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About the Rat
Asian Business Strategy & Street Intelligence Ezine

Now to top it all off he's in trouble with his mom, according to the Bangkok Post.

Mrs Thuan, 87, told a group of well wishes at her home in Trang that she hadn't thought about him for some time "because I haven't seen him, nor has he made a call".

She said the Prime Minister had not returned home for two months now.

The family, and usually enormous extended ones, is sacred to almost all Asian cultures. Chinese family companies, small and large were the driving force for the emergence of Asia and in a regions where social security is non-existant or very limited, families are expected to look after themselves. It is a major focus of Confucianism, and "Family cultures" are often referred to in mission statements of leading companies. In business, often you find that subcontractors with your agent or supplier are often family members.

And socially, many unfortunate foreigners have found out that the new wife they previously assumed to be an orphan turned out to have a family, quite a big one in fact. .. And quite an unhealthy one as well, with certain relatives getting sick regularly, and sometimes dying more than once, entailing major funeral and hospital expenses.

..But here of course.. you all look after one another and "take care".. if they are family...

So its the time to remember your families. And as I scuttle off to ring Mama Rat, remember that cry of another alien in a foreign culture...

CALL HOME!