mental torcher the family members of the victims went through, as the coverage during the MH 370 crisis was not only poorly delivered but was inconclusive and vague in a very Malaysian way.  To the common Malaysian, it was probably another instance where things were handled the “Malaysian Way” similar to the elections in 2013, but to the global media, investors and prospective investors it sent a very different message. A message, that reflected poorly on the leadership regime in Malaysia. This was further amplified in 2015, by allegations of USD 700M corruption which was responded to as “Donation” by the country’s political regime and the USD 10B operational losses from 1 Malaysian Development Board whose primary objective was to establish long term strategic objectives that later was known to have gone horribly wrong ! With such allegations and very little effort of retaliation by the incumbent prime minister, it only suggested the obvious, resulting in a moment of remorse for most of us in Malaysia.

This did not end here, allegations of corruption, leadership incompetency, racial disintegration amongst a small group of individuals, near shallow comments released by the incumbent government officials and the recent hire & fire of righteous government officials are just one of the many different ways, Malaysia invited her self into more trouble to an already troubled Malaysia.

It is time for a reform, not just any type, a political reform to get things back on track. We have come this far and there is no turning back. More importantly from a principle standpoint, the future and fate of 30M people can’t rest in a handful of people, definitely not in this time and age.

It does not take much effort to imagine what the incumbent regime is probably thinking, “give it time and we be back on track”. That’s certainly one way of solving the problem on hand,  worked in the past but i am doubtful it would work this time. The last thing Malaysia needs right now is another fluff.

Now returning back to the earlier part of this blog, the “ 8 toxic types of  people you should keep out of your life”, well if I am to take the shared examples as the gospel truth, the shared examples suggest behavioral traits of point 3,7, 9 and 10.

Many are in the view that there is a meaningful relationship between personality and values, and frankly my experience being in the corporate world suggests the same. To define this whole relationship between values and personality, let’s break this to meaningful chunks and let’s try to understand it well.

“Values” are defined as principles or behaviours that one believes in and “Personality” on the other hand is a combination of qualities (derived from principles and beliefs).

It will begin to get apparent that values and personality are linked and a critical ingredient when it comes to leadership, let it be leadership at home, school, office and more importantly in the context of leading a country.

When I was much younger and when I first heard about the Lewinsky scandal with Bill Clinton, I did not really see the hype, being a teenager I quickly got back to listening to “The man who sold the world” by Nirvana with the thought that Bill was a good leader  , gave US the boost it needed in terms of  an economic  perspective, and that was really what mattered most. It was years later whilst in the final year of my undergraduate degree, I reflected and soon realized why it was not socially acceptable and frankly , could not bring myself to readily accept the conclusion i made on this subject years ago.

Value based leadership would need to be theme for Malaysia in the next elections by 2018, in my many years of employment, performing various roles, I have met and spoken with many leaders whom I felt practiced, value based leadership suggesting there is no shortage of such individuals in Malaysia. Interestingly, when I observed the players in the political regime, such individuals are scarce and often overshadowed by individuals who speak but not their minds, but to appease others to garner more support for a personal agenda and ignore objectivity altogether.

The opposition party in 2013 whose main objective was to bring “change”, was unsuccessful to win the majority vote, however successfully narrowed the gap with a 40% win. Today 2 years later and with Anwar Ibrahim back in the cell unfortunately for sodomy, the party gives a very a dim hope on "change". At best the opposition party is able to challenge the ruling party but any ability to bring a significant change is limited to how the constitution has been written by the incumbent party, that is to indirectly to provide a handful of individuals sole authority. Without authority and allocation of funds, it is almost impossible even for a marvel character hero to bring any meaningful change when it comes to the political playing field.

What does this suggest? A doom and gloom situation? Certainly NOT. There is definitely hope, one should never stop hoping however it is a call for action, a call for Malaysians like you and me to step up and do our part to make a difference. For those of us, who believe that they have what it takes to get things on track, now is your time to make that difference and take on the role, for those of us who are opinionated, start sharing your opinions on channels where you can be heard and for the rest of us who like reading blogs and being on social media please  use your influence to promote individuals who demonstrate the right behavior.

Whilst you are doing that and about to fly out of Malaysia for a short holiday to reflect on this blog but find your mobile phone running out of charge, do check this innovative store – Trendy County Automated Store and you may meet its founders who are also very passionate about Malaysia.

Trendy County Automated KLIA Departure Hall

Source

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/246016

http://www.forbes.com/2011/04/26/values-based-leadership.html

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/malaysia/gdp-growth-annual

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Soros

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/malaysia-s-pakatan-rakyat/1922156.html

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-16440290

If the retail business in Malaysia was rejigged, it would sound something like this…

Many of us in Malaysia would remember the tune of “Malaysia Truly Asia” vividly in our minds, for many it gives them a sense  of pride, for some a sense of belonging and for others bragging rights as it reflects union amongst its many races, customs and cultures, deriving a fusion experience like no other.

Apart from its scenic beaches and sumptuous gastronomic experiences, the campaign also promotes Malaysia as a “Shopping Haven”.  Some of us in Klang Valley and frequent goers to Bukit Bintang would remember seeing a signage that reads “BBKLCC A Shoppers Haven” located at the entrance of Bukit Bintang.

Whilst I do agree that our shopping infrastructure in Malaysia is very decent,  as we have a number of classy malls. To name a few; KLCC, Pavilion, Gardens, Lot 10 and Sunway Pyramid that give a premium experience whilst being relatively friendly to our pockets with a wide variety of outlets and eateries (if compared to global standards). On the flip side, there are also outlets that are more street like in nature and profit from counterfeit & low-end products. Whilst this maybe a near nirvana like experience for some, but for many including myself, it taints the whole promise from a tourism perspective, negating the haven experience as one was promised in the campaign. Frankly, to the common tourist it would be almost impossible to differentiate the shopping experience in Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok or Jakarta.

Street Retailing in Kuala Lumpur

I am not suggesting to do away with street retailing, we should maintain it, as it caters the need of a specific crowd, what I would like to suggest is to cap it and focus in giving a new shopping experience, a different type of experience that utilizes on our heavily invested technology platform effectively and also emits vibes of innovation similar to what one feels in Japan, Korea or even in Singapore.

Smart Vending Machine in Japan capable to charge an electric car

So my question today, Malaysia has seen its fair share of progress but why is shopping still so analog? Why manned kiosks and retail outlets still are the preferred mode of shopping?  Why do we like to spend time to bargain, at the night market and feel the adrenaline rush when we see huge signage in red that reads “ 50%  or better still 88 % discount” when knowing very well it is probably a catch? Why do we still like to load our cars with heaps of people and get stuck in traffic and later in the car park, rant about it and then continue doing the same weekend after weekend? There must another way to derive joy from shopping.

Is this because there isn’t really any other way to shop apart from kiosks, hypermarkets, shopping malls and retail outlets? What about e-Commerce, with its plethora of sites such as Lazada, Zalora, 11 Street, Fashion Vallet and Lelong, what is missing here? Or is this a case that Malaysian’s still do not fully trust these digital platforms? Or do Malaysian's find e-Commerce boring and like the feeling to just step out of their homes?

Like the retail industry in developed nations, it is time for Malaysian retailers to consider an omnichannel retail strategy and moving away from the “Flintstone” era and move up to the league of the “Jetsons” when it comes to retailing. Our cars are equipped with touch screens and our highly capable phones have the ability to keep track of everything we do, the world has progressed however we still have retail outlets with lazy sales assistants screaming “cheap sale, cheap sale, buy 1 free 2” every now and then. Retail in Malaysia seriously needs a makeover!

On a more serious note, I am in the view that in the next 5 years, retailers in Malaysia would need to innovate to meet the new demands of consumers, you will soon know what I mean, once you reflect on the below trends in Malaysia:

1. Encouraging behavioural demographics
   1. Smart phone penetration > 50%
   2. Internet penetration> 67%
   3. 80% of 30M people in Malaysia are between 15 to 45
   4. Purchasing decision > RM 500 is greatly influenced by reviews
   5. 16M Malaysians spend at least 2 hours a day on social media
   6. 40% of e-Commerce consumers purchased their last product on their mobile phone
2. The service, convenience and experience factor is beginning to prevail over price

Many believe that brick and mortar outlets are here to stay; instead what will change is the addition of new sales channels a retailer can adopt to increase its competitiveness in the world of disruptive innovation. e-Commerce is certainly an option here.

Keeping that in mind, let’s examine what are the possible omnichannel platforms retailers in Malaysia could consider to give the ultimate shopping experience:

Trendy County Automated KLIA Departure Hall

1. The Smart Vending Machine
   1. As the name suggests or some even call it the "Automated Store”, it is the smarter sibling of the traditional vending machine that only knew 2 things really, distributing sugar based drinks and pushing unhealthy snacks
   2. The automated store operates 24 hours a day, does not need to be manned and has the ability to provide a rich interactive platform to shop & pay, similar to one would see on an Android and iOS phone. Unlike e-Commerce it gives consumers instant gratification however SKU range is confined
   3. Japan, Europe and the USA are leading the way in adopting this technology whilst Intel and SAP are  continuously developing new capabilities in this space
   4. The platform gives the ability to interact via social media and provides real-time feedback on a product or an experience
   5. Last but not least, it is a metaphoric representation of the “Jetsons” era via its “cool” features such as 3D try on, providing the possibility to accommodate for fashion based products and a whole lot more, only limited by our imagination

Virtual 3D try on @ Trendy County Automated Store KLIA

2.  QR Shopping
   1. A hype in Korea and often located at high traffic locations where consumers download an application on their smart phone, snap the barcode of the required products, finalise the order whilst walking to their destination
   2. It is convenient, saves time and effective for time poor cash rich type of consumers
   3. Order is delivered hours later at the office or mail boxes, works well with grocery
   4. Check it out at Espresso Lab Taman Melawati

3. Digital Retail Outlet
   1. Traditional brick and mortar outlets enhanced with the use of technology, reducing the need of assistants , improving service delivery and the customer experience
   2. The platform is smart enough to determine your preference, and recommend a product and if you choose to know more about a product, just click or swipe away
   3. Choose your product, swipe your card or tap your smart phone and be greeted by a friendly sales assistant who hands you the product with a big smile, it will be all about that smile and experience from now onwards, nothing else will really matter

So do reflect on this blog whilst having your favourite cup of coffee. While you are doing that, I will get back to singing, well more like mimicking the modified version of the 1966 Beach Boys track in the context of retail, so here it goes , here it goes, goes ,goes “wouldn’t it be nice to shop together, in a world where we belong, wouldn’t it be nice to shop together, in a world full of digital stores, and it is gonna make that things so much better”….

Source

https://hbr.org/2011/12/the-future-of-shopping

http://www.vending-europe.eu/en/intel-announces-retail-gateway-for-intelligent-vending-at-venditalia-2015.html?cmp_id=66&news_id=974

http://news.sap.com/tech-trends-sap-changing-face-vending-machines/

http://www.ecommercemilo.com/2014/08/20-ecommerce-facts-southeast-asia.html#.VgZTAsuqqko