1 year on

I can barely believe that it's been almost a year since I began this blog.

Here are some highlights of the last 12 months:

The first trimester was a hard slog, Organisational Behaviour, Marketing Operations the marketing simulator 'MarkOps', Accounting, Pro-forma statements was on the menu and more than one had indigestion! Luckily each subject was paced a month apart but we had numerous overlapping projects to hand up in between seminars.

Last November we spent 10 days in Cape Town, South Africa doing a very enriching seminar on 'Marketing in an emerging economy' in the University of Stellenbosch Business School.
As part of our tour we spent a day in Khayelitsha, the largest Township in South Africa on the outskirts of Cape Town. I can safely say that all our 'promo' were deeply touched by our short visit. Instead of fear and crime we found hope, warmth, courage and generosity. The little black kids were very curious and a little rowdy. I think it was the first time they'd seen an asian in their neighbourhood and so some of the started to follow me around and call me 'China'. (I recently learned from a South African acquaintance that 'China' also means 'friend').

In Vicky's Bed & Breakfast we met the astonishing Vicky whom frustrated at the situation of her people and the suffering of young abandoned children, decided to take control of her life. She put herself through teaching college and set up her little association to house, feed, clothe, educate any abandoned children she comes across. Her modest business now generates income from visitors to the township as well as from donations. She does all this without any government aid because her premised are deemed too 'over-crowded' to be officially recognised. During our visit she had some of her older children (4-5 years old) sing some beatles songs for us! We thanked them by singing some verses of 'Frère Jacques' to them, which went down quite well with the kids.

We also spent quite some time in the Lourensford Wine Estate, some 4000 Hectares of which a large section is dedicated to producing premium and ultra-premium wines. A major part of our case work involved (re)positioning their brand and giving them advice on their communications strategies. Our little work group of 5 worked solidly for 12 straight hours to put together our presentation for the next day on the estate where we were to present our findings to their CEO and Marketing Director. It was nerve wracking!

As a reward for all our hard work we were treated to Cape Town's finest fish n'chips lunch a good hours drive from the Stellenbosch campus. Fish n'chips like the Irish or British love it. My mouth is watering as I type...yummy.

I think everyone in our group was struck by the stark contrast in the living standards in Cape Town. From the ultra-poor to the ultra-rich within a 1 hour coach trip. It was disconcerting to see such a huge disparity within the same country - within the same city. Seeing black workers sleeping under the the trees lining the giant vineyards sheltering themselves from the noon sun reminded me of the series 'ROOTS'.

Apartheid is over but a new separation based on class has emerged. There are poor whites and rich blacks. And 'coloureds'. 'Coloureds' are typically decendants of servants and slaves brought into South Africa from Indonesia. The presidential elections due next year are cause for concern and could destablise the delicate social and economic fabric of the new South Africa.


But despite the contrasting way of life, everybody is optimistic about the future. The new black middleclass or so called 'Black Diamonds' now account for about 50% of Cape Town's wealth but represent about 90% of the entire population. They are typically college-educated, travel internationally for work, have adsl at home, read the Sunday Times and believe that education leads to a better quality of life. 'Education is the key to life' is a popular slogan in townships. They certainly got that right.