THE SMART OPTION
In the article about smart cards (Smart Cash, May 2001) you failed to mention two examples of smart ID cards: Finland and Hong Kong.
Finland was the first (and is probably still the only) country to issue smart ID cards to its citizens. This also means that some Finnish companies have the technology and a working reference of a large-scale smart card.
Finland also faces the chicken-and-egg dilemma. It is not mandatory in Finland to carry an ID card, which means that there are relatively few people who have acquired it, partly because there are not enough services connected to the card. And there are not enough services connected to it, because there are not enough users.
Hong Kong has decided to issue smart ID cards to all of its inhabitants.
Initial funding for the project has already been approved. As the ID card is mandatory in Hong Kong, this will probably be the largest smart card issue so far. The Hong Kong authorities are preparing the project in co-operation with, for example, Finnish authorities and companies.
- ILKKA HEISKANEN, Consul General of Finland, Hong Kong
BACK TO BASICS
Malcolm Surry (Pundit, May) claims: "Almost 96% of them [Americans] still have jobs." Mr Surry wrongly assumes that a 4% unemployment rate equals a 96% employment rate. If 4% of Americans are unemployed, 96% are working, then what percentage are retired, students or homemakers not working outside the home? Zero. Clearly this is not the case. Back to Economics 101 for Mr Surry.
- MARK McCRACKEN, Osaka, Japan
ONE.99 NOT THE FIRST
I am writing regarding James Lee's article Cheap and Cheerful (Eastern Front, May).
I beg to differ on the following statement by the owner of the One.99 Shop chain in Singapore, Nanz Chong-Komo: "I felt that since there was no such concept in Singapore or anywhere in Asia, it would work; it was a gut feeling."
When I was in Japan around the end of 1994, there were already these "¥100 Shops" selling all the merchandise at ¥100 each. Recently, when I was in Japan in 2000, I patronised a ¥100 sushi bar (conveyor type).
I have no doubt that Chong-Komo started the idea in Singapore, and indeed very successfully, but to say "no such concept existed in Asia", I cannot agree.
- MICHAEL CHAN, Singapore
BEST BOOKS PLEASE
I find all the articles in Asian Business very interesting. However, I'm writing to you to see if you could feature, in your Bookmark section, a roundup of the best business books. I understand this would be a difficult task given the amount of books written on this vast subject.
Perhaps you could contact several leading business book publishers and ask what their top-selling business books were in the past decade or century.
Another alternative would be to have some kind of survey, perhaps published in your magazine or on your website, where your readers could submit their choices. Yet another suggestion could be to interview business leaders throughout Asia and ask which books have inspired them and which books they consider to be business "bibles".
I think a list like this would be an invaluable source for those just starting out as entrepreneurs, as well as proving useful to veterans who would benefit from learning about new trends.
- JOSIE LEIKING, Malaysia