At 05:05 PM 7/1/2006,  Francois-Xavier Nsenga wrote
>
>
>True, I agree with Nicola, such a complex issue 
>of Design in China or anywhere else cannot, and 
>should not, be reduced to a mere issue of language.
>
>....
>
>All this to remind us all briefly that we 
>Designers, at a certain level of profesional 
>practice (bestowed through appropriate 
>University level training), should be aware and 
>imperatively deal AS WELL with of all the 
>"ethical -and political- confrontations" 
>involved in any artifact production. Time is up 
>now not to stay any longer ONLY on our drawing 
>boards, our Autocad computer screens, our 
>studios, worrying whether we should or not learn 
>such or such other language and the like in 
>order to remain active and competitive in the now worldwide market of Design.
>
>We rather should be seriously "envisionning" and 
>carefully articulating our intervention 
>strategies in the public, private, community 
>corporate headquarters rooms at home and at the 
>international scene. Decisions about our jobs 
>and our future, individually as well as 
>collectively as a trade, are currently being 
>taken by others, almost entirely in our absence, 
>both here in the West, in China, and in most 
>other countries as well, and here we are chating 
>about such secondary issues like language...!


  I can understand the frustration and probably 
my fault was to get worked up about language 
issue. So sincere apologies there on my part. I 
was trying to get points out but was concerned 
about how the global group of people here on the 
forum would feel.  But part of the future 
strategy is about learning the language, albeit a 
long term strategy. The short term remedies are 
to understand how the culture of working, 
learning, and businesses are doing and  more 
importantly how one would fine tuned themselves 
to that change. Along with it are the issue where 
how Chinese in different parts of the country 
would see and want out of a product/service. That 
would involve how people think and perceive about 
forms and traditional preferences for certain 
objects of desire. On a Marco level, the 
government strategies towards how a country 
should take shape to grow with the rise of China. 
How do you work along with China or you could 
work against China. That would be up to the individual.

The way the Tigers in South East Asia came up in 
30-40 years time are banked on really sheer hard 
work. I can't say for the other countries but in 
the case of Singapore, it was really the use of 
the English language that put the country with no 
resources to where it is today. Today the country 
expands the importance of the Chinese language 
further aiming to produce people who know China's 
culture inside out as that is the only way to win 
businesses and sustain economy.  In our case, we 
cannot fight China. Today they may be learning 
from us,which looks absurd since its about a big 
country looking to a small one. But in say 30-50 
years down the road, we will have to look up to 
them.  In the same time, we are trying to develop 
niche areas of innovation on our own. The only 
way to survive is creativity. That is why Thomas 
Friedman was invited here last year.

Education strategy, thinking etc are in the 
process of change. But I personally think we are 
still running short of time... and I really think 
the change has to be more dramatic than this......

Its been raining for the whole day, but I will still go out and do my work,
Karen Fu









>
>François
>Montreal
>