A pleasantly shocking behaviorWhat leadership lessons can one learn from the World Cup series? On his website briandoddonleadership.com, Brian Dodd presents what he calls: “7 Leadership Lessons from the ‘Pleasantly Shocking’ Behavior of Japan’s Fans and World Cup Squad.” Quite long for a title, but I can assure you it is worth the read. These are 7 leadership lessons I learn from this “pleasantly shocking” behavior by the Japanese fans and their team:Culture of ExcellenceMarketing guru, Seth Godin has taught that culture can be summed up in 11 words – “This is who we are, and this is what we do.” You don’t stumble into the type of behavior shown by the Japanese fans and team. May we all be like the Japanese fans and their soccer club. Dodd calls it “pleasantly shocking,” and we are inspired and encouraged by it.

The “T-Sure, Toyota Quality Pre-owned Cars” (T-Sure), the program offers an alternative to consumers who are looking for worry-free car purchase options without compromising quality, value, safety, and excellent service. What are some of the improvements that have been put in place with the T-Sure program? are available to T-Sure customers, making vehicle ownership and maintenance worry-free. Lastly, we are increasing our used car sales network nationwide with 29 T-Sure retail outlets and more to come in the future. T-Sure guarantees transparency in vehicle condition and history as well as untampered odometer reading.

The unripe one, also known as young jackfruit, is commonly used to make ginataang langka (young jackfruit in coconut) which is a great and sustainable vegetable dish to include in your meal rotation. You can also use young jackfruit to make vegan burger patties, or langka patties in general. This is because young jackfruit has sap (also called dagta) and you would want to remove this first. In a food processor, add the boiled young jackfruit and add the rest of the ingredients. You may use egg as binder or if you prefer a vegan version, opt to use flour or chia seeds.

Three men were arrested as customs busted two large-scale illicit cigarette smuggling cases worth HK$150 million, with a duty potential of about HK$100 million, earlier this month in Tai Kok Tsui and Sheung Shui. Upon inspection, about 11 million illicit cigarettes were seized inside a 40-foot container and a 58-year-old male driver was arrested. Investigations are ongoing and customs said they will continue to trace the source and flow of the illicit cigarettes. Including the illicit cigarettes seized in this operation, customs have seized about 694 million suspected illicit cigarettes this year as on Wednesday. The number already exceeded last year's total seizure amount of about 427 million suspected illicit cigarettes by 60 percent, customs added.

We are aware of what nuclear weapons are," Putin said at a meeting of his human rights council. "When we are struck, we strike back," Putin said, stressing that Moscow's strategy was based on a so-called retaliatory strike policy. "We think any loose talk of nuclear weapons is absolutely irresponsible," US State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, however, declared that the risk of nuclear weapons being used in the Ukraine conflict has lessened, thanks to international pressure on Russia. "New territories appeared — well, this is still a significant result for Russia," Putin said, referring to the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.

"Currently we don't plan on selling in the US, we need a better understanding of what the next steps are," BYD executive vice president Stella Li said in an interview Tuesday. "We'll continue to invest in electric school buses and also battery components but for consumer cars, we haven't got a decision yet." Meanwhile, the automaker will sell its electric vehicles in Malaysia in a 500 million ringgit (HK$885.3 million) tie-up with Sime Darby Motors. Great Wall Motor (2333) said its car sales last month plunged 28.5 percent year-on-year to 87,560 units. Separately, Bloomberg said Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has roped in longtime executive and the company's president in China, Tom Zhu Xiaotong, to help run the carmaker's new plant in Austin, Texas.

PLDT boosts home fiber connectivity in MindanaoMANILA, Philippines — Telco giant PLDT Inc. will finish the year expanding its connectivity reach in Mindanao as part of its commitment to provide internet access to remote communities. For the rest of the year, PLDT said it would focus on improving its network in Mindanao by setting up additional fiber and wireless infrastructure in the island. In particular, PLDT will add around 6,000 FTTH lines in Davao de Oro, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao Occidental, Davao Oriental and Davao City. It will also put up new wireless sites in the region before 2022 ends. PLDT’s wireless unit Smart Communications Inc. rolled out new mobile sites and base stations in Northern Mindanao, including Cagayan de Oro.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data has arrested a 35-year-old wife on suspicion of disclosing the personal information of her husband’s mistress on a social media platform. The privacy watchdog on Thursday said the victim and the husband of the arrested person developed a close relationship between 2019 and 2021, after which the victim exposed the relationship to the arrested person. The personal data disclosed included the victim’s Chinese name, English name, alias, year of birth, area of residence, area of work, as well as her occupation and photos. The suspect was granted bail and the office said it will continue its investigation into the case. The watchdog reminded members of the public that doxxing is a serious offense and that offenders are liable on conviction to a fine of up to HK$1,000,000 and imprisonment for 5 years.

Government debt stock fattens in October — TreasuryA general view of buildings in the financial district of Makati City on November 10, 2022. MANILA, Philippines — The national government’s debt stock increased in October and has already exceeded the expected pile by the end of the year, as the Marcos Jr. administration took on new debts to finance its programs. The state’s debt stock climbed at the onset of the pandemic, due in part to the Duterte administration’s borrowing spree to fund its pandemic response. A fat debt stock would mean more taxpayers' funds are needed for debt servicing in the coming years. “What is important is that we outgrow our debt so that the overall debt to gross domestic product ratio can fall,” he added.

Most major vegetables grow Q3 productionCustomers shop for vegetables in Kamuning Public Market on December 6, 2022. Among the country’s top vegetable and root crops were ampalaya, mongo, cabbage, eggplant, onion, tomato, potato, sweet potato and cassava. Northern Mindanao was the top tomato producer with 22,582.57 MT, accounting for 76.2 percent of the total production during the quarter. Mongo production improved by 0.7 percent to 1,371.54 MT with Cagayan Valley as the major producer, accounting for 41.5 percent with its 569.76 MT output. Among the major vegetables and root crops, potato, eggplant, ampalaya and onion saw higher area planted at 0.8 percent, 0.4 percent, 0.4 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.

INQUIRER.net, the country’s leading online news site, and STI College signed a memorandum of agreement on Tuesday, Dec. 6, to provide students with internship and career opportunities with INQUIRER.net. Under the agreement, INQUIRER.net will regularly provide training and career opportunities to STI students and alumni through postings and internship programs. “We welcome this partnership with STI because we believe that this will open opportunities for other new projects. For STI, the partnership with INQUIRER.net brings more possibilities to equip and prepare students as they transition from school to work, according to STI ESG President Peter Fernandez. “This partnership will provide huge opportunities for our students who are on the cusp of joining the workforce.

The government confirmed the BioNTech bivalent vaccine will be available as the third shot for eligible people aged 18 or above from this Friday, and the fifth dose will be open for appointments from next Friday (December 16). Citizens may choose to receive the BioNTech bivalent vaccine when they make appointments to receive the third or fourth dose. People could also request staff members on site to receive the BioNTech bivalent vaccine as the third dose. Meanwhile, people who live in residential care homes may choose to receive the Sinovac or the BioNTech vaccine as their third, fourth or fifth dose under the outreach vaccination service. "As the protection conferred by the vaccines will diminish over time, we appeal to the members of the public who have not received a suitable number of doses of vaccine to get their doses as soon as possible for self-protection," said a government spokesman today, "in particular high-risk persons such as the elderly.

Ocean Park Corporation stated on Wednesday in an annual revenue report that it had recorded a loss of HK$1.81 billion at the end of June this year for the fiscal year from 2021 to 2022. "The figure was contributed mainly by an impairment on property, plant, and equipment and right-of-use assets," according to the report, "which didn't affect the corporation’s current cash flows." The corporation still holds bank balances and cash of around HK$1.312 billion. In the fiscal year, the park recorded 1.4 million visitors for its main park, and the figure logged 200,000 for the newly opened Water World. Coupled with government grants, the corporation recorded an operating surplus of HK$436.2 million for the fiscal year.

Hong Kong came to a standstill for three minutes yesterday as the city joined the rest of the country in mourning the death of former president Jiang Zemin. This may not be unprecedented but most past instances when Hong Kong stood still were triggered by natural disasters. Jiang oversaw all these signifi cant developments in person at a solemn ceremony that historic midnight at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. National mourning is one of these. Without a well-practiced local protocol for national mourning, the administration would have to create one for such an occasion.

The sovereign wealth fund – Concept and performanceThe hot topic of the day is the “sovereign wealth fund” (in short, SWF). A SWF is a state-owned investment fund from government money or resources. Some other notable funds include the Abu Dhabi Fund, the China Fund, the Kuwait Fund, and the Singapore Fund. A sovereign fund works within the framework of a country’s economic policy. Fourth, clear accountability procedures are important to prevent misuse of public resources and to gain public support for the fund.