Crossroads

"It's not personal, It's strictly business."

Michael Corleone, played by Al Pacino, immortalized these words in the film 'Godfather'.

And this was what I learnt in the organization and execution of my 'tango summer workshops' project, which took place this year July.

I was due for a school vacation, visiting my lovely little country, Singapore, for the month of July.

I thought to myself in April, that when I am back holidaying in Singapore for the month of July, I would very much like to have my very own dance space where I could have the tango music that I enjoy, instead of the current offerings of Singapore. Also, I could take this chance to share with the Singapore tango community what I've experienced and learnt from the Buenos Aires tango scene.

Between April and June, what started out as a little project between me and my three-man Singapore team (Valerie, Su-Lyn and How Meng) snowballed into something rather ambitious. In the end we organized and conducted about 40 hours worth of group classes and practicas; 3 milongas and I gave private lessons almost daily, sometimes up to four privates per day.

In the month of July, the participation rate of the tango workshops registered up to over 50 people per class and our first milonga had a participation rate of up to over 70 people.

It was a huge success, due to many factors; the timing of the economy, the fact that I was coming from BsAs, the supportiveness of the local tango community, etc...

Two things I've learnt or made aware of. Firstly, that if you want to make it profitable, then it has to be run like a business. Or at least with the same methods and ideals that a well organized business would respect.

And if it's business, then its nothing personal. Especially when it comes to human relationships. Infighting exists amongst every social community, even in our little tango community; which could hardly muster thirty regular dancers.

And disappointingly so far, the internal disagreements, about music, about dancing styles, about business competition; has stunted the growth of our tango community.

But they forgot that to really optimize the participation rate, to attract and retain more students, to make the milongas vibrant and successful; you need cooperation, mutual planning and advertising, and most of all, a good vibe from all sides.

Now when ego comes in the way, and when everyone thinks he is right and the other party is wrong, cooperation is easier said than done. Maybe even myself would be hindered by my personal ego and opinions.

But I learnt to transcend these feelings by upholding this mantle, 'Its not personal, its just business.' To look past personal grudges for the sake of business; to get down and dirty for the sake of business; to smile through anger for the sake of business.

As I am not wise enough sometimes to do the above, just for the sake of the greater good of humanity; But for the sake of business and the success of the tango-summer project, I would do whatever it takes.

(Not to be confused with the idea of profits, because its not about the money; money is just one of the indicator of a successful business.)

The second thing I learnt is that I am not yet ready to do business. Its not my calling. Over time, this project evolved to be also about proving to myself that if I want to, I can do it. I have enough capabilities to make the money if I want to, to do make a successful business.

But capabilities is one thing, desire and determination are other important factors which make up the rest. And for business and money making, I do not have the appetite or passion, not just yet.

Like so many things in my life, I just need to know the fact that 'I can do it'. Maybe do it once, then its time to move on.

Thales, the famous ancient greek philosopher, did a good piece of business; With his philosphical mind, he predicted the weather and the good harvest of olives, and he brought all the olive presses beforehand at a low price and made a huge profit when the demand came in.

But he did that just to demonstrate to his fellow milesians that one could use intelligence to enrich oneself.
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It was just for fun, because I never thought myself of being a business oriented person; when I wrote the concept paper for the tango-summer project, I put down 'To earn a profit of 3000SGD (around 2000USD).'

Why 3000SGD? Because that was the price of a return ticket from Singapore to Buenos Aires. (Also it was to impress my 'business consultant' Jean-Michel. )

In the end, I earned enough to cover the return trip and then some... heh heh heh

A philosopher (was it Hegel?) once said that when we have only one perspective of the big picture, the next most well informed perspective we can take is the complete opposite one.

Which is why it seemed wise now that I radically choosed the other end of the world, Argentina as the destination of my journey out of Singapore. Different language, different culture, different living standards...etc.

Which is also why, in late June 2008 when I returned to Singapore, after one and a half year away, suddenly I was very aware of the things that were very Singapore to me...

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It was an late morning run. I couldn't resist.

2 hours upon reaching my beautiful little tropical island, after 30 hours of flight. At 11am I changed into my running gear and did what I could not do in busy downtown Buenos Aires: Go for a run around the neighbourhood right outside my door.

As I basked in the humid 30 degrees sun, looking up at the skies, I saw rolling clouds much thicker and lower hanging than Buenos Aires.

Starting my run, I took a deep breath and savoured the air. Clean, almost sweet, but heavy with water vapour. Unlike smokey Buenos Aires (although its called 'Buenos Aires', 'Good Airs' hah!).

So much greenery and nature surrounding me: The trees, so much more enormous and numerous, surrounding the buildings, if we could take all the buildings away, I could almost still imagine a tropical jungle around us.

As I ran around the same paths that I had ran for the past 10 years of my life. I noticed how wide the pavements are! How clean and new! The roads are well laid and in pristine condition.

The only broken roads and pavements I saw were roads that were being constructed; being upgraded! Every 500 metres I ran, I saw a new building being constructed; a new road being laid; an existing house being renovated! (The apartment under construction beside my Buenos Aires building has been under construction since a year ago.)

I look ahead around the horizon. Such clean and new buildings! Fresh paint and new concrete! But such sterile architecture!!! Squarish blocks of ugly green mixed with bright blue coloured public housing; like a crayon painting of a 4 year old. Who in the Ministry of Housing Development Board approved such colours?! The old european styled buildings of Buenos Aires, although run down and dilapidated, they are much more pleasing to the aesthetic eye.

As I ran past the town center of Toa Payoh (a town in Singapore). It struck me how few people were walking along the streets even in the town center.

On a Tuesday noon, the only people I see outside were the elderly or housewives, or a few young kids getting out from school, probably skipping classes. The rest of the country is either at work or at school; or probably hiding from the heat at some air conditioned place.

Compared to Buenos Aires. The only times when the streets are quiet like this are during Saturdays or Sundays.

I smiled at some of the elderly as I jogged past. They all looked at me as if I was some alien. Well, they are not that wrong. I already feel like a foreigner in my own birthplace.

I realised from the look they gave me, from the way they sat around the plush green parks and the clean sidewalks. The fire in their soul has long been extinguished. Time is just counting the tick tocks for them.

Is it any different in Buenos Aires? I think so... maybe life in Buenos Aires is tougher. The elderly still have to struggle with everyday life. Maybe the struggle keeps the fire burning.

Such peace and tranquility! The serenity though seductive, is dulling to the senses.

Yet it was good to be home for awhile.

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The most incredible observation I had was that very evening, while taking the MRT (Singapore subway) at around 7pm, the whole train was filled with commuters getting off work.

The collective smell emanating from the crowd was one filled with the humid tropical sweat mixed with an artificial office air condition scent. It was a very familiar one, one which I had not noticed since I was in Buenos Aires.

Only in Singapore.